Gen-Z’s engagement to traditional school (and what goes on there on a daily basis) is improving, but recent research tells us that engagement still has a long way to go to be considered acceptable.
The 74 reported last month on a report released jointly by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation about Gen-Z’s attitude toward school and life after high school:
“When a 20-year-old New Yorker recently reflected on her high school experience, she said the things she learned weren’t ‘very helpful to where I am now.’”
“’I don’t really think most of my classes that I took in high school I have in my brain anymore,’ she told researchers who authored the Voices of Gen Z Study…”
“What stuck with her, however, were the teachers that ‘made an impact,’ and who she maintains relationships with years later.”
“Her response mirrors the feelings of many of the students in her age group – one of thousands of Gen-Z students and young adults who were recently polled by Gallup…”
“The poll included nearly 3,200 people between the ages of 14 and 29, with more than 1,700 of respondents currently enrolled in middle or high school.”
“The survey found student engagement, enjoyment toward school and hopefulness for the future strongly correlated with a child’s relationship with their teachers and whether they felt they belonged at school.”
“But, ‘unfortunately, we found that in that respect,’ said Zach Hrynowski, a senior educator researcher at Gallup, ‘there are a lot of students who are reporting that they don’t have that experience.’”
“Since 2023, engagement has steadily increased, with 51% of Gen-Z students likely to agree or strongly agree that school allows them to do their best, a 14 percentage point increase over the last four years. Students in 2026 are 10 percentage points more likely to feel challenged by schoolwork (from 50% in 2023 to 60%) and six points (57% to 63%) more likely to say teachers communicate the importance of what they’re learning.”
“But even with several engagement trends upward, there was no ‘meaningful change in the percentage of students who agree they have learned something interesting in the past week,’ the report said.”
“’This year’s findings reiterate that many students continue to struggle with their enjoyment of and engagement at school,’ the report said. ‘For these students, the problem is not that some of their courses are tedious or irrelevant to their future; rather, they say that nothing at school interests them, and they struggle to find outlets to do what they are naturally good at.’”
“Forty-eight percent of students said they didn’t enjoy going to school most or all days and nearly half of Gen-Z students (49%) said school doesn’t ‘allow them to do what they do best every day’ – which is an improvement from 63% in survey results in 2023, the report said, but still high.”
“Researchers found student engagement was connected to ‘several larger outcomes,’ including reporting higher satisfaction with their quality of life and what’s to come in the future. Gen-Z students who felt more connected at school were five times more likely to look forward to school most days and feel prepared for the future compared to their peers who reported a lack of belonging.”
“And many Gen-Z students reported struggling with building connections with the people around them.”
“About three in 10 said they didn’t belong at school, didn’t have an adult who regularly checked in on them and didn’t feel like they had someone at school who understood their interests or strengths. The gap also extended to peer relationships, with just 30% of children reporting they had things in common with most of their classmates, and even less (26%) saying they trusted most of their classmates.”
Half of the young learners polled say they are engaged with their current learning system, while the rest flounder.
If our public school system was a business, it would go broke.
But yet, ABPTL has been around for four and a half years (almost to the day), pleading for a different system of learning to come rescue more young learners. And ABPTL hasn’t been alone in that plea. There are more out of school quality learning opportunities than ever before. But the change is slow and, for black, brown, and poor learners, almost unrecognizable.
How much longer can all of us look at numbers like those represented in this Gallup/Walton study and say, “It’s okay. We’re good. Our current public school system is going to improve – for all kids.”?
Time is passing and kids are suffering.
Til tomorrow. SVB
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