Reports findings from a longitudinal study tracking the expectations, shifts in expectations, and emergent beliefs of novice self-instructed language learners. Investigates how learners experienced and articulated their experience in a distance-learning context. Focused on learner-context interface, tolerance for ambiguity, and locus of control.…

Student majors (n=159) and faculty (n=26) in the sociology department of the University of Akron (Ohio) each rated academic advisors' level of responsibility for 42 advising tasks. Statistical analysis found the groups differed significantly on two of four dimensions: advising students on campus resources and planning for the future. (Author/DB)

A structural model predicting the educational and career expectations of 282 Mexican American high school girls was developed and tested. Predictors included socioeconomic status, acculturation, academic achievement, instrumentality, expressiveness, gender role attitudes, parental and teacher support, family and career commitment, and perceptions…

Examines the relationship between teachers' perceptions of gender-related differences in grade 6 students' narrative writing and teachers' scoring of five student narrative papers. Finds that teachers observed gender-related narrative writing characteristics that were consistent with researchers' analyses of children's narrative writing. (PA)

Experienced teachers in North Carolina benefit from an evaluation system that sets clear expectations and combines traditional evaluation with individual growth opportunities. The model is based on a regional educational laboratory's 10 years of experience in research and development in formative evaluation. Teacher self-assessment is a key…

Even when complex statistical formulas are used in setting cutoffs for standardized tests, their mathematical precision is no substitute for sound professional judgment. Raising standards or increasing expectations for student learning is not accomplished simply by raising cutoff percentages for performance levels or different grade categories.…

Motivations and expectations of parenthood were assessed in undergraduate students (N=505). Parents and those intending to have children agreed more strongly with intrinsic motivations and also endorsed more benefits for having children than did the unsure group. Those intending to have children estimated costs of parenthood to be significantly…

Data from 1,251 student evaluations of instructors were used to rank faculty; rank order changed when learning outcomes, study production, and grade expectations were considered. Students expected high grades from teachers rated highly; those assigning more homework rated lower. Weighting instructor excellence, study and learning production, and…

The High Expectations Learning Process for Standards-Driven Units of Study (HELPS) enables teachers to connect classroom teaching to standards and assessment. Workshops take teachers through a seven-step process: identifying standards, developing ideas for a culminating event, aligning this event with standards, identifying unit blocks, creating…

Five categories of concerns among 12 experienced and inexperienced English-as-a-Second-Language teachers included teacher's self-concept, attitudes, teaching strategies, materials used, and expectations. Teachers' beliefs about teaching are guided by their previous experience as a learner and as a teacher. (Contains 38 references.) (Author)

Examines whether fear of therapy and psychological distress were predictive of help-seeking. A nonclinical student sample (n=263) completed measures of their treatment fears, expectations, anxiety, psychological distress and help-seeking likelihood. Concerns about image, stigma, coercion, and psychological distress were all related to help-seeking…

Carried out case study of a needs analysis in a childcare center established as a cooperative venture by a women's group in Ireland. Revealed how "professional" criteria, if applied too rigidly, can not only subvert the initial purposes of the development but also produce divisions within a group whose cohesiveness of purpose was…

German elementary students, their teachers, and their parents responded to questionnaires concerning perceptions of mathematics ability, gender stereotypes in mathematical talent, and future expectations. Gender stereotypes held by parents interacted with the gender of the child, predicted parents' beliefs about their child's abilities, and…

Interviews 36 practicing teachers, using phenomenological methods to examine what, when, where, and to whom teachers offer choice. Final results focus on the following main points: teachers believe that choice promotes learning and motivation; choice is used in a number of ways; and teachers impose limits on classroom choice based on student age,…

Teachers, principals, school systems, parents, and textbook publishers have been blamed for students' failure to meet tougher standards. Instead, expectations for achieving unreasonable state and Goals 2000 standards should be critically examined. Testing state legislators, school board members, administrators, and teachers might illuminate the…