The American educational system is no fairy tale. Students who think that it takes nothing more than a wish upon a star to make their educational dreams come true are sure to be disappointed. The authors agree with Professor Rosenbaum: In order to realize their educational dreams, students must invest considerable effort. Rather than encouraging…

A multitude of factors affect the attitudes and behaviors that students bring to the learning situation. This document discusses some motivation-related terms and concepts. It then examines several factors that affect students' basic beliefs about and attitudes toward learning. The first section differentiates between the following terms: ability…

Argues that high student aspirations are part of a positive school climate and an important component of school effectiveness strategies. Outlines research needed to clarify these relationships and to examine the impact of teacher and staff behavior on student aspirations. (SV)

The scoring system in cross-country running illustrates that the way in which results are reported and the opportunity to improve through hard work can provide crucial incentives. Establishing incentives that make students dissatisfied with their present effort without being overwhelmed or made fatalistic is a challenging task. (SLD)

Research on grades 9-12 in an elite, coeducational private school in an urban area examined the effects of the school's social organization on students' commitment to educational goals and their sense of academic purpose. The author gathered data through 2 years of participant observation as a teacher-researcher and through questionnaire…

Research results and suggestions concerning motivating college students are considered. Some research has indicated that motivation to learn in school is not fixed, but it is not changed drastically in short time periods either. It has been suggested that students who are not motivated to learn resist new information, and use categorical reasoning…

Studies indicate that, although enrollment and degree production by women doctoral students have increased, fewer women than men complete doctorates and women generally take longer than men to finish, in spite of the fact that women demonstrate equal if not superior performance levels on virtually every objective measure. Women who complete the…

This paper examines the role of the conative domain in the acquisition of sustainable school achievement. The focus of the conative domain is to embrace the learner with an all-encompassing determination to achieve. It is set in motion by a clear and self-directed sense of purpose in an environment of challenge and cognitive dissonance. Counselors…

A critique is offered of three papers on the student's role in learning. The first, by Robert Sternberg and Richard Wagner, makes connections between cognitive processing of information and the metacognitive processing of one's own approach to a situation and the information contained therein. The second, by Deborah Stipek, implies that…

Maintains that teachers and parents must realize that minority children are capable of learning and becoming successful adults and that it is time to stop offering excuses and demand excellence of all students, including minorities. (Author/JM)

Argues children's natural drive to discover is intrinsic and that adults cannot instill it from the outside. Dispels common myths about child motivation and describes the optimal conditions for self-motivated learning. Provides examples of how the Montessori-prepared environment makes the most of children's inborn curiosity, interest, and wonder.…

This speech addresses the relation of effective discipline to the pursuit of academic excellence in schools. The proposed blend of specific strategies, methods, and ways of being conducive to excellence is characterized as "three dimensional discipline." This approach involves: (1) listening to what students are thinking and feeling; (2) clearly…

This paper explicates methods to motivate African American students to exhibit attitudes and behaviors that are conducive to high academic achievement. In particular, it argues that educational models must acknowledge and correct students' sense of academic futility. Academic futility measures student perceptions of the extent to which factors in…

The influence of the college entrance examination (CEE) on social cohesion in Japanese society is considered, based on a 1976-1977 study in Nagoya, Japan. Attention is focused on socialization of adolescents and educational practice at the secondary level, and specifically cognitive and motivational orientations that are affected by CEE practice,…

A summary is presented of the literature on motivation relating to achievement in the classroom. Special attention is given to how values, ideology, and various cultural patterns may serve to enhance motivation to achieve in the classroom. In considering what determines motivation and personal investment in educational pursuits, the following…