This study examines whether behaviorally withdrawn children differ from aggressive and prosocial children in their attributional styles, social goals, and self-efficacy perceptions. Fourth and fifth-grade students (n=506) responded to a set of hypothetical situations involving ambiguous provocation. Specifically, they interpreted the protagonist's…

Does personality impact differently on occupational choice and occupational performance? In a study of established teachers, interests, the Five-Factor Model, and attributions were examined in relation to occupational choice and performance. Attributions were assessed using a new instrument designed for teachers. Choice of teaching specialty was…

This manual describes the Mathematics Assessment Questionnaire (MAQ) and its development, provides relevant background from the research literature, describes approaches to the reporting and uses of the MAQ (including its use in instructional planning), and presents sample responses from students and classes. The MAQ provides teachers and students…

The self-serving effect (SSE), often depicted as a bias, is the tendency to accept responsibility for one's own successes but not one's own failures. Two studies of Australian fifth graders (n=226, n=559) were further analyzed to investigate individual differences in SSE. The Sydney Attribution Scale measured students' perceptions of the causes of…

One hundred and thirty final year high school students were administered scales tapping optimism/pessimism, self-esteem, external career barriers, career decision-making self-efficacy, career focus and career indecision. It was hypothesised, first, that cognitive style optimism/pessimism) would predict both internal (self-esteem) and external…

Educational seduction, in which a charismatic, entertaining instructor obtains favorable student ratings while presenting insufficient lecture content, threatens the validity of student ratings and teaching effectiveness research. To examine the effects of one educational seduction variable, instructor expressiveness, on student achievement…

The papers include: a history of education at Carnegie Institute, 1897-1976 (Julie Agar); forming the structure of a new society within the shell of the old, a study of three labor colleges and their contributions to the American labor movement (Richard J. Altenbaugh); reflections on the relevance of attribution theory to the educational process…

Research has shown a decline in motivation and performance for many children as they move from elementary school into middle school; however, research has also shown that the nature of motivational change on entry to middle school depends on characteristics of the learning environment in which students find themselves. This Digest outlines some…

A study of 2,392 freshman in 23 diverse two- and four-year colleges in 16 states found a number of variables associated with students' internal attribution at the end of the first college year. Variables included college type (two- vs. four-year), exposure to postsecondary education, work responsibilities, course organization, instructional…

Starting from the idea that even well-intentioned teachers often undermine girls' confidence in gender-sensitive areas of school curriculum, this paper outlines methods that might be used to enhance this confidence. It presents impressions from a 1-year observation of a class of 10-year-olds in a British school as part of a project called Group…

Marsh and Parker (1984) described the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) whereby equally able students have lower academic self-concepts in high-ability schools than in low-ability schools. The present investigation, a reanalysis of the Youth in Transition data, supported the generality of the earlier findings and demonstrated new theoretical…

This report examines issues in the low achievement of American students in mathematics, with emphasis on the low representation of minority students in this field. American myths about mathematics which emphasize the importance of innate ability rather than hard work are seen as reinforcing racial and gender stereotypes about who can do…

A nationwide survey was conducted to solicit input from a random sample of junior and senior high school students (N=250) and teachers (N=258) regarding violence in the schools. This report presents a summary of survey results under five headings. The first, perceived seriousness of violence, indicated that one in three teachers and one in four…

This collection of original papers synthesizes research on learning disabilities in school-age children, with the theme of connecting learning disabilities research with assessment and practice. The volume begins with a paper by Howard S. Adelman titled "Learning Disabilities: On Interpreting Research Translations." Part I of the…

Student socioeconomic status (SES) and the perceptions of students' and teachers' expectations and attributions of responsibility for learning and their relationships to achievement were studied using linear structural equation modeling. Two models were developed and tested. One model included student expectations and attributions of…