This paper describes a program designed to increase student motivation to complete homework assignments. The targeted population consisted of 3rd, 4th, 9th, and 10th grade students attending schools in the Midwest. Analysis of probable cause data reveals that parental involvement can be insufficient and misdirected. Homework can lack relevance to…

This report describes a program for increasing intrinsic reading motivation. The targeted population consisted of lower primary students in a growing middle class community, located in northern Illinois. The problems of aliterate students were documented through teacher observations and student surveys. Analysis of probable cause data revealed…

This study attempted to determine whether systematic inclusion of cloze exercises in a sixth grade social studies unit would influence students' reading growth, long term recall, and interest in the material. During the nine-week study, 21 students in the experimental group and 21 students in the control group read the same materials; after each…

In order to determine whether an alternative teaching strategy would improve student motivation in freshman composition, two sections of freshman composition were studied. The experimental group spent the majority of a term concentrating on individualized projects which were chosen, planned, carried out, and presented by each student. Students…

This study focuses on intervening variables which distort the relationship between the importance of grades or learning to students and their academic effort. It examines a five percent random sample of students in comprehensive high schools in San Francisco in 1974. Using two indicators of effort, it was found that self-assessment of effort by…

The perceptions of the school system held by selected 6th grade Chicano students, their parents, selected school personnel, and the power structure (i.e., superintendent, school board members, councilmen, mayor) were examined. Two Texas school districts of equal characteristics and size, with heavy Chicano enrollments were selected. In one, the…

This paper describes a program implemented to improve student writing skills. Research data included teachers' observations and evaluations, student surveys, and student writing samples. Subjects were students in grades 1, 3, and 4 in 5 Illinois schools showing a need for writing improvement. Objectives were to increase writing abilities with…

This action research project evaluated a program for decreasing the gap in achievement levels among primary and secondary level students in the targeted schools. The subjects, from various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds ranging from lower to upper-middle class, were students in Chicago city and suburban public and Catholic schools. The…

This report describes a program for increasing motivation in writing that will enhance students' skills at a variety of grade levels. The targeted population consisted of first, second, and third grade classes as well as ninth through twelfth grade Learning Disabled students in a Midwestern state. The evidence of lack of motivation was documented…

This study examined the effective use of computer stations across the curriculum. Research was conducted in a fourth grade classroom in Lena, a small, rural farming town in northwestern Illinois. Desks were arranged in circular clusters of five. The students moved to five different stations, one of which was an IBM computer mini-lab. The lab, used…

The effects of four two-hour study skills seminars on study organization, study techniques, and study motivation were investigated for 1977 fall semester resident freshmen at York College of Pennsylvania. Forty-four interested volunteers were divided equally into a treatment and control group on the basis of pretest scores on the Study Techniques…

The proposed study was designed to improve the writing skills of students in the targeted first and fifth grade classrooms in one elementary school located in a Midwestern suburb. The study was designed as an action research project and was conducted by four researchers during the months of September through December 2002 with 118 participants (40…

Noting that developing self-motivated, empowered students is an ongoing challenge for teachers, administrators, and parents, this action research project sought to build intrinsic learners, using cooperative learning and multiple intelligences. Participating in the project were students of two third-grade regular division classes and sixth and…

This report describes a program for developing literacy skills in order to reduce the number of at-risk students in the identified primary classrooms. The targeted population consisted of students in kindergarten, second, and fourth grades. The kindergarten and second grade classrooms were located in a middle to high socioeconomic area within an…

This is an abstract for an action research project report on improving student motivation. Students struggle with motivation to perform well in school. This study was designed to increase student motivation in the classroom setting. The targeted population consisted of one third grade classroom, one fourth grade classroom, and three periods of…