WorldWideScience

Sample records for high school communities

  1. School and community predictors of smoking: a longitudinal study of Canadian high schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lovato, Chris; Watts, Allison; Brown, K Stephen; Lee, Derrick; Sabiston, Catherine; Nykiforuk, Candace; Eyles, John; Manske, Steve; Campbell, H Sharon; Thompson, Mary

    2013-02-01

    We identified the most effective mix of school-based policies, programs, and regional environments associated with low school smoking rates in a cohort of Canadian high schools over time. We collected a comprehensive set of student, school, and community data from a national cohort of 51 high schools in 2004 and 2007. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to predict school and community characteristics associated with school smoking prevalence. Between 2004 and 2007, smoking prevalence decreased from 13.3% to 10.7% in cohort schools. Predictors of lower school smoking prevalence included both school characteristics related to prevention programming and community characteristics, including higher cigarette prices, a greater proportion of immigrants, higher education levels, and lower median household income. Effective approaches to reduce adolescent smoking will require interventions that focus on multiple factors. In particular, prevention programming and high pricing for cigarettes sold near schools may contribute to lower school smoking rates, and these factors are amenable to change. A sustained focus on smoking prevention is needed to maintain low levels of adolescent smoking.

  2. Adjustment of High School Dropouts in Closed Religious Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Itzhaki, Yael; Itzhaky, Haya; Yablon, Yaacov B.

    2018-01-01

    Background: While extensive research has been done on high-school dropouts' adjustment, there is little data on dropouts from closed religious communities. Objective: This study examines the contribution of personal and social resources to the adjustment of high school dropouts in Ultraorthodox Jewish communities in Israel. Method: Using a…

  3. Sequence Curriculum: High School to College. Middlesex Community College/Haddam-Killingworth High School. Final Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Middlesex Community Coll., Middletown, CT.

    Through a collaborative effort between Middlesex Community College (MxCC) and Haddam-Killingworth High School (HKHS), students taking specific high school courses in television production, broadcast journalism, electronics, and photography are granted college credit by MxCC upon admission to the college's Broadcast Communication Program. The…

  4. High School Community Service as a Predictor of Adult Voting and Volunteering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hart, Daniel; Donnelly, Thomas M.; Youniss, James; Atkins, Robert

    2007-01-01

    The influences of high school community service participation, extracurricular involvement, and civic knowledge on voting and volunteering in early adulthood were examined using the National Educational Longitudinal Study. The major finding in this study is that both voluntary and school-required community service in high school were strong…

  5. Case Study of Leadership Practices and School-Community Interrelationships in High-Performing, High-Poverty, Rural California High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masumoto, Marcia; Brown-Welty, Sharon

    2009-01-01

    Many rural California high schools are impacted by the disadvantages of poverty, non-English speaking students, limited resources, changing demographics, and challenges of the rural context. Focusing on contemporary leadership theories and school-community interrelationships, this qualitative study examines the practices of educational leaders in…

  6. Walking the Leadership Tightrope: Building Community Cohesiveness and Social Capital in Schools in Highly Disadvantaged Urban Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riley, Kathryn A.

    2013-01-01

    School leaders in highly disadvantaged urban communities across the globe walk a tightrope, caught between the needs of communities and the requirements of national policies. This article aims to enrich our understanding of the potential of school-community relationships. It examines the policy discourse on urban schools and the practice of…

  7. Leadership to Build a Democratic Community within School: A Case Study of Two Korean High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Young Taek; Printy, Susan

    2009-01-01

    This article aims to explore how democratic community is manifest in schools in Korea. It also tries to examine how leadership, specifically transformational leadership, functions in shaping a democratic community within a school. Toward this aim, we have conducted a case study of two religious high schools in Korea. Based on the findings from the…

  8. High School Journalism Research: Community College Program Implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dvorak, Jack

    1987-01-01

    Reviews findings from a Journalism Education Association study comparing the American College Testing (ACT) Program standardized scores, writing samples, and Language Arts Survey responses of students who were involved in high school journalism programs with students who were not. Urges community college journalism educators to support high school…

  9. The Role of School and Community-Based Programs in Aiding Latina/o High School Persistence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Donna M.; Kiyama, Judy Marquez

    2015-01-01

    This study documents the important role school and community-based programs have for sustaining the persistence of Latina/o high school students in an urban, low achieving school district. Consensus among student participants revealed these programs provided a safe space where students were able to develop "confianza" (mutual trust) with…

  10. An adaptive community-based participatory approach to formative assessment with high schools for obesity intervention*.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kong, Alberta S; Farnsworth, Seth; Canaca, Jose A; Harris, Amanda; Palley, Gabriel; Sussman, Andrew L

    2012-03-01

    In the emerging debate around obesity intervention in schools, recent calls have been made for researchers to include local community opinions in the design of interventions. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an effective approach for forming community partnerships and integrating local opinions. We used CBPR principles to conduct formative research in identifying acceptable and potentially sustainable obesity intervention strategies in 8 New Mexico school communities. We collected formative data from 8 high schools on areas of community interest for school health improvement through collaboration with local School Health Advisory Councils (SHACs) and interviews with students and parents. A survey based on formative results was created to assess acceptability of specific intervention strategies and was provided to SHACs. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics while qualitative data were evaluated using an iterative analytic process for thematic identification. Key themes identified through the formative process included lack of healthy food options, infrequent curricular/extracurricular physical activity opportunities, and inadequate exposure to health/nutritional information. Key strategies identified as most acceptable by SHAC members included healthier food options and preparation, a healthy foods marketing campaign, yearly taste tests, an after-school noncompetitive physical activity program, and community linkages to physical activity opportunities. An adaptive CBPR approach for formative assessment can be used to identify obesity intervention strategies that address community school health concerns. Eight high school SHACs identified 6 school-based strategies to address parental and student concerns related to obesity. © 2012, American School Health Association.

  11. Latina Spanish High School Teachers' Negotiation of Capital in New Latino Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colomer, Soria Elizabeth

    2014-01-01

    Based on a qualitative study documenting how Spanish teachers bear an especially heavy burden as unofficial translators, interpreters, and school representatives, this article documents how some Latina high school Spanish teachers struggle to form social networks with Latino students in new Latino school communities. Employing social frameworks,…

  12. Values for gender roles and relations among high school and non-high school adolescents in a Maya community in Chiapas, Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manago, Adriana M

    2015-02-01

    In the current study, I describe values for gender roles and cross-sex relations among adolescents growing up in a southern Mexican Maya community in which high school was introduced in 1999. A total of 80 adolescent girls and boys, half of whom were attending the new high school, provided their opinions on two ethnographically derived vignettes that depicted changes in gender roles and relations occurring in their community. Systematic coding revealed that adolescents not enrolled in high school tended to prioritise ascribed and complementary gender roles and emphasise the importance of family mediation in cross-sex relations. Adolescents who were enrolled in high school tended to prioritise equivalent and chosen gender roles, and emphasised personal responsibility and personal fulfillment in cross-sex relations. Perceptions of risks and opportunities differed by gender: girls favourably evaluated the expansion of adult female role options, but saw risks in personal negotiations of cross-sex relations; boys emphasised the loss of the female homemaker role, but favourably evaluated new opportunities for intimacy in cross-sex relations. © 2014 International Union of Psychological Science.

  13. High School and Community College Astronomy Research Seminar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genet, Russell M.; Boyce, Pat; Buchheim, Robert; Collins, Dwight; Freed, Rachel; Harshaw, Richard; Johnson, Jolyon; Kenney, John; Wallen, Vera

    2016-06-01

    For the past decade, Cuesta College has held an Astronomy Research Seminar. Teams of high school and community college students, with guidance from instructors and advanced amateur astronomers, have made astronomical observations, reduced their data, and submitted their research results to appropriate journals. A variety of projects, using modest-aperture telescopes equipped with low-cost instruments, are within reach of motivated students. These include double star astrometry, variable star photometry, and exoplanet transit timing. Advanced scientific knowledge and mastery of sophisticated experimental skills are not required when the students are immersed within a supportive community of practice. The seminar features self-paced, online learning units, an online textbook (the Small Telescope Astronomical Research Handbook), and a supportive website sponsored by the Institute for Student Astronomical Research (www.In4StAR.org). There are no prerequisites for the seminar. This encourages everyone—including underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities—to participate. Each participant contributes as their time, talents, and experience dictates, thus replicating the modern, professional research team. Our spring 2015 seminar was the largest yet. Volunteer assistant instructors provided local in-person leadership, while the entire seminar met online for PowerPoint presentations on proposed projects and final research results. Some 37 students from eight schools finished the seminar as coauthors of 19 papers published in the January 2016 volume of the Journal of Double Star Observations. Robotic telescopes devoted to student research are coming online at both Concordia University and the Boyce Astronomical Robotic Observatory, as is a central online sever that will provide students with uniform, cost-free reduction and analysis software. The seminar has motivated many of its graduates to pursue careers in science, engineering, and medicine, often with

  14. Mandatory Community-Based Learning in U.S. Urban High Schools: Fair Equality of Opportunity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, Jeffrey V.; Alsbury, Thomas L.; Fan, Jingjing

    2016-01-01

    This study explores participant experiences at two contrasting high schools in a large, urban school district in crisis who implemented mandatory community-based learning (CBL) (e.g. community service, work-based internships) as a policy of reform. Rawls' theory of justice as fairness is used to examine capacity of the district formal policy to…

  15. Predicting Community College Outcomes: Does High School CTE Participation Have a Significant Effect?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietrich, Cecile; Lichtenberger, Eric; Kamalludeen, Rosemaliza

    2016-01-01

    This study explored the relative importance of participation in high school career and technical education (CTE) programs in predicting community college outcomes. A hierarchical generalized linear model (HGLM) was used to predict community college outcome attainment among a random sample of direct community college entrants. Results show that…

  16. Accelerated Schools as Professional Learning Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biddle, Julie K.

    The goal of the Accelerated Schools Project (ASP) is to develop schools in which all children achieve at high levels and all members of the school community engage in developing and fulfilling the school's vision. But to fully implement the ASP model, a school must become a learning community that stresses relationships, shared values, and a…

  17. Not Driven by High-Stakes Tests: Exploring Science Assessment and College Readiness of Students from an Urban Portfolio Community High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleshman, Robin Earle

    This case study seeks to explore three research questions: (1) What science teaching and learning processes, perspectives, and cultures exist within the science classroom of an urban portfolio community high school? (2) In what ways does the portfolio-based approach prepare high school students of color for college level science coursework, laboratory work, and assessment? (3) Are portfolio community high school students of color college ready? Is there a relationship between students' science and mathematics performance and college readiness? The overarching objectives of the study are to learn, understand, and describe an urban portfolio community high school as it relates to science assessment and college readiness; to understand how the administration, teachers, and alumni perceive the use of portfolios in science learning and assessment; and to understand how alumni view their preparation and readiness for college and college science coursework, laboratory work, and assessments. The theoretical framework of this study encompasses four theories: critical theory, contextual assessment, self-regulated learning, and ethic of care. Because the urban high school studied partnered with a community-based organization (CBO), it identifies as a community school. Therefore, I provide context regarding the concept, culture, and services of community schools. Case study is the research design I used to explore in-depth this urban portfolio community high school, which involved mixed methods for data collection and analysis. In total, six alumni/current college students, five school members (administrators and teachers), and three CBO members (administrators, including myself) participated in the study. In addition to school artefacts and student portfolios collected, classroom and portfolio panel presentation observations and 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand the portfolio-based approach as it pertains to science learning and assessment and college

  18. Manufacturing Gender Inequality in the New Economy: High School Training for Work in Blue-Collar Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutton, April; Bosky, Amanda; Muller, Chandra

    2016-08-01

    Tensions between the demands of the knowledge-based economy and remaining, blue-collar jobs underlie renewed debates about whether schools should emphasize career and technical training or college-preparatory curricula. We add a gendered lens to this issue, given the male-dominated nature of blue-collar jobs and women's greater returns to college. Using the ELS:2002, this study exploits spatial variation in school curricula and jobs to investigate local dynamics that shape gender stratification. Results suggest a link between high school training and jobs in blue-collar communities that structures patterns of gender inequality into early adulthood. Although high school training in blue-collar communities reduced both men's and women's odds of four-year college enrollment, it had gender-divergent labor market consequences. Men in blue-collar communities took more blue-collar courses, had higher rates of blue-collar employment, and earned similar wages relative to otherwise comparable men from non-blue-collar communities. Women were less likely to work and to be employed in professional occupations, and they suffered severe wage penalties relative to their male peers and women from non-blue-collar communities. These relationships were due partly to high schools in blue-collar communities offering more blue-collar and fewer advanced college-preparatory courses. This curricular tradeoff may benefit men, but it appears to disadvantage women.

  19. Women Leaders in High-Poverty Community Schools: Work-Related Stress and Family Impact

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawson, Jennifer E.

    2008-01-01

    This qualitative study explores the experiences of women administrators in high-poverty community schools, investigating four women's perspectives on work demands and the impact on their families. Their work demands are related to the characteristics of impoverished communities, whereas their work resources are based on intrinsic rewards and…

  20. Parents' Reasons for Community Language Schools: Insight from a High-Shift, Non-Visible, Middle-Class Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordstrom, Janica

    2016-01-01

    In the past decade, there has been increased scholarly interest in the purpose and functions of community language schools, also known as heritage, supplementary or complementary schools. In particular, previous studies have focused on schools operating in minority communities deriving from Asian and Eastern-European countries, showing that…

  1. Whole School Improvement and Restructuring as Prevention and Promotion: Lessons from STEP and the Project on High Performance Learning Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felner, Robert D.; Favazza, Antoinette; Shim, Minsuk; Brand, Stephen; Gu, Kenneth; Noonan, Nancy

    2001-01-01

    Describes the School Transitional Environment Project and its successor, the Project on High Performance Learning Communities, that have contributed to building a model for school improvement called the High Performance Learning Communities. The model seeks to build the principles of prevention into whole school change. Presents findings from…

  2. Lessons from High-Performing Hispanic Schools: Creating Learning Communities. Critical Issues in Educational Leadership Series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyes, Pedro, Ed.; Scribner, Jay D., Ed.; Scribner, Alicia Paredes, Ed.

    The current poor condition of education for Hispanic students need not exist. This book reports on high-performing schools along the Texas-Mexico border that have achieved schoolwide success by creating communities of learners. Three elementary, three middle, and two high schools in the border region were selected for study based on the following…

  3. Programs to increase high school completion: a community guide systematic health equity review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahn, Robert A; Knopf, John A; Wilson, Sandra Jo; Truman, Benedict I; Milstein, Bobby; Johnson, Robert L; Fielding, Jonathan E; Muntaner, Carles J M; Jones, Camara Phyllis; Fullilove, Mindy T; Moss, Regina Davis; Ueffing, Erin; Hunt, Pete C

    2015-05-01

    High school completion (HSC) is an established predictor of long-term morbidity and mortality. U.S. rates of HSC are substantially lower among students from low-income families and most racial/ethnic minority populations than students from high-income families and the non-Hispanic white population. This systematic review assesses the effectiveness of programs to increase HSC and the potential of these programs to improve lifelong health among at-risk students. A search located a meta-analysis (search period 1985-2010/2011) on the effects of programs to increase HSC or General Educational Development (GED) diploma receipt; the meta-analysis was concordant with Community Guide definitions and methodologic standards. Programs were assessed separately for the general student population (152 studies) and students who were parents or pregnant (15 studies). A search for studies published between 2010 and August 2012 located ten more recent studies, which were assessed for consistency with the meta-analysis. Analyses were conducted in 2013. The review focused on the meta-analysis. Program effectiveness was measured as the increased rate of HSC (or GED receipt) by the intervention group compared with controls. All assessed program types were effective in increasing HSC in the general student population: vocational training, alternative schooling, social-emotional skills training, college-oriented programming, mentoring and counseling, supplemental academic services, school and class restructuring, multiservice packages, attendance monitoring and contingencies, community service, and case management. For students who had children or were pregnant, attendance monitoring and multiservice packages were effective. Ten studies published after the search period for the meta-analysis were consistent with its findings. There is strong evidence that a variety of HSC programs can improve high school or GED completion rates. Because many programs are targeted to high-risk students and

  4. Ethnic Differences for Public Health Knowledge, Health Advocacy Skills, and Health Information Seeking Among High School Students: Community Agents of Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kratzke, Cynthia; Rao, Satya; Marquez, Ruben

    2018-03-06

    Although adult health advocacy programs have been examined in communities, little is known about integrated adolescent health advocacy programs in high schools. The purpose of this study was to examine the health advocacy program impact and ethnic differences among high school students. Using a cross-sectional study, high school students participating in the school-based program completed evaluation surveys. The program domains included upstream causes of health, community assets, and public health advocacy. Bivariate analyses were conducted to examine ethnic differences for public health knowledge, health advocacy skills, and health information seeking behaviors. Using thematic analysis, open-ended survey item responses were coded to identify themes for students' perceptions of community health. Non-Hispanic (n = 72) and Hispanic high school students (n = 182) in ten classes reported owning smartphones (95%) and laptops (76%). Most students (72%) reported seeking online health information. Non-Hispanic students reported significantly higher health advocacy skills for speaking with the class about health issues, identifying community services, or creating health awareness at school than Hispanic students. Non-Hispanic students were more likely to seek health information from fathers and television than Hispanic students. Hispanic students were more likely to seek health information from hospital or clinic staff than non-Hispanic students. Emergent themes included health advocacy skills, community awareness, and individual and community health changes. High schools benefit from integrating health advocacy programs into the core curriculum. Adolescents gain important skills to improve their individual health and engage in changing community health.

  5. New Mexico High School Supercomputing Challenge, 1990--1995: Five years of making a difference to students, teachers, schools, and communities. Progress report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Foster, M.; Kratzer, D.

    1996-02-01

    The New Mexico High School Supercomputing Challenge is an academic program dedicated to increasing interest in science and math among high school students by introducing them to high performance computing. This report provides a summary and evaluation of the first five years of the program, describes the program and shows the impact that it has had on high school students, their teachers, and their communities. Goals and objectives are reviewed and evaluated, growth and development of the program are analyzed, and future directions are discussed.

  6. Mandated Community Service in High School and Subsequent Civic Engagement: The Case of the "Double Cohort" in Ontario, Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henderson, Ailsa; Brown, Steven D.; Pancer, S. Mark; Ellis-Hale, Kimberly

    2007-01-01

    In 1999, the Ontario provincial government introduced into its high school curriculum a requirement that students complete 40 h of volunteer community service before graduation. At the same time, the high school curriculum was shortened from five years to four. Consequently, the 2003 graduating class of Ontario high school students contained two…

  7. The Negative Impact of Community Stressors on Learning Time: Examining Inequalities between California High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirra, Nicole; Rogers, John

    2015-01-01

    Allocated classroom time is not the same as time available for learning--a host of economic and social stressors undermine learning time in schools serving low-income students. When time is limited, it is hard to meet rigorous learning standards. The challenge is compounded in high-poverty schools where community stressors place additional demands…

  8. Concussion Knowledge and Reporting Behavior Differences Between High School Athletes at Urban and Suburban High Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, Jessica; Covassin, Tracey; Nogle, Sally; Gould, Daniel; Kovan, Jeffrey

    2017-09-01

    We determined differences in knowledge of concussion and reporting behaviors of high school athletes attending urban and suburban high schools, and whether a relationship exists between underreporting and access to an athletic trainer in urban schools. High school athletes (N = 715) from 14 high schools completed a validated knowledge of concussion survey consisting of 83 questions. The independent variable was school type (urban/suburban). We examined the proportion of athletes who correctly identified signs and symptoms of concussion, knowledge of concussion and reasons why high school athletes would not disclose a potential concussive injury across school classification. Data were analyzed using descriptive, non-parametric, and inferential statistics. Athletes attending urban schools have less concussion knowledge than athletes attending suburban schools (p urban schools without an athletic trainer have less knowledge than urban athletes at schools with an athletic trainer (p urban schools and 10 reasons for not reporting. Concussion education efforts cannot be homogeneous in all communities. Education interventions must reflect the needs of each community. © 2017, American School Health Association.

  9. The Competence Readiness of the Electrical Engineering Vocational High School Teachers in Manado towards the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint in 2025

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fid Jantje Tasiam

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the competence readiness of the electrical engineering vocational high school teachers in Manado towards ASEAN Economic Community blueprint in 2025. The objective of this study is to get the competencies readiness description of the electrical engineering vocational high school teachers in Manado towards ASEAN Economic Community blueprint in 2025. Method used quantitative and qualitative approach which the statistical analysis in quantitative and the inductive analysis used in qualitative. There were 46 teachers of the electrical engineering vocational high school in Manado observed. The results have shown that the competencies readiness of the electrical engineering vocational high school teachers in Manado such as: pedagogical, professional, personality, and social were 13.04%, 19.56%, 19.56%, and 19.56% respectively. The results were still far from the focus of the ASEAN economic community blueprint in 2025, so they need to be improved through in-house training, internship programs, school partnerships, distance learning, tiered training and special training, short courses in educational institutions, internal coaching by schools, discussion of educational issues, workshops, research and community service, textbook writing, learning media making, and the creation of technology and art.

  10. School as Community, Community as School: Examining Principal Leadership for Urban School Reform and Community Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Terrance L.

    2018-01-01

    For decades, reform has been a persistent issue in urban schools. Research suggests that urban school reforms that are connected to equitable community development efforts are more sustainable, and that principals play a pivot role in leading such efforts. Yet, limited research has explored how urban school principals connect school reform with…

  11. Teacher community in elementary charter schools.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marisa Cannata

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The organizational context of charter schools may facilitate the formation of a strong teacher community. In particular, a focused school mission and increased control over teacher hiring may lead to stronger teacher professional communities. This paper uses the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey to compare the level of teacher community in charter public and traditional public schools. It also estimates the effect of various charter policy variables and domains of school autonomy on teacher community. Charter school teachers report higher levels of teacher community than traditional public school teachers do, although this effect is less than one-tenth of a standard deviation and is dwarfed by the effect of a supportive principal, teacher decision-making influence, and school size. Charter public schools authorized by universities showed lower levels of teacher community than those authorized by local school districts. Teachers in charter schools that have flexibility over tenure requirements and the school budget report higher levels of teacher community. This study reveals that charter schools do facilitate the formation of strong teacher communities, although the effect is small. The analysis also suggests that the institutional origin of the charter school and specific areas of policy flexibility may influence teacher community.

  12. Diverse Perspectives on Inclusive School Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsokova, Diana; Tarr, Jane

    2012-01-01

    What is an inclusive school community? How do stakeholders perceive their roles and responsibilities towards inclusive school communities? How can school communities become more inclusive through engagement with individual perspectives? "Diverse Perspectives on Inclusive School Communities" captures and presents the voices of a wide…

  13. High School Graduate Participation Rates: Proportions of Sacramento Area High School Graduates Enrolled in Los Rios Community College District, Fall 1998-Fall 1994.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Los Rios Community Coll. District, Sacramento, CA. Office of Planning and Research.

    This report profiles the enrollment patterns of recent high school graduates of the Greater Sacramento Metropolitan Area who attend Los Rios colleges (California). This summary and the full data report provide the District and its colleges with research information on rates of participation by students who graduated from Los Rios Community College…

  14. Safe school task force: University-community partnership to promote student development and a safer school environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adler, Corey; Chung-Do, Jane; Ongalibang, Ophelia

    2008-01-01

    The Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center (APIYVPC) focuses its youth violence prevention efforts on community mobilization by partnering with Kailua High School and other local community groups. This paper describes the development and activities of the Safe School Task Force (SSTF) and the lessons learned. In response to concerns of school, community members, and students, the SSTF was organized to promote student leadership in raising awareness about problems related to violence. Collaboration among the school, community, and the university places students in leadership roles to reduce school violence and enhances their self-efficacy to improve their school environment. To increase SSTF effectiveness, more attention must be paid to student recruitment, consistent community partnerships, and gaining teacher buy-in. This partnership may be useful in multicultural communities to provide students the opportunities to learn about violence prevention strategies, community mobilization, and leadership skills.

  15. Community Involvement in School: Social Relationships in a Bedroom Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preston, Jane P.

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe how community involvement in school is associated with the social relationships existing/lacking within a bedroom community. Thirty-five interviews with school council members, teachers, and community members highlighted that traditional forms of community involvement in school generate…

  16. Development of Competency-Based Articulated Automotive Program. Big Bend Community College and Area High Schools. Final Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buche, Fred; Cox, Charles

    A competency-based automotive mechanics curriculum was developed at Big Bend Community College (Washington) in order to provide the basis for an advanced placement procedure for high school graduates and experienced adults through a competency assessment. In order to create the curriculum, Big Bend Community College automotive mechanics…

  17. Schools and communities in Hungary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunyady, Susan

    1980-09-01

    The democratic reform of public education in Hungary after the Second World War brought about a system which now includes Day-Care from the ages of 4-6 and compulsory Elementary School education up to the age of 16. A high proportion of students go on to Secondary education in vocational schools, special schools or grammar shools. The system is supplemented by career-counselling and provision for children with difficult home-backgrounds and for the mentally-retarded. District Councils are responsible for the schools in their areas and for the zoning that determines which schools children should attend. The environment of a school has a strong influence not only upon the standard of its facilities and the quality of its staff but also upon the function it is expected to fulfil in the community. Achievement is directly related to the degree of urbanization, but the increasing participation of farming-co-operatives in education in rural areas promises well for the development of better facilities and mutual understanding there. Housing estates in high-density residential areas make special demands which are being met in different ways. The role of the school in general is being expanded to include children's leisure time activities; at the same time factories are making a significant contribution locally through vocational guidance, financial help, and training-for-work programmes. Councils are implementing the requirements of public education resolutions to integrate school education into the whole scheme of public education, co-ordinating the activities of all social and cultural institutions, and developing new multi-functional complexes, to give a more effective and efficient service to the whole community.

  18. The Competence Readiness of the Electrical Engineering Vocational High School Teachers in Manado towards the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint in 2025

    OpenAIRE

    Fid Jantje Tasiam; Djoko Kustono; Purnomo Purnomo; Hakkun Elmunsyah

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents the competence readiness of the electrical engineering vocational high school teachers in Manado towards ASEAN Economic Community blueprint in 2025. The objective of this study is to get the competencies readiness description of the electrical engineering vocational high school teachers in Manado towards ASEAN Economic Community blueprint in 2025. Method used quantitative and qualitative approach which the statistical analysis in quantitative and the inductive analysis use...

  19. Recognizing Community Voice and a Youth-Led School-Community Partnership in the School Climate Improvement Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ice, Megan; Thapa, Amrit; Cohen, Jonathan

    2015-01-01

    A growing body of school improvement research suggests that engaging all members of the school community, including community members and leaders, provides an essential foundation to successful school improvement efforts. School climate surveys to date tend to recognize student, parent/guardian, and school personnel voice but not the voice of…

  20. Place Attachment and Place Disruption: The Perceptions of Selected Adults and High School Students on a Rural School District Reorganization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieland, Regi Leann

    2001-01-01

    Interviews with adult residents and high school students in two rural Kansas communities that had consolidated their high schools found that adults in the community that lost its high school had more negative reactions and feelings of loss than adults in the community that retained its high school. Student reactions were generally positive.…

  1. The Power of Community Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capers, Natasha; Shah, Shital C.

    2015-01-01

    In this article, Shital Shah, who supports community schools as assistant director for educational issues at the American Federation of Teachers, and Natasha Capers, a coordinator for the New York City Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ), a parent-led collaborative of unions and community organizations, discuss the community schools movement…

  2. Examining School Leadership in New York City Community Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campo, Stacey Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    The community school model is rooted in John Dewey's (1902) conceptualization of the public school as a hub for the community. This work has evolved over a hundred years and recently experienced prominence in the public eye as a fundamental component of New York City's school turnaround policy. This dissertation describes findings and…

  3. Assessing the Change Process in Comprehensive High Schools Implementing Professional Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaner, Robert G.

    2009-01-01

    Professional learning communities (PLC) have been identified as scaffolds that can facilitate, support, and sustain systemic change focused on improving student achievement. PLCs represent the application of the theoretical constructs of the learning organization within the framework of schools and school systems. Little is known about the change…

  4. School Community Connectedness and Family Participation at School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dove, Meghan K.; Zorotovich, Jennifer; Gregg, Katy

    2018-01-01

    Family involvement in a child's education is a complex system that extends beyond the presence of partnerships between families, schools, and the community (Epstein, 2011). By measuring families' feelings of connectedness and membership to the school community, this study explores families' motivations for participating in their child's learning…

  5. Leading for Urban School Reform and Community Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Terrance L.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: Improving urban schools of color and the communities where they are located requires leadership that spans school and community boundaries. The purpose of this study is to understand how principal and community leader actions support urban school reform along with community development at two community schools in the urban Midwest and…

  6. School and community relations in North America: Creative tensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loughran, E.; Reed, H. B.

    1980-09-01

    School and community relations in North America reflect creative tensions between the conserving forces of schooling and the changing forces of community. During crisis periods community development needs may modify the school's focus on individual learner growth, but generally schools use the community to extend and enrich the traditional modes. School and community interactions are chiefly characterized by such settings as community schools, community education, adult education, home and school (PTA) associations, work-study programs, curriculum-community resource programs. Recent social forces are creating heightened tensions: cultural pluralism, reduced resources, Third World influences, international conflicts, personal alienation, population concerns, energy problems, community power issues. These forces are gradually shifting school and community concepts towards ones of education and community. Education goes well beyond schooling, including all agencies having an organized influence on community development: libraries, voluntary groups, unions, business, human service agencies, government units, as well as schools. This shift requires research to develop nonformal concepts and practices, along with formal pedagogy, to increase the positive impacts of educational networks on community, as well as individual, development. These new directions have not yet significantly modified the traditional meaning of school and community relations.

  7. Community Connection and Change: A Different Conceptualization of School Leadership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Marian

    2008-01-01

    Many of our schools are situated in communities characterized by high levels of disadvantage, presenting a range of challenges. One possible response is to acknowledge this disadvantage and to try to address some of the problems it raises for students. Another is for the school to be proactive, recognizing the challenges faced by the community and…

  8. Community schools unfolded: a review of the literature

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heers, M.; van Klaveren, C.; Groot, W.; Maassen van den Brink, H.

    2011-01-01

    Community schools are quickly increasing in number, but there is no evidence whether they are more effective than traditional schools. No study has empirically compared community schools to other schools. This study reviews the literature on the effectiveness of community schools. We focus on their

  9. Democratic Leadership for Community Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruffin, Verna D.; Brooks, Jeffrey S.

    2010-01-01

    Because educators continue to face challenges when seeking to educate all children, there is a growing recognition that schools must work with communities to maximize their collective educational potential (Murphy, Beck, Crawford, Hodges, & McGauphy, 2001). Although community schools are still in the emergent stages of development, their emphasis…

  10. Healthy School Communities in Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bassett-Gunter, Rebecca; Yessis, Jennifer; Manske, Steve; Gleddie, Doug

    2016-01-01

    Background and context: Healthy school communities aim to optimise student health and educational achievement. Various models, terms and resources have been used to describe healthy school communities. Policy makers and practitioners have reported confusion around many of the key concepts involved because of the varying models and terms.…

  11. Understanding College-Student Roles: Perspectives of Participants in a High School/Community College Dual-Enrollment Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lile, Joy R.; Ottusch, Timothy M.; Jones, Terese; Richards, Leslie N.

    2018-01-01

    Dual-enrollment programs have been proposed as a useful way to ease students' transition from high school to community college. Several studies have shown that dual enrollment produces positive effects for students, but less is known about the mechanisms these programs use to support student success. Symbolic interactionism suggests that clarity…

  12. Building the Caring School Community: The James Hamblin School Experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sedo, Julie; Hindle, Douglas R.

    2000-01-01

    A rural Saskatchewan K-12 school developed a schoolwide sense of community and a solid relationship with the larger community by setting new directions, team building, and building bridges with parents and the community. Positive staff behaviors, school appearance, and cross-grade interactive projects were critical to the success of the plan. (TD)

  13. The iSchool Community

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bogers, Toine; Greifeneder, Elke

    2016-01-01

    the reviewer pool more representative of the iSchool community as a whole by including more women and more researchers from Asian institutions. Other recommendations are to improve the continuity of the reviewer pool and to provide clearer instructions to reviewers to ensure that written reviews explicitly...... cover all the aspects represented by the review scores. The results of our study provide the iSchool community with a descriptive analysis of its community and a better understanding of its review process.......A fair review process is essential to the success of any scientific conference. In this paper we present an analysis of the reviewing process of the 2014-2015 iConferences as well as a demographic analysis of the iConference community as a whole. The results show a clear need for making...

  14. Turning Schools Inside Out: Connecting Schools and Communities through Public Arts and Literacies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charest, Brian C.; Bell, Lauren D.; Gonzalez, Marialuisa; Parker, Veronica L.

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we tell a story about how we partnered with a Chicago high school in order to turn the school inside out by displaying larger-than-life teacher portraits and statements at street level throughout the community. This paper explores how public art and activism can help teachers and students develop notions of civic literacy and…

  15. Within the School and the Community--A Speaker's Bureau.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClintock, Joy H.

    Student interest prompted the formation of a Speaker's Bureau in Seminole Senior High School, Seminole, Florida. First, students compiled a list of community contacts, including civic clubs, churches, retirement villages, newspaper offices, and the County School Administration media center. A letter of introduction was composed and speaking…

  16. High School Students' Reasons for Their Science Dispositions: Community-Based Innovative Technology-Embedded Environmental Research Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebenezer, Jazlin; Kaya, Osman Nafiz; Kasab, Dimma

    2018-05-01

    The purpose of this investigation was to qualitatively describe high school students' reasons for their science dispositions (attitude, perception, and self-confidence) based on their long-term experience with innovative technology-embedded environmental research projects. Students in small groups conducted research projects in and out of school with the help of their teachers and community experts (scientists and engineers). During the 3-year period of this nationally funded project, a total of 135 students from five schools in a mid-west State participated in research activities. Of the 135 students, 53 students were individually interviewed to explore reasons for their science dispositions. Students' reasons for each disposition were grouped into categories, and corresponding frequency was converted to a percentage. The categories of reasons were not only attributed to the use of innovative technologies in environmental research but also the contexts and events that surrounded it. The reasons that influenced students' science dispositions positively were because engaging in environmental research projects with technology contributed to easing fear and difficulty, building a research team, disseminating findings, communicating with the community, researching with scientists, training by teachers, and acknowledging teachers' knowledge. These results advanced how and why students develop science dispositions in the positive direction, which are as follows: building science teacher capacity, developing a community of inquirers, and committing to improve pedagogical practices.

  17. Co-Constructing Community, School, University Partnerships for Urban School Transformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillenwaters, Jamila Najah

    2009-01-01

    University-school-community partnerships represent a collaborative model of urban educational reformation inclusive of all the organizations that impact urban education. Co-constructed relationships among communities, schools, and universities have the potential for redistributing hierarchical power, thereby enabling all partners to contribute to…

  18. Metaphorical Duality: High School Subject Departments as Both Communities and Organizations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melville, Wayne; Wallace, John

    2007-01-01

    This article investigates the metaphorical duality that exists when school subject departments are concurrently conceptualized as both communities and organizations. Employing a narrative methodology, we use the metaphorical duality to examine the manner in which science teachers negotiate two key aspects of their work; professional learning and…

  19. School Counselor Technology Use and School-Family-Community Partnerships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cronin, Sarah; Ohrtman, Marguerite; Colton, Emily; Crouse, Brita; Depuydt, Jessica; Merwin, Camille; Rinn, Megan

    2018-01-01

    Research in understanding effective strategies to develop stakeholder engagement is needed to further define the school counselor role and best outreach practices. School counselors are increasing their daily technology use. This study explores how school counselor technology use is related to school-family-community partnerships. School…

  20. Exploring How African American Males from an Urban Community Navigate the Interracial and Intra-Racial Dimensions of Their Experiences at an Urban Jesuit High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simmons, Robert W., III

    2012-01-01

    African American males from urban communities have been attending Jesuit high schools in urban spaces for many years, yet little to no literature exists that explores their experiences while attending these elite private schools. This qualitative study of 10 African American males from an urban community attending a similarly positioned Jesuit…

  1. The Training Effectiveness of Prevention Disability Package in High School Girls; a Community Intervention Trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abolfazl Mohammadbeigi

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Background: Training programs and providing essential information such as preborn educational programs for women, unmarried girls are essential as the most important prevention methods for control and prevention of health outcomes and disability. The current study conducted to assess the training effectiveness of Prevention Disability Package in high school girls in a community trail.Materials and Methods: A community trial executed among 1,339 high school girls in Qom, Iran. Subjects were the students that training in 10th and 11th years of education. All of students in each class from all majors were included in the study. According to sampling framework, 55 classes selected randomly assigned to lecture (1264 girls [94.4%], 4 (3% girls to CD-based group and 35 (2.6% girls to control group. Data collection was conducted by a standard and valid questionnaire. Analysis of variance test was used to compare the mean of knowledge score among three groups. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA used to control the confounding variables.Results: There were significant differences among three groups according to the total score of awareness of disability. Therefore, the mean score of in handicap, musculoskeletal diseases, pregnancy dimensions, and total knowledge about disability causes was higher than in lecture group than CD-based and control groups (P

  2. Language Practices in Multilingual Communities: Insights from a Suburban High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willoughby, Louisa

    2013-01-01

    As a result of globalisation and mass migration, suburbs and schools around the world are becoming increasingly multiethnic, multilingual places. Yet there is still relatively little linguistic research on how language is used in everyday interaction in these multilingual communities. In this paper, I explore the strengths and limitations of…

  3. School-Community Partnership Models: Implications for Leadership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valli, Linda; Stefanski, Amanda; Jacobson, Reuben

    2018-01-01

    School-community partnerships have shown promise as an educational reform effort. In these partnerships, schools expand their traditional educational mission to include health and social services for children and families and to involve the broader community. Such partnerships have been found to enhance student learning, strengthen schools and…

  4. Home-School Links: Networking the Learning Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1996

    The topic of networking the learning community with home-school links is addressed in four papers: "Internet Access via School: Expectations of Students and Parents" (Roy Crotty); "The School Library as Community Information Gateway" (Megan Perry); "Rural Access to the Internet" (Ken Eustace); and "NetDay '96:…

  5. School-Community Alliances Enhance Mental Health Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vailancourt, Kelly; Amador, Andria

    2015-01-01

    Building effective school community partnerships requires recognition of barriers along with time and commitment from both the school district and community agencies to overcome those barriers. It may seem overwhelming to fully address each of the challenges while attempting to implement each element of effective school partnerships all at once,…

  6. 'Hip-hop' stroke: a stroke educational program for elementary school children living in a high-risk community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Olajide; Noble, James M

    2008-10-01

    Public stroke recognition is poor and poses a barrier to acute stroke treatment. We describe a stroke literacy program that teaches elementary school children in high-risk communities to recognize stroke and form an urgent action plan; we then present results of an intervention study using the program. "Hip-Hop" Stroke uses culturally and age-appropriate music and dance to enhance an interactive didactic curriculum including the FAST mnemonic (Facial droop, Arm weakness, Speech disturbance, Time to call 911). The program occurred in central Harlem, New York City, a community with high stroke risk. During the 2006 to 2007 school year, 582 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders (9 to 11 years of age) participated in 1-hour sessions over 3 consecutive days. Stroke knowledge was tested before and after the program with a 94% group participant retention. Students learned and retained knowledge well for stroke localization (20% correct before intervention, 93% correct immediately afterward, and 86% correct after 3-month delay; Phip-hop music may improve retention of stroke knowledge among the youth.

  7. An Adaptive Community-Based Participatory Approach to Formative Assessment with High Schools for Obesity Intervention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kong, Alberta S.; Farnsworth, Seth; Canaca, Jose A.; Harris, Amanda; Palley, Gabriel; Sussman, Andrew L.

    2012-01-01

    Background: In the emerging debate around obesity intervention in schools, recent calls have been made for researchers to include local community opinions in the design of interventions. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an effective approach for forming community partnerships and integrating local opinions. We used CBPR principles…

  8. Midcentury Modern High Schools: Rebooting the Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Havens, Kevin

    2010-01-01

    A high school is more than a building; it's a repository of memories for many community members. High schools built at the turn of the century are not only cultural and civic landmarks, they are also often architectural treasures. When these facilities become outdated, a renovation that preserves the building's aesthetics and character is usually…

  9. This School Is for Kids and Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    American School Board Journal, 1982

    1982-01-01

    In Avon (Indiana), a community lacking public buildings, a middle school was built with community uses in mind. The swimming pool, gymnasium, and commons area can be blocked off for community use by using floor-to-ceiling gates. The school's heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems are also energy-efficient. (Author/MLF)

  10. "Higher Expectations" in the Catholic Inner City High School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harkins, William

    1987-01-01

    Considers the implications of statistics on death and poverty in minority communities for Catholic high schools with large minority populations. Sees hope at the heart of the Catholic high school. Discusses how teachers, school climate, and careful curriculum design can help instill this hope in the students. (DMM)

  11. THE SCHOOL AS A LEARNING COMMUNITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cintya Arely Hernández-López

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In the present study is to weight the learning communities, starting to know the approach that has a school in the Chihuahua state to become a learning community, expecting describe how the school gathers the elements to operate as such. The method that was in use was the study of case, resting on the technologies of observation, interview and survey, same that complemented each other with the information that came from the survey and from the analysis of the “portafolio”. The case of study though it presents characteristics that demonstrate inside a community of learning as quality, collaborative work however the institution does not possess the opening and the participation of the involved ones, being an obstacle for the consolidation and benefit of the educational community; ith what there meets distant the possibility that this politics to turn to the school in a community of learning could be consolidate.

  12. The Impact of School Community Partnerships on the Success of Elementary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grady, Kevin Richard

    2010-01-01

    This study employed multiple regression modeling to examine the success of 63 California elementary schools in terms of (a) school-community social capital, (b) student academic performance, (c) student behavioral incident rate, and (d) teacher turnover rate with respect to the extent of school-community partnership programs. Also of interest to…

  13. School intervention related to school and community violence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaycox, Lisa H; Stein, Bradley D; Wong, Marleen

    2014-04-01

    Schools are well positioned to facilitate recovery for students exposed to community or school violence or other traumatic life events affecting populations of youth. This article describes how schools can circumvent several key barriers to mental health service provision, outcomes that school interventions target, and the role of the family in school-based services. It includes a description of the history of schools in facilitating recovery for students exposed to traumatic events, particularly related to crisis intervention, and the current status of early intervention and strategies for long-term recovery in the school setting. Challenges and future directions are also discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Alberta High School, College Elevate Learning with Rare Joint Venture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearson, George

    2012-01-01

    The refusal by a group of parents in Olds, Alberta, in 2003 to accept a provincial grant to renovate their high school set in motion a remarkable collaboration that spawned an innovative learning campus for an entire community and beyond. The new Olds High School, which opened in 2010, is part of a new Community Learning Campus (CLC), a joint…

  15. The Coastal Resilience Index: High School Students Planning for Their Community's Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kastler, J. A.; Dorcik, S.; Sempier, T.; Kimbrell, C.

    2017-12-01

    Communities in Jackson County, Mississippi sustained heavy damages during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and are expected to experience early effects as sea level rise and increasing episodes of nuisance flooding. Many high school students still remember months-long evacuations and other disruptions to home and family in 2005. Others do not remember or moved here recently. None anticipate their communities are likely to face similar challenges in the future, nor do they have a strong understanding that preparing for such an event is a practical, local career choice for a science major. Through a series of classroom and field lessons, students in two coastal communities learned how and why coastal habitats are changing, and how modeling predicts future impacts. During a culminating experience students learn how to use the Coastal Resilience Index developed by Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. Working in teams or three to four students, the students addressed one of twelve scenarios based on real experiences observed by Gulf Coast communities during their post-hurricane assessments. Each team explored its topic using internet resources and conversations with family members, then worked together to brainstorm possible approaches to address the situation described in their scenario. They selected one potential solution for their focus and developed it, ultimately producing a poster of the scenario and their idea of its solution. The teams gathered at the University of Southern Mississippi at the end of the term to present their work, science fair style, to a selection of community leaders from the Climate Community of Practice. Posters were judged and best poster presentations were awarded. This talk will focus on the evaluation results. Existing qualitative observations show differences in awareness and self-efficacy to work productively in this field. Community leaders expressed interest in the solutions offered. Ongoing quantitative evaluations will also be

  16. Meeting the Needs and Interests of Today's High School Student

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krause, Tracy

    2014-01-01

    This article describes how the physical educators at Tahoma High School, in a community in Washington state's Cascade Mountains, surveyed their students, reached out to the community, integrated physical education and academics, and established a school-wide focus on wellness. Tracy Krause writes that the three "Rs"--relationships,…

  17. Achievement Motivation of the High School Students: A Case Study among Different Communities of Goalpara District of Assam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarangi, C.

