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Is Seeing Believing? How Americans and Germans Think about their Schools

Author

Listed:
  • Michael B. Henderson
  • Philipp Lergetporer
  • Paul E. Peterson
  • Katharina Werner
  • Martin R. West
  • Ludger Woessmann

Abstract

What do citizens of the United States and Germany think about their schools and school policies? This paper offers the first broad comparison of public thinking on education in the two countries. We carried out opinion surveys of representative samples of the German and American adult populations in 2014 that included experiments in which we provided additional information to randomly selected subgroups. The paper first describes key characteristics of the U.S. and German education systems and then analyzes how information and institutional context affect public beliefs in the two countries. Results indicate both similarities and differences in the structure of American and German public opinion on schools and school policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael B. Henderson & Philipp Lergetporer & Paul E. Peterson & Katharina Werner & Martin R. West & Ludger Woessmann, 2015. "Is Seeing Believing? How Americans and Germans Think about their Schools," ifo Working Paper Series 202, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ifowps:_202
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanushek, Eric A. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2015. "The Knowledge Capital of Nations: Education and the Economics of Growth," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262029170, December.
    2. Ludger Woessmann & Paul E. Peterson (ed.), 2007. "Schools and the Equal Opportunity Problem," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026223257x, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lergetporer, Philipp & Schwerdt, Guido & Werner, Katharina & West, Martin R. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2018. "How information affects support for education spending: Evidence from survey experiments in Germany and the United States," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 138-157.
    2. Ludger Wößmann & Philipp Lergetporer & Franziska Kugler & Katharina Werner & Franziska Pfaehler, 2016. "Do Teachers Have Different Opinions on Education Policy to the General Population? Results of the Ifo Education Barometer 2016," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 69(17), pages 19-34, September.
    3. Sandra Vamos & Orkan Okan & Tetine Sentell & Irving Rootman, 2020. "Making a Case for “Education for Health Literacy”: An International Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-18, February.
    4. Philipp Lergetporer & Katharina Werner & Ludger Woessmann, 2017. "Public Opinion on Education Policy in Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 6602, CESifo.
    5. Ludger Wößmann & Philipp Lergetporer & Franziska Kugler & Laura Oestreich & Katharina Werner & Franziska Pfaehler, 2015. "Germans Are Ready for Fundamental Educational Reforms – Results of the Ifo Education Barometer 2015," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 68(17), pages 29-50, September.
    6. Katharina Werner, 2019. "The Role of Information for Public Preferences on Education – Evidence from Representative Survey Experiments," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 82.
    7. Busemeyer, Marius R. & Lergetporer, Philipp & Woessmann, Ludger, 2018. "Public opinion and the political economy of educational reforms: A survey," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 161-185.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems

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