An interesting poll
Check it out…
LOS ANGELES - Ethnic and minority parents in California share high expectations for their children and rank education as a top concern, according to a New America Media multilingual poll released on Wednesday.
In the Asian-American community, an overwhelming 90% of the respondents expect their children to at least graduate from a four-year university. 86% of the African-American respondents and 80% of the Latinos polled also expect their children to at least graduate from a four-year university.
Despite their different educational and socio-economic backgrounds, different degrees of English-language proficiency and varied levels of sophistication on the role of public education, parents and pre-school programs in the educational life of a child, poll findings reveal that these ethnic and minority parents have aspirations that reach well beyond the hope that their children will earn a high school diploma.
“This poll, like many others we’ve commissioned, proves how important it is to survey these groups on their own languages,” said Sandy Close, executive director of New America Media. Opinions among the three groups studied vary widely on a range of issues, reflecting important differences in their socio-economic and educational backgrounds.
According to Close, “The parents view schools as opportunity providers, not sorting mills. The overwhelming majority want their children to attain at least a college degree and are actively engaged in helping them succeed. They could become an important source of pressure to raise achievement levels in public schools in California.”
Nationally recognized pollster Sergio Bendixen conducted the poll, commissioned by New America Media. Bendixen surveyed 602 Asian, African American and Latino parents in English, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese. (more…)
