Motivation Matters
Motivation Matters covered what works, and what doesn’t work, to motivate students to do better in school. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: student motivation & engagement.
Education
Blogged.com Ranking
Like a couple of other edweek.org blogs, Motivation Matters received a 9.5 out of 10 ranking by Blogged.com, a Web site that evaluates, ranks, and categorizes blogs. Of interest to readers of this blog might be the site's directory of education blogs, which you can find here.
Education
Expensive High Schools: A Worthy Investment?
This story in the Chicago Tribune discusses the increasingly high price tag of building high schools--sometimes upwards of $100 million. These six-figure high schools can include pools, gardens, planetariums, and other high-priced facilities, says the article.
Education
Financial Literacy for First Graders
We hear a lot about hands-on lessons in science and technology, but it's not often that we hear about those kinds of experiences in other subjects. This AP story is about a financial-literacy program in a public elementary school in Chicago that gives $20,000 to each 1st grade class to invest in stocks. The kids get to choose and manage the stocks, and in the process learn financial literacy skills such as how to open a bank account, save money, and invest. Here's a little more about how the program works:
Education
AP for Everyone?
I was pretty surprised when I read this story in The Seattle Times about a school that will require all 10th graders to take at least one Advanced Placement class next year. While it seems like a good idea to encourage kids to take rigorous classes, is it really smart to require them to enroll in AP?
Recruitment & Retention
Can You Reward Me Now? Cellphones for Academic Improvement
And now, for our (seemingly) weekly update on motivating students with rewards:
Education
Motivated by Election 2008
Just to be clear, we here at Motivation Matters aren't endorsing any particular candidate in the 2008 presidential election, but we are interested in the effect the election may have on student motivation. Although, as a general rule, K-12 students can't vote, presidential elections--especially ones that are as historic as this one is shaping up to be--have the potential to excite and motivate kids by bringing history and politics out of textbooks and into their daily lives. The video below is a one example of the way a charter school in Chicago is using the election to help students get directly involved in the democratic process.
Assessment
Can You Measure Motivation?
This story, "Researchers Propose NAEP Look Beyond Academic Measures," by Education Week's Kathleen Kennedy Manzo is about a new report written for the Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University, which says that the National Assessment of Educational Progress should measure more than just basic academic skills. The report claims that the assessment should expand to include eight goals: "basic academic skills, critical thinking, social skills and work ethic, readiness for citizenship, physical and emotional health, appreciation of arts and literature, and preparation for work."
Student Well-Being & Movement
Why Recess Matters
In a recent commentary piece on edweek.org, Vicky Shippers argues that recess is an important piece of a student's school day. It is the only unstructured time children have at school, and yet many recess activities--like kickball and tag--have been banned from the playground because of safety concerns, and in many schools, recess itself has been squeezed out because of time constraints. Shippers explains why this is a worrisome trend:
Education
Student Voices Blog
There's a relatively new blog up on edweek.org that showcases student work from a project called Students at the Center, which works in two New Orleans high schools. On the blog, co-directors Jim Randels and Kalamu ya Salaam give regular updates on what students in the project are up to and post the essays students write. This is a really great example of how educators have begun to use technology to motivate students and present their work in a different way.
Recruitment & Retention
Cash-Incentive Research Update
It seems like lately every week there's been something new about cash-incentive programs, and this week is no exception. Debra Viadero's follow-up story about a three-year-old rewards program in Coshocton, Ohio reveals that their cash incentives have worked--sort of. Scores in math have improved, but reading scores have stayed the same. Test scores in science and social studies have also improved, although not significantly. Because of the mixed results, it seems like educators on both sides of this debate are using the study's results to support their position.
Education
Teaching with Comic Books
There's a letter to the editor this week that gets right to the heart of student motivation issues. It's from a former teacher who, as a substitute teacher, was appalled when he took over for a teacher who was letting students read comic books for an English class. But then he had a realization:
Student Achievement
Homework Debate Revisited
A couple of months ago, we had quite a debate going on this blog about the importance of homework--how much should be given, whether it's effective, and how much strain it puts on families. So when I saw this story ("Survey on Homework Reveals Acceptance, Despite Some Gripes") on edweek.org this morning, I immediately thought of the readers of this blog.
School & District Management
Education Struggles: One Iraqi Family's Story
Education Week reporter Mary Ann Zehr, who posts frequently on her Learning the Language blog, just returned from a one-month stint in the Middle East. She wrote a number of fascinating dispatches while she was there, and her latest "Back in School, Iraqi Teen Lacks Motivation to Study" might be of particular interest to readers of this blog.
Student Well-Being & Movement
More Exercise, Higher Grades
In her story this week, Education Week's Debra Viadero says that research is drawing an increasingly strong link between exercise and academic performance. Here's an excerpt: