Louisiana Public Square

LSU Survey Results

Professional Sports in Louisiana

How closely would you say that you follow news on state government and public affairs in Louisiana?

	Pre %	Post %
Teacher	34.4	4.3
Parent	2.2	0.0
Student	58.6	95.7
Other	4.8	0.0

Q2. Gender:

	Pre %	Post %
Female	65.6	52.2
Male	34.4	47.8

Q3. Grade Levels (Students Only)

	Pre %	Post %
9th	34.9	11.8
10th	26.6	0.0
11th	16.7	17.6
12th	19.8	70.6

Q4. Education (Parents)

	Pre %	Post %
Less than 9th Grade	3.3	0.0
9th - 11th Grade	14.8	10.0
High School diploma	21.3	20.0
Some College	19.0	10.0
Associates Degree	3.0	5.0
4 year College Degree	20.8	35.0
Graduate Degree	18.0	20.0

Q5. Which of the following best describes your race or ethnicity?

	Pre %	Post %
Caucasian/ White	68.9	13.0
African-American/ Black	24.2	78.3
Hispanic	1.2	0.0
Asian	1.3	4.3
American Indian	1.7	0.0
Mixed Race	2.0	4.3
Other	0.7	0.0

Q6. Are you a participant in the LPB program on Redesigning Louisiana's High Schools?

	Pre %	Post %
Yes	11.2	21.0
No	88.8	0.0

Q7. Is there someone at your high school (a teacher, counselor, coach, or administrator) who you can talk to about your plans to attend college or go to work?

	Pre %	Post %
Yes	90.9	95.5
No	9.1	4.5

Q8. What do you plan on doing after finishing high school?

	Pre %	Post %
Working full-time	7.3	0.0
Attending Vocation Training or Technical School	10.2	19.0
Attending Community College	8.5	9.5
Attending a Four-Year College	74.0	71.4

Q9. Have you ever considered attending a community college or vocational or training school?

	Pre %	Post %
Yes	31.0	0.0
No	69.0	0.0

Q10. To the best of your knowledge, how many of your friends are planning on attending a four-year college or university?

	Pre %	Post %
Almost all of them	46.7	0.0
Most of them	29.5	0.0
Some of them	18.0	0.0
Not very many	4.9	0.0
None	0.8	0.0

Q11. Certification: Are you certified to teach in all the areas you are currently teaching in?

	Pre %	Post %
Yes	80.1	50.0
No	19.9	50.0

Q12. Years in Education: How long have you been teaching in a public high school?

	Pre %	Post %
0 thru 9	54.3	100.0
10 thru 19	23.3	0.0
20 thru 29	14.3	0.0
30 thru 39	8.2	0.0

Q13. What is the most important problem confronting Louisiana's public high schools?

	Pre %	Post %
Students are unmotivated and unprepared	26.3	18.2
Not enough money for facilities, technology, and supplies	15.1	36.4
Lack of discipline	14.8	18.2
Other	11.0	0.0
Low teacher salaries	10.7	9.1
Little or no parental involvement	9.4	9.1
Drugs	5.1	9.1
Violence	5.1	0.0
Parents don't support the teachers	2.6	0.0

Other Responses include:

• Administrative Disorganization
• The structure of high school itself
• The structure of high school itself
• Reading Problems
• Students do not take education seriously
• parents, kid discipline, &admin. support
• Too much emphasis on test scores
• rigorous and varied curriculum
• Too much emphasis on college prep
• Lack of discipline AND apathy
• all of the above
• All of the above
• What they wear
• Lack of student training: values/ethics
• no school spirit
• no school spirit
• The student's dont have a voice in school
• All of the above are serious problems
• Too little teaching time
• teen pregnancy
• Our "good old boy" parish system
• Students working too much & late at night
• vocational training
• all of the above
• school uniform
• No accountability for students/parents
• A combination of all of the above.
• none
• they have no home training
• some teachers teach very poorly
• all of the above
• students do not value education
• sexual problems
• Boring teachers
• relevance and rigor of curriculum
• Social issues affecting childs academics
• No student or parental accountability
• we need a higher GPA to play sports
• need more active projects
• all the above
• lack of rigor in curricula
• lack of motivation and student apathy
• we have to wear uniforms
• athletics hire coaches, takes class time
• all of the above
• Not geared to the population they teach.

Q14. When comes to public high schools, do you think:

	Pre %	Post %
Some changes are needed but basically they should be kept the same	49.5	30.8
Major changes are needed	37.2	61.5
A complete overhaul is needed	7.2	7.7
They work pretty well as they are now	6.2	0.0

Q15. Using a standard grading scale, how would you grade the quality of the high school you currently attend, work for, or send your children to?

	Pre %	Post %
A	14.1	14.3
B	41.6	28.6
C	35.2	35.7
D	6.7	21.4
F	2.3	0.0

Q16. How would you rate the overall quality of teaching in your high school?

	Pre %	Post %
A	18.6	14.3
B	52.2	21.4
C	23.3	50.0
D	3.9	14.3
F	2.1	0.0

Q17. How would you rate your high school in terms of facilities (classrooms, technology, etc.)?