    2015-01-01

    Achievement motivation is a consistent striving force of an individual to achieve success to a certain standard of excellence in competing situation. In this study an attempt was made to study the effect of achievement motivation on the academic achievement of the high school students of tribal and non tribal communities in relation to their sex…

  18. Strong School-Community Partnerships in Inclusive Schools Are "Part of the Fabric of the School... We Count on Them"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gross, Judith M. S.; Haines, Shana J.; Hill, Cokethea; Francis, Grace L.; Blue-Banning, Martha; Turnbull, Ann P.

    2015-01-01

    School-community partnerships play an essential role in successful schools, often providing supports and resources to meet staff, family, and student needs that go beyond what is typically available through school. Reciprocally, community partners benefit from their relationships with schools, including learning about schools' inclusive culture.…

  19. Low Vitamin D Status and Inadequate Nutrient Intakes of Elementary School Children in a Highly Educated Pacific Northwest Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frei, Simone; Frei, Balz; Bobe, Gerd

    2014-01-01

    Are Extension healthy youth programs needed in highly educated U.S. communities? To answer this question, 175 children from four public elementary schools in Corvallis, Oregon, self-reported in a cross-sectional study their dietary intake, and 71 children provided a blood sample for measuring vitamin D concentrations. Most children had…

  20. Teachers' challenges, strategies, and support needs in schools affected by community violence: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maring, Elisabeth F; Koblinsky, Sally A

    2013-06-01

    Exposure to community violence compromises teacher effectiveness, student learning, and socioemotional well-being. This study examined the challenges, strategies, and support needs of teachers in urban schools affected by high levels of community violence. Twenty teachers from 3 urban middle schools with predominantly low-income African American students completed open-ended interviews. Selected schools were in geographic areas with high violent crime levels. Consistent with an ecological risk and resilience framework, findings revealed that teachers experienced challenges and adopted coping strategies at the individual, family, school, and community levels. Teachers employed a number of strategies associated with resilience, such as prayer and seeking support from family and colleagues, but also engaged in some avoidant strategies, such as emotional withdrawal and avoiding difficult students. Findings suggest interventions to improve school safety and reduce the negative impact of violence-related stressors. Teacher training in behavior management, effective school leadership, improved school security, peer mediation, expanded mental health services, and parent involvement may promote resilience among both teachers and their students. © 2013, American School Health Association.

  1. School Violence and Theoretically Atypical Schools: The Principal's Centrality in Orchestrating Safe Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Astor, Ron Avi; Benbenishty, Rami; Estrada, Jose Nunez

    2009-01-01

    Theories often assume that schools in communities with high violence also have high rates of school violence, yet there are schools with very low violence in high violence communities. Organizational variables within these schools may buffer community influences. Nine "atypical" schools are selected from a national database in Israel.…

  2. Teachers' Challenges, Strategies, and Support Needs in Schools Affected by Community Violence: A Qualitative Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maring, Elisabeth F.; Koblinsky, Sally A.

    2013-01-01

    Background: Exposure to community violence compromises teacher effectiveness, student learning, and socioemotional well-being. This study examined the challenges, strategies, and support needs of teachers in urban schools affected by high levels of community violence. Methods: Twenty teachers from 3 urban middle schools with predominantly…

  3. Counselors and Special Educators in Rural Schools Working Together to Create a Positive School Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thornton, Frank

    2018-01-01

    School counselors and special educators in rural areas working together can be a powerful team to help schools create a positive school community. In one rural school community, they partnered with faculty and staff to implement a School Wide Positive Behavior support program to improve student outcomes. The counselor and special educator, through…

  4. Fostering Family--School and Community-School Partnerships in Inclusive Schools: Using Practice as a Guide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haines, Shana J.; Gross, Judith M. S.; Blue-Banning, Martha; Francis, Grace L.; Turnbull, Ann P.

    2015-01-01

    Partnerships between school staff, families, and community members are vital for ensuring the success of all students in inclusive schools. This article reports the results of a synthesis of two original studies: one study that examined the perspectives of family members and another study that examined the perspectives of community partners in…

  5. Communities of practice: Participation patterns and professional impact for high school mathematics and science teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Printy, Susan M.

    Improving the quality of teachers in schools is a keystone to educational improvement. New and veteran teachers alike need to enhance their content knowledge and pedagogical skills, but they must also examine, and often change, their underlying attitudes, beliefs, and values about the nature of knowledge and the abilities of students. Best accomplished collectively rather than individually, the interactions between teachers as they undertake the process of collaborative inquiry create "communities of practice." This dissertation investigates the importance of science and mathematics teachers' participation in communities of practice to their professional capabilities. The study tests the hypothesis that the social learning inherent in community of practice participation encourages teachers to learn from others with expertise, enhances teachers' sense of competence, and increases the likelihood that teachers' will use student-centered, problem-based instructional techniques aligned with national disciplinary standards. The researcher conceptualizes communities of practice along two dimensions that affect social learning: legitimate participation in activities and span of engagement with school members. Differences in teachers' subject area and the curricular track of their teaching assignment contribute to variation in teachers' participation in communities of practice along those dimensions. Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study, first and second follow-up, the study has two stages of multi-level analysis. The first stage examines factors that contribute to teachers' participation in communities of practice, including teachers' social and professional characteristics and school demographic and organizational characteristics. The second stage investigates the professional impact of such participation on the three outcome variables: teacher learning, teacher competence, and use of standards-based pedagogy. Hierarchical linear models provide

  6. Christian Community in Action: Bruderhof Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spielhagen, Frances R.; Cooper, Bruce S.

    2007-01-01

    The Bruderhof communities in the United States have organized their own private schools with a distinctly Christian philosophy of education, adding to the interesting mix of American private and religious schools. Rooted in early 20th century German pedagogy, romanticism, and shared responsibility, Bruderhof schools represent the essence of a…

  7. High-Performance Schools: Affordable Green Design for K-12 Schools; Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Plympton, P.; Brown, J.; Stevens, K.

    2004-08-01

    Schools in the United States spend $7.8 billion on energy each year-more than the cost of computers and textbooks combined, according to a 2003 report from the National Center for Education Statistics. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that these high utility bills could be reduced as much as 25% if schools adopt readily available high performance design principles and technologies. Accordingly, hundreds of K-12 schools across the country have made a commitment to improve the learning and teaching environment of schools while saving money and energy and protecting the environment. DOE and its public- and private-sector partners have developed Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools, customized for nine climate zones in U.S. states and territories. These design guidelines provide information for school decision makers and design professionals on the advantages of energy efficiency and renewable energy designs and technologies. With such features as natural day lighting, efficient electric lights, water conservation, and renewable energy, schools in all types of climates are proving that school buildings, and the students and teachers who occupy them, are indeed high performers. This paper describes high performance schools from each of the nine climate zones associated with the Energy Design Guidelines. The nine case studies focus on the high performance design strategies implemented in each school, as well as the cost savings and benefits realized by students, faculty, the community, and the environment.

  8. Vocational Education with a Twist: This School Teaches Community Service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Barbara

    1983-01-01

    At Davis Vocational Technical High School in Lincoln (Rhode Island) students in such areas as carpentry, culinary arts, and cosmetology provide free services to the community and gain valuable experience. (Author/JM)

  9. School-Based Caries Prevention, Tooth Decay, and the Community Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruff, R R; Niederman, R

    2018-04-01

    The school and community context can contribute to inequity in child oral health. Whether the school and community affect the effectiveness of school-based caries prevention is unknown. The association between the school and community environment and dental caries, as well as their moderating effects with school-based caries prevention, was assessed using multilevel mixed-effects regression. Data were derived from a 6-y prospective cohort study of children participating in a school-based caries prevention program. For the school and community, living in a dental-shortage area and the proportion of children receiving free or reduced lunch were significantly related to an increased risk of dental caries at baseline. Caries prevention was associated with a significant per-visit decrease in the risk of untreated caries, but the rate of total caries experience increased over time. Caries prevention was more effective in children who had prior dental care at baseline and in schools with a higher proportion of low socioeconomic status students. There was significant variation across schools in the baseline prevalence of dental caries and the effect of prevention over time, although effects were modest. The school and community environment have a direct impact on oral health and moderate the association between school-based caries prevention and dental caries. Knowledge Transfer Statement: School-based caries prevention can be an effective means to reduce oral health inequity by embedding dental care within schools. However, the socioeconomic makeup of schools and characteristics of the surrounding community can affect the impact of school-based care.

  10. Food Preservation Manual: A Guide for School-Community Canneries in Virginia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jasper S., Ed.; Wood, Charles B.

    The manual was intended primarily for use by lay instructors and assistants involved in the daily operation of school-community canneries under the supervision of a high school agricultural education instructor. The first half deals in detail with the fundamentals of food preparation and cannery operation. Food preservation by canning, sanitation…

  11. Perceptions of Restorative Justice in Urban High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crowe, Kathy R.

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine, understand, and describe the elements of restorative justice programs (relationships, community building, accountability, empathy) that high school principals and teachers in public school districts located in San Bernardino County, California perceive as most beneficial for changing…

  12. Comal County, Texas: Preparing for Life after High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walter, Frank

    2018-01-01

    Comal County, Texas, may be rural but its students face many of the same challenges as students in urban districts. Communities In Schools of South Central Texas works with the local school district to identify student needs and provide critical supports to help young people prepare for life after high school.

  13. A Political Analysis of Community Influence over School Closure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finnigan, Kara S.; Lavner, Mark

    2012-01-01

    This study seeks to understand community member participation in and influence over an urban school district's school closure process. Data from interviews with School Board members, district administrators, and community members, as well as district documents and newspaper articles suggest that district administrators limited participation…

  14. Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools: Tropical Island Climates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2004-11-01

    The Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools--Tropical Island Climates provides school boards, administrators, and design staff with guidance to help them make informed decisions about energy and environmental issues important to school systems and communities. These design guidelines outline high performance principles for the new or retrofit design of your K-12 school in tropical island climates. By incorporating energy improvements into their construction or renovation plans, schools can significantly reduce energy consumption and costs.

  15. Cultivating Community Schools: Austin's Grassroots Effort

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubin, Jennifer

    2015-01-01

    In 2007, Walter P. Webb Middle School faced a crisis. One evening in January, the superintendent at the time held a meeting at the school in Austin, Texas, to let students, parents, teachers, and community members know that at the end of the academic year, their school would close. Thanks to a new state law focused on accountability, the…

  16. School-Based Budgeting in New York City: Perceptions of School Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iatarola, Patrice; Stiefel, Leanna

    1998-01-01

    Summarizes results of surveys and interviews of community members from 29 New York City schools involved in school-level budgeting during 1995-96. Analyzes respondents' knowledge about school budgets, ideas about resource decision making, perceptions of budgetary power, and suggestions. Fully 80% of respondents supported a participatory process.…

  17. Established Independent School Collaborates with Social Service Agency to Launch New School: Community Partnership School, Pennsylvania

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Sarah

    2016-01-01

    Community Partnership School (CPS) serves 90 to 95 students annually in preK-5th grade. Of these, 100 percent are African American or multiracial, and all qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Community Partnership School began as a collaboration between Germantown Academy, which had trouble recruiting low-income students to its suburban…

  18. San Diego Met High School: Personalization as a Foundation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Principal Leadership, 2010

    2010-01-01

    The mission of San Diego Met High School is to prepare students for college and the workforce through active learning, academic rigor, and community involvement in a small school setting. Because personalization is a key component of the school culture, advisories of 20-25 students work with the same teachers for all four years. Advisers, parents,…

  19. Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy: BVP High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    EDUCAUSE, 2015

    2015-01-01

    This Rhode Island charter high school serves an intentionally diverse population of students from two urban and two suburban communities. The blended learning model is tailored by grade level and emphasizes differentiation, deeper learning in a community, and assessment. The two-page grantee profiles from Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC)…

  20. WVU--community partnership that provides science and math enrichment for underrepresented high school students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rye, J A; Chester, A L

    1999-04-01

    In response to the need to help West Virginia secondary school students overcome educational and economic barriers and to increase the number of health professionals in the state, the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (hereafter, "the Academy") was established in 1994. The Academy is a partnership between West Virginia University (WVU)--including the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Human Resources and Education--and members of the community, including secondary-school teachers, health care professionals, and other community leaders. The Academy targets students from underrepresented groups (mainly African Americans and financially disadvantaged whites) in grades nine through 12. By November 1997, 290 students (69% girls and 33% African American) from 17 counties were Academy participants. Funding is from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the Coca-Cola Foundation, and other sources. Academy programs are an on-campus summer institute and community-based clubs, where students engage in activities for science and math enrichment, leadership development, and health careers awareness. In the Academy's clubs, students carry out extended investigations of problems related to human health and local communities. Most students report that the Academy has increased their interest in health care careers, and almost all who have continued to participate in Academy programs through their senior year have been accepted into college.

  1. School Consolidation and the Politics of School Closure across Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karanxha, Zorka; Agosto, Vonzell; Black, William R.; Effiom, Claudius B.

    2013-01-01

    This case involves dilemmas for educational leaders who may face the process of school consolidation brought on by decreased funding and demands for accountability. We highlight the challenges and opportunities to collaborate within and across diverse communities and schools with varying expressions of cultural, political, ethical, and…

  2. Availability of high school extracurricular sports programs and high-risk behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Deborah A; Taylor, Stephanie L; Zonta, Michela; Vestal, Katherine D; Schuster, Mark A

    2007-02-01

    The Surgeon General has called for an expansion of school-based extracurricular sports programs to address the obesity epidemic. However, little is known about the availability of and participation in high school extracurricular sports and how participation in these sports is related to high-risk behaviors. We surveyed Los Angeles County public high schools in 2002 to determine the number of extracurricular sports programs offered and the percentage of students participating in those programs. We used community data on rates of arrests, births, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among youth to examine associations between risk behaviors and participation in sports programs. The average school offered 14 sports programs, and the average participation rate was 39% for boys and 30% for girls. Smaller schools and schools with higher percentages of disadvantaged students offered fewer programs. The average school offering 13 or fewer programs had 14% of its students participating, while the average school offering 16 or more programs had 31% of its students participating in sports. Controlling for area-level demographics, juvenile arrest rates and teen birth rates, but not STD rates, were lower in areas where schools offered more extracurricular sports. Opportunities for participation in high school extracurricular sports are limited. Future studies should test whether increased opportunities will increase physical activity and impact the increasing overweight problem in youths.

  3. Conflicting Views of School Community: The Dichotomy Between Administrators and Teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Barnett

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available This project was the second phase of a two-phase study of teachers’ knowledge of community in an urban, private boys’ day school in Canada. The first phase examined a teacher’s perception of her classroom community, and this phase asked teachers and administrators in the same school about their perceptions of school community. We found that the school created and implemented an organizational structure designed to foster and sustain a professional community. However, administrators and teachers conceptualized, understood, and experienced community in different ways. Administrators saw community as a management tool to generate support for the school’s objectives. Teachers experienced community as social support that served as a remedy for professional isolation. Neither group based its view on community as a capacity-building, reflective process leading to a generative professional community.

  4. High school science fair and research integrity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalley, Simon; Shepherd, Karen; Reisch, Joan

    2017-01-01

    Research misconduct has become an important matter of concern in the scientific community. The extent to which such behavior occurs early in science education has received little attention. In the current study, using the web-based data collection program REDCap, we obtained responses to an anonymous and voluntary survey about science fair from 65 high school students who recently competed in the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair and from 237 STEM-track, post-high school students (undergraduates, 1st year medical students, and 1st year biomedical graduate students) doing research at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Of the post-high school students, 24% had competed in science fair during their high school education. Science fair experience was similar overall for the local cohort of Dallas regional students and the more diverse state/national cohort of post-high school students. Only one student out of 122 reported research misconduct, in his case making up the data. Unexpectedly, post-high school students who did not participate in science fair anticipated that carrying out science fair would be much more difficult than actually was the case, and 22% of the post-high school students anticipated that science fair participants would resort to research misconduct to overcome obstacles. No gender-based differences between students’ science fair experiences or expectations were evident. PMID:28328976

  5. Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools: Arctic and Subarctic Climates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2004-11-01

    The Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools--Arctic and Subarctic Climates provides school boards, administrators, and design staff with guidance to help them make informed decisions about energy and environmental issues important to school systems and communities. These design guidelines outline high performance principles for the new or retrofit design of your K-12 school in arctic and subarctic climates. By incorporating energy improvements into their construction or renovation plans, schools can significantly reduce energy consumption and costs.

  6. Disjunctured reciprocity: Paradoxes of community-school relationship in Nepal

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pradhan, Uma; Shrestha, Shivana; Valentin, Karen

    2018-01-01

    and community. This article questions the simplistic assumption through an ethnographic study of community-school relationship in Nepal. While these relationships may conflict with the kind of reciprocity assumed in school governance policies, we argue that this disjunctured reciprocity, firstly, reflects...

  7. High School Principals and the High School Journalism Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Jane W.

    A study asked selected high school principals to respond to statements about the value of high school journalism to the high school student and about the rights and responsibilities of the high school journalist. These responses were then checked against such information as whether or not the high school principal had worked on a high school…

  8. Can use of healthcare services among 15-16-year-olds predict an increased level of high school dropout? A longitudinal community study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Homlong, Lisbeth; Rosvold, Elin O; Haavet, Ole R

    2013-09-19

    To study associations between healthcare seeking in 15-16-year-olds and high school dropout 5 years later. Longitudinal community study. Data from a comprehensive youth health survey conducted in 2000-2004, linked to data from national registries up to 2010. 13 964 10th grade secondary school students in six Norwegian counties. Logistic regression was used to compute ORs for high school dropout. The total proportion of students not completing high school 5 years after registering was 29% (girls 24%, boys 34%). Frequent attenders to school health services and youth health clinics at age 15-16 years had a higher dropout rate (37/48% and 45/71%), compared with those with no or moderate use. Adolescents referred to mental health services were also more likely to drop out (47/62%). Boys with moderate use of a general practitioner (GP) had a lower dropout rate (30%). A multiple logistic regression analysis, in which we adjusted for selected health indicators and sociodemographic background variables, revealed that seeking help from the youth health clinic and consulting mental health services, were associated with increased level of high school dropout 5 years later. Frequent attenders (≥4 contacts) had the highest odds of dropping out. Yet, boys who saw a GP and girls attending the school health services regularly over the previous year were less likely than their peers to drop out from high school. Adolescents who seek help at certain healthcare services can be at risk of dropping out of high school later. Health workers should pay particular attention to frequent attenders and offer follow-up when needed. However, boys who attended a GP regularly were more likely to continue to high school graduation, which may indicate a protective effect of having a regular and stable relationship with a GP.

  9. Community Schools as an Effective Strategy for Reform. Research Brief

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel, Julia; Snyder, Jon David

    2016-01-01

    Research literature finds that community school models offering various agreed-upon features provide an excellent social return on investment and significant promise for providing opportunities for learning and promoting well-being in students and communities. Community schools show significant promise for addressing barriers to learning and…

  10. Evaluation of a Public Awareness Campaign to Prevent High School Dropout.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babinski, Leslie M; Corra, Ashley J; Gifford, Elizabeth J

    2016-08-01

    Many advocacy organizations devote time and resources to increasing community awareness and educating the public in an effort to gain support for their issue. One such effort, the Dropout Prevention Campaign by America's Promise Alliance, aimed to increase the visibility of the high school dropout problem and mobilize the community to take action. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the framing of the Dropout Prevention Campaign in television news media. To evaluate this campaign, television news coverage about high school dropout in 12 U.S. communities (N = 982) was examined. A content analysis of news transcripts was conducted and coded to determine the definition of the problem, the reasons for dropout and the possible solutions. Findings indicated that the high school dropout problem was most often framed (30 % of news segments) in terms of the economic and societal implications for the community. Individual student factors as well as broader societal influences were frequently discussed as possible reasons for dropout. The most commonly mentioned solutions were school-based interventions. News segments that mentioned America's Promise Alliance were more likely to frame the issue as a crisis and to use statistics to illustrate that point. Solutions that were more likely to appear in America's Promise segments promoted community and cross-sector involvement, consistent with the messages promoted by the Dropout Prevention Campaign. The findings suggest that a media content analysis can be an effective framework for analyzing a prevention campaign.

  11. Online workspaces to support teacher communities in secondary schools

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Admiraal, W.; Heemskerk, I.M.C.C.; Roceanu, I.

    2012-01-01

    Teacher communities are claimed to contribute to the improvement in the practices of teaching and schooling as well as individual teacher development and the collective capacity schools. How to define, design and support teacher communities is however still unclear. In this expert study, experts

  12. Community-level moderators of a school-based childhood sexual assault prevention program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, Matthew C; Kouros, Chrystyna D; Janecek, Kim; Freeman, Rachel; Mielock, Alyssa; Garber, Judy

    2017-01-01

    Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is highly prevalent and associated with a wide variety of negative mental and physical health outcomes. School-based CSA education and prevention programs have shown promise, but it is unclear to what extent community-level characteristics are related to their effectiveness. The present cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated community-level moderators of the Safe@Lastprogramcomparedtoawaitlistcontrolcondition.(*) Knowledge gains from pre- to post-intervention were assessed in 5 domains: safe versus unsafe people; safe choices; problem-solving; clear disclosure; and assertiveness. Participants were 1177 students (46% White, 26% African American, 15% Hispanic, 4% Asian American, 6% Other) in grades 1 through 6 from 14 public schools in Tennessee. Multilevel models accounting for the nesting of children within schools revealed large effect sizes for the intervention versus control across all knowledge domains (d's ranged from 1.56 to 2.13). The effectiveness of the program was moderated by mean per capita income and rates of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect in the community. Intervention effects were stronger for youth living in lower as compared to higher income counties, and for youth attending schools in counties with lower as compared to higher abuse/neglect rates. Child characteristics (sex, race) did not moderate intervention effects. This research identified two community-level factors that predicted the effectiveness of a CSA education and prevention program designed to improve children's knowledge of personal safety skills. School-based CSA prevention programs may require modification for communities with higher rates of child abuse and neglect. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Where It All Comes Together: How Partnerships Connect Communities and Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blank, Martin J.; Villarreal, Lisa

    2015-01-01

    The modern-day community schools movement reached a new plateau in 2008 when Randi Weingarten made community schools a central element of her platform as the new president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The AFT's action was a milestone on a journey that began a decade earlier, when advocates for community schools determined that it…

  14. Tapping Community Resources to Enrich Your Schooling: Partners-in-Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Charles R.

    The Lancaster (PA) school district is working with the Chamber of Commerce and industry to bring resource persons into classrooms and to provide staff for adult career retraining. Program objectives include identifying areas for school/community interaction and mutual gain. Partnership benefits are shared among business, community and schools: to…

  15. The role of anxiety symptoms in school performance in a community sample of children and adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D'Arrigo Valentina

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Anxiety symptoms are relatively common among children and adolescents and can interfere with functioning. The prevalence of anxiety and the relationship between anxiety and school performance were examined among elementary, middle, and high school students. Methods Samples of elementary (N = 131, age 8–10 years, middle (N = 267, age 11–13 years, and high school (N = 80, age 14–16 years children were recruited from four public schools in a predominantly middle-class community in Catania, Italy. Children completed the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC. T-scores were computed for the MASC total scores, and considered to be in the anxious range if 65 or above. Current academic grades were obtained from school records. Results Of the 478 children, 35 (7.3% had a MASC T-score in the anxious range. The rate of children in the anxious range was 2.3% in elementary, 7.9% in middle, and 15.9% in high school (χ2 = 7.8, df = 2, p 2 = 11.68, df = 2, p Conclusion In this community sample of children and adolescents attending elementary through high school, the prevalence of abnormally high self-reported levels of anxiety increased in frequency with age and was negatively associated with school performance.

  16. Listening to the Voices of Civically Engaged High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preus, Betty; Payne, Rachel; Wick, Carly; Glomski, Emily

    2016-01-01

    This study examines why a group of students representing two high schools became involved in an activist organization, the benefits they gained as a result, the impact they had on their school and community, and their recommendations for how school personnel can foster civic engagement in young people. The student-led group campaigned for a school…

  17. High school peer tutors teach MedlinePlus: a model for Hispanic outreach*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warner, Debra G.; Olney, Cynthia A.; Wood, Fred B.; Hansen, Lucille; Bowden, Virginia M.

    2005-01-01

    Objectives: The objective was to introduce the MedlinePlus Website to the predominantly Hispanic residents of the Lower Rio Grande Valley region of Texas by partnering with a health professions magnet high school (known as Med High). Methods: Community assessment was used in the planning stages and included pre-project focus groups with students and teachers. Outreach methods included peer tutor selection, train-the-trainer sessions, school and community outreach, and pre- and posttests of MedlinePlus training sessions. Evaluation methods included Web statistics; end-of-project interviews; focus groups with students, faculty, and librarians; and end-of-project surveys of students and faculty. Results: Four peer tutors reached more than 2,000 people during the project year. Students and faculty found MedlinePlus to be a useful resource. Faculty and librarians developed new or revised teaching methods incorporating MedlinePlus. The project enhanced the role of school librarians as agents of change at Med High. The project continues on a self-sustaining basis. Conclusions: Using peer tutors is an effective way to educate high school students about health information resources and, through the students, to reach families and community members. PMID:15858628

  18. Exploring the Relationship between Supplementary Schools and "Cohesive Communities"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rose, Anthea

    2013-01-01

    The number of supplementary schools in England serving minority communities continues to grow. They are popular with the parents of such communities because they often feel their children are disadvantaged in mainstream schools and not afforded the opportunities or the learning environment that is conducive to their children achieving their full…

  19. Professional Learning Community Process in the United States: Conceptualization of the Process and District Support for Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olivier, Dianne F.; Huffman, Jane B.

    2016-01-01

    As the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process becomes embedded within schools, the level of district support has a direct impact on whether schools have the ability to re-culture and sustain highly effective collaborative practices. The purpose of this article is to share a professional learning community conceptual framework from the US,…

  20. "It's a Way of Life for Us": High Mobility and High Achievement in Department of Defense Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smrekar, Claire E.; Owens, Debra E.

    2003-01-01

    Examines the academic performance of students in U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools, which have high student mobility. Some observers contend that these students' high achievement is a function of their middle class family and community characteristics. Asserts that DoDEA schools simultaneously "do the right…

  1. Community perceptions of a rural medical school: a pilot qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nestel D

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Debra Nestel,1 Katherine Gray,1 Margaret Simmons,1 Shane A Pritchard,1 Rumana Islam,1 Wan Q Eng,1 Adrian Ng,1 Tim Dornan2 1Gippsland Medical School/School of Rural Health, Monash University, Clayton, Australia; 2School of Health Professions Education, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands Background: This paper explores local community perceptions of a relatively new rural medical school. For the purposes of this paper, community engagement is conceptualized as involvement in planning, delivering, and evaluating the medical program. Although there are several reviews of patient involvement in medical curricula development, this study was designed to pilot an approach to exploring the perspectives of well members of the community in the transition of institutional policy on community engagement to one medical school. Methods: An advertisement in the local newspaper invited volunteers to participate in a telephone interview about the new medical school. An independent researcher external to the medical school conducted the interviews using a topic guide. Audio recordings were not made, but detailed notes including verbatim statements were recorded. At least two research team members analyzed interview records for emergent themes. Human research ethics approval was obtained. Results: Twelve interviews were conducted. Participants offered rich imaginings on the role of the school and expectations and opportunities for students. Most participants expressed strong and positive views, especially in addressing long-term health workforce issues. It was considered important that students live, mix, and study in the community. Some participants had very clear ideas about the need of the school to address specified needs, such as indigenous health, obesity, aging, drug and alcohol problems, teenage pregnancy, ethnic diversity, and working with people of low socioeconomic status. Conclusion: This study has initiated a dialogue with potential

  2. Science for the People: High School Students Investigate Community Air Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marks-Block, Tony

    2011-01-01

    Over a year, a small group of high school students risked their afternoons and summer to participate in a science program that was "much different from science class." This was one of several after-school programs in Oakland and Richmond that the author was leading as an instructor with the East Bay Academy for Young Scientists (EBAYS). Students…

  3. Organizational Structures to Support Oakland Community Schools. Knowledge Brief

    Science.gov (United States)

    John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, 2015

    2015-01-01

    This brief is part of a series that shares findings from a research collaboration between the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University and Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) focused on understanding implementation of the community school model in the district. This brief highlights findings related to…

  4. IMPACT OF THE COMMUNITY SCHOOL ON PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF DELINQUENCY, SCHOOL DROPOUTS, POVERTY, RACIAL SEGREGATION.

    Science.gov (United States)

    TOTTEN, W. FRED

    THE COMMUNITY SCHOOL IS DESIGNED TO HELP PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO SOLVE THEIR OWN PROBLEMS, IT IS THE CENTER OF SERVICE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE OF A COMMUNITY REGARDLESS OF AGE, RACE, RELIGION, ETHNIC BACKGROUND, OR SOCIOECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES. SCHOOL FACILITIES AND SCHOOL PERSONNEL ARE AVAILABLE FOR SERVICE TO PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES OF THE DAY ON ALL DAYS OF…

  5. A Collaboration for Health and Physical Education in High-Need Schools and Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doolittle, Sarah; Beale, Angela; DeMarzo, Jenine

    2009-01-01

    Teacher education programs have a long history of producing excellent health and physical education (HPE) teachers for suburban school districts. But graduates who start their career at high-need schools often feel poorly prepared to face the challenges of low-income school districts, schools, and students. This article is directed primarily to…

  6. Empowerment or Impairment? Involving Traditional Communities in School Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mfum-Mensah, Obed

    2004-03-01

    Community involvement in education has been viewed as a - by no means uncontroversial - means for enabling local members to deepen their participation in the decision-making relevant to their schools by playing a constructive role in the process. On the basis of a study carried out in Ghana, the present contribution to this discussion examines various matters involved in delegating the management of an Alternative Primary Education program to two traditional communities in the north of that country. It also explores how community members, school authorities, the sponsoring non-governmental organization and members of the local management committee themselves perceive such an approach to school management. Issues raised include whether inexperienced and even illiterate local citizens should be allowed to manage their schools, the conflicts which such management often entails and, finally, in what ways it might be beneficially promoted.

  7. Determining the Measurement Quality of a Montessori High School Teacher Evaluation Survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony Philip Setari

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to conduct a psychometric validation of a course evaluation instrument, known as a student evaluation of teaching (SET, implemented in a Montessori high school. The authors demonstrate to the Montessori community how to rigorously examine the measurement and assessment quality of instruments used within Montessori schools. The Montessori high school community needs an SET that has been rigorously examined for measurement issues. The examined SET was developed by a Montessori high school, and the sample data were collected from Montessori high school students. Using a Rasch partial credit model, the results of the analysis identified several measurement issues, including multidimensionality, misfit items, and inappropriate item difficulty levels. A revised version of the SET underwent the same analysis procedure, and the results indicated that measurement issues persisted. The authors suggest several ways to improve the overall measurement quality of the instrument while keeping the Montessori foundation. Additional validation studies with a revised version of the SET will be needed before the instrument can be endorsed for full implementation in a Montessori setting.

  8. The impact of community schools on student dropout in pre-vocational education

    OpenAIRE

    Heers, M.; van Klaveren, C.; Groot, W.; Maassen van den Brink, H.

    2012-01-01

    Dropout prevention is highly ranked on the political agenda in many countries. It remains unclear, however, how dropout can be effectively reduced, as many different factors are determining student dropout. Community schools recognize this and modernize education such that it better accommodates students' personal needs. As a result these schools cooperate more with external organizations, stimulate parental involvement in the educational process and organize more extracurricular activities. ...

  9. Dine Youth Define Community: Finding Routes to School and Community Partnerships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulago, Hollie Anderson

    2011-01-01

    The three purposes of this qualitative research study were to: Create a platform for Dine youth to describe their community in their own words; identify effective partnerships between the school and community to promote academic success for Dine youth; and critique the colonizing ways of an old order of Western research that contributed to the…

  10. Two Years of Case Management: Final Findings from the Communities in Schools Random Assignment Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parise, Leigh M.; Corrin, William; Granito, Kelly; Haider, Zeest; Somers, Marie-Andrée; Cerna, Oscar

    2017-01-01

    While high school graduation rates are on the rise nationwide, too many students still never reach that milestone, with 7,000 on average dropping out every day. Recognizing that many students need additional support to succeed in school, Communities In Schools (CIS) works to provide and connect students with integrated support services to keep…

  11. Rural School In The Context Of Community-Led Local Development*

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hudečková H.

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The paper is based on the general concept of knowledge society and deals with regional development theories which emphasize local environment as an important part of rural development. The following two questions were studied: (1 What is the early experience of municipalities when establishing a Community School? (2 In which other municipalities would it be possible and appropriate to build such a school? For this purpose, both secondary and primary research methods were combined with data collection techniques – document study, observation, and questioning. Because the examined problem is set in the context of community-led local development (CLLD, violation of the ‘bottom-up’ approach principle is also highlighted. The paper presents the first experiences in the establishment of seven Community Schools within the Pilsen region and based on them also recommendations for the feasibility and suitability of establishing this type of school in other rural municipalities. The results show that the educational sector is not assisting in the modernization of rural schools with regard to community education and that the possibility of the contemporary and meaningful existence of schools in small rural municipalities remains ignored.

  12. School Climate Improvement Action Guide for Community Partners. School Climate Improvement Resource Package

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, 2017

    2017-01-01

    Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines how community partners can support school climate improvements. Organizations and individuals can partner with schools in many different ways--from delivering or coordinating direct services to students and families inside or…

  13. Schools as Community Hubs: Policy Contexts, Educational Rationales, and Design Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    McShane, Ian; Watkins, Jerry; Meredyth, Denise

    2012-01-01

    There is increasing interest in making more effective use of schools as community hubs, both in Australia and internationally. Investment in shared facilities aims to engage parents and local communities in schooling, encourage civic participation, co-ordinate educational and community services and overcome disadvantages of location or service…

  14. Community Participation in the Development and Validation of a School Violence Observation Instrument.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medina, Nilda; Fernández, Gisely; Cruz, Tania; Jordán, Natalia; Trenche, Maryanes

    2016-01-01

    School violence is a worldwide public health issue with negative effects on education. Official statistics and reports do not include daily occurrences of violent behavior that may precede severe incidents. This project aimed to engage school community members in the development, validation, and implementation of an observation instrument to identify characteristics of school violence in two Puerto Rican schools. The role of school community members in all phases of the research is described. The input of community partners contributed to enrich the process by providing insight into the problem studied and a more informed framework for interpreting results. Taking into account distinctive features of each particular school made results meaningful to the school community and fostered a sense of empowerment of community members as they recognized their knowledge is essential to the solution of their problems.

  15. Liability concerns and shared use of school recreational facilities in underserved communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spengler, John O; Connaughton, Daniel P; Maddock, Jason E

    2011-10-01

    In underserved communities, schools can provide the physical structure and facilities for informal and formal recreation as well as after-school, weekend, and summer programming. The importance of community access to schools is acknowledged by authoritative groups; however, fear of liability is believed to be a key barrier to community access. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of liability risk and associated issues among school administrators in underserved communities. A national survey of school administrators in underserved communities (n=360, response rate of 21%) was conducted in 2009 and analyzed in 2010. Liability perceptions in the context of community access were assessed through descriptive statistics. The majority of respondents (82.2%) indicated concern for liability should someone be injured on school property after hours while participating in a recreational activity. Among those that did not allow community access, 91% were somewhat to very concerned about liability and 86% believed that stronger legislation was needed to better protect schools from liability for after-hours recreational use. Among those who claimed familiarity with a state law that offered them limited liability protection, nearly three fourths were nevertheless concerned about liability. Liability concerns are prevalent among this group of school administrators, particularly if they had been involved in prior litigation, and even if they indicated they were aware of laws that provide liability protection where use occurs after hours. Reducing these concerns will be important if schools are to become locations for recreational programs that promote physical activity outside of regular school hours. Copyright © 2011 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Evolutionary Approach of Virtual Communities of Practice: A Reflection within a Network of Spanish Rural Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frossard, Frédérique; Trifonova, Anna; Barajas Frutos, Mario

    The isolation of rural communities creates special necessities for teachers and students in rural schools. The present article describes "Rural Virtual School", a Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP) in which Spanish teachers of rural schools share learning resources and teaching methodologies through social software applications. The article arrives to an evolutionary model, in which the use of the social software tools evolves together with the needs and the activities of the VCoP through the different stages of its lifetime. Currently, the community has reached a high level of maturity and, in order to keep its momentum, the members intentionally use appropriate technologies specially designed to enhance rich innovative educational approaches, through which they collaboratively generate creative practices.

  17. Community-based health and schools of nursing: supporting health promotion and research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shannon, Crystal

    2014-01-01

    This article examines the role of community-based schools of nursing in the promotion of public health and research in poverty-stricken areas. This was a three-phase study (questionnaire and key-informants' interviews) that surveyed representatives of prelicensure associate and baccalaureate nursing schools (n=17), nursing-school key informants (n=6) and community leaders (n=10). A 13-question web-based survey and semi-structured interview of key informants elicited data on demographics, nursing program design, exposure of faculty and students to various research and health promotion methods, and beliefs about student involvement. Nursing schools participated minimally in community-based health promotion (CBHP) and community-based participatory research saw reduced need for student involvement in such activities, cited multiple barriers to active community collaboration, and reported restricted community partnerships. CBHP was recognized to be a valuable element of health care and student education, but is obstructed by many barriers. This study suggests that nursing schools are not taking full advantage of relationships with community leaders. Recommendations for action are given. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Building up STEM education professional learning community in school setting: Case of Khon Kaen Wittayayon School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thana, Aduldej; Siripun, Kulpatsorn; Yuenyong, Chokchai

    2018-01-01

    The STEM education is new issue of teaching and learning in school setting. Building up STEM education professional learning community may provide some suggestions for further collaborative work of STEM Education from grounded up. This paper aimed to clarify the building up STEM education learning community in Khon Kaen Wittayayon (KKW) School setting. Participants included Khon Kaen University researchers, Khon Kaen Wittayayon School administrators and teachers. Methodology regarded interpretative paradigm. The tools of interpretation included participant observation, interview and document analysis. Data was analyzed to categories of condition for building up STEM education professional learning community. The findings revealed that the actions of developing STEM learning activities and research showed some issues of KKW STEM community of inquiry and improvement. The paper will discuss what and how the community learns about sharing vision of STEM Education, supportive physical and social conditions of KKW, sharing activities of STEM, and good things from some key STEM teachers' ambition. The paper may has implication of supporting STEM education in Thailand school setting.

  19. Communities of practice in the school workplace

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brouwer, Patricia; Brekelmans, Mieke; Nieuwenhuis, Loek; Simons, Robert-Jan

    2018-01-01

    Purpose – The first aim of this study is to explore to what extent communities of practice occur in the school workplace. The second aim is to explore the relation between communities of practice and diversity in composition of teacher teams. Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative as well as

  20. Failure to Thrive? The Community Literacy Strand of the Additive Bilingual Project at an Eastern Cape Community School, South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, George

    2007-01-01

    This paper discusses an attempt to establish community literacy procedures in an Eastern Cape community school. The school hosts the Additive Bilingual Education (ABLE) project, a cooperation between UK and South African universities and the school trust. The community literacy strand of the project encourages family members to contribute oral…

  1. High School Football and Risk of Neurodegeneration: A Community-Based Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savica, Rodolfo; Parisi, Joseph E.; Wold, Lester E.; Josephs, Keith A.; Ahlskog, J. Eric

    2012-01-01

    Objective To assess whether high school football played between 1946 and 1956, when headgear was less protective than today, was associated with development of neurodegenerative diseases later in life. Methods All male students who played football from 1946 to 1956 in the high schools of Rochester, Minnesota, plus a non–football-playing referent group of male students in the band, glee club, or choir were identified. Using the records-linkage system of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, we reviewed (from October 31, 2010, to March 30, 2011) all available medical records to assess later development of dementia, Parkinson disease (PD), or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We also compared the frequency of dementia, PD, or ALS with incidence data from the general population of Olmsted County, Minnesota. Results We found no increased risk of dementia, PD, or ALS among the 438 football players compared with the 140 non–football-playing male classmates. Parkinson disease and ALS were slightly less frequent in the football group, whereas dementia was slightly more frequent, but not significantly so. When we compared these results with the expected incidence rates in the general population, only PD was significantly increased; however, this was true for both groups, with a larger risk ratio in the non–football group. Conclusion Our findings suggest that high school students who played American football from 1946 to 1956 did not have an increased risk of later developing dementia, PD, or ALS compared with non–football-playing high school males, despite poorer equipment and less regard for concussions compared with today and no rules prohibiting head-first tackling (spearing). PMID:22469346

  2. High School Music Programmes as Potential Sites for Communities of Practice--A Canadian Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Countryman, June

    2009-01-01

    My exploration of the nature of the high school music experience was undertaken with 33 young adults who had graduated from high school one to six years previous to the data collection. All of these participants had been involved in their school music programmes and 30 had not continued formal music study following graduation. One might predict…

  3. Understanding the Implementation of Knowledge Management in High-Performance Schools in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rahmad Sukor Ab. Samad

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This study intends to assess the implementation of policies in high-performance schools (HPS. One hundred fifty-two administrators in 52 HPS were selected using full sampling. Only two factors serve as contributors in knowledge management model for high-performing schools in Malaysia, which were school culture and school strategy. Whereas the correlation indicated that all 10 factors, namely, mission and vision, school strategy, school culture, intellectual modal, learning organization, leadership management, teamwork and learning community, knowledge sharing, new knowledge generation, and digital advancement, have significant relationships with the understanding of knowledge management, at different levels.

  4. School-wide implementation of the elements of effective classroom instruction: Lessons from a high-performing, high-poverty urban school

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyson, Hilarie

    2008-10-01

    relationships and interactions among students, teachers, parents, and community. Suggestion for future research include a deep examination of how and why culturally relevant pedagogy supports students of color, research on leadership and its impact on creating a positive school climate and culture to produce high student achievement by students of color, and the impact of early education programs on student achievement among poor students and students of color.

  5. Making Death, Compassion and Partnership "Part of Life" in School Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennedy, Carla Jane; Keeffe, Mary; Gardner, Fiona; Farrelly, Cathleen

    2017-01-01

    Death can be considered a social taboo, a common source of fear and public avoidance. School communities are not immune to this, as the topic of death is constantly avoided. It is vital to understand how we can socially and culturally cultivate a positive regard for death, dying and bereavement in our school communities. Community members need to…

  6. City Connects Prompts Data-Driven Action in Community Schools in the Bronx

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haywoode, Alyssa

    2018-01-01

    Community schools have a long history of helping students succeed in school by addressing the problems they face outside of school. But without specific data on students and the full range of their needs, community schools cannot be as effective as they would like to be. Driven by the desire to make more data-informed decisions, the Children's Aid…

  7. Community Involvement in School Management in Portugal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veloso, Luísa; Craveiro, Daniela; Rufino, Isabel

    2013-01-01

    This article discusses the ways in which the community is involved in Portuguese school management. It is based on an analysis of the external evaluation reports of 298 Portuguese schools for the academic years 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. The corpus analysed allowed the identification of two main aspects of the participation processes: (1) local…

  8. The Relationship between School Leadership and Professional Learning Communities in Thai Basic Education Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somprach, Kanokorn; Tang, Keow Ngang; Popoonsak, Pongtorn

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed to explore the role of essential leadership styles of school principals in encouraging teachers' participation in professional learning communities (PLCs) in basic education schools in northeastern Thailand. It aimed to identify the nine leadership styles practiced by school principals and teachers' participation in PLCs, and to…

  9. Communities of Practice in the School Workplace

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brouwer, Patricia; Brekelmans, Mieke; Nieuwenhuis, Loek; Simons, Robert-Jan

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: The first aim of this study is to explore to what extent communities of practice occur in the school workplace. The second aim is to explore the relation between communities of practice and diversity in composition of teacher teams. Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative as well as qualitative data were gathered from seven teacher…

  10. Formative research to develop a community-based intervention for chronic disease prevention in Guatemalan school-age children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Letona, Paola; Ramirez-Zea, Manuel; Caballero, Benjamin; Gittelsohn, Joel

    2014-01-31

    Noncommunicable diseases (NCD) are the most common causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, even in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Recent trends in health promotion emphasize community-based interventions as an important strategy for improving health outcomes. The aim of this study was to conduct formative research regarding the perceptions of NCD risk factors, their influencing factors, and community resources available to aid the development and implementation of a community-based intervention with school-age children. Focus group discussions (n = 18), home visits (n = 30), and individual semi-structured interviews (n = 26) were conducted in three urban communities in Guatemala with school-age children (10-12 years of age), teachers, parents, and local community members (i.e., school principals, school food kiosk vendors, religious leaders, authority representatives). All focus groups and interviews were transcribed verbatim for thematic analysis. Children, parents, and teachers have general knowledge about modifiable risk factors. Adults worried more about tobacco use, as compared to unhealthy diet and physical inactivity in children. Participants identified features at the intrapersonal (e.g., negative emotional state), interpersonal (e.g., peers as role models), and organizational and community levels (e.g., high levels of crime) that influence these risk factors in children. School committees, religious leaders, and government programs and activities were among the positive community resources identified. These findings should help researchers in Guatemala and similar LMIC to develop community-based interventions for NCD prevention in school-age children that are effective, feasible, and culturally acceptable.

