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High Schools (high + schools)
Kinds of High Schools Selected AbstractsThe Use of the Theory of Planned Behavior to Assess Predictors of Intention to Eat Fruits Among 9th-Grade Students Attending Two Public High Schools in Eastern North CarolinaFAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL, Issue 1 2008Roman Pawlak Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify specific beliefs regarding eating two cups of fruits among ninth-grade youth attending public high schools in easternNorth Carolinautilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Methods: A preliminary open-ended questionnaire was used to elicit beliefs about fruits. These beliefs along with statements adopted from the literature tailored toward fruit intake were used to develop a survey instrument. This survey was subsequently used to measure the variables of the TPB. There were 157 students (103 girls [65.6%], mean ±SD age =14.69 ±0.79 and 54 boys [34.4%], mean ±SD age = 14.74 ±0.89) from two schools who completed the final copy of the survey. Results: Attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly predicted intention to eat fruits, accounting for 55% of variance. Conclusion: The findings of this research suggest that peer leaders may have a significant influence on intentions to eat fruits. [source] The Plight of the "Able Student": Ruth Wright Hayre and the Struggle for Equality in Philadelphia's Black High Schools, 1955,1965HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2010Matthew Delmont First page of article [source] Physical Activity, Dietary Practices, and Other Health Behaviors of At-Risk Youth Attending Alternative High SchoolsJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 4 2004Martha Y. Kubik ABSTRACT: This study assessed the interest of alternative high school staff in intervention research on students' eating and physical activity habits und the feasibility of conducting such research in alternative school settings. A two-phase descriptive design incorporated both quantitative and qualitative methods. In fall/winter 2001,2002, alternative high school administrators in Minnesota were surveyed (response rate = 83%; n = 130/157). During summer 2002, one-on-one, semistruclured interviews were conducted with key-school personnel (n = 15) from urban and suburban schools. Findings indicated few schools had been invited to participate in research on nutrition (11%) and physical activity (7%). However, more than 80% of administrators reported interest in their students participating in such research. Most schools offered health and PE classes and had access to indoor gym facilities and outdoor play areas. While most schools offered a school lunch program, participation was low, cold lunches were common, and food often was unappealing. Beverage and snack vending machines were common. Overall, the physical environment of most alternative schools did not support physical activity and healthy eating as normative behavior. Interest in interventions on physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary practices, und other priority health-risk behavior common in students attending alternative schools was high among teachers and administrators. Results suggest research in alternative high schools is feasible and successful implementation and evaluation of programs possible. [source] High Schools Can Be "Toxic"AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2002Alice Sterling Honig PhD Book reviewed in this article: And Words Can Hurt Forever. How to Protect Adolescents From Bullying, Harassment, and Emotional Violence, by J. Garbarino and E. DeLara. [source] Efficiency of Junior High Schools and the Role of Proprietary StructureANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2003by Gian Paolo Barbetta We analyze a sample of 497 schools located in Piemonte, a region in the North-Western part of the country, distinguishing between public, private for-profit and private nonprofit schools. In stage one of the analysis, we provide robust estimates of efficiency scores, using the two most widely known techniques in applied works, namely Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontiers (SF). In stage two, we suggests that proprietary structure matters in explaining efficiency. Nonprofit schools are more efficient than public ones, whereas for-profit counterparts are outperformed by public producers. Moreover, we find that foreign and disabled students affects negatively efficiency, raising concerns for cream-skimming practices among private producers. Finally, school size is another important determinant of efficiency. [source] Negotiating Individualist and Collectivist Futures: Emerging Subjectivities and Social Forms in Papua New Guinean High SchoolsANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2003Assistant Professor Peter Demerath This article explains the academic disengagement of a critical mass of high school students in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea, as resulting in part from emerging personal subjectivities and new social networks. Based on a year of ethnographic research in 1994,95, the article describes the authority these young people attributed to their own perceptions of the limited opportunity structures facing them and to the idealized village-based egalitarian student identity being circulated through peer networks. As such, it illuminates the educational implications of youth culture, and demonstrates how local and global processes are mediated through