As a person with important ideas about education policy, the members of Macalester’s Re-envisioning Education & Democracy course ask for your help in setting priorities for public education reform. In response to the results of this survey, course members will design a series of initiatives for implementation in urban public high schools. To guide their efforts, we ask that you return this questionnaire on or before Friday March 29^th in the envelope provided. Survey results, in addition to reform initiative descriptions and individual student research reports (public intellectual essays), will be available by Friday May 17^th on-line at: [www.macalester.edu/courses/educ59]. THANK YOU very much for your participation.

Ruthanne Kurth-Schai, Education (651-696-6035)

Chuck Green, Political Science (651-696-6481)

Please rate each of the following statements on a scale of 0 to 100. Use the following criteria to determine your priority rating. You may select any number to denote your rating—the 25 point increments are intended only as points of reference.

0: I am fundamentally opposed to this statement.

25: This statement is not a priority.

50: I am neutral on this statement.

75: This statement is a priority.

100: I am deeply committed to this statement. It is my highest priority.

Statements have been grouped thematically. If you would like to provide additional comments or a rationale for the ratings you gave, please do so in the spaces provided at the end of each page.

Societal Purposes of Schooling

73 1. Public secondary schools should focus primarily on preparing students for participation in a democratic society.

68 2. Public secondary schools should promote a shared civic identity.

91 3. Public secondary schools should develop critical thinking skills in their students.

83 4. Public secondary schools should develop students who hold and can express genuine opinions and convictions.

65 5. Public secondary schools should emphasize social activism and encourage students to challenge the status quo.

59 6. The cultivation of positive character traits should be more important than instilling specific skills.

32 7. The primary purpose of education is to produce workers with skills that serve the needs of the American economy .

35 8. Public secondary schools should foster capitalism by focusing on preparing students to function in the global economy.

Governance, Administration & Resources

54 9. Parents should have more influence than the community-at-large on administrative decisions in local schools.

34 10. Communities should have more influence than teachers on administrative decisions in local schools.

71 11. Students should be involved in the reform of public secondary schools.

40 12. Public secondary schools should reflect the majority interests of tax-paying citizens.

31 13. Public secondary schools should be nationally controlled in order to equalize student opportunities.

72 14. Public secondary schools should receive more funding from the Federal Government such that all students have equal curricular and extra-curricular opportunities across the United States.

71 15. Public secondary schools should be less reliant upon local property taxes and more reliant upon funding from the State Government.

64 16. Resources available for reforming Public Secondary Schools should be channeled toward those schools that score in the lower percentiles on standardized tests.

66 17. Creating physical environments (i.e. buildings, classrooms, and technology) that are conducive to learning should be a top funding priority.

73 18. Public secondary schools should neither endorse specific businesses nor allow them to advertise on school property.

Curricular Emphases

67 19. For at least the first two years of public secondary school, students should focus on developing basic skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics.

67 20. Public secondary schools should place greater emphasis on fine and performing arts.

63 21. Public secondary schools should place greater emphasis on the sciences and technology.

55 22. Public secondary school students should be required to participate in extra-curricular activities designed, in part, to strengthen their involvement in their school communities.

77 23 Public secondary schools should provide opportunities for students to engage in experiential-based learning outside the classroom.

83 24. Public secondary schools should encourage discussion among students about social problems relevant to their personal lives, such as instances of discrimination.

86 25. Public secondary schools should help students understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens by incorporating local political and social issues into the curriculum.

89 26. Public secondary school curriculum should teach students the skills necessary for active citizenship, such as critical thinking, deliberative discussion, and public speaking.

76 27. Public secondary school curricula should include coursework and deliberative discussion regarding forms of government beyond representative democracy.

57 28. Community service should be mandatory for all public secondary school students.

64 29. Public secondary schools should teach classes focused specifically on the various cultural groups within the United States.

80 30. Public secondary schools should teach more about diverse nations, cultures, and languages beyond the United States.

67 31. Public secondary schools should provide more opportunities for students to explore their own ethnic background.

67 32. Public secondary schools should use multicultural issues as a foundation upon which to build curricula, rather than using multicultural issues as a supplement to classes.

77 33. Public secondary schools should focus on teaching students the means to acquire information and opinions independently, rather than providing such information directly.

71 34. Public secondary schools should teach violence prevention techniques to promote the physical safety of the school and community.

Curricular Organization

52 35. All high school students should be required to take a course to prepare for post-secondary education.

66 36. Public secondary schools should provide coursework specifically designed to help students explore potential careers.

42 37. All high school students should be required to take vocational classes alongside college-preparatory courses.

20 38. Students should be evaluated primarily through standardized tests.

65 39. Students should be evaluated primarily on class performance, participation, and effort.

44 40. State Government should retain responsibility for determining public secondary school curriculum.

23 41. The Federal Government should impose a nation-wide curriculum for public secondary schools.

53 42. Public secondary schools should be permitted to determine their own curriculum.

21 43. Public secondary school students should be allowed to take classes they choose with no required curriculum.

50 44. Public high schools should not exclude students from advanced programs on the basis of academic standing.

61 45. Public secondary schools should allow all students access to independent study projects, regardless of their academic standing.

72 46. Large public high schools should be split into smaller learning communities.

74 47. Public secondary schools should allow for increased interaction and dialogue between students involved in different curricular programs (e.g., gifted & talented, special needs, vocational education).

68 48. Students whose first language is not English should be encouraged to develop that language further while becoming proficient in English.

Approaches to Teaching & Learning

81 49. Student learning should focus on analysis, synthesis, and reflection on important ideas rather than memorization.

71 50. Public secondary schools should teach multiculturalism by recounting history through a variety of under-represented perspectives and experiences.

78 51. Efforts should be made in each school district to recruit teachers that better reflect the student populations they are serving (especially ethnic minorities).

48 52. The practice of sorting students into academic programs based on measures of their academic ability should be abolished.

40 53. Schools should use standardized tests to regularly gauge students’ academic performance.

61 54. All public high school students should complete at least one site-based career exploration.

72 55. Prior to the introduction of new instructional technologies, their consequences for classroom use should be fully considered.

85 56. Public secondary schools should promote gender equity.

63 57. Teachers' salaries should be merit-based as an incentive to provide higher quality education.

85 58. Public secondary schools should support teacher collaboration in order to make each school a more cohesive unit.

School & Community

83 59. In order to strengthen ties between secondary schools and the community, school priorities should be collectively identified by educators, community members, parents, and students.

86 60. Public secondary schools should actively embrace the different cultural backgrounds represented in its surrounding community.

78 61. Public secondary school buildings should stay open after school hours to function as community centers.

72 62. School board meetings should be more oriented toward community inclusiveness by holding an open forum prior to each meeting.

71 63. To increase the connection between public secondary schools and their communities, every resident of the school district should receive periodic newsletters.

83 64. Teachers, administrators, and parents should recognize and respond to the individual needs of each student.

84 65. Public secondary schools should provide outreach programs for parents confronted with socioeconomic and language barriers to allow them to become involved in their children’s' education.

62 66. Every resident should be involved in the neighborhood public secondary school, even if that resident has children in another school system or no children at all.