  11. The impact of community schools on student dropout in pre-vocational education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heers, Marieke; Van Klaveren, Chris; Groot, Wim; van den Brink, Henriëtte Maassen

    2014-01-01

    Dropout prevention is highly ranked on the political agenda in many countries. It remains unclear, however, how dropout can be effectively reduced, as many different factors determine student dropout. Community schools recognize this and aim to modernize education such that it better accommodates

  12. The impact of community schools on student dropout in pre-vocational education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heers, M.; van Klaveren, C.; Groot, W.; Maassen van den Brink, H.

    2012-01-01

    Dropout prevention is highly ranked on the political agenda in many countries. It remains unclear, however, how dropout can be effectively reduced, as many different factors are determining student dropout. Community schools recognize this and modernize education such that it better accommodates

  13. Families' Experiences in Different Homeless and Highly Mobile Settings: Implications for School and Community Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Peter M.

    2015-01-01

    Family homelessness has been on the rise throughout the United States in recent years. As a result, more schools and communities than ever are challenged to serve students whose lives are touched by instability, uncertainty, and crisis. To date, there has been little inquiry into how families' particular places of homelessness might shape school…

  14. Community-level Moderators of a School-Based Childhood Sexual Assault Prevention Program

    OpenAIRE

    Morris, Matthew C.; Kouros, Chrystyna D.; Janecek, Kim; Freeman, Rachel; Mielock, Alyssa; Garber, Judy

    2016-01-01

    Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is highly prevalent and associated with a wide variety of negative mental and physical health outcomes. School-based CSA education and prevention programs have shown promise, but it is unclear to what extent community-level characteristics are related to their effectiveness. The present cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated community-level moderators of the Safe@Last program compared to a waitlist control condition. Knowledge gains from pre- to post-interv...

  15. Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child: Implications for 21st Century School Nurses. Position Statement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neumann, Linda; Combe, Laurie; Lambert, Patrice; Bartholomew, Kim; Morgan, Susan; Bobo, Nichole

    2017-01-01

    It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that the registered professional school nurse (hereinafter referred to as school nurse) be knowledgeable about and participate in the implementation of Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) approach in the educational setting (ASCD & Centers for Disease Control…

  16. Working School Children in a Nigerian Community: Revisiting the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Purpose: The prevalence, risk factors and effects of work on school performance and health consequences of child labour among school children in a rapidly urbanising community in south west Nigeria was assessed. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 386 Junior Secondary School students was conducted.

  17. Problematizing the Relationship between Rural Small Schools and Communities: Implications for Youth Lives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuervo, Hernán

    2014-01-01

    Small schools are often the hub of many rural communities. In the school space, a multiplicity of social, economic and political relationships are sustained, which enhance the vitality of the community. As such, the relationship between small schools and communities is often presented as a powerful one; however, too often as a harmonious, natural…

  18. Administrative relationships between medical schools and community preceptors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walling, A D; Sutton, L D; Gold, J

    2001-02-01

    To determine the current administrative relationships between medical schools and community preceptors, with special emphasis on arrangements for academic appointment, review, and promotion. In 1999, administrative contacts at all 126 U.S. allopathic medical schools were mailed a ten-item questionnaire to elicit information concerning the current practices of the schools regarding community preceptors, who were defined as volunteer or part-time physician faculty, primarily practicing at non-university-owned facilities, who contribute to medical students' and/or residents' education in various specified ways. Responses were received from 71 (56%) of the schools; they were in general a representative sample of U.S. medical schools. The numbers of preceptors per school ranged from 40 to 3,500. Sixty-seven percent of reporting schools identified clinical departments as the main administrative interface with preceptors. Only three schools used a central office; none exclusively used a regionalized system. Forty-four schools (63.8%) reported using formal written criteria for all preceptor appointments. Sixty-six schools (93%) used consistent academic titling systems, with 83.3% using titles including the word "clinical." Thirty-three schools (47.8%) reported that their departments conducted regular preceptor reviews; an additional 28 reported reviews by some departments. Preceptors were eligible for promotion at 94.4% of the responding schools. At 46.8%, specific promotion criteria exist; four schools were developing such criteria. Preceptors' interest in academic promotion was perceived to be moderate or low. A substantial proportion of U.S. medical schools have taken action to recognize preceptors as a unique faculty group. The comments received indicate that this is an active area of development in faculty affairs policy.

  19. School Health Index: A Self-Assessment and Planning Guide. Middle School/High School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrios, Lisa C.; Burgeson, Charlene R.; Crossett, Linda; Harrykissoon, Samantha D.; Pritzl, Jane; Wechsler, Howell; Kuester, Sarah A.; Pederson, Linda; Graffunder, Corinne; Rainford, Neil; Sleet, David

    2004-01-01

    The "School Health Index" is a self-assessment and planning guide that will enable schools to: (1) identify the strengths and weaknesses of school policies and programs for promoting health and safety; (2) develop an action plan for improving student health and safety, and (3) involve teachers, parents, students, and the community in improving…

  20. The pipeline of physiology courses in community colleges: to university, medical school, and beyond.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McFarland, Jenny; Pape-Lindstrom, Pamela

    2016-12-01

    Community colleges are significant in the landscape of undergraduate STEM (science technology, engineering, and mathematics) education (9), including biology, premedical, and other preprofessional education. Thirty percent of first-year medical school students in 2012 attended a community college. Students attend at different times in high school, their first 2 yr of college, and postbaccalaureate. The community college pathway is particularly important for traditionally underrepresented groups. Premedical students who first attend community college are more likely to practice in underserved communities (2). For many students, community colleges have significant advantages over 4-yr institutions. Pragmatically, they are local, affordable, and flexible, which accommodates students' work and family commitments. Academically, community colleges offer teaching faculty, smaller class sizes, and accessible learning support systems. Community colleges are fertile ground for universities and medical schools to recruit diverse students and support faculty. Community college students and faculty face several challenges (6, 8). There are limited interactions between 2- and 4-yr institutions, and the ease of transfer processes varies. In addition, faculty who study and work to improve the physiology education experience often encounter obstacles. Here, we describe barriers and detail existing resources and opportunities useful in navigating challenges. We invite physiology educators from 2- and 4-yr institutions to engage in sharing resources and facilitating physiology education improvement across institutions. Given the need for STEM majors and health care professionals, 4-yr colleges and universities will continue to benefit from students who take introductory biology, physiology, and anatomy and physiology courses at community colleges. Copyright © 2016 The American Physiological Society.

  1. School Violence: The Role of Parental and Community Involvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lesneskie, Eric; Block, Steven

    2017-01-01

    This study utilizes the School Survey on Crime and Safety to identify variables that predict lower levels of violence from four domains: school security, school climate, parental involvement, and community involvement. Negative binomial regression was performed and the findings indicate that statistically significant results come from all four…

  2. Approaches to School Leadership in Inclusive STEM High Schools: A Cross-Case Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, Michael Robert

    Inclusive STEM-focused high schools (ISHSs) are a relatively new phenomenon in the landscape of public education. This study of four exemplar ISHSs (identified by experts in STEM education as highly successfully in preparing students underrepresented in STEM for STEM majors in college and future STEM careers) provides a rich description of the approach to ISHS school leadership by identifying various internal and external leadership factors influencing school leadership. This study examined an existing data set that included site visits to four ISHSs along with pre- and post-visit data, and a cross-case analysis focused on the leadership contributions of ISHS leaders and their larger community. This study found that the ISHSs expanded the concept of school leadership to include leadership both within and outside the school. In addition, school leaders needed autonomy to innovate and respond to their schools' needs. This included autonomy in hiring new teachers, autonomy from school district influence, and autonomy from restrictive teachers' union regulation and policies. Finally, ISHSs needed to continually invest in increasing their schools' capacities. This included investing in teacher professionalization, providing pathways for school leadership, collaborating with business and industry, and identifying the best student supports. A product of this study was a proposition for characterizing school leadership in an ISHS. This proposition may offer valuable insight, implications, and information for states and schools districts that may be planning or improving STEM education programs.

  3. An Investigation of Students' Perceptions about Democratic School Climate and Sense of Community in School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karakus, Memet

    2017-01-01

    This study aims to investigate students' perceptions about democratic school climate and sense of community in school. In line with this purpose, it aims to find answers to the following questions: How democratic do students find the school climate? What is students' sense of belonging level at school? What is the academic success level of…

  4. Student, Home, and School Socio-Demographic Factors: Links to School, Home, and Community Arts Participation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansour, Marianne; Martin, Andrew J.; Anderson, Michael; Gibson, Robyn; Liem, Gregory Arief D.; Sudmalis, David

    2016-01-01

    This study explored the role of student (e.g., age, language background, gender), home (e.g., parent/caregiver education), and school (e.g., school type, size) socio-demographic factors in students' school (e.g., in-school arts tuition, arts engagement), home (e.g., parent/caregiver-child arts interaction), and community (e.g., arts attendance,…

  5. Project Chrysalis: The Evolution of a Community School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garrett, K.

    1996-01-01

    Describes the creation and operation of Project Chrysalis, a community, service-learning school transformed from row houses, where children can learn, work, and gain inspiration from artists and social entrepreneurs involved with Houston's Project Row Houses. Personal narratives of two teachers highlight the school's and students' accomplishments…

  6. Some aspects of school seen as a Professional Learning Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bradea Adela

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Each school is part of the community and at the same time, a provider of education services. This makes school a Learning Community for both teachers and students. While in the case of students this is a mission accomplished, in that of teachers’ things seem to be a bit more difficult. The latter ones should see themselves as members of a Professional Learning Community (PLC, where each teacher should cooperate with the other to achieve common goals, engage in common research activities for the progress of their school, take part in evaluating school results and propose plans to improve them etc. This research aimed to identify teachers’ perception of the role of school as a Professional Learning Community, to identify how school boards support and encourage this idea through participative management and to identify lines of joint research in which teachers are involved. The instrument used was a questionnaire having 30 close-ended items, administered to pre-university teachers from Bihor county, Romania. The implementation period was January to June 2016. The results show that there is collaboration between the same subject area teachers, who form committees to discuss, analyse and propose solutions. The research has also showed that more effort is required to improve collaboration between more experienced teachers and those who are at the beginning of their career, to improve collaboration between different subject area teachers by getting them to engage in joint projects, but above all, there is a need for a greater involvement of teachers, of school boards in managing schools so that participative management is achieved.

  7. Working Together to Support English Language Learners: School-Family-Community Engagement. PERC Research Brief

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Rosemary; Reumann-Moore, Rebecca; Rowland, Jeannette; Lin, Joshua

    2016-01-01

    When schools, families, and communities work together, student outcomes are better. This brief focuses on the ways family and community engagement can enhance schools' efforts to improve outcomes for ELLs and highlights specific strategies schools can use to more effectively engage families and communities.

  8. Australian primary school communities' understandings of SunSmart: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winslade, Matthew; Wright, Bradley; Dudley, Dean; Cotton, Wayne; Brown, Alexandra

    2017-10-01

    Skin cancer represents a major health issue for Australia. Childhood sun exposure is an important risk factor and evidence suggests the use of sun protection measures by Australian school children could be improved. This study examines how the SunSmart Program, a school-based skin cancer prevention resource, can be supported to further increase sun protection behaviours to assist in lowering skin cancer incidence. The Health Promoting Schools (HPS) framework was adopted to select key stakeholders from a convenience sample of five school communities. Students, teaching staff and parents participated in semi-structured focus group and individual interviews. A thematic analysis was used to extract key themes from the data. Although these school communities were aware of sun protection practices and the risks associated with sun exposure, their understandings of the SunSmart Program were limited. Sun protection policy implementation was inconsistent and students were unlikely to engage in sun protection practices beyond the school setting. School communities require additional support and engagement to holistically enforce the principles of the SunSmart Program. © 2017 The Authors.

  9. An Analysis of the Supports and Constraints for Scientific Discussion in High School Project-Based Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alozie, Nonye M.; Moje, Elizabeth Birr; Krajcik, Joseph S.

    2010-01-01

    One goal of project-based science is to promote the development of scientific discourse communities in classrooms. Holding rich high school scientific discussions is challenging, especially when the demands of content and norms of high school science pose challenges to their enactment. There is little research on how high school teachers enact…

  10. Community Empowerment for School Health: Action Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Mathew

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: One of the authors living in Yelagiri Hills incidentally noticed that the one government school and two hostels there, were facing acute issues with performance and multiple student health issues. Hence the action research was undertaken to address the problem and simultaneously to empower the local community. Methods: It was a mixed-method action research study comprising of quantitative surveys (before- after design and qualitative approach (participatory intervention. At baseline survey 177 children in two residential hostels and one government school were examined using a locally adapted Global School based Student Health Survey questionnaire. The hemoglobin level was estimated using WHO hemoglobin color scale. The participatory interventions were carried out through School Health Committee. Periodic health checkup with hemoglobin levels and school performance were examined. After one year, 230 children were examined in the follow up survey using the same questionnaire. Results: There was significant improvement in the personal hygiene and reduction in related morbidity among the children. The number of students of hemoglobin level less than 12gm% decreased from 31.4% to 11.3%.The number of students of hemoglobin level more than or equal to 12gm% increased from 68.6% to 88.7%. There was significant decline in anemia from 31.4% from baseline to 11.3% at follow up survey. There was also significant decrease in the malnutrition. Conclusion: The need based participatory health promoting school initiative for tribal children at Yelagiri hills led to a significant improvement in the school performance and general health conditions of the children. The school health committee has played a vital role in the sustainability of the project. The action research could bring positive improvements in health status of school children through active participation of students, parents, teachers and community members.

  11. Autonomy and Accountability in Schools Serving Disadvantaged Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klein, Esther Dominique

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Increased school autonomy and accountability have been a common denominator of national reforms in otherwise heterogeneous governance systems in Europe and the USA. The paper argues that because schools serving disadvantaged communities (SSDCs) often have lower average performance, they are more often sanctioned or under closer scrutiny,…

  12. Cultural context of school communities in rural Hawaii to inform youth violence prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Affonso, Dyanne D; Mayberry, Linda; Shibuya, June Y; Archambeau, Olga G; Correa, Mary; Deliramich, Aimee N; Frueh, B Christopher

    2010-03-01

    Escalation of youth violence within a large geographic school-complex area in southeastern rural Hawaii became a major problem in 2006. How cultural forces impact the problem was an impetus to examine youth violence from perspectives of adults and children in rural communities. Gathering these data was an essential first step toward school-based youth violence prevention program development. Eight focus groups involving 86 community stakeholders included 51 adults (parent, teachers, school staff, community leaders) and 35 children aged 8-15 years old (3rd- to 10-th grade). Qualitative narrative analysis elicited major themes. Five themes emerged: (1) School-community violence takes on many forms that become entrenched in local culture. (2) Disintegration of community resources and a sense of learned helplessness underlie the escalation of youth violence. (3) Inadequate role modeling coupled with behavioral ambivalence among adults has sustained a climate of local cultural acceptance with youth violence. (4) Connection to cultural values has diminished, leading to a sense of loss in cultural identity among students. (5) Cultural values and practices are potential strategies for youth violence prevention. Cultural and community contextual factors contributed to youth violence in rural Hawaiian communities. Study implications include the need to further investigate the impact of vigilant, community involvement of stakeholders in school-based youth violence prevention program development. Cultural revitalization at family, school, and community levels may be critical success factors of such programs.

  13. Active transportation to support diabetes prevention: Expanding school health promotion programming in an Indigenous community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macridis, Soultana; Garcia Bengoechea, Enrique; McComber, Alex M; Jacobs, Judi; Macaulay, Ann C

    2016-06-01

    School-based physical activity (PA) interventions, including school active transportation (AT), provide opportunities to increase daily PA levels, improves fitness, and reduces risk of diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Based on a community-identified need, the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project, within an Indigenous community, undertook school travel planning to contribute to PA programming for two elementary schools. Using community-based participatory research, the Active & Safe Routes to School's School Travel Planning (STP) process was undertaken in two schools with an STP-Committee comprised of community stakeholders and researchers. STP activities were adapted for local context including: school profile form, family survey, in-class travel survey, pedestrian-traffic observations, walkability checklist, and student mapping. STP data were jointly collected, analyzed and interpreted by researchers and community. Traffic-pedestrian observations, walkability and parent surveys identified key pedestrian-traffic locations, helped develop safe/direct routes, and traffic calming strategies. In-class travel and mapping surveys identified a need and student desire to increase school AT. The STP-Committee translated findings into STP-action plans for two schools, which were implemented in 2014-2015 school year. Combining CBPR with STP merges community and researcher expertise. This project offered evidence-informed practice for active living promotions. Experience and findings could benefit Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Merits of Undergraduate and High School Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kenney, John

    2016-06-01

    When it comes to sports, everyone gets it; you have to play to really understand, experience, and learn what the game is all about. It would be ludicrous to teach basketball by practicing basketball fundamentals in the gym (layups, free throws, jump shots, dribbling, defense), reading about and attending professional basketball games, but never playing in a game. As important as classes and teaching laboratories may be in science education, there is simply no substitute for active engagement in scientific research to show students what science is all about and, perhaps even more importantly, to inspire and motivate them to become scientists or at least appreciate science. It is a widely held misconception that a student cannot really do meaningful, publishable scientific research until he/she is in graduate school. In actual fact, college undergraduates and even high school students can make original and significant scientific research contributions. Astronomical research, in particular, is very well suited to engage the beginning high school or college undergraduate researcher. The night sky’s inherent accessibility and also its inherent grandeur are natural draws for the curious student’s mind. And much can be learned and discovered using small telescopes. In sports, joining a team is a key aspect of the sports experience. Similarly in science, joining a research team and thereby entering a “community of scientific practice” is fundamental and transformational. As important as working with equipment and acquiring data happen to be in scientific research, this is only the beginning of the research process. Student researchers of all ages—particularly high school students and college undergraduates—have much to gain by giving presentations on their research, writing up their results for publication, and going through the peer review process. But this only works if the student researchers are imbedded within the community of practice.

  15. "Flying the Plane while We Build It": A Case Study of an Early College High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Candace; Ongaga, Kennedy

    2011-01-01

    Over the past two decades, the perceived failed promise of the comprehensive high school to effectively educate America's youth has generated a national interest in high school reform. One such area of reform is a movement to restructure high schools as small learning communities centered around unique curriculum and state-of-the-art teaching.…

  16. Building Rural Communities through School-Based Agriculture Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Michael J.; Henry, Anna

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop a substantive theory for community development by school-based agriculture programs through grounded theory methodology. Data for the study included in-depth interviews and field observations from three school-based agriculture programs in three non-metropolitan counties across a Midwestern state. The…

  17. Community and Citizenship in Post-Disaster Japan: The Roles of Schools and Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lynne Parmenter

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available In March 2011, a triple earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster rocked northeasternJapan. In this article, the impact of these three disasters on schools,teachers and children will be analysed, with a particular focus on the role ofteachers in saving lives and leading communities, and the role of schools assites and agents of community and citizenship in the disaster situation. Thearticle is structured around four themes, namely, the role of school leadersand teachers, the role of schools as sites of community, changing mediarepresentations of children and communities in the wider national context,and the birth of global citizenship as a meaningful concept. Primary datafrom visits to schools in Miyagi Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture inJapan in July 2011 and December 2011 are combined with analysis ofsecondary sources written in Japanese to paint a clear picture of thedifferent roles served by teachers and schools at different points in timeduring and after the disasters. This provides insights not only into postdisastercommunities, but also into the role of teachers and function ofschools as agents and sites of community and citizenship in Japanesesociety.

  18. The Estuary Guide. Level 3: High School. Draft.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, Glen; And Others

    Estuaries are marine systems that serve as nurseries for animals, links in the migratory pathways, and habitat for a complex community of organisms. This curriculum guide intended for use at the high school level seeks to teach what estuaries are; provide opportunities to practice decision-making that affects estuaries; and encourage students to…

  19. Community participation in rural Ecuador’s school feeding programme

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Torres, Irene; Simovska, Venka

    2017-01-01

    participation can include the possibility of the community challenging the social order at school, and the educational policies and practices. When addressing community participation, counter-participating and non-participating can be also considered as legitimate forms of participating. Originality/value......Purpose - The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate concerning health education and health promotion at schools, particularly with regard to food and nutrition. Design/methodology/approach - Based on empirical data generated over the course of one year of fieldwork in three rural...... – The study contributes to an understanding of policy implementation and the implications of a HPS approach to health education and health promotion in small rural schools....

  20. Service-learning and learning communities: two innovative school projects that are mutually enriched

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmen ÁLVAREZ ÁLVAREZ

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This article reflects on the interrelationships that exist between two educational projects of today: service-learning (ApS and learning communities (CdA. The ApS is an educational methodology applied worldwide where a single project combines a learning based on experience with the implementation of a service to the community. CdA is a school transformation project to achieve that the information society does not exclude any person, constituting a reality in more than one hundred and ninety schools in Spain and Latin America. Between the two, it is possible to show differences, especially in what refers to its theoretical substrates, but in actual teaching practice in schools there is some harmony, particularly in the so closely that they cultivate both projects with the school community. Therefore, we conclude that service-learning and learning communities can occur as two innovative and relevant today projects which can be mutually enriching: because for both the approach school-community-environment and volunteering is essential.

  1. Indiana Wesleyan University SPS Physics Outreach to Rural Middle School and High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ostrander, Joshua; Rose, Heath; Burchell, Robert; Ramos, Roberto

    2013-03-01

    The Society of Physics Students chapter at Indiana Wesleyan University is unusual in that it has no physics major, only physics minors. Yet while just over a year old, IWU-SPS has been active in performing physics outreach to middle school and high school students, and the rural community of Grant County. Our year-old SPS chapter consists of majors from Chemistry, Nursing, Biology, Exercise Science, Computer Science, Psychology, Pastoral Studies, and Science Education, who share a common interest in physics and service to the community. IWU currently has a physics minor and is currently working to build a physics major program. Despite the intrinsic challenges, our multi-disciplinary group has been successful at using physics demonstration equipment and hands-on activities and their universal appeal to raise the interest in physics in Grant County. We report our experience, challenges, and successes with physics outreach. We describe in detail our two-pronged approach: raising the level of physics appreciation among the IWU student community and among pre-college students in a rural community of Indiana. Acknowledgements: We acknowledge the support of the Society of Physics Students through a Marsh White Outreach Award and a Blake Lilly Prize.

  2. High Schools, Race, and America's Future: What Students Can Teach Us about Morality, Diversity, and Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blum, Lawrence

    2012-01-01

    In "High Schools, Race, and America's Future", Lawrence Blum offers a lively account of a rigorous high school course on race and racism. Set in a racially, ethnically, and economically diverse high school, the book chronicles students' engagement with one another, with a rich and challenging academic curriculum, and with questions that relate…

  3. 2nd Machine Learning School for High Energy Physics

    CERN Document Server

    2016-01-01

    The Second Machine Learning summer school organized by Yandex School of Data Analysis and Laboratory of Methods for Big Data Analysis of National Research University Higher School of Economics will be held in Lund, Sweden from 20 to 26 June 2016. It is hosted by Lund University. The school is intended to cover the relatively young area of data analysis and computational research that has started to emerge in High Energy Physics (HEP). It is known by several names including “Multivariate Analysis”, “Neural Networks”, “Classification/Clusterization techniques”. In more generic terms, these techniques belong to the field of “Machine Learning”, which is an area that is based on research performed in Statistics and has received a lot of attention from the Data Science community. There are plenty of essential problems in High energy Physics that can be solved using Machine Learning methods. These vary from online data filtering and reconstruction to offline data analysis. Students of the school w...

  4. Kickin' Asthma: school-based asthma education in an urban community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magzamen, Sheryl; Patel, Bina; Davis, Adam; Edelstein, Joan; Tager, Ira B

    2008-12-01

    In urban communities with high prevalence of childhood asthma, school-based educational programs may be the most appropriate approach to deliver interventions to improve asthma morbidity and asthma-related outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of Kickin' Asthma, a school-based asthma curriculum designed by health educators and local students, which teaches asthma physiology and asthma self-management techniques to middle and high school students in Oakland, CA. Eligible students were identified through an in-class asthma case identification survey. Approximately 10-15 students identified as asthmatic were recruited for each series of the Kickin' Asthma intervention. The curriculum was delivered by an asthma nurse in a series of four 50-minute sessions. Students completed a baseline and a 3-month follow-up survey that compared symptom frequency, health care utilization, activity limitations, and medication use. Of the 8488 students surveyed during the first 3 years of the intervention (2003-2006), 15.4% (n = 1309) were identified as asthmatic; approximately 76% of eligible students (n = 990) from 15 middle schools and 3 high schools participated in the program. Comparison of baseline to follow-up data indicated that students experienced significantly fewer days with activity limitations and significantly fewer nights of sleep disturbance after participation in the intervention. For health care utilization, students reported significantly less frequent emergency department visits or hospitalizations between the baseline and follow-up surveys. A school-based asthma curriculum designed specifically for urban students has been shown to reduce symptoms, activity limitations, and health care utilization for intervention participants.

  5. Surveillane of Middle and High School Mental Health Risk by Student Self-Report Screener

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bridget V Dever

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: A 2009 National Academies of Sciences report on child mental health prevention and treatment concluded that screening for mental health risk is an essential component of service delivery. To date, however, there are few practical assessments available or practices in place that measure individual child risk, or risk aggregated at the school or community level. This study examined the utility of a 30-item paper and pencil student self-report screener of behavioral and emotional risk (BER for surveying community risk among 7 schools. Methods: In 2010, 2,222 students in 3 middle and 4 high schools in a medium-sized school district in Georgia were administered the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Self-Report Child/Adolescent form (BESS Student. The BESS is designed to measure 4 sub-syndromal BER factors for developing mental health disorders: inattention/hyperactivity, internalizing, school problems, and personal adjustment. Analysis of Variance and Chi Square analyses were used to assess the association between adolescent self-reported BER as an indicator of school BER, grade level, child ethnic identification and gender, socioeconomic status, and special education placement status.Results: BESS scores differentiated well between schools for overall BER and special education status, as well as between grade levels, ethnicity, and gender groups. One high school, known by the school administration to have numerous incidents of student behavior problems, had the most deviant 4 BER domain scores of all 7 schools. Girls rated themselves as having a higher prevalence of BER (14% than boys (12%; middle school students reported fewer difficulties than high school students.Conclusion: Middle and high school students were capable of identifying significant differences in their own BER across schools, suggesting that universal mental health risk screening viastudent self-report is potentially useful for identifying aggregated community

  6. The Transition of Special Needs Students to Kayenta from Outlying Communities: Partnerships between Schools and Districts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heimbecker, Connie; Bradley-Wilkinson, Evangeline; Begay, Mary Helen; Bradley, Brian; McCarty, Nellie; Nelson, Jacob; Gamble, Armanda; Medina, Catherine; Nelson, Bernita; Pettigrew, Bobbie; Sealander, Karen; Smith, Jody; Snyder, Maria; White, Sherri; Whitehair, Marsha; Redsteer, Denise; Prater, Greg

    A study examined the challenges faced by Kayenta Unified School District (KUSD) and outlying communities on the Navajo Reservation in their efforts to adequately provide educational opportunities for their transfer students with special needs. Interviews were conducted with six students from 4th grade through high school; seven parents; special…

  7. Friendship Concept and Community Network Structure among Elementary School and University Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernández-Hernández, Ana María; Viga-de Alva, Dolores; Huerta-Quintanilla, Rodrigo; Canto-Lugo, Efrain; Laviada-Molina, Hugo; Molina-Segui, Fernanda

    2016-01-01

    We use complex network theory to study the differences between the friendship concepts in elementary school and university students. Four friendship networks were identified from surveys. Three of these networks are from elementary schools; two are located in the rural area of Yucatán and the other is in the urban area of Mérida, Yucatán. We analyzed the structure and the communities of these friendship networks and found significant differences among those at the elementary schools compared with those at the university. In elementary schools, the students make friends mainly in the same classroom, but there are also links among different classrooms because of the presence of siblings and relatives in the schools. These kinds of links (sibling-friend or relative-friend) are called, in this work, "mixed links". The classification of the communities is based on their similarity with the classroom composition. If the community is composed principally of students in different classrooms, the community is classified as heterogeneous. These kinds of communities appear in the elementary school friendship networks mainly because of the presence of relatives and siblings. Once the links between siblings and relatives are removed, the communities resembled the classroom composition. On the other hand, the university students are more selective in choosing friends and therefore, even when they have friends in the same classroom, those communities are quite different to the classroom composition. Also, in the university network, we found heterogeneous communities even when the presence of sibling and relatives is negligible. These differences made up a topological structure quite different at different academic levels. We also found differences in the network characteristics. Once these differences are understood, the topological structure of the friendship network and the communities shaped in an elementary school could be predicted if we know the total number of students

  8. Policy and Challenges of Building Schools as Inclusive Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curcic, Svjetlana; Gabel, Susan L.; Zeitlin, Virginia; Cribaro-DiFatta, Shannon; Glarner, Carmel

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, we address building inclusive communities by looking at school as a community, as a place where students participate in learning and also learn to participate in the life of a community and life in a broader inclusive society. At the international level, policies increasingly position education as a business organisation, with…

  9. Sustainable school development: professional learning communities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Prof.Dr. E. Verbiest

    2008-01-01

    In this contribution we report about a project about Professional Learning Communities.This project combines development and research. In this contribution we pay attention to the effect of the organisational capacity of a school on the personal and interpersonal capacity and to the impact of a

  10. Crisis response to schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, K

    2000-01-01

    While community based crisis response teams offer needed resources to schools impacted by crisis, they are often not asked to help. Reports from crisis team leaders at the school shooting incidents at James W. Parker Middle School, Edinboro, Pennsylvania and Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado are contrasted regarding utilization of community resources. Factors limiting the usefulness of community based teams include unfamiliarity with school organization, culture, and procedures. Key differences in school vs. community team precepts, decision-making, and strategic paradigms render team coordination difficult. Successful cross training presents opportunities for school-community partnership and utilization of community teams for school duty.

  11. A Development Curriculum Plan To Achieve a Sequenced Curriculum between High School Courses in Automotive Mechanics and the Mattatuck Community College Automotive Technician Program. Final Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattatuck Community Coll., Waterbury, CT.

    This document contains a developmental curriculum plan for an articulated curriculum in automotive mechanics for Connecticut's Mattatuck Community College and area high schools. The curriculum guide includes a course description, criteria for evaluation, attendance policy, objectives, a curriculum outline, a three-part automotive technician test,…

  12. A Professional Learning Community to Improve Literacy at a Minority Urban High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCallum, Salimah A.

    2012-01-01

    Despite No Child Left Behind legislation, there has been little significant progress in literacy for African American and Hispanic high school students. This issue reflects a failing school system and an urgent need for educational reform in the United States. Using social cognitive theory as the conceptual framework, this qualitative study…

  13. Teachers' Awareness of Cultural Diversity and Academic Achievement in Ninth Grade Academies and Senior High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whipps-Johnson, Jamellah Renee

    2016-01-01

    High school graduation rates are higher than they have ever been in 40 years, but disparities continue to exist for students of color and students from poverty when compared to their counterparts. High school reform efforts like creating small learning communities are promising, but small schools alone do not improve student outcomes.…

  14. Creating a School Community for Learning and Healing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, Barbara

    2007-01-01

    Four years ago, the author assumed the job of Director of Education for a school serving elementary children who had been traumatized by homelessness and associated problems, such as family, domestic, or community violence. The paper relates the struggle of her staff to create a healing school out of a chaotic program that lacked both an effective…

  15. Climate responsive and safe earthquake construction: a community building a school

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hari Darshan

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available This article outlines environment friendly features, climate responsive features and construction features of a prototype school building constructed using green building technology. The school building has other additional features such as earthquake resistant construction, use of local materials and local technology. The construction process not only establishes community ownership, but also facilitates dissemination of the technology to the communities. Schools are effective media for raising awareness, disseminating technology and up-scaling the innovative approach. The approach is cost effective and sustainable for long-term application of green building technology. Furthermore, this paper emphasizes that such construction technology will be instrumental to build culture of safety in communities and reduce disaster risk.

  16. School Health: an essential strategy in promoting community resilience and preparedness for natural disasters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Kenzo; Kodama, Mitsuya; Gregorio, Ernesto R; Tomokawa, Sachi; Asakura, Takashi; Waikagul, Jitra; Kobayashi, Jun

    2015-01-01

    The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction recommended the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which aims to achieve substantial risk reduction and to avoid various disaster-associated losses, including human lives and livelihoods, based on the lessons from the implementation of the Hyogo framework. However, the recommendations did not lay enough stress on the school and the Safe School Concept, which are the core components of a disaster response. To raise the issue of the importance of schools in disaster response. For human capacity building to avoid the damage caused by natural disasters, we should focus on the function of schools in the community and on school health framework. Schools perform a range of functions, which include being a landmark place for evacuation, acting as a participatory education hub among communities (students are usually from the surrounding communities), and being a sustainable source of current disaster-related information. In 2007, the Bangkok Action Agenda (BAA) on school education and disaster risk reduction (DRR) recommended the integration of DRR into education policy development, the enhancement of participatory mechanisms to improve DRR education, and the extension of DRR education from schools to communities. Based on our discussion and the recommendations of the BAA, we suggest that our existing challenges are to construct a repository of disaster-related lessons, develop training materials based on current information drawn from previous disasters, and disseminate the training to schools and communities. Schools linked with school health can provide good opportunities for DRR with a focus on development of school health policy and a community-oriented participatory approach.

  17. "Poder en las Voces y Acciones Comunitarias": Immigrant Young People and Their Families' Transformative Engagement with High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alvarez Gutiérrez, Leticia

    2015-01-01

    This research examines how high-school-aged undocumented immigrant Latinas/os and their families resist being marginalized in schools and in communities. These young people and their families are part of a university intergenerational participatory action research collective, Family School Partnership (FSP), located within an urban high school in…

  18. Schooling girls in a rural community: An examination of female science identity and science career choices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fowler, Melisa Diane Creasy

    There is a gap in existence between the number of males and females entering science careers. Research has begun to focus largely on how identity impacts the selection of such careers. While much research has been done to examine the factors that impact student identity, little work has been done to examine what happens to female students who have been successful in science in a rural K-12 school once they leave high school and enter the world of academia. Thus, this study examined the following questions: (1) How do three recent female high school graduates from rural K-12 high schools narrate their identity? (2) How do the females narrate their experiences in a rural community and high school in relation to their science identity? (3) What do the participants describe as influencing their academic and career choices as they transition into the life of a college student? This study involved three female participants from a small rural community in a southeastern state. Each female has lived their entire life in the community and has attended only one K-12 school. All three females ranked in the top ten of their senior class and excelled in their science coursework. Additionally, each female elected to attend college locally and to live at home. The study utilized the qualitative methodology of interpretive biography. The researcher used a guided interview protocol with participants which served as the basis for the creation of their narrative biographies. The biographies were then analyzed for emergent themes. Sociocultural theory, identity theory, and critical feminism provided the theoretical frameworks utilized in data analysis. Findings from this study suggested that there were many differing factors influencing the science identity and career choices of the females under study. However, the most salient factor impacting their choices was their desire to remain in their hometown. Directions for future research suggestions involve exploring female students who

  19. Dynamics of Community Participation, Student Achievement and School Management: The Case of Primary Schools in a Rural Area of Malawi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taniguchi, Kyoko; Hirakawa, Yukiko

    2016-01-01

    School management in many sub-Saharan African countries has been enhanced through community participation in an attempt to improve education quality. This study uses field research in a rural district of Malawi to assess how community and parent participation differs between schools, the intentions of communities and parents when carrying out…

  20. Understanding the Factors that Characterise School-Community Partnerships: The Case of the Logan Healthy Schools Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Melinda; Rowe, Fiona; Harris, Neil

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that characterise effective school-community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives applied within a health-promoting schools approach. Design/methodology/approach: The study used an explanatory case study approach of five secondary schools…

  1. Development of Communities of Practice in School Library Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burns, Elizabeth A.; Howard, Jody K.; Kimmel, Sue C.

    2016-01-01

    To properly prepare pre-service school librarians, school library educators in online courses must provide opportunities for collaborative engagement. This collaborative education should also recognize the pedagogical benefit of the organic formation of communities of practice that develop within areas outside of curriculum content. This…

  2. Infectious Diseases: Current Issues in School and Community Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bower, Wilma; And Others

    1986-01-01

    Some children in American schools have known and unknown communicable diseases, including herpes, cytomegalovirus, AIDS, mononucleosis, pinworms, and hepatitis. This article examines major public health issues, school responsibility, preventative measures (like basic hygiene), and the need for more effective community education programs. A disease…

  3. Developing High School Geoscientists through Summer Internships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saltzman, J.

    2012-12-01

    High school students in the San Francisco Bay Area have the opportunity to contribute to Earth sciences research during the summer at Stanford University. The School of Earth Sciences hosts about 25 high school students each summer to support ongoing research, through more than just washing glassware. To increase diversity in the geosciences, we select students from diverse backgrounds through an application process which lessens the burden on busy faculty. The students work for 15-20 hours per week under the supervision of graduate students or postdoctoral fellows. The supervisors come to value the interns for a few reasons: not only are they getting some extra help with their research, but they are getting teaching experience in an informal but powerful way and supervising the interns' work over the summer. Another key part of the internship is bringing all of the interns together regularly. Whether it is for career talks, lab tours or field trip, high school students find kindred spirits in the group. Another important reason for weekly gatherings is to introduce the students to the wide field of Earth sciences and the different approaches and paths that scientists take. The summer ends with a culminating event where interns make short informal presentations about their research which give them an opportunity to articulate the big questions they have been helping to answer. Some interns are also invited to present a poster in a session for high school students at the Fall AGU meeting. These experiences of working in the laboratory and communicating about the research are part of the world of Earth sciences that are absent for most youth. The high school internships foster good will between Stanford and the local communities, help develop a more Earth and environmentally knowledgeable public and may have a long-term affect on diversifying the geosciences by exposing more young people to these fields.

  4. Strengthening German Programs through Community Engagement and Partnerships with Saturday Morning Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hellebrandt, Josef

    2014-01-01

    German university programs can increase enrollments and diversify their curricula through academic community partnerships with surrounding schools. This article informs about two community-supported initiatives between the German Studies Program at Santa Clara University and the South Bay Deutscher Schulverein, a Saturday Morning School in…

  5. Beyond Socioeconomic Status: The Impact of Principal Leadership in Urban and High-Poverty Turnaround Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adejumo, Mojisola

    2017-01-01

    The quest to transform failing urban and high-poverty schools in America has been a slippery uphill battle since the banner of war was raised against the many schools serving impoverished children. As battle rages, a few are schools leading their students, teachers, parents, and community to victory by turning their once-failing schools into…

  6. The San Diego East County school shootings: a qualitative study of community-level post-traumatic stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palinkas, Lawrence A; Prussing, Erica; Reznik, Vivian M; Landsverk, John A

    2004-01-01

    Within one month (March 2001), two separate incidents of school shootings occurred at two different high schools within the same school district in San Diego's East County. To examine community-wide expressions of post-traumatic distress resulting from the shootings that may or may not fulfill DSM-IV criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but which might interfere with treatment and the prevention of youth violence. A qualitative study was undertaken using Rapid Assessment Procedures (RAP) in four East San Diego County communities over a six-month period following the two events. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 85 community residents identified through a maximum variation sampling technique. Interview transcripts were analyzed by coding consensus, co-occurrence, and comparison, using text analysis software. Three community-wide patterns of response to the two events were identified: (1) 52.9% of respondents reported intrusive reminders of the trauma associated with intense media coverage and subsequent rumors, hoaxes, and threats of additional acts of school violence; (2) 44.7% reported efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, conversations, or places (i.e., schools) associated with the events; negative assessment of media coverage; and belief that such events in general cannot be prevented; and (3) 30.6% reported anger, hyper-vigilance, and other forms of increased arousal. Twenty-three (27.1%) respondents reported symptoms of fear, anxiety, depression, drug use, and psychosomatic symptoms in themselves or others. School shootings can precipitate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder at the community level. Such symptoms hinder the treatment of individuals with PTSD and the implementation of effective prevention strategies and programs.

  7. The role of anxiety symptoms in school performance in a community sample of children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazzone, Luigi; Ducci, Francesca; Scoto, Maria Cristina; Passaniti, Eleonora; D'Arrigo, Valentina Genitori; Vitiello, Benedetto

    2007-12-05

    Anxiety symptoms are relatively common among children and adolescents and can interfere with functioning. The prevalence of anxiety and the relationship between anxiety and school performance were examined among elementary, middle, and high school students. Samples of elementary (N = 131, age 8-10 years), middle (N = 267, age 11-13 years), and high school (N = 80, age 14-16 years) children were recruited from four public schools in a predominantly middle-class community in Catania, Italy. Children completed the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). T-scores were computed for the MASC total scores, and considered to be in the anxious range if 65 or above. Current academic grades were obtained from school records. Of the 478 children, 35 (7.3%) had a MASC T-score in the anxious range. The rate of children in the anxious range was 2.3% in elementary, 7.9% in middle, and 15.9% in high school (chi2 = 7.8, df = 2, p children and adolescents attending elementary through high school, the prevalence of abnormally high self-reported levels of anxiety increased in frequency with age and was negatively associated with school performance.

  8. (SWASH-D for Worms: A pilot study investigating the differential impact of school- versus community-based integrated control programs for soil-transmitted helminths.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naomi E Clarke

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Soil-transmitted helminths (STH infect nearly 1.5 billion individuals globally, and contribute to poor physical and cognitive development in children. STH control programs typically consist of regular delivery of anthelminthic drugs, targeting school-aged children. Expanding STH control programs community-wide may improve STH control among school-aged children, and combining deworming with improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH may further reduce transmission. The (SWASH-D for Worms pilot study aims to compare the differential impact of integrated WASH and deworming programs when implemented at primary schools only versus when additionally implemented community-wide.A two-arm, non-randomized cluster intervention study was conducted. Six communities were identified by partner WASH agencies and enrolled in the study. All communities received a school-based WASH and deworming program, while three additionally received a community-based WASH and deworming program. STH infections were measured in school-aged children at baseline and six months after deworming. Over 90% of eligible children were recruited for the study, of whom 92.3% provided stool samples at baseline and 88.9% at follow-up. The school WASH intervention improved school sanitation, while the community WASH intervention reduced open defecation from 50.4% (95% CI 41.8-59.0 to 23.5% (95% CI 16.7-32.0. There was a trend towards reduced odds of N. americanus infection among children who received the community-wide intervention (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.07-2.36, p = 0.32.This pilot study provides proof of principle for testing the hypothesis that community-wide STH control programs have a greater impact on STH infections among children than school-based programs, and supports the rationale for conducting a full-scale cluster randomized controlled trial. High recruitment and participation rates and successful implementation of school WASH programs demonstrate study feasibility and

  9. Authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Yuane; Konold, Timothy R; Cornell, Dewey

    2016-06-01

    This study tested the association between school-wide measures of an authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates in a statewide sample of 315 high schools. Regression models at the school level of analysis used teacher and student measures of disciplinary structure, student support, and academic expectations to predict overall high school dropout rates. Analyses controlled for school demographics of school enrollment size, percentage of low-income students, percentage of minority students, and urbanicity. Consistent with authoritative school climate theory, moderation analyses found that when students perceive their teachers as supportive, high academic expectations are associated with lower dropout rates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  10. A Developmental Curriculum Plan To Achieve a Sequenced Curriculum between High School Courses in Food Preparation and the Mattatuck Community College Hospitality/Food Services Program. Final Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattatuck Community Coll., Waterbury, CT.

    This document contains a developmental curriculum plan for an articulated curriculum in hospitality/food service for Connecticut's Mattatuck Community College and area high schools. The curriculum guide includes a course description, criteria for evaluation, attendance policy, objectives, a curriculum area outline, 17 content area objectives, a…

  11. A community-based participatory research partnership to reduce vehicle idling near public schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eghbalnia, Cynthia; Sharkey, Ken; Garland-Porter, Denisha; Alam, Mohammad; Crumpton, Marilyn; Jones, Camille; Ryan, Patrick H

    2013-05-01

    The authors implemented and assessed the effectiveness of a public health initiative aimed at reducing traffic-related air pollution exposure of the school community at four Cincinnati public schools. A partnership was fostered with academic environmental health researchers and community members. Anti-idling campaign materials were developed and education and training were provided to school bus drivers, students, parents, and school staff. Pledge drives and pre- and posteducation assessments were documented to measure the effectiveness of the program. After completing the educational component of the public health initiative, bus drivers (n = 397), community members (n = 53), and staff (n = 214) demonstrated significantly increased knowledge about the health effects of idling (p public health intervention. A community-driven public health initiative can be effective in both 1) enhancing community awareness about the benefits of reducing idling vehicles and 2) increasing active participation in idling reduction. The partnership initially developed has continued to develop toward a sustainable and growing process.

