Bullying as a risk for poor sleep quality among high school students in China.

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Ying Zhou

Full Text Available To determine whether involvement in bullying as a bully, victim, or bully-victim was associated with a higher risk of poor sleep quality among high school students in China.A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 23,877 high school students were surveyed in six cities in Guangdong Province. All students were asked to complete the adolescent health status questionnaire, which included the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI and bullying involvement. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate sleep quality and the prevalence of school bullying. Multi-level logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between being victimized and bullying others with sleep quality.Among the 23,877 students, 6,127 (25.66% reported having poor sleep quality, and 10.89% reported being involved in bullying behaviors. Of the respondents, 1,410 (5.91% were pure victims of bullying, 401 (1.68% were bullies and 784 (3.28% were bully-victims. Frequently being involved in bullying behaviors (being bullied or bullying others was related to increased risks of poor sleep quality compared with adolescents who were not involved in bullying behaviors. After adjusting for age, sex, and other confounding factors, the students who were being bullied (OR=2.05, 95%CI=1.81-2.32, bullied others (OR=2.30, 95%CI=1.85-2.86 or both (OR=2.58, 95%CI=2.20-3.03 were at a higher risk for poor sleep quality.Poor sleep quality among high school students is highly prevalent, and school bullying is prevalent among adolescents in China. The present results suggested that being involved in school bullying might be a risk factor for poor sleep quality among adolescents.

Bullying as a risk for poor sleep quality among high school students in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Ying; Guo, Lan; Lu, Ci-yong; Deng, Jian-xiong; He, Yuan; Huang, Jing-hui; Huang, Guo-liang; Deng, Xue-qing; Gao, Xue

2015-01-01

To determine whether involvement in bullying as a bully, victim, or bully-victim was associated with a higher risk of poor sleep quality among high school students in China. A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 23,877 high school students were surveyed in six cities in Guangdong Province. All students were asked to complete the adolescent health status questionnaire, which included the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and bullying involvement. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate sleep quality and the prevalence of school bullying. Multi-level logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between being victimized and bullying others with sleep quality. Among the 23,877 students, 6,127 (25.66%) reported having poor sleep quality, and 10.89% reported being involved in bullying behaviors. Of the respondents, 1,410 (5.91%) were pure victims of bullying, 401 (1.68%) were bullies and 784 (3.28%) were bully-victims. Frequently being involved in bullying behaviors (being bullied or bullying others) was related to increased risks of poor sleep quality compared with adolescents who were not involved in bullying behaviors. After adjusting for age, sex, and other confounding factors, the students who were being bullied (OR=2.05, 95%CI=1.81-2.32), bullied others (OR=2.30, 95%CI=1.85-2.86) or both (OR=2.58, 95%CI=2.20-3.03) were at a higher risk for poor sleep quality. Poor sleep quality among high school students is highly prevalent, and school bullying is prevalent among adolescents in China. The present results suggested that being involved in school bullying might be a risk factor for poor sleep quality among adolescents.

Impact of dental fear on oral health-related quality of life among school going and non-school going children in Udaipur city: A cross-sectional study

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Akanksha Goyal

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: To assess the impact of dental fear on different domains of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL among school going and non-school going children in the Indian scenario. Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 279 school children and 257 non-school going children thus making a total sample of 536 children. The sampling frame comprised of 12-15-year-old children attending two upper primary public schools and non-school going children working at shops or not working in Udaipur city, India. Information on dental fear and OHRQoL was obtained by personal interviews by a single trained and calibrated examiner through a structured questionnaire. Intercooled STATA version 9.2 was employed to perform statistical analysis. The level of significance was set at 5%. Results: Mean dental fear scores among school going (35.41 [11.79] and non-school going (47.59 [3.80] children revealed that dental fear was significantly (P ≤ 0.05 higher among non-school going than among school going children. In school going children, the likelihood of having poor oral symptoms, functional limitation and poorer social and emotional well being were significantly (P ≤ 0.05 lesser as compared with non-school going children. Conclusions: Fear has a significant impact on different domains of OHRQoL, except emotional well being, among non-school going children.

Influencing pro-poor telecommunication policies in Asia | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2016-06-10

Jun 10, 2016 ... The survey also revealed that the poorer the people, the larger the share ... CEO of LIRNEasia, the Sri Lanka-based think tank which conducted the study. ... has also been successful in influencing pro-poor telecommunication ...

Poor School Bonding and Delinquency over Time: Bidirectional Effects and Sex Differences

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Liljeberg, Jenny Freidenfelt; Eklund, Jenny M.; Fritz, Marie Vafors; Klinteberg, Britt af

2011-01-01

The association between poor school bonding and delinquency has only been partly addressed in earlier research. Using a longitudinal design, the objective of our study was to investigate possible bidirectional effects and sex differences between adolescents' experienced school bonding and self-rated delinquency over time. A total of 788…

Female Schooling, Non-Market Productivity, and Labor Market Participation in Nigeria

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Aromolaran, Adebayo B.

2004-01-01

Economists have argued that increasing female schooling positively influences the labor supply of married women by inducing a faster rise in market productivity relative to non-market productivity. I use the Nigerian Labor Force Survey to investigate how own and husband's schooling affect women's labor market participation. I find that additional years of postsecondary education increases wage market participation probability by as much as 15.2%. A marginal increase in primary schooling has n...

Laterality influences schooling position in rainbowfish, Melanotaenia spp.

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Bibost, Anne-Laurence; Brown, Culum

2013-01-01

Cerebral lateralization is a widespread trait among animals, is often manifested as side biases in behaviour (laterality) and has been suggested to provide fitness benefits. Here we examined the influence of laterality on the organisation of fish schools using rainbowfish (Melanotaenia spp) as model species. The pattern and strength of laterality for each individual was determined by examining eye preferences whilst examining their reflection in a mirror. Schools of four fish of known laterality were then created and the preferred position for each fish within the school was repeatedly observed in a flume. Fish which showed right eye preferences in the mirror test preferentially adopted a position on the left side of the school. Conversely, fish that showed left eye preferences in the mirror test or where non-lateralised preferentially adopted a position slightly to the right side of the school. However, this general pattern varied depending on the species and sex of the school. Our results strongly implicate individual laterality in the geometry of school formation.

Tenured and Non-Tenured School Principals in Greece: A Historical Approach

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Katsigianni, Eleni A.; Ifanti, Amalia A.

2016-01-01

This study deals with the question of tenure/non-tenure of the Greek school principals and its possible impact on their role in the light of the international influences. In developing our theoretical perspective, we draw on the tenure/non-tenure discourse and the centralised bureaucratic and new public management model. After examining the…

Malaria is associated with poor school performance in an endemic area of the Brazilian Amazon

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Vitor-Silva, Sheila; Reyes-Lecca, Roberto C; Pinheiro, Tamam RA; Lacerda, Marcus VG

2009-01-01

Background Approximately 40% of the world's population is at risk for malaria. In highly endemic tropical areas, malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality during infancy. There is a complex interrelationship between malaria, malnutrition and intestinal helminths, and this may impair cognitive development in children. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between malaria and school performance in children living in an endemic area where Plasmodium vivax is the species responsible for most of the cases. Methods The study was conducted in the Municipality of Careiro, Amazonas, Brazil, with five to14 year-old children, studying the first eight grades of public school, during the year 2008. After an initial active case detection, during nine months of follow-up, passive malaria cases detection was instituted, through a thick blood smear performed in every child with fever. School performance was evaluated by the final notes in Mathematics and Portuguese Language. Performance was considered poor when either of the final notes in these disciplines was below the 50th percentile for the respective class and grade. Results The total number of students followed-up in the cohort was 198. Malarial attacks were reported in 70 (35.4%) of these students, with no cases of severe disease. Plasmodium vivax was detected in 69.2% of the attacks, Plasmodium falciparum in 25.5% and both species in 5.3%. In the multivariate analysis, adjusting for age, mother's education, time living in the study area and school absenteeism, presenting with at least one episode of malaria independently predicted a poor performance at school [OR = 1.91 (1.04-3.54); p = 0.039]. Conclusion Non-severe malaria compromises the school performance of children even during a nine-month follow-up, potentially contributing to the maintenance of underdevelopment in countries endemic for malaria. This is the first evidence of such impact in Latin America, where P. vivax is responsible for

Malaria is associated with poor school performance in an endemic area of the Brazilian Amazon

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Lacerda Marcus VG

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Approximately 40% of the world's population is at risk for malaria. In highly endemic tropical areas, malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality during infancy. There is a complex interrelationship between malaria, malnutrition and intestinal helminths, and this may impair cognitive development in children. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between malaria and school performance in children living in an endemic area where Plasmodium vivax is the species responsible for most of the cases. Methods The study was conducted in the Municipality of Careiro, Amazonas, Brazil, with five to14 year-old children, studying the first eight grades of public school, during the year 2008. After an initial active case detection, during nine months of follow-up, passive malaria cases detection was instituted, through a thick blood smear performed in every child with fever. School performance was evaluated by the final notes in Mathematics and Portuguese Language. Performance was considered poor when either of the final notes in these disciplines was below the 50th percentile for the respective class and grade. Results The total number of students followed-up in the cohort was 198. Malarial attacks were reported in 70 (35.4% of these students, with no cases of severe disease. Plasmodium vivax was detected in 69.2% of the attacks, Plasmodium falciparum in 25.5% and both species in 5.3%. In the multivariate analysis, adjusting for age, mother's education, time living in the study area and school absenteeism, presenting with at least one episode of malaria independently predicted a poor performance at school [OR = 1.91 (1.04-3.54; p = 0.039]. Conclusion Non-severe malaria compromises the school performance of children even during a nine-month follow-up, potentially contributing to the maintenance of underdevelopment in countries endemic for malaria. This is the first evidence of such impact in Latin America, where P

The Influence of Scale on School Performance

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Robert Bickel

2000-05-01

Full Text Available In this study, we investigate the joint influence of school and district size on school performance among schools with eighth grades (n=367 and schools with eleventh grades in Georgia (n=298. Schools are the unit of analysis in this study because schools are increasingly the unit on which states fix the responsibility to be accountable. The methodology further develops investigations along the line of evidence suggesting that the influence of size is contingent on socioeconomic status (SES. All previous studies have used a single-level regression model (i.e., schools or districts. This study confronts the issue of cross-level interaction of SES and size (i.e., schools and districts with a single-equation-relative-effects model to interpret the joint influence of school and district size on school performance (i.e., the dependent variable is a school-level variable. It also tests the equity of school-level outcomes jointly by school and district size. Georgia was chosen for study because previous single-level analysis there had revealed no influence of district size on performance (measured at the district level. Findings from this study show substantial cross-level influences of school and district size at the 8th grade, and weaker influences at the 11th grade. The equity effects, however, are strong at both grade levels and show a distinctive pattern of size interactions. Results are interpreted to draw implications for a "structuralist" view of school and district restructuring, with particular concern for schooling to serve impoverished communities. The authors argue the importance of a notion of "scaling" in the system of schooling, advocating the particular need to create smaller districts as well as smaller schools as a route to both school excellence and equity of school outcomes.

The Power of Influence: School Nurse Stories.

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Mazyck, Donna; Cellucci, Margaret; Largent, Piper

2015-07-01

School nurses have influence, and this influence is ignited with school nurse stories. School nurses must tell school staff, leaders, families, and students what they do to help students access their education. School boards, city councils, and legislators need to know the knowledge, skills, and judgment school nurses use daily. NASN understands that school nurses benefit from a "how to" kit and has developed tools to empower school nurses in advocating for their important role in supporting the health and learning of students. This article provides an overview this newly developed electronic toolkit while at the same time reinforcing the power of influence when sharing your stories. © 2015 The Author(s).

The Influence of Family Socialisation on the Success of Girls from Poor Urban Communities in Brazil at School

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Carvalho, Marília

2015-01-01

The principle focus of this article is to understand the influence of socialisation in the family on the success of girls at school. Eight low-income families with children of both sexes in the city of São Paulo, Brazil were studied through interviews and observation methods. It was found that socialisation in the family favoured in girls, and not…

Psychosocial work environment and depressive symptoms among US workers: comparing working poor and working non-poor.

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Simmons, Leigh Ann; Swanberg, Jennifer E

2009-08-01

The psychosocial work environment has been associated with mental health outcomes; however, little research has examined this relationship for low-wage workers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychosocial job characteristics and depressive symptoms for US workers using an expanded model of job quality. Data were from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce, a nationally representative study of wage and salaried workers in the US. Working poor was defined as households earning working poor employees, job insecurity was the single significant correlate of depressive symptoms after controlling for other demographic and work environment variables. For working non-poor employees, high psychological demands and low supervisor and coworker support were associated with depressive symptoms. Findings suggest all jobs do not equally affect employees' depressive symptoms. Implications for research that may improve the mental health of the working poor in the US are presented.

Mau desempenho escolar: uma visão atual Poor school performance: an updated review

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Cláudia Machado Siqueira

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Este estudo tem como objetivo uma revisão atualizada sobre o tema de mau desempenho escolar para profissionais da área de saúde e educação. Aborda aspectos atuais da educação, de aprendizagem e das principais condições envolvidas em mau desempenho escolar. Apresenta dados atualizados sobre os principais aspectos da neurobiologia, epidemiologia, etiologia, quadro clínico, comorbidades, diagnóstico, intervenção precoce e tratamento das principais patologias envolvidas. Trata-se de uma revisão abrangente, não sistemática da literatura sobre aprendizagem, desempenho escolar, transtorno de aprendizagem (dislexia, discalculia e disgrafia, transtorno de déficit de atenção/hiperatividade (TDA/H e transtorno de desenvolvimento de coordenação (TDC. O mau desempenho escolar é um sintoma frequente em nossas crianças com graves repercussões emocionais, sociais e econômicas. Uma visão atualizada do tema facilita o raciocínio clínico, o diagnóstico correto e o tratamento adequado.This study aims to develop a comprehensive review on the issue of poor school performance for professionals in both health and education areas. It discusses current aspects of education, learning and the main conditions involved in underachievement. It also presents updated data on key aspects of neurobiology, epidemiology, etiology, clinical presentation, comorbidities and diagnosis, early intervention and treatment of the major pathologies comprised. It is a comprehensive, non-systematic literature review on learning, school performance, learning disorders (dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia, attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD and developmental coordination disorder (DCD. Poor school performance is a frequent problem faced by our children, causing serious emotional, social and economic issues. An updated view of the subject facilitates clinical reasoning, accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

Factors Influencing Belize District Primary School Teachers' Attitudes toward Inclusive Education

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McKay, Maxine

2012-01-01

Inclusive education continues to be a reoccurring challenge as various factors affect to what extent teachers or educators are willing to educate children with disabilities in the regular education setting alongside their non-disabled peers. This quantitative study examined factors influencing Belize District Primary School teachers' attitudes…

The Influence of Peer Victimization on Educational Outcomes for LGBTQ and Non-LGBTQ High School Students

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Aragon, Steven R.; Poteat, V. Paul; Espelage, Dorothy L.; Koenig, Brian W.

2014-01-01

A total of 11,447 high school students were surveyed to test the relation between victimization and the educational outcomes of truancy, post-high school intentions, and grades for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) and non-LGBTQ students. LGBTQ students reported statistically higher truancy, lower grades, greater…

Poor motor skills: a risk marker for bully victimization.

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Bejerot, Susanne; Plenty, Stephanie; Humble, Alice; Humble, Mats B

2013-01-01

Children who are clumsy are often bullied. Nevertheless, motor skills have been overlooked in research on bullying victimization. A total of 2,730 Swedish adults (83% females) responded to retrospective questions on bullying, their talents in physical education (i.e., coordination and balls skills) and school academics. Poor talents were used as indicators of poor gross motor skills and poor academic skills. A subset of participants also provided information on educational level in adulthood, childhood obesity, belonging to an ethic minority in school and socioeconomic status relative to schoolmates. A total of 29.4% of adults reported being bullied in school, and 18.4% reported having below average gross motor skills. Of those with below average motor skills, 48.6% were bullied in school. Below average motor skills in childhood were associated with an increased risk (OR 3.01 [95% CI: 1.97-4.60]) of being bullied, even after adjusting for the influence of lower socioeconomic status, poor academic performance, being overweight, and being a bully. Higher odds for bully victimization were also associated with lower socioeconomic status (OR 2.29 [95% CI: 1.45-3.63]), being overweight (OR 1.71 [95% CI: 1.18-2.47]) and being a bully (OR 2.18 [95% CI: 1.53-3.11]). The findings indicate that poor gross motor skills constitute a robust risk-marker for vulnerability for bully victimization. © 2013 The Authors. Aggressive Behavior Published by Wiley-Blackwell.

Do indoor environments in schools influence student performance? A review of the literature

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Mendell, Mark J.; Heath, Garvin A.

2004-11-24

Limited research is available on potential adverse effects of school environments on academic performance, despite strong public concern. We examine the scientific evidence relevant to this relationship by reviewing available research relating schools and other indoor environments to human performance or attendance. As a primary focus, we critically review evidence for direct relationships between indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in buildings and performance or attendance. As a secondary focus, we summarize, without critique, evidence on potential connections indirectly linking IEQ to performance or attendance: relationships between IEQ and health, between health and performance or attendance, and between attendance and performance. The most persuasive direct evidence showed increases in indoor concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and outdoor concentrations of several specific pollutants to be related to reduced school attendance. The most persuasive indirect evidence showed indoor dampness and microbiologic pollutants to be related to asthma and respiratory infections, which have in turn been related to reduced performance and attendance. Furthermore, a substantial scientific literature links poor IEQ (e.g., low ventilation rate, excess moisture or formaldehyde) with respiratory and other health effects in children and adults. Overall, evidence suggests that poor IEQ in schools can influence the performance and attendance of students, primarily through health effects from indoor pollutants. Also, inadequate IEQ in schools seems sufficiently common to merit strong public concern. Evidence is available to justify (1) immediate actions to protect IEQ in schools and (2) focused research on exposures, prevention, and causation, to better guide policies and actions on IEQ in schools.

Prevalence and factors associated with poor sleep quality among secondary school teachers in a developing country.

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Musa, Nor Asma; Moy, Foong Ming; Wong, Li Ping

2018-05-31

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with poor sleep quality among secondary school teachers in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. This was a cross sectional study, conducted in two phases. Phase I tested the reliability of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in the Malay language (M-PSQI), whereas Phase II determined the prevalence and factors associated with poor sleep quality where a total of 1871 secondary school teachers were studied. Participants were recruited using multistage sampling. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic and teaching characteristics, comorbidities and characteristics of sleep. The M-PSQI was used to measure sleep quality. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 was used to measure mental health status. Results showed that the M-PSQI had a good internal consistency and moderate reliability. The prevalence of poor sleep quality was 61 (95% CI: 54-67) %. Total teaching hours/day, depression and stress were significantly associated with poor sleep quality in the univariate analysis, while only stress (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.02-1.05%) remained significant in the multivariate analyses. In conclusion, stress level of the secondary school teachers should be reduced to improve sleep quality.

Patterns of and Influences on Elementary School Attendance in Early Victorian Industrial Monmouthshire 1839-1865

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James, David C.; Davies, Brian

2017-01-01

Issues associated with school absenteeism have attracted considerable attention and have long been one of the focal points of government strategies for school improvement. Pupil non-attendance is not a new phenomenon and featured prominently in Her Majesty's Inspectors' reports from 1839. This paper outlines the patterns of and influences on…

Predictors of Poor School Readiness in Children Without Developmental Delay at Age 2

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Dudovitz, Rebecca N.; Coker, Tumaini R.; Barnert, Elizabeth S.; Biely, Christopher; Li, Ning; Szilagyi, Peter G.; Larson, Kandyce; Halfon, Neal; Zimmerman, Frederick J.; Chung, Paul J.

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Current recommendations emphasize developmental screening and surveillance to identify developmental delays (DDs) for referral to early intervention (EI) services. Many young children without DDs, however, are at high risk for poor developmental and behavioral outcomes by school entry but are ineligible for EI. We developed models for 2-year-olds without DD that predict, at kindergarten entry, poor academic performance and high problem behaviors. METHODS: Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), were used for this study. The analytic sample excluded children likely eligible for EI because of DDs or very low birth weight. Dependent variables included low academic scores and high problem behaviors at the kindergarten wave. Regression models were developed by using candidate predictors feasibly obtainable during typical 2-year well-child visits. Models were cross-validated internally on randomly selected subsamples. RESULTS: Approximately 24% of all 2-year-old children were ineligible for EI at 2 years of age but still had poor academic or behavioral outcomes at school entry. Prediction models each contain 9 variables, almost entirely parental, social, or economic. Four variables were associated with both academic and behavioral risk: parental education below bachelor’s degree, little/no shared reading at home, food insecurity, and fair/poor parental health. Areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve were 0.76 for academic risk and 0.71 for behavioral risk. Adding the mental scale score from the Bayley Short Form–Research Edition did not improve areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve for either model. CONCLUSIONS: Among children ineligible for EI services, a small set of clinically available variables at age 2 years predicted academic and behavioral outcomes at school entry. PMID:27432845

Use of a task-oriented self-instruction method to support children in primary school with poor handwriting quality and speed

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jongmans, M.J.; Linthorst-Bakker, E.; Westenberg, Y.; Smits-Engelsman, B.C.M.

2003-01-01

Two studies were conducted to investigate the effect of a task-specific self-instruction intervention to improve handwriting ability of children with poor handwriting quality in schools for regular education (Study 1) and children with poor handwriting quality in schools for special education (Study

School Administrators' Perceptions of Factors that Influence Children's Active Travel to School

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Price, Anna E.; Pluto, Delores M.; Ogoussan, Olga; Banda, Jorge A.

2011-01-01

Background: Increasing children's active travel to school may be 1 strategy for addressing the growing prevalence of obesity among school age children. Using the School Travel Survey, we examined South Carolina school district leaders' perceptions of factors that influence elementary and middle school students walking to school. Methods: Frequency…

Factors Influencing Retention of Gen Y and Non-Gen Y Teachers Working at International Schools in Asia

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Fong, Hoi Wah Benny

2018-01-01

Quantitative studies on international-school teacher retention are few, especially studies that differentiate between Gen Y and non-Gen Y teachers. This article reports on the findings of a study that examined the relationship of job satisfaction factors to the likelihood of contract renewal by international-school teachers. Results from the study…

Peaceful Coexistence? The Role of Religious Schools and NGOs in the Growth of Female Secondary Schooling in Bangladesh

OpenAIRE

Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz; Chaudhury, Nazmul

2013-01-01

Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), runs a large number of non-formal primary schools in Bangladesh which target out-of-school children from poor families. These schools are well-known for their effectiveness in closing the gender gap in primary school enrolment. On the other hand, registered non-government secondary madrasas (or Islamic schools) today enrol one girl against every boy student. In this article, we document a positive spillover ...

School and Parental Influences on Sociopolitical Development among Poor Adolescents of Color

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Diemer, Matthew A.; Hsieh, Chueh-an; Pan, Tianshu

2009-01-01

Sociopolitical development represents a motivation to reduce sociopolitical inequity, a healthy sense of the self, and perceived agency in the context of structural oppression. Sociopolitical development has been associated with progress in career development, school engagement, and healthier sexual behavior among oppressed and marginalized…

Undergraduate science research: a comparison of influences and experiences between premed and non-premed students.

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Pacifici, Lara Brongo; Thomson, Norman

2011-01-01

Most students participating in science undergraduate research (UR) plan to attend either medical school or graduate school. This study examines possible differences between premed and non-premed students in their influences to do research and expectations of research. Questionnaire responses from 55 premed students and 80 non-premed students were analyzed. No differences existed in the expectations of research between the two groups, but attitudes toward science and intrinsic motivation to learn more about science were significantly higher for non-premed students. Follow-up interviews with 11 of the students, including a case study with one premed student, provided explanation for the observed differences. Premed students, while not motivated to learn more about science, were motivated to help people, which is why most of them are pursuing medicine. They viewed research as a way to help them become doctors and to rule out the possibility of research as a career. Non-premed students participated in research to learn more about a specific science topic and gain experience that may be helpful in graduate school research. The difference in the reasons students want to do UR may be used to tailor UR experiences for students planning to go to graduate school or medical school.

Urban Students' Perceptions of the School Environment's Influence on School Violence

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Johnson, Sarah Lindstrom; Burke, Jessica Griffin; Gielen, Andrea Carlson

2012-01-01

This article provides information about aspects of the school environment students perceive to influence the occurrence of school violence. Concept mapping, a mixed-methods methodology, was used with two groups of urban, primarily African American high school students (N = 27) to create conceptual frameworks of their understanding of the school…

Influence of school-level and family-level variables on Chinese college students' aggression.

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Zhou, Jiawei; Yang, Jiarun; Yu, Yunmiao; Wang, Lin; Han, Dong; Zhu, Xiongzhao; He, Jincai; Qiu, Xiaohui; Yang, Xiuxian; Qiao, Zhengxue; Sui, Hong; Yang, Yanjie

2017-08-01

With the frequent occurrence of campus violence, scholars have devoted increasing attention to college students' aggression. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of aggression in Chinese university students and identify factors that could influence their aggression. We can thus find methods to reduce the incidence of college students' aggression in the future. A multi-stage stratified sampling procedure was used to select university students (N = 4565) aged 16-25 years in Harbin. The Aggression Questionnaire, the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist and the Social Support Revalued Scale were used to collect data. Females reported lower levels of aggression than males (p aggression, and the model was highly significant (R 2  = .233, Ad R 2  = .230, p aggression is affected by gender, family-level and school-level variables. Aggression scores are significantly correlated with not only family-level or school-level variables independently, but their combination as well. We find that the risk factors for aggression include a dissatisfying profession, higher levels of study pressure, poor parental relationships, poor interpersonal relationships, the presence of siblings, punishment, health maladjustment, less subjective support, and lower levels of utilization of social support.

Perinatal brain injury, visual motor function and poor school outcome of regional low birth weight survivors at age nine.

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Zhang, Jun; Mahoney, Ashley Darcy; Pinto-Martin, Jennifer A

2013-08-01

To explore the relationship between perinatal brain injury, visual motor function (VMF) and poor school outcome. Little is known about the status and underlying mechanism of poor school outcome as experienced by low birth weight survivors. This is a secondary data analysis. The parental study recruited 1104 low birth weight (LBW) infants weighing ≤ 2000 g from three medical centres of Central New Jersey between 1984 and 1987. Seven hundred and seventy-seven infants survived the neonatal period, and their developmental outcomes had been following up regularly until now. The development data of the survivors were used to achieve the research aims. Initial school outcome assessment was carried out in 9-year-old, using the Woodcock-Johnson Academic Achievement Scale. The severity and range of perinatal brain injury was determined by repeated neonatal cranial ultrasound results obtained at 4 hours, 24 hours and 7 days of life. Seventeen and a half per cent of the sample experienced poor school performance at age 9 as defined by lower than one standard deviation (SD) of average performance score. Children with the most severe injury, PL/VE, had the lowest mathematics (F = 14·54, p = 0·000) and reading (anova results: F = 11·56, p = 0·000) performances. Visual motor function had a significant effect on children's overall school performance (Hotelling's trace value was 0·028, F = 3·414, p = 0·018), as well as subtest scores for reading (p = 0·006) and mathematics (p = 0·036). However, visual motor function was not a mediator in the association of perinatal brain injury and school outcome. Perinatal brain injury had a significant long-term effect on school outcome. Low birth weight infants with history of perinatal brain injury need be closely monitored to substantially reduce the rates of poor school outcome and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Maternal alcohol use disorder and child school attendance outcomes for non-Indigenous and Indigenous children in Western Australia: a population cohort record linkage study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hafekost, Katherine; Lawrence, David; O'Leary, Colleen; Bower, Carol; Semmens, James; Zubrick, Stephen R

2017-07-11

Examine the relationship between maternal alcohol use disorder and child school attendance outcomes for non-Indigenous and Indigenous children in Western Australia. Population cohort study. Routinely collected linked administrative health, education and child protection data. Those in-scope for the study were women with a birth recorded on the Western Australian Midwives Notification System (1989-2007). Women who had an alcohol-related diagnosis (International Classification of Diseases Revisions 9/10) recorded on the Hospital Morbidity, Mental Health Inpatients and Outpatients, and Drug and Alcohol Office data sets formed the exposed group. The comparison cohort was frequency-matched to the exposed cohort based on maternal age within Indigenous status and child's year of birth. Child's school attendance was obtained from the Department of Education (2008-2012). Poor attendance was defined as alcohol use disorder was significantly associated with increased odds of poor attendance (non-Indigenous: OR=1.61, 95% CI 1.50 to 1.74; Indigenous: OR=1.66, 95% CI 1.54 to 1.79). With adjustment for maternal and child factors, there was no significant difference between the timing of alcohol diagnosis relative to pregnancy and attendance outcomes. The population attributable fraction was higher in the Indigenous cohort than the non-Indigenous cohort (6.0% vs 1.3%). Maternal alcohol use disorder was associated with a significantly increased odds of poor school attendance for non-Indigenous and Indigenous children. There was no significant difference between the timing of diagnoses and odds of poor school attendance. This suggests that the effect of maternal alcohol use disorder may not be driven by the neurodevelopmental effects of alcohol exposure in utero, but may be mediated through family or social factors for which we were unable to adjust. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No

Early-life school, neighborhood, and family influences on adult health: a multilevel cross-classified analysis of the Aberdeen children of the 1950s study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dundas, Ruth; Leyland, Alastair H; Macintyre, Sally

2014-07-15

Lifetime exposures to adverse social environments influence adult health, as do exposures in early life. It is usual to examine the influences of school on teenage health and of adult area of residence on adult health. We examined the combined long-term association of the school attended, as well as the area of residence in childhood, with adult health. A total of 6,285 children from Aberdeen, Scotland, who were aged 5-12 years in 1962, were followed up at a mean age of 47 years in 2001. Cross-classified multilevel logistic regression was used to estimate the associations of family, school, and area of residence with self-reported adult health and mental health, adjusting for childhood family-, school-, and neighborhood-level factors, as well as current adult occupational position. Low early-life social position (as determined by the father's occupational level) was associated with poor adult self-rated health but not poor mental health. There were small contextual associations between childhood school environment (median odds ratio = 1.08) and neighborhood environment (median odds ratio = 1.05) and adult self-rated health. The share of the total variance in health at the family level was 10.1% compared with 89.6% at the individual level. Both socioeconomic context and composition in early life appear to have an influence on adult health, even after adjustment for current occupational position. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTS’ EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND AND STUDY FACILITIES ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

OpenAIRE

ALOKAN, FUNMILOLA BOSEDE; OSAKINLE, EUNICE OLUFUNMILAYO; ONIJINGIN, EMMANUEL OLUBU

2013-01-01

There has been an outcry against the poor performance of students in the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination in Nigeria. This study investigated the difference between the academic performance of students from parents with high educational background and students from parents with low educational background. It also investigated the influence of having study facilities at home on academic performance. The population for this study comprised all public secondary school students in Ondo St...

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.

School Influences on Child and Youth Development

Science.gov (United States)

Osher, David; Kendziora, Kimberly; Spier, Elizabeth; Garibaldi, Mark L.

2014-01-01

Schools play a key role in child and youth development as both social microcosms of the broader society and reciprocally influencing people and communities. As such, schools can function as a protective factor that promotes safety, motivation, relationships, and support for positive student outcomes. However, schools may also function as a risk…

School Physical Education and Gender: Influences from outside the school at participation in classes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Fagundes Jaco

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Participation in physical education classes is a complex issue; many factors lead students to participate in classroom activities in different ways. This research examines how the way to take part in the class is influenced by experiences outside of school. In this way, seeks to analyze how the actions and family discourses influence the different interests of girls and boys, such as the participation in physical activities outside of school. Also, examines the influence of the participating inside of the school, and how expectations and understandings of bodily practices for boys and girls influence different ways to participate in classes when comparing the male and female gender. For this, held semi-structured interviews and classroom observations into four groups of the eighth year of two public schools in the city of Campinas-SP. The notes of this research indicated that the experience and knowledge of the body and body practice outside of school have the big influence on the ways of participating in classes. The cultural environment of the students gave different experiences and understandings for boys and girls in the knowledge that circulate in physical education classes and contributed in different ways to participate in class. Keywords: Physical Education, Gender, Participation

Non-Print Social Studies Materials--Elementary School Level.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynn, Karen

Types of non-print social studies materials developed for presentation to, and use by, elementary school students are identified. "Non-print" materials include films, filmstrips, video cassettes, audio recordings, computer databases, telecommunications, and hypertext. An explanation of why elementary school students can benefit from the use of…

[Investigation of nutritional status of pupils and dietary survey in primary schools in poor counties of Guangxi and Yunnan].

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Wenjing; Shen, Xiuhua; Mao, Xuanxia; Huang, Jingyan; Cai, Wei

2013-07-01

To understand the nutritional status of pupils and to provide basic evidence for the nutritional interventions. The subjects of the study were 2046 pupils from 9 primary schools in poor counties of Guangxi and Yunnan. The contents of the investigation included medical physical examination, haematoglobin determination and dietary survey. Nutritional Status was evaluated according to WHO growth standards. The prevalence of stunting and wasting in children from 6 to 14 years old in poor areas of Guangxi and Yunnan were 34.3% and 6.5% respectively. The anemia prevalence of them was 20.5%. The diet provided by the canteens of local school was mainly composed of plant food. Animal food was deficient. The cooking oil in local school was most of lard oil. The per pupil average daily intake of energy, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin C and calcium was 1491.29 kcal, 36.36 g, 179.15 ug, 0.57 mg, 0.37 mg, 53.67 mg and 163.14 mg respectively, which were lower than RNI or Al. The chronic malnutrition of pupils in poor areas is still serious. The variety of food provided by the canteens of local school is quite single, and the quality of the meals is low. Intakes of energy, protein and micronutrient from school diet are insufficient for pupils.

Moving Physical Activity beyond the School Classroom: A Social-Ecological Insight for Teachers of the Facilitators and Barriers to Students' Non-Curricular Physical Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Hyndman, Brendon; Telford, Amanda; Finch, Caroline F.; Benson, Amanda C.

2012-01-01

Non-curricular avenues such as active play during school breaks have been established as a major source for children's physical and cognitive development, yet there is little information for teachers on the influences affecting primary and secondary school students' non-curricular physical activity. During this study focus groups and drawing were…

School Subsidies for the Poor: Evaluating the Mexican Progresa Poverty Program. Center Discussion Paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Schultz, T. Paul

In rural Mexico, the Progresa program provided educational grants to poor mothers of children enrolled in grades 3-9 and attending 85 percent of the school days. Payments were increased at the higher grades, a premium was paid for girls enrolled in grades 7-9, and every 6 months the grants were adjusted upward to compensate for inflation. The…

Personal attributes influencing school burnout among graduating ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Questionnaires administered on participants contained scales that measured school burnout, academic self-efficacy, perception of teacher support, sex and age. The study predicted that personal attributes and demographics will significantly influence school burnout. The hypothesis was confirmed as predicted as result ...

The Influence of School Culture and School Climate on Violence in Schools of the Eastern Cape Province

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Kalie; Brynard, Susette; de Wet, Corene

2012-01-01

This article reports on research undertaken about the influence of school culture and school climate on violence at schools in the Eastern Cape. An adapted California School Climate and Survey-Short Form (CSCSS-SF), which was used as the data-collection instrument, was completed by 900 Grade 10 to 12 learners. With the assistance of Pearson's…

Work schedule influence on sleep habits in elementary and high school teachers according to chronotype

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jane Carla de Souza

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The influence of work schedule on sleep habits and quality, and daytime sleepiness according to individual preferences in sleep schedules was assessed in 131 elementary and high school teachers through questionnaires. Teachers who initiate classes around 7:00 hr wake up earlier and show more frequency of poor sleep quality than those who start classes in the afternoon. Between them, those who have a preference for intermediate or later hours for sleep are more irregular in their wake up schedules and increase their sleep duration on the weekend compared to those with earlier sleep preferences. On the other hand, working only in the afternoon seems to provide better sleep/awake conditions for teachers, because they keep the same sleep duration during the week and on the weekend, and they are diagnosed with less daytime sleepiness. Therefore, the discussion of school start times, originally proposed for adolescents, needs to be magnified to teachers, contributing to improvement of sleep habits and life quality in school environments.

School achievement of immigrant children : The decreasing influence of Ethnic concentration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gijsberts, Mérove; van der Ploeg, Rozemarijn

There is an ongoing debate in many countries about the assumed negative influence of ethnically concentrated schools on pupils’ cognitive development. This paper addresses the influence of concentrations of ethnic minority children in schools on the school achievement of their pupils. The analysis

Towards overcoming poor readership and building reading culture ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Towards overcoming poor readership and building reading culture of in schools. ... of this paper is to find strategies that can overcome poor readership in schools. ... Keywords: English First Additional Language, Writing Skills, Spelling Errors, ...

Neighborhood, Family and Individual Influences on School Physical Victimization

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

2013-01-01

Few studies on the correlates of school violence include school and neighborhood influences. We use ecological systems theory and social disorganization theory to simultaneously incorporate neighborhood (e.g., concentrated poverty, residential instability, and immigrant concentration), school, family, and individual predictors of physical school victimization longitudinally among a large socio-economically and ethnically diverse (49% Hispanic; 34% African American) sample of 6 and 9 year olds (49% female) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). These children were followed up at Wave II at ages 8 and 11 (n=1425). Results of Hierarchical Generalized Linear Models reveal neighborhood residential instability increases school victimization net of family and individual correlates. Furthermore, cross-level interactions were also supported where residential family mobility has a stronger risk influence in areas of high residential instability. Also, the influence of residential family mobility is decreased in areas with higher levels of immigrant concentration. We also found cross-context connections where parent-to-child aggression in the home is connected to a higher risk of victimization at school. The role of neighborhood and family residential instability on victimization warrants further research. PMID:23263822

Do schools differ in suicide risk? the influence of school and neighbourhood on attempted suicide, suicidal ideation and self-harm among secondary school pupils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Young Robert

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rates of suicide and poor mental health are high in environments (neighbourhoods and institutions where individuals have only weak social ties, feel socially disconnected and experience anomie - a mismatch between individual and community norms and values. Young people spend much of their time within the school environment, but the influence of school context (school connectedness, ethos and contextual factors such as school size or denomination on suicide-risk is understudied. Our aim is to explore if school context is associated with rates of attempted suicide and suicide-risk at age 15 and self-harm at age 19, adjusting for confounders. Methods A longitudinal school-based survey of 1698 young people surveyed when aged 11, (primary school, 15 (secondary school and in early adulthood (age 19. Participants provided data about attempted suicide and suicide-risk at age 15 and deliberate self-harm at 19. In addition, data were collected about mental health at age 11, social background (gender, religion, etc., and at age 15, perception of local area (e.g. neighbourhood cohesion, safety/civility and facilities, school connectedness (school engagement, involvement, etc. and school context (size, denomination, etc.. A dummy variable was created indicating a religious 'mismatch', where pupils held a different faith from their school denomination. Data were analysed using multilevel logistic regression. Results After adjustment for confounders, pupils attempted suicide, suicide-risk and self-harm were all more likely among pupils with low school engagement (15-18% increase in odds for each SD change in engagement. While holding Catholic religious beliefs was protective, attending a Catholic school was a risk factor for suicidal behaviours. This pattern was explained by religious 'mismatch': pupils of a different religion from their school were approximately 2-4 times more likely to attempt suicide, be a suicide-risk or self

Do non-monetary prices target the poor? Evidence from a field experiment in India

OpenAIRE

Hoffmann, Bridget

2016-01-01

This paper uses willingness to pay (WTP) data from a field experiment in Hyderabad, India in 2013 to determine whether non-monetary prices better target health products to the poor than monetary prices. Monetary WTP is increasing in income and non-monetary WTP is weakly decreasing in income. Household fixed effects in a pooled sample of monetary WTP and non-monetary WTP are used to compare the correlation of income and WTP across price types. It is found that non-monetary WTP falls relative t...

The Influence of Secondary School Education on the Success of Informatics Education in University

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Marina Čičin-Šain

2008-10-01

Full Text Available The suppositions and dimensions of the influence of secondary school education on the quality and effects of informatics education in University are manifold. The influence of secondary school education can be perceived through two basic dimensions: 1 the general influence dimension of a specific secondary school, and 2 the dimension of the influence of computer and related classes, which students were exposed to during secondary school. The aforementioned dimensions of influence can be analyzed by defining key factors of general secondary school education, and the factors of informatics education in secondary school, which are significant for the quality and effects in higher computer science education. The defined basic and exactly measurable criteria of the influence of secondary school education on the students' informatics education in college are the criterion of the number of school years during which information science classes were taken, as well as the criterion of secondary school orientation (course, among which those students were selected, who graduated from economics secondary schools and gymnasium (comprehensive secondary schools.

Why Rural Community Day Secondary Schools Students' Performance in Physical Science Examinations Is Poor in Lilongwe Rural West Education District in Malawi

Science.gov (United States)

Mlangeni, Angstone Noel J. Thembachako; Chiotha, Sosten Staphael

2015-01-01

A study was conducted to investigate factors that affect students' poor performance in physical science examinations at Malawi School Certificate of Education and Junior Certificate of Education levels in Community day secondary schools (CDSS) in Lilongwe Rural West Education District in Malawi. Students' performance was collected from schools'…

Alcohol Consumption, Peer Influence and Secondary School ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated the influences of Acohol Consumption peer influence and secodnary school stuents attitudes towards schol in some selected secodnary shools in Katsit, Kafanchan, Kaduna State. The study adopted a correlational research design and the population of this study was 200 senior students from four (4) ...

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…

Understanding the school outcomes of juvenile offenders: an exploration of neighborhood influences and motivational resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, He Len; Mulvey, Edward P; Steinberg, Laurence

2011-08-01

As a group, delinquent youth complete less education and show poor academic outcomes compared to their non-delinquent peers. To better understand pathways to school success, this study integrated individual- and neighborhood-level data to examine academic functioning among 833 White, Black, and Hispanic male juvenile offenders (age 14-17) living in two urban communities. A multilevel path analysis confirmed that youth in relatively more affluent communities report greater access to opportunities in the areas of education and employment, and that these opportunities are associated with higher expectations to succeed and better grades. Findings highlight the importance of taking an ecological approach for understanding processes that shape school effort and achievement. Implications are discussed in the context of promoting academic success among juvenile offenders, specifically, and for understanding pathways to healthy adjustment, more generally.

Teachers' perceptions of school nutrition education's influence on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Qualitative investigation can provide invaluable information towards understanding the influence of school nutrition education (NE). The study explored teachers' perceptions of the immediate impact of NE on learners' eating behaviours. Twenty-four primary school teachers in the Bronkhorstspruit district, Gauteng, South ...

