This study describes a recruiting method designed to increase the number of students involved in beginning band. The targeted population consisted of fifth and sixth grade students in a growing urban community in the Midwest. Evidence for the existence of the problem included numerical data and surveys. Analysis of probable causes was evidenced by…

This report describes a program to improve the attitudes of fourth-grade students toward social studies. Surveys of fourth-graders, their parents, teachers, and community members were conducted to find out their attitudes toward social studies. Students and parents reported a lack of interest in social studies. Faculty reported they were…

Researchers have suggested that many low-achieving students lack planning skills and self-direction. In this study, goal-setting techniques were used to provide self-management for fourth-grade mathematics students lacking planning skills. While all 30 students in the classroom participated in the project, 5 boys who had low mathematics diagnostic…

The purpose of this study was to determine if extracurricular activity participants in the Anchorage (Alaska) School District were dropping out of school at a greater rate as a result of having to meet a "C" average grade requirement for participation. Subjects of the study were all students in grades 9 through 12 who participated in…

Focusing on the extent to which high school students are interested in their free-choice books and on the relationship between the students' reading level and the readability level of the chosen books, a study was devised to test the validity of Edward Fry's Readability Principle. This principle states that high motivation can overcome high…

The purpose of this study was to determine the scores of children's ideas for creative writing when given freedom of choice of topic, and to determine if those children who expressed ideas reportedly original to them were more or less creative than the others. The subjects, selected from grades 2, 4, and 6, were a stratified random sample…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not a reading laboratory, as defined by Educational Developmental Laboratories (EDL), is an effective means of teaching reading to Title I children, grades two through six, in the two Title I schools of an eastern Massachusetts community. Three hundred subjects participated in the study. There…

This investigation is concerned with teachers' attitudes toward activities students engage in before writing, the purpose of students' writing, and their motivation for writing. The findings of the study indicate that classroom discussion seems to be teacher-centered, with very little action taking place among the students; most of the teachers…

This action research project sought to decrease the number of late or missing homework assignments among fourth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders in two schools near large urban communities. Survey data showed that over 75 percent of teachers polled considered late or missing assignments to be a problem. Several strategies were implemented,…

The objective of this research project is to observe some effects music has on the elementary classroom. This study was conducted with the third grade students throughout the first semester of the 1999-2000 school year. Music is a language with powerful appeal to children of all ages. Love of music may be an excellent strategy to assist and…

An action research project was designed and implemented to improve student motivation and performance levels in middle school music performance programs. The targeted population consisted of 43 eighth-grade band and choral students in two diverse suburbs of a large Midwestern city. The problem of lack of motivation to achieve high levels of…

Noting that poor student motivation and problematic social skills may interfere with the academic growth of elementary school students, this action research project examined the impact of a multifaceted intervention on student motivation and achievement. Participating in the study were second and third graders from 3 schools. The 12-week…

An action research project report was complete to discuss how homework completion and motivation is an ongoing issue and debate within the public schools. This is especially true in the middle school setting. The teacher researchers of this project chose to conduct a study in order to increase homework completion and motivation of middle school…

Following research that documented inadequate motivation as a problem through assessment of academic performance, student motivational surveys, teacher class records, and teacher journal entries, a program was conducted to increase the level of motivation of junior high school students in a middle-class community in central Illinois. Observations…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not periodicals would be useful in motivating low performing sixth grade readers. Two groups of remedial reading students from a New Jersey suburb were studied over a four month period. The control group was taught reading skills using conventional materials such as novels and short stories.…