Public reality checks

Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, research organization, an "explorer of public opinion" through surveys, pollings, education and civic engagement, whose mission is to:

• Help citizens understand complex problems
• Involve those who are normally excluded from policy debates
• Promote productive public and leadership dialogue
• Create momentum for change by building common ground, managing differences and creating new partnerships

Public Agenda 2006 reports include their "Reality Check" series, publications examining public opinion on important issues. The most recent reports focus on education, professional and public attitudes toward the learning experience and standards and procedures.

The Insiders: How Principals and Superintendents See Public Education Today (2006, pdf, 29pp/372kB) - "Superintendents are substantially less likely than classroom teachers to believe that too many students get passed through the system without learning."

Is Support for Standards and Testing Fading? (2006, pdf, 31pp/283kB) - "...five years into the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and over a dozen years into the so-called standards movement in American education, the public now sees these reforms as 'necessary, but not sufficient.'"

A Fresh Look at Public Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century (2006, pdf, 84pp/1.06MB) - "Americans prize public library service and see libraries as potential solutions to many communities' most pressing problems..."