What happens to public opinion when prominent partisan officials intervene in education policy debates? We analyzed the results of 18 survey experiments conducted between 2009 and 2021 with nationally representative samples of U.S. adults. Each experiment explored the effect of an endorsement of a specific education policy by a high-profile…

Ventura, California's 2023 winter storm activity underscored the impact that runoff has on recreational water quality and public health. To examine public perception of stormwater runoff, coastal water quality, and community decision-making toward recreating in polluted water, an online survey of the Ventura River watershed community determined…

This is the 12th edition of EdChoice's Schooling in America survey. The purpose of this annual survey is to gauge public opinion on a range of issues in K-12 education, including school choice policies and parents' schooling experiences. From April 9 to April 30, 2024, we surveyed 2,319 current school parents and 1,502 members of the general…

Americans' ratings of their community's public schools reached a new high dating back 48 years in this year's PDK Poll of Public Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, while fewer than ever express interest in having their child work as a public school teacher. Results of the 54th annual PDK poll tell a tale of conflicted views of public schools --…

Long-running surveys need a systematic way to reflect social change and to keep items relevant to respondents, especially when they ask about controversial subjects, or they threaten the items' validity. We propose a protocol for updating measures that preserves content and construct validity. First, substantive experts articulate the current and…

In his book "Liberalism and Its Discontents" (2020), Fukuyama argues that classical liberalism is under severe threat today (p. vii). Although such a claim is alarming, since strongly stated cases are not unusual in academic writing (e.g., Fukuyama once argued (2012) that we had reached the end of history in the sense of arriving at the…

Preparing students to enter the workforce and attracting and retaining good teachers are Americans' top educational priorities for the next administration in Washington, regardless of who wins the upcoming presidential election, the 2024 PDK Poll finds. While eight in 10 or more Americans pick those two items as priorities, other policy priorities…

Experience of nature is widely linked to well-being, including psychological restoration. Benefits to creativity have been explored in a limited number of studies which refer to theories of restorative environments as frameworks, but it is unclear which aspects of the environment and person-nature transactions are implicated in these processes. In…

Activists use populist language when proposing school reforms. Are they appealing to a public ideology as coherent as conservatism or liberalism? A national probability sample of U. S. adults is asked to self-identify as liberals or conservatives, respond to statements about government trustworthiness and responsiveness to the people, and give…

Climate change portends significant harms to humans and biodiversity but public knowledge of relevant scientific information remains limited. As societal changes and investment are essential to addressing anthropogenic climate change, efforts to better promote both civic science literacy and public awareness of climate change impacts are urgently…

Public opinion toward teachers and other public sector workers is an important factor in Ontario provincial politics. This article uses public opinion data to measure, and identify the correlates of, resentment and admiration of these groups, and to identify the relationship between these attitudes and support for political parties in Ontario.…

Scholars differ as to whether populist beliefs are a discourse or an ideology resembling conservatism or liberalism. Research has shown that a belief in popular sovereignty and a distrust of public officials are core components of populism. Its antithesis is defined as Burke's claim that officials should exercise their own judgment rather than…

Research Question: The vast amount of material available on-line has prompted researchers to understand how undergraduate students sort and select, or evaluate, the results that emerge from their searches. Since students depend on on-line material to facilitate their learning of course material, understanding the basis of their process is…

Facilitating students' chemical literacy is a focal point of current science education. This study examines views of chemists and chemistry teachers on chemical literacy and, more broadly, on scientific literacy of four kinds of stakeholders: scientists, teachers, STEM students, and the educated public. We explored the views of 347 participants,…

Background: School-based health centers (SBHCs) have been shown to offer substantial benefits to students but we know little about how the public thinks about them. We sought to assess US public attitudes about SBHCs and the provision of 7 health service lines--primary care, preventive care, vaccinations, preventive dental care, preventive vision…