44 (2006) 325–329

Editorial

Motivation and its relevance to school psychology:

An introduction to the special issue

Much can be positively written about the American education system, especially as it

has progressed over the past two decades. Influenced in part by the enactment of various

legislative mandates (e.g., Goals 2000; the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001), some

recent innovations have resulted in a number of beneficial outcomes. For example, the

number of students enrolled in school has steadily increased, the high school dropout rate

has steadily decreased (Wirt et al., 2005), and there has been a significant improvement in

basic math, reading, and writing skills since 1985 (National Center for Education

Statistics, 2004).

Nevertheless, despite these hard-won academic gains there remains a marked

disconnect between achievement goals set by the schools and the stark perceptions held

by many students regarding their school experiences, which range from apathetic (at best)

to intolerable (at worst). Recent surveys reveal that although some educational outcomes

have improved in the past 20 years, significantly less youth report that their school

curricula is personally meaningful, interesting, or relevant to their future careers (e.g.,

National Center of Education Statistics, 2002). Additional studies, based on momentary

time sampling methods suggest that these negative perceptions are not limited to one or

two of the hardest class subjects but are pervasive across the entire school curriculum (e.g.,

Shernoff, Csikszentmihalyi, Schneider, and Shernoff, 2003). It is not surprising to find an

inordinate number of students who describe themselves as passive participants in the

learning process and who report high levels of boredom, anger, and stress in school

(Gershman, 2004; Hunter & Csikszentmihalyi, 2003; Larson & Richards, 1991). Perhaps

most significant in this regard is the number of students (approximately 40% in some

studies) who report that they work hard enough in school bjust to get byQ (The Shell Poll,1999), and in other studies over a quarter of students report hating school or liking it very

little (Huebner, Drane, & Valois, 2000).

These findings suggest that for all the academic gains that have been made in public

education the meaning of these learning experiences for students is often less than optimal.

If the ultimate goal of schools is to educate young people to become responsible and

critically thinking citizens who can succeed in life after formal education, understanding

factors that stimulate youth to become active agents in their own learning is critical

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Editorial326

towards making the education experience meaningful and relevant rather than a btrial to beenduredQ (Hunter & Csikszentmihalyi, 2003, p. 28).

Motivation is one lens with which to investigate factors that contribute to students’

interest, engagement, and persistence in an activity. Since the formal beginnings of both

psychology (e.g., James, 1890) and education reform in America (e.g., Dewey, 1913/

1975), motivation has been viewed as the primary determinant of student learning and

school success (Anderman & Anderman, in press). Research consistently reveals that

motivation is critical not only to current academic functioning but also to students’ beliefs

in their future success as students (Eccles, 1993) and positive school experiences (Shernoff

et al., 2003). Of direct relevance to school psychologists is the focus placed on motivation

in their own professional practice; on an almost daily basis school psychologists consult

with teachers, school administrators and parents (among others) to design strategies that

can be used to facilitate optimal motivation among students. Thus, motivation should be

viewed as a dominant concern for anyone who is in the position of trying to mobilize

others to act (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

In this special issue, prominent authors in educational psychology and school

psychology contribute empirical and review papers that represent the most current

findings regarding important aspects of motivation research. Given the current emphasis in

the United States on standards, accountability, and assessment, a thorough understanding

of student motivation and the contextual effects that influence motivation is essential

towards transforming schools from perceived intellectual prisons, devoid of relevance and

personal meaning, to environments that support exploration, learning, and creativity

among all students.

As with any construct of inquiry with a large academic following, concepts and terms

related to motivation research may differ depending on the perspective of the

investigators (Murphy & Alexander, 2000). Although in its broadest sense motivation

is defined as bthe process whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustainedQ(Pintrich & Schunk, 2002, p. 405), most contemporary theories tend to emphasize one or

more aspects that facilitate this process (Roeser, Strobel, & Quihuis, 2002). For example,

expectancy-value theory (Atkinson, 1964; Eccles, 1993) maintains that individuals are

motivated to pursue activities where success is expected and that are of value to them.