Bridging In-school and Out-of-school Learning: Formal, Non-Formal, and Informal Education

Science.gov (United States)

Eshach, Haim

2007-04-01

The present paper thoroughly examines how one can effectively bridge in-school and out-of-school learning. The first part discusses the difficulty in defining out-of-school learning. It proposes to distinguish three types of learning: formal, informal, and non-formal. The second part raises the question of whether out-of-school learning should be dealt with in the in-school system, in view of the fact that we experience informal learning anyway as well as considering the disadvantages and difficulties teachers are confronted with when planning and carrying out scientific fieldtrips. The voices of the teachers, the students, and the non-formal institution staff are heard to provide insights into the problem. The third part discusses the cognitive and affective aspects of non-formal learning. The fourth part presents some models explaining scientific fieldtrip learning and based on those models, suggests a novel explanation. The fifth part offers some recommendations of how to bridge in and out-of-school learning. The paper closes with some practical ideas as to how one can bring the theory described in the paper into practice. It is hoped that this paper will provide educators with an insight so that they will be able to fully exploit the great potential that scientific field trips may offer.

QUALITY OF LIFE AND HEALTH SELF-PERCEPTION IN CHILDREN WITH POOR SCHOOL PERFORMANCE.

Science.gov (United States)

Rezende, Bárbara Antunes; Lemos, Stela Maris Aguiar; Medeiros, Adriane Mesquita de

2017-01-01

To examine the association between quality of life and health self-perception of children with poor school performance, considering sociodemographic factors. An analytical, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted with 99 children aged 7 to 12 years receiving specialized educational assistance. Parents and legal guardians answered questions concerning the sociodemographic profile. For an assessment of the quality of life and proposed domains (autonomy, functioning, leisure, and family), the children completed the Autoquestionnarie Qualité de Vie Enfant Imagé (AUQEI) and answered a question concerning their self-perceived health. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression, considering a 5% significance level. Among the evaluated children, 69 (69.7%) male participants with mean age of 8.7±1.5, 27% self-assessed their health status as poor/very poor, and 36.4% of the children reported having impaired quality of life. As for the domains assessed by AUQEI, there was statistical significance in the associations between family with age, autonomy with economic classification, and leisure and functioning with self-perceived health. The quality of life of children with academic underachievement is associated with their health self-perception and sociodemographic characteristics.

ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOLOGIC HEALTH STATE AND INFLUENCING FACTORS IN COLLEGE AND SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN SHAANXI PROVINCE

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2000-01-01

Objective The psychologic health level of college and secondaryschool students and the relevant fac- tors were investigated to scientific basis and guidance for school mental health work. Methods Standard 1251 cases were drawn from 1% of students in colleges and middle schools of Shaanxi province. Taking 14 psychic health level indexes in SCL-90 as dependent variable and 109 indexes of psychic health back ground as in-dependent variable, multi-factor analyses have been made. Results 22.6 % of students had relatively serious psychological problems. The score of SCL-90 in females was a little bit higher than that in males. The scores of students at both universities and se- nior middle schools were higher than that in junior middle schools students. The score of SCL-90 of students who came from the countryside was higher than that of city students. The score of the whole students was higher than that of the normal. The students with psychic problems showed obsession, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, paranoia and hostility. Factor-analysis showed that influencing factors included history of positive individual risking behavior, physical conditions,grade,address, family influences, menses and sexual prombles, bad relation with others, poor self-assessment. Conclusion The psychologic health level of the students investigated is lower than that of the whole society. The factors, which hamper psychic health of students, are biological ,psychological and social in nature.

The Influence of Manifest Strabismus and Stereoscopic Vision on Non-Verbal Abilities of Visually Impaired Children

Science.gov (United States)

Gligorovic, Milica; Vucinic, Vesna; Eskirovic, Branka; Jablan, Branka

2011-01-01

This research was conducted in order to examine the influence of manifest strabismus and stereoscopic vision on non-verbal abilities of visually impaired children aged between 7 and 15. The sample included 55 visually impaired children from the 1st to the 6th grade of elementary schools for visually impaired children in Belgrade. RANDOT stereotest…

Factors influencing students' performance in a Brazilian dental school.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Erica Tatiane da; Nunes, Maria de Fátima; Queiroz, Maria Goretti; Leles, Cláudio R

2010-01-01

Comprehensive assessment of students' academic performance plays an important role in educational planning. The aim of this study was to investigate variables that influence student's performance in a retrospective sample including all undergraduate students who entered in a Brazilian dental school, in a 20-year period between 1984 and 2003 (n=1182). Demographic and educational variables were used to predict performance in the overall curriculum and course groups. Cluster analysis (K-means algorithm) categorized students into groups of higher, moderate or lower performance. Clusters of overall performance showed external validity, demonstrated by Chi-square test and ANOVA. Lower performance groups had the smallest number of students in overall performance and course groups clusters, ranging from 11.8% (clinical courses) to 19.2% (basic courses). Students' performance was more satisfactory in dental and clinical courses, rather than basic and non-clinical courses (pstudent's performance was predicted by lower time elapsed between completion of high school and dental school admission, female gender, better rank in admission test, class attendance rate and student workload hours in teaching, research and extension (R(2)=0.491). Findings give evidence about predictors of undergraduate students' performance and reinforce the need for curricular reformulation focused on with improvement of integration among courses.

Satisfaction of Middle School Lunch Program Participants and Non-Participants with the School Lunch Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Stephanie; Cunningham-Sabo, Leslie; Auld, Garry

2015-01-01

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine middle school students' satisfaction with the school lunch experience, using two validated surveys; the Middle/Junior High School Student Participation Survey and the Middle/Junior High School Student Non-Participation Survey, both developed by the National Food Service Management…

Educators' and Parents' Perception of What School Nurses Do: The Influence of School Nurse/Student Ratios

Science.gov (United States)

Maughan, Erin; Adams, Rachael

2011-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how ratios influenced relationships between school nurses and the educators and parents with whom they work; and how the relationships influenced the understanding and value of the school nurse. A purposeful sampling of 33 participants from four states (New Hampshire, Vermont, Michigan, and…

Personal, family and school influences on secondary pupils’ feelings of safety at school, in the school surroundings, and at home

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooij, Ton

2012-01-01

Mooij, T. (2012). Personal, family and school influences on secondary pupils’ feelings of safety at school, in the school surroundings, and at home. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 18(2), 129-157. doi:10.1080/13540602.2012.632270

Wiping Out Disadvantages: The Programs and Services Needed To Supplement Regular Education for Poor School Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Education Law Center, Inc., Newark, NJ.

In "Abbott v. Burke" the New Jersey Supreme Court determined that the state constitutional guarantee to a thorough and efficient education must include a supplemental program designed to wipe out the deficits poor children bring with them to school. In this report, the Education Law Center draws on educational research to identify the…

Political and organizational influences on middle school evaluations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scheerens, Jaap; Creemers, Bert P.M.

1988-01-01

Middle school evaluations provide a case in point when the influence of political and organizational contextual conditions on evaluations is considered. This is illustrated by means of a description of the experiences with the middle school evaluation in the Netherlands and a brief sketch of the

Neighborhood, Family and Individual Influences on School Physical Victimization

OpenAIRE

Foster, Holly; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

2012-01-01

Few studies on the correlates of school violence include school and neighborhood influences. We use ecological systems theory and social disorganization theory to simultaneously incorporate neighborhood (e.g., concentrated poverty, residential instability, and immigrant concentration), school, family, and individual predictors of physical school victimization longitudinally among a large socio-economically and ethnically diverse (49% Hispanic; 34% African American) sample of 6 and 9 year olds...

The Revealed Influence of Class, Race, and Ethnicity on Local Public-School Expenditures.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Byron W.; Saks, Daniel H.

1985-01-01

Findings include (1) poor and upper middle classes want to spend more on schools than the middle classes; (2) Blacks and ethnics of European stock want to spend more on schooling than other Americans; and (3) there is no difference in demands for school expenditures between Northern and Southern/Eastern European ethnics. (RM)

[The influencing factors on alienation in high school students].

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Eun-Sook

2004-02-01

This study was performed to identify the influencing factors on alienation among high school students. Data was collected by questionnaires from 550 students of academic and vocational high schools in G city. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, pearson correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression. The scores of alienation among students in financially lower middle class and lower class were higher than those of the upper middle class students, resulting in significant differences(F=6.87, p=.00). A sense of alienation showed a significantly negative correlation with the scores of responding parenting style(r=-.32), family cohesion(r=-.33), school attachment(r=-.51), academic performance(r=-.34), peer relationships(r=-.38), self-control (r=-.43), and social skills(r=-.33). The most powerful predictor of alienation among high school students was school attachment and the variance explained was 26%. A combination of school attachment, self control, peer relationships, family cohesion, demanding parenting style, and academic performance account for 40% of the variance in alienation among high school students. This study suggests that school attachment, self control, peer relationships, family cohesion, demanding parenting style, and academic performance are significant influencing factors on alienation in high school students. Therefore, nursing strategy is needed to manage these revealed factors.

Personal, family, and school influences on secondary pupils’ feelings of safety at school, in the school surroundings, and at home

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooij, Ton

2010-01-01

Mooij, T. (2010, 26-28 August). Personal, family, and school influences on secondary pupils’ feelings of safety at school, the school surroundings, and at home. Presentation at the ‘European Conference on Educational Research’ of the 'European Educational Research Association' (EERA), Helsinki.

Poor mental health associated with job dissatisfaction among school teachers in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagai, Michiko; Tsuchiya, Kenji J; Toulopoulou, Timothea; Takei, Nori

2007-11-01

School teaching is regarded as a stressful occupation. The present study aimed to compare the likelihood of having minor psychiatric disorders (MPD) among school teachers with that among civil servants, and to investigate what factors were specifically associated with MPD in teachers. We conducted a questionnaire-based survey of 403 teachers employed at state schools and 611 civil servants as a comparison group in a medium-sized city in Japan. The response rate was 59.6% for teachers and 62.0% for civil servants. Mental health was assessed using the 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), according to which those with a score of six or higher were considered to have MPD. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with MPD. Although the proportion of subjects with MPD among teachers was greater than that among civil servants, the difference in the proportion was not statistically significant in the multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders. In a separate analysis of the teachers, reduced job satisfaction and shorter time spent of leisure were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of having MPD. In the group of civil servants, longer working hours, reduced life satisfaction, a history of sick leave, and physical illness were associated with an increased likelihood of having MPD. When this analysis was conducted separately for male and female teachers, job dissatisfaction alone was associated with MPD only in female teachers. Poor mental health of Japanese school teachers, female teachers in particular, was found to be associated with job dissatisfaction.

Personal, Family and School Influences on Secondary Pupils' Feelings of Safety at School, in the School Surroundings and at Home

Science.gov (United States)

Mooij, Ton

2012-01-01

Different types of variables seem to influence school safety and a pupil's feelings of safety at school. The research question asks which risk and promotive variables should be integrated in a theoretical model to predict a pupil's feelings of safety at school, in the school surroundings and at home; what the outcomes are of an empirical check of…

Non-pharmacological interventions for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) delivered in school settings: systematic reviews of quantitative and qualitative research.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Michelle; Moore, Darren A; Gwernan-Jones, Ruth; Thompson-Coon, Jo; Ukoumunne, Obioha; Rogers, Morwenna; Whear, Rebecca; Newlove-Delgado, Tamsin V; Logan, Stuart; Morris, Christopher; Taylor, Eric; Cooper, Paul; Stein, Ken; Garside, Ruth; Ford, Tamsin J

2015-01-01

influenced by the relationships held by children with ADHD and participants' attitudes towards school and ADHD. For review 4, 34 studies met the inclusion criteria. Key findings included the importance of causal attributions that teachers, parents and pupils made about ADHD symptoms, the decisions teachers made about treatment, the self-perceptions pupils developed about themselves, the role of the classroom environment and stigma in aggravating ADHD symptoms, and the significant barrier to treatment posed by the common presence of conflict in relationships between pupils-teachers, parents-teachers and pupils-peers in relation to ADHD. An overarching synthesis of the four reviews highlighted the importance of the context affecting interventions. It suggested that ADHD psychoeducation and relationship-building skills are potential implications for interventions. LIMITATIONS The breadth of both interventions and outcomes in the reviewed studies presented a challenge for categorisation, analysis and interpretation in reviews 1-3. Across reviews, relatively few studies were conducted in the UK, limiting the applicability of findings to UK education. In reviews 1 and 2, the poor methodological quality of some included studies was identified as a barrier to establishing effectiveness or comparing attitudes. In review 3 the descriptive analysis used by the majority of studies constrained theorising during synthesis. Studies in review 4 lacked detail regarding important issues like gender, pupil maturity and school level. CONCLUSION Findings suggest some beneficial effects of non-pharmacological interventions for ADHD used in school settings, but substantial heterogeneity in effect sizes was seen across studies. The qualitative reviews demonstrate the importance of the context in which interventions are used. Future work should consider more rigorous evaluation of interventions, as well as focus on what works, for whom and in which contexts. Gaps in current research present

Decomposing the Gap in Childhood Undernutrition between Poor and Non–Poor in Urban India, 2005–06

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Abhishek; Singh, Aditya

2013-01-01

Background Despite the growing evidence from other developing countries, intra-urban inequality in childhood undernutrition is poorly researched in India. Additionally, the factors contributing to the poor/non-poor gap in childhood undernutrition have not been explored. This study aims to quantify the contribution of factors that explain the poor/non-poor gap in underweight, stunting, and wasting among children aged less than five years in urban India. Methods We used cross-sectional data from the third round of the National Family Health Survey conducted during 2005–06. Descriptive statistics were used to understand the gap in childhood undernutrition between the urban poor and non-poor, and across the selected covariates. Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition technique was used to explain the factors contributing to the average gap in undernutrition between poor and non-poor children in urban India. Result Considerable proportions of urban children were found to be underweight (33%), stunted (40%), and wasted (17%) in 2005–06. The undernutrition gap between the poor and non-poor was stark in urban India. For all the three indicators, the main contributing factors were underutilization of health care services, poor body mass index of the mothers, and lower level of parental education among those living in poverty. Conclusions The findings indicate that children belonging to poor households are undernourished due to limited use of health care services, poor health of mothers, and poor educational status of their parents. Based on the findings the study suggests that improving the public services such as basic health care and the education level of the mothers among urban poor can ameliorate the negative impact of poverty on childhood undernutrition. PMID:23734231

Parenting and Temperament Influence on School Success in 9?13 Year Olds

OpenAIRE

Checa, Purificaci?n; Abundis-Gutierrez, Alicia

2017-01-01

Children spend a lot of time with their parents who are the first agents that educate them. The parenting style implemented in the family influences other contexts outside home such as the school. There is evidence that a positive parenting style has an influence on school success. However, there are other variables related to school success, for example, temperament. The influence of parenting decreases with age as children develop abilities to self-regulate without parents' external control...

The influence of school culture and school climate on violence in schools of the Eastern Cape Province

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Kalie Barnes

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This article reports on research undertaken about the influence of school culture and school climate on violence at schools in the Eastern Cape. An adapted California School Climate and Survey - Short Form (CSCSS-SF, which was used as the data-collection instrument, was completed by 900 Grade 10 to 12 learners. With the assistance of Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient, it was found that the better the school culture and school climate are at a school, the lower the levels of school violence. On the other hand, a lack of school safety contributed to learners experiencing higher levels of violence at schools. The results of hierarchy regression analyses indicated that school culture and school climate can be used to explain a significant percentage of variance in school violence. The f² values indicate that, with the exception of two aspects of the variance physical and verbal harassment, the results did not have any practical value. The article concludes with a few suggestions on how the results can be used to address school violence.

Sport Participation of Preschool Children and Parents Influence (2) : A Comparative Study on Sport-school Participants and Non-participants

OpenAIRE

丸山, 富雄; Tomio, MARUYAMA; 仙台大学; SENDAI COLLEGE

1984-01-01

The purpose of this study was to clarify a mechanism of sport participation of preschool children. Three items composed of parents' social achieved status, parents' interest in sport and parents' educational eagerness were investigated. Data were collected from 271 parents whose children attended kindergarten at Tokyo (sport-school participants 129, non-participants 142). As the results, participants' group was higher than non-participants' at all three items. Thus, it seems that sport partic...

Avaliação pelo P300 de crianças com e sem epilepsia e rendimento escolar Assessment through P300 of epileptic and non-epileptic children and school performance

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JUCELEI F. VISIOLI-MELO

2000-06-01

Full Text Available Dificuldade de aprendizagem é situação comum em crianças com epilepsia. Distúrbios da inteligência têm sido associados com epilepsia. O potencial cognitivo (P300 é um adjunto clínico para mensurar neurofisiologicamente o processo cognitivo. Foram estudadas 99 crianças com 10 anos a 11 anos e 11 meses. Do Grupo I, sem epilepsia, faziam parte 64 crianças, das quais 32 com bom rendimento e outras 32 com mau rendimento escolar. Do Grupo II, com epilepsia, faziam parte 35 crianças, sendo 21 com bom rendimento escolar e 15 com mau rendimento escolar. Não foi encontrada diferença significativa na latência do P300 entre os dois grupos. Quando foram estratificados segundo o desempenho escolar, as crianças do Grupo I, com bom rendimento escolar, apresentaram latência do P300 de 336 ms e as com mau rendimento escolar, latência de 382 ms; as crianças do Grupo II, com bom rendimento escolar, apresentaram latência do P300 de 363 ms e as com mau rendimento escolar, latência de 400 ms, com diferença significativa. Essa diferença estava localizada entre as crianças não epilépticas com bom desempenho escolar e as com mau desempenho escolar, epilépticas ou não.Learning disability is common in epileptic children. Epilepsy has been associated with disorders of intelligence. Cognitive potential (P300 is considered to be a clinical aid in the neurophysiological measurement of the cognitive process. Ninety-nine children between the ages of 10 years and 11 years and 11 months formed our sample, with good and poor school performance. Group I, non-epileptic, had 64 children of whom 32 had good and 32 poor school performance. Group II, epileptic, had 35 children, of whom 21 had good and 15 poor school performance. No significant difference in P300 latency was found between Groups I and II. When groups were stratified based on school performance, Group I children with good school performance had P300 latency of 336 ms, while the ones with poor

Association of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea with poor academic performance: A school-based study from India.

Science.gov (United States)

Goyal, Abhishek; Pakhare, Abhijit P; Bhatt, Girish C; Choudhary, Bharat; Patil, Rajesh

2018-01-01

Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent but often neglected disorder. There is paucity of reports on the prevalence of pediatric OSA from India. This study was done to estimate the prevalence of OSA in school children aged 5-10 years and its association with academic performance. This school-based cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted from July 2015 to November 2015. A questionnaire seeking information on sociodemographic variables, school performance, sleeping pattern, and a validated 22-item pediatrics sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) scale was distributed to 1820 pupils in three primary schools. The prevalence of OSA (defined as SRBD score >33%) was reported as proportion and its 95% confidence interval (CI). We received 1520 questionnaires out of 1820 distributed and of which 1346 were complete and were analyzed. The prevalence of OSA among children in our study was 9.6% (95% CI: 8.1%-11.7%). On multivariate analysis, working mother (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2-2.7), sleep bruxism (adjusted OR: 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1-2.6), and sleep talking (adjusted OR: 3.0; 95% CI: 1.9-4.7) were found to be independently associated with OSA. Students with positive SRBD were more prone to nocturnal enuresis (NE) (OR 3.48; 95% CI 2.27-5.26) and poor academic performance in all subjects. OSA is highly prevalent (9.6%) in Indian children. OSA is associated with NE and poor academic performance in all subjects. This study found association of maternal occupation and OSA which needs to be confirmed in larger studies.

Association of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea with poor academic performance: A school-based study from India

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Abhishek Goyal

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA is a highly prevalent but often neglected disorder. There is paucity of reports on the prevalence of pediatric OSA from India. This study was done to estimate the prevalence of OSA in school children aged 5–10 years and its association with academic performance. Methodology: This school-based cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted from July 2015 to November 2015. A questionnaire seeking information on sociodemographic variables, school performance, sleeping pattern, and a validated 22-item pediatrics sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD scale was distributed to 1820 pupils in three primary schools. The prevalence of OSA (defined as SRBD score >33% was reported as proportion and its 95% confidence interval (CI. Results: We received 1520 questionnaires out of 1820 distributed and of which 1346 were complete and were analyzed. The prevalence of OSA among children in our study was 9.6% (95% CI: 8.1%–11.7%. On multivariate analysis, working mother (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2–2.7, sleep bruxism (adjusted OR: 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1–2.6, and sleep talking (adjusted OR: 3.0; 95% CI: 1.9–4.7 were found to be independently associated with OSA. Students with positive SRBD were more prone to nocturnal enuresis (NE (OR 3.48; 95% CI 2.27–5.26 and poor academic performance in all subjects. Conclusion: OSA is highly prevalent (9.6% in Indian children. OSA is associated with NE and poor academic performance in all subjects. This study found association of maternal occupation and OSA which needs to be confirmed in larger studies.

Poverty and behavior problems trajectories from 1.5 to 8 years of age: Is the gap widening between poor and non-poor children?

Science.gov (United States)

Mazza, Julia Rachel S E; Boivin, Michel; Tremblay, Richard E; Michel, Gregory; Salla, Julie; Lambert, Jean; Zunzunegui, Maria Victoria; Côté, Sylvana M

2016-08-01

Poverty has been associated with high levels of behavior problems across childhood, yet patterns of associations over time remain understudied. This study aims: (a) to examine whether poverty predicts changes in behavior problems between 1.5 and 8 years of age; (b) to estimate potential selection bias for the observed associations. We used the 1998-2006 waves of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (N = 2120). Main outcomes were maternal ratings of hyperactivity, opposition and physical aggression from 1.5 to 8 years of age. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess the longitudinal association between poverty and behavior problems. Models were re-estimated adjusting for wave nonresponse and using multiple imputation to account for attrition. Poverty predicted higher levels of behavior problems between 1.5 and 8 years of age. Poverty predicted hyperactivity and opposition in a time dependent manner. Hyperactivity [Bpoverty*age = 0.052; CI 95 % (0.002; 0.101)] and opposition [Bpoverty*age = 0.049; CI 95 % (0.018; 0.079)] increased at a faster rate up to age 5 years, and then decreased at a slower rate for poor than non-poor children. Physical aggression decreased at a steady rate over time for all children [Bpoverty*age = -0.030; p = 0.064). Estimates remained similar when accounting for attrition. Poverty predicted higher levels of behavior problems between 1.5 and 8 years of age. The difference between poor and non-poor children was stable over time for physical aggression, but increased with age for hyperactivity and opposition. Attrition among poor children did not compromise the validity of results.

Influence of early childhood burns on school performance: an Australian population study.

Science.gov (United States)

Azzam, Nadin; Oei, Ju-Lee; Adams, Susan; Bajuk, Barbara; Hilder, Lisa; Mohamed, Abdel-Latif; Wright, Ian M R; Holland, Andrew J A

2018-05-01

To determine the influence of burn injuries on childhood performance in national standardised curriculum-based school tests. Birth and health records of 977 children who were hospitalised with a burn injury between 2000 and 2006 in the state of New South Wales, Australia, were linked to performance scores in the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy test, a compulsory nationwide curriculum-based test (CBT) and compared with children who were not hospitalised for burns and who were matched for birth year, gender, gestation and socioeconomic status. Test scores in years 3 (ages 8-9), 5 (ages 10-11) and 7 (ages 13-14) in numeracy, writing, reading, spelling, grammar and punctuation. Mean age at first burn injury was 28 months (median: 20, range: 0-140). Children with burns were significantly more likely to have younger mothers (28.5 vs 29.6 years) (Pchildhood burn injuries occur before the start of formal schooling. Children who are hospitalised for burns perform more poorly in CBT even after accounting for family and socioeconomic disadvantage. Rehabilitation of children with burn injuries must address school performance to decrease any long-term negative societal impact of burns. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Education of quality to the poor

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H.M. van der Merwe

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Quality education often eludes South African learners from poverty- stricken environments. There are, however, some notable exceptions. This article looks at how quality education based on social capital is provided to the poor. The author reports on a qualitative investigation based on both focus group and individual interviews conducted at a resource-poor KwaZulu- Natal school serving learners from Grade R to 9. The findings show that quality education at the research site relates to the moral agency of the school principal and teaching staff. Through their ethics of being and doing, the school principal and teaching staff ensure that sufficient resources, sound home-school relations, and a high premium on moral values result in a receptive learner corps. This environment encourages these learners to act with diligence, honesty, politeness, respect and service to the community. The findings contribute to research that maintains that quality education is indicative of the school principal and teachers‟ ethics of being and of doing.

Prevalence of high astigmatism, eyeglass wear, and poor visual acuity among Native American grade school children.

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Harvey, Erin M; Dobson, Velma; Miller, Joseph M

2006-04-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of astigmatism and poor visual acuity and rate of eyeglass wear in grade school children who are members of a Native American tribe reported to have a high prevalence of large amounts of astigmatism. Vision screening was conducted on 1,327 first through eighth grade children attending school on the Tohono O'odham Reservation. Noncycloplegic autorefraction was conducted on the right and left eye of each child using the Nikon Retinomax K+ autorefractor, and monocular recognition acuity was tested using ETDRS logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) letter charts. Tohono O'odham children had a high prevalence of high astigmatism (42% had > or = 1.00 D in the right or left eye) and the axis of astigmatism was uniformly with-the-rule. However, only a small percentage of children arrived at the vision screening wearing glasses, and the prevalence of poor visual acuity (20/40 or worse in either eye) was high (35%). There was a significant relation between amount of astigmatism and uncorrected visual acuity with each additional diopter of astigmatism resulting in an additional 1 logMAR line reduction in visual acuity. Uncorrected astigmatism and poor visual acuity are prevalent among Tohono O'odham children. The results highlight the importance of improving glasses-wearing compliance, determining barriers to receiving eye care, and initiating public education programs regarding the importance of early identification and correction of astigmatism in Tohono O'odham children.

Non-LTE line formation of Fe in late-type stars - III. 3D non-LTE analysis of metal-poor stars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Amarsi, A. M.; Lind, K.; Asplund, M.

2016-01-01

As one of the most important elements in astronomy, iron abundance determinations need to be as accurate as possible. We investigate the accuracy of spectroscopic iron abundance analyses using archetypal metal-poor stars. We perform detailed 3D non-LTE radiative transfer calculations based on 3D...

Malnutrition and poor oral health status are major risks among primary school children at Lasbela, Balochistan, Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Mustufa, Muhammad Ayaz; Jamali, Abdul Karim; Sameen, Ifra; Burfat, Fateh Muhammad; Baloch, Mir Yousaf; Baloch, Abdul Hameed; Baloch, Ghulam Rasool; Lashari, Shazia Kulsoom; Ayaz, Sobiya Mohiuddin; Baloch, Muhammad Younus

2017-05-19

This survey was focusing on health and oral hygiene status of primary school children at Lasbela district considering the comparatively less developed and socio demographically deprived part of the Country. A cross sectional survey was conducted to determine the health status of primary school children in seven tehseels of district Lasbela, Balochistan after applying proportionate sampling technique from March 2015 to July 2015. Field teams visited assigned schools to screen children and collect health related data on predesigned and pre coded proforma. Out of 200 schools, 196 schools found opened, while 2% of schools (04) remained closed. A total of 6363 students were clinically screened. About 45% of the school children had normal body mass index (BMI) and rest were falling in different categories of malnutrition. More than 19% had ear, nose and throat (ENT) problems and around 19% presented with clinical anemia. Less than 50% of children had scar of BCG vaccination and 4% informed about use of gutka/supari chewing (smokeless tobacco use). In conclusion, we estimated high prevalence of malnutrition, poor oral health including smokeless tobacco use, and low BCG coverage among primary school children at Lasbela. Current scenario suggests immediate and contextually focused interventions to confine existing public health risks and avoid future burden of disease.

Non-medical use of prescription pain relievers among high school students in China: a multilevel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Lan; Xu, Yan; Deng, Jianxiong; He, Yuan; Gao, Xue; Li, Pengsheng; Wu, Hong; Zhou, Jinhua; Lu, Ciyong

2015-07-13

Given the differences between general high school (GHS) and vocational high school (VHS) students, this study aimed to investigate the lifetime prevalence of non-medical use of prescription pain relievers (NMUPPR) among high school students as well as the associations between NMUPPR and individual-level factors and school category. A cross-sectional study was conducted in GHS and VHS students in 2012 in Chongqing, and 11 906 students' questionnaires were completed and qualified for the survey. Self-reported NMUPPR and information regarding individual-level determinants and school category were collected. A multilevel multivariate logistic regression model was fitted to explore independent predictors of NMUPPR. The total lifetime prevalence of NMUPPR was 11.3%, and NMUPPR was more prevalent among VHS students (15.8%) compared with GHS students (9.8%). Overall, the results indicated that VHS students were more likely to be involved in NMUPPR (adjusted OR (AOR)=1.64, 95% CI 1.42 to 1.89). Regarding the individual-level predictors of NMUPPR, below-average family economic status was negatively correlated with NMUPPR (AOR=0.77, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.98), and students with more pocket money were more likely to be engaged in NMUPPR. Students who had difficult family relationships, had poor relationships with teachers, had parents or friends who engaged in non-medical prescription drug use, and considered or attempted suicide were more likely to be engaged in NMUPPR. NMUPPR among high school students is a multidetermined phenomenon. The current findings indicate that VHS students are an important subgroup of adolescents and highlight the need for additional research as well as targeted prevention and intervention programmes for NMUPPR. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Variables that influence junior secondary school students‟ attitude ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The positive relationship between the rate of learning, attitude to and achievement in science has been documented in literature. It is therefore pertinent to assess the variables that tend to influence students' attitude to Agricultural Science. The study assessed the influence of gender, location of school and sex composition ...

School environments and obesity: The mediating role of personal stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Milam, Adam J; Jones, Chandria D; Debnam, Katrina J; Bradshaw, Catherine P

2017-01-01

Youth spend a large amount of time in the school environment. Given the multiple influences of teachers, peers, and food and physical activity options, youth are likely to experience stressors that can influence their weight. This study examines the association between school climate and weight status. Students ( n = 28,582; 58 schools) completed an online, anonymous school climate survey as part of the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools Project. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to explore the association between school climate, personal stress, and obesity. Analyses were stratified by gender. At the individual level, poor school climate (bullying, physical safety, and lack of whole-school connectedness) was associated with an increased likelihood of being overweight among females ( β =.115, p = .019) but not males ( β = .138; p =.244), after controlling for age, race, and physical activity. There was no association between school climate at the school level and being overweight among males or females. A second model included stress as a potential mediator; stress attenuated the relationship between poor school-related climate and being overweight ( β = .039; p = .048) among females. Findings suggest that stress related to school climate can play a role in the health and weight status of youth.

Impulsivity moderates promotive environmental influences on adolescent delinquency: A comparison across family, school, and neighborhood contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Pan; Jacobson, Kristen C.

2013-01-01

The present study examined moderating effects of impulsivity on the relationships between promotive factors from family (family warmth, parental knowledge), school (school connectedness), and neighborhood (neighborhood cohesion) contexts with delinquency using data collected from N = 2,978 sixth to eighth graders from 16 schools surrounding a major city in the Midwestern United States. More than half of the respondents were non-Caucasian (Mage = 12.48; 41.0% male). Multilevel modeling analyses were conducted to take into account the clustering of the participants within schools. Impulsivity was positively associated with adolescent delinquency. Additionally, family warmth, parental knowledge, and school connectedness, but not neighborhood cohesion, were independently and inversely related to adolescent delinquency. Finally, impulsivity moderated relationships between family warmth and parental knowledge with delinquency but not relationships between school attachment and neighborhood cohesion with delinquency. Specifically, the negative relationship between family warmth and delinquency was significant for adolescents with high levels of, but not for those with below-average levels of, impulsivity. In addition, parental knowledge had a stronger association with decreased levels of delinquency for adolescents reporting higher levels of impulsivity. The moderating effects of impulsivity did not differ for males and females or for minority and non-minority participants. Findings indicate that impulsivity may have greater impact on adolescents’ susceptibility to positive family influences than on their susceptibility to promotive factors from school or neighborhood contexts. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. PMID:23673971

The influence of professional teachers on Padang vocational school students' achievement

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Ramli Bakar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This study determined: (1 the competency of professional teachers teaching in the classroom, (2 students' achievement in vocational schools in Padang, and (3 the influence of professional teachers on vocational school students' achievement in Padang. The population was 2,647 students in vocational schools. The sample, consisting of 160 students, was selected using a multistage, random sampling technique. Data were collected using questionnaires and documentation, and then analyzed and presented using the SPSS software. The results showed: (1 overall, the professional teachers of vocational schools in Padang had good qualifications in pedagogical competence, professional competence, social competence, and personal competence, (2 the learning process of vocational schools in Padang was going well and in general, student achievement was at a good level of performance, and (3 there was a significant influence of professional teachers on vocational school students' achievement in Padang. Keywords: professional teacher, student achievement, vocational school

Non-completion of upper secondary school among female and male young adults in an Arctic sociocultural context; the NAAHS study

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Elisabeth Valmyr Bania

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Education is closely associated with health. Non-completion of upper secondary school influences academic achievement, employment, income and personal well-being. The purpose of the study is to explore predictors of non-completion of upper secondary school among female and male young adults in relation to mental health and educational factors in a socio-cultural, Arctic context. Methods The Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Study (NAAHS is a cross-sectional, school-based survey that was conducted in 2003–2005. Eighty-three percent of the population of 5,877 10th graders participated; 49.1%females, 450 reported indigenous Sami ethnicity, and 304 reported Laestadian affiliation. Data from NAAHS were merged with registry data from the National Education Database (NUDB Norway for 3,987 adolescents who gave their consent for follow-up studies. Results Non-completion of upper secondary school was 36.9 % among females and 36.6 % among males. Among females, predictors for non-completion were related to mental health symptoms, and among males, to residency in the northernmost and remote areas and self-reported functional difficulties at school, home and in leisure activities due to mental health problems. There was marginal significance between ethnicity and non-completion of upper secondary school, measured at 41.3 % for Sami and 36.8 % for non-Sami, respectively. Conclusions The gender differences found in this study emphasize the need for gender-specific interventions in preventing non-completion of upper secondary school. There is a need to recognize and treat extensive pro-social behaviour and social problems in young females. Young males from remote areas and those who in early adolescence struggle with functional impairment due to mental health problems need early interventions in lower secondary school. Enhancing parents’ and teachers’ ability to detect symptoms and problems as well as low-threshold health services

The prevalences of and association between nonmedical prescription opioid use and poor sleep among Chinese high school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Daiting; Li, Pengsheng; Guo, Lan; Xu, Yan; Gao, Xue; Deng, Jianxiong; Huang, Jinghui; Huang, Guoliang; Wu, Hong; Yue, Yue; Lu, Ciyong

2016-07-28

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalences of and association between nonmedical prescription opioid use (NMPOU) and sleep quality among Chinese high school students. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Chongqing high school students in 2012, and questionnaires from 18,686 students were completed and eligible for this study. Demographic and NMPOU information was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The Chinese Pittsburgh Sleep Quality index (CPSQI) was used to assess the occurrence of poor sleep. Among the total sample, 18.0% were classified as poor sleepers (27.4% of the subjects with past-month NMPOU), and the prevalences of lifetime, past-year and past-month NMPOU were 14.6, 4.6 and 2.8% across the entire sample, respectively. The most commonly used medicine was licorice tablets with morphine (9.1, 2.5 and 1.5% for lifetime, past-year and past-month, respectively), followed by cough syrup with codeine, Percocet, diphenoxylate and tramadol. After adjustment for potential confounders, the association between past-month NMPOU and poor sleep remained significant (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.85). Programs aimed at decreasing NMPOU should also pay attention to sleep quality among adolescents.

Test anxiety, attitude to schooling, parental influence, and peer ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated test anxiety, attitude to schooling, parental influence, and peer pressure as predictors of cheating tendencies in examination among secondary school students in Edo State, Nigeria. Ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. Using stratified random sampling technique, 1200 senior ...

Alcohol peer influence of participating in organized school activities: a network approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujimoto, Kayo; Valente, Thomas W

2013-10-01

This study compares the network influences on adolescent substance use from peers who coparticipated in school-sponsored organized activities (affiliation-based peer influence) with the influence both from their "nominated" friends (i.e., the adolescent named the alter as a friend), and only "reciprocated" friends (i.e., both adolescents mutually named each other as friends). The study also attempts to parse affiliation-based peer influence into the influence of both activity members who are also friends and those who are not, to address the potential confounding of these sources of peer influence. The study data consisted of a nationally representative sample of 12,551 adolescents in Grades 7-12 within 106 schools from the Add Health data. Ordinal logistic regression was conducted to estimate the effects of affiliation-based and friends influence on alcohol use and drinking frequency. Peer influence via organized activities (sports or clubs) with drinkers and the influence of friends who drink had significant effects on adolescent drinking. Peer influence through club activities with drinkers had a stronger effect on any drinking behavior than through sports activities with drinkers. After decomposing peer influence through activities by friendship status, influence through sport activities had a significant effect on drinking only when coparticipant drinkers were also reciprocated friends (but not nominated friends), whereas influence through club activities had a significant effect on drinking, regardless of friendship reciprocation. The design and implementation of school based substance use prevention and treatment programs should consider the contextual effects of school-sponsored activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

To Understand the “Brazilian Way” of School Management: How National Culture Influences the Organizational Culture and School Leadership

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Ana Maria de Albuquerque Moreira

2018-06-01

Full Text Available This study aims to identify characteristics of national culture in the culture of Brazilian school management and leadership. Considering the broad literature that deals with the peculiarities of Brazilian culture and its influence on Brazilian management, it is assumed that as an institution belonging to a particular society, the school offers internal dynamics that are organized under influences of historical and cultural determinants of this society. This work is an exploratory study that uses secondary data found in studies on the profiles of principals, leadership, climate, and organizational culture in schools and primary data from research applied in public secondary schools located in the Federal District, Brazil. The results demonstrate that the initial premise—national culture influences the organizational culture and school leadership—has been confirmed and aspects that merit further analysis are identified.

[Influence of school health promotion on the life habits of schoolchildren].

Science.gov (United States)

Arriscado Alsina, D; Muros Molina, J J; Zabala Díaz, M; Dalmau Torres, J M

2015-07-01

In recent decades, attention has been directed at global theories that attempt to prevent childhood obesity by exposing them to healthy environments. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of health-promoting environments in primary schools in Logroño (La Rioja, Spain) on the habits of school children. The directors of the 31 primary schools in the city completed a questionnaire which examined the health promotion activities of their schools. In addition, anthropometric measurements, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and sedentary and physical activity habits were recorded from a representative sample of 329 schoolchildren in the sixth year of primary education (11-12 year-olds). The majority of schools had developed nutritional and/or physical activity programs (77.4% and 61.3%, respectively); however, teachers had generally not received specific training in that area. Guidelines regarding healthy habits were not formally included in the School Educational Project. Physical activity, which was greater amongst boys (P<.001), was mostly promoted after school hours. The major influences on school children's physical activity and dietary habits of the children were training of teachers, existence of guidelines, and access to sports grounds (P<.05). Although further research is required, this study shows that certain modifiable aspects in the organizational or school environment can influence the habits of school children at a fundamental stage of their development. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The Perceived Influence of School Leadership on Learner Behaviour in a Namibian Secondary School

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Smith, Clive; Amushigamo, Angelina

2016-01-01

Despite the deeply entrenched belief in and practice of corporal punishment to maintain learner control in schools, a secondary school in Namibia has for a number of years proven to be an exception to this practice. This is an interpretive account of the teachers' and learners' experiences and perceptions of the influence of their school…

Parenting Efficacy and the Early School Adjustment of Poor and Near-Poor Black Children

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Jackson, Aurora P.; Choi, Jeong-Kyun; Bentler, Peter M.

2009-01-01

This short-term longitudinal study investigates whether maternal educational attainment, maternal employment status, and family income affect African American children's behavioral and cognitive functioning over time through their impacts on mothers' psychological functioning and parenting efficacy in a sample of 100 poor and near-poor single…

Violence exposure, sleep disturbance, and poor academic performance in middle school.

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Lepore, Stephen J; Kliewer, Wendy

2013-11-01

Violence has been linked to poor academic outcomes in youth, but there is little understanding of the mechanisms underlying this relation. This longitudinal survey study investigated whether sleep disturbance potentially mediates the associations between academic achievement and two forms of violence exposure--community violence and peer victimization-- in 498 seventh-grade youth. Structural equation models showed that community violence was associated with lower grade point average (GPA) directly and indirectly via sleep problems, whereas peer victimization was associated with lower GPA just indirectly via sleep problems. The structural models controlled for potential confounds, including depressive symptoms, intrusive thoughts and absenteeism. The findings suggest that failing grades and sleepiness in school may be signs that youth are exposed to violence. Interventions to improve sleep hygiene and reduce violence exposure may help to improve academic outcomes for youth.

Changes in the SF-8 scores among healthy non-smoking school teachers after the enforcement of a smoke-free school policy: a comparison by passive smoke status.

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Kiyohara, Kosuke; Itani, Yuri; Kawamura, Takashi; Matsumoto, Yoshitaka; Takahashi, Yuko

2010-04-28

The effects of the enforcement of a smoke-free workplace policy on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among a healthy population are poorly understood. The present study was undertaken to examine the effects of the enforcement of a smoke-free school policy on HRQOL among healthy non-smoking schoolteachers with respect to their exposure to passive smoke. Two self-reported questionnaire surveys were conducted, the first before and the second after the enforcement of a total smoke-free public school policy in Nara City. A total of 1534 teachers were invited from 62 schools, and their HRQOL was assessed using six domains extracted from the Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form-8 questionnaire (SF-8): general health perception (GH), role functioning-physical (RP), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), mental health (MH), and role functioning-emotional (RE). The participants were divided into two groups according to their exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at baseline: participants not exposed to ETS at school (non-smokers), and participants exposed to ETS at school (passive smokers). Changes in each SF-8 score were evaluated using paired t-tests for each group, and their inter-group differences were evaluated using multiple linear regression analyses adjusted for sex, age, school type, managerial position, and attitude towards a smoke-free policy. After ineligible subjects were excluded, 689 teachers were included in the analyses. The number of non-smokers and passive smokers was 447 and 242, respectively. Significant changes in SF-8 scores were observed for MH (0.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.2-1.5) and RE (0.7; 95% CI, 0.0-1.3) in non-smokers, and GH (2.2; 95% CI, 1.2-3.1), VT (1.8; 95% CI, 0.9-2.7), SF (2.7; 95% CI, 1.6-3.8), MH (2.0; 95% CI, 1.0-2.9), and RE (2.0; 95% CI, 1.2-2.8) in passive smokers. In the multiple linear regression analyses, the net changes in the category scores of GH (1.8; 95% CI, 0.7-2.9), VT (1.4, 95% CI, 0.3-2.5), SF (2

School Culture's Influence on Beginning Agriculture Teachers' Job Satisfaction and Teacher Self-Efficacy

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Hasselquist, Laura; Herndon, Kevin; Kitchel, Tracy

2017-01-01

This study explored first and second year agriculture teachers' job satisfaction and teacher selfefficacy through their perceived levels of school culture support. Prior research indicated one possible contributor to poor teacher retention is a lack of belonging teachers feel to their schools. Data were collected from beginning teachers in three…

The influence of age, gender and other information technology use on young people's computer use at school and home.

