The main objective of this paper is to examine the role of students' aspirations and expectations in affecting school achievement among 7th and 8th grade students in Qatar's schools. The study draws on data collected in Qatari schools from a randomly selected sample of 841 students and their parents. The findings indicate that students'…

Aspirations and expectations are conceptually and empirically different. Given their differential impact on various educational outcomes, it is expected that they, and consequently their convergence, would be affected by different factors. This study examines the factors leading to high aspirations, high expectations and to their alignment by…

Scholars generally agree that financial deprivation negatively affects students' educational outcomes. However, while absolute levels of resources are important, individuals' perceived relative economic wellbeing also shape their educational outcomes. This article asks whether attending school with peers from comparably richer families is related…

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…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore Finnish adolescents' subjective health literacy (HL) in association to school achievement, learning difficulties, educational aspirations, and family affluence. Design/methodology/approach: Nationally representative data were collected in Finland as a part of the international Health Behaviour in…

This paper examines student attitudes towards school and learning among students in Qatar's public schools. Drawing upon student surveys administered to 1091 grade 7 and 8 students in 11 independent preparatory schools, the paper observes patterns of attitudes and behavior towards learning, school, and future aspirations. Findings show that…

This paper focuses on the aspirations of 13- and 15-year-olds to continue with mathematics after the age of 16 and the association with perceptions of their mathematics education during the academic year 2008/9. A quantitative analysis was undertaken on the views of 12,176 UK students, obtained through surveys, with qualitative case studies on two…

This article explores how students' aspirations to study mathematics or physics in post-16 education are associated with their perceptions of their education, their motivations, and the support they feel they received. The analysis is based on the responses of around 10,000 students in England in Year 8 (age 12-13) and then in Year 10 (age 14-15).…

The academic difficulties experienced by many Aboriginal (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) students in Canada have been well-documented. Indicators such as school persistence and post-secondary enrollment are typically far lower for Aboriginal students as a group compared to non-Aboriginal students. Identifying facilitators of success is key to…

The present study examined the extent to which mothers' and fathers' expectations for their offspring's future education, their level of education, and adolescents' academic achievement predict adolescents' educational expectations. To investigate this, 230 adolescents were examined twice while they were in comprehensive school (in the 7th and 9th…

This paper explores which classroom and teacher factors are associated with post-16 mathematics aspirations, mathematics intrinsic motivation, and mathematics self-concept. Few studies explore all three outcomes among the same set of students or make linkages across the factors that are important to these outcomes. The analysis is based on the…

This study examined the link between victimization and sexual orientation and how this link contributes to social-emotional health, extending to school-related outcomes among adolescents. Of additional interest was whether having caring adult support was a protective factor in reducing the risk for high levels of distress or enhancing positive…

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…

Students from a school in Hong Kong (n = 199) responded to 22 items asking about their school motivation and aspirations in a survey. Structural equation models found four school motivation factors consistent with the task, effort, competition, and praise scales of the Inventory of School Motivation, one education aspiration factor, one career…