According to a report released in Education Week by Public Agenda, a national non-profit public opinion research firm, only half the nation’s teachers say their state standards or school district guidelines have led them to expect any more from students.

The report, Reality Check 2000, is based on more than 2,300 interviews across the country with roughly 600 each of teachers, parents and students and about 250 each of employers and college professors. This survey is the third in a series of public opinion surveys designed to track what impact the drive to improve education standards is having on those most directly affected – teachers, parents and students living under new standards and the employers and college professors who should see the results.

According to Deborah Wadsworth, the Executive Director of Public Agenda, "standards legislation appears to be having mixed results in changing the day-to-day lives of teachers and students. This research is a warning that change will not filter down to the classroom automatically."

Despite the omnipresence of standards, just 42 percent of teachers say they receive most of the guidance about what they should teach from state standards. Fewer than half of teachers say they have increased expectations of students as a result of standards.

It’s common sense to expect teachers to have a special perspective when their school systems set higher standards to improve student achievement. Public Agenda has learned that teachers consistently say public schools already do a better job than most people think. Teachers also are more likely than employers and professors to say that public schools offer a better education than private schools; they are more than twice as likely as employers and professors to say that public schools have higher academic standards than private schools. Almost seven in 10 strongly believe that public school teachers are doing as good a job as they can given lack of parental involvement, compared with just 38 percent of parents who say this.

Teachers are more skeptical than other groups about many proposals connected to standards reform. Just 22 percent of teachers say it is a good idea to tie financial incentives for teachers and principals to student achievement, compared with 59 percent of parents, 51 percent of employers, and 36 percent of professors. Teachers also are less likely than parents, employers or professors to strongly agree that high-stakes testing makes teachers and students more accountable.

According to other research Public Agenda has completed, teachers are far more likely to focus on other measures to reduce class size, increase resources, promote stronger parental involvement, and encourage better student motivation and behavior as the best ways to foster higher achievement.

For the complete Reality Check report, visit Teachers & Standards: Reality Check 2000 from Public Agenda.