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Harris, C; Straker, L; Pollock, C

2013-01-01

Young people are exposed to a range of information technologies (IT) in different environments, including home and school, however the factors influencing IT use at home and school are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate young people's computer exposure patterns at home and school, and related factors such as age, gender and the types of IT used. 1351 children in Years 1, 6, 9 and 11 from 10 schools in metropolitan Western Australia were surveyed. Most children had access to computers at home and school, with computer exposures comparable to TV, reading and writing. Total computer exposure was greater at home than school, and increased with age. Computer activities varied with age and gender and became more social with increased age, at the same time parental involvement reduced. Bedroom computer use was found to result in higher exposure patterns. High use of home and school computers were associated with each other. Associations varied depending on the type of IT exposure measure (frequency, mean weekly hours, usual and longest duration). The frequency and duration of children's computer exposure were associated with a complex interplay of the environment of use, the participant's age and gender and other IT activities.

Association of school social networks' influence and mass media factors with cigarette smoking among asthmatic students.

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Kanamori, Mariano; Beck, Kenneth H; Carter-Pokras, Olivia

2015-03-01

Around 10% of adolescent students under 18 years have current asthma. Asthmatic adolescents smoke as much or more than non-asthmatic adolescents. We explored the association between exposure to mass media and social networks' influence with asthmatic student smoking, and variations of these exposures by sex. This study included 9755 asthmatic and 38,487 non-asthmatic middle and high school students. Secondary data analysis incorporated the complex sample design; and univariate, bivariate, and logistic regression statistics. Asthmatic students had greater odds of smoking than non-asthmatic students. Asthmatic female students were more likely than asthmatic male students to have been exposed to secondhand smoke in rooms or cars and to smoking actors, but less likely to associate smoking with intent to wear tobacco-marketing products, or with looking cool/fitting in. Asthmatic male and female students, who have smoking friends, were exposed to secondhand smoke in rooms (only girls) or cars, intended to smoke if best friends offered cigarettes, or received/bought tobacco marketing products had greater odds of smoking than other asthmatic students. The observed associations suggest the need for general interventions to reduce middle and high school students' cigarette smoking as well as targeted interventions for asthmatic adolescent students. © 2015, American School Health Association.

SELF-EFFICACY OF FORMALLY AND NON-FORMALLY TRAINED PUBLIC SECTOR TEACHERS

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Muhammad Nadeem ANWAR

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The main objective of the study was to compare the formally and non-formally trained in-service public sector teachers’ Self-efficacy. Five hypotheses were developed describing no difference in the self-efficacy of formally and non-formally trained teachers to influence decision making, influence school resources, instructional self-efficacy, disciplinary self-efficacy and create positive school climate. Teacher Efficacy Instrument (TSES developed by Bandura (2001 consisting of thirty 9-point items was used in the study. 342 formally trained and 255 non-formally trained respondents’ questionnaires were received out of 1500 mailed. The analysis of data revealed that the formally trained public sector teachers are high in their self-efficacy on all the five categories: to influence decision making, to influence school resources, instructional self-efficacy, disciplinary self-efficacy and self-efficacy to create positive school climate.

Validation of Family, School, and Peer Influence on Volunteerism Scale among Adolescents

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Law, Ben M. F.; Shek, Daniel T. L.; Ma, Cecilia M. S.

2013-01-01

Social systems, particularly family, school, and peer, are especially critical in influencing adolescents to participate in volunteer service; however, no objective measures of this construct exist. Objectives: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Family, School, and Peer Influence on Volunteerism scale (FSPV) among Chinese…

Teacher Attitudes, Perceived Influences, and Self-Reported Classroom Behaviors Related to School Nutrition Environments

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Girard, Beverly Lawler

2010-01-01

This study determined attitudes of kindergarten through fifth grade teachers about school nutrition environments, their perceived influence on school nutrition environments, and self-reported classroom behaviors. Specific objectives were to: (a) identify perceived factors that influence the school nutrition environment, according to teachers…

Non-Overweight and Overweight Children's Physical Activity during School Recess

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Ridgers, Nicola D.; Saint-Maurice, Pedro F.; Welk, Gregory J.; Siahpush, Mohammad; Huberty, Jennifer L.

2014-01-01

Objective: Little research has investigated children's physical activity levels during school recess and the contribution of recess to school day physical activity levels by weight status. The aims of this study were to examine non-overweight and overweight children's physical activity levels during school recess, and examine the contribution of…

Influence of Perceptions on School Nurse Practices to Prevent Childhood Obesity

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Quelly, Susan B.

2014-01-01

Comprehensive childhood obesity prevention (COP) strategies should include increasing school nurse involvement. This study was conducted to determine the influence of key school nurse perceptions (self-efficacy, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers) on participation in COP practices at the individual child and school level. Florida…

Reasoning Abilities in Primary School: A Pilot Study on Poor Achievers vs. Normal Achievers in Computer Game Tasks

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Dagnino, Francesca Maria; Ballauri, Margherita; Benigno, Vincenza; Caponetto, Ilaria; Pesenti, Elia

2013-01-01

This paper presents the results of preliminary research on the assessment of reasoning abilities in primary school poor achievers vs. normal achievers using computer game tasks. Subjects were evaluated by means of cognitive assessment on logical abilities and academic skills. The aim of this study is to better understand the relationship between…

Initiation of sexual intercourse among middle school adolescents: the influence of psychosocial factors.

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Santelli, John S; Kaiser, Javaid; Hirsch, Lesley; Radosh, Alice; Simkin, Linda; Middlestadt, Susan

2004-03-01

To explore potential psychosocial predictors for initiation of sexual intercourse among middle-school, inner-city youth, using longitudinal data from the Healthy and Alive! project. We conducted hierarchical, logistic regression with adjustment for intraclass correlation over two sequential periods, including seventh and eighth grades (N = 3163), to assess the independent influence of psychosocial and demographic factors. Internally reliable scales to assess psychosocial influences were created, based on major theories of behavior. The sample was 52% female, 51% black, 30% Hispanic, 9% white, and 3% Asian. At baseline, 13% of girls and 39% of boys reported already having initiated sexual intercourse. Personal and perceived peer norms about refraining from sex were a strong and consistent protective factor. Alcohol and other drug use, poor academic performance, male gender, and black race were consistent risk factors. Self-efficacy showed a mixed effect: protective in the seventh grade but increasing risk in the eighth grade. Speaking a language other than English was a protective factor in seventh grade. Both psychosocial and demographic factors provided independent explanatory power. Psychosocial factors, particularly norms about having sex, influence initiation of sexual intercourse. These data suggest that programs to delay initiation of sexual intercourse should reinforce norms about refraining from sex.

Analysis of the influence of marketing environment factors on the development of non-Olympic sports in sports schools (on the example of sports tourism

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Nataliiya Sereda

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: to determine the degree of influence of factors of macro- and microenvironment on the development of sports tourism in Kharkiv region. Materials and Methods: the paper uses the methods of analysis of literary sources and documents, system and organizational analysis, methods of marketing analysis (PEST and SWOT analysis, methods of mathematical statistics. The study was conducted in 4 children and youth sports schools of Kharkiv region, where it is cultivated sports tourism, only 124 respondents. Results: the degree of dependence of the functioning and development of sports tourism from the marketing environment. Conclusions: sport tourism is a relatively new socio-economic phenomenon. Promotion of non-Olympic sports, develop relevant marketing programs for their development is necessary to attract more children and teenagers to a systematic practice of physical fitness and sports activities.

The influence of school-based natural mentoring relationships on school attachment and subsequent adolescent risk behaviors.

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Black, David S; Grenard, Jerry L; Sussman, Steve; Rohrbach, Louise A

2010-10-01

A relatively new area of research suggests that naturally occurring mentoring relationships may influence the development of adolescents by protecting against risk behaviors. Few studies have explored how these relationships function to reduce risk behavior among youth, especially in the school context. Based on previous research and theory, we proposed and tested a mediation model, which hypothesized that school attachment mediated the longitudinal association between school-based natural mentoring relationships and risk behaviors, including eight indicators of substance use and violence. Students (N = 3320) from 65 high schools across eight states completed a self-report questionnaire at baseline and 1-year follow-up. The sample was comprised of youth with an average age of 14.8 years and an almost equal percentage of females (53%) and males from various ethnic backgrounds. Tests for mediation were conducted in Mplus using path analysis with full information maximum likelihood procedures and models adjusted for demographic covariates and baseline level of the dependent variable. Results suggested that natural mentoring relationships had a protective indirect influence on all eight risk behaviors through its positive association on the school attachment mediator. Implications are discussed for strengthening the association between school-based natural mentoring and school attachment to prevent risk behaviors among youth.

The Relationship Between Immigrant School Composition, Classmate Support and Involvement in Physical Fighting and Bullying among Adolescent Immigrants and Non-immigrants in 11 Countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Walsh, Sophie D; De Clercq, Bart; Molcho, Michal

2016-01-01

Increasing numbers of migrant youth around the world mean growing numbers of heterogeneous school environments in many countries. Contradictory findings regarding the relationship between immigrant school composition (the percentage of immigrant versus non-immigrant students in a school) and adol...... influences levels of peer violence. The results highlight a need for school intervention programs encouraging positive relations in schools with immigrant populations.......) and adolescent peer violence necessitate further consideration. The current study examined the relationship between immigrant school composition and peer violence, considering classmate support as a potential moderator among 51,636 adolescents (50.1 % female) from 11 countries. The findings showed that a higher...

Implementation of health promotion programmes in schools: an approach to understand the influence of contextual factors on the process?

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Darlington, Emily Joan; Violon, Nolwenn; Jourdan, Didier

2018-01-22

Implementing complex and multi-level public health programmes is challenging in school settings. Discrepancies between expected and actual programme outcomes are often reported. Such discrepancies are due to complex interactions between contextual factors. Contextual factors relate to the setting, the community, in which implementation occurs, the stakeholders involved, and the characteristics of the programme itself. This work uses realist evaluation to understand how contextual factors influence the implementation process, to result in variable programme outcomes. This study focuses on identifying contextual factors, pinpointing combinations of contextual factors, and understanding interactions and effects of such factors and combinations on programme outcomes on different levels of the implementation process. Schools which had participated in a school-based health promotion programme between 2012 and 2015 were included. Two sets of qualitative data were collected: semi-structured interviews with school staff and programme coordinators; and written documents about the actions implemented in a selection of four schools. Quantitative data included 1553 questionnaires targeting pupils aged 8 to 11 in 14 schools to describe the different school contexts. The comparison between what was expected from the programme (programme theory) and the outcomes identified in the field data, showed that some of the mechanisms expected to support the implementation of the programme, did not operate as anticipated (e.g. inclusion of training, initiation by decision-maker). Key factors which influenced the implementation process included, amongst other factors, the mode of introduction of the programme, home/school relationship, leadership of the management team, and the level of delegated power. Five types of interactions between contextual factors were put forward: enabling, hindering, neutral, counterbalancing and moderating effects. Recurrent combinations of factors were

The influence of knowledge management implementation toward the quality of high schools

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Hilda Ainissyifa

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of knowledge management implementation toward the quality of high schools. This study was conducted among five high schools under an education foundation. The analysis models used in the study were correlation analysis and t-test. The respondents were used as the profession references are 86 teachers. The result of the study shows that knowledge management implementation has a positive and significant influence toward the quality of high schools.

Non-pharmacological interventions for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) delivered in school settings: systematic reviews of quantitative and qualitative research.

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Richardson, Michelle; Moore, Darren A; Gwernan-Jones, Ruth; Thompson-Coon, Jo; Ukoumunne, Obioha; Rogers, Morwenna; Whear, Rebecca; Newlove-Delgado, Tamsin V; Logan, Stuart; Morris, Christopher; Taylor, Eric; Cooper, Paul; Stein, Ken; Garside, Ruth; Ford, Tamsin J

2015-06-01

. Most interventions were rated positively or neutrally across different studies. The only intervention that consistently recorded positive attitudes from educators was daily report cards. For review 3, 33 studies met the inclusion criteria. Key findings included tensions regarding the preferred format of interventions, particularly how structured interventions were and the extent to which they are tailored to the child with ADHD. There were mixed views about the impact of interventions, although it was clear that interventions both influence and are influenced by the relationships held by children with ADHD and participants' attitudes towards school and ADHD. For review 4, 34 studies met the inclusion criteria. Key findings included the importance of causal attributions that teachers, parents and pupils made about ADHD symptoms, the decisions teachers made about treatment, the self-perceptions pupils developed about themselves, the role of the classroom environment and stigma in aggravating ADHD symptoms, and the significant barrier to treatment posed by the common presence of conflict in relationships between pupils-teachers, parents-teachers and pupils-peers in relation to ADHD. An overarching synthesis of the four reviews highlighted the importance of the context affecting interventions. It suggested that ADHD psychoeducation and relationship-building skills are potential implications for interventions. The breadth of both interventions and outcomes in the reviewed studies presented a challenge for categorisation, analysis and interpretation in reviews 1-3. Across reviews, relatively few studies were conducted in the UK, limiting the applicability of findings to UK education. In reviews 1 and 2, the poor methodological quality of some included studies was identified as a barrier to establishing effectiveness or comparing attitudes. In review 3 the descriptive analysis used by the majority of studies constrained theorising during synthesis. Studies in review 4 lacked

User Democracy in Schools? Comparing Norwegian Schools with Nursing Homes

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Traetteberg, Håkon

2018-01-01

Democratic user control is a hallmark of Scandinavian schools, but also of other services of the Scandinavian welfare states. This article studies variations in parental control and influences in public and non-public schools. In addition, how the use of different governance tools inspired by markets affects user control is analyzed. The empirical…

A Study of Principal Influence and Organizational Climate in Elementary Schools

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Escobedo, Patricia Villarreal

2016-01-01

Schools have dynamic and changing social environments which present a variety of challenges to campus leaders. Administrators have a multitude of responsibilities to school stakeholders for all facets of organizational life on the campus. School leaders can benefit from a better understanding of how greater levels of principal influence serves as…

Evaluation of hearing ability in Danish children at the time of school start and at the end of school

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gissel, S.; Mortensen, Jens Tølbøll; Juul, S.

2002-01-01

Since previous studies have shown reduced hearing ability in children and adolescents at school start, this study was undertaken to evaluate the hearing ability in Danish children at the time of start and end of school. Children starting school in 1977, 1987, and 1997 from four minor municipalities....... At the end of school, hearing ability of the year group 1977 was just as poor as for the year group 1987. Whether reduced hearing can influence the learning abilities of these children should be evaluated by further studies including information on the exposure to noise....

Parenting and Temperament Influence on School Success in 9-13 Year Olds.

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Checa, Purificación; Abundis-Gutierrez, Alicia

2017-01-01

Children spend a lot of time with their parents who are the first agents that educate them. The parenting style implemented in the family influences other contexts outside home such as the school. There is evidence that a positive parenting style has an influence on school success. However, there are other variables related to school success, for example, temperament. The influence of parenting decreases with age as children develop abilities to self-regulate without parents' external control. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the contribution of parenting style and temperament in 9-13 years old children on both academic performance and school adjustment skills. Our hypothesis was that not only parenting style is crucial to academic performance and school adjustment, but also temperament plays an important role in them. We used a Parenting Guide line questionnaire to evaluate parenting style, Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire-R to evaluate temperament; Health Resources Inventory to assess children's school adjustment, and academic grades, as indicator of academic performance. We were interested in testing whether or not the effect of parenting style on academic performance and school adjustment was mediated by temperament. We found that emotional and behavioral regulation mediates the relation between parenting and academic performance. These findings inform of the relevance of child's temperament on school success. Implications for education are discussed with emphasis on the importance of understanding students' temperament to promote school adjustment and good academic performance.

Influencing pro-poor telecommunication policies in Asia | CRDI ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

10 juin 2016 ... A study on mobile phone use by the poor has resulted in the cancellation of a plan to tax mobile usage in Bangladesh. Surveys on mobile expenditures in several South Asian countries found that nearly half of the poor people in Bangladesh own a mobile phone. Ownership rates are even higher in ...

Family Influences on Dropout Behavior in One California High School.

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Rumberger, Russell W.; And Others

1990-01-01

Investigated how family processes influence high school student dropout behavior. Used a sample of 114 dropouts from 1 California high school, 48 of whom were matched to similarly profiled continuing students. Identified factors that explain students' dropout decisions: permissive parenting, negative parental reactions to grades, excessive…

Empowering Teachers: The Influence of Transformational Leadership in Christian Schools

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Kirika, John Irungu

2011-01-01

The object of this study was to investigate transformational leadership in Christian schools. The study investigated the perception of empowerment of K-12 Christian school teachers and its influence on organizational and professional commitment and job satisfaction. It explored correlations between teacher empowerment and selected demographic…

[Multivariate and multilevel model analysis on factors that influencing the literacy of health among high school students in Guangdong province].

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Xiao-hua; Xu, Ya; Zhou, Shu-dong; Gao, Yan-hui; Li, Yan-fen

2011-09-01

To analyze the awareness on health among high school students and its influencing factors in Guangdong. Multi-stage sampling and questionnaire "2009 health awareness survey of the Chinese citizens" developed by our Department of Health, were used. Data were analyzed by multivariate multilevel model under MLwinN 2.19 software. The mean scores on knowledge and ideas, behaviors and related skills among 1606 high school students of Guangdong province, were 69.08 ± 14.81, 60.05 ± 16.85 and 74.99 ± 21.17 respectively. Three items on health showed that they all related to each other and relations between grades (0.972, 0.715 and 0.855) were greater than the individuals (0.565, 0.426 and 0.438). Factors as students from outside the Pearl River Delta region or from the rural areas, being male, at general secondary schools, at grade one, with poor academic performance and more pocket money etc., had lower levels on those related information of health.

Factors Influencing Examination Malpractice in Secondary Schools ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The main purpose of this study was to investigate factors influencing examination malpractice in some selected secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. A sample of one thousand two hundred (1200) students were selected across the three educational zones of Ogoja, Ikom and Calabar using stratified, random ...

What Can International Comparisons Teach Us about School Choice and Non-Governmental Schools in Europe?

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Dronkers, Jaap; Avram, Silvia

2015-01-01

All European states have a primary obligation to establish and maintain governmental schools everywhere, but as the result of political struggle and constitutional guarantees, they have also allowed and often financed non-state schools based on special pedagogical, religious or philosophical ideas. Depending on the level of state grants for…

Low control beliefs in relation to school dropout and poor health: findings from the SIODO case-control study.

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Bosma, Hans; Theunissen, Marie-José; Verdonk, Petra; Feron, Frans

2014-11-28

There is cumulating evidence that health is compromised through adverse socioeconomic conditions negatively affecting how people think, feel, and behave. Low control beliefs might be a key mechanism. The reversed possibility that low control beliefs might set people on a pathway towards adverse socioeconomic and health-related outcomes is much less examined. A case-control design was used, consisting of 330 cases who dropped out of school in the 2010-2011 school year and 330 controls who still attended school at the end of that year. The respondents, aged between 18 and 23, came from Eindhoven and surrounding areas in the south-east of The Netherlands. A questionnaire asked for current health status, recalled socioeconomic and social background, and recalled control beliefs (mastery and general self-efficacy). Logistic regression analyses were used. Recalls of low mastery and low self-efficacy were strongly related to both dropout and less than good health. Low socioeconomic background was also associated to odds of dropout, but did not confound or moderate the associations of low control beliefs with dropout and health. Odds ratios of dropout and less than good health indicated at least twice the odds of a poor outcome with recalls of low control beliefs. Independent of the socioeconomic background, low control beliefs are related to heightened odds of both poor health and school dropout. Individual differences in control beliefs might thus be as fundamental as socioeconomic conditions in generating life-course socioeconomic and health-related pathways. Although the findings should first be cross-validated in prospective studies, public health professionals working with youth might already start considering early interventions in youth with all too fatalistic and powerless mind-sets.

[Influence of growing experience on non-heterosexual orientation among male college students in Nanjing].

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Li, X S; Fang, K; Zhang, M; Du, G P; Wu, S S; Song, Y; Xu, Y Y; Yan, W J; Ge, Y; Ji, Y; Wei, P M

2017-07-06

Objective: To analyze the influence of growing experience on non-heterosexual orientation among male college students. Methods: From October to November in 2015, a total of 2 535 male students from 96 classes in 14 colleges/departments were recruited from two colleges that participated in the experimental work of AIDS prevention by cluster random sampling method. A structured questionnaire was administered in this study, including general demographic information, growing experience and Kinsey scale (to evaluate sexual orientation). Out of 2 500 questionnaires distributed in this study, 2 332 effective copies were withdrew, with the effective rate at 93.3%. Chi square test was used to analyze the differences of non-heterosexual orientation among the individuals with different social demographic characteristics. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of non-heterosexual orientation. Results: Among the 2 332 individuals, the proportion of self-reported non-heterosexual was 6.2% (144).The proportions of male students who identify as non-heterosexual from freshman to junior year were 5.2%(63/1216),6.9%(65/941),11.7%(13/111) and 4.7%(3/64), respectively (χ(2)=9.06, P= 0.029). Compared with the individuals of very good relationship with parents, those with bad relationship ( OR= 3.3, 95 %CI: 1.7-6.5) and general relationship ( OR= 1.7, 95 %CI: 1.0-2.9) with parents had a higher risk of non-heterosexual orientation, respectively. Those encountered sexual assault had a higher risk of non-heterosexual orientation than those without encountered sexual assault ( OR= 5.9, 95 %CI: 3.2-10.9). Conclusions: This study reported a high proportion of self-reported non-heterosexual among college male students in Nanjing, and highlighted the importance of targeting students with poor parental relationships and who subjected to sexually abused.

A Multilevel Analysis of Japanese Middle School Student and School Socioeconomic Status Influence on Mathematics Achievement

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Takashiro, Naomi

2017-01-01

The author examined the simultaneous influence of Japanese middle school student and school socioeconomic status (SES) on student math achievement with two-level multilevel analysis models by utilizing the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Japan data sets. The theoretical framework used in this study was…

Peer influence on school learning among students of varying socio ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study examined peer Influence on School Learning among students of varying socio-economic backgrounds. One hundred and twenty students (60 males and 60 females) with a mean age 15.1 years were randomly selected from four co-educational Secondary Schools in Ikenne Local Government area of Ogun State.

Correlates of parental influence, school environment, learners ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study examined the predicting effects of parental influence, school environment, Learners\\' interest, and self–efficacy on academic performance of police children in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo state, Nigeria. The sample consisted of 200 primary IV, V and VI pupils (Mean age = 9 years). The results of the multiple regression ...

Teachers' perceptions of school nutrition education's influence on eating behaviours of learners in the Bronkhorstspruit District

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Mojisola D Kupolati

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Qualitative investigation can provide invaluable information towards understanding the influence of school nutrition education (NE. The study explored teachers' perceptions of the immediate impact of NE on learners' eating behaviours. Twenty-four primary school teachers in the Bronkhorstspruit district, Gauteng, South Africa, who taught nutrition topics to grades four to seven learners, participated in three focus group discussions. Transcript data obtained was analysed using the thematic approach of the framework method. Findings indicated that school support for NE was limited, which undermined the capacity of school NE to influence healthy eating behaviours of learners. The need to strengthen teachers' capacity to model positive eating behaviours was identified. Learners were perceived as being not completely ignorant of healthy eating, with limited capacity to effect changes within the resource-constrained environment. Negative influences like unhealthy choices of food from food vendors and peer influences were identified as needing to be discouraged. Positive influences like the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP and the school vegetable garden were to be encouraged. Understanding the prevailing school situation and environment and teachers' perceptions and roles in school NE is important in addressing issues that weaken the influence of NE on learners' eating behaviours.

Assessment of factors influencing hygiene behaviour among school children in Mereb-Leke District, Northern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

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Assefa, Mulubirhan; Kumie, Abera

2014-09-26

Poor school sanitation and hygiene is a major problem in developing countries and remains high risk behaviour among primary school going children. Many outbreaks of gastrointestinal infections have been associated with primary schools. This research paper was designed to assess the factors influencing hygiene behaviour among school children. A cross sectional study was conducted in Mereb-Leke District, Tigray National Regional State among school children. The study population consisted of those who are in the second cycle as they are more mature and most senior in primary schools. A multi-stage probability sampling procedure with three stages was used to select participated schools. A total of 528 school children were randomly selected from students networking list of selected schools. Structured questionnaire and observational checklist at home and school setting were used to collect data. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS Version 17.0 after the data has been entered using Epi-Info version 3.5.3. Primarily variables that had p-value hygiene behaviour via crude and adjusted odds ratio. Children were grouped according to whether positive or negative hygiene behaviour outcome which permitted identifying factor affecting hygiene behaviour. Out of these, 326 (61.7%) had positive hygiene behaviour. The study found that knowledge s on water handling (AOR, 2.24; 95% CI 1.54, 3.26), hand washing (AOR, 1.70; 95% CI 1.12, 2.57) and awareness on water handling matters (AOR, 2.0; 95% CI 1.37, 2.90), hand washing practice (AOR, 2.36; 95% CI 1.62, 3.45) were significantly associated to hygiene behaviour status. Being a member of hygiene and sanitation club (COR 0.42; 95% CI 0.26, 0.68), parent's health package status (COR 0.62; 95% CI 0.43, 0.90), training on hygiene and sanitation and experience of visiting model school (COR 1.99; 95% CI 1.37, 2.88) had significance difference in hygiene behaviour. This study has shown that knowledge, awareness, training on hygiene and

The influence of out-of-institution environments on the university schooling project of non-traditional students in Uganda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tumuheki, Peace Buhwamatsiko; Zeelen, Jacobus; Openjuru, George L.

2018-01-01

Participation and integration of non-traditional students (NTS) in university education is influenced by factors within the institution and those external to the institution, including participants’ self-perceptions and dispositions. The objective of this qualitative study is to draw from the

CERN as a Non-School Resource for Science Education

CERN Document Server

Ellis, Jonathan Richard

2000-01-01

As a large international research laboratory, CERN feels it has a special responsibility for outreach, and has many activities directed towards schools, including organized visits, an on-site museum, hands-on experiments, a Summer intern programme for high-school teachers, lecture series and webcasts. Ongoing activities and future plans are reviewed, and some ideas stimulated by this workshop are offered concerning the relevance of CERN's experience to Asia, and the particular contribution that CERN can make as a non-school resource for science education.

Assessment of academic/non-academic factors and extracurricular activities influencing performance of medical students of faculty of medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Mainul Haque; Nor Azlina A Rahman; Md. Anwarul Azim Majumder; Nor Iza A Rahman; Seraj Zohurul Haque; Zainal Zulkifli; Halyna Lugova; Rabiu Muazu Musa; Ahmed Ghazi Alattraqchi

2018-01-01

Background: Physical and mental comfort is known to have a crucial influence on health and performance amongst medical students. Very often, medical students suffer from poor quality of life (QOL) related to the work-life balance due to the lack of sleep, nutritional and dietary disorders and low physical activity, resulting in a negative impact on their academic performance. This study aims to determine the potential academic/non-academic factors and extra-curricular activities influencing t...

Status gizi, aktivitas fisik, dan prestasi akademik siswa SMA gakin dan non-gakin di Kota Bitung

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Robert

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Background: A good nutritional status of students will greatly support their physical activities. Social economic status of a family may affect intake of nutrient, energy, and protein which can bring impact on nutritional status. Good nutritional status is necessary for teenagers to maintain health and support physical activities. Senior high school students from poor and non poor families may have different nutritional status, physical activities, and academic achievement. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to identify differences in nutritional status, physical activities, and academic achievement of students from poor and non poor families at Bitung Municipality and relationship between intake of energy and protein and nutritional status, physical activities, and academic achievement of students from poor and non poor families. Methods: The study was observational with cross sectional design. Population and samples were senior high school students of 16–18 years old (from database from poor and non poor families. Total samples were 314 students taken using stratified random sampling technique. The study was conducted in September–December 2005. Data were analyzed using chi-square, t-test, and linear regression with significance level 95% and processed using computer software. Results: There was a significant difference in nutritional status, light physical activity, academic achievement in poor and non poor highschool students (p0,05. There was also a relationship between confounding variable of energy intake with nutritional status, father’s job with light activity, father’s education and job with medium activity, father and mother’s education, father’s job, and energy intake with academic achievement. There was no relationship between confounding variable with heavy physical activity (p>0,05. Conclusion: There was differences in nutritional status in light physical activity and academic achievement between students

Peer influence on the study habit of secondary school adolescents ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated the influence of peer group on the study habit of secondary school adolescents. A sample of two hundred and ninety two (292) students was randomly selected from nine schools in two Local Government Areas of Ogun State. Two instruments were used to collect data. They are: Adolescents' Peer ...

Functional diversity measures revealed impacts of non-native species and habitat degradation on species-poor freshwater fish assemblages.

Science.gov (United States)

Colin, Nicole; Villéger, Sébastien; Wilkes, Martin; de Sostoa, Adolfo; Maceda-Veiga, Alberto

2018-06-01

Trait-based ecology has been developed for decades to infer ecosystem responses to stressors based on the functional structure of communities, yet its value in species-poor systems is largely unknown. Here, we used an extensive dataset in a Spanish region highly prone to non-native fish invasions (15 catchments, N=389 sites) to assess for the first time how species-poor communities respond to large-scale environmental gradients using a taxonomic and functional trait-based approach in riverine fish. We examined total species richness and three functional trait-based indices available when many sites have ≤3 species (specialization, FSpe; originality, FOri and entropy, FEnt). We assessed the responses of these taxonomic and functional indices along gradients of altitude, water pollution, physical habitat degradation and non-native fish biomass. Whilst species richness was relatively sensitive to spatial effects, functional diversity indices were responsive across natural and anthropogenic gradients. All four diversity measures declined with altitude but this decline was modulated by physical habitat degradation (richness, FSpe and FEnt) and the non-native:total fish biomass ratio (FSpe and FOri) in ways that varied between indices. Furthermore, FSpe and FOri were significantly correlated with Total Nitrogen. Non-native fish were a major component of the taxonomic and functional structure of fish communities, raising concerns about potential misdiagnosis between invaded and environmentally-degraded river reaches. Such misdiagnosis was evident in a regional fish index widely used in official monitoring programs. We recommend the application of FSpe and FOri to extensive datasets from monitoring programs in order to generate valuable cross-system information about the impacts of non-native species and habitat degradation, even in species-poor systems. Scoring non-native species apart from habitat degradation in the indices used to determine ecosystem health is

Students' personal traits, violence exposure, family factors, school dynamics and the perpetration of violence in Taiwanese elementary schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ji-Kang; Astor, Ron Avi

2011-02-01

School violence has become an international problem affecting the well-being of students. To date, few studies have examined how school variables mediate between personal and family factors and school violence in the context of elementary schools in Asian cultures. Using a nationally representative sample of 3122 elementary school students in Taiwan, this study examined a theoretical model proposing that negative personal traits, exposure to violence and parental monitoring knowledge have both direct influences as well as indirect influences mediated through school engagement, at-risk peers and poor student-teacher relationships on school violence committed by students against students and teachers. The results of a structural equation modeling analysis provided a good fit for the sample as a whole. The final model accounted for 32% of the variance for student violence against students and 21% for student violence against teachers. The overall findings support the theoretical model proposed in this study. Similar findings were obtained for both male and female students. The study indicated that to reduce school violence more effectively in the context of elementary schools, intervention may exclusively focus on improving students' within-school experiences and the quality of the students' relationships with teachers and school peers.

Influence of children's oral health-related quality of life on school performance and school absenteeism.

Science.gov (United States)

Piovesan, Chaiana; Antunes, José Leopoldo Ferreira; Mendes, Fausto Medeiros; Guedes, Renata Saraiva; Ardenghi, Thiago Machado

2012-01-01

This study assessed the relation of child oral health-related quality of life with school performance and school absenteeism. We followed a cross-sectional design with a multistage random sample of 312 12-year-old schoolchildren living in Brazil. The participants completed the child perceptions questionnaire (CPQ(11-14) ) that provides information about psychological factors, while their parents or guardians answered questions on their socioeconomic status measured by parents' education level and household income. A dental examination of each child provided information on the prevalence of caries and dental trauma. Data on school performance, which included the results of baseline Brazilian language (Portuguese) tests, and school absenteeism (school days missed) were obtained from the school register. Multilevel linear regression was used to investigate the association among psychological and socioeconomic status and children's school performance. In the multiple model, after adjusting for individual covariates, being a girl was associated with higher school performance (P Children's school performance and absence were influenced by psychological and socioeconomic conditions. © 2012 American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

Demographics and Professional Practices of School Psychologists: A Comparison of NASP Members and Non-NASP School Psychologists by Telephone Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Michael F.; Truscott, Stephen D.; Volker, Martin A.

2008-01-01

A national telephone survey was conducted to examine potential differences between National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) members and non-NASP member school psychologists. Identified schools were contacted by telephone and the researchers asked to speak with the school psychologist. A sample of 124 practicing school psychologists was…

Resource Allocation and Time Utilization in IGE and Non-IGE Schools. Technical Paper No. 410.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossmiller, Richard A.; Geske, Terry G.

This study addressed two basic questions; (1) Do individually guided education (IGE) schools cost more or exhibit different expenditure patterns than non-IGE schools? (2) Do instructional personnel in IGE schools allocate their time differently than instructional personnel in non-IGE schools? Data were obtained from a random sample of 41 IGE…

Mental Health Service Use in Schools and Non-School-Based Outpatient Settings: Comparing Predictors of Service Use.

Science.gov (United States)

Langer, David A; Wood, Jeffrey J; Wood, Patricia A; Garland, Ann F; Landsverk, John; Hough, Richard L

2015-09-01

Researchers have consistently documented a gap between the large number of US youth meeting criteria for a mental health disorder with significant associated impairment, and the comparatively few youth receiving services. School-based mental health care may address the need-services gap by offering services more equitably to youth in need, irrespective of family economic resources, availability of transportation, and other factors that can impede access to community clinics. However, diagnoses alone do not fully capture the severity of an individual's mental health status and need for services. Studying service use only in relation to diagnoses may restrict our understanding of the degree to which service use is reflective of service need, and inhibit our ability to compare school and non-school-based outpatient settings on their responsiveness to service need. The present study evaluated predictors of mental health service use in school- and community-based settings for youth who had had an active case in one of two public sectors of care, comparing empirically-derived dimensional measurements of youth mental health service need and impairment ratings against non-need variables (e.g., ethnicity, income). Three dimensions of youth mental health service need were identified. Mental health service need and non-need variables each played a significant predictive role. Parent-rated impairment was the strongest need-based predictor of service use across settings. The impact of non-need variables varied by service setting, with parental income having a particularly noticeable effect on school-based services. Across time, preceding service use and impairment each significantly predicted future service use.

Studying the teaching of kindness: A conceptual model for evaluating kindness education programs in schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Deanna M; deBlois, Madeleine; Dominguez, Violeta; Walsh, Michele E

2016-10-01

Recent research suggests that school-based kindness education programs may benefit the learning and social-emotional development of youth and may improve school climate and school safety outcomes. However, how and to what extent kindness education programming influences positive outcomes in schools is poorly understood, and such programs are difficult to evaluate in the absence of a conceptual model for studying their effectiveness. In partnership with Kind Campus, a widely adopted school-based kindness education program that uses a bottom-up program framework, a methodology called concept mapping was used to develop a conceptual model for evaluating school-based kindness education programs from the input of 123 middle school students and approximately 150 educators, school professionals, and academic scholars. From the basis of this model, recommendations for processes and outcomes that would be useful to assess in evaluations of kindness education programs are made, and areas where additional instrument development may be necessary are highlighted. The utility of the concept mapping method as an initial step in evaluating other grassroots or non-traditional educational programming is also discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of Mothers' Parenting Styles on Self-Regulated Academic Learning among Saudi Primary School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Alnafea, Tahany; Curtis, David D.

2017-01-01

Much of the research on self-regulation has investigated the influence of school settings. However, fewer studies have concentrated on the home environment and its influence on student's academic behaviour in school. The present research investigates the influence of mothers' parenting styles on students' self-regulated learning behaviours in…

Antisocial Propensity, Adolescent School Outcomes, and the Risk of Criminal Conviction

Science.gov (United States)

Savolainen, Jukka; Hughes, Lorine A.; Mason, W. Alex; Hurtig, Tuula M.; Ebeling, Hanna; Moilanen, Irma K.; Kivivuori, Janne; Taanila, Anja M.

2012-01-01

Data from the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort Study (n = 4,645) were used to examine the influence of mid-adolescent (age 15) school outcomes on late-adolescent (ages 17-19) risk of criminal conviction. Consistent with social-developmental theories of offending, we found that poor academic performance and reduced school attachment increase the…

Child spacing and contraception among the poor in Zambia

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Vijayan K Pillai

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Vijayan K Pillai1, Rashmi Gupta21School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA; 2Department of Social Work, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USAAbstract: For decades, family planning programs have targeted women in developing countries. These programs bestow a great deal of autonomy on women with respect to fertility decision making. It is well known that a number of close relatives in multigenerational and extended family systems influence women’s fertility decisions with respect to child spacing and contraceptive use. One approach toward a systematic study of fertility decision making is to explicitly consider the husband’s influences on fertility decision making. This study examines the effects of a selected number of factors on the desired birth interval lengths. We interviewed husbands and wives separately from 165 randomly selected households from two poor neighborhoods in the city of Kitwe, Zambia. Three ordinal birth interval groups were obtained for both husbands and wives separately. The effect of selected factors on the likelihood of influencing the three groups was examined using ordinal logistic regression methods. Data from husbands and wives were analyzed separately. Qualitative methods such as semistructured interviews were used to gather extensive information on the various factors that husbands and wives perceive to influence their child spacing decisions. We found differences in accounts with respect to child spacing between husbands and wives, likely due to a lack of communication. A gender-sensitive approach is necessary to promote spacing methods among poor couples in Zambia.Keywords: child spacing, contraceptive use, correspondence analysis, couple decision making

A school intervention for mental health literacy in adolescents: effects of a non-randomized cluster controlled trial

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background “Mental health for everyone” is a school program for mental health literacy and prevention aimed at secondary schools (13–15 yrs). The main aim was to investigate whether mental health literacy, could be improved by a 3-days universal education programme by: a) improving naming of symptom profiles of mental disorder, b) reducing prejudiced beliefs, and c) improving knowledge about where to seek help for mental health problems. A secondary aim was to investigate whether adolescent sex and age influenced the above mentioned variables. A third aim was to investigate whether prejudiced beliefs influenced knowledge about available help. Method This non-randomized cluster controlled trial included 1070 adolescents (53.9% boys, M age14 yrs) from three schools in a Norwegian town. One school (n = 520) received the intervention, and two schools (n = 550) formed the control group. Pre-test and follow-up were three months apart. Linear mixed models and generalized estimating equations models were employed for analysis. Results Mental health literacy improved contingent on the intervention, and there was a shift towards suggesting primary health care as a place to seek help. Those with more prejudiced beleifs did not suggest places to seek help for mental health problems. Generally, girls and older adolescents recognized symptom profiles better and had lower levels of prejudiced beliefs. Conclusions A low cost general school program may improve mental health literacy in adolescents. Gender specific programs and attention to the age and maturity of the students should be considered when mental health literacy programmes are designed and tried out. Prejudice should be addressed before imparting information about mental health issues. PMID:24053381

Associations between poor health and school-related behavior problems at the child and family levels: a cross-sectional study of migrant children and adolescents in southwest urban China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jing-Jing; Li, Ning-Xiu; Liu, Chao-Jie

2010-06-01

Due to urbanization in China, the numbers of migrant children and adolescents in urban environments have increased. Previous studies have indicated that children and adolescents are more likely to suffer from health problems and poor school achievement. The present study identified associations between poor health and school-related behavior problems (ie, learning attitudes and learning disabilities [LL], antisocial behavior and risk behavior [AR], and social adaptation and role function [SR]) at the child and family levels. A cross-sectional design was used. Seven hundred and eighty-one participants were recruited in inclusive settings. Correlational analysis was conducted to assess the associations between demographic variables and the primary study variables. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine which study factors were the strongest predictors of general health problems. School-aged migrants who had poorer health tended to be more likely to suffer from school-related behavior problems. Poor health was also found to hinder scholastic achievement in migrant children and adolescents through a higher prevalence of school-related behavior problems, including negative learning attitudes and learning disabilities, antisocial behavior and risk behavior, and social maladjustment. Health risk factors included inappropriate parental education methods, fewer classmates, and less social support. Health and individual risk factors should be explored further to determine their causal role in migrant children and adolescents with school-related behavior problems. These results have implications for future school health education for these students.

A study of the factors influencing school-going students considering medical careers.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

McHugh, S M

2012-02-01

INTRODUCTION: Obtaining a place in an Irish medical school is extremely competitive, a situation mirrored in many other countries. We aimed to determine the factors influencing school students in deciding to study medicine in university. We further determined what level of interest exists in pursuing a surgical career after completion of medical school. METHODS: The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland hosts an annual "Introduction to Medicine" programme for senior school children. Attendees were surveyed using a Likert scale to examine the factors influencing the group in choosing to study medicine, and pursue surgery as their ultimate career choice. RESULTS: A total of 128 completed the survey, giving a response rate of 100%. The opportunity to help others was most the most influential factors cited by students (97%). Males were significantly more likely to have an interest in a career in surgery rather than medicine (p = 0.003), and ranked "financial reward" (p = 0.036) as a more significant factors in influencing career choice than did females. CONCLUSIONS: A clear understanding of these factors influencing our students in their career choices and a strategy of recruitment based on these is imperative in order to optimize recruitment of students most suited to working as doctors.

Imitated prosodic fluency predicts reading comprehension ability in good and poor high school readers

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Mara Breen

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Researchers have established a relationship between beginning readers’ silent comprehension ability and their prosodic fluency, such that readers who read aloud with appropriate prosody tend to have higher scores on silent reading comprehension assessments. The current study was designed to investigate this relationship in two groups of high school readers: Specifically Poor Comprehenders (SPCs, who have adequate word level and phonological skills but poor reading comprehension ability, and a group of age- and decoding skill-matched controls. We compared the prosodic fluency of the two groups by determining how effectively they produced prosodic cues to syntactic and semantic structure in imitations of a model speaker’s production of syntactically and semantically varied sentences. Analyses of pitch and duration patterns revealed that speakers in both groups produced the expected prosodic patterns; however, controls provided stronger durational cues to syntactic structure. These results demonstrate that the relationship between prosodic fluency and reading comprehension continues past the stage of early reading instruction. Moreover, they suggest that prosodically fluent speakers may also generate more fluent implicit prosodic representations during silent reading, leading to more effective comprehension.

