Informal programs provide multiple pathways to STEM degrees and careers and support students' interest, engagement, attitude, motivation, and academic achievement in STEM. Examining high-achieving rural students' profiles in informal STEM settings using their cognitive and psychosocial characteristics is crucial to understanding and supporting…

In this exploratory study, self-rated measures from two co-teachers who taught mathematics to a group of students with and without disabilities were gathered to determine perspectives about their co-teaching experiences. Students also completed three measures. Students and co-teachers agreed that the "one-teach, one observe or drift"…

Adolescents growing up in low-income communities experience decreases in school engagement during their transition to middle school due to multiple stressors. Holding goals for their futures increases their resilience, yet research on the types of goals that are most beneficial and on parents' influence on the formation of future goals is limited.…

This study evaluated the relations between adolescents' school and career future time perspective and their academic-related outcomes (i.e. grades, learning problems, and task orientation) and whether mastery goals are mediators of these relations. Romanian adolescents (N = 229, 59% girls) completed questionnaires assessing future orientation,…

It is often argued that enhancement of self-beliefs should be one of the key goals of education. However, very little is known about the relation between self-beliefs and performance when students move from primary to secondary school in highly differentiated educational systems with early tracking. This large-scale longitudinal cohort study…

The current study aimed to explore the concept of transition self-efficacy, which is defined as individuals' subjective evaluation of their ability to execute the actions required for a successful transition from elementary to middle school. The study followed a sample of 128 sixth-grade students for 2 consecutive years (before and after the…

This study examined the effects of change in teacher goal emphases on students' efficacy beliefs in mathematics across the transition to middle school. The sample (N = 929) included primarily White (65%) and Black (27%) students, and approximately one third received free or reduced-fee lunch. Analyses grouped children by cross-classification of…

This mixed-methods study examined the relationship between middle level science students' perceptions of teacher-student interactions and students' science motivation, particulary their efficacy, value, and goal orientation for learning science. In this sequential explanatory design, quantitative and qualitative data were collected in two phases,…

The authors use Ryan and Deci's (2000) Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to better understand how student motivation and engagement are linked combined with Schlechty's Student Engagement Continuum to analyse the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on students' different engagement types. The study seeks to understand which type of…