This mixed-methods study employed a typological approach and an Expectancy-Value framework to understand nontraditional prospective teachers' motivational beliefs, teaching motivations, and goals for choosing a teaching career. All participants (N=88) were nontraditional prospective teachers, graduate students enrolled in a Master of Arts in…

This paper focuses on the aspirations of 13- and 15-year-olds to continue with mathematics after the age of 16 and the association with perceptions of their mathematics education during the academic year 2008/9. A quantitative analysis was undertaken on the views of 12,176 UK students, obtained through surveys, with qualitative case studies on two…

In this international, longitudinal study, we explored gender differences in, and gendered relationships among, math-related motivations emphasized in the Eccles (Parsons) et al. (1983) expectancy-value framework, high school math participation, educational aspirations, and career plans. Participants were from Australia, Canada, and the United…

The author examined predictive relations among South Korean high school students' (N = 753) perceptions of their social-psychological environments, personal motivational beliefs, and academic behavior in math. Students' perceptions of their both classroom mastery and performance goal structures predicted their personal mastery goals. Perceptions…

This paper examines a broad set of beliefs about achievement and the relationship of those beliefs to performance and future plans in mathematics and English. The two main purposes of the analysis are (1) to assess gender and grade-level differences in children's achievement beliefs as they proceed through junior and senior high school, and (2) to…

A study of the high school experiences and performance of Asian Americans found them to be performing well in school, with average test scores in math and science as high as those of White students. The data showed the Asian Americans to be more committed to academic excellence. Compared to other students, they took more academic courses, spent…

To examine the relationship between expectancies and values and their contributions to achievement, 153 seventh graders (54 males and 99 females) completed multiple measures of expectancy and value. Expectancies and values contributed to achievement, and the constructs for both were positively correlated. Differences between males and females are…

Mathematics achievement was used to distinguish between resilient and nonresilient Latino middle-school students, primarily immigrants from working-class families speaking English as a Second Language. Resilient students had greater involvement and satisfaction in math class, academic self-concept, and achievement motivation than nonresilient…

This book presents a collection of papers by educators and researchers who discuss various methods of improving minority student achievement. The 19 chapters highlight the achievement of students from kindergarten through college as follows: (1) "Discrepancies between Aspirations and Preparation of Low SES Elementary Students" (Dianne L.…