Initiatives for reforming schools are occurring across the nation. What motivational challenges do various educational reforms present? School reform in most states has focused on raising standards through mandatory proficiency tests, which students must pass at various grade levels. However, raising standards has not increased student effort (Pressley 1998). The extensive use of proficiency tests has motivational consequences for students and teachers. Do the pressures on students to pass these tests increase their motivation to learn or do some students give up in the face of failure? How does it affect teacher expectations? These questions are still largely unanswered.
Role of participants
To address the pervasive motivational inequality in schools, Nicholls (1989) proposed that optimum student motivation is a justifiable educational goal. Nicholls described optimum motivation as motivation that provides for optimum intellectual development. Paris and Paris (2001) also emphasized the importance of motivational factors in developing mental abilities. Motivational factors determine not just the goals toward which people aspire but the way in which they seek out, process, and use information. Motivation is an important factor in the development of students’ resiliency, which is the ability to bounce back successfully despite growing up in adverse circumstances. The following practical examples illustrate motivation possibilities:
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A comprehensive classroom management program implemented in an inner-city high school documented fewer discipline problems, increased student engagement, teacher and student expectations, achievement motivation, and academic self-concepts (Topping and Ehly 1998). |
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Ms. Toliver’s eighth-grade math students in P.S. 72 have been recognized for their accomplishments. She tells students at the beginning of the year, “This is a new day and we will work from here. I do not believe in failure. Mathematics may be hard to learn — it takes dedication and hard work — but I let my students know two things from the beginning: (1) I am with them to teach, and (2) I expect to be met halfway” (Toliver 1993, p. 39). |
Academic excellence standards entail that various negative motivational patterns seen from the effort/ability framework are fostered by school and classroom practices. One of the most prevalent is characterized as the competitive learning game (Harmin, 1994). This game refers to classroom practices that force students to compete against each other for grades and recognition. Such practices include ability grouping, a limited range of accomplishments that receive rewards, and recognizing ability over effort.
Data collection
