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This multi-method study explored how children conceptualize emergent leadership in collaborative learning groups, and whether emergent leadership was associated with student achievement motivation. Fourth and fifth grade students participated in a collaborative math activity. After the group math task, 294 students were surveyed on their achievement orientation and emergence of leadership. Within their learning groups, a subset of 18 students was individually interviewed. The interview data revealed that elementary school- aged children are aware of the emergence of leadership in collaborative learning groups, describing leadership behaviors in two domains: task-focused and relationship-focused. The survey data revealed that while task-focused leadership was only associated with performance goal orientations. Relationships-focused leadership was associated with both mastery and performance goals, though the association was stronger with mastery goals. Taken together, this study shows the importance of including emergent leadership in the study of collaborative learning groups. (Contains 39 references.) (Author)

Years ago the prevailing assumption was that there was something wrong with "unmotivated" minority children, but gradually educators have come to realize that there may be something wrong with the schools, and that it is possible to do something to engage children in learning. Theories of motivation are shifting from thinking about motivation as an internal disposition that differentiates individuals to thinking of motivation in context, with an increasing recognition of the role of purpose in determining how and whether a person invests in a task. The recognition of goals as constructions in context, and the acknowledgment that school policies and practices are critical sources for goal definition lead to goal theory in a cultural perspective. Research on school environments and student goals have indicated that school environments, and possibly psychological environments in general, that stress task goals minimize the negative effects that may be associated with social diversity. Ability goal stresses tend to enhance the negative effects. The principle is that as one puts the focus on self, including one's ethnic and cultural identity, bad things may happen, but putting the focus on the task tends to reduce the role that perceptions of self, over which the teacher has little control, may play in the learning process. The operative advice that emerges is to put the focus on the culture of the school and not the culture of the child. Changing focus on self to focus on task needs and deserves cross-cultural testing, but it seems promising for creating optimum school cultures for children of diverse sociocultural backgrounds. (Contains 2 tables and 51 references.) (SLD)

In response to widespread perceptions about school failure and student underachievement, this paper proposes that the culture of the nation's schools must be transformed to improve student motivation and achievement. The problem of schools is rooted in the core beliefs held by staff, students, and school leaders about the purposes, goals, and personal incentives associated with schooling. Goal theory research has underscored the importance of perceptions of purpose in determining the nature and quality of investment in a task. Teaching, schooling, and learning may be defined as task-focused, or concerned with the intrinsic worth of doing the task for its own sake; and as ability-focused, or using the task as a sorting mechanism to demonstrate who has ability. Adopting either goal has important consequences for behavior generally and for motivation and learning in particular. Students adopting a task-focused definition tend to view a task more positively, showing a continued interest even after the formal instruction is completed, and are likely to be academically venturesome, choose challenging activities, and adopt deep-processing strategies. In contrast, students who adopt an ability focus tend to use surface-level strategies, such as memorization and rehearsal, and avoid mistakes and failures. Preliminary findings and conclusions are discussed. (Contains 21 references). (MLH)

This paper focuses on the role of the school leader as motivator. In particular, attention is given to what those in school leadership roles can do to enhance the personal investment of students in learning. A conceptual model is outlined which suggests that school leaders affect not only the degree, but also the quality of student motivation by influencing the "psychological environment" of the school. A program of research is described that explicates that relationship and demonstrates the validity and utility of the model. Special attention is given to the definition of "psychological environment" and to specifying its antecedents and consequences. Field studies at both the elementary and middle school levels are described to illustrate how leaders can work on the school environment in a way that will influence student motivation. Building especially on the preliminary results of these field studies, specific implications for practice are discussed. (Contains 69 references.) (Author)

The effects of the school psychological environment on student motivation and the indirect effects of school leadership on student motivation are examined in this report. Path analysis of a comprehensive data set of over 16,000 fourth-, sixth-, eighth-, and tenth-grade students from 880 public schools was used to develop a causal model based on a psychometric approach. The model identifies a causal chain of factors leading from school goal stresses through motivation to achievement for grades 6, 8, and 10. Findings point to the importance of the school psychological environment at the tenth-grade level, especially for nonwhite students, the significance of ethnicity in motivation, and the crucial role of the family at the fourth-grade level. A conclusion is that school leaders can and do influence the psychological environment of their schools. Three figures and six tables are included. (39 references) (LMI)

After defining school culture in terms of Organizational Culture, after Maehr and Braskamp (1986), this document presents three related studies, each based on data from a 1989 statewide assessment effort by the University of Illinois and the Illinois State Board of Education. The studies explore the relationship between school culture, motivation, and achievement. The first uses data collected from 9,693 high school juniors and examines school characteristics and family background in relationship to student motivation and academic achievement in specific subjects. The second study, drawn from the responses of 4,002 10th-grade students, explores the viability of the causal model in which school culture affects motivation, which, in turn, affects achievement. Also discussed are the influence of peer and family achievement pressure on motivation and achievement. The third study uses the same database as the second and examines the relative influence of the five dimensions of school culture--namely, accomplishment, power, recognition, affiliation, and overall sense of purpose--on student motivation. Lastly, the degree to which student ethnicity, enrollment orientation, and education of parents influence the effect the different facets of school culture have on motivation is discussed. Included are 3 figures and 14 tables. (66 references) (CLA)

