(updated 11/11/13)
More than 4,000 educators (including 2271 teachers, 600 principals, 386 school counselors and 76 school board members)  have already taken the new Josephson Institute survey on the state of education in America. (If you haven’t already, please take the survey here and please share this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JIEducatorSurvey on Facebook, Twitter or elsewhere to encourage others to take it as well — the larger the sample the more influential the results.)

One of the most significant findings is that there is on most questions a very wide gap between the perceptions of top administrators (superintendents and principals) and teachers (e.g., principals are more than twice as likely to support standardized testing – 38% versus 15%).

Here are some of the early findings (which could change as the sample gets bigger, though they are not likely to change significantly):

• With all the cost-cutting and pressures, are students getting a quality education? Despite widespread complaints and low morale, 86% of superintendents and 76% of principals say that the quality of education has improved over the past 5 years. Though the tint of the rose colored glasses of teachers is less positive, 56% of teachers agree that the quality of education is improving (in fact, 28% of the teachers think the quality of education has deteriorated). [click to see lots more]
• Do educators want us to stop expecting schools to teach morality, social skills and other nonacademic skills and traits and let them concentrate on core education (e.g., reading, writing and arithmetic)? Surprisingly administrators and teachers are emphatic that schools should be doing more to help students develop core ethical character traits (e.g., honesty, respect – superintendents 91%, principals 91%, teachers 89%);  social emotional skills and traits (e.g., self-awareness, self-management – superintendents 91%,  principals 92%, teachers 88%), success traits (e.g., perseverance, resilience) and success skills (e.g., organization, time management) – superintendents 95%, principals 94%, teachers 93%.
• Have standardized tests had a positive effect on teacher performance and student learning?  Despite the disparity between administrators and teachers on this issue, it’s safe to say that educators generally are not sold on the value of standardized testing — only 44% of superintendents, 37% of principals and 15% of teachers believe these tests are helpful.
• Educator attitudes about the Common Core Uniform Standards. More than two thirds of the administrators (70% for superintendents, 64% principals) say they believe that adoption of the Common Core will improve educational outcomes compared to less than half of the teachers (48%).