| The U.S. educational system has largely relied on extrinsic rewards and sanctions, as implemented through educational accountability policies, to motivate teachers to improve student learning outcomes. The rationale behind the use of educational accountability is in part based on expectancy theory, a cognitive model of motivation that states that people are motivated by the anticipation of receiving positive outcomes and rewards while avoiding negative consequences. Intrinsic motivation has been largely ignored through these policies even though research in cognitive evaluation theory suggests that this type of motivation supports people's autonomy and competence, and is as important as extrinsic motivation. This study was conducted to examine the role of school capacity building in supporting teachers' intrinsic motivation towards teaching. A total of 210 teachers across 42 states in the U.S. participated in the study. The majority of participants were female (76%), white (84%), and 50 years old on average. Teacher participants completed a survey assessing their opinions about student assessment, the level of implementation of school capacity building at their schools, and their intrinsic motivation towards teaching as examined through questions that implicitly tapped into this area. Findings from the study revealed that increased levels of teachers' perception that their school implemented school capacity building were associated with higher levels of teachers' perception that student testing is useful for school improvement, and greater expectations that their students would perform well academically. The study also found a positive relationship between teachers' perception that student testing is useful for school improvement and teachers' intrinsic motivation towards teaching. Findings suggest that school capacity building is a useful tool for supporting teachers' intrinsic motivation towards teaching, and that intrinsic motivation plays a major role in teachers' overall motivation. |
