Our K-12 System Has A Motivation Problem. Here’s How To Fix It.
If it feels harder to get students to lean in, you’re not imagining things. Teachers everywhere describe the same pattern: “I can get compliance for a few minutes, but I can’t get traction.” National data echo that story. Recent Gallup polling found a sizable share of Gen Z K–12 students report school as disengaging. This is especially true for students not planning on a four-year college. You’ll also see that interest spikes when teachers make learning feel interesting and relevant.
But “make it more interesting” isn’t really a strategy. It’s easy to say that, but much harder to implement something at a system level.
The root issue is motivation. This is what moves a student from “I’ll do it if you make me” to “I want to do this and keep getting better.” In this post, I’ll argue that (1) motivation may be the most important factor in whether learning actually happens, (2) our traditional carrots and sticks (points, grades, detentions) don’t work the way we think they do, and sometimes backfire, and (3) we can rebuild motivation with a mix of intrinsic and smart extrinsic supports that center autonomy, competence, relatedness, and purpose.
Why Motivation Sits Upstream of Learning
We love to talk about curriculum, tech, or standards. I’m the first one to discuss all three.
But if students don’t choose to invest effort, none of that matters. Several decades of motivation science make the same claim in different ways.
Self-Determination Theory (SDT) shows learners engage more deeply when three psychological needs are met: autonomy (a sense of choice), competence (I can do this with effort), and relatedness (I belong here). When classrooms support these needs, students’ intrinsic motivation and persistence rise.
Expectancy–Value Theory tells us students act when they (a) expect they can succeed and (b) believe the task is worth it, which basically means it is viewed as valuable, interesting, or useful. If either is near zero, effort collapses.
Large syntheses of what moves achievement consistently elevate teacher actions that develop motivation (e.g., effective feedback, clarity, relationships), not just materials. Hattie’s meta-analyses, for instance, highlight feedback and teacher–student relationships among high-impact influences.
If we want learning gains, we have to engineer conditions where students want to invest effort, keep going when it’s hard, and come back tomorrow.
The Trouble With Carrots and Sticks
For decades we’ve relied on grades, points, honor rolls, and (on the flip side) late penalties and zeroes to push behavior. We’ve used these tried and true carrots and sticks to engineer conditions for compliance.
However, things have shifted. And I think most colleges are starting to see it.
A 15% enrollment decline in colleges and universities from 2010-2022, and a huge enrollment decline predicted for 2025 and beyond.
Companies like Gauntlet AI are saying, “We can do better” than the university model. Bringing in programmers to a 10-week intensive training program that is completely free, and if they “graduate” from it they get placed in a 200k+ job.
And they aren’t the only ones.
“A recent study from Intelligent.com found that 45% of companies plan to eliminate degree requirements for certain positions in 2024. Many have already done so. The number of jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree fell to 44% in 2022, down from 51% in 2017.”
So, the traditional carrots and sticks aren’t working that well, and a huge body of evidence says we should be more careful about how we use external controls, and also which ones we use.
Rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation for interesting tasks.
The classic meta-analysis by Deci, Koestner, and Ryan across 128 experiments found that engagement- and completion-contingent rewards decreased intrinsic motivation—students were less likely to choose the task for its own sake once the reward was removed. Performance-contingent rewards had mixed results but still risked controlling pressure. The mechanism? Rewards shift attention from “this is interesting” to “what do I get?”Grades without guidance lower interest and performance.
In a randomized classroom study with sixth graders, Butler showed that task-related comments preserved intrinsic motivation and improved performance, whereas grades (with or without comments) generally undermined both interest and quality—especially for average achievers. The takeaway: evaluative symbols can crowd out learning signals unless feedback is specific, non-threatening, and task-focused. Newer reviews reach similar conclusions: conventional grading often fails to provide actionable feedback for learning and can lower motivation.Punishments definitely “work” short-term, not so much long-term.
Losses can momentarily control behavior, but their motivational memory decays faster than reward memory, and they rarely build the desire to re-engage. That’s not the habit we want for learning.
This doesn’t mean “no grades, no consequences ever.” It means that if our primary levers are carrots and sticks, we’ll keep getting compliance without commitment, and see motivation continue to lower each year students are in the system.
What Actually Builds Motivation (and Still Respects Accountability)
Here’s the good news (and there is a lot of it). The same research base points to practical moves any teacher or school can adopt. Here are some high-leverage, classroom-ready strategies mapped to the big motivational drivers. Use them as you would a menu. Just start small, stack wins, and scale what works.
1) Grow Autonomy (without losing structure)
Offer bounded choice. Let students pick from a small set of prompts, products, or texts that all meet the same standard. Choice increases ownership and time-on-task when options are meaningful but not overwhelming.
Use “why” framing. Connect tasks to real purposes (“We’re analyzing claims because you’ll need to check AI outputs and sources”), not just “it’s on the test.” This increases perceived value, a core of expectancy–value theory.
Invite student voice in norms. Co-create routines, feedback criteria, or project checkpoints. Autonomy-support from teachers strongly predicts students’ need satisfaction and self-determined motivation.