A study of the factors influencing school-going students considering medical careers.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

McHugh, S M

2011-08-01

Obtaining a place in an Irish medical school is extremely competitive, a situation mirrored in many other countries. We aimed to determine the factors influencing school students in deciding to study medicine in university. We further determined what level of interest exists in pursuing a surgical career after completion of medical school.

A Study of the Factors Influencing Parental Choice of a Charter School

Science.gov (United States)

Ekanem, Imaobong Columba

2013-01-01

The study discussed in this dissertation identified and examined the factors that influence parent charter school choice. The study was conducted for a rural K-8 charter school in Delaware. The survey instrument used was a parent questionnaire which contained questions that examined the reasons for parent charter school choice, the features of…

Non-academic attributes of hidden curriculum in medical schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Aamer Zaman

2013-01-01

To identify the non-academic attributes developed during 5 years of training in medical school. Sequential mixed method. The study was conducted on final year medical students of four medical colleges in the city of Lahore, from March to September 2010. Probability random sampling was employed to identify public sector medical colleges for inclusion in the study through Lottery method. In the first phase, survey was done with the help of questionnaires, distributed amongst 280 students, selected on the basis of convenience sampling. It was triangulated with data collected by in-depth structured interviews on 46 students selected using purposive sampling after formal informed consent. For quantitative data percentages of the categorical variables were calculated through SPSS version 10. For qualitative data, themes and patterns were identified using Content Analysis technique. Majority of the medical students (80%) learn the attributes of integrity, self-reliance, tolerance and independence during their schooling. Sixty five percent students thought that the values of humanity, forbearance, righteous attitude in face of adversities and sympathetic behaviour towards peers and patients helped them in being better medical students. Thirty five percent said they faced the negative influences of gender bias and gender discrimination which has led to their impaired professional growth. Eighty percent of the students believe that the teaching methodology employed is teacher centric which does not let them become problem solvers, team players, reflective learners and hampers development of effective communication skills. Medical schooling in our part of the world helps in developing untaught attributes such as integrity, selfreliance, tolerance, independence, sympathetic attitude and good communication skills which are the same as are developed in the medical students of advanced countries, which can be fostered further by formally addressing them in the curriculum.

PLAY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN CORECTIVE GYMNASTICS FOR PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN

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Grujo Bjeković

2008-08-01

Full Text Available In present life conditions, especially in urban environment, children have very poor conditions for physical activities, or for movement in general. According to the new researches, working conditions and quality of work in nurseries and schools, especially if they are related to physical exercises, have certain influences on overall development of pre-school and school children. Childhood is ideal time for correction of numerous postural disturbances and deformities, whether they are congenital or acquired by injury, wrong body posture, or by poor nutrition. Playing is a power fultool for directing correct development of children, so very of ten it has to be adapted to age, capabilities, interests and needs of children.

Understanding the antecedents of Korean high school students' drinking refusal self-efficacy: parental influence, peer influence, and behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Su Ahn; Cho, Namauk; Yoo, Jina

2011-12-29

The current study examined the factors that influence Korean adolescents' drinking refusal self-efficacy, which is known to be associated with alcohol use and drinking intentions. Specifically, this study considered parental monitoring, parent-child communication satisfaction, peer influence, and prior alcohol use as possible antecedents of Korean high school students' drinking refusal self-efficacy. High school students (n = 538) in South Korea responded to the current study. The data revealed that parent-child communication satisfaction facilitated parental monitoring, and these factors indirectly predicted adolescents' drinking behavior through peer influence. We also found that prior drinking, parental monitoring, and peer influence were directly associated with drinking refusal self-efficacy, and the self-efficacy, in turn, was associated with drinking intentions. These results not only suggest that drinking refusal self-efficacy are related to drinking behavior and intentions, but they also provide a theoretical explanation for how parental and peer influences are associated with adolescents' drinking refusal self-efficacy.

Gender Invariance of Family, School, and Peer Influence on Volunteerism Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Ben; Shek, Daniel; Ma, Cecilia

2015-01-01

Objective: This article examines the measurement invariance of "Family, School, and Peer Influence on Volunteerism Scale" (FSPV) across genders using the mean and covariance structure analysis approach. Method: A total of 2,845 Chinese high school adolescents aged 11 to 15 years completed the FSPV scale. Results: Results of the…

Government or Non-Government Schools: A British Colonial Legacy and Its Aftermath.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitehead, Clive

This paper discusses voluntary schools in the former British colonies of Singapore, Malaysia, and Fiji, and the relevance of some aspects of voluntaryism for government schooling in Australia. The first section presents the historical background to the voluntary principle by which schools are owned and operated by non-government agencies assisted…

Association of School Social Networks’ Influence and Mass Media Factors With Cigarette Smoking Among Asthmatic Students

Science.gov (United States)

Kanamori, Mariano; Beck, Kenneth H.; Carter-Pokras, Olivia

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND Around 10% of adolescent students under 18 years have current asthma. Asthmatic adolescents smoke as much or more than non-asthmatic adolescents. We explored the association between exposure to mass media and social networks’ influence with asthmatic student smoking, and variations of these exposures by sex. METHODS This study included 9755 asthmatic and 38,487 non-asthmatic middle and high school students. Secondary data analysis incorporated the complex sample design; and univariate, bivariate, and logistic regression statistics. RESULTS Asthmatic students had greater odds of smoking than non-asthmatic students. Asthmatic female students were more likely than asthmatic male students to have been exposed to secondhand smoke in rooms or cars and to smoking actors, but less likely to associate smoking with intent to wear tobacco-marketing products, or with looking cool/fitting in. Asthmatic male and female students, who have smoking friends, were exposed to secondhand smoke in rooms (only girls) or cars, intended to smoke if best friends offered cigarettes, or received/bought tobacco marketing products had greater odds of smoking than other asthmatic students. CONCLUSIONS The observed associations suggest the need for general interventions to reduce middle and high school students’ cigarette smoking as well as targeted interventions for asthmatic adolescent students. PMID:25611937

Stunting, poor iron status and parasite infection are significant risk factors for lower cognitive performance in Cambodian school-aged children.

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Marlene Perignon

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Nutrition is one of many factors affecting the cognitive development of children. In Cambodia, 55% of children <5 y were anemic and 40% stunted in 2010. Currently, no data exists on the nutritional status of Cambodian school-aged children, or on how malnutrition potentially affects their cognitive development. OBJECTIVE: To assess the anthropometric and micronutrient status (iron, vitamin A, zinc, iodine of Cambodian schoolchildren and their associations with cognitive performance. METHODS: School children aged 6-16 y (n = 2443 from 20 primary schools in Cambodia were recruited. Anthropometry, hemoglobin, serum ferritin, transferrin receptors, retinol-binding protein and zinc concentrations, inflammation status, urinary iodine concentration and parasite infection were measured. Socio-economic data were collected in a sub-group of children (n = 616. Cognitive performance was assessed using Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM and block design and picture completion, two standardized tests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III. RESULTS: The prevalence of anemia, iron, zinc, iodine and vitamin A deficiency were 15.7%; 51.2%, 92.8%, 17.3% and 0.7% respectively. The prevalence of stunting was 40.0%, including 10.9% of severe stunting. Stunted children scored significantly lower than non-stunted children on all tests. In RCPM test, boys with iron-deficiency anemia had lower scores than boys with normal iron status (-1.46, p<0.05. In picture completion test, children with normal iron status tended to score higher than iron-deficient children with anemia (-0.81; p = 0.067 or without anemia (-0.49; p = 0.064. Parasite infection was associated with an increase in risk of scoring below the median value in block design test (OR = 1.62; p<0.05, and with lower scores in other tests, for girls only (both p<0.05. CONCLUSION: Poor cognitive performance of Cambodian school-children was multifactorial and

motivational strategies and possible influence on secondary school ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

UDUAK

This study investigated the influence of motivational strategies on teachers' teaching performance in public secondary schools in Uyo – Urban, Akwa Ibom State. One hypothesis was formed to guide the study and Expo Facto design was adopted for the study. A sample of three hundred and sixty (360) teachers were ...

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH POOR GLYCEMIC CONTROL AMONG TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS IN INDONESIA

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Rian Adi Pamungkas

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Type 2 Diabetes mellitus becomes the public health problem in the wide world. Reasons for poor glycemic control in Type 2 diabetes are complex. Objective: To determine factors contributed to poor glycemic control among Indonesian patients with Type 2 Diabetes Methods: This was a cross sectional regression study. There were 70 respondents selected using purposive sampling. Pre-structured questionnaires were used to measure socio demographic, clinical characteristics, self-care management behaviors, medication adherence, barriers to adherence, and family support. Data were analyzed using chi-square and binary logistic regression. Results: Poor glycemic control was defined as HbA1c ≥7% or FBG ≥200 mg/dl. Findings of this study reported that 83% patients had or FBG ≥200 mg/dl, which confirmed as poor glycemic control. Logistic regression showed that increasing duration of diabetes (> 5 years, non-adherence to dietary behaviors recommendation through selecting healthy diet, arranging a meal plan, recognizing the amount calorie needs, managing dietary behaviors challenges, medication adherence, and family support were significantly influence poor glycemic control with increased odds ratio scores. Conclusion: The proportion of patients with poor glycemic control was raised. Increasing duration of diabetes, non- adherence to medication and dietary behaviors management, and lack of family support were associated with poor glycemic control. Thus, integration of diabetes self-management program with social support is needed to deal with patients’ need to achieve the great benefits in diabetes care.

The influence of compositional and contextual factors on non-receipt of basic vaccines among children of 12-23-month old in India: a multilevel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sissoko, Daouda; Trottier, Helen; Malvy, Denis; Johri, Mira

2014-01-01

Children unreached by vaccination are at higher risk of poor health outcomes and India accounts for nearly a quarter of unvaccinated children worldwide. The objective of this study was to investigate compositional and contextual determinants of non-receipt of childhood vaccines in India using multilevel modelling. We studied characteristics of unvaccinated children using the District Level Health and Facility Survey 3, a nationally representative probability sample containing 65 617 children aged 12-23 months from 34 Indian states and territories. We developed four-level Bayesian binomial regression models to examine the determinants of non-vaccination. The analysis considered two outcomes: completely unvaccinated (CUV) children who had not received any of the eight vaccine doses recommended by India's Universal Immunization Programme, and children who had not received any dose from routine immunisation services (no RI). The no RI category includes CUV children and those who received only polio doses administered via mass campaigns. Overall, 4.83% (95% CI: 4.62-5.06) of children were CUV while 12.01% (11.68-12.35) had received no RI. Individual compositional factors strongly associated with CUV were: non-receipt of tetanus immunisation for mothers during pregnancy (OR = 3.65 [95% CrI: 3.30-4.02]), poorest household wealth index (OR = 2.44 [1.81-3.22] no maternal schooling (OR = 2.43 [1.41-4.05]) and no paternal schooling (OR = 1.83 [1.30-2.48]). In rural settings, the influence of maternal illiteracy disappeared whereas the role of household wealth index was reinforced. Factors associated with no RI were similar to those for CUV, but effect sizes for individual compositional factors were generally larger. Low maternal education was the strongest risk factor associated with no RI in all models. All multilevel models found significant variability at community, district, and state levels net of compositional factors. Non-vaccination in India is

The influence of compositional and contextual factors on non-receipt of basic vaccines among children of 12-23-month old in India: a multilevel analysis.

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Daouda Sissoko

Full Text Available Children unreached by vaccination are at higher risk of poor health outcomes and India accounts for nearly a quarter of unvaccinated children worldwide. The objective of this study was to investigate compositional and contextual determinants of non-receipt of childhood vaccines in India using multilevel modelling.We studied characteristics of unvaccinated children using the District Level Health and Facility Survey 3, a nationally representative probability sample containing 65 617 children aged 12-23 months from 34 Indian states and territories. We developed four-level Bayesian binomial regression models to examine the determinants of non-vaccination. The analysis considered two outcomes: completely unvaccinated (CUV children who had not received any of the eight vaccine doses recommended by India's Universal Immunization Programme, and children who had not received any dose from routine immunisation services (no RI. The no RI category includes CUV children and those who received only polio doses administered via mass campaigns. Overall, 4.83% (95% CI: 4.62-5.06 of children were CUV while 12.01% (11.68-12.35 had received no RI. Individual compositional factors strongly associated with CUV were: non-receipt of tetanus immunisation for mothers during pregnancy (OR = 3.65 [95% CrI: 3.30-4.02], poorest household wealth index (OR = 2.44 [1.81-3.22] no maternal schooling (OR = 2.43 [1.41-4.05] and no paternal schooling (OR = 1.83 [1.30-2.48]. In rural settings, the influence of maternal illiteracy disappeared whereas the role of household wealth index was reinforced. Factors associated with no RI were similar to those for CUV, but effect sizes for individual compositional factors were generally larger. Low maternal education was the strongest risk factor associated with no RI in all models. All multilevel models found significant variability at community, district, and state levels net of compositional factors.Non-vaccination in India

The Influence of News Framing on Support for Charter School Reform

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Feuerstein, Abe

2015-01-01

This study examined the influence of media framing on attitudes toward charter school reform. Participants in an Internet-based experiment were presented, at random, with one of three manipulated news articles framing charter school reform as (a) supportive of values such as freedom, choice, and innovation; (b) conflicting with values such as…

The Influence of Organizational Culture on School-Based Obesity Prevention Interventions: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

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Fair, Kayla N; Solari Williams, Kayce D; Warren, Judith; McKyer, E Lisako Jones; Ory, Marcia G

2018-06-01

Although the influence of organizational culture has been examined on a variety of student outcomes, few studies consider the influence that culture may have on school-based obesity prevention interventions. We present a systematic review of the literature to examine how elements of organizational culture may affect the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of school-based obesity prevention interventions. Fourteen studies examining the impact of organizational-level characteristics on school-based obesity prevention interventions were identified through the online databases EBSCO (CINAHL, ERIC, Agricola), Web of Science, Medline (PubMed), and Scopus. Five themes were identified as elements of organizational culture that influence the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of school-based obesity prevention interventions: organizational response to limited resources, value placed on staff training and professional development, internal support, organizational values, and school climate. Organizational culture can greatly influence the success of school-based obesity interventions. The collection of data related to organizational-level factors may be used to identify strategies for creating and sustaining a supportive environment for obesity prevention interventions in the school setting. © 2018, American School Health Association.

Bajo desempeño escolar relacionado con la persistencia del tabaquismo en una cohorte de estudiantes en México Poor school perfomance associated with tobacco persistence among Mexican students

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Rafael Anaya-Ocampo

2006-01-01

el combate a las adicciones.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the independent effect of poor school performance and tobacco persistence using a prospective population study of students who remained on school grounds during the follow-up period. Two measurements were taken over a period of three years. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cohort study conducted within school confines was developed over the period 1998 to 1999 and 2000 to 2001, with 2 568 students, including both tobacco persistent students and non-consumers. Multiple logistic regression models were designed and structured according to educational performance using two standards: students who maintained and/or improved performance and those with poor performance, based on the first and second measurements. RESULTS: In the reference cohort, 5.2% of the students reported to have persisted with tobacco consumption during the study period, while 64.2% remained unexposed. Poor school performance was associated with tobacco persistence for the total population (OR 2.27, 95%CI 1.4-3.6, as well as for females (OR 3.0 95%CI 1.4-6.7 and males (OR 2.2 95%CI 1.1-4.1. Poor school performance has an excess risk of tobacco persistence, independently of other co-variables. The greatest difference in prevalence, using poor school performance as a reference, was observed in those subjects having depressive symptomolgy, with an excessive tobacco persistence of 21.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that foster healthy lifestyles within school environments should be adopted in a comprehensive manner. In addition, students who perform poorly should be considered vulnerable to unhealthy lifestyles. It will therefore be necessary to identify them as high risk subjects and implement interventions among this population, particularly with regard to combatting addictions.

What factors influence UK medical students' choice of foundation school?

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Miah, Saiful; Pang, Karl H; Rebello, Wayne; Rubakumar, Zoe; Fung, Victoria; Venugopal, Suresh; Begum, Hena

2017-01-01

We aimed to identify the factors influencing UK medical student applicants' choice of foundation school. We also explored the factors that doctors currently approaching the end of their 2-year program believe should be considered. A cross-sectional study was conducted during the 2013-2014 academic year. An online questionnaire was distributed to 2092 final-year medical students from nine UK medical schools and 84 foundation year-2 (FY2) doctors from eight foundation schools. Participants were asked to rank their top 3 from a list of 12 factors that could potentially influence choice of foundation school on a 5-point Likert scale. Collated categorical data from the two groups were compared using a chi-square test with Yates correction. Geographic location was overwhelmingly the most important factor for medical students and FY2 doctors with 97.2% and 98.8% in agreement, respectively. Social relationships played a pivotal role for medical student applicants. Clinical specialties within the rotations were of less importance to medical students, in comparison to location and social relationships. In contrast, FY2 doctors placed a significantly greater importance on the specialties undertaken in their 2-year training program, when compared to medical students (chi-square; p =0.0001). UK medical schools should make their foundation program applicants aware of the importance of choosing rotations based on specialties that will be undertaken. Individual foundation schools could provide a more favorable linked application system and greater choice and flexibility of specialties within their 2-year program, potentially making their institution more attractive to future applicants.

RISC vs. Non-RISC Schools: A Comparison of Student Proficiencies for Reading, Writing, and Mathematics

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Haystead, Mark W.

2010-01-01

This report describes the findings for an analysis of data provided by the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC). A comparison was made between schools at seven districts that employ the RISC model and eight non-RISC districts (hereinafter referred to as RISC and non-RISC schools) on the percentages of students who scored proficient or above on…

Influence of schooling and age on cognitive performance in healthy older adults

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N.V.O. Bento-Torres

Full Text Available Few studies have examined the influence of a low level of schooling on age-related cognitive decline in countries with wide social and economic inequalities by using the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery (CANTAB. The aim of the present study was to assess the influence of schooling on age-related cognitive decline using unbiased cognitive tests. CANTAB allows cognitive assessment across cultures and education levels with reduced interference of the examiner during data acquisition. Using two-way ANOVA, we assessed the influences of age and education on test scores of old adults (61–84 years of age. CANTAB tests included: Visual Sustained Attention, Reaction Time, Spatial Working Memory, Learning and Episodic Memory. All subjects had a minimum visual acuity of 20/30 (Snellen Test, no previous or current history of traumatic brain/head trauma, stroke, language impairment, chronic alcoholism, neurological diseases, memory problems or depressive symptoms, and normal scores on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE. Subjects were grouped according to education level (1 to 7 and ≥8 years of schooling and age (60–69 and ≥70 years. Low schooling level was associated with significantly lower performance on visual sustained attention, learning and episodic memory, reaction time, and spatial working memory. Although reaction time was influenced by age, no significant results on post hoc analysis were detected. Our findings showed a significantly worse cognitive performance in volunteers with lower levels of schooling and suggested that formal education in early life must be included in the preventive public health agenda. In addition, we suggest that CANTAB may be useful to detect subtle cognitive changes in healthy aging.

Non-Formal Education for Women in Morocco.

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Agency for International Development (Dept. of State), Washington, DC.

Morocco's three non-formal educational programs for "the hard core poor female adolescent school drop-out" differ in the kind and effectiveness of training offered. The Foyers Feminins program, although it claims to emphasize crafts and literacy, is in fact, definitely geared towards the teaching of handicrafts. The Ouvroir Centers…

Distribution and correlates of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides in Lebanese school children.

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Gannagé-Yared, Marie-Hélène; Farah, Vanessa; Chahine, Elise; Balech, Nicole; Ibrahim, Toni; Asmar, Nadia; Barakett-Hamadé, Vanda; Jambart, Selim

2016-01-01

The prevalence of dyslipidelmia in pediatric Middle-Eastern populations is unknown. Our study aims to investigate the distribution and correlates of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and triglycerides among Lebanese school children. A total of 969 subjects aged 8-18 years were included in the study (505 boys and 464 girls). Recruitment was done from 10 schools located in the Great Beirut and Mount-Lebanon areas. Non-fasting total cholesterol, triglycerides, and HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured. Non-HDL-C was calculated. Schools were categorized into 3 socioeconomic statuses (SESs; low, middle, and high). In the overall population, the prevalence of high non-HDL-C (>3.8 mmol/L), very high non-HDL-C (>4.9 mmol/L), and high triglycerides (>1.5 mmol/l) are respectively 9.2%, 1.24%, and 26.6%. There is no significant gender difference for non-HDL-C or triglycerides. Non-HDL-C and triglycerides are inversely correlated with age in girls (P triglycerides are higher in children from lower SES schools. After adjustment for age and body mass index (BMI), testosterone is inversely associated with triglycerides in boys (P triglycerides are independently associated with BMI and schools' SES in both girls and boys. This study confirms, in our population, the association between obesity and both high non-HDL-C and triglycerides, and between high triglycerides and low SES. Copyright © 2016 National Lipid Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sleep and sleepiness among working and non-working high school evening students.

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Teixeira, Liliane Reis; Lowden, Arne; Turte, Samantha Lemos; Nagai, Roberta; Moreno, Claudia Roberta de Castro; Latorre, Maria do Rosário Dias de Oliveira; Fischer, Frida Marina

2007-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate patterns of sleepiness, comparing working and non-working students. The study was conducted on high school students attending evening classes (19:00-22:30 h) at a public school in São Paulo, Brazil. The study group consisted of working (n=51) and non-working (n=41) students, aged 14-21 yrs. The students answered a questionnaire about working and living conditions and reported health symptoms and diseases. For seven consecutive days, actigraphy measurements were recorded, and the students also filled in a sleep diary. Sleepiness ratings were given six times per day, including upon waking and at bedtime, using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale. Statistical analyses included three-way ANOVA and t-test. The mean sleep duration during weekdays was shorter among workers (7.2 h) than non-workers (8.8 h) (t=4.34; pSleep efficiency was lower on Fridays among non-workers. Working students were moderately sleepier than non-workers during the week and also during class on specific days: Mondays (13:00-15:00 h), Wednesdays (19:00-22:00 h), and Fridays (22:00-00:59 h). The study found that daytime sleepiness of workers is moderately higher in the evening. This might be due to a work effect, reducing the available time for sleep and shortening the sleep duration. Sleepiness and shorter sleep duration can have a negative impact on the quality of life and school development of high school students.

Can the provision of breakfast benefit school performance?

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Grantham-McGregor, Sally

2005-06-01

Studies of an association between school performance (enrollment, attendance, achievement, classroom behavior, and school drop-out) and nutritional status are discussed and the evidence of an effect of school meals evaluated. Many studies have shown associations between hunger, poor dietary intakes, stunting, underweight, and poor school performance after controlling for socioeconomic conditions. However, it remains possible that unmeasured socioeconomic variables could explain the relationship. Rigorous short-term studies of missing breakfast have generally found detrimental effects on children's cognition whereas studies of providing breakfast have shown benefits particularly in malnourished children. Classroom conditions may modify the effects of breakfast on behavior. There are extremely few longer term studies of the effects of giving school meals. Nearly all involved breakfast and very few had randomized controlled designs. Studies comparing participants with non-participants or comparing matched schools have found benefits (but bias due to self-selection) of receiving breakfast; inadequate matching of schools also remains possible. One longer term randomized controlled trial found benefits associated with attendance and arithmetic performance. In conclusion, most studies of giving breakfast have found benefits to school performance but many had serious design problems, were short-term, and were not conducted in the poorest countries. In order to advise policy makers correctly, there is an urgent need to run long-term randomized controlled trials of giving school meals in poor countries and to determine the effects of age and nutrition status of the children, the quality of the school, and the timing of the meal. The special needs of orphans should also be considered.

Examining reciprocal influences among family climate, school attachment, and academic self-regulation: Implications for school success.

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Xia, Mengya; Fosco, Gregory M; Feinberg, Mark E

2016-06-01

Guided by family systems and ecological theories, this study examined the multicontextual implications of family, school, and individual domains for adolescents' school success. The first goal of this study was to examine reciprocal influences among family climate, school attachment, and academic self-regulation (ASR) during the middle school years. The second goal was to test the relative impact of each of these domains on adolescents' school adjustment and academic achievement after the transition to high school. We applied a cross-lag structural equation modeling approach to longitudinal data from 979 students in the 6th grade and their families, followed over 5 measurement occasions, from 6th through 9th grade. Controlling for family income, parent education, and adolescent gender, the results revealed reciprocal relationships between the family climate and school attachment over time; both of these factors were related to increases in ASR over time. In turn, ASR was a robust predictor of academic success, with unique associations with school adjustment and academic achievement. Family climate and school adjustment had modest to marginal associations with school adjustment, and no association with academic achievement. Applications of these findings for family school interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Addressing Gender Violence among Children in the Early Years of Schooling: Insights from Teachers in a South African Primary School

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Mayeza, Emmanuel; Bhana, Deevia

2016-01-01

This paper explores how teachers in a poor township primary school in South Africa construct meaning regarding gender violence among children, and how they talk about addressing that violence. The paper argues that major influences on the endemic violence include complex societal structures that are inscribed with cultures of violent…

The influence of school holiday timing on epidemic impact.

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Eames, K T D

2014-09-01

The impact of reactive school closure on an epidemic is uncertain, since it is not clear how an unplanned closure will affect social mixing patterns. The effect of school holidays on social mixing patterns is better understood. Here, we use mathematical models to explore the influence of the timing of school holidays on the final size and peak incidence of an influenza-like epidemic. A well-timed holiday can reduce the impact of an epidemic, in particular substantially reducing an epidemic's peak. Final size and peak incidence cannot both be minimized: a later holiday is optimal for minimizing the final size, while an earlier holiday minimizes peak incidence. Using social mixing data from the UK, we estimated that, had the 2009 influenza epidemic not been interrupted by the school summer holidays, the final size would have been about 20% larger and the peak about 170% higher.

The Development of Reading Skills in Kindergarten Influence of Parental Beliefs about School Readiness, Family Activities, and Children's Attitudes to School

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Jung, Eunjoo

2016-01-01

Children's early home learning experiences are important influences on children's adjustment and achievement in the early years of school. This study explores the relationships between parental beliefs about school readiness, family engagement in home learning activities, on children's attitudes to school as reported by parents, and children's…

EFL reading goals of grade 11 students across public and non-public schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Tekle Ferede

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the EFL reading goals of Grade 11 students across public and non-public schools in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. To this end, quantitative data were collected from 556 (375 public and 181 non-public students via pre-tested structured questionnaire and analyzed into means, medians, standard deviations, ranges and Mann-Whitney U test scores. The results show that non-public school students were found better than public school students in possessing components of both extrinsic and intrinsic goals for reading. The notable exception in this regard is that public school students had higher social motivation for reading than their non-public school counterparts. Based on this finding, it has been concluded that non-public school students have a better chance of evolving as persistent self-initiated EFL readers since they have various goals which urge them to engage in reading a range of texts. It is thus recommended that English language teachers in public schools should constantly take actions to enable their students to develop appropriate EFL reading goals.

Do horses with poor welfare show `pessimistic' cognitive biases?

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Henry, S.; Fureix, C.; Rowberry, R.; Bateson, M.; Hausberger, M.

2017-02-01

This field study tested the hypothesis that domestic horses living under putatively challenging-to-welfare conditions (for example involving social, spatial, feeding constraints) would present signs of poor welfare and co-occurring pessimistic judgement biases. Our subjects were 34 horses who had been housed for over 3 years in either restricted riding school situations ( e.g. kept in single boxes, with limited roughage, ridden by inexperienced riders; N = 25) or under more naturalistic conditions ( e.g. access to free-range, kept in stable social groups, leisure riding; N = 9). The horses' welfare was assessed by recording health-related, behavioural and postural indicators. Additionally, after learning a location task to discriminate a bucket containing either edible food (`positive' location) or unpalatable food (`negative' location), the horses were presented with a bucket located near the positive position, near the negative position and halfway between the positive and negative positions to assess their judgement biases. The riding school horses displayed the highest levels of behavioural and health-related problems and a pessimistic judgment bias, whereas the horses living under more naturalistic conditions displayed indications of good welfare and an optimistic bias. Moreover, pessimistic bias data strongly correlated with poor welfare data. This suggests that a lowered mood impacts a non-human species' perception of its environment and highlights cognitive biases as an appropriate tool to assess the impact of chronic living conditions on horse welfare.

Do horses with poor welfare show 'pessimistic' cognitive biases?

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, S; Fureix, C; Rowberry, R; Bateson, M; Hausberger, M

2017-02-01

This field study tested the hypothesis that domestic horses living under putatively challenging-to-welfare conditions (for example involving social, spatial, feeding constraints) would present signs of poor welfare and co-occurring pessimistic judgement biases. Our subjects were 34 horses who had been housed for over 3 years in either restricted riding school situations (e.g. kept in single boxes, with limited roughage, ridden by inexperienced riders; N = 25) or under more naturalistic conditions (e.g. access to free-range, kept in stable social groups, leisure riding; N = 9). The horses' welfare was assessed by recording health-related, behavioural and postural indicators. Additionally, after learning a location task to discriminate a bucket containing either edible food ('positive' location) or unpalatable food ('negative' location), the horses were presented with a bucket located near the positive position, near the negative position and halfway between the positive and negative positions to assess their judgement biases. The riding school horses displayed the highest levels of behavioural and health-related problems and a pessimistic judgment bias, whereas the horses living under more naturalistic conditions displayed indications of good welfare and an optimistic bias. Moreover, pessimistic bias data strongly correlated with poor welfare data. This suggests that a lowered mood impacts a non-human species' perception of its environment and highlights cognitive biases as an appropriate tool to assess the impact of chronic living conditions on horse welfare.

The association between higher body mass index and poor school performance in high school students.

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Tonetti, L; Fabbri, M; Filardi, M; Martoni, M; Natale, V

2016-12-01

This study aimed to examine the association between body mass index (BMI) and school performance in high school students by controlling for relevant mediators such as sleep quality, sleep duration and socioeconomic status. Thirty-seven high school students (mean age: 18.16 ± 0.44 years) attending the same school type, i.e. 'liceo scientifico' (science-based high school), were enrolled. Students' self-reported weight and height were used to calculate BMI. Participants wore an actigraph to objectively assess the quality and duration of sleep. School performance was assessed through the actual grade obtained at the final school-leaving exam, in which higher grades indicate higher performance. BMI, get-up time, mean motor activity, wake after sleep onset and number of awakenings were negatively correlated with the grade, while sleep efficiency was positively correlated. When performing a multiple regression analysis, BMI proved the only significant (negative) predictor of grade. When controlling for sleep quality, sleep duration and socioeconomic status, a higher BMI is associated with a poorer school performance in high school students. © 2015 World Obesity Federation.

The activities of non-governmental organizations for equal educational opportunities for children from the rural environment

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KATARZYNA PALKA

2017-10-01

Full Text Available We live in a world where the access to knowledge has a decisive influence on our future. A large number of children in Poland have difficulties with this access, because they are raised in impoverished, excluded, poorly educated families of low social status. This phenomenon is mainly related to rural areas. Nonformal education should provide important support for formal education. Nonformal education should be organized with the cooperation of schools, kindergartens, and non-governmental organizations. The educational activities proposed for children and their parents by non-governmental organizations complement formal education. These activities are of crucial importance in the equalization of educational opportunities for children from rural areas. It is essential that these activities be planned, long-term, and a part of the entire educational program

Differences in Food and Beverage Marketing Policies and Practices in US School Districts, by Demographic Characteristics of School Districts, 2012.

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Merlo, Caitlin L; Michael, Shannon; Brener, Nancy D; Coffield, Edward; Kingsley, Beverly S; Zytnick, Deena; Blanck, Heidi

2016-12-15

Foods and beverages marketed in schools are typically of poor nutritional value. School districts may adopt policies and practices to restrict marketing of unhealthful foods and to promote healthful choices. Students' exposure to marketing practices differ by school demographics, but these differences have not yet been examined by district characteristics. We analyzed data from the 2012 School Health Policies and Practices Study to examine how food and beverage marketing and promotion policies and practices varied by district characteristics such as metropolitan status, size, and percentage of non-Hispanic white students. Most practices varied significantly by district size: a higher percentage of large districts than small or medium-sized districts restricted marketing of unhealthful foods and promoted healthful options. Compared with districts whose student populations were majority (>50%) non-Hispanic white, a higher percentage of districts whose student populations were minority non-Hispanic white (≤50% non-Hispanic white) prohibited advertising of soft drinks in school buildings and on school grounds, made school meal menus available to students, and provided families with information on school nutrition programs. Compared with suburban and rural districts, a higher percentage of urban districts prohibited the sale of soft drinks on school grounds and used several practices to promote healthful options. Preliminary findings showing significant associations between district demographics and marketing policies and practices can be used to help states direct resources, training, and technical assistance to address food and beverage marketing and promotion to districts most in need of improvement.

Comparison of the enrollment percentages of magnet and non-magnet schools in a large urban school district.

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Emily Arcia

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Are magnet schools in a position to meet diversity ideals? As districts are declared unitary and released from court ordered desegregation, many are framing their commitments to fairness and equity in terms of diversity˜i.e., comparable rates of participation and comparable educational outcomes in all segments the student population. In this study, the enrollment statistics for magnet and contiguous non-magnet public schools in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, a large, urban district that had been released from court ordered desegregation, were compared to each other and to district enrollment averages at two time points: the year the district was declared unitary and four years hence. Findings indicated that within four years of being declared unitary, the gains that the magnet schools had made with regards to Black/non-Black desegregation had eroded substantially. Also, in the four year span, magnet schools had not made significant strides in meeting the diversity ideals adopted by the district at being released from supervision by the court. These findings highlight the difficulty of attaining diversity in student enrollment characteristics when quotas are not used and suggest that recruitment and enrollment policies must be crafted with care if districts are to achieve diversity goals.

What factors influence UK medical students’ choice of foundation school?

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Miah, Saiful; Pang, Karl H; Rebello, Wayne; Rubakumar, Zoe; Fung, Victoria; Venugopal, Suresh; Begum, Hena

2017-01-01

Background We aimed to identify the factors influencing UK medical student applicants’ choice of foundation school. We also explored the factors that doctors currently approaching the end of their 2-year program believe should be considered. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted during the 2013–2014 academic year. An online questionnaire was distributed to 2092 final-year medical students from nine UK medical schools and 84 foundation year-2 (FY2) doctors from eight foundation schools. Participants were asked to rank their top 3 from a list of 12 factors that could potentially influence choice of foundation school on a 5-point Likert scale. Collated categorical data from the two groups were compared using a chi-square test with Yates correction. Results Geographic location was overwhelmingly the most important factor for medical students and FY2 doctors with 97.2% and 98.8% in agreement, respectively. Social relationships played a pivotal role for medical student applicants. Clinical specialties within the rotations were of less importance to medical students, in comparison to location and social relationships. In contrast, FY2 doctors placed a significantly greater importance on the specialties undertaken in their 2-year training program, when compared to medical students (chi-square; p=0.0001). Conclusion UK medical schools should make their foundation program applicants aware of the importance of choosing rotations based on specialties that will be undertaken. Individual foundation schools could provide a more favorable linked application system and greater choice and flexibility of specialties within their 2-year program, potentially making their institution more attractive to future applicants. PMID:28458589

Analysis of Poor Performance of Senior Secondary Students in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated the poor performance of students in Chemistry. The widespread poor performance and the negative attitudes towards chemistry of secondary school students have been largely ascribed to teaching problems. A random sample of 109 students from St Pius X College Bodo City was used. The research ...

When Daddy Comes to School: Father-School Involvement and Children's Academic and Social-Emotional Skills

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Baker, Claire E.

2018-01-01

The present study used a large sample of mostly non-resident fathers (74%) to determine whether father-school involvement (e.g. attending parent-teacher conferences) predicted better academic and social emotional skills after controlling for the influence of mother-school involvement, the quality of children's home learning environment, and…

Association of aggression and non-suicidal self injury: a school-based sample of adolescents.

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Jie Tang

Full Text Available PURPOSE: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI in adolescent has drawn increasing attention because it is associated with subsequent depression, drug abuse, anxiety disorders, and suicide. In the present study, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI in a school-based sample of Chinese adolescents and to explore the association between aggression and NSSI. METHODS: This study was part of a nationwide study on aggression among adolescents in urban areas of China. A sample of 2907 school students including 1436 boys and 1471 girls were randomly selected in Guangdong Province, with their age ranging from 10 to 18 years old. NSSI, aggression, emotional management and other factors were measured by self-administrated questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the association between aggression and NSSI, after adjustment for participants' emotional management, and other potential confounding variables. RESULTS: The one year self-reported prevalence of NSSI was 33.6%. Of them, 21.7% engaged in 'minor NSSI', 11.9% in 'moderate/severe NSSI'. 96.9% of self-injuries engaged in one to five different types of NSSI in the past year. Hostility, verbal and indirect aggression was significantly associated with self-reported NSSI after adjusting for other potential factors both in 'minor NSSI' and 'moderate/severe NSSI'. Hostility, verbal and indirect aggression was significantly associated with greater risk of 'minor NSSI' and 'moderate/severe NSSI' in those who had poor emotional management ability. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight a high prevalence of NSSI and indicate the importance of hostility, verbal and indirect aggression as potentially risk factor for NSSI among Chinese adolescents.

The Influence of Cyberbullying on the College Objectives of Female Undergraduates Who Were Victims in High School

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Vargas, Militza

2012-01-01

Cyberbullying has a negative influence on academic grades, school attendance, and graduation rates, and occurs more frequently among female high school students. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of cyberbullying on the college objectives of female undergraduates who were victims in high school. Goleman's theory of…

The influence of ethnic segregation and school mobility in primary education on high school dropout : evidence from regression discontinuity at a contextual tipping point

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Ong, C.; de Witte, K.

2013-01-01

This paper investigates the influence of ethnic composition and school mobility at the primary school-level on the propensity to drop out of high school. Using rich school and neighbourhood administrative data, we observe that (i) frequent school movers have a 2.6 times higher likelihood of early

Motivations influencing the specialty choices of medical school graduates

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zarghami M

2003-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Growing national concern about distortions in the size, specially composition, and availability of the physician workforce -especially after "cultural revolution n- has evoked challenges in Iran. Purpose: To determine various factors that influence medical graduates choices for residency program. Methods: All applicants for residency program in Mazandaran university of Medical Sciences and Health Services completed the Medical School Graduation Questionnaire, and rated each factor using 0 to 4 Likert-type scale. Factors' ratings were also compared across applicants of different residency program, and demographic variables. Results: The top two factors rated as having strong influences were ones related to interest in helping peop1e (rated 3.07, and intellectual content of the specially (rated 3. Malpractice insurance cost has the least influence (rated 0.98. Most of men preferred independence, whereas most of women preferred predictable working hours. Opportunity to make differences in people's l(fe influenced the specially choices of usual participants. whereas those who used war veterans quota paid more attention to independence and exercise of social responsibility. Patient contact factors were less important to graduates who chose diagnostic speciafties. Also, there was a significant association between the participants' age and four factors. Conclusion: These graduates based their specially preference heavily on the opportunity that the specially affords to help people, and intellectual content of the specially. Knowing the hierarchy of influences on graduates' motivations should help education strategists determine what experiences and perceptions must change if a different mix of specially decision is to result. Keywords: SPECIAL TY, MEDICAL SCHOOL, SARI, MAZANDARAN

[Epidemiological Study of Poor Visual Acuity among Schoolchildren in Bonin Islands].

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Misae; Shimizu, Kimiya; Kawamorita, Takushi; Shoji, Nobuyuki

2016-04-01

To investigate the change in uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) among schoolchildren in Bonin Islands. UCVA of schoolchildren aged 6 to 14 years, was collected from reports of School Health Examination Surveys conducted from 1981 to 2012. The proportion of schoolchildren with poor UCVA in the Bonin Islands was compared with those in metropolitan Tokyo. The results in Bonin Islands were also divided into two groups, before- and after-1996 when terrestrial television broadcasting service has been started, and the data of those two groups were compared. The proportion of schoolchildren with poor UCVA in Bonin Islands was lower than that in Tokyo. Among the residents of Bonin Islands, the proportion of schoolchildren with UCVA of < 1.0 was higher in the after-1996 group than in the before- 1996 group, with a clear increase in schoolchildren with poor UCVA after 1996 (p < 0.01, Fisher's exact test), examined among the 4th grade of elementary school or above. After 1996, 26.6% of first graders at a public junior high school had poor UCVA of < 0.7, whereas before 1996 no such case could be detected. The present study revealed that the proportions of schoolchildren with poor UCVA in Bonin Islands was lower than that in Tokyo; but in the residents of Bonin Islands after 1996, the proportion of the schoolchildren with poor UCVA increased.

Mapping structural influences on sex and HIV education in church and secular schools in Zimbabwe.

Science.gov (United States)

Mpofu, Elias; Mutepfa, Magen Mhaka; Hallfors, Denise Dion

2012-09-01

The authors used state-of-the-art concept mapping approaches to examine structural institutional effects of church and secular high schools on the types of sexual and HIV-prevention education messages transmitted to learners in Zimbabwe. Participants were school teachers (n = 26), school counselors (n = 28), and pastors involved in student pastoral care (n = 14; males = 27, females = 41). They reported on messages perceived to influence sexual decisions of learners in their school setting. The self-report data were clustered into message types using concept mapping and contrasted for consistency of content and structure both between and within type of school. The authors also engaged in curriculum document study with member checks in the participant schools to determine convergence of the evidence on school-type effects of the messages transmitted to students. Church schools prioritized faith-informed sexual and HIV-prevention messages, whereas both types of schools prioritized Life skills education and a future focus. Secular schools prioritized sex and HIV messages in the context of community norms. Facts about HIV and AIDS were relatively underemphasized by church schools. The implicit knowledge values that differentiate types of schools influence learner access to information important for their sexual decisions.

Influence of Taoism on Teachers' Definitions of Guidance and Discipline in Hong Kong Secondary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Hue, Ming Tak

2010-01-01

This article examines how Hong Kong secondary school teachers define caring and the strategies they adopt for behaviour management. The influence of Taoism, emerging as a theme from the data, was prominent, as its principles were incorporated into the teachers' knowledge of caring. The findings illuminate the influence of Taoism in local schools.…

Education of Non-European Ancestry Immigrant Students in Suburban High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Shodavaram, Mary P.; Jones, Lisa A.; Weaver, Laurie R.; Marquez, Judith A.; Ensle, Anne L.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine suburban high school teachers' beliefs about non-European ancestry immigrant students; more specifically, suburban teachers' beliefs regarding the impact of students' cultural backgrounds on academic performance were examined. Non-European ancestry immigrant students are those students whose ancestral…

Mandated empowerment: handing antipoverty policy back to the poor?

