Special Report
Student Well-Being From Our Research Center

Student and Teacher Motivation, in Charts

By Arianna Prothero — February 21, 2023 1 min read
A group of high school students and their teacher crowd around a laptop and read the screen together.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Ask teens about how motivated they are to do well in school and hopeful they are feeling about the future, and the overall outlook is fairly sunny—in some cases, decidedly more so than it was two years ago.

But when you ask educators a similar question about their students and themselves, their answers paint a very different picture.

That’s according to the results of two nationally representative surveys conducted by the EdWeek Research Center between December 2022 and February 2023.

Perhaps the starkest difference between 13- to 19-year-olds and educators: Thirty-eight percent of students said that as of 2023, the pandemic had made them less motivated to do their best in school. But a whopping 80 percent of educators said that the pandemic had made students less motivated.

There is, however, one area where students and educators (teachers, principals, and district leaders) are in near total agreement, and that’s on how motivated teachers are to teach students. About 80 percent of students and educators say that teachers in their schools are motivated to do their best.

The following charts present a clearer picture of how student and teacher motivation are shaping up this school year, based on the perspectives of nationally representative samples of 1,011 students and 1,058 teachers, principals, and district leaders.

Coverage of whole-child approaches to learning is supported in part by a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, at www.chanzuckerberg.com. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.
A version of this article appeared in the March 01, 2023 edition of Education Week as Student and Teacher Motivation, in Charts

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Teaching Webinar
Teacher Perspectives: What is the Future of Virtual Education?
Hear from practicing educators on how virtual and hybrid options offer more flexibility and best practices for administrative support.
Content provided by Class
Reading & Literacy Webinar How Background Knowledge Fits Into the ‘Science of Reading’ 
Join our webinar to learn research-backed strategies for enhancing reading comprehension and building cultural responsiveness in the classroom.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Student Well-Being Lunchables Are Coming to School Cafeteria Menus. We Unwrap the Reasons Why
A retooled version of the product has gotten the OK to be served on school lunch lines.
4 min read
Students eat lunch in the cafeteria at Tonalea K-8 school in Scottsdale, Ariz., Dec. 12, 2022.
Students eat lunch in the cafeteria at Tonalea K-8 school in Scottsdale, Ariz., Dec. 12, 2022.
Alberto Mariani/AP
Student Well-Being Letter to the Editor Schools Must Combine Exercise and Learning in the Classroom
It’s important for students to add movement into their daily school routine, says this letter to the editor.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Student Well-Being Letter to the Editor Better Sleep and Breathing Habits May Improve Mental Health
A parent and yoga instructor explains the importance of good breathing and sleep in this letter to the editor.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Student Well-Being Opinion The Idea of Social-Emotional Learning Makes Sense. But Its Execution Doesn't
SEL is a mixed bag with plenty to criticize. Rick Hess and Jal Mehta discuss their feelings about it.
7 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty