Whether a success-promoting assessment schema (SPAS) can be designed to have a positive impact on the mathematics learning of failure-experienced students was studied with 200 noncollege-bound students in Israel. Results suggest that the SPAS in conjunction with suitable curricular materials could support student learning by changing student…

A third-grade Mexican-American boy, failing in school, proved to be an apt and avid reader and learner when instructional talk was related to recurrent themes in his daily life. The study suggests that instructional talk can be modified in ways that invite and involve learners' lives, allowing teachers to engage students more fully. (SLD)

Argues that talk is a critical variable in work with struggling readers, contributing to their problem solving and engagement in reading tasks. Speculates about factors that contribute to children's failure: child and family factors, constraints within which teachers and schools operate, and the adversarial nature of the discourse surrounding…

Examines the politically laden nature of several current school reform efforts building on proposals to bolster the economy and promote traditional values. All appear moot when considering the postmodern condition, which deprecates the quest for better science and "best" schooling conditions. Change is nonlinear and apolitical. (Contains 105…

Reports that the introductory level Principles of Accounting classes at Southwest Virginia Community College (SVCC) had high unsuccessful grade rates between 1989 and 1999. Describes a study conducted to determine whether there was a statistical difference in the test scores and GPA of successful versus unsuccessful accounting students. Finds that…

Educational reforms fail because they are usually based on certain myths about training, advocacy, theory, knowledge dissemination, complete restructuring, paradigm shifts, and small-scale studies. These misconceptions result in wasted resources for staff development and dissemination, few professional validation standards, repeat cycles of…

This study reviewed the case records of 41 British children with illnesses induced by a parent, almost always the mother. Four patterns emerged: (1) failure-to-thrive through withholding of food; (2) allegation of allergy and withholding of food; (3) allegation and fabrication of medical symptoms; and (4) active interference by poisoning or…

Examines a failed effort at university-community collaboration among three community-based organizations and the University of South Florida. Explores the dynamics of the interaction, analyzing the roles played by the competing goals and conflicting decision-making procedures of each party. Offers guidelines for universities seeking to establish…

Examined patterns in the relative risk of course failure and recovery from failure over the first four semesters of high school for students in the Chicago, Illinois, school system, showing how failure rates vary as a function of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and prior performance. Results for 27,612 students show that few recover from failure,…

Ex-Education Minister Stephen Byers claimed that "laddish behaviour" was in part responsible for English boys' academic underachievement. Presents and discusses students' responses to Byers' claim. Draws data from the semi-structured interviews of a study with 100 14-16-year-old students. (CMK)

Examines the self-referenced cognitions and feelings of 292 freshmen and the regulatory study activities that were measured by self-report. Reveals that the correlation between self-referenced cognitions and feelings and regulatory activities was very substantial. Fear of failure acted as a detrimental agent on regulatory activities for female…

Describes origin and elements of the standards movement. Reviews research on grade retention and social promotion and concludes that both are failed strategies to improve student achievement. Describes principal's role in meeting standards. Discusses the use of systemic and classroom interventions to help students meet state standards. (Contains…

This study explores multiple relational contexts that promote vulnerability and protection against early pregnancy in a potential risk group of Portuguese adolescents. A comparative analysis was made between two groups of female adolescents of low socioeconomic status: pregnant adolescents (n = 57) and adolescents without a history of pregnancy (n…

The paper draws on a research project on innovative provision in an FE college for excluded and disaffected young people. The college offers places on vocational courses to students who are still of compulsory school age who have been excluded by or have persistently failed to attend or achieve in school. One set of themes to emerge relates to the…

This chapter reviews the literature on survey fatigue and summarizes a research project that indicates that administering multiple surveys in one academic year can significantly suppress response rates in later surveys. (Contains 4 tables.)