A recent national survey aimed to figure out not what kids know, but what conditions lead to learning (or lack thereof). Over 90,000 students from 26 states took the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE), which was aimed at producing results to complement the test scores that we see nowadays.
And it does complement them, in the sense that the survey results are as depressing as test scores tend to be:
On the survey, for example, 55 percent of the respondents reported spending three hours or less per week on homework, readings, rehearsing or other school assignments. "Students devoted more time to personal reading online than to assigned readings for their classes," said Martha McCarthy, HSSSE director and Chancellor's Professor in the School of Education at IU Bloomington...
Teachers also might alter instructional activities based on the data pertaining to students' writing patterns. Three out of 10 students had written no papers longer than five pages during the current school year. They were more likely to have written shorter papers. Almost two-fifths had written at least seven papers less than three pages in length during the year...
Here are more HSSSE findings:
Student voice and the school environment
* Fifty-one percent of the students indicated they have a voice in making classroom decisions.
* Eighty-four percent said it is important to make good grades, yet only 56 percent indicated that they put forth a great deal of effort in their school work.
* Less than half of the students said they cared about their current school (47percent) and would choose the same school again if given the opportunity (48 percent)...
But if the AFT had its way, these kids wouldn't have a choice, would they?
Posted by kswygert at August 23, 2004 01:43 PM