Student Motivation, School Culture, And Academic Achievement, What School Leaders Can Do

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ISSUES A series of papers highlighting recent developments in research and practice in educational management & T RENDS ERIC CLEARINGHOUSE ON EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT University of Oregon, 1787 Agate Street, Eugene, Oregon 97403. (503) 346-5043 ® February 1992 Student Motivation, School Culture, and Academic Achievement What School Leaders Can Do Ron Renchler

Transcript of Student Motivation, School Culture, And Academic Achievement, What School Leaders Can Do

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ISSUES A series of papers highlighting recent developmentsin research and practice in educational management

&TRENDS

ERIC CLEARINGHOUSE ON EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENTUniversity of Oregon, 1787 Agate Street, Eugene, Oregon 97403. (503) 346-5043

®

February 1992

Student Motivation, School Culture, and Academic Achievement

What School Leaders Can Do

Ron Renchler

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The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a national information system operated by the Office of EducationalResearch and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. ERIC serves educators by disseminating research results andother resource information that can be used in developing more effective educational programs.

The ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, one of several such units in the system, was established at theUniversity of Oregon in 1966. The Clearinghouse’s subject area is educational management, policy, governance, law, andfacilities at the elementary and secondary levels.

Prior to publication, this manuscript was submitted for critical review and determination of professional competence.The publication has met such standards.

This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department ofEducation under contract no. OERI-R 188062004. The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positionsor policies of the Department of Education. No federal funds were used in the printing of this publication.

International Standard Book Number 0-86552-116-6ERIC/CEM Trends and Issues Series, Number 7Clearinghouse Accession Number: EA 023 593

Printed in the United States of America, February 1992

ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational ManagementUniversity of Oregon1787 Agate StreetEugene OR 97403-5207(541) 346-5043

Design: University Publications, University of Oregon.

The University of Oregon is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution committed to cultural diversity.

Jim Bencivenga, Education Editor, The Christian ScienceMonitor

Gordon Cawelti, Executive Director, Association forSupervision and Curriculum Development

Timothy J. Dyer, Executive Director, National Associationof Secondary School Principals

Patrick Forsyth, Executive Director, University Council forEducational Administration

Joyce G. McCray, Executive Director, Council forAmerican Private Education

Richard D. Miller, Executive Director, AmericanAssociation of School Administrators

Samuel Sava, Executive Director, National Association ofElementary School Principals

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ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

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Foreword

Every educator needs to be concerned aboutmotivation. It is a quality that students, teachers,parents, school administrators, and other mem-bers of the community must have if our educa-tional system is to prepare young people ad-equately for the challenges and demands of thecoming century.

Of course, the way these various groups ofindividuals generate and use motivation differsgreatly. Students need motivation to learn, par-ents need it to track the educational progress oftheir sons and daughters, teachers need it tobecome better teachers, and school administratorsneed it to ensure that every facet of the schoolsthey manage continues to improve.

Despite much excellent research during thelast two decades, there is still a great deal we donot know about motivation. It remains a mystery,because we all have it, but we all exhibit it atdifferent times, in different degrees, in differentways, and in different contexts. One aspect ofthe school administrator’s job is to discover andnurture motivation among all the different indi-viduals involved in the educational process.Motivation must be rewarded, increased, andsustained at all levels. However, administrators

must not forget about their own motivation. Likethose around them, they must find ways to re-main motivated in the face of obstacles, distrac-tions, and what may sometimes seem like univer-sal indifference.

This sixth issue of the Trends & Issuesseries offers an overview of some recent studiesof motivation as it operates at both the organiza-tional and individual levels, especially in aneducational context. Students in public schoolsobviously cannot be given the immediate finan-cial and professional rewards given to individualswho display high levels of motivation in theworkplace. However, there is a variety of othermethods educators can use to awaken and sustainyoung people’s motivation to learn. The greatestchallenge educators face is to discover whatthose methods are and to make them an integralpart of our educational system.

Ron Renchler received his doctoral degreefrom the University of Oregon in 1987. Sincethen, he has written and edited publications on avariety of topics, including educational adminis-tration, the urban superintendency, computers ineducation, and educational software.

Philip K. PieleProfessor and Director

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Contents

Foreword

Introduction

A Look Ahead

Are Principals Themselves Motivated to Excel?

Motivation and School Culture

Corporate Cultures and School Culture

The Effect of School Leadership on Motivation and Achievement

Motivation and School Restructuring

Motivation and Age-Related Changes in Levels of Motivation

The Challenge of School Restructuring

Some Recent Theories of Motivation

Motivation as a Personal Trait

Motivation in Response to Situations

Motivation and the Concept of Self

The Complexity of Motivation

Conclusion

Bibliography

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Student Motivation, School Culture, and Academic Achievement

What School Leaders Can Do

Ron Renchler

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Introduction

Literature is filled with images of school-children joyfully hurrying away from school. Along line of writers, including such notables asBlake and Shakespeare, have frequently de-scribed unhappy students at their desks andvividly portrayed their delight at escaping theboredom of the classroom. Fiction, poetry, andother forms of art provide us with literally hun-dreds of other similar images that, taken together,establish a long cultural tradition: learning is aprofoundly boring activity.

Fortunately, our received opinion abouteducation as reflected in our cultural tradition candiffer greatly from our actual experience ofclassroom learning. Anyone who has partici-pated in or closely observed the educationalprocess has doubtlessly experienced and wit-nessed firsthand the excitement and joy that canbe derived from learning or discovering some-thing new. While we cannot expect these experi-ences to occur every day, they are neverthelessmeaningful and powerful experiences, and theyprovide us with a basis for our conviction thateducation can, on the whole, be a valuable,interesting, and pleasurable activity. Ultimately,because we know from experience that suchmoments exist, we can acquire a strong motiva-tion to learn, a trait that offers lifelong rewards.

Perhaps the primary job of principals,teachers, parents, and other educational stake-holders is to help students experience thesemoments as frequently as possible in an atmo-sphere where they can discover for themselvesthe pleasure of acquiring new knowledge. Thegoal of helping students acquire the self-motiva-tion that leads to a perpetual desire to learnshould be foremost in every educator’s mind.

