Helping Students Stick to It

At the 2025 AP® Annual Conference, Jacob Clifford, an AP Economics teacher at San Pasqual High School, led a lively session focusing on the reasons students might give up on challenging coursework and shared specific strategies to teach academic perseverance in AP classrooms. Clifford asked the roomful of fellow AP educators to consider a central question: How do we help students buy in and develop academic perseverance? Throughout the session, Clifford outlined the six reasons students give up in school and addressed how to combat each reason.
 

1. Students give up in school when they are dealing with other issues.
   
   Students’ issues outside of school may affect their participation and performance in the classroom. AP teachers can help students who give up for this reason primarily by knowing their students and what’s going on with them. Teachers should get to know their students, learn about their other activities, and have one-on-one time.
    
2. Students give up in school when they are afraid of making mistakes.
   
   To help students who are afraid of making mistakes, AP teachers should try to reduce the fear and focus on practice in their lessons and coursework. Mastering skills for various courses requires time and practice, and educators should encourage students to push through when it gets hard instead of giving up.
    
3. Students give up in school when they don’t see the benefits of school or the subject.
   
   For students who don’t see the benefits of school or a particular subject, AP teachers need to be enthusiastic and really “sell it.” Students who don’t like school usually need it the most, and it’s the teacher’s job to make sure they get the sales pitch. “You are in sales,” Clifford told the session audience. “Teach your best lesson on the first day of class. Have a sales pitch for your course and every lesson. Remember ‘what’s in it for [the student]’ and include that in the pitch.”
    
4. Students give up in school when they think the teacher is unfair.
   
   To address students who give up because they think the teacher is unfair, Clifford offered a simple strategy: be fair. Some examples include sharing grading rubrics and expectations upfront, collaborating with other teachers, and limiting bonus points.
    
5. Students give up in school when they are not motivated.
   
   To motivate students who aren’t motivated, AP educators should use effective assessment strategies, such as providing quick feedback so students stay engaged, posting results anonymously so students can see how they did in comparison to their peers, and doing exam corrections in order of difficulty. Clifford also suggested that students who did well can stay engaged by helping others during exam corrections and doing corrections during class instead of after school.
    
6. Students give up in school when they don’t feel connected.
   
   To help all students feel connected in class, building classroom community is an essential strategy. Building traditions that have nothing to do with the learning can boost morale and increase engagement among students, in turn increasing their engagement with the class.