Parent and Teacher Opinions on Key Issues in Canadian Education

Summary

The goal of this project was to provide valuable feedback to policymakers by collecting teachers’ and parents’ views on many different aspects of the education system across Canada. Parents and teachers can help guide policymakers, as both groups have immediate contact with students whose welfare and nurturing is central to families and school communities alike. This project resulted in a report and a series of roundtable meetings in order to communicate the findings to policymakers and other stakeholder groups.

Grant Outputs

Parent and Teacher Views on Education: A policymakers guide – http://insightrix.com/pdfs/saee.pdf

During the 2005-2006 academic year, approximately 2000 teachers and an equal number of parents were surveyed on a wide range of topics relating to education. The survey was designed to obtain insight on a range of issues, including determining parents’ and teachers’ knowledge of alternative policies and practices being introduced in other school systems. It measured parents’ and teachers’ views on a variety of other topics, including whether schools should receive an annual report card, what factors contribute to classroom disruptions, and whether teachers unions had an appropriate amount of power. The results provide a baseline against which future surveys can be judged. This survey report shows that parents and teachers generally regard the education system positively, with over 70% of both groups providing grades of A or B (on a scale of A, B, C, D and F) to the overall program.