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? School Year APISimilar Schools Rank 9 th Grade Promotion Rates Parent HS Grad Rates Parent College Grad Rates A-G Completion Rates Suspension Numbers 2005-20066242NA76%14%18.3%906 2006-2007622378% 18%20.8%1345 2007-2008635481%73%12%23.6%1818 2008-2009647584%70%9%25.4%1280 Introduction of Think Gold Program 2009-2010681795%67%8%26.6%571 2010-2011712NA91%69%9%NA557

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 Level One Gold 2.Score proficient or advanced on two or more CSTs (Level One Gold qualification) or 3. Show a net improvement of two or more performance bands on current CSTs over the previous year’s CSTs Level Two Gold (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 ◦ Level One - @ 140 days ◦ Level Two ◦ Level Two - @ 90 days

17. Special Think Gold Components Level Three Gold 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 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 School 2009-2011 Level 1 for 9 th Grade KHSDWest High School Proficient or Advanced on 2+ CSTs200920102011 Percent change: 2009-11 Grade 9 (3 CSTs) 29.7%30.8%34.7%16.8% Grade 9 (3 CSTs) 16.8%25.6%28.0%66.7%

22. KHSD vs. West High School 2009-2011 Level 1 for 10 th Grade KHSDWest High School Proficient or Advanced on 2+ CSTs200920102011 Percent change: 2009-11 Grade 10 (5 CSTs) 42.4%47.8%49.6%17.0% Grade 10 (5 CSTs) 32.4%41.0%46.5%43.5%

23. KHSD vs. West High School 2009-2011 Level 1 for 11 th Grade KHSDWest High School Proficient or Advanced on 2+ CSTs200920102011 Percent change: 2009-11 Grade 11 (4 CSTs) 29.8%34.6%37.4%25.5% Grade 11 (4 CSTs) 26.0%29.6%34.1%31.2%

24. KHSD vs. West High School 2009-2011 Level 1 for Total Population KHSDWest High School Proficient or Advanced on 2+ CSTs200920102011 Percent change: 2009-11 Total Population (gr. 9-11) 33.6%37.3%40.3%19.9% Total Population (gr. 9-11) 24.4%31.2%35.5%45.5%

25. KHSD vs. West High School 2009-2011 Level 2 for 10 th Grade KHSDWest High School Improved by 2+ bands on CSTs200920102011 Percent change: 2009-11 Grade 1013.2%12.2%13.4%1.5% Grade 1014.6%19.9%20.5%40.4%

26. KHSD vs. West High School 2009-2011 Level 2 for 11 th Grade KHSDWest High School Improved by 2+ bands on CSTs200920102011 Percent change: 2009-11 Grade 1115.5%16.7%15.0%-3.2% Grade 1115.0%23.4%19.4%29.3%

27. KHSD vs. West High School 2009-2011 Level 2 for Total Population KHSDWest High School Improved by 2+ bands on CSTs200920102011 Percent change: 2009-11 Total Population 14.4%14.5%14.3%-0.7% Total Population 14.8%21.7%19.9%34.5%

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 StatementLevel Mostly or Absolutely True—2010 Mostly or Absolutely True—2011 My performance on the CSTs was important to me. Level 178%81% Level 263%75% Level 372%78% No Level Earned 62%67%

32. Survey Results StatementLevel Mostly or Absolutely True—2010 Mostly or Absolutely True—2011 I was motivated to do well on CSTs because I wanted to get “Think Gold.” Level 166%65% Level 270%53% Level 352%54% No Level Earned 47%33%

33. Survey Results StatementLevel Mostly or Absolutely True—2010 Mostly or Absolutely True—2011 During the CSTs, I gave my best effort because of “Think Gold.” Level 153%55% Level 241%45% Level 351%46% No Level Earned 43%29%