CFK Reports From: Keeping Our Edge: Americans Speak on Education and Competitiveness
Event: Briefing
Organized By: Educational Testing Service
Where/When: Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill; June 21, 2006

Report by: Martha Pitts

In this briefing, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) presented the results of its sixth annual nationwide poll of the public's views on the role of education reform in supporting American competitiveness. Speakers at the briefing included pollsters and senators who interpreted the results and suggested possible solutions to strengthening competitiveness.

"We're informing the public debate on education policy by providing substantive and credible data," said Charles Cascio, ETS vice president of communications and public affairs. Cascio said this year's theme was chosen to address the growing concern of whether the United States can maintain its edge in a global economy and whether public education was serving this issue.

Surveys for the poll were conducted among 1,215 adults, including 512 parents of K-12 students, 150 high school teachers, and 151 business and opinion leaders. Seven focus groups were also conducted. For the first time, ETS included students' responses in its poll.

Some highlights of the poll include the following:

• 55 percent of adults believe the public schools are coming up short or falling behind in teaching the basics, such as math, science and writing.
• 40 percent of adults believe that math, science, and technology skills will be most important to America's ability to compete in the global economy. 85 percent of adults favored attracting math/science teachers to schools through financial incentives.
• 47 percent of adults believe gifted students are not being challenged enough to make the most of their talents.
• 53 percent of high school students believe high U.S. public high schools are coming up short on supporting struggling students and preventing dropouts.
• 38 percent of high school students believe U.S. public high schools are coming up short on enabling students to compete globally for tech jobs.
• 70 percent of adults believe the nation's schools are coming up short on engaging students and preventing students from dropping out.
• 64 percent of adults believe that if changes are not made to our education system, it will have a negative impact on America's global competitiveness within in 10 years.

Cascio said the poll's results show that expectations of students and academic standards need to be raised. He also said that the public looks to the quality of leadership—high school administrators, teachers, and members of Congress—to inspire them and improve education reform.

Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) said that they have introduced legislation "Protecting America's Competitive Edge Act (PACE)" to bolster America's edge in science and technology. Some provisions of the act include creating specialty math and science high schools, math and science teacher training programs, and scholarships and fellowships for future scientists.

"The public understands the stakes," said Peter Hart, CEO, Peter Hart Associates. "The playing field has changed."

To learn more, visit the ETS Americans Speak page.