the social fields of high schools. [source] Decrease in the Prevalence of Adolescent Alcohol Use and its Possible Causes in Japan: Periodical Nationwide Cross-Sectional SurveysALCOHOLISM, Issue 2 2009Yoneatsu Osaki Background:, Trends in alcohol drinking prevalence were assessed among Japanese adolescents, and possible reasons for a decrease in drinking prevalence observed in 2004. Methods:, Cross-sectional nationwide surveys were conducted periodically. High schools were randomly sampled from throughout Japan in 1996, 2000, and 2004. All enrolled students in sampled schools were subjects of the surveys. Self-reporting anonymous questionnaires were collected from 115,814 students in 1996, 106,297 in 2000, and 102,451 in 2004. Questions about drinking prevalence of students and family members, proportion of students who have no friends, and sources of alcohol were included. Students who drunk at least one day of the 30 days preceding the survey were defined as the current drinkers. Results:, The drinking prevalence in 2004 was decreased in comparison to that in 1996 and 2000 in both sexes and in all school grades. The current drinking rate (monthly drinker) among junior high school boys was 29.4% in 1996, 29.0% in 2000, and 20.5% in 2004, while that among senior high school boys was 49.7%, 48.7%, and 36.2%, respectively. The respective prevalence among junior and senior girls was 24.0%, 25.5%, and 20.0% and 40.8%, 42.1%, and 34.1%. The prevalent sources of alcohol beverages were searching in home, stores (convenience store, supermarket, or gas-stand), liquor shops, and bars. An analysis of the reasons for this decrease identified a decrease in drinking prevalence in students' families, especially by fathers and older brothers, and an increase in the proportion of students who had no friends. Conclusions:, A decrease in drinking prevalence of male family members and a limitation of sources of alcoholic beverages may contribute to the decrease in adolescent drinking prevalence. [source] Toward the School as Sanctuary Concept in Multicultural Urban Education: Implications for Small High School ReformCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 3 2006RENÉ ANTROP-GONZÁLEZ ABSTRACT This article describes the school as sanctuary concept through the voices of students enrolled in a small urban high school that curricularly privileges the linguistic, cultural, and sociopolitical realities of its communities. Moreover, this particular school was founded by students and teachers over 30 years ago as a direct response to pedagogically and psychologically colonizing large comprehensive high schools in a major urban school district. According to students, a school becomes a sanctuary when there are four essential components in place. These sanctuary-like attributes include multiple definitions of caring relations between students and their teachers, the importance of a familial-like school environment, the necessity of psychologically and physically safe school spaces, and allowing students a forum in which they are encouraged to affirm their racial/ethnic pride. Implications for forwarding this concept within a larger discourse around urban school reform are discussed. [source] Traumatic dental injuries in an urban adolescent population in Tirana, AlbaniaDENTAL TRAUMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2010Dorina Sula Thelen Material & methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out to acquire epidemiological data about TDI in the permanent incisors of Albanian adolescents. Participants (n = 2789) were adolescents of both genders, aged 16,18 years, attending public high schools in Tirana. Results: The occurrence of TDI in the incisors ranged from 8.9% of 16-year-olds to 10.5% of 18-year-olds. A greater proportion of boys (12.4%) had TDI compared with girls (7.7). The most commonly reported causes were collisions (27.5%) followed by physical leisure activities and sports (mainly cycling and swimming/diving) (14.1%) and falls (13.4%). Of the adolescents affected by TDI, 32% had unmet treatment need because of no or inadequate treatment. Adolescents living in districts with low socio-economic level had significantly more TDI with unmet treatment need than those living in districts with high socio-economic level. Conclusion: The occurrence of TDI among Albanian adolescents was moderate. Adolescents who came from low socio-economic districts had a greater probability of having TDI with unmet treatment need. [source] Smoking-based selection and influence in gender-segregated friendship networks: a social network analysis of adolescent smokingADDICTION, Issue 7 2010Liesbeth Mercken ABSTRACT Aims The main goal of this study was to examine differences between adolescent male and female friendship networks regarding smoking-based selection and influence processes using newly developed social network analysis methods that allow the current state of continuously changing friendship networks to act as a dynamic constraint for changes in smoking behaviour, while allowing current smoking behaviour to be simultaneously a dynamic constraint for changes in friendship networks. Design Longitudinal design with four measurements. Setting Nine junior high schools in Finland. Participants A total of 1163 adolescents (mean age = 13.6 years) who participated in the control group of the ESFA (European Smoking prevention Framework Approach) study, including 605 males and 558 females. Measurements Smoking behaviour of adolescents, parents, siblings and friendship ties. Findings Smoking-based