Judith L Meece

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | UNC · School of Education

Despite the large contingent of students living in rural areas, existing research on the processes that precede the college enrollment of rural adolescents is limited. With a particular focus on gender, this study investigated rural adolescents’ perceptions of family and place and how these perceptions related to their educational aspirations and s...

The purpose of this study was to explore the postsecondary educational and occupational expectations of work-bound rural youth. Three groups of work-bound youth were identified (work-bound, work-bound with future educational plans, and work-bound but unsure/undecided about postsecondary education), and each group was compared to college-bound rural...

This study investigated patterns of college attendance using data from a nationwide and contemporary sample of 2,112 rural youth. We found that more than half of rural youth attended two-year institutions at some point during their college career and about a fourth initially enrolled in a two-year college before enrolling in a four-year college. Re...

p>The timing of transitions into adulthood has critical implications for early adulthood development, yet few research studies on this topic exist, particularly involving rural youth. We utilized a nationwide sample of geographically diverse rural youth from 34 rural locations in the United States to investigate adolescents’ expected transitions in...

The primary purpose of this study was to examine differences in the school characteristics and experiences of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American youth in rural high schools as well as their relation to educational aspirations. We also investigated the characteristics and experiences of students and their families as these are im...

Recent research on the motivation and achievement patterns of girls and boys has called attention to several significant trends. Notable developments, such as the favoring of girls on many reading-focused assessments and a plethora of new studies on boys, appear both in the United States and internationally. This article covers several prominent ge...

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, this study documented college attendance patterns of rural youth in terms of the selectivity of first postsecondary institution of attendance, the timing of transition to postsecondary education, and the continuity of enrollment. The study also examined how these college attendance...

Economic, occupational, and social shifts in rural economies have influenced nuanced changes in the educational and occupational aspirations of rural adolescent women and men. However, there is limited contemporary research that examines the aspirations of rural adolescents at the beginning of the 21st century. Drawing on a sample of 8,756 rural ad...

Economic, occupational, and social shifts in rural economies have influenced nuanced changes in the educational and occupational aspirations of rural adolescent women and men. However, there is limited contemporary research that examines the aspirations of rural adolescents at the beginning of the 21st century. Drawing on a sample of 8,756 rural ad...

An extended body of research has documented the outmigration of the "best and brightest" youth from rural areas. Some of this scholarship has suggested that rural schools and educators may be complicit in this process as they devote extra attention and resources to the highest achieving students-those most likely to leave their rural communities af...

Nearly nine million students attend public schools in rural areas but limited research has examined the aspirations of rural youth in the early years of the 21st century. This study presents a contemporary profile of rural youth’s educational and vocational aspirations and examines the educational alignment of reported aspirations. Using multinomia...

A national sample of students with disabilities and their nondisabled peers in rural high schools responded to a survey about their postsecondary plans and how they were preparing for them. The study included 3,318 11th- and 12th-grade students from 73 randomly selected schools. Findings indicate that 78.5% of students with disabilities and 90.7% o...

Self-efficacy is defined as a person's beliefs in his or her own abilities to successfully complete a task and has been shown to influence student motivation and academic behaviors. More specifically, anatomical self-efficacy is defined as an individual's judgment of his or her ability to successfully complete tasks related to the anatomy curriculu...

A bstract Drawing on a recent national survey of rural high school students, this study investigated the relationship between social capital and educational aspirations of rural youth. Results showed that various process features of family and school social capital were important for predicting rural youths' educational aspirations beyond sociodemo...

Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study, this study revisited rural-nonrural disparities in educational attainment by considering a comprehensive set of factors that constrain and support youth's college enrollment and degree completion. Results showed that rural students were more advantaged in community social resources compar...