A Look AheadThis publication focuses on motivation at

the school level and reviews some recent devel-opments in this area. It begins with a discussionin chapter 1 of the influence of school culture on

student motivation. Recent work in this areaindicates that a school’s culture has a powerfuleffect on students’ attitudes and levels of aca-demic achievement. If educational leaders canfind ways to create an environment that motivatesstudents to learn, it is logical to assume thatimproved academic performance will soonfollow.

Chapter 2 looks at the relationships amongstudent motivation, current educational practices,and school restructuring. Research on motivationin educational settings indicates that many of ourpresent pedagogical practices effectively crushmost students’ desire to learn. A number ofindividuals working in the field of educationalmotivation have called for radical change in theway we teach students, and with the restructuringmovement gaining momentum, theirs are amongthe most persuasive voices arguing for neweducational policies and practices.

Chapter 3 provides a brief overview of somecurrent theories of motivation and the way itfunctions in various individuals. If superinten-dents and principals are to be successful inachieving their goals of strengthening studentmotivation and improving academic perfor-mance, they need at least a general understandingof the theories that help explain how motivationworks.

Are Principals ThemselvesMotivated to Excel?

Faced with the complexity of the subject andthe difficulty of knowing how to generate higherlevels of motivation among students in theirschools, principals and other educational admin-istrators might be forgiven if they feel daunted atthe prospect of tackling this particular educa-tional problem. In fact, it is perhaps fittinglyironic that principals should feel discouraged,which is precisely the way students might feelwhen their teachers ask them to summon up their

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motivation and improve their academic perfor-mance.

Perhaps the most obvious place for princi-pals to begin addressing the problem of inad-equate student motivation is to examine the roleof motivation in their own lives. What is it thatmotivates an educational leader to desire betteracademic performance on the part of his or herstudents? Does it spring from an altruistic desireto improve students’ lives? Is it a result ofhaving a strong work ethic? Does it stem fromthe sense of self-esteem gained from knowingthat one is doing one’s job well? Does it origi-nate in a desire to be successful professionally, towin greater respect from one’s colleagues, tocommand a higher salary, to establish a reputa-tion in the community as a first-rate educationaladministrator?

All of these are possible explanations forwanting to see improved educational perfor-mance, and all of them are acceptable, legitimate

reasons for desiring greater motivation and betteracademic achievement at one’s school. However,the most important lesson to be learned from aself-analysis of the role of motivation in one’slife is in the discovery that the reasons for thepresence or absence of motivation among stu-dents may be as infinitely varied and complex asthe reasons for its presence or absence amongschool leaders.

One other point should be kept in mindwhen considering student motivation. It may bejust as difficult for students to sustain motivationin their educational lives as it is for principals tosustain motivation in their professional careers.Students face many of the same difficulties, realor perceived, that principals face. If schoolleaders are equipped with the wisdom that comesfrom humility, sensitivity, and a constant reflec-tion on the way that motivation functions in theirown lives, it will probably be much easier forthem to find ways to motivate their students.

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An atmosphere or environment that nurturesthe motivation to learn can be cultivated in thehome, in the classroom, or, at a broader level,throughout an entire school. Much of the recentresearch on educational motivation has rightlycentered on the classroom, where the majority oflearning takes place and where students are mostlikely to acquire a strong motivation to gain newknowledge (Ames 1987, Brophy 1987,Grossnickle 1989, Wlodkowski and Jaynes1990).

But achieving the goal of making the indi-vidual classroom a place that naturally motivatesstudents to learn is much easier if students andteachers function in a school culture whereacademic success and the motivation to learn isexpected, respected, and rewarded. An atmo-sphere where students learn to love learning forlearning’s sake, especially insofar as it evolvesinto academic achievement, is a chief characteris-tic of an effective school.

This chapter reviews some of the recentwork on school culture and its relationship tostudent motivation.

Corporate Cultures andSchool Cultures

Much of the literature on school culturedraws on and extends several descriptive studiesof organizational culture in the corporate work-place (Deal and Kennedy 1982; Hickman andSilva 1984; Jelinek, Smircich, and Hirsch 1983;Maehr 1990; Peters and Waterman 1982; Schein1984, 1985; and Wilkins 1983). Educationalresearchers such as Davis (1989), Deal (1987),Deal and Peterson (1990), and Sergiovanni(1987) have found very close parallels betweenthe ways effectively managed businesses operateand the ways effectively managed schools func-tion.

Although no single, universally accepteddefinition of school culture has been established,

there is general agreement that school cultureinvolves, in the words of Deal and Peterson(1990), “deep patterns of values, beliefs, andtraditions that have formed over the course of[the school’s] history.” Over time, a schoolleader can, in conjunction with other stakeholdersin the school, change its culture by discarding oldvalues and beliefs, establishing new ones, ormodifying elements that need to be changed.

Maehr and Fyans (1989), describing culture-building in organizations in general, characterizeit as a fluid process:

Groups tend to work out ways of getting alongamong themselves. They arrive at certain sharedunderstandings regarding how, when, and whereactivities are to occur. Above all, they specifythe meaning, the value, and the purpose of theseactivities. In particular, thoughts and percep-tions about what is worth striving for are acritical feature of any culture. (p. 218)

Thus, a principal interested in establishingthe motivation to learn and academic achieve-ment as central features of a school’s culturemust first persuade everyone—students, teachers,parents, staff, and school board—that goalsrelated to those areas are desirable, achievable,and sustainable.

The goals can ultimately become importantenough to take on a life of their own, to becomeinvested with meaning that reflects the basicpurpose of the school and its reason for being.They can become part of the value system inwhich each participant in the school willingly andenthusiastically participates.

