Parents and the public would like to see more community involvement, but two-thirds say they're comfortable leaving decisions to the professionals. But those who rate their schools poorly are more likely to want to get directly involved. Click here for selected findings . Reality Check 2001 Jean Johnson, Ann Duffett, Tony Foleno, Patrick Foley, and Steve Farkas. This fourth annual progress report on the academic standards movement finds that teachers, parents, students, employers, and college professors broadly endorse local initiatives to raise standards.
Teachers report that social promotion is down and summer school attendance is up.
And despite broad concern about a so-called backlash to standards and testing, Reality Check shows almost no desire to turn back the clock among parents and teachers. While teachers and parents believe high-stakes standardized tests motivate students and identify those who are struggling, very large majorities of both strongly oppose basing promotion or graduation solely on the results of one test. Few students themselves express anxiety about the tests and most say questions are fair. Full text available through newspaper's Web site. Click here for highlights.