Sports participation and elite sporting success are fundamental to Australian culture and a prominent source of national pride. As sport is a major part of day-to-day living in Australia, it is not surprising that many young people aspire to careers as sportspersons. While such aspirations are often dismissed as fanciful and unattainable, the…

Middle school students perform well academically when their schooling environment meets their developmental needs (Eccles et al., 1993). Both school culture and student-teacher relationships are influential aspects of the school environment that impact academic expectations, school satisfaction, and academic performance. In the current study, we…

The aim of this study was to describe students' perceptions of their psychosocial school environment and to examine the associations between such perceptions and students' perceived school performance. Our analyses were based on data from the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children 2006 study, involving responses by Finnish students from grades 7…

Background: Students' academic self-concepts are known to be domain specific. Researchers have also identified two related components of self-concept:cognitive (how competent students feel about a subject domain) and affective (their interest in the subject). This paper examines whether both components are domain specific. Research has also shown…

This report documents the stall of progress in middle grades reading and math achievement. It analyzes results on state assessments and the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) and indicates steps that will help states regain progress in achievement. It also lays out five specific strategies states can use to keep middle grades…