Motivating Students: Agenda…

1. Finding the Right Spark: Strategies for Motivating the Resistant Learner at the Middle and High School LevelsJim Wrightwww.interventioncentral.org

2. Understanding the Central Role that Motivation Plays in Student Success • Defining ‘Motivation’ (and Related Behavioral Principles ) • Analyzing Why a Student Lacks Motivation and Selecting Appropriate Strategies • Helping Teachers to Proactively Manage Instruction and Behaviors to Optimize Student Motivation • Motivating Teachers to Want to Use Motivating Strategies With Students • Reviewing Additional Internet Resources Motivating Students: Agenda…

3. Download PowerPoints and Handouts from this Keynote Available at:www.interventioncentral.org/NASP_Indy.php

4. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.Lao Tzu, Chinese Taoist (600 BC-531 BC) “ ”

5. Motivation Challenge: Understanding the Central Role that Motivation Plays in Student Success

6. Childhood and Beyond Longitudinal Project • 3 cohorts of children (about 250 children per cohort) were followed across elementary, middle and high school. (Children were recruited from 4 middle-class school districts in the midwest.) • In the subject areas of math, language arts, and sports, students were asked each year to rate their competence in the subject and their valuing of it. Source: Jacobs, J. E., Lanza, S., Osgood, D. W., Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Changes in children’s self-competence and values: Gender and domain differences across grades one through twelve. Child Development, 73, 509-527.

7. Childhood and Beyond Longitudinal Project: Some Findings • Ratings of both competence and value declined for all 3 subject areas (math, language arts, and sports) for boys and girls as they grew older. • Girls rated themselves lower in competence in math throughout school—until grade 12, when boys and girls converged in their ratings (because boys’ ratings declined faster than did girls’ ratings). • Across all grade levels, boys rated themselves significantly less competent than did girls in language arts. • Not surprisingly, boys’ and girls’ valuing (enjoyment, liking) of a subject area correlated with perceived ability. Generally, boys and girls who rated themselves as lowest in ability also rated their valuing of the subject area as lowest. Source: Jacobs, J. E., Lanza, S., Osgood, D. W., Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Changes in children’s self-competence and values: Gender and domain differences across grades one through twelve. Child Development, 73, 509-527.

8. Five Strands of Mathematical Proficiency(NRC, 2002) • Understanding: Comprehending mathematical concepts, operations, and relations--knowing what mathematical symbols, diagrams, and procedures mean. • Computing: Carrying out mathematical procedures, such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers flexibly, accurately, efficiently, and appropriately. • Applying: Being able to formulate problems mathematically and to devise strategies for solving them using concepts and procedures appropriately. • Reasoning: Using logic to explain and justify a solution to a problem or to extend from something known to something less known. • Engaging: Seeing mathematics as sensible, useful, and doable—if you work at it—and being willing to do the work. Source: National Research Council. (2002). Helping children learn mathematics. Mathematics Learning Study Committee, J. Kilpatrick & J. Swafford, Editors, Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

9. School Dropout as a Process, Not an Event “It is increasingly accepted that dropout is best conceptualized as a long-term process, not an instantaneous event; however, most interventions are administered at a middle or high school level after problems are severe.” Source: Jimerson, S., Reschly, A.L., & Hess, R. (2008). Best practices in increasing the likelihood of school completion. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds). Best Practices in School Psychology - 5th Ed (pp. 1085-1097). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.. p.1090

10. Student Motivation & The Need for Intervention “A common response to students who struggle in sixth grade is to wait and hope they grow out of it or adapt, to attribute early struggles to the natural commotion of early adolescence and to temporary difficulties in adapting to new organizational structures of schooling, more challenging curricula and assessment, and less personalized attention. Our evidence clearly indicates that, at least in high-poverty urban schools, sixth graders who are missing 20% or more of the days, exhibiting poor behavior, or failing math or English do not recover. On the contrary, they drop out. This says that early intervention is not only productive but absolutely essential.” Source: Balfanz, R., Herzog, L., MacIver, D. J. (2007). Preventing student disengagement and keeping students on the graduation path in urban middle grades schools: Early identification and effective interventions. Educational Psychologist,42, 223–235. .

