Education
In 2008, FrameWorks began a multi-year investigation of American thinking about education in general and education reform in specific. Funded by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and the Lumina Foundation for Education, the goal of this project is to document patterns in public thinking about all levels of the American education system, and to explore the challenges and opportunities that confront those who would reshape the public conversation to support comprehensive reform.
Funders | Research | Related Reports | Products & Tools
Our Funders
Support for FrameWorks' research and message development on Education was provided by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and the Lumina Foundation for Education. Additional reports from other funders may be posted as they apply to this investigation.
Our Research
Reform What? Individualist Thinking in Education: American Cultural Models on Schooling (2008) Cognitive interviews conducted by FrameWorks show that involved citizens overwhelmingly think about education at the individual level and have difficulty thinking about schooling and learning as a public good that requires societal investment. This report, based on 49 in-depth interviews, offers a preliminary map of the most relevant cultural models that guide Americans’ thinking about education.
Enough Blame To Go Around: Understanding the Public Discourse on Education Reform (2009) This report shares the results of 18 focus groups conducted in 7 cities with diverse groups of politically engaged people around the United States. This research shows that Americans generally understand the education system as “failing” but lack an organized understanding of the way the system functions or how it may be improved. A key impediment to education reform is the lack of agency that is evident in these discussions.
Put Your Pencils Down Please: Media Coverage of Education Reform 2007-2008 (2009)This study was designed to gain an understanding of how major and select local media cover the ongoing debates over education reform. Relevant stories about reforms aimed at the pre-K through high school years from June 1, 2007, through July 31, 2008 were examined. Researchers found that education reform is typically covered as a local issue where the goal of improved student achievement is juxtaposed against the chronic resource constraints of local school systems.
Don't Give Up On Education!: A Cognitive Analysis of the Media Coverage of Education Reform 2007-2008 (2009) In this second media analysis, FrameWorks researchers analyze how dominant frames in the news coverage of education reform impact public understanding of this issue. Issues in media depictions of education and education reform are examined and suggestions for future framing strategies are suggested.
Related Reports
Invisible Structures of Opportunity: How Media Depictions of Race Trivialize Issues of Diversity and Disparity (2009) This analysis was supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to examine the various ways in which race is presented to readers, directly and indirectly, in the nation’s news media. More specifically, it analyzes media coverage of race over the course of one year in four issue areas: health, education, early child development and employment. The report lays out the dominant frames that are applied to race in these areas and demonstrates how these frames constrain public solutions.
Products & Tools
Reform What? American Public Opinions on Education, is a video presentation of the findings from 49 in-depth cognitive interviews, conducted on seven states. The purpose of this work was to identify the common assumptions that Americans have about what education is and how it works. Excerpts from real interviews are included and recommendations for improved communications strategies are provided.