Science.gov (United States)

Banerjee, Abhijit V; Duflo, Esther

2008-01-01

The current trend in antipoverty policy emphasizes mandated empowerment: the poor are being handed the responsibility for making things better for themselves, largely without being asked whether this is what they want. Beneficiary control is now being built into public service delivery, while microcredit and small business promotion are seen as better ways to help the poor. The clear presumption is that the poor are both able and happy to exercise these new powers. This essay uses two examples to raise questions about these strategies. The first example is about entrepreneurship among the poor. Using data from a number of countries, we argue that there is no evidence that the median poor entrepreneur is trying his best to expand his existing businesses, even if we take into account the many constraints he faces. While many poor people own businesses, this seems to be more a survival strategy than something they want to do. The second example comes from an evaluation of a program in India that aims to involve poor rural parents in improving local public schools. The data suggest that despite being informed that they now have both the right to intervene in the school and access to funds for that purpose, and despite being made aware of how little the children were learning, parents opt to not get involved. Both examples raise concerns about committing ourselves entirely to antipoverty strategies that rely on the poor doing a lot of the work.

Influence of school architecture and design on healthy eating: a review of the evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Frerichs, Leah; Brittin, Jeri; Sorensen, Dina; Trowbridge, Matthew J; Yaroch, Amy L; Siahpush, Mohammad; Tibbits, Melissa; Huang, Terry T-K

2015-04-01

We examined evidence regarding the influence of school physical environment on healthy-eating outcomes. We applied a systems perspective to examine multiple disciplines' theoretical frameworks and used a mixed-methods systematic narrative review method, considering both qualitative and quantitative sources (published through March 2014) for inclusion. We developed a causal loop diagram from 102 sources identified. We found evidence of the influence of many aspects of a school's physical environment on healthy-eating outcomes. The causal loop diagram highlights multilevel and interrelated factors and elucidates the specific roles of design and architecture in encouraging healthy eating within schools. Our review highlighted the gaps in current evidence and identified areas of research needed to refine and expand school architecture and design strategies for addressing healthy eating.

Teachers’ Poor Professionalism Of Writing A Scientific Paper at Muhammadiyah Senior High School In Central Java

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Bambang Sumardjoko

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The paper aims at analyzing teachers’ poor professionalism of writing a scientific paper at Muhammadiyah Senior High School in Central Java. It studies on the phenomena of teachers’ weaknesses, comprehension, efforts and constraints on writing a scientific paper. The study belongs to qualitative research by applying a descriptive approach in examining the problem. The data are got with an in-depth interview, observation, and document analysis. The data sources are teachers, headmaster, a chief of High and Preliminary Education Assembly, and educational experts. Data validation is conducted by methods and sources triangulation. The data analysis applies the interactive model.The research result shows that most teachers have a limited comprehension of scientific paper concepts, skill on conducting classroom action research and writing a scientific paper. Also, they also have some constraints such as lack of writing motivation, school infrastructure, and internet connection access. In eliminating those problems, firstly Muhammadiyah senior high school (SMA/MA/SMK teachers of Sukoharjo district have done some activities to develop their professional competence especially in the field of writing a scientific paper. In supporting their efforts, it needs a concrete step of stakeholder to simplify of all regarding with learning administrative activities, facilities adequacy motivation, the initiative of Assembly of Elementary and Middle Education, and others sponsorship, as well as the guidance of university.

Gender Differences in Resistance to Schooling: The Role of Dynamic Peer-Influence and Selection Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Geven, Sara; O Jonsson, Jan; van Tubergen, Frank

2017-12-01

Boys engage in notably higher levels of resistance to schooling than girls. While scholars argue that peer processes contribute to this gender gap, this claim has not been tested with longitudinal quantitative data. This study fills this lacuna by examining the role of dynamic peer-selection and influence processes in the gender gap in resistance to schooling (i.e., arguing with teachers, skipping class, not putting effort into school, receiving punishments at school, and coming late to class) with two-wave panel data. We expect that, compared to girls, boys are more exposed and more responsive to peers who exhibit resistant behavior. We estimate hybrid models on 5448 students from 251 school classes in Sweden (14-15 years, 49% boys), and stochastic actor-based models (SIENA) on a subsample of these data (2480 students in 98 classes; 49% boys). We find that boys are more exposed to resistant friends than girls, and that adolescents are influenced by the resistant behavior of friends. These peer processes do not contribute to a widening of the gender gap in resistance to schooling, yet they contribute somewhat to the persistence of the initial gender gap. Boys are not more responsive to the resistant behavior of friends than girls. Instead, girls are influenced more by the resistant behavior of lower status friends than boys. This explains to some extent why boys increase their resistance to schooling more over time. All in all, peer-influence and selection processes seem to play a minor role in gender differences in resistance to schooling. These findings nuance under investigated claims that have been made in the literature.

Non-canonical regulation of glutathione and trehalose biosynthesis characterizes non-Saccharomyces wine yeasts with poor performance in active dry yeast production

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Esther Gamero-Sandemetrio

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Several yeast species, belonging to Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces genera, play fundamental roles during spontaneous must grape fermentation, and recent studies have shown that mixed fermentations, co-inoculated with S. cerevisiae and non-Saccharomyces strains, can improve wine organoleptic properties. During active dry yeast (ADY production, antioxidant systems play an essential role in yeast survival and vitality as both biomass propagation and dehydration cause cellular oxidative stress and negatively affect technological performance. Mechanisms for adaptation and resistance to desiccation have been described for S. cerevisiae, but no data are available on the physiology and oxidative stress response of non-Saccharomyces wine yeasts and their potential impact on ADY production. In this study we analyzed the oxidative stress response in several non-Saccharomyces yeast species by measuring the activity of reactive oxygen species (ROS scavenging enzymes, e.g., catalase and glutathione reductase, accumulation of protective metabolites, e.g., trehalose and reduced glutathione (GSH, and lipid and protein oxidation levels. Our data suggest that non-canonical regulation of glutathione and trehalose biosynthesis could cause poor fermentative performance after ADY production, as it corroborates the corrective effect of antioxidant treatments, during biomass propagation, with both pure chemicals and food-grade argan oil.

School effects on non-verbal intelligence and nutritional status in rural Zambia

OpenAIRE

Hein, Sascha; Tan, Mei; Reich, Jodi; Thuma, Philip E.; Grigorenko, Elena L.

2015-01-01

This study uses hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine the school factors (i.e., related to school organization and teacher and student body) associated with non-verbal intelligence (NI) and nutritional status (i.e., body mass index; BMI) of 4204 3rd to 7th graders in rural areas of Southern Province, Zambia. Results showed that 23.5% and 7.7% of the NI and BMI variance, respectively, were conditioned by differences between schools. The set of 14 school factors accounted for 58.8% and ...

Prevention at school level. Chile: "Education for prevention and non-discrimination".

Science.gov (United States)

1993-01-01

The Ministry of Education in Chile has adopted a policy that guarantees the right of children with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) to be educated. The document, "Educational policy and sexuality," recommends incorporating sex education and AIDS prevention into the school curriculum. In San Bernardo, where one child was not accepted at school, a project, "Education for prevention and non-discrimination," was announced by municipal authorities. Students in public and private schools in the country have been trained as monitors who, in the school environment, educate other children about AIDS. In Santiago, seminars that cover fear of AIDS have begun for teachers, many of whom are afraid. Working groups are being considered for development and communication of prevention strategies in schools.

Association of tic disorders with poor academic performance in central Spain: a population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cubo, Esther; Trejo, José; Ausín, Vanesa; Sáez, Sara; Delgado, Vanesa; Macarrón, Jesus; Cordero, José; Louis, Elan D; Kompoliti, Katie; Benito-León, Julián

2013-07-01

To analyze the association between tic disorders and poor academic performance in school-aged children. This was a cross-sectional, observational study conducted in a randomly selected sample of mainstream school-aged children (aged 6-16 years). The sampling frame included different types of schools and educational levels. Children with poor academic performance (eg, repeating a grade, special needs), and tic disorders (defined based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision criteria) were identified. Children with and without tics and children with and without poor academic performance were compared in terms of clinical features (ie, medical history and neurologic and psychiatric comorbidities), school, and environmental characteristics. Logistic regression analyses were performed using school performance (dependent variable) and tic disorders (independent variable), after adjusting for confounding variables. The study cohort comprised 1867 children (mean age, 10.9 + 2.9 years; 1007 males [53.9%]). Tics were present in 162 children (8.6%), and poor academic performance was noted in 223 (11.9%). Overall poor academic performance was associated with age (OR, 1.71; P family history of school dysfunction (OR, 2.43; P = .02) and was negatively associated with higher IQ score (OR, 0.90; P academic performance in our cohort. Early academic support and modification of environmental characteristics are needed for children at higher risk for school dysfunction, to enhance academic performance. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Parental Influence on Academic Achievement among the Primary School Students in Trinidad

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Emmanuel Janagan; Descartes, Christine H.

2017-01-01

The present study examined the level of parental influence on academic achievement in primary school students who prepare for the National-level test at standard five (grade 6), Secondary Entrance Examinations in Trinidad. A sample of 128 students studying standard five from primary schools was randomly selected. The data were analysed using SPSS.…

Study on the Strategy of Transforming Students with Learning Difficulties in Polytechnic Schools

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Fan Cui

2014-05-01

Full Text Available As demand of China’s social construction increasing and as the development of vocational education, polytechnic school plays an increasing important part, which, on the other hand, constitutes unprecedented challenges to the teaching in polytechnic schools. Most students, in the aspect of vocational education, are those from middle schools who have difficulties in their study. These students are entitled “Underachievers”. They are short in intellectual study and poor in curricular foundations. Teaching tasks cannot be satisfactorily accomplished in many of the polytechnic schools for the increasing number of underachievers. What have been harnessing the polytechnic school development is the poor study effect of these students. In this article, the internal reason of character and the external reason of social influence are analyzed as the cause that contributes to learning difficulties. And this article offers a pragmatic set of ideas for underachiever transformation.

Identifying Influencers in High School Student ICT Career Choice

Science.gov (United States)

Babin, Ron; Grant, Kenneth A.; Sawal, Lea

2010-01-01

This paper examines the role of influencers in Canadian high school student decisions to pursue Information and Communications Technology (ICT) careers and education. With growing rates of retirements of ICT workers expected over the next 10-15 years, industry representatives are concerned that the shortfall in replacement workers will have a…

Treatment non-adherence among patients with poorly controlled ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2014-03-01

Mar 1, 2014 ... Background: Poor adherence to prescribed therapy among patients with chronic diseases is a growing concern which un- dermines the ... consent was obtained from individual patient to signi- .... and SRMAS in binary categories of adherence versus ..... United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study Group.

[Smoking among adolescents: population study on parental and school influences].

Science.gov (United States)

Yáñez, A M; López, R; Serra-Batlles, J; Roger, N; Arnau, A; Roura, P

2006-01-01

Smoking represents a public health problem, one which begins during adolescence. The main objective of this study was to analyze the association between smoking and parental and school factors. The study sample consisted of the students from the 20 secondary schools in the region of Osona, Barcelona, Spain. A self-report questionnaire was used to obtain information on the following variables: smoking habit, age of initiation, frequency, type of school (state school or private-subsidized), sex, age, persons living in the home, town, whether the student had lunch at school, whether the student often had lunch or dinner alone at home. A total of 2280 students participated in the study (91%). Mean age was 15.5 years. Of the participants, 20% said they were smokers; 5%, ex-smokers; 34% had tried smoking at least once, and 41% had never smoked. Factors significantly associated with smoking in the multivariate analysis were age, rural town, state school, single parent family, eating alone, and not lunching at school. Smoking prevalence is high among adolescents in our society and there is no gender difference. Our results show that family structure and dynamics can influence smoking in adolescents. Smoking is less prevalent among adolescents who have lunch at school.

Three Southern high school biology teachers' perspectives on teaching evolution: Sociocultural influences

Science.gov (United States)

Kyzer, Peggy Mckewen

Organizations in science and science education call for students to have a thorough understanding of the theory of evolution. Yet many high school biology teachers do not teach evolution and/or include creationism in their instruction (National Academy of Science, 1998). Historically, the controversy surrounding evolution has created tension for teachers. This case study explored the sociocultural influences related to teaching evolution in three Southern 10th-grade public high school biology classrooms. It also explored the socially and culturally embedded influences on teachers' instructional goals and personal perspectives toward evolution as well as modification of instruction when evolution is taught. Theoretically framed using symbolic interactionism and sociocultural theory, data were collected between October 2003 and April 2004 and included classroom observations two to three times per week, artifacts, and in-depth interviews of the participating teachers, their science department chairpersons, their students, and a Protestant minister. The classroom teachers were unaware of the focus of the study until after evolution was taught. The analysis used in this study was an inductive, interpretative approach that allowed exploration of the sociocultural influences that affect how teachers teach evolution. The sociocultural influences and the lived experiences of each teacher created a continuum for teaching evolution. One of the participating teachers who was heavily involved in the community and one of its fundamentalist churches elected to avoid teaching evolution. Another participating teacher at the same school integrated the theory of evolution in every unit. The third teacher who taught in another school elected to teach evolution in a superficial manner to avoid conflict. The data revealed that the participating teachers' sociocultural situatedness influenced their decisions and instruction on evolution. The influence of strong religious beliefs within

Snack and beverage consumption and preferences in a sample of Chinese children - Are they influenced by advertising?

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Peng; Yu, Yang; King, Lesley; Li, Mu

2017-01-01

The consumption of unhealthy snack and beverages can lead to childhood obesity, which has become a major concern globally. Television food advertisements may influence children's snack and beverages preferences. This article aims to explore children's snack and beverage consumption habits; examine the extent of television advertising for non-core (energy-dense, nutrient poor) snack and beverages; and assess the influence of television advertising on children's snack and beverages preferences in Harbin, China. The study consisted of two components, a recall survey on the snack and beverage consumption and preferences of 9-11 years old school children; and recording snack and beverage advertisements on three popular television channels. Odds Ratio (OR) was used to estimate the likelihood of children selecting particular snack and beverages as their top three choices according to whether their preferences were influenced by television advertisements. The majority of children consumed non-core snacks (100%) and beverages (80%) in the four weeks prior to the survey. Nearly 40% of television food advertisements were for non-core snacks and beverages. Non-core snacks (OR of 1.13) and non-core beverages (OR of 1.23) were more likely chosen as children's top three snack/beverage choices, particularly, "puffed food and tubers" snack and carbonated beverages (OR of 1.31 and 1.45, respectively). The snack and beverage preferences appeared to be influenced by television advertisements in this sample of Chinese children, highlighting the potential health and nutritional value of policy to reduce advertising of non-core foods in China.

Parental Influence, School Readiness and Early Academic Achievement of African American Boys

Science.gov (United States)

Joe, Emanique M.; Davis, James Earl

2009-01-01

This study examined the relationship between parental influence and the school readiness of African American boys, using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: ECLS-K, Parents' influence, via their academic beliefs and behaviors, was associated with the cognitive performance of African American boys during kindergarten. While previous…

The influence of leadership communication on school teachers’ job satisfaction

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Sergiu Sanduleac

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Education is at the corn stone of our social existence. Daily we are facing the fact that there is a strong correlation between a good leader within a school and the influence he or she spreads on the school teachers in their day by day activity. What does it really mean to be an effective leader, how to improve communication skills, what is actually job satisfaction and how it can be achieved? These are the concepts explored thoroughly within this article.

Differences in Food and Beverage Marketing Policies and Practices in US School Districts, by Demographic Characteristics of School Districts, 2012

Science.gov (United States)

Michael, Shannon; Brener, Nancy D.; Coffield, Edward; Kingsley, Beverly S.; Zytnick, Deena; Blanck, Heidi

2016-01-01

Introduction Foods and beverages marketed in schools are typically of poor nutritional value. School districts may adopt policies and practices to restrict marketing of unhealthful foods and to promote healthful choices. Students’ exposure to marketing practices differ by school demographics, but these differences have not yet been examined by district characteristics. Methods We analyzed data from the 2012 School Health Policies and Practices Study to examine how food and beverage marketing and promotion policies and practices varied by district characteristics such as metropolitan status, size, and percentage of non-Hispanic white students. Results Most practices varied significantly by district size: a higher percentage of large districts than small or medium-sized districts restricted marketing of unhealthful foods and promoted healthful options. Compared with districts whose student populations were majority (>50%) non-Hispanic white, a higher percentage of districts whose student populations were minority non-Hispanic white (≤50% non-Hispanic white) prohibited advertising of soft drinks in school buildings and on school grounds, made school meal menus available to students, and provided families with information on school nutrition programs. Compared with suburban and rural districts, a higher percentage of urban districts prohibited the sale of soft drinks on school grounds and used several practices to promote healthful options. Conclusion Preliminary findings showing significant associations between district demographics and marketing policies and practices can be used to help states direct resources, training, and technical assistance to address food and beverage marketing and promotion to districts most in need of improvement. PMID:27978408

The long non-coding RNA HOTAIR indicates a poor prognosis and promotes metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Xiang-hua; Liu, Zhi-li; Sun, Ming; Liu, Jing; Wang, Zhao-xia; De, Wei

2013-01-01

The identification of cancer-associated long non-coding RNAs and the investigation of their molecular and biological functions are important for understanding the molecular biology and progression of cancer. HOTAIR (HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA) has been implicated in several cancers; however, its role in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unknown. The aim of the present study was to examine the expression pattern of HOTAIR in NSCLC and to evaluate its biological role and clinical significance in tumor progression. Expression of HOTAIR was analyzed in 42 NSCLC tissues and four NSCLC cell lines by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Over-expression and RNA interference (RNAi) approaches were used to investigate the biological functions of HOTAIR. The effect of HOTAIR on proliferation was evaluated by MTT and colony formation assays, and cell migration and invasion were evaluated by transwell assays. Tail vein injection of cells was used to study metastasis in nude mice. Protein levels of HOTAIR targets were determined by western blot analysis. Differences between groups were tested for significance using Student’s t-test (two-tailed). HOTAIR was highly expressed both in NSCLC samples and cell lines compared with corresponding normal counterparts. HOTAIR upregulation was correlated with NSCLC advanced pathological stage and lymph-node metastasis. Moreover, patients with high levels of HOTAIR expression had a relatively poor prognosis. Inhibition of HOTAIR by RNAi decreased the migration and invasion of NSCLC cells in vitro and impeded cell metastasis in vivo. HOXA5 levels were affected by HOTAIR knockdown or over-expression in vitro. Our findings indicate that HOTAIR is significantly up-regulated in NSCLC tissues, and regulates NSCLC cell invasion and metastasis, partially via the down-regulation of HOXA5. Thus, HOTAIR may represent a new marker of poor prognosis and is a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC

School connectedness and daily smoking among boys and girls: the influence of parental smoking norms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Mette; Damsgaard, Mogens T; Holstein, Bjørn E

2005-01-01

connectedness and smoking, although a modifying tendency was observed among girls. CONCLUSIONS: The smoking behaviour of Danish adolescents may be influenced by complicated interactions of varying sets of experienced smoking norms, and any research project or preventive programme focusing on the influence......BACKGROUND: The objective was to test whether an association between school connectedness and smoking exists among Danish school children, and if so, to examine whether parental smoking attitude and parental smoking behaviour influenced this association. METHODS: Data were collected by the Danish...... and smoking among both boys and girls. Parents' attitude to their children's smoking significantly modified this association among boys. Among girls the modifying effect was less marked. Neither among boys nor girls did parental smoking behaviour significantly modify the association between school...

Evaluation of hearing ability in Danish children at the time of school start and at the end of school

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gissel, S.; Mortensen, Jens Tølbøll; Juul, S.

2002-01-01

Since previous studies have shown reduced hearing ability in children and adolescents at school start, this study was undertaken to evaluate the hearing ability in Danish children at the time of start and end of school. Children starting school in 1977, 1987, and 1997 from four minor municipalities...... in North Jutland County, Denmark were evaluated for hearing ability by a review of 1,605 school health records. We found a higher prevalence of impaired hearing ability in children who started school 1987 and 1997 compared to those who started school 1977. Reduced hearing was typically at high frequencies....... At the end of school, hearing ability of the year group 1977 was just as poor as for the year group 1987. Whether reduced hearing can influence the learning abilities of these children should be evaluated by further studies including information on the exposure to noise....

INFLUENCE OF TWO DIFFERENT SITTING POSTURES ON HAMSTRING MUSCLE FLEXIBILITY IN SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN

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Vadivelan .K

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Children adopting different styles of sitting in class rooms may have an influence over the hamstring length which indirectly produces an effect on posture, gait and musculoskeletal problems. Hence, physiotherapists play an important role in preventing the problems that are to be developed due to the sitting posture adopted at school. Hence, it is important for all the health professionals to understand and know about the effect of different sitting styles of children in school over the children health.The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of two sitting postures (crossed leg sitting and bench sitting on hamstring flexibility in school going children. Aim of the Study to observe the influence of bench sitting and crossed-leg sitting on hamstring flexibility in school going children. Methods: 200 school children (105 boys and 95 girls from private schools (those who are bench sitting and 200 school children (109 boys and 91 girls from government schools (those who are crossed leg sitting aged 6-10 years were included in this study. Active Knee Extension (AKE test with the aid of a simple and economically cheap stabilizing apparatus was used to determine hamstring flexibility. Measurements were taken for both right and left knee. Results: The mean Active Knee Extension (AKE score for bench sitting children was 132.4 and for crossed leg sitting children was 130.1. The difference observed in knee extension range of motion between the groups was statistically significant (p<0.05. Conclusion: Hamstring flexibility was greater in bench sitting children as compared to crossed leg sitting children.

Non-economic determinants of economic development: methodology and influence

OpenAIRE

Barashov, N.

2011-01-01

The paper deals with research methodology of non-economic determinants of economic development. The author considers various theoretical approaches to definition of economic growth factors. Considerable attention is given to studying possible influence of non-economic determinants on quality of economic development.

Can Non-Formal Education Keep Working Children in School? A Case Study from Punjab, India

Science.gov (United States)

Sud, Pamela

2010-01-01

This paper analyses the effectiveness of non-formal schools for working children in Jalandhar, Punjab, India, in mainstreaming child labourers into the formal education system through incentivised, informal schooling. Using a family fixed effects model and sibling data as an equivalent population comparison group, I find that the non-formal…

Schooling, Environment and Cognitive Development: A Cross-Cultural Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, Harold W.; And Others

1978-01-01

Investigated the influence of schooling and environment on young children's memory and cognitive skills. Subjects were five- and six-year-old Mestizo and Quechua Indian children living in jungle villages or city slums in Peru. Samples of upper-middle-class children in Lima and poor children in Detroit were also tested. (JMB)

A quantitative analysis of factors influencing the professional longevity of high school science teachers in Florida

Science.gov (United States)

Ridgley, James Alexander, Jr.

This dissertation is an exploratory quantitative analysis of various independent variables to determine their effect on the professional longevity (years of service) of high school science teachers in the state of Florida for the academic years 2011-2012 to 2013-2014. Data are collected from the Florida Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress databases. The following research hypotheses are examined: H1 - There are statistically significant differences in Level 1 (teacher variables) that influence the professional longevity of a high school science teacher in Florida. H2 - There are statistically significant differences in Level 2 (school variables) that influence the professional longevity of a high school science teacher in Florida. H3 - There are statistically significant differences in Level 3 (district variables) that influence the professional longevity of a high school science teacher in Florida. H4 - When tested in a hierarchical multiple regression, there are statistically significant differences in Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 that influence the professional longevity of a high school science teacher in Florida. The professional longevity of a Floridian high school science teacher is the dependent variable. The independent variables are: (Level 1) a teacher's sex, age, ethnicity, earned degree, salary, number of schools taught in, migration count, and various years of service in different areas of education; (Level 2) a school's geographic location, residential population density, average class size, charter status, and SES; and (Level 3) a school district's average SES and average spending per pupil. Statistical analyses of exploratory MLRs and a HMR are used to support the research hypotheses. The final results of the HMR analysis show a teacher's age, salary, earned degree (unknown, associate, and doctorate), and ethnicity (Hispanic and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander); a

What factors influence UK medical students’ choice of foundation school?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miah S

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Saiful Miah,1,2 Karl H Pang,3 Wayne Rebello,4 Zoe Rubakumar,4 Victoria Fung,5 Suresh Venugopal,6 Hena Begum4 1Division of Surgery and Interventional science, University College London, London, UK; 2Department of Urology, Charing Cross Hospital Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK; 3Academic Urology Unit, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; 4Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; 5Department of Plastic Surgery, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK; 6Department of Urology, Chesterfield Royal Infirmary, Chesterfield, UK Background: We aimed to identify the factors influencing UK medical student applicants’ choice of foundation school. We also explored the factors that doctors currently approaching the end of their 2-year program believe should be considered. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the 2013–2014 academic year. An online questionnaire was distributed to 2092 final-year medical students from nine UK medical schools and 84 foundation year-2 (FY2 doctors from eight foundation schools. Participants were asked to rank their top 3 from a list of 12 factors that could potentially influence choice of foundation school on a 5-point Likert scale. Collated categorical data from the two groups were compared using a chi-square test with Yates correction. Results: Geographic location was overwhelmingly the most important factor for medical students and FY2 doctors with 97.2% and 98.8% in agreement, respectively. Social relationships played a pivotal role for medical student applicants. Clinical specialties within the rotations were of less importance to medical students, in comparison to location and social relationships. In contrast, FY2 doctors placed a significantly greater importance on the specialties undertaken in their 2-year training program, when compared to medical students (chi-square; p=0.0001. Conclusion: UK medical schools should make their foundation program applicants aware

The Influence of Gender on Junior Secondary School Students ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper is on the influence of gender on junior secondary school student's attitude towards mathematics in Ovia North East local government area of Edo state. The descriptive survey design was employed for the study. The population of the study comprised of all the JSS3 students, a total of Three Thousand Six Hundred ...

Outside-School Physical Activity Participation and Motivation in Physical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Bo

2014-01-01

Background: Experience in non-school contexts can shape and reshape students' motivation and mediate their learning in school. Outside-school physical activity may provide students with an extensive cognitive and affective foundation and influence their motivation in physical education. Although a trans-contextual effect of physical education has…

L1CAM Expression is Related to Non-Endometrioid Histology, and Prognostic for Poor Outcome in Endometrioid Endometrial Carcinoma

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geels, Y.P.; Pijnenborg, J.M.A.; Gordon, B.B.; Fogel, M.; Altevogt, P.; Masadah, R.; Bulten, J.; Kempen, L.C. van; Massuger, L.F.A.G.

2016-01-01

The majority of endometrial carcinomas are classified as Type I endometrioid endometrial carcinomas (EECs) and have a good prognosis. Type II non-endometrioid endometrial carcinomas (NEECs) have a significant worse outcome. Yet, 20 % of the EECs are associated with an unexplained poor outcome. The

Factors influencing teacher decisions on school, classroom, and curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Crocker, Robert K.; Banfield, Helen

This article describes a study designed to explore sources of influence on the judgments made by science teachers on school characteristics, classroom features, and properties of a science curriculum. The study had its theoretical basis in the concept that members of a social organization operate under certain functional paradigms, which govern their approach to events within the organization, and particularly to the implementation of innovations. Empirically, the study formed part of the Canadian contribution to the Second International Science Study, and was based on a survey of some 2000 Canadian teachers. The survey used an adaptation of policy capturing methodology, in which teachers were presented with variations in a hypothetical scenario designed to simulate a decision-making situation. Results suggest that teachers' judgments center around a number of factors, the primary ones being concern for student ability and interest, teaching methods, and school spirit and morale. On the other hand, variations in the scientific basis of a curriculum appear to exert little influence. The results are interpreted as indicators of the major elements of teacher functional paradigms.

American Sign Language Syntax and Analogical Reasoning Skills Are Influenced by Early Acquisition and Age of Entry to Signing Schools for the Deaf.

Science.gov (United States)

Henner, Jon; Caldwell-Harris, Catherine L; Novogrodsky, Rama; Hoffmeister, Robert

2016-01-01

Failing to acquire language in early childhood because of language deprivation is a rare and exceptional event, except in one population. Deaf children who grow up without access to indirect language through listening, speech-reading, or sign language experience language deprivation. Studies of Deaf adults have revealed that late acquisition of sign language is associated with lasting deficits. However, much remains unknown about language deprivation in Deaf children, allowing myths and misunderstandings regarding sign language to flourish. To fill this gap, we examined signing ability in a large naturalistic sample of Deaf children attending schools for the Deaf where American Sign Language (ASL) is used by peers and teachers. Ability in ASL was measured using a syntactic judgment test and language-based analogical reasoning test, which are two sub-tests of the ASL Assessment Inventory. The influence of two age-related variables were examined: whether or not ASL was acquired from birth in the home from one or more Deaf parents, and the age of entry to the school for the Deaf. Note that for non-native signers, this latter variable is often the age of first systematic exposure to ASL. Both of these types of age-dependent language experiences influenced subsequent signing ability. Scores on the two tasks declined with increasing age of school entry. The influence of age of starting school was not linear. Test scores were generally lower for Deaf children who entered the school of assessment after the age of 12. The positive influence of signing from birth was found for students at all ages tested (7;6-18;5 years old) and for children of all age-of-entry groupings. Our results reflect a continuum of outcomes which show that experience with language is a continuous variable that is sensitive to maturational age.

Public and Private School Distinction, Regional Development Differences, and Other Factors Influencing the Success of Primary School Students in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Sulku, Seher Nur; Abdioglu, Zehra

2015-01-01

This study investigates the factors influencing the success of students in primary schools in Turkey. TIMSS 2011 data for Turkey, measuring the success of eighth-grade students in the field of mathematics, were used in an econometric analysis, performed using classical linear regression models. Two hundred thirty-nine schools participated in the…

Lessons learned from 15 years of non-grades-based selection for medical school

NARCIS (Netherlands)

K.M. Stegers-Jager (Karen)

2018-01-01

textabstractContext: Thirty years ago, it was suggested in the Edinburgh Declaration that medical school applicants should be selected not only on academic, but also on non-academic, attributes. The main rationale behind extending medical school selection procedures with the evaluation of

A NON-LOCAL THERMODYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS OF BORON ABUNDANCES IN METAL-POOR STARS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan Kefeng; Shi Jianrong; Zhao Gang

2010-01-01

The non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) line formation of neutral boron in the atmospheres of cool stars are investigated. Our results confirm that NLTE effects for the B I resonance lines, which are due to a combination of overionization and optical pumping effects, are most important for hot, metal-poor, and low-gravity stars; however, the amplitude of departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) found by this work is smaller than that of previous studies. In addition, our calculation shows that the line formation of B I will get closer to LTE if the strength of collisions with neutral hydrogen increases, which is contrary to the result of previous studies. The NLTE line formation results are applied to the determination of boron abundances for a sample of 16 metal-poor stars with the method of spectrum synthesis of the B I 2497 A resonance lines using the archived HST/GHRS spectra. Beryllium and oxygen abundances are also determined for these stars with the published equivalent widths of the Be II 3131 A resonance and O I 7774 A triplet lines, respectively. The abundances of the nine stars which are not depleted in Be or B show that, no matter what the strength of collisions with neutral hydrogen may be, both Be and B increase with O quasilinearly in the logarithmic plane, which confirms the conclusions that Be and B are mainly produced by the primary process in the early Galaxy. The most noteworthy result of this work is that B increases with Fe or O at a very similar speed as, or a bit faster than, Be does, which is in accord with the theoretical models. The B/Be ratios remain almost constant over the metallicity range investigated here. Our average B/Be ratio falls in the interval [13 ± 4, 17 ± 4], which is consistent with the predictions of the spallation process. The contribution of B from the ν-process may be required if the 11 B/ 10 B isotopic ratios in metal-poor stars are the same as the meteoric value. An accurate measurement of the

Influence of a Non-Formal Environmental Education Programme on Junior High-School Students; Environmental Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Goldman, Daphne; Assaraf, Orit Ben Zvi; Shaharabani, Dina

2013-01-01

One of the solutions implemented by schools for conducting value-based environmental education (EE) is outsourcing: allocating external environmental organizations that develop and conduct EE programmes. This study addressed such a programme--the Green Council Programme (GCP)--developed and implemented in schools by the Israeli Society for…

Synthetic phonics and decodable instructional reading texts: How far do these support poor readers?

Science.gov (United States)

Price-Mohr, Ruth Maria; Price, Colin Bernard

2018-05-01

This paper presents data from a quasi-experimental trial with paired randomisation that emerged during the development of a reading scheme for children in England. This trial was conducted with a group of 12 children, aged 5-6, and considered to be falling behind their peers in reading ability and a matched control group. There were two intervention conditions (A: using mixed teaching methods and a high percentage of non-phonically decodable vocabulary; P: using mixed teaching methods and low percentage of non-decodable vocabulary); allocation to these was randomised. Children were assessed at pre- and post-test on standardised measures of receptive vocabulary, phoneme awareness, word reading, and comprehension. Two class teachers in the same school each selected 6 children, who they considered to be poor readers, to participate (n = 12). A control group (using synthetic phonics only and phonically decodable vocabulary) was selected from the same 2 classes based on pre-test scores for word reading (n = 16). Results from the study show positive benefits for poor readers from using both additional teaching methods (such as analytic phonics, sight word vocabulary, and oral vocabulary extension) in addition to synthetic phonics, and also non-decodable vocabulary in instructional reading text. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Information Processing and Creative Thinking Abilities of Residential and Non-Residential School Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atasi Mohanty

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This study attempts to assess and compare the residential and non-residential schoolchildren in information-processing skills and creative thinking abilities. A sample of 80 children from Classes 5 and 7 were selected from two types of schools, residential/ashram (02 and non-residential/formal schools (02 in Bolpur subdivision of West Bengal in India where the medium of instruction is Bengali language/mother-tongue. All the children were individually administered the PASS (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive, Stroop, Matching Familiar Figure Test (MFFT-20, and creative thinking tasks. The residential school children were found to perform better both in information processing and creative thinking tasks. The developmental trend could not be clearly observed due to small sample size, but with increasing age, children were using better processing strategies. Due to ashram environment, creative pedagogy, and various co-curricular activities, the residential school children were found to be more creative than their formal school counterparts. Moreover, some significant positive correlations were found among information processing skills and creative thinking dimensions.

Do differentials in the support and advice available at UK schools and colleges influence candidate performance in the medical school admissions interview? A survey of direct school leaver applicants to a UK medical school.

Science.gov (United States)

Lambe, Paul; Waters, Catherine; Bristow, David

2013-09-01

To our knowledge, nothing is known about whether differentials in support and advice during preparation for the interview influence candidate performance and thereby contribute to bias in selection for medical school. To assess if differences in advice and support with preparation for the medical school admissions interview given type of school last attended influence interview score achieved by direct school leaver applicants to study on an undergraduate UK medical degree course. Confidential self-completed on-line questionnaire survey. Interview performance was positively related to whether a teacher, tutor or career advisors at the School or College last attended had advised a respondent to prepare for the interview, had advised about the various styles of medical interview used and the types of questions asked, and what resources were available to help in preparation. Respondents from Private/Independent schools were more likely than those from State schools to have received such advice and support. Differentials in access to advice on and support with preparation for the medical school interview may advantage some candidates over others. This inequity would likely be ameliorated by the provision of an authoritative and comprehensive guide to applying to medical school outlining admission requirements and the preparation strategy applicants should use in order to best meet those requirements. The guide could be disseminated to the Principals of all UK schools and colleges and freely available electronic versions signposted in medical school prospectuses and the course descriptor on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

Influence of Examinations Oriented Approaches on Quality Education in Primary Schools in Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Mackatiani, Caleb Imbova

2017-01-01

This paper provides a critical appraisal of the influence of examinations oriented approaches on quality education in primary schools in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to determine effects of examination oriented teaching approaches on learning achievement among primary school pupils in Kakamega County, Kenya. It explored the assumptions…

Internal Whole-School Evaluation in South Africa: The Influence of Holistic Staff Capacity

Science.gov (United States)

Govender, Neelan; Grobler, Bennie; Mestry, Raj

2016-01-01

The Holistic Equilibrium Theory of Organizational Development was used to gain an in-depth understanding of the influence of holistic staff capacity on conducting effective internal whole-school evaluation (IWSE) within the Gauteng Department of Education's public secondary schools. In the context of South African education, the staff of each…

INFLUENCE OF PSEUDOFACTORS MOTIVATION ON QUALITY OF SERVICES IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

OpenAIRE

Jukić, Dinko; Dunković, Božica

2010-01-01

According to the modern concept of social validation pseudofactor motivation which is based on preferences Herzberg’s motivation theory in school management may culminate inadequate service and poor quality. A key factor is precisely the strategic management, which must comply with the basics KM, and comparison of the hierarchy of needs and the hierarchy of values. Th e paper points to the obsolescence of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg theories arising from the latter...

Poor CD4 response despite viral suppression is associated with increased non-AIDS related mortality among HIV patients and their parents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helleberg, Marie; Kronborg, Gitte; Larsen, Carsten S

2012-01-01

association between poor CD4 response and increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer (IRR 1.6 (95%CI 0.8-3.2) and 1.6 (95%CI 0.6-4.8)). CONCLUSIONS:: poor CD4 increase after HAART is associated with adverse prognosis even in absence of severe immunosuppression. CD4 response in HIV patients......INTRODUCTION:: poor CD4 response to antiretroviral treatment (HAART) is associated with increased mortality. We analyzed the impact of CD4 increase on non-AIDS related morbidity and on mortality in HIV patients and their parents. METHODS:: mortality rates were estimated among 1,758 virally...... is associated with mortality among their parents, thus poor CD4 response may be caused by genetic factors, which might also affect morbidity and mortality in the HIV negative population....

Safety First: The Role of Trust and School Safety in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

Science.gov (United States)

Noble, Rick Nelson; Sornberger, Michael J.; Toste, Jessica R.; Heath, Nancy L.; McLouth, Rusty

2011-01-01

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has become very prominent among adolescents in middle and high school settings. However, little research has evaluated the role of the school environment in the behaviour. This study examined whether indices of school trust and perceived safety were predictive of NSSI behaviour. Results indicate that these variables…

Differences in exam performance between pupils attending selective and non-selective schools mirror the genetic differences between them

Science.gov (United States)

Smith-Woolley, Emily; Pingault, Jean-Baptiste; Selzam, Saskia; Rimfeld, Kaili; Krapohl, Eva; von Stumm, Sophie; Asbury, Kathryn; Dale, Philip S.; Young, Toby; Allen, Rebecca; Kovas, Yulia; Plomin, Robert

2018-03-01

On average, students attending selective schools outperform their non-selective counterparts in national exams. These differences are often attributed to value added by the school, as well as factors schools use to select pupils, including ability, achievement and, in cases where schools charge tuition fees or are located in affluent areas, socioeconomic status. However, the possible role of DNA differences between students of different schools types has not yet been considered. We used a UK-representative sample of 4814 genotyped students to investigate exam performance at age 16 and genetic differences between students in three school types: state-funded, non-selective schools (`non-selective'), state-funded, selective schools (`grammar') and private schools, which are selective (`private'). We created a genome-wide polygenic score (GPS) derived from a genome-wide association study of years of education (EduYears). We found substantial mean genetic differences between students of different school types: students in non-selective schools had lower EduYears GPS compared to those in grammar (d = 0.41) and private schools (d = 0.37). Three times as many students in the top EduYears GPS decile went to a selective school compared to the bottom decile. These results were mirrored in the exam differences between school types. However, once we controlled for factors involved in pupil selection, there were no significant genetic differences between school types, and the variance in exam scores at age 16 explained by school type dropped from 7% to <1%. These results show that genetic and exam differences between school types are primarily due to the heritable characteristics involved in pupil admission.

Influence of mesh non-orthogonality on numerical simulation of buoyant jet flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishigaki, Masahiro; Abe, Satoshi; Sibamoto, Yasuteru; Yonomoto, Taisuke

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Influence of mesh non-orthogonality on numerical solution of buoyant jet flows. • Buoyant jet flows are simulated with hexahedral and prismatic meshes. • Jet instability with prismatic meshes may be overestimated compared to that with hexahedral meshes. • Modified solvers that can reduce the influence of mesh non-orthogonality and reduce computation time are proposed. - Abstract: In the present research, we discuss the influence of mesh non-orthogonality on numerical solution of a type of buoyant flow. Buoyant jet flows are simulated numerically with hexahedral and prismatic mesh elements in an open source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code called “OpenFOAM”. Buoyant jet instability obtained with the prismatic meshes may be overestimated compared to that obtained with the hexahedral meshes when non-orthogonal correction is not applied in the code. Although the non-orthogonal correction method can improve the instability generated by mesh non-orthogonality, it may increase computation time required to reach a convergent solution. Thus, we propose modified solvers that can reduce the influence of mesh non-orthogonality and reduce the computation time compared to the existing solvers in OpenFOAM. It is demonstrated that calculations for a buoyant jet with a large temperature difference are performed faster by the modified solver.

Influence of mesh non-orthogonality on numerical simulation of buoyant jet flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishigaki, Masahiro, E-mail: ishigaki.masahiro@jaea.go.jp; Abe, Satoshi; Sibamoto, Yasuteru; Yonomoto, Taisuke

2017-04-01

Highlights: • Influence of mesh non-orthogonality on numerical solution of buoyant jet flows. • Buoyant jet flows are simulated with hexahedral and prismatic meshes. • Jet instability with prismatic meshes may be overestimated compared to that with hexahedral meshes. • Modified solvers that can reduce the influence of mesh non-orthogonality and reduce computation time are proposed. - Abstract: In the present research, we discuss the influence of mesh non-orthogonality on numerical solution of a type of buoyant flow. Buoyant jet flows are simulated numerically with hexahedral and prismatic mesh elements in an open source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code called “OpenFOAM”. Buoyant jet instability obtained with the prismatic meshes may be overestimated compared to that obtained with the hexahedral meshes when non-orthogonal correction is not applied in the code. Although the non-orthogonal correction method can improve the instability generated by mesh non-orthogonality, it may increase computation time required to reach a convergent solution. Thus, we propose modified solvers that can reduce the influence of mesh non-orthogonality and reduce the computation time compared to the existing solvers in OpenFOAM. It is demonstrated that calculations for a buoyant jet with a large temperature difference are performed faster by the modified solver.

