The American College Health Association has released our analysis of vaccine uptake and pandemic-related attitudes among college students, based on a data collected in the ongoing Axios-Ipsos COVID-19 tracking poll. Results include some concerning indications of pandemic fatigue among college students, including no reduction in disinclination to get vaccinated, no change in mitigation steps in the face of the Omicron surge and double-digit declines in trust and federal and state leadership.

Longer-term results indicate continued disparities among students by race and ethnicity in vaccine uptake. These gaps are not apparent when accounting for uptake intentions, suggesting that Black students, in particular, may face continued barriers to vaccination or a preference to wait and see.

See our report here.

The Charles Butt Foundation today released an extensive statewide survey of public attitudes toward public education in Texas, covering views among public school parents and Texans overall toward a broad range of public school policies and programs.

The survey finds a two-year surge in parents’ ratings of their community’s public schools, with 68 percent giving their schools an A or B grade, up 12 percentage points from its pre-pandemic level. Seventy-six percent, moreover, give an A or B grade to the public school teachers in their community.

More Texans trust teachers rather than others to make decisions in the best interest of public school students, followed by trust in principals, local school boards and district administrators, with state elected officials last on the list.

About three-quarters of public school parents report that their child has a very or somewhat strong sense of belonging at school, a strong factor in other attitudes. And if other options were available, eight in 10 would choose to keep their child in their current school rather than send them to a different one.

The survey also covers topics including the role of public schools in their communities, levels of support for various school services, school quality, inclusion, equity barriers, challenges facing teachers, perceptions of standardized testing and school funding.

We’re proud again to have worked with this foundation in producing its third annual survey on public education in Texas. See the report here.

Our latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that Republican candidates hold their largest early advantage in midterm election vote preferences in polls dating back to 1981, with pickup from CNN, NBC News, Fox News (here and here), MSNBC, Bloomberg, The Hill, Financial Advisor Magazine, and local outlets such as Florida Politics, Spectrum News NY1 and the Hindustan Times.

The national poll also covers views on abortion, climate change and parents’ perceptions of coronavirus vaccine safety and efficacy in children. In addition to coverage by ABC and the Post, these results have been covered by CNN, Forbes, USA Today, The Hill (here and here), Arkansas Times and Anchorage Daily News, among others.

The 53rd Annual PDK Poll of public attitudes toward public education finds that majorities of Americans give high marks to their community’s public schools – and particularly to public school teachers – for their response to the coronavirus pandemic in the last school year. And most express confidence in the schools’ preparedness for the year ahead. See the full report of the poll, produced for PDK by Langer Research Associates, here and commentary from the public education advocate Jan Resseger here.

Our most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll covered a variety of topics, including the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan; public responses to an evolving coronavirus threat, including vaccination and mask mandates; and Americans’ assessments of the post-9/11 world. The poll was picked up by many outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Hill, FiveThirtyEight, the Chicago Sun-Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Brookings Institution, The BMJ, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, MarketWatch, and The Phoenix.

Our latest ABC News/Washington Post poll covered a host of topics, ranging from perceptions of crime, to voting rights, to ongoing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. It was picked up by CNN, NBC News, The Guardian, The Hill, National Review, Slate, Forbes, Newsweek, the New York Post, the Seattle Times, the Vancouver Sun, VOA News, The Week, the International Business Times, and Common Dreams, among other outlets.

Surveys on education and economic mobility in the past month find reasons both for hope and concern as the nation emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.

On the education front, some parents express reluctance to return their child to school and many are hesitant to have their child vaccinated, factors complicating school policy in the fall. A third of principals, meanwhile, plan to accommodate requests for remote learning, even amid questions about its comparative effectiveness. Attitudes nationally are divided on another topic, the teaching of critical race theory.

Economic measures, for their part, show gains in consumer sentiment, including among less well-off Americans, and employment opportunities advancing among teenagers. Two new studies examine the role of education in economic well-being; another finds broad support for federal action on healthcare affordability.

