This paper discusses the association between achievement motivation and cultural differences. It maintains that the culturally different can be motivated to achieve if provided the proper motivational context. Earlier traditions for stimulating achievement motivation in the classroom are reviewed, including changing the person, changing the…

Fifth- through twelfth-grade students completed a causal attribution questionnaire and were asked to choose one of three games to play. Students who attributed their own success on achievement tasks to ability, effort, or luck were more likely to prefer to perform tasks that were compatible with such beliefs. (Author/RD)

This review examines recent developments in research on social-cognitive theories of motivation during adolescence and the ways in which such research can be applied to the reform of middle grade schools. Results suggest that effective reform must consider the multiple contexts in which students interact. (SLD)

Discusses implications of achievement goal theory on the achievement motivation of African American students in predominantly white schools. Studies suggest that schools which emphasize task goals are more conducive to black students' academic success than schools that emphasize ego goals. Notes seven dimensions of school culture that provide a…

In a comprehensive review of the literature containing comparisons between boys and girls on motivation and/or achievement in science, findings were transformed into a common metric and analyzed. It was found that sex differences in both motivation and achievement are smaller than is generally assumed, but they do occur. (Author/BW)

After defining the school learning environment as a collage of various goal stresses and discussing relationships between motivation and achievement explored in recent research, this document explains the need to change school culture and climate in order to enhance student motivation. Policy and procedural areas where change may be desired are…

This paper focuses on the role of the school leader as motivator. In particular, attention is given to what those in school leadership roles can do to enhance the personal investment of students in learning. A conceptual model is outlined which suggests that school leaders affect not only the degree, but also the quality of student motivation by…

A summary is presented of the literature on motivation relating to achievement in the classroom. Special attention is given to how values, ideology, and various cultural patterns may serve to enhance motivation to achieve in the classroom. In considering what determines motivation and personal investment in educational pursuits, the following…

Noting that adolescents' academic achievement depends, to a large degree, on adolescents' motivation, this chapter takes an achievement goal theory perspective to show how the manner in which adolescents adopt differing achievement goal orientations provides a framework for understanding the processes that contribute to their adoption of adaptive…