This is a continuation of my education diary from last weekend, "Obama Out Of Touch On Education Concerns", but not the continuation of that diary. There is more to come on this, but I wanted to get part of it out today, dealing with (1) perceptions, and (2) internal differences vs. international comparisons regarding test scores. These both go to the power of rhetoric and reporting on education to produce a biased and inaccurate public perception of the nature of the challenges we face. First is a simple series of questions asked in the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll I reported on last week. It shows that people have a much worse impression of schools nationwide than they do of schools in their own community. In turn, they have an even better impression of schools their own children go to. The conclusions is inescapable: the more people have to rely on media reports, the worse they think schools are. The more they can rely on direct knowledge, the better they think schools are. Tables on the flip--with more on test score comparions.
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