The recent focus in America on "fixing" the U.S. education
system with reforms such as President George W. Bush's "No Child
Left Behind" initiative speaks to more a negative opinion climate
than is present north of the border. Recent Gallup Poll findings*
indicate that Canadians are currently significantly more likely to
be happy with their country's education system than Americans
are.
Sixty-two percent of Canadians say they are satisfied with the
quality of public education in their country, with 15% "very
satisfied" and almost half (47%) "somewhat satisfied." In the
United States on the other hand, 42% are satisfied with public
education, with 9% very satisfied and only a third (33%) somewhat
satisfied.
Putting the ratings in context with ratings of other issues in
each country further highlights the difference. Respondents in
Canada and the United States were asked to rate their countries on
a series of 21 social issues and aspects of life. Only four aspects
satisfy Canadians more than education does: overall quality of life
(90%), the position of women in the nation (76%), the opportunity
for Canadians to get ahead by working hard (75%), and the role
Canada plays in world affairs (67%).
In the United States, however, 14 other aspects satisfy
Americans more than education does and they are less satisfied with
only six other items: the moral and ethical climate (35%), taxes
(31%), Social Security (31%), immigration levels (31%), poverty and
homelessness (27%), and the availability of affordable of
healthcare (27%).
Doug Hart, senior research officer at the Ontario Institute for
Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, notes that
Canadians' reported confidence in public schools has risen
fairly steadily over the last decade, with satisfaction scores
following suit. Says Hart, "This suggests that satisfaction is tied
less to test outcomes than to perceptions about the capacity of the
system to respond and meet challenges."
Nevertheless, multicountry tests administered in recent years
provide evidence that Canadians' higher level of confidence in
public education is justified. In 1999 (the most recent year for
which results are available), Canadian students significantly
outscored Americans on both math and science tests, and Canada was
one of only two countries in which students had shown marked
improvement since the test was administered in 1995. In 2000,
Canadian 15-year-olds outscored their American counterparts in math
and science on the Program for International Student Assessment;
when it came to reading scores, Canadians were second only to
Finnish students out of the 32 countries included.
Bottom Line
Canadians tend to be somewhat more sanguine than Americans about
the issues examined in this survey -- and across the board. Still,
the relative placement of public education on the list suggests a
perception of well-being in the nation's schools that is less
prevalent among Americans.
What might this mean for policy-makers? Ironically, it may not
be good news for education advocates. According to Hart, there
appears to be a negative relationship between satisfaction levels
and the public's support for education spending. As long as
confidence levels are high, Hart says, "higher levels of
dissatisfaction are associated with greater willingness to
put resources into the system, because those managing are seen to
have the capacity to use these effectively."
*Results in the United States are based on telephone
interviews with 1,004 national adults, aged 18 and older,
conducted Jan. 12-15, 2004. For results based on the total sample
of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the
maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.
The survey was conducted by Gallup USA.
Results in Canada are based on telephone interviews with
1,003 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted April 28-May 4,
2004. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one
can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling
error is ±3 percentage points. The survey was conducted by
Gallup Canada.