Shaping a School’s CultureSchool leaders have a number of channels

through which they can shape a school’s cultureor climate. Good communication is, of course,central to successfully achieving goals. Butactions must demonstrate what the words convey.Deal (1987) prescribes a few simple guidelines tobring about a reshaping of the school’s culture:

Motivation and School Culture

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Old practices and other losses need to be buriedand commemorated. Meaningless practices andsymbols need to be analyzed and revitalized.Emerging visions, dreams, and hopes need to bearticulated and celebrated.

The culture can be embodied and trans-formed, Deal says, through such channels as theschool’s shared values, heroes, rituals, ceremo-nies, stories, and cultural networks. If motivationand academic achievement are to be a definitivepart of a school’s culture, they must be communi-cated and celebrated in as many forums as pos-sible.

There are a variety of practical ways thatgoals related to motivation and academicachievement can be communicated. In his reviewof studies focusing on organizational culture ineffective schools, John Davis (1989) cites severalstudies that indicate that school leaders cancommunicate their goals by using a wide varietyof concrete and symbolic tools:

An extremely important component of theclimate of the effective school is the presence ofvisible symbols which illustrate and confirmwhat is considered to be important in the school.Put another way, visible symbols manifest theschool’s underlying values and assumptions. . . .School newsletters, statements of goals, behav-ior codes, rituals, symbols, and legends are allpart of the culture of the organization andconvey messages of what the school reallyvalues.

Johnston (1987) echoes this point when hesays, “Values are the bedrock of any institution.They articulate the essence of the organization’sphilosophy about how it goes about achievingsuccess.” He, too, points out that a school’svalues are communicated and disseminatedthrough familiar means: leaders and heroes, thecultural network (the “grapevine”), and ritualsand ceremonies.

The dynamics and logistics of most schoolsare such that the principal cannot possibly over-see the motivational needs of each and everystudent. But groups of people can be affected bythe culture in which they participate, and thisdomain is under the control and stewardship ofthe principal.

Culture and Climate in Academi-cally Effective Schools

The literature on school culture makes itclear that effective schools, that is, schools thatdemonstrate high standards of achievement inacademics, have a culture characterized by awell-defined set of goals that all members of theschool—administration, faculty, and students—value and promote. If a principal can establishand clearly communicate goals that define theexpectations of the school with regard to aca-demic achievement, and if the principal can rallya constituency of teachers and students to supportthose goals, then the motivation to achieve thegoals is likely to follow.

Most reviews of the effective school litera-ture point to the consensus that school culture andclimate are central to academic success(Mackenzie 1983). Typical of the findings is thesummary of Purkey and Smith (1983), who intheir review of the literature on effective schoolsfound a close correlation between positive schoolculture and academic quality:

The literature indicates that a student’s chancefor success in learning cognitive skills is heavilyinfluenced by the climate of the school. . . . Aschool-level culture press in the direction ofacademic achievement helps shape the environ-ment (and climate) in which the student learns.An academically effective school would belikely to have clear goals related to studentachievement, teachers and parents with highexpectations, and a structure designed to maxi-mize opportunities for students to learn. A pressfor academic success is more likely to realizethat goal than would a climate that emphasizesaffective growth or social development. (p. 440)

The Effect of SchoolLeadership on Motivationand Achievement

The work of Leithwood and Montgomery(1984) is especially helpful in understanding therelationship of motivation to effective leadership

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and school goals because it addresses theprincipal’s motivation to become a more effectiveleader as well as the student’s motivation tolearn. They describe four stages that principalsgo through in the process of becoming more andmore effective as school leaders.

The first, and least effective, stage, adminis-trator, is characterized by the principal’s desiresimply to run “a smooth ship.” At the secondstage, humanitarian, principals focus primarilyon goals that cultivate good interpersonal rela-tions, especially among school staff. Principalsat the third stage, program manager, perceiveinterpersonal relations as an avenue for achievingschool-level goals that stress educational achieve-ment. At the fourth and highest stage, systematicproblem solver, principals become devoted to “alegitimate, comprehensive set of goals for stu-dents, and seek out the most effective means fortheir achievement” (p. 51).

One of the chief characteristics of highlyeffective principals at the systematic problem-solver stage is the ability to transfer their owndesire and motivation to achieve valued goals tothe other participants in the educational process.As Leithwood and Montgomery comment:

Highly effective principals . . . seek out opportu-nities to clarify goals with staff, students, parentsand other relevant members of the schoolcommunity. They strive toward consensus aboutthese goals and actively encourage the use ofsuch goals in departmental and divisionalplanning. Such behaviour can be explained bythe principal’s knowledge of human functioningand the actions consistent with such knowledge.Highly effective principals appear to understandthat school improvement goals will only directthe actions of staff, students and others to theextent that these people also adopt them as theirown. Increases in principal effectiveness can beexplained as increases in opportunities, providedby the principal, for all relevant others to agreeupon and internalize approximately the same setof school improvement goals. (p. 31)

According to Leithwood and Montgomery,as principals become more and more effective,they come to understand that people will not bemotivated unless they believe in the value ofacting to achieve a particular goal:

People are normally motivated to engage in

behaviours which they believe will contribute togoal achievement. The strength of one’s moti-vation to act depends on the importance attachedto the goal in question and one’s judgementabout its achievability; motivational strengthalso depends on one’s judgement about howsuccessful a particular behavior will be inmoving toward goal achievement. (p. 31)

Motivation on the part of the principaltranslates into motivation among students andstaff through the functioning of goals, accordingto Leithwood and Montgomery. “Personallyvalued goals,” they say, “are a central element inthe principal’s motivational structure—a stimulusfor action” (p. 24).

In a related study, Klug (1989) describes ameasurement-based approach for analyzing theeffectiveness of instructional leaders and pro-vides a convenient model for understanding theprincipal’s influence on student achievement andmotivation. The model is shown in figure 1.

