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School Year (school + year)
Selected AbstractsThe Impact of Length of the School Year on Student Performance and Earnings: Evidence From the German Short School Years,THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 523 2007Jörn-Steffen Pischke This article investigates how changing the length of the school year, leaving the basic curriculum unchanged, affects learning and subsequent earnings. I use variation introduced by the West German short school years in 1966,7, which exposed some students to a total of about two thirds of a year less of schooling while enrolled. I find that the short school years increased grade repetition in primary school and led to fewer students attending higher secondary school tracks. On the other hand, the short school years had no adverse effect on earnings and employment later in life. [source] Typologies of Family Functioning and Children's Adjustment During the Early School YearsCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2010Melissa L. Sturge-Apple Guided by family systems theory, the present study sought to identify patterns of family functioning from observational assessments of interparental, parent,child, and triadic contexts. In addition, it charted the implications for patterns of family functioning for children's developmental trajectories of adjustment in the school context across the early school years. Two-hundred thirty-four kindergarten children (129 girls and 105 boys; mean age = 6.0 years, SD = 0.50 at Wave 1) and their parents participated in this multimethod, 3-year longitudinal investigation. As expected, latent class analyses extracted 3 primary typologies of functioning including: (a) cohesive, (b) enmeshed, and (c) disengaged families. Furthermore, family patterns were differentially associated with children's maladaptive adjustment trajectories in the school context. The findings highlight the developmental utility of incorporating pattern-based approaches to family functioning. [source] Does Chronic Classroom Peer Rejection Predict the Development of Children's Classroom Participation During the Grade School Years?CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2008Gary W. Ladd A sample of 398 children was followed up from ages 5 to 12 to investigate the relation between peer group rejection and classroom participation. The participation trajectories of individuals and groups of children who were rejected for differing periods of time were examined both during and after rejection using piecewise growth curve analyses. The results showed that whereas during periods of rejection, children exhibited negative or negligible growth in participation, when nonrejected, they manifested positive growth. These findings corroborated the hypothesis that (a) peer rejection creates constraints that inhibit children's classroom participation and (b) the cessation of rejection enables children to become more active and cooperative participants in classroom activities. [source] The early identification of dyslexia: Children with English as an additional languageDYSLEXIA, Issue 3 2004Jane M. Hutchinson Abstract It is generally accepted that dyslexia should be identified early for interventions to have maximum effect. However, when children speak English as an additional language (EAL), diagnosis is more complex and there is concern that these children tend to be under-identified. This paper reports a longitudinal study following the development of phonological awareness skills in relation to progress in learning to read with a cohort of British Asian children learning EAL and their monolingual peers. It also sought to determine the usefulness of a measure of phonological skills for the identification of dyslexic-type difficulties in children learning EAL. Analysis revealed that both cohorts achieved similar levels of reading accuracy in school Years 2, 4 and 6, with higher levels of reading comprehension for the monolingual children and faster reading fluency for children learning EAL in each school year. There was a similar pattern of relationships between the reading measures and measures of phonological awareness for both groups of children. However, monolingual children achieved higher levels of rhyme detection and alliteration fluency whilst the children learning EAL achieved faster number naming times. Overall, a phonological assessment battery was useful in identifying reading accuracy related difficulties in both groups of children. However, concerns are raised about the sensitivity of such measures following the introduction of the Literacy Hour. