When Kevin started Motivation Matters, it was with the idea that this blog would be a helpful resource for educators, parents, and community members interested in how to spark the interest of students and improve education—something I hope we've been able to accomplish over the past two and a' [...]
A group of kindergarteners in Schuylkill Valley Elementary School in Pennsylvania are doing something interesting this year—they're all learning how to play the violin. The hope is that the students will show how playing a musical instrument could boost academic performance and cognitive ability.
We talk a lot here' [...]
Although I didn't have a chance to volunteer on MLK Day this year (I spent the day traveling up and down the Columbia River Gorge right outside of Portland instead), the idea that it is intended to be a day of service is never far from my mind. And apparently, [...]
We are mere days away from President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, and if there's one thing I learned from the story I just finished up about school construction and facilities, it's that a lot of people have high hopes for what he is going to do when he takes office. Already, [...]
This Education Week article about a new report put out by the the National Research Council discusses recent findings that informal science activities—such as visiting a museum, watching TV shows, and even conversations with family members—have the potential to improve students' learning and appreciation of science.
Although it is [...]
One of the first entries I ever wrote for Motivation Matters was about a report that said students, and people in general, were reading less. As I mentioned in that post, as a book lover and avid reader, that news was disheartening and—quite frankly—a little frightening.
It's been over [...]
This program, Citizen Schools, combines a lot of factors we talk about here on Motivation Matters to help boost education in communities across the country. In an effort to decrease the number of dropouts in America, the after-school program hooks up volunteer experts—college students, young professionals, and adults—with middle [...]
Happy new year, everyone! We here at Motivation Matters wanted to take this opportunity to say thanks for all the thoughtful comments and suggestions we've received on this blog over the past year. As always, we want to make this blog a helpful and relevant resource for you, so if [...]
It will be interesting to see how Arne Duncan, Obama's pick for Secretary of Education, changes (or doesn't change) the way that schools are run in the United States after Obama takes office on Jan. 20. This article on the Washington Post site suggests that, based on his track [...]
This New York Times article discusses the increase in schools that are including students in the traditional parent-teacher conference, sometimes encouraging the students themselves to lead the discussions. Proponents of this conference method say that having students there encourages them to take responsibility for their education and behavior in [...]
This AP story shows how in a school where freshmen and sophomores are separated by gender test scores—and motivation levels—are up.
"We've seen huge, huge increases in test scores," said [Principal Alisha] Kiner, who presented the data this fall at the National Association for Single Sex Public Education's international [...]
Not to hit you guys over the head with this public radio program, but there's another Radio Rookies episode that is definitely worth the 8 and a half minutes it takes to listen.
It's the story of Kaddeem Wright, a 16-year-old boy born in Costa Rica [...]
This article in The Salt Lake Tribune is about a new Web site called Mighty Authors, which allows students to publish their own books for free on loose paper and for a fee for soft or hardcover books. Launched by a Utah teacher, the aim of the service [...]
Piggybacking on our post a few days ago about Radio Rookies, here's a commentary on edweek.org that talks about how giving kids, especially those growing up under tough circumstances, the resources to tell their own stories fosters resilience and hope.
[Psychologist James W.] Pennebaker has found in his [...]
Here at edweek.org, we've got a lot of really fantastic blogs that run the gamut of education topics, and catching up with them over the past few days, I ran into a couple of posts that are particularly relevant to those interested in student motivation.
As I've mentioned before, I am a public radio junkie, so I was delighted to find out about this program in New York City called Radio Rookies that conducts workshops for underprivileged teens in the area to teach them how to use radio recording equipment to tell stories [...]
This AP article about a survey on American students' ethics paints a grim picture of what kids think is right and wrong.
According to the survey, 35 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls admitted to stealing merchandise from a store within the past year, up from 32 [...]
Yesterday, as I was walking around in my neighborhood, I passed an elementary school near my house with a community garden tucked into the corner next to the soccer fields and thought about how I wished I would've had the opportunity to learn about gardening when I was that age. [...]
Here's an organization that readers of this blog might feel is worth checking out called the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations. Founded and run by Russell J. Quaglia, the independent nonprofit organization has developed eight conditions necessary to increase student aspirations and motivation. They are as follows: belonging, heroes, [...]
My colleague Lesli Maxwell has a story up this week about the Atlanta school district, which over the past ten years or so has experienced a complete overhaul from superintendent Beverly L. Hall.
The changes Ms. Hall has made to the organization and structure of the schools, as well [...]
Here's an AP article about a charter school in Arizona that is successfully teaching preschoolers Chinese, kindergartners division, and middle schoolers college algebra.
It's a small program—only 17 students take the full regimen of classes—but it's open to students regardless of income, gender, or ethnicity and is based on the [...]
I strongly suggest you check out the story written by two of my colleagues here at Education Week that tracks the student reaction to Sen. Obama's victory in the presidential election. It's all about the excitement and motivation that has permeated those schools in the wake of this election.
Also, [...]
No matter what political party you identify with, Tuesday's election was both unprecedented and historic in many different ways. And as a member of the 18-25 demographic, I was especially heartened by the enthusiasm this election generated in that particular age group.
A new study has found that children in military families express more aggressive behavior when a military parent is deployed, according to this AP article.
The study was small—less than 200 children—but took into consideration the emotional and stress level of the remaining parent, which is an important factor to [...]
This article in The Houston Chronicle talks about how schools in the Houston district are trying to create a "college-bound culture" for their students in order to increase the number of students who go to college after high school. The story doesn't go into much detail about what the [...]
