A new Center on Education Policy (U.S.) report argues that educators and policy makers often overlook the importance of student buy-in and motivation when planning school improvement initiatives. While no one system or incentive will encourage all students, CEP researchers argue that those designing programs for education reform should consider what is known about student motivation, such as these four foundations:

  • Competence, in which students think they have the ability to do what is being asked
  • Control, or students believing they have choice in what to do and can affect the outcome
  • Interest, in which students perceive value in the task or learning; and 
  • Relatedness, or believing that doing the task or gaining the knowledge will gain them social approval.