High Expectations and Student Motivation at Malverne Senior High School

By Aaron Leo & Kristen C. Wilcox

This is the second in a series of blogs presenting our findings from the second phase of the College and Career Readiness Study focusing on students’ experiences and perspectives in two odds-beating schools. In this blog, we explore the ways in which students at Malverne Senior High School were motivated to achieve through teachers’ high expectations, encouragement, and support.

Research on Student Motivation

Student motivation is highly correlated with academic performance and often is dependent on the strategies used by teachers. For example, as researchers have found, engaging, goal-oriented class goal structures can promote higher levels of academic achievement. Students can also be motivated to excel in school when teachers help them develop a strong sense of self-efficacy and confidence in their own academic abilities. Others have claimed that students may be motivated to learn when they are both given some control over the content of what they learn and have opportunities to apply learning to their lives outside of school.

Lastly, as discussed in a previous NYKids blog, the expectations which teachers hold for their students can have tangible effects – both positive and negative – on their performance.

Motivating Students to Learn

In our recent study of Malverne Senior High School, many students who participated in interviews and focus groups with our NYKids research team described the ways that their teachers motivated them to learn and supported them in their academic pursuits. Three particular themes stood out:

1.) Providing that “Extra Push”

Students at Malverne felt that their teachers encouraged them to go beyond what they thought they were capable of or actually wanted to do. When asked about how teachers do this, one student explained:

The teachers here are dedicated; they want you to pass. They want you to keep going. And I love that about teachers here because I feel like kids need that extra push. . . . They show so much love; they want you to do good. And I feel like that’s just better because if you have a teacher that’s like, “Do whatever you want, I don’t really care if you pass or fail,” then students are going to be like, “Okay I guess I’m going to go on my phone.” But if teachers are going to be like “We have a test next week, and you’re going to study,” [students] will be like, “Oh I have a test. . . .” They will want to do well; they want to do better more often.

2.) Instilling Self-confidence

One Malverne student explained how a teacher had given him confidence by providing positive feedback and encouraging him to plan for his future:

[My teacher] was talking about me being very bright, taking my future seriously, and I just remembered that to this day because he told me if I waste it, there’s no coming back.

And another student explained how his close relationships with teachers encouraged him to work hard as to not let them down:

That’s what also can push students to do better because you don’t want to disappoint. . . . You like this teacher, they’re really cool, you don’t want to disappoint this teacher. You want to do better.

 Student Motivation and Support

In seeking to meet their teachers’ high expectations, students who participated in this study felt supported whether through before-school study sessions, the Homework Center available after school, or extra credit opportunities.

In this rigorous academic climate, students recognized that their teachers were looking out for their social-emotional health or – as one student put it – that teachers were “tuned into” how students were feeling.

See more findings from Malverne in the full case study and stay tuned for our continuing series of blogs on the student study findings at NYKids’ News.