Klug notes that school leaders can have bothdirect and indirect impact on the level of motiva-tion and achievement within two of the threeareas shown in figure 1. Although the personalfactors—differences in ability levels and person-alities of individual students—usually fall outsidea school leader’s domain of influence, the othertwo categories, situational factors and motiva-tional factors, are to some degree within a schoolleader’s power to control. Klug’s summary ofthe model describes how these two areas can be asource of influence:

School leaders enter the achievement equationboth directly and indirectly. By exercisingcertain behaviors that facilitate learning, theydirectly control situational (S) factors in whichlearning occurs. By shaping the school’sinstructional climate, thereby influencing theattitudes of teachers, students, parents, and thecommunity at large toward education, theyincrease both student and teacher motivation andindirectly impact learning gains. (p. 253)

There are many strategies school leaders canuse to reward motivation and promote academicachievement. For example, Huddle (1984), in areview of literature on effective leadership, citesa study in which principals in effective schoolsused a variety of methods to publicize the schoolgoals and achievements in the area of academics.

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These included:• Bringing in outstanding speakers for the

National Honor Society meetings• Placing names of special education students

on the honor roll• Publishing an annual report of academic

achievement and mailing it to parents• Displaying academic awards and trophies in

the school trophy case

Maehr’s PsychologicalEnvironment

In their book The Motivation Factor: ATheory of Personal Investment, Maehr andBraskamp (1986) focus extensively on motiva-tion, or personal investment, as they term it, inorganizational settings, especially as it functionsamong adults in the workplace. They conclude“that there is a relationship between organiza-tional culture and personal investment—thatknowing something about the cultural facets ofan organization allows us to predict employee’sjob satisfaction and organizational commitment”(p. 153).

Recently, Maehr (1990) has turned hisattention to the relationship between motivationand the organizational culture of schools. Hiswork centers on what he terms the “psychologicalenvironment” of the school. School administra-tors, he asserts, are in the best position to shape aschool’s psychological environment. Drawingparallels between the school environment and the

classroom environment, Maehr points to thesimilarities between teachers’ and principals’leadership roles, as shown in figure 2 on page 7.

The dimensions Maehr includes in his modelof the psychological environment of the schoolinclude:

Accomplishment—Emphasis on excellence andpursuit of academic challenges

Power—Emphasis on interpersonal competition,social comparison, achievement

Recognition—Emphasis on social recognitionfor achievement and the importance of schoolfor attaining future goals and rewards

Affiliation—Perceived sense of community,good interpersonal relations among teachers andstudents

Strength/Saliency—The perception that theschool knows what it is about and that studentsknow what is expected.

Maehr describes how the school’s psycho-logical environment shapes a student’s motiva-tion:

Motivation can be characterized by a student’spersonal investment in a given task. Themagnitude of motivation is influenced by thepsychological environment of a school, that is,by the meaning given to the overall educationexperiences. (p. 2)

To test the effectiveness of his model,Maehr conducted an analysis of a data set col-lected from more than 16,000 students in the

Figure 1: A Conceptual Model for Understanding Classroom Learning and Achievement

CLASSROOM LEARNING and ACHIEVEMENT

MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS

PERSONALFACTORS

SITUATIONAL FACTORS

Source: Klug (1989)

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Figure 2: Parallel Leadership Roles Extant in Schools

TEACHER

(Goals—>Behavior)—>Classroom Context—>Student Motivation & Personal Investment

Source: Maehr (1990)

PRINCIPAL

(Goals—>Behavior)—>School Context—>Student/Staff Motivation & Personal Investment

fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth grades in 800public schools in Illinois. He attempted todetermine whether several variables, includingpsychological environment and school leader-ship, had an impact on student motivation. Hisfindings indicated that goals that stressed moti-vation and achievement did have an impact, andthat school leadership qualities did have aninfluence on a school’s psychological environ-ment.

Maehr concluded that “goal stresses associ-ated with the school environment seem to relatesystematically to student motivation andachievement” (p. 46), and he reported that “thepsychological environment of the school is ameasurable variable, a variable of some impor-tance in predicting motivation and achievementof students” (p. 52).

The influence of school culture as a conduitfor motivating students toward academic excel-lence has perhaps been underestimated. Teachershave traditionally shouldered most of the burdenof motivating students toward academic achieve-ment. However, because research continues todemonstrate the powerful effect of school cultureand climate on students’ attitudes toward educa-tion, principals now must share that responsibil-ity. They must give increased attention to thefact that they, too, are key players in the complexformula that shapes student motivation.

By formulating and clearly communicatingrelevant goals, by developing and institutingworkable programs to sustain those goals, and bymonitoring and rewarding success, a principalcan shape a school’s culture so that it reflects theimportance of motivation directed toward aca-demic success.

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The findings reported in the literature oneducational motivation have placed many schoolleaders in a difficult position. Much of theresearch indicates that our present instructionalpractices tend to diminish motivation for aca-demic achievement rather than increase it. Ac-cording to many of the researchers who conductmotivation studies in educational settings, teach-ers and school leaders are being asked to placetheir faith in educational policies and instruc-tional practices that have already been shown tobe detrimental to developing motivation. Simplyput, they claim that our educational system is asmuch to blame for student apathy as the studentsthemselves.

This chapter reviews some of the relevantliterature and reports on the recommendationsthese researchers have made for improvingstudent motivation. The chapter concludes withsome discussion of the need for change as itrelates to the school restructuring movement.

Grade-Related and Age-Related Changes inLevels of Motivation

It is generally recognized that motivationand academic achievement among youngerchildren are contingent to some degree on grade-and age-related factors. Research on the relation-ship between a student’s age and his or herachievement beliefs and motivational orientationindicates that children’s confidence in theirachievement generally declines as they growolder (Stipek 1984). This decline is most pro-nounced at the age of about 6 and again at age 12or 13.

Eccles, Midgeley, and Adler (1984) havesought to measure the impact of school environ-ment on these changes. Although the results oftheir studies were confounded by age-related

changes among their student subjects, theyreported “a causal link between grade-relatedchanges in educational environments and age-related student attitudes” (p. 321). Their sugges-tions for managing these changes include somecriticism of current school environment practicesand some suggestions for school restructuring toeliminate these weaknesses:

As children mature they become more skillful,knowledgeable, and competent; they becomebetter able to take responsibility, make deci-sions, control their lives. They also feel moreable to take responsibility and to make academicdecisions. . . . One would hope that with in-creasing grade level, students would assumegreater autonomy and control over their livesand learning. In addition, one would hope thatschools would provide an environment thatwould facilitate task involvement rather than egoinvolvement, particularly as children enter earlyadolescence.

