The Effect of Kumon Method on Motivation for Learning: Evidence from Junior High School Student in Japan

In this paper, we analyze the effects of the Kumon Method of Learning on junior high school students' attitude toward learning. Since the “National Assessment of Academic Ability” was implemented in 2007, the factors affecting the improvement of academic achievement has drawn attention among regional governments. This paper focuses on the case of a Japanese public junior high school, which was once considered to be a challenging school (konnan-ko). We investigated how students' learning behavior and non-cognitive skills changed after implementing the Kumon mathematics program as an extracurricular activity. The empirical results show that the Kumon studies had positive effects on students' learning attitude- i.e., an attitude to reason by analogy, an attitude to find solutions by trial and error, and having a goal image in the vicinity. Furthermore, we find that the aforementioned attitude has significant impact on certain non-cognitive skills, i.e., processing skills, correction skills and thinking skills,) as well as students' test scores. Our findings suggest that effectiveness of introducing Kumon learning method as a co-curricular activity in addition to the national curriculum.