DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 352 206 PS 021 039

TITLE Parental Satisfaction with Schools and the Need for

Standards. Education Research Report.

INSTITUTION Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED),

Washington, DC. Office of Research.

PUB DATE Nov 92

NOTE 5p.

PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom Use (055) Reports

Research /Technical (143)

EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PCO1 Plus Postage.

DESCRIPTORS *Academic Standards; *Educational Quality; Grade 8;

*Grades (Scholastic); Junior High Schools; Junior

High School Students; *Mathematics Achievement;

*Parent Attitudes; Parents; Parent School

Relationship; *School Effectiveness

IDENTIFIERS National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; National

Education Longitudinal Study 1988

ABSTRACT

This research report compares parents' satisfaction

about the quality of their eighth grade childrens' schooling with the

childrens' mathematics achievement. The report uses data from the

National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS88). Despite low

student achievement in mathematics as indicated by a study conducted

in 1990, data from the NELS88 indicated that a large majority of

parents of eighth grade students in public and private schools

believed that their child's school was doing a good job of preparing

students for high school and college. This was indicated for parents

in general, and for parents of low-achieving students and students

attending schools in high poverty neighborhoods in particular.

Parents rely primarily on grades to determine how much their children

are learning. In light of the fact, however, that 45 percent of

students who scored in the bottom quarter of the NELS88 mathematics

test reported getting mostly As and Bs on their report cards, parents

cannot rely solely on their children's grades to determine the

quality of their education. Parents need external standards against

which they can assess the performance of their children and their

children's schools. In mathematics, such standards have been

developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Parents

can procure a copy of these standards and ask their children's

teachers specific questions about grades and students' preparation

for high school and college. (BC)

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Research Report

n

Parental Satisfaction With Schools and the Need for Standards

The National Council on Education Standards and

Testing has called for the development of a voluntary

nationwide system of assessments tied to national standards for each of the five core subjects of English, mathematics, science, history. and geography. These standards

represent what young Americans need to know and be

able to do if they are to live and work successfully in

today's world.

One question often raised is why we need national standards and a new system of voluntary assessments. Don't

parents already have the information they need to make

judgments about the effectiveness of their local schools?

There is evidence that they do not: despite clear indications that student achievement is low and widespread

concern about this, most parents express satisfaction

with their children's achievement and schools.

High Satisfaction vs. Low Achievement

What might explain this gap between low achievement

and high satisfaction? In an international comparative

study about the relationship between student achievement

and parental satisfaction with schools, the authors found

that "American parents face a number of serious impediments in judging the quality of their children's education.

One of the strongest obstacles is the lack of clear external

standards. American elementary schools generally do not

provide grades: instead they offer parents an evaluation

of their children's progress made since the last report. Or.

the teacher may offer a broad classification such as outstanding, satisfactory, or needs improvement.-

To further explore the issue of assessing achievement, this

research report compares parents' satisfaction about the

quality of their eighth grade children's schooling with the

students' mathematics achievement, using data collected

for the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988

(NELS:88). Data from the 1990 mathematics assessment

conducted by the National Assessment of Educational

Progress (NAEP) are included for comparison.

This analysis focuses on math achievement because of its

importance for today's students. Research indicates that

both the number of courses taken and the level of performance in math impact students' future job prospects and

earnings. This is the case for those who enter college and

those who enter the job market. Both will need math in

their jobs and to expand their careers just as they need it

in their everyday lives. And. we know that students are

neither taking very many math courses nor doing very

well in them. According to the 1990 mathematics assessment conduc. 2d by NAEP:

One out of three eighth-graders cannot solve two-step

problems using addition and subtraction and one-step

problems using multiplication and divisionproblems

typically taught at the upper elementary school level.

86 percent of eighth-graders cannot consistently solve

problems involving fractions. decimals, percents. and

simple algebratopics generally introduced by the

seventh grade.

