Josh Emmett, Ph.D. Point Loma Nazarene University Dean McGee, M.A.Ed. Kern High School District

1. Investigating “Think Gold”: A Student Achievement Program to Promote Performance for High-stakes Testing Josh Emmett, Ph.D. Point Loma Nazarene University Dean McGee, M.A.Ed. Kern High School District

2. Purpose of the Study • Discover the critical attributes of a student achievement program at one urban high school • Examine the impact of extrinsic motivation on student perceptions and behavior toward state assessments

3. Research Questions • What were the critical attributes of the Think Gold program at West High School? • How did student achievement, as measured by state assessments, change at West High School from prior to the implementation of the Think Gold program through 2011? • How did the performance of West HS compare with the rest of the district?

4. Theoretical Framework • Uniqueness of high schools when measuring student achievement on “high stakes” tests • “High stakes” for schools vs. students • Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic motivation • High school improvement strategies • Rewards as motivation

5. Method • Single case study • Offers a means to answer descriptive questions • Bounded by location and circumstances Yin (2005) endorses the use of case study to provide rich descriptions that enhance awareness and analytical insight that promotes knowledge.

6. Data Sources • Data sources • Structured interviews with stakeholders • 5 administrators, 4 Instructional Coaches • 16 randomly selected teachers (of 77) • 19 randomly selected students (from grades 9-11) • Student achievement data (CSTs) • 2009, 2010, and 2011 • West High School & District (18 high schools) • Number of students scoring “proficient” or “advanced” • Improvement of students across years • Survey data

7. Data Analysis • Guided by Theoretical Framework • Coding of interviews • Calculations/comparisons of student achievement data • Triangulation for student survey responses

8. The Case • Context of West High School • Large urban high school in Bakersfield, CA • Recent history of low performance • Over 70% of students live in poverty • Diverse student population (majority Latino) • Think Gold program • Employs extrinsic motivation for students to improve performance on state assessments

9. Think Gold • The Think Gold program is a school-wide effort to improve student academic achievement. • The Think Gold program strategically validates and responds to individual student academic success by recognizing student achievement on the California Standards Tests.

10. Why Think Gold? • Students were not coming to school intrinsically motivated to learn. • Teachers reported that students “did not care” about failing courses. • Teachers were transferring to other schools. • Professional Learning Community work began in earnest in 2007-2008. • Student performance on state mandated tests did not appear to be improving significantly.

11. Why Think Gold? • Low School API of 593 in 2005 • Low Similar Schools Ranking of 2 • Low Freshman Promotion Rate • Low Intrinsic Motivation Levels • Low parent education levels • Low A-G completion rates • High suspension rates

12. Why Think Gold?

13. Direct Approach to Improve Student Motivation • The school-site leadership (teachers, administrators, and counselors) believed that the students needed to be encouraged/motivated to demonstrate their content knowledge and abilities when taking the California Standards Tests. • Think Gold is an outgrowth of the school’s decision to meet the students’ lack of motivation head-on.

14. Think Gold Achievement Culture Core Expectations: All students are expected to take personal responsibility for their learning. This means that every student should: • Get to School Everyday • Get to Class On Time • Work Hard to Learn • Demonstrate Pride for West High

15. Think Gold Qualification How to qualify for Gold: 1. Students must take all CSTs for assigned grade level and 2. Score proficient or advanced on two or more CSTs (Level One Goldqualification) or 3. Show a net improvement of two or more performance bands on current CSTs over the previous year’s CSTs (Level Two Gold qualification)

16. Think Gold Recognition • Special Think Gold I.D. Card • Participation in Think Gold Activities • Access to Think Gold Spirit Awards • A Think Gold Express Lunch Pass • Level One - @ 140 days • Level Two - @ 90 days

17. Special Think Gold Components • Level Three Gold • 8 days per school year • Performance-based qualification • Proficient or Advanced on a Common Summative Assessment (ELA, Math, Science, & Social Studies) • Hall of Fame • Top 3 Advanced scores in each CST area • Induction ceremony in September • Hall of Fame T-Shirt

18. West High School & the Kern High School District • West High School • 2100 ADA • 63% Hispanic/Latino • 18% White • 16% African-American • 2% Asian • 1% American Indian • 70% Free/Reduced Lunch • -9.75 Z score (family income/education level calculation from Census) • Rapidly became an inner-city school when the community grew (8 new high schools since 1991) • Kern High District • 37,000 ADA (18 high schools) • 61% Hispanic/Latino • 27% White • 7% African-American • 4% Asian • 1% American Indian • 60% Free/Reduced Lunch • Other schools • Centennial (23.61 Z score) • Frontier (20.16 Z score) • Liberty (59.94 Z score) • Stockdale (62.03 Z score) • Independence (24.40 Z score)

19. Findings • Research Question #1 Critical attributes of the Think Gold program: • The differentiated incentive system • The relative sustainability of the recognition efforts • Direct connection of outcomes for student performance to individual student decisions

20. Findings • Research Question #2 Changes in student achievement: • Data from 2009, 2010, 2011 • Increases in Level 1 Criteria exceeded district • Increases in Level 2 Criteria exceeded district

21. KHSD vs. West High School2009-2011Level 1 for 9th GradeKHSD West High School

22. KHSD vs. West High School2009-2011Level 1 for 10th GradeKHSD West High School

23. KHSD vs. West High School2009-2011Level 1 for 11th GradeKHSD West High School

24. KHSD vs. West High School2009-2011Level 1 for Total PopulationKHSD West High School

25. KHSD vs. West High School2009-2011Level 2 for 10th GradeKHSD West High School

26. KHSD vs. West High School2009-2011Level 2 for 11th GradeKHSD West High School

27. KHSD vs. West High School2009-2011Level 2 for Total PopulationKHSD West High School

28. Key Observations • Mandated assessments have created unique circumstances for junior high and high school students that support extrinsic motivation strategies • The development of intrinsic motivation may require an extrinsic jump start for students who have low levels of internal motivation • Extrinsic motivation cannot be the only effort to improve student performance • Extrinsic motivation works best when students care about the recognition they receive – it must be more than a reward • Extrinsic motivation approaches can be counter productive if used recklessly

29. Significance of the Study • Influence of extrinsic motivation for student achievement as an element for consideration in high school improvement • Discussion of the use of extrinsic motivation to promote student achievement • Inherent limitations • Urban context may mitigate generalizability

30. Contact information • Josh Emmett jemmett@pointloma.edu (661) 326-6631 • Dean McGee dmcgee@khsd.k12.ca.us (661) 832-2822

31. Survey Results

32. Survey Results

33. Survey Results