Increasing Student Engagement Through Project Based Learning

Jamie Lofaro • Cahn Fellow 2018

“What would happen if we prioritized student behaviors over teacher behaviors as the driver of increasing student engagement?” And, “What if the response to the question, “My teacher makes learning interesting,” was 92% instead of 72%? How would our school look different?

Although students spend half their day in a career elective course of their choice, student perception survey scores found the lowest-rated question for the past three years as, “My teacher makes learning interesting.” There are many factors that lead to student engagement: content, learning environment, high expectations, teacher personality, having concepts explained in a clear manner, differentiated ways to demonstrate learning, to name a few. Learn how CEC has chosen to emphasize moving away from teacher behaviors as indicators of lesson success.