Despite this low achievement, a majority of parents of

eighth grade students surveyed for NELS:88parents of

public and private school students alikebelieved that

their own child's school was doing a good job of preparing students for further education.

Four out of five parents of eighth grade students in

public schools and nine out of ten parents of eighth

grade students in private schools agreed that their

child's school was doing a good job of preparing students for high school.

Two out of three parents of eighth grade students in

public schools and four in every five parents of eighth

grade students in private schools agreed that the school

was doing a good job of preparing students for college.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Figure 1. Percentage of parents agreeing that

their eighth grade children's schools

are doing a good job of preparing

students for high school and college

Public school

parents

Private school

parents All

parents

67%

69%

80%

89%

79%

81°k

0 20 40 60

Percent 111111 High School tiSSI College

80 100

The paradox of high parental satisfaction in the face of

evidence of poor student performance suggests that most

parents have no common standard against which they can

judge their own children's achievement. We found that

while parents whose children are not doing well in math

(as measured by the NELS:88 achievement test) are

somewhat less satisfied with their children's schools than

are parents whose children are doing well, a majority still

believe that their children's schools are doing a good job

of preparing students for high school and college:

75 percent of parents of the lowest achieving students

on the math test believed that their children's schools

were doing a good job of preparing students for high

school.

61 percent of parents believed that the schools were

doing a good job of preparing students for college.

This pattern is true for both public and private schools. In

fact, a greater percentage of the parents of the lowest

achieving private school students believe that the school

is preparing students well for college (70 percent vs. 60

percent).

What about parents of children in high poverty schools

(i.e., schools with large concentrations of children from

poor families)? Research has shown that children in high

poverty schools are much more likely than other children

to leave school unprepared for the work force or for

further education.

Despite such low performance, according to NELS:88

data these parents are satisfied with the quality of their

children's education:

Three of every four parents of students in high poverty

schools believed that the schools were preparing students well for high school.

Nearly 60 percent believed that the schools were

preparing students well for college.

What accounts for such a high level of parental satisfaction, when the children are doing so poorly? It may well

Table 1. Parental satisfaction with schools, by eighth grade students' math achievement score

Math test

quartile

All

Parents

Parents of public Parents of private

school students school students

Total

Quartile I (low)

Quartile 2

Quartile 3

Quartile 4 (high)

Total

Quartile I (low)

Quartile 2

Quartile 3

Quartile 4 (high)

Percentage who agree or strongly agree with each statement

"The school is preparing students well for high school."

81 80

75 75

80 79

82 81

88 87

"The school is preparing students well for college."

69 67

61 60

66 65

70 69

77 76

89

84

86

89

93

79

70

75

79

84
Table 2. Parental satisfaction with their eighth grade children's schools, by school poverty level (public schools only)

Percentage of students in the school

receiving free or reduced price lunch

Percentage of parents who agree or strongly agree

that the school is preparing students well for:

High School College

0 82 69

1-5 83 72

6-10 82 71

11-20 82 68

21-30 80 66

31-50 78 65

51-75 79 64

76-100 75 59

be that parents have limited ways of judging how well

their children are doing. How do parents know if report

cards filled with A's mean their children are learning

what they should in the eighth grade? How do parents

judge whether their children's eighth grade classes are

challenging or mediocre?

Grades Do Not Tell Us Enough

Parents have to rely primarily on grades to determine

how much their children are learningand according to

the grades, their children are doing well. A majority of

eighth grade students surveyed by NELS:88 reported that

they have received "mostly A's" or "mostly B's" in math

from grade six through grade eight.

66 percent of public school students reported getting

mostly A's or B's in math, and

75 percent of private school students reported doing

this well.

Did two out of every three of the eighth grade students

surveyed by NELS:88 really do well in math? While

students who scored poorly on the NELS:88 math test

were less likely to report getting A's and B's than students who did well on the test, 45 percent of the eighth

grade students who scored in the bottom quarter on the

math test reported getting mostly A's and B's.

