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The Center is co-directed by Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor and operates Phone: (310) 825-3634 | Fax: (310) 206-8716 | E-mail: smhp@ucla.edu Website: http://smhp.psych.ucla.eduSupport comes in part from the Office of Adoles(Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Project #U45 MC 00175) is a given that teachers and student support staff are faced with a complex continuum oflearner motivation. This fact requires schools to provide a range of ways to enhanceengagement. Student engagement involves not only engaging and maintaining engagement,but also those who have disconnected from classroom instruction. For schoolpersonnel to do all this effectively, they must broaden their understanding of motivation, and the complex relationship between extrinsics andUnfortunately, maintaining engagement is a widespread problem in schools. Forthose students who become disengaged from classroom learning, the disconnectionis both symptomatic of one or more causal factors and an additional factorClearly, a prominent focus of school improvement efforts should be on how to (a) motivatethe many students who are hard to engage and (b) re-engage those who have totallydisengaged from classroom learning. Of particular concern is what teachers should do whenthey encounter a student who has disengaged and is misbehaving. In many ways, thesematters are at the core of enhancing school climate.Our Center continuously stresses the importance of a focus on motivation, especially motivation, in all facets of our work. In this context, we have developed avariety of resources intended to help advance the efforts of those working in andwith schools. The following resource aid was originally developed as the winter2011 edition of our quarterly newsletter/journal. We hope you find the contentsHoward Adelman & Linda Taylor School Engagement, Disengagement, Learning Supports, & School Climate IAbout School Engagement, Re-engagement, and Learning SupportsIIAppreciating Intrinsic MotivationIII Motivation: A Key Concern of Any InterventionIVMotivation and School Improvement: Beyond Reinforcement TheoryVA Caution about Over-relying on ExtrinsicsVI About Psychological Reactance & Re-engagementVII School Climate as an Emergent QualityConcluding Comments National Academy of Science’s Research Council (2004) ost policy makers and administrators know that by itself good instruction deliveredby highly qualified teachers is not enough to ensure that all students have an equalopportunity to succeed at school. Schools continue to suffer from high dropout ratesof students and staff, an achievement gap that resists closure, a high incidence of schoolsdesignated as low performing, and the tendency for achievement test score averages toSimply stated, prevailing policy and practice have not effectively dealt with these matters. Inparticular, student engagement and disengagement are poorly addressed in most efforts toimprove schools and schooling. Current practices often work against enhancing engagementand result in many students disconnecting from classroom instruction.School improvement policy and practices need immediate revision to correct thesedeficiencies. And in the ESEA reauthorization process, these matters should be assigned aPart of the problem is that pre- and inservice personnel preparation programs tend toperpetuate a narrow view of human motivation. Most school staff have been taught to thinkprimarily in terms of extrinsic motivation (i.e., reinforcement concepts) and have had littleexposure to intrinsic motivation theory and its implications for school practices. This isunfortunate given that the key to understanding engagement and disengagement is anIntrinsic motivation is a fundamental consideration in designing cost-effective student andlearning supports. Understanding intrinsic motivation clarifies how essential it is to avoidprocesses that limit options, make students feel controlled and coerced, and that focus mainlyon “remedying” problems. Overreliance on extrinsic motivation risks producing avoidancereactions in the classroom and to school and, thus, can reduce opportunities for positive positive attitudes. Over time, the result is that too manystudents disengage from classroom learning. Practices for preventing disengagement and efforts to re-engage disconnected students(families, staff) require minimizing conditions that negatively affect intrinsic motivation andmaximizing those that enhance it. To underscore what is involved, this speciaschool engagement, re- (2) intrinsic motivation basics, (3) motivation as a keyconcern of any intervention, (4) the need to go beyond reinforcement theory, (5) the problemof over-relying on extrinsics, (6) psychological reactance and re-engaAfter an extensive review of the literature, Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris (2004)Engagement is associated with positive academic outcomes, includingachievement and persistence in school; and it is higher in classrooms withsupportive teachers and peers, challenging and authentic tasks, opportunities forConversely, for many students, disengagement is associated with behavior problems, andbehavior and learning problems may eventually lead to dropout. From a psychologicalfrom classroom learning is associlatedness to valued others. The demands maybe from school staff, peers, instructional content and processes. Psychologicaldisengagement can be expected to result in internalized behavior (e.g., boredom, emotionalhavior (misbehavior, dropping out).Maintaining engagement