Student engagement in Ms. Ashby’s eighth grade algebra class was low. A few months into the year, students took a PERTS Elevate survey about learning conditions as part of Impact Florida’s Solving with Students Cadre. The survey showed that only 23 percent of students thought that math was meaningful and only 30 percent believed that there was a positive classroom community. Furthermore, on their first math test, only about half of students were at grade level. At first, Ms. Ashby was discouraged. “There were a lot of things I thought I was doing to make it meaningful, but they were not coming across,” she said.   

Ms. Ashby partnered with her students to unpack the survey data and design change together in classroom meetings. Students looked at the survey findings, discussed what the results meant, and brainstormed changes that they thought would make the class better.  With support from a coach from Impact Florida, Ms. Ashby leaned into the mindsets of vulnerability, transparency, and a willingness to change. 

One student-generated idea was to hear more of the “why” behind what they do in class and why they do it. This translated to the teacher always including the “why” behind both lesson objectives and classroom systems such as seating charts and assignments. Another student-generated change idea was to create more personal connections between the teacher and students. Starting the next day, Ms. Ashby stood at the door of class to greet each student by name and ask how their day was going. 

Over time, students discussed what worked and didn’t work with their ideas like “the why” and door check-ins. A few months later the class retook the survey and compared results in the areas they were trying to improve. There were impressive gains in the percentage of students who felt their algebra class was meaningful; a 27 percentage point increase over the year. An additional 24 percent of students had a positive impression of the classroom community by the end of the year. Math scores also shot up; by the end of the year, 95 percent of students met state benchmarks in algebra. 

Ms. Ashby said, “I think so much changed…students’ attitudes towards me, towards the work. Ownership in the class also changed; students owned the class and wanted to make improvements.”