A curricular anchor is a complex problem that students acknowledge as worth solving and that validates learning a set of relevant skills and concepts. To motivate students, anchors must capture the imagination, be perceived as important by learners, legitimize the disciplinary content they integrate, and accommodate a variety of learning…

Describes what motivates skateboarders to master their sport. Elements include the need to feel competent, to belong, to feel useful, to feel potent, and to feel optimistic. Argues that that teachers can use same motivation elements to improve the learning performance of alienated students. (PKP)

Describes student-involved classroom evaluation, a technique for assessing learning that involves effective teacher feedback and student self-evaluation. (Contains 12 references.) (PKP)

Describes a severely disabled child's successful integration into a class of 22 first graders at a suburban Atlanta elementary school. Katie, who experienced visual impairment, multiple physical disabilities, and moderate intellectual disability, received two hours of support from a special-education teacher assistant and additional help from…

To compete more effectively in the global economy, the U.S. must reorganize the way people work in stores, factories, and elsewhere. Two factors hinder production of a highly educated work force: lack of a clear standard of achievement and insufficient student motivation. A new educational performance standard (Certificate of Initial Mastery) is…

Teachers need different types of communities to sustain and inspire them. They seek like-minded "outsiders" committed to learning and discussing what they learn. When the author invited "San Francisco Chronicle" readers to help convince his students about reading's importance, he received 1,000 helpful replies. (MLH)

Discusses the concept of double alignment, where the curriculum, instruction, and assessment are aligned to both state standards and the needs of students. Describes curricular, instructional, assessment, and administrative features of double alignment. (Contains 10 references.) (PKP)

Role-plays and other dramatic activities fulfill tweens' urge to try out different life roles, to explore the world beyond their own reality, and to learn new areas of competence. Wilhelm's research into reading and motivation has shown that students value learning that they can see as immediately meaningful. He argues that drama strategies bring…

At a suburban school near Atlanta, Georgia, three different types of tutors (adult, cross-age, and peer) helped resolve the problem of continued math failure among at-risk elementary students. Tutors filled in gaps and clarified critical misunderstandings when students were unsure of math processes. Using adult tutors as mentors motivated some…

Relates stories about the benefits of project-based learning. Describes engaging students through projects, motivating hard-to-reach students, and challenges for teachers. Includes list of common features of project-based learning. (PKP)

Describes how 40 middle-school students and 2 teachers design a curriculum integration program centered on student-generated learning, characterized by strong student-to-student and student-to-teacher relationships. Covers choosing the students, setting the stage, and determining what to study. Provides examples of student-developed themes. (PKP)

School abandonment is a systemic failure that affects poor and affluent students alike and threatens our country's well-being. Such "educational suicide" is primarily a motivational problem. It is time for educators to replace coercive, constraint-laden techniques with autonomy-supportive techniques and to supplant error-proof lessons with…

Examines the assumption that interdependence is best achieved by using rewards. An impressive body of social science research has shown that rewards have limited effectiveness and can undermine interest in the task. Cooperative learning programs with appropriately balanced curricula, autonomy, and relationship elements function well without…

No one teaching strategy consistently engages all learners. Motivation is inseparable from culture. What elicits frustration, joy, or determination may differ across cultures, because cultures vary in defining novelty, hazard, opportunity, and gratification. A culturally responsive teaching model requires four motivational conditions: establishing…

The I-Search, an interdisciplinary, student-centered inquiry process, is an integral part of an upstate New York middle school's curriculum. Students are immersed in a motivating theme, develop their own search plans, follow and revise these plans as they gather information, and prepare papers as foundations for oral reports, skits, posters, or…