More Than 15,000 Students Nationwide Recognize Teachers Who Inspire Them to Come to School

SEATTLE, Nov. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the Get Schooled Attendance Challenge, 15,000 students from around the country nominated teachers who inspire them to succeed. The findings? Students chose teachers who set high expectations and made subjects interesting.  

Attendance is the greatest predictor of graduation rates and a significant driver of student achievement. Yet in many school districts more than a third of students miss a month or more of school.   Recognizing the role great teaching can have on encouraging students to show up, Get Schooled asked students to recognize a teacher who inspires them to succeed.

In less than two weeks, a remarkable 15,000 students voiced their opinions on what makes a great teacher, representing close to 90 schools in 17 states.

"It is not the easy teachers that students love, it's the teachers who push them and support them to learn what they need to know to succeed in life," said Carol Rava Treat, Director of Strategy and Programs at the Get Schooled Foundation.

While policy makers continue to debate what makes a great teacher, emerging research suggests that oftentimes student opinion can be an accurate gauge of overall teacher effectiveness.

"Rarely do we hear of the impact a teacher has from the student's perspective, but Get Schooled Foundation wants those voices to be heard," Rava Treat said.

Of the teacher nominations received, 28 percent singled out teachers who set high expectations, 26 percent recognized teachers who made a subject interesting and fun in class, and 18 percent called out teachers who didn't stop until their students understood a subject – including staying after school.

See the nominations at www.getschooled.com.

About Get Schooled

Get Schooled is a non-profit organization dedicated to using media, technology and popular culture to improve high school graduation rates and college success rates. Get Schooled connects with young Americans through its combination of on-air programming, online content, on-the ground events and school-based engagement initiatives.  Together with  hundreds of schools, educators, and students, and boosted by partners like Viacom and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Get Schooled motivates and empowers students to make high school education a priority and college education a possibility.  To learn more, go to www.getschooled.com or follow Get Schooled at www.facebook.com/getschooledfoundation, or www.twitter.com/getschooled.

Contact:  Karen Waters
(206) 334.0822

SOURCE Get Schooled Foundation

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