Previous research has laid a strong theoretical foundation for creating instructional designs that enhance motivation. However, the practical application of these designs in educational settings has been less frequently examined. The studies that have been conducted often had limited scope—both in duration and in the motivational dimensions they explored—and rarely involved teachers in the design, delivery, and evaluation of these interventions. Consequently, there is a gap in our understanding of how to implement effective, sustainable, and practical strategies to support students' motivation in schools. This project seeks to address this gap by having researchers and teachers collaborate in designing and evaluating a year-long and comprehensive intervention to develop motivation-supporting teaching. We evaluate the intervention through classroom observations, discussions between researchers and teachers, and student questionnaires. Although the project is still underway, an initial finding suggests that strategies that are theoretically effective in fostering adaptive motivation do not appear to work for the least motivated students. Instead, a more controlling environment has shown to be more effective in transitioning these students from a state of amotivation to engagement with their schoolwork. In our presentation, we aim to not only share insights from this study but also to spark a broader conversation about practice-based research on student motivation, including its potential, challenges, and development.