Problematic Internet Use in high school students in Guangdong Province, China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui Wang

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Problematic Internet Use (PIU is a growing problem in Chinese adolescents. There are many risk factors for PIU, which are found at school and at home. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of PIU and to investigate the potential risk factors for PIU among high school students in China. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 14,296 high school students were surveyed in four cities in Guangdong province. Problematic Internet Use was assessed by the 20-item Young Internet Addiction Test (YIAT. Information was also collected on demographics, family and school-related factors and Internet usage patterns. Of the 14,296 students, 12,446 were Internet users. Of those, 12.2% (1,515 were identified as problematic Internet users (PIUs. Generalized mixed-model regression revealed that there was no gender difference between PIUs and non-PIUs. High study-related stress, having social friends, poor relations with teachers and students and conflictive family relationships were risk factors for PIU. Students who spent more time on-line were more likely to develop PIU. The habits of and purposes for Internet usage were diverse, influencing the susceptibility to PIU. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: PIU is common among high school students, and risk factors are found at home and at school. Teachers and parents should pay close attention to these risk factors. Effective measures are needed to prevent the spread of this problem.

How accreditation stimulates business school change: evidence from the Commonwealth of independent states

OpenAIRE

Yelena Istileulova; Darja Peljhan

2015-01-01

There is scarce or almost non-existing research on changes that take place in business schools in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Changes in CIS business schools (B-schools) are influenced by different external factors (e.g. socioeconomic system, market forces, financial crisis, demographic problems, changes in policies of higher education; influence of the Bologna process). On the other hand, B-schools in the CIS need to make internal changes to gain the external accreditation....

[Why are students lonely? Factors influencing loneliness in the school context].

Science.gov (United States)

Klicpera, Barbara Gasteiger; Klicpera, Christian

2003-01-01

A significant amount of children and adolescents consider themselves as lonely because their essential social needs are not sufficiently met. The present study analyzes the contributions of group acceptance reflected by the social status, of social behaviors, reciprocal friendships, and family climate to the frequency and intensity of loneliness. About 1200 students of 6th and 8th grade of secondary school in Vienna were asked about their social experiences in school. Peers filled up questionnaires about the behavior of these students. A major part of the 11- and 13-year-old students had negative social experiences in school and about 15% were suffering from these experiences and considered themselves as lonely. Lack of acceptance in the group contributed to this self appraisal as well as a lack of friends and (according to the students) little support by the family. Social behavior of lonely students was remarkable for frequent victimizations and a low level of prosocial behavior. The impact of poor group acceptance on the feeling of loneliness was transmitted by these two features of social behavior.

[Prevalence of myopia and influencing factors among primary and middle school students in 6 provinces of China].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Jia; Ma, Yinghua; Ma, Jun; Zou, Zhiyong; Meng, Xiangkun; Tao, Fangbiao; Luo, Chunyan; Jing, Jin; Pan, Dehong; Luo, Jiayou; Zhang, Xin; Wang, Hong; Zhao, Haiping

2016-01-01

To understand the prevalence of myopia in primary and middle school students in 6 provinces and the possible influencing factors. Primary and middle school students were selected through multistage cluster sampling in 60 primary and middle schools in 6 provinces in China. The questionnaire survey and eyesight test were conducted among all the students selected according to the national student's physique and health survey protocol. Pearson chi-square test and binary multivariate logistic regression analysis were done to identify the influencing factors for myopia in students. The prevalence of myopia among primary and middle school students surveyed was 55.7%, the gender specific difference was statistically significant (59.7% for girls, 51.9% for boys) (Psleep time, average outdoor activity time during last week, school sport activities in the afternoon, the size of television set at home, time spent on watching TV and playing computer were the influencing factors for myopia. The prevalence of myopia is till high in primary and middle school students. Myopia is associated with both genetic factors and individual eye health related behaviors.

Influence of schooling on language abilities of adults without linguistic disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ellen Cristina Siqueira Soares

Full Text Available CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: In order to properly assess language, sociodemographic variables that can influence the linguistic performance of individuals with or without linguistic disorders need to be taken into account. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of schooling and age on the results from the Montreal Toulouse (Modified MT Beta-86 language assessment test among individuals without linguistic disorders. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study carried out between March 2006 and August 2007 in the Speech, Language and Hearing Pathology Department of Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp, São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: Eighty volunteers were selected. Schooling was stratified into three bands: A (1-4 years, B (5-8 years and C (nine years and over. The age range was from 17 to 80 years. All the subjects underwent the Montreal Toulouse (Modified MT Beta-86 language assessment protocol. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found in relation to schooling levels, in the tasks of oral comprehension, reading, graphical comprehension, naming, lexical availability, dictation, graphical naming of actions and number reading. Statistically significant age-related differences in dictation and lexical availability tasks were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The Montreal Toulouse (Modified MT Beta-86 test seems to be sensitive to variations in schooling and age. These variables should be taken into account when this test is used for assessing patients with brain damage.

Influence of schooling on language abilities of adults without linguistic disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Soares, Ellen Cristina Siqueira; Ortiz, Karin Zazo

2009-01-01

In order to properly assess language, sociodemographic variables that can influence the linguistic performance of individuals with or without linguistic disorders need to be taken into account. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of schooling and age on the results from the Montreal Toulouse (Modified MT Beta-86) language assessment test among individuals without linguistic disorders. Cross-sectional study carried out between March 2006 and August 2007 in the Speech, Language and Hearing Pathology Department of Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), São Paulo, Brazil. Eighty volunteers were selected. Schooling was stratified into three bands: A (1-4 years), B (5-8 years) and C (nine years and over). The age range was from 17 to 80 years. All the subjects underwent the Montreal Toulouse (Modified MT Beta-86) language assessment protocol. Statistically significant differences were found in relation to schooling levels, in the tasks of oral comprehension, reading, graphical comprehension, naming, lexical availability, dictation, graphical naming of actions and number reading. Statistically significant age-related differences in dictation and lexical availability tasks were observed. The Montreal Toulouse (Modified MT Beta-86) test seems to be sensitive to variations in schooling and age. These variables should be taken into account when this test is used for assessing patients with brain damage.

Culture, Gender and School Leadership: School Leaders' Self-Perceptions in China

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Wing-Wah

2013-01-01

Since the 1980s, numerous studies have demonstrated the influences of culture and gender on leadership, including school leadership. Such studies have been criticised, however, for being dominated by Anglo-American paradigms and frameworks and for under-exploring the roles of culture and gender on leadership in non-Western societies. With…

Prevalence of bullying and victimization among children in early elementary school: Do family and school neighbourhood socioeconomic status matter?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jansen Pauline W

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Bullying and victimization are widespread phenomena in childhood and can have a serious impact on well-being. Children from families with a low socioeconomic background have an increased risk of this behaviour, but it is unknown whether socioeconomic status (SES of school neighbourhoods is also related to bullying behaviour. Furthermore, as previous bullying research mainly focused on older children and adolescents, it remains unclear to what extent bullying and victimization affects the lives of younger children. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence and socioeconomic disparities in bullying behaviour among young elementary school children. Methods The study was part of a population-based survey in the Netherlands. Teacher reports of bullying behaviour and indicators of SES of families and schools were available for 6379 children aged 5–6 years. Results One-third of the children were involved in bullying, most of them as bullies (17% or bully-victims (13%, and less as pure victims (4%. All indicators of low family SES and poor school neighbourhood SES were associated with an increased risk of being a bully or bully-victim. Parental educational level was the only indicator of SES related with victimization. The influence of school neighbourhood SES on bullying attenuated to statistical non-significance once adjusted for family SES. Conclusions Bullying and victimization are already common problems in early elementary school. Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, rather than children visiting schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, have a particularly high risk of involvement in bullying. These findings suggest the need of timely bullying preventions and interventions that should have a special focus on children of families with a low socioeconomic background. Future studies are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of such programs.

The Effects of a Non-Cognitive versus Cognitive Admission Procedure within Cohorts in One Medical School

Science.gov (United States)

de Visser, Marieke; Fluit, Cornelia; Cohen-Schotanus, Janke; Laan, Roland

2018-01-01

In medical school selection, non-cognitive performance in particular correlates with performance in clinical practice. It is arguable, therefore, that selection should focus on non-cognitive aspects despite the predictive value of prior cognitive performance for early medical school performance. The aim of this study at Radboud University Medical…

Factors associated with enuresis among primary school children in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

of treatment in 89(41.6%), 42 (19.6%) and 6 (2.8%) children respectively. Conclusion: Arousal difficulty, positive family history of enuresis and family stress were common risk factors for enuresis. Also, enuretic children had higher rates of poor school performance compared with non-enuretic children. The inappropriate ...

The influence of extracurricular activities on middle school students' science learning in China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Danhui; Tang, Xing

2017-07-01

Informal science learning has been found to have effects on students' science learning. Through the use of secondary data from a national assessment of 7410 middle school students in China, this study explores the relationship among five types of extracurricular science activities, learning interests, academic self-concept, and science achievement. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the influence of students' self-chosen and school-organised extracurricular activities on science achievement through mediating interests and the academic self-concept. Chi-square tests were used to determine whether there was an opportunity gap in the student's engagement in extracurricular activities. The students' volunteer and school-organised participation in extracurricular science activities had a positive and indirect influence on their science achievement through the mediating variables of their learning interests and academic self-concept. However, there were opportunity gaps between different groups of students in terms of school location, family background, and especially the mother's education level. Students from urban areas with better-educated mothers or higher socioeconomic status are more likely to access diverse science-related extracurricular activities.

How Parents Influence School Grades: Hints from a Sample of Adoptive and Biological Families

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Wendy; McGue, Matt; Iacono, William G.

2007-01-01

Using the biological and adoptive families in the Minnesota-based Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study, we investigated the associations among genetic and environmental influences on IQ, parenting, parental expectations for offspring educational attainment, engagement in school, and school grades. All variables showed substantial genetic…

Positive Peer Support or Negative Peer Influence? the Role of Peers among Adolescents in Recovery High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Karakos, Holly L.

2014-01-01

Evidence from previous research suggests that peers at times exert negative influence and at other times exert positive influence on drug and alcohol use among adolescents in recovery. This study explores recovery high school staff members' perceptions of peer support among students in recovery high schools using qualitative interview data. Themes…

Influence of culture conditions for clinically isolated non-albicans Candida biofilm formation.

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Tan, Yulong; Leonhard, Matthias; Ma, Su; Schneider-Stickler, Berit

2016-11-01

Non-albicans Candida species have been isolated in increasing numbers in patients. Moreover, they are adept at forming biofilms. This study analyzed biofilm formation of clinically isolated non-albicans Candida, including Candida tropicalis, Candida krusei and Candida parapsilosis under the influence of different growth media (RPMI 1640, YPD and BHI) and several culture variables (inoculum concentration, incubation period and feeding conditions). The results showed that culture conditions strongly influenced non-albicans Candida species biofilm formation. YPD and BHI resulted in larger amount of biofilm formation with higher metabolic activity of biofilms. Furthermore, the growth media seems to have varying effects on adhesion and biofilm development. Growth conditions may also influence biofilm formation, which was enhanced when starting the culture with a larger inoculum, longer incubation period and using a fed-batch system. Therefore, the potential influences of external environmental factors should be considered when studying the non-albicans Candida biofilms in vitro. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The association between organic school food policy and school food environment: results from an observational study in Danish schools.

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He, Chen; Mikkelsen, Bent E

2014-03-01

School food in many countries has become the object of change and innovation processes, not only in relation to policies for healthier eating but also in relation to policies for more sustainable food consumption and procurement. The purpose of this study was to examine the possible influence that organic food sourcing policies in Danish school meal systems may have on the development of healthier school food environments. The study was a cross-sectional analysis undertaken among 179 school food coordinators (SFCs) through a web-based questionnaire (WBQ) in a sample of Danish public primary schools. The 'organic' schools were compared to 'non-organic' schools. The questionnaire explored the attitudes, intentions/policies and actions in relation to organic and healthy foods served in the schools. Data indicates that 20 'organic' schools were associated with the indicators of healthier school environments, including adopting a Food and Nutrition Policy (FNP) in the school (p = .032), recommending children to eat healthily (p = .004). The study suggests that organic food policies in schools may have potential to support a healthier school food environment.

Rhythm production at school entry as a predictor of poor reading and spelling at the end of first grade.

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Lundetræ, Kjersti; Thomson, Jenny M

2018-01-01

Rhythm plays an organisational role in the prosody and phonology of language, and children with literacy difficulties have been found to demonstrate poor rhythmic perception. This study explored whether students' performance on a simple rhythm task at school entry could serve as a predictor of whether they would face difficulties in word reading and spelling at the end of grade 1. The participants were 479 Norwegian 6-year-old first graders randomized as controls in the longitudinal RCT on track (n = 1171). Rhythmic timing and pre-reading skills were tested individually at school entry on a digital tablet. On the rhythm task, the students were told to tap a drum appearing on the screen to two different rhythms (2 Hz paced and 1.5 Hz paced). Children's responses were recorded as they tapped on the screen with their index finger. Significant group differences were found in rhythm tapping ability measured at school entry, when groups were defined upon whether children went on to score above or below the 20th percentile reading and spelling thresholds in national assessment tests at the end of grade one. Inclusion of the school-entry rhythmic tapping measure into a model of classification accuracy for above or below threshold reading and spelling improved accuracy of classification by 6.2 and 9.2% respectively.

A new risk scoring model for prediction of poor coronary collateral circulation in acute non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Science.gov (United States)

İleri, Mehmet; Güray, Ümit; Yetkin, Ertan; Gürsoy, Havva Tuğba; Bayır, Pınar Türker; Şahin, Deniz; Elalmış, Özgül Uçar; Büyükaşık, Yahya

2016-01-01

We aimed to investigate the clinical features associated with development of coronary collateral circulation (CCC) in patients with acute non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and to develop a scoring model for predicting poor collateralization at hospital admission. The study enrolled 224 consecutive patients with NSTEMI admitted to our coronary care unit. Patients were divided into poor (grade 0 and 1) and good (grade 2 and 3) CCC groups. In logistic regression analysis, presence of diabetes mellitus, total white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil counts and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were found as independent positive predictors of poor CCC, whereas older age (≥ 70 years) emerged as a negative indicator. The final scoring model was based on 5 variables which were significant at p risk score ≤ 1, 29 had good CCC (with a 97% negative predictive value). On the other hand, 139 patients had risk score ≥ 4; out of whom, 130 (with a 93.5% positive predictive value) had poor collateralization. Sensitivity and specificity of the model in predicting poor collateralization in patients with scores ≤ 1 and ≥ 4 were 99.2% (130/131) and +76.3 (29/38), respectively. This study represents the first prediction model for degree of coronary collateralization in patients with acute NSTEMI.

A qualitative analysis of factors influencing middle school students' use of skills taught by a violence prevention curriculum.

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Farrell, Albert D; Mehari, Krista R; Kramer-Kuhn, Alison M; Mays, Sally A; Sullivan, Terri N

2015-06-01

This study examined factors that influenced the use of skills taught in a school-based universal violence prevention program. Interviews were conducted with 91 students from two urban schools (83% were African American and 12% multiracial) and 50 students from a nearby county school (52% were White, 32% African American, and 12% multiracial). About half the sample (54%) was male. All had been in sixth grade classrooms where the Second Step (Committee for Children, 1997b) violence prevention curriculum had been implemented earlier in the school year or in the preceding school year. Qualitative analysis of interview transcripts suggested that participants' use of intervention skills was influenced by their beliefs and values, perceived relevance and effectiveness of the skill, issues related to enacting the behavior, and contextual factors. These findings highlight the need for a more intensive and comprehensive effort to address barriers and supports that influence the relevance and impact of school-based violence prevention programs. Copyright © 2015 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teacher's Influence Scale from Their Colleagues and Principals: Its Relation with School Performance in Public Schools of the Albanian Educational System

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Nathanaili, Valbona

2016-01-01

This article aims to evaluate the relation between school performance and the Teacher's Influence Scale on certain issues from their colleagues and principals in the public educational system of Albania. For this purpose, a questionnaire was used. The sample consisted of 428 teachers, teaching at 20 public schools in the pre-university educational…

Association of diarrhoea, poor hygiene and poor social conditions in childhood with blood pressure in adulthood.

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Kauhanen, L; Lynch, J W; Lakka, H-M; Kauhanen, J; Smith, G D

2010-05-01

Previous research has suggested that dehydration in infancy may lead to high blood pressure in later life because of sodium retention. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of poor hygiene of the child, poor social and poor housing conditions at home and diarrhoea in childhood as proxies for dehydration on high blood pressure in later life. Data were from a subset of participants in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, a population-based cohort study in eastern Finland. Information on childhood factors was collected from school health records (n=952), from the 1930s to the 1950s. Adult data were obtained from baseline examinations of the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study cohort (n=2682) in 1984-1989. Men who had poor hygiene in childhood had on average 4.07 mm Hg (95% CI 0.53 to 7.61) higher systolic blood pressure than men who had good or satisfactory hygiene in childhood in the age-adjusted analysis. Reports of diarrhoea were not associated with adult blood pressure. The authors' findings suggest that poor hygiene and living in poor social conditions in childhood are associated with higher systolic blood pressure in adulthood. Reported childhood diarrhoea did not explain the link between hygiene and high blood pressure in adulthood.

The influence of religious factors on drinking behavior among young indigenous Sami and non-Sami peers in northern Norway.

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Spein, Anna Rita; Melhus, Marita; Kristiansen, Roald E; Kvernmo, Siv E

2011-12-01

It has been hypothesized that Laestadianism has contributed to the less drinking observed among indigenous Sami. This paper further investigates the bivariate protective influence of Sami ethnicity on youth drinking behavior using logistic regressions. We simultaneously controlled for the influence of religious revival movements (Laestadianism or evangelic) and religious importance (being personally Christian), in addition to socio-demographics and parental factors. Cross-sectional data from the 1994/95 North Norwegian Youth Study including 2,950 (675 Sami) 15-19 year-old high school students (RR: 85%) was used. Sami ethnicity was statistically significant for two out of six alcohol outcome measures, after adjustment for religiosity and other covariates, indicating less current drinking and party drinking. Religiousness was associated with higher youth and parental abstinence across ethnicities. Generally, stronger protective influences on drinking behavior were found for religious importance (being personally Christian) than religious affiliation (Laestadianism). The non-significance between Sami and non-Sami drinking may partly be explained by ethnic differences in religiosity, but also socio-demographics (e.g., residing in the Sami Highland) and parental factors (e.g., abstinence) contributed to such a result. Laestadianism`s profound impact on Sami culture, and its strong anti-alcohol norms may have contributed to a religious-socio-cultural context of abstinence.

School (Non-)Attendance and "Mobile Cultures": Theoretical and Empirical Insights from Indigenous Australia

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Prout Quicke, Sarah; Biddle, Nicholas

2017-01-01

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians are significantly and substantially less likely to be attending school on a given day than their non-Indigenous counterparts. This has been shown to have long-term consequences for the development of the mainstream literacy and numeracy skills associated with formal schooling, as well…

Crafting Legitimate Identities: Promotional Strategies in the Ontario Non-Elite Private School Sector

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Milian, Roger Pizarro; Quirke, Linda

2017-01-01

Conventional wisdom within the sociology of education and organizations posits that schools achieve legitimacy by conforming to institutionalized norms and mimicking the actions of successful peers. Recent work on non-elite private schools (NEPS) shows that this institutional type may serve as an exception to this logic, generally adopting what…

Are the results of questionnaires measuring non-cognitive characteristics during the selection procedure for medical school application biased by social desirability?

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Obst, Katrin U; Brüheim, Linda; Westermann, Jürgen; Katalinic, Alexander; Kötter, Thomas

2016-01-01

Introduction: A stronger consideration of non-cognitive characteristics in Medical School application procedures is desirable. Psychometric tests could be used as an economic supplement to face-to-face interviews which are frequently conducted during university internal procedures for Medical School applications (AdH, Auswahlverfahren der Hochschulen). This study investigates whether the results of psychometric questionnaires measuring non-cognitive characteristics such as personality traits, empathy, and resilience towards stress are vulnerable to distortions of social desirability when used in the context of selection procedures at Medical Schools. Methods: This study took place during the AdH of Lübeck University in August 2015. The following questionnaires have been included: NEO-FFI, SPF, and AVEM. In a 2x1 between-subject experiment we compared the answers from an alleged application condition and a control condition. In the alleged application condition we told applicants that these questionnaires were part of the application procedure. In the control condition applicants were informed about the study prior to completing the questionnaires. Results: All included questionnaires showed differences which can be regarded as social-desirability effects. These differences did not affect the entire scales but, rather, single subscales. Conclusion: These results challenge the informative value of these questionnaires when used for Medical School application procedures. Future studies may investigate the extent to which the differences influence the actual selection of applicants and what implications can be drawn from them for the use of psychometric questionnaires as part of study-place allocation procedures at Medical Schools.

Are the results of questionnaires measuring non-cognitive characteristics during the selection procedure for medical school application biased by social desirability?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Obst, Katrin U.

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: A stronger consideration of non-cognitive characteristics in Medical School application procedures is desirable. Psychometric tests could be used as an economic supplement to face-to-face interviews which are frequently conducted during university internal procedures for Medical School applications (AdH, Auswahlverfahren der Hochschulen. This study investigates whether the results of psychometric questionnaires measuring non-cognitive characteristics such as personality traits, empathy, and resilience towards stress are vulnerable to distortions of social desirability when used in the context of selection procedures at Medical Schools.Methods: This study took place during the AdH of Lübeck University in August 2015. The following questionnaires have been included: NEO-FFI, SPF, and AVEM. In a 2x1 between-subject experiment we compared the answers from an alleged application condition and a control condition. In the alleged application condition we told applicants that these questionnaires were part of the application procedure. In the control condition applicants were informed about the study prior to completing the questionnaires.Results: All included questionnaires showed differences which can be regarded as social-desirability effects. These differences did not affect the entire scales but, rather, single subscales.Conclusion: These results challenge the informative value of these questionnaires when used for Medical School application procedures. Future studies may investigate the extent to which the differences influence the actual selection of applicants and what implications can be drawn from them for the use of psychometric questionnaires as part of study-place allocation procedures at Medical Schools.

Influence and Challenges of the Capitation Grant on Education Delivery in Basic Schools in Ghana

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Pajibo, Edison; Tamanja, Emmanuel M. J.

2017-01-01

In Ghana, some children do not attend school, because their parents are unable to afford levies and fees charged by schools. This led to the introduction of the Capitation Grant Scheme in 2005. This study investigates the influence of the Capitation Grant Scheme on education delivery in basic schools in Ghana, through a close study of the Ga West…

Child Schooling in Ethiopia: The Role of Maternal Autonomy.

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Gebremedhin, Tesfaye Alemayehu; Mohanty, Itismita

2016-01-01

This paper examines the effects of maternal autonomy on child schooling outcomes in Ethiopia using a nationally representative Ethiopian Demographic and Health survey for 2011. The empirical strategy uses a Hurdle Negative Binomial Regression model to estimate years of schooling. An ordered probit model is also estimated to examine age grade distortion using a trichotomous dependent variable that captures three states of child schooling. The large sample size and the range of questions available in this dataset allow us to explore the influence of individual and household level social, economic and cultural factors on child schooling. The analysis finds statistically significant effects of maternal autonomy variables on child schooling in Ethiopia. The roles of maternal autonomy and other household-level factors on child schooling are important issues in Ethiopia, where health and education outcomes are poor for large segments of the population.

New Horizons in a Next Generation School: A Case Study of Rural Alabama Middle School Students in a Transformational Initiative

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Lamey, Jack Harley, Sr.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to understand non-mastery for students in the mBolden Academic Model at Piedmont City Middle School (PCMS). The following research questions guided this study: How does the mBolden Academic Model influence student success at Piedmont City Middle School? Furthermore, this study has answered the following…

POOR PROGRESS STUDENTS IN LEARNING MATHEMATICS AS SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL-PEDAGOGICAL PROBLEM

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Vladimir Tatochenko

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to theoretical substantiation of modern methodical system of Mathematics teaching of poor progressing secondary school pupils. A systematic approach to the study of psycho-pedagogical determinants of poor progress of pupils in math was implemented. The dynamic of interfunctional relationship of structure of educational and informative sphere of poor progressing pupils in mathematics was disclosed and scientific understanding of this process was expanded. The introduction in the educational process of didactic methodical and psychologically balanced methodical control system and correction of poor progressing students’ in Maths improves quality indicators of their permanent knowledge and skills. It allows you to discover the fullness, depth and durability of learning at different stages and levels of education, it contributes to correction, management and partly self-management learning process of poor progressing students in Mathematics, excites them to an active mental activity promotes the development of a conscious attitude to their systematic academic work. The essence of “poor progress” phenomena is observed as well as “educational retardation” of school students during teaching mathematics. Target orientation, the resource potential of the real educational process of poor progressing pupils in Mathematics are determined. Contradictions are singled out and pedagogical conditions of results control of learning outcomes of comprehensive school pupils are proved. An attempt to consider the academic failure of schoolchildren in Mathematics in connection with the main categories of didactics – the content and the learning process was made. Certain shortcomings of teaching and learning activities of students in the study of Mathematics are highlighted as poor progressing elements and gaps. The process and content, enriched with the use of NIT, ensuring the formation of key competencies of lagging behind and

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Indirect Self-Harm among Danish High School Students

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møhl, Bo; la Cour, Peter; Skandsen, Annika

2014-01-01

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and indirect self-harm are prevalent among adolescents, but it is rare to see them described as related topics. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a correlation between the frequencies of NSSI and indirect self-harm...... (e.g., eating problems, alcohol and drug use) and how this may be influenced by gender. Method: Questionnaires about NSSI (e.g., cutting, burning, scratching, hitting oneself) and indirect self-harm were distri­buted to high school students in theCopenhagen area (N = 5650; response rate 53%; females...... 60.8%). Results: A total of 21.5% of the survey respondents had engaged in NSSI (lifetime prevalence), and 16.2% had practiced NSSI within the previous year. Gender differences in NSSI methods were identified. A total of 53.9% of the students had engaged in one or more types of indirect self-harm...

Oral-diadochokinetic rates for Hebrew-speaking school-age children: real words vs. non-words repetition.

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Icht, Michal; Ben-David, Boaz M

2015-02-01

Oral-diadochokinesis (DDK) tasks are a common tool for evaluating speech disorders. Usually, these tasks involve repetitions of non-words. It has been suggested that repeating real words can be more suitable for preschool children. But, the impact of using real words with elementary school children has not been studied yet. This study evaluated oral-DDK rates for Hebrew-speaking elementary school children using non-words and real words. The participants were 60 children, 9-11 years old, with normal speech and language development, who were asked to repeat "pataka" (non-word) and "bodeket" (Hebrew real word). Data replicate the advantage generally found for real word repetition with preschoolers. Children produced real words faster than non-words for all age groups, and repetition rates were higher for the older children. The findings suggest that adding real words to the standard oral-DDK task with elementary school children may provide a more comprehensive picture of oro-motor function.

Whistleblowing: what influences nurses' decisions on whether to report poor practice?

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Gallagher, Ann

Several recent high profile examples demonstrate that nurses fear and have reason to fear the consequences of reporting poor practice. This article examines the ethical issues surrounding whistleblowing, discussing in detail the reasons for and against reporting concerns about poor practice, and how nurses can be supported to do this.

Non-profit organisations and government’s pro-poor spending: the case of health and development in Gauteng

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L B Mzini

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Globally, there is growing recognition of participatory public expenditure management (PPEM. PPEM is seen as the process whereby citizens and civil society organisations participate in the management of public expenditures. The adoption of PPEM is aimed at ensuring greater transparency, better targeting and tracking of resources, and increased overall responsiveness. The Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development (GDHSD is committed to co-operative governance; this includes working with different spheres of government and civil society or non-profit organisations (NPOs. NPOs are required to have a governing committee to manage funds allocated by GDHSD. The committee has the capacity to hold the NPO management accountable for the resources (financial and material entrusted to it by the GDHSD. The effectiveness of NPOs is challenged by poor attendance of board members at meetings, poor understanding of the board’s mandate and responsibilities and lack of experience amongst members. The paradigm of PPEM is still faced with challenges to ensure that significant flows of revenue are accounted for and used effectively for growth and poverty reduction. This study is divided into three components. The first section focuses on the background, the introduction and the conceptual framework. The second part focuses on the empirical study for deriving a benchmark for the South African NPO sector. The third section highlights good practices as well as governance-related challenges. Finally, for further consideration by the GDHSD, a series of recommendations is provided, focusing on how key domestic stakeholders can better contribute to successful participatory budgeting programmes. Keywords: Participatory public expenditure management, non-profit organisations, pro-poor spending, public finance, public financial management, early childhood development.  Disciplines: Public Management and Administration, Public Financial Management

The association between school-to-work programs and school performance.

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Welsh, Erin C; Appana, Savi; Anderson, Henry A; Zierold, Kristina M

2014-02-01

The School-to-Work (STW) Opportunities Act was passed to aid students in transitioning from education to employment by offering work-based learning opportunities. In the United States, 72% of high schools offer work-based learning opportunities for credit. This is the first study to describe school performance and school-based behaviors among students enrolled in STW programs and compare them with nonworking and other-working students. In 2003, a questionnaire was administered to five school districts and one large urban school in Wisconsin. Between 2008 and 2010, analyses were completed to characterize STW students and compare them with other students. Of the 6,519 students aged 14-18 years included in the analyses, 461 were involved in an STW program (7%), 3,108 were non-working (48%), and 2,950 were other-working students (45%). Compared with other students, STW students were less likely to have a grade point average >2.0, more likely to have three or more unexcused absences from school, and more likely to spend performance. School-to-Work students reported poorer academic performance and more unhealthy school-related behaviors compared with nonworking students and other-working students. Whereas many factors have a role in why students perform poorly in school, more research on students enrolled in STW programs is needed to understand whether participating has a negative impact on students' academic achievement. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influences of Training on Individual Outcomes for High School Sports Officials

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Timothy D. Ryan

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The primary purpose of this study was to explore the influences of training on specific quality of work outcomes of job satisfaction, pay satisfaction, and intentions to leave within high school sports officials. Evidence suggests that there is a shortage of high school officials in all categories of high school sport. Via a web-based survey, we explored the effects of training on the individual outcomes under study. Results indicated that the level of training had a significant effect on job satisfaction, pay satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Analyses indicated that officials with less training had higher turnover intentions and lower job satisfaction than officials who had more training. Conversely, officials who engaged numerous training hours had lower pay satisfaction. This exploratory study supports the importance of training high school officials but, more importantly, provides an initial assessment on the reverse effects of training on pay satisfaction.

Types and Influence of Social Support on School Engagement of Young Survivors of Leukemia

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Tougas, Anne-Marie; Jutras, Sylvie; Bigras, Marc

2016-01-01

The present study aimed to describe and explore the influence of social support on the school engagement of young survivors of pediatric leukemia. Fifty-three young Quebecers, previously diagnosed and treated for leukemia, completed a questionnaire measuring their school engagement and participated in an interview focusing on the support offered…

School transitions, peer influence, and educational expectation formation: Girls and boys.

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Andrew, Megan; Flashman, Jennifer

2017-01-01

School transitions are a regular feature of the educational career. While they are of general interest as instances of academic change, they also represent instances of peer environment and influence change. Previous theoretical and empirical work suggests peer influence is important for students' academic and educational outcomes, especially for the complex decision-making processes leading up to those outcomes. In this manuscript, we study the impact of peers on educational expectation formation at the 8th-to-9th-grade school transition. In doing so, we test a theoretical model that links institutional settings, social influence, and individual decision-making. We find the 9th grade transition likely represents a negative shock for students' college attendance expectations. Independent of this transition, however, stable peer environments further depress expectations. A more equal mixture of new and old peers in the 9th grade likely increases students' educational expectations in contrast. These effects of peer perturbations and the re-organization of social ties they imply mainly apply to female students. But, both male and female students revise their educational expectations in light of changing peer intelligence comparisons, albeit in countervailing ways. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

School Vouchers: Stealing from the Poor to Give to the Rich?

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San Jose, Alyssa L.

2017-01-01

School vouchers are defined as certificates of government funding that are allocated to students and intended to defer the cost of tuition at a private school of the student or the student's parents' choice. With strong views on opposing sides, the issue of school choice and the corresponding use of vouchers has certainly been catapulted into the…

Is Weak Oral Language Associated with Poor Spelling in School-Age Children with Specific Language Impairment, Dyslexia, or Both?

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Jillian H.; Hogan, Tiffany P.; Catts, Hugh W.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that word reading accuracy, not oral language, is associated with spelling performance in school-age children. We compared fourth grade spelling accuracy in children with specific language impairment (SLI), dyslexia, or both (SLI/dyslexia) to their typically developing grade-matched peers. Results of the study revealed that children with SLI performed similarly to their typically developing peers on a single word spelling task. Alternatively, those with dyslexia and SLI/dyslexia evidenced poor spelling accuracy. Errors made by both those with dyslexia and SLI/dyslexia were characterized by numerous phonologic, orthographic, and semantic errors. Cumulative results support the hypothesis that word reading accuracy, not oral language, is associated with spelling performance in typically developing school-age children and their peers with SLI and dyslexia. Findings are provided as further support for the notion that SLI and dyslexia are distinct, yet co-morbid, developmental disorders. PMID:22876769

Influence of Parental Level of Education and Occupation on Truant ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper examined the influence of parental level of education and occupation on truant behaviour among primary school pupils in Jalingo metropolis. In the study, 150 truants and 150 non-truants were selected from primary schools. Truant Behaviour Questionnaire was developed to measure the variables under study.

Frequency of non-traumatic anterior knee pain in secondary school students

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shafiq, W.; Ajmad, F.; Ahmed, A.; Fatima, M.

2017-01-01

To find out the frequency of non-traumatic anterior knee pain in secondary school students of Lahore, Pakistan. Methodology: This observational study was conducted among 350 students of secondary school of Lahore during a 3 months period. Both males and females of age 11-17 years were included in the study. A questionnaire was completed which included demographic data, Numeric Rating scale (NRS) and Kujala Scale. The data were being analyzed using SPSS version 21.0. Results: Out of 350 secondary school students, 145 (41%) had anterior knee pain (AKP). Twenty seven (19%) had pain in the left knee only, 54 (37%) had pain in right knee only while 64 (44%) had pain in both knees. The incidence of AKP was highest among 11 to 15 years old students. Moreover, the girls reported high frequency of AKP then the boys. The activities that were affected because of AKP included running, walking, stair climbing and jumping. Conclusion: Non-traumatic AKP is common among students of age 11-17 years, with a peak during adolescence (11-15). This pain not only affects the sports activities but also affects the activity of daily livings. (author)

Good versus poor therapeutic alliances with non-accepting parents of same-sex oriented adolescents and young adults: a qualitative study.

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Shpigel, Maya S; Diamond, Gary M

2014-01-01

Therapeutic themes and processes associated with five good versus five poor parent-therapist alliances among a sample of non-accepting parents of sexual minority youth/young adults participating in family therapy were examined. The Consensual Qualitative Research approach was used to analyse of therapy notes and follow-up interviewsfrom good and poor alliances. In good alliances, parents adopted relationship building as a goal, considered essentialist causal attributions of same-sex orientation, acknowledged positive aspects of their child, and perceived the therapist as empathic and accepting. Parents with poor alliances rejected relationship building as a goal, rebuffed essentialist causal attributions, dismissed the possibility of their own coming out, nullified positive aspects of their child, sought to change their child's sexual orientation, blamed therapists for validating their child's same-sex orientation, and pressured therapists for information about their child. Clinical implications are discussed.

Rightsizing Projects for Non-Research-Intensive Schools of Nursing via Academic-Clinical Partnerships.

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Kooken, Wendy Carter; Eckhardt, Ann L; McNutt-Dungan, Marianne; Woods, Jonathan

Most academic-clinical partnerships are described as formal agreements between schools of nursing at research-intensive universities and large teaching hospitals. This article demonstrates less formal versions of academic-clinical partnerships established between a small, private liberal arts university school of nursing and 2 regional clinical agencies. In both exemplars, students, faculty, and staff contributed to evidence-based practice projects. Schools of nursing in non-research-intensive environments can develop right-size academic-clinical partnerships that are beneficial for all parties involved.

The Influence of School Health Education Programmes on the Knowledge and Behaviour of School Children towards Nutrition and Health

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Keirle, Kathleen; Thomas, Malcolm

2000-02-01

A comparative investigation was conducted involving two school situations; one identified as being health promoting and having a comprehensive policy and a defined programme of health education, and the other not health promoting, having no policy and an unstructured programme of health education. A total of 367 students from two secondary and four primary schools participated in the study. The factors used to categorise schools are highlighted. A self-completion questionnaire was employed to assess students' knowledge and behaviour with regard to nutrition and health. Students' dietary intake was monitored by employing a frequency of consumption tick sheet. The results revealed that students from the more health promoting secondary school (School 1(H)) were more knowledgeable of what constitutes a healthy diet and the benefits and risks to health. The implications of these results are considered within the context of the many factors that could influence students' knowledge and behaviour.

Horizontal schools-based health programme in rural Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogie, James; Eder, Ben; Magnus, Dan; Amonje, Onguko David; Gant, Martina

2017-09-01

Primary school children in low-income countries are at risk of many diseases and poor health affects attendance, cognition and ability to learn. Developing school health and nutrition strategies has been extensively highlighted as a global priority, with a particular focus on complex programme design. However, such programmes are relatively untested in low-income settings. We implemented a complex school health and nutrition programme in two schools in Western Kenya over 3 years. There were numerous elements covering health policy, skills-based health education, infrastructure and disease prevention. A local non-governmental organisation, with involvement from local government and the community, performed programme implementation. Height-for-age, weight-for-age,height-for-weight, anaemia prevalence, academic performance and school attendance were the primary outcome measures. The programme improved nutrition, academic performance and anaemia prevalence. The number of underweight children fell from 20% to 11% (OR 0.51 95% CI 0.39 to 0.68 p=effect on school attendance, the reasons for which are unclear. These results are encouraging and demonstrate that complex schools health programmes can lead to positive gains in health, nutrition and importantly academic performance. There is a need for further evaluation of comprehensive school health interventions in poor communities. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Influence of Counselling Services on Perceived Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Lagos State

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Foluke Nike Bolu-Steve

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This study aimed at looking at the influence of counseling services on perceived academic performance of secondary school students in Lagos State. At the first stage, the researchers purposively selected Ikorodu L.G.A in Lagos State. At the researchers selected two schools (1 Private schools, & 1 Public schools, using simple random technique. Thus, a total of two schools were picked in each of the L.G.A. Finally, simple random sampling was used in selecting eighty students in each L.G.A, thus making a total of two hundred and forty Senior Secondary students that participated in the study. Six hypotheses were generated for the purpose of this study. Data were gathered using a researcher designed instrument tagged “Influence of Counselling Service on Academic Performance of Students Questionnaire (ICAPSQ. The findings of this study showed that there was no significant difference on the basis of age, class level and school type. However a significant difference was found on the basis of respondent’s religion, gender and the number of times the students visited the counselor. It was therefore recommended that the ministry of education should ensure that guidance and counselling units are established in all public and private secondary schools in Nigeria.

Does the school food environment influence the dietary behaviours of Norwegian 11-year-olds? The HEIA study.

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Gebremariam, Mekdes K; Andersen, Lene F; Bjelland, Mona; Klepp, Knut-Inge; Totland, Torunn H; Bergh, Ingunn H; Lien, Nanna

2012-07-01

The aim of the study is to investigate the influence of the school food environment on the dietary behaviours of 11-year-old Norwegian children in elementary schools. Baseline data from a school-based intervention study: the Health In Adolescents study was used. A total of 1425 11-year-old children from 35 schools from the eastern part of Norway were included. School administrators provided information on the physical, political, and sociocultural school food environment and students reported their intake of fruits, vegetables, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), and snacks. Multilevel modelling was used to assess the school-level variance in dietary behaviours and to investigate the association of school food environmental factors with these dietary behaviours. After adjustment for student characteristics, the school level accounted for a small proportion (1.1%-3.0%) of the variance in the dietary behaviours investigated. None of the investigated school food environmental factors were found to be related to the children's reported intake of fruits, vegetables, snacks or SSB. Most of the variance in the dietary behaviours investigated was at the personal level. Thus in this sample, the investigated school-level factors do not appear to exert a strong influence on the dietary behaviours of children. Longitudinal studies using validated measures of the school food environment are needed.

The Influence of Social Networks on High School Students' Performance

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Abu-Shanab, Emad; Al-Tarawneh, Heyam

2015-01-01

Social networks are becoming an integral part of people's lives. Students are spending much time on social media and are considered the largest category that uses such application. This study tries to explore the influence of social media use, and especially Facebook, on high school students' performance. The study used the GPA of students in four…

A national cohort study of parental socioeconomic status and non-fatal suicidal behaviour-the mediating role of school performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jablonska Beata

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A link between low parental socioeconomic status and mental health problems in offspring is well established in previous research. The mechanisms that explain this link are largely unknown. The present study investigated whether school performance was a mediating and/or moderating factor in the path between parental socioeconomic status and the risk of hospital admission for non-fatal suicidal behaviour. Methods A national cohort of 447 929 children born during 1973-1977 was followed prospectively in the National Patient Discharge Register from the end of their ninth and final year of compulsory school until 2001. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards and linear regression analyses were performed to test whether the association between parental socioeconomic status and non-fatal suicidal behaviour was mediated or moderated by school performance. Results The results of a series of multiple regression analyses, adjusted for demographic variables, revealed that school performance was as an important mediator in the relationship between parental socioeconomic status and risk of non-fatal suicidal behaviour, accounting for 60% of the variance. The hypothesized moderation of parental socioeconomic status-non-fatal suicidal behaviour relationship by school performance was not supported. Conclusions School performance is an important mediator through which parental socioeconomic status translates into a risk for non-fatal suicidal behaviour. Prevention efforts aimed to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in non-fatal suicidal behaviour among young people will need to consider socioeconomic inequalities in school performance.

Influence of Self Esteem, Self Efficacy and Interest in Schooling on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Using a correlational design, this study investigated the influence of interest in schooling, academic self efficacy and self esteem on reading comprehension among 300 selected students in Oyo State. Four standardized and valid scales were used to retrieved data from participants. Three research hypotheses were raised ...

School nurses and sex education: surveillance and disciplinary practices in primary schools.

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Hayter, Mark; Piercy, Hilary; Massey, Marie-Therese; Gregory, Trudy

2008-02-01

This paper is a report of a study to explore how school nurses perceive the influence of schools on their role in delivering sex and relationship education in primary schools. School nurses play a key role in sex education in English schools. However, sex education is a contentious issue meaning the sex education of children is often an area of tension within the curriculum. However, the impact of these tensions upon school nursing practice is poorly described. Three focus groups with a convenience sample of 16 nurses experienced in conducting sex and relationship education were conducted during 2006. Focus groups were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and subjected to a thematic analysis. Four themes were identified in the data: 'covert surveillance' refers to school staff conducting clandestine surveillance of the classroom actions of the nurse; 'overt surveillance' reflects how nurses felt they were being openly monitored by teachers in the classroom; 'Teacher attitude' refers to the interventions of the supervising teacher in the classroom during the sex education session and 'resistance practices' detailed how nurses attempted to manage the disciplinary practices of the school. School nurses need to be pragmatic about the fact that there will be some attempts by the school to regulate sex education. Developing an early dialogue with the school can mediate this. Closer working practices and the involvement of school nurses in the development of sex education policy and practice is vital to ensure that they continue to make a valuable contribution to sex education in schools.

