Contemporary middle- and high-school students are coming to school with more extensive and more serious mental health issues than ever before. School counselors are charged with trying to meet the social/emotional and mental health needs of these students, but with case loads topping 300+ students they struggle to have time to identify and prepare…

The present study reported on the modification of the Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale (Vlachopoulos & Michailidou, 2006) to assess students' psychological need fulfillment in elementary school, middle school, and high school compulsory physical education classes. Data were collected from 817 5th and 6th grade students, 862 middle…

This article addresses individuals' decisions to continue or cease playing a musical instrument from a basic psychological needs perspective. Participants began learning music 10 years prior to the study and were the subject of previous longitudinal research. They completed a survey investigating the three psychological needs of competence,…

Adolescents' emotional engagement plays a critical role in promoting their academic performance as well as overall psychological wellbeing. As a part of a 3-year longitudinal study, this study drew upon self-determination theory to examine three psychological predictors of emotional engagement within specific learning contexts. Ninety-four, low…

The current study investigated the motivation of college students with disabilities to disclose their disability(s) to the university and to utilize disability support services. Eleven college students with a diversity of invisible disabilities from a large university were interviewed using a narrative approach. Analysis involved a combination of…

Background: The relationship between outcomes, such as student learning, student motivation, and continued participation in activity, remains an important research focus within physical education. In particular, research has shown that secondary students exhibit behaviors indicative of low levels of motivation. Thus, there is a need for teachers…

Successful school reform requires that administrators, teachers, and students internalize the value of improved teaching and learning and of the policies, structures, procedures, and behaviors implicit in the reform. This is most likely to happen when school personnel and students experience satisfaction of their basic psychological needs for…

Drawing on data from the Education Longitudinal Study 2002 (ELS:2002), this study examined psychological factors, student engagement and student achievement in relationship to the process of dropping out. Student engagement has been included in many theoretical models of the dropout process, but few empirical studies have investigated the role of…

The book describes two similar and successful models of youth mentoring used by two acclaimed urban high schools that have consistently achieved exceptional graduation rates. Providing a detailed description of their methods--based upon extensive observation, and interviews with teachers, students, administrators, and parents--this book makes a…

Reiss ("The normal personality: a new way of thinking about people." Cambridge University Press, New York, 2008) empirically derived a reliable and valid taxonomy of 16 life motives ("psychological needs"). The model suggests six motivational reasons for low achievement in school. Low achievement may be motivated by fear of failure (high need for…

Recognizing recent criticisms concerning the cross-cultural generalizability of self-determination theory (SDT), the authors tested the SDT view that high school students in collectivistically oriented South Korea benefit from classroom experiences of autonomy support and psychological need satisfaction. In Study 1, experiences of autonomy,…

This multisited ethnography followed nine successful Latino high-school students enrolled in a college-preparation program to examine their development of college aspirations and identify factors that contributed to their successful preparation for a 4-year university. It also explored these students' "multiple worlds" of home, school, community,…

Tutoring has long been recognized as superior to group instruction, especially for students with special needs. Tutors can adapt instruction to the learner's pace, learning style and level of understanding. Feedback and correction are immediate. Basic misunderstandings can be quickly identified and corrected. Tutoring also has emotional benefits:…