Using the National Education Longitudinal Study, this study explored various factors that predicted bachelor’s degree attainment among rural youth attending a four-year institution. Results showed that Hispanic origin, family income, parental educational expectations, the rigor of the high school curriculum, timing and intensity of college enroll...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of several individual and contextual difference factors to the perceived educational barriers of rural youth. Data were from a broader national investigation of students’ postsecondary aspirations and preparation in rural high schools across the United States. The sample involved more than 7,000...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of several individual and contextual difference factors to the perceived educational barriers of rural youth. Data were from a broader national investigation of students' postsecondary aspirations and preparation in rural high schools across the United States. The sample involved more than 7,000...

r: This study examined social network centrality (i.e., social salience, peer group linkages) and peer affliations in 20 rural high schools across the United States. The total sample consisted of 1,672 students in Grades 9 to 12, including 164 students with disabilities (69 females). In com-parison to their peers without disabilities, students with...

Though the poverty encountered by many rural youth encompasses numerous developmental challenges and substantially increases the chances for educational problems, the school context is central to promoting and constraining their development. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of school characteristics and schoo...

Adolescents who grow-up in rural areas often experience a tension between their attachment to the rural lifestyle afforded by their home community and a competing desire to gain educational, social, and occupational experiences that are only available in metropolitan areas. While these diverging pressures are well-documented, there is little inform...

Using data from a national study of rural high school youth, the authors examined where students go to receive information about their futures and which sources are most helpful. Results indicated that students in rural and low‐income schools were more likely to report going to teachers and found teachers to be most helpful compared with students i...

This study examined the school adjustment of adolescents with disabilities and their nondisabled peers in a national sample of rural high school students. The total sample consisted of 7,376 students: 6,704 nondisabled students, 70 students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), 512 students with learning disabilities (LD), and 90 students...

This study examined the school perceptions and educational aspirations of 6,599 rural high school students, a sample that included 428 students with learning disabilities (LD). Regardless of disability status, rural high school students who had negative perceptions of school had less well-defined postsecondary educational plans and less often aspir...

This study involved a pilot examination of the impact of the Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Strengths (SEALS) model on the 6th grade academic and social context following the transition to middle school. Two middle schools from a high poverty Appalachian school district were randomly assigned to the intervention and control conditi...

This study reports the effectiveness of a developmentally based, teacher professional development intervention aimed at improving early adolescent school adjustment. Teachers in rural schools in a Northern Plains state took part in professional development activities across a year. Following a randomized control trial design, Native American and Wh...

As part of a research project examining relationships between instructional practices and student cognitive and social outcomes in middle-school mathematics classes, external observers and students reported perceptions of teachers’ instructional practices. The extent to which students in classrooms identified by external raters as reform-oriented a...

The role of gender in shaping achievement motivation has a long history in psychological and educational research. In this review, gender differences in motivation are examined using four contemporary theories of achievement motivation, including attribution, expectancy-value, self-efficacy, and achievement goal perspectives. Across all theories, f...

Over the past 25 years, achievement goal theory has emerged as one of the most prominent theories of achievement motivation. This chapter uses an achievement goal framework to examine the influence of classroom and school environments on students' academic motivation and achievement. Considerable evidence suggests that elementary and secondary stud...

The present study used an achievement goal framework to examine the utility of learner centered teaching practices for improving the academic engagement and achievement of adolescents (using a national sample of n=4615 students). Analyses revealed significant relations among measures of achievement goals, self-efficacy, and strategy use. Hierarchic...

This article draws on a goal perspective of motivation to examine the use of the Learned-Centered Psychological Principles (LCPs) for improving the academic engagement and learning of middle school students. Using survey data from 2,200 middle school students from diverse communities across the United States, the findings indicate many important mo...

The authors examined the temporal stability of elementary school students' (N = 432) motivation goals (task-mastery, performance, and work-avoidant) for literacy activities in the classroom. Task-specific assessments of students' goals were collected in the fall and spring of Grades 3, 4, and 5. Stability coefficients indicated a reasonable degree...

The current reform movement in science education promotes standards-based teaching, including the use of inquiry, problem solving, and open-ended questioning, to improve student achievement. This study examines the influence of standards-based teaching practices on the achievement of urban, African-American, middle school science students. Science...