The influence of school time on sleep patterns of children and adolescents.

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Carissimi, Alicia; Dresch, Fabiane; Martins, Alessandra Castro; Levandovski, Rosa Maria; Adan, Ana; Natale, Vincenzo; Martoni, Monica; Hidalgo, Maria Paz

2016-03-01

This epidemiological study evaluated the impact of school time on sleep parameters of children and adolescents. This cross-sectional study involved 639 elementary and high school students (mean age 13.03 years, range 8-18, 58.5% female) from the south of Brazil. Participants answered the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), and were asked about their sleeping habits on weekdays and weekends. Sleep deficit was defined as the difference between sleep duration on weekdays and weekends. The morning-school-time students presented significantly higher age, bedtime and wake up differences, sleep deficits, and social jetlag. The sleep deficit presented by girls was greater than that observed in boys of the same age. The difference between weekday and weekend waking times was also significantly greater in girls than in boys aged 13-18 years. Sleep deficit was significantly positively correlated with age and differences in wake up times, and significantly negatively correlated with MEQ scores, social jetlag, difference between weekday and weekend bedtimes, midpoint of sleep on weekends, and midpoint of sleep on weekends corrected for sleep deficit. A step-by-step multivariate logistic regression identified social jetlag, the difference between waking times on weekdays and weekends, and the midpoint of sleep on weekends as significant predictors of sleep deficit (Adjusted R(2) = 0.95; F = 1606.87; p school time influences the sleep parameters. The association of school schedules and physiological factors influence the sleep/wake cycle. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

School start time influences melatonin and cortisol levels in children and adolescents - a community-based study.

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Carissimi, Alicia; Martins, Alessandra Castro; Dresch, Fabiane; da Silva, Lilian Corrêa; Zeni, Cristian Patrick; Hidalgo, Maria Paz

2016-01-01

School start time influences sleep parameters. Differences between circadian sleep parameters on weekends and weekdays have been associated with obesity, sleep, and psychiatric disorders. Moreover, circadian rhythm dysregulation affects the secretion of some hormones, such as melatonin and cortisol. In the current study, we investigate the effect of school start time on cortisol and melatonin levels in a community sample of Brazilian children and adolescents. This was a cross-sectional study of 454 students (mean age, 12.81 ± 2.56 years; 58.6% female). From this sample, 80 participants were randomly selected for saliva collection to measure melatonin and cortisol levels. Circadian sleep parameters were assessed by self-reported sleep and wake up schedules and the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. The outcomes, salivary melatonin and cortisol levels, were measured in morning, afternoon and night saliva samples, and behavior problems were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The main results revealed that morning school start time decreased the secretion of melatonin. Morning melatonin levels were significantly positively correlated with the sleep midpoint on weekdays and on weekends. Afternoon melatonin levels were positively correlated with the sleep midpoint on weekends in the morning school students. Conversely, in the afternoon school students, night melatonin levels were negatively correlated with the sleep midpoint on weekdays. Cortisol secretion did not correlate with circadian sleep parameters in any of the school time groups. In conclusion, school start time influences melatonin secretion, which correlated with circadian sleep parameters. This correlation depends on the presence of psychiatric symptoms. Our findings emphasize the importance of drawing attention to the influence of school start time on the circadian rhythm of children and adolescents.

The Trouble with Boys: Social Influences and the Gender Gap in Disruptive Behavior. NBER Working Paper No. 17541

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Bertrand, Marianne; Pan, Jessica

2011-01-01

This paper explores the importance of the home and school environments in explaining the gender gap in disruptive behavior. We document large differences in the gender gap across key features of the home environment--boys do especially poorly in broken families. In contrast, we find little impact of the early school environment on non-cognitive…

School Indicators of Violence Experienced and Feeling Unsafe of Dutch LGB Versus Non-LGB Secondary Students and Staff, 2006-2010.

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Mooij, Ton

2016-12-01

Gender and sexual orientation are expressed in heterosexual, lesbian (L), gay (G), bisexual (B), transgender (T), or queer (Q) interests and behavior. Compared with heterosexual persons, LGBTQ persons seem to experience more antisocial behavior, including negative discrimination and violence. To assess differences in LGBTQ-related discrimination in schools, the question for this research is "Do the degrees of violence experienced and feeling unsafe of LGBTQ students and staff in a school differ from those of non-LGBTQ students and staff in the same school?" Secondary analysis was carried out on data from a Dutch national digital monitor survey on safety in secondary schools. In 2006, 2008, and 2010, participation amounted to 570 schools, 18,300 teaching and support staff, and 216,000 students. Four indicators were constructed at the school level: two Mokken Scale means assessing severity of violence experienced and two Alpha Scale means assessing feeling unsafe. Analysis of mean differences showed that LGB students experienced more violence and felt less safe than non-LGB students; LGB staff felt less safe in school than non-LGB staff. When LGB students experienced more violence at school than non-LGB students, LGB students also felt less safe than non-LGB students for all 3 years. No such relationships existed for LGB staff, or between LGB staff and LGB students. No significant relationships were found between the four LGB school indicators and contextual school variables. The outcomes and uniqueness of the study are discussed. Recommendations are made to improve assessment and promote prosocial behavior of students and staff in schools. © The Author(s) 2015.

Socio-economic factors influencing marketing of non-timber forest ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Socio-economic factors influencing marketing of non-timber forest products in ... enhance skills for product transformation, build innovative storage facilities, and ... the process of domestication and integration in traditional land-use systems.

Poor housing quality: Prevalence and health effects.

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Baker, Emma; Lester, Laurence H; Bentley, Rebecca; Beer, Andrew

2016-01-01

Housing is a central component of productive, healthy, and meaningful lives, and a principle social determinant of health and well-being. Surprisingly, though, evidence on the ways that housing influences health in Australia is poorly developed. This stems largely from the fact that the majority of the population are accommodated in good quality housing. The dominance of a "good housing paradigm" means that households living in poor quality and unhealthy housing are doubly disadvantaged-by the quality of their housing and because policy makers in Australia do not acknowledge the health effects of housing. In this article, we examine the relationship between health outcomes and quality of housing. We base our analysis on data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, a panel dataset that is representative across Australia. We find a sizeable, policy-important, and to date under-acknowledged cohort of Australians whose health is influenced by poor-condition dwellings.

Iliac artery stenting in patients with poor distal runoff: Influence of concomitant infrainguinal arterial reconstruction.

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Timaran, Carlos H; Ohki, Takao; Gargiulo, Nicholas J; Veith, Frank J; Stevens, Scott L; Freeman, Michael B; Goldman, Mitchell H

2003-09-01

Inadequate infrainguinal runoff is considered an important risk factor for iliac stent failure. However, the influence of concomitant infrainguinal arterial reconstruction (CIAR) on iliac stent patency is unknown. This study evaluated the influence of CIAR on outcome of iliac angioplasty and stenting (IAS) in patients with poor distal runoff. Over 5 years (1996 to 2001), 68 IAS procedures (78 stents) were performed in 62 patients with poor distal runoff (angiographic runoff score >or=5). The SVS/AAVS reporting standards were followed to define outcome variables and risk factors. Data were analyzed with both univariate analysis (Kaplan-Meier method [K-M]) and regression analysis (Cox proportional hazards model). Indications for iliac artery stenting were disabling claudication (59%) and limb salvage (41%). Of the 68 procedures, IAS with CIAR was performed in 31 patients (46%), and IAS alone was performed in 37 patients (54%). Patients undergoing IAS with CIAR were older (P =.03) and had more extensive and multifocal iliac artery occlusive disease, with more TASC (TransAtlantic Inter-Society Consensus) type C lesions (P =.03), compared with patients undergoing IAS alone. No other significant differences in risk factors were noted. Runoff scores between patients undergoing IAS with CIAR and those undergoing IAS alone were not significantly different (median runoff scores, 6 [range, 5-8] and 7 [range, 5-9], respectively; P =.77). Primary stent patency rate at 1, 3, and 5 years was 87%, 54%, and 42%, respectively, for patients undergoing IAS with CIAR, and was 76%, 66%, and 55%, respectively, for patients undergoing IAS. Univariate analysis revealed that primary stent patency rate was not significantly different between the 2 groups (K-M, log-rank test, P =.81). Primary graft patency rate for CIAR was 81%, 52%, and 46% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. Performing CIAR did not affect primary iliac stent patency (relative risk, 1.1; 95% confidence interval, 0.49-2.47; P

How Do Fluent and Poor Readers' Endurance Differ in Reading?

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Bastug, Muhammet; Keskin, Hasan Kagan; Akyol, Mustafa

2017-01-01

It was observed in this research how endurance status of fluent readers and poor readers changed as the text became longer. 40 students of the primary school 4th-grade, 20 were fluent readers and other 20 were poor readers, participated in the research. A narrative text was utilised in the data collection process. Students' oral readings were…

Influencing Science Teaching Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Primary School Teachers: A Longitudinal Case Study

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McKinnon, Merryn; Lamberts, Rod

2014-01-01

The science teaching self-efficacy beliefs of primary school teachers influence teaching practice. The purpose of this research was to determine if informal education institutions, such as science centres, could provide professional development that influences the science teaching self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service and in-service primary school…

POOR PROGRESS STUDENTS IN LEARNING MATHEMATICS AS SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL-PEDAGOGICAL PROBLEM

OpenAIRE

Vladimir Tatochenko; Andrii Shypko

2016-01-01

The article is devoted to theoretical substantiation of modern methodical system of Mathematics teaching of poor progressing secondary school pupils. A systematic approach to the study of psycho-pedagogical determinants of poor progress of pupils in math was implemented. The dynamic of interfunctional relationship of structure of educational and informative sphere of poor progressing pupils in mathematics was disclosed and scientific understanding of this process was expanded. The introducti...

Education Influences Creativity in Dyslexic and Non-Dyslexic Children and Teenagers.

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Kapoula, Zoï; Ruiz, Sarah; Spector, Lisa; Mocorovi, Marion; Gaertner, Chrystal; Quilici, Catherine; Vernet, Marine

2016-01-01

Are dyslexic children and teenagers more creative than non-dyslexic children and teenagers? Whether creativity is higher in dyslexia, and whether this could be related to neurological development specific to the dyslexic disorder, or to compensatory strategies acquired later in life, remains unclear. Here, we suggest an additional role of differential educational approaches taken in each school that could either enhance or suppress an already higher baseline creativity of dyslexic children and teenagers. Creativity in dyslexic and non-dyslexic children and teenagers from different schools in France and in Belgium, as well as in students from different universities, was evaluated with the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Children and teenagers with dyslexia and/or with other similar dysfunctions showed higher creativity scores than non-dyslexic participants. Moreover, the educational approach could further enhance the creative scores in dyslexia, which could be as high as those measured in students from art universities. We conclude that dyslexic children and teenagers can be highly creative. Yet, expression of creativity can be modulated by educational approach, indicating a probable advantage for personal follow-up compared to normalizing education strategies.

"Other" Boys: Negotiating Non-Hegemonic Masculinities in the Primary School

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Renold, Emma

2004-01-01

Focusing on the experiences of boys who choose not to cultivate their masculinities through hegemonic discourses and practices, this paper seeks to empirically explore and theorize the extent to which it is possible to live out the category 'boy' in non-hegemonic ways in the primary school setting. Drawing upon a year-long ethnography of…

Interactive physics apparatus: influence on interest of secondary school students in pursuing a career path in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)

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Lubrica, Joel V.; Abiasen, Jovalson T.; Dolipas, Bretel B.; Ramos, Jennifer Lyn S.

2017-01-01

In this article, we present results of our endeavours as physics educators to facilitate and support pedagogical change and development in the educational system of a developing country, the Philippines. We have discovered that the interaction of junior high school (years 7-10) students with physics apparatus can influence students’ interest in pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This assertion stems from self-reports of students who gave their views immediately after their exposure to interactive apparatus in their own school, outside of their usual lessons. Participants claimed that their interest in following a STEM career path was ‘greatly increased’ due to their exposure to these apparatus. This was true even for students who were intending to take a non-STEM career path. Thus, we recommend that, in settings that have constraints involving access to practical equipment, ways to introduce school level interactive physics apparatus to secondary school students be conducted in order to attract more students towards STEM courses. Possibly, policies encouraging this type of exposure should also be formulated.

[Influence of violent TV upon children of a public school in Bogotá, Colombia].

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Olmos, Isabel; Pinzón, Angela María; González-Reyes, Rodrigo; Sánchez-Molano, Juliana

2005-01-01

To evaluate the impact that a violent and a non-violent movie may cause on scholars. In Bogotá, 125 public primary school students were surveyed, applying a questionnaire to learn both about their daily life violence and their attitude towards it. Two weeks later, they were shown one violent movie, and two weeks later a non-violent one. Children were asked to draw their families, express their opinions and answer a questionnaire after each movie. The initial survey showed that 23.6% of the children reported violent responses when they were offended, 39.8% reported some kind of familiar violence and 19.5% identified themselves with a violent figure. Boys were more prone to respond violently when offended and to identify themselves with a violent figure than girls (p=0.004). Compared with the non-violent movie, a greater percentage of children excluded themselves from the family drawing after watching the violent movie (Odds Ratio (OR): 2.55; 95% Interval Confidence (95% CI) 1.22-5.43, p=0.01). The family drawing after the violent movie also showed more emotional signs (OR: 3.13; 95% CI: 1.35-7.52; p=0.0053) and more aggressive signs (OR: 2.55; 95% CI: 1.22-5.43; p=0.01) than the family drawing after the non-violent movie. The family drawing test showed the immediate impact of television. Television violence negatively influences kids and should be avoided.

Cafeteria factors that influence milk-drinking behaviors of elementary school children: grounded theory approach.

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Connors, P; Bednar, C; Klammer, S

2001-01-01

This study was conducted to identify factors that influenced milk-drinking behaviors of elementary school children in North Texas. Ten focus groups with a total of 41 children aged 6 to 11 years were conducted using a grounded theory approach. Based on the principles of Social Learning Theory, milk preferences and health beliefs were identified as personal factors that influenced drinking. Cafeteria rules, milk flavor, product packaging, modeling by adults, and shared experiences were environmental factors. The data suggest that school cafeterias can capitalize on their unique position to offer milk-drinking opportunities that children can share to combine nutrition education with sensory experience.

Does Social Labelling Encourage Child Schooling and Discourage Child Labour in Nepal?

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Chakrabarty, Sayan; Grote, Ulrike; Luchters, Guido

2011-01-01

This paper explores the determinants of child labour vis-a-vis child schooling. It further examines the influence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which are engaged in social labelling, on the incidence of child labour and schooling trade-off. The empirical results show that the probability of child schooling increases as well as child…

A quantitative analysis of factors that influence and predict students' intention to major in and complete an undergraduate program in STEM or non-STEM

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Yang, Xuemei

2005-11-01

The goal of this study was to explore and understand the factors that influence students' intention to major in and complete an undergraduate program in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) discipline, in a non-STEM field, and how students' gender directly and indirectly affects their success in college. A quantitative study of three thousand four (3004) ACT-tested students who entered a Midwestern, land-grant university as freshmen in fall, 1999 was conducted based on their ACT Assessment information and their enrollment and graduation status after five years. A wide variety of variables were considered and logistic regression, factor analysis, and path analysis were used to analyze the data. The results show that students who intended to major in or completed STEM programs generally have better academic qualifications than their counterparts who intended to major in non-STEM fields. Students who intended to major in or completed STEM programs came from lower income families and smaller communities than those who intended to major in or graduated from non-STEM programs. In this study, gender's direct effect on students' college achievement is eleven times the total of gender's indirect effects through several major factors for students in both STEM fields and non-STEM fields. Perhaps nature has favored females when students' achievement is measured as their college GPA. The results also show that the overall high dropout rate is strongly associated with students' inadequate preparation in high school and family income. Out-of-school accomplishment in community service is a negative influence on their completion of a college degree. ACT scores are not necessary for prediction of college graduation.

The Influence of the Physical Environment and Sociodemographic Characteristics on Children's Mode of Travel to and From School

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Larsen, Kristian; Hess, Paul; Tucker, Patricia; Irwin, Jennifer; He, Meizi

2009-01-01

Objectives. We examined whether certain characteristics of the social and physical environment influence a child's mode of travel between home and school. Methods. Students aged 11 to 13 years from 21 schools throughout London, Ontario, answered questions from a travel behavior survey. A geographic information system linked survey responses for 614 students who lived within 1 mile of school to data on social and physical characteristics of environments around the home and school. Logistic regression analysis was used to test the influence of environmental factors on mode of travel (motorized vs “active”) to and from school. Results. Over 62% of students walked or biked to school, and 72% from school to home. The likelihood of walking or biking to school was positively associated with shorter trips, male gender, higher land use mix, and presence of street trees. Active travel from school to home was also associated with lower residential densities and lower neighborhood incomes. Conclusions. Our findings demonstrate that active travel is associated with environmental characteristics and suggest that school planners should consider these factors when siting schools in order to promote increased physical activity among students. PMID:19106422

Family and school influences on adolescents' adjustment: The moderating role of youth hopefulness and aspirations for the future.

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Gerard, Jean M; Booth, Margaret Zoller

2015-10-01

Using a school-based sample of 675 adolescents, this short-term longitudinal investigation examined the relationships among individual, family, and school influences on adolescent adjustment problems. Adolescents' perceptions of school climate and their sense of connectedness to school were negatively associated with conduct problems. A significant interaction between parental academic support and adolescents' academic aspirations was detected for the total sample, boys, and White youth, indicating that parental support serves a protective function against conduct problems for students with low academic expectations. Adolescents' hopefulness, parental academic aspirations, and school connectedness were negatively associated with depression. Adolescents' hopefulness and their academic aspirations moderated associations between both family and school influences on adolescent adjustment with youth gender and race qualifying these interaction effects. Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Correlates of Student Bachelor of Business Administration Satisfaction and School Reputation Influencing Perceived Market Value

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Blau, Gary; Halbert, Terry; Atwater, Craig; Kershner, Ronald; Zuckerman, M. Michael

2016-01-01

This study compares correlates of two outcomes: satisfaction with a bachelor of business administration degree, and business school reputation influencing students' perceived market value to potential employers. A sample of 261 graduating business school seniors completed a fall 2014 survey measuring these outcomes and a number of correlates.…

The Influence of Social Media on the Prevalence of Sexual Harassment among Teenagers: A Case Study of Secondary Schools in Kandara Sub-County, Kenya

OpenAIRE

Mary Njeri Kamaku; Helen Mberia

2014-01-01

Social media use by teenagers in secondary schools is on the increase with more and more students accessing face book, twitter, You-tube, email and other social sites. Whereas students use such social networking positively, the amount of time spent on the sites that consume academic time has resulted to alarming poor performance which research has associated with lack of adequate revision time, inadequate sleep amounting to poor concentration, and truancy in schools. Sexual harassment is on t...

Parents Influencing Secondary Students' University Aspirations: A Multilevel Approach Using School-SES

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Watson, Stuart; Vernon, Lynette; Seddon, Sarah; Andrews, Yolanda; Wang, Angela

2016-01-01

Students' university aspirational capacity and expectancies are key factors in predicting future university participation. Aspirations and expectations to attend university are strongly influenced by parent educational socialisation and school culture. This study investigates associations between students' university discussions with parents and…

School effects on non-verbal intelligence and nutritional status in rural Zambia.

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Hein, Sascha; Tan, Mei; Reich, Jodi; Thuma, Philip E; Grigorenko, Elena L

2016-02-01

This study uses hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine the school factors (i.e., related to school organization and teacher and student body) associated with non-verbal intelligence (NI) and nutritional status (i.e., body mass index; BMI) of 4204 3 rd to 7 th graders in rural areas of Southern Province, Zambia. Results showed that 23.5% and 7.7% of the NI and BMI variance, respectively, were conditioned by differences between schools. The set of 14 school factors accounted for 58.8% and 75.9% of the between-school differences in NI and BMI, respectively. Grade-specific HLM yielded higher between-school variation of NI (41%) and BMI (14.6%) for students in grade 3 compared to grades 4 to 7. School factors showed a differential pattern of associations with NI and BMI across grades. The distance to a health post and teacher's teaching experience were the strongest predictors of NI (particularly in grades 4, 6 and 7); the presence of a preschool was linked to lower BMI in grades 4 to 6. Implications for improving access and quality of education in rural Zambia are discussed.

Perceptions, Attitudes and Institutional Factors That Influence Academic Performance of Visual Arts Students in Ghana's Senior High School Core Curriculum Subjects

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Opoku-Asare, Nana Afia; Tachie-Menson, Akosua; Essel, Harry Barton

2015-01-01

Senior High School (SHS) students in Ghana are required to pass all core and elective curricula subjects in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to qualify for higher education. Unfortunately, many Visual Arts students perform poorly or fail in English, Mathematics, Integrated Science and Social Studies, which constitute…

Perceived Influence of Non-Formal Educational Programmes on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study examined perceived influence of non-formal education programmes on the basic academic attainment of teenage mothers in Enugu state Nigeria. The total population for the study was 8,143 teenage mothers from which a study sample of 814 was raised. Four research questions were raised and four hypotheses ...

How Do School Peers Influence Student Educational Outcomes? Theory and Evidence from Economics and Other Social Sciences

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Harris, Douglas N.

2010-01-01

Background: Interest among social scientists in peer influences has grown with recent resegregation of the nation's schools and court decisions that limit the ability of school districts to consider race in school assignment decisions. If having more advantaged peers is beneficial, then these trends may reduce educational equity. Previous studies…

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS among high school students

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Buddhabunyakan N

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Nattapong Buddhabunyakan, Srinaree Kaewrudee, Chompilas Chongsomchai, Sukree Soontrapa, Woraluk Somboonporn, Jen Sothornwit Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand Background: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS is a common health problem among adolescents.Objective: To assess the prevalence of PMS in Thai high school students.Materials and methods: This was a prospective study conducted among menstruating high school students in Khon Kaen, Thailand, from September to December, 2015. Participants were asked to prospectively complete an anonymous questionnaire, which included information about demographic data, menstrual patterns, and symptoms to be recorded on a daily calendar of premenstrual experiences according to the diagnostic criteria proposed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. All of the data were prospectively recorded for 90 consecutive days.Results: Of the 399 participants, 289 (72.4% completed the self-report questionnaire. Eighty-six participants (29.8%; 95% CI, 24.5%–35.4% reported having PMS. The most common somatic and affective symptoms among participants with PMS were breast tenderness (74.4% and angry outbursts (97.7%. There were significant differences between the PMS and non-PMS groups, and PMS was associated with various problems related to educational activities, including lack of concentration and motivation, poor individual work performance, poor collaborative work performance, and low scores. However, there were no significant differences regarding interpersonal relationships between the PMS and non-PMS groups.Conclusions: PMS is a common menstrual disorder among Thai high school students. The most common symptoms reported in this study were angry outbursts and breast tenderness. Keywords: premenstrual symptoms, prevalence, association, high school students

Influence of science and technology magnet middle schools on students' motivation and achievement in science

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, David

Some informal discussions among educators regarding motivation of students and academic performance have included the topic of magnet schools. The premise is that a focused theme, such as an aspect of science, positively affects student motivation and academic achievement. However, there is limited research involving magnet schools and their influence on student motivation and academic performance. This study provides empirical data for the discussion about magnet schools influence on motivation and academic ability. This study utilized path analysis in a structural equation modeling framework to simultaneously investigate the relationships between demographic exogenous independent variables, the independent variable of attending a science or technology magnet middle school, and the dependent variables of motivation to learn science and academic achievement in science. Due to the categorical nature of the variables, Bayesian statistical analysis was used to calculate the path coefficients and the standardized effects for each relationship in the model. The coefficients of determination were calculated to determine the amount of variance each path explained. Only five of 21 paths had statistical significance. Only one of the five statistically significant paths (Attended Magnet School to Motivation to Learn Science) explained a noteworthy amount (45.8%) of the variance.

Assessing pupil and school performance by non-parametric and parametric techniques

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Witte, K.; Thanassoulis, E.; Simpson, G.; Battisti, G.; Charlesworth-May, A.

2010-01-01

This paper discusses the use of the non-parametric free disposal hull (FDH) and the parametric multi-level model (MLM) as alternative methods for measuring pupil and school attainment where hierarchical structured data are available. Using robust FDH estimates, we show how to decompose the overall

Influence of caste system on self-esteem and school performance

OpenAIRE

Thaiparambil, Boby Xavier

2017-01-01

Abstract Education is important especially for a fast developing country like India, while, social stratification adversely affect Indian education. This social stratification in India poses a sensitive context for education, so it needs a particular consideration. In my dissertation I explored the influence of Indian social stratification on school performance and self-esteem, which resulted in three publications. The first publication is a theoretical review (Thaiparambil, Waldmeie...

How might schools influence young people's drug use? Development of theory from qualitative case-study research.

Science.gov (United States)

Fletcher, Adam; Bonell, Chris; Sorhaindo, Annik; Strange, Vicki

2009-08-01

To explore young people's experiences of school and drug use, generate hypotheses regarding the pathways through which schools may influence students' drug use, and examine how these may vary according to students' sociodemographic characteristics. Qualitative data were collected through semistructured interviews with 30 students (aged 14-15) and 10 teachers in two case-study schools. Students were purposively sampled to encompass variations in socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, and school engagement. Techniques associated with thematic content analysis and grounded theory were used to analyze the data and generate hypotheses. Three potential pathways via which school effects on drug use may occur were identified: (1) peer-group sorting and drug use as a source of identity and bonding among students who are disconnected from the main institutional markers of status; (2) students' desire to "fit in" at schools perceived to be unsafe and drug use facilitating this; and/or (3) drug use as a strategy to manage anxieties about school work and escape unhappiness at schools lacking effective social support systems. Various pathways may plausibly underlie school effects on drug use. These support the idea of "whole-school" interventions to reduce drug use through: recognizing students' varied achievements and promoting a sense of belonging, reducing bullying and aggression, and providing additional social support for students. Such interventions should be piloted and evaluated in a range of settings to examine effects on students' drug use. Broader policies relating to secondary school targets, curricula, assessment, and streaming may also influence rates of adolescent drug use.

Poor sleep quality is associated with a negative cognitive bias and decreased sustained attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Gobin, Christina M; Banks, Jonathan B; Fins, Ana I; Tartar, Jaime L

2015-10-01

Poor sleep quality has been demonstrated to diminish cognitive performance, impair psychosocial functioning and alter the perception of stress. At present, however, there is little understanding of how sleep quality affects emotion processing. The aim of the present study was to determine the extent to which sleep quality, measured through the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, influences affective symptoms as well as the interaction between stress and performance on an emotional memory test and sustained attention task. To that end, 154 undergraduate students (mean age: 21.27 years, standard deviation = 4.03) completed a series of measures, including the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, the Sustained Attention to Response Task, an emotion picture recognition task and affective symptom questionnaires following either a control or physical stress manipulation, the cold pressor test. As sleep quality and psychosocial functioning differ among chronotypes, we also included chronotype and time of day as variables of interest to ensure that the effects of sleep quality on the emotional and non-emotional tasks were not attributed to these related factors. We found that poor sleep quality is related to greater depressive symptoms, anxiety and mood disturbances. While an overall relationship between global Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index score and emotion and attention measures was not supported, poor sleep quality, as an independent component, was associated with better memory for negative stimuli and a deficit in sustained attention to non-emotional stimuli. Importantly, these effects were not sensitive to stress, chronotype or time of day. Combined, these results suggest that individuals with poor sleep quality show an increase in affective symptomatology as well as a negative cognitive bias with a concomitant decrease in sustained attention to non-emotional stimuli. © 2015 European Sleep Research Society.

Influence of arc current and pressure on non-chemical equilibrium air arc behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, WU; Yufei, CUI; Jiawei, DUAN; Hao, SUN; Chunlin, WANG; Chunping, NIU

2018-01-01

The influence of arc current and pressure on the non-chemical equilibrium (non-CE) air arc behavior of a nozzle structure was investigated based on the self-consistent non-chemical equilibrium model. The arc behavior during both the arc burning and arc decay phases were discussed at different currents and different pressures. We also devised the concept of a non-equilibrium parameter for a better understanding of non-CE effects. During the arc burning phase, the increasing current leads to a decrease of the non-equilibrium parameter of the particles in the arc core, while the increasing pressure leads to an increase of the non-equilibrium parameter of the particles in the arc core. During the arc decay phase, the non-CE effect will decrease by increasing the arc burning current and the nozzle pressure. Three factors together—convection, diffusion and chemical reactions—influence non-CE behavior.

Racial and Ethnic Socialization as Moderators of Racial Discrimination and School Adjustment of Adopted and Non-adopted Korean American Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Seol, Kyoung Ok; Yoo, Hyung Chol; Lee, Richard M.; Park, Ji Eun; Kyeong, Yena

2015-01-01

This study investigated roles of racial and ethnic socialization in the link between racial discrimination and school adjustment among a sample of 233 adopted Korean American adolescents from White adoptive families and 155 non-adopted Korean American adolescents from immigrant Korean families. Adopted Korean American adolescents reported lower levels of racial discrimination, racial socialization, and ethnic socialization than non-adopted Korean American adolescents. However, racial discrimination was negatively related to school belonging and school engagement, and ethnic socialization was positively related to school engagement for both groups. Racial socialization also had a curvilinear relationship with school engagement for both groups. Moderate level of racial socialization predicted positive school engagement, whereas low and high levels of racial socialization predicted negative school engagement. Finally, ethnic socialization moderated the link between racial discrimination and school belonging, which differed between groups. In particular, ethnic socialization exacerbated the relations between racial discrimination and school belonging for adopted Korean American adolescents, whereas, ethnic socialization buffered this link for non-adopted Korean American adolescents. Findings illustrate the complex relationship between racial and ethnic socialization, racial discrimination, and school adjustment. PMID:26479418

The Stellenbosch consensus statement on health promoting schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Macnab, Andrew

2013-03-01

Health promotion uses a range of complementary approaches to provide individuals and communities with knowledge that will enable them to improve their own health and wellbeing. Encouraging children to adopt healthy lifestyle habits is a central objective, and health promotion at a community level, particularly through health promoting schools, may be an effective strategy. Health promoting schools are well within the capacity of even poor countries, as they focus on the school and its culture, and establishing health promoting schools requires a change in mindset and refinement of educational investment rather than the provision of major new resources, engagement of non-government organizations or obtaining international funding. A consensus of current evidence and essential concepts underlying health promotion in schools, principles that contribute to success or failure, and opportunities for implementation and engagement is presented, based on shared experience and dialogue at a 2011 international colloquium held at Stellenbosch University.

The influence of township schools on the resilience of their learners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruth Mampane

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Many learners living in townships require protection and resilience to overcome obstacles and adversities in their context of development. The literature on resilience indicates strongly that resilience is embedded systemically. In the absence of constructive and supportive conditions in the home environment, the school would logically appear to be the next resource in line to be tapped. We investigated the contribution of two South African township schools to the resilience of their middleadolescent learners. Case studies with focus groups of resilient and less-resilient Grade 9 learners were used, following the Interactive Qualitative Analysis method, to determine the participants' perceptions of how the school contributes to the degree and nature of their resilience. The influence of the school varied depending on the degree of the learners' resilience, but also depending on factors within the school itself, suggesting that schools play a distinctive and determining role. Contributions particularly highlighted included creation, or failure to create, a supportive teaching and learning environment with effective implementation of rules and educational policy to provide care and safety for its learners and develop them to reach their future goals. Resilient learners were more ready than less resilient learners to acknowledge and utilise these characteristics. All focus groups placed much emphasis on goal attainment, suggesting a strong relationship with resilience.

Assessment of academic/non-academic factors and extracurricular activities influencing performance of medical students of faculty of medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia

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Mainul Haque

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Physical and mental comfort is known to have a crucial influence on health and performance amongst medical students. Very often, medical students suffer from poor quality of life (QOL related to the work-life balance due to the lack of sleep, nutritional and dietary disorders and low physical activity, resulting in a negative impact on their academic performance. This study aims to determine the potential academic/non-academic factors and extra-curricular activities influencing the performance of medical students in Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, UniSZA, Terengganu, Malaysia. A sample size of 300 respondents were recruited from Year I to V medical students. The questionnaire was adopted, modified and validated from a similar study in Saudi Arabia. Results: Majority of the students enjoy medical education are self-motivated, have a good command of English, non-smokers and have a sufficient sleep. Conclusion: University medical students possess good QOL within the optimum educational environment.

Who and What Influences School Leaders' Decisions: An Institutional Analysis of the Implementation of Universal Prekindergarten

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Casto, Hope G.; Sipple, John W.

2011-01-01

School-community interactions facilitate connections between schools and their local surroundings; however, these relationships are subject not only to local political, economic, and social influences but also to broader political and institutional forces. Educational administrators' decisions about programming and partnering can be considered in…

Teachers' Perceptions of School Nutrition Education's Influence on Eating Behaviours of Learners in the Bronkhorstspruit District

Science.gov (United States)

Kupolati, Mojisola D.; Gericke, Gerda J.; MacIntyre, Una E.

2015-01-01

Qualitative investigation can provide invaluable information towards understanding the influence of school nutrition education (NE). The study explored teachers' perceptions of the immediate impact of NE on learners' eating behaviours. Twenty-four primary school teachers in the Bronkhorstspruit district, Gauteng, South Africa, who taught nutrition…

Does organic school food service provide more healthy eating environments than their non organic counterparts?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

He, Chen; Mikkelsen, Bent Egberg

Organic food strategies are increasingly developing within European school food services at the same time as these services are being involved in measures aiming at promoting healthy eating at school and counter acting obesity. Schools have an important role to play in teaching children fundamental...... as sustainable consumption strategies are contributing to shaping the future school food culture. It is therefore imperative to study how these changes in agendas influences each other and to study the associations between healthy eating and organic supply strategies at school....... life skills, including good food habits according to a number of authoritative policy papers from Council of Europe, the WHO and the EU platform. Although there are great national differences, European school food culture seems to be in a transitional state in which both healthy eating as well...

Earlier School Start Times as a Risk Factor for Poor School Performance: An Examination of Public Elementary Schools in the Commonwealth of Kentucky

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Peggy S.; Smith, Olivia A.; Gilbert, Lauren R.; Bi, Shuang; Haak, Eric A.; Buckhalt, Joseph A.

2015-01-01

Adequate sleep is essential for child learning. However, school systems may inadvertently be promoting sleep deprivation through early school start times. The current study examines the potential implications of early school start times for standardized test scores in public elementary schools in Kentucky. Associations between early school start…

Costs of radon diagnostics and mitigation in school building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leovic, K.W.; Rector, H.; Nagda, N.

1992-01-01

To determine the costs of radon diagnostics and active soil depressurization (ASD) system installation in schools, seven radon mitigators with extensive experience in school buildings were surveyed. The cost data were determined by providing the mitigators with two scenarios of open-quotes typicalclose quotes school buildings with elevated radon levels. The questionnaire in schools: (1) Review Construction Plans, (2) Conduct Diagnostic Measurements, (3) Design Mitigation System, (4) Purchase ASD Material, and (5) Install and Checkout ASD System. Based on the results of this survey, it is estimated that the average cost of ASD diagnostics and mitigation in a typical school would be roughly $0.50 per ft 2 . However, these costs would be higher in schools with extensive subslab walls, very poor PFE, and lower in simple schools with very good PFE and no subslab barriers to communication. The variations in costs provided by the mitigators are primarily due to the influences of (1) experience and practices of the mitigation companies, (2) ASD system requirements as perceived by the respondents, and (3) the degree of involvement by the school system in the process

A survey of factors influencing career preference in new-entrant and exiting medical students from four UK medical schools

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Workforce planning is a central issue for service provision and has consequences for medical education. Much work has been examined the career intentions, career preferences and career destinations of UK medical graduates but there is little published about medical students career intentions. How soon do medical students formulate careers intentions? How much do these intentions and preferences change during medical school? If they do change, what are the determining factors? Our aim was to compare medical students’ career preferences upon entry into and exit from undergraduate medical degree programmes. Methods This was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Two cohorts [2009–10, 2010–11] of first and final year medical students at the four Scottish graduating medical schools took part in career preference questionnaire surveys. Questions were asked about demographic factors, career preferences and influencing factors. Results The response rate was 80.9% [2682/3285]. Significant differences were found across the four schools, most obviously in terms of student origin [Scotland, rest of UK or overseas], age group, and specialty preferences in Year 1 and Year 5. Year 1 and Year 5 students’ specialty preferences also differed within each school and, while there were some common patterns, each medical school had a different profile of students’ career preferences on exit. When the analysis was adjusted for demographic and job-related preferences, specialty preferences differed by gender, and wish for work-life balance and intellectual satisfaction. Conclusions This is the first multi-centre study exploring students’ career preferences and preference influences upon entry into and exit from undergraduate medical degree programmes. We found various factors influenced career preference, confirming prior findings. What this study adds is that, while acknowledging student intake differs by medical school, medical school itself seems to influence

A survey of factors influencing career preference in new-entrant and exiting medical students from four UK medical schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Cleland, Jennifer A; Johnston, Peter W; Anthony, Micheal; Khan, Nadir; Scott, Neil W

2014-07-23

Workforce planning is a central issue for service provision and has consequences for medical education. Much work has been examined the career intentions, career preferences and career destinations of UK medical graduates but there is little published about medical students career intentions. How soon do medical students formulate careers intentions? How much do these intentions and preferences change during medical school? If they do change, what are the determining factors? Our aim was to compare medical students' career preferences upon entry into and exit from undergraduate medical degree programmes. This was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Two cohorts [2009-10, 2010-11] of first and final year medical students at the four Scottish graduating medical schools took part in career preference questionnaire surveys. Questions were asked about demographic factors, career preferences and influencing factors. The response rate was 80.9% [2682/3285]. Significant differences were found across the four schools, most obviously in terms of student origin [Scotland, rest of UK or overseas], age group, and specialty preferences in Year 1 and Year 5. Year 1 and Year 5 students' specialty preferences also differed within each school and, while there were some common patterns, each medical school had a different profile of students' career preferences on exit. When the analysis was adjusted for demographic and job-related preferences, specialty preferences differed by gender, and wish for work-life balance and intellectual satisfaction. This is the first multi-centre study exploring students' career preferences and preference influences upon entry into and exit from undergraduate medical degree programmes. We found various factors influenced career preference, confirming prior findings. What this study adds is that, while acknowledging student intake differs by medical school, medical school itself seems to influence career preference. Comparisons across medical school

Influence of short-term memory on achievement of pupils in special schools

OpenAIRE

Podrazilová, Jana

2010-01-01

a klíčová slova diplomové práce v anglickém jazyce Key words: Memory - short - term memory - learning Pedagogy - special pedagogy Game - didactic game - mathematic - geometrical pexeso - arithmetic environment of stepping Annotation My master thesis is focused on the analysis of influence of motivation on short-term memory and in consequence on long-term memory in education of mathematics in second and third class of practical and special elementary schools. I have considered the influence of...

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

A study of depression among Alexandria preparatory school adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Abou Nazel, M W; Fahmy, S I; Younis, I A; Seif el-Din, A G; Abdel Fatah, M; Mokhtar, S; Ayoub, A I

1991-01-01

Using a constructed Arabic version of Children Depression Inventory (CDI), screening of a stratified random sample of 1% (1561) of Alexandria Preparatory school adolescents was carried out. The prevalence of depressive scorers was 10.25% of total sample. A sub-sample of depressed scorers (111 pupils) were compared with controls (non-depressed scorers) matched on age and sex to study a variety of personal, familial, medical and scholastic ecological variables. Pupils neuroticism scorers were most predictive of depressive scorers where they explained 59.79% of the variance. Other ecological factors including peer and sibling relationships, introversive and lie scale scorers and scholastic performance explained an additional 14.87% of the variance. Using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Mother-Father relationship check list, a sub-sample of depressed pupils' mothers were compared with controls of non-depressed pupils' mothers (42 mothers for each). Results indicated a strong positive correlation between pupils, CDI scores and their mothers BDI scores. On the other hand poor mother-father relationship was significantly associated with depressive scores of pupils. Findings, pointed to the need for reconsideration of school mental health program, since the presented medical and social services to depressed pupils were very poor.

Alcohol use, sexual activity, and perceived risk in high school athletes and non-athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wetherill, Reagan R; Fromme, Kim

2007-09-01

The current study examined one's sense of personal invincibility as a contributing factor to high school athletes' more frequent behavioral risks compared to those of non-athletes. Perceived risk was assessed as a mediator of sports participation and alcohol use, and sports participation and sexual activity among high school athletes. Prior to leaving home, college-bound high school graduates (n = 2,247) completed web-based surveys assessing alcohol use, sexual activity, sports participation, and perceived risk. The mediational models were analyzed using generalized linear modeling and the procedures of Baron and Kenny (1986). Relative to non-athletes, athletes reported greater alcohol use, more sexual partners, and lower perceived risk. Perceived risk mediated the association between sports participation and alcohol use for both young men and women. Perceived risk also mediated the association between sports participation and number of sexual partners for women and partially mediated this association for men. Perceived risk partially mediated the association between sports participation and episodes of unsafe sexual activity in both men and women. These findings suggest a potential cognitive mechanism which may account for differences in alcohol use and sexual activity between athletes and non-athletes during late adolescence.

Influence of parenting style on the academic performance of middle school students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María José Domínguez

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Students who don't succeed in school are a persistent problem in our educational system. This fact shows that all the efforts to reduce this problem are not succeeding. One third of our students are left behind by the educational system; their results are discouraging. The measures to fight the academic failure are not working and that we have to put into practice new ways of analysis and treatment of this problem. This research explores the relationship between the way children perceive the parenting style of their parents and his o her own academic performance. In the intersection of both phenomena we find our hypothesis: the way parents socialise their children influences significantly on their academic performance. This research is orientated to decision taking process: the aim is to define the level of influence of the parenting style on academic outcomes. The main result is that parents acceptation/implication appears to be significantly linked to the school performance (this evidence shows a big area for new researches: the family. Our research confirms and frames the correlation between these two variables and underlies the family as a new scenario of pedagogical concern to explain and treat school failure.

