Creating a Motivating Classroom

The purpose of this study was to investigate the motivational factors that lead to academic success for students with and without learning disabilities (LD) in high school inclusive content-area classrooms. Ninety-one students in regular education and 59 students with learning disabilities in grades nine through twelve were surveyed and responded to six open-ended questions to examine their attitudes and perceptions about factors that are motivating in school. Both qualitative and quantitative measures were used to analyze the data. Results indicated students with and without disabilities have common perceptions about motivational aspects in school, however, students with LD were perceived to more be extrinsically motivated by their teachers and more intrinsically motivated by their parents, while their counterparts without disabilities were found to be more intrinsic in motivational orientation. Finally, limitations of the study, implications for classroom instruction, and future research questions are discussed.