  12. Family Connections: Building Connections among Home, School, and Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dikkers, Amy Garrett

    2013-01-01

    Recent research on parental involvement has explored connections between parental involvement in school and children's academic achievement. While many schools have active parent organizations and a base of parents who offer additional support, others struggle to make connections with their parents or community members. Even in places with active…

  13. The Austin High School Girls' Band of Chicago, Illinois: 1925-1956

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hash, Phillip M.

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the history of the Austin High School (AHS) Girls' Band (AHSGB) of Chicago, Illinois, which existed from 1925 to 1956. This research focused on the band's (a) organization and leadership, (b) activities within the school and community, (c) relationship to the AHS Boys Band, and (d) efforts to challenge and…

  14. Creating Small Learning Communities: Lessons from the Project on High-Performing Learning Communities about "What Works" in Creating Productive, Developmentally Enhancing, Learning Contexts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felner, Robert D.; Seitsinger, Anne M.; Brand, Stephen; Burns, Amy; Bolton, Natalie

    2007-01-01

    Personalizing the school environment is a central goal of efforts to transform America's schools. Three decades of work by the Project on High Performance Learning Communities are considered that demonstrate the potential impact and importance of the creation of "small learning environments" on student motivation, adjustment, and well-being.…

  15. In Patience and Hope: A 20-Year Narrative Study of a Family, School, and Community Partnership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Higgins, Ann; Deegan, James G.

    2009-01-01

    This case study describes a 20-year journey of educational transformation from 1985 to 2005 in a bellwether, or highly developed, instance of one school, family, and community partnership--the Kileely Community Project--situated in a large social housing project in Limerick City in the Midwestern region of the Republic of Ireland. The study is a…

  16. Community and school mental health professionals' knowledge and use of evidence based substance use prevention programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Steven W; Randy Koch, J; Brady, Christine; Meszaros, Peggy; Sadler, Joanna

    2013-07-01

    Youth with learning and behavioral problems are at elevated risk for substance use during adolescence. Although evidence-based substance use prevention and screening practices are described in the literature, the extent with which these are provided to these youth is unclear. Mental health professionals in schools and community mental health centers are in an ideal position to conduct substance use screening and prevention practices since they have frequent contact with this high risk group. In order to determine whether these mental health professionals were using evidence based substance use screening and prevention programs with these youth, we analyzed 345 completed surveys from mental health professionals in schools and community clinics throughout a mid-Atlantic state. Results indicated that a large portion of the respondents were unfamiliar with evidence based practices and they were infrequently used. Implications for the division of labor at schools and community mental health centers are discussed in relation to time allotment and priority for these procedures.

  17. School Leaders and Community: Research and a Plan for Collaboration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Patricia W.; Karr-Kidwell, PJ

    Parental and community involvement in Title I schools is limited by occurrence and the absence of positive motivation. When parents are involved in the life of a school, children receive the message that education is important and the school is a vital commodity. With this involvement, a culture is developed that encompasses the children,…

  18. Reforming High School Science for Low-Performing Students Using Inquiry Methods and Communities of Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolden, Marsha Gail

    Some schools fall short of the high demand to increase science scores on state exams because low-performing students enter high school unprepared for high school science. Low-performing students are not successful in high school for many reasons. However, using inquiry methods have improved students' understanding of science concepts. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate the teachers' lived experiences with using inquiry methods to motivate low-performing high school science students in an inquiry-based program called Xtreem Science. Fifteen teachers were selected from the Xtreem Science program, a program designed to assist teachers in motivating struggling science students. The research questions involved understanding (a) teachers' experiences in using inquiry methods, (b) challenges teachers face in using inquiry methods, and (c) how teachers describe student's response to inquiry methods. Strategy of data collection and analysis included capturing and understanding the teachers' feelings, perceptions, and attitudes in their lived experience of teaching using inquiry method and their experience in motivating struggling students. Analysis of interview responses revealed teachers had some good experiences with inquiry and expressed that inquiry impacted their teaching style and approach to topics, and students felt that using inquiry methods impacted student learning for the better. Inquiry gave low-performing students opportunities to catch up and learn information that moved them to the next level of science courses. Implications for positive social change include providing teachers and school district leaders with information to help improve performance of the low performing science students.

  19. Play Therapy for Bereaved Children: Adapting Strategies to Community, School, and Home Settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Nancy Boyd

    2011-01-01

    Play therapy is a highly adaptable treatment method that can be modified according to children's ages, circumstances, and settings in which counseling occurs. Play therapy may be used in schools, community settings, and homes to help children following the death of a significant other. After reviewing basic developmental factors that affect…

  20. Utilizing the School Health Index to Foster University and Community Engagement

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Kristi McClary

    2010-01-01

    A Coordinated School Health Program maximizes a school's positive interaction among health education, physical education, health services, nutrition services, counseling/psychological/social services, health school environment, health promotion for staff, and family and community involvement. The purpose of this semester project is for…

  1. Project FIT: rationale, design and baseline characteristics of a school- and community-based intervention to address physical activity and healthy eating among low-income elementary school children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenmann, Joey C; Alaimo, Katherine; Pfeiffer, Karin; Paek, Hye-Jin; Carlson, Joseph J; Hayes, Heather; Thompson, Tracy; Kelleher, Deanne; Oh, Hyun J; Orth, Julie; Randall, Sue; Mayfield, Kellie; Holmes, Denise

    2011-07-29

    This paper describes Project FIT, a collaboration between the public school system, local health systems, physicians, neighborhood associations, businesses, faith-based leaders, community agencies and university researchers to develop a multi-faceted approach to promote physical activity and healthy eating toward the general goal of preventing and reducing childhood obesity among children in Grand Rapids, MI, USA. There are four overall components to Project FIT: school, community, social marketing, and school staff wellness - all that focus on: 1) increasing access to safe and affordable physical activity and nutrition education opportunities in the schools and surrounding neighborhoods; 2) improving the affordability and availability of nutritious food in the neighborhoods surrounding the schools; 3) improving the knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes and behaviors regarding nutrition and physical activity among school staff, parents and students; 4) impacting the 'culture' of the schools and neighborhoods to incorporate healthful values; and 5) encouraging dialogue among all community partners to leverage existing programs and introduce new ones. At baseline, there was generally low physical activity (70% do not meet recommendation of 60 minutes per day), excessive screen time (75% do not meet recommendation of < 2 hours per day), and low intake of vegetables and whole grains and high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, French fries and chips and desserts as well as a high prevalence of overweight and obesity (48.5% including 6% with severe obesity) among low income, primarily Hispanic and African American 3rd-5th grade children (n = 403). ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01385046.

  2. School-community collaboration in disaster education in a primary school near Merapi volcano in Java Island

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuswadi, Takehiro, Hayashi

    2016-05-01

    This paper describes our latest innovation in implementation of school-community collaboration in disaster education at Sekolah Dasar Negeri 1 Banaran, located in Cangkringan district of Sleman regency, as high-risk area of having impacts from Merapi eruption. The collaboration between school and local communities in an integrated disaster prevention lesson provides a space for students to not only obtain important information and knowledge about natural disasters through their teacher in the classroom but also gain important knowledge directly from the people who live around the school. Through this study, students are taught to be sensitive to utilize the resources in their nearest environment to support the process and the results of their learning about survival in a disaster prone area. Many students have not well understood relation between earthquake and volcanic eruption. Result of student groups' interview to a number of local community members showed that (1) In 2010 Merapi eruptions, from 8 residents, 5 of them, together with their family members were staying at home and getting panic while 3 other residents had already evacuated. (2) Five residents reported no one in their village was killed although some houses were damaged. (3) For anticipating future eruption, the residents confessed to quickly follow the government for evacuation by preparing in advance the transportation, masks, their own precious goods and important documents. From the result of the groups' report during discussion activities in the class, it was revealed that the students are aware of immediate evacuation as the best way to keep themselves safe from eruption. They also understood things to bring for evacuation including maskers.

  3. Middle School Concept Helps High-Poverty Schools Become High-Performing Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Picucci, Ali Callicoatte; Brownson, Amanda; Kahlert, Rahel; Sobel, Andrew

    2004-01-01

    The results of a study conducted by the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin for the U.S. Department of Education during the 2001-02 school year showed that elements of the middle school concept can lead to improved student performance, even in high-poverty schools. This article describes common elements of the middle school…

  4. Immortality of Prejudice in Striving Ubuntu: Case Studies of Community Managed Schools in Nepal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajbhandari, Mani Man Singh; Rajbhandari, Smriti

    2016-01-01

    The immortality of prejudice after the school management transfer has not been judged. This makes communities to take responsibility for schools further by compelling the government to mandate amendments of Community Managed Schools (CMS) Directives. The purpose was to explore the CMS enduring Ubuntu against immorality of prejudice, through…

  5. Decentralization and Educational Performance: Evidence from the PROHECO Community School Program in Rural Honduras

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Gropello, Emanuela; Marshall, Jeffery H.

    2011-01-01

    We analyze the effectiveness of the Programa Hondureno de Educacion Comunitaria (PROHECO) community school program in rural Honduras. The data include standardized tests and extensive information on school, teacher, classroom and community features for 120 rural schools drawn from 15 states. Using academic achievement decompositions we find that…

  6. Influencing College and Higher Education Choices in Disadvantaged Hispanic High School Students Through a School-Based Health Club.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Harsimran; Matza, Maria; Latham, Christine

    2017-06-01

    Statistics representing professional health care providers do not adequately reflect the shift in the nation's diverse population. Latinos are significantly underrepresented at all levels of appropriate academic programs critical for entry to health profession careers. This project describes the implementation of a student-run, faculty-facilitated Future Nurse and Health Club at a school (with majority Latino students) to emphasize the importance of higher education in health care. Demographic and psychosocial profiles of club members were also developed to understand community needs. The Future Nurse and Health Club was established in partnership with faculty and researchers representing a university-based nursing program, school officials, and community leaders. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from club members and their parents using a variety of techniques including questionnaires and focus groups. The findings of the study highlighted a variety of student- and parent-related factors including poor lifestyle habits and perceptions of support that could potentially influence Latino high school students' interest and progress in health care-related higher education. A school-based health career club involving active participation of parents and students with support from health care professionals such as academic nursing faculty has the potential to simultaneously raise student interest in health-related careers and health needs of their community.

  7. Improving low-performing high schools: searching for evidence of promise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleischman, Steve; Heppen, Jessica

    2009-01-01

    Noting that many of the nation's high schools are beset with major problems, such as low student reading and math achievement, high dropout rates, and an inadequate supply of effective teachers, Steve Fleischman and Jessica Heppen survey a range of strategies that educators have used to improve low-performing high schools. The authors begin by showing how the standards-based school reform movement, together with the No Child Left Behind Act requirement that underperforming schools adopt reforms supported by scientifically based research, spurred policy makers, educators, and researchers to create and implement a variety of approaches to attain improvement. Fleischman and Heppen then review a number of widely adopted reform models that aim to change "business as usual" in low-performing high schools. The models include comprehensive school reform programs, dual enrollment and early college high schools, smaller learning communities, specialty (for example, career) academies, charter high schools, and education management organizations. In practice, say the authors, many of these improvement efforts overlap, defying neat distinctions. Often, reforms are combined to reinforce one another. The authors explain the theories that drive the reforms, review evidence of their reforms' effectiveness to date, and suggest what it will take to make them work well. Although the reforms are promising, the authors say, few as yet have solid evidence of systematic or sustained success. In concluding, Fleischman and Heppen emphasize that the reasons for a high school's poor performance are so complex that no one reform model or approach, no matter how powerful, can turn around low-performing schools. They also stress the need for educators to implement each reform program with fidelity to its requirements and to support it for the time required for success. Looking to the future, the authors suggest steps that decision makers, researchers, and sponsors of research can take to promote

  8. The Impact of Community Violence on School-Based Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velsor-Friedrich, Barbara; Richards, Maryse; Militello, Lisa K.; Dean, Kyle C.; Scott, Darrick; Gross, Israel M.; Romeo, Edna

    2015-01-01

    Research conducted on youth exposure to violence has generally focused on documenting the prevalence of community violence and its emotional and behavioral implications. However, there is a dearth of information related to the impact of violence on the implementation and evaluation of community and school-based programs. This commentary examines…

  9. Somatic symptoms, peer and school stress, and family and community violence exposure among urban elementary school children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hart, Shayla L; Hodgkinson, Stacy C; Belcher, Harolyn M E; Hyman, Corine; Cooley-Strickland, Michele

    2013-10-01

    Somatic symptoms are a common physical response to stress and illness in childhood. This study assessed 409, primarily African American (85.6 %), urban elementary school children to examine the association between: (1) somatic symptoms and potential external stressors (school and peer stress, family conflict, and community violence) and (2) parent and child agreement on children's self-report of somatic symptoms. The odds of self-report of somatic complaints were significantly associated with family conflict, school and peer stress, and community violence exposure (OR = 1.26, 95 % CI: 1.05-1.50; OR = 1.18, 95 % CI 1.08-1.28; and OR = 1.02, 95 % CI: 1.00-1.05, respectively). Identifying the associations between social, family, and community based stress and somatic symptoms may improve the quality of life for children living in urban environments through early identification and treatment.

  10. Student Leadership Distribution: Effects of a Student-Led Leadership Program on School Climate and Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedersen, Jeff; Yager, Stuart; Yager, Robert

    2012-01-01

    This study focuses on the understandings educators developed from two schools concerning how distributed leadership involving a select group of students affected the climate and community of their schools. Findings suggest that student-led leadership roles within the school community have an impact on creating a positive school-wide climate; a…

  11. Community violence exposure and post-traumatic stress reactions among Gambian youth: the moderating role of positive school climate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Donnell, Deborah A; Roberts, William C; Schwab-Stone, Mary E

    2011-01-01

    Community violence exposure among youth can lead to various negative outcomes, including post-traumatic stress symptoms. Research in the Western world indicates that a number of social support factors may moderate the relation between violence exposure and internalizing symptoms. Little research has been carried out in non-Western countries. This study aimed to fill this gap by exploring the relations among violence exposure, parental warmth, positive school climate, and post-traumatic stress reactions among youth in The Republic of The Gambia, Africa. A school-based survey of youth behaviors, feelings, attitudes, and perceptions was administered to 653 students at senior secondary schools in four Gambian communities. Students reported high levels of exposure to violence. Over half of students reported witnessing someone threatened with serious physical harm, beaten up or mugged, attacked or stabbed with a knife/piece of glass, or seriously wounded in an incident of violence. Nearly half of students reported being beaten up or mugged during the past year, and nearly a quarter reported being threatened with serious physical harm. There were no sex differences in levels of exposure. Traumatic stress symptoms were common, especially among females. Both violence witnessing and violent victimization significantly predicted post-traumatic stress symptoms, and positive school climate moderated the relationship. Among youth victimized by violence, positive school climate was most strongly correlated with lower levels of post-traumatic stress at low levels of exposure. Among youth who had witnessed violence, positive school climate was most strongly correlated with lower levels of post-traumatic stress at high levels of exposure. Community-based programs that bring together parents, schools, and youth may play an important role in combating the negative effects of some types of violence exposure among Gambian youth. Youth experiencing high levels of violent victimization

  12. The Impact of Enabling School Structures on the Degree of Internal School Change as Measured by the Implementation of Professional Learning Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tylus, Joseph D.

    2009-01-01

    This non-experimental, correlational study looked at the relationship between bureaucratic structures in middle and high schools in bringing about change in individual teacher classroom instructional practices through the centralized directive of membership in a professional learning community. Using a continuum of bureaucratic structure, from…

  13. Community reactions to disaster: An emerging role for the school psychologist

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bernie Stein

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available This article will describe ways in which communities react to severe crises, both on a local and on a national level. Based on experiences in Israel over the past twenty years, including recent traumatic events such as the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and the terrorist suicide bombings, and on an intervention in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after the bombing of the Jewish Community Centre in July 1994, a model is presented to describe different stages of reaction. The importance of the creation and development of community prevention and intervention programs is stressed. Emphasis is placed on the role of the schools and the school psychologists in developing and implementing such programs, and on their critical role in dealing immediately with crisis situations and their aftermaths. The prevention program emphasizes the fostering of inner strengths and resources in children and teachers (‘inoculation’, and makes provision for dealing with emotional support for the professionals in charge of helping the community in times of crisis. Finally, a model for the future development of the profession of school psychology into a broader community service is proposed. 

  14. Peer Bonds in Urban School Communities: An Exploratory Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leach, Nicole

    2018-01-01

    The literature identifies three main types of peer associations: cliques, crowds, and dyadic friendships. When schools create learning communities, an additional type of peer association may emerge that is not based on interactions but instead is based on membership in a shared community. The aim of this study is to qualitatively explore the…

  15. Community, Race, and Curriculum in Detroit: The Northern High School Walkout

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franklin, Barry M.

    2004-01-01

    This essay examines the April 1966 student walkout at Detroit's all-black Northern High School and what the boycott tells us about the conflict between blacks and whites in that city over the education of African-American youth. The protest was one event in an ongoing struggle between Detroit's black citizens and the city's largely white…

  16. Evaluating School-Community Participation in Developing a Local Sustainability Agenda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eilam, Efrat; Trop, Tamar

    2013-01-01

    Increasingly, international and national statements are calling for the development of local sustainability scenarios within partnerships between schools and their communities. The present study addresses the question of reciprocity in such partnerships, by comparing the sustainability agendas underlying schools' educational programs to the…

  17. Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Compliance at Michigan Community Colleges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Custer, Bradley D.

    2018-01-01

    In 1989, Congress passed the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendments to address illegal alcohol and drug abuse on college campuses. To receive federal funding, each college must comply by implementing an alcohol and drug prevention program, but the federal government and some colleges have paid little attention to this policy. Recently,…

  18. Rural Revitalization in New Mexico: A Grass Roots Initiative Involving School and Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitzel, Gerald R.; Benavidez, Alicia C.; Bianchi, Barbara C.; Croom, Linda L.; de la Riva, Brandy R.; Grein, Donna L.; Holloway, James E.; Rendon, Andrew T.

    2007-01-01

    The Rural Education Bureau of the New Mexico Public Education Department has established a program to address the special needs of schools and communities in the extensive rural areas of the state. High poverty rates, depopulation and a general lack of viable economic opportunity have marked rural New Mexico for decades. The program underway aims…

  19. Internal and External Factors Shaping Educational Beliefs of High School Teachers of "Sacred" Subjects to Girls

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iluz, Shira; Rich, Yisrael

    2009-01-01

    This research investigated pedagogical beliefs of teachers of "sacred" school subjects, curricular topics that the school community deems culturally valued, unassailable and inviolate. Two hundred and fifty-five teachers of girls only who taught sacred or secular subjects in Jewish modern religious high schools responded to questionnaires focusing…

  20. Diagnostic Evaluation of the School-Community Relationship: a Case of a School in Santo Domingo del Roble de Santa Bárbara de Heredia, Costa Rica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Ramírez-González

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the results of a participative diagnostic evaluation from a qualitative approach regarding the relationship between a primary school in Santo Domingo del Roble de Santa Bárbara de Heredia, Costa Rica and the community. The study included the participation of four teachers from upper and lower levels, as well as five parents, who are also part of two school committees, Patronato Escolar, in charge of overseeing school funds and Junta Educativa, in charge of overseeing educational matters. Some structural aspects that were considered included the curricular guidelines established by the Ministry of Public Education in regards to this topic, as well as practical teaching procedural aspects related to the communication between the school, the family and the community and school participation in rural community development projects, as an educational institution that offers and participates in formal and informal education activities and promotes community gathering by providing the facilities and resources for their improvement. Information was obtained through qualitative techniques, such as in-depth interviews and discussion groups. Data was analyzed based on three categories: professional formation, institutional outreach, and educational practice. It was concluded that the school lacks a community diagnostic or an institutional educational project that would allow for the development of concrete actions to address school and community needs. In addition, the school, represented by its teachers as leading figures, is required to participate in the organization and development of school and community projects. Teachers’ participation in the rural community is characterized by qualities, attitudes and values such as teaching vocation, leadership, organization, commitment, transparency, trust, humanism, and identification with the rural community.

  1. Delaying Middle School and High School Start Times Promotes Student Health and Performance: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Position Statement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Nathaniel F; Martin, Jennifer L; Wise, Merrill S; Carden, Kelly A; Kirsch, Douglas B; Kristo, David A; Malhotra, Raman K; Olson, Eric J; Ramar, Kannan; Rosen, Ilene M; Rowley, James A; Weaver, Terri E; Chervin, Ronald D

    2017-04-15

    During adolescence, internal circadian rhythms and biological sleep drive change to result in later sleep and wake times. As a result of these changes, early middle school and high school start times curtail sleep, hamper a student's preparedness to learn, negatively impact physical and mental health, and impair driving safety. Furthermore, a growing body of evidence shows that delaying school start times positively impacts student achievement, health, and safety. Public awareness of the hazards of early school start times and the benefits of later start times are largely unappreciated. As a result, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine is calling on communities, school boards, and educational institutions to implement start times of 8:30 AM or later for middle schools and high schools to ensure that every student arrives at school healthy, awake, alert, and ready to learn. © 2017 American Academy of Sleep Medicine

  2. Effects of exposure to community violence and family violence on school functioning problems among urban youth: The potential mediating role of posttraumatic stress symptoms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tia eMcGill

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Adolescents who are exposed to violence during childhood are at an increased risk for developing posttraumatic stress (PTS symptoms. The literature suggests that violence exposure might also have negative effects on school functioning, and that PTS might serve as a potential mediator in this association. The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend prior research by examining PTS symptoms as a mediator of the relationship between two types of violence exposure and school functioning problems among adolescent youth from an urban setting. Participants included a sample of 121 junior high and high school students (M= 15 years; range= 13-16 years; 60 males, 61 females within high-crime neighborhoods. Consistent with our hypotheses, community violence and family violence were associated with PTS symptoms and school functioning problems. Our data suggest that community and family violence were indirectly related to school functioning problems through PTS symptoms. Findings from this study demonstrate that PTS symptoms potentially mediate the relationship between violence exposure and school functioning problems across two settings (community and home. Future research should further examine protective factors that can prevent youth violence exposure as well as negative outcomes related to violence.

  3. Computer-Based Junior High/Intermediate School Program of Transitional Bilingual Education, Community School District 3, Manhattan. Final Evaluation Report, 1992-93. OREA Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duque, Diana L.

    The Computer-Based Junior High/Intermediate School Program of Transitional Bilingual Education was a federally funded program in its third year of operation in one intermediate school and two junior high schools in Manhattan (New York) in 1992-93. During this period, it served 244 native Spanish-speaking, limited-English-proficient (LEP) students…

  4. Authoritative School Climate and High School Dropout Rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Yuane; Konold, Timothy R.; Cornell, Dewey

    2016-01-01

    This study tested the association between school-wide measures of an authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates in a statewide sample of 315 high schools. Regression models at the school level of analysis used teacher and student measures of disciplinary structure, student support, and academic expectations to predict overall high…

  5. Joint en Environmental Promotion from the Triad: School, Family, Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana Del Rosario Mejías Vetancourt

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The present research has as main objective to generate a theoretical approach of the Joint Environmental Promotion from the Triad: School, Family, Community Primary School "Cinqueña III" town Barinas state of Barinas. The nature of this research is supported by the phenomenological qualitative approach critical partner paradigm. Key informants were considered five (05, which were chosen at the discretion of the investigator, according to the actors who are considered binding: a manager, a teacher, a representative, a member of the school board, a member of the community council. Among the techniques of information collection are: participant observation and qualitative depth interview. As techniques for analyzing information categorization, coding and triangulation, accompanied by descriptive and interpretative phase it is contemplated. Then, a comparative matrix is made to analyze the information collected and shall determine the findings as a result of addressing the issue of research in the Basic School Cinqueña III, municipality of Barinas Barinas state.

  6. Growing Community Roots for the Geosciences in Miami, Florida, A Program Aimed at High School and Middle School Students to Increase Awareness of Career and Educational Opportunities in the Geosciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitman, D.; Hickey-Vargas, R.; Gebelein, J.; Draper, G.; Rego, R.

    2013-12-01

    Growing Community Roots for the Geosciences is a 2-year pilot recruitment project run by the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University (FIU) and funded by the NSF OEDG (Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences) program. FIU, the State University of Florida in Miami is a federally recognized Minority Serving Institution with over 70% of the undergraduate population coming from groups underrepresented in the geoscience workforce. The goal of this project is to inform students enrolled in the local middle and high schools to career opportunities in the geosciences and to promote pathways for underrepresented groups to university geoscience degree programs. The first year's program included a 1-week workshop for middle school teachers and a 2-week summer camp aimed at high school students in the public school system. The teacher workshop was attended by 20 teachers who taught comprehensive and physical science in grades 6-8. It included lectures on geoscience careers, fundamental concepts of solid earth and atmospheric science, hands on exercises with earth materials, fossils and microscopy, interpretation of landform with Google Earth imagery, and a field trip to a local working limestone quarry. On the first day of the workshop, participants were surveyed on their general educational background in science and their familiarity and comfort with teaching basic geoscience concepts. On the final day, the teachers participated in a group discussion where we discussed how to make geoscience topics and careers more visible in the school curriculum. The 2-week summer camp was attended by 21 students entering grades 9-12. The program included hands on exercises on geoscience and GIS concepts, field trips to local barrier islands, the Everglades, a limestone quarry and a waste to energy facility, and tours of the NOAA National Hurricane Center and the FIU SEM lab. Participants were surveyed on their general educational background

  7. The effectiveness of three sets of school-based instructional materials and community training on the acquisition and generalization of community laundry skills by students with severe handicaps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrow, S A; Bates, P E

    1987-01-01

    This study examined the effectiveness of three sets of school-based instructional materials and community training on acquisition and generalization of a community laundry skill by nine students with severe handicaps. School-based instruction involved artificial materials (pictures), simulated materials (cardboard replica of a community washing machine), and natural materials (modified home model washing machine). Generalization assessments were conducted at two different community laundromats, on two machines represented fully by the school-based instructional materials and two machines not represented fully by these materials. After three phases of school-based instruction, the students were provided ten community training trials in one laundromat setting and a final assessment was conducted in both the trained and untrained community settings. A multiple probe design across students was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the three types of school instruction and community training. After systematic training, most of the students increased their laundry performance with all three sets of school-based materials; however, generalization of these acquired skills was limited in the two community settings. Direct training in one of the community settings resulted in more efficient acquisition of the laundry skills and enhanced generalization to the untrained laundromat setting for most of the students. Results of this study are discussed in regard to the issue of school versus community-based instruction and recommendations are made for future research in this area.

  8. Finding Savings in Community Use of Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gandy, Julia

    2013-01-01

    This article reports on the growing challenge of managing community groups using educational facilities for meetings, athletics, and special events. It describes how, by using an online scheduling software program, one school district was able to track payments and save time and money with its event and facility scheduling process.

  9. Color me healthy: food diversity in school community gardens in two rapidly urbanising Australian cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guitart, Daniela A; Pickering, Catherine M; Byrne, Jason A

    2014-03-01

    Community garden research has focused on social aspects of gardens, neglecting systematic analysis of what food is grown. Yet agrodiversity within community gardens may provide health benefits. Diverse fruit and vegetables provide nutritional benefits, including vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. This paper reports research that investigated the agro-biodiversity of school-based community gardens in Brisbane and Gold Coast cities, Australia. Common motivations for establishing these gardens were education, health and environmental sustainability. The 23 gardens assessed contained 234 food plants, ranging from 7 to 132 plant types per garden. This included 142 fruits and vegetables. The nutritional diversity of fruits and vegetable plants was examined through a color classification system. All gardens grew fruits and vegetables from at least four food color groups, and 75% of the gardens grew plants from all seven color groups. As places with high agrodiversity, and related nutritional diversity, some school community gardens can provide children with exposure to a healthy range of fruit and vegetables, with potential flow-on health benefits. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Doorways II: Community Counselor Reference Materials. On School-Related Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response

    Science.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development, 2009

    2009-01-01

    The Doorways training program was designed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Safe Schools Program (Safe Schools) to enable teachers, community members and students to prevent and respond to school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV). This booklet, "Doorways II: Community Counselor Reference Materials on…

  11. Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans

    Science.gov (United States)

    Office of Safe and Healthy Students, US Department of Education, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Each school day, our nation's schools are entrusted to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for approximately 55 million elementary and secondary school students in public and nonpublic schools. In collaboration with their local government and community partners, schools can take steps to plan for these potential emergencies through the…

  12. The school food environment and adolescent obesity: qualitative insights from high school principals and food service personnel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ellerbeck Edward F

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Objectives To examine high school personnel's perceptions of the school environment, its impact on obesity, and the potential impact of legislation regulating schools' food/beverage offerings. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the principal (n = 8 and dietitian/food service manager (n = 7 at 8 schools (4 rural, 4 suburban participating in a larger study examining the relationship between the school environment and adolescent health behavior patterns. Results Principal themes included: 1 Obesity is a problem in general, but not at their school, 2 Schools have been unfairly targeted above more salient factors (e.g., community and home environment, 3 Attempts at change should start before high school, 4 Student health is one priority area among multiple competing demands; academic achievement is the top priority, 5 Legislation should be informed by educators and better incorporate the school's perspective. Food service themes included: 1 Obesity is not a problem at their school; school food service is not the cause, 2 Food offerings are based largely on the importance of preparing students for the real world by providing choice and the need to maintain high participation rates; both healthy and unhealthy options are available, 3 A la carte keeps lunch participation high and prices low but should be used as a supplement, not a replacement, to the main meal, 4 Vending provides school's additional revenue; vending is not part of food service and is appropriate if it does not interfere with the lunch program. Conclusion Discrepancies exist between government/public health officials and school personnel that may inhibit collaborative efforts to address obesity through modifications to the school environment. Future policy initiatives may be enhanced by seeking the input of school personnel, providing recommendations firmly grounded in evidence-based practice, framing initiatives in terms of their potential impact on the

  13. Doorways II: Community Counselor Training Manual on School-Related Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response

    Science.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development, 2009

    2009-01-01

    The Doorways training program was designed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Safe Schools Program (Safe Schools) to enable teachers, community members and students to prevent and respond to school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV). Doorways II was designed for community counselors to prevent and respond to…

  14. Donde Estan los Estudiantes Puertorriquenos/os Exitosos? [Where Are the Academically Successful Puerto Rican Students?]: Success Factors of High-Achieving Puerto Rican High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antrop-Gonzalez, Rene; Velez, William; Garrett, Tomas

    2005-01-01

    This article describes the 4 success factors that 10 working class Puerto Rican urban high school students attributed to their high academic achievement. These success factors were (a) the acquisition of social capital through religiosity and participation in school and community-based extracurricular activities, (b) having a strong Puerto Rican…

  15. School-Within-A-School (Hawaii Nui High) Hilo High School Report 1969-70.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawaii Univ., Honolulu. Social Welfare Development and Research Center.

    The second year of operation of Hilo High School's "School-Within-A-School" [SWS] program is evaluated in this paper. Planning, training, and program implementation are described in the document. The following are the results of the program: There was an improvement in attendance among project students when compared to their record in…

  16. Original article School personnel’s perceptions of their schools’ involvement in culturally and linguistically diverse school-family-community partnerships

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jolanta Jonak

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND The achievement gap between White and culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD students is a chronic issue in many U.S. schools that stakeholders endeavor to eliminate through best practices involving curriculum, instruction, and early interventions; however, disparities often persist. In addition to all educational efforts provided by schools and implementation of best practices when students begin to struggle academically or behaviorally in schools, family involvement cannot be disregarded. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE School personnel from one Midwestern school district in the United States educating over 8,000 students was surveyed to obtain their perceptions about school-family-community partnerships. A total of 117 informants, including teachers, student support personnel, and administrators, provided their opinions through an online survey measuring responses to questions related to current best practices in their schools with regard to culturally and linguistically diverse students, their families and their communities. RESULTS In a research study focused on school practices relating to parent involvement, it was found that strategies intended to encourage and incorporate parent involvement were implemented in just one-third to one-half of the schools surveyed, indicating the need for increased and concerted effort on the part of school professionals to recognize and address obstacles to a pivotal school-parent-community relationship. CONCLUSIONS Although schools can be credited with endeavoring to provide best practices for their CLD students, in keeping with state and federal mandates and assumedly in keeping with best intentions, there is in fact much work to be done to better facilitate the success of these students. School psychologists can provide the impetus for this effort by formally recommending parent involvement and participation in their assessments of CLD students in particular. This recommendation should

  17. Student Interracial Interactions and Perceptions of School as a Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hallinan, Maureen T.; Kubitschek, Warren N.; Liu, Ge

    2009-01-01

    Communally organized, as opposed to bureaucratically organized, schools are expected to provide significant advantages to students in terms of their cognitive and social growth. However, for students to avail themselves of these benefits, they need to experience school as a community. One factor that may influence whether students view their…

  18. Talking about science: An interpretation of the effects of teacher talk in a high school science classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moje, Elizabeth B.

    This paper builds on research in science education, secondary education, and sociolinguistics by arguing that high school classrooms can be considered speech communities in which language may be selectively used and imposed on students as a means of fostering academic speech community identification. To demonstrate the ways in which a high school teacher's language use may encourage subject area identification, the results of an interactionist analysis of data from a 2-year ethnographic study of one high school chemistry classroom are presented. Findings indicate that this teacher's uses of language fell into three related categories. These uses of language served to foster identification with the academic speech community of science. As a result of the teacher's talk about science according to these three patterns, students developed or reinforced particular views of science. In addition, talking about science in ways that fostered identity with the discipline promoted the teacher as expert and built classroom solidarity or community. These results are discussed in light of sociolinguistic research on classroom competence and of the assertions of science educators regarding social and ideologic implications of language use in science instruction.Received: 23 September 1993; Revised: 15 September 1994;

  19. School-community learning partnerships for sustainability: Recommended best practice and reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheeler, Leone; Guevara, Jose Roberto; Smith, Jodi-Anne

    2018-05-01

    Effective partnerships across different stakeholders are essential to the collaboration required for learning cities to contribute to sustainable development. Through partnerships, formal educational institutions, such as schools and universities, play a vital role in establishing and sustaining learning cities, often by facilitating the meaningful participation of different local community members. The research presented in this article examines the characteristics of effective school-community partnerships in the literature and compares it to the results of a three-year research study which examined 16 case studies of school-community partnerships in the state of Victoria in Australia. Using participatory action research, the researchers identified four approaches to implementing partnerships for sustainability, explored challenges to achieving an idealised partnership, and made recommendations for establishing successful partnership networks. The researchers propose that partnerships be viewed as a dynamic resource rather than merely a transactional arrangement that addresses the identified challenges of time, funding, skills and personnel. Furthermore, the use of "partnership brokers", such as local government or non-government organisations, is recommended to expand the current school-centred approach to partnerships. These insights aim to contribute to providing quality education and lifelong learning through partnerships - outcomes crucial for establishing and sustaining learning cities.

  20. The awesome Asthma School Days Program: educating children, inspiring a community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meurer, J R; McKenzie, S; Mischler, E; Subichin, S; Malloy, M; George, V

    1999-02-01

    Program planners developed an educational program to improve the health of children with asthma in grades three to five in Milwaukee (Wis.) Public Schools. During 1997-1998, 1,400 students from 74 elementary schools participated in the Awesome Asthma School Days education program. In a cross-sectional survey, about 40% of children reported play interrupted and sleep disturbed by asthma, more than 50% of children reported exposure to smoke in their home, most children lacked asthma self-care tools, and most children with persistent symptoms did not use an anti-inflammatory inhaler. The educational program improved students' expectations about normal play and sleep and improved their understanding of asthma. Leaders in Milwaukee used the survey results to develop a community action plan. The educational program, surveys, community partnerships, and strategic plans can be replicated in other schools.

  1. Journalism Beyond High School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Sally

    2001-01-01

    Discusses the shift from high school journalism to college journalism for students. Describes the role of the high school journalism advisor in that process. Offers checklists for getting to know a college publication. Outlines ways high school journalism teachers can take advantage of journalism resources available at local colleges and…

  2. J.C. Nalle Community School: A Study of a School Turnaround Effort. Publication #2015-14

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redd, Zakia; Princiotta, Daniel; Stratford, Brandon; Caal, Selma; Li, Weilin; Murphy, Kelly; Coffey, Amelia; Carrington, Nicholas; Carney, Rachel; Oster, Maryjo; Horton, Susannah

    2015-01-01

    J.C. Nalle is a Community School located in the Marshall Heights neighborhood of Ward 7 in Washington, D.C. The community in which J.C. Nalle is located, historically one of the more economically disadvantaged areas of the city, has experienced a number of changes in recent years. This report of evaluation findings begins with an introduction to…

  3. Dispatches from Flyover Country: Four Appraisals of Impacts of Trump's Immigration Policy on Families, Schools, and Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamann, Edmund T.; Morgenson, Cara

    2017-01-01

    A university professor and high school ESL teacher, both based in Lincoln Nebraska, each write two short essays that detail implications of the Trump administration immigration policies for students, teachers, schools, and communities. The first two dispatches come from the transition period (after Trump won but while Obama still presided) while…

  4. Brighter Smiles Africa--translation of a Canadian community-based health-promoting school program to Uganda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macnab, A J; Radziminski, N; Budden, H; Kasangaki, A; Zavuga, R; Gagnon, F A; Mbabali, M

    2010-08-01

    PROJECT GOAL: To adapt a successful Canadian health-promoting school initiative to a Ugandan context through international partnership. Rural children face many health challenges worldwide; health professionals in training understand these better through community-based learning. Aboriginal leaders in a Canadian First-Nations community identified poor oral health as a child health issue with major long-term societal impact and intervened successfully with university partners through a school-based program called "Brighter Smiles". Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda (MUK) sought to implement this delivery model for both the benefit of communities and the dental students. MUK identified rural communities where hospitals could provide dental students with community-based learning and recruited four local schools. A joint Ugandan and Canadian team of both trainees and faculty planned the program, obtained ethics consent and baseline data, initiated the Brighter Smiles intervention model (daily at-school tooth-brushing; in-class education), and recruited a cohort to receive additional bi-annual topical fluoride. Hurdles included: challenging international communication and planning due to inconsistent internet connections; discrepancies between Canadian and developing world concepts of research ethics and informed consent; complex dynamics for community engagement and steep learning curve for accurate data collection; an itinerant population at one school; and difficulties coordinating Canadian and Ugandan university schedules. Four health-promoting schools were established; teachers, children, and families were engaged in the initiative; community-based learning was adopted for the university students; quarterly team education/evaluation/service delivery visits to schools were initiated; oral health improved, and new knowledge and practices were evident; an effective international partnership was formed providing global health education, research and health care

  5. An evaluation of the role of rural primary school teachers in community development tasks in southern Sudan

    OpenAIRE

    Ngalam, Jabi Jack

    1987-01-01

    This thesis investigates the role of rural primary school teachers in community development activities within an integrated rural education centres project (IRECs) in southern Sudan. The study explores five areas of importance for an extended teacher's role in rural areas: (i) the school or community environment, (ii) community perception of the teacher's role and its expectations of the school, (iii) teachers' perception of their own role in the community, (iv) teachers' ...

  6. The Development and Implementation of Successful School-Community Partnerships in Public Elementary Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Record, Vincent N.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: The study aimed to define common characteristics of successful school-community partnerships supporting the improvement of academic achievement in public elementary schools. Based on the perceptions of elementary school administrators, this study identified important factors of, barriers to, and benefits of successful school-community…

  7. Preferred Information Sources of High School Students for Community Colleges and Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goff, Brent; Patino, Vanessa; Jackson, Gary

    2004-01-01

    To effectively communicate with potential students, it is important to utilize their preferred information sources. Survey data were gathered from 716 high school students who planned to attend college. There were communication source differences based on race and intent to attend two-year vs. four-year institutions. Important information sources…

  8. Effects of Exposure to Community Violence and Family Violence on School Functioning Problems among Urban Youth: The Potential Mediating Role of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGill, Tia M.; Self-Brown, Shannon R.; Lai, Betty S.; Cowart-Osborne, Melissa; Tiwari, Ashwini; LeBlanc, Monique; Kelley, Mary Lou

    2014-01-01

    Adolescents who are exposed to violence during childhood are at an increased risk for developing posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. The literature suggests that violence exposure might also have negative effects on school functioning, and that PTS might serve as a potential mediator in this association. The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend prior research by examining PTS symptoms as a mediator of the relationship between two types of violence exposure and school functioning problems among adolescent youth from an urban setting. Participants included a sample of 121 junior high and high school students (M = 15 years; range = 13–16 years; 60 males, 61 females) within high-crime neighborhoods. Consistent with our hypotheses, community violence and family violence were associated with PTS symptoms and school functioning problems. Our data suggest that community and family violence were indirectly related to school functioning problems through PTS symptoms. Findings from this study demonstrate that PTS symptoms potentially mediate the relationship between violence exposure and school functioning problems across two settings (community and home). Future research should further examine protective factors that can prevent youth violence exposure as well as negative outcomes related to violence. PMID:24570897

  9. Beyond the Barriers: Marking the Place for Marijuana Use at a Canadian High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Joy L.; Moffat, Barbara; Bottorff, Joan; Shoveller, Jean; Fischer, Benedikt; Haines, Rebecca J.

    2008-01-01

    This ethnographic study aimed at developing a richer understanding of how youth, their schools, and the communities in which they are emplaced coincide to generate a set of local social processes that affect marijuana use. We trace the interplay between high school staff and students with regards to marijuana use in the proximity of a local high…

  10. Evaluating High School IT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Brett A.

    2004-01-01

    Since its inception in 1997, Cisco's curriculum has entered thousands of high schools across the U.S. and around the world for two reasons: (1) Cisco has a large portion of the computer networking market, and thus has the resources for and interest in developing high school academies; and (2) high school curriculum development teams recognize the…

  11. Pedagogical Stances of High School ESL Teachers: "Huelgas" in High School ESL Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    del Carmen Salazar, Maria

    2010-01-01

    This article presents a qualitative case study of the pedagogical stances of high school English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, and the subsequent responses of resistance or conformity by their English Language Learners (ELLs). The participants include three high school ESL teachers and 60 high school ESL students of Mexican origin. Findings…

  12. Gender Differences in Introductory University Physics Performance: The Influence of High School Physics Preparation and Affect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazari, Zahra

    2006-12-01

    The attrition of females studying physics after high school has been a continuing concern for the physics education community. If females are well prepared, feel confident, and do well in introductory college physics, they may be inclined to study physics further. This quantitative study uses HLM to identify factors from high school physics preparation (content, pedagogy, and assessment) and the affective domain that predict female and male performance in introductory college physics. The study includes controls for student demographic and academic background characteristics, and the final dataset consists of 1973 surveys from 54 introductory college physics classes. The results highlight high school physics and affective experiences that differentially predict female and male performance. These experiences include: learning requirements, computer graphing/analysis, long written problems, everyday world examples, community projects cumulative tests/quizzes, father's encouragement, family's belief that science leads to a better career, and the length of time students believe that high school physics would help in university physics. There were also experiences that similarly predict female and male performance. The results paint a dynamic picture of the factors from high school physics and the affective domain that influence the future physics performance of females and males. The implication is that there are many aspects to the teaching of physics in high school that, although widely used and thought to be effective, need reform in their implementation in order to be fully beneficial to females and/or males in college.

  13. A Comparison of Urban School- and Community-Based Dental Clinics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Charles D.; Larsen, Michael D.; Handwerker, Lisa B.; Kim, Maile S.; Rosenthal, Murray

    2009-01-01

    Background: The objective of the study was to quantitatively compare school- and community-based dental clinics in New York City that provide dental services to children in need. It was hypothesized that the school-based clinics would perform better in terms of several measures. Methods: We reviewed billing and visit data derived from encounter…

  14. Community perceptions of a rural medical school : a pilot qualitative study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nestel, Debra; Gray, Katherine; Simmons, Margaret; Pritchard, Shane A; Islam, Rumana; Eng, Wan Q; Ng, Adrian; Dornan, Tim

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND: This paper explores local community perceptions of a relatively new rural medical school. For the purposes of this paper, community engagement is conceptualized as involvement in planning, delivering, and evaluating the medical program. Although there are several reviews of patient

  15. The permacultura, an alternative in the production of foods from the school and the community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reina María Rodríguez García

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available One of the performances high-priority collections in the Calendar 21 are the reorientation of the education toward a sustainable development; he/she intends, in this sense that is helped to the schools to design plans related with the environment very integrated in their study plans. These directive ones serve as mark for contextualizar the present project in the one that, observing the thematic axes of the permacultura and using as central axis that of the production of foods that can be implemented and maintained with minimum resources, and in coordination with the group Ecomujer of Germany, is sought to link the primary school of group with the community to actions of use of the water rain for the production of foods in a school orchard of vegetables, medicinal plants, as well as an area of fruit-bearing in the primary school Eberto Polanco of the Popular Council of New Town of the municipality of Consolation of the South and this way to contribute to the population's alimentary education from the school and the community, being achieved the reorientation of the education toward the sustainable development, by means of the design and execution of plans of actions related with the environment and the alimentary culture and integrated to the effective study plans.

