Take a look at Daniel Willingham's material and his book "Why Don't Students Like School"

Here's a review of the book: http://ed-policy.blogspot.com/2009/04/one-of-handfull-one-of...

Here's Dr Willingham's web site with a lot of articles worth reading: http://www.danielwillingham.com/articles.html

Here's his credentials: Earned his B.A. from Duke University in 1983 and his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Harvard University in 1990. He is currently Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1992.