and re-engaging disconnected students requires minimizingmotivation and maximizing conditions that havea positive motivational effect. The figure below and the concepts outlined in Exhibit 1Engagement, Disengagement Source of Motivation Extr Extrinsics reactance) 3 Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris (2004) note that draws on the idea of investment; it incorporates conduct, work involvement, boredom, interest, anger, satisfaction;: investment in learning, flexible problems solving,challenge and independent mastery, commitment to understanding the workrative endeavors, and academic workthat allows for the development of products Teacher support, peers, classroom structure, autonomy Need for relatedness, need for autonomy, need for Development of a of Learning Supports enhances a school’s focuson promoting engagement and re-engagement of students (families, staff). As our Center’sresearch has stressed, such a system enhances interventions in six critical arenas foraddressing barriers to learging disconnected students(Adelman & Taylor, 2006a, b). The following examples of activity related to each of the sixarenas highlight how the system can promote student and staff feelings of competence, self-By opening the classroom door to bring in available supports (e.g., studentsupport staff, resource teachers, volunteers), teachers are enabled to enhanceoptions and facilitate student choice and decision making in ways that increasethe intrinsic motivation of all involved.School-focused crisis teams can take proactive leadership in developingprevention programs to avoid or mitigate crises buffers and student intrinsic motivation for preventing interpersonal andhuman relationship problems. Welcoming and ongoing social support for students, families, and staff newto the school provide both a motivational and a capacity building foundationExpanding the nature and scope of interventions and enhancingcommunication mechanisms for outreaching in ways that connect with thevariety of motivational differences manifested by parents and other studentcaretakers enables development of intrinsically motivated school-homeWeaving together school and community efforts to enhance the range ofoptions and choices for students, both in school and in the community, canbetter address barriers to learning, promote child and youth development, andestablish a sense of community that supports learning and focuses on hope for support as soon as a need is recognized and doing soin the least disruptive ways minimizes threats to intrinsic motivation and whenimplemented with a shared and mutually respectful problem-solving approachcan enhance intrinsic motivation and the sense of competence and positiverelationship among all involved. Clarifying student perceptions of the problem. It is desirable to create a situationwhere it is feasible to talk openly with students about why they have becomedisengaged. This provides an invaluable basis for formulating a personalized plan toalter their negative perceptions and to prevent others from developing suchReframing school learning. As noted above, in the case of those who havedisengaged, major reframing in teaching approaches is required so that these studentsa) view the teacher as supportive (rather than controlling and indifferent) and b)perceive content, outcomes, and activity options as personally valuable andobtainable. It is important, for example, to eliminate threatening evaluative measures;reframe content and processes to clarify purpose in terms of real life needs andexperiences and underscore how it all builds on previous learning; and clarify whythe procedures are expected to be effective especially those designed to help correctt in school learning. New and mutual agreements must bedeveloped over time through conferences with the student and including parentswhere appropriate. The intent is to affect perceptions of choice, value, and probableoutcome. The focus throughout is on clarifying awareness of valued options,enhancing expectations of positive outcomes, and engaging the student inmeaningful, ongoing decision making. Students should be assisted in sampling newprocesses and content, options should include valued enrichment opportunities, andthere must be provision for reevaluating and modifying decisions as perceptions shift.Reestablishing and maintaining an appropriate working relationship. This requires thetype of ongoing interactions that create a sense of trust, open communication, andprovide personalized support and direction. To maintain re-engagement and preventdisengagement, the above strategies must be pursued using •Minimize threats to feelings of competence, self-determination, and relatedness to• Maximize such feelings (included here is an emphasis on a school taking steps toenhance public perception that it is a welcoming, caring, safe, and just institution)• Guide motivated practice (e.g., providing opportunities for meaningful• Provide continuous information on learning and performance in ways thathighlight accomplishments• Provide opportunities for continued application and generalization (e.g., ways inObviously, it is no easy task to decrease westakes testing policies(no matter how well-intentioned). It also seems obvious that, for many schools, enhancedachievement test scores will only be feasible when the large number of disengaged students 6 A greater proportion of individuals with avoidance or low motivation for learning at school arefound among those with learning, behavior, and/or emotional problems. For these individuals, fewcurrently available