Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 5

EDUCATION WEEK JUNE 5, 2014
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Diplomas Count > www.edweek.org/go/dc14
| 5
By Sarah D. Sparks
An Age-Old Problem
Gets New Attention
The search is on for ways to motivate students
I
t's rarely only one factor that drives a student to give up on
school, but in recent years, educators have gained ground
against a range of contributors, from early absenteeism
and reading difficulties to teenage parenthood. Now,
schools are working to make inroads against one of the
most common and yet elusive reasons students cite for
dropping out: They just aren't motivated to stay in school.
What drives one student to stick it out through four years
of high school, while another-perhaps equally talented-
fades out of school?
"That's something educators struggle with," said Kerry E.
Muse, the chief learning officer and head coach of Venture
Academy, a Minneapolis charter school that teaches students
to become entrepreneurs and build their own inner drive to
succeed. "We know that learning is stickier if students have
to struggle a little with it, but how do we get them past the
hand-holding? Ninety-nine percent of the conflict we have is
the student not knowing when you should come to an adult for
help and when you should be self-directed."
U.S. schools are on an upward trajectory to meet a national
goal of a 90 percent high school graduation rate by 2020, according
to the annual "Building a Grad Nation" report-if they
can continue the gains of the past few years. (See article, Page
24.) Even so, a substantial share of American teenagers remain
spectacularly unmotivated and unengaged in schooling.
In the push to keep up that momentum toward graduation, policymakers,
researchers, and educators like Mr. Muse are looking
for ways to help students ramp up their own drive to graduate.
In the past year, the White House has held a symposium on
ways to improve students' academic mindsets, and nonprofits
including the Raikes and the William and Flora Hewlett foundations
have launched initiatives to identify ways to boost student
motivation and academic mindset. (Both foundations have supported
topical coverage at Education Week.)
And Maria Ferguson, the executive director of the Center on
Education Policy at George Washington University in Washington,
said the next iterations of major federal education
laws are likewise being planned to take motivation and other
critical noncognitive factors into account.
"Considering every piece of education legislation now is up for
reauthorization-the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,
Higher Education Act, Workforce Investment Act, and Perkins
[Career and Technical Education Act]-there is an opportunity
to think about how federal policy can better support what we
know about the needs of high school students as they make their
way to college and whatever lies beyond," Ms. Ferguson said.
Making Time to Build Character
Despite the issue's new prominence, Mr. Muse said the intense
focus on academic skills arising in response to federal
and state testing-accountability requirements has often meant
schools have less time to build students' motivation and perseverance,
and for the most part, administrators are not sure
whether the initiatives used to boost reading and math proficiency
help or hurt students' academic drive. Yet in spite of
tightening budgets and schedules, many schools are renewing
a focus on noncognitive pieces of learning, like motivation.
Mr. Muse, who worked at other college-preparatory schools before
founding Venture Academy, said he and other administrators
have been disappointed when their efforts to academically
prepare students for college fell apart when students had to study
and keep organized on their own. "I'd sent enough kids to high
school and college from 'no excuses' schools that I knew there was
a gap there in social skills," Mr. Muse said.
"I had a lot of kids who foundered," he added. "When the really
intense guidance and scaffolding [from high school] stopped, they
really foundered."
At Venture, educators, including working businesspeople, teach
students how to use what they learn to invent new products and
services and develop their own businesses. Educator and technology
business owner Eric Nelson said this sort of educational
"tinkering" can make students' learning more relevant and encourage
them to learn more on their own.
A 2013 CEP analysis found four academic mindsets that conPAGE
8 >
ACHIEVEMENT IMPACT
Teachers and school-based
administrators who responded to an
Education Week Research Center survey
were asked to rate the importance of a
variety of factors to student achievement.
Respondents gave student engagement
and motivation an average score of 3.9
on a 4-point scale, the highest among
the eight categories examined. Eightyseven
percent of respondents considered
student engagement and motivation to
be "very important."
SOURCE: Education Week Research Center, 2014
Student engagement and motivation
Teaching quality
School climate
Parental support and engagement
School safety
Social and emotional learning
School discipline policies
Family background
PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS
13
87%
2
3
1
1
1
3
3
I 0
NOT AT ALL IMPORTANT
7
8
7
13
9
17
29
29
33
38
41
29
I 1
I 2
31
I 3
81%
68%
62%
59%
54%
43%
27%
I 4
VERY IMPORTANT
RESPONSE
AVERAGE
3.9
3.8
3.6
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.2
2.7
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