Category: Our Impact

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Digital Promise Global, an education innovation nonprofit, has recently released the results of its first national public opinion poll covering student potential and achievement, learner variability, tailored approaches to learning, the use of educational technology and what teachers rely on to do their work. The report explores differences and commonalities among public school parents, teachers and the public at large on these topics, among others.

The most notable results include:

  • At least 75 percent of public school parents, teachers and the American public alike believe most students are capable of reaching high levels of educational achievement – but only 19 to 29 percent say most students are reaching those levels today.
  • Vast majorities see tailored instruction as the “better way for students to learn,” with more than six in 10 feeling that way strongly.
  • Support for learner variability is seen as lacking, with only 35 percent of the general public, 42 percent of parents and 53 percent of teachers saying public schools currently do an excellent or good job in this area.
  • There’s broad support for the use of edtech in schools, even though few are convinced it makes a great difference in improving student learning outcomes.

Survey production and analysis was conducted by Langer Research Associates, with the report produced by Digital Promise Global’s Learner Variability Project. Read more about the report on the Digital Promise Global LVP site.

We released four analyses from our latest ABC News/Washington Post poll this past week, on views of Donald Trump and public reaction to the Mueller report, views of the 2020 Democratic candidates for president, Trump’s re-election prospects and immigration policy. In addition to use on ABC News platforms and in the Post, the pieces received wide pickup nationally and internationally. See, for example, coverage by Bloomberg News, CNN, CNBC, Daily Mail, Fox News, Politico, HuffPost, The Hill, the Indianapolis Star, the National Review, Newsday, Newsweek, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Vox, the Washington Examiner, the Chinese news outlet Xinhua and several Russian news outlets (here, here and here).

In our ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted shortly before the end of the latest government shutdown and two years into the Trump presidency, a majority of Americans continued to blame the partial government shutdown on President Donald Trump. Americans also expressed low confidence in Trump’s work across a range of other issues, although they similarly distrust congressional Democrats. These results were covered by CNN, Fortune, PBS, Newsweek, the Independent, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, The Japan Times, and Bustle, among others. The same poll also found a majority of Americans support the new Democratic House majority using its authority to obtain and release Trump’s tax returns, with coverage by CNN, MSNBC, The Hill, Townhall, the Independent, Vox, the Jerusalem Post, HuffPost, Newsmax, and Press Herald.

Turning to 2020, our poll found no clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination while a third of Republicans and Republican leaners oppose nominating Trump. These results have been picked up by CNN, USA Today, News One, Newsweek, New York Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Politico, The Hill, The Week Magazine, Vox, the Washington Examiner, and the Washington Times in addition to coverage from ABC News and the Washington Post.

Our latest ABC News/Washington Post poll found that the public blamed President Trump and congressional Republicans for the partial federal government shutdown by a 53-29 margin over congressional Democrats, as well as gauging their feelings on the situation at the southern border. It’s been covered by AP, Fox News, USA Today, CNBC, Politico, The Hill, Vox, UPI, HuffPost, Quartz, Slate, Mother Jones, Business Insider, Fortune, Newsmax and the Washington Examiner, among others, in addition to coverage from ABC and the Washington Post.

See our 2018 Election Night exit poll analysis here, and our subsequent piece on “Blue Waves and White Bubbles” here. We’re pleased with our final estimate of the national congressional vote, 52-44 percent. The actual outcome at last report was 53-45 percent, for a total error of 2 points.

The double-digit Democratic lead narrows in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, covered by CNN, Fox News, Vox, Politico,  USA Today, Forbes, The Hill, Townhall, The Independent, The Week Magazine, and Salon. And in the tense period following a mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue and mail bombs sent to Trump critics, half of Americans say Donald Trump encourages violence in the way he speaks, with about as many saying the media do, too. It’s been covered by AP News, The Washington Times, The Hill, The Independent, and The Week Magazine, among others.

Democrats hold onto their double-digit lead in the House, even with Donald Trump’s approval rating advancing to its second-highest in his career in our most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, picked up by The New York Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg, New Zealand Herald, and The Salt Lake Tribune, among others. Also in our mid-October poll, the public by 51-41 percent disapproves of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, with additional coverage on this topic by Politico, USA Today, The Hill (here and here), Axios, MSNBC, and Newsweek.

We’ve been taking a closer look at the relationship between the economy and presidential approval.

President Trump is the first president whose approval ratings have consistently lagged those of the economy, as measured by the national economy gauge of the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index. For more details, check out the Bloomberg article There’s never been a president this unpopular with an economy this good, with calculations provided by Langer Research Associates.

Further, Gary Langer re-examines the “Carville Dictum” in his new op-ed Presidential approval: It’s the economy; except when it’s not published in The Hill earlier this week, with contributions by research associate Allison De Jong.

Full results from the Phi Delta Kappa Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools were released this month, covering topics such as teacher pay, school funding, perceived opportunity gaps between different student groups, the value of a college degree and its affordability, and other issues facing the public schools more broadly.
The most notable results include:

  • Overwhelming support for increasing teacher pay, with 73 percent of Americans saying they would support the teachers in their community if they were to go on strike for higher salaries.
  • A preference for spending more on students who need extra support rather than the same amount on each student regardless of need, 60 vs. 39 percent, albeit with no consensus on where the extra funds should come from.
  • Widespread perception of fewer educational opportunities for lower-income, rural and black and Hispanic students  when compared with their counterparts.

Formerly the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll, it’s now the third year the PDK survey has been produced by Langer Research Associates. See media coverage by the American Federation of Teachers, the National School Boards Association, The Washington Post, Townhall, The Guardian, NEA Today, the Chicago Daily Herald, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Boston Herald, the Arizona Education News Service, and Diverse: Issues in Education.
In addition to the full report, results from the 2018 PDK survey on school security were part of a separate, early release in July. It’s been picked up by USA Today, Politico, The Washington Post, The Hill, the Chicago Daily Herald, Detroit News, the Orlando Sentinel, The Buffalo News, The Crime Report, and The Jerusalem Post, among others.