Teaching Like the World's on Fire
The Gallup Student poll measures “the hope, engagement, and wellbeing of public school students in grades 5 through 12 across the United States.” Brian Busteed, Gallup Education’s Executive Director, told attendees at the Education Commission of the States National Forum yesterday that in their 2013 poll, Gallup learned that student engagement drops through the secondary years. This alarming statistic was accompanied by another, perhaps more chilling data set: educators are similarly disengaged. Of all professionals, teachers are the least likely to say, “At work, my opinions seem to count.” Finally, Busteed delivered the correlative piece that brought it all together: Students who 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 thirty times more likely to be engaged in school than those who do not. That’s a 3,000% increase in student engagement.