We have an interactive device on the home page of edweek.org that allows us to conduct a weekly poll. To be sure, this online poll does not meet the standards for scientific polling. It is an informal survey, no more, no less.
Still, it is a lot of fun to use and it is growing more and more popular among our online readers.
For Motivation Matters, this week’s poll results are especially worth noting. We asked readers whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “Most high school students are not motivated to do their best.”
Of the 495 people who responded to the poll, 80 percent (399) agreed with that statement.
Those results raise the questions: Why are most high school students not motivated to do their best? And what can parents and educators do to motivate them to try harder?