The three R’s alone don’t cut it anymore: Americans overwhelmingly want schools to do more than educate students in academic subjects. According to the 2017 PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, they also want schools to help position students for their working lives after school. That […] Read more »
When it comes to controversial science, a little knowledge is a problem
For a lot of scientific topics, there’s a big gap between what scientists understand and what the public thinks it knows. For a number of these topics—climate change and evolution are prominent examples—this divide develops along cultural lines, typically religious or political identity. It would be reassuring to think that […] Read more »
The immigrant hordes are already here! Or not.
Hide your wife, hide your husband, hide your child! The immigrant hordes are already here! Or so lots of Americans believe — making it easier for politicians and fringe “alt-right” white-supremacist groups to seize on these fears and exploit them for political gain. The share of people in the United […] Read more »
Democrats Have Their Own Challenges In Talking About Racial Issues In The Trump Era
… What if Trump’s victory — carrying more than 200 counties where former President Barack Obama had won in 2008 and 2012 — was not primarily driven by his populist economic appeals, but by his rhetoric and policies around race and identity issues instead? Trump’s denunciations of Black Lives Matter, […] Read more »
The 2017 EdNext Poll on School Reform
There’s no denying political climate change. The past 18 months have seen an enormous swing in the Washington power balance, a shift that has heightened the polarization that has characterized our public life for more than a decade now. How has this divisive political climate influenced public opinion on education […] Read more »
The Great Political Divide Over American Identity
Are you an American? Chances are your answer to this question depends on whether you have (or could get) a U.S. passport. That is one way many people think about what it means to be American. Another way is to think less literally and more culturally. Being an American, in […] Read more »