Dueling philosophies dominate the American education landscape. They are often described as “filling a bucket” versus “lighting a fire.”

If teachers (and policymakers) support the “bucket” idea, they are likely to favor rote learning supported by direct instruction, primarily lectures. The “fire” idea, in contrast, views the main purpose of education as motivating students to love learning throughout their lifetimes. We can probably all remember teachers who subscribed to this second approach. They are the ones whose names we recall and whose stories we like to tell.

Unfortunately, at least in the United States, the school experience for many young people has had a fill-the-bucket orientation for at least the past two decades, thanks in no small measure to a 2002 federal education policy known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). This policy relied on standardized tests as the most important, and often sole, measure of student achievement. So quite naturally teachers felt pressured to “teach to the test,” even if this fill-the-bucket approach went against their better instincts and professional judgment.

Against this background, a recent (August 2024) study conducted by the Gallup organization provided compelling news about student engagement in school. This national polling research found, in the last year alone, an eight percent drop in the proportion of middle and high school students who felt they were being challenged “in a good way” in school — from 54 percent in 2023 to 46 percent in 2024. This survey showed an even greater decrease (10 percent) in the proportion of students who said that they “had recently learned something interesting in school,” from 68 percent in 2023 to 58 percent this year.

This most recent survey provides a stark reminder of the grim reality documented over the past two decades or more — that the longer students stay in school, the less engaged they become. “The drop in student engagement for each year students are in school is our monumental, collective national failure,” observed executive director of Gallup Education Brandon Busteed in 2013. At that time, most elementary school students (almost eight in 10) reported being engaged in school, while middle and high school students showed a precipitous decline with each passing year. Busteed surmised that these low levels of engagement were the result of “our overzealous focus on standardized testing and curricula (and) our lack of experiential and project-based learning pathways for students — not to mention the lack of pathways for students who will not or do not want to go to college.”

I must say that these data resonated for me in a very personal way. I remember my own high school years in the mid-1960s when — during this great period of social unrest — my school seemed to be stuck in a time warp. Much of my high school experience in Buffalo revolved around preparing for the New York State Regents Exams. In fact, I recall that our fourth-year Latin class focused exclusively on such preparation. While my fellow students and I aced the exams (and our school got good ratings from the Middle School Association), we were bored out of our minds. Later, when I learned that my husband was being challenged by reading Cicero and Virgil in Latin during his senior year at a New York City high school, I felt angry and cheated by the thin gruel served up at my “top-ranked” high school.

In reflecting on both my own high school experience and the post-NCLB state of student ennui in our country, I want to encourage all young people to act in the face of boredom and to find sparks that can light the fire of engagement. Here are a few concrete things you can do:

- Don’t let your teachers think you have tuned out. Attitude is an important factor as teachers grade their students. So even if you are bored, do your best to act engaged. One author noted that engaged students pay attention, take notes, listen, ask questions, respond to questions, participate, and react.

- Ask your teachers to offer more opportunities for hand-on learning. This strategy may result in concrete instructional change and will also communicate your seriousness as a student.

- Consider talking with your school’s principal if one of your teachers is short-changing the learning process. I wish I had done that when I was in high school. And speaking with the principal (the school’s instructional leader) might have been an even more effective strategy if I had invited my parents to join me for the meeting.

- Extra-curricular activities kept me going in high school. Working on the school newspaper and participating in sports and student government kept me enthused about going to school, even when some of my classes were boring. Seek out dynamic teachers and ask them to mentor you or to become the club advisor for your favorite after-school activities.

- Consider switching schools. Many areas of the country offer choice, especially at the high school level. Educators across the US, and perhaps in other countries, are experimenting with innovative ways to re-engage students, especially in the post-COVID environment. Below I offer a few examples of radical high school reform.

One of the earliest such experiments, now in its 30th year, is Big Picture Learning, which supports a network of 110+ high schools in the US and another 100+ high schools around the world that subscribe to its overall approach to education — an approach that combines rigorous academics with social and emotional learning as well as “deeper learning” opportunities such as internships at community businesses and organizations.

The XQ Institute describes itself as “the nation’s leading organization dedicated to rethinking high school.” XQ partners with schools, districts, and states “to transform the learning experience for all high school students. We work alongside communities with organizations and institutions around a shared set of research-based design principles” that include creating learning experiences beyond the classroom; maintaining a strong focus on school culture and student learning; and amplifying stronger pathways to college and career for high school students.

These and other experiments resulted in a recent publication prepared by the Learning Policy Institute, the Interactive Report on Redesigning High School. Its authors noted that “high schools across the country are effectively implementing multifaceted approaches to support learning and healthy development, providing a powerful evidence-based blueprint for educators and leaders.” The Redesigning High School website offers stories, lessons, and practices drawn from successful models, organized around the following 10 features: (1) positive developmental relationships; (2) safe and inclusive school climate; (3) culturally responsive and sustaining teaching; (4) curricula focused on deeper learning; (5) student-centered pedagogy; (6) authentic assessment; (7) well-prepared and well-supported teachers; (8) authentic family engagement; (9) community connections and integrated student supports; and (10) shared decision-making and leadership.

Civil rights activist and poet Pauli Murray advised her constituents to “surrender to none the fire of your soul.” Today’s high school students and their allies (one of whom I consider myself to be) must work together to bring the best of what we know — from research as well as from our own life experiences — to the work of ensuring that the time students spend in school lives up to its potential. Most young people have clear and practical ideas about how their schools can become more responsive to their needs and interests. An emerging body of evidence is demonstrating what is possible when policymakers, education professionals, parents, young people, and other community leaders work together around the common cause of high school transformation. Let’s start by treating student engagement in school as a necessary ingredient in our nation’s well-being. Our future depends on it.