Just in case you missed it, we wanted to alert you to an Education Week story about a report on how parents of high school students would like to be more involved in their schools, but those with children who attend low-performing schools say the schools do little to [...]
In previous school years, I believe I used to step over the bounds of offering too much homework help to one of my sons by giving him answers when I should have made him struggle through assignments. But this year, I have turned a corner and I am now telling [...]
At first glance, this AP story about Alabama schools doing away with nap time for kindergartners to allow for more instruction strikes me as somewhat ridiculous. Are 5-year-olds really too busy for nap time? According to the article, apparently they are.
"To be perfectly honest, there's so much in the [...]
Here is an example of the way that schools are using the current financial crisis to teach students about the stock market and the importance of saving and investing at a young age. The program, called The Stock Market Game, allows students to use up to $100,000 of hypothetical [...]
Last night after work, I still had Sean Cavanagh's Education Week story about how American culture discourages girls from cultivating high-level math skills up on my computer screen when my roommates—who are, notably, both women—came in to check their e-mail and catch me up on the day's events. As [...]
Students in cash-incentive programs in both Washington and Chicago got paid last week, according to this AP article. It'll be awhile until we know whether or not these plans are actually working, although teachers in Washington say that they've seen less tardiness since the program has been in place.
I [...]
The Learn & Earn program in Fulton County, Georgia that I reported on awhile back just finished up its 15-week pilot program, and this article in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution profiles one of the participants who found the program, which offered students $8 an hour for studying, successful.
"It [...]
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about online education. It started when I read this article written by my colleague Andrew Trotter about a book which predicts that by 2019, 50 percent of all high school classes will be taught online. That same week, the poll on edweek.org asked [...]
A story in The Houston Chronicle yesterday once again brought up the ever-controversial topic of student incentives. This time, though, the article focused on giving away prizes for perfect attendance, rather than high test scores. According to the article, under No Child Left Behind, the amount of federal funding [...]
This commentary on edweek.org starts with (for me at least) a counterintuitive sentence: "Kids love science." The author of the article, Ellen V. Futter, goes on to talk about how and why students turn away from science as they get to middle and high school. She presents suggestions for [...]
Here's an article in The Christian-Science Monitor about using cash-incentive programs to motivate students. It talks about the programs in Baltimore and Fulton County, Ga., which I have wrriten about in the past, but also about a new program in Baltimore and D.C. that allows students to invest [...]
As part of my beat here at Education Week, I cover rural school issues. I'm relatively new to this subject, and over the past month or so, I've been gathering as much information as possible about the challenges that rural schools face and ways to overcome them. This afternoon, I [...]
This article in the Downers Grove Sun covers the story of an elementary school in suburban Illinois that decided to celebrate its 80th anniversary by giving back to the community. Over the course of the school year, students have been encouraged to complete 80 acts of kindness that benefit [...]
This story in the Tuscaloosa News hits on a lot of what we talk about here on Motivation Matters. The article tells the story of three high school students who won an international creativity and problem-solving competition while they were in elementary school and went on to found an [...]
There's an interesting discussion forming around this entry in the Mortarboard blog, which tracks education trends in the UK. In the post, James Wignall argues against the recommendations of a report about improving student behavior and attendance. The report suggests that one way to combat bullying is [...]
Beyond all talk of education policy--assessment and standards and curriculum and teacher training, et cetera--there's something else that is extremely important to the success or failure of the average student: the social climate of school. It's pretty hard to do well academically if you're constantly worried about being bullied or [...]
Apparently this is treat-kids-like-adults week on Motivation Matters because today, I'm going to point your attention to this editorial, "High schools shouldn't treat students like babies," on the Detroit News. The author of this opinion piece, Michael Williamson, specifically talks about issues that relate to Detroit students, but some [...]
In continuing with yesterday's theme of overprotecting kids, this story in The Washington Post talks about an elementary school in Northern Virginia that has banned tag from the playground. This isn't the first time I've read about something like this--it seems to happen every spring, with administrators banning [...]
There's been quite a bit of buzz around this column in the New York Sun by a mother, Lenore Skenazy, who gave her 9-year-old son a Metrocard, 20 bucks, and a fistful of quarters and left him in the middle of a New York City Bloomingdale's to find his [...]
This AP story about a high school senior who found multiple examples of biases in his U.S. government textbook and proceeded to make those biases public, is a great example of one student who is actively engaged in his education. No matter what your political stance, you've got to [...]
In following suit with yesterday's post about overcoming obstacles and doing your best with the skills that you have, here's another inspiring story about a Carnegie Mellon University professor, Randy Pausch, who gave his "last lecture" about what really matters in life after finding out he has terminal [...]
This story in the Baltimore Sun is about a high school boy who excels academically despite his physical limitations resulting from spinal muscular atrophy, which makes him extremely weak and requires him to rely on the assistance of caregivers for almost everything.
But the really inspiring thing about this [...]
Education Week's Bess Keller has written a really interesting story about parental involvement. As we've talked about many, many times before, having parents involved in their childrens' schools can greatly boost motivation levels and keep them on track. However, in some cases, overly demanding parents can become more of [...]
This sad, but inspiring story in the Los Angeles Times talks about one Iraqi ballet and music school's struggle to stay open despite five years of war and over a decade of threats from Muslim extremists who "consider music sacrilegious and kill for much less than dancing in public [...]
We talked last week about how stereotypes of African-American students can encourage them to play down their smarts. This week, I'd like to point your attention to this story in the Chicago Tribune that talks about the inverse of that phenomenon.
The story is about how struggling Asian [...]
