Every teacher, principal, and school administrator wants their young students to thrive as they move through the transitional kindergarten and kindergarten years and into the early elementary grades. With the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and the Local Control Funding Formula, school districts have new opportunities to…

Motivation has long been viewed as a key element of learning. A study of over 300 high school juniors and seniors demonstrated that motivation was at least as predictive of achievement in a subject as was intelligence. Among younger students, motivation is a linchpin to learning, even at a time developmentally when overall motivation for…