A sample of 170 Italian children was assessed for reading accuracy, reading speed, text comprehension and spelling in Grades 1 and 3 in order to investigate the concurrent and longitudinal relationships among literacy skills. Main results from multivariate analyses (regression, discriminant and path analyses) indicated that reading speed was the…

Little is known about the association of classroom characteristics with adolescent truancy. A critical question is whether high achievement standards, high workload, and fast pace protect against or increase adolescent truancy. In this study, self-reports from 3491 Swiss grade 7, grade 8 and grade 9 students in 202 classes were used to predict…

Two studies (one longitudinal) were designed to extend Butler's model of teachers' goal orientations for teaching. In Study 1, results from 281 teachers in Germany confirmed the predicted four-factor model comprising mastery, ability-approach, ability-avoidance, and work-avoidance goal orientations. As expected, mastery orientation and work…

We examined the effects of mathematics self-concept (MSC) and MSC calibration on mathematics achievement through multilevel analyses of the mathematics tests and questionnaire responses of 88,590 15-year olds who participated in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).…

Informal learning is becoming a standard format in companies' training and development (T&D) activities. It requires a specific learning competence comprising cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational dimensions. In the present study, it was investigated whether learning-competence variables predict success in informal learning. Given the…

We examined the applicability of the Home Literacy Model in an orthographically transparent language (Greek). Seventy Greek children were followed from kindergarten until grade 4. In kindergarten they were tested in non-verbal intelligence, vocabulary, phonological sensitivity, rapid naming, and letter knowledge. The parents of the children also…

This study examined how constructivist and didactic instruction was related to students' cognitive, motivational, and achievement outcomes in English classrooms, using a sample of 3000 Grade 9 students from 108 classrooms in 39 secondary schools in Singapore. Results of hierarchical linear modeling showed differential cross-level relations. After…

We examined whether the effect that different non-cognitive and cognitive factors have on reading acquisition varies as a function of orthographic consistency. Canadian (n = 77) and Greek (n = 95) children attending kindergarten were examined on general cognitive ability, phonological sensitivity, and letter knowledge. The parents of the children…

This study investigated the relations of induced mood with mathematical ability and self-concept in maths as well as the effect of induced mood on maths performance and on metacognitive experiences (ME). Ninety students, out of 246, of the 5th grade--45 students of low and 45 of high maths ability--were distributed into three equal in number…

Fourteen high-intelligence and 13 low-intelligence first-year college students worked in a structured or unstructured simulation environment to learn correlational principles. Thinking-aloud protocols indicate that high-intelligence subjects exhibit a better working method than do low-intelligence subjects, and that working method is a strong…

We focused on potential effects of directly controlling teacher behaviors (DCTB), such as giving frequent directives, interfering with children's preferred pace of learning, and not allowing critical and independent opinions. We hypothesized that children's perceptions of their teachers as directly controlling would arouse anger and anxiety in…

Characteristics of motivated and demotivated students in humanities and high and low technical secondary education were studied for 1,824 Belgian students in the eighth, tenth, or twelfth grade. Subgroups based on motivation were formed using student self-ratings, teacher ratings, and scores on predictor measures. (SLD)