Two ethnic groups of students, majority and minority, were compared on variables of a Psychological Productivity Model. Black and Hispanic students were grouped as minorities, and White students were considered majority students. Participants were 120 high school students from an urban high school in the Southwest. The Psychological Productivity…

Problems in students completing homework may be related to lack of parental involvement and support, student attitudes and priorities, and the assigning of inappropriate and irrelevant homework. This action research project implemented and examined the effectiveness of increased communication with parents regarding homework, cooperative learning…

Research has shown a decline in motivation and performance for many children as they move from elementary school into middle school; however, research has also shown that the nature of motivational change on entry to middle school depends on characteristics of the learning environment in which students find themselves. This Digest outlines some…

This report details findings of a national questionnaire survey of the attitudes and plans of American adolescents. Participating were 1,195 students between 14 and 18 years of age in a nationally representative sample. To permit regional comparisons, 250 questionnaires were sent to representative households from each of the 9 U.S. Census regions,…

This paper discusses the use of WebQuest, a World Wide Web-based multi-user game, in promoting learning motivation and navigation skills in K-9 students. WebQuest demonstrates ways to integrate games, Internet communication facilities, Web-based courseware, and database techniques together in order to assist learning. The following guidelines for…

Designed to provide a forum for faculty and staff in the Maricopa Community College District to exchange information about effective teaching methods for practical application and intellectual stimulation, this journal publishes articles on teaching, learning, and classroom research activities. The two issues in this volume contain the following…

This survey of 316 Precalculus, Calculus AB, and Calculus BC students from markedly different socioeconomic levels in four district high schools in San Antonio, Texas, looked at factors that have traditionally caused women to avoid mathematics, and attempted to discover which of them continue to influence women's decisions to reject the…

This paper describes Project FORWARD, funded by the Texas Education Agency to develop a life skills curriculum for JOBS (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills) participants. The Project FORWARD curriculum is designed to promote individual self-worth and independence so that participants can achieve self-sufficiency and eliminate dependency on…

The purpose of this practicum was to effect a substantial improvement in the academic and social profiles of 12 seventh-grade and 6 eighth-grade students with specific learning disabilities who had been targeted as potentially high risk candidates for dropping out of high school. Within a holistically based intervention model, five student…

The Delta Project involves an interdisciplinary team of 4 middle school teachers and their approximately 100 students working together throughout grades 6, 7, and 8 for the 1990-91, 1991-92, and 1992-93 school years in Elberton (Georgia). The relationships between the classroom structures used by the Delta Team teachers and the motivation of their…

A study was done to compare Asian American and Anglo American students' attitudes toward motivation, learning environment, academic self-concept, involvement, affiliation, and parent involvement in the learning of mathematics. Survey data of 1,200 Asian- and 1,200 Anglo-American middle school students were collected. A stratified sampling…

Three years ago Brigham Young University in Provo, UT began offering a required two-credit pass-fail course to prepare industrial education teachers to teach reading in their field. The course is team taught by a reading teacher and an industrial education faculty member who had done his/her dissertation in reading. Addressed in the course are the…

The Mexican American's education is affected by such societal factors as the (1) referent used to identify these Americans; (2) relationships created and affected by historical events; (3) access to participation in the educational process at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels; (4) curriculum offering at all levels; and (5)…

To conduct a national assessment of the educational needs of smaller schools in the 48 contiguous states, the National Center for Smaller Schools surveyed 951 schools in 17 states within 5 geographic regions during the fall of 1981. The superintendent, one principal, and three teachers in each sample school district completed a questionnaire…

The Florida Cabinet has decided to accept a significant decrease in the number of individuals completing college degrees, as long as those who do graduate are able to pass the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) at a considerably higher level than is presently required. Under the new standards, only 48% of the first-time CLAST examinees are…