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] UNPACKING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADOLESCENT EMPLOYMENT AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR: A MATCHED SAMPLES COMPARISON,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2007ROBERT APEL A large body of research has consistently found that intensive employment during the school year is associated with heightened antisocial behavior. These findings have been influential in prompting policy recommendations to establish stricter limits on the number of hours that students can work during the school year. We reexamine the linkage between first-time work at age 16 during the school year and problem behaviors. Our analysis uses group-based trajectory modeling to stratify youths based on their developmental history of crime and substance abuse. This stratification serves to control for preexisting differences between workers and nonworkers and permits us to examine whether the effect of work on problem behaviors depends on the developmental history of those behaviors. Contrary to most prior research we find no overall effect of working on either criminal behavior or substance abuse. However, we do find some indication that work may have a salutary effect on these behaviors for some individuals who had followed trajectories of heightened criminal activity or substance abuse prior to their working for the first time. [source] Israeli Kindergarten Teachers Cope With Terror and War: Two Implicit Models of ResilienceCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 1 2007DAVID BRODY ABSTRACT The resilience of teachers in the face of terror was examined in a narrative study of two Israeli kindergarten teachers over the course of one school year. During this time, there occurred frequent terror attacks as well as the threat of impending war with Iraq and the concomitant threat of chemical warfare. Each teacher's unique pattern of coping based on her own personal theory of resilience was examined. One teacher actively processed with her students stressful news items that the children had encountered. This was based on her belief that children would become more resilient if they had experience dealing with stress in a mediated fashion. The second teacher chose to create what she perceived to be a comfort zone for her students by actively avoiding open discussion about stressful events. She chose to focus on enhancing self-esteem, self-efficacy, and optimism, which she believed would produce greater resilience in her students. In developing these personal resilience theories, both teachers were able to move out of a paralyzed position that is typical of crisis and the immediate posttraumatic period, and move into active coping, thereby incorporating their unique theories of resilience into their personal professional knowledge. These practices were examined in light of current resilience theory. [source] School attendance in children with Type 1 diabetesDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 4 2005L. A. Glaab Abstract Aims To determine whether children with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) miss more school than their non-DM siblings and peers and to identify factors associated with school absenteeism in children with DM. Methods School absenteeism data for the 2000,01 school year were obtained for 78 children with DM, 38 non-DM siblings and 118 269 age-matched peers in Toronto, Ontario. Questionnaires and hospital records were utilized to evaluate child-, family- and diabetes-related factors associated with school absenteeism in children with DM. Results Children with DM missed only slightly, albeit significantly more school than both their non-DM siblings (mean ±sd: 10.9 ± 8.9 vs. 8.1 ± 8.1 days, P < 0.001) and peers (median: 8.8 vs. 5.5 days, P = 0.0005). A multiple regression analysis indicated that school absenteeism in children with DM was associated with their parents' attitudes towards school attendance (P = 0.002), poorer metabolic control (P = 0.006), shorter disease duration (P = 0.006) and a lack of aggressive behaviour (P = 0.02). Conclusions With current management strategies, near normal school attendance is a reasonable goal for all children with DM and should be strongly encouraged by parents, educators and health care professionals. [source] The early identification of dyslexia: Children with English as an additional languageDYSLEXIA, Issue 3 2004Jane M. Hutchinson Abstract It is generally accepted that dyslexia should be identified early for interventions to have maximum effect. However, when children speak English as an additional language (EAL), diagnosis is more complex and there is concern that these children tend to be under-identified. This paper reports a longitudinal study following the development of phonological awareness skills in relation to progress in learning to read with a cohort of British Asian children learning EAL and their monolingual peers. It also sought to determine the usefulness of a measure of phonological skills for the identification of dyslexic-type difficulties in children learning EAL. Analysis revealed that both cohorts achieved similar levels of reading accuracy in school Years 2, 4 and 6, with higher levels of reading comprehension for the monolingual children and faster reading fluency for children learning EAL in each school year. There was a similar pattern of relationships between the reading measures and measures of phonological awareness for both groups of children. However, monolingual children achieved higher levels of rhyme detection and alliteration fluency whilst the children learning EAL achieved faster number naming times. Overall, a phonological assessment battery was useful in identifying reading accuracy related difficulties in both groups of children. However, concerns are raised about the sensitivity of such measures following the introduction of the Literacy Hour. