Middle School Principal
by Tom Jahde
October 02, 2008
Most Middle-Schoolers Say They Want to Do
Well
Middle school is a time of, well, being in the middle. According to HarrisInteractive's Trends & Tudes newsletter (www.HarrisInteractive.com), middle-schoolers are navigating the well-known difficulties of adolescence--emotional, physical, and cognitive changes. Here's what the Harris poll* of more than 1,814 students found:
- Ninety-six percent of middle school students
say they care about doing well in school.
- Ninety percent say they feel prepared to
succeed in their school year.
- Sixty-three percent say the work they are asked
to do is very or somewhat difficult.
- Forty-six percent say student behavior is the
biggest problem at their school. Bullies and gangs topped the list
of behavior problems, coming in at 15 percent.
- Fifty-nine percent say their schools give them
the right amount of standardized tests. Thirty-six percent say
their schools give too many.
- Seventy-one percent say the grades their
teachers give them are the most accurate description of their
abilities at school. <
- Eighty-eight percent say it is important for
them to do well on standardized tests. Ninety-two percent say it is
important to their parents, and 96 percent say it's important to
their teachers.
- Ninety-two percent say they will definitely or probably attend college.
*A Voice from the Middle: Highlights of the 2007 NASSP/PDK Middle School Student Poll.
This article was reproduced from the October 2008 edition of Cut & Paste.
