When Montgomery County students return to school next month, they will take a poll asking whether they “energetically pursue goals,” “laughed or smiled a lot yesterday” and “have a best friend at school.”The questions — intended to measure student hope, engagement and well-being — are part of a survey Montgomery is conducting with the help of polling giant Gallup.After long relying on traditional measures of success, such as standardized test scores and graduation rates, the school district is redefining student achievement to include more social and emotional aspects of education.“We’re taking a holistic view of what school performance looks like,” Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said. “Rather than just saying it’s just about student achievement results, we’re saying it is also about how you get student achievement results.” Read More