A survey of 94 department heads and 112 graduate supervisors at 5 Canadian universities investigated organizational and administrative practices concerning graduate programs and factors affecting successful completion of/withdrawal from graduate programs. Factors identified include student motivation, quality of supervision, student selection,…

Characteristics related to help-seeking (perceived competence, motivational orientation, attitudes and beliefs, and age) were examined for 177 children in grades 3, 5, and 7. By grade seven, positive and negative attitudes were influential. Developmental and individual difference factors are discussed in connection with help-seeking and academic…

Investigates motives behind Soviet students' occupational choices. Discusses a survey of eighth-grade students in Berdiansk and upper-grade, rural and urban Crimean students. Finds that student interests provide the main motive for choice. Differentiates between motives and stimuli and between personal and social motives. Reports that 20.6 percent…

The relationships among early adolescents' sense of school belonging, perceptions of their friends' academic values, and academic motivation were studied for 301 African American, white (Anglo), and Hispanic students in 2 urban junior high schools. Correlations between school belonging and motivation-related measures is positive and statistically…

Examines young African-Americans' reflections on characteristics causing certain educators to be identified as effective teachers by 47 former students (with wide-ranging educational attainment). Influential teachers possessed good interpersonal skills, ability to communicate subject matter well, ability to motivate students, and high expectations…

Examines students' initiations during teacher-led read-alouds of information books in an urban first-grade classroom. This process allows students multiple opportunities to share authority and direct the classroom's work and talk, thus allowing teachers to view them as knowledgeable, capable discussants speaking as experts about information books.…

A fifth-grade classroom teacher and a reading specialist changed the classroom structure from teacher-centered to student-centered, using flexible grouping, students' choice of literature, student journals, and student-driven discussion groups. They found that students' motivation and interest in reading improved over time. (SM)

Examines four books written by Latinos on Latinos' educational experiences. The books expand on public perceptions of Latinos as a problem, viewing them as a complex group that struggles for and with education despite numerous obstacles. The books are about transformations and departures from ethnic stereotypes. The paper discusses contemporary…

In this study of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program, qualitative and quantitative analyses of the relationship between the implementation of AR and student motivation and extent of reading are drawn from data collected in three schools in Scotland and England. These schools represent low (Scotland, n=53), middle (Scotland, n=40), and high…

A "Motivation" eliciting the "Aim" of each lesson initiates each lesson in the orthodox "developmental lesson-plan" that has dominated classroom instruction in NYC public schools for at least the past half-century. An action-research study of 38 lesson-plans (over 5 each from 5 teachers) drawn from student-teaching…

Highly practical and accessible, this indispensable book provides clear-cut strategies for improving K-12 writing instruction. The contributors are leading authorities who demonstrate proven ways to teach different aspects of writing, with chapters on planning, revision, sentence construction, handwriting, spelling, and motivation. The use of the…

This report presents the findings for private four-year colleges that participated in ACT's 2010 What Works in Student Retention survey. The report contains information pertinent to only these institutions. Appended are: (1) Data for Private Four-Year Colleges and Universities; and (2) What Works in Student Retention: Instrument. (Contains 15…

In response to a situation in which limited-English-proficient Haitian students were found to have behavior problems, anxiety, depression, low motivation, low energy, and underachievement, attributed to low self-esteem, a project was undertaken to improve student self-concept and achievement. Ninth- and tenth-grade Haitian English-as-a-Second…

Efforts at one high school to reconsider its practices of ability grouping and explore alternative assessment and grouping practices are described. Assessment of the schools' practices found that students in lower ability groups had a less stimulating curriculum, fewer positive role models, lower motivation, lower expectations for themselves, and…

This document, which was developed after a comprehensive review of the current state of driver education across the United States and which included an extensive literature review and interviews with 40 individuals from various sectors, including education, law enforcement, and the insurance industry, identifies ways of revamping driver education.…