Performance contracting is a scheme precisely delineating teacher and administrator expectations by defining the objectives to be achieved, by determining responsibility for attaining those objectives, and by assessing results to determine the extent to which desired outcomes have been achieved. (JD)

Examining the critical change (also referred to as re-socialization) in adults which can be stimulated by appropriate education programs, the author discusses differing rationales of adult education programs for value and attitudinal change in New Zealand.

The Early Childhood Project is a longitudinal investigation of contexts in which children from different sociocultural groups learn to read. Data collected from 41 families showed some consistency between parental beliefs on fostering reading development (entertainment versus skills perspective) and nature of experiences made available to…

Presents a tongue-in-cheek monologue on the value of languages to the culture and economic life of Australia and its students. Touches on the number of languages spoken in Australia, the schools' role, languages other than English, student motivation, educational objectives, immigrants, and multiculturalism. (Author/CK)

Compares and discusses methodology and motivations of community colleges to assess the economic impact of their institutions on local and state economies. Describes the use of the Caffrey Isaacs Economic Impact Model by community colleges. Examines 19 economic impact analyses and makes recommendations about future research and use of these…

Investigates the motivational factors of students of Asian and Asian-American backgrounds learning Chinese at the university level in the United States. Results indicate that intrinsic interest in Chinese culture and the desire to understand one's own cultural heritage are the initial motivation for students to learn the language and that…

Offers ideas and teaching strategies to reach adolescents through poetry. Includes a complete poetry unit for use in middle or high school. Shows how poetry can be used to broaden the knowledge base and motivate children to learn. Describes how to build interest and motivation, and how to teach rhythm, sound, and imagery. (SR)

Studied the effectiveness of the Socratic seminar method at a middle school in Chattanooga (Tennessee) through observation, focus groups, and semistructured interviews with nine teachers. Findings support the usefulness of the seminars in promoting higher-order thinking, appropriate conflict resolution strategies, and interest in learning. (SLD)

Providing rich supply of high-interest story books is more feasible policy for literacy education than urgent exhortations to improve teacher quality. Free reading profoundly improves students' reading and writing ability, spelling, grammar, and vocabulary. The quality of a country s or state's school libraries significantly predicts its reading…

Reports on a study of college students (N=276) that tested a model to identify a goodness of fit between students and educational environments. Findings indicate the importance of motivating students to engage in reciprocal relationships with their learning environments to enhance human capital skills. (RJM)

Discusses critical issues facing the languages across the curriculum (LAC) movement. These include benefits to students derived from LAC offerings, effective curriculum design and teaching methods, benefits of LAC to teachers in other fields, and justification of the costs of long-term institutional support. (40 references) (CK)

Discusses reasons for the current popularity of learning English as a Second Language (ESL) in the Ukraine, focusing on why English teaching and learning has failed in state-owned educational institutions and on alternative forms of ESL teaching and learning. (CK)

The "Excellence and Equity in Teaching" project, part of California State University's Teacher Diversity Program, has developed and implemented a model for increasing the numbers of minority teachers. The model identifies three components: motivation, academic preparation and performance, and social context. This article describes the…

A study of 104 students (ages 16 to 22) with mental retardation (n=32), learning disabilities (n=34), or no disabilities (n=38) examined variables that contribute to perceptions of self-determination and increased student motivation. The students with disabilities were found to have more of an external locus of control orientation. (CR)

Discusses motivational processes as they apply to educational contexts. Defines motivation and compares it to other constructs. Provides a brief history of motivation theory and reviews important trends and areas in motivation research. Suggests four areas that future research might address: constructivism and learning, long-term motivation,…