Results of High School Engagement Survey
Results of an annual survey of student engagement in high school are in and the results offer lots of food for thought. Many students report that they identify with their school and are engaged in school activities and curriculum. But most students also report that they are bored in school, and many feel disconnected from adults in the school and do not think that their opinions or experiences will matter to school staff. Low-income students, students of color, students in regular and low-track classes, and students in upper grades are less likely to report high levels of engagement than other students.
“Voices of Students on Engagement," which you read here and here, was recently released by Indiana University’s Center for Evaluation and Education Policy.
Early in the introduction, the report notes that, “Engagement is about relationship; engagement is not a solo activity.”
This statement belongs in the category of observations that are so simple and so profound that they’re easy to dismiss out-of-hand, as if nothing else is possible. But relationships in high school don’t occur by magic and engagement doesn’t happen because the sun shines. So it’s worth paying attention to this report and what students say about their own engagement at school.
What comes through in student responses to the survey is their desire for stronger and more productive relationships with adults and other students. Seventy-eight percent of students agreed with the statement, “There is at least one adult in my school who cares about me and knows me well.” But only a little over half agreed that “I am an important part of my high school community.”
It’s also clear that students want school to support a stronger relationship between their own intellects and the work that school requires them to do. Two-thirds of students are bored in class at least every day. About 75% said they were bored because “Material wasn’t interesting,” while 39% said, “Material wasn’t relevant to me,” and 31% said they are bored because they have, “No interaction with teacher.”
Students reported being most engaged in academic activities—such as discussion and debate and group projects—in which they learn with their peers. They also reported engagement with academic activities in which they are active participants such as presentations. They reported the least engagement in and excitement for passive learning situations such as teacher lectures.
When students ranked their reasons for going to school, almost three-quarters responded to the question, “Why do you go to school?” by answering, “Because I want to get a degree and go to college.” Only 39% answered, “Because of what I learn in classes” and only 34% answered “Because I enjoy being in school.”
An open-ended response item elicited many positive responses, but many students expressed interest in more intellectually interesting and challenging work, and the authors made point to note that the most common response was that the survey was “pointless” because schools would not change in response to student views or experience. That’s a strong indictment that students do not feel they are relationship to their school.
When you’ve finished the report, you can’t help but think that over-emphasis on test scores, career preparation, and behavioral management in many schools is strangling students of a sense of meaning and connection in their educations.
There are some other interesting findings about how students spend their time and how much importance they attach to their out of school activities.
• 76% of students reported spending five or fewer hours a week on homework.
• 30% reported spending six or more hours a week on school-sponsored activities.
• 31% reported spending six or more hours a week watching television or playing video games.
• The most time-consuming activity—on which 54% of students reported spending six or more
hours a week—was “socializing with friends outside of school.”
When students ranked the importance of their activities, 62% ranked “socializing with friends outside of school” as Very Important or Top Priority. Surfing/chatting online was the activity most students ranked as “Not at All” important (31%), with volunteer work coming in a close second in least important, at 28%.
More than 81,000 students in 110 school in 26 states took the survey. Those schools are located in a nearly even mix of urban, rural, and suburban communities and range in size from 37 to 3,881 students. The report does not break down student response based on geography, location of school, school demographics, or school size.
WHAT DOES YOUR SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY DO TO FOSTER STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS AND ENGAGEMENT?
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