This study surveyed 553 Kansas beginning teachers regarding their perceptions of support and job satisfaction during their first year. Overall, respondents were most likely to experience traditional orientation activities. They were less likely to experience teaching conditions that took into account their unique needs as beginners and less likely…

This study explored children's changing conceptualizations of goal as they engaged in repeated sessions of strategy game set-up and play. Twenty-four children, aged 7 to 9, were divided into 2 groups. Each participant in the first group played a novel strategy game once a day for 5 days. Measures of game performance were collected from this group.…

This booklet discusses how to recruit and manage volunteers with disabilities. Generic as well as specific strategies are provided for engaging individuals with disabilities, including members of diverse cultures. Potential barriers and suggestions for working around those barriers are also explored. The first section addresses recruitment and…

Although 76% of African-American students graduate from high school, only 25% of these graduates enter institutions of higher education. A systematic analysis of the aspirations among African-American females for post-high-school education was conducted. Initial portions of the study focused on characteristics of support in the areas of familial…

The wildly varying utilization and quality control practices that make up "managed care" make it difficult to generalize new rules and requirements. Information that can aid counselor trainees in understanding the demands of managed health care is presented. The text explores the following questions: (1) "What do managed care…

The importance of maintaining students' interest in art is underscored by the decline in both self-confidence and interest in art that children commonly begin to display during middle childhood. This study explored developmental differences in art motivation, investigating whether the expected decline could be explained by changes in beliefs…

This document presents guidance for stopping discrimination, harassment, and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in schools. Section 1, "Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund on the Legal Considerations for Creating and Changing Statewide Laws and Policies," discusses the various types of statewide…

The Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) initiative seeks to provide students with discipline-specific skills they will need in order to succeed, first in the university, and eventually in their chosen professional careers. This goal is accomplished in an egalitarian framework: all students are educated in the conventions of "academic writing" in a…

This pilot study was designed to explore how vicarious learning experiences and goal setting influence preservice teachers' self-efficacy for integrating technology into the classroom. Twenty undergraduate students who were enrolled in an introductory educational technology course at a large midwestern university participated and were assigned…

Two studies examined the potential of analysis of motivational content in private speech to sustain a Vygotskian hypothesis on the goal-forming process in achievement motivation. In the first study, 30 preschoolers and first-graders were observed 3 times during a school year while they worked in the classroom. The relative incidence of child…

Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) began in Romania in 1995 as a weeklong leadership camp with the purpose of encouraging young women to become active citizens by building their self-esteem and confidence, increasing their self-awareness, and developing their skills in goal-setting, assertiveness, and career and life planning. Since that first…

This study examined the effects of an introductory counseling course on retention rates of students at Western Kentucky University (WKU). Rates of graduation after 4, 5, and 6 years for 400 freshmen and 474 sophomores enrolled in an academic orientation and preparation course between 1990 and 1994 were compared with WKU and regional rates during…

This book explores the reasons that beginning teachers struggle and provides research-based plans for helping them make the most of their initial teaching years. It proposes Beginning Teacher Assistance Programs (BTAPs) as a practical strategy for success. BTAPs draw on the knowledge and expertise of teachers, principals, central office…

This fact sheet, developed by a group of education, health, mental health, and religious organizations, provides information on the development of sexual orientation in youth and the issues raised by reparative therapy and transformational ministry. Section 1, "Sexual Orientation Development," describes how individuals develop their…

This document reports on a study to determine Guamanian women's identification of their social status and gender awareness. Participants of the study were 350 randomly selected undergraduate women who responded to questionnaires. A statistical profile of the Guamanian undergraduate women was derived as follows: (1) is a traditional aged student;…