Findings have been released from Part I of MetLife’s twenty-seventh annual education survey, which focuses on what it means to be “college- and career-ready.” In this poll of middle and high school teachers, students, public-education parents, and executives of Fortune 100 companies, MetLife investigates how stakeholder groups feel about the college- and career-ready goal and what students need to do to reach it.
Findings are interesting:
There is broad agreement that each and every student should graduate high school ready for college and a career.
In larger numbers than in the past, most middle and high school students expect to go to college.
Teachers, parents, and executives believe that higher-order, cross-disciplinary skills (such as writing, critical thinking, and problem solving), and self motivation and team skills are more important for college preparation than higher-level content in mathematics and science. Executives place much greater emphasis than the other groups on the capacity for team work.
The report also explores survey results to outline the characteristics of a college-going culture. It documents varying views on education reform. Only 17 percent of teachers give high priority to more school choice, compared to 43 percent of parents and 46 percent of executives. When asked about the need to graduate all students college- and career-ready, 73 percent of parents said it needed to be done, compared to only 43 percent of executives.
The survey may be accessed here: http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/contributions/foundation/american-teacher/MetLife_Teacher_Survey_2010.pdf
Part II of the survey, “Teaching Diverse Learners,” is set to release March 23.
