Introduction to Motivation at School: Interventions That Work

This article provides an introduction and overview to this special issue of Educational Psychologist, titled Promoting Motivation at School: Interventions That Work. This issue is devoted to the topic of interventions that emphasize different aspects of motivation for enhancing students' academic and social outcomes in school. The interventions range from programs focused on individual students to large-scale school reform. The programs described in this issue emphasize both students' academic motivation and their social motivation and focus on a variety of important achievement outcomes. Authors also discuss the effectiveness of various interventions for ethnic minority children. The importance of attending to social aspects of motivation in these kinds of interventions is a major theme of this special issue. Brief overviews of each article are provided.     

Motivational Interventions That Work: Themes and Remaining Issues

We highlight major themes emerging from the articles in this special issue. These themes include (a) the importance of theoretical frameworks and clearly defined constructs for guiding the development of interventions, (b) a consideration of intervention effects on ethnic minority children, (c) the importance of positive social interactions and relationships among teachers and peers in school as a foundation for students' adjustment to and achievement in school, (d) the need for intervention programs to use strong research designs and measures to test their effectiveness, and (e) the importance of considering developmental issues when designing interventions. Issues with respect to each theme are discussed.     

A SHORT-FORM MEASURE OF THE EXPANDED SEVEN-DIMENSIONAL SEMANTIC SPACE

A short-form measure of an expanded seven-dimensional semantic differential was developed. The shorter scales were shown to correlate highly with the longer scales, and their internal consistencies were sufficiently high to warrant use in most educational settings.     

Effective Supervision As Portrayed By Trainee Expectations and Preferences

Effective counseling supervision features the establishment of clearly defined mutual expectations. The following article is a critical review of the literature on trainee expectations in supervision that divides the research into three areas: expectations about structure, expectations about communication, and expectations of the supervisory relationship. Implications for supervisors are discussed.     

Hong Kong's Change of Sovereignty: School leader perceptions of the effects on educational policy and school administration

This study captures the thoughts and perceptions of a group of Hong Kong principals on the transfer of sovereignty and its effects on education. The investigation addressed the following guiding research question. What, according to their perceptions, have been and will be the effects on education policy and on school-level management and curriculum, of the transfer of sovereignty? A qualitative approach was adopted, using naturalistic methods of inquiry. Nine principals of aided secondary schools were selected for interview according to procedures of purposive sampling. The findings indicate that, faced with uncertainty arising from the change of sovereignty, principals feel confident of managing and coping with situations at the school level in connection with the curriculum and management. However, they express concern and greater uncertainty about their ability to manage changes emanating in the broader sociopolitical educational environment, particularly with regard to values and norms and access and opportunity, all of which are likely to impact on their schools.