Despite a belief that Americans want to return to how things were pre-COVID, personal priorities on K-12 education are very different according to a recent study by Populace.
The study found the public is now less interested in college being the end goal of K-12 education and has large misconceptions about others’ priorities when it comes to education.
“The Purpose of Education Index is a first-of-its-kind, multi-year, nationally representative study designed to understand the American people’s priorities for K-12 education today. Populace undertook this research as part of a broader commitment to ensuring that the public’s voice is front and center in conversations about the purpose of public institutions,” according to the report.
Key takeaways include:
- “College Should No Longer Be the End Goal of K-12 Education”
- “Practical Skills and Outcomes Should Be the End Goal”
- “Individualized Education is the Future, One-Size-Fits-All Is the Past”
- “Education Priorities Vary Immensely by Race”
- “’Better’ Is No Longer the Goal – ‘Different’ Is”
Of the top priorities, education that focuses on practical skills that prepare them for life was ranked first. This was followed by the want for students to be able to think critically and make decisions.
Preparing students for college was not top a priority among most of those despite it being #3 in what Americans believe most people prioritize. The disparity increased drastically in 2022 with a 44-rank difference between perceived and personal want. Only Asian adults maintained this as a top personal priority, ranking ninth.
The greatest gaps in the results were between demonstration of character, the desire for meaningful work and the standardized approach verses a more individualized approach. The report stated that Americans believe society actively priorities a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
Overall, Americans have a skewed understanding of what the majority truly prioritizes because of distortions from media, popular culture, and a bias towards conformity according to the report. The report referred to this as “collective illusions” and highlight the overestimation and underestimation of society’s preferences relative to their personal ones.
“Private priorities can sometimes be shrouded by collective illusions—beliefs about what other people in society think. Most of the time, people’s beliefs about what society wants are distorted by the media, popular culture, and a bias towards conformity,” the report stated.
The study argued the difference in priorities between groups point to a need for an education system that is flexible and is able to support the different needs and wants of students.
