Public Opinion

This issues brief discusses the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Specifically, it reports on the results of focus groups that explored wheie people stand on standards-based education and whether they are likely to support or abandon struggling schools. The focus groups consisted of more than 60 participants who represented a broad cross-section of the Kansas City, Missouri, community, including students, parents of public- and private-school children, taxpayers who iaere not parents, educators, business owners, and policymakers. This brief reports on key themes that surfaced during the focus-group sessions. Initially, people expressed opinions on standards that were in line with public-opinion polls that have revealed support for standards, assessments, and accountability. But as the focus-group participants further discussed the issues, four themes emerged: (1) Standards are meaningless without tests, but accountability should be based on more than just test scores; (2) true accountability makes schools mor