By using the curriculum, teaching methods, student evaluation processes, human relations skills, and classroom management techniques in addition to verbal praise and token rewards as sources of reinforcement for student behavior and learning in the individual classroom, principals and teachers can enhance the school's educational environment. (PGD)

The "Great Brain" project motivates elementary school students to participate in educational projects by encouraging inquiry, interaction, and identity. Students use research and creative skills to study and report on a topic, interact with parents and peers in developing and presenting the report, and receive wide recognition for their efforts.…

Once a month, fifth-grade students in an Indianapolis, Indiana, classroom can use tickets earned through good behavior and academic achievement to purchase donated items and baked goods. Students are in charge of organizing the activity, keeping track of student "earnings," and managing a student "bank." (PGD)

Presents a set of principles to serve as guides for motivating students: inviting success, cooperative learning, high expectations, set induction, and interaction. Includes a scorecard for rating motivational skills. (MD)

Much debate centers on motivating student in reading achievement. Should students feel motivated from within (intrinsic motivation), or is it better to have extrinsic motivation whereby external stimuli are used to help learners achieve optimally in reading? This paper aims to analyze the two points of view about motivating students in reading…

Over 600 insightful, witty nuggets to motivate and inspire you... and everyone else at your school. Teachers--display these quotes in your classrooms! Administrators--insert them into your faculty memos and share them at staff meetings! Why is this book unique? (1) it includes over 100 original quotes from internationally acclaimed speaker and…

This book focuses on one of the key questions in education: What determines a student's success? Based on twenty years of work on student success, Ray Padilla here presents two related models he has developed that both provide a framework for understanding success and indicate how it can be enhanced and replicated. The research and theory that…

Reviews current Asian educational systems, pointing out that comparison with the United States system is not possible. The educational systems reflect the societies' needs, which differ from culture to culture. (MD)

A survey of 278 academic advisors from six four-year colleges and universities determined differences in advisors' attitudes toward students matriculating at their institutions, transfer community-college students, and students coming from other four-year colleges. Advisors viewed transfer students as less prepared, less motivated, less…

Recent research offers strong evidence that reduced class size has positive effects on improved student achievement, teachers' work conditions, and the quality of the classroom environment. This report presents a brief historical perspective on the research into the effects of class size; summarizes studies that discuss the relationship between…

Describes a study that examined the effects of various computer reinforcement responses, including graphics and/or sound, on students' attentiveness to the program. Implications for educational software design are discussed. (CLB)

Describes several student-centered programs successfully implemented at the middle school level. These programs are aimed at motivating students, offering positive alternatives to detention, welcoming new students, licensing students to operate school computers, establishing a homework crisis hotline, enhancing reading, and providing variety in…

Describes a program that helps students build general learning skills and subject specific skills. The success of the program is based on providing students an environment conducive to active learning. (MD)

Keeping a journal of classroom experiences can help students express their understandings of the concepts they learn in school and how the lessons relate to their own lives. An eight-item reference list is provided. (Author)

In contrast with most academic departments, interdisciplinary programs lack automatic identity, clear space, or curricular territory, and motivation is closely linked to program success. This includes motivation of students in class and outside of class, of contributing faculty, of administrators, and of societal peer groups, such as professional…