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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)

This paper describes the implementation of a reform program in a middle school located in a relatively large school district in southeastern Michigan. First, an integrative theory is presented as a promising framework for reforming middle-grade schools. The theory was developed within a social-cognitive framework that emphasizes the importance of students' interpretation of the goals that are dominant in an achievement setting. School policies and practices influence whether task-focused and/or ability-focused goals are perceived by students. A task focus is associated with optimal motivation and use of effective learning strategies. Unfortunately, a task focus becomes less common, and a focus on relative ability becomes more common when students move to middle-grade schools. To illustrate how this theory can be used in restructuring efforts, experiences of working with a team of leaders in a middle school are described. The school leadership team examined and changed school policies and practices, which promoted a school focus on learning and task mastery, rather than on performance and relative ability. Three tables are included. (Contains 83 references.) (LMI)

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)

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 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)

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)

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)