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Does smoking in adolescence affect body mass index, waist or height?ADDICTION, Issue 9 2007Findings from a longitudinal study ABSTRACT Aim To assess the effect of smoking uptake on body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and height during adolescence. Design Five-year longitudinal study. Setting Thirty-six schools in South London, England, selected by a stratified random sampling procedure designed to ensure ethnic and socio-economic diversity. Participants A total of 5863 students took part in the HABITS (Health and Behaviour in Teenagers) Study between 1999 and 2003. Measurements Self-reported smoking behaviour, saliva cotinine concentrations and measured weight, waist circumference and height were obtained, along with information on gender, ethnicity, socio-economic deprivation, pubertal status, self-reported exercise and dieting. Students were examined annually from school year 7 (ages 11,12) to year 11 (ages 15,16), with response rates ranging from 74 to 84%. A total of 2665 never smokers at year 7 with complete data for years 7 and 11 were included in the analyses. Findings Adjusting for year 7 BMI and other potential confounders, regular smokers (more than six cigarettes a week) at year 11 had significantly lower BMI (P = 0.002) than other students. Smokers defined by a cotinine above 15 ng/ml also had lower BMI (P < 0.0001). Waist circumferences were lower in regular smokers (P = 0.014) and cotinine-defined smokers (P < 0.011). No consistent association was found between smoking and height. The adjusted difference in weight between regular smokers and other students amounted to 1.8 kg (95% CI, 0.52,3.17) for an average-height student. Conclusion Taking up regular smoking during adolescence may result in a lower BMI, but the effect is small and of uncertain significance. [source] Changes in externalizing and internalizing behaviours over a school-year: differences between 6-year-old boys and girlsINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2006Annie Hammarberg Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in externalizing and internalizing problem behaviours in 6-year-olds with a focus on sex differences. Teachers rated problem behaviours at the beginning and at the end of the school year, 8 months apart, in 370 children (197 boys and 173 girls) attending 22 school preparatory classrooms. Although the majority of the children were quite stable, considerable negative and positive changes for both boys and girls in problem behaviours were found. The results showed that girls were more likely to change their externalizing behaviours in a positive direction than boys, whereas a tendency to the opposite pattern was found for internalizing behaviours. Boys were also found to be more prone to a negative change in problem behaviours of both types than girls were. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Protective factors related to antisocial behavior trajectoriesJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2002Gale M. Morrison A group of 115 fifth- and sixth-grade Latino students were surveyed at the beginning and the end of the school year before their transition to middle or junior-high school about their engagement in antisocial behaviors and about individual, social, and behavioral protective factors. The best predictors of decreases in antisocial behavior for these students, above and beyond variance for initial ratings and gender, were student perceptions of social support, parent supervision, and classroom participation. The importance of keeping students engaged in school academic work as a protection against antisocial behavior is emphasized as well as the need to help students gain skills necessary to access support for this academic work. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 58: 277,290, 2002. [source] Long-term effects of computer training of phonological awareness in kindergartenJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 1 2005Eliane Segers Abstract The present study examined the long-term effects of a computer intervention for the development of phonological awareness in Dutch kindergartners. Native Dutch and immigrant children worked with the software 15 min/week during one school year. Following a pretest , interim test , post-test , retention test design, the effects on rhyming, phonemic segmentation, auditory blending, and grapheme knowledge were assessed. The intervention showed significant immediate effects on rhyming and grapheme knowledge. The time spent on the computer games also correlated with the learning gains for the experimental group. In the first grade, retention effects were demonstrated after 4 months of formal reading education. [source] Media use as a reason for meal skipping and fast eating in secondary school childrenJOURNAL OF HUMAN NUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 2 2006J. Van den Bulck Abstract Objective, This study examined self-reported meal skipping and eating faster than usual with the goal of watching television or playing computer games. Method, Respondents reported their media use and indicated how often they skipped a meal to watch a favourite television programme or to play a computer game, and how often they ate faster than usual in order to watch television or play a computer game. Subjects, Respondents were 2546 adolescents of 13 (first year of secondary school) and 16 years (fourth year of secondary school) of age. Results, About one respondent in 10 skipped at least one meal every week for either television viewing or computer game playing. Weekly meal