Teacher Motivation and School-Based Performance Awards

Abstract

This article summarizes findings from a series of research studies on the motivational effects of school-based performance award programs on teachers in schools in Kentucky and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) school district. Interviews and survey data were collected between 1995 and 1998. The research was framed by expectancy and goal-setting theories. The research findings suggest that teachers associate a variety of positive and negative outcomes with the programs, including the bonus. Teachers expressed a relatively high level of commitment to program goals. Teacher expectancy was an important predictor of school success, and expectancy was related to the presence of enabling conditions, prior success, and perceived fairness of the program. The findings suggest that program designers need to focus on setting realistic goals, providing enabling conditions for success, maximizing perceptions that achieving the goals will lead to positive outcomes, and minimizing stress reactions.