This chapter examines self-regulated learning in the context of achievement goal theory. It deals with a brief overview of achievement goal research and applications of this research to classroom learning. Goal conceptions of motivation focus on the purposes of students’ achievement behavior. Self-efficacy research has examined the influence of goal setting on students’ achievement behavior. Self-regulated learning refers to the processes by which students exercise control over their thinking, affect, and behavior as they acquire knowledge and skills. A number of studies have clearly demonstrated that students show high levels of self-regulated learning and task engagement when they are oriented toward learning or mastery goals. Normative and public forms of evaluation can elicit an ego goal orientation and reduce students’ interest in learning, even if the student receives positive feedback. Efforts to modify students’ academic motivation and achievement behavior in the classroom will require fundamental changes in how learning is currently defined and assessed in schools.

This study focused on academic and social correlates of collaborator preferences of African American and White sixth-graders in mathematics classrooms in fall and spring. Students' appraisals of emotional risk were examined as a moderator. Nomination procedures identified collaborator preferences, group affiliations, and social centrality; students self-reported engagement and emotional risk; school records provided achievement scores. Results indicated students preferred group affiliates, but not exclusively, as collaborators. Students with greater centrality, achievement, and engagement received more nominations. In the fall, high achievers received more nominations when appraisals of risk were high; whereas, engaged students whose appraisals of risk were low received more nominations. Results are interpreted in relation to coordinating social and academic factors in peer collaboration.

Achievement motivation theories are used to understand gender discrepancies in motivation across various academic domains. Early on in the field of motivation research, researchers commonly used an attribution framework to study achievement-related outcomes among men and women. Self-efficacy theory and a revised expectancy-value theory of achievement-related choices dominate the current literature on gender differences and achievement motivation. Current trends in research on gender and academic motivation include the shifting and expanding of theoretical frameworks, a new focus on the motivation and achievement of male students, and the use of advanced methodologies and cross-national data to conduct comparative research on gender and patterns of motivation.

Abstract:Students from rural communities face significant challenges due to low academic preparation, geographic isolation, and poor socioeconomic conditions (Byun, Meece, & Irvin, 2012). These challenges have the potential to hinder or deter rural students from entering four-year colleges or universities. With over nine million students living in rural communities or attending rural high schools (Johnson, Showalter, Klein, & Lester, 2014), research characterizing their college attainment process is necessary to better meet the needs of rurals students aspiring to attend college. Using focus group interviews situated in Coleman's (1988) social capital theory, we examined the perspectives and experiences of 10 high-achieving students who attend a rural high school. Throughout the interviews, students expressed fears, worries, and concerns regarding their ability to attend and be successful in college. Additionally, the students reported having limited access to resources needed for attending and completing college. Study findings have important implications for college access preparation, programming, and research.

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 subsequent college enrollment using a nationwide sample of rural adolescents (N = 3456; 52.5% female). Female adolescents reported higher academic achievement, educational aspirations, parental expectations, and family responsibility and enrolled in two-year and four-year institutions at greater rates compared to male adolescents, who reported significantly higher rural identity and perceptions of job opportunities in the rural community. Utilizing a multiple group moderated mediation approach, the results provided evidence that adolescents’ increased perceptions of their parents’ educational expectations were associated with increased educational aspirations and college enrollment and that adolescents’ increased perceptions of job opportunities in their rural community were associated with decreased educational aspirations. In addition, the results showed that gender moderated the relation between perceptions of job opportunities in the rural community and postsecondary enrollment. These findings highlight how the developmental resources of family and place relate to adolescents’ educational aspirations and subsequent postsecondary enrollment.

This study investigated patterns of college attendance using data from a nationwide and contemporary sample of 2112 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. Results also revealed that parental education, college preparatory track and preparation experiences, and teacher expectations predicted students’ college attendance patterns. Our findings point to the importance of two-year colleges and highlight the influence of family characteristics and students’ schooling experiences in the postsecondary trajectories of rural youth.