Recent school effectiveness research has underscored the importance of teachers' personal investment and commitment--not just to education, but to the particular mission operating in their own school setting. There is growing evidence that aspects of the school organization are related to both job satisfaction and commitment. Employing path analysis techniques with a sample of 101 teachers from four schools in the Champaign, Illinois, area, the study summarized in this paper tests a causal model linking leadership behavior to school culture to teacher job satisfaction and commitment causal model. Results provides support for the model. A school culture that stresses accomplishment and recognition is likely to elicit job satisfaction and commitment, whereas a culture emphasizing affiliation is of lesser significance. Power has a negative influence on these orientations. The perception of an organizational emphasis on accomplishment and recognition is associated with specific types of action taken by principals. Surprisingly, the principal's active involvement in supervising instruction and monitoring student progress does not emerge as an important factor. Further research is needed to substantiate these findings. (31 references) (MLH)

Recent research on motivation and education has focused on the psychological environment of the classroom. Special consideration has been given to perceived stresses on goals, purposes, and meanings of learning activities and the relationships of these to motivation and achievement. The study summarized in this paper builds on this work, especially on the conceptualization of a psychological environment. Taking advantage of an extensive student achievement study conducted in association with a statewide assessment program, researchers surveyed over 16,000 students in 4 different grade levels in 820 Illinois schools regarding perceptions of school goal stresses ("school culture"). Their responses were considered in relationship to measures of motivation and achievement, using causal modeling techniques. Results generally provided support for a causal model that links school culture to motivation and motivation to achievement, though the relative importance of school culture varied at different school levels. Additionally, the five culture dimensions (accomplishment, power, recognition, affiliation, and overall sense of school mission) varied in importance as predictors of motivation. (32 references) (Author/MLH)

Recent research has indicated that a learning setting's "psychological environment" can make a difference in student achievement and motivation. This has been found to be true in the case of smaller learning settings, such as the classroom. Recently, research on school culture has suggested that schools do indeed differ in the kind of learning environment they provide. The present paper advances this research one step further. An extensive study of school achievement (in conjunction with a statewide assessment program) involving over 16,000 students in 820 Illinois schools was conducted. Primary variables considered in this report are the school's psychological environment or "culture," student ethnic background, and motivation. Results showed that school culture was more important for minority than white students, so far as facilitating motivation was concerned, and that one school environment may not fit all equally well. Whereas a stress on accomplishment is likely to be important to Whites, Asian students seem especially susceptible to isolation and could benefit from a collegial school environment. If these results are valid, educators are faced with the problem of creating different school cultures within the same general school context. More research is needed on school culture influences. (21 references) (Author/MLH)

In the last two decades, goal orientation theory has become an important perspective in the field of achievement motivation, and particularly in academic motivation. However, as research in the theory has proliferated, the use of multiple methods to assess goal orientations seems to have contributed to theoretical vagueness, especially with regard to the origin, development, and stability of these orientations. This review article starts with a critique of methods used in goal orientation research. The article then suggests six possible theoretical models of goal orientations that seem to be suggested by the literature, including the perspectives of goal orientations as emerging from: situation-schemas, self-schemas, self-prime, needs, values, and situated meaning-making processes. The article concludes with pointing to convergent findings, implications for practice, and persisting as well as emerging issues for future research.

Noting that adolescents' academic achievement depends, to a large degree, on adolescents' motivation, this chapter takes an achievement goal theory perspective to show how the manner in which adolescents adopt differing achievement goal orientations provides a framework for understanding the processes that contribute to their adoption of adaptive motivational orientations. This chapter begins with a summary of developments in the study of motivation over the past 20 years, focusing on the emergence of achievement goal theory and tracing the relationship between goal orientations and processes such as the use of effective and ineffective learning strategies, adoption of positive and negative attitudes toward school and learning, and engagement in cooperative and disruptive behavior. In particular, the chapter shows how adoption of mastery or performance goals may be viewed as aspects of the process of self-reconstruction in which adolescents engage, serving the development of their personal interests, establishing the basis of their self-worth, and forming desirable social relationships. Next, the chapter presents a model that situates students' motivational orientations in the sociocultural context of their schools, and discusses its implications to theory, research, and educational practices. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of the model for understanding motivation in adolescence. (Contains 168 references.) (KB)