2) Build Competence (so effort feels worth it)
Design for early wins, then add desirable difficulty. Start units with accessible tasks that surface prior knowledge, then level up. Expectancy, which is the belief “I can do this”, drives any learner’s investment.
Use task-focused, actionable feedback fast. Replace “B+/Good job” with “Your claim is clear; add a counterexample and source to strengthen it.” Butler’s work (that I linked to above) shows comments like these preserve intrinsic motivation and lift performance.
Normalize iteration. Short cycles of attempt → feedback → revision cultivate mastery orientation. Large syntheses place high impact on feedback and clarity.
3) Strengthen Relatedness (belonging fuels effort)
Name strengths and progress publicly, not just outcomes. “I noticed how Mia kept testing her model until it held 10 books.” Recognition of effort and strategy ties students to a learning identity. This also leans into Albert Bandura’s social learning theory which proposes that individuals learn by observing, imitating, and modeling the behavior of others, a process that goes beyond direct reinforcement.
Structure peer learning that protects face. Think “gallery walks with warm/wise feedback” instead of public grading. Belonging and teacher mindsets moderate how students interpret challenge.
Make relevance visible. Bring in community guests, authentic audiences, or problems students care about. When value rises, so does engagement.
4) Rebalance the Extrinsic Supports (make them informational, not controlling)
Extrinsic systems aren’t going away, but we can make them work for intrinsic motivation.
Grade the learning, not the timing. Replace blanket late penalties with standards-based evidence and opportunities to revise. Scoping reviews suggest conventional grading often fails as effective feedback and can depress motivation.
Use recognition that spotlights mastery behaviors. Celebrate revision streaks, productive struggle, peer coaching, and service to the learning community, not just “top scores.”
Gamify progress, not points. If you use game elements, tie them to mastery paths (levels that unlock with competencies) rather than external leaderboards that push ego comparison. We see this being used at schools like Alpha where you receive “XP” for your growth and progress, and then can use that XP to purchase things individually from virtual school stores.
5) Make Learning Feel Worth the Work (purpose + authenticity)
Lean into projects and problems. Meta-analyses of project/problem/case-based learning show positive effects on motivation when implemented with scaffolds (clear goals, supports, accountability). Beware though, because PBL without scaffolds turns into a disaster (I know from experience). Students work harder when they’re making something that matters.
Publish to an audience. When students know their podcast, brief, or prototype leaves the classroom, value skyrockets. It also makes them less likely to solely use AI to create theses products. Try and tie rubrics to audience needs.
6) Teach the Mindsets That Sustain Motivation
Wise messages before tough tasks. Short, values-aligned messages from teachers (“I’m giving you this challenge because I know you can grow with practice, and I’ll support you”) improve how students interpret difficulty and can reduce inequality in outcomes.
Growth mindset, done right. The National Study of Learning Mindsets found brief, well-designed interventions can raise persistence and grades for lower-achieving ninth graders—especially in supportive contexts. The key is aligning the whole environment (tasks, feedback, expectations) so “growth” isn’t just a poster.
A Missing Piece to Motivation
This all seems great, in theory. But, what if you don’t have the freedom or autonomy to allow students choice and voice all the time (most of us don’t)?
What if students are so checked out of school, that they don’t even get excited about learning something they “want to learn” and seemingly have no interests (this happened to me all the time with Genius Hour)?
Simply put, what if students do not feel intrinsically motivated? What can we do?
Well, this happens all the time. It has happened to me as a learner and probably you as well.
I remember doing extremely well on my addition, subtraction, and multiplication timetables. At this point in my academic career, I enjoyed Math, had fun playing games like “24” in class, and never truly questioned my abilities.
Then came division. I struggled on the first timetables test. Struggled on the second as well.
Then came fractions. I was lost. My motivation for math dropped. I doubled down as “reader” and thought much less of myself as a math student.
Then, something interesting happened in high school. My Algebra 2 teacher wanted me to take his Computer Programming class along with Trig the following year. He said that even though I got some questions wrong, he loved the way my thinking looked on paper as I worked through the problems, and though it would serve me well in Computer Programming.
The following school year, I loved the Programming class. I spent extra time before and after school working through the math needed to program C++ to do what I wanted it to do to create all kinds of games and simulations.
In this case, the motivation did not lead to achievement. Instead, my perceived view of achievement led to motivation (one situation it was negative and the other it was positive). We can see how this works from the flow chart below, both achievement and motivation have a reciprocal effect on each other.
Fig 2
We see this happen in sports all the time. Win a few games and your team is much more likely to be motivated to practice. Score a goal, and you feel like you want to spend extra time getting better. Have a few plays go your way in a game, feel motivated to try and complete a come back.
The “aha” moment for me was this: Achievement can also lead to motivation.
The Research Between Motivation and Achievement
If you are as interested in this topic as I am, go ahead and read this entire review: Motivation-Achievement Cycles in Learning: a Literature Review and Research Agenda - it is well worth the time to dig into some of the research and also see the limitations on these types of studies.
