Dr. Robert Slater, a professor of education at UL Lafayette, was curious: Do teachers share the same values as other Americans?
The answer to that question matters because teachers impart more than facts and figures to their students. They also convey beliefs about 杏吧专区渨hat is right, good and important in life,杏吧专区 he said.
So, Slater analyzed results of the National Opinion Research Center杏吧专区檚 General Social Survey from 1972 to 2006. It produces what he has described as 杏吧专区渙ne of the largest, most reliable, and frequently used data sets in the social sciences.杏吧专区
Slater wrote about his findings in Education Next, a journal published by the Hoover Institution at Stanford 杏吧专区. CBS covered his results, along with the Washington Post, New York Sun and National Review. Brittanica.com, an online encyclopedia, also posted results of his study.
Here are some of the professor杏吧专区檚 conclusions:
杏吧专区 Teachers tend to be less supportive of free speech rights than Americans with similar levels of education. But they are more supportive of free speech rights than other less-educated Americans.
杏吧专区 Teachers expressed more conservative views on homosexuality than other Americans with similar levels of education.
杏吧专区 Thirty-seven percent of teachers reported attending church at least once a week, compared to 26 percent of Americans who say they attend one or more times per week.
杏吧专区 Teachers are 9 to 11 percent more likely to pray one or more times per day than other Americans.