In 1993, the Kettering Foundation and Public Agenda released a report titled "Divided Within, Besieged Without: The Politics of Education in Four American School Districts." The study's attention to communities was distinct from the conventional focus on the technical issues of school administration and funding, and it reported on what…

The Committee for Economic Development (CED), in collaboration with Public Agenda, launched this qualitative research effort to explore the attitudes of business leaders toward higher education. The goal is to understand the starting point of business executives: What are their views on the purposes, importance, strengths and weaknesses of the…

Notwithstanding all the studies and data on schooling today, one has to go back more than a decade--to the 1998 Public Agenda study "A Lot to Be Thankful For"--for a serious attempt to examine what parents think public schools should teach children about citizenship. The annual Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup poll on schooling has not asked…

A study conducted by Public Agenda Foundation, in partnership with the National Constitution Center, examined what typical adults know and believe about the U.S. Constitution, probed what they understand their rights and civic responsibilities to be, and reported their views on the document's importance and relevance in their lives today. The…

This report gives the results of a study that probes how typical individuals think about religion, faith, and personal morality. Alongside their belief in the power of religion to help individuals become better people, most people are also instinctively wary about injecting religion directly into politics, the public schools, and public life in…

This document reports on a pilot study of public attitudes toward professional development for teachers. The study was based on four focus groups conducted by Public Agenda in Fort Lee (New Jersey), Birmingham (Alabama), Denver (Colorado), and Albuquerque (New Mexico). Each group was comprised of approximately 10 participants recruited by local…

How people treat each other in their daily interactions seems to be profoundly important and even central to the definition of a "civilized" society. This nationwide survey examined what Americans are thinking about courtesy, manners, rudeness, and respect. Data were gathered through a random sample telephone survey of 2,013 adults…

Recognizing that knowing what parents value most provides insights into what society values and what can be expected of future generations, this report details a study exploring parents' goals in raising their children and focusing on parents' attitudes regarding the difficulty of raising children of integrity and character in America today. Data…