Unfortunately there is evidence that just theopposite is true. As students proceed throughthe grades, the classroom is characterized by adecrease in student autonomy and an increase inprocesses which enhance ego involvement at theexpense of task involvement. (pp. 322-23)

Eccles and her colleagues are not alone intheir criticism of current educational practicesthat have a negative influence on student motiva-tion. Another proponent of school reform for thepurpose of revitalizing student motivation isRaffini (1988). Basing his arguments onCovington’s (1983, 1984) construct of the self-worth motive, Raffini argues that students caughtup in a system that dooms them to failure channeltheir motivation into behaviors that cover up thatfailure and thus protect their sense of self-worth:

Apathy is a way for many students to avoid asense of failure. Those behaving from thismotive approach each new learning experiencewith apprehension and fear—often masked with

Motivation and SchoolRestructuring

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apathy, aloofness, or indifference. Their phi-losophy toward schools becomes “Nothingventured, nothing failed.” Teachers and parentsworry that they are unmotivated. In reality, theyare highly motivated to protect their sense ofself-worth. As they get older they begin toreject education completely. If they statepublicly that school is a valueless, boring wasteof time, then their self-worth is protected whenthey receive a failing grade. These studentshave discovered that it is less painful to rejectschool than to reject themselves. (p. 12)

Raffini proposes a four-fold approach thatwould remove motivational barriers and helpstudents redirect their behaviors away fromfailure-avoiding activities toward academicapplications. He describes how these four strate-gies can aid in promoting the rediscovery of aninterest in learning:

1. Individual goal-setting structures allowstudents to define their own criteria forsuccess.

2. Outcome-based instruction and evaluationmake it possible for slower students toexperience success without having to competewith faster students.

3. Attribution retraining can help apatheticstudents view failure as a lack of effort ratherthan a lack of ability.

4. Cooperative learning activities help studentsrealize that personal effort can contribute togroup as well as individual goals. (p. 27)

The Importance of ImplicitMotivation

Stipek (1988) makes a strong case forstrengthening the degree of intrinsic motivationstudents feel for learning. While she does notargue for the complete elimination of extrinsicreward systems, she believes that “there are manybenefits to maximizing intrinsic motivation andmany ways to foster it” (p. 72). She identifiesfour perspectives from which intrinsic motivationcan be viewed: competency motivation, curios-ity, autonomy, and internalized motivation.

Competency motivation assumes “thatindividuals engage in tasks, in part, for thepurpose of developing competence and experi-encing the positive feeling of efficacy associatedwith successful mastery attempts” (p. 43). The

second perspective, curiosity, assumes “thatindividuals are innately curious about novelevents and activities that are somewhat discrepantwith their expectations” (p. 39). Autonomyinvolves the idea that humans have “a naturalneed to feel self-determining. They want tobelieve that they are engaging in activities bytheir own volition—because they want to—ratherthan to achieve some external reward or to avoidpunishment” (p. 44). Internalized motivation“assumes that some children engage in tasks inthe absence of external reinforcement becausethey learn to value academic work” (p. 39).

Stipek describes some techniques thatpromote intrinsic motivation but suggests thatthey are rarely found in today’s classrooms orschools:

Students are intrinsically motivated to workwhen the threat of negative external evaluationis not salient and when their attention is notfocused on extrinsic reasons for completingtasks. They will also feel more competent andproud, and thus more intrinsically interested intasks, when they can take responsibility for theirsuccess.Allowing some student choice enhances intrinsicinterest in school tasks, and it teaches self-management skills that are essential for successin higher grades and the workplace. It is impos-sible for children to develop autonomy and asense of responsibility if they are always toldwhat to do, and how, and when to do it. (p. 73)

She recommends challenging but fair taskassignments, the use of positive classroom lan-guage, mastery-based evaluation systems, andcooperative learning structures to foster intrinsicmotivation toward academic learning.

Another voice in matters related to studentmotivation belongs to Glasser (1990), whotheorizes that all motivation springs from anindividual’s desire to fulfill one of five basicneeds: survival, love, power, fun, and freedom.Glasser condemns what he calls “boss manage-ment” in educational systems, which are behav-iors that assume that students can be coerced intobecoming motivated:

Boss-managers firmly believe that people can bemotivated from the outside: They fail to under-stand that all of our motivation comes fromwithin ourselves.

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Boss-teachers and administrators constantlylament that students are not motivated, but whatthey are actually saying is that they do not knowhow to persuade students to work. And as longas they continue to believe in coercion, theynever will. (p. 39)

Glasser argues in favor of “lead manage-ment,” which involves empowering students tobe responsible for their own needs and accom-plishments, teaching them in cooperative groups,and eliminating grades below a B.

The Challenge of SchoolRestructuring

Maehr (1991) has argued persuasively thatschool administrators should seize the opportu-nity offered by the school restructuring move-ment to effect changes in the entire school envi-ronment as well as in the individual classroomenvironment. His argument goes hand in handwith the findings of motivation research. “Fewhave seriously considered motivation vis-a-visthe current restructuring movement,” he says,

and few have considered that the school as anentity in its own right, may have effects thatsupersede those of individual classrooms and theacts of individual teachers. And so it is that wewish to make the argument that now is the timeto consider school, as well as instructional,curricular, and classroom change. (p. 2)

He notes that because school leaders canestablish, promote, or ignore policies, they mayhave more effect on education than that generatedat the classroom level.

Maehr provides an outline that identifiesareas where schoolwide policies and proceduresmight well have an impact on the psychologicalenvironment of the school and thus lead toincreased motivation. He identifies six targetareas and provides examples of goals and strate-gies for bringing about change in a restructuredenvironment.

