Epilogue: A New Paradigm for the Science and Practice of Engaging Young People

by Reed W. Larson, David J. Shernoff & Janine Bempechat
A hope of this Yearbook is to illuminate not only what promotes engagement but also how it can be fostered. In this epilogue, first we provide a short history of research on motivation. We then review the contributions of this Yearbook in providing a fuller, multidimensional, contextualized picture of human motivation, one that we believe is relevant and helpful to educational policy and practice. Last, we discuss where this research may head in order to engender conditions in which engagement in schooling becomes more universal.
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Choice Theory and Student Engagement in an Alternative High School

by Jeffrey N. Jones
This chapter details an alternative high school’s implementation of choice theory and its influence on relational practices and student experience. Student narratives speak of how the school practices that are informed by choice theory promote engagement through a deliberate focus on developmental needs.
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Tilling, Seeding, and Weeding: Creating New and Better Schools

by Michael Q. McShane
Cultivating an ecosystem of new and better schools is a lot like gardening. It takes tilling (creating a policy environment that allows for new schools), seeding (starting schools with the necessary human capital to flourish), and weeding (regulation).