- Sponsorship -

Symposium considers how students connect with learning

Engaging students beyond the desk

Kent ISD — Godwin Heights High School math teacher Alexi Wolf understands how challenging it can be to keep students engaged.

“Students tend to hate math,” Wolf said, adding that she understands why, when they spend most of their time at their desks doing equations. 

To help students like the subject more, the school’s math team has worked to make it more engaging through the use of whiteboards and other activities.

Wolf and her colleague, teacher Tracy Krafft, also were hoping to network and learn about other possible student engagement techniques at Kent ISD’s Secondary Student Engagement Symposium. 

The June 12 event brought together more than 60 attendees from 22 districts in six counties, representing four intermediate school districts. It is a direct result of the research and data collection by the Kent ISD’s Professional Learning Team 1.1.1 committee.

High school Principal Jordan Stuhan, left, and middle school Principal Curt Gerbers, both from Kent City Community Schools, participated in the Secondary Student Engagement Symposium

One focus of Kent ISD’s strategic plan is student engagement, which has been part of the annual MI Student Voice perception survey. The survey, which this year saw about 87,000 students from 127 districts across the state participate, evaluates student engagement and the impact of related services and interventions for students beyond standardized test scores.

The 1.1.1 committee came together in January 2023 to “try to understand student engagement from a couple of different lenses,” said Kent ISD early literacy coach Bridget Rieth, who is also an Ignite Engagement Program coordinator. 

Using the MI Student Voice survey as a jumping-off point, those lenses were reviewing academic research and conducting student focus groups, Rieth said.

Building a Framework for Discussion & Development

Through that work, the group determined critical pieces of student engagement fall into five categories, called Engagement Accelerators, she said. Those categories are:

  • Student-centered learning: when student interest and needs drive learning experiences
  • Instructional moves: the pedagogical choices, such as lesson plans, approaches and even how a classroom looks, that teachers make to support learning
  • Asset-driven teaching: when educators create a learning environment that leverages and values students’ backgrounds and lived experiences
  • Climate/environment: the learning atmosphere’s feeling or mood, including safety, comfort and conduciveness to learning
  • Relationships: the positive connections between students and staff in a school setting.

No single category is more important than another, nor does one lead to the next, Rieth said. They are interconnected factors that educators can consider to enhance engagement — in classrooms, hallways, after-school programs, clubs, and any setting where they interact with students.

While many of these categories are familiar to educators, the goal is to use the framework to highlight areas of strength and identify opportunities for growth, Rieth said. Organizers hope the symposium serves as a launch point for districts to deepen conversations and build on existing efforts.

“No one can force someone else to be engaged,” she said. “Also, people are in charge of their own engagement. We can impact it. We can guide. We can teach. We can model. We can support. We can create conditions, but ultimately each human being, including those under the age of 18, are responsible for their own engagement.” 

Considering the Factors for Engagement

Kent City High School Principal Jordan Stuhan said he attended the symposium to explore ways to boost classroom participation at his school.

“The idea is kids ‘doing’ rather than just ‘enduring’ school,” Stuhan said. 

Kent City Middle School Principal Curt Gerbers said he also is looking at student engagement as a possible way to reduce behavioral issues. 

In fact, according to the National Dropout Prevention Center, lack of student engagement is a cause for truancy, behavioral issues, academic failure and dropout rates.

The student panel offered several suggestions such as the overall design of a classroom and allowing for more discussions and hands-on activities.

But many panel members agreed the biggest key is building relationships. 

“Greeting students at the door is something that is really big, and it is something that makes students want to come to class early and build connections with their teachers,” said Wyoming junior Sofia Barajas-Gutierrez. 

Forest Hills graduate Nashoba Bos said when a student isn’t engaged, teachers should try to consider how to get the student involved rather than sending them out of the classroom, which usually results in the student getting behind and becoming even less interested.

Grand Rapids graduate Juan Rodriguez suggested moving away from the data of school academics. He added that he speaks from experience — though he performed well in school, standardized tests didn’t always reflect his abilities.

“Definitely being that change you would like to see in your school district as well, and not just expecting it from the students,” Sofia Barajas-Gutierrez said. “Be that adult and that person that makes you feel like it’s family, because I promise you, those kids will love you. … Building relationships is something I really cherished in high school.”

Read more from Kent ISD: 
We ask students: What is high school like for you?
‘Student involvement, teacher involvement — directly related’

- Sponsorship -
Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
Joanne Bailey-Boorsma is a reporter covering Kent ISD, Godwin Heights, Kelloggsville, Forest Hills and Comstock Park. The salutatorian for the Hartland Public Schools class of 1985, she changed her colors from blue and maize to green and white by attending Michigan State University, where she majored in journalism. Joanne moved to the Grand Rapids area in 1989, where she started her journalism career at the Advance Newspapers. She later became the editor for On-the-Town magazine, a local arts and entertainment publication. Her husband, Mike, works the General Motors plant in Wyoming; her oldest daughter, Kara, is a registered nurse working in Holland, and her youngest, Maggie, is studying music at Oakland University. She is a volunteer for the Van Singel Fine Arts Advisory Board and the Kent District Library. In her free time, Joanne enjoys spending time with her family, checking out local theater and keeping up with all the exchange students they have hosted through the years.

LATEST ARTICLES

Related Articles

- Sponsorship -

Issues in Education

Making Headlines

- Sponsorship -

MEDIA PARTNERS

Maranda Where You Live WGVU

SUSTAINING SPONSORS