options may be appealing. How much greater the range of options needs to bedepends primarily on how strong avoidance tendencies are. In general, however, the initial strategies•further expansion of the range of options for learning (if necessary, this includes avoidingestablished curriculum content and processes)•primarily emphasizing areas in which the student has made personal and active decisions•accommodation of a wider range of behavior than usually is tolerated (e.g., a widening oflimits on the amount and types of "differences" tolerated)WHAT WORKS: Reviews of the literature on human motivation suggest that providingstudents with options and involving them in decision making are key facets of addressing theproblem of engagement in the classroom and at school. For example, numerous studies haveshown that opportunities to express preferences and make choices lead to greater motivation,behavior. Similarly, researchers report that student participation in goal setting leads to morepositive outcomes (e.g., higher commitment to a goal and increased performance). Psychological scholarship over the last fifty years has brought renewed attention to motivationas a central concept in understanding learning and attention problems. This work is justbeginning to find its way into personnel preparation programs and schools. One line of workemphasizes the relationship of learning and behavior problems to deficiencies in intrinsicmotivation and clarifies the importance of focusing on•feelings of self-determination•feelings of competence and expectations of success•feelings of interpersonal relatedness•the range of interests and saActivities to correct deficiencies in intrinsic motivation are directed at improving awareness ofpersonal motives and true capabilities, learning to set valued and appropriate goals, learning tovalue and to make appropriate and satisfying choices, and learning to value and acceptThe point for emphasis here is that engagis in learning involvesmatching motivation. Matching motivation requires an appreciation of the importance of astudent's perceptions in determining the right mix of intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. It alsorequires understanding the key role played by expectations related to outcome. Without a goodmatch, social control strategies can suppress negative attitudes and behaviors, but are unlikelyudents in classroom learning. 7 • Personalized (as opposed to individualized) instruction• Building relationships a• Providing real, valued, and attainable opmaking• Enhancing feelings of competence, self-determination, and relatedness to valued• Ensuring a welcoming, caring, safe, and just environment• Countering perceptions of so• Designing motivated applications as homework• Ensuring extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities• Providing regular feedback in ways that minimize use of evaluative processes thatermination, and relatedness to valued othersStrong intrinsic motivation can be viewed as a fundamental and as a key to Students who are intrinsically motivated to learn at school seek outbeyond requirements. In doing so, they learn more and learnmore deeply than do classmates who are extrinsically motivated. Facilitating the learning of suchstudents is fairly straightforward and meshes well with school improvements that primarilyemphasize enhancing instructional practices. The focus is on helping establish ways for studentsady and able to achieve and mamotivation. The process involves knowing when, how, and what to teach and also knowing whenIn contrast, students who manifest learning, behavior, and/or emotional problems usually are notmotivationally ready and able to pursue nonpersonalized instructional practices. They often haveextremely negative perceptions of teachers, programs, and school and generally are not open topeople and activities that they perceive as "the same old thing." Any effort to re-engagedisengaged students must begin by addressing negative perceptions. Teachers and school supportstaff must work together to reverse conditions that led to such perceptions. Minimally,exceptional efforts must be made to enhance such a student’s perceptions that (1) the teacher andother interveners are supportive (rather than controlling and indifferent) and (2) content,outcomes, and activity options are III. Motivation: A Key Concern of Any Intervention any of us address learning and behavior concerns, we have direct control over a relatively smallsegment of the physical and social environment. So, we use what we can to “meet students wherethey are at.” In doing so, most efforts to address learning problems in the classroom focus onimproving the fit with a student’s current . Much of the agenda for (RtI) stresses this. The agenda for student engagement, however, calls for alsoincluding a focus on matching individual differences inFor many years, the emphasis on matching indivi instruction. In recent years, this designation has given way to the terminstruction. However, the focus hasn’t changed. In our work, we differentiateindividualized from personalized instruction. For us, personalized instruction denotes matchingindividual differences in capability and motivation. And, we stress that the intervention need often is to meet students where they are at motivationally especially when astudent is manifesting learning, behavioral, and emotional problems.Optimal performance and learning requireproblems. If a learner does not have sufficient motivational readiness, strategies must beimplemented to develop it (including ways to reduce avoidance