Success in school requires more than good grades and doing well on Common Core State Standards testing. Sometimes, the secret ingredients to academic achievement seem many and difficult to address, but Gallup's annual Student Poll sums them up quite neatly: hope (ideas for the future drive students now), engagement (students are involved in school because they feel part of a community and get to do what they excel at) and wellbeing (daily experiences that shape the future). In the 2014 Student Poll, Gallup found that most students hit the mark in all areas, a good sign for the future of education.
Students' attitudes
The Gallup poll surveyed students in grades 5 through 12, asking 20 questions that fall in the hope, engagement and wellbeing categories. Here's a look at the results for each category, and what kinds of questions students answered:
Hope
Overall, 53 percent of students said they felt hopeful about their future, while 33 percent felt stuck and 14 percent were discouraged. To ascertain these sentiments, students answered statements like "I know I will graduate high school" and "There is an adult in my life who cares about my future." Students had to rank their responses to each statement on a scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The strongest responses came from the second statement about adult support. In fact, 87 percent of students strongly agreed. Another statement, "I can find many ways around any problem," revealed less student confidence, as only 31 percent strongly agreed.
Engagement
Again, 53 percent of students are engaged in school. Another 28 percent reported that they were not engaged, and 19 percent were actively disengaged. Statements included "I have a best friend at school" and "In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good schoolwork." According to the results, 72 percent of students strongly agreed that they have a best friend at their school, while only 31 percent strongly agreed with the second statement.
Wellbeing
This category had the strongest response, as 64 percent of students reported they were thriving. Additionally, 34 percent said they were struggling and 2 percent said they were suffering. Unlike the other categories, wellbeing had only yes or no questions, including "Did you laugh or smile a lot yesterday," to which 83 percent said yes, and "Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday," to which 75 percent agreed.
Changes over time
While the Gallup poll shows positive results, the numbers are slightly decreased from last year, though only by 1 percent in many cases. For instance, in 2013, 84 percent of students said they laughed or smiled a lot, compared to 83 percent in 2014.
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