Motivation Matters

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.

The circumstances surrounding the interruption of many Iraqi children's education are complicated and difficult to summarize, so I highly recommend that you go read the entire story. Once Iraqi kids go back to school after a long interruption, they are often grouped in with students who are younger than them. Just like American students who find themselves in classes with significantly younger peers, displaced Iraqi students find it difficult to thrive and often drop out.

The hardships endured by the family described in Mary Ann's story are heart-wrenching and certainly representative of what many Iraqi children are currently experiencing. Read more about Mary Ann's experiences on one of her latest blog posts.

Posted by Katie Ash at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Education Week's Lesli Maxwell has written a number of heartbreaking, and sometimes inspiring, stories about schools in New Orleans this year, and her latest, 'The Hurricane Messed a Lot of Us Up,' is no exception.

The story is about a 16-year-old student, Giovanna Batiste, who returned to New Orleans after spending two years going to school in Houston. Now that she's back in New Orleans, Giovanna says it's harder to learn. "People come in late, or they talk over the teacher and you can’t hear the lesson," she says in the article. "Or they clown around so much that everyone just goes crazy and the teacher can’t teach."

In a video posted with the article, Giovanna talks about the lack of discipline and motivation in her classmates. Behavioral problems plague her classes, and even though numerous social workers and behavioral interventionists have been assigned to handle the unique challenges presented in the Recovery School District, they are overwhelmed by the amount of students who need help.

This story really draws attention to how much farther schools in New Orleans have to go, and how much more students in that area have to be self-motivated in order to succeed. It also shows how great an effect a positive school environment can have on student motivation. Click here to read more of Lesli's stories about school recovery and reform in New Orleans. Also, check out Starting Over, Roslyn Smith's blog about the challenges she faces as a charter school board president in the district.

Posted by Katie Ash at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My attention was first directed to the Atlantic Street Center after reading this article in The Seattle Times last week. The Seattle-based nonprofit aims to help low-income families raise healthy, successful, academically eager children through a variety of services such as tutoring, study skills instruction, and cultural awareness workshops. Eager to know more, I e-mailed Darcy McInnis, the organization's communications coordinator, and she agreed to answer a few questions about what the organization does and how it increases student motivation. Her responses touch on a lot of issues we write about in this blog--parent involvement, early childhood education, community involvement, and hands-on, creative learning experiences. Below are some excerpts from that interview (my questions are in bold and Ms. McInnis' responses follow):

In a recent article, executive director Edith Elion said the ASC's Youth Development Program was designed to foster "a deep love for learning and an appreciation of our culture." How does the Youth Development Program go about achieving those goals?

Education is at the heart of all Atlantic Street Center services. We focus our efforts on helping children of all ages to flourish academically, emotionally and socially in the present, while helping them to develop the skills and strengths they need to succeed in adulthood. In particular, our Youth Development Program provides educational support to youth ages 5-18. These services include in-school and after-school tutoring, homework assistance, study skills instruction, summer school, and career skills workshops. We also offer an academic skill building program for adolescents with a strong college readiness component.

Our Parent-Child Home Program provides early education services, which primarily involves helping 2 & 3 year olds acquire the learning and language they need to get ready for kindergarten. We do this through home-based services for parent and child. Other educational services include WASL prep, homework club, social skills and leadership development, and family study time. We also work with parents to help them understand how to work with their children's schools and teachers and advocate for their child.

How are those two pieces (a deep love of learning and an appreciation of culture) connected?

Those are two different service areas: the educational piece (which I explained above) and the cultural education piece. We achieve the latter through regular cultural events (Black History Month, Juneteenth, Multicultural New Year, Women's History Month, Women of the World Swim, etc.) as well as ongoing workshops on cultural topics as the need arises. We also encourage older youth to participate in service learning activities to encourage them to give back to the community. This includes projects such as volunteering at homeless shelters, creating public art installations, visiting with the disabled and elderly, and assisting community organizations with special projects.

All of these activities are designed to instill a love of learning while at the same time encouraging curiosity and understanding of other cultures and pride for one's own culture.

How do the services that children receive at the ASC affect their attitude towards learning when they're in the classroom?

Many of the children being served by Atlantic Street Center are struggling academically, often because they are not receiving the attention they need to succeed in school. Many of these students are uncertain about their academic potential and future. Our programs are designed to give students the practical help they need to perform at grade level, while also motivating them to conceive of future academic success and advancement. Our hope is that our programs help students foster a love of school and learning and an understanding of how education can help them achieve their life goals.

Posted by Katie Ash at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An AP story about a recent study by the Baltimore-based nonprofit organization Advocates for Children and Youth links low performing schools with high principal turnover rates. The group, which examined schools in or near Baltimore, calls for incentives to keep principals in low achieving schools for longer periods of time with the hope that more experienced principals will improve academic performance, says the article.

