Only about half of U.S. students are “hopeful” and “engaged” in school, while the rest are either not engaged or actively disengaged and stuck or discouraged, according to an annual Gallup Student Poll released Tuesday.
The findings have implications for things that range from how many students will go on to college to how many will start their own businesses, according to the poll, titled “Engaged Today — Ready for Tomorrow.”
Specifically, high school students who are engaged and hopeful are about 1.6 times more likely to report that they are headed to a two-year or four-year college after high school, compared to actively disengaged and discouraged high school students.
“Hope is a strong predictor of academic success, including graduation from college,” said Shane Lopez, senior scientist at Gallup, speaking during a panel discussion he moderated at Gallup World Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“It’s a better predictor than the ACT, SAT, and high school GPA,” Lopez said of the findings of a soon-to-be-released Gallup paper on the subject.
The findings from the Gallup Student Poll released Tuesday reflect the need to redesign school systems and change the way teachers educate students, speakers at Tuesday’s panel discussion said.
“If we’re going to a system that works for all, we have to start confronting some fundamental issues of design,” said Sam Chaltain, an educational consultant and partner at Wonder, By Design, an enterprise that deals with the future of learning.