Here is one of the main highlights about the connection between motivation and achievement:
Our discussion of various theories of motivation in education showed how densely motivation and performance are interlinked. They can best be seen as a cycle of mutually reinforcing relations. While a cycle suggests a closed loop, we list several options for outside intervention, which are represented by the gray arrows in Fig. 1. Some of these are well-researched practical interventions, such as autonomy support and training in helpful attributions (Hulleman et al., 2010). Others are excellent avenues for future research. For example, designing how feedback reaches the learner offers opportunities for motivation support. Research has shown how to provide negative feedback in a way that does not lower a learner’s motivation (Fong et al., 2019), how peer comparison can be harnessed for motivation (Mumm & Mutlu, 2011), or how feedback can be given without giving away that errors have been made (Narciss & Huth, 2006). It is our impression that this research has so far not reached all classrooms.
Has it reached your classrooms? When a student has perceived achievement in a classroom, on a playing field, or in an extra curricular they are more likely to be motivated to continue learning, or practicing, or trying!
Of course, students are going to be apathetic if they feel like they’ve already lost at the game of school.
And, of course, students are going to be apathetic if they have a perceived low level of achievement (even when they’ve tried their best in the past).
I’m reminded of this video I’ve shared in many of my presentations. How can we give students a “1480 moment” during their time in school?
Does this work every time? Of course not.
Is the research full developed? No, as you can see below there is much to be discovered.
In conclusion, this view of a cycle between motivation and achievement, as shown in Fig. 1, has intuitive appeal and fits well with theories of academic motivation. However, empirical evidence for a cycle is far from complete. The research agenda we have presented contains important challenges for future research aimed at elucidating how motivation and achievement exactly interact, and whether a cycle and a network of constructs are good ways of conceptualizing these interactions. As academic motivation typically drops considerably in adolescence and may be lower for some groups (e.g., through the effects of SES, stereotype threat, and the likes), such evidence is necessary for gaining knowledge on how to best intervene in the cycle, and bring out the best in each student.
And yet, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. As a teacher, coach, and school leader I know that achievement leads to motivation, and that motivation leads to achievement.
A School- and District-Level Playbook
You can’t rely on heroic teachers alone. Systems either feed or starve classroom motivation. Here are five structural changes to implement if you want to really tackle the problem of motivation.
Assessment refresh. Ask, “Where can we replace points with feedback?” Pilot feedback-based grading or minimal-grading practices in one course team. Use comments that guide next steps; limit grade symbols until the end of cycles. The research is clear that comments beat grades for learning signals.
Time for iteration. Build revision windows into the calendar (studio days, re-performance weeks). If the schedule never honors drafts or improvement, we silently tell students that speed beats growth.
PD on autonomy-supportive teaching. Give opportunities for professional learning that helps teams offer choice within constraints, frame “why” effectively, and deliver task-focused feedback. Teacher autonomy support is a reliable predictor of students’ self-determined motivation.
Authentic audience pipelines. Partner with local organizations so every grade level has at least one public product per semester (presentations, briefs, apps, exhibitions). Applied learning tends to lift perceived value and motivation when properly scaffolded. This was the biggest shift at Centennial School District that we made.
Monitor engagement like a vital sign. Use quick pulse checks (two-question weekly “value & expectancy” surveys) and adjust tasks accordingly. National trendlines have been shaky, but in 2025 some districts have posted gains after focusing on relevance and relationships. This is an important reminder that motivation is malleable.
“Do This on Monday”: A 10-Step Starter Kit
Open with relevance. Kick off units with an authentic problem or audience and say the quiet part out loud: why this matters beyond points.
Bounded choice. Offer 2–4 product options aligned to the same standard.
Success criteria in student language. Post exemplars; co-create a checklist so expectancy rises.
First draft fast. Get students to a quick, imperfect version to build momentum and competence.
Task-focused feedback. Give one “keep” and one “next step.” Avoid evaluative symbols early in the cycle.
Revision window. Require a visible change before new feedback.
Belonging cue. Use a wise message before hard tasks: “This is challenging because I believe you can grow here, and I’ll help.”
Progress tracking. Let students see their gains (version history, reading stamina, problem sets solved). Value increases when growth is visible.
Recognition for mastery behaviors. Shout out persistence, peer coaching, and rigorous revisions in class notes and calls home.
Reflection exit ticket. “Where did you feel most capable or strong today? What’s your next move?” Competence plus autonomy in one minute.
Final Thoughts
We don’t have a “kids these days” problem. We have a motivation design problem. When school feels controlling, boring, and disconnected from purpose, students will naturally ration effort.
When it feels like a meaningful place to make choices, build real competence, and belong to something bigger, students show up differently.
The fix isn’t a silver bullet. It’s a systems issue with many choices and moving parts.
Move from carrots and sticks to clarity + challenge + choice + community. The research base (and the best classrooms I visit) point the same direction.
Let’s build schools where students want to do the hard thing, not because we dangle points, but because the work itself (and the people around them) make it worth it.
