The 17th OISE survey: Public attitudes towards education in Ontario in 2009

The OISE/UT Survey has been conducted and published biennially since 1980. It is the only regular, publicly disseminated survey of public attitudes towards educational policy options in Canada. Its basic purpose is to enhance public self-awareness and informed participation in educational policy-making.Public satisfaction with Ontario’s education system is the highest in 30 years, according to the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Survey Public Attitudes Towards Education in Ontario. “The OISE Survey shows public views of Ontario schools have markedly improved since the years of discord in the late 1990s and early years of the 21st century,” says Doug Hart, co-author of the survey with D. W. Livingstone. The OISE Survey is the longest-running public opinion survey on education carried out in Canada. This is the 17th OISE Survey conducted by Hart and Livingstone since 1978. A random sample of 1,001 Ontario adults were interviewed by telephone between October 2009 and January 2010. Issues examined include: public satisfaction with schools; funding priorities; governance; testing; opportunities for postsecondary education; and current policy issues including early childhood education and Africentric schools.OISE/U