This study investigated the relationship between visual attending and learning in a group of 16 Head Start children from low income families. Attending behavior (defined as "eyes oriented towards the teacher and/or teaching materials for a full 5-second interval") was measured for each child during a 10-minute story period on four…

The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) was established for the sake of students who might not qualify for higher education through regular channels because of their previous financial and scholastic disadvantages. The issue is whether or not EOP is successful in recruiting and developing disadvantaged but high potential students. This report…

This chapter examines how integrating the study of motivation to learn with the issue of identity development during adolescence requires simultaneous attention to patterns of school functioning, peer relationships, and mental health at the level of the individual, and to patterns of developmental supports or risks at the level of the social…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of competition on learning motivation among Chinese students in a classroom setting. The participants (N=52) were 7th-grade students from 2 Hong Kong secondary schools in a middle-lower class neighborhood. The students were randomly assigned to either competitive or non-competitive…

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), a nationwide nonprofit organization of public officials who head state departments of elementary and secondary education, provides leadership on major education initiatives. In 1999, CCSSO embarked on the initiative "Students Continually Learning," which focused on three issues: early…

A study investigated tenacity of adult students who have once again made their way back to academia. The specific purpose was to discover how these students understood their own history of college enrollment and their perceptions of themselves as persisters. Participants were 63 "tenacious persisters" in three sections of an orientation class at a…

This action research project sought to improve student motivation in order to increase academic performance among eighth graders in an urban community. Evidence of academic underachievement and lack of student participation was documented by means of teacher observations, incomplete and missing assignments, and student questionnaires. Student,…

Describes approaches for solving the problem of students' declining motivation and performance when they move to middle-level schools. Urges educators to examine school policies, practices, and procedures, and to make changes that will make it very clear to students that effort, challenge, improvement, and mastery are the goals of schooling. (16…

Examined the influence of school and classroom environmental factors, such as teacher discipline practices and teacher-student relations, on middle school students' motivation. Found that, compared to sixth-grade math teachers, middle school math teachers controlled students more, provided students with fewer decision-making opportunities, and…

In a study of 696 learners, the authors found that stress associated with challenges in the learning environment had a positive relationship with learning performance and that stress associated with hindrances in the learning environment had a negative relationship with learning performance. They also found evidence suggesting that these…

Employment tests predict job performance because they measure or are correlated with a large set of malleable developed abilities, which are causally related to productivity. Our economy currently under-rewards the achievements that are measured by these tests. Consequently, economic incentives to study hard in high school are minimal, and this…

Two different conceptions of ability are proposed. The first conception of ability is more differentiated and generally employed by adults and older children. Here ability level is defined with reference to the performance of others assuming that optimum effort was employed. High ability means higher than others. The second conception of ability…

To probe a psychological theory of educational productivity, background measures along with mathematics test scores and motivational measures of over 7,000 students (9-, 13- and 17-year olds from National Assessment of Educational Progress samples) were statistically related to each other and to indicators of constructs that prior research shows…

What's the hardest part of history? Heads of Year 9 at options time seem depressingly clear--"Don't do history, there's too much writing." David Hellier and Helen Richards show that at The Green School it is reading that used to be the problem. At every level students found it difficult to assimilate, transform and use information by…

One hundred twenty-five students found to have few areas of skill mastery were selected to form the Fresh Start Minischool (FSMS). The Fresh Start approach was characterized by individualized instruction in four academic areas (Social Studies, English, Mathematics, and Science). Students proceeded at their own pace and acquired skills according to…