Student Engagement and the "Fresh Start Effect"

 

How to increase student engagement with the “Fresh Start Effect”

 

“Research has shown that people put in extra effort on their goals after meaningful time markers like the start of a new year. The good news is, teachers can engineer these markers for students.” (Beachboard, 2025)

Anytime an article talks about research back strategies for increasing classroom engagement I am all ears. So when my favorite website, Edutopia.com, posted an article entitled, “4 Ways to Use the Fresh Start Effect to Motivate Students”, I was ready to dive in. The article starts with a real-world example from the author’s experience. Cathleen Beachboard has what she labels as “Do Over Days” where students can complete additional assignments or retake assessments to replace a disappointing grade. She writes this, “I replace his original grade with this new one, fully updating it to reflect his current understanding—the Do Over grade doesn’t average with the old score; it becomes the only grade for that assignment. When class ends, the student doesn’t just have a passing score. He has something better: proof that yesterday’s failure isn’t today’s story.” It’s not about how this student did or didn’t understand the topic a few weeks ago… it’s about how that student can demonstrate their understanding NOW.

She then goes on to emphasize this point with more findings from research. “Research shows that people are more likely to pursue goals and try harder right after meaningful time markers—like the start of a semester, the first class after a break, or just any Monday morning. These markers create a mental line between the “old me” and the “new me,” helping us let go of past struggles and lean into growth with renewed effort.” I love this image of helping students to shred the “old me” whatever that looks like and allow for the student to welcome each day with fresh perspective.

Beachboard shares four specific strategies that she believes integrates these meaningful time markers into the classroom: Schedule Do-Over Days, Reset after Breaks with Reflection, Reframe Grades as Checkpoints, and Use Environmental Cues for new Beginnings. I chose two to deep dive below.  

1.      Schedule Do-Over days:

a.      What it is: An allotted previously announced day on the where a teacher allows for submission of missing assignments, retakes, or even new ways to prove their understanding of a topic. No new content is introduced during this time, allowing students to focus on this work.

b.      Why it works: “Students mentally put the poor quiz or essay in the past and approach revisions as the “new me” who is capable of success. Plus, having time to address and learn from feedback can also motivate students, research demonstrates.” (Beachboard, 2025)

c.      Suggestions on how to implement: One day a unit allow for multiple submission/product types to make room for differentiation, and update grades fully.

d.      Reflection: Oh my goodness how I wish that my son had something like this in his current 6^th grade structure. From a parent’s perspective, I can see the stress that both the anticipation of a formal assessment has on students as well as the crushing blow when it doesn’t go as well as they thought it would based on their preparation. My son recently had his first history test. The night before I asked him how he should prepare, and he said “I don’t know…” but then jumped into their school portal and found some study slides to test his knowledge. He texted me the next day that he got 65% on the test and was devastated. Not only do these formal assessments cause anxiety, but at the beginning of the year, and at the beginning of a new school structure (middle school in this case), the assessment measures what you know as much as how much you understood the expectations to prepare for it. Having this ability to learn from his mistakes and know another opportunity was around the corner would have done a lot for both his mental health as well as his ability to be resilient in the face of adversity. I’ll take that perspective with me into my future teaching career.

e.      Future Classroom implementation: In my future math classroom, I think this concept could really help students’ anxiety when it comes to math. It’s really the only subject that 1. Typically has one right answer and 2. You have to understand the process to solve it. There is a lot that can go wrong along the way, and I don’t think students should be penalized for one mistake that throws off the rest of the answer. Revising their work for additional credit is going to be something that I integrate into my class but also finding ways to allow students to communicate their understanding of a concept outside of typical problem solving is also important. That could take on many forms: it could be that a student explains in their own words what a topic means to them one on one, it could be teaching a mini lesson to the class, or it could be that they create a poster to give a high-level overview of their understanding. These types of exercises help increase the depth of processing so the student truly UNDERSTANDS the concept.

2.      Reset after breaks with reflection

a.      What it is: A purposeful reflection point after a school break where the teacher asks students to set one academic and one personal goal for the quarter.

b.      Why it works: “Breaks are natural landmarks. Reflection sharpens the sense of a new chapter, making students more likely to act on their goals. Also, research supports giving students time to set and track goals, which improves motivation during learning and enhances their drive and resilience.” (Beachboard, 2025)

c.      Suggestions on how to implement: Small time investment! Just set aside 5 minutes after a break and maybe 5 minutes mid way through the quarter to allow students to check in with their goals.

d.      Reflection: I think this could be as helpful for the teacher as the student. If you asked students who felt comfortable to share their academic goals with you, it could lead to some insightful information that may help you craft your instructional approach and the assessment choices you offer to students. When I did my “getting to know you” activity with students in my placement, I simply asked “What’s one thing you want me to know about you?” And several students shared with me that they wanted to do well in school. Whether it was by doing their homework, or getting more comfortable asking questions, students really wanted to succeed. Even the ones that have an attitude while in class like they don’t care.

e.      Future Classroom Implementation: After breaks, at the beginning of a new quarter, or even at the beginning of a new unit.. there are plenty of “breaks” to allow students the opportunity to stop and reflect. I’m also always looking for new ways to get students writing in math class so this is a perfect tool that I’m going to use in my tool kit with my future classes.