This qualitative study describes the experiences of 16 successful first-generation college students (FGCS) utilizing a theoretical lens, informed significantly by bioecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), which guided our qualitative analyses of interview transcripts to examine the activities, roles, and relationships of these students as they approached the finish line of college graduation. We responded to an omission in the literature on FGCS experiences: although researchers have examined the struggles of first-generation and low-income students, few studies have focused on the experiences of successful students. We offer a developmental paradigm for appreciating undergraduate retention. Recommendations from this investigation support the development and implementation of proactive retention and degree-completion strategies from a strengths-based perspective.

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 into adulthood. The vast majority of rural men and women planned to get married and become parents, however, women expected earlier transition times into adulthood. Results also indicated a number of individual, family, and community variables related to the expectation of marriage and parenthood and the expected timing of marriage and parenthood. Notably, we found that whereas women were generally more likely than men to plan to get married and become a parent, this observed gender gap decreased as educational aspirations increased.

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 given that these are important in rural youths’ preparation for the transition to adulthood. Data were from the Rural High School Aspirations Study, which collected surveys from 6,150 youth across the country attending a high school designated as rural or small town during the 2007–2008 school year. Descriptive analyses demonstrated there were differences in the school characteristics and experiences of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American youth in rural areas. Regression analyses also showed variations in the predictors of educational aspirations across different racial/ethnic groups of students attending rural high schools. The results demonstrate that there are differences in the school characteristics and experiences as well as their relation to educational aspirations that may have important implications as African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American youth in rural high schools prepare for the transition to adulthood. The discussion includes additional findings, implications, limitations, and directions for future research.

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 gender-related trends in motivation research on both national and international levels. Specifically, the article discusses (1) the increased focus on boys' motivation and achievement, (2) differences in motivation and achievement within gender, (3) cross-national trends in gender-related motivation and achievement patterns, and (4) the expanding of existing theoretical motivation frameworks.

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 patterns among rural students differed from those among their non-rural counterparts and which factors explained these rural/nonrural differences. Results showed that rural youth were less likely than their nonrural counterparts to attend a selective institution. In addition, rural youth were more likely to delay entry to postsecondary education, compared to their urban counterparts. Finally, rural students were less likely than their urban counterparts to be continuously enrolled in college. Much of these rural/nonrural disparities in college attendance patterns were explained by rural/nonrural differences in socioeconomic status and high school preparation. Policy implications, limitations of the study, and future research directions are also discussed.

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 adolescents in the United States, we examine how familial, geographic, and economic variables influence gender-related differences in educational and occupational aspirations. Findings revealed significant gender differences, favoring girls, in youth's educational aspirations, occupational aspirations, and aspirations for nontraditional careers. Results highlight the importance of contextual variables such as parental expectations, family income, and motivation variables in predicting gender-related aspirations of rural youth.

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 after high school. Using data from a national multimethod study, we find mixed support for this hypothesis. To the contrary, our data suggest that the highest-achieving rural students are among those with the greatest community attachment, and that student perceptions of local economic conditions are far more influential in shaping postsecondary residential aspirations than the advice of educators, or the poverty level of the school.

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 multinomial regression procedures, the study also examines the role of multiple contexts (family, individual, and school) in explaining variations in rural youth's aspirations. The results indicated a majority of rural youth wanted to obtain a two- or four-year college degree, and they aspired to adulthood occupations requiring college degrees. More than half of the sample reported misaligned educational and vocational aspirations and patterns of alignment were predicted by family income, student background, geographic isolation, and school-related experiences. The results highlight the need for additional research on high school programs to prepare rural youth for the transition to adulthood.

This book's two primary objectives are to present theory and research on the role of learners' achievement-related perceptions in educational contexts and to discuss the implications of this research for educational practices. Although contributors share the view that students' perceptions exert important effects in achievement settings, they differ in diverse ways including their theoretical orientation, their choice of research methodology, the perceptions they believe are of primary importance, and the antecedents and consequences of these perceptions. They discuss the current status of their ideas and provide a forward look at research and practice.