  16. Early College STEM-focused High Schools: A Natural and Overlooked Recruitment Pool for the Geosciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freeman, R.; Bathon, J.; Fryar, A. E.; Lyon, E.; McGlue, M. M.

    2017-12-01

    As national awareness of the importance of STEM education has grown, so too has the number of high schools that specifically emphasize STEM education. Students at these schools outperform their peers and these institutions send students into the college STEM pipeline at twice the rate of the average high school or more. Another trend in secondary education is the "early college high school" (ECHS) model, which encourages students to prepare for and attend college while in high school. These high schools, particularly ECHS's that focus on STEM, represent a natural pool for recruitment into the geosciences, yet most efforts at linking high school STEM education to future careers focus on health sciences or engineering. Through the NSF GEOPATHS-IMPACT program, the University of Kentucky (UK) Department of Earth and Environmental Science and the STEAM Academy, a STEM-focused ECHS located in Lexington, KY, have partnered to expose students to geoscience content. This public ECHS admits students using a lottery system to ensure that the demographics of the high school match those of the surrounding community. The perennial problem for recruiting students into geosciences is the lack of awareness of it as a potential career, due to lack of exposure to the subject in high school. Although the STEAM Academy does not offer an explicitly-named geoscience course, students begin their first semester in 9th grade Integrated Science. This course aligns to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which include a variety of geoscience content. We are working with the teachers to build a project-based learning curriculum to include explicit mention and awareness of careers in geosciences. The second phase of our project involves taking advantage of the school's existing internship program, in which students develop professional skills and career awareness by spending either one day/week or one hour/day off campus. We hosted our second round of interns this year. Eventually we

  17. The 1968 Edcouch-Elsa High School Walkout: Chicano Student Activism in a South Texas Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrera, James B.

    2004-01-01

    A nonviolent school boycott by 192 Chicanola students in 1968 at Edcouch-Elsa high school in the Rio Grande Valley region of Deep South Texas is examined. This walkout was the first major Chicano student protest in South Texas, and was a product of the 1960s Chicano movement.

  18. Collaboration with Community Mental Health Service Providers: A Necessity in Contemporary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villarreal, Victor; Castro-Villarreal, Felicia

    2016-01-01

    Schools have played an increasingly central role in providing mental health services to youth, but there are limitations to the services that are available through school-based mental health professionals. Thus, collaboration with non-school-based community mental health providers is oftentimes necessary. As collaboration can address limitations…

  19. A High School Depression and Suicide Prevention Program: A Collaboration between Health Education and Psychological Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moilanen, Donna L.; Bradbury, Susan

    2002-01-01

    Examined a collaboration between health education and psychological services in generating a high school depression and suicide prevention program. The five-component program raised awareness of teen depression and suicide, increased communication about these issues within the school and community, and provided information about available…

  20. Providing Middle School Students With Science Research Experiences Through Community Partnerships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, D.

    2007-12-01

    Science research courses have been around for years at the university and high school level. As inquiry based learning has become more and more a part of the science teacher's vocabulary, many of these courses have adopted an inquiry model for studying science. Learners of all ages benefit from learning through the natural process of inquiry. I participated in the CIRES Earthworks program for science teachers (Colorado University) in the summer of 2007 and experienced, first hand, the value of inquiry learning. With the support and vision of my school administration, and with the support and commitment of community partners, I have developed a Middle School Science Research Program that is transforming how science is taught to students in my community. Swift Creek Middle School is located in Tallahassee, Florida. There are approximately 1000 students in this suburban public school. Students at Swift Creek are required to take one science class each year through 8th grade. As more emphasis is placed on learning a large number of scientific facts and information, in order to prepare students for yearly, standardized tests, there is a concern that less emphasis may be placed on the process and nature of science. The program I developed draws from the inquiry model followed at the CIRES Earthworks program, utilizes valuable community partnerships, and plays an important role in meeting that need. There are three major components to this Middle School Research Program, and the Center for Integrated Research and Learning (CIRL) at the National High Magnetic Field Lab (NHMFL) at Florida State University is playing an important role in all three. First, each student will develop their own research question and design experiments to answer the question. Scientists from the NHMFL are serving as mentors, or "buddy scientists," to my students as they work through the process of inquiry. Scientists from the CIRES - Earthworks program, Florida State University, and other

  1. Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Relevance Strategic Designs: 8. High Tech High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

    2008-01-01

    This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

  2. A Comprehensive Partnership Approach Increasing High School Graduation Rates and College Enrollment of Urban Economically Disadvantaged Youth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, Yvette; Sinatra, Richard; Eschenauer, Robert

    2015-01-01

    Described is a 4-year model of a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) offered to 294 academically and economically disadvantaged students and their parents during in- and out-of-school time activities through partnerships forged with school personnel and community-based agencies. In an urban high school where…

  3. Early College High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dessoff, Alan

    2011-01-01

    For at-risk students who stand little chance of going to college, or even finishing high school, a growing number of districts have found a solution: Give them an early start in college while they still are in high school. The early college high school (ECHS) movement that began with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 10 years ago…

  4. An Ontological Perspective on the Development of Home-School Partnership Relationships with Indigenous Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindle, Rawiri; Hynds, Anne; Averill, Robin; Meyer, Luanna; Faircloth, Susan

    2017-01-01

    We propose the use of an ontological perspective to shift current thinking about the phenomenon of home/school partnerships, particularly through an examination of school leaders (leadership team)--community relationships that seek to better serve Indigenous students and their communities. We reanalysed focus group interviews of indigenous Maori…

  5. Patterns of Practice: Case Studies of Early Childhood Education & Family Engagement in Community Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobson, Linda; Rollins, S. Kwesi; Brown, Janet; Naviasky, Heather

    2016-01-01

    This "Patterns of Practice: Case Studies of Early Childhood Education & Family Engagement in Community Schools" report updates the community school case studies through a description of ongoing developments in Cincinnati, OH; Evansville, IN; Multnomah County, OR; and Tulsa, OK and adds to that knowledge base of early learning and…

  6. Community and School Gardens as Spaces for Learning Social Resilience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reis, Kimberley; Ferreira, Jo-Anne

    2015-01-01

    Can community and school gardens help people learn to build social resilience to potential food shortages? We seek to address this question through an examination of the ways in which gardens can teach individual and community resiliency in times of emergency, pockets of food insecurity, and the challenges presented by climate change. We focus on…

  7. Participation in Summer School and High School Graduation in the Sun Valley High School District

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trujillo, Gabriel

    2012-01-01

    This study examines the effectiveness of a summer school credit recovery program in the Sun Valley High School District. Using logistic regression I assess the relationship between race, gender, course failure, school of origin and summer school participation for a sample of students that failed one or more classes in their first year of high…

  8. School and Community Wellness: Transforming Achievement Using a Holistic Orientation to Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oser, Rick; Beck, Ellen; Alvarado, Jose Luis; Pang, Valerie Ooka

    2014-01-01

    A comprehensive school and community wellness plan was developed and implemented to transform "Lemon Grove Academy" for the Sciences and Humanities, an urban school, where student achievement and faculty satisfaction has soared. The school has become the center for the local neighborhood where culture, language, and equity are valued.…

  9. Academic attainment and the high school science experiences among high-achieving African American males

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trice, Rodney Nathaniel

    This study examines the educational experiences of high achieving African American males. More specifically, it analyzes the influences on their successful navigation through high school science. Through a series of interviews, observations, questionnaires, science portfolios, and review of existing data the researcher attempted to obtain a deeper understanding of high achieving African American males and their limitations to academic attainment and high school science experiences. The investigation is limited to ten high achieving African American male science students at Woodcrest High School. Woodcrest is situated at the cross section of a suburban and rural community located in the southeastern section of the United States. Although this investigation involves African American males, all of whom are successful in school, its findings should not be generalized to this nor any other group of students. The research question that guided this study is: What are the limitations to academic attainment and the high school science experiences of high achieving African American males? The student participants expose how suspension and expulsion, special education placement, academic tracking, science instruction, and teacher expectation influence academic achievement. The role parents play, student self-concept, peer relationships, and student learning styles are also analyzed. The anthology of data rendered three overarching themes: (1) unequal access to education, (2) maintenance of unfair educational structures, and (3) authentic characterizations of African American males. Often the policies and practices set in place by school officials aid in creating hurdles to academic achievement. These policies and practices are often formed without meaningful consideration of the unintended consequences that may affect different student populations, particularly the most vulnerable. The findings from this study expose that high achieving African American males face major

  10. Your Voice Counts: Listening to the Voice of High School Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saggers, Beth; Hwang, Yoon-Suk; Mercer, K. Louise

    2011-01-01

    Supporting students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in inclusive settings presents both opportunities and significant challenges to school communities. This study, which explored the lived experience of nine students with ASD in an inclusive high school in Australia, is based on the belief that by listening to the voices of students, school…

  11. Combining in-school and community-based media efforts: reducing marijuana and alcohol uptake among younger adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slater, Michael D; Kelly, Kathleen J; Edwards, Ruth W; Thurman, Pamela J; Plested, Barbara A; Keefe, Thomas J; Lawrence, Frank R; Henry, Kimberly L

    2006-02-01

    This study tests the impact of an in-school mediated communication campaign based on social marketing principles, in combination with a participatory, community-based media effort, on marijuana, alcohol and tobacco uptake among middle-school students. Eight media treatment and eight control communities throughout the US were randomly assigned to condition. Within both media treatment and media control communities, one school received a research-based prevention curriculum and one school did not, resulting in a crossed, split-plot design. Four waves of longitudinal data were collected over 2 years in each school and were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models to account for clustering effects. Youth in intervention communities (N = 4,216) showed fewer users at final post-test for marijuana [odds ratio (OR) = 0.50, P = 0.019], alcohol (OR = 0.40, P = 0.009) and cigarettes (OR = 0.49, P = 0.039), one-tailed. Growth trajectory results were significant for marijuana (P = 0.040), marginal for alcohol (P = 0.051) and non-significant for cigarettes (P = 0.114). Results suggest that an appropriately designed in-school and community-based media effort can reduce youth substance uptake. Effectiveness does not depend on the presence of an in-school prevention curriculum.

  12. The Effect of Household and Community on School Attrition: An Analysis of Thai Youth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korinek, Kim; Punpuing, Sureeporn

    2012-01-01

    We analyze school attrition among youth in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand. We find that family investments in schooling are shaped by both household and local community contexts. There is an enrollment advantage for girls across different households and communities. We find that youth whose mothers have migrated and youth in immigrant households…

  13. El ``Aula del Cel'': astronomy approaching high school

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz-Gil, A.; Gómez Collado, M.; Gallego Calvente, A. T.

    The “Aula del Cel” is a project carried out by the Astronomical Obsevatory of the University of Valencia, Spain. It offers high-school teachers a tool for teaching Astronomy to 10 to 17 year-old students. Different programs, experiments, and audiovisual presentations have been prepared by a team formed both by professional astronomers and teachers, and are offered in a format chosen to suit each particular age and curriculum group. Special sessions have been designed for students with special needs (for example blind or autistic children) in close contact with the pedagogical teams responsible for their education. Nearly three thousand students have already visited the “Aula del Cel” over the first six months that it has been offered to the school community.

  14. The Nature of Teacher-Community Contact in Schools Serving Southwest Indian Children. American Indian Education Papers, No. 2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knight, Margaret E.

    Previous school-community research in American Indian communities has demonstrated that "isolation" or lack of communication between school staff and community parents has contributed to the failure of educating American Indian children. To validate this research in the Southwest, a diary indicating the out-of-school activities was…

  15. The Sense of Community in School Scale (SCSS)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Admiraal, W.; Lockhorst, D.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose - Teacher communities might create excellent conditions for teacher learning in schools, such as a teacher dialogue. The way teachers perceive and interpret these conditions seems to be crucial for their effects on learning. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test the

  16. Traversing School-Community Partnerships Utilizing Cross-Boundary Leadership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krumm, Bernita L.; Curry, Katherine

    2017-01-01

    Utilizing the conceptual framework of cross-boundary leadership, researchers conducted this qualitative case study to gain a better understanding of district-level leaders' actions and attitudes that led to meaningful, sustainable partnerships between the school, families, and community. Administrators in two urban, two suburban, and two rural…

  17. The Role of Arts Participation in Students' Academic and Nonacademic Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study of School, Home, and Community Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Andrew J.; Mansour, Marianne; Anderson, Michael; Gibson, Robyn; Liem, Gregory A. D.; Sudmalis, David

    2013-01-01

    This longitudinal study draws on positive youth development frameworks and ecological models to examine the role of school-, home- and community-based arts participation in students' academic (e.g., motivation, engagement) and nonacademic (e.g., self-esteem, life satisfaction) outcomes. The study is based on 643 elementary and high school students…

  18. Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic. Annual Update, 2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balfanz, Robert; Bridgeland, John M.; Bruce, Mary; Fox, Joanna Hornig

    2012-01-01

    In 2010, the authors shared a Civic Marshall Plan to create a Grad Nation. Through that first report and subsequent update, they saw hopeful signs of progress in boosting high school graduation rates in communities across the country. This 2012 report shows that high school graduation rates continue to improve nationally and across many states and…

  19. "Partners in Science": A Model Cooperative Program Introducing High School Teachers and Students to Leading-Edge Pharmaceutical Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woska, Joseph R., Jr.; Collins, Danielle M.; Canney, Brian J.; Arcario, Erin L.; Reilly, Patricia L.

    2005-01-01

    "Partners in Science" is a cooperative program between Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and area high schools in the community surrounding our Connecticut campus. It is a two-phase program that introduces high school students and teachers to the world of drug discovery and leading-edge pharmaceutical research. Phase 1 involves…

  20. Community Resources and Job Placement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preston, Jim

    1977-01-01

    In cooperation with the chamber of commerce, various businesses, associations, and other community agencies, the Sarasota schools (Florida) supplement their own job placement and follow-up efforts with community job development strategies for placing high school graduates. (JT)

  1. Moral education: School as a just community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miočinović Ljiljana Đ.

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper discusses Kohlberg’s view of moral education, how it was developing and changing over time. Starting from a theoretical postulate that thinking constitutes the essence of morality and from empirical findings of the stage development of moral judgment, in his early works Kohlberg defines moral education as "encouraging the natural course of moral judgment development". As a principal method of work, Kohlberg recommends the encouragement of a cognitive conflict by means of discussing hypothetic moral dilemmas. Criticisms that he is over-intellectualizing moral education, getting acquainted with a collective upbringing in kibbutz's, active participation in work in schools and prisons and finding that moral judgment and acting in everyday life is a response to the prevailing moral atmosphere of a group are leading to the changes in moral education goals and development of a new approach known as "just community". Now a group is in the focus of moral education, not an individual any longer, the major area of studies being group norms and expectations. The "just community" approach does not remain only at the classroom level discussing hypothetical moral dilemmas but directly influences the structure of school justice i.e. its rules and discipline, processes they are passed as well as the rights and duties of both teachers and students. Its goal is no longer to develop moral judgment of an individual student but to develop a group as moral community founded upon the norms of trust, participation and collective responsibility.

  2. Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Forms of the Enhancing Relationships in School Communities Project for Promoting Cooperative Conflict Resolution Education in Australian Primary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trinder, Margot; Wertheim, Eleanor H.; Freeman, Elizabeth; Sanson, Ann; Richardson, Shanel; Hunt, Sue

    2010-01-01

    This study evaluated the Enhancing Relationships in School Communities (ERIS) Project which aimed to promote constructive conflict resolution (CR) in Australian primary school communities through professional development for core teams of three-five staff (n = 33 teachers). Twelve schools were randomly assigned to a full intervention (FI) group or…

  3. Rural and school community in appreciating knowledge on medical plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcílio Souza Carneiro

    2016-05-01

    Isolated communities in the urban environment still use medicinal plants, but such knowledge is not always passed on to new generations. In this scenario, we propose a study with students, teachers, and community residents from Córrego da Ema, Amontada, Ceará, Brazil, aiming to know the wisdom of medicinal plants in a small rural community in the Brazilian semi-arid region. We interviewed the medicinal plant connoisseurs, named as local experts, by using the “snow ball” method. We applied questionnaires to investigate Elementary School students’ knowledge on medicinal plants (pre-tour. These actions provided a basis for planning guided-tours, activities aimed at 51 students, which we carried out along with the 10 experts and 2 local school teachers, whose results (post-tour were assessed by using the same pre-tour questionnaire. Most local experts were women (80%, their families had many people and low education level, factors that contribute to using medicinal plants. Experts cited 35 medicinal plant species. Students cited 24 pre-tour plant species and 28 post-tour plant species. Students increased their knowledge, as there was also a post-tour increase in therapeutic indications and preparation methods, as mentioned. The school played an important role in appreciating this intangible heritage, because it enabled actions involving formal and informal education.

  4. The effects of community factors on school participation in Turkey: A multilevel analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gumus, Sedat

    2014-05-01

    Turkey, like many developing countries, is facing considerable problems in terms of low school attendance rates, late enrolment and early dropout of girls in particular. Numerous studies have already been conducted, both in Turkey and elsewhere, to determine the factors affecting school enrolment of boys and girls. Existing studies in Turkey, however, have focused extensively on the association between household-level factors and school participation, ignoring the role of the broader environment in which children live. Using a recent, large-scale and nationally representative data set, this paper investigates school participation at both primary and secondary levels in Turkey, giving specific attention to community- level factors. In taking into account socioeconomic context variables using the multilevel modelling method, this study contributes significantly to current school participation literature in Turkey. The author's findings highlight the importance of community/context factors in explaining low school enrolment in Turkey. The results of the study can help policy makers develop a systematic understanding of the relationship between socioeconomic context and school participation, and enable them to make more appropriate decisions for improving school participation across the country.

  5. Protective Factors for Youth Exposed to Violence in Their Communities: A Review of Family, School, and Community Moderators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozer, Emily J; Lavi, Iris; Douglas, Laura; Wolf, Jennifer Price

    2017-01-01

    This review provides a comprehensive investigation of the pattern and strength of findings in the literature regarding the environmental moderators of the relationship between exposure to community violence and mental health among children and adolescents. Twenty-nine studies met criteria for inclusion in our analysis of family, school, and community variables as moderators. Dependent variables included internalizing (e.g., anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder) and externalizing symptoms (e.g., aggression, substance use). Effect sizes for the interactions of exposure to violence and potential moderators were summarized by their patterns of protective processes. The majority of studies in the literature examined family characteristics as moderators of the exposure to violence-symptom relationship, rather than school- or community-level factors. Our results indicated more consistent patterns for (a) close family relationships and social support for internalizing symptoms and (b) close family relationships for externalizing symptoms. Overall, the most common type of protective pattern was protective-stabilizing, in which youth with higher levels of the environmental attribute demonstrate relative stability in mental health despite exposure to violence. We found no consistent evidence that parental monitoring-a dimension inversely associated with exposure to violence in prior studies-moderated the relationship between exposure to violence and symptoms. The study emphasizes the importance of strengthening family support for young people's exposure to community violence; more research is needed to provide a solid evidence base for the role of school and community-level protective factors for youth exposed to violence.

  6. Fixing High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perkins-Gough, Deborah

    2005-01-01

    Reports from national education organizations in the US indicate the sorry state of high schools in the country that are accused of failing to adequately prepare their graduates for college or for the workforce, highlighting what is a serious problem in light of the troubled state of the US economy. The need to improve high schools is urgent and…

  7. Youth Empowerment Solutions: Evaluation of an After-School Program to Engage Middle School Students in Community Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmerman, Marc A.; Eisman, Andria B.; Reischl, Thomas M.; Morrel-Samuels, Susan; Stoddard, Sarah; Miller, Alison L.; Hutchison, Pete; Franzen, Susan; Rupp, Laney

    2018-01-01

    We report on an effectiveness evaluation of the Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES) program. YES applies empowerment theory to an after-school program for middle school students. YES is an active learning curriculum designed to help youth gain confidence in themselves, think critically about their community, and work with adults to create positive…

  8. Moving from Survival to Fulfillment: A Planning Framework for Community Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaia, Wendy E.; Finigan-Carr, Nadine

    2018-01-01

    Community schooling is an effective tool for combating the effects of poverty by integrating academic, social service, health, and economic supports for students, families, and community members. But this is complex work, requiring extraordinarily careful planning and assessment. This article suggests a planning framework that can help community…

  9. Young Engineers and Sciences (YES) - Mentoring High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boice, Daniel C.; Asbell, E.; Reiff, P. H.

    2008-09-01

    Young Engineers and Scientists (YES) is a community partnership between Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and local high schools in San Antonio, Texas (USA) during the past 16 years. The YES program provides talented high school juniors and seniors a bridge between classroom instruction and real world, research experiences in physical sciences (including space science) and engineering. YES consists of two parts: 1) an intensive three-week summer workshop held at SwRI where students experience the research environment first-hand; develop skills and acquire tools for solving scientific problems, attend mini-courses and seminars on electronics, computers and the Internet, careers, science ethics, and other topics; and select individual research projects to be completed during the academic year; and 2) a collegial mentorship where students complete individual research projects under the guidance of their mentors during the academic year and earn honors credit. At the end of the school year, students publicly present and display their work, acknowledging their accomplishments and spreading career awareness to other students and teachers. During these years, YES has developed a website for topics in space science from the perspective of high school students, including NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) (http://yesserver.space.swri.edu). High school science teachers participate in the workshop and develop space-related lessons for classroom presentation in the academic year. Student evaluations indicate the effectiveness of YES on their academic preparation and choice of college majors. Over the past 16 years, all YES graduates have entered college, several have worked for SwRI, one business has started, and three scientific publications have resulted. Acknowledgements. We acknowledge funding and support from the NASA MMS Mission, Texas Space Grant Consortium, Northside Independent School District, SwRI, and several local charitable foundations.

  10. SCHOOL COMMUNITY PERCEPTION OF LIBRARY APPS AGAINTS LIBRARY EMPOWERMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Achmad Riyadi Alberto

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract. This research is motivated by the development of information and communication technology (ICT in the library world so rapidly that allows libraries in the present to develop its services into digital-based services. This study aims to find out the school community’s perception of library apps developed by Riche Cynthia Johan, Hana Silvana, and Holin Sulistyo and its influence on library empowerment at the library of SD Laboratorium Percontohan UPI Bandung. Library apps in this research belong to the context of m-libraries, which is a library that meets the needs of its users by using mobile platforms such as smartphones,computers, and other mobile devices. Empowerment of library is the utilization of all aspects of the implementation of libraries to the best in order to achieve the expected goals. An analysis of the schoolcommunity’s perception of library apps using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM includes: ease of use, usefulness, usability, usage trends, and real-use conditions. While the empowerment of the library includes aspects: information empowerment, empowerment of learning resources, empowerment of human resources, empowerment of library facilities, and library promotion. The research method used in this research is descriptive method with quantitative approach. Population and sample in this research is school community at SD Laboratorium Percontohan UPI Bandung. Determination of sample criteria by using disproportionate stratified random sampling with the number of samples of 83 respondents. Data analysis using simple linear regression to measure the influence of school community perception about library apps to library empowerment. The result of data analysis shows that there is influence between school community perception about library apps to library empowerment at library of SD Laboratorium Percontohan UPI Bandung which is proved by library acceptance level and library empowerment improvement.

  11. Reliability of a Computerized Neurocognitive Test in Baseline Concussion Testing of High School Athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDonald, James; Duerson, Drew

    2015-07-01

    Baseline assessments using computerized neurocognitive tests are frequently used in the management of sport-related concussions. Such testing is often done on an annual basis in a community setting. Reliability is a fundamental test characteristic that should be established for such tests. Our study examined the test-retest reliability of a computerized neurocognitive test in high school athletes over 1 year. Repeated measures design. Two American high schools. High school athletes (N = 117) participating in American football or soccer during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 academic years. All study participants completed 2 baseline computerized neurocognitive tests taken 1 year apart at their respective schools. The test measures performance on 4 cognitive tasks: identification speed (Attention), detection speed (Processing Speed), one card learning accuracy (Learning), and one back speed (Working Memory). Reliability was assessed by measuring the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the repeated measures of the 4 cognitive tasks. Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated as a secondary outcome measure. The measure for identification speed performed best (ICC = 0.672; 95% confidence interval, 0.559-0.760) and the measure for one card learning accuracy performed worst (ICC = 0.401; 95% confidence interval, 0.237-0.542). All tests had marginal or low reliability. In a population of high school athletes, computerized neurocognitive testing performed in a community setting demonstrated low to marginal test-retest reliability on baseline assessments 1 year apart. Further investigation should focus on (1) improving the reliability of individual tasks tested, (2) controlling for external factors that might affect test performance, and (3) identifying the ideal time interval to repeat baseline testing in high school athletes. Computerized neurocognitive tests are used frequently in high school athletes, often within a model of baseline testing

  12. Comparison of physical activities of female football players in junior high school and high school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inoue, Yuri; Otani, Yoshitaka; Takemasa, Seiichi

    2017-08-01

    [Purpose] This study aimed to compare physical activities between junior high school and high school female football players in order to explain the factors that predispose to a higher incidence of sports injuries in high school female football players. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-nine female football players participated. Finger floor distance, the center of pressure during single limb stance with eyes open and closed, the 40-m linear sprint time, hip abduction and extension muscle strength and isokinetic knee flexion and extension peak torque were measured. The modified Star Excursion Balance Test, the three-steps bounding test and three-steps hopping tests, agility test 1 (Step 50), agility test 2 (Forward run), curl-up test for 30 seconds and the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test were performed. [Results] The high school group was only significantly faster than the junior high school group in the 40-m linear sprint time and in the agility tests. The distance of the bounding test in the high school group was longer than that in the junior high school group. [Conclusion] Agility and speed increase with growth; however, muscle strength and balance do not develop alongside. This unbalanced development may cause a higher incidence of sports injuries in high school football players.

  13. Incorporating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into High School Curricula in Hawaii

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGillivary, P. A.; Lukaczyk, T.; Brendan, B.; Tomita, M.; Ralston, T.; Purdy, G.

    2016-12-01

    The availability of low-cost unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) permits their integration in educational programs. We report on experiences and future opportunities for incorporating UAS into High School curricula in Hawaii. We first review existing high school UAS programs and teaching material to highlight curricula options and needs. By working on the privately owned Island of Lana'i, we had permission for extensive UAS operation. Our initial focus of UAS educational outreach was on coastal ecosystems where erosion of overgrazed lands affects coral reefs and traditional coastal Hawaiian fishpond restoration projects which include high school students. We provide results of our classroom approach allowing students to learn to fly small, inexpensive UAS and discuss the different results at different grade levels. In addition to providing basic concepts of flight aeronautics, we reviewed information on safe and legal operation of UAS, as well as data management issues including geo-registration and imaging mosaics. We recommend science projects where UAS can study short-term events (e.g. storm runoff) or can be used for routine environmental monitoring over longer periods. Additionally, by linking students with local drone and drone racing clubs student participation and interest in UAS was extended beyond the classroom in a complementary manner. We propose inclusion of UAS into a future high school curriculum via a program called the Moonshot Laboratory which strives to repurpose traditional education structures toward design thinking, making use of individual and group collaborations to address self-selected projects relevant to local community interests. A Moonshot facility allows students to spend a portion of their week in a technology equipped makerspace, with access to university, business and community mentors, both local and remote. UAS projects are expected to address basic student questions, such as: how can I build a drone to take water samples?; how can I

  14. Towards a high quality high school workforce: A longitudinal, demographic analysis of U.S. public school physics teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregory T. Rushton

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Efforts to improve the number and quality of the high school physics teaching workforce have taken several forms, including those sponsored by professional organizations. Using a series of large-scale teacher demographic data sets from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, this study sought to investigate trends in teacher quality at the national level in the two and a half decades between 1987 and 2012. Specifically, we investigated (i details about the degree backgrounds, main teaching assignments, and experience levels of those assigned to teach physics; (ii whether the proportion of those with certifications in physics as a fraction of the entire physics teaching workforce had changed; and (iii if workforce diversity (with respect to race and gender had changed over time. Our data indicate that trends in these domains have generally been positive, but still fall short of having a highly qualified physics teacher in each classroom. Additionally, the population of physics teachers has more novices and fewer veterans than it did 10 years ago, although veteran physics teachers are not as rare as those in other branches of high school STEM fields. We also analyzed trends in physics teacher race and gender diversity and found them to lag behind other STEM and non-STEM teacher communities. High school physics is still mostly taught by white males with backgrounds from outside of physics. Implications for future policy decisions at the local and national levels are discussed, including attending to the specific needs of degree-holding and non-degree-holding physics teachers separately and localizing teacher recruitment and preparation efforts in regional centers.

  15. Towards a high quality high school workforce: A longitudinal, demographic analysis of U.S. public school physics teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rushton, Gregory T.; Rosengrant, David; Dewar, Andrew; Shah, Lisa; Ray, Herman E.; Sheppard, Keith; Watanabe, Lynn

    2017-12-01

    Efforts to improve the number and quality of the high school physics teaching workforce have taken several forms, including those sponsored by professional organizations. Using a series of large-scale teacher demographic data sets from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), this study sought to investigate trends in teacher quality at the national level in the two and a half decades between 1987 and 2012. Specifically, we investigated (i) details about the degree backgrounds, main teaching assignments, and experience levels of those assigned to teach physics; (ii) whether the proportion of those with certifications in physics as a fraction of the entire physics teaching workforce had changed; and (iii) if workforce diversity (with respect to race and gender) had changed over time. Our data indicate that trends in these domains have generally been positive, but still fall short of having a highly qualified physics teacher in each classroom. Additionally, the population of physics teachers has more novices and fewer veterans than it did 10 years ago, although veteran physics teachers are not as rare as those in other branches of high school STEM fields. We also analyzed trends in physics teacher race and gender diversity and found them to lag behind other STEM and non-STEM teacher communities. High school physics is still mostly taught by white males with backgrounds from outside of physics. Implications for future policy decisions at the local and national levels are discussed, including attending to the specific needs of degree-holding and non-degree-holding physics teachers separately and localizing teacher recruitment and preparation efforts in regional centers.

  16. Shared use of school facilities with community organizations and afterschool physical activity program participation: a cost-benefit assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanters, Michael A; Bocarro, Jason N; Filardo, Mary; Edwards, Michael B; McKenzie, Thomas L; Floyd, Myron F

    2014-05-01

    Partnerships between school districts and community-based organizations to share school facilities during afterschool hours can be an effective strategy for increasing physical activity. However, the perceived cost of shared use has been noted as an important reason for restricting community access to schools. This study examined shared use of middle school facilities, the amount and type of afterschool physical activity programs provided at middle schools together with the costs of operating the facilities. Afterschool programs were assessed for frequency, duration, and type of structured physical activity programs provided and the number of boys and girls in each program. School operating costs were used to calculate a cost per student and cost per building square foot measure. Data were collected at all 30 middle schools in a large school district over 12 months in 2010-2011. Policies that permitted more use of school facilities for community-sponsored programs increased participation in afterschool programs without a significant increase in operating expenses. These results suggest partnerships between schools and other community agencies to share facilities and create new opportunities for afterschool physical activity programs are a promising health promotion strategy. © 2014, American School Health Association.

  17. Foundations in Science and Mathematics Program for Middle School and High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desai, Karna Mahadev; Yang, Jing; Hemann, Jason

    2016-01-01

    The Foundations in Science and Mathematics (FSM) is a graduate student led summer program designed to help middle school and high school students strengthen their knowledge and skills in mathematics and science. FSM provides two-week-long courses over a broad spectrum of disciplines including astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer programming, geology, mathematics, and physics. Students can chose two types of courses: (1) courses that help students learn the fundamental concepts in basic sciences and mathematics (e.g., "Precalculus"); and (2) knowledge courses that might be excluded from formal schooling (e.g., "Introduction to Universe"). FSM has served over 500 students in the Bloomington, IN, community over six years by acquiring funding from Indiana University and the Indiana Space Grant Consortium. FSM offers graduate students the opportunity to obtain first hand experience through independent teaching and curriculum design as well as leadership experience.We present the design of the program, review the achievements, and explore the challenges we face. We are open to collaboration with similar educational outreach programs. For more information, please visit http://www.indiana.edu/~fsm/ .

  18. Implementing an authentic research project on eastern coyotes at an urban high school

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David L. Eatough

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The need for inquiry oriented authentic activities is imperative to engage high school students in the active involvement and associated learning of science. Herein, we describe our experience of involving high school students in the process of studying wild coyotes in and around the communities where they live. We found that many became aware and familiar with the program but few participated to the point of being contributing members of the scientific community. To make this project sustainable in the long-run three important things must happen: one, there must be reliable point person (such as a graduate student who can focus on the ecology side of the coyote project while others can focus on the educational components of the collaboration; two, mechanisms must be put in place to provide incentives for participants; and three, funding must be reliable and substantial over time.

  19. Rural schools and democratic education. The opportunity for community participation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Bustos Jiménez

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available In the paper the notions of participation and community empowerment in rural schools are analysed through reflection on experiences conducted in different countries. Reference is made to ducational models of participatory development which, from the viewpoint of excellence, result in increasing educational outcomes and higher rates of satisfaction among the targeted rural populations. Taking as point of departure agents which are considered potential generators of knowledge in rural areas, we examine the process of incorporating the wealth of the rural context. The difficulties that the community group usually faces for its legitimacy as a source of input in rural areas are also shown. Finally, we discuss how the teaching staff can positively contribute to their process of joining the school life.

  20. A Qualitative Analysis of Pesantren Educational Management: School Culture and Leadership of a Professional Learning Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nyimas Mu'azzomi

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore supportive and shared leadership structures at one Indonesian Islamic boarding school (Pesantren as a function of school culture policies and procedures in a professional learning community in the disctrict. A qualitative study was conducted at one Pesantren located in Jambi, an Indonesian province in west part of Sumatra island. We interviewed three administrators and five teachers to get in-depth information about the purpose of this paper. The interview transcriptions were translated, coded, divided into themes, and elaborated in the findings of the paper. The findings of study conclude that Pesantren leaders in the perspective of the participants must provide supportive and shared leadership structures for teachers in order to create positive cultures and effective a professional learning community for the development of the Pesantren. Leaders of the Pesantren must directly cooperate with teaching staff to provide policies and procedures for teachers in the leadership structure to directly impact school improvement through professional learning community collaborative attempts. This study was conducted based on the school culture and professional learning communities literature by exploring existent policies and practices in schools as unique cases. This study is significant to the community as specific cases informing educational leaders especially in Islamic education on mechanisms that may be leveraged to ensure successful implementation of policies and procedures on the leadership and school culture of a professional learning community literature.

  1. Doctors of tomorrow: An innovative curriculum connecting underrepresented minority high school students to medical school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derck, Jordan; Zahn, Kate; Finks, Jonathan F; Mand, Simanjit; Sandhu, Gurjit

    2016-01-01

    Racial minorities continue to be underrepresented in medicine (URiM). Increasing provider diversity is an essential component of addressing disparity in health delivery and outcomes. The pool of students URiM that are competitive applicants to medical school is often limited early on by educational inequalities in primary and secondary schooling. A growing body of evidence recognizing the importance of diversifying health professions advances the need for medical schools to develop outreach collaborations with primary and secondary schools to attract URiMs. The goal of this paper is to describe and evaluate a program that seeks to create a pipeline for URiMs early in secondary schooling by connecting these students with support and resources in the medical community that may be transformative in empowering these students to be stronger university and medical school applicants. The authors described a medical student-led, action-oriented pipeline program, Doctors of Tomorrow, which connects faculty and medical students at the University of Michigan Medical School with 9th grade students at Cass Technical High School (Cass Tech) in Detroit, Michigan. The program includes a core curriculum of hands-on experiential learning, development, and presentation of a capstone project, and mentoring of 9th grade students by medical students. Cass Tech student feedback was collected using focus groups, critical incident written narratives, and individual interviews. Medical student feedback was collected reviewing monthly meeting minutes from the Doctors of Tomorrow medical student leadership. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Two strong themes emerged from the Cass Tech student feedback: (i) Personal identity and its perceived effect on goal achievement and (ii) positive affect of direct mentorship and engagement with current healthcare providers through Doctors of Tomorrow. A challenge noted by the medical students was the lack of structured curriculum beyond the 1st

  2. Religion, Schooling, Community, and Security: Exploring Transitions and Transformations in England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lundie, David

    2017-01-01

    Education is a complex social practice. In the United Kingdom context, schooling is further nested within the complex social practices of community governance, quasi-market public choice, and religion. This essay explores the shifting definitions of community and education in the context of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015, which places…

  3. Minority within a Minority Paradox: Asian Experiences in Latino Schools & Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koo, Sarai; Nishimura, Trisha S.

    2013-01-01

    Drawing on Critical Race Theory (CRT), the authors report on narratives of education collected from three young Asian women living in and attending a predominately Latina/o community and school. The authors explored how Asians and Latina/o groups intersect in a majority minority community. Specifically, they sought to understand: (1) How young…

  4. Promoting Number Theory in High Schools or Birthday Problem and Number Theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srinivasan, V. K.

    2010-01-01

    The author introduces the birthday problem in this article. This can amuse willing members of any birthday party. This problem can also be used as the motivational first day lecture in number theory for the gifted students in high schools or in community colleges or in undergraduate classes in colleges.

  5. Determining the Measurement Quality of a Montessori High School Teacher Evaluation Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Setari, Anthony Philip; Bradley, Kelly D.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to conduct a psychometric validation of a course evaluation instrument, known as a student evaluation of teaching (SET), implemented in a Montessori high school. The authors demonstrate to the Montessori community how to rigorously examine the measurement and assessment quality of instruments used within Montessori…

  6. Enabling School Structures, Collegial Trust and Academic Emphasis: Antecedents of professional learning communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Julie; Kruse, Sharon; Tarter, C. John

    2016-01-01

    This study tested the role of enabling school structures, collegial trust and academic emphasis in the development of professional learning communities (PLCs) in a low-income school district. The empirical study was based upon the perceptions of teachers and principals as provided by survey responses (N = 67 schools). While enabling school…

  7. Priorities in the School-to-Community Transition of Adolescents Who Are Deaf.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bullis, Michael; Egelston-Dodd, Judy

    1990-01-01

    Issues relevant to the school-to-community transition of deaf adolescents were identified and subsequently prioritized by 339 deafness professionals. Issues receiving highest priority were related to joint planning efforts among schools, departments of vocational rehabilitation, and families; training of independent living skills; and development…

  8. Implications of the "My School" Website for Disadvantaged Communities: A Bourdieuian Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mills, Carmen

    2015-01-01

    Drawing on the theoretical constructs of Pierre Bourdieu, this article explores implications of the Australian "My School" website for schools located in disadvantaged communities. These implications flow from the legitimisation of certain cultural practices through the hidden linkages between scholastic aptitude and cultural heritage…

  9. Rural and school community in appreciating knowledge on medical plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcílio Souza Carneiro

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Isolated communities in the urban environment still use medicinal plants, but such knowledge is not always passed on to new generations. In this scenario, we propose a study with students, teachers, and community residents from Córrego da Ema, Amontada, Ceará, Brazil, aiming to know the wisdom of medicinal plants in a small rural community in the Brazilian semi-arid region. We interviewed the medicinal plant connoisseurs, named as local experts, by using the “snow ball” method. We applied questionnaires to investigate Elementary School students’ knowledge on medicinal plants (pre-tour. These actions provided a basis for planning guided-tours, activities aimed at 51 students, which we carried out along with the 10 experts and 2 local school teachers, whose results (post-tour were assessed by using the same pre-tour questionnaire. Most local experts were women (80%, their families had many people and low education level, factors that contribute to using medicinal plants. Experts cited 35 medicinal plant species. Students cited 24 pre-tour plant species and 28 post-tour plant species. Students increased their knowledge, as there was also a post-tour increase in therapeutic indications and preparation methods, as mentioned. The school played an important role in appreciating this intangible heritage, because it enabled actions involving formal and informal education.

  10. The Relationship between High School Math Courses, High School GPA, and Retention of Honors Scholarships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Megert, Diann Ackerman

    2005-01-01

    This research examined the high school transcripts of honors scholarship recipients to identify a better criterion for awarding scholarships than high school grade point average (GPA) alone. Specifically, this study compared the honors scholarship retention rate when the scholarship was awarded based on completed advanced high school math classes…

  11. School Leadership for Authentic Family and Community Partnerships: Research Perspectives for Transforming Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auerbach, Susan, Ed.

    2011-01-01

    School leaders are increasingly called upon to pursue meaningful partnerships with families and community groups, yet many leaders are unprepared to meet the challenges of partnerships, to cross cultural boundaries, or to be accountable to the community. Alliances are needed among educators, families, and community groups that value relationship…

  12. Family and Community Predictors of Comorbid Language, Socioemotional and Behavior Problems at School Entry.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathan Hughes

    Full Text Available To identify the prevalence and family and community-level predictors of comorbid speech-language difficulties and socioemotional and behavioral (SEB difficulties across a population of children at school entry.The School Entry Health Questionnaire is a parent survey of children's health and wellbeing, completed by all children starting school in Victoria, Australia (N = 53256. It includes parental report of speech-language difficulties, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (behavior, and numerous family and community variables. Following univariate analysis, family and community risk characteristics were entered into a multinomial logistic regression model to identify the associated relative risk of comorbid speech/language and SEB needs. The influence of experiencing multiple risk factors was also examined.20.4% (n = 10,868 began school with either speech-language or SEB difficulties, with 3.1% (n = 1670 experiencing comorbid needs. Five factors predicted comorbidity: the child having witnessed violence; a history of parent mental illness; living in more deprived communities; and the educational attainment of each parent (independently. The relative risk of comorbidity was 6.1 (95% Confidence Interval: 3.9, 9.7 when a child experienced four or more risk factors, compared to those with no risk factors.The risk of comorbidity in early childhood is associated with a range of family and community factors, and elevated by the presence of multiple factors. Children growing up in families experiencing multiple, complex needs are therefore at heightened risk of the early development of difficulties likely to impact upon schooling. Early identification of these children offers opportunities for appropriate and timely health and education intervention.

  13. Switching Schools: Reconsidering the Relationship Between School Mobility and High School Dropout

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gasper, Joseph; DeLuca, Stefanie; Estacion, Angela

    2014-01-01

    Youth who switch schools are more likely to demonstrate a wide array of negative behavioral and educational outcomes, including dropping out of high school. However, whether switching schools actually puts youth at risk for dropout is uncertain, since youth who switch schools are similar to dropouts in their levels of prior school achievement and engagement, which suggests that switching schools may be part of the same long-term developmental process of disengagement that leads to dropping out. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this study uses propensity score matching to pair youth who switched high schools with similar youth who stayed in the same school. We find that while over half the association between switching schools and dropout is explained by observed characteristics prior to 9th grade, switching schools is still associated with dropout. Moreover, the relationship between switching schools and dropout varies depending on a youth's propensity for switching schools. PMID:25554706

  14. Elementary School Counselors' Collaboration with Community Mental Health Providers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moran, Kristen; Bodenhorn, Nancy

    2015-01-01

    Perceptions and experiences of elementary school counselors' collaborative efforts with community mental health providers are examined through this exploratory phenomenological study. Ten participants engaged in two in-depth interviews. Collaboration was considered an effective way to increase services to students and their families. Six themes…

  15. "Hey, I Saw Your Grandparents at Walmart": Teacher Education for Rural Schools and Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eppley, Karen

    2015-01-01

    This is a case study about how teacher education might better prepare rural teacher candidates for rural schools. Parents, teachers, community members, and students associated with a rural school described what is important in the preparation of teachers for today's rural schools. Their goals and wishes for their children's school and community…

  16. Redesigning a large school-based clinical trial in response to changes in community practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerald, Lynn B; Gerald, Joe K; McClure, Leslie A; Harrington, Kathy; Erwin, Sue; Bailey, William C

    2011-06-01

    Asthma exacerbations are seasonal with the greatest risk in elementary-age students occurring shortly after returning to school following summer break. Recent research suggests that this seasonality in children is primarily related to viral respiratory tract infections. Regular hand washing is the most effective method to prevent the spread of viral respiratory infections; unfortunately, achieving hand washing recommendations in schools is difficult. Therefore, we designed a study to evaluate the effect of hand sanitizer use in elementary schools on exacerbations among children with asthma. To describe the process of redesigning the trial in response to changes in the safety profile of the hand sanitizer as well as changes in hand hygiene practice in the schools. The original trial was a randomized, longitudinal, subject-blinded, placebo-controlled, community-based crossover trial. The primary aim was to evaluate the incremental effectiveness of hand sanitizer use in addition to usual hand hygiene practices to decrease asthma exacerbations in elementary-age children. Three events occurred that required major modifications to the original study protocol: (1) safety concerns arose regarding the hand sanitizer's active ingredient; (2) no substitute placebo hand sanitizer was available; and (3) community preferences changed regarding hand hygiene practices in the schools. The revised protocol is a randomized, longitudinal, community-based crossover trial. The primary aim is to evaluate the incremental effectiveness of a two-step hand hygiene process (hand hygiene education plus institutionally provided alcohol-based hand sanitizer) versus usual care to decrease asthma exacerbations. Enrollment was completed in May 2009 with 527 students from 30 schools. The intervention began in August 2009 and will continue through May 2011. Study results should be available at the end of 2011. The changed design does not allow us to directly measure the effectiveness of hand

  17. Undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of service-learning through a school-based community project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bassi, Sherry

    2011-01-01

    Service-learning (SL) is an experiential teaching method that combines instruction with community service, with the aim of enriching students' academic learning, interpersonal skills and sense of responsibility while making meaningful contributions to the community. However, measuring outcomes of service-learning projects is difficult. This article reports on the perceptions of 18 third-year undergraduate nursing students who took part in a pilot service-learning project targeting tobacco use in a local elementary school. Faculty members evaluated the program's outcomes by engaging students in structured reflection on the program about its relevance to their future careers as practicing professionals, especially in community-based settings. The students' perceptions were elicited through three sets of reflective assignments following the project. Findings from the reflective assignments suggest that the pilot program was successful in enhancing the students' academic, social, and personal development while building a partnership between the school of nursing and key players in the community, including school-based nurses, teachers, administrators, families, and community leaders. The author suggests that service-learning projects can help nursing students accomplish key developmental tasks of the college years (such as building their competence, autonomy, and integrity), while helping impart the skills and values they will need as they graduate and seek professional nursing roles.

