Cowen Institute Poll Brief: A Deeper Look at New Orleans Parents’Opinions on Public K-12 Education

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor

Cowen Institute presents a 2021–2022 opinion poll brief examining New Orleans parents and guardians’ overall views on the quality and features of public K-12 education. Surveying 1,000 adults in Orleans Parish, including public, private, parochial, and homeschool families, the brief highlights differences tied to income and education. Key findings address attitudes toward standardized testing and the One App school application system, including changes in sentiment since prior years and noted concerns about usability, selection, and understanding.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Methodology

Key Findings

Standardized Testing

One App

Cowen Institute Poll Brief: A Deeper Look at New Orleans Parents’Opinions on Public K-12 Education March 2022 Introduction Since 2007, the Cowen Institute has conducted annual polls on perceptions of public education in New Orleans. These polls have served to provide insight on how parents, guardians, and the general public feel about the most relevant issues related to New Orleans’ highly decentralized K-12 public education system. In previous editions of the poll, we have presented all of the findings for a given year in a single comprehensive report. However, this year, to expedite the release of the most timely findings, we released a series of briefs covering different topic areas covered by the polling. This is the third and final brief in that series and examines parents and guardians’ overall feelings about the quality and features of K-12 public education in New Orleans. To capture the experiences and attitudes of a wide range of parents, as we did in 2020, we polled 1,000 public and private school parents and guardians in Orleans Parish, as well as those who homeschool their children. This year, the breakdown of respondents was as follows: • 83% were parents and guardians whose children only attend New Orleans Public Schools (NOLA-PS) • 13% were parents and guardians whose children only attend private and parochial schools • 3% were parents and guardians who have some children who attend public schools and some who attend private schools • 1% were parents and guardians whose children are exclusively homeschooled This final brief in our 2021-2022 series provides insights into how those parents and guardians feel about a range of topics related to New Orleans’ K-12 public education, including standardized testing, One App, communications, unions, school closures, and transportation. Methodology This is the 12th opinion poll on public education in New Orleans published by the Cowen Institute and was conducted between October 4-15th, 2021. The survey items were developed by the Cowen Institute in consultation with LJR Custom Strategies, a strategic research and consulting firm led by Principal Jennifer Johnson. The poll surveyed 1,000 adults who reside in Orleans Parish and are the parent/guardian/responsible party for one or more children who currently reside in their household and attend a K-12 school or are homeschooled. Of those adults surveyed, 85% were reached by cell phone and 15% were reached by landline. The sample was representative of the location of residence of the population of New Orleans. Findings from the full sample are subject to a sampling error of plus or minus 3 . 1% . Subgroup analyses are subject to error of up to plus or minus 10% . [A full overview of question format and item-level descriptives are included on our website cowendata.org](A full overview of question format and item-level descriptives are included on our website cowendata.org). The Cowen Institute 1 2 Key Findings This year’s poll offers evidence of the notable differences in accessing education opportunities and information faced by parents and guardians of divergent socioeconomic backgrounds. Across many topics covered in this brief, respondents from lower-income households had notably different responses and experiences than respondents from higher-income households. This provides insight into the equity challenges still confronting NOLA-PS and educators. Standardized Testing • The majority of parents (56%) support using standardized testing as one measure of school and student performance. • 75% of college graduates, and 83% of respondents from higher-income households supported standardized testing, compared to 42% of respondents with a high school degree or less, and 47% of those making $40,000 or less annually. • Opponents of standardized testing as a measure of performance were asked to volunteer their reason for opposition and their reasoning generally focused on the fact that no

FAQs

How was the 2021–2022 poll conducted?

The survey was conducted between October 4 and 15, 2021, and polled 1,000 adults in Orleans Parish who were parents or guardians (or responsible parties) for children attending K-12 schools or being homeschooled.

What do respondents generally think about standardized testing?

A majority of parents (56%) support standardized testing as one measure of school and student performance, though support varies by education level and household income.

What concerns do respondents express about One App?

Respondents report usability issues and dissatisfaction with the selection process. Feelings shifted after a prior uptick, and a notable share of parents were neutral or did not know/refused when asked about satisfaction with their child’s One App result.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor