Global Strategy Group’s online survey methodology modeled a representative sample of New Jersey public school parents, based on gender, age, race, level of education, and region of the state, built a sample size of 400 public school parents, with a +/- 4.9% margin of error.
Complete results of the poll can be found on the JerseyCAN’s NJ KIDS CAN’T WAIT microsite by clicking HERE.
Among the key findings:
- Coming out of the pandemic, New Jersey public school parents have deep academic concerns about their children. Specifically, parents’ top concerns center on students’ ability to focus in class, social isolation, difficulty learning new concepts, and getting help from teachers. They are particularly concerned that their children have fallen behind in the core subjects of math (41%) and reading (29%).
- As a result, parents are seeking bold changes in education. Parents – especially lower-income parents and people of color – want to see significant reforms to address their concerns. Most want to see schools use new funding to make these bold changes (63%) rather than simply moving back to the old normal (37%).
- Parents want changes that provide students with more academic support. Parents want more instructional time for their children (59% want more time) and particularly support more time in the subjects they are most concerned about — math and reading. They also want individualized learning plans and extra academic support and tutoring.
- Parents clearly support testing to measure progress. Parents want more data about students to ensure they are on track and that their schools are doing a good job teaching. They believe statewide tests are effective at measuring these and support them (80% believe testing is important).
“As the polling information indicates, New Jersey sits at a defining moment,” stated Janellen Duffy, Senior Advisor, JerseyCAN, “and understanding parents’ concerns and priorities is crucial for building sensible policies and solutions for the future. Parents do not want to simply return to how things were – they want to see bold changes so schools can make up for lost time and meet the needs of their children. At JerseyCAN, we will use the poll as a guide for our policy recommendations and dig deeper to understand the full realm of bold changes that parents are seeking.”
In a joint statement, Jamilah Muhammad and Tafshier Cosby, co-Chief Executive Officers for Parent Impact stated, “These findings are consistent with what we have heard in the field in our work with parents in New Jersey and across the country,” “Parents know what their children need — additional academic support like tutoring and more time spent on instruction — and they want to see funding being used for bold changes in education as we emerge from the pandemic. Now is the time for policymakers to really engage, especially with families, and make sure we’re meeting these needs.”
Today’s poll release comes on the heels of recent news articles, editorials, and op-eds, that showcase alarming data regarding the significant disruption to student learning caused by the pandemic, with the majority of public school students now needing “some support” or “strong support” in Math or English Language Arts.