IMPLEMENTATIONS OF MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AS A SCHOOL CULTURE AT KRIDA NUSANTARA INTEGRATED SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

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Sunani Sunani

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The primary purpose of this study is to describe the implementation of multicultural education at Krida Nusantara integrated high school. The study focuses on four main points; the school policy, the implementation and the dominant factors that influence the policy, and the implementation results. A descriptive qualitative approach is taken in the study and the data is collected through interviews and case studies. The study concludes that the school's multicultural education policy is applied based on the school founding fathers’ philosophy, which emphasizes on merging nationalist and religious values. Those values are then implemented in form of academic and non-academic programs. Apart from that, students' plurality values that are embedded in their school life serve as the most influential factor in implementing the multicultural education policy.

Work stress, poor recovery and burnout in teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gluschkoff, K; Elovainio, M; Kinnunen, U; Mullola, S; Hintsanen, M; Keltikangas-Järvinen, L; Hintsa, T

2016-10-01

Both work stress and poor recovery have been shown to contribute to the development of burnout. However, the role of recovery as a mediating mechanism that links work stress to burnout has not been sufficiently addressed in research. To examine recovery as a mediator in the relationship between work stress and burnout among teachers. A cross-sectional study of Finnish primary school teachers, in whom burnout was measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey and work stress was conceptualized using the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model. Recovery was measured with the Recovery Experience Questionnaire and the Jenkins Sleep Problems Scale. Multiple linear regression analyses and bootstrap mediation analyses adjusted for age, gender and total working hours were performed. Among the 76 study subjects, high ERI was associated with burnout and its dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism and reduced professional efficacy. Poor recovery experiences, in terms of low relaxation during leisure time, partially mediated the relationship between ERI and reduced professional efficacy. Sleep problems, in the form of non-restorative sleep, partially mediated the relationship between ERI and both burnout and exhaustion. Supporting a balance between effort and reward at work may enhance leisure time recovery and improve sleep quality, as well as help to reduce burnout rates. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Family and school socioeconomic disadvantage: interactive influences on adolescent dating violence victimization.

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Spriggs, Aubrey L; Halpern, Carolyn Tucker; Herring, Amy H; Schoenbach, Victor J

2009-06-01

Although low socioeconomic status has been positively associated with adult partner violence, its relationship to adolescent dating violence remains unclear. Further, few studies have examined the relationship between contextual disadvantage and adolescent dating violence, or the interactive influences of family and contextual disadvantage. Guided by social disorganization theory, relative deprivation theory, and gendered resource theory, we analyzed data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1994-1996) to explore how family and school disadvantage relate to dating violence victimization. Psychological and minor physical victimization were self-reported by adolescents in up to six heterosexual romantic or sexual relationships. Family and school disadvantage were based on a principal component analysis of socioeconomic indicators reported by adolescents and parents. In weighted multilevel random effects models, between-school variability in dating violence victimization was proportionately small but substantive: 10% for male victimization and 5% for female victimization. In bivariate analyses, family disadvantage was positively related to victimization for both males and females; however, school disadvantage was only related to males' physical victimization. In models adjusted for race/ethnicity, relative age within the school, and mean school age, neither family nor school disadvantage remained related to males' victimization. For females, family disadvantage remained significantly positively associated with victimization, but was modified by school disadvantage: family disadvantage was more strongly associated with dating violence victimization in more advantaged schools. Findings support gendered resource theory, and suggest that status differentials between females and their school context may increase their vulnerability to dating violence victimization.

Retrospective evaluation of factors that influence the implementation of CATCH in southern Illinois schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Bice, Matthew R; Brown, Stephen L; Parry, Thomas

2014-09-01

Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) is a school health program implemented in southern Illinois that focuses on physical activity and nutrition and consists of a classroom curriculum, physical education framework, and cafeteria guidelines. Though many schools agreed to implement CATCH, some schools implemented it better than others. This study examined implementation practices of classroom and physical education teachers and cafeteria supervisors. We surveyed 284 school employees at 36 elementary schools located in southern Illinois. Attention focused on organizational readiness, commitment to change, school leadership, implementation barriers, and innovation perceptions concerning degree of implementation of CATCH. Organizational readiness and implementation barriers were significant predictors of degree of implementation for school employees. Additionally, organizational readiness was reported a significant predictor of classroom teacher degree of implementation whereas leadership was a significant predictor of degree of implementation by physical education teachers. Data from this study can be used to enhance implementation of CATCH as well as other school health programs. This study provides educators evidence of why school employees have different implementation practices, evidence of what constructs influence degree of implementation most, and some explanation of school employee degree of implementation. © 2014 Society for Public Health Education.

Integration of immigrants into a new culture is related to poor sleep quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Voss, Ursula; Tuin, Inka

2008-08-10

This article reports on the relationship between cultural influences on life style, coping style, and sleep in a sample of female Portuguese immigrants living in Germany. Sleep quality is known to be poorer in women than in men, yet little is known about mediating psychological and sociological variables such as stress and coping with stressful life circumstances. Migration constitutes a particularly difficult life circumstance for women if it involves differing role conceptions in the country of origin and the emigrant country. The study investigated sleep quality, coping styles and level of integration in a sample of Portuguese (N = 48) and Moroccan (N = 64) immigrant women who took part in a structured personal interview. Sleep quality was poor in 54% of Portuguese and 39% of Moroccan women, which strongly exceeds reports of sleep complaints in epidemiologic studies of sleep quality in German women. Reports of poor sleep were associated with the degree of adoption of a German life style. Women who had integrated more into German society slept worse than less integrated women in both samples, suggesting that non-integration serves a protective function. An unusually large proportion of women preferred an information-seeking (monitoring) coping style and adaptive coping. Poor sleep was related to high monitoring in the Portuguese but not the Moroccan sample. Sleep quality appears to be severely affected in women with a migration background. Our data suggest that non-integration may be less stressful than integration. This result points to possible benefits of non-integration. The high preference for an information-seeking coping style may be related to the process of migration, representing the attempt at regaining control over an uncontrollable and stressful life situation.

Non-medical influences on medical decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

McKinlay, J B; Potter, D A; Feldman, H A

1996-03-01

The influence of non-medical factors on physicians' decision-making has been documented in many observational studies, but rarely in an experimental setting capable of demonstrating cause and effect. We conducted a controlled factorial experiment to assess the influence of non-medical factors on the diagnostic and treatment decisions made by practitioners of internal medicine in two common medical situations. One hundred and ninety-two white male internists individually viewed professionally produced video scenarios in which the actor-patient, presenting with either chest pain or dyspnea, possessed various balanced combinations of sex, race, age, socioeconomic status, and health insurance coverage. Physician subjects were randomly drawn from lists of internists in private practice, hospital-based practice, and HMO's, at two levels of experience. The most frequent diagnoses for both chest pain and dyspnea were psychogenic origin and cardiac problems. Smoking cessation was the most frequent treatment recommendation for both conditions. Younger patients (all other factors being the same) were significantly more likely to receive the psychogenic diagnosis. Older patients were more likely to receive the cardiac diagnosis for chest pain, particularly if they were insured. HMO-based physicians were more likely to recommend a follow-up visit for chest pain. Several interactions of patient and physician factors were significant in addition to the main effects. The variability in decision-making evidenced by physicians in this experiment was not entirely accounted for by strictly rational Bayesian inference (the common prescriptive model for medical decision-making), in-as-much as non-medical factors significantly affected the decisions that they made. There is a need to supplement idealized medical schemata with considerations of social behavior in any comprehensive theory of medical decision-making.

Factors across home, work, and school domains influence nutrition and physical activity behaviors of nontraditional college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Quintiliani, Lisa M; Bishop, Hillary L; Greaney, Mary L; Whiteley, Jessica A

2012-10-01

Nontraditional college students (older, part-time, and/or working) have less healthful nutrition and physical activity behaviors compared to traditional students, yet few health promotion efforts focus on nontraditional students. The purpose of this study was to use qualitative methods to explore factors affecting nutrition and physical activity behaviors of nontraditional students. Fourteen semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with nontraditional undergraduate students attending a large university. The sample had a median age of 25 (range, 21-64), 57% were men, 43% were racial/ethnic minorities, and 57% were employed (mean 22 hours/week). Data were coded using a systematic team-based approach. Consistent themes (mentioned by 4+ students) were identified and categorized into three domains: home, work, and school. Home (themes: neighborhood characteristics, family, partners), work (theme: work environment), and school (themes: cafeteria, vending machines) factors consistently influenced positive nutrition behaviors. Similarly, home (themes: neighborhood including safety, friends from home, partner,), work (theme: work environment), and school (themes: not having a car, campus structure, campus gym, friends at school) factors consistently influenced positive physical activity. Financial resources and perceptions of autonomy had influence across domains. Results indicate consistent influences on nutrition and physical activity behaviors across home, work, and school domains for nontraditional college students. Study findings suggest possible, and sometimes unconventional, intervention strategies to promote healthful eating and physical activity. For example, when cafeteria meal plans are not offered and financial constraints limit eating at the cafeteria, encouraging healthful choices from vending machines could be preferable to not eating at all. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Influence of the High School Classroom Environment on Learning as Mediated by Student Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Shernoff, David J.; Ruzek, Erik A.; Sinha, Suparna

2017-01-01

Classroom learning environments are frequently assumed to exert their influence on learning indirectly, via student engagement. The present study examined the influence of environmental challenge and support on learning in high school classrooms, and the potential for student engagement to act as a mediator in this relationship. Data were…

The Influence of Art on children´s art expression in school practice

OpenAIRE

VÁŇOVÁ, Jana

2010-01-01

Diploma Thesis ?The Influence of Art on Children´s Art Expression in School Practice? Deals with Evaluation of Possibilities Arttherapeutic Elements of Roznov Art Therapy and the Ways of Use Receptive Art Therapy in Art Lessons at Secondary School. There is Described Children´s Art Expression in the Age between 12 and 15 and Possible Impact of Art Form on Shaping Children´s Art Expression. It Evaluates the Importance of Methodical Intervention of Roznov Art Therapy Elements.

Non-School Influences and Educational Disadvantage: Pre and Post-natal Nutritional Deprivation

Science.gov (United States)

Doll, Russell C.

1973-01-01

Deals with pre and post-natal malnutrition and its possible influence on the child, focusing on these points: How wide-spread and severe is the malnutrition? What might be the effects of the malnutrition at certain critical points in development? (Author/JM)

From attitude to action: What shapes attitude toward walking to/from school and how does it influence actual behaviors?

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Chia-Yuan; Zhu, Xuemei

2016-09-01

Walking to/from school could promote children's physical activity and help combat childhood obesity. Parental attitudes have been identified as one of the important predictors. But it is unclear what factors shape parental attitudes, and how those in turn influence children's school travel. This study addresses this gap of knowledge by examining the mediating effect of parental attitudes for the relationships between personal, social, and built environmental factors and children's walking-to/from-school behaviors. Survey data (N=2597) were collected from 20 public elementary schools in Austin, Texas, measuring students' typical school travel mode; personal, social, and built environmental factors related to walking-to/from-school; and relevant parental attitudes. The analysis was conducted in M-plus 6.11 to test the proposed conceptual framework using a structural equation model (SEM). Parental attitudes showed significant mediating effects on walking-to/from-school behaviors. Older child, positive peer influence, walkable home-to-school distance, and favorable walking environments were associated with more enjoyment and lower attitudinal barriers, and in turn increased likelihood of walking to/from school. Being Hispanic, increased car ownership, and stronger traffic safety concerns reduced enjoyment and increased attitudinal barriers, and thus decreased likelihood of walking to/from school. This study highlighted the importance of using multilevel interventions to reduce attitudinal barriers and increase enjoyment of walking to/from school. Collaborations among different stakeholders are needed to address environmental issues (e.g., safety concerns) and social factors (e.g., peer influence), while being sensitive to personal factors (e.g., age, ethnicity, and car ownership). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of family and school-level factors on age of sexual initiation.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Candace N; Warner, Lynn A

2015-02-01

This study examined the association of individual, family, and school-level characteristics with age of sexual initiation (ASI) and focused specifically on school context as a moderator of known predictors of ASI. Data are from Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 10,596). Predictors include grade point average, physical development, attitudes about sex, likelihood of higher education, alcohol use, delinquency, family structure, parents' education level, childhood abuse, maternal approval of sex, parental monitoring, and parent-child relationship quality. School-level predictors are averages of adolescents' attitudes about sex and likelihood of higher education and parents' education. Hierarchical linear models run separately by sex were used to predict ASI. When school-level attitudes about sex are more favorable, both boys and girls report younger ASI, and school mean parental education attainment moderates the influence of individual adolescents' attitudes about sex on ASI. More of the predictors are significant for girls than boys, whereas perception of maternal and peer approval of sexual activity are the most salient predictors of younger ASI for boys. Results highlight the importance of school context for understanding adolescents' motivations for early ASI. Findings support the need for school-wide prevention interventions that engage adolescents, peers, and parents in addressing attitudes about early sex. Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of clay and surfactant content in non-aqueous fluid rheology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guedes, I.C.; Gomes, N.L.; Menezes, R.R.; Campos, L.F.A.; Ferreira, H.S.

2012-01-01

The bentonite clay used as viscosity agent in the production of non-aqueous fluids cannot be used without organic treatment for their surfaces to become hydrophobic. These clays are called organophilic clays, and are generally obtained by adding, in an aqueous way, ionic or a nonionic surfactant. Recent studies of the variables involved in the dispersion of bentonite clays and in the process of organophilization, showed their lack of influence. This work aims to study the influence of clay content and surfactants on the rheology of nonaqueous fluids. To this end, the clays were treats and characterized, evidencing the incorporation of the surfactant, and then formulated non-aqueous fluids, following PETROBRAS standards, being possible to verify the influence of clay content and surfactant both from the point of view as the characterizing and rheological behavior. (author)

[Study on the detection rate and risk factors regarding non-suicidal self-injurious behavior in middle school students].

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Jing; Zhu, Cui-zhen; Situ, Ming-jing; DU, Na; Huang, Yi

2012-01-01

To understand the prevalence and risk factors of non-suicidal self-injury in middle school students. 1312 middle school students of Pengzhou and Santai were selected to fill in a Risky Behavior Questionnaire for Adolescence (RBQ-A), Family Environment Scale (FES), Center for Epidemiological Survey, Depression Scale (CES-D), Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List (ASLEC), Social Support Scale for Adolescents (SSSA) and self-administered questionnaire. In all the research subjects, 1288 were qualified for the study in April 2011 before the risk factors for non-suicidal self-injury were identified by logistic regression. In 1288 middle school students, 22.67% had a history of non-suicidal self-injury, with 22.70% in boys and 22.64% in girls. 63.36% of students had injured themselves through variously ways, more seen in boys (26.88%) than in girls (11.36%) who cut or burnt themselves. The scores of ASLEC and CES-D in non-suicidal self-injury group appeared higher than that in the control group and the score of SSSA was found higher in the control group. The main risk factors for non-suicidal self-injuries were family conflict, depressive emotion, negative life events and receiving less social support. The prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury among middle school students in Pengzhou was high, which called for more attention.

Non-Music Specialist Trainee Primary School Teachers' Confidence in Teaching Music in the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Seddon, Frederick; Biasutti, Michele

2008-01-01

Prior research has revealed that non-music specialist trainee primary school teachers lack confidence in teaching music in spite of changes to teacher training and the introduction of music in the National Curriculum in England. The current study investigated the effects on non-music specialist trainee primary teachers' confidence to teach music…

School Influence and Classroom Control: A Comparison of Career and Technical Education, Science, and Mathematics Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, Bradley; Marx, Adam; Williams, Thomas; Napoleon, Larry, Jr.

2017-01-01

Teacher retention in the STEM fields is of national interest. Several factors, such as job satisfaction, classroom control, and school influence have been linked to teachers leaving the profession. By statistically analyzing various questions from the Schools and Staffing Survey Teacher Questionnaire, this study evaluated the current state of how…

Influencing school health policy: the role of state school nurse consultants.

Science.gov (United States)

Broussard, Lisa; Howat, Holly; Stokes, Billy; Street, Tanya

2011-01-01

The role of the State School Nurse Consultant has been well defined by the National Association of School Nurses. State School Nurse Consultants serve as a resource to school nurses on issues related to their practice, as well as a liaison between top-level educators and school nurses. The purpose of this article is to describe the role of the State School Nurse Consultant, and to present results of a survey of Louisiana school nurses related to their practice needs. A survey was administered via Survey Monkey to determine the perceived needs of Louisiana school nurses related to their professional practice. Eighty-eight members of the Louisiana School Nurse Organization participated in the online survey. Louisiana is 1 of 6 states that do not have a State School Nurse Consultant. Respondents to the survey indicated an overwhelming need to have a school nurse representative at the state level. Twenty-two of the respondents specifically stated that they would like to have a State School Nurse Consultant within the Department of Education. Budgetary constraints have resulted in a lack of funding for a State School Nurse Consultant in Louisiana. Partnerships with federally qualified health centers (FQHC) and billing of Medicaid for school nursing services are 2 examples of revenue sources for school nurses that Louisiana is investigating. Revenue from these sources may serve to supplement state funds so that this important resource for Louisiana school nurses can be put into place.

Protocol for a systematic review of the effects of schools and school-environment interventions on health: evidence mapping and syntheses.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonell, Chris; Harden, Angela; Wells, Helene; Jamal, Farah; Fletcher, Adam; Petticrew, Mark; Thomas, James; Whitehead, Margaret; Campbell, Rona; Murphy, Simon; Moore, Laurence

2011-06-09

Schools may have important effects on students' and staff's health. Rather than treating schools merely as sites for health education, 'school-environment' interventions treat schools as settings which influence health. Evidence concerning the effects of such interventions has not been recently synthesised. Systematic review aiming to map and synthesise evidence on what theories and conceptual frameworks are most commonly used to inform school-environment interventions or explain school-level influences on health; what effects school-environment interventions have on health/health inequalities; how feasible and acceptable are school-environment interventions; what effects other school-level factors have on health; and through what processes school-level influences affect health.We will examine interventions aiming to promote health by modifying schools' physical, social or cultural environment via actions focused on school policies and practices relating to education, pastoral care and other aspects of schools beyond merely providing health education. Participants are staff and students age 4-18 years.We will review published research unrestricted by language, year or source. Searching will involve electronic databases including Embase, ERIC, PubMed, PsycInfo and Social Science Citation Index using natural-language phrases plus reference/citation checking.Stage 1 will map studies descriptively by focus and methods. Stage 2 will involve additional inclusion criteria, quality assessment and data extraction undertaken by two reviewers in parallel. Evidence will be synthesised narratively and statistically where appropriate (undertaking subgroup analyses and meta-regression and where no significant heterogeneity of effect sizes is found, pooling these to calculate a final effect size). We anticipate: finding a large number of studies missed by previous reviews; that non-intervention studies of school effects examine a greater breadth of determinants than are addressed

Work Begins at School.

Science.gov (United States)

Casto, James E.

2001-01-01

Students at Clay County High School (West Virginia) get real-world work experience through the school's comprehensive School-to-Work program, now in its third year. Given the limited job availability in this poor rural area, the school supplements work-site experiences with school-based business enterprises, student construction projects, and…

Postural control during the Stroop test in dyslexic and non dyslexic teenagers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoï Kapoula

Full Text Available Postural control in quiet stance although simple still requires some cognitive resources; dual cognitive tasks influence further postural control. The present study examines whether or not dyslexic teenagers experience postural instability when performing a Stroop dual task for which their performances are known to be poor. Fifteen dyslexics and twelve non-dyslexics (14 to 17 years old were recruited from the same school. They were asked to perform three tasks: (1 fixate a target, (2 perform an interference Stroop test (naming the colour or the word rather than reading the word, (3 performing flexibility Stroop task: the subject performed the interference task as in (2 except when the word was in a box, in which case he had to read the word. Postural performances were measured with a force platform. The results showed a main task effect on the variance of speed of body sway only: such variance was higher in the flexibility task than for the other two tasks. No group effect was found for any of the parameters of posture (surface, mediolateral and anteroposterior sway, variance of speed. Further wavelet analysis in the time-frequency domain revealed an increase in the spectral power of the medium frequency range believed to be related to cerebellum control; an accompanying increase in the cancellation time of the high frequency band related to reflexive loops occurred for non-dyslexics only. These effects occurred for the flexibility task and could be due to its high cognitive difficulty. Dyslexics displayed shorter cancellation time for the medium frequency band for all tasks, suggesting less efficient cerebellar control, perhaps of eye fixation and attention influencing body sway. We conclude that there is no evidence for a primary posture deficit in 15 year old teenagers who come from the general population and who were recruited in schools.

Perceived Socioeconomic Status: A New Type of Identity which Influences Adolescents’ Self Rated Health

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Elizabeth; Huang, Bin; Schafer-Kalkhoff, Tara; Adler, Nancy E.

2007-01-01

Purpose The cognitive, social, and biological transitions of adolescence suggest that subjective perceptions of social position based on the socioeconomic hierarchy may undergo important changes during this period, yet how such perceptions develop is poorly understood and no studies assess if changes in such perceptions influence adolescents’ health. This study describes adolescents’ subjective perceptions of familial socioeconomic status (SSS), how SSS changes over time, and how age, race, and objective socioeconomic status (SES) indicators influence SSS. In addition, the study determines if SSS independently influences adolescents’ self-rated health, an important predictor of morbidity and health service utilization. Methods 1179 non-Hispanic black and white baseline 7–12th graders from a Midwestern public school district completed a validated, teen-specific measure of SSS annually for 4 consecutive years. A parent provided information on SES. Markov modeling assessed transitions in SSS over time. Results SSS declined with age (p=.001) and stabilized among older teens. In addition to age, SES and race, but not gender, were significant correlates of SSS, but the relationships between these factors were complex. In cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, black teens from families with low parent education had higher SSS than white teens from similarly educated families, while white teens from highly educated families had higher SSS than black teens from highly educated families. Lower SSS and changes in SSS predicted poor self rated health even when adjusting for race and objective SES measures. Conclusion Subjective evaluations of socioeconomic status predict adolescents’ global health ratings even when adjusting for the sociodemographic factors which shape them. PMID:17950168

Influence of Science, Technology, and Engineering Curriculum on Rural Midwestern High School Student Career Decisions

Science.gov (United States)

Killingsworth, John

Low degree completion in technical and engineering degrees is a growing concern for policymakers and educators in the United States. This study was an examination of the behaviors of adolescents specific to career decisions related to technology and engineering. The central research question for this study was: do rural, Midwestern high school technical and engineering curricula serve to engage students sufficiently to encourage them to persist through high school while sustaining their interests in technology and engineering careers? Engaging students in technology and engineering fields is the challenge for educators throughout the country and the Midwest. Rural schools have the additional challenge of meeting those issues because of resource limitations. Students in three Midwestern schools were surveyed to determine the level of interest in technology and engineering. The generalized likelihood ratio test was used to overcome concerns for small sample sizes. Accounting for dependent variables, multiple independent variables are examined using descriptive statistics to determine which have greater influence on career decisions, specifically those related to technology and engineering. A typical science curriculum is defined for rural Midwestern high schools. This study concludes that such curriculum achieves the goal of maintaining or increasing student interest and engagement in STEM careers. Furthermore, those schools that incorporate contextual and experiential learning activities into the curriculum demonstrate increased results in influencing student career choices toward technology and engineering careers. Implications for parents, educators, and industry professionals are discussed.

Image restoration from non-uniform magnetic field influence for direct Fourier NMR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sekihara, K.; Kuroda, M.; Kohno, H.

1984-01-01

A new technique is proposed for NMR image restoration from the influence of main magnetic field non-uniformities. This technique is applicable to direct Fourier NMR imaging. The mathematical basis and details of this technique are fully described. Modification to include image restoration from non-linear field gradient influence is also presented. Computer simulation demonstrates the effectiveness of this technique for both Fourier zeugmatography and spin-warp imaging. (author)

Oncoprotein MDM2 Overexpression is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Distinct Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Entities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Michael Boe; Nielsen, O; Pedersen, Niels Tinggaard

1999-01-01

MDM2 is an oncoprotein involved in the regulation of p53. MDM2 exerts its tumorigenic potential through p53-dependent and -independent mechanisms. It is frequently overexpressed in various malignancies. Little is known about the prognostic value of MDM2 expression in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL...... overexpression was present in 42 (22%) of 188 cases. The frequency was highest in aggressive/very aggressive NHL (P lymphomas, MDM2 overexpression was associated with higher-grade disease (P = .008). MDM2 overexpression was not related to a phenotype indicating...... altered p53. In univariate analysis MDM2 overexpression associated with short survival in follicle center lymphomas (P = .0256), extranodal marginal zone lymphomas (P lymphomas (P = .0047). The relation to poor prognosis was maintained in a Cox regression analysis including known...

International Practica Experiences as Events of Influence in a Teacher Candidates' Development

Science.gov (United States)

Maynes, Nancy; Allison, John; Julien-Schultz, Lynn

2012-01-01

Experience may influence beliefs and beliefs may influence practices. Following these premises, we investigated teacher candidates' post experience reflections nine months after an international practicum where they taught for three weeks in rural Kenya. Teacher candidates were placed in non-governmental organization (NGO) sponsored schools on the…

The Influence of Gender on the Likelihood of Using Soft Social Power Strategies in School Consultation

Science.gov (United States)

Getty, Kimberly C.; Erchul, William P.

2009-01-01

The social power typology developed originally by French and Raven in 1959 and revised by Raven in 1965 and 1992 was applied to study school consultation. Specifically, we investigated how the gender of school psychologist consultants and teacher consultees influence how likely consultants are to use soft power strategies, identified as those…

Influence of Retraining Programme on Self-Esteem of Primary School Teachers in Ebonyi State of Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Igbo, Janet N.; Eze, Justina U.; Eskay, M.; Onu, V. C.; Omeje, J.

2012-01-01

This study investigated the influence of retraining programme on self-esteem of primary school teachers in Ebonyi State of Nigeria. The study was guided by one research question and a null hypothesis. A purposively selected sample of 775 primary school teachers who attended capacity building retraining programme provided the data collected using…

Hemoglobin status of non-school going adolescent girls in three districts of Orissa, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulliyy, Gandham; Mallick, Gitanjali; Sethy, Girija Sankar; Kar, Santanu Kumar

2007-01-01

Anemia is a major public health problem in young children and pregnant women in SouthEast Asia, but a paucity of data on anemia in adolescent girls in India. Studies are lacking on the entire non-school going adolescent population. To determine the prevalence of anemia in non-school going adolescent girls and the association between hemoglobin (Hb) concentration and socioeconomic and nutritional factors. A cross-sectional community study conducted on a sample of 1937 healthy adolescent girls aged 11-19 years from three districts of Orissa, India. Sample size was determined using a probability proportionate to size cluster sampling. The adolescent girls were interviewed and anthropometric measurements were collected. The Hb estimation was carried out in capillary blood samples using the cyanmethemoglobin method. Anemia and nutritional status were evaluated according to standard procedures. The mean Hb concentration was 9.7 +/- 1.4 g/dL (range, 4.5-13.4 g/dL). Of the total adolescent girls, 1869 (96.5%) were anemic (Hb education levels of girls and their parents' family income, body mass index, and mid-upper arm circumference. This study revealed that prevalence of anemia was extremely high in non-school going adolescent girls (most were moderately anemic) and stressed the need for more research and public health interventions.

Do Charter Schools Ruin Local Public Schools in Poor Neighborhoods? Evidence from New York City. Working Paper #02-14

Science.gov (United States)

Cordes, Sarah

2014-01-01

Charter schools and school choice are popular reforms believed to improve student performance largely through market competition, increased innovation, or some combination of the two mechanisms. Opponents of school choice argue that such reforms sap needed funds and resources from the traditional public school system. Despite this claim, there has…

Influence of the non-singular stress on the crack extension and fatigue life

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, C.Z.; Recho, N.; Niu, Z.R.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► BEM is combined by characteristic analysis to calculate the singular stress field. ► A new method is proposed to evaluate the full stress field at crack tip region. ► Effect of non-singular stress on the propagation direction of the fatigue crack is analyzed. ► The influence of non-singular stress on the fatigue crack life is evaluated. - Abstract: The complete elasticity stress field at a crack tip region can be presented by the sum of the singular stress and several non-singular stress terms according to the Williams asymptotic expansion theory. The non-singular stress has a non-negligible influence on the prediction of the crack extension direction and crack growth rate under the fatigue loading. A novel method combining the boundary element method and the singularity characteristic analysis is proposed here to evaluate the complete stress field at a crack tip region. In this new method, any non-singular stress term in the Williams series expansion can be evaluated according to the computational accuracy requirement. Then, a modified Paris law is introduced to predict the crack propagation under the mixed-mode loading for exploring the influence of the non-singular stress on the fatigue life duration. By comparing with the existed experimental results, the predicted crack fatigue life when the non-singular stress is taken into consideration is more accurate than the predicted ones only considering the singular stress.

The Influence of Acculturation and Enculturation on Mexican American High School Students' Decision to Apply to College

Science.gov (United States)

Castillo, Linda G.; Lopez-Arenas, Araceli; Saldivar, Isaac M.

2010-01-01

This study examined the influence of acculturation, enculturation, parental education level, financial concerns, and gender on 106 Mexican American high school students' decisions to apply to college. Results indicated that acculturation and female gender were significant predictors. Implications for interventions with Latino high school students…

Do High School STEM Courses Prepare Non-College Bound Youth for Jobs in the STEM Economy?

Science.gov (United States)

Bozick, Robert; Srinivasan, Sinduja; Gottfried, Michael

2017-01-01

Our study assesses whether high school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses provide non-college bound youth with the skills and training necessary to successfully transition from high school into the STEM economy. Specifically, our study estimates the effects that advanced math, advanced science, engineering, and…

A prospective study of methamphetamine use as a predictor of high school non-attendance in Cape Town, South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parry Charles D

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This prospective study investigated the association between life-long methamphetamine and other drug use and high school non-attendance, in a sample of high school students in Cape Town, South Africa. Methods A random sample of 1535 high school students completed a baseline questionnaire in 2006, and were asked to complete a follow-up questionnaire 12 months later. The questionnaire included questions on substance use, including tobacco, alcohol, methamphetamine and cannabis use, demographic factors, and questions relating to school attendance and performance. Results Forty-three percent of the students surveyed at baseline did not complete a follow-up questionnaire after 12 months. Compared with students who were not using selected substances, an adjusted logistic regression model showed that life-time methamphetamine use in addition to other substances was significantly associated with non-attendance (OR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.24 - 5.36 when other non-substance use factors (repeating a year at school and being older than the norm for current grade were taken into account. Conclusions Early identification of students with methamphetamine and other substance use problems, and a supportive rather than punitive school policy, may be valuable in improving high school completion and student retention rates.

Shaping Attitude toward Christianity among Year Seven Pupils: The Influence of Sex, Church, Home and Primary School

Science.gov (United States)

Swindells, Tracy; Francis, Leslie J.; Robbins, Mandy

2010-01-01

This study set out to examine the differences in attitude toward Christianity among year seven secondary school pupils who had undertaken their primary education either in a Church of England voluntary aided school or a non-denominational state-maintained school. Data were provided by 492 year-seven pupils attending three Church of England…

A radical proposition: the brief but exceptional history of the Seattle school clinic, 1914-21.

Science.gov (United States)

Woolworth, Stephen

2013-04-01

This article examines the history of the Seattle school clinic (1914-21) and the efforts of public school administrators to institutionalize a full-service medical program for poor and working class children. At its height, thirty-six volunteer physicians and thirteen partially paid dentists organized within nine departments performed a range of diagnostic and "corrective" surgical procedures, including tonsillectomies, circumcisions, and eye surgeries. These practices were not funded by other public school systems across the United States, almost all of which delineated between prevention and treatment services. This article explains the exceptional nature of the clinic, examines the institutional tensions instigated by the expression of medical authority within the schools, and considers how clinic technologies influenced state-school-child relations.

State and district policy influences on district-wide elementary and middle school physical education practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Chriqui, Jamie F; Eyler, Amy; Carnoske, Cheryl; Slater, Sandy

2013-01-01

To examine the influence of state laws and district policies on district-wide elementary school and middle school practices related to physical education (PE) time and the percentage of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) time during PE. Multivariate, cross-sectional analysis of state laws, district wellness and PE policies, and district PE practices for school year 2010-2011 controlling for district-level urbanicity, region, size, race/ethnicity of students, and socioeconomic status and clustered on state. One hundred ninety-five public school districts located in 42 states. District-level PE coordinators for the included districts who responded to an online survey. Minutes and days of PE per week and percent time spent in MVPA during PE time. District PE coordinators reported significantly less PE time than national standards-82.9 and 189.6 minutes at the elementary school and middle school levels, respectively. Physical education was provided an average of 2.5 and 3.7 days per week, respectively; and the percentage of MVPA time in PE was 64.4% and 65.7%, respectively. At the elementary school level, districts in either states with laws governing PE time or in a state and district with a law/policy reported significantly more days of PE (0.63 and 0.67 additional days, respectively), and districts in states with PE time laws reported 18 more minutes of PE per week. At the middle school level, state laws were associated with 0.73 more days of PE per week. Neither state laws nor district policies were positively associated with percent MVPA time in PE. State laws and district policies can influence district-level PE practices-particularly those governing the frequency and duration of PE-although opportunities exist to strengthen PE-related laws, policies, and practices.

Promoting or suppressing resilience to mental health outcomes in at risk young people: The role of parental and peer attachment and school connectedness.

Science.gov (United States)

Oldfield, Jeremy; Stevenson, Andrew; Ortiz, Emily; Haley, Bethany

2018-04-01

Adolescent attachment relationships formed with parents are salient predictors of mental health. Few studies, however, have demonstrated whether peer attachment or school connectedness can predict resilience to mental health difficulties when a young person is at risk due to poor parental attachment. Ninety adolescents (44 females and 46 males) living in economically disadvantaged areas and attending informal schooling projects in and around Guatemala City participated. Participants completed self-report measures of parental and peer attachment, school connectedness and mental health. Resilience to mental health difficulties was predicted by more secure school connectedness but lower levels of secure peer attachment. School connectedness may provide a role in promoting resilience for mental health for adolescents living in risk, whereas the potential negative influence that secure attachments to peers exerts, in context of poor parental attachment, needs to be explored further. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors influencing non-utilisation of maternity care services in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Rather, socio-cultural beliefs in the TBA services, low educational status, and husband and family decision (gender influence) were found to be strong determinants of the non-utilization of the maternity centres by expectant mothers in this community. Improving the educational status of women, reducing the waiting time at ...

How Family Socioeconomic Status, Peer Behaviors, and School-Based Intervention on Healthy Habits Influence Adolescent Eating Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno-Maldonado, Concepción; Ramos, Pilar; Moreno, Carmen; Rivera, Francisco

2018-01-01

Psychologists in schools can play an important role in developing policies and programs to promote healthy eating habits. This study analyses the contributions of family socioeconomic status, peer influence (schoolmates' food consumption), and school-based nutrition interventions to explain adolescent eating behaviors. Data were obtained from the…

Parent Educational Involvement in Middle School: Longitudinal Influences on Student Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Garbacz, S Andrew; Zerr, Argero A; Dishion, Thomas J; Seeley, John R; Stormshak, Elizabeth A

2018-05-01

The present study examined influences of 6 th grade student-reported parent educational involvement on early adolescent peer group affiliations at 7 th and 8 th grade. In addition, student gender and ethnicity were explored as possible moderators. Drawn from a large effectiveness trial, participants in this study were 5,802 early adolescents across twenty middle schools in the Northwest region of the United States. Findings suggested that specifically parent's educational involvement in 6 th grade predicted increases in positive peer affiliation, when controlling for a general score of parent monitoring practices. The relation between parent educational involvement and peer affiliation varied by student ethnicity but not by gender. Findings suggest the social benefits of parent's engagement with the school context on early adolescent development.

The Association of Poor Academic Performance with Tic Disorders: A Longitudinal, Mainstream School-Based Population Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cubo, Esther; Gonzalez, Cristina; Ausin, Vanesa; Delgado, Vanesa; Saez, Sara; Calvo, Sara; Garcia Soto, Xose; Cordero, José; Kompoliti, Katie; Louis, Elan D; de la Fuente Anuncibay, Raquel

2017-01-01

Little is known about the academic performance of students with tic disorders (TD). Our aim was to investigate the association of TD and poor academic performance over time. Longitudinal, observational study of mainstream schoolchildren comparing grade retention (GR) and learning disorders (LD) in students with vs. without TD between 2010 and 2014. Students with vs. without TD based on DSM-IV-TR criteria, or with vs. without GR and LD were compared in terms of comorbidities, school, and environmental characteristics. The association of TD with GR was analyzed using hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs, and with LD using logistic regression analysis [Odds ratio (OR)]. Two hundred fifty-eight students were included (mean age 14.0 ± 1.71 years, 143 [55.4%] males). The incident rate for TD and GR was 2.6 and 3.3 per 100 persons-year, respectively. LD found in 21 (9.9%) students was associated with TD (OR 11.62, 95% CI 2.21-60.90, p = 0.004), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; OR 6.63, 95% CI 1.55-28.37, p = 0.01). Low psychological support (HRs 12.79, 95% CI 3.39-48.17) and low sport participation (HRs 6.41, 95% CI 1.54-26.78) were risk factors for GR. TD was associated with academic difficulties, namely, LD in conjunction with ADHD but not GR. The diagnosis of TD and comorbidities, and the initiation of proper treatment could have a favorable impact on school performance, and consequently on social development. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Traditional versus internet bullying in junior high school students.

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Gofin, Rosa; Avitzour, Malka

2012-11-01

To examine the prevalence of traditional and Internet bullying and the personal, family, and school environment characteristics of perpetrators and victims. Students (12-14 years old) in 35 junior high schools were randomly selected from the Jerusalem Hebrew (secular and religious) and Arab educational system (n = 2,610). Students answered an anonymous questionnaire, addressing personal, family, and school characteristics. Traditional bullying and Internet bullying for perpetrators and victims were categorized as either occurring at least sometimes during the school year or not occurring. Twenty-eight percent and 8.9 % of students were perpetrators of traditional and Internet bullying, respectively. The respective proportions of victims were 44.9 and 14.4 %. Traditional bullies presented higher Odds Ratios (ORs) for boys, for students with poor social skills (those who had difficulty in making friends, were influenced by peers in their behavior, or were bored), and for those who had poor communication with their parents. Boys and girls were equally likely to be Internet bullies and to use the Internet for communication and making friends. The OR for Internet bullying victims to be Internet bullying perpetrators was 3.70 (95 % confidence interval 2.47-5.55). Victims of traditional bullying felt helpless, and victims of traditional and Internet bullying find school to be a frightening place. There was a higher OR of Internet victimization with reports of loneliness. Traditional bully perpetrators present distinctive characteristics, while Internet perpetrators do not. Victims of traditional and Internet bullying feel fear in school. Tailored interventions are needed to address both types of bullying.

Schools Together: Enhancing the Citizenship Curriculum through a Non-Formal Education Programme

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O'Connor, Una

2012-01-01

In divided societies education for diversity, often introduced via the combined approaches of civic education, citizenship education and community-relations activity, is advocated as a core element of the school curriculum. Its delivery, through formal and non-formal educational approaches, has been routinely recognised as an opportunity for…

A pilot study (SWOG S0429 of weekly cetuximab and chest radiotherapy for poor-risk stage III non-small cell lung cancer

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Yuhchyau eChen

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC patients with poor performance status (PS or co-morbidities are often not candidates for standard chemoradiotherapy (chemoRT due to poor tolerance to treatments. A pilot study for poor-risk stage III NSCLC patients was conducted combining cetuximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR, with chest radiation (RT. Methods: Stage III NSCLC patients with Zubrod PS 2, or Zubrod PS 0-1 with poor pulmonary function and co-morbidities prohibiting chemoRT were eligible. A loading dose of cetuximab (400 mg/m2 was delivered week one, followed by weekly cetuximab (250 mg/m2/RT to 64.5 Gy in 1.8 Gy daily fractions, and maintenance weekly cetuximab (250 mg/m2 for two years or until disease progression. H-score for EGFR protein expression was conducted in available tumors.Results: Twenty-four patients were enrolled. Twenty two were assessed for outcome and toxicity. Median survival was 14 months and median progression-free survival was 8 months. The response rate was 47% and disease control rate was 74%. Toxicity assessment revealed 22.7% overall ≥ Grade 3 non-hematologic toxicities. Grade 3 esophagitis was observed in one patient (5%. The skin reactions were mostly Grade 1 or 2 except two of 22 (9% had Grade 3 acne and 1/22 (5% had Grade 3 radiation skin burn. Grade 3-4 hypomagnesemia was seen in 4 (18% patients. One patient (5% had elevated cardiac troponin and pulmonary emboli. H-score did not reveal prognostic significance. An initially planned second cohort of the study did not commence due to slow accrual, which would have added weekly docetaxel to cetuximab/RT after completion of the first cohort of patients. Conclusions: Concurrent weekly cetuximab/chest RT followed by maintenance cetuximab for poor-risk stage III NSCLC was well tolerated. Further studies with larger sample sizes will be useful to establish the optimal therapeutic ratio of this regimen.

Air pollution and the school air environment

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Fsadni, Peter; Montefort, Stephen

2015-01-01

There is growing concern about the association of school indoor air quality (SIAQ) with asthma, rhinitis, and rhinoconjunctivitis. Students and school staff deserve the highest standards of school air quality to ensure a safe and productive environment for our children’s education. Existing studies highlight the presence of several air pollutants present within school classrooms that have a direct association with poor health and poor student performance. Very little data exist ab...

Proximal and distal social influence on alcohol consumption and marijuana use among middle school adolescents.

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Salvy, Sarah-Jeanne; Pedersen, Eric R; Miles, Jeremy N V; Tucker, Joan S; D'Amico, Elizabeth J

2014-11-01

This study assesses the independent and combined effects of (1) perceived peer norms, (2) best friend use, and (3) being in the presence of others who use on middle school adolescents' consumption of marijuana and alcohol, and how the effects of these sources of social influence evolve over time as youth progress through middle school. The analytic sample consisted of 11,667 adolescents (50% female; >65% Hispanic) in 6th, 7th or 8th grade from 16 middle schools across three school districts in Southern California. Participants were assessed at 5 time points from 2008 to 2011. All sources of social influence were predictive of alcohol and marijuana consumption. As youth grew older, spending time with other adolescents who drink increased adolescents' likelihood of drinking alcohol, whereas perceived norms became less influential. Furthermore, as adolescents spent more time around other youths who drink, the predictive value of perceived norms on alcohol consumption decreased. Similarly, as youth grew older, the influence of best friend's use and spending time with other adolescents who use marijuana remain stable, whereas perceived norms became less influential. Findings suggest that perceived peer norms may be more influential in early adolescence; whereas proximal social determinants (e.g., being in the presence of other peers who consume) become more influential as youth enter middle adolescence. Prevention programs should continue to address misperception of norms with younger adolescents to decrease the chances of initiation, but also utilize strategies such as refusal skills and alternate coping mechanisms for older adolescents. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.