11. What Are the ‘Early Warning Flags’ of Student Drop-Out? A sample of 13,000 students in Philadelphia were tracked for 8 years. These early warning indicators were found to predict student drop-out in the sixth-grade year: • Failure in English • Failure in math • Missing at least 20% of school days • Receiving an ‘unsatisfactory’ behavior rating from at least one teacher Source: Balfanz, R., Herzog, L., MacIver, D. J. (2007). Preventing student disengagement and keeping students on the graduation path in urban middle grades schools: Early identification and effective interventions. Educational Psychologist,42, 223–235. .

12. What is the Predictive Power of These Early Warning Flags? Source: Balfanz, R., Herzog, L., MacIver, D. J. (2007). Preventing student disengagement and keeping students on the graduation path in urban middle grades schools: Early identification and effective interventions. Educational Psychologist,42, 223–235. .

13. Motivation Challenge: Defining Motivation and Related Behavioral Principles

14. Academic or Behavioral Targets Are Stated as ‘Replacement Behaviors’ “The implementation of successful interventions begins with accurate problem identification. Traditionally, the student problem was stated as a broad, general concern (e.g., impulsive, aggressive, reading below grade level) that a teacher identified. In a competency-based approach, however, the problem identification is stated in terms of the desired replacement behaviors that will increase the student’s probability of successful adaptation to the task demands of the academic setting.” p. 178 Source: Batsche, G. M., Castillo, J. M., Dixon, D. N., & Forde, S. (2008). Best practices in problem analysis. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 177-193).

15. Big Ideas: Similar Behaviors May Stem from Very Different ‘Root’ Causes (Kratochwill, Elliott, & Carrington Rotto, 1990) • Behavior is not random but follows purposeful patterns.Students who present with the same apparent ‘surface’ behaviors may have very different ‘drivers’ (underlying reasons) that explain why those behaviors occur.A student’s problem behaviors must be carefully identified and analyzed to determine the drivers that support them. Source: Kratochwill, T. R., Elliott, S. N., & Carrington Rotto, P. (1990). Best practices in behavioral consultation. In A. Thomas and J. Grimes (Eds.). Best practices in school psychology-II (pp. 147=169). Silver Spring, MD: National Association of School Psychologists..

16. Inference: Moving Beyond the Margins of the ‘Known’ “An inference is a tentative conclusion without direct or conclusive support from available data. All hypotheses are, by definition, inferences. It is critical that problem analysts make distinctions between what is known and what is inferred or hypothesized….Low-level inferences should be exhausted prior to the use of high-level inferences.” p. 161 Source: Christ, T. (2008). Best practices in problem analysis. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 159-176).

17. High-Inference Hypothesis. The student is ‘just lazy’ and would do better if he would only apply himself. Unknown Known Unknown Low-Inference Hypothesis. The student has gaps in academic skills that require (a) mapping out those skill gaps, and (b) providing the student with remedial instruction as needed. Known Examples of High vs. Low Inference Hypotheses An 11th-grade student does poorly on tests and quizzes in math. Homework is often incomplete. He frequently shows up late for class and does not readily participate in group discussions.

18. Student Motivation Levels Are Strongly Influenced by the Instructional Setting (Lentz & Shapiro, 1986) • Students with learning or motivation problems do not exist in isolation. Rather, their instructional environment plays an enormously important role in these students’ degree of academic engagement. Source: Lentz, F. E. & Shapiro, E. S. (1986). Functional assessment of the academic environment. School Psychology Review, 15, 346-57.

19. …educators continue to exert change efforts toward the individual, particularly in the form of punitive responses, when academic or behavior problems arise. Yet, a rapidly growing literature base offers evidence that this may not be an altogether effective, expedient, or comprehensive approach to academic and behavioral challenges. Instead, intervention strategies that are likely to have a large impact and sustained effect must duly alter those environmental events that beget student challenges. (Kern & Clemens, 2007) “ ” Source: Kern, L., & Clemens, N. H. (2007). Antecedent strategies to promote appropriate classroom behavior. Psychology in the Schools, 44, 65-75.

