Research suggests that when students in high school are asked what they like most about going to school, they mention many things – learning, extracurricular activities, nice teachers, sports – but they mention seeing friends and socializing far more often than anything else. When asked what they dislike, students again mention a variety of aspects, but uncaring or poor teachers top the list (Erickson & Lefstein, 1991). We wanted to investigate the extent to which students enjoy intellectual/academic opportunities in high school and factors related to more enjoyment of intellectual/academic opportunities. We asked college students to report what they liked and disliked most about high school as well as the class they liked and disliked most in high school. Students also rated how much they enjoyed intellectual engagement, social opportunities, and extracurricular activities during high school. We predict that students who nominate academic or intellectual challenge as their most liked aspect of high school (and the lack of academic or intellectual challenge as their most disliked aspect) will report more enjoyment of intellectual engagement during high school, be more likely to have taken advanced coursework during high school, and report more favorable attitudes toward grouping students by ability.
