For Lori Nazareno, another nationally certified teacher, a chance to advance her career and to have a say in improving instruction are what drew her to the high-poverty school where she teaches in Denver (She fits the profile of the morally motivated teacher with high intrinsic motivation that I found in the high achieving schools).

After moving to the Denver area from Miami in 2006, she had a choice of working in elementary schools from four or five districts, including some closer to her home and some with higher-performing student populations. She chose the 480-student Barnum Elementary School on Denver’s west side because she could teach in the morning and coach her colleagues in the afternoon as a math-science facilitator (This fits the motivational profile of the teachers entering the “generativity” stage of life. Also, this type of expanded role in teaching that is an intrinsic motivator).

Nazareno also liked the district’s nationally watched program of performance-based pay, which rewards teachers for raising student achievement (the pay is extrinsic, but here it is primarily intrinsic in that it recognizes teacher competence), adding to their own skills (intrinsic) , and teaching where they are needed (moral).

“There’s a system in place that’s able to take advantage of having accomplished teachers on staff,” the 20-year veteran teacher says. “This is like teacher heaven for me.” (This illustrates differentiated incentives across the career stage for those still highly-motivated veteran teachers that I found in my study.)

Paynter’s  Analysis # 2

It is interesting that the results of this survey confirm the findings of my research that were presented to the Task Force yesterday. See below:

His center’s surveys—involving more than 150,000 teachers so far—show that teachers also value time to prepare and collaborate with other teachers (MORAL MOTIVATORS), having a say in what gets taught and how (INTRINSIC MOTIVATORS), having opportunities for professional development, (INTRINSIC) and adequate facilities and resources (EXTRINSIC MOTIVATORS).

Such factors also emerge in the Teacher Follow-up Survey, a nationally representative study the U.S. Department of Education conducts every four years to supplement the data it collects though its Schools and Staffing Survey.

“I want to be able to have the opportunity to make instructional decisions based on my knowledge of the students in the classroom and where we are,” says Ferriter, the North Carolina middle school teacher, who has earned certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (MORAL AND INTRINSIC MOTIVATORS). “It would be hard to walk into a setting where I felt I didn’t have any control over the instruction that goes on.” (EXTRINSIC MOTIVATORS, the LEAST PREFERRED category)

For Ferriter, that’s where troubled, high-poverty schools come up short.

Under increasing pressure to meet student-achievement targets, such schools are more likely than their higher-performing, more affluent counterparts to exert heavy-handed control over what goes on in classrooms (DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HIGH AND LOW PERFORMING SCHOOLS ON THE INTRINSIC SCALE)

“That scares me as an accomplished teacher,” adds Ferriter, who works closely with the Center for Teaching Quality as part of its teacher-leaders network and its workplace-conditions initiative.

Other studies of teachers, such as those certified by the national board, suggest that another key to high-quality working conditions is collegiality—the opportunity to work with a group of motivated colleagues, rather than toil in isolation (MORAL INCENTIVES, the most preferred category).