States that the perception of failure will determine a person's reaction when faced with a problem, how he/she tries to solve the problem, and if he/she is successful/unsuccessful at solving the problem. Argues that failure need not be a threat to personal being but should be a learning tool--an experience necessary for mastery. (PA)

Considers the consequences of expelling California State University students who do not complete remediation within one year. Proposes that the lack of educational choices is analogous to the institutionalized absence of alternatives for basic writing programs. Analyzes the contradictory rhetoric of official policy, linking the elitist return to…

The effects of two levels of task attribution and three levels of outcome attribution as responses to failure were examined. In the study, 181 male Navy recruit subjects were asked to predict the responses of a Navy recruit who received an unsatisfactory training report. (TJH)

Identifies counterproductive grading policies and practices, such as varying grading scales; worshipping averages; using zeros indiscriminantly; following the assign, test, grade, and teach pattern; failing to match testing to teaching; ambushing students; grading first efforts; establishing inconsistent criteria; and failing to recognize…

Training must provide employees with experiences that make them resilient in the face of failure. It should teach employees how to be successful following both success and failure. (JOW)

Analysis of data on 112 MADD chapters suggests that failure of small activist organizations is related to inability of chapter leaders to adapt programs to their community and engage in cooperative community actions. Failure was related positively to county population and negatively to percent college educated. Contains 44 references. (SV)

Examined experienced reading failure among 708 first- and third-grade children. Findings using test-identified failure revealed equal proportions of boys and girls represented in Reading Disabled category. Teacher-identified ratios of boys to girls receiving learning-disabled services were 2:1, exceeding test-identified ratios, whereas…

Interviews with mentors and proteges revealed varied approaches to mentoring: practical external focus, challenging of assumptions, relationship focus, or focus on feelings. "Holistic" mentoring contributed to transformative experiences more than mentoring focused on organizational knowledge. (SK)

Describes how one Maryland school district overhauled its total approach to reading instruction and rescued its struggling students. The problem was more one of poor system design than poor instruction. The research-based intervention was a hybrid of reading recovery and phonics. From 1999-00, the rate of fifth graders reading below grade level…

Ten elementary school students in need of a positive self-image and/or a sense of appropriate social conduct took part in a monthly intergenerational visiting program at an assisted living facility. In comparison to systematic observations obtained in their classrooms, the children were observed to be significantly less anxious, more interested,…

A cautionary tale has become something of a cottage industry in the past decade. To be sure, there has been plenty of material for these publications: Bhopal, Chernobyl, "Exxon Valdez," Three Mile Island, and "Challenger" have entered the lexicon as virtual synonyms for "disaster." Cautionary tale scenarios involve a different kind of causality.…

In 2002, the Council of the Great City Schools evaluated the Dayton Public School System. The Council noted that the district was in crisis, stating bluntly that achievement was low, funding was tenuous, buildings were dilapidated, and the public was looking at its options. The organization proposed a series of major instructional and budgetary…

Although research indicates a trend toward increased representation of students with psychiatric disabilities in postsecondary education, the experiences of these students tend to be marked by academic failure and social isolation. However, the existing qualitative and quantitative research on this student population largely excludes the…

A daily intensive supplemental reading and writing program was developed to assist students who were: 1. identified with a language disability and 2. identified as at-risk for reading failure in an urban elementary school. The purpose of the program was to help these students understand and develop the connection between oral and written language…

This article describes the implementation of small-group reading instruction as secondary- and tertiary-level components of a three-tier model of prevention and intervention. The study consisted of 83 students who were targeted in the winter of kindergarten as being at high risk for reading failure. Intervention consisted of evidence-based…