ABSTRACT
Th e conceptual and empirical accomplishments represented in the 11 major theoretical contributions to this handbook are truly remarkable. Indeed, it was the transformative thinking represented in these theories that drew us into the fi eld of motivation. We did not begin our careers with motivational concepts at the center of our work. But we naturally gravitated to those concepts as we discovered that motivational processes play a leadership role in virtually every aspect of education and human development. Th e research documenting the critical role of motivational processes in school success includes some of the most exciting and consequential work being done in any domain of psychology or education.
