Give Compass' Take:

· Fordham’s What Teens Want from Their Schools, a report published last year based on a survey of students from forty-eight states and the District of Columbia, discusses how American high schoolers feel about our education system, and how engaged they are in their classroom. 

· What can be done to increase student engagement in the classroom?  What research needs to be done to increase student engagement?

· Read more about engaging students in the classroom.

This is the final entry in a three-part series looking how American high schoolers feel about our education system, and how engaged they are in their classroom. Each iteration is based on the findings of Fordham’s What Teens Want from Their Schools, a report published last year based on a survey of students from forty-eight states and the District of Columbia who representing all types of schools—traditional public, public magnet, parochial, independent, and charter.

The first explored how young people feel about different activities, from teacher lectures, to group projects, to student presentations. (The general answer? Not very enthusiastic, but it depends on individual teachers and classrooms.) The second looked at what students say about their own approaches and attitudes toward school. (Teens are—surprise!—inconsistent, and a lot of students who are phoning it in at least some of the time.) This one discusses the ways in which different student groups and students at different types of schools report different levels of engagement.

Although high schoolers are often are uninterested in classroom activities and frequently put in less than their best effort, there’s much variance between individual students and student groups. These differences sometimes correlate with results on academic achievement—but not always. So looking at which students report more engagement might provide clues as to where schools are managing to interest their students—and where they need to devote extra attention.

Read the full article about student engagement by Adam Tyner, Ph.D., Emily Howell at The Thomas B. Fordham Institute.