  18. Community Organizing as an Education Reform Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renee, Michelle; McAlister, Sara

    2011-01-01

    Community organizing for school reform offers an urgently needed alternative to traditional approaches to school change. Many current reforms fail to thrive due to lack of trust, understanding, or cultural relevance to the community being targeted. The high turnover of reformers (superintendents, principals, or outside organizations) in high-need…

  19. A Study of School Size among Alabama’s Public High Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronald A. Lindahl

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the size of Alabama’s public high schools, selected school quality and financial indicators, and their students’ performance on standardized exams. When the socioeconomic level of the student bodies is held constant, the size of high schools in Alabama has relatively little relationship with 11th grade student (both regular and special education performance on the reading and math portions of the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE. High schools’ average daily attendance rates and pupil-to-computer (and computer with Internet connections ratios do not vary in accordance with school size. Higher percentages of highly qualified teachers are found in Alabama’s largest high schools. There was very little difference in the percentage of teachers with a master’s degree or above across school size categories. Very little difference exists across size categories in regard to mean expenditures per pupil (range = $7,322 to $7,829. However, districts of the large high schools exert over twice the effort of those with small high schools (3.2 mills to 1.5 mills and approximately 50 percent greater local effort than the districts of the medium-size high schools.

  20. School Shootings Stun Reservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borja, Rhea R.; Cavanagh, Sean

    2005-01-01

    This article deals with the impact brought by the school shootings at Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota to the school community. A deeply troubled 16-year-old student shot and killed seven other people and himself at a high school. The nation's deadliest school attack since the 1999 slayings at Colorado's suburban Columbine High School took…

  1. The relationship between departments as professional communities and student achievement in secondary schools

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lomos, C.; Hofman, R.H.; Bosker, R.J.

    Secondary school teaching is organized in departments and effective departments functioning as collaborative teams have been associated with effective schools. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship of mathematics departments perceived as professional communities and student achievement

  2. Administrator Perceptions of School Improvement Policies in a High-Impact Policy Setting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MARIO S. TORRES

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated school administrators’ perceptions of school improvement policies in a high-impact policy environment by measuring the impact of accountability, site-based management, professional development, and scheduling reform on the three dependent variables of a academic outcomes, b staff morale, and c parent and community involvement. Using a convenience sampling method, 49 public school principals from Texas participated and an online survey was constructed to gather both quantitative (i.e., Likert scale and qualitative (i.e., open ended response data. The findings clearly point to principals, regardless of geographical district type and grade level school type, viewing less controversial and more intrinsically oriented policies (i.e., site-based management and professional development as having a greater positive impact on outcomes as a whole than more radical alternatives (i.e., accountability and time and schedule reform. The evidence suggests that more aggressive school improvement policy approaches are likely failing to generate enough convincing outcomes to generate high commitment and confidence from school leaders. Further studies may look at the interaction of policy impact with minority student enrollments and with subgroup populations.

  3. At-risk high school seniors: Science remediation for Georgia's High School Graduation Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, Carolyn M.

    State departments of education have created a system of accountability for the academic achievement of students under the mandate of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The Georgia Department of Education established the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) as their method of evaluating the academic achievement of high school students. The GHSGT consist of five sections and students must pass all five sections before students they are eligible to receive a diploma. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of teacher-lead and computer based remediation for a group of high school seniors who have been unsuccessful in passing the science portion of the GHSGT. The objectives of this study include (a) Identify the most effective method of remediation for at-risk students on the science section of the GHSGT, and (b) evaluate the methods of remediation for at-risk students on the science section of GHSGT available to high school students. The participants of this study were at-risk seniors enrolled in one high school during the 2007-2008 school year. The findings of this research study indicated that at-risk students who participated in both types of remediation, teacher-led and computer-based, scored significantly higher than the computer-based remediation group alone. There was no significant relationship between the test scores and the number of times the students were tested.

  4. School Start Times for Middle School and High School Students - United States, 2011-12 School Year.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheaton, Anne G; Ferro, Gabrielle A; Croft, Janet B

    2015-08-07

    Adolescents who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight; not engage in daily physical activity; suffer from depressive symptoms; engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as drinking, smoking tobacco, and using illicit drugs; and perform poorly in school. However, insufficient sleep is common among high school students, with less than one third of U.S. high school students sleeping at least 8 hours on school nights. In a policy statement published in 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urged middle and high schools to modify start times as a means to enable students to get adequate sleep and improve their health, safety, academic performance, and quality of life. AAP recommended that "middle and high schools should aim for a starting time of no earlier than 8:30 a.m.". To assess state-specific distributions of public middle and high school start times and establish a pre-recommendation baseline, CDC and the U.S. Department of Education analyzed data from the 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). Among an estimated 39,700 public middle, high, and combined schools* in the United States, the average start time was 8:03 a.m. Overall, only 17.7% of these public schools started school at 8:30 a.m. or later. The percentage of schools with 8:30 a.m. or later start times varied greatly by state, ranging from 0% in Hawaii, Mississippi, and Wyoming to more than three quarters of schools in Alaska (76.8%) and North Dakota (78.5%). A school system start time policy of 8:30 a.m. or later provides teenage students the opportunity to achieve the 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep recommended by AAP and the 8-10 hours recommended by the National Sleep Foundation.

  5. School Age Outcomes of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Who Received Community-Based Early Interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vinen, Zoe; Clark, Megan; Paynter, Jessica; Dissanayake, Cheryl

    2018-05-01

    This study followed children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from early intervention into their early schooling years, when they were aged between 6 and 9 years, on autism symptom severity and cognitive functioning. The children, matched at pre-intervention, were compared on type of community provided service: 31 were in receipt of community-based group Early Start Denver Model and 28 had received other community provisions for ASD. Irrespective of groups, cognitive functioning was found to have significantly improved by school age compared to pre-intervention. Autism symptom severity increased during the same developmental period, seemingly driven by an increase in restricted and repetitive behaviours over time. In contrast, both groups displayed improved social affect by school age.

  6. Especially for High School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howell, J. Emory

    1999-07-01

    Secondary School Feature Articles * Super Science Connections, by Patricia B. McKean, p 916 * A pHorseshoe, by Roger Plumsky, p 935 National Conferences in Your Part of the Country For the past several months, considerable space in this column has been devoted to forthcoming national conferences and conventions and to highlights of conferences past. For some of us, location is fairly unimportant; but for most of us travel costs and time are both factors to consider when choosing a conference. The community of high school chemistry teachers is favored by the number of national conventions and conferences that are held each year in different locations. In 1999, for example, the spring National Meeting of the American Chemical Society was in Anaheim and the National Science Teachers Association National Convention was in Boston. This summer CHEMED '99 will be held in Fairfield, CT, August 1-5, and the fall National ACS Meeting will be in New Orleans. Teachers from the mid-South especially should consider attending the High School Program at New Orleans, described below by Lillie Tucker Akin, Chairperson of the Division's High School Program Committee. The event will be held on Sunday to minimize conflicts with the beginning of the school year. JCE at CHEMED '99 Stop by the JCE booth at CHEMED '99 in the exhibits area to learn more about the wide array of print and nonprint resources you can use in your classroom and laboratory. Members of the editorial staff will be on hand to talk with you. You are invited to participate in a workshop, "Promoting Active Learning through JCE Activity Sheets and Software", on Monday, August 1, 8:30-10:30. The free hands-on workshop is number WT11 and we encourage you to include it among your choices in the blanks provided on the third page of the registration form. We will also conduct an interactive session to listen to ideas for making the Journal more useful to you. Check the final program for location and time or inquire at the JCE

  7. Real World Connections in High School Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching

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    Gökhan Karakoç

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Making real world connections in mathematics curricula and in teaching mathematics is generally viewed favorably within the educational community, however, little empirical research has examined how and why to use real world connections in mathematics education based on the views of experts. This study describes the feasibility of the use of real world connections according to high school mathematics teachers and academicians of mathematics education. Opinions of high school mathematics teachers (n=16 and academicians (n=8 about advantages, disadvantages, and examples of real world connections are elicited and reported. Teachers and academicians report several advantages of the use of real world connections in teaching mathematics as well as its disadvantages and limitations. Suggestions about dealing with limiting factors for using real world connections are also reported. Keywords: Mathematics curriculum, real world connections, mathematics teaching

  8. School connectedness and high school graduation among maltreated youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemkin, Allison; Kistin, Caroline J; Cabral, Howard J; Aschengrau, Ann; Bair-Merritt, Megan

    2018-01-01

    Maltreated youth have higher rates of school dropout than their non-maltreated peers. School connectedness is a modifiable predictor of school success. We hypothesized maltreated youth's school connectedness (supportive relationships with adults at school and participation in school clubs) would be positively associated with high school graduation. We included youth with at least one Child Protective Services (CPS) report by age twelve from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect, a prospective cohort study. Participation in extracurricular activities and adult relationships reported at age 16, high school graduation/General Education Development (GED) status reported at age 18, and demographics were provided by youth and caregivers. Maltreatment data were coded from CPS records. The outcome was graduation/receipt of GED. Multivariable logistic regressions examined the association between school connectedness and graduation/receipt of GED, controlling for confounders. In our sample of 318 maltreated youth, 73.3% graduated. School club was the only activity with a statistically significant association with graduation in bivariate analysis. Having supportive relationships with an adult at school was not significantly associated with graduation, though only 10.7% of youth reported this relationship. Maltreated youth who participated in school clubs had 2.54 times the odds of graduating, adjusted for study site, gender, poverty status, caregiver high school graduation status, and age at first CPS report (95% CI: [1.02, 6.33]). Few maltreated youth reported relationships with adults at school, and additional efforts may be needed to support these vulnerable youth. School club participation may represent an opportunity to modify maltreated youth's risk for school dropout. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Community-Based Learning. Adding Value to Programs Involving Service Agencies and Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cumming, Jim

    Community-based learning (CBL) is a structured approach to learning and teaching that connects meaningful community experience with intellectual development, personal growth, and active citizenship. Enthusiasm for CBL is emerging in Australia and elsewhere because it is seen as the following: strategy for whole-school reform, especially in…

  10. Rural Student Entrepreneurs: Linking Commerce and Community. (Benefits)[Squared]: The Exponential Results of Linking School Improvement and Community Development, Issue Number Three.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boethel, Martha

    In many rural areas, both communities and schools are threatened by decreasing population and changing economic conditions. To boost both the local economy and student achievement, a growing number of rural schools are turning to entrepreneurial education. In school entrepreneurship programs, students create small businesses under the guidance of…

  11. Parents as Change Agents in Their Schools and Communities: The Founding of Families for Early Autism Treatment (FEAT)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mickahail, Bethany K.

    2010-01-01

    A qualitative research highlights how parent driven "communities of support" create lasting change in schools and communities, through the unique blend of the two methodologies, oral history and educational criticism and connoisseurship. In recent years, schools and communities are unusually impacted by an escalating wave in the diagnosis and…

  12. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis screening for school, community, and clinical health promotion practice utilizing the PRECEDE-PROCEED model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wyatt Lawrence A

    2005-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Screening for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS is a commonly performed procedure for school children during the high risk years. The PRECEDE-PROCEDE (PP model is a health promotion planning model that has not been utilized for the clinical diagnosis of AIS. The purpose of this research is to study AIS in the school age population using the PP model and its relevance for community, school, and clinical health promotion. Methods MEDLINE was utilized to locate AIS data. Studies were screened for relevance and applicability under the auspices of the PP model. Where data was unavailable, expert opinion was utilized based on consensus. Results The social assessment of quality of life is limited with few studies approaching the long-term effects of AIS. Epidemiologically, AIS is the most common form of scoliosis and leading orthopedic problem in children. Behavioral/environmental studies focus on discovering etiologic relationships yet this data is confounded because AIS is not a behavioral. Illness and parenting health behaviors can be appreciated. The educational diagnosis is confounded because AIS is an orthopedic disorder and not behavioral. The administration/policy diagnosis is hindered in that scoliosis screening programs are not considered cost-effective. Policies are determined in some schools because 26 states mandate school scoliosis screening. There exists potential error with the Adam's test. The most widely used measure in the PP model, the Health Belief Model, has not been utilized in any AIS research. Conclusion The PP model is a useful tool for a comprehensive study of a particular health concern. This research showed where gaps in AIS research exist suggesting that there may be problems to the implementation of school screening. Until research disparities are filled, implementation of AIS screening by school, community, and clinical health promotion will be compromised. Lack of data and perceived importance by

  13. The Prevalence of Exposure to Domestic Violence Among High School Students in Tehran

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sajadi, Homeira; Rahimy, Hossein; Rafiey, Hassan; Vameghi, Meroe

    2014-01-01

    Background: Domestic violence appears to be a major social problem. Researches in the last 10 years have uncovered multiple effects of witnessing domestic violence on children, ranging in severity from little or no effect to sever psychological harm. Objectives: This study aimed to measure the prevalence of exposure to domestic violence among high school students in Tehran. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on high school students of Tehran in the school year 2011–2012. The “Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence Scale” was administered to a total cohort of 1,212 students (615 males and 597 females) selected by the stratified sampling method. Results: Approximately one-half of the participants (44.3%) had been exposed to their fathers’s violence against their mothers at least sometimes in their lives, the most common form of which was preventing the mother from doing something (28.5%) and the least common, hurting the mother with sharp or deadly tools (9.6%). A substantial proportion of the students (90.6%) had been exposed to violence in the community or at school, the most common kind would be being heard from someone calling another person names or making fun of them (81.7%) and the least common, being injured a child in the community or at school (31.8%). Conclusions: Exposure to violence is a widespread problem among children in Tehran. It encompasses a wide range and children were exposed to violence in different ways and forms. PMID:24719707

  14. Latina high school students figured world of STEM: Identity formation in formal and informal communities of practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alcantara, Minosca Victoria

    In the United States, the education and skill levels of the American population are not measuring up to the growing demands of the STEM workplace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (2007) projects that over the next 20 years, there will be an estimated shortage of 21 million skilled workers. STEM professions (those in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), will continue to lead this workforce growth. However, fewer students are majoring in these areas of critical need, particularly women and minorities. Only a small fraction of U.S.-born scientists and engineers training to fill these positions are members of underrepresented minorities (Latino, Black, and American Indian/Native Alaskan students), yet this same population is expected to experience the greatest growth over the next several decades. Using qualitative methods, I explore the role formal and informal communities of practice play in either motivating or hindering Latinas' interest in STEM career. I use the narratives of 16 low-income, urban Latina high school seniors to provide a counternarrative as to the reasons for these underrepresentation. Teachers in the U.S. play a significant role in the reproduction of the culturally prototypical conception of math and science students; the best and brightest in the school. Teachers' role in positioning Latina students in honors/gifted programs based on their perceptions of students' characteristics and their recommendations for placement in honors classes/ programs, STEM extracurricular activities and summer programs are critical to Latina's "good student" identity formation which has a significant role in their motivation or erasure of STEM identities. Latinas in this study strongly identified with their school and were very concerned in maintaining their good student identities. They defined academic success based on the grades they obtained and the colleges they were accepted into. I propose an identity model, L-STEM which highlight the power

  15. School violence: An analysis from different interaction contexts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosa María Varela Garay

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the current study was to analyze the differences between adolescents scoring high and low on school violence in the following areas: individual (self-esteem, loneliness, satisfaction with life, and empathy; family (family climate, communication with father and mother; academic (classroom climate, attitudes toward authority, and sociometric status; and community (community involvement, community participation, social support from formal systems, and social support from informal systems. Differences in these relationships between boys and girls scoring high on school violence were also examined. Participants in the study were 1723 adolescents, aged 12 to 18 years old, in four secondary schools. Multivariate and univariate analysis of variance were performed. Results showed that adolescents with high levels of school violence scored higher on loneliness, depressive symptomatology, offensive and avoidance communication with father and mother, family conflict, and attitude towards transgression, as compared to adolescents with low levels of school violence. Furthermore, girls scoring high on school violence reported higher scores on academic self-esteem, empathy, and sociometric status, and lower scores on open communication with father and community participation, as compared to boys scoring high in school violence. Finally, these results and their practical implications are discussed.

  16. Effective School-Community Relations as a Key Performance Indicator for the Secondary School Administrator in Aba South District, Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abraham, Nath. M.; Ememe, Ogbonna N.

    2012-01-01

    This study investigates Effective School-Community Relations as a key Performance Indicator (KPI) of Secondary Schools Administrator in Aba South District, Nigeria. Descriptive survey method was adopted. All the 248 teachers made up the population and sample in a purposive sampling technique representing 100% of the entire population as sample. A…

  17. Combining In-School and Community-Based Media Efforts: Reducing Marijuana and Alcohol Uptake among Younger Adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slater, Michael D.; Kelly, Kathleen J.; Edwards, Ruth W.; Thurman, Pamela J.; Plested, Barbara A.; Keefe, Thomas J.; Lawrence, Frank R.; Henry, Kimberly L.

    2006-01-01

    This study tests the impact of an in-school mediated communication campaign based on social marketing principles, in combination with a participatory, community-based media effort, on marijuana, alcohol and tobacco uptake among middle-school students. Eight media treatment and eight control communities throughout the US were randomly assigned to…

  18. [Community Nutrition].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aranceta, Javier

    2004-06-01

    In the last 20 years, Public Health Nutrition focused mainly on the qualitative aspects which may influence the onset of chronic diseases, quality of life, physical and mental performance and life expectancy. This applied knowledge organised as part of preventive and health promotion programs led to the development of Community Nutrition. The aim of Community Nutrition actions is to adequate lifestyles related to food consumption patterns in order to improve the quality of life and contribute to health promotion of the population in the community where programs and services are delivered. Key functions to develop in a Community Nutrition Unit consist in the identification and assessment of nutrition problems in the community as well as the design, implementation and evaluation of intervention programs by means of appropriate strategies. These should aim at different populations groups and settings, such as work places, schools, high risk groups or the general public. Nowadays, Community Nutrition work efforts should focus on three main aspects: nutrition education in schools and in the community; food safety and food security and the development and reinforcement of food preparation skills across all age groups. Social catering services, either in schools, the work place or at the community level, need to ensure adequate nutritional supply, provide foods contributing to healthy eating practices as well as to enhance culinary traditions and social learning. Food safety and food security have become a top priority in Public Health. The concepts referes to the availability of food safe and adequate as well as in sufficient amount in order to satisfy nutrition requirements of all individuals in the community. Social changes along new scientific developments will introduce new demands in Community Nutrition work and individual dietary counselling will become a key strategy. In order to face new challenges, community nutrition pactitioners require a high quality

  19. Baseball and softball sliding injuries: incidence and correlates during one high school league varsity season.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stovak, Mark; Parikh, Amit; Harvey, Anne T

    2012-11-01

    To estimate injury rates associated with sliding in high school baseball and softball. Prospective cohort study. Community high school athletic events. Ten high school varsity baseball and softball teams over 1 season. All sliding attempts were recorded during each game and recorded as headfirst, feetfirst, or diveback. Base type, playing surface, and field conditions were also noted. Injury exposure rates by game exposures and sliding/diveback exposures. Data were collected from 153 baseball games and 166 softball games. A greater proportion of slides were associated with injury in softball than in baseball (42.0 and 4.9 per 1000 slides; P softball (55 vs 35 per 1000 slides; P = 0.74). More powerful studies are required to determine whether efforts to prevent baseball sliding injuries at the high school level should focus on better education in sliding technique or changes in equipment. Softball players are vulnerable to injury when wearing inadequate protective sliding apparel.

  20. Charter Public Schools Serving Hispanic Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, 2016

    2016-01-01

    The innovative and culturally responsive teaching practices provided in high-quality charter schools are not only providing Hispanic students with an excellent alternative to district public schools, but they are also yielding academic results that show neither race/ethnicity nor income level must determine a child's future. The compilation of…

  1. Leaving School and Its Outcomes on Health-related Fitness Among Drop-out Algerian High School Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed Zerf

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Schools are ideal venues for the implementation of healthy behaviors allied to the levels of physical activities as the physical and mental health correlate to psychosocial well-being of scholars. Whereas, this advantage is not reliable with dropout students. Support through psychological studies via time structure unconnected to self-efficacy relative to self-physical activity motivation among this social class, especially with the economic crisis as challenges imposed for Algerian society, concerning the high unemployment rates in line with high school dropouts. Method. This controlled study tested 104 high-school Male adolescent students aged around 17 years for academic years 2015–2016 and those under 18 years for academic years 2016–2017. Built on the ALPHA-Fitness test battery accompanied by questionnaire relevant to their physical and social time for both years. Results. Based on the design, the tests practised and the statistical processes applied within the search limitation, the results support, on one hand, the benefits of school venue as an ideal implementation of health and levels of physical activities and well-being among our scholars, and on the other, we confirmed the leaving school as a negative time trend via dropout students, poorly correlate with times physically and socially inactive. This study inspected that inactive lifestyle relate to body image disorders and disturbances concomitant to energy-expending relative to missing recreational time and sporting endeavours. Conclusions. Leaving school in the Algerian communities is a stress-related biological pathway that links physical disorders and depression virtual to social time structure proceeded to manage the relevant tasks, goals and objectives. Indicated in similar as best when individuals are clear about what it is they are expected to achieve.

  2. DESIGN APPLICATIONS BASED ON WEB MOBILE AT GAYA BARU SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, CENTRAL LAMPUNG REGENCY AS PROMOTIONAL MEDIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Yudi

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Gaya Baru Senior High School is one of the educational institutions in Lampung which is a less favorite institution in the area is precisely located in the district of Seputih Surabaya Central Lampung Regency. Gaya Baru Senior High School has already had a website but not many known. This Senior High School is also no information system through mobile web to promote the institution. Nevertheless, in its development, students or community want to find information about the school can be directly through the mobile web application. So in its development requires fast service. From research that conducted in Gaya Baru High School, existence of new mobile web application system will facilitate student or society of that area, especially in subdistrict Seputih Surabaya district Central Lampung, and present information about the info about situation in high school of new style it can be accessed directly through the mobile web media.

  3. Community perceptions on the community-directed treatment and school-based approaches for the control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis among school-age children in Lushoto District, Tanzania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Massa, K; Magnussen, P; Sheshe, A; Ntakamulenga, R; Ndawi, B; Olsen, A

    2009-01-01

    The success of the Community-Directed Treatment (ComDT) approach in the control of onchocerciasis and filariasis has caught the attention of other disease control programmes. In this study the ComDT approach was implemented and compared with the school-based approach for control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis among school-age children in Lushoto District, Tanzania. This was a qualitative study, consisting of in-depth interviews with village leaders, community drug distributors (CDDs) and schoolteachers, as well as focus group discussions with separate groups of mothers and fathers to assess the perceptions and experiences of the villagers on the implementation of the two approaches. It was found that the villagers accepted the ComDT approach and took the responsibility of selecting the CDDs, organizing and implementing their own method of distributing drugs to the school-age children in their villages. The ComDT approach was well received and was successfully implemented in the villages. Although the villagers pointed out the limitation in reaching the non-enrolled children in the school-based approach, they also expressed satisfaction with this approach. This study suggests that the ComDT approach is well accepted and can be implemented effectively to ensure better coverage of especially non-enrolled school-age children.

  4. Redesigning a large school-based clinical trial in response to changes in community practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerald, Lynn B; Gerald, Joe K; McClure, Leslie A; Harrington, Kathy; Erwin, Sue; Bailey, William C

    2011-01-01

    Background Asthma exacerbations are seasonal with the greatest risk in elementary-age students occurring shortly after returning to school following summer break. Recent research suggests that this seasonality in children is primarily related to viral respiratory tract infections. Regular hand washing is the most effective method to prevent the spread of viral respiratory infections; unfortunately, achieving hand washing recommendations in schools is difficult. Therefore, we designed a study to evaluate the effect of hand sanitizer use in elementary schools on exacerbations among children with asthma. Purpose To describe the process of redesigning the trial in response to changes in the safety profile of the hand sanitizer as well as changes in hand hygiene practice in the schools. Methods The original trial was a randomized, longitudinal, subject-blinded, placebo-controlled, community-based crossover trial. The primary aim was to evaluate the incremental effectiveness of hand sanitizer use in addition to usual hand hygiene practices to decrease asthma exacerbations in elementary-age children. Three events occurred that required major modifications to the original study protocol: (1) safety concerns arose regarding the hand sanitizer’s active ingredient; (2) no substitute placebo hand sanitizer was available; and (3) community preferences changed regarding hand hygiene practices in the schools. Results The revised protocol is a randomized, longitudinal, community-based crossover trial. The primary aim is to evaluate the incremental effectiveness of a two-step hand hygiene process (hand hygiene education plus institutionally provided alcohol-based hand sanitizer) versus usual care to decrease asthma exacerbations. Enrollment was completed in May 2009 with 527 students from 30 schools. The intervention began in August 2009 and will continue through May 2011. Study results should be available at the end of 2011. Limitations The changed design does not allow us to

  5. Timetabling at High Schools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Matias

    on the publicly available XHSTT format for modeling instances and solutions of the HSTP) and the Danish High School Timetabling Problem (DHSTP). For both problems a complex Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) model is developed, and in both cases are empirical tests performed on a large number of real-life datasets......High school institutions face a number of important planning problems during each schoolyear. This Ph.D. thesis considers two of these planning problems: The High School Timetabling Problem (HSTP) and the Consultation Timetabling Problem (CTP). Furthermore a framework for handling various planning....... The second part contains the main scienti_c papers composed during the Ph.D. study. The third part of the thesis also contains scienti_c papers, but these are included as an appendix. In the HSTP, the goal is to obtain a timetable for the forthcoming school-year. A timetable consists of lectures scheduled...

  6. Especially for High School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howell, J. Emory

    1999-09-01

    Secondary School Feature Articles * Authentic Research within the Grasp of High School Students, by Annis Hapkiewicz, p 1212 * JCE Classroom Activity #19: Blueprint Photography by the Cyanotype Process, by Glen D. Lawrence and Stuart Fishelson, p 1216A Author Recognition A new program has been instituted to recognize high school teachers who are authors or coauthors of manuscripts published in the Journal. In May, letters were sent to teachers who wrote articles published in JCE beginning with Volume 74 (1997). If you were an author, you should have received a letter from us in late May or early June stating that your high school principal has been sent a Certificate of High School Author Recognition to be presented to you at a suitable occasion. Because the letters were sent late in the school year, you may not see the certificate until fall, or you may not receive your letter until then if we had only your school address. If you have authored or coauthored an article published in JCE and did not receive a letter, please contact me using the information about the Secondary School Chemistry Editor appearing on the Information Page in this issue. Syllabus Swap In the August issue, this column contained an invitation to exchange high school syllabi. The day after my copy of the August issue arrived, I received an email from a teacher indicating an interest in participating in an exchange. If you are interested, check the August "Especially for High School Chemistry Teachers" column for a brief discussion of the informal exchange program, or contact me. Research Conducted by High School Students In his June 1999 editorial "Learning Is a Do-It-Yourself Activity", p 725, John Moore wrote about the need to engage students actively in the learning process. As I have mentioned in this column previously, research conducted by students is one means of accomplishing this goal. In this issue, p 1212, Annis Hapkiewicz explains how she has drawn her Okemos [Michigan] High School

  7. AWARENESS OF TUBERCULOSIS AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OF A TOWN IN COASTAL ANDHRA PRADESH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sai Shankar

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Tuberculosis is an age old disease which has remained as a major global public health problem with socioeconomic implications in developing countries. The interaction with HIV/AIDS and emergence of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis bacilli has worsened the situation. India has a high burden of tuberculosis in terms of incidence, prevalence and mortality. RNTCP in India follows a passive case detection method for case finding in chest symptomatics. This makes it essential for the community at large and the younger generation in particular to have adequate knowledge and awareness regarding tuberculosis since it is highly infectious. High school children can be effectively sensitised and motivated to be change agents in the community and play a key role in combating tuberculosis. AIM To assess the awareness levels of 8 th to 10 th grade school students in Amalapuram, a town in coastal area of Andhra Pradesh regarding tuberculosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS After the study protocol was cleared by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Konaseema Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation, Amalapuram, permission was sought from the authorities of five private schools and one government school in Amalapuram to carry out this study among the 8 th to 10 th grade students of these schools. A predesigned, pretested semi-structured questionnaire was used to capture information related to basic demographic details of the participants followed by questions related tuberculosis to assess their awareness. A cross-sectional survey was carried out and once the filled-in questionnaires were collected, an interactive session was held where various aspects of tuberculosis were elaborately explained, the answers to the questions were told in detail and doubts of the students were clarified. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS The data collected was entered into a template created in computer using Microsoft Excel 2007. EPI INFO 6 software was used for

  8. Examining the Process of University-School-Community Collaboration in an Irish Sports Studies and Physical Education Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crawford, Susan

    2015-01-01

    University-school-community collaborations are little documented despite being advocated across third-level institutes. Researchers identify the need for quality university-school-community collaborations to tackle a host of social inequalities while also addressing innovative approaches to teaching and learning. This study involved the…

  9. Prevalence of Teen Dating Violence and Co-occurring Risk Factors Among Middle School Youth in High-Risk Urban Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niolon, Phyllis Holditch; Vivolo-Kantor, Alana M.; Latzman, Natasha E.; Valle, Linda Anne; Kuoh, Henrietta; Burton, Tessa; Taylor, Bruce G.; Tharp, Andra T.

    2018-01-01

    Purpose This study describes the lifetime prevalence of teen dating violence (TDV) perpetration in a sample of middle school students from high-risk urban communities and examines the relation between TDV and related cognitive and behavioral risk factors. Methods Surveys were administered to 2,895 middle school students in four U.S. cities; 1,673 students (58%) reported having dated and were included in analyses. The sample was 52.3% female, 48.2% non-Hispanic black/African-American, 38.2% Hispanic, 4.8% non-Hispanic white, and 7.6% other race. Six types of TDV perpetration were assessed: threatening behaviors, verbal/emotional abuse, relational abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and stalking. Results Of the students who had dated, 77% reported perpetrating verbal/emotional abuse, 32% reported perpetrating physical abuse, 20% reported threatening a partner, 15% reported perpetrating sexual abuse, 13% reported perpetrating relational abuse, and 6% reported stalking. Girls were more likely than boys to report perpetrating threatening behaviors, verbal/emotional abuse, and physical abuse, and boys were more likely to report perpetrating sexual abuse. Involvement in bullying positively predicted perpetration of TDV, albeit, in different ways for boys and girls. Other risk factors differed by sex. For instance, alcohol use and sex initiation predicted multiple forms of TDV perpetration for boys, whereas weapon carrying and emotional symptoms predicted several forms of TDV perpetration for girls. Conclusions The prevalence of TDV was high in our sample. Important sex differences in rates of perpetration and risk factors emerged. Comprehensive prevention programs that target TDV and related risk factors, such as bullying and other risk factors, seem warranted. PMID:25620454

  10. Huelga Schools in Houston: Community-Based Education in the Struggle for Legal Recognition, 1970

    Science.gov (United States)

    San Miguel, Guadalupe, Jr.

    2016-01-01

    This essay provides an overview of the huelga schools established in Houston, Texas, in 1970. For 2 years, from 1970 to 1972, the Mexican American community opposed the Houston Independent School District's plan to integrate the schools by pairing so-called White Mexican Americans with African American students. While they protested this decision,…

  11. Carpet Aids Learning in High Performance Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurd, Frank

    2009-01-01

    The Healthy and High Performance Schools Act of 2002 has set specific federal guidelines for school design, and developed a federal/state partnership program to assist local districts in their school planning. According to the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS), high-performance schools are, among other things, healthy, comfortable,…

  12. Affiliations of community health centers with the accredited schools and colleges of optometry in the states and territories of the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-10-01

    In 2006, the American Optometric Association Community Health Center Committee surveyed schools/colleges of optometry in the United States and its territories to assess collaborations between community health centers and optometric institutions. The survey investigated the number and structure of affiliations that existed between Federally Qualified Health Centers and schools/colleges of optometry in the United States. The survey reached the schools through the American Optometric Association Faculty Relations Committee or personal contact (Inter-American University of Puerto Rico). The survey showed wide variation in affiliations of community health centers with optometry programs. Six schools had no affiliations, whereas the remaining 11 ranged from 1 to 14. Information relating to 37 community health centers was reported. Results showed that schools utilized community health centers for fourth-year students in 5 schools, and both third- and fourth-year students in the remaining 6 schools. Schools vary regarding how precepting is managed with either full-time faculty (64.9%) or adjunct faculty. Business models also vary between schools. Affiliations between school/colleges of optometry and community health centers differ considerably. Optometric affiliations with community health centers can result in increased access to eye care for underserved populations and increased clinical experience for optometry students and residents. Opportunities exist to establish additional affiliations. Educational benefits and costs associated with affiliations should be explored before entering into a collaborative model of eye care delivery.

  13. Attitude toward learning of community medicine: A cross-sectional study among medical school students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Japhereena Murugavel

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Community medicine strives to protect and promote the health and well-being of the community through primary health care approach. However the preference of community medicine as career among medical school students and curriculum of community medicine is pivotal. Aim: The study intended to find the attitude towards learning of community medicine and also to assess the preference of post graduation specialty among medical school students. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study conducted at a teaching hospital located in Tamil Nadu, South India. The study questionnaire was administered to a total of 500 study participants and the data collected were analyzed using SPSS IBM version 21.0. Results: Almost 97% were of the opinion that community medicine subject is mandatory. Eighty three percent were interested in learning the principles. Only 21.8% students wanted to pursue post graduation in community medicine. Lack of attraction in terms of scientific technical interest, workplace conditions, and research potential has been reported for being not interested. Conclusion: Majority enjoyed to learn principles of community medicine at undergraduate curriculum but only few preferred to opt community medicine as post graduate specialty. Therefore there is a room to influence the medical students positively towards learning community medicine in curriculum.

  14. School lunch and snacking patterns among high school students: Associations with school food environment and policies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Story Mary

    2005-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Objectives This study examined associations between high school students' lunch patterns and vending machine purchases and the school food environment and policies. Methods A randomly selected sample of 1088 high school students from 20 schools completed surveys about their lunch practices and vending machine purchases. School food policies were assessed by principal and food director surveys. The number of vending machines and their hours of operation were assessed by trained research staff. Results Students at schools with open campus policies during lunchtime were significantly more likely to eat lunch at a fast food restaurant than students at schools with closed campus policies (0.7 days/week vs. 0.2 days/week, p Conclusion School food policies that decrease access to foods high in fats and sugars are associated with less frequent purchase of these items in school among high school students. Schools should examine their food-related policies and decrease access to foods that are low in nutrients and high in fats and sugars.

  15. Social capital and physical activity among Croatian high school students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novak, D; Doubova, S V; Kawachi, I

    2016-06-01

    To examine factors associated with regular physical activity in Croatian adolescents. A cross-sectional survey among high school students was carried out in the 2013/14 school year. A survey was conducted among 33 high schools in Zagreb City, Croatia. Participants were students aged 17-18 years. The dependent variables were regular moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and overall physical activity measured by the short version of International Physical Activity Questionnaire and defined as 60 min or more of daily physical activity. The independent variables included family, neighborhood, and high school social capital. Other study covariates included: socio-economic status, self-rated health, psychological distress and nutritional status. The associations between physical activity and social capital variables were assessed separately for boys and girls through multiple logistic regression and inverse probability weighting in order to correct for missing data bias. A total of 1689 boys and 1739 girls responded to the survey. A higher percentage of boys reported performing regular vigorous and moderate physical activity (59.4%) and overall physical activity (83.4%), comparing with the girls (35.4% and 70%, respectively). For boys, high family social capital and high informal social control were associated with increased odds of regular MVPA (1.49, 95%CI: 1.18 - 1.90 and 1.26, 95%CI: 1.02 - 1.56, respectively), compared to those with low social capital. For girls, high informal social control was associated with regular overall physical activity (OR 1.38, 95% CI: 1.09 - 1.76). High social capital is associated with regular MVPA in boys and regular overall activity in girls. Intervention and policies that leverage community social capital might serve as an avenue for promotion of physical activity in youth. Copyright © 2016 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. School-Based Drug Abuse Prevention Programs in High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Manoj; Branscum, Paul

    2013-01-01

    Drug abuse, or substance abuse, is a substantial public health problem in the United States, particularly among high school students. The purpose of this article was to review school-based programs implemented in high schools for substance abuse prevention and to suggest recommendations for future interventions. Included were English language…

  17. Step-Up: Promoting Youth Mental Health and Development in Inner-City High Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alicea, Stacey; Pardo, Gisselle; Conover, Kelly; Gopalan, Geetha; McKay, Mary

    2012-06-01

    African American and Latino youth who reside in inner-city communities are at heightened risk for compromised mental health, as their neighborhoods are too often associated with serious stressors, including elevated rates of poverty, substance abuse, community violence, as well as scarce youth-supportive resources, and mental health care options. Many aspects of disadvantaged urban contexts have the potential to thwart successful youth development. Adolescents with elevated mental health needs may experience impaired judgment, poor problem-solving skills, and conflictual interpersonal relationships, resulting in unsafe sexual behavior and drug use. However, mental health services are frequently avoided by urban adolescents who could gain substantial benefit from care. Thus, the development of culturally sensitive, contextually relevant and effective services for urban, low-income African American and Latino adolescents is critical. Given the complexity of the mental health and social needs of urban youth, novel approaches to service delivery may need to consider individual (i.e., motivation to succeed in the future), family (i.e., adult support within and outside of the family), and community-level (i.e., work and school opportunities) clinical components. Step-Up, a high school-based mental health service delivery model has been developed to bolster key family, youth and school processes related to youth mental health and positive youth development. Step-Up (1) intervenes with urban minority adolescents across inner-city ecological domains; (2) addresses multiple levels (school, family and community) in order to target youth mental health difficulties; and (3) provides opportunities for increasing youth social problem-solving and life skills. Further, Step-Up integrates existing theory-driven, evidence-based interventions. This article describes Step-Up clinical goals, theoretical influences, as well as components and key features, and presents preliminary data on

  18. Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Personalization Strategic Designs: 9. MetWest High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

    2008-01-01

    This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

  19. The Effect of High School Shootings on Schools and Student Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Louis-Philippe Beland; Dongwoo Kim

    2015-01-01

    We analyze how fatal shootings in high schools affect schools and students using data from shooting databases, school report cards, and the Common Core of Data. We examine schools’ test scores, enrollment, and number of teachers, as well as graduation, attendance, and suspension rates at schools that experienced a shooting, employing a difference-in-differences strategy that uses other high schools in the same district as the comparison group. Our findings suggest that homicidal shootings s...

  20. Later school start times for supporting the education, health, and well-being of high school students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marx, Robert; Tanner-Smith, Emily E; Davison, Colleen M; Ufholz, Lee-Anne; Freeman, John; Shankar, Ravi; Newton, Lisa; Brown, Robert S; Parpia, Alyssa S; Cozma, Ioana; Hendrikx, Shawn

    2017-07-03

    A number of school systems worldwide have proposed and implemented later school start times as a means of avoiding the potentially negative impacts that early morning schedules can have on adolescent students. Even mild sleep deprivation has been associated with significant health and educational concerns: increased risk for accidents and injuries, impaired learning, aggression, memory loss, poor self-esteem, and changes in metabolism. Although researchers have begun to explore the effects of delayed school start time, no one has conducted a rigorous review of evidence to determine whether later school start times support adolescent health, education, and well-being. We aimed to assess the effects of a later school start time for supporting health, education, and well-being in high school students.Secondary objectives were to explore possible differential effects of later school start times in student subgroups and in different types of schools; to identify implementation practices, contextual factors, and delivery modes associated with positive and negative effects of later start times; and to assess the effects of later school start times on the broader community (high school faculty and staff, neighborhood, and families). We conducted the main search for this review on 28 October 2014 and updated it on 8 February 2016. We searched CENTRAL as well as 17 key electronic databases (including MEDLINE, Embase, ERIC, PsycINFO, and Sociological Abstracts), current editions of relevant journals and organizational websites, trial registries, and Google Scholar. We included any randomized controlled trials, controlled before-and-after studies, and interrupted time series studies with sufficient data points that pertained to students aged 13 to 19 years and that compared different school start times. Studies that reported either primary outcomes of interest (academic outcomes, amount or quality of sleep, mental health indicators, attendance, or alertness) or secondary

  1. Catholic High Schools and Rural Academic Achievement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sander, William

    1997-01-01

    A study of national longitudinal data examined effects of rural Catholic high schools on mathematics achievement, high school graduation rates, and the likelihood that high school graduates attend college. Findings indicate that rural Catholic high schools had a positive effect on mathematics test scores and no effect on graduation rates or rates…

  2. Teaching Ethics to High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pass, Susan; Willingham, Wendy

    2009-01-01

    Working with two teachers and thirty-four high school seniors, the authors developed procedures and assessments to teach ethics in an American high school civics class. This approach requires high school students to discover an agreement or convergence between Kantian ethics and virtue ethics. The authors also created an instrument to measure…

  3. High School Football and Late-Life Risk of Neurodegenerative Syndromes, 1956-1970.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janssen, Pieter H H; Mandrekar, Jay; Mielke, Michelle M; Ahlskog, J Eric; Boeve, Bradley F; Josephs, Keith; Savica, Rodolfo

    2017-01-01

    To assess whether athletes who played American varsity high school football between 1956 and 1970 have an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases later in life. We identified all male varsity football players between 1956 and 1970 in the public high schools of Rochester, Minnesota, and non-football-playing male varsity swimmers, wrestlers, and basketball players. Using the medical records linkage system of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, we ascertained the incidence of late-life neurodegenerative diseases: dementia, parkinsonism, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We also recorded medical record-documented head trauma during high school years. We identified 296 varsity football players and 190 athletes engaging in other sports. Football players had an increased risk of medically documented head trauma, especially if they played football for more than 1 year. Compared with nonfootball athletes, football players did not have an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease overall or of the individual conditions of dementia, parkinsonism, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In this community-based study, varsity high school football players from 1956 to 1970 did not have an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases compared with athletes engaged in other varsity sports. This was from an era when there was a generally nihilistic view of concussion dangers, less protective equipment, and no prohibition of spearing (head-first tackling). However, the size and strength of players from previous eras may not be comparable with that of current high school athletes. Copyright © 2016 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Similarities of School Shootings in Rural and Small Town Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kidd, Scott T.; Meyer, Cheryl L.