skipping for television viewing occurs more regularly in boys and first-year students, but particularly in teenagers who view 5 h or more daily (15% of the sample). The category of teenagers who play computer games four times a week or more (25.3% of the sample) is at increased risk of meal skipping; those who play more than four times a week are 10 times more likely weekly to skip a meal. A quarter of the adolescents eat faster at least once a week to be able to watch television or play a computer game. Regardless of gender and school year, teenagers' risk of eating faster progressively increases with their use of the media. Those who watch 4 h or more daily are about seven times more likely to skip a meal for television and those who play computer games at least four times a week are nine times more likely weekly to skip a meal. Conclusions, Unhealthy eating habits can be a side effect of heavy or excessive media use. Teenagers' use of television or game computers during nonworking or out-of-school hours partly displaces the amount of time that needs to be spent at meals. Practitioners and educators may try to encourage or restore a pattern of healthful meal consumption habits by reducing the amount of media use, and by supporting parental rule-making regarding children's eating habits and media use. [source] Oral health status of New Hampshire Head Start children, 2007-2008JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY, Issue 3 2010Ludmila Anderson MD Abstract Objectives: We report on the baseline prevalence and severity of dental caries of children enrolled in the New Hampshire Head Start program during the 2007-2008 school year. Methods: We selected a random cluster sample of 607 children aged 3-5 years attending 27 Head Start centers across the state. Four volunteer dentists provided oral examinations and determined the presence of untreated dental caries, caries experience, and treatment urgency. Results: Overall, 40 percent of the participating children had experienced dental caries, and 31 percent had at least one untreated decayed tooth. Approximately 22 percent of the children had evidence of maxillary anterior caries, 23 percent were in need of dental care, and <1 percent needed urgent care. Conclusions: The prevalence of dental caries is comparable with that reported by Head Start programs elsewhere. The prevalence of caries affecting maxillary anterior teeth is higher. Further studies should examine state-specific barriers to dental care among this population. [source] The efficacy of computer-based supplementary phonics programs for advancing reading skills in at-risk elementary studentsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 2 2006Paul Macaruso In this study we examined the benefits of computer programs designed to supplement regular reading instruction in an urban public school system. The programs provide systematic exercises for mastering word-attack strategies. Our findings indicate that first graders who participated in the programs made significant reading gains over the school year. Their post-test scores were slightly (but not significantly) greater than the post-test scores of control children who received regular reading instruction without the programs. When analyses were restricted to low-performing children eligible for Title I services, significantly higher post-test scores were obtained by the treatment group compared to the control group. At post-test Title I children in the treatment group performed at levels similar to non-Title I students. [source] Effects of fidelity of implementation on science achievement gains among english language learnersJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 7 2009Okhee Lee Abstract This study examined the effect of fidelity of implementation (FOI) on the science achievement gains of third grade students broadly and students with limited literacy in English specifically. The study was conducted in the context of a professional development intervention with elementary school teachers to promote science achievement of ELL students in urban schools. As the criterion for measuring FOI, we focused on the quality of instructional delivery in teaching science to ELL students. We measured FOI using both teachers' self-reports and classroom observations during the first year of the intervention. Science achievement was measured by a pretest and posttest over the school year. The results indicate that none of the measures of FOI using teachers' self-reports or classroom observations had significant effects on science achievement gains. The results are discussed in terms of issues about conceptualization and measurement of FOI in educational interventions. