High-Ability Students’ Need Satisfaction and Motivation in Pull-Out and Regular Classes: A Quantitative and Qualitative Comparison Between Settings

In this two-part study, high-ability students’ experiences of need support, need satisfaction, and motivation in regular and pull-out classes were compared. Quantitative results from Study 1 indicated that high-ability students (N = 203) reported more satisfaction of their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness and more favorable motivational outcomes in their pull-out class compared to their regular class. In both settings, need satisfaction predicted high-ability students’ motivational outcomes. These findings could be explained by the qualitative findings from Study 2 which indicated that high-ability students (N = 11) experienced pull-out class teachers as more supportive of their needs than their regular class teachers. Overall, findings suggest that need-supportive teaching is an effective strategy to foster high-ability students’ motivation in both regular classes as well as pull-out classes.