A comparative study of a public opinion poll of the parents of the Stockton Unified School District, Stockton, California

The purpose of this study was to obtain a representative sample of public opinion to the following questions: (1) To what extent do the parents favor the educational program of the Stockton Unified School District? (2) What do the parents think of the treachers in the Stockton public schools? (3) Are the parents aware of the student growth and building problems that face the Stockton Unified School District? The data of this study were obtained by means of a questionnaire sent to parents of school children in nine elementary and four high schools in Stockton. The questionnaires were sent home with the students the third week of December, 1953. It was further the purpose of this study to provide a comparative analysis of the results of the poll among the nine elementary schools which were selected from three distinct socio-economic areas and to compare the elementary schools with the high schools. It was hoped that this study would contribute to data which would be used as a basis for making recommendations for creating better understandings between the teachers and administrators of the Stockton Unified School District and the parents whose children they teach. This study will confine itself to the compiling of totals to answers on the questionnaires and to the making of comparative analyses of these results. From the data of this survey it was hoped that administrators and teachers would become aware of sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the schools and from this knowledge a public relations and educational program could be devised which would make possible closer cooperation and the elimination of major sources of discontent among the patrons of Stockton’s public schools