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 836,859, 2009 [source] Impact of a multiyear professional development intervention on science achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse elementary studentsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 6 2008Okhee Lee Abstract This study examined the impact of the 3-year implementation of a professional development intervention on science achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students. Teachers were provided with instructional units and workshops that were designed to improve teaching practices and foster positive beliefs about science and literacy with diverse student groups. The study involved third, fourth, and fifth grade students at six elementary schools in a large urban school district during the 2001 through 2004 school years. Significance tests of mean scores between pre- and posttests indicated statistically significant increases each year on all measures of science at all three grade levels. Achievement gaps among demographic subgroups sometimes narrowed among fourth grade students and remained consistent among third and fifth grade students. Item-by-item comparisons with NAEP and TIMSS samples indicated overall positive performance by students at the end of each school year. The consistent patterns of positive outcomes indicate the effectiveness of our intervention in producing achievement gains at all three grade levels while also reducing achievement gaps among demographic subgroups at the fourth grade. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 726,747, 2008 [source] Science inquiry and student diversity: Enhanced abilities and continuing difficulties after an instructional interventionJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 7 2006Okhee Lee This study examines elementary students' abilities to conduct science inquiry through their participation in an instructional intervention over a school year. The study involved 25 third and fourth grade students from six elementary schools representing diverse linguistic and cultural groups. Prior to and at the completion of the intervention, the students participated in elicitation sessions as they conducted a semistructured inquiry task on evaporation. The results indicate that students demonstrated enhanced abilities with some aspects of the inquiry task, but continued to have difficulties with other aspects of the task even after instruction. Although students from all demographic subgroups showed substantial gains, students from non-mainstream and less privileged backgrounds in science showed greater gains in inquiry abilities than their more privileged counterparts. The results contribute to the emerging literature on designing learning environments that foster science inquiry of elementary students from diverse backgrounds. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 607,636, 2006 [source] Professional development in inquiry-based science for elementary teachers of diverse student groupsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 10 2004Okhee Lee As part of a larger project aimed at promoting science and literacy for culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students, this study has two objectives: (a) to describe teachers' initial beliefs and practices about inquiry-based science and (b) to examine the impact of the professional development intervention (primarily through instructional units and teacher workshops) on teachers' beliefs and practices related to inquiry-based science. The research involved 53 third- and fourth-grade teachers at six elementary schools in a large urban school district. At the end of the school year, teachers reported enhanced knowledge of science content and stronger beliefs about the importance of science instruction with diverse student groups, although their actual practices did not change significantly. Based on the results of this first year of implementation as part of a 3-year longitudinal design, implications for professional development and further research are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 1021,1043, 2004 [source] An intervention study to enhance girls' interest, self-concept, and achievement in physics classesJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 9 2002Peter Häussler Many interest studies have shown the decline of students' interest in physics during secondary education, particularly among girls. Research into physics-related interests of students suggests applying different measures to reduce or reverse that trend such as: (a) suggesting curricular changes that do justice to the specific interests and experiences of girls, (b) improving the ability of teachers to support girls in the development of a positive physics related self-concept, and (c) changing to an organizational setting that gives girls a better chance to improve their self-concept about physics. The purpose of this study was to examine whether these hypothetically effective measures lead to an improvement of the situation for girls when implemented in the physics classroom. The intervention took a whole school year of some 60 one-hour lessons and comprised 12 experimental and 7 control classes of seventh graders (age about 13). Their immediate and long-term achievements, as well as their change of interest in physics, their subjectively experienced competence, and their physics-related self-concept were assessed by written tests at various stages of the intervention. The intervention proved successful and significantly improved most of these indicators for girls (and boys) in the experimental group. