Student Boredom

Question: Are high school students bored in school?

Answer/Quote: “This report presents the latest numbers from the annual survey conducted by the Indiana University Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP). More than 42,000 high school students were surveyed in 2009 at 103 schools in 27 states.

“Two out of three respondents (66%) in 2009 are bored at least every day in class in high school; nearly half of the students (49%) are bored every day and approximately one out of every six students (17%), is bored in every class. Only 2% report never being bored, and 4% report being bored ‘once or twice.’ The full report is available at ceep.indiana.edu/hesse/images/HSSE_2010_Report.pdf.

Comment: Boredom is a fact of life. To expect teachers to maintain interest in a class 100% of the time is unrealistic. Even the best of teachers is going to bore some of the students some of the time. Is there a profession that does not endure boredom at least some of the time? RayS.

Reprinted in “Charting the Path from Engagement to Achievement: A Report on the 2009 High school Survey of Student Engagement.” Reading Today (August/September 2010), 34.