Grade retention is one of the most discussed and controversial educational measures, and yet, it is still widely applied in many countries. Research investigating the effects of grade retention on students' psychosocial variables presents mixed findings, partly due to the variables assessed, methodological issues, and the length of the studies.…

This study explored the relationship between high school sophomores' purpose orientations and their postsecondary completion a decade later by examining the data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. Among four types of purpose (career, interpersonal, altruistic, and self-oriented), career and interpersonal purpose orientations were…

Researchers have found that teachers who have a strong vision for teaching can overcome obstacles in their classrooms. A teacher's vision is what he or she sees as his or her mission as an educator. Hopefulness, the feeling of possibility and attainability, is the necessary precursor to the successful implementation of a vision. Using the…

The aim of this work is to examine the effects of a growth mindset intervention amongst first-year university students during a longitudinal study spanning over 1 month and to develop a model linking well-being and achievement variables. Growth mindset interventions, by teaching malleable instead of fixed self-conceptions, would allow students to…

Teenage mothers often report immense personal benefits of children, claiming that motherhood reordered their priorities, provided a sense of purpose, and prevented a worse fate, yet the potentially beneficial impacts of early motherhood receive little empirical attention. This study employs propensity score analysis using nearest neighbor matching…

Theoretical approaches and empirical research suggest a decline in the levels of motivational variables and self-esteem among students during the school career. However, precise statements about the magnitude of the change remain elusive. Conducting a meta-analysis of 107 independent longitudinal studies with 912 effect sizes, we found an overall…

Drawing on students' prior knowledge can enhance learning, but we know little about how instructors learn to teach with this knowledge in mind. Through a two-year embedded case study, we sought to examine how 10 college instructors' teaching conceptions and practices relevant to minoritized students' prior knowledge shifted over the course of two…

The authors examine components of pre-trip preparation that influence student trip experiences and learning related to short-term immersion programs. With the use of a transformative learning framework and a multisite longitudinal case study, key components emerged as essential in preparing students for these experiences: community building,…

Understanding how classrooms influence a student's motivation and engagement is a persistent concern in the field of educational psychology. Social-cognitive theories postulate that individual students' perceptions of their environment influence their motivation and subsequent behavior. However, empirical research directly testing the core tenets…

Purpose is an important aspect of character development and thriving in adolescence; yet, there is little research explaining how it develops or how contexts such as school can support its development. In this study, 1,304 eighth graders completed a survey that measured purpose as the integration of 2 dimensions-- beyond-the-self life goal…

In emerging adulthood, being committed to and making progress on important personal goals constitutes a source of identity and well-being. Goal striving, however, does not always go without problems. Even though highly committed to a goal, individuals may experience recurring setbacks and, consequently, increasing doubts about the goal that might…

The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) posits that students with the same ability will have higher academic self-concepts when they are in low-ability classes than in high-ability classes. Our research puts the BFLPE under scrutiny by examining goal orientations as the moderators that may affect the size of the BFLPE. We collected data on…

In the United States, principal investigators of the National Science Foundation's Noyce Scholars program are challenged with identifying college STEM majors who have a fledgling interest in science teaching and preparing them to teach in high-needs school districts. The purpose of this longitudinal research project was to quantitatively and…

Research suggests that motivated students and those with high academic self-concepts perform better academically. Although substantial evidence supports a reciprocal relation between academic self-concept and achievement, there is less evidence supporting a similar relation between achievement goal orientations and achievement. There is also a…

Study abroad is an under-researched domain of language learning. Moreover, most investigations of this phenomenon adopt traditional structuralist approaches, wherein outcomes of study abroad are assessed solely in terms of proficiency gains as measured through conventional exams. The present study builds upon an emerging body of poststructuralist…