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 870,888, 2002 [source] School-Based Screening of the Dietary Intakes of Third Graders in Rural Appalachian OhioJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 11 2010Jana A. Hovland MS BACKGROUND: Children in Appalachia are experiencing high levels of obesity, in large measure because of inferior diets. This study screened the dietary intake of third graders residing in 3 rural Appalachian counties in Ohio and determined whether the Food, Math, and Science Teaching Enhancement Resource Initiative (FoodMASTER) curriculum improved their dietary intake. METHODS: Dietary intake was measured for 238 third graders at the beginning of the 2007 to 2008 school year and for 224 third graders at the end of that year. The FoodMASTER curriculum was delivered to 204 students (test group). Intake was measured using the Block Food Frequency Questionnaire 2004. The final analysis included 138 students. RESULTS: The FoodMASTER curriculum did not significantly affect the diets of the students in the test group, as no significant differences in intake of macronutrients, specific nutrients, or food groups were found between the test and control groups. Majorities of students did not meet the Recommended Dietary Allowance or Adequate Intakes for fiber, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin E. The students as a whole did not meet the MyPyramid recommendations for any food group, and nearly one fifth of their calories came from sweets. Significant differences in percentages of kilocalories from protein and sweets and in servings of fats, oils, and sweets were seen between groups of higher and lower socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: Energy-dense foods are replacing healthy foods in the diets of Ohio children living in rural Appalachia. The prevalence of poor dietary intake in Appalachia warrants further nutrition interventions involving programming for nutrition, such as future FoodMASTER curricula. [source] A Work Sampling Study of Provider Activities in School-Based Health CentersJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 6 2009Brian Mavis PhD ABSTRACT Background:, The purpose of this study was to describe provider activities in a convenience sample of School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs). The goal was to determine the relative proportion of time that clinic staff engaged in various patient care and non-patient care activities. Methods:, All provider staff at 4 urban SBHCs participated in this study; 2 were in elementary schools, 1 in a middle school, and 1 in a school with kindergarten through grade 8. The study examined provider activity from 6 days sampled at random from the school year. Participants were asked to document their activities in 15-minute intervals from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A structured recording form was used that included 35 activity categories. Results:, Overall, 1492 records were completed, accounting for 2708 coded activities. Almost half (48%) of all staff activities were coded as direct patient contact, with clinic operations the second largest category. Limited variations in activities were found across clinic sites and according to season. Conclusions:, A significant amount of provider activity was directed at the delivery of health care; direct patient care and clinic operations combined accounted for approximately 75% of clinic activity. Patient, classroom, and group education activities, as well as contacts with parents and school staff accounted for 20% of all clinic activity and represent important SBHC functions that other productivity measures such as billing data might not consistently track. Overall, the method was acceptable to professional staff as a means of tracking activity and was adaptable to meet their needs. [source] Using Achievement Goal Theory to Assess an Elementary Physical Education Running ProgramJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 6 2004Ping Xiang ABSTRACT: Using Achievement Goal Theory as a theoretical framework, this study examined an elementary physical education running program called Roadrunners and assessed relationships among achievement goals, perceived motivational climate, and student achievement behavior. Roadrunners promotes cardiovascular health, physical active lifestyles, and mastery behaviors such as persistence and effort. Students were required to run/walk once a week during the school year in their regularly scheduled physical education classes. Participants included 116 fourth graders (67 boys, 49 girls), who participated in Roadrunners since kindergarten. Near the end of spring semester, students completed a 36-item questionnaire assessing achievement goals and perceived motivational climate of Roadrunners. Student persistence/effort was assessed by the number of run/walk laps over the year-long program. Performance was measured by a timed, one-mile run. Results revealed the mastery goal related positively to student persistence/effort for Roadrunners and to their one-mile run performance. Interaction between the mastery goal and perception of a mastery-focused climate emerged as a positive predictor of student one-mile run performance. Results provided additional empirical support for mastery goals and perceptions of a mastery-focused climate as beneficial to student motivation and learning. [source] Using Technology to Teach Health: A Collaborative Pilot Project in AlabamaJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 10 2002Brian F. Geiger ABSTRACT: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified six adolescent risk behaviors that contribute to chronic diseases and disorders, including poor dietary habits, sedentary lifestyle, and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. This project pilot-tested a "train-the-trainer" model to diffuse