This study investigated the motivational and performance consequences of two features of task-mastery learning structures: retesting opportunities and criterion-referenced grading. College students were assigned either to a norm-referenced (competitive) or a criterion-referenced grading system, and to either a single-test or retest condition.…

Among high school seniors, (1) most of those who aspired to teach were White females; (2) teacher aspirants were less concerned with earning good incomes than those who chose other professions; (3) job security was not an important motivation for entering teaching; and (4) teacher aspirants were intellectually less able than their classmates.…

Used path analysis to examine effects of spatial skill, math anxiety, and math self-confidence as mediators of gender differences in Mathematics Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT-M) in upper third of college-bound adolescents. Found that mental rotation and math self-confidence indirectly mediated the gender-SAT-M relationship. Most of the mediational…

The validity of Tinto's model of college withdrawal was investigated with 100 4-year public college women and 165 2-year private college women. Institutional commitment was most directly affected by social integration. This commitment was seen as pivotal to retention. (IAH)

Two studies involving 125 sixth graders and 28 fifth through seventh graders examined negative social reactions from the perspective of rejecting peers. The more children perceived atypical students to be responsible for idiosyncracies, the more anger and less sympathy they reported. Implications for improving social acceptance are discussed. (SLD)

Three studies involving a total of 918 students of above average ability in grades 3 through 8 confirm the importance of self-efficacy in students' decisions to initiate creative productivity and reinforce the value of performance accomplishments for increasing self-efficacy and creative productivity. (SLD)

Presents a quantitative study of the development of a theoretical model of drop-outs from distance education courses. Data collected by the Distance Education Student Progress (DESP) questionnaire from 1,060 students in Hong Kong investigated how students were able to integrate demands of their academic course with those of families, employers,…

As part of a longitudinal study of psychosocial development, 148 girls and 130 boys were administered a questionnaire about a close friend in their eighth grade school year. The subjects began the study in the sixth grade. Findings on intimacy and emotional closeness are discussed concerning gender socialization and friendship. (SLD)

Examines the relationship between the academic performance of 347 elementary school children and a number of cognitive and social factors. A path analysis indicated that the girls' overall higher performance was a result of greater social responsiveness and compliance with adult direction, whereas achievement among the boys was related to greater…

Investigated the relationships among mathematics achievement, affect, and home background for Hong Kong students (n=1766) in grades 7-13. Achievement was most closely related to academic and nonacademic self-concepts and attitudes toward mathematics, and the latter was most influenced by self- and parental expectations. (LDR)

The math-related interests and academic-choice intentions of black college students (N=164) are explored. A social cognitive path model offered good overall fit to the data. Although racial identity contributed little to the model, self-efficacy and outcome expectations predicted interests, which predicted choice intentions across racial attitude…

A Partial Least Squares Path Analysis technique was used to test the effect of students' prior experience with computers, statistical self-efficacy, and computer anxiety on their achievement in an introductory statistics course. Computer Anxiety Rating Scale and Current Statistics Self-Efficacy Scale were administered to a sample of 64 first-year…

The authors' approach to using pattern-centered analyses and longitudinal data addresses how configurations of personal and contextual factors forecast the educational achievement and attainments of different youth across adolescence. Here, they discuss various types of pattern-centered analyses and provide an empirical illustration of how these…

Used path analysis to examine relations between trauma, perceived parenting, resources, political activity, and adjustment in Palestinian 11- and 12-year olds. Found that the more trauma experienced, the more negative parenting the children experienced, the more political activity they showed, and the more they suffered from adjustment problems.…

This article proposes a model that integrates some of the determinants of scholastic judgment. The model is based on the assumption that a teacher's judgment in a particular discipline is influenced by different variables: the pupil's actual performance in the discipline, his/her actual performance in other disciplines (halo effect), the average…