selection of friends was found in male as well as female networks. However, support for influence among friends was found only in female networks. Furthermore, females and males were both influenced by parental smoking behaviour. Conclusions In Finnish adolescents, both male and female smokers tend to select other smokers as friends but it appears that only females are influenced to smoke by their peer group. This suggests that prevention campaigns targeting resisting peer pressure may be more effective in adolescent girls than boys. [source] Exposure to cannabis in popular music and cannabis use among adolescentsADDICTION, Issue 3 2010Brian A. Primack ABSTRACT Background Cannabis use is referenced frequently in American popular music, yet it remains uncertain whether exposure to these references is associated with actual cannabis use. We aimed to determine if exposure to cannabis in popular music is associated independently with current cannabis use in a cohort of urban adolescents. Methods We surveyed all 9th grade students at three large US urban high schools. We estimated participants' exposure to lyrics referent to cannabis with overall music exposure and content analyses of their favorite artists' songs. Outcomes included current (past 30 days) and ever use of cannabis. We used multivariable regression to assess independent associations between exposures and outcomes while controlling for important covariates. Results Each of the 959 participants was exposed to an estimated 27 cannabis references per day [correction added on 19 January 2010, after first online publication: 40 has been changed to 27] (standard deviation = 73 [correction added on 19 January 2010, after first online publication: 104 has been changed to 73]). Twelve per cent (n = 108) were current cannabis users and 32% (n = 286) had ever used cannabis. Compared with those in the lowest tertile of total cannabis exposure in music, those in the highest tertile of exposure were almost twice as likely to have used cannabis in the past 30 days (odds ratio = 1.83; 95% confidence interval = 1.04, 3.22), even after adjusting for socio-demographic variables, personality characteristics and parenting style. As expected, however, there was no significant relationship between our cannabis exposure variable and a sham outcome variable of alcohol use. Conclusions This study supports an independent association between exposure to cannabis in popular music and early cannabis use among urban American adolescents. [source] RETURNS TO EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIAECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 3 2008ANDREW LEIGH Using data from the 2001,2005 waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, and taking account of existing estimates of ability bias and social returns to schooling, I estimate the economic return to various levels of education. Raising high school attainment appears to yield the highest annual benefits, with per-year gains as high as 30% (depending on the adjustment for ability bias). Some forms of vocational training also appear to boost earnings, with significant gains from Certificate Level III/IV qualifications (for high school dropouts only), and from Diploma and Advanced Diploma qualifications. At the university level, bachelor degrees and postgraduate qualifications are associated with significantly higher earnings, with each year of a bachelor degree raising annual earnings by about 15%. For high schools, slightly less than half the gains are due to increased productivity, with the rest being due to higher levels of participation. For vocational training, about one-third of the gains are from productivity, and two-thirds from greater participation. For universities, most of the gains are from productivity. I find some evidence that the productivity benefits of education are higher towards the top of the distribution, but the effects on hours worked are higher towards the bottom of the conditional earnings distribution. [source] Preventing heavy alcohol use in adolescents (PAS): cluster randomized trial of a parent and student intervention offered separately and simultaneouslyADDICTION, Issue 10 2009Ina M. Koning ABSTRACT Aims To evaluate the effectiveness of two preventive interventions to reduce heavy drinking in first- and second-year high school students. Design and setting Cluster randomized controlled trial using four conditions for comparing two active interventions with a control group from 152 classes of 19 high schools in the Netherlands. Participants A total of 3490 first-year high school students (mean 12.68 years, SD = 0.51) and their parents. Intervention conditions (i) Parent intervention (modelled on the Swedish Örebro Prevention Program) aimed at encouraging parental rule-setting concerning their children's alcohol consumption; (ii) student intervention consisting of four digital lessons based on the principles of the theory of planned behaviour and social cognitive theory; (iii) interventions 1 and 2 combined; and (iv) the regular curriculum as control condition. Main outcome measures Incidence of (heavy) weekly alcohol use and frequency of monthly drinking at 10 and 22 months after baseline measurement. Findings A total of 2937 students were eligible for analyses in this study. At first follow-up, only the combined student,parent intervention showed substantial and statistically significant effects on heavy weekly drinking, weekly drinking and frequency of drinking. At second follow-up these results were replicated, except for the effects of