motivation). Readinessit is understood in the contemporary sense of establishing environments that areons, interest often wanes. Some student aremotivated by the idea of obtaining a given outcome but may not be motivated to pursuecertain processes and thus may not pay attention or may try to avoid them. For example,some are motivated to start work on overcoming their problems but may not maintainthat motivation. Strategies must be designed tion or produce negative motivation. Forto do so may decrease intrinsic motivation. At times, school is seen as unchallenging,uninteresting, overdemanding, overwhelmi motivation as an outcome so that what de the teaching situation. Achieving such an outcomeyoungsters to play a meaningful role in ma 9 it take to change a light bulb?Only one, but the student has to want to change the bulb!IV. Motivation and School Improvement: Beyond Reinforcement TheoryTwo common reasons people give for not bothering to learn something are "It's not worth it" and"I know I won't be able to do it." In general, the amount of time and energy spent on an activityseems dependent on how much it is valued by the person and on the person's expectation that whatWhat makes something worth doing? Prizes? Money? Merit awards? Praise? Certainly! We alldo a great many things, some of which we don't even like, because the activity leads to a desiredreward. Similarly, we often do things to escape punishment or other negative consequences thatRewards and punishments may be material or social. For those with learning, behavior, andemotional problems, there is widespread use of such "incentives" (e.g., systematically givingpoints or tokens that can be exchanged for candy, prizes, praise, free time, or social interactions).Punishments have included loss of free time and other privileges, added work, fines, isolation,censure, and suspension. Grades have been used both as rewards and punishments. Becausepeople will do things to obtain rewards or avoid punishment, rewards and punishment often are. Because they generally come from sources outside the person, they often areExtrinsic reinforcers are easy to use and can immediately affect behavior. Therefore, they arewidely used. Unfortunately, the immediate effects are usually limited to very specific behaviorsand often are short-term. Moreover, extensive use of extrinsics can have some undesired effects.And, sometimes the available extrinsics simply aren't powerful enough to get the desired results.It is important to remember that what makes an extrinsic rewarding is that it is experienced by the as a reward. What makes it a highly valued reward is that the recipient highly values it.If someone doesn't like candy, there is not much point in offering it as a reward. Furthermore,because the use of extrinsics has limits, it's fortunate that people often do things even withoutapparent extrinsic reason. In fact, a lot of what people learn and spend time doing is done for, for example, seems to be an innate quality that leads us to seekstimulation, avoid boredomPeople also pursue some things because of an innate striving for competence. Most of us valuefeeling competent. We try to conquer some challenges, and if none are around, we usually seekone out. Of course, if challenges seem unconquerable or make us too uncomfortable (e.g., tooanxious or exhausted), we try to put them aside and move on to something more promising.Another important intrinsic motivator is an internal push toward self-determinationto value feeling and thinking that they have some degree of choice and freedom in deciding what to do. And, human beings also seem intrinsically moved toward estarelationships. That is, we value the feeling of interpersonal connection. (See the reference list forkey citations on motivation.)We may value something a great deal; but if we believe we can't do it or can't obtain it withoutpaying too great a personal price, we are likely to look for otheto pursue. Expectations about these matters are influenced by past experiences that influence ourperceptions of how easy or hard it will be to obtain a desired outcome. Sometimes we know wecan easily do something, but it may not be something we value pursuing. At other times, we mayvalue something a great deal but not believe we can do it or can only obta personal price. Under such circumstances, we are likely to look for other valued activities andoutcomes to pursue.Previously unsuccessful arenas usually are seen as unlikely paths to valued extrinsic rewards orintrinsic satisfactions. We may perceive past failure as the result of our lack of ability; or we maybelieve that more effort was required than we were willing to give. We may also feel that the helpwe needed to succeed was not available. If our perception is that very little has changed withregard to these factors, our expectation of succeeding now will be rather low. In general, then,what we value interacts with our expectations, and motivation is one product of this interaction.er-relying on ExtrinsicsThe discussion of valuing and expectations underscores that motivation is not something that canbe determined solely by forces outside the individual. Others can plan activities and outcomes toinfluence motivation and learning; however, how the activities and outcomes are experienceddetermines whether they are pursued (or avoided) with a little or a lot of effort and ability.Understanding that an individual's perceptions can affect motivation has clarified some undesiredBecause of the prominent role they play in school programs, grading, testing, and otherperformance evaluations are a