Measure the Social Emotional Factors that Shape Students Motivation

The REACH Survey

REACH Survey provides schools with a valid and reliable measure of key social, emotional and other factors that shape students’ motivation to learn. It will give you important insight on what enhances or inhibits motivation among students in your school. 


The REACH Survey can be administered one time to capture a snapshot of students’ academic motivation and the factors that influence it, or multiple times to assess change in students’ character strengths over time. In addition, the survey can be used as a tool in the evaluation of important projects and initiatives.


Data from the REACH Survey uses the REACH Framework to help your school:

  • Build Developmental Relationships with and among students
  • Help students understand how Effort can increase intelligence
  • Connect students' current actions to their future Aspirations
  • Teach students about Cognition’s role in delaying gratification and managing learning
  • Ensure that students know and are known for the deep interests and values in their Hearts.

The Relationships category provides schools with data on the degree to which students believe that their teachers do the following:

  • Believe in them
  • Set high expectations for them
  • Help them learn and grow from failures
  • Give them a voice to express their ideas
  • Respect them
  • Guide them
  • Inspire them
  • Know about and tap into their sparks (their talents and interests)
  • In-depth questions which go beyond school to look at how youth perceive relationships with their parents, friends, youth program leaders, and other school support staff (like counselors, principals, etc.). It helps provide a 360-degree look at the world students are experiencing.


The Effort category provides schools with data on the ways their students think about intelligence and effort in the following areas:

  • Mastery vs. performance orientation
  • Belief in malleable intelligence
  • Academic self-efficacy


The Aspirations category provides schools with data on the degree to which their students do the following:

  • Have a positive vision of themselves in the future
  • Set and work toward goals
  • Believe that they can influence what happens in their lives


The Cognition category provides schools with data on how well students think about and manage their own thinking in three important areas:

  • Maintaining focus on an issue or objective for an extended period of time
  • Delaying gratification to achieve academic success
  • Staying positive in the face of a challenge


The Heart category provides schools with data on the degree to which their students do the following:

  • Develop their sparks
  • Share their sparks
  • Leverage their sparks to motivate effort in school and other areas of life


Survey purchasers also receive a copy of the REACH Strategies Guidebook with activities (called Anchor Activities) and strategies.

What's included in the Survey?

  • Length: 103 questions
  • Average Completion Rate: 20-30 minutes 
(Add an additional 10 minutes for general instructions and collection.)
  • Youth: 6-12 grade; ages 11-18
  • Minimum youth needed for report: 30
  • Minimum time between Pre and Post: 30 days
  • Can be administered one time to capture a snapshot of the factors that influence motivation, or multiple times as a pre- and post-assessment to see changes.

Your survey results come in a detailed, easy-to-comprehend packet with answers broken down by groups and demographics in each section of the survey, along with an executive summary of the data. You’ll also have access to a thorough user guide for planning your survey administration, in-depth site reports, and administrative support from our expert staff. Also included is:

  • Access to the online survey
  • A thorough user guide for planning your survey administration
  • In-depth site reports to guide your data utilization
  • Survey administration support
  • A pdf of the REACH Strategies Guidebook, which contains specific techniques that schools can integrate into their practices to strengthen students’ social and emotional skills.

Options:

  • Site reports based on a specific cohort of youth, determined by you
  • Individually scored data file
  • Technical Assistance, Consulting, Workshops, or Presentations

Why REACH?

Studies have shown that between 40 and 60% of U.S. high school students are disengaged from learning and don't put much effort into school (National Research Council, 2004). In fact, an extensive review of the scholarly literature recently concluded that, “Children’s interest, enthusiasm, and intrinsic motivation for learning in school deteriorate continuously from their entry into kindergarten until they complete high school (or drop out), with striking losses during the transitions to middle school and high school. The erosion of motivation is especially severe for boys and for students from low socioeconomic, minority, and immigrant backgrounds” (Skinner et al, 2012).


This crisis of academic motivation is much on the minds of America’s teachers, 69% of whom reported on a recent national survey that low motivation is a major problem in their classrooms (Yeager et al, 2014). 


Fortunately, from grit to growth mindset there is a growing body of research that educators can use to strengthen students’ motivation to learn. Unfortunately, that body of research is large, complex, and sometimes contradictory. 


To help educators understand and implement the conclusions that scholars have reached through decades of studies, Search Institute has created the REACH Framework, which breaks the task of strengthening student motivation down into five essential strategies:


  • Building Developmental Relationships with and among students
  • Helping students understand how Effort can increase intelligence 
  • Connecting students' current actions to their future Aspirations 
  • Teaching students about the role of Cognition in delaying gratification and managing learning
  • Ensuring that students know and are known for the deep interests and values in their Hearts


When using REACH’s research- and activity-packed Strategies Guidebook with the REACH Survey’s clear, actionable data, teachers can more deliberately work on reaching students and improving motivation. You’ll also have access to a thorough user guide for planning your survey administration, in-depth site reports and administrative support from our expert staff.


Click below to order or click here to contact us to learn more!


How does the REACH survey work?

Administer the survey at your location

Start planning your improvement strategy.


“Our REACH survey results indicated that we should work to improve relationships with our seventh grade students, that our assignments must be broken down into smaller steps to keep motivation strong, and that we should give the students more voice in the curriculum. 


The REACH survey also pointed out highlights, most especially that our students think our teachers are very good at both making them feel important and driving them to do their best. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the year brings!”


-James Nelson, Dean of Students at Risen Christ Catholic School



FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE REACH SURVEY:

Students’ motivation and perseverance are not, of course, determined only by their personal attitudes, abilities, and other internal factors. They are also influenced by the environments in which students live their lives. In order to help educators understand the ways that those broader factors influence student behavior, the REACH Survey also provides schools with data on student perceptions of the following: 

  • School climate (4 items
  • Sense of belonging in school (3 items
  • Perception of discrimination in school (3 items
  • Degree to which instruction is interesting and engaging (6 items
  • Degree to which instruction is culturally inclusive and affirming (3 items
  • Degree to which teachers encourage students to respect other cultures (1 stand-alone item) 
  • Degree to which factors outside school influence effort in school (5 items)

Three pilot studies of the REACH Survey have demonstrated promising predictive validity, with higher REACH scores correlating with better grades and intentions to attend college, and fewer class failures and suspensions. Internal consistencies were good to high among all scales in the REACH Survey. 


Using the REACH Survey The REACH Survey was designed to be completed by students in grades 6 to 12. The survey is written at a sixth-grade reading level* and includes approximately 85 questions depending on the version that students complete. Most high school students can complete the REACH Survey in 20 minutes or less, while most middle school students can complete the REACH Survey in approximately 30 minutes. Five minutes should be allowed to give students the instructions for completing the survey. 


During the pilot administrations of the REACH Survey, all students were able to complete the survey during a single class period and, in some cases, the students were able to complete the survey during a 30-minute advisory period. 


 The REACH Survey is administered through Search Institute’s online survey platform. After students have completed the survey, Search Institute analyzes the data and provides schools with an executive summary that captures key findings and a detailed report that provides schools with data on all of the questions included in the survey. 


The executive summary is an appropriate document to share with all members of the school community, while the detailed report has been designed for people who have the time, expertise, and interest to delve more deeply into the data.



Click here for psychometric data and a technical summary of the REACH survey.

About Search Institute

For more than 50 years, Search Institute® has been a leader and partner for organizations around the world in discovering what kids need to succeed. Our research, resources, and expertise help our partners in organizations, schools, and community coalitions solve critical challenges in the lives of young people.



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