the combined intervention on heavy weekly drinking. These findings were consistent across intention-to-treat and completers-only analyses. Conclusions Results suggest that adolescents as well as their parents should be targeted in order to delay the onset of drinking, preferably prior to onset of weekly drinking. [source] A computerized harm minimization prevention program for alcohol misuse and related harms: randomized controlled trialADDICTION, Issue 4 2009Laura Vogl ABSTRACT Aims Hazardous alcohol use is a leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults world-wide, yet few effective prevention interventions exist. This study was the first to examine a computerized harm minimization intervention to reduce alcohol misuse and related harms in adolescents. Design Cluster randomized controlled trial of a six-session curriculum-integrated harm minimization prevention program. The intervention was delivered by computer in the form of a teenage drama, which provided education through alcohol-related scenarios to which young people could relate. Setting Schools in Australia. Participants A total of 1466 year 8 students (13 years) from 16 high schools in Australia were allocated randomly to a computerized prevention program (n = 611, eight schools) or usual classes (n = 855, eight schools). Measurements Change in knowledge, alcohol use, alcohol-related harms and alcohol expectancies. Findings A computerized prevention program was more effective than usual classes in increasing alcohol-related knowledge of facts that would inform safer drinking choices and decreasing the positive social expectations which students believed alcohol may afford. For females it was effective in decreasing average alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harms and the frequency of drinking to excess (more than four standard drinks; 10 g ethanol). For males the behavioural effects were not significant. Conclusions A harm minimization approach is effective in educating young people about alcohol-related risks and is effective in reducing risky drinking and harms among girls. Reduction of problems among boys remains a challenge. [source] The Use of the Theory of Planned Behavior to Assess Predictors of Intention to Eat Fruits Among 9th-Grade Students Attending Two Public High Schools in Eastern North CarolinaFAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL, Issue 1 2008Roman Pawlak Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify specific beliefs regarding eating two cups of fruits among ninth-grade youth attending public high schools in easternNorth Carolinautilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Methods: A preliminary open-ended questionnaire was used to elicit beliefs about fruits. These beliefs along with statements adopted from the literature tailored toward fruit intake were used to develop a survey instrument. This survey was subsequently used to measure the variables of the TPB. There were 157 students (103 girls [65.6%], mean ±SD age =14.69 ±0.79 and 54 boys [34.4%], mean ±SD age = 14.74 ±0.89) from two schools who completed the final copy of the survey. Results: Attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly predicted intention to eat fruits, accounting for 55% of variance. Conclusion: The findings of this research suggest that peer leaders may have a significant influence on intentions to eat fruits. [source] Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection Among Schoolchildren and Teachers in TaiwanHELICOBACTER, Issue 3 2007Ding-Bang Lin Abstract Background:,Helicobacter pylori are associated with chronic antral gastritis that is related to duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer, and probably gastric adenocarcinoma. Infection of H. pylori during childhood is considered an important risk factor for gastric carcinoma in adult life. Materials and Methods:, To examine the epidemiologic characteristics of H. pylori infection among schoolchildren in central Taiwan, a community-based survey was carried out using stratified sampling in 10 elementary schools and three junior high schools including students and theirs teachers. Serum specimens of 1950 healthy schoolchildren (aged 9,15 years old) and 253 teachers who were randomly sampled were screened for the H. pylori antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analysis was performed by using the spss for Windows statistical software system. Results:, A total of 332 subjects were H. pylori antibodies positive, giving an overall prevalence of 15.1%. The age-specific seropositive rates were 11.0% in 9,12 years age group, 12.3% in 13,15 years age group, and 45.1% in the teacher group. The older the age, the higher the seroprevalence (OR = 11.53; 95% CI = 6.73,19.74; p < .001 for children vs. teachers). There was no difference in the seroprevalence of H. pylori infection by gender, ethnicity, geographical area, socioeconomic level, parental education, sibship size, family members, and source of drinking water. Conclusion:, The teachers had a much higher prevalence of H. pylori antibodies. The finding suggests that these teachers (adults) might be infected in their early childhood and implies that the poor environmental and hygienic conditions might be responsible for it. It seemed that poor water supply system, sewage disposal, and other environmental hygiene in adult might play some roles in H. pylori infection in Taiwan (before early 1980s). [source] The Chances for Children Teen Parent,Infant Project: Results of a pilot intervention for teen mothers and their