special concern in any discussion of overreliance on extrinsics asa way to reinforce positive learning. Although grades often are discussed as simply providinginformation about how well a student is doing, many, if not mostas a reward or a punishment. Certainly, many teachers use grades to try to control behavior – toreward those who do assignments well and to punish those who don't. Sometimes parents add toa student's perception of grades as extrinsic reinforcers by giving a reward for good report cards.We all have our own horror stories about the negative impact of grades on ourselves and others.In general, grades have a way of reshaping what students do with their learning opportunities. Inchoosing what to study, students strongly consider what grades they are likely to receive. Asdeadlines for assignments and tests get closer, interest in the topic gives way to interest inmaximizing one's grade. Discussion of interesting issues and problems related to the area of studygives way to questions about how long a paper should be and what will be on the test. None ofthis is surprising given that poor grades can result in having to repeat a course or being deniedcertain immediate and long-range opportunities. It is simply a good example of how systems thatoveremphasize extrinsics may have a serious negative impact on inAnd if the impact of current practices is harmful to those who are able learners, imagine the 11 the classroom and school address concernsooms that offer a broad range of learning andenrichment opportunities (e.g., content, outcomes,decision making are best equipped to meet the challenge. At the risk of over-simplifying things, thefollowing discussion underscores a few facets of motivation theory. (Don't go on until you've tried.)Hint: the "x" is a multiplication sign. In case the equation stumped you, don't be surprised. The main introduction to motivational thinking thatmany people have been given in the past involves some form of reinforcement theory (which essentiallydeals with extrinsic motivation). Thus, all this may be new to you, even though motivational theoristshave been wrestling with it for a long time, and intuitively, you probably understand much of what they about outcome (in school this often means expectations of, with valuing influenced by both what is valued intrinsicallyand extrinsically. Thus, in a general sense, motivation can be thought of in terms of expectancy timesWithin some limits (which we need not discuss hemotivation, while low expectations (E) and high valuing (V) produce relatively weak motivation.Youngsters may greatly value the idea of improving their reading. They usually are not happywith limited skills and know they would feel a lot better about if they could read. But, oftenthey experience everything the teacher asks them to do is a waste of time. They have done it allbefore, and they have a reading problem. Sometimes they will do the exercises, but just tohowever, they try to get out of doing the work by distracting the teacher. After all, why shouldthey do things they are certain won't help them read any better. (Expectancy x Valuing = Motivation 0 x 1.0 = 0) yield low approach motivation. Thus, the oft-cited remedial strategy of guaranteeing success by designing tasks to be very easy is not assimple a recipe as it sounds. Indeed, the approach is likely to fail if the outcome (e.g., improvedreading, learning math fundamentals, applying social skills) is not valued or if the tasks areexperienced as too boring or if doing them is seen as too embarrassing. In such cases, a strongand this contributes to avoidance motivation. (Expectancy x Valuing = Motivation 1.0 x 0 = 0) The point is that extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic reasons for doing things. Althoughthis is not always the case and may not always be a bad thing, it is an important considerationin deciding to rely on extrinsic reinforcers in addressing learning, behavior, and emotionalproblems.Many individuals with learning problems also are described as hyperactive, distractable,impulsive, behavior disordered, and so forth. Their behavior patterns with efforts to remedy their learning problems. Although motivation has always been aconcern to those who work with learning and behavior problems, the emphasis in handlingthese interfering behaviors usually is on using extrinsics as part and/or in conjunction with direct skill instruction. For example, interventions are designed toimprove impulse control, perseverence, selective attention, frustration tolerance, sustainedattention and follow-through, and social awareness and skills. In all cases, the emphasis is onreducing or eliminating interfering behaviors, usually with the presumption that then thestudent will re-engage in learning. However, there is little evidence that these strategiesenhance a student’s motivation toward classroom learning (National Research Council, 2004).VI. About Psychological Reactance and Re-engagementWhen students are not engaged in the lessons at hand, it is commonplace to find them pursuingcourses of action teachers find troublesome. The greatest concern usually arises when astudent’s behavior is disruptive. Schools react to such behavior with an array of social controlstrategies. At one time, a heavy dose of punishment was the dominanthe emphasis is on more positive practices designed to provide “behavior support” in and out-of-the-classroom.An often stated assumption is that stopping students’ misbehavior makes them amenable toteaching and enhances classroom learning. In a few cases, this may be