A meta-analysis of science education literature was undertaken to determine the magnitude and direction of sex differences in school age boys'/girls' motivational orientations and science achievement. A comprehensive review of journal articles/reports, large-scale national/international studies, and standardized testing procedures appearing in the literature since 1965 provided 207 comparisons for motivation and 406 comparisons for science achievement. Results indicate that sex differences in motivation and achievement are smaller than generally assumed, but they do occur, and, with few exceptions, tend to favor males. On the whole, sex differences were larger on achievement measures than on motivation measures. In addition, sex differences appear to be greater in the United States than in other countries and are greater for children in upper than in lower socio-economic status levels. While girls verbally supported the notion that science is "not just for boys," boys were more inclined to engage in science-related activities. Therewith, it appears that engaging in science-related activities and other extra-school experiences may play a critical role in creating sex differences. Nevertheless, school intervention should be fostered, such intervention focusing on science instruction during the pre-adolescent period, the state during which sex differences in orientation and science achievement seem to change. (Author/JN)

Achievement assessment has recently become an issue of major public concern. Concurrent with demands which have placed increased reliance on measurement and assessment have been criticisms of present testing practices. The effects of sociocultural and motivation variables on achievement patterns of 7,000 Illinois school children were investigated. Achievement, conceptualized as the students' sense of competence (evaluation anxiety and achievement attributions) and motivation goals, was assessed through the use of standardized testing instruments. Results indicated that: (1) sociocultural background directly affects motivation and performance; (2) motivational effects serve to reinforce or enhance the effects of sociocultural background on performance; and (3) both objective performance and the interpretation of that performance affect motivation. (Author/HLM)

A summary is presented of the literature on motivation relating to achievement in the classroom. Special attention is given to how values, ideology, and various cultural patterns may serve to enhance motivation to achieve in the classroom. In considering what determines motivation and personal investment in educational pursuits, the following factors are discussed: (1) individual personality; (2) teacher expectations; (3) dimensions of academic tasks; (4) sociocultural expectancies; and (5) family background and aspirations. Recent research on motivation and achievement provides discussion on the increasing emphasis being placed on judgments that the individual makes in relationship to perceived situations. Four components that figure prominently in motivation are discussed: (1) self-identity; (2) perceived autonomy and responsibility; (3) sense of direction; and (4) sense of competence. In the final section, certain conclusions are identified that may be useful in planning policy changes to improve schooling. (JD)

The recent concern with industrial achievement has reinforced a growing tendency to be concerned with educational achievement. This study, the first in a series, examined whether or not student motivation made a unique contribution to achievement that could be separated from other factors known or thought to contribute to student achievement such as various characteristics of the school. This study used data gathered by the Illinois State Board of Education and the University of Illinois in 1970 and 1981. High school juniors attending 120 schools were the subjects; the 1981 sample consisted of 9,693 students. Academic achievement, school context, family context, and student motivation were measured. Results suggest that variables composing the school context measure were least predictive of achievement variance and student motivation was the most predictive. Overall the expectation variable was the most predictive across all achievement domains. Family context cluster variables were important to school achievement across all subject areas. The results of this research illustrate the vital and critical role played by motivation in determining school achievement. (ABL)

Early research on motivation, especially achievement motivation, was based on a dynamic model which focused on enduring affective dispositions growing out of early childhood experiences. Cognitive theory provided a way to reconceptualize achievement motivation in terms of achievement-related perceptions, thoughts, and meanings, and a framework for beginning to examine how changing circumstances possibly correlated with age might modify whatever turned out to be defined as achievement motivation. A research project was developed which focused heavily on the development of a workable approach to research in this area. It examined how age was related to meanings and in turn to personal investment. Results from preliminary data on approximately 3,000 adults in white-collar occupations seem to suggest that modest changes in personal incentives may occur with age and that goal directedness may vary with age. The results suggest that job satisfaction tends to increase with age, as does organizational commitment. The research found little evidence of age-related changes in achievement motivation. Motivational patterns appear to be minimally related to age during the working ages of 20 to 70 years of age. (NB)

This review proposes that a better understanding of motivation and achievement in schools can be developed if social goals are examined along with task and ability goals. Hypotheses are proposed about the antecedents and consequences of social goals, and areas for future research are outlined. (SLD)

This review examines recent developments in research on social-cognitive theories of motivation during adolescence and the ways in which such research can be applied to the reform of middle grade schools. Results suggest that effective reform must consider the multiple contexts in which students interact. (SLD)

School reform demands rethinking of schooling goals, culture, and leadership. Research evidence shows that "task" goals (stressing learning for its own sake) are preferable to "ability" goals (stressing learning as means to an end). School policies and practices must be redefined according to the learning task, degree of student autonomy, evaluation and resource distribution, grouping models, and time management. (MLH)

In a comprehensive review of the literature containing comparisons between boys and girls on motivation and/or achievement in science, findings were transformed into a common metric and analyzed. It was found that sex differences in both motivation and achievement are smaller than is generally assumed, but they do occur. (Author/BW)