We do many things here at eScholar, but ultimately, our goal is the same for all of our services and solutions: to personalize education for every student. Students deserve better than the one-size-fits-all model, and personalizing education is essential to keeping all students engaged. However, it’s not easy.
In 2006, Civic Enterprises did a study in which they interviewed high school drop outs across twenty-five cities in the US, trying to understand what could have prevented them from dropping out. The responses varied, but there was one overarching issue that could have kept them in school: relevance. 81% of the respondents agreed that they needed to see how their education was relevant to their lives, and that they needed to see the connection between getting an education and getting a good job in the future. We see this as a crucial problem. In order to get students engaged in their education, we have to make sure their education matters to them. This is a challenge.
This is why we have launched a new initiative to gather students’ opinions about the relevance of their education. This month, eScholar will be sponsoring the Make My Education Matter contest, a contest that asks students if they think their education matters to them. If it doesn’t, we want to hear why. If it does, we want to know what’s working. Students are invited to submit a response online to give us their opinion.
After May 31st, we’ll take a thorough read of all the responses. Based on the responses originality, clarity, thoughtfulness, and overall quality, we’ll be awarding a brand new iPad Mini to two students.
So if you have a child, or are looking for an end-of-the-year activity with your students this month, take a look at our contest. As we continue to do everything in the best interest of students, we have to make sure we’re listening to them as well.
