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Lessons Learned: Practical Advice On What Helps High School Students Learn Best…From Students Themselves

By Teachers.Net News DeskcloseAuthor: News Desk Name: Teachers.Net News Desk
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As teachers and students begin another academic year, here are five practical tips for how to improve the student experience and learning in the classroom.

The advice is just a sample of the insights drawn from surveys conducted with more than 70,000 students nationwide by YouthTruth, a project that provides comparative data to schools, districts, education networks nationwide, summarizing students’ perceptions of what helps – and hinders – their high school experience.

1. Manage your classroom well. The frustration most commonly cited by students is that distracting and disruptive students are not better controlled in their classes, which makes it hard for them to focus and concentrate.  
2. One on one time with students is critical. More than anything else, students say personalized attention from their teachers helps them do their best in class. So take the time to engage with students directly and personally as often as possible.
3. Make learning relevant. Students report that just over half of their teachers are good at making meaningful connections between what they’re teaching in class and what’s going on in students’ lives outside the classroom.
4. Culture matters. Students are more positive about the quality of their overall education when they believe their school culture is respectful, that their school is helping them develop the skills and knowledge needed for college, and that their teachers have high expectations for them.
5. Motivate your hardest-to-reach students. Among students who’ve considered dropping out, the two most commonly cited reasons are falling behind on school work to the point of feeling unable to catch up, and not seeing how school will ultimately help them in life. These students need help staying on track and understanding that schoolwork can be a path to future opportunity.
   
   

About YouthTruth
YouthTruth, an initiative of The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), is a national survey project that provides comparative data to schools, districts and networks, and education funders summarizing students’ perceptions of their high school experiences.  The goal of YouthTruth is to demonstrate the power of comparative feedback from students – the ultimate beneficiaries of school improvement efforts – and to create insights that will enable those who manage, lead, and fund schools to increase their effectiveness and impact. YouthTruth builds on CEP’s 10 years of experience gathering comparative feedback on behalf of philanthropic funders. Youth Truth is currently recruiting schools, networks and districts to participate in YouthTruth 2011-2012. For more information about YouthTruth, see www.youthtruthsurvey.org.

About The Center for Effective Philanthropy
The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide data and create insight so philanthropic funders can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness and, as a result, their intended impact. CEP received initial funding in 2001 and has offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and San Francisco, California. For more information on CEP’s work, including its research, publications, and assessment tools, see www.effectivephilanthropy.org.