Attribution theory (Weiner, 1985) states that motivation to learn is contingent on how

individuals interpret past successes and failures. In a similar fashion, self-efficacy

theories of achievement (Bandura, 1986; Bandura, 1997; Pajares, 1996) maintain that

individuals pursue activities that are within their perceived capabilities; individuals who

have a low sense of efficacy tend to avoid pursuing some academic tasks while

individuals who believe that they are capable tend to participate readily (Schunk, 1991).

Still other researchers who examine motivation from a self-determination perspective

(Deci & Ryan, 1985) are interested in whether individuals engage in academic tasks for

the intrinsic benefits associated with the task, or in order to receive some type of

extrinsic reward. Finally, researchers who examine goal orientations (Ames, 1992;

Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Maehr & Anderman, 1993; Midgley, 2002; Nicholls, 1989) are

concerned with students’ reasons for engaging in academic tasks (i.e., to pursue mastery

or to demonstrate ability). Thus, each perspective examines motivation through its own

unique perspective.

Editorial 327

Nevertheless, a synthesis of important theoretical frameworks can also explain some of

the subtle distinctions in motivation terminology (Murphy & Alexander, 2000), and to this

end the special issue begins with two papers that describe aspects of motivation from

multiple theoretical perspectives. The first paper, authored by Tim Urdan and Erin

Schoenfelder, use three different motivation perspectives (achievement goal theory, self-

determination theory, and social-cognitive theory) to describe how classroom and school

contextual factors can influence student motivation. In the second paper, Judith Meece,

Beverly Bower Glienke, and Samantha Burg provide an overview of research examining

gender differences in motivation, from the perspective of attribution theory, expectancy-

value theory, self-efficacy theory, and goal theory.

Although motivation research has primarily investigated motivation and its

relationship to a host of valued educational outcomes (Anderman & Wolters, in press;

Pintrich & Schunk, 2002; Stipek, 1996), motivation is also considered to be at the core

of cognitive, biological, and social regulation (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Two studies in this

special issue examine the relationship between motivation-related variables and

intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning. Based on a large sample of high school

adolescents, Rich Gilman and Eric Anderman report findings related to relative levels of

mastery-motivation variables and their differential relationship with psychological,

psychosocial, and psychoeducational indicators. Michael Valle, Scott Huebner, and

Shannon Suldo investigate the relationship between one cognitive–motivational construct

(hope) and its role as a moderator in the relationship between stressful life events and

psychological well-being.

The fifth paper in the special issue pertains to the measurement of engagement, which is

a construct that is theoretically and empirically related to motivation (DiPerna, Volpe, &

Elliott, 2005) and worthy of study in its own right (Marks, 2000). In this paper, James

Appleton, Sandra Christenson, and Amy Reschly report their findings on the validity of a

new self-report measure of engagement. Finally, motivation research has expanded to

investigate differences among specific groups of youth. In the final paper, Jacquelynne

Eccles, Carol Wong, and Stephen Peck review their findings pertaining to motivation

differences among African-American youth, focusing on the relationship between

motivation and racial discrimination experiences.

The authors express their deep appreciation to the following authors for their help with

the special issue:

Beth Doll, University of Nebraska

Ryan Bowles, University of Virginia

Jane Pizzolato, University of Pittsburgh

Ann Schulte, North Carolina State University

Michael Furlong, University of California, Santa Barbara

Nancy Deutsch, University of Virginia

Mimi Bong, Ewha Woman’s University, Republic of Korea

Margaret Rogers, University of Rhode Island

Jenefer Husman, Arizona State University

Kathryn Wentzel, University of Maryland

David Bergin, University of Missouri

Editorial328

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Rich Gilman4

Eric M. Anderman

245 Dickey Hall, University of Kentucky,

Lexington, KY, 40506-0017, United States

E-mail address: gilman@uky.edu.

4Corresponding author.