so. However, theassumption ignores all the work on understanding individuals to restore their sense of self-determinatibelies two painful realities: the number of students who continue to manifest poor academicachievement and the staggering dropout rate in too many schools.Psychological reactance is a motivational force that seems to arise when an individualsperceive threats to their self-determination. When this happens, they are motivated to reactThe argument sometimes is made that the reason students continue to misbehave and not dois because the wrong socialization practices (e.g., punishment, illogical consequences) are usedor that good social control practices are implemented incorrectly. Thus, the ongoing emphasisis on convincing schools to (1) continue to minimize punishment and (2) do better in executingprograms for social skills training, asset development, character education, and positivebehavior support. The move from punishment to positive approaches is a welcome one.However, most of the new initiatives have not focused enough on a basic system failure thatmust be addressed if improved behavior is to be maintained. That is, strategies that focus onreactance and the implications for engagement and disengagement related to classroomnor inservice focus much on how to prevent students from disengaging and how to re-engagea student who has become disconnected. 13 the irony is that overreliance on extrinsics to control behavior may exacerbate studentproblems. Motivational research suggests that when people perceive their freedom of choiceis threatened, they have a psychological reaction that motivates them to restore their senseof freedom. (For instance, when those in control say: You can’t do that ... you must do this..., the covert and sometimes overt psychological reaction of students often is: ) This line of research also suggests that with prolonged denial of freedom, people’sreactivity diminishes, they become amotivated and usually feel helpless and ineffective.All this argues for 1) minimizing student disengagement and maximizing re-engagement bymoving school culture toward a greater focus on intrinsic motivation and 2) minimizingpsychological reactance and resistance and enhancing perceptions that lead to re-engagementSchool and classroom climate are key concerns in discussions about school improvementbecause of their profound influence on behavior and learning. The climate at a school and inThe climate at a school is a temporal, and somewhat fluid, perceived quality that from the complex transaction of many factors nce of the underlying,institutionalized values and belief systems, norms, ideologies, rituals, and traditions thatconstitute the school culture. And, of course, the climate and culture at a school are affectedby the surrounding political, social, cultural, and economic contexts (e.g., home,Related concepts for understanding school and classroom climate are social systemorganization; social attitudes; staff and student morale; power, control, guidance, support, andaccountability demands; cohesion; competition; between learner and classroom; system 14 maintenance, growth, and change; orderliness; and safety. Moos (e.g., 1979) groups suchconcepts into three dimensions: (1) Relationship (i.e., the nature and intensity of personalrelationships within the environment; the extent to which people are involved in theenvironment and support and help each other); (2) Personal development (i.e., basicdirections along which personal growth and self-enhancement tend to occur); and (3) Systemmaintenance and change (i.e., the extent to which the environment is orderly, clear inexpectations, maintains control,Analyses of research suggest significant relationships between climate at school and matterssuch as student engagement, behavior, self-efficacy, achievement, and social and emotionaldevelopment, principal leadership style, For example, studies report strong associations between achievement levels and classroomsthat are perceived as having grconflict. Research also suggests that the impact of classroom climate may be greater onstudents from low-income homes and groups that often are discriminated against.Given the correlational nature of school and classroom climate research, cause and effectinterpretations remain speculative. The broader body of organizational research does indicatethe profound role accountability pressures play in shaping organizational climate (Cohen,2006; Mahoney & Hextall, 2000). Thus, it is likely that the increasing demands for higherachievement test scores and control of student behavior contribute to a climate that is reactive,over-controlling, and over-reliant on external reinforcement to motivate positive functioning.In contrast, school and classroom climates can be enhanced when a school develops a of Learning Supports because such a system minimizes threats to andmaximizes intrinsic motivation for engaging at school.Prevailing approaches to measuring classroom climate use (1) teacher and student perceptions,(2) external observer’s ratings and systematic coding, and/or (3) naturalistic inquiry,ethnography, case study, and interpretative assessment techniques (Fraser, 1998; Freiberg,1999). Because the concept is a psychological construct, climate in a given setting can beperceived differently by observers. With this in mind, Moos (1979) measured classroomenvironment in terms of the shared perceptions of those in the classroom.Increasing interest in enhancing school climate is reflected in the establishment of the and the U.S. Department of Education’s initiative for Safe posted on