The small-scale research that Yosanne Vella reports in this article was driven by concern to help pupils develop "big picture" visions of the past and to engage effectively with the idea of change as a process rather than an event. The strategy that she adopts--asking groups of students to colour in a timeline recording their judgement…

Thirty-six teachers and 162 elementary children in classes for specific learning difficulties (SLD) participated in a five week classroom attribution training program in one of three groups: mild frustration, success only, and control. Experimental training resulted in significant increase in ask persistence; no changes were noted in achievement…

Forth-two elementary school children (Grades 2, 3, and 4) were tutored on a one-to-one basis by junior high volunteers (Grades 6, 7, and 8) for 12 weeks. Prior to the start of the tutoring program and following an experimental tutoring session in which tutee performance and feedback were manipulated, both the elementary and secondary students…

The purpose of this study was to test several hypotheses from self-efficacy theory in the area of children's arithmetic achievement. Fifty-six elementary school children showing low arithmetic achievement were assigned to one of four treatment groups of 12 subjects each (modeling-attribution, modeling-no attribution, didactic-attribution,…

This paper applies a theory of growth in academic achievement to the study of the effects of ability grouping on reading achievement. The theory sees students' ability and effort determining how they utilize opportunities for learning provided by instruction. (Author/JAZ)

Learning disabled and slowly developing readers were assigned to reading instruction programs on context cue use differing only in extent of pupil control over determination of errors. Results indicated no main effect for experimental condition. Interaction was found, however, between pretreatment locus of attribution and experimental condition.…

Teacher efficacy has been identified as a variable accounting for individual differences in teaching effectiveness. This study of elementary school teachers developed an instrument to measure teacher efficacy, provided construct validation support for the variable, and examined the relationship between teacher efficacy and observable teacher…

Teachers' reported instruction of strategies and metacognitive knowledge in the classroom, and their attributional beliefs about the reasons underlying children's academic successes/failures were studied, using 59 teachers from West Germany and 43 teachers from the United States. A 7-item questionnaire was administered. Implications for…

Compared project (n=79) and nonproject (n=111) third-grade students on their conceptual development in arithmetic, their personal goals in mathematics, and their beliefs about reasons for success in mathematics. Project students attained more advanced levels of conceptual understanding and held stronger beliefs about the importance of working…