Student Engagement

 The article summary below focuses on a recent Gallup survey measuring student engagement in school. 

As we all know, in this era of high-stakes testing where kids, schools, and even teachers are evaluated on standardized test results, more and more kids are becoming disconnected and disengaged from school. Why? Because school is a mundane routine of independent, sedentary work of worksheet completion and standardized test preparation. 

I often measure the success of my work day by how little time I spend at my desk—it's cruel to subject kids to too much seat work.

The end of the article connects the article summary a few weeks ago about what "engages" adults in the workplace.

Enjoy the weekend!

Joe

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Students who have teachers who make them feel excited about the future and who attend schools that they see as committed to building their individual strengths are 30 times more likely than other students to be engaged in the classroom, which is a key predictor of academic success, according to a report by Gallup Education.

School leaders should not neglect the social and emotional factors that help students thrive, and they should empower teachers so that they are more engaged and effective in the classroom,.

The stakes are high. 

In a 2013 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll cited in the report, just 17% of respondents agreed that U.S. high school graduates are ready for work, and only 29%t agreed they are ready for college.

A broad focus on testing and new standards can lead schools to neglect the individualized needs of students. 

 These elements are often overlooked in the effort to ‘fix’ America’s education system, but there is growing recognition that unless U.S. schools can better align learning strategies and objectives with fundamental aspects of human nature, they will always struggle to help students achieve their full potential.

Gallup uses an annual 20-question survey to determine how students view their school experiences. Participants answer each question on a scale of 1 to 5—with 1 signifying they “strongly disagree” and 5 indicating they “strongly agree.”

In response to survey items related to engagement—questions about friendships, a feeling of safety, praise for good work—researchers classified 55% ofstudents as “engaged,” 28% as “not engaged,” and 17% as “actively disengaged.” 

Emotional engagement at school is the non-cognitive factor that most directly correlates with academic achievement.

A 2009 Gallup research study found that a 1-percentage-point increase in a student’s score on the engagement index was associated with a 6-point increase in reading achievement and an 8-point increase in math achievement scores.

Students surveyed in 2013 who said they strongly agreed with two statements—“My school is committed to building the strengths of each student,” and “I have at least one teacher who makes me excited about the future”—were 30 times more likely to be classified as “engaged” than students who strongly disagreed with those statements.

To build engagement, schools should encourage students to discover and apply their strengths, Gallup says, and teachers should take a differentiated approach to building hope, focusing on what motivates each student as an individual.

Teachers’ engagement levels at work are similar to those of the general workforce. Gallup measures employee engagement through an index that incorporates responses to 12 questions related to feedback, encouragement, and support from supervisors in the workplace. Researchers classified 31% of teachers as “engaged”.

To build engagement among teachers, the report recommends that principals ask them questions about curriculum, pedagogy, and scheduling, and incorporate theirfeedback into decision-making. School leaders should also pair engaged administrators and teachers to collaborate and generate enthusiasm for student-centered projects, the report says. The authors also recommend removing disengaged teachers from the classroom for brief periods of continuing education.

A school climate that promotes academic achievement requires engaged students, empowered teachers, and encouraging leaders