an interactive health education software program into Alabama middle schools during a school year. Developmentally appropriate content included nutrition, physical activity, and prevention of substance use. Twenty-four site facilitators selected from 18 public school systems trained 364 colleagues and 2,249 students to use the software. During a school year, facilitators created 150 student assignments; they reported increased interest among students in health instruction. An essential feature of the project involved an active partnership among the funder, state department of education, university, and public schools. Planners provided technical assistance through face-to-face interaction, distance learning, telephone and e-mail communications, and a Web site. Planners and facilitators worked together to overcome barriers to the use of technology for health instruction. [source] Comparing Frequent and Average Users of Elementary School-Based Health Centers in the Bronx, New York CityJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 4 2002Raymundo S. Baquiran ABSTRACT: This study analyzed health care utilization at three school-based health centers (SBHCs) in the Bronx, New York City, and compared characteristics of "frequent" and "average" service users. Encounter form data for visits by 2,795 students who received services at least once between September 7, 1998, and June 30, 1999, were reviewed. Demographic comparisons between clinic users and the total school population, and between "frequent" (five or more visits/year) and "average" (one to four visits/year) users were made. The two groups also were compared after primary diagnoses were classified into five general categories. Some 96% (3,469/3,614) of students were registered in the SBHCs, of whom 81% (2,795/3,469) used clinic services at least once during the school year. Clinic users did not differ from the general school population by gender, but were younger (p < 0.01). "Frequent" users were more likely than "average" users to be older (p < 0.01), but they did not differ by gender, race/ethnicity, or insurance status. "Frequent" users comprised 28% of the clinic-using population, but accounted for 72.5% of all visits. Similarly, "average" users comprised 72.4% of the clinic-using population, but accounted for 27.5% of all visits. "Frequent" users generated most visits for mental health and chronic medical conditions, while "average" users generated most visits for preventive care, acute medical care, and injuries/emergencies (p < 0.01 for all). Important challenges for elementary SBHCs include developing new approaches that meet children's needs while protecting clinic resources, like scheduling group interventions for those with on-going health care needs who require frequent use of school health services. [source] Using instructional logs to identify quality in educational settingsNEW DIRECTIONS FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, Issue 121 2009Brian Rowan When attempting to identify educational settings that are most effective in improving student achievement, classroom process (that is, the way in which a teacher interacts with his or her students) is a key feature of interest. Unfortunately, high-quality assessment of the student-teacher interaction occurs all too infrequently, despite the critical role that understanding and measuring such processes can play in school improvement. This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of two common approaches to studying these processes,direct classroom observation and annual surveys of teachers,and then describes the ways in which instructional logs can be used to overcome some of the limitations of these two approaches when gathering data on curriculum content and coverage. Classroom observations are expensive, require extensive training of raters to ensure consistency in the observations, and because of their expense generally cannot be conducted frequently enough to enable the researcher to generalize observational findings to the entire school year or illuminate the patterns of instructional change that occur across the school year. Annual surveys are less expensive but often suffer from self-report bias and the bias that occurs when teachers are asked to retrospectively report on their activities over the course of a single year. Instructional logs offer a valid, reliable, and relatively cost-effective alternative for collecting detailed information about classroom practice and can overcome some of the limitations of both observations and annual surveys. [source] Summer learning and its implications: Insights from the Beginning School StudyNEW DIRECTIONS FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, Issue 114 2007Karl L. Alexander There is perhaps no more pressing issue in school policy today than the achievement gap across social lines. Achievement differences between well-to-do children and poor children and between disadvantaged racial and ethnic minorities and majority whites are large when children first begin school, and they increase over time. Despite years of study and an abundance of good intentions, these patterned achievement differences persist, but who is responsible, and how are schools implicated? The increasing gap seems to suggest that schools are unable to equalize educational opportunity or, worse still, that they actively handicap disadvantaged children. But