Resilience is the capacity of a person to do well facing difficult conditions in life. This implies capacities of resistance and of positive construction. Discovering the ways to contribute to resilience in children can begin with examination of resilient children. Research has suggested five interlinking bases for resilience: (1) social support…

This study collected baseline data on the nature of elementary and middle-grade students' reading engagement level, locus of control, and stage of ethnic identity development (based on J. A. Banks' typology of ethnic identity), and to determine the extent to which selected literature and the instructional interaction in these students' classrooms…

This study explored the effects of family background variables on coping styles, and the contribution of coping styles and locus of control to the overall adjustment of older adolescents. The objectives of this study were to develop a Canadian adaptation of the Seiffge-Krenke Adolescent Coping Style Scale; to explore the influences of family and…

The goal of this paper is to articulate a theoretical basis for work with at-risk students and to provide a foundation for new methods for teachers who will be working with this population. The topic is narrowed to concerns related to academic achievement. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that external conditions are major antecedent…

Founded in response to the needs of children left homeless in Italy in the wake of World War II, Boys' and Girls' Towns have become international communities of children and adolescents separated from their families or homelands because of domestic violence, famine, war or other forms of social upheaval. The towns have been less subject to many of…

This study investigates the influence of pre-instructional strategies on the relationship between learner-controlled or program-controlled length of video segments and on related test performance on post-tests and retention tests. The study looks at the effect of presenting learning objectives in advance on the learning of factual information from…

This practicum paper describes an intervention to help parents increase their sense of empowerment. Expected outcomes of the intervention were that parents would: (1) increase their knowledge of concepts related to empowerment, such as control and nurturance; (2) experience a shift from an external to an internal locus of control; (3) observe an…

Numerous studies on death anxiety report conflicting findings. Concluding that a lack of specificity may explain the mixed results, this study sought to address the lack of focus and to extend and validate the results of an earlier study. A sample of 152 undergraduate students (111 female) from middle to upper-middle class participated. Subjects…

This study examined the effects of color on information processing strategies of internal and external locus of control learners. Specific objectives were to: (1) examine the instructional effectiveness of two types of visualized instruction in facilitating achievement for students with different learning styles; (2) determine whether an…

The achievement locus of control of 64 Hispanic and 87 Anglo students enrolled in grades 9-12 in 2 high schools in a large school district in the Southwest was examined with the Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale (MMCS). Ethnic and sex differences in the attributions of academic success or failure to ability, effort, context, or…

This research was designed to construct an instrument to measure teacher's expectancies for internal or external control of important aspects of the work of teaching. Items were composed for initial trial based on fourteen areas which past research has shown to be important satisfiers in teaching. The 75 items in the initial pool were administered…

Symbol shelves are tools for developing two-way communication with multihandicapped children who can anticipate events, but who do not respond to speech or sign language. The purpose of symbol shelves is to allow children to be expressive through symbols, to enable them to feel some sense of control, and to serve as a bridge to a more formal…

The construct of locus of control formulated by Rotter (1966) is being increasingly emphasized in personality functioning, since it appears to be related to several classes of behavior. It is also being considered as an important construct in cross-cultural research. Cross-cultural comparisons are particularly important, not just because they may…

A study examined the possible relationships between student study behaviors and academic achievement and represented a continuation and extension of an earlier large-scale project undertaken at the Far West Laboratory. Subjects, 184 college students enrolled in an introductory psychology course, had their study skills, self-efficacy, academic…

A study investigated the influence of key factors (general comprehension ability, prior knowledge of passage topic, interest in passage topic, and locus of control) on training at-risk college students in the use of graphic organizers as a cognitive learning strategy. Subjects, 60 college freshmen required to take a developmental reading/study…