Tasks

Tasks refer to the nature of the work under-taken by students in the school. Such tasksshould help students focus on the intrinsic value

of learning. Goals in this area should reducereliance on extrinsic incentives, emphasize thefun of learning, and be challenging to all stu-dents. Strategies for accomplishing these goalsinclude initiating programs that take advantage ofthe students’ background, that stress goal settingand self-regulation/management, and that takestudents to nonschool settings for learning experi-ences.

Authority

Schools should delegate responsibility byfocusing on student participation in learning/school decisions. Goals include providing oppor-tunities for developing independence and leader-ship skills among students. Strategies includeoffering students choices in their instructionalsettings and supporting their participation incocurricular and extracurricular activities.

Recognition

There should be extensive use of recognitionand rewards in the school setting. Goals shouldbe established that will provide opportunities forall students to be recognized, recognize progressin goal attainment, and emphasize a broad arrayof learning activities. Strategies include “per-sonal best” awards and recognition of a widerange of school-related achievements.

Grouping

Grouping refers to student interaction, socialskills, and values. There should be goals thatbring about an environment of acceptance andappreciation of all students, that broaden therange of social interaction among students,including at-risk groups, and that enhance socialskills and humane values. Strategies shouldinclude programs that provide occasions forgroup learning and problem solving and thatfoster development of subgroups (teams, schoolswithin schools, and so forth).

Evaluation

Goals regarding the nature and use of evalu-ation and assessment procedures include increas-ing students’ sense of competence and self-efficacy, increasing their awareness of theirunique sets of talents, and encouraging them tounderstand failure as a natural part of learningand life.

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Strategies to accomplish these goals includea reduction in the emphasis on social compari-sons of achievement by minimizing publicreference to normative evaluation standards suchas grades and test scores. It is also important tocreate opportunities for students to assessprogress toward goals they have set.

Time

Time must be effectively managed to carryout plans and reach goals. Goals include improv-ing the rate of work completion, improving skillsin planning and organization, and improving self-management ability. Strategies include develop-ing programs that teach time management skillsand offering students the opportunity to progressat their own rate when possible.

Maehr acknowledges that the successfulimplementation of new educational policies and

practices depends upon school leaders who havethe courage and motivation to seize the opportu-nity that restructuring offers. As Maehr puts it,“The time is right for restructuring, and thatrestructuring will indeed take place. The ques-tion is will it take place in such a way that moti-vation and the investment in learning of studentswill be enhanced” (p. 8).

With the current trend toward restructuringgaining momentum (Conley 1991), educators atall levels inevitably face some changes in theways schools function. Principals will be askedto demonstrate even higher levels of effectiveleadership as changes occur. The time has comefor them to analyze their own level of motivationas it relates to their role in a restructuring processthat will affect the motivation students feeltoward learning for many years to come.

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Despite the fact that motivation has histori-cally been a much discussed topic in education,research into the theory of motivation and thepractice of producing it is of fairly recent vintage.Although one of the most prominent figures inmotivation research, David McClelland, beganhis work on the subject as early as the 1940s, itwas not until the last decade or two that motiva-tion theory began to be fully developed.

This chapter provides an overview of severaldifferent approaches to the concept of motivationand the way it functions in individuals. Byfamiliarizing themselves with some of the theo-ries of motivation, school administrators canperhaps better understand the role motivationplays in their own and their students’ lives.

Motivation as a PersonalTrait

According to Maehr and Braskamp (1986),McClelland and his colleagues set out to system-atize the study of motivation by designing assess-ment procedures that would help identify thecharacteristics associated with highly motivatedpersonalities. One stream of McClelland’s re-search sought to identify the motives related toachievement behavior. Certain individuals, hefound, could be characterized by their desire tobe successful. These individuals demonstratedspecific behaviors that identified them as“achievers” (McClelland 1961, 1985).

The source of this trait was the subject of asecond, broader area of McClelland’s research,one that is of special importance to educators.McClelland investigated the possibility thatdifferences in child-rearing practices in varioussocieties and cultures accounted for differences inthe development of motivation in individuals. Hefound that “child-rearing practices that emphasizeindependence training and mastery produce

people who are high in achievement motivation”(Maehr and Braskamp 1986, p. 21).

McClelland also studied the strength ofpower motivation and affiliation motivation thatindividuals exhibit within groups or organiza-tions. Power motivation might be displayed ineducational settings by students who are ex-tremely competitive, who gain a sense of powerby being recognized as the brightest student or asthe student most likely to succeed. Affiliationmotivation is exhibited in response to a desire forapproval in social contexts, for example, insituations where a student receives praise fordoing well from family or friends.

Motivation in Response toSituations

In a review of research on motivation as it isexhibited in specific contexts or situations, Maehrand Braskamp (1986) offer a “counterbalancingperspective” to McClelland’s “focus on personal-ity as a cause of motivation.” Maehr andBraskamp conclude that “perhaps more than werealize, we are what we are expected to be andwe do what the task and our significant othersallow and demand” (p. 35).

A useful taxonomy for the study of situa-tions that affect motivation is shown in figure 3.

Several of the sectors in the taxonomy areespecially important in school settings. Norma-tive expectations apply to all group members;each member is expected to adhere to the estab-lished norms of the group. Such expectations canexist in very basic social units, including thefamily, clubs, and schools. Because individualsare influenced by these social groups quite earlyin life, they can acquire at young ages basicattitudes about what is worth achieving and howit can be achieved.

Another important category is individualized

Some Recent Theoriesof Motivation

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expectations, that is, what significant people,such as teachers and principals, believe about aspecific student. Some research in this area as itrelates to the workplace indicates that anemployer’s belief about the effectiveness of anemployee influences the productivity of thatworker (Steers 1981).

Inherent task characteristics are especiallyimportant in the educational arena. Maehr andBraskamp (1986) describe the characteristics ofthis category:

Research on intrinsic motivation . . . has sug-gested that a task that possesses a certain opti-mum level of uncertainty and unpredictabilitytends to be generally attractive. Although socialexperiences can reduce the search for novelty,new information, and challenge, it appears thatfrom the start, human beings have a built-inattraction to these features in tasks. (p. 32)

Thus, it is likely that schools where thestudents feel appropriately challenged to beacademically successful and where the rewards oflearning take the form of problem solving orsuccessfully meeting challenges will have ahigher level of motivation among its students.

