Spotlight on Student Engagement, Motivation, and Achievement
No. 5 in the Harvard Education Letter Spotlight Series
Edited by Caroline T. Chauncey and Nancy Walser
Look Inside the Book
Only when students feel engaged both socially and academically can schools and teachers lay the groundwork to motivate achievement. This volume, the fifth in the Harvard Education Letter Spotlight series, brings together fifteen seminal articles that examine research and practice on these complex and interrelated issues.
Foreword by Sam M. Intrator, associate professor of education and of the Program in Urban Studies at Smith College and codirector of Smith’s Urban Education Initiative.
Contributors include: Michael Bitz, James Paul Gee, Pedro A. Noguera, Laura Pappano, George Sugai, and Richard Weissbourd
Praise
Here is a book that articulates that it’s going to take more than testing or one ‘right’ answer to improve our schools! Spotlight on Student Engagement, Motivation, and Achievement will help educators and policy makers understand the complex challenges involved in teaching for engagement and reaching
beyond the classroom. Anyone concerned about the state of education should read this thoughtful book.
— Marya R. Levenson, Harry S. Levitan Director of the Brandeis Education Program, Brandeis University; codirector, Public Schools for Tomorrow
High school leaders know that motivation is a critical factor in student achievement. This collection poses challenging questions for us: Are we focusing on students’ assets, rather than deficits? Are we listening to student voices about how to improve our school? Does our curriculum support students’ quest to develop their own identities? Do we teach students how to cultivate appropriate social behaviors? Are we building supportive, caring relationships with students and their families? These questions—and our answers—can help connect student engagement with our school improvement efforts.
— Laura A. Cooper, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Illinois
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About the Author
Caroline T. Chauncey is the editor of the Harvard Education Letter and assistant director of Harvard Education Publishing Group.
Nancy Walser is the assistant editor of the Harvard Education Letter. A former newspaper journalist, Walser served eight years on the Cambridge, Mass., School Committee. She is currently a master’s student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and is author of the forthcoming book, The Essential School Board Book: Better Governance in the Age of Accountability (Harvard Education Press).