Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between middle school students' motivation and feedback from graphed assessment data. Methodology. The researcher used descriptive, correlation research. The student sample consisted of 940 middle school students from twenty different schools and five states. The teacher sample included the thirty-nine teachers of the aforementioned students. Surveys were used to gather responses from students regarding situations that stemmed from motivation as it relates to five themes. Similarly, teachers responded to a survey that identified the importance of the same motivation themes as well as provide information about the following: how frequently subjects were assessed, data displayed, types of assessments used, and student demographic information. Data were tabulated to determine comparisons between student and teacher beliefs about motivation and the impact of feedback from assessment data on student motivation. Findings. (1) As students get older, only autonomy remains constant among motivation themes and variance decreases among all other themes. (2) With the exception of control theme (extrinsic motivation), teachers and students have significantly different views on the importance of all motivation themes. (3) As students increasingly receive feedback from their graphed assessment data, their sense of competence, involvement/joy and belonging/relatedness are increased. (4) As students increasingly receive feedback from their graphed assessment data they show a slight increase in academic success and a slight decrease in academic failure. Conclusions and recommendations. At a time when middle school students' enthusiasm toward learning plummets incrementally, granting autonomy to a student appears to be less of a motivating factor than increasing feedback from their graphed assessment data. This feedback enhances a student's sense of competence, belonging and joy through involvement. Therefore, the researcher recommends the following: (1) Educators must take advantage of every opportunity to increase strategies that reinforce intrinsic motivation when students are young and sustain those efforts throughout their education; (2) Students should see their graphed assessment data displayed frequently and be given the opportunity to interact with it regularly; (3) The quality of interaction—not just the quantity—with academic assessment data needs to be studied; and, (4) Clearer links must be established between increased feedback from academic assessment data and improved academic performance.