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EJ861071 - The Persuadable Public

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ERIC #:	EJ861071
Title:	The Persuadable Public
Authors:	Howell, William G.; Peterson, Paul E.; West, Martin R.
Descriptors:	Merit Pay; Charter Schools; Educational Change; Educational Vouchers; Presidents; Public Opinion; Audience Response; Audience Analysis; Educational Policy; Politics of Education; Political Attitudes; Attitude Change; Influences
Source:	Education Next, v9 n4 p20-29 Fall 2009
More Info: Help Peer Reviewed:	Yes
Publisher:	Hoover Institution. Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-6010. Tel: 800-935-2882; Fax: 650-723-8626; e-mail: educationnext@hoover.stanford.edu; Web site: http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext
Publication Date:	2009-00-00
Pages:	10
Pub Types:	Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Abstract:	This article presents the findings from the 2009 "Education Next" and Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) survey which asks if information changes minds about school reform. The authors fielded the survey in March of 2009, when newly elected president Barack Obama enjoyed public approval ratings above 60 percent. The timing of the survey provided an ideal opportunity to estimate the impact an endorsement by a popular president can have on policy views. To ascertain the president's influence, the authors conducted some simple experiments. On three topics--merit pay, charter schools, and school vouchers--one group of survey respondents was asked its opinion without any special prompt. Another group was first told the president's position on the issue before being asked for its own. A third group was instead told about evidence from research on the policy's effects on student learning. The authors' experiments only hint at what could happen in the real world of school politics. It is one thing to inform a captive audience of survey respondents about the president's position, the results from research, or a key fact about American education. Reaching the entire American public is a completely different matter. The authors stress that to change opinions, one must get the public's attention. The findings suggest that a well-publicized stance taken by a popular president on an education issue might shift the opinions of large segments of the American public. Any group that seeks to change public opinion without gathering research to back its positions is leaving a flank unprotected. Advocates are well advised to search for facts the public does not understand, and then to communicate those facts as widely as they can. (Contains 5 figures.)
Abstractor:	ERIC
Reference Count:	0

Note:	N/A
Identifiers:	N/A
Record Type:	Journal
Level:	N/A
Institutions:	N/A
Sponsors:	N/A
ISBN:	N/A
ISSN:	ISSN-1539-9664
Audiences:	N/A
Languages:	English
Education Level:	Adult Education; Elementary Secondary Education
Direct Link:	http://educationnext.org/persuadable-public/

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