Educators Rising’s Rapid Responder program is an active corps of students willing to opine and respond to a variety of timely topics related to public education. The questions asked are a mix of topics developed by our student leadership team and Educators Rising’s communications staff. We deliver 8 short polls each school year and publish the results of these polls on our website. RapidResponders are just one of the ways we aim to amplify student voice and to share student insights into the full experience of the contemporary teaching and learning experience across our nation.

Students interested in participating who are under the age of 18 should first discuss becoming a Rapid Responder with their parent or guardian, understanding that our call for each survey will be delivered by text message. We do not share who answers what across our polls, but aim to publish the aggregated results for the greater Educators Rising community.

Students who participate as active RapidResponders are highlighted in our annual conference program. Students who answer at least four of the eight yearly questions are eligible to receive a coupon, redeemable at the Educators Rising Store.

Our August Survey

You learn about the world from the people around you — and you’d rather learn by doing

This month’s Rapid Response asked six short questions. What came back was a portrait of a group that trusts people over platforms, learns with its hands, and is aiming squarely at the classroom — with a healthy, honest amount of uncertainty about the road to get there.

News arrives by word of mouth first, and by algorithm second

The single most common way this group learns what is happening locally and nationally is friends and family — four of fourteen. But add TikTok and Instagram together and social media becomes the larger channel at five of fourteen, edging out television’s three. Only two respondents named a news app or website as their primary source.

For advisors, that is a distribution insight as much as a media-literacy one: an announcement posted only to a website or newsletter is reaching the smallest channel in the room.

Nearly half want to learn by doing — and almost nobody wants a lecture

Asked how they prefer to learn something new, six of fourteen chose doing and trying things out. Four more chose watching a video. Only two preferred listening to someone share, and two preferred reading.

In other words, ten of fourteen learn best by watching something happen or making it happen themselves. That is a strong argument for keeping chapter meetings hands-on: micro-teaching, classroom observation, short demo videos — and for treating the sit-and-listen segment as the exception rather than the default.

Nine of fourteen know the path to the job they want

Given the career they had just named, nine respondents said absolutely when asked whether they know the path required to qualify for it. The other five said somewhat, maybe not every detail. Nobody said no.

The pattern inside those five is the useful part. Three of them had named roles outside the classroom — education researcher, counselor — or were weighing a jump between grade bands. Confidence tracks familiarity: members can picture the route into teaching because they have watched teachers do the job. The routes into research, counseling, and administration are far less visible from a high school hallway.

The classroom is the first choice, almost unanimously

Twelve of fourteen named a classroom teaching role as their top career interest. Elementary led with five, high school followed with four, middle school with two and preschool with one. The remaining two chose education researcher and counselor.

The second choice is where the group opens up. Only seven stayed in teaching; the other seven reached for roles they had not named first — assistant principal or principal, superintendent, college professor, sports coach, student internship coordinator, executive assistant, education researcher. Read together, the two answers suggest a group that is certain about teaching and curious about everything adjacent to it.

How the summer actually went

The summer question allowed as many answers as applied, and the group averaged more than four each. Watching movies and shows (11) and hanging out with friends (10) topped the list, with vacation close behind at nine. But the working and making answers are the ones worth noticing: seven read, six held a job, six had a camp experience and five made something. Three took a summer class. One went foraging.

What’s Next

While we only had 14 respondents this time around, insights into student opinions is what the Rapid Response surveys are about! We hope you are willing to help us with the remaining 7 short surveys that we’ll deploy this school year. The link above will sign you up to receive our surveys by text. Thank you to those who contributed!