    2002-01-01

    A study examined characteristics common among young offenders from rural communities who were involved in multiple-fatality school shootings. Data on six cases involving eight offenders revealed six common offender characteristics: verbal threats, peer rejection, interest in violent media, previous violent behavior, suicidal ideation, and violent…

  5. Creating Professional Learning Communities: The Work of Professional Development Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doolittle, Gini; Sudeck, Maria; Rattigan, Peter

    2008-01-01

    If professional learning communities offer opportunities for improving the teaching and learning process, then developing strong professional development school (PDS) partnerships establish an appropriate framework for that purpose. PDS partnerships, however, can be less than effective without proper planning and discussion about the aims of those…

  6. Credentialing high school psychology teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weaver, Kenneth A

    2014-09-01

    The National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula (American Psychological Association, 2013b) require a teacher with considerable psychology content knowledge to teach high school psychology courses effectively. In this study, I examined the initial teaching credential requirements for high school psychology teachers in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Thirty-four states (the District of Columbia is included as a state) require the social studies credential to teach high school psychology. An analysis of the items on standardized tests used by states to validate the content knowledge required to teach social studies indicates little or no presence of psychology, a reflection of psychology's meager presence in the social studies teacher preparation curricula. Thus, new teachers with the social studies teaching credential are not prepared to teach high school psychology according to the National Standards. Approval of The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (National Council for the Social Studies, 2013) presents an opportunity to advocate for establishing a psychology credential in the 34 states. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  7. High School Students’ Perception of the Concept of ‘Good Citizen

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emin KILINÇ

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available One of the main roles of education is to develop the concept of citizenship among young people in the society. Especially in the democratic societies, civic education is considered as a tool to enable young generations to know their rights and responsibilities, be active and take action within their communities. Because there can be no democracy without democratic citizens. Thus, educating students on what it means to be good citizens for the republic is one of the major goals of Turkish education. Each Turkish curriculum has at least one civic course that teaches the knowledge, skills, and values believed necessary for democratic citizenship since 1924. Therefore, students in Turkey are required to take particular civics courses. Elementary school students take Life Learning courses that contain chapters about citizenship education, 6th and 7th grade students take Social Studies and 8th grade students take a course titled Citizenship and Democracy Education. Civic education in Turkey has been extensively studied in Turkey in the past decades. While previous studies of citizenship have focused on pre-service teachers’ perception of citizenship, elementaryand middle school students’ perception of good citizenship, little in-depth research has taken place with high school students. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explain what are the qualities of good citizenship perceived by high school students in Uşak/Turkey. In this context, three research questions are tried to be answered: 1. What are the qualities of good citizenship perceived by high school students? 2. Is there a significant difference between high school students’ perception of the concept of good citizen by a. Gender b. School type 3. What are the main elements that have effects on the development of good citizenship concept? The researchers used quantitative survey method in this research. The data were collected by survey from high school students. The survey questionnaire

  8. Analysis of Institutional Competitiveness of Junior High Schools through the Admission Test to High School Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armendáriz, Joyzukey; Tarango, Javier; Machin-Mastromatteo, Juan Daniel

    2018-01-01

    This descriptive and correlational research studies 15,658 students from 335 secondary schools in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, through the results of the examination of admission to high school education (National High School Admission Test--EXANI I from the National Assessment Center for Education--CENEVAL) on logical-mathematical and verbal…

  9. Correlates of school dropout and absenteeism among adolescent girls from marginalized community in north Karnataka, south India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prakash, Ravi; Beattie, Tara; Javalkar, Prakash; Bhattacharjee, Parinita; Ramanaik, Satyanarayana; Thalinja, Raghavendra; Murthy, Srikanta; Davey, Calum; Blanchard, James; Watts, Charlotte; Collumbien, Martine; Moses, Stephen; Heise, Lori; Isac, Shajy

    2017-12-01

    Secondary education among lower caste adolescent girls living in rural Karnataka, South India, is characterized by high rates of school drop-out and absenteeism. A cross-sectional baseline survey (N=2275) was conducted in 2014 as part of a cluster-randomized control trial among adolescent girls (13-14 year) and their families from marginalized communities in two districts of north Karnataka. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used. Overall, 8.7% girls reported secondary school dropout and 8.1% reported frequent absenteeism (past month). In adjusted analyses, economic factors (household poverty; girls' work-related migration), social norms and practices (child marriage; value of girls' education), and school-related factors (poor learning environment and bullying/harassment at school) were associated with an increased odds of school dropout and absenteeism. Interventions aiming to increase secondary school retention among marginalized girls may require a multi-level approach, with synergistic components that address social, structural and economic determinants of school absenteeism and dropout. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  10. The Creation and Maintenance of a "Learning-Loving Minority" in Conventional High Schools: A Research-Based Response to John Ogbu

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    Matusov, Eugene; DePalma, Renee; Smith, Mark Philip

    2010-01-01

    This research focuses on the adaptation strategies of students from an innovative elementary school run as a community of learners who have been involuntarily "thrown into" competitive, credentialism-based high schools. We apply the anthropologist John Ogbu's comparative historico-ecological framework of "minority" to the innovative school…

  11. Exploring Specialized STEM High Schools: Three Dissertation Studies Examining Commonalities and Differences Across Six Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tofel-Grehl, Colby

    This dissertation is comprised of three independently conducted analyses of a larger investigation into the practices and features of specialized STEM high schools. While educators and policy makers advocate the development of many new specialized STEM high schools, little is known about the unique features and practices of these schools. The results of these manuscripts add to the literature exploring the promise of specialized STEM schools. Manuscript 1¹ is a qualitative investigation of the common features of STEM schools across multiple school model types. Schools were found to possess common cultural and academic features regardless of model type. Manuscript 2² builds on the findings of manuscript 1. With no meaningful differences found attributable to model type, the researchers used grounded theory to explore the relationships between observed differences among programs as related to the intensity of the STEM experience offered at schools. Schools were found to fall into two categories, high STEM intensity (HSI) and low STEM intensity (LSI), based on five major traits. Manuscript 3³ examines the commonalities and differences in classroom discourse and teachers' questioning techniques in STEM schools. It explicates these discursive practices in order to explore instructional practices across schools. It also examines factors that may influence classroom discourse such as discipline, level of teacher education, and course status as required or elective. Collectively, this research furthers the agenda of better understanding the potential advantages of specialized STEM high schools for preparing a future scientific workforce. ¹Tofel-Grehl, C., Callahan, C., & Gubbins, E. (2012). STEM high school communities: Common and differing features. Manuscript in preparation. ²Tofel-Grehl, C., Callahan, C., & Gubbins, E. (2012). Variations in the intensity of specialized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) high schools. Manuscript in preparation

  12. A qualitative study exploring how school and community environments shape the food choices of adolescents with overweight/obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watts, Allison W; Lovato, Chris Y; Barr, Susan I; Hanning, Rhona M; Mâsse, Louise C

    2015-12-01

    This study explored perceived barriers and facilitators to healthful eating in schools and communities among overweight teens who completed an E-health intervention. Twenty-two teens were recruited to a photovoice study and asked to take pictures of things that made it easier or harder to make healthful food choices at school and in their community. Digital photographs were reviewed using semi-structured interviews. Transcribed audio-recordings were analyzed using constant comparative analysis. Similar themes emerged from the school and community environments with food/beverage availability emerging most frequently, followed by peer influence, accessibility/convenience, price, classroom practices, marketing and online influences. Teens described an obesity-promoting environment and perceived very limited healthful options. Policy-driven environmental changes as well as strategies that help teens navigate food choices in their schools and communities are needed to support healthful eating. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. School Uniforms in Urban Public High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Draa, Virginia Ann Bendel

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the implementation of a mandatory uniform policy in urban public high schools improved school performance measures at the building level for rates of attendance, graduation, academic proficiency, and student conduct as measured by rates of suspensions and expulsions. Sixty-four secondary…

  14. High School Physics Courses & Enrollments: Results from the 2012-13 Nationwide Survey of High School Physics Teachers. Focus On

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Susan; Tesfaye, Casey Langer

    2014-01-01

    This report examines enrollments in high school physics during the 2012-13 school year. Based on data from the most recent survey (which includes both public and private high schools in the U.S.), it is estimated that 39% of the class of 2013 took high school physics before graduating. During the 2012-13 school year, 1.38 million students were…

  15. Leading High School Transformation for College and Career Success: A Guide for Developing a System of Linked Learning Pathways

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stearns, Roman

    2014-01-01

    This ConnectEd Guide for Developing a System of Linked Learning Pathways will introduce school district leaders and their community partners to Linked Learning and a system of quality pathways that can transform high schools, instructional practice, and the student experience. Not intended to be prescriptive, this document can and should be…

  16. An Empirical Assessment of Dropout Rate of Learners at Selected High Schools in King William’s Town, South Africa

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    Wendy Manona

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated and analysed factors responsible for high dropout rate of learners at selected high schools in King William’s Town District, Province of the Eastern Cape. The aim of the study is provide an understanding into inherent problems of early exit of learners in the education sector, which impede the long-term production of professionals with bright future. The main findings of this study revealed that multiple motives, associated with individual characteristics of dropouts and social problems emanating from their family background and influence of the community, prompted learners to dropout. Moreover, learner dropout is inter alia caused by social factors such as lack of resources, the effect of poverty, orphans at school, the distance between the school and the community, drug abuse, pregnancy and HIV and AIDS prevalence in schools, gangsterism and learning barriers. The results of this research suggest that the government should make resources available with regard to scholar transport, school nurses to provide education awareness programmes in relation to early pregnancies, HIV and AIDS infection to improve attendance rate. The Department of Social Development should provide information with regard to benefits available to orphaned learners. The government should ensure sustainable provision of the school nutrition programme to alleviate hunger and poverty. School management should effectively regulate the behaviour of learners to promote discipline in schools so that substance abuse is eliminated.

  17. Building a Mien-American house: A case study in school-community relations

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    Hammond, Lorie A.

    2000-10-01

    Researchers and policymakers agree that schools and parents must work together if they are to provide the sustenance, services, and support which children need to be successful in our increasingly complex society. (Clark, 1983; Comer, 1980, 1996; Clinton, 1995; Epstein, 1995, 1996). Unfortunately, the social and academic success of language minority students is often adversely affected by the alienation of parents from school culture and by the "deficit" view which teachers hold of language minority parents' academic and parenting skills (Boggs, 1985; Delgado-Gaitan, 1990; Heath, 1983; Lareau, 1987, 1989; Philips, 1983). This case study describes the attempts of one school site to build academic and social bridges between immigrant families from a Southeast Asian Hill Tribe, the Iu Mien, and a mainstream elementary school. This effort is facilitated by a constructivist approach to curriculum in which parents, teachers, and children create an intercultural space---a school community garden---as a context in which academic dialogue can occur. Various strategies which enable inter-cultural learning are described, including the use of students as ethnographers, of parents as expert teachers, and of teachers as cultural brokers. The study also considers the cultural conflicts and understandings which occurred when American teachers and Mien parents built a Mien field-house together: a structure which became symbolic of their blended lives. Through both a descriptive narration and interviews with various participants, the study analyzes (a) community-based curriculum development, led by practitioner reformers, as a way to enable language minority students to be academically successful within their own life worlds, as well as (b) the political and bureaucratic forces which make community-based reforms difficult to sustain. This study employs qualitative research strategies within an action-research context in which the author plays the dual role of practitioner reformer

  18. [School readiness and community mobilization: study retrospective in a Montreal area].

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    Laurin, Isabelle; Bilodeau, Angèle; Chartrand, Sébastien

    2012-02-22

    This article presents a modelling of the collective decision-making process by which a community-based population-level intervention transformed the organization of early childhood services in a Montréal community from 2001 to 2006. Multisectoral players from a childhood/family issue table. The chosen territory is one of the most multi-ethnic and poorest neighbourhoods of Montréal. The intervention being examined is Understanding the Early Years (UEY), a Canada-wide initiative aiming to strengthen communities' capacity to use quality information to support the thought process relating to the organization of early childhood services. Twelve Canadian regions took part, including Montréal. The time chart for the collective decision-making process presents the events that significantly influenced the procedure: establishment of an intersectoral working committee, production of a portrait of the neighbourhood, think tank, development and implementation of the Passage maison-école [home-to-school] and Femmes-Relais [relay women] projects, retreats, and inclusion of school readiness as a priority focus area in the neighbourhood's three-year action plan. Also presented are the contextual factors that influenced decision making: the neighbourhood's cooperation and coordination history, the researcher's involvement, financial support and shared leadership. The benefits of UEY-Montréal in this territory extended beyond 2006. With respect to current priorities for action in early childhood, this territory is a good example of mobilization for school readiness.

  19. A first attempt to bring computational biology into advanced high school biology classrooms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallagher, Suzanne Renick; Coon, William; Donley, Kristin; Scott, Abby; Goldberg, Debra S

    2011-10-01

    Computer science has become ubiquitous in many areas of biological research, yet most high school and even college students are unaware of this. As a result, many college biology majors graduate without adequate computational skills for contemporary fields of biology. The absence of a computational element in secondary school biology classrooms is of growing concern to the computational biology community and biology teachers who would like to acquaint their students with updated approaches in the discipline. We present a first attempt to correct this absence by introducing a computational biology element to teach genetic evolution into advanced biology classes in two local high schools. Our primary goal was to show students how computation is used in biology and why a basic understanding of computation is necessary for research in many fields of biology. This curriculum is intended to be taught by a computational biologist who has worked with a high school advanced biology teacher to adapt the unit for his/her classroom, but a motivated high school teacher comfortable with mathematics and computing may be able to teach this alone. In this paper, we present our curriculum, which takes into consideration the constraints of the required curriculum, and discuss our experiences teaching it. We describe the successes and challenges we encountered while bringing this unit to high school students, discuss how we addressed these challenges, and make suggestions for future versions of this curriculum.We believe that our curriculum can be a valuable seed for further development of computational activities aimed at high school biology students. Further, our experiences may be of value to others teaching computational biology at this level. Our curriculum can be obtained at http://ecsite.cs.colorado.edu/?page_id=149#biology or by contacting the authors.

  20. "Make My Day, Shoot a Teacher": Tactics of Inclusion and Exclusion, and the Contestation of Community in a Rural School-Community Conflict

    Science.gov (United States)

    McHenry-Sorber, Erin; Schafft, Kai A.

    2015-01-01

    Far from being the harmonious and homogenous communities of popular imagination, rural communities often are characterised by stark differences in class-situated values over education philosophy and financing. These differences can produce contentious political environments, vastly complexifying local decision-making, including school district…

  1. School violence in an impoverished South African community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burnett, C

    1998-08-01

    The aim of this anthropological study was to create an understanding of school-related violence experienced by adolescents in the context of chronic poverty in a South African community. Qualitative methods of data collection such as participant observation, interviews, and group discussions were utilized for data collection. Sixteen children and three adults in turn kept diaries and wrote reports during the research period of three and one-half years (June 1992-December 1995). All the Standard seven pupils (N = 76) of the local school completed a self-concept questionnaire and wrote two essays about themselves and their lives, respectively. The ideology and structures of apartheid created a context of impoverishment and structural violence to which children were exposed. The school was one of the social institutions where children were subjected to structural, psychological, and physical violence on a daily basis. Violent behavior or discipline was justified as being just and an effective teaching practice by authoritarian parents and teachers. The manifestations of poverty included emotional erosion, a negative self-concept, and reactive violence. School-related violence was structurally interwoven with the very fabric of the social hierarchy of the school set-up and was sanctioned as an effective strategy to gain social control and discipline children. Poverty in itself provided the breeding-ground for violence at home and in the school. Children were caught up in a vicious circle of pro- and reactive violence and socialized to accept violence as an instrument of empowerment. Recommendations for possible intervention and further research are offered.

  2. Moving to higher ground: Closing the high school science achievement gap

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mebane, Joyce Graham

    The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of West High School constituents (students, parents, teachers, administrators, and guidance counselors) about the readiness and interest of African American students at West High School to take Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) science courses as a strategy for closing the achievement gap. This case study utilized individual interviews and questionnaires for data collection. The participants were selected biology students and their parents, teachers, administrators, and guidance counselors at West High School. The results of the study indicated that just over half the students and teachers, most parents, and all guidance counselors thought African American students were prepared to take AP science courses. Only one of the three administrators thought the students were prepared to take AP science courses. Between one-half and two-thirds of the students, parents, teachers, and administrators thought students were interested in taking an AP science course. Only two of the guidance counselors thought there was interest among the African American students in taking AP science courses. The general consensus among the constituents about the readiness and interest of African American students at West High School to take IB science courses was that it is too early in the process to really make definitive statements. West is a prospective IB school and the program is new and not yet in place. Educators at the West High School community must find reasons to expect each student to succeed. Lower expectations often translate into lower academic demands and less rigor in courses. Lower academic demands and less rigor in courses translate into less than adequate performance by students. When teachers and administrators maintain high expectations, they encourage students to aim high rather than slide by with mediocre effort (Lumsden, 1997). As a result of the study, the following suggestions should

  3. Pay It Forward: High School Video-based Instruction Can Disseminate CPR Knowledge in Priority Neighborhoods

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    Josiah Han

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The implementation of creative new strategies to increase layperson cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR and defibrillation may improve resuscitation in priority populations. As more communities implement laws requiring CPR training in high schools, there is potential for a multiplier effect and reach into priority communities with low bystander-CPR rates. Methods: We investigated the feasibility, knowledge acquisition, and dissemination of a high school-centered, CPR video self-instruction program with a “pay-it-forward” component in a low-income, urban, predominantly Black neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois with historically low bystander-CPR rates. Ninth and tenth graders followed a video self-instruction kit in a classroom setting to learn CPR. As homework, students were required to use the training kit to “pay it forward” and teach CPR to their friends and family. We administered pre- and post-intervention knowledge surveys to measure knowledge acquisition among classroom and “pay-it-forward” participants. Results: Seventy-one classroom participants trained 347 of their friends and family, for an average of 4.9 additional persons trained per kit. Classroom CPR knowledge survey scores increased from 58% to 93% (p < 0.0001. The pay-it-forward cohort saw an increase from 58% to 82% (p < 0.0001. Conclusion: A high school-centered, CPR educational intervention with a “pay-it-forward” component can disseminate CPR knowledge beyond the classroom. Because schools are centrally-organized settings to which all children and their families have access, school-based interventions allow for a broad reach that encompasses all segments of the population and have potential to decrease disparities in bystander CPR provision.

  4. Growing health partnerships in rural and remote communities: what drives the joint efforts of primary schools and universities in maintaining service learning partnerships?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirby, Sue; Held, Fabian P; Jones, Debra; Lyle, David

    2018-01-10

    Aim This study explored the partnership between universities and local primary schools to deliver a classroom-based paediatric communication impairment service provided by undergraduate speech pathology students. It aimed to understand how partnerships work to facilitate programme replication. The partners included universities sending students on rural clinical placement, local host academic units and primary schools who worked together to provide paediatric speech and language services in primary schools in three sites in Australia. Rural and remote communities experience poorer health outcomes because of chronic workforce shortages, social disadvantage and high Aboriginality, poor access to services and underfunding. The study was in twofold: qualitative analysis of data from interviews/focus group with the partners in the university and education sectors, and quantitative social network analysis of data from an electronic survey of the partners. Findings Factors supporting partnerships were long-term, work and social relationships, commitment to community, trust and an appetite for risk-taking. We postulate that these characteristics are more likely to exist in rural communities.

  5. High School Physics Availability: Results from the 2012-13 Nationwide Survey of High School Physics Teachers. Focus On

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Susan; Tesfaye, Casey Langer

    2014-01-01

    In this report, the authors share their analysis of the data from over 3,500 high schools in the U.S. beginning with an examination of the availability of physics in U.S. high schools. The schools in their sample are a nationally-representative random sample of the almost 25,000 high schools in forty-nine of the fifty states. Table 1 shows the…

  6. After Installation: Ubiquitous Computing and High School Science in Three Experienced, High-Technology Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drayton, Brian; Falk, Joni K.; Stroud, Rena; Hobbs, Kathryn; Hammerman, James

    2010-01-01

    There are few studies of the impact of ubiquitous computing on high school science, and the majority of studies of ubiquitous computing report only on the early stages of implementation. The present study presents data on 3 high schools with carefully elaborated ubiquitous computing systems that have gone through at least one "obsolescence cycle"…

  7. Psychological Challenges Affecting Primary School Going Orphans In Wanganui Community Zimbabwe.

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    Mbwirire John

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available This study sought to identify psychological challenges affecting primary school orphans in Wanganui Community in Zimbabwe. The study employed a mixed method approach combining questionnaires with teachers and care givers interview sessions with orphans and in-depth interviews with community socialdevelopment worker. The study finds that lack of love lack of attention and withdrawal were the main signs and symptoms of psychological challenge in the community. The study revealed that the term and symptoms of psychological challenges were understood differently between African context and Western context. The study recommended that action must be taken as soon as possible once the signs and symptoms which include lack of love lack of attention to rectify the psychological challenges faced by the community.

  8. Engaging parents in evidence-based treatments in schools: Community perspectives from implementing CBITS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santiago, Catherine Decarlo; Pears, Gillian; Baweja, Shilpa; Vona, Pamela; Tang, Jennifer; Kataoka, Sheryl H

    2013-12-01

    This study explored parent engagement in an evidence-based treatment, the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), which was delivered in a school setting. To examine the successes and challenges in engaging parents in this school-based program, we conducted qualitative interviews by phone to obtain data from clinicians, parents, and other school personnel across eleven schools from 3 different regions of the United States. Almost all of these schools served low-income and ethnically diverse communities. We describe general impressions of parent engagement, parent reactions and preferences with regard to CBITS, barriers to parent engagement, and how to overcome barriers from multiple perspectives. Parent engagement across schools varied, with extensive outreach and relatively good parent engagement in CBITS described in some schools, while in other schools, efforts to engage parents were not as consistent. Implications for future efforts to engage parents in school-based treatments are discussed.

  9. Critical Consciousness and Schooling: The Impact of the Community as a Classroom Program on Academic Indicators

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    D. Gavin Luter

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The present study investigates the extent to which a program guided by the principles of critical pedagogy, which seeks to develop critical consciousness, is associated with the improved academic performance of students attending a low-performance middle-school in Buffalo, New York. The students were enrolled in an in-school academic support program called the Community as Classroom, which used critical project-based learning to show students how to improve neighborhood conditions. The study found that the Community as Classroom program bolstered student engagement as reflected in improved attendance, on-time-arrival at school, and reduced suspensions. Although class grades did not improve, standardized scores, particularly in Math and Science, dramatically improved for these students from the lowest scoring categories. We suspect that given increased student engagement and dramatically improved standardized test scores, teacher bias might be the cause of no improvements in class grades. We conclude that critical pedagogy, which leads to increased critical consciousness, is a tool that can lead to improved academic performance of students. Such a pedagogy, we argue, should be more widely used in public schools, with a particular emphasis on their deployment in Community Schools.

  10. Building sustainable health and education partnerships: stories from local communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blank, Martin J

    2015-11-01

    Growing health disparities have a negative impact on young people's educational achievement. Community schools that involve deep relationships with partners across multiple domains address these disparities by providing opportunities and services that promote healthy development of young people, and enable them to graduate from high school ready for college, technical school, on-the-job training, career, and citizenship. Results from Milwaukie High School, North Clackamas, OR; Oakland Unified School District, Oakland, CA; and Cincinnati Community Learning Centers, Cincinnati, OH were based on a review of local site documents, web-based information, interviews, and e-mail communication with key local actors. The schools and districts with strong health partnerships reflecting community schools strategy have shown improvements in attendance, academic performance, and increased access to mental, dental, vision, and health supports for their students. To build deep health-education partnerships and grow community schools, a working leadership and management infrastructure must be in place that uses quality data, focuses on results, and facilitates professional development across sectors. The leadership infrastructure of community school initiatives offers a prototype on which others can build. Moreover, as leaders build cross-sector relationships, a clear definition of what scaling up means is essential for subsequent long-term systemic change. © 2015 Institute for Educational Leadership. Journal of School Health published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American School Health Association.

  11. Analysis of refractive status and related factors of pupils in Hetian Road primary school in Zhabei community, Shanghai, 2011

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    Wei Zhu

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available AIM: To evaluate the refractive status of pupils of Hetian Road primary school in Zhabei community of Shanghai and analyze the relationships between visual acuity and relative factors. METHODS: All the in-school students of Hetian Road primary school in Zhabei community of Shanghai were involved in the study. Four hundred and sixty pupils out of 465 pupils were investigated(The rate was 98.9%. There were 445 pupils with fully data collection. Uncorrected visual acuity(UCVA, age, height(H, weight(W, body mass index(BMI, diopter of spherical(S, diopter of cylinder(C, spherical equivalent(SE, axial length(ALand corneal curvature(Kwere examined. The refractive status was described and the influence of relative factors was analyzed. UCVA measurement uses the standard logarithmic visual acuity chart, recording by decimal number, then transform into LogMar vision for statistical analysis. RESULTS: In total, the average age was 9.49±1.47 year, SE was -0.85±1.82D and UCVA was +0.09±0.28. The prevalence of myopia and astigmatism was 40.9% and 58.9%, respectively. With getting older, the prevalence of myopia increased with the average myopic SE developing significantly(P=0.000. UCVA and AL increased in the same time, SE decreased gradually(PPCONCLUSION: The prevalence of myopia and astigmatism was high in Hetian Road primary school in Zhabei community of Shanghai. Visual acuity is closely related to AL and growth factors.

  12. Timing Is Everything: Getting Students Back on Track to College Readiness in High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Royster, Pamela; Gross, Jacob; Hochbein, Craig

    2015-01-01

    National trends and goals have pushed beyond the dropout crisis and are now focused on raising the percentage of graduates prepared for college and career. This study examined a longitudinal cohort (n = 6443) of students in an urban, public school district in order to explore how districts and communities can redirect off-track high school…

  13. Toward Food System Sustainability through School Food System Change: Think&EatGreen@School and the Making of a Community-University Research Alliance

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    Yael Harlap

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the theoretical and conceptual framework and the research and practice model of Think&EatGreen@School, a community-based action research project aiming to foster food citizenship in the City of Vancouver and to develop a model of sustainable institutional food systems in public schools. The authors argue that educational and policy interventions at the school and school board level can drive the goals of food system sustainability, food security, and food sovereignty. The complex relationship between food systems, climate change and environmental degradation require that international initiatives promoting sustainability be vigorously complemented by local multi-stakeholder efforts to preserve or restore the capacity to produce food in a durable manner. As a step towards making the City of Vancouver green, we are currently involved in attempts to transform the food system of the local schools by mobilizing the energy of a transdisciplinary research team of twelve university researchers, over 300 undergraduate and graduate students, and twenty community-based researchers and organizations working on food, public health, environmental and sustainability education.

  14. The Community Role of Schools in Jicamarca and Villa El Salvador (Peru: Crosscutting Behavior Settings in Personal Networks

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    Isidro Maya-Jariego

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The personal networks of 138 parents of children participating in a child labor prevention initiative in three schools in Lima (Peru are analyzed. First, relevant behavior settings in two informal population settlements in the periphery of the big city were detected. Second, the distribution of personal relationships in that small set of community contexts served to describe the everyday interaction in the neighborhood. Each interviewee provided information on the 45 persons with whom he/she interacts regularly, indicating in each case the context where that relationship preferably takes place. They also reported on the involvement of families in school and citizen participation initiatives in their community. The clustered graphs technique showed that the school is the second most relevant space for the development of interpersonal relationships in the neighborhood. Relationships among different family households were the most powerful predictor of community integration in the neighborhood of residence. The highest rates of child labor coincide with the most recently created community environments, with more fragmented personal networks, and with a less structured community as a whole. School is a community hub that facilitates interaction between the families of the neighborhood and connect to value resources outside of their usual place of residence.

  15. Community narratives about women and HIV risk in 21 high-burden communities in Zambia and South Africa

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    Viljoen L

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Lario Viljoen,1 Rhoda Ndubani,2 Virginia Bond,2,3 Janet Seeley,3 Lindsey Reynolds,4,5 Graeme Hoddinott1 On behalf of the HPTN 071 (PopART Study Team 1Desmond Tutu TB Centre, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa; 2Zambia AIDS-related Tuberculosis Project (Zambart, School of Medicine, Lusaka, Zambia; 3Department of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK; 4Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA; 5Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa Abstract: Public health researchers repeatedly represent women as a group vulnerable to ill health. This has been particularly true in the field of HIV research, where women are disproportionately affected by HIV in terms of disease burden and the social effects of the epidemic. Although women have been the focus of many prevention and treatment programs, structural barriers to implementation of these targeted programs persist. In this article we explore how high HIV-burden communities in South Africa and Zambia engage with the concepts of “woman” and “HIV risk”. The data are drawn from participatory storytelling activities completed with 604 participants across 78 group discussions between December 2012 and May 2013. During discussions we found that participants made use of the core archetypal caricatures of “goodness,” “badness,” and “vulnerability” when describing women’s HIV risk. Community members shifted between these categories in their characterizations of women, as they acknowledged the multiple roles women play, internalized different stories about women, and sometimes shifted register in the same stories. Findings suggest that health implementers, in consultation with community members, should consider

  16. Businesses Partner with Schools, Community to Create Alternative Career Pathways

    Science.gov (United States)

    Overman, Stephenie

    2012-01-01

    Business, education and community leaders are working together to create alternative career pathways for young people who are not profiting from the four-year college track. The new Pathways to Prosperity Network brings together the Pathways to Prosperity Project at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), Jobs for the Future (JFF) and six…

  17. Typologizing School-Community Partnerships: A Framework for Analysis and Action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valli, Linda; Stefanski, Amanda; Jacobson, Reuben

    2016-01-01

    School-community partnerships are currently in the forefront of place-based urban reform efforts. But the literature on these partnerships indicates a variety of models that require different commitments and resources. Through a close review of the literature, we developed a typology of four partnership categories organized from the least to the…

  18. Creating Learning Communities: An Introduction to Community Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Decker, Larry E.; Boo, Mary Richardson

    Schools cannot succeed without collaboration with parents and the community. Defining community education as active community involvement in the education of children, this booklet describes aspects of community education. Community education, the booklet points out, can take place at physical locations such as formal school buildings, which lie…

  19. Frequency, stability and differentiation of self-reported school fear and truancy in a community sample

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Metzke Christa

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Surprisingly little is known about the frequency, stability, and correlates of school fear and truancy based on self-reported data of adolescents. Methods Self-reported school fear and truancy were studied in a total of N = 834 subjects of the community-based Zurich Adolescent Psychology and Psychopathology Study (ZAPPS at two times with an average age of thirteen and sixteen years. Group definitions were based on two behavioural items of the Youth Self-Report (YSR. Comparisons included a control group without indicators of school fear or truancy. The three groups were compared across questionnaires measuring emotional and behavioural problems, life-events, self-related cognitions, perceived parental behaviour, and perceived school environment. Results The frequency of self-reported school fear decreased over time (6.9 vs. 3.6% whereas there was an increase in truancy (5.0 vs. 18.4%. Subjects with school fear displayed a pattern of associated internalizing problems and truants were characterized by associated delinquent behaviour. Among other associated psychosocial features, the distress coming from the perceived school environment in students with school fear is most noteworthy. Conclusion These findings from a community study show that school fear and truancy are frequent and display different developmental trajectories. Furthermore, previous results are corroborated which are based on smaller and selected clinical samples indicating that the two groups display distinct types of school-related behaviour.

  20. Middle School and High School Students Who Stutter: A Qualitative Investigation of School Experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cobb, Tiffany R.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and further understand the ways in which middle school and high school students perceive their school experiences within the school environment. School has an important impact on the social development of children (Milsom, 2006). Learning is not done individually as classrooms are inherently social…

  1. Relationship between Professional Learning Community, Bureaucratic Structure and Organisational Trust in Primary Education Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalkan, Fatma

    2016-01-01

    This research uses relational survey method to determine the relationship between professional learning community, bureaucratic structure and organisational trust according to the perceptions of teachers who work in primary education schools. Data were collected from 805 teachers who work in primary education schools in the districts (Altindag,…

  2. Perceptions of School Principals on Participation in Professional Learning Communities as Job-Embedded Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaudioso, Jennifer A.

    2017-01-01

    Perceptions of School Principals on Participation in Professional Learning Communities as Job-Embedded Learning Jennifer Gaudioso Principal Professional Learning Communities (PPLCs) have emerged as a vehicle for professional development of principals, but there is little research on how principals experience PPLCs or how districts can support…

  3. Rebellion in a High School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stinchcombe, Arthur L.

    The premise of this book is that high school rebellion is an "expression of alienation from socially present authorities." Such rebellion is a manifestation of "expressive alienation" and has the quality of hatred or sullenness. Rebellious high school students are likely to be non-utilitarian, negativistic, hedonistic, and to stress group…

  4. National Best Practices Manual for Building High Performance Schools (Revised)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2007-10-01

    The Best Practices Manual was written as a part of the promotional effort for EnergySmart Schools, provided by the US Department of Energy, to educate school districts around the country about energy efficiency and renewable energy. Written specifically for architects and engineers, The Best Practices Manual is designed to help those who are responsible for designing or retrofitting schools, as well as their project managers. This manual will help design staff make informed decisions about energy and environmental issues important to the school systems and communities.

  5. Continuing Care in High Schools: A Descriptive Study of Recovery High School Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finch, Andrew J.; Moberg, D. Paul; Krupp, Amanda Lawton

    2014-01-01

    Data from 17 recovery high schools suggest programs are dynamic and vary in enrollment, fiscal stability, governance, staffing, and organizational structure. Schools struggle with enrollment, funding, lack of primary treatment accessibility, academic rigor, and institutional support. Still, for adolescents having received treatment for substance…

  6. Educational community stakeholders’ perspectives about teachers’ responsibilities for mental health promotion in Maltese schools

    OpenAIRE

    Askell-Williams, Helen; Cefai, Carmel; Skrzypiec, Grace; Wyra, Mirella

    2013-01-01

    The role of school teachers in promoting students’ mental health is receiving increasing international attention. However, before venturing into schools with new initiatives such as mental health promotion, it is essential to take into account local contextual affordances and constraints. One issue is whether teachers and other school community stakeholders believe that activities related to mental health promotion are within teachers’ realms of responsibility and capabilities. This paper rep...

  7. Especially for High School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emory Howell, J.

    1999-11-01

    many of our readers. The High School/College Interface Luncheon was part of the very rich day-long High School Program at the New Orleans ACS Meeting. Shown here (from left) are Glenn Crosby, the luncheon speaker; Lillie Tucker-Akin, the High School Day program chair; and Fred Johnson, Assistant Superintendent of Shelby County (TN) schools and Immediate Past President of NSTA. The recipient of the James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching is Frank G. Cardulla, who taught for many years at Niles North High School, Skokie, Illinois. His extensive record of service to fellow teachers includes editing the JCE "View from My Classroom" feature for several years and writing several articles, as well as his recent appointment to the JCE Board of Publication. The recipient of the George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education is Jerry A. Bell of the American Chemical Society in Washington, DC. An author of numerous articles appearing in JCE and a member of the JCE Board of Publication for several years, he currently serves as Board Chair. The 16th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education Readers who attended the 15th BCCE in Waterloo, Ontario, know that much of the programming at these conferences is of interest to high school teachers. Many work shops, papers, and demonstrations are presented by high school teachers. There are many other outstanding papers and posters, plenary speakers, and exciting demonstrations. The 16th BCCE will be held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, July 30-August 3, 2000. Among the high school teachers already scheduled to present workshops at the 16th BCCE are George Hague, Lynn Hershey, and Jack Randall, and there will be many more before the program is completed. The High School Chemistry Program Chair is Tim Graham, Roosevelt High School (MI). The Organizing Committee is seeking the assistance of local sections of the American Chemical Society within a 300-mile radius of Ann Arbor in providing support for high school

  8. Part-Time Community College Instructors Teaching in Learning Communities: An Exploratory Multiple Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paterson, John W.

    2017-01-01

    Community colleges have a greater portion of students at-risk for college completion than four-year schools and faculty at these institutions are overwhelmingly and increasingly part-time. Learning communities have been identified as a high-impact practice with numerous benefits documented for community college instructors and students: a primary…

  9. A photovoice study of school belongingness among high school students in Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieblein, Vaiva Sunniva Deraas; Warne, Maria; Huot, Suzanne; Laliberte Rudman, Debbie; Raanaas, Ruth Kjærsti

    2018-12-01

    Although high school graduation is important for living conditions and health throughout life, many students do not complete. In Norway's northern most county, Finnmark, up to 45% of students do not complete high school. Contrary to prior research that has primarily focused on causes for dropout, this study's aim was to deepen understanding of factors that support high school attendance. A strengths-based participatory approach using photovoice addressed attendance factors as perceived by seven participating students from one high school in Finnmark. Qualitative content analysis of data generated through group dialogue about participant-generated photos and individual interviews identified six factors important for students' school attendance: a supportive school environment, a good learning environment, recuperation and recreation, family and friends, goals and ambitions, and place attachment. Related aspects of a supportive environment and belongingness, where school staff made important contributions to promoting a positive environment, were essential.

  10. How the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model Works: Creating Greater Alignment, Integration, and Collaboration between Health and Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiang, Rachelle Johnsson; Meagher, Whitney; Slade, Sean

    2015-01-01

    Background: The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model calls for greater collaboration across the community, school, and health sectors to meet the needs and support the full potential of each child. This article reports on how 3 states and 2 local school districts have implemented aspects of the WSCC model through collaboration,…

  11. Green accounts & day high schools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

    1997-01-01

    The arcticle presents the concept of green accounts and describes how it can be used in the daily work and the teaching at day high schools.......The arcticle presents the concept of green accounts and describes how it can be used in the daily work and the teaching at day high schools....

  12. High Pressure Reform: Examining Urban Schools' Response to Multiple School Choice Policies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holme, Jennifer Jellison; Carkhum, Rian; Rangel, Virginia Snodgrass

    2013-01-01

    Over the past several decades, policymakers have sought to address the problem of school failure by exposing traditional public schools to competitive market forces. In this analysis, we examine how two traditional public schools in a "high pressure/high choice" urban school cluster in Texas responded to a number of overlapping choice…

  13. A Global Approach to School Education and Local Reality: A Case Study of Community Participation in Haryana, India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narwana, Kamlesh

    2015-01-01

    In post-Jomtien phase, community participation in school education management has appeared as one of the most prominent features in all educational development programmes at global level. In line with this trend, India has also placed a significant focus on local communities in school management through various programmes such as LokJumbish,…

  14. The Costs of "Living the Dream" for Hmong Immigrants: The Impact of Subtractive Schooling on Family and Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngo, Bic

    2017-01-01

    In this article, I engage critical discourse analysis of in-depth, semistructured interviews with 4 Hmong community leaders to illumine their perspectives on the role of subtractive schooling in the struggles of Hmong students, parents, and the ethnic community as a whole. I reveal their understanding of the exclusionary practices of school that…

  15. Multiple metal accumulation as a factor in learning achievement within various New Orleans elementary school communities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mielke, H.W.; Berry, K.J..; Mielke, P.W.; Powell, E.T.; Gonzales, C.R.

    2005-01-01

    In New Orleans, the elementary school system is divided into attendance districts with established boundaries that define student enrollment among schools. This study concerns environmental quality as defined by amount of soil metals (Pb, Zn, Cd, Ni, Mn, Cu, Co, Cr, and V) in attendance district elementary school communities (n=111) paired with learning achievement as measured by individual test scores (n=32,741) of students enrolled at each school. The Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) 4th grade scores measure learning achievement for English language arts, social studies, mathematics, and science. The best fit between environmental quality and higher learning achievement is found to be inversely associated with the sum of the metals or multiple metal accumulations (MMA) in New Orleans communities. The P values for MMA partitions for ELA, SOC, MAT, and SCI are 0.57x10 -7 , 0.29x10 -8 , 0.41x10 -6 , and 0.17x10 -8 , respectively. Efforts to prevent childhood metal exposure should improve New Orleanians' learning achievement as measured by the LEAP scores and thereby enhance the socioeconomic situation in contaminated communities. This study establishes global relationships between LEAP scores in schools and soil metal concentrations in school neighborhoods. However, these data do not allow relating of the LEAP scores with metal levels for individual students

  16. Becoming a health promoting school: key components of planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Senior, Elizabeth

    2012-03-01

    This article looks at the practicalities of implementing the health promoting school (HPS) framework, including conducting a whole school audit, to enable a primary school to successfully adopt the HPS principles. A partnership agreement was signed, between EACH Social and Community Health which is a local Community Health Centre and a primary school in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, in Australia. An audit was conducted of the school community with four follow up focus groups of students from grades 3 to 6. Qualitative data was gathered from 20 teachers at the school at a professional development day facilitated by the health promotion staff of the Community Health Centre. The results of the school audit identified that students in grades 3 to 6 and parents valued the outside environment of the school most highly. The staff valued staff attributes most highly. Suggestions from students to improve the school included improving the canteen and outside environment. Staff were most concerned about fitness of both the staff and the students. Parents also identified lack of healthy eating as a concern. The school community sees the value of adopting the HPS framework, however on-going structured support is required if the school is to successfully adopt the HPS approach. The school community needs to understand that the move toward cultural and environmental change is slow. Successful adoption of the HPS model requires time and collaboration. The emphasis needs to be on supporting teachers to change their school from within. Relationships are important.

  17. From Permission to Partnership: Participatory Research to Engage School Personnel in Systems Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blitz, Lisa V.; Mulcahy, Candace A.

    2017-01-01

    Data collected from teachers in a racially diverse, high-poverty high school were used to inform the initial steps in developing a school-university partnership to create a culturally responsive trauma-informed community school. The project utilized community-based participatory research to explore sensitive areas of school system functioning.…

  18. International Perspectives: Polish Post-Secondary Vocational Schools and Canadian Community Colleges: A Comparison Using an Information Technology Conceptual Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, Norman L.; Davidson, Barry S.; Pachocinski, Ryszard; Griffith, Kimberly Grantham; Kritsonis, William Allan

    2007-01-01

    This study compares Polish post-secondary vocational institutions with Canadian community colleges using an information technology conceptual framework. The research concentrated upon programs in information technology delivered by one Polish school Cracow School of Information Technology and two Canadian community colleges Durham (Oshawa,…

  19. Evaluation of a community-based participatory physical activity promotion project: effect on cardiovascular disease risk profiles of school employees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kobza Cee E

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The efficacy of physical activity in improving cardiovascular disease (CVD risk profiles has been well established. However, the effectiveness of health promotion programs implemented at the community level remains controversial. This study evaluated a school-based work-site physical activity program. Methods Using a community-based participatory research model, a work-site wellness intervention was implemented in a rural public school system in Southwestern Oklahoma. During the 2005-2006 school year, 187 participants (mean age 45 years completed a pre intervention screening for CVD risk factors followed by a physical activity promotion program. Post intervention screening was conducted after a 6 month period. During both screening sessions, body composition, blood pressure, lipids, glucose and self-reported physical activity levels were assessed. The focus of the intervention was on promoting physical activity. Opportunities for in school physical activity were created by marking hallways, adding a treadmill in each school, and allowing teachers to use planning periods for physical activity. Results During the post intervention screening, compared to pre intervention levels, participants had lower total, low, and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (t = 5.9, p Conclusions A successful participatory program was associated with improvements in several CVD risk factors among school employees. Limitations of this study such as seasonal variation in the outcome variables and lack of a control group limit our ability to draw solid conclusions about the effectiveness of the intervention.

  20. Community Responses to School Reform in Chicago: Opportunities for Local Stakeholder Engagement. A Report by Public Agenda for the Joyce Foundation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Public Agenda, 2012

    2012-01-01

    This is a report on how community stakeholders, including parents, teachers, community leaders and advocates, think about current efforts by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to "turn around" Chicago's lowest-performing schools, and their expectations for future school reform actions. It was prepared by Public Agenda, with support from the…

  1. The Effect of High School Shootings on Schools and Student Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beland, Louis-Philippe; Kim, Dongwoo

    2016-01-01

    We analyze how fatal shootings in high schools affect schools and students using data from shooting databases, school report cards, and the Common Core of Data. We examine schools' test scores, enrollment, number of teachers, graduation, attendance, and suspension rates at schools that experienced a shooting, employing a difference-in-differences…

  2. Advertising's Effect on Community College Search and Choice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucciarone, Kristy

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this qualitative study is to analyze how advertising affects a student's search and community college choice among the plethora of community colleges, career/technical schools, universities, and other influencers. The results of the research indicate that parents, friends, high school counselors, economics (i.e., money), and…

  3. Attitudes of High School Students towards Geometry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esat Avcı

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In this research, attitudes of high school students towards geometry were investigated in terms of gender, grade, types of the field and school. Population of research includes students who were studying at high school in five distincs of Mersin in 2013-2014 academical year. Sample of research includes 935 students from twelve high schools. Attitude scale which was developed by Su-Özenir (2008 was used for data collection. For data analysis, mean, standart deviation, t test and ANOVA were used. A meaningful difference between students’ attitudes towards geometry and variance of gender and grade level wasn’t observed, on the other hand a meaningful difference according to field and school type is observed.Key Words:    Attitudes towards geometry, high school geometry lesson, attitude scale

  4. Investing in High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Daniel G.

    2012-01-01

    Strapped for cash, a Massachusetts high school creates its own venture capital fund to incentivize teachers to create programs that improve student learning. The result has been higher test scores and higher job satisfaction. One important program is credited with helping close the achievement gap at the school, while others have helped ambitious…

  5. Interactive Ice Sheet Flowline Model for High School and College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stearns, L. A.; Rezvanbehbahani, S.; Shankar, S.

