Dana Markow and Marc Scheer, MetLife
2002
Insurance giant MetLife has for nineteen years sponsored an annual survey of American teachers and students. This year's report focuses on student life in school, at home, and in the community. Gleaned from the responses of a large sample of public school students and their teachers in grades 7-12, this 213-page report reveals students' thoughts on success, sleep habits, dropping out, and reading, as well as teachers' views on communicating with students and parents, working in low-income schools, the difference between new and veteran educators, and much more. The bulk of the report is made up of graphs, pie charts, and tables supporting its rather bland findings: Students who perform well spend more time in the library, participate more frequently in sports, drama, music and other activities, get enough sleep and exercise, eat breakfast, and communicate with their parents more frequently, whereas low-achievers are more likely to consider dropping out of school, to lack a quiet place to do their homework, to report that their parents do not know what is going on in their lives, and to describe their home life as unhappy. Notably, neither the majority of students nor teachers says their school does an extremely good job of preparing students for college, getting a good job, learning how to learn, being a good citizen and getting along with others. And teachers whose schools have more than two-thirds low-income students are less likely to think their schools are doing a good job than teachers elsewhere. The report also produces some interesting contradictions. Two-thirds of teachers, for example, believe that more parent involvement would be helpful in improving student achievement, but less than one-fifth of them express a desire for more frequent parent-teacher communication. To learn more, see www.metlife.com/WPSAssets/11738669411033654558V1FBook%20v.3.pdf.