20. Big Ideas: Academic Delays Can Be a Potent Cause of Behavior Problems (Witt, Daly, & Noell, 2000) Student academic problems cause many school behavior problems. “Whether [a student’s] problem is a behavior problem or an academic one, we recommend starting with a functional academic assessment, since often behavior problems occur when students cannot or will not do required academic work.” Source: Witt, J. C., Daly, E. M., & Noell, G. (2000). Functional assessments: A step-by-step guide to solving academic and behavior problems. Longmont, CO: Sopris West, p. 13

21. Defining Motivation: Activity • At your table: • Discuss the term ‘ motivation’. • Come up with a definition of this term that you feel would be appropriate to share with your teaching staff.

22. Definitions of ‘Motivation’ Source: Bomia, L., Beluzo, L., Demeester, D., Elander, K., Johnson, M., & Sheldon, B. (1997). The impact of teaching strategies on intrinsic motivation. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 418 925) Motivation “refers to a student's willingness, need, desire and compulsion to participate in, and be successful in, the learning process.” “Motivation is typically defined as the forces that account for the arousal, selection, direction, and continuation of behavior.” Source: Excerpted from Chapter 11 of Biehler/Snowman, PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED TO TEACHING, 8/e, Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

23. ……………… ……………… 10 0 X X ...………… ...………… 0 10 ……………… 10 0 0 X ...………… 10 100 Unmotivated Students: What Works Motivation can be thought of as having two dimensions: • the student’s expectation of success on the task The relationship between the two factors is multiplicative. If EITHER of these factors (the student’s expectation of success on the task OR the student’s valuing of that success) is zero, then the ‘motivation’ product will also be zero. Multiplied by • the value that the student places on achieving success on that learning task Source:Sprick, R. S., Borgmeier, C., & Nolet, V. (2002). Prevention and management of behavior problems in secondary schools. In M. A. Shinn, H. M. Walker & G. Stoner (Eds.), Interventions for academic and behavior problems II: Preventive and remedial approaches (pp.373-401). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

24. Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation “An intrinsically motivated behavior [is defined as] one for which there exists no recognizable reward except the activity itself (e.g., reading). That is, behavior that cannot be attributed to external controls is usually attributed to intrinsic motivation.” “…an extrinsically motivated behavior refers to behavior controlled by stimuli external to the task.” p. 345 Source: Akin-Little, K. A., Eckert, T. L., Lovett, B. J., & Little, S. G. (2004). Extrinsic reinforcement in the classroom: Bribery or best practice. School Psychology Review, 33, 344-362.

25. Intrinsic Motivation: Is There Any Utility to This Construct? By definition, intrinsic motivation is supported by the reinforcing quality of the activity alone. As a construct, ‘intrinsic motivation’ may be untestable, because the reinforcer cannot be directly observed or experimentally manipulated. “Intrinsic motivation has been defined as behaviors performed in the absence of observable external reinforcement. Defining any construct in terms of what it is not does little to advance the course of science.”p. 358 Source: Akin-Little, K. A., Eckert, T. L., Lovett, B. J., & Little, S. G. (2004). Extrinsic reinforcement in the classroom: Bribery or best practice. School Psychology Review, 33, 344-362.

26. Big Ideas: The Four Stages of Learning Can Be Summed Up in the ‘Instructional Hierarchy(Haring et al., 1978) Student learning can be thought of as a multi-stage process. The universal stages of learning include: • Acquisition: The student is just acquiring the skill. • Fluency: The student can perform the skill but must make that skill ‘automatic’. • Generalization: The student must perform the skill across situations or settings. • Adaptation: The student confronts novel task demands that require that the student adapt a current skill to meet new requirements. Source: Haring, N.G., Lovitt, T.C., Eaton, M.D., & Hansen, C.L. (1978). The fourth R: Research in the classroom. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co.

27. Reframing ‘Intrinsic Motivation’ as the Handiwork of Good Teachers • When a student appears to be ‘intrinsically motivated’ to complete a task, that student has advanced through the stages of the Instructional Hierarchy to independence. To reach his or her current state of academic competence, however, the student needed to move through the usual stages of learning and required lots of close teacher support, encouragement, and extrinsic reinforcement.When students are observed who seem to be ‘intrinsically motivated’ by academics, then, we are merely observing the excellent handiwork of past teachers!