	Pre %	Post %
A	13.2	26.7
B	33.9	20.0
C	31.0	33.3
D	15.2	6.7
F	6.7	13.3

Q18. What is the most important reason for a high school student to decide NOT to go to college?

	Pre %	Post %
Too expensive	25.8	56.3
Hasn't met academic standards	25.3	25.0
Not interested	21.6	12.5
Doesn't fit into career/work plans	20.3	0.0
Need to stay close to home	1.8	0.0
Other	5.2	6.3

Other Responses include:

• doesn't want to put forth the effort
• Apathy
• my school does not prepare them
• unmotivated
• don't see the importance
• no motivation; couldn't meet TOPS
• No motivation
• Family Problems
• He or she is unprepared and not mature.
• They feel like they can't make it
• have a good paying job already
• they don't realize the possibilities
• lazy
• People are just too lazy!
• feel unprepared
• Not Motivated
• expenses, acasdemics, and home
• is lazy
• they should
• needs to raise a family
• Not expected to by others
• drop outs
• they want to go ahead and start a career
• all the above
• Maturity level; Undecided on major
• Not motivated

Please indicate whether you strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements:

Q19. Students come to high school from middle school well prepared for high school courses & curriculum.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	6.1	0.0
Agree	30.4	34.8
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	22.8	13.0
Disagree	30.6	39.1
Strongly Disagree	10.0	13.0

Q20. A high school degree is no guarantee that students have learned the basics.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	23.0	30.4
Agree	46.8	43.5
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	14.7	17.4
Disagree	12.4	8.7
Strongly Disagree	3.2	0.0

Q21. The biggest problems in Louisiana's public high schools have to do with money - low teacher salaries, too few teachers, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate facilities and supplies etc.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	37.6	39.1
Agree	31.8	34.8
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	16.0	13.0
Disagree	12.5	8.7
Strongly Disagree	2.0	4.3

Q22. There is too much emphasis in high schools on standardized testing.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	38.9	30.4
Agree	33.3	39.1
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	15.6	21.7
Disagree	10.5	4.3
Strongly Disagree	1.7	4.3

Q23. Teachers today are often made the scapegoats for all the problems confronting education.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	35.3	18.2
Agree	32.5	54.5
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	22.1	13.6
Disagree	8.1	9.1
Strongly Disagree	2.1	4.5

Q24. Today's high school students face greater challenges than high schools students from other generations.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	45.2	60.9
Agree	32.9	26.1
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	12.0	8.7
Disagree	6.9	4.3
Strongly Disagree	3.0	0.0

Q25. Louisiana's public high schools are doing a good job preparing students for college.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	6.5	0.0
Agree	36.5	22.7
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	25.5	18.2
Disagree	24.4	40.9
Strongly Disagree	7.1	18.2

Q26. Louisiana's public high schools are doing a good job preparing students to go to work immediately after graduating.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	6.8	0.0
Agree	31.2	27.3
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	30.1	31.8
Disagree	24.2	27.3
Strongly Disagree	7.7	13.6

Q27. It is relatively easy to get a passing grade in most high school courses without much effort.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	12.9	13.6
Agree	29.8	40.9
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	24.5	22.7
Disagree	23.0	22.7
Strongly Disagree	9.7	0.0

Q28. High school students see the relevance of their coursework to do what they want to do with their lives.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	6.2	0.0
Agree	23.6	27.3
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	29.8	27.3
Disagree	31.3	31.8
Strongly Disagree	9.1	13.6

Q29. There should be more high school courses focused on job skills and vocational training.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	35.3	45.5
Agree	37.7	36.4
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	18.4	9.1
Disagree	6.9	9.1
Strongly Disagree	1.7	0.0

Q30. There should more Advanced Placement and honors courses to prepare students for college.

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	39.0	59.1
Agree	36.9	22.7
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	15.9	9.1
Disagree	7.1	9.1
Strongly Disagree	1.1	0.0

Q32. Finally, you are participating in a program on redesigning Louisiana's high schools, what is the one question you would most want answered by policy-makers? Or alternatively what is the most important suggestion you would make to policy-makers about redesigning high schools?

	Pre %	Post %
Strongly Agree	11.5	4.5
Agree	35.0	27.3
Neither Agree Nor Disagree	27.9	27.3
Disagree	19.0	27.3
Strongly Disagree	6.6	13.6

Other Responses:

Students who are obviously not geared toward academics--whether due to ability or lack of interest--should be channeled into vo-tech programs so that they will be more interested because the connection between school and career will be obvious. This should help with discipline problems and provide a better trained workforce.

Does it really help low level learners when they are put in a regular classroom with high level learners? I think grouping kids by their abilities may work better because the teacher would not have to slow down for some, making other bored or speed up the lesson but lose those who don't learn quickly. If we give standardized testing, then group them by their abilities and bring the whole group up.

I believe that high schools should be kept small. The larger the school, the more students become lost in the system. I went to a very small high school with a graduating class of 64 students.. Teachers knew your strenthes/weaknesses and were able to help you more one one on. The school i teach at now has more than 1600 students. It is very hard to get to know all the students.

increase technology

more teachers

Get involved with individual students' work and lives!