This study examined the role of the university lecturer in fostering the interplay between motivation, confidence, and cognition in students. The focus is on two theoretical frameworks: achievement goal theory for the motivational and confidence aspects and Vygotskian theory for aspects concerning educational development. Achievement goal theory…

This publication reports on a study designed to discover the nature and extent of staff induction and initial training available to new members of academic staff in Scottish higher education institutions, and to measure how a sample of these new staff perceived the training they had received and what other training needs, if any, they had. The…

This study examined the links between Australian adolescents' achievement goal orientation and the information sources they used when making decisions about returning to school and selecting courses for the elective final 2 years of high school. A total of 230 year-11 students from 2 coeducational comprehensive schools in a large city…

The Ethiopian Community Development Center and the Center for Applied Linguistics hosted a conference to discuss the language and cultural orientation needs of Somali and Sudanese refugees. Somali and Sudanese refugees receive a 10-week language and cultural orientation course in Kenya (Africa) before coming to the United States. Representatives…

Two documents are presented that were used to organize, create, and review portfolio evaluations of 93 community-based social action programs sponsored by the National 4-H, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Kellogg Foundation. The first document, "Project Portfolio Design," was used to direct local program leaders to assemble…

Findings of a study that examined the learning experiences and postsecondary plans of California high school students who were not participating in a college preparatory program are presented in this paper. Methodology involved a survey of 2,600 11th- and 12th-graders who identified themselves as enrolled in either a general or…

This paper presents findings of a case study that explored the experiences of a beginning superintendent. The data were collected during the 1992-93 school year through telephone interviews, a site visit, document analysis, and personal conversations with the female superintendent of a K-8 city district in the southwestern United States. During…

A study was conducted to assess the perceptions of extension directors, administrators, and staff development personnel regarding the importance of selected training topics and to determine the extent to which these topics are included in current training programs for extension personnel. A descriptive survey using a five-point Likert-type scale…

This paper examines the organizational development and process phases of establishing a student recruitment system at Southeast Missouri State University which began when the student recruitment unit of the school was transferred to the Office of University Relations. The various components of Southeast's efforts in influencing a student's choice…

Thirty-one probationary faculty from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology (Ontario, Canada) participated in a research study that examined their individual and collective professional development needs. The study was conducted in the fall of 1991. Probationary faculty completed a survey instrument that was comprised of three parts. Part 1…

The effect of "temperament" in a school-like environment was evaluated for 30 children with mental retardation, 30 children with autism, and 30 typical children (all groups with a mean mental age of 23 to 24 months). Five-minute videotapes of each child attempting to complete a puzzle were viewed and scored by raters on the University of…

This paper describes an activity developed at the University of Nebraska to familiarize prospective teachers with the process of developing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities. The activity, titled "Experiencing the Change Process: Writing a Personalized IEP," acquaints students with the major IEP…

School board members' perceptions of the socialization process involved in the learning and development of their roles are described in this report. Methodology involved indepth interviews with 28 school board members from two rural and three suburban public school districts in Pennsylvania and New York, document analysis, and observation.…

Teacher socialization begins much earlier than the moment the novice teacher enters the classroom for the first time. Contemporary theory suggests that this socialization may begin in infancy or early childhood and progress through the preservice teacher education experience. In order to observe the effects of the school environment on novice…

A study was done to assess implementation of the Chapter 1 program improvement provisions of the Hawkins-Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988. Chapter 1 is the largest federal education program for educationally deprived school children, and the Hawkins-Stafford Act was designed to ensure that individual schools…