The purpose of this study was to determine if reading aloud to children regularly would have an effect on their motivation and desire to read independently. Subjects, 100 fourth and fifth grade students in Wayne, New Jersey, participated in the study. One fourth and one fifth grade class were read to on a daily basis for 30 minutes. The second…

This study explored the impact of teaching improvement programs on university faculty participants in Mexico, as well as the factors that have affected the success of these programs. A total of 80 professors from the University of Sonora in Hermosillo, Mexico, completed a questionnaire on current teaching practices. The group included 40 former…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature in regard to technology and its effect on learner academic achievement. It explores early assumptions and current academic practices, examines several seminal studies on technology effect, and looks at possible future directions for technology and learning research. The paper offers the…

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure students' attitudes toward multimedia classrooms and to investigate students' attitudes toward learning in multimedia classrooms. The research questions examined: (1) whether the instrument of students' attitudes toward multimedia classrooms valid and reliable; (2)…

To teach responsible behavior means to encourage children to be motivated from the inside and to follow rules that help themselves and others. This guide, part of the "Seeds for Success" series, provides advice for parents for creating in children an inner sense of responsibility by means of nearly 100 simple activity ideas designed for use with…

This guide describes "Parent Power," a program designed to help parents help their children become better readers. The guide makes such suggestions as pre-reading the book before reading it to children; reading about a variety of subjects; and showing children the importance of reading by parents reading and modeling the reading process…

Research suggests that teacher expectations can predict changes in student achievement and behavior. This Digest discusses the Pygmalion effect, or the idea that one's expectations about a person can eventually lead that person to behave and achieve in ways that conform to those expectations. Many teachers believe that they can judge ahead of time…

A longitudinal phenomenographic investigation was conducted into a cultural change process at a secondary school. This change process positively influenced senior students' academic motivation, cognition, and achievement. The study involved a retrospective examination of the components of the change process and a specific investigation of how…

Age, gender, cultural, and socioeconomic differences in relations between middle school students' motivational goal orientations, their cognitive and metacognitive strategies, and their academic achievement in a variety of curriculum domains were studied. Studies to date typically have used either cognitive or motivational variables to account for…

Studies indicate that many teachers leave the profession within the first 5 years, and that often the most highly qualified and skilled teachers are the most likely to leave. Student-teachers and beginning teachers tend to have idealized aspirations for their teaching. However, the reality of secondary schools is that myriad forces will undermine…

This issue of "Progressions" shares the lessons learned by the Lilly Endowment's Education Division from partnerships with educators, librarians, parents, and community activists. The articles look at individual components of the endowment's overall plan to promote reading among youngsters in grades five through nine, and to introduce…

An ethnographic study examined instructor uses of control, immediacy, and affinity-seeking behaviors in a large college lecture class. A class of 140 college sophomores was observed for 10 weeks, in an attempt to understand in a situational and non-quantitative manner, what instructor behaviors motivate students toward cognitive and affective…

Findings of a study that examined the implementation of a teacher incentives initiative in four countries--Haiti, Liberia, Somalia, and Yemen--are presented in this paper. The countries are participating in a 10-year initiative founded in 1984, Improving the Efficiency of Educational Systems (IEES). Methodology involved interviews with…

A practicum was designed to motivate children to read and to read for pleasure. Since reading is considered an important part of the daily curriculum of an elementary school and spills over into every discipline taught, reading appears to be a key to success in all curriculum areas. An in-class model for delivering remedial assistance was used…

Many studies of the reasons people select teaching as a career have used quantitative instruments featuring a checklist of reasons one might enter teaching to which subjects respond using a checklist or a continuously scaled Likert format. In this study, results of an effort to establish the construct validity of such an instrument are reported. A…