    2017-12-01

    Teaching about climate and climate change is conceptually challenging. While teaching tools and lesson plans are rapidly evolving to help teachers and students improve their understanding of climate processes, there are very few tools targeting ice sheet and glacier dynamics. We have built an interactive ice sheet model that allows students to explore how Antarctic glaciers respond to different climate perturbations. Interactive models offer advantages that are hard to obtain in traditional classroom settings; users can systematically investigate hypothetical situations, explore the effects of modifying systems, and repeatedly observe how systems interrelate. As a result, this project provides a much-needed bridge between the data and models used by the scientific community and students in high school and college. We target our instructional and assessment activities to three high school and college students with the overall aim of increasing understanding of ice sheet dynamics and the different ways that ice sheets are impacted by climate change, while also improving their fundamental math skills.

  6. Clinical and Community-Based Education in U.S. Dental Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Licari, Frank W; Evans, Caswell A

    2017-08-01

    This review of U.S. dental schools' clinical curricula suggests that the basic structure of clinical education has not changed significantly in the past 60 years, although important developments include the introduction of competency-based education and community-based clinical education. Most dental schools still have a two-year preclinical curriculum and a two-year clinical curriculum, and most schools still operate a large clinical facility where students receive the bulk of their clinical education and assessment for graduation. In those clinics, dental students are the main providers of patient treatment, with faculty serving in supervisory roles. In addition, a major portion of the entire dental curriculum continues to be dedicated to student education on the restoration of a single tooth or replacement of teeth. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21 st Century."

  7. Especially for High School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howell, J. Emory

    1999-12-01

    Chemistry and the Environment This issue contains more than 20 articles relating to the environment. Several articles of potential interest are indicated in the Table of Contents with the SSC mark (). Others are not so indicated because they depict use of expensive instrumentation or costly procedures, but if you have an interest in environmental chemistry you may wish to examine all the environmentally related articles. While many of the articles, both marked and unmarked, are targeted to college-level environmental chemistry curricula or to introductory courses for non-major, the methods described in several could be readily adapted to high school chemistry courses. One article likely to be of interest to teachers is found in News from Online, pp 1608-1609. The author explains how to use the U.S. Environment Protection Agency's EnviroMapper Web site to view and query environmental information. She mentioned finding a hazardous waste handler located near her home, so I decided to check the area near my home. I quickly located a natural gas salt dome storage facility marked on the map and, with a few more mouse clicks, I found information that included status of compliance with regulations, amounts of each compound released to the air in tons per year, and how to contact the corporation owning the site. Email and Web site addresses were included for the convenience of anyone wishing to contact the corporation. Students could learn a great deal about where they live that is relevant to chemistry by using the EPA site. Additional Web sites dealing with environmental issues and chemistry are cited in the sidebar at the bottom of p 1609. Among the articles that could be adapted to an advanced high school chemistry class or possibly even to an introductory class is one titled Bridge of Mandolin County (pp 1671-1672). It describes a case-study strategy similar to the scenarios used in ChemStudy. Students analyze information from various sources, including laboratory

  8. Pay It Forward: High School Video-based Instruction Can Disseminate CPR Knowledge in Priority Neighborhoods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Rios, Marina; Han, Josiah; Cano, Alejandra; Ramirez, Victor; Morales, Gabriel; Campbell, Teri L; Hoek, Terry Vanden

    2018-03-01

    The implementation of creative new strategies to increase layperson cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation may improve resuscitation in priority populations. As more communities implement laws requiring CPR training in high schools, there is potential for a multiplier effect and reach into priority communities with low bystander-CPR rates. We investigated the feasibility, knowledge acquisition, and dissemination of a high school-centered, CPR video self-instruction program with a "pay-it-forward" component in a low-income, urban, predominantly Black neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois with historically low bystander-CPR rates. Ninth and tenth graders followed a video self-instruction kit in a classroom setting to learn CPR. As homework, students were required to use the training kit to "pay it forward" and teach CPR to their friends and family. We administered pre- and post-intervention knowledge surveys to measure knowledge acquisition among classroom and "pay-it-forward" participants. Seventy-one classroom participants trained 347 of their friends and family, for an average of 4.9 additional persons trained per kit. Classroom CPR knowledge survey scores increased from 58% to 93% (p pay-it-forward cohort saw an increase from 58% to 82% (p pay-it-forward" component can disseminate CPR knowledge beyond the classroom. Because schools are centrally-organized settings to which all children and their families have access, school-based interventions allow for a broad reach that encompasses all segments of the population and have potential to decrease disparities in bystander CPR provision.

  9. Pay It Forward: High School Video-based Instruction Can Disseminate CPR Knowledge in Priority Neighborhoods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Josiah; Cano, Alejandra; Ramirez, Victor; Morales, Gabriel; Campbell, Teri L.; Hoek, Terry Vanden

    2018-01-01

    Introduction The implementation of creative new strategies to increase layperson cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation may improve resuscitation in priority populations. As more communities implement laws requiring CPR training in high schools, there is potential for a multiplier effect and reach into priority communities with low bystander-CPR rates. Methods We investigated the feasibility, knowledge acquisition, and dissemination of a high school-centered, CPR video self-instruction program with a “pay-it-forward” component in a low-income, urban, predominantly Black neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois with historically low bystander-CPR rates. Ninth and tenth graders followed a video self-instruction kit in a classroom setting to learn CPR. As homework, students were required to use the training kit to “pay it forward” and teach CPR to their friends and family. We administered pre- and post-intervention knowledge surveys to measure knowledge acquisition among classroom and “pay-it-forward” participants. Results Seventy-one classroom participants trained 347 of their friends and family, for an average of 4.9 additional persons trained per kit. Classroom CPR knowledge survey scores increased from 58% to 93% (p CPR educational intervention with a “pay-it-forward” component can disseminate CPR knowledge beyond the classroom. Because schools are centrally-organized settings to which all children and their families have access, school-based interventions allow for a broad reach that encompasses all segments of the population and have potential to decrease disparities in bystander CPR provision. PMID:29560076

  10. How High School Students Select a College.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilmour, Joseph E., Jr.; And Others

    The college selection process used by high school students was studied and a paradigm that describes the process was developed, based on marketing theory concerning consumer behavior. Primarily college freshmen and high school seniors were interviewed, and a few high school juniors and upper-level college students were surveyed to determine…

  11. High School Students’ Social Media Addiction

    OpenAIRE

    Deniz, Levent; Gürültü, Ercan

    2018-01-01

    Theaim of this study is to investigate high school students’ social mediaaddiction. The study was conducted with 473 students who were educated in2014-2015 academic year at 6 different schools in İstanbul, Eyüp disctrict.‘Social Media Addiction Scale’ developed by Tutgun, Ünal and Deniz (2015) wasused to determine the students’ social media addiction. The results in general showedthat high school students have a medium level social media addiction. Besides,it was also concluded that high scho...

  12. A Novel Model for Teaching Primary Care in a Community Practice Setting: Tufts at Tech Community Veterinary Clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCobb, Emily; Rozanski, Elizabeth A; Malcolm, Elizabeth L; Wolfus, Gregory; Rush, John E

    Providing veterinary students with opportunities to develop clinical skills in a realistic, hands-on environment remains a challenge for veterinary education. We have developed a novel approach to teaching clinical medicine to fourth-year veterinary students and technical high school students via development of a primary care clinic embedded within a technical high school. The primary care clinic targets an underserved area of the community, which includes many of the participating high school students. Support from the veterinary community for the project has been strong as a result of communication, the opportunity for veterinarians to volunteer in the clinic, and the careful targeting of services. Benefits to veterinary students include the opportunity to build clinical competencies and confidence, as well as the exposure to a diverse client population. The financial model of the clinic is described and initial data on outcomes for case load, clinic income, veterinary student evaluations, and high school students' success in passing the veterinary assisting examination are reported. This clinical model, involving a partnership between a veterinary school and a technical high school, may be adoptable to other clinical teaching situations.

  13. Project FIT: Rationale, design and baseline characteristics of a school- and community-based intervention to address physical activity and healthy eating among low-income elementary school children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oh Hyun J

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background This paper describes Project FIT, a collaboration between the public school system, local health systems, physicians, neighborhood associations, businesses, faith-based leaders, community agencies and university researchers to develop a multi-faceted approach to promote physical activity and healthy eating toward the general goal of preventing and reducing childhood obesity among children in Grand Rapids, MI, USA. Methods/design There are four overall components to Project FIT: school, community, social marketing, and school staff wellness - all that focus on: 1 increasing access to safe and affordable physical activity and nutrition education opportunities in the schools and surrounding neighborhoods; 2 improving the affordability and availability of nutritious food in the neighborhoods surrounding the schools; 3 improving the knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes and behaviors regarding nutrition and physical activity among school staff, parents and students; 4 impacting the 'culture' of the schools and neighborhoods to incorporate healthful values; and 5 encouraging dialogue among all community partners to leverage existing programs and introduce new ones. Discussion At baseline, there was generally low physical activity (70% do not meet recommendation of 60 minutes per day, excessive screen time (75% do not meet recommendation of rd-5th grade children (n = 403. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01385046

  14. Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Core Academic Strategic Designs: 2. Noble Street Charter High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

    2008-01-01

    This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

  15. Eye Injuries in High School and Collegiate Athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boden, Barry P; Pierpoint, Lauren A; Boden, Rebecca G; Comstock, R Dawn; Kerr, Zachary Y

    Although eye injuries constitute a small percentage of high school and college sports injuries, they have the potential to be permanently debilitating. Eye injury rates will vary by sport, sex, and between the high school and college age groups. Descriptive epidemiology study. Level 3. Data from eye injury reports in high school and college athletes were obtained from the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance System, High School Reporting Information Online (HS RIO) database over a 10-year span (2005-2006 through 2014-2015 school years) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) over an 11-year span (2004-2005 through 2014-2015 school years). Injury rates per 100,000 athlete-exposures (AEs), injury rate ratios (RRs), and 95% CIs were calculated. Distributions of eye injuries by diagnosis, mechanism, time loss, and surgery needs were also examined. A total of 237 and 273 eye injuries were reported in the HS RIO and the NCAA ISP databases, respectively. The sports with the highest eye injury rates (per 100,000 AEs) for combined high school and college athletes were women's basketball (2.36), women's field hockey (2.35), men's basketball (2.31), and men's wrestling (2.07). Overall eye injury rates at the high school and college levels were 0.68 and 1.84 per 100,000 AEs, respectively. Eye injury rates were higher in competition than practice in high school (RR, 3.47; 95% CI, 2.69-4.48) and college (RR, 3.13; 95% CI, 2.45-3.99). Most injuries were contusions (high school, 35.9%; college, 33.3%) and due to contact (high school, 89.9%; college, 86.4%). Only a small percentage of injuries resulted in time loss over 21 days (high school, 4.2%; college, 3.0%). Eye injury rates and patterns vary by sport, sex, and between the high school and college age groups. Although severe injuries do occur, most eye injuries sustained by high school and college athletes are minor, with limited time loss and full recovery

  16. An Agent-Based Model of School Closing in Under-Vacccinated Communities During Measles Outbreaks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Getz, Wayne M; Carlson, Colin; Dougherty, Eric; Porco Francis, Travis C; Salter, Richard

    2016-04-01

    The winter 2014-15 measles outbreak in the US represents a significant crisis in the emergence of a functionally extirpated pathogen. Conclusively linking this outbreak to decreases in the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccination rate (driven by anti-vaccine sentiment) is critical to motivating MMR vaccination. We used the NOVA modeling platform to build a stochastic, spatially-structured, individual-based SEIR model of outbreaks, under the assumption that R 0 ≈ 7 for measles. We show this implies that herd immunity requires vaccination coverage of greater than approximately 85%. We used a network structured version of our NOVA model that involved two communities, one at the relatively low coverage of 85% coverage and one at the higher coverage of 95%, both of which had 400-student schools embedded, as well as students occasionally visiting superspreading sites (e.g. high-density theme parks, cinemas, etc.). These two vaccination coverage levels are within the range of values occurring across California counties. Transmission rates at schools and superspreading sites were arbitrarily set to respectively 5 and 15 times background community rates. Simulations of our model demonstrate that a 'send unvaccinated students home' policy in low coverage counties is extremely effective at shutting down outbreaks of measles.

  17. On the gate of Arctic footsteps: Doors open to foreign high schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manno, C.; Pecchiar, I.

    2012-12-01

    With the increased attention on the changing Arctic Region effective science education, outreach and communication need to be higher priorities within the scientific communities. In order to encourage the dissemination of polar research at educational levels foreign high school students and teachers were visiting Tromso University for a week. The project highlights the role of the universities as link between research and outreach. The first aim of this project was to increase awareness of foreign schools on major topics concerning the Arctic issues (from the economic/social to the environmental/climatic point of view). Forty three Italian high school students were involved in the laboratory activities running at the UiT and participated in seminars. Topics of focus were Ocean Acidification, Global Warming and the combined effects with other anthropogenic stressors. During their stay, students interviewed several scientists in order to allow them to edit a "visiting report" and to elaborate all the material collected. Back in Italy they performed an itinerant exhibition (presentation of a short movie, posters, and pictures) in various Italian schools in order to pass on their Arctic education experience. The project highlights the role of University as communicator of "climate related issues" in the international frame of the "new generation" of students.

  18. THE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELOR BEFORE CONFLICTS AND THE SCHOOL VIOLENCE

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    Rubén Sánchez-Carranza

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to reflect on the figure and role of high school counselor in the task of addressing conflict situations in which students are immersed. The existence of a rising tide of violence in school conflicts and how important it is to know what countries in Europe , Asia and Latin America is done to promote a culture of peace is recognized. What happened it is exposed in a high school in Germany and how questions from the critical eye that are applicable to our Mexican reality are issued. Finally, it highlights the importance of skills that the counselor must possess or develop to prevent school conflicts escalate to levels of violence.Finally experience working with the School counselors S033 about this subject area is described.

  19. Obesity and Aerobic Fitness among Urban Public School Students in Elementary, Middle, and High School.

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    B Ruth Clark

    Full Text Available To assess the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk among urban public school students through a collaborative school district and university partnership.Children and adolescents in grades K-12 from 24 urban public schools participated in measurements of height, weight, and other health metrics during the 2009-2010 school year. Body mass index (BMI percentiles and z-scores were computed for 4673 students. President's Challenge 1-mile endurance run was completed by 1075 students ages 9-19 years. Maximal oxygen consumption (⩒O2max was predicted using an age-, sex-, and BMI-specific formula to determine health-related fitness. Resting blood pressure (BP was assessed in 1467 students. Regression analyses were used to compare BMI z-scores, fitness, and age- and sex-specific BP percentiles across grade levels. Chi-square tests were used to explore the effect of sex and grade-level on health-related outcomes.Based on BMI, 19.8% were categorized as overweight and 24.4% were obese. Included in the obese category were 454 students (9.7% of sample classified with severe obesity. Using FITNESSGRAM criteria, 50.2% of students did not achieve the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ; the proportion of students in the Needs Improvement categories increased from elementary to middle school to high school. Male students demonstrated higher fitness than female students, with 61.4% of boys and only 35.4% of girls meeting HFZ standards. Elevated BP was observed among 24% of 1467 students assessed. Systolic and diastolic BP z-scores revealed low correlation with BMI z-scores.A community-university collaboration identified obesity, severe obesity, overweight, and low aerobic fitness to be common risk factors among urban public school students.

  20. The Faculties of Pharmacy Schools Should Make an Effort to Network with Community Pharmacies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsushita, Ryo

    2016-01-01

    By law, medical faculties are mandated to have a designated partner hospital for the purposes of student practical training. In contrast, pharmacy faculties do not have such a legal requirement for student training in a community pharmacy setting. Nevertheless, there are several public and private universities that do have community pharmacies. However, there is no national university that has established both an educational hospital and a community pharmacy. When Kanazawa University (KU) established a graduate school with a clinical pharmacy course, the faculty of KU deemed it necessary to set up an independent community pharmacy for the purpose of practical training. Thus, in 2003, the Acanthus Pharmacy was set up as the first educational community pharmacy in Japan, managed by a nonprofit organization, with the permission of the Ishikawa Pharmaceutical Association and local community pharmacists. Since that time, Acanthus has managed a clinical pharmacy practice for students from both the undergraduate and graduate schools of KU. From 2006, the undergraduate pharmacy program was changed to a 6-year program, and the Acanthus Pharmacy has continued its roles in educating undergraduate pharmaceutical students, medical students, and as a site of early exposure for KU freshmen. From our experience, it is important to have a real clinical environment available to university pharmacy faculty and students, especially in training for community pharmacy practices.

  1. Best practices for community gardening in a US-Mexico border community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangadu, Thenral; Kelly, Michael; Orezzoli, Max C E; Gallegos, Rebecca; Matharasi, Pracheta

    2017-12-01

    Minority communities such as those on the US-Mexico border are placed at disproportionate high risk for child and adult obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. A built environment characterized by an arid desert climate, lack of access to healthy foods, barriers to increasing physical activity, cultural and community norms which deter healthy eating and sustainable food production, shape obesity-related health disparities in these communities. Three pilot community gardens (implemented by two local governmental organizations and one community-based organization) were funded through the local Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) initiative in El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces and Anthony, New Mexico (US-MX border communities with high obesity rates) in order to encourage healthy lifestyles among families in the region. A mixed-methods evaluation (n = 223) examined the implementation process, immediate outcomes and best practices of implementing and sustaining community gardens in these minority binational communities. In addition to nutrition-related outcomes, the potential for psychosocial outcomes from participating in community and school garden projects were observed. The best practices in relation to (i) assessing community norms related to growing food, (ii) increasing access to land and water for community/school gardening and (iii) enhancing social support for gardening are discussed. The implications of these best practices for obesity prevention and implementing community gardens in a minority US-MX border community characterized by cultural, geographical and socioeconomic barriers are examined. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. WorldWide Telescope in High School Astronomy Competitions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Constantin, Ana-Maria; Goodman, A. A.; Udomprasert, P. S.

    2014-01-01

    This project aims to improve astronomy education at the high school level, and to increase awareness in astronomy for pre-university students, on an international scale. In 2013, the WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors Program began a collaboration with the International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA), which was held in the city of Volos, Greece in August 2013. Now at its VIIth edition, IOAA is the largest annual astronomy competition for high school students, and it consists of one team task and three individual ones - Theoretical, Data Analysis, and Observational. Each of the participating countries (35 in 2013, compared to 21 in 2007) is responsible for selecting up to five representative students for the International round. IOAA is meant to promote future collaborations between these students, and to encourage friendships inside a global scientific community. Ana-Maria Constantin, a current Harvard undergraduate student and a former medalist of IOAA, represented WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors in Greece by giving a talk on the advantages of using WWT as a tool for research and education. As a result, the President and the International Board of the Olympiad have expressed support for including WWT in the competition for future editions. WWTA is working with the Organizing Board for next year’s competition in Romania, to include WWT as a testing tool. This poster will summarize key points from the WWTA presentation in Greece, present ideas for WWT-based activities in future IOAA competitions, and outline plans for new collaborations from representatives of Sri Lanka, Poland, Bangladesh, and Colombia. Given the positive feedback we have received after the presentation in Greece, we are also considering future implementations of WWT in summer research camps for high school students, such as the Summer Science Program.

  3. Companeros: High school students mentor middle school students to address obesity among Hispanic adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Promotoras, Hispanic community health workers, are frequently employed to promote health behavioral change with culturally bound Hispanic lifestyle behaviors. Peer health mentors have been used in schools to promote healthy nutrition and physical activity behaviors among students. This study investi...

  4. Gender differences in introductory university physics performance: The influence of high school physics preparation and affect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazari, Zahra Sana

    The attrition of females studying physics after high school is a concern to the science education community. Most undergraduate science programs require introductory physics coursework. Thus, success in introductory physics is necessary for students to progress to higher levels of science study. Success also influences attitudes; if females are well-prepared, feel confident, and do well in introductory physics, they may be inclined to study physics further. This quantitative study using multilevel modeling focused on determining factors from high school physics preparation (content, pedagogy, and assessment) and the affective domain that influenced female and male performance in introductory university physics. The study controlled for some university/course level characteristics as well as student demographic and academic background characteristics. The data consisted of 1973 surveys from 54 introductory physics courses within 35 universities across the US. The results highlight high school physics and affective experiences that differentially influenced female and male performance. These experiences include: learning requirements, computer graphing/analysis, long written problems, everyday world examples, community projects, cumulative tests/quizzes, father's encouragement, family's belief that science leads to a better career, and the length of time students believed that high school physics would help in university physics. There were also experiences that had a similar influence on female and male performance. Positively related to performance were: covering fewer topics for longer periods of time, the history of physics as a recurring topic, physics-related videos, and test/quiz questions that involved calculations and/or were drawn from standardized tests. Negatively related to performance were: student-designed projects, reading/discussing labs the day before performing them, microcomputer based laboratories, discussion after demonstrations, and family

  5. The connection: schooling, youth development, and community building-The Futures Academy case.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Henry Louis; McGlynn, Linda Greenough

    2009-01-01

    Universities, because of their vast human and fiscal resources, can play the central role in assisting in the development of school-centered community development programs that make youth development their top priority. The Futures Academy, a K-8 public school in the Fruit Belt, an inner-city neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, offers a useful model of community development in partnership with the Center for Urban Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. The goal of the project is to create opportunities for students to apply the knowledge and skills they learn in the classroom to the goal of working with others to make the neighborhood a better place to live. The efforts seek to realize in practice the Dewey dictum that individuals learn best when they have "a real motive behind and a real outcome ahead."

  6. Community Attitudes toward School-Based Sexuality Education in a Conservative State

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunn, Michael S.; Thompson, Sharon H.; M'Cormack, Fredanna A. D.; Yannessa, John F.; Duffy, Jennifer L.

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess community attitudes toward school-based abstinence-plus sexuality education. A dual sampling approach of landlines and cell phones resulted in 988 adults from two counties completing "The South Carolina Survey of Public Opinion on Pregnancy Prevention." Among respondents, 87.1% supported…

  7. Correlation Among Students’ Family Background, Academic Performance in Junior High School, and Senior High School Tracking in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming-Fu Huang

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available There were numerous previous studies on educational tracking. However, most of the data adopted in these studies were collected a decade ago, involving sample population 20-64 years of age. Among them, many elderly samples had undergone senior high school tracking in the early years. The present study used the data of students and parents from the 3rd wave (2005 of the Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS. A path analysis was conducted to investigate the inequality of opportunities involved in the influence of student family background on educational tracking at the senior high school stage. The results show: although the overall percentage of junior high school graduates entering advanced levels was approximately 100% and almost all students of different family backgrounds entered advanced levels, the most crucial factor among those affecting educational tracking of senior high school stage was students’ academic performance during junior high school. Students with higher family socioeconomic status and fewer siblings showed better academic performance in junior high schools, and consequently had higher possibilities of entering public senior high schools leading to a more promising future. This indicates that though the inequality in the quantity of opportunities approached 0, the inequality in the quality of opportunities still remained, which fails to support the hypothesis of the maximally maintained inequality of educational opportunity (MMI; however, the result supports the hypothesis of the effectively maintained inequality of educational opportunity (EMI.

  8. Primary school as the hub of the social and cultural life in the local community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jasna Mažgon

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available For quite some time, Slovenian society has been preserving a specific model of social organisation rooted in the communal form. In functioning as a socio-cultural centre of the local community the school greatly surpassed its primary role of educating children. The process of urbanisation that has reached rural areas brought very interesting changes to the previously expanded function of the local school. We examined how, today, schools perceive a need to connect with and engage in their local environments. The perceptions of connections and their real modalities do differ and the ways in which schools respond to the needs of the localities (and vice versa depend on the prevalent model of social organisation. Exceptions to this are more significant in localities where the school might be one of very few public institutions or the only public institution present at the local level. Although the schools wish to motivate and engage local residents also in other environments, they often lack the time and energy to do so. The results of qualitative analysis indicated that merging or closing local schools could have negative demographic and socio-cultural consequences. At the same time, the analysis pointed to unrealised potential in the localities lacking tradition, such as new urban areas where the school could be the crucial element in the social organisation of the local community.

  9. Structural analysis of factors that influence professional learning communities in Korean elementary schools

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    Kyoung-Oh Song

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Professional Learning Communities(PLCs arean important strategy for innovation in schools, and they arereceiving considerable attention from scholars and educators alike. The present study aimed to examine the effect of PLCson schools’ effectiveness and to investigate the social, organizational, and structural factors that can promote these learning communities. The survey for this study was completed by 375 teachers from 40 elementary schools in the Seoul Metropolitan Area of South Korea, and their responses were analyzed to test the hypothesized model. The results of the structural equationmodeling indicated that PLCswere strongly and directly related to elementary schools’ effectivenessand that principals’ leadership and supportive relationshipsamong teachers were the important factors that influenced PLCs. Based on the results of this study, several implications are discussed.

  10. Improving community development by linking agriculture, nutrition and education: design of a randomised trial of "home-grown" school feeding in Mali.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masset, Edoardo; Gelli, Aulo

    2013-02-21

    Providing food through schools has well documented effects in terms of the education, health and nutrition of school children. However, there is limited evidence in terms of the benefits of providing a reliable market for small-holder farmers through "home-grown" school feeding approaches. This study aims to evaluate the impact of school feeding programmes sourced from small-holder farmers on small-holder food security, as well as on school children's education, health and nutrition in Mali. In addition, this study will examine the links between social accountability and programme performance. This is a field experiment planned around the scale-up of the national school feeding programme, involving 116 primary schools in 58 communities in food insecure areas of Mali. The randomly assigned interventions are: 1) a school feeding programme group, including schools and villages where the standard government programme is implemented; 2) a "home-grown" school feeding and social accountability group, including schools and villages where the programme is implemented in addition to training of community based organisations and local government; and 3) the control group, including schools and household from villages where the intervention will be delayed by at least two years, preferably without informing schools and households. Primary outcomes include small-holder farmer income, school participation and learning, and community involvement in the programme. Other outcomes include nutritional status and diet-diversity. The evaluation will follow a mixed method approach, including household, school and village level surveys as well as focus group discussions with small-holder farmers, school children, parents and community members. The impact evaluation will be incorporated within the national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system strengthening activities that are currently underway in Mali. Baselines surveys are planned for 2012. A monthly process monitoring visits, spot

  11. Should School Boards Discontinue Support for High School Football?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Margolis, Lewis H; Canty, Greg; Halstead, Mark; Lantos, John D

    2017-01-01

    A pediatrician is asked by her local school board to help them decide whether to discontinue their high school football program. She reviews the available evidence on the risks of football and finds it hopelessly contradictory. Some scholars claim that football is clearly more dangerous than other sports. Others suggest that the risks of football are comparable to other sports, such as lacrosse, ice hockey, or soccer. She finds very little data on the long-term sequelae of concussions. She sees claims that good coaching and a school culture that prioritizes the health of athletes over winning can reduce morbidity from sports injuries. In this paper, 3 experts also review the evidence about sports risks and discuss what is known and not known about the science and the ethics of high school football. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  12. Introduction to Small Telescope Research Communities of Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genet, Russell M.

    2016-06-01

    Communities of practice are natural, usually informal groups of people who work together. Experienced members teach new members the “ropes.” Social learning theorist Etienne Wenger’s book, Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, defined the field. There are, in astronomy, many communities of practice. One set of communities uses relatively small telescopes to observe brighter objects such as eclipsing binaries, intrinsically variable stars, transiting exoplanets, tumbling asteroids, and the occultation of background stars by asteroids and the Moon. Advances in low cost but increasingly powerful instrumentation and automation have greatly increased the research capabilities of smaller telescopes. These often professional-amateur (pro-am) communities engage in research projects that require a large number of observers as exemplified by the American Association of Variable Star Observers. For high school and community college students with an interest in science, joining a student-centered, small telescope community of practice can be both educational and inspirational. An example is the now decade-long Astronomy Research Seminar offered by Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, California. Each student team is required to plan a project, obtain observations (either locally or via a remote robotic telescope), analyze their data, write a paper, and submit it for external review and publication. Well over 100 students, composed primarily of high school juniors and seniors, have been coauthors of several dozen published papers. Being published researchers has boosted these students’ educational careers with admissions to choice schools, often with scholarships. This seminar was recently expanded to serve multiple high schools with a volunteer assistant instructor at each school. The students meet regularly with their assistant instructor and also meet online with other teams and the seminar’s overall community college instructor. The seminar

  13. Researching Pupil Well-Being in UK Secondary Schools: Community Psychology and the Politics of Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duckett, Paul; Sixsmith, Judith; Kagan, Carolyn

    2008-01-01

    This study explores the relationships between a school, its staff and its pupils and the impact of these relationships on school pupils' well-being. The authors adopted a community psychological perspective and applied critical, social constructionist epistemologies and participatory, multi-method research tools. The article discusses the…

  14. The Impact of Educational Intervention on Aggression Level among High School Students in Ilam-Iran

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    Adel Bahari

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundManagement and control of adolescence aggression improves constructive relationships, quality of life, and academic achievement. This research aimed to study the impact of educational intervention on reduction of aggression among male high school students in Ilam city, Iran.Materials and MethodsThis quasi-experimental intervention study using the pretest-posttest method was conducted on 70 aggressive male high school students in Ilam who were selected using the convenience sampling method. First, students were asked to fill out the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQand 70 of them with the highest score of aggression were selected as the sample. They received educational intervention for eight 90-minute sessions  during one month. Then post-test data were collected and follow-up at three months after the intervention and statistically analyzed using SPSS-20.ResultsThe mean age of subjects was 15.81±1.24 years old. 83% belonged to the urban community and 12.5% belonged to the rural community. The results showed that the educational intervention was effective in reduction of aggression levels and its four subscales (P

  15. Learning To Leave: The Irony of Schooling in a Coastal Community...Some Preliminary Findings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corbett, Mike

    A study examined the role of education in outmigration from the rural coastal community of Digby Neck, Nova Scotia. Data gathered on 756 Grade 6 students who left Digby Neck Consolidated School between 1957 and 1992 were supplemented by in-depth interviews with 36 of those former students, 12 area educators, and community members. Findings…

  16. A View from Within: A Case Study of Chinese Heritage Community Language Schools in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xueying, Ed.

    A collection of essays on Chinese heritage community language schools in the United States addresses these topics: the schools, their curricula, and organization (Theresa Hsu Chao); school administration and management (Chao, Lydia Chen, Edward Chang); academic curriculum (Pay-Fen Serena Wang); non-heritage Chinese learners: practices and…

  17. Research or "Cheerleading"? Scholarship on Community School District 2, New York City

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    Lois Weiner

    2003-08-01

    Full Text Available This article examines data on student achievement and school demographics not explored by the researchers who have promoted Community School District 2 (CSD 2 as a model of urban school reform that should be replicated elsewhere. Data on achievement indicate a remarkable degree of social and racial stratification among CSD 2's schools and levels of achievement that closely correlate with race, ethnicity, and poverty. In addition, when CSD 2's scores on state and city tests of mathematics are compared with results from CSD 25 in Queens, a school district that serves a population demographically similar, the superiority of its functioning becomes questionable. The article explains why the design of research on CSD 2 illustrates the perils to both research and policy when university-based researchers assume the role of “cheerleader” (Cuban, 1988, promoting reforms they have aided in implementing and assessing.

  18. Reaching In, Reaching Out: Faith Schools, Community Engagement, and 21st-Century Skills for Intercultural Understanding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker-Jenkins, Marie; Glenn, Meli; Janmaat, Jan Germen

    2014-01-01

    In what ways do Jewish and Muslim faith schools in Britain play a role in promoting and contributing to community cohesion? What 21st-century skills around intercultural understanding do they foster? This book examines the nuances of faith in school settings and draws on a case study of Jewish and Muslim faith schools. The authors show how these…

  19. High-school football and late-life risk of neurodegenerative syndromes, 1956–1970

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janssen, Pieter HH; Mandrekar, Jay; Mielke, Michelle M; Ahlskog, J. Eric; Boeve, Bradley F; Josephs, Keith; Savica, Rodolfo

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND Repeated head trauma has been associated with risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Few studies have evaluated the long-term risk of neurodegenerative diseases in collision sports like football. OBJECTIVE To assess whether athletes who played American varsity high-school football between 1956 and 1970 have an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases later in life. PATIENTS AND METHODS We identified all male varsity football players between 1956 and 1970 in the public high schools of Rochester, Minnesota, compared to non-football-playing male varsity swimmers, wrestlers or basketball players. Using the records-linkage system of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, we ascertained the incidence of late-life neurodegenerative diseases: dementia, parkinsonism, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We also recorded medical record-documented head trauma during high school years. RESULTS We identified 296 varsity football players and 190 athletes engaging in other sports. Football players had an increased risk of medically documented head trauma, especially if they played football for more than one year. Compared to non-football athletes, football players did not have an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease overall, nor the individual conditions of dementia, parkinsonism, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. CONCLUSION In this community based study, varsity high school football players from 1956 to 1970 did not have an increased risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases compared with athletes engaged in other varsity sports. This was from an era where there was a generally nihilistic view of concussion dangers, less protective equipment and without prohibition of spearing (head-first tackling). However, size and strength of players from prior eras may not be comparable to current high-school athletes. PMID:27979411

  20. Schools or Students? Identifying High School Effects on Student Suspensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker-Smith, E. Christine

    2015-01-01

    Evidence is clear that discipline in high school is associated with negative outcomes across the life course. Not only are suspensions related to declining academic trajectories during high school in the form of attendance and academic achievement, students suspended once are also more likely to be suspended again and also substantially increase…

  1. The Effects of Paternalism Upon an Industrial Community's Participation in Schooling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desmond, Cheryl T.

    The influence of paternalism upon a community's school district participation is discussed in this historical case study. Interviews and historical research explore the impact of the "welfare capitalism" of the Endicott Shoe Corporation and International Business Machines on Harrison City, New York, from 1890 through the present. An analysis of…

  2. High School Book Fairs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitzgerald, Marianne

    2006-01-01

    Many secondary students have given up the joy of reading. When asked why they don't read for pleasure, students came up with many different reasons, the first being lack of time. High school students are busy with after school jobs, sports, homework, etc. With the growing number of students enrolled in AP classes, not only is there not much time…

  3. All Heck Breaks Loose at Little Sisters of the Bayou High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fossey, Richard; Trujillo-Jenks, Laura; Eckes, Suzanne

    2013-01-01

    Public schools are full of incidents that fill newspapers, but when a private school is struck with instances of libel, child abuse, and violations of Title IX, the community is at a loss as to what to do.

  4. The New Urban High School: A Practitioner's Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Big Picture Co., Cambridge, MA.

    In October 1996, the Big Picture Company set out to find six urban high schools that use school-to-work strategies as a lever for whole-school reform. In the schools finally selected for the New Urban High Schools Project, and in others examined for the study, "school-to-work" is a misnomer, because the majority of students are entering…

  5. High School Teachers' Problem Solving Activities to Review and Extend Their Mathematical and Didactical Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos-Trigo, Manuel; Barrera-Mora, Fernando

    2011-01-01

    The study documents the extent to which high school teachers reflect on their need to revise and extend their mathematical and practicing knowledge. In this context, teachers worked on a set of tasks as a part of an inquiring community that promoted the use of different computational tools in problem solving approaches. Results indicated that the…

  6. Case Study: Chicago. Needle-Moving Community Collaboratives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seldon, Willa; Jolin, Michele; Schmitz, Paul

    2012-01-01

    Communities face powerful challenges that require powerful solutions: a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy. In an era of limited resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by…

  7. Case Study: Nashville. Needle-Moving Community Collaboratives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seldon, Willa; Jolin, Michele; Schmitz, Paul

    2012-01-01

    Communities face powerful challenges that require powerful solutions: a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy. In an era of limited resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by…

  8. Case Study: Philadelphia. Needle-Moving Community Collaboratives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seldon, Willa; Jolin, Michele; Schmitz, Paul

    2012-01-01

    Communities face powerful challenges that require powerful solutions: a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy. In an era of limited resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by…

  9. Case Study: Parramore. Needle-Moving Community Collaboratives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seldon, Willa; Jolin, Michele; Schmitz, Paul

    2012-01-01

    Communities face powerful challenges that require powerful solutions: a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy. In an era of limited resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by…

  10. SUPPORT FOR HU CFRT SUMMER HIGH SCHOOL FUSION WORKSHOP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Punjabi, Alkesh

    2010-01-01

    Nine summer fusion science research workshops for minority and female high school students were conducted at the Hampton University Center for Fusion Research and Training from 1996 to 2005. Each workshop was of the duration of eight weeks. In all 35 high school students were mentored. The students presented 28 contributed papers at the annual meetings of the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics. These contributed papers were very well received by the plasma physics and fusion science research community. The students won a number of prestigious local, state, and national honors, awards, prizes, and scholarships. The notable among these are the two regional finalist positions in the 1999 Siemens-Westinghouse Science and Technology Competitions; 1st Place U.S. Army Award, 2006; 1st Place U.S. Naval Science Award, 2006; Yale Science and Engineering Association Best 11th Grade Project, 2006; Society of Physics Students Book Award, 2006; APS Corporate Minority Scholarship and others. This workshop program conducted by the HU CFRT has been an exemplary success, and served the minority and female students exceptionally fruitfully. The Summer High School Fusion Science Workshop is an immensely successful outreach activity conducted by the HU CFRT. In this workshop, we train, motivate, and provide high quality research experiences to young and talented high school scholars with emphasis on under-represented minorities and female students in fusion science and related areas. The purpose of this workshop is to expose minority and female students to the excitement of research in science at an early stage in their academic lives. It is our hope that this may lead the high school students to pursue higher education and careers in physical sciences, mathematics, and perhaps in fusion science. To our knowledge, this workshop is the first and only one to date, of fusion science for under-represented minorities and female high school students at an HBCU. The faculty

  11. A Study of Psychosocial Challenges of Public Secondary School ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Femi

    detrimental consequences for their mental health. The school plays ... Journal of Community Medicine and Primary Health Care. 28(1) 59-64 ... Ore community high school is situated along .... self-esteem and, juvenile delinquency as a way of.

  12. High level bacterial contamination of secondary school students' mobile phones.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kõljalg, Siiri; Mändar, Rando; Sõber, Tiina; Rööp, Tiiu; Mändar, Reet

    2017-06-01

    While contamination of mobile phones in the hospital has been found to be common in several studies, little information about bacterial abundance on phones used in the community is available. Our aim was to quantitatively determine the bacterial contamination of secondary school students' mobile phones. Altogether 27 mobile phones were studied. The contact plate method and microbial identification using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer were used for culture studies. Quantitative PCR reaction for detection of universal 16S rRNA, Enterococcus faecalis 16S rRNA and Escherichia coli allantoin permease were performed, and the presence of tetracycline ( tet A, tet B, tet M), erythromycin ( erm B) and sulphonamide ( sul 1) resistance genes was assessed. We found a high median bacterial count on secondary school students' mobile phones (10.5 CFU/cm 2 ) and a median of 17,032 bacterial 16S rRNA gene copies per phone. Potentially pathogenic microbes ( Staphylococcus aureus , Acinetobacter spp. , Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus cereus and Neisseria flavescens ) were found among dominant microbes more often on phones with higher percentage of E. faecalis in total bacterial 16S rRNA. No differences in contamination level or dominating bacterial species between phone owner's gender and between phone types (touch screen/keypad) were found. No antibiotic resistance genes were detected on mobile phone surfaces. Quantitative study methods revealed high level bacterial contamination of secondary school students' mobile phones.

  13. Guidelines of the Development and the Supporting Learning Resources by the Community Participatory of Case Study for the Schools Under Secondary Education Service Area Office 24

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wisan Payungwong

    2017-06-01

    , wisdom villagers and religious leaders. The data collected by using the group discussion form. The research presented as the following: 1. Components of guidelines of the development and the supporting learning resources by the community participatory of case study for the schools under Secondary Education Service Area Office 24 consisted of cooperative process into 6 components including ; participation of consultation, participation of planning, participation of decision, participation of operations, participation of monitoring and evaluation and participation of improvement and development.. 2. Guidelines of the development and the supporting learning resources by the community participatory of case study for the schools under Secondary Education Service Area Office 24 was found that the academic administration by the community participatory had 6 components including ; participation of consultation, participation of planning, participation of decision, participation of operations, participation of monitoring and evaluation and participation of improvement and development. This research also found that had 20 methods for the development and the supporting learning resources by the community participatory and the effective implementation of development with community participation were the total to 20. The evaluations of propriety, feasibility and utility of guideline of the development and the supporting learning resources by the community participatory from7 professionals were at high levels. The small group assessment found that applications that can be applied. In addition, the guidelines of the development and the supporting learning resources by the community participatory have led to a trial by the schools. After that, the schools will report the results of the guidelines of the development and the supporting learning resources by the community participatory to guide practical.

  14. Factors Affecting the Retention of First-career and Second-career Science Teachers in Urban High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rak, Rosemary C.

    The turnover of high school science teachers is an especially troubling problem in urban schools with economically disadvantaged students. Because high teacher turnover rates impede effective instruction, the persistence of teacher attrition is a serious concern. Using an online survey and interviews in a sequential mixed-methods approach, this study investigates the perceptions of high school science teachers regarding factors that contribute to their employment decisions. The study also compares first-career and second-career science teachers' perceptions of retention and attrition factors and identifies conditions that urban school leaders can establish to support the retention of their science teachers. A purposeful sample of 138 science teachers from urban area New England public high schools with 50% or more Free and Reduced Price Lunch-eligible students participated in the survey. Twelve survey respondents were subsequently interviewed. In accord with extant research, this study's results suggest that school leadership is essential to fostering teacher retention. The findings also reveal the importance of autonomy, professional community, and adequate resources to support science instruction. Although mentoring and induction programs receive low importance ratings in this study, career-changers view these programs as more important to their retention than do first-career science teachers. Second-career interviewees, in particular, voice the importance of being treated as professionals by school leaders. Future research may examine the characteristics of mentoring and induction programs that make them most responsive to the needs of first-career and second-career science teachers. Future studies may also investigate the aspects of school leadership and professional autonomy that are most effective in promoting science teacher retention. Keywords: career-changers; school leaders; science teachers; second-career teachers; teacher retention; teacher turnover

  15. Excellence in Urban High Schools: An Emerging District/School Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Robert K.; And Others

    This report presents the preliminary findings of the District/Secondary School Study. The study had two purposes: (1) to identify ways of managing urban high schools to produce excellence, and (2) to recommend policy-relevant guidance to existing school and district administrators. The study design focused on the testing of two specific theories…

  16. Building a Virtual High School...Click by Click

    Science.gov (United States)

    Podoll, Sue; Randle, Darcy

    2005-01-01

    The Rapid City Academy is the alternative high school program for South Dakota's Rapid City Area Schools, which has an enrollment of about 13,000 K-12 students, with five middle schools feeding two large traditional high schools and the alternative program. A high percentage of students at the academy are considered "at-risk" due to…

  17. Intended and Unintended Effects of State-Mandated High School Science and Mathematics Course Graduation Requirements on Educational Attainment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plunk, Andrew D; Tate, William F; Bierut, Laura J; Grucza, Richard A

    2014-06-01

    Mathematics and science course graduation requirement (CGR) increases in the 1980s and 1990s might have had both intended and unintended consequences. Using logistic regression with Census and American Community Survey (ACS) data ( n = 2,892,444), we modeled CGR exposure on (a) high school dropout, (b) beginning college, and (c) obtaining any college degree. Possible between-groups differences were also assessed. We found that higher CGRs were associated with higher odds to drop out of high school, but results for the college-level outcomes varied by group. Some were less likely to enroll, whereas others who began college were more likely to obtain a degree. Increased high school dropout was consistent across the population, but some potential benefit was also observed, primarily for those reporting Hispanic ethnicity.

  18. Reading, Writing, and Presenting Original Scientific Research: A Nine-Week Course in Scientific Communication for High School Students†

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danka, Elizabeth S.; Malpede, Brian M.

    2015-01-01

    High school students are not often given opportunities to communicate scientific findings to their peers, the general public, and/or people in the scientific community, and therefore they do not develop scientific communication skills. We present a nine-week course that can be used to teach high school students, who may have no previous experience, how to read and write primary scientific articles and how to discuss scientific findings with a broad audience. Various forms of this course have been taught for the past 10 years as part of an intensive summer research program for rising high school seniors that is coordinated by the Young Scientist Program at Washington University in St. Louis. The format presented here includes assessments for efficacy through both rubric-based methods and student self-assessment surveys. PMID:26753027

  19. Effects of Part-Time Work on School Achievement During High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Kusum; Chang, Mido; Dika, Sandra

    2007-01-01

    The authors explored the effects of part-time work on school achievement during high school. To estimate the true effects of part-time work on school grades, the authors included family background, students' educational aspirations, and school engagement as controls. Although a substantial literature exists on the relationship of part-time work…

  20. The Preparation of Schools for Serious School Violence: An Analysis of New Mexico Public High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiMatteo, Henry

    2012-01-01

    This study surveyed New Mexico high school principals on their current state of preparedness for serious school violence. The researcher surveyed 119 public high schools, receiving a 65% return rate from a 25-question survey. Specifically, this study analyzed the relationships of three predictor variables: prevention, response, and building of…