28. Motivation in Action: ‘Flow’

29. Definition of the ‘Flow’ State “Being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost.” --Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Source: Geirland, J. (Septermber, 1996). Go with the flow. Wired Magazine. Retrieved March 19, 2007, from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.09/czik_pr.html

30. Qualities of Activities that May Elicit a ‘Flow’ State • The activity is challenging and requires skill to complete • Goals are clear • Feedback is immediate • There is a ‘merging of action and awareness’. ‘All the attention is concentrated on the relevant stimuli’ so that individuals are no longer aware of themselves as ‘separate from the actions they are performing’ • The sense of time’s passing is altered: Time may seem slowed or pass very quickly • ‘Flow’ is not static. As one acquires mastery over an activity, he or she must move to more challenging experiences to continue to achieve ‘flow’ Source: Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row

31. Student A: Low Skills, Low Challenge • Student C: Low Skills, High Challenge • Student D: High Skills, High Challenge • Student B: High Skills, Low Challenge (High) Anxiety D Flow Channel A Boredom C B (Low) (Low) (High) Flow Channel Challenges Skills Source: Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row

32. The Gordian Knot: A Symbol for an Intractable Problem Solved Through an Innovative Approach • The Gordian Knot was a relic kept in an ancient temple in the kingdom of Phrygia. The knot was so intricate and cunningly woven together that no person could untie it. • One day, the Macedonian military conqueror Alexander the Great visited the temple to view the knot. When told that many had tried without success through the ages to untie it, Alexander studied the knot closely—then pulled out his sword and cut it in two.

33. Student Motivation: Cutting the ‘Gordian Knot’ by Reframing the Issue in Observable (and Fixable) Terms Step 1: Redefine ‘motivation’ as academic engagement: e.g., The student chooses “to engage in active accurate academic responding” (Skinner, Pappas, & Davis, 2005). Step 2: Build staff support for this mission statement: “When a student appears unmotivated, it is the school’s job to figure out why the student is unmotivated and to find a way to get that student motivated.” Source: Skinner, C. H., Pappas, D. N., & Davis, K. A. (2005). Enhancing academic engagement: Providing opportunities for responding and influencing students to choose to respond. Psychology in the Schools, 42, 389-403.

34. Motivation Challenge: Analyzing Why a Student Lacks Motivation and Selecting Appropriate Strategies

35. [An important] assumption of social cognitive models of motivation is that motivation is not a stable trait of an individual, but is more situational, contextual, and domain-specific. In other words, not only are students motivated in multiple ways, but their motivation can vary depending on the situation or context in the classroom or school. …This provides hope for teachers and school psychologists and suggests that instructional efforts and the design of classrooms and schools can make a difference in motivating students for academic achievement. (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2002, p. 314). “ ” Source: Linnenbrink, E. A., & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Motivation as an enabler for academic success. School Psychology Review, 31, 313-327.

36. Six Reasons That Students Are Unmotivated (And What Teachers Can Do) • The student is unmotivated because he or she cannot do the assigned work. • The student is unmotivated because the ‘response effort’ needed to complete the assigned work seems too great. • The student is unmotivated because classroom instruction does not engage. • The student is unmotivated because he or she fails to see an adequate pay-off to doing the assigned work. • The student is unmotivated because of low self-efficacy—lack of confidence that he or she can do the assigned work. • The student is unmotivated because he or she lacks a positive relationship with the teacher.

37. Six Reasons Why Students Are Unmotivated (And What Teachers Can Do) • This handout provides guidance to teachers in identifying why a student lacks motivation and what general strategies are recommended in the research. • The teacher then has latitude to use the general guidelines and the research that supports them as a starting-point for their own intervention ideas to boost motivation.

38. Motivation Deficit 1: The student is unmotivated because he or she cannot do the assigned work. • Profile of a Student with This Motivation Problem:The student lacks essential skills required to do the task.

