This study investigates the tacit knowledge of prolific educational scholars. These scholars were motivated by a clear set of values that led them to make research a priority in the midst of competing demands and to persist through the more tedious or arduous parts of the research process. The participants learned to manage not only their time but…

Students' engagement and persistence on academic learning tasks often require their use of volitional strategies to protect against distractions and facilitate task completion. In this article we discusses factors that both positively and negatively influence students' ability to regulate their learning activities and the supporting role that…

This article describes our interest in bringing together students' emotions and their motivation for academic work as these play out across the school year. We explore three main issues. First, we consider what some view as an incompatibility between students' use of established work habits (volitional strategies) and real enjoyment of academic…

In this article we argue that to be successful in an academic arena, students must adopt a consistent approach to completing academic work (i.e., a work habit) that includes very carefully interpreting the demands of tasks that are presented to them in schools. To clarify why task interpretation is so critical to student success, and is thus an…

This study examined how one type of student work habit classroom participation is related to a combination of both student factors (math achievement, personal achievement goals, perceptions of classroom goal structures, and teacher support) and features of the classroom context (teachers' instructional practices, average perceptions of classroom…

This article calls attention to developmental and home conditions that affect the development of good work habits through homework. The first section examines recent studies that have alluded to the possibility of developing good work habits through family involvement with secondary school homework. The second section describes two survey studies,…

As the Internet becomes a resource in the classroom, students must learn to glean maximally from that information using skills that enhance their understandings. Students engage in activities involved with Internet searching to the degree that they are skilled and motivated. This article reports on a research study that demonstrates that the model…

This article describes how preservice teachers are afforded opportunities for developing self-regulation as they learn to transition to the other side of the desk in their teacher education program. The article focuses on self-regulated learning as it applies to teachers' work in the classroom and distinguishes volitional work styles and student…

The term self-regulated is used to describe learners who have highly effective learning and work habits. They are successful in and beyond school. This investigation examines whether and how teachers, who are masters at supporting young students' development of self-regulated learning (SRL), can mentor student teachers to design tasks and develop…

Playing the role of constructive critic of articles in this special issue, I adopt the term self-reliance to refer to work habits, work styles, volition, and self-regulated learning. Starting with the belief that developing self-reliance is an important goal of education, I examine key issues that influence the likelihood of reaching this goal. I…

One assumption underlying accountability policies is that results from standardized tests and other sources will be used to make decisions about school and classroom practice. We explore this assumption using data from a longitudinal study of nine high schools nominated as leading practitioners of Continuous Improvement (CI) practices. We use the…

Asserts that teacher education programs should emphasize pedagogical concepts that interweave theory and practice so that preservice teachers learn consistent, unified approaches to teaching, noting that the theory-practice dichotomy lacks the richness of Vygotsky's notion of concepts and recommending that teacher educators strive to teach…

Examined how one teacher educator transformed her curriculum, teaching, and assessment practices to better prepare beginning teachers for diversity by using poetry as a site for exploring one's own culture and sharing the knowledge with others in a literacy methods course. Results highlighted teacher candidates' perceptions of the poetry writing…

Examined the practice of experienced teacher induction leaders and mentor-new teacher pairs to determine what mentors needed to know and be able to do to sharpen new teachers' focus on individual student learning and growth. Results found that mentors were able to focus new teachers on individual student learning, particularly among…

Investigated mathematics teacher practices that contributed to classroom psychological environments on the first days of school. Student and teacher data indicated that teachers' early classroom environments were either: supportive, nonsupportive, or ambiguous. Teachers' motivational and organizational discourse patterns near the end of the year…