Since 1998, Florida's harsh A+ Program has graded each public school. School leaders have responded by setting urgent goals, engaging school personnel, using school achievement data, strengthening professional development, aligning curricula, increasing time for academics, choosing supportive instructional materials, building interdisciplinary…

Describes a transition process at Susquehanna University designed to help its new president adjust to the institution. Discusses the transition committee's efforts, including formation of a schedule for the new president, sharing of institutional information, and planning various meetings with important constituencies. Includes sidebars on useful…

Background: Two theories in the field of motivation and achievement, namely the future time perspective theory and goal theory, result in conflicting recommendations for enhancing students' motivation, because of their differential emphasis on the task at hand and on the future consequences of a task. Aims: We will present a framework consisting…

According to expectancy-value theories, increasing the utility value of a learning activity should result in higher motivation and better learning. In contrast, self-determination theory posits that the content of the future goals (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) that enhance the utility value of the learning activity needs to be considered as well.…

Cole, Martin, and Dennis (this issue) considered many important conceptual and methodological issues in their discussion of emotion regulation. Although it may be necessary to develop an integrated definition of the construct of emotion regulation, the definition provided in the Cole et al. article is too encompassing. It is important to…

In this article, a former troubled youth who is now an expert on resilience shares his experience and provides youth a guided exercise in turning their own lives around. The ex-juvenile delinquent stresses the importance of setting goals claiming that goals are things to shoot for, like getting your chores done or saving your money to buy a car.…

In this article, I argue that the term "sexual orientation" serves as a mechanism for preserving heteronormative hegemony, with the proposed concept of "relational orientation" encouraging a richer theoretical analysis of the factors that shape identity. The relational orientation approach establishes a more holistic representation of lesbian,…

The chancellor of a state's community college system works with the college presidents to establish accountability for a common set of goals.

A review of LGBT identity development models reveals fluidity, complexity, and contradictions. (Contains 1 table.)

Previous studies have demonstrated that children's goals are associated with their success in peer relationships. The current study extends earlier findings by examining changes in children's goals during hypothetical conflicts. Participants were 252 children ages 9 to 12 years old (133 boys, 119 girls). As predicted, children's goals changed…

This article responds to the reply by Cooper and Shallice to Botvinick and Plaut's previous comment . In the authors' view, the reply by Cooper and Shallice left their original responses more or less intact. The present exchange has strongly highlighted the degree to which any account of the habit system will interact with how the goal-directed…

In this article, the author talks about Pete, a high school senior who openly confided his sexual orientation. Here, he recounts Pete's experiences in school and how his schoolmates reacted regarding his sexuality. He also talks about how Pete has influenced other students on being open-minded in dealing with issues on sexual orientation. Among…

Goal setting has great impact on a team's performance. Goals enable a team to synchronize their efforts to achieve success. In this article, the author talks about goals and goal setting. This articles complements Domain 5--Teaching and Communication (p.14) and discusses one of the benchmarks listed therein: "Teach the goal setting process and…

Motivation is an essential ingredient to becoming a physically educated individual and leading a physically active lifestyle. Motivated students seek resources for creating their own goals, they are able to learn independently, and they persevere despite setbacks. In this article, the author discusses the social-cognitive approach to students'…

The lack of instructional continuity in schools negates every effort of principals to provide an environment where all students would be successful. One solution could be to bridge the gap between the professional knowledge and skills of experienced teachers and the energy and fresh ideas of new recruits so that the latter are provided support…