Studies have indicated that parental authority may or may not modify adolescent self-esteem (SE). This study drew on 343 college students to determine the relationship of adolescents' self-esteem to three familial variables: (1) parental permissiveness; (2) authoritarianism; and (3) authoritativeness, and three cognitive variables: (1) high…

Data from the National Survey of Children (Waves 1 and 3), a longitudinal survey of 2,000 children who were between the ages of 7 and 11 during the first wave in 1976 and between the ages of 16 and 20 during the third wave in 1987, were analyzed to examine the impact of paternal involvement during childhood as well as the ongoing father-child…

A freshman writing director's first year of teaching was worse than anything she had experienced as a graduate student, although she was trying to be exactly the same kind of teacher she had been as a graduate teaching assistant. Her realization was that she needed to know more about the abilities of her students and adjust her standards or…

This study defines efficacy for teachers as a teacher's sense of ability to function as an instructional leader in the classroom, and knowledge of, and contribution to, school instructional policy. A brief review of two previous studies indicates that school policies and the mission of the school tend to affect teachers' beliefs about their…

The underlying themes in a successful dropout-prevention program are that it is teacher-led and student-centered. In this, the third National Foundation for the Improvement of Education (NFIE) report, project leaders offer guidelines for developing a successful prevention initiative. Suggestions are made on the following objectives: (1) empower…

Since the late 1960's, researchers have been concerned with the influence of teacher expectations on student performance. Teacher expectations generally can be categorized into three types: assessments of ability, predictions of progress, and natural discrepancies between teacher estimates and actual student performance. Expectations can have the…

Competence feedback has been found to increase intrinsic motivation, defined as those behaviors that are motivated by the underlying need for competence and self-determination. In a study investigating competency and intrinsic motivation, 120 high school males received three types of competence information: (1) expectancy (information that they…

An ethnographic study of five clerk-typists and five applications clerks in a large federal agency included observations, interviews, and a 3-week job literacy program. Both in their performance on job tasks and in the tests and exercises in the literacy program, the clerks demonstrated a number of strategies by which they quickly locate…

The study examined parental influence on the math self-concept of 165 high-achieving adolescent girls. The research assessed the impact of parent attitudes about their own math abilities, parent expectations for their daughters, and degree of parent-child identification on the girls' own math self-concepts. A series of path analyses revealed that…

This digest presents recent findings about effective instructional practices for classroom teachers in small schools. In terms of instruction, small schools have two characteristics: a broader scope of teacher responsibilities and more instructional levels per classroom. Teachers in small schools have the opportunity to develop the student as a…

A model and instrument based on leadership as social control theory (LASC) to assess leadership qualities of high school principals was developed in this study. The LASC model, based on symbolic interactionist and functionalist paradigms, attempts to explain the process by which leaders reduce conflicts between individual and organizational…

This digest offers guidelines to parents and educators helping gifted adolescents adjust to problems related to their giftedness. Challenges to adjustment are noted in the areas of: ownership (talented adolescents simultaneously "own" and yet question the validity of their abilities); dissonance (between their high standards and their…

A product of a project initiated to develop and evaluate effective programs for gifted children in three school systems in Alberta, Canada, this guidebook is designed for use in evaluating both gifted programs and student growth. The first chapter presents a brief overview of the joint project. Chapter two addresses the problems caused by the…

Ways that teachers can promote student learning are discussed, based on findings from research conducted over the past several decades. Also considered are the role of teachers in evaluating the effectiveness of their own teaching, teachers' perspectives concerning educational objectives, and ways to obtain student feedback about instruction. One…

Expectations of college seniors and their goal achievements after graduation were investigated. Also considered were: alumnae evaluations of the relationship of their college preparation to goal achievements; a comparison of career goals and decision-making at the time of the senior year and after graduation; whether alumnae use abilities learned…