Parents may reasonably conclude from these grades that

their children are doing well, when, in fact, the children

may not be learning the math they need for further education and work in today's world.

Conclusions

Parents cannot rely solely on their children's grades to

determine the quality of their education. In order to

ensure that their children are receiving a world class education that prepares them for the 21st century, parents

need external standards against which they can assess the

performance of their children and their children's

schools.

In math, curriculum standards have been developed by

the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

(NCTM). These standards identify the areas of math students should study in grades K through 12. Similar standards are being developed in other subject areas.

Table 3. Percentage of eighth grade students reporting mostly A's and B's in math from grade six to the present, by

control of school and math achievement score

Math test

quartile

All

Students

Public

school students

Private

school students

All students 67 66 75

Quartile I (low) 45 44 47

Quartile 2 58 58 63

Quartile 3 75 75 78

Quartile 4 (high) 90 89 92
Recommendations

Parents should ask their school principal for a copy of

the NCTM standards and how they are being implemented in the school curriculum. While these standards provide guidance on what children should study in math,

they do not provide parents with information on how

well their children are doing. Therefore, parents may also

want to ask their children's teachers about the education

their children are receiving. For example:

Is my child working at the appropriate grade level? If

not, what help is my child receiving to work up to

grade level?

What do :s my child's grade of A or B mean? Is my

child being measured against a standard or being compared to classmates?

This Research Report is part of a series published by the

Office of Educational Research and Improvement for

teachers and parents. If you would like to suggest topics

for a future Research Report, please write to: Office of

Research, U.S. Department of Education. 555 New Jersey

Avenue NW, Room 610e, Washington, DC 20208-5648.

To be added to the Research Report mailing list, send your

name and address to OERI Research Report, Outreach

Office, 555 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC

20208-5570. This report is a public document and may be

reproduced in part or in its entirety without permission.

Please credit OERI.

References

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Curriculum

and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics.

Reston, VA: 1989.

National Council on Education Standards and Testing.

Raising Standards for American Education. A Report to

Congress, the Secretary of Education. the National

Education Goals Panel, and the American People.

Washington, D.C.:1992.

Stevenson, Harold W. and Stigler. James W. The Learning

Gap: Why Our Schools Are Failing and What We Can

Learn From Japanese and Chinese Education. New York:

Summit Books, 1992.

Are the students who get A's and B's in my child's

eighth grade class well prepared for high school? What

classes do they usually go into in high school?

How well prepared are these students for college? How

do you know that they are well prepared?

Are tne students who get A's and B's in my child's

high school classes well prepared for work? What

kinds of jobs do they get? Have you talked to their

employers about additional skills they should be

learning in high school to improve their job performance and career options?

Most important, parents should ensure that they have the

information they need to judge what their children know

and can do.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational

Research and Improvement. Prepared by Educational

Testing Service. The State of Mathematics Achievement:

Executive Summary, Report No. 21ST-03. Washington,

D.C.: June 1991.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational

Research and Improvement. User's Manual: National

Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. Base Year: Parent

Component Data File User's Manual. Data Series:

DRNELS: 88-88-2.2.Washington, D.C.: March 1990.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational

Research and Improvement. User's Manual: National

Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. Base Year: Student

Component Data File User's Manual. Data Series:

DRNELS: 88-88-1.2.Washington, D.C.: March 1990.

Notes: (1) The data on student grades in this report are

from the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988

(NELS:88). NELS includes surveys of eighth grade students, their parents, and their teachers, and provides information on family characteristics, school characteristics,

and student achievement. (2) Tables of standard errors and

numbers of cases are available on request.

OR 92-3070

November 1992

This Research Report is produced by the Office of Research,

Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) of the U. S. Department of Education.

Lamar Alexander, Secretary of Education

Diane Ravitch, Assistant Secretary, OERI

Francis Alexander, Deputy Assistant Secretary, OERI

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