Low-income youths enroll at postsecondary institutions less frequently, drop out more often, are less likely to return after dropping out, and are less likely to attain a postsecondary degree than their more affluent peers. It is therefore important to understand how low-income youths develop the capacity to persist in the postsecondary setting.…

This study provides the first longitudinally designed, classroom-based empirical test of self-determination theory's motivation mediation model. Measures of perceived autonomy support, motivation (autonomy need satisfaction), engagement, and achievement were collected from 500 (257 females, 243 males) 8th-grade students in Korea in a 3-wave…

The present study used a cross-sectional design to examine the relations among youth anxiety symptoms, positive and negative peer interactions, and social skills. Also examined was the mediating role of social skills in the relations between youth anxiety symptoms and positive and negative peer interactions. Youth sex and age were examined as…

Effects of ethnicity and neighborhood quality often are confounded in research on adolescent delinquent behavior. This study examined the pathways to delinquency among 2,277 African American and 5,973 European American youth residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods. Using data from a national study of youth, a meditational model was tested…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to propose and test a model of school culture and examine data from schools in Southern California to identify educationally important aspects of teacher-perceived cultural variables and how these perceptions differentially impact school performance in K-8 and middle school structures.…

This study developed and tested a new model of the forced choice dilemma (i.e., the belief held by some intellectually gifted students that they must choose between academic achievement and peer acceptance) that incorporates individual-level cultural orientation variables (i.e., vertical allocentrism and vertical idiocentrism). A survey that had…

Research has found that grades are the most valid instruments for predicting educational success. Why grades have better predictive validity than, for example, standardized tests is not yet fully understood. One possible explanation is that grades reflect not only subject-specific knowledge and skills but also individual differences in other…

Objective: Research using normative and high-risk samples indicates a significant link between problems with self-regulation and child maladjustment. Nevertheless, little is known about the processes that may modify the link between self-regulation and maladjustment. This longitudinal study examined the joint contributions of child self-regulation…

Various studies found personality to be related to substance use, but little attention is paid to the role of personality risk dimensions with regard to an early onset of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use. Therefore, the current study used a variable-centered approach to examine whether anxiety sensitivity, hopelessness, sensation seeking, and…

Personal self-efficacy is an important theoretical orientation that helps to explain students' learning and academic achievements. One area of research inquiry has involved the four major sources of information and their predictive effects on self-efficacy. As an extension for examination, the purpose of our investigation was to explore the…

Purpose: This study explores the hypothesis that vocabulary growth can have 2 types of effects in morphosyntactic development. One is a general effect, where vocabulary growth globally determines utterance complexity, defined in terms of sentence length and rates of subordination. There are also specific effects, where vocabulary size has a…

Previous research on professional certification has primarily focused on graduate certificates in intensive care nursing, writing certificates for practitioners, maintenance of certification in radiation oncology, and the certification of teachers and surgeons. Research on certification in the domain of business and management from an…

Investigation of the role of adolescents' patterns of close relationships with significant adults may be of particular interest in populations with learning disabilities ("LD") during adolescence, because attachment relationship variables may act as risk or protective factors during this developmental period when trajectories are set that can lead…

The present study investigates the intergenerational transmission of academic task values within family in early adolescence. Social learning processes are assumed to operate through the students' perceptions of their parents' values. The major goal of this study is to show that this values transmission is facilitated by between-parent value…

It is now possible to create flexible learning environments without time and distance barriers on the internet. However, research has shown that learners typically experience isolation and alienation in online learning environments. These negative experiences can be reduced by enhancing social presence. In order to better facilitate the perceived…