Opportunity Education and Gallup join forces to measure student engagement

At Opportunity Education, we believe a student’s level of engagement in their learning is directly correlated with their educational performance and career success. Unfortunately, we often measure students’ performance in the rearview mirror, and the main metric we look at is their grades. We’re working to shift that perspective and encourage educators to look prospectively at student’s performance. That’s why we’re very excited about our partnership with Gallup, the global analytics and advisory firm, on a new edition of their annual Gallup Student Poll. 

Gallup is the undisputed leader in measuring the true factors that contribute to students’ success, and we’ve been obsessed with and inspired by their data for years. We’re very fortunate that our founder, Joe Ricketts, has generously provided the funding for this venture with Gallup. We believe this Poll will provide educators with useful insights and empower them to proactively manage student engagement, and thus student performance. 

This Poll will focus exclusively on the state of Florida, where we’re currently working with Academica to establish new charter schools and have strong relationships with many districts across the state. The Poll will measure students’ engagement in their learning, both in and out of school; students’ sense of self-efficacy as learners; and explore connections between student engagement and performance. The Poll will also address students’ perceptions of how they learn best, what supports they benefit from, and what programs can help them succeed.

The Poll will begin this fall and run through the spring of 2027. The Poll is voluntary, and any school in Florida with students between grades 5 and 12 can participate. Gallup will provide participating schools with an orientation and overview, and will conduct debriefing sessions once the results are analyzed. Each participating school will receive a confidential summary of their school specific data, and statewide data will be made available in aggregate at the end of each polling year. 

We hope this Poll will provide a critically important perspective on the connections between students’ engagement and their performance. The data collected will help us continue supporting educators in Florida and across the country as they proactively engage their students and improve performance.