Sociocultural definition involves the degreeto which an individual’s social or cultural group

supports a particular task or goal. In this context,schools where academic achievement is empha-sized and rewarded might logically be expectedto have more highly motivated students.

The category of interpersonal demands inthe taxonomy is also important. Research oncooperative learning has frequently demonstratedthat individuals react differently to differenteducational settings. Some students thrive ingroup learning situations where cooperation andpersonal interaction are operative, while othersseem to do best working alone. Schools in whichopportunities exist for all students to participatein ways that are best suited to their personalneeds and preferences are probably more likely tohave a larger number of motivated students.

One other category, incentives, is central tothe study of motivation in schools. Grades areobviously an incentive of great importance tomost students, but the use of grades as an incen-tive or as a form of punishment can have long-term impact on student motivation. As Maehrand Braskamp point out, “Different incentives arelikely to be associated with different tasks, andthe manner in which these incentives are de-signed, presented, or made available is impor-tant” (p. 33).

Figure 3: Model of Situational/Contextual Factors ThatInfluence Motivation

Sociocultural

ContextSociocultural

Context

InterpersonalDemands

Role-RelatedExpectations

Persistence, Direction (Choice),Performance Variation, etc.

The Person

Task ExpectationsSocioculturalDefinition

Incentives

InherentTaskCharacteristics

IndividualizedExpectations

Social Expectations NormativeExpectations

Source: Maehr and Braskamp (1986)

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Motivation and the Conceptof Self

One final area of study that has influencedrecent theory on motivation is its relationship tocognition, or the thought processes an individualgoes through when placed in situations wheremotivation comes into play (Ames 1986,Salancik and Pfeffer 1978). The way a personresponds to a task and his or her decision toinvest the time and energy necessary to succeedin accomplishing it is dependent upon a complexblend of present thoughts and previous experi-ences.

This line of study involves two areas offocus: thoughts about self and thoughts aboutsituations. In reviewing the research literature onthe topic of self as it relates to motivation, Maehrand Braskamp (1986) have identified three areasin which self-concept plays an important role.The three areas are self-consistency, self-confi-dence, and self-determination.

Self-Consistency

This concept involves an individual’s pro-clivity to behave in a manner consistent with hisor her self-image. Once a self-image has beenformed, an individual begins to perceive circum-stances and respond to them in a way that rein-forces that self-image.

Because the opinions of significant othersare especially powerful at various critical stagesin a person’s life, self-image is often formedduring the early stages of an individual’s devel-opment and can be very difficult to overcome.This plays an obvious role in educational settings,where a student might well appear to be unmoti-vated in order to maintain a sense of consistencywith a self-image shaped by the experience ofhaving been labeled as a “failure.” As Maehr andBraskamp conclude,

People do try to square their thoughts with whatthey see happening to them. Inconsistencies inthought are motivating. We can tolerate someinconsistency some of the time, but apparentlywe can tolerate only so much. (p. 37)

Self-Confidence

Researchers have often confirmed the notionthat a person’s sense of self-confidence is a

critical variable in achieving success and inbecoming motivated to attempt certain tasks(Atkinson and Feather 1966, Vroom 1964). Likethe “little train that could,” individuals developpreconceived notions about their chances forsuccess or failure based upon their level of self-confidence.

Experiments by Weiner (1979, 1983, 1984)demonstrated that when individuals with a lowsense of self-confidence succeeded in carryingout a task, they often attributed their achievementto luck or to the lack of difficulty of the taskrather than to their own skill. On the other hand,individuals with a high level of self-confidenceusually took full credit for accomplishing the tasksuccessfully.

As an extension of self-image, levels of self-confidence are often established in the earlystages of a person’s development. Studies haveshown that significant others also play an ex-tremely important role in shaping an individual’sself-confidence (Haas and Maehr 1965; Maehr,Mensing, and Nafzinger 1962).

Self-Determination

Recent work on self-determination haspointed to the importance of cultivating a senseof ownership or of control over a situation beforeindividuals will become motivated to act(deCharms 1984, Deci 1980, Hackman andOldham 1980). In a school setting, a sense ofself-determination could well be a critical ele-ment in engendering motivation among students.

The Complexity ofMotivation

The various theories that have sprung fromresearch on motivation indicate the complexity ofthe problem of determining the possible interac-tions among the many components—individualdifferences, situational differences, social andcultural factors, and cognition. In concludingtheir review of motivation theory, Maehr andBraskamp (1986) suggest how an individual’slevel of motivation can be derived from one ormore of these sources:

When we boil down the antecedents of motiva-tion and personal investment to their simplest

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form, we are inclined to suggest that people dowhat they believe they can do and what theybelieve is worth doing. Judgments of opportu-nity to perform and the value to the person inperforming sum up most of what we need toconsider in discussing motivation. The formerinvolves not only the personal sense of compe-tence but also perceptions of options. The latterinvolves not only the norms people live by as theresult of sociocultural groups in which theyparticipate but the individualized goal they holdfor themselves—what they are and what theyhope to become.

Maehr and Braskamp go on to explore thecomponents of motivation from a perspective thatis reflected in their use of the term personalinvestment. They outline the following fivepoints that define their approach to the problemof theorizing about motivation:

1. The study of motivation begins and ends withthe study of behavior. The behavioral patternsassociated with motivation are collectivelyreferred to as personal investment.

2. The direction of behavior is of primarysignificance; thus, the focus is on the apparentchoices and decisions made by people.

3. It is the meaning of the situation to theperson that determines personal investment.

4. The meaning of a situation can be assessed,and its origins can be determined.

5. Motivation is a process that is embedded inthe ongoing stream of behavior.

Maehr and Braskamp’s graphic representa-tion of the antecedents of motivation and mean-ing is shown in figure 4.

