Self-Beliefs Critical to ACADEMIC SUCCESS.

Self-beliefs play a critical role in academic success, suggests Frank Pajares, assistant professor of educational studies, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., co-author of Self-Beliefs and School Success. He offers the following advice for parents and students to maximize success:

For Parents

Praise effort, not ability. Praising your child for a job well done is an important way of showing love, support, and attention. However, statements such as "You are so smart!" often can have the opposite effect you intend. Rather than praising for ability, make it a habit to praise the effort and persistence it took the youngster to succeed. Praising for "smarts" indicates that success is a matter of intellectual ability (which kids tend to believe one either does or does not have); praising for effort tells the child that the harder one works, the more he or she accomplishes and the smarter one gets.

Don't commiserate. When a child has trouble in an academic area or task in which a parent also encountered difficulty as a student, the adult often will attempt to soothe the youngster's frustration with well-meaning statements such as "Don't feel bad. This runs in the family. I couldn't spell to save my life." Keep in mind that the message the child hears is that it is perfectly fine, even admirable, to be incompetent in spelling because the parent was. Too often, kids may come to take pride in that incompetence and cease their efforts to do better. Instead, challenge your offspring to improve his or her own spelling (or math, science, etc.), so that he or she can teach you a thing or two.

Beware of bestowing false praise. It is important that youngsters feel positively about themselves and their capabilities, and parents play a critical role in nurturing their kids' positive self-beliefs. Nevertheless, heed carefully psychologists Erik Erikson's caution that "children can not be fooled by empty praise and condescending encouragement. Their identity gains real strength only from wholehearted and consistent recognition of `real' accomplishment ... a strong ego does not need, and in fact is immune to, any attempt at artificial inflation." A parents challenge is clear: Praise and encouragement should be delivered honestly and in their proper measure when the child is deserving of them.

For Students

"They are able who think they are able," wrote...