There's a related article up today in the Rocky Mountain News about one principal who left her post at a high achieving middle school to work at the lowest-performing middle school in the state. Her leadership has resulted in the school moving to a "low" ranking, up from the "unsatisfactory" label it held before. The article goes on to talk about concerns from the school district and the teacher's union about the autonomy she is calling for in order to try more creative ways to further raise achievement in her school, but what I'm more interested in is what she did, and what she plans to do, to increase academic performance.

We've spent quite a bit of time talking about how teachers affect students' motivation, and even how society influences the way students approach learning, but we haven't talked much about the relationship between principals' leadership and how students learn.

What role do principals play in increasing academic performance and student motivation in their schools? What kinds of things can they do to help foster a high achieving environment? Would offering incentives for principals in low performing schools help raise test scores? Or would that actually stifle motivation by putting too strong an emphasis on grades, as Kathleen touched on in a blog entry back in July?

Posted by Katie Ash at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I’ve already heard more than a few times the dreaded words of a child in the midst of summer break: “I’m bored.” Or my daughter’s version: “I’m Sooooo bored!” Of course the complaint is not an accurate reflection of summer vacation for many middle- and upper-income children, who have a wealth of activities lined up to keep them busy until the next school bell.

They tend to learn from those library and museums visits, family outings and vacations, summer camps and sporting events, albeit subconsciously or involuntarily.

A recent report from researchers at Johns Hopkins University concludes that the lessons learned during summer—or not learned--tend to contribute to the significant gap in achievement between children from more privileged backgrounds and their economically disadvantaged peers.

Education Week’s Scott Cech writes about the report, "Lasting Consequences of the Summer Learning Gap," here.

While learning gains are “more nearly equal” among students of various socioeconomic backgrounds during the school year, they tend to diverge quite dramatically during the summer months, according to the report. Researchers Karl L. Alexander, Doris R. Entwisle, and Linda Steffel Olson, culled longitudinal data from 325 Baltimore students from 1st grade to age 22 and found that students from relatively well-educated, economically secure homes saw significant increases in their test scores.

But Mr. Alexander, a sociology professor, cautions that there is no checklist of experiences that accounts for the disparities in performance.

“It’s important to point out a deeper reality, that in middle class or non-disadvantaged families, day-in and day-out the life experiences are qualitatively different than less well-off children,” he said.

Posted by Kathleen Kennedy Manzo, edweek.org at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I frequently go back and read the transcripts from the chats we run on edweek.org. The questions alone highlight how desperately educators are seeking answers to their problems. The answers from our featured guests try to point people in the right direction toward solving those problems.

One recent chat transcript that is particularly worth noting is "Helping African-American Boys." We had very high volume of questions for that chat and our guests did a good job of answering them.

There were quite a number of motivation-related questions and answers. So check it out.

Posted by Kevin Bushweller at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

"My general impression is one of extreme disappointment," Gerald Wheeler of the National Science Teachers Association told Education Week after the release this month of a federal study showing that students in urban schools struggled with relatively basic tasks in a test of their science skills. "I can't imagine these kids surviving in a scientifically literate society."

Having grown up in a family of scientists (my father, now retired, was a chemistry professor and my older brother is a chemistry professor), I remember the many conversations my father and brother have had over the years about why so few U.S. kids pursue scientific interests. My father and brother bemoan the perceived unwillingness of teenagers to tackle difficult subjects such as chemistry, physics, and biology that take discipline, focus, and commitment to navigate and understand. They point out that schools relying on history or English teachers to teach science were simply wasting their time, because the sciences demanded a teacher with superb subject matter knowledge.

As a self-described science idiot in a science family, I tended to keep my mouth shut when these conversations took place. But not anymore, because I think science is potentially the most fascinating subject you can learn about in school. Most schools and communities simply are not tapping into the potential power of science.

To get kids motivated to learn science--and to hang with it even when the going gets tough--requires a bigger picture approach that involves the whole community, as suggested by Science After School, a blog about science education. The author of the blog argues that generating more motivation to learn science starts with accepting the scientific process as something that children can understand and use to understand the world around them. And those opportunities, he says, must be provided to students who may not get such experiences at home.

Then, as my father and brother argue, make it a priority and find the resources to hire teachers with superb subject matter knowledge. But those teachers also must possess the unique skills necessary to turn that knowledge into relevant lessons about science.

In other words, make science relevant and make it available. And then set teachers and students on a course to rescue us from graduating a generation of scientifically illiterate citizens.

Posted by Kevin Bushweller at 6:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)