39. Motivation Deficit 1: Cannot Do the Work • Profile of a Student with This Motivation Problem (Cont.):Areas of deficit might include: • Basic academic skills. Basic skills have straightforward criteria for correct performance (e.g., the student defines vocabulary words or decodes text or computes ‘math facts’) and comprise the building-blocks of more complex academic tasks (Rupley, Blair, & Nichols, 2009). • Cognitive strategies. Students employ specific cognitive strategies as “guiding procedures” to complete more complex academic tasks such as reading comprehension or writing (Rosenshine, 1995 • Academic-enabling skills. Skills that are ‘academic enablers’ (DiPerna, 2006) are not tied to specific academic knowledge but rather aid student learning across a wide range of settings and tasks (e.g., organizing work materials, time management).

40. Motivation Deficit 1: Cannot Do the Work (Cont.) • What the Research Says: When a student lacks the capability to complete an academic task because of limited or missing basic skills, cognitive strategies, or academic-enabling skills, that student is still in the acquisition stage of learning (Haring et al., 1978). That student cannot be expected to be motivated or to be successful as a learner unless he or she is first explicitly taught these weak or absent essential skills (Daly, Witt, Martens & Dool, 1997).

41. Motivation Deficit 1: Cannot Do the Work (Cont.) • How to Verify the Presence of This Motivation Problem: The teacher collects information (e.g., through observations of the student engaging in academic tasks; interviews with the student; examination of work products, quizzes, or tests) demonstrating that the student lacks basic skills, cognitive strategies, or academic-enabling skills essential to the academic task.

42. Motivation Deficit 1: Cannot Do the Work (Cont.) • How to Fix This Motivation Problem: Students who are not motivated because they lack essential skills need to be taught those skills. Direct-Instruction Format.Students learning new material, concepts, or skills benefit from a ‘direct instruction’ approach. (Burns, VanDerHeyden & Boice, 2008; Rosenshine, 1995; Rupley, Blair, & Nichols, 2009).

44. Motivation Deficit 1: Cannot Do the Work (Cont.) • How to Fix This Motivation Problem: When following a direct-instruction format, the teacher: • ensures that the lesson content is appropriately matched to students’ abilities. • opens the lesson with a brief review of concepts or material that were previously presented. • states the goals of the current day’s lesson. • breaks new material into small, manageable increments, or steps.

45. Motivation Deficit 1: Cannot Do the Work (Cont.) • How to Fix This Motivation Problem: When following a direct-instruction format, the teacher: • throughout the lesson, provides adequate explanations and detailed instructions for all concepts and materials being taught. NOTE: Verbal explanations can include ‘talk-alouds’ (e.g., the teacher describes and explains each step of a cognitive strategy) and ‘think-alouds’ (e.g., the teacher applies a cognitive strategy to a particular problem or task and verbalizes the steps in applying the strategy). • regularly checks for student understanding by posing frequent questions and eliciting group responses.

46. Motivation Deficit 1: Cannot Do the Work (Cont.) • How to Fix This Motivation Problem: When following a direct-instruction format, the teacher: • verifies that students are experiencing sufficient success in the lesson content to shape their learning in the desired direction and to maintain student motivation and engagement. • provides timely and regular performance feedback and corrections throughout the lesson as needed to guide student learning.

47. Motivation Deficit 1: Cannot Do the Work (Cont.) • How to Fix This Motivation Problem: When following a direct-instruction format, the teacher: • allows students the chance to engage in practice activities distributed throughout the lesson (e.g., through teacher demonstration; then group practice with teacher supervision and feedback; then independent, individual student practice). • ensures that students have adequate support (e.g., clear and explicit instructions; teacher monitoring) to be successful during independent seatwork practice activities.

49. Motivation Deficit 2: The student is unmotivated because the ‘response effort’ needed to complete the assigned work seems too great. • Profile of a Student with This Motivation Problem: Although the student has the required skills to complete the assigned work, he or she perceives the ‘effort’ needed to do so to be so great that the student loses motivation.

50. Motivation Deficit 2: Response Effort (Cont.) • What the Research Says: Research indicates that (1) as the perceived effort to complete an academic task or other behavior (‘response effort’) increases, people are less likely to engage in that behavior, while (2) as the effort to complete the same behavior decreases, people are more likely to engage in it (Friman & Poling, 1995).