Education Report Roundup

Teens Express Willingness to Meet Academic Challenges

By Jessica L. Tonn — August 16, 2005 1 min read
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More information on the “2005 State of Our Nation’s Youth Report,” is available from The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

High school students say they will work harder if they feel challenged in school, a survey released by the Alexandria, Va.-based Horatio Alger Association suggests.

Eighty-eight percent of the more than 1,000 students who participated in the survey said they would work harder if their high schools demanded more of them, set higher standards, and raised expectations. While seventy-nine percent of the nationally representative sample of 13- to 19-year-olds said they felt motivated and inspired to work hard in school, only 31 percent reported that they were “significantly challenged” academically and that their schools set high expectations.

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