Causal modeling techniques applied to data from 791 college students showed that parental encouragement in math and science significantly influenced achievement, which in turn influenced self-efficacy and outcome expectations. Results supported the role of family context in Lent et al.'s social cognitive career choice model. (Contains 40…

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health provide modest support for an association between adolescents' expectations for their future health and educational attainment and their risk-taking behaviors involving early sexual intercourse, selling drugs, and weapon use. Noteworthy "school climate" predictors were found,…

Examines the experiences of academically successful black secondary school students in Alberta, Canada, highlighting issues of systemic racism in Canadian society as a significant barrier to black students' academic achievement. Argues that the issue of racism must be tackled aggressively by educational institutions and administrators in order to…

Studies (n=107) of prevalence and correlates of college student cheating are reviewed. Strongest correlates of cheating included having moderate expectations of success, past cheating, poor study conditions, positive attitudes about cheating, perceiving that social norms support cheating, and anticipating rewards for success. A model of…

Incorporates the expectancy theory of motivation in the analysis of teaching improvement in three areas of faculty interest: (1) importance of tenure criteria; (2) expected outcomes from participating in improvement activities; and (3) interest in different instructional-improvement practices. Indicates that most faculty consider research more…

States that today's Greek-letter organizations are under greater scrutiny than ever before and although these groups can contribute to the educational success of their members in important ways, they will not achieve that potential without addressing persistent challenges. Describes the historical background as well as the role of today's Greek…

Examines how early childhood teachers in one Australian state use child observations. Argues that the current economic/political climate has produced changes for early childhood settings and that how teachers respond to changes regarding child observation depends on their work context. Suggests that the purpose of observation is changing and that…

Presents advice on turning camp staff into a team with the power to give campers a good experience. Suggests reviewing expectations of staff, obtaining commitment to those expectations, treating staff with respect, teaming old and new staff members, creating a mission statement, and empowering staff through communication. Includes a sample mission…

Surveyed 319 Welsh secondary students from rural, urban-suburban, and inner city schools to determine their beliefs and attitudes about silence in the classroom. Results indicated that students believed they were more silent than their teachers and felt they were more silent when learning than their teachers were when teaching. Suburban students…

Investigated the effectiveness of a school-wide discipline model designed to improve classroom behavior while reducing the extent to which all students, especially those with emotional and behavioral problems, were involved in disciplinary actions. Treatment fidelity data provided support for the integrity of teachers' use of the program. Numbers…

Technology supplements to college textbooks, such as self-guided quizzes and exercises available over the Internet, have become commonplace. The current study examined student perceptions regarding the utility of technology supplements that accompanied a public speaking fundamentals textbook. At semester's end, students reported the supplements to…

Ineffective approaches for teaching with print may prevent textbook reading from being a useful learning resource in middle school. University faculty mentored a middle school science teacher as he implemented a textbook study-reading approach, PLAN (Caverly, Mandeville & Nicholson, 1995), in 2 classes (n=33). PLAN orchestrates 4 strategies…

The Coleman report, published 12 years after the Brown decision, confirmed that widespread school segregation in the United States created inequality of educational opportunity. This study examines whether racial and socioeconomic segregation, which is on the rise in the United States, is still contributing to the achievement differences among…

Every educator has a handful of students who perpetually push his or her buttons. The challenge of creating a strong, nurturing classroom community is especially difficult if you are an urban school teacher. Not because children in an urban area are inherently more wild or difficult to teach. Rather, there is a mythology about how to best…

This paper examines the contribution of parents' education and children's gender on parental expectations of their children's future education and the role of parental perceptions of their child's competencies in the formation of their expectations. A group of university and vocationally educated parents (N = 418) were asked to estimate the…