I’ve become numb to surveys. It happened sometime during the most recent Presidential campaign, which I understand is breeding ground for opinion polls but, geez, did we really need to know what Americans thought of Pres. Obama bare-chested?
Among the most prolific was Gallup, which polled no fewer than 1,000 people every day in 2008 during the hotly contested race between Obama and Sen. McCain. But Gallup does more than poll people during election season.
In fact, their latest project is something that actually got my attention and should get yours, too.
You’ve probably heard this sobering statistic: every 26 seconds a high school student drops out, accounting for more than one million dropouts every year. And you probably don’t need to be told that dropouts are twice as likely to be unemployed and three times more likely to be poor.
That’s always been disturbing news, but it’s downright frightening in this economy, in these times. Unfortunately, no one has been able to figure out how to stop this downward trend.
Gallup, along with America’s Promise Alliance— a coalition of heavy-hitter organizations centered around the goal of improving the future for children— hope to finally shed some light on the matter by asking those most qualified to know: the students.
On Tuesday, Gallup released the results of a survey of more than 70,000 middle and high school students from more than 330 schools in 18 states. Students answered an online poll consisting of 20 questions designed to measure their hope, engagement and well-being, which research has proven has an impact on education, but can also be improved through targeted action by schools and community leaders.
The survey findings were surprising and not. Troubling and optimistic.
Half of the students polled are hopeful about the future; a third feel stuck and unsure about what lies ahead; 17 percent feel discouraged. Two-thirds of students say they are thriving, while the rest say they are struggling or suffering.
What does it mean? Well, Gallup CEO Jim Clifton says it means a new set of data that schools can actually use to identify the cause and not just the effect of dropping out.
“Hope has to be monitored almost like the Dow,” Clifton said during a press conference to release the results. “And it’s gotta be by school or else it’s not valuable … because there’s two things we know about the drop out crisis: it’s probably not a national problem, so there’s no fix until a community gets behind it. But until we can get a matrix [with a low margin of error] … we won’t have strategies to fix it.”
Gallup intends to continue gathering data from students on this issue on an annual basis, eventually extending (that’s where you could come in) into all 50 states.
Go here for a copy of the report or to get more information about future polls.
Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor
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