From Jim Clifton's Desk at Gallup: Why "Hope" Matters in Education

  

We launched the Gallup Student Poll in 2009 to measure the hope, engagement, and wellbeing of American students, grades 5-12. In the last three years, nearly one million students have completed the poll. Based on these data and independent research findings from around the world, Gallup now knows that hope predicts which students show up for school and how well they do. In a recent Gallup study of freshmen at a large high school in the Midwest, hopeful students completed more credits and had a better report card – by almost a letter grade — than less hopeful ones.

Hope is also a strong predictor of performance in college students. Most importantly, hope — the sum total of ideas, energy, and excitement for goals — makes students more likely to graduate. It seems that a psychological investment in the future pays off today. In my ongoing longitudinal study of college student retention, hope has proven to be a strong and unique predictor of a student receiving a college diploma.