Two studies are reported which utilize a variety of achievement situations. It was hypothesized that subjects would spontaneously make attributions to ability, effort, luck and/or task difficulty in all these situations and that they would seek information of the types used in previous studies. (Author/RK)

Discussion of management of organizational change focuses on a study of managers that determined why organizational changes fail and why they succeed. Highlights include type of change; complexity of change efforts; success rates; sponsorship; motivation factors; measures of success; correlates of success and failures; and enablers and barriers to…

Discusses consequences of widespread reading failure among elementary school children, especially those in poverty. Argues that early identification and intervention programs can substantially reduce the number of children who are poor readers. (PKP)

Examined the characteristics of four groups of children (N=120) employing positive, defensive, self-blame, or mixed strategies to cope with a failure experience in school. Findings indicated children who employed positive/action-oriented strategies were more likely to have higher academic achievement and a higher sense of self-worth. (Author/ABL)

Governing boards should ask seven questions when a plan fails: where did the plan break down? who was responsible for the plan? were adequate resources available? were goals clear and specific? was the solution appropriate and adequate? were barriers allowed to derail the plan? were key players involved in planning? (MSE)

Seniors enrolled in a humanities course at an exemplary New Jersey high school were surveyed about critical issues, needed changes, and factors affecting student failure. Critical issues included racism, problem kids from other schools, boring teachers, inconsistent discipline, crowded halls and classes, and violence. Students' reasons for student…

Examined academic interventions provided for students considered at risk for academic failure and explored how drug and alcohol use increased these students' potential for failure. Findings from 348 tenth graders revealed that substance-misusing students were placed at greater academic risk than comparable group of nonusers despite receiving more…

The relationship between recognition and recall, especially the orderly recognition-failure function relating recognition and the recognizability of recallable words, was investigated using a composite holographic associative recall-recognition memory model (CHARM) in 10 series of computer simulations. Support for the model is demonstrated. (SLD)

Learning from program failure hinges upon acknowledging that everybody fails and having the ability to cope. Coping techniques may include accepting blame, denying failure, analyzing failure, blaming others, talking and sharing, remaining objective, using stress management techniques, and taking another risk. (SK)

In 3 experiments, 123, 70, and 60 college students indicated that others might reduce effort in a situation where they expect failure as a strategy to protect their perceptions of ability, but that they themselves would not. Reduced effort when threatened by failure may not be intentional. (SLD)

In examining Sweden's problem with school failure, the paper notes the importance of understanding the problem on both the educational-political level and the economic, practical, and organizational levels. Discusses the criteria for defining school failure and examines the magnitude of the problem and investigates solutions. A statistical…

Discusses factors associated with fairness and equity in relation to student discontinuation in nursing education. Shows how discontinuation is an integral part of higher education quality reviews. Promotes pre-exit counseling, monitoring of attrition, and review of academic and professional standards. (SK)

A feasible instructional method for reducing failure in first-year algebra is the double-dose approach pioneered by Douglas MacIver. Two studies conducted in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and in Norfolk, Virginia, reveal the educational benefits of providing second math periods for ninth-grade algebra students. (MLH)

Investigates 1st-graders' ability to select the appropriate strategy for constructing a building from memory versus listening to instructions that included an unfamiliar word. Results reveal children's strategy selections: preceded any construction attempts; followed failed construction attempts; or followed verbal feedback about failures.…

Outlines an array of learning strategies for improving the academic performance of at-risk social studies students. Drawn from special education research, these strategies are directly applicable to at-risk students and focus on improving the acquisition, storage, and expression/demonstration of academic content. Suggestions for implementation of…