Schools are institutions in which students' course taking creates series of linked learning opportunities continually shaped by not only curricular structures but demographic and academic backgrounds. In contrast to a seven-step normative course sequence reflecting the conventional hierarchical structure of mathematics, analysis of more than…

The purpose of this study is to build on an emergent research base for academic optimism by testing the construct and its relationship to student achievement and organizational citizenship behaviors in schools in a sample of public high schools. All participants in this study were full-time teachers, guidance counselors, and other full-time…