These and other topics are covered in our latest monthly summary of newly released probability-based surveys on education and economic opportunity; see our report here. Sponsors and producers of such surveys are welcome to contact us to have their work included in future summaries.

This project is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Our latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finds intense partisanship holding Joe Biden’s job approval rating at a tepid 52 percent, the third lowest of any president at 100 days in office since 1945. In addition to coverage by ABC and the Post, it’s been picked up by Bloomberg, CNBC, Axios, Newsweek, the Global Times, Business Insider, and The Hill, among others.

The poll also explored vaccine attitudes, finding that fewer than half of Americans see the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine as safe, compared with more than 7 in 10 for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. It’s been covered by Kaiser Health News, WebMD, Forbes, New York magazine, The Week, and The Hill, Vanity Fair.

In addition to these topics, the poll investigated the effects of the pandemic on finances and relationships, views of police treatment of Black people and gun violence legislation. These results have been carried by The New York Times, MSNBC, The Boston Globe and The Hill.

Our new national survey produced for the COVID Collaborative finds that Americans’ actions or intentions to get vaccinated against the coronavirus held steady from January into March, marking the need for continued public awareness efforts in support of the accelerating vaccine rollout.

So far, people who want a shot are signing up – but those who’ve been hesitant, remain so. The study finds that while vaccinations rose by 14 percentage points since January, the share of Americans who intend to get vaccinated fell by 13 points, leaving actual or intended uptake steady at about seven in 10 adults.

The survey shows broad demographic and attitudinal disparities in vaccinations and uptake intentions, as well as a high level of Americans adopting a “wait and see” approach. It finds that information on the vaccines’ safety and effectiveness and on its development and testing may be most persuasive in encouraging people not to wait, along with advice from their regular healthcare provider.

The survey follows on a previous national study, also produced for the COVID Collaborative by Langer Research, that examined the strongest independent predictors of intention to get vaccinated. Chief among them are trust in the vaccines’ safety and effectiveness, the understanding that people close to you want you to get vaccinated, recognition of a community responsibility in getting vaccinated and worry about becoming infected.

See the full report here and a separate summary of attitudes among college community members here. The survey questionnaire, crosstabs and dataset have been donated to the SEAN COVID-19 Survey Archive, produced by Langer Research in support of the National Academies of Sciences’ Societal Experts Action Network, a group of social science experts convened to support pandemic response efforts.

A new national survey by the COVID Collaborative and Langer Research Associates finds that stressing safety and effectiveness, the support of loved ones and community responsibility are the surest ways to encourage coronavirus vaccine uptake.

Based on statistical modeling, the random-sample study, released today, finds four key predictors of Americans’ intention to get vaccinated:

• Safety and effectiveness. Seeing the vaccines as safe and effective is by far the single strongest predictor of intended uptake.
• A subjective social norm, meaning the sense that others close to you want you to get vaccinated. This is the second-strongest predictor of intended uptake, with considerable room for improvement on current sentiment.
• Social responsibility, the understanding that getting vaccinated is a social need rather than just a personal preference. Recognizing this “moral norm” again is far from universal, and it’s the next-strongest uptake predictor.
• Perceived disease risk. The likelier people are to be worried about catching the coronavirus, the likelier to get vaccinated against it.

The survey finds that 71 percent of Americans say they definitely or probably will get the vaccine, lean that way or already have done so. Gaining adherence among these convinced or favorably inclined groups would approach the minimum vaccination level considered desirable to achieve herd immunity.

The survey, first in a series, evaluates other vaccine uptake attitudes, including the extent of “wait-and-see” sentiment, views toward vaccines generally, concerns about potential side effects, eligibility awareness and trusted information sources. It follows on a previous national study, also produced for the COVID Collaborative by Langer Research, focused on vaccine hesitancy among Black and Hispanic Americans.

See the full report here. Underlying materials including the survey questionnaire, crosstabs and dataset have been donated to the SEAN COVID-19 Survey Archive, operated by Langer Research in support of the National Academies of Sciences’ Societal Experts Action Network, a group of social science experts convened to support pandemic response efforts.