This research developed and validated a new measure of undergraduate student cynicism--the Cynical Attitudes Toward College Scale (CATCS). Two empirical studies were aimed at validating the CATCS, showing that it can differentiate student groups exhibiting different kinds and levels of cynicism and illustrating how it can predict students' future…

Using naturalistic inquiry and case study contrasts, finds variation in literacy support available to children. In income-eligible preschools, curricula and pedagogy reflected a limited view of children as learners. Argues that poor children and children of color are socialized to practice a different literacy, one that offers limited experiences…

Effects of just reading, performance reading, and interactional reading-aloud styles on learning were assessed for 117 first graders and 129 third graders. Results reveal that reading-aloud styles produced statistically significant effects on vocabulary acquisition and comprehension and similar results at each grade level. Vocabulary acquisition…

Compares the influence of text difficulty on the growth of poor readers' reading ability over 18 weeks of 1-to-1 tutoring. Significant differences favored tutored children. Between approaches, the only significant difference was oral reading fluency, which favored students who read material at their reading level. Students who began with lower…

Assesses the impact of using the structure strategy as a base for an intergenerational Internet tutoring program in which older adults provided Internet-based tutoring for 5th-grade students. Both tutors and children in the structure strategy group with tutors increased strategy use, total and main idea recall, and self-efficacy. Findings have…

Uses case studies to explore how academic activities and discourse work together in classrooms to shape learning and instruction. Theories of social constructivism predict that the discourse arising before, during, and after activities can explain variability in students' social and academic participation in curriculum events, as can the nature of…

Investigates whether differences exist in perceptions of class activities for students in Grades 3-8 and between genders. In general, middle school students found their classroom activities less frequently interesting and enjoyable, with fewer opportunities for choice. Girls indicated that their class activities were more frequently interesting…

Investigates how individual and situational interest factors contribute to topic interest and text learning. Results reveal that both individual interest variables and specific text titles influenced topic interest. Examination of processes predictive of text learning indicated that topic interest was related to affective response, affect to…

Examines the role of achievement goals, ability, and high school performance in predicting academic success over students' college careers. Results reveal that mastery goals predicted continued interest, whereas performance-approach goals predicted performance. Ability measures and prior high school performance predicted academic performance but…

An integration of conceptions about attributional antecedents with those of attributional consequences is applied to achievement behavior. Results reveal that participants who were induced to make realistic attributions spent more time on tasks for which they had demonstrated high ability than on tasks for which they had demonstrated low ability.…

Examines the reading and mathematics growth of 180 children over four points, spanning 2nd and 3rd grades. Results reveal that the mathematics difficulty-only (MD) group grew at a faster rate in mathematics than did the mathematics difficulty-reading difficulty (MD-RD) group. In reading, the reading difficulty-only and MD-RD groups grew at about…

College students learned about botany through an agent-based multimedia game. Students received either spoken or identical on-screen text explanations. Results reveal that students scored higher on retention, transfer, and program ratings in narration conditions than in text conditions. The media--desktop displays or headmounted displays--did not…

Examines peer affiliations of aggressive children in a sample of 948 students from 4th through 6th grades. The deviant peer group hypothesis was partially supported. Two thirds of aggressive boys and one half of aggressive girls were most likely to be members of nonaggressive groups, whereas popular aggressive boys were most likely to be in…

Examines substance use between 10th and 12th grades in a predominantly African American sample of adolescents from an urban environment. Results indicate that low achievement and motivation, high truancy, and perception of peer substance use are associated with higher 10th grade substance use. Adolescents who perceive negative school attitudes…

Discusses three reasons to revise achievement goal theory: the importance of separating approach from avoidance strivings, the positive potential of performance-approach goals, and identification of the ways performance-approach goals can combine with mastery approach goals to promote optimal motivation. Reviews theory and research to substantiate…