the National School Climate http://nscc.csee.net/effective/school_climate_research_summary.pdf�the National School Climate Standards – http://www.schoolclimate.org/climate/standards.phpnd Supportive Schools (S3) grant program which aims to provide the resources for systems to measure school climate and safety at the building level and to help intervene in those schools with the greatest needs.http://www2.ed.gov/programs/safesupportiveschools/index.html 15 Student disengagement in schooling is a fundamental barrier to well-being. Thus, re-engagingstudents in classroom learning must be a fundamental focus for all who are concerned aboutlearning, behavior, and emotional problems. Whatever the initial cause of someone’s learningand behavior problems, the longer the individual has lived with such problems, the more likelyhe or she will have negative feelings and thoughts about instruction, teachers, and schools. Thefeelings may include anxiety, fear, frustration, and anger. The thoughts may include strongexpectations of failure and vulnerability and low valuing of many learning opportunities. Suchmotivation or low motivperforming in many areas of schooling.Low motivation leads to half-hearted effort. Avoidance motivation leads to avoidancebehaviors. Individuals with avoidance and low motivation often are attracted to sociallydisapproved activity. Poor effort, avoidance pursuit of disapprovedIt remains tempting to focus directly on student misbehavior. It also is tempting to think thatbehavior problems at least can be minimized by laying down the law. We have seen manyadministrators pursue this line of thinking. For every student who shapes up, ten others maybe pushed out of school through a progression of suspensions, opportunity transfers, andOfficial dropout figures don’t tell the tale. The reality seen in most high schools in poor citiesgraduate from Grade 12. Most of these students entered kindergarten with a healthy curiosityand a desire to learn to read and write. By the end of Grade 2, we start seeing the first referralsby classroom teachers because of learning and behavior problems. From that point on,increasing numbers of students become disengaged from classroom learning, and most of thesemanifest some form of behavioral and emotional problems. It is not surprising, then, that manyare heartened to see the shift from punishment to positive behavior support in addressingunwanted behavior. However, as long as factors that lead to disengagement are left unaffected,From an intervention perspective, the key point is that engaging aclassroom learning involves matching motivation and minimizing reactance. Matchingmotivation requires factoring in students’ perceptions in determining the right mix of intrinsicand extrinsic reasons. It also requires understanding the key role played by expectationsrelated to outcome. Without a good match, social control strategies can temporarily suppressnegative attitudes and behaviors, but re-engagement in classroom learning is unlikely.Unfortunately, without re-engagement in classroom learning, there will be no substantial andlasting gains in achievement test scores, unwanted behavior is very likely to reappear, andI don’t want to go to school. It’s too hard and the kids That’s too bad, don’t like me. but you have to go – you’re the Principal! Deci, E.L. (2009). Large-scale school reform as viewed from the self-determination theory perspective.Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R. (1985). New York: Plenum.Brophy, J. (2004). Motivating students to learn (2nd ed.). By. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2009). Promoting self-determined school engagement: Motivation, learning,ield (Eds.), Handbook on motivation at school (pp.Motivation to learn: Integrating theory and practice ed.) Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Why we do what we do. Adelman, H.S., & Taylor, L. (2006).Adelman, H.S., & Taylor, L. (2006).Cohen, J. (2006). Social, emotional, ethical and academic education: Creating a climate for learning,participation in democracy and well-being. Why we do what we do. Fraser, B.J. (1998). Classroom environment instruments: Development, validity, and applications.Fredricks, J.A., Blumenfeld, P.C., & Paris, A.H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state ofSchool climate: Measuring, improvLondon: Falmer Press.Mahony, P., & Hextall, I. (2000). York: Routledge Falmer.. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/qf/motiv.htm I suspect that many children would learn arithmetic, 17 Enhancing School Improvement by Developing a Comprehensive System of Learning SupportsInterested in learning more about developing a comprehensive approach to addressing(1) Download the brief center document entitled: – http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/systemic/towardnextstep.pdfAmerican Association of School Administrators (AASA) entitled:https://scholastic.webex.com/scholastic/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=TC&rID=(3) If you want a more in-depth understanding, go to the online Leadership Institute http://rebuildingforlearning.scholastic.com/ briefs, powerpoints, and Q & A Talking Points makers, administrators, and other stakeholders – http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/summit2002/resourceaids.htm e moving forward in a strategic way, feel free The Center is co-directed by Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor and operates Phone: (310) 825-3634 | Fax: (310) 206-8716 | E-mail: smhp@ucla.edu Website: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu