Education Week – Ross Brenneman
“A recent poll of nearly a million U.S. students concludes that schools need to work on building supports to keep students invested in their educations, especially as they advance in grade. The survey, conducted by Gallup, found that only half of adolescents report feeling engaged in school, and a fifth are actively disengaged. About 10 percent of students are classified as both disengaged and discouraged. Engagement levels also show a consistent decrease as students get older, bottoming out in 11th grade…The report suggests that engagement drops as students age because older students feel less cared for by adults and see less value in their own work…during a panel discussion on the survey at the organization’s headquarters here last week…Panelists also highlighted the importance of improving parental engagement as a way of boosting students’ sense of connection to schools.”(more)