a seasonal perspective on learning yields a rather different impression. Comparing achievement gains separately over the school year and the summer months reveals that much of the achievement gap originates over the summer period, when children are not in school. The authors review Beginning School Study research on differential summer learning across social lines (that is, by family socioeconomic level) and its implications for later schooling outcomes, including high school curriculum placements, high school dropout, and college attendance. These studies document the extent to which these large summer learning differences impede the later educational progress of children of low socioeconomic status. Practical implications are discussed, including the need for early and sustained interventions to prevent the achievement gap from opening wide in the first place and for high-quality summer programming focused on preventing differential summer learning loss. [source] Childhood body mass index gain during the summer versus during the school yearNEW DIRECTIONS FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, Issue 114 2007Douglas B. Downey The nationwide increase in obesity affects all population sectors, but the impact on children is of special concern because overweight children are prone to becoming overweight adults. Contrary to the opinion of experts, research suggests that schools may be more part of the solution than the problem. Recent seasonal comparison research (comparing children's outcomes during the summer and during school year) reports that children gain body mass index (BMI) nearly twice as fast during the summer as during the school year. Whereas most children experience healthier BMI gain during the school year than the summer, this is especially the case for black and Hispanic children and for children already overweight. [source] Associates of school absenteeism in adolescents with sickle cell diseasePEDIATRIC BLOOD & CANCER, Issue 1 2009Lisa A. Schwartz PhD Abstract Background Despite high rates of school absenteeism in adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD), the issue remains understudied. Potential associates of school absenteeism in adolescents with SCD include demographic (age, income), psychosocial (IQ, self-efficacy, competence, internalizing symptoms, negative thinking), and health-related (hemoglobin, health-care utilization, pain, disease knowledge). Procedure Forty participants ages 12,18 completed measures of psychosocial functioning, IQ, and pain. Medical chart reviews identified other health-related variables. A subsample also completed an assessment of goals. Using school records, absenteeism was the percent of school days missed in the previous year. Correlations tested associates of absenteeism and linear regression tested a model of absenteeism. Results Participants missed an average of 12% of the school year and more than 35% missed at least 1 month of school. Health-related and psychosocial variables, but not demographic variables, correlated with absenteeism. Attendance at clinic appointments and parent-reported teen pain frequency were significant associates of absenteeism in the regression model. For those who completed goal assessment, over 40% of goals identified were academically focused. Absenteeism was positively related to current academic goals and health-related hindrance of academic goals, and negatively related to future-oriented academic goals. Conclusions School absenteeism is a significant problem for adolescents with SCD despite the presence of academic goals. Collaboration between schools, parents, patients, and providers to understand and manage the impact of SCD on school attendance is recommended. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;52:92,96. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Prevalence of asthma and asthma-like symptoms in inner-city elementary schoolchildrenPEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY, Issue 2 2002Mayris P. Webber Dr Abstract American inner-city children are disproportionately affected by asthma. During the 1999,2000 school year, we conducted a survey of 6 Bronx, New York City elementary schools to assess the prevalence of asthma and asthma-like symptoms as reported by parents. Children with probable asthma had symptoms within the last 12 months and parents who indicated that their child had asthma. Children with possible asthma had symptoms within the last 12 months but lacked a diagnosis. Overall, 74% (4,775/6,433) of parents returned completed surveys, identifying 20% (949/4,775) of children as probable asthmatics, and 12% (589/4,775) as possible asthmatics. In multivariate analyses, probable asthma was associated with: Puerto Rican, Black, and white race/ethnicity, male gender, having health insurance, and registration at the poorest school. Possible asthma was associated with lack of health insurance and female gender, but was not associated with any specific race/ethnicity. Our findings support the effectiveness of school-based surveys to identify children at high risk for asthma. The challenge remains to engage children and families in appropriate follow-up care and to manage their illness, either through the use of school-based health centers or stronger links to community services.Pediatr Pulmonol. 2002; 34:105,111. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||