1. Canada's Schools: Report Card for the 1990s. A CEA Opinion Poll.
- Author
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Canadian Education Association, Toronto (Ontario)., Williams, Tom R., and Millinoff, Holly
- Abstract
This report summarizes a poll of Canadian opinion on education. Most people gave the schools in their community a B (39 percent) or C (35 percent), suggesting a relatively high degree of satisfaction with schools. Some 29 percent of the population indicated that schools have improved over the past 4 years, 20 percent indicated they have become worse, and 42 percent said that they have stayed the same. Two-thirds of respondents saw their provincial government as somewhat or strongly committed to maintaining a high quality educational system, and one-half felt that the government received food or excellent value for its education dollar. The biggest problems facing schools were perceived to be drug and alcohol abuse (17 percent), discipline (11 percent), preparation for the work force (9 percent), and improvement of basic skills (9 percent). The most positive assessments (grades A or B) were accorded to teacher effectiveness and staff responsiveness to parents' concerns about their children. However, respondents indicated great dissatisfaction with performance in reading, writing, and speaking; 22 percent were somewhat dissatisfied and 11 percent very dissatisfied. Schools in jurisdictions with over 1 million population are viewed more negatively in many cases. Appendices contain a sample questionnaire and a summary of demographic characteristics. (Author/MLH)
- Published
- 1990