Edgewood Intermediate Principal Jennifer Lee works with 4th-grade teachers Laurie Stephens, right, and Kris Cowden as the staff conducts a stress test of the new ISTEP testing system. David Snodgress | Herald-Times
Americans believe there is too much emphasis on standardized testing in their local schools, according to a poll of more than 4,000 people conducted by Phi Delta Kappa International and Gallup Inc.
Americans weighed in on education topics ranging from whether parents should have the right to excuse their children from standardized testing to the biggest problems facing local school systems in the 47th annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools.
The findings are based on a Web survey of 3,499 U.S. adults with Internet access and telephone interviews with a national sample of 1,001 U.S. adults.
Sixty-four percent of respondents said there is “too much emphasis on testing,” and 41 percent said parents should be able to opt their children out of standardized testing.
However, blacks and Hispanics are somewhat more likely than whites to say that results of standardized tests are very important to improve schools and to compare school quality. Blacks also are more likely than whites to say that parents should not be allowed to excuse their children from standardized tests.
This was the first time the survey was able to report the opinions of blacks, whites and Hispanics because of the addition of the Web-based poll.
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