The theory of personal investment centerson two basic ideas:

Figure 4: Antecedents of Meaning and Personal Investment

Age/Stage

PerceivedOptions

PersonalIncentives

Sense ofSelf

Sociocultural ContextInformation

Performance Situation

PersonalExperiences

Source: Maehr and Braskamp (1986)

Personal Investment

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1. People invest themselves in certain activitiesdepending on the meaning these activitieshave for them.

2. Meaning involves three interrelated catego-ries of cognition: personal incentives, sense ofself, and perceived options.

Although the focus of Maehr andBraskamp’s theory as it is developed in TheMotivation Factor is on how motivation func-tions in the workplace, it has direct applicationsto the concept of motivation in educationalsettings. Students, like individual workers, mustderive some sense of personal reward fromspecific tasks before they can be expected togenerate any significant motivation to carry outthe task. In their role as educational managers,principals bear some of the responsibility for

helping students to generate a feeling of valueand reward when they engage in and completeacademic work. This feeling can occur at boththe individual level and at the school level.

The various theories that have been pro-posed to explain how motivation operates inpeople’s lives can perhaps help principals under-stand not only the different levels of motivationthat exist among students in a school but also thedifferent levels of motivation that exist acrossschools. And hopefully such theories can alsohelp principals understand the importance ofanalyzing the role that motivation plays in theirown lives as they seek a happy fit between theirown set of values and the values being shaped atthe schools where they serve as educationalleaders.

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Conclusion

A recent survey of 1,879 students listed inWho’s Who Among American High SchoolStudents, three-fourths of whom had A averages,indicated that their level of motivation was notparticularly high. More than half of them re-ported that they studied no more than seven hourseach week, and three-fourths of them indicatedthat they would not increase their study time evenif a proposed national achievement test became areality. The lack of enthusiasm for learningamong the student respondents lead Paul Krouse,publisher of Who’s Who, to ask, “What is wrongwith our educational system that our best andbrightest students are so unmotivated?” (“Col-umn One” 1991).

There are no easy answers to Mr. Krouse’squestion, but that does not mean that we shouldgive up trying to answer it. Just as we want ourstudents to remain motivated to learn, we mustremain motivated to find a solution to an admit-tedly difficult problem. Like most problems, thelack of motivation among students today isprobably the result of several causes, some withinour immediate control, some not.

Each of the preceding chapters has sug-gested a different approach to improving motiva-tion in educational settings: cultivating a schoolculture that establishes and celebrates the valueof academic achievement and the motivation thatleads to it, restructuring our schools so that newmethods of instruction that might be more effec-tive can be tested, and understanding the variousfactors that shape an individual’s proclivity to bemotivated or unmotivated in a particular set ofcircumstances.

It is not likely that school leaders can devisea single programmatic approach that will be apanacea for the many problems that contribute toa lack of student motivation. Given this situation,perhaps it is best to try many different things.Here are some steps to consider:

• Analyze the ways that motivation operates inyour own life and develop a clear way of

communicating your understanding of it toteachers and students.

• Demonstrate to students how motivationplays an important role in your own life, bothprofessionally and personally.

• Work with students, teachers, parents, andothers to establish challenging but achievableschool goals that promote academic achieve-ment and the motivation that goes with it.

• Seek ways to demonstrate how motivationplays an important role in noneducationalsettings.

• Encourage instructional programs that offeralternatives to traditional educational prac-tices with the idea that they might be moreeffective in motivating students.

• Make motivation a frequent topic of discus-sion among students, teachers, and other staff.

• Show students that success is important.Recognize the variety of ways that studentscan succeed. Reward success in all its forms.

• Develop or schedule teacher inservice pro-grams that focus on motivation.

• Participate in administrator inservice pro-grams that focus on motivation.

• Demonstrate through your own actions thatlearning is a lifelong process that can bepleasurable for its own sake.

• Understand and promote the value of intrinsicmotivation.

• Use extrinsic reward systems judiciously.• Invite motivational speakers to your school.• Ensure that restructuring programs address

the issues related to student motivation.• Get parents involved in disucssing the issue

of motivation.

If school leaders expect students to becomemotivated to learn, they must first sustain theirown motivation to create schools where studentsdiscover that learning is an exciting and reward-ing activity.

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Ames, Carol. “The Enhancement of Student Motivation.” InAdvances in Motivation and Achievement, Vol 5: EnhancingMotivation, edited by Martin L. Maehr and Douglas A.Kleiber. 123-48. Greenwich, Connecticut: Academic Press,1987. 335 pages.

Ames, Russell. “Adult Motivation in the Leadership Role: AnAttribution-Value Analysis. In Advances in Motivation andAchievement, Vol 4: Motivation in Adulthood, edited byDouglas A. Kleiber and Martin L. Maehr. Greenwich,Connecticut: Academic Press, 1986. 389 pages.

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Condry, John. “Enhancing Motivation: A Social DevelopmentalPerspective.” In Advances in Motivation and Achievement, Vol5: Enhancing Motivation, edited by Martin L. Maehr andDouglas A. Kleiber. 23-49. Greenwich, Connecticut: Aca-demic Press, 1987. 335 pages.

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Davis, John. “Effective Schools, Organizational Culture, andLocal Policy Initiatives.” In Educational Policy for EffectiveSchools, edited by M. Holmes, K. Leithwood, and D. Musella.New York: Teachers College Press, 1989.

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Many of the items in this bibliography are indexed in ERIC’s monthly catalog Resources in Education (RIE). Reportsin RIE are indicated by an “ED” number. Journal articles indexed in ERIC’s companion catalog, Current Index to Journalsin Education, are indicated by an “EJ” number.

Most items with an ED number are available from ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), 7420 FullertonSquare, Suite 110, Newington, VA 22153-2836.

To order from EDRS, specify the ED number, type of reproduction desired—microfiche (MF) or paper copy (PC), andnumber of copies. Add postage to the cost of all orders and include check or money order payable to EDRS. For credit cardorders, call 1-800-443-3742.

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