In this study we evaluated 24 third-grade students' preferences for roading and writing tasks. Tasks were;identified according to challenge level based on the amount of required writing, whether students studied collaboratively, and duration. Students gave performance judgments and value ratings for 2 high- and 2 low-challenge tasks and explained t...

An achievement goal framework was used to examine changes in students' motivation for reading and writing in the late elementary years and to evaluate a classroom intervention project. The longitudinal study involved 431 students in Grades 3 to 5. Results showed significant declines in task-mastery and performance goals within the school year and a...

The authors examined how different reading and language arts assignments influenced 3rd-grade students' motivational goals, strategy use, and achievement affect, that is, anxiety and self-concept. Participants included 8 teachers and 187 students from 1 suburban school. During weekly planning sessions, the teachers modified their reading and langua...

This guide provides a general overview of research on student motivation in classroom and school settings and a guide to help teachers and school teams to analyze the sources of students motivational problems and consider changes that will improve motivation. Chapter 1 defines motivation, considers the extent of the motivation problem, and summariz...

This study explored Ridley and Novak's (1983) hypothesis that gender differences in science achievement are due to differences in rote and meaningful learning modes. To test this hypothesis, we examined gender differences in fifth- and sixth-grade students' (N = 213) self-reports of confidence, motivation goals (task mastery, ego, and work avoidanc...

Cluster analysis procedures were used to classify 257 5th- and 6th-grade students on basis of their mastery, ego, and work-avoidant goal orientations. The results identified 3 clusters of students with different achievement profiles in science. Students who exhibited a pattern in which mastery goals were stronger than the other 2 goals, showed the...

We used structural modeling procedures to assess the influence of past math grades, math ability perceptions, performance expectancies, and value perceptions on the level of math anxiety reported in a sample of 7th- through 9th-grade students ( N = 250). A second set of analyses examined the relative influence of these performance, self-perception,...

We used structural equation analysis to test the validity of a goal mediational model for conceptualizing the influence of individual and situational variables on students' cognitive engagement in science activities. Fifth- and sixth-grade students ( N = 275) from 10 classrooms completed a set of questionnaires designed to assess their goal orienta...

We used structural equation analysis to test the validity of a goal mediational model for conceptualizing the influence of individual and situational variables on students' cognitive engagement in science activities. Fifth- and sixth-grade students (N = 275) from 10 classrooms completed a set of questionnaires designed to assess their goal orientat...

We assessed math anxiety in 6th- through 12th-grade children ( N = 564) as part of a comprehensive longitudinal investigation of children's beliefs, attitudes, and values concerning mathematics. Confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for two components of math anxiety, a negative affective reactions component and a cognitive component. The...

194 fourth through sixth graders from 8 classes participated in this study. 4 science lessons that varied with respect to level of cognitive content, procedural complexity, and social organization were observed in each room. After each of the lessons, students responded to questionnaires designed to measure task involvement and use of cognitive str...

Despite efforts in recent years to eliminate sex inequities in education, schools continue to provide numerous inputs into the child's gender stereotyping system.

200 students in Grades 8–10 were given the following attitudinal measures regarding both math and English: self-concept of ability, subjective task value, perceived task difficulty, and continuing motivation. In a follow-up, Ss" math course enrollment decisions were assessed each year through high school. 142 of the Ss also were exposed to 2 sets o...

This investigation assessed the hypothesis that girls are more likely to be learned helpless in math than boys. Students in grades 5 through 11 completed questionnaires assessing their causal attributions for success and failure in mathematics, their self-concepts of math ability, and their expectations for both current and future success in math....

Competence in mathematics has long been identified as a critical skill directly related to educational and occupational choices. Yet compared with men, fewer women elect to take advanced level mathematics courses and to enter mathematically-oriented careers. The present article summarizes the common explanations of this problem and then integrates...

The social outcomes of two mainstreaming programs were compared for 24 first through third grade handicapped children. Ss were randomly assigned to one of two placements: a traditional resource room or an adaptive educational program. Placement differed in the amount of time students spent in an integrated setting, the instructional practices, and...

Traducción de: Child and adolescent development for educators Incluye bibliografía e índice