March 12, 2007 - According to a new study, many high school students in the United States are bored in class and have considered dropping out. The High School Survey of Student Engagement, conducted by Indiana University, surveyed 81,000 students from 110 public and private schools.

Seventy-five percent of participants attributed their boredom to a lack of interest in the material presented in class. The study also revealed that nearly a third of respondents had no interaction with their teacher. Ethan Yazzie-Mintz, the project's director suggested that student boredom stems from the teaching style used in the classroom and recommended interactive methods of teaching to engage students, like discussion and debate instead of lectures.

Another key finding was that 22 percent of the students surveyed have considered dropping out, and half said they have skipped school. Yazzie-Mintz stressed that students who miss school are more likely to consider dropping out.

The National Research Council has conducted numerous reports that look at the important issues facing education today, such as student motivation and dropout prevention. Engaging Schools: Fostering High School Students' Motivation to Learn reviews findings from studies of student and teacher behaviors and highlights strategies that successfully engage students, such as developing a challenging academic curriculum and creating classroom environments that nurture enthusiasm for learning. Another report, Understanding Dropouts: Statistics, Strategies, and High-Stakes Testing, concluded that early detection of students with certain risk factors, intervention, and ongoing support are likely to be the most promising means of encouraging kids to stay in school.

• Engaging Schools: Fostering High School Students' Motivation to Learn
• Understanding Dropouts: Statistics, Strategies, and High-Stakes Testing

• U.S. Department of Education School Dropout Prevention Program