infants in inner city high schools,INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 4 2008Hillary A. Mayers Adolescent motherhood poses serious challenges to mothers, to infants, and ultimately to society, particularly if the teen mother is part of a minority population living in an urban environment. This study examines the effects of a treatment intervention targeting low-income, high-risk teen mothers and their infants in the context of public high schools where daycare is available onsite. Our findings confirm the initial hypothesis that mothers who received intervention would improve their interactions with their infants in the areas of responsiveness, affective availability, and directiveness. In addition, infants in the treatment group were found to increase their interest in mother, respond more positively to physical contact, and improve their general emotional tone, which the comparison infants did not. Importantly, these findings remain even within the subset of mothers who scored above the clinical cutoff for depression on the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D; L. Radloff, 1977), confirming that it is possible to improve mother,infant interaction without altering the mother's underlying depression. The implications of these findings are significant both because it is more difficult and requires more time to alter maternal depression than maternal behavior and because maternal depression has been found to have such devastating effects on infants. [source] Teens' consumer interaction styles: the impact of assertive and aggressive behaviour on attitudes towards marketing practicesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 2 2010Christy Crutsinger Abstract Over half-billion global teens between the ages of 13 and 18 years represent a dynamic opportunity for marketers who wish to grow their businesses and build consumer loyalty. Consumer interaction styles are the consistent behaviour patterns that individuals employ in transactions or exchanges in the marketplace. Assertiveness and aggressiveness represent two distinct interaction styles that enable individuals to achieve a desired outcome. Because teen consumers are an important consumer segment and subscribe to the notion that their voices must be heard, understanding their interaction styles is necessary for businesses and marketers. The purpose of this study was to examine teens' consumer interaction styles according to specific demographic and lifestyle characteristics and investigate the impact of assertive and aggressive interaction styles on attitudes towards marketing practices (i.e. product, retailing, advertising, and pricing). Data were collected from a US teen sample (n = 467) at both rural and urban high schools. Independent t -tests compared the propensity of teens' assertive and aggressive consumer interaction styles according to specific demographic and lifestyle characteristics. Structural Equation Modeling using AMOS 6.0 program was performed to test the hypothesized relationships. Results indicated that an assertive interaction style was pervasive among US teen consumers, while the aggressive interaction style had disparities according to unique demographic and lifestyle characteristics. Assertive and aggressive interaction styles demonstrated negative influences on teen consumers' attitudes towards products and retailing practices. By interpreting the negative impact of teens' assertive and aggressive consumer interaction styles, marketers can develop effective strategies that appeal to this demanding consumer. [source] Fear of blood, injury, and injections, and its relationship to dental anxiety and probability of avoiding dental treatment among 18-year-olds in NorwayINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRIC DENTISTRY, Issue 3 2008MARGRETHE VIKA Background:, More knowledge about the relationship between blood,injury,injection phobia (BIIP) and dental anxiety (DA) may give new clinically relevant information in the assessment and management of children with DA. Objective:, The aims of this study were to explore the relationships between BIIP and DA, and to explore to what extent the two subtypes of BIIP in combination with DA are related to self-reported probability of avoiding dental treatment if a dental injection is needed. Methods:, The subjects were a random sample of 1385 18-year-olds attending high schools in a county of Norway, and the data were collected by use of questionnaires completed in classrooms. The survey instruments applied were Dental Fear Survey, Injection Phobia Scale-Anxiety, and Mutilation Questionnaire. Results:, About 11% of the subjects with DA and subtypes of BIIP, respectively, reported high probability of avoiding dental treatment in a situation where a dental injection was possibly needed. In multiple regression analysis, only DA contributed to self-reports of high probability of avoiding dental treatment. Conclusion:, The results indicate that among adolescents, BIIP is relatively often connected with DA. Clinical implications are discussed. [source] Games, Gambling, and Children: Applying the Precautionary Principle for Child HealthJOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIC NURSING, Issue 4 2008Adnan A. Hyder MD TOPIC:,We were compelled by the trends of Internet gambling, state-initiated gambling outlets, and of having gambling social events in middle schools and high schools in the United States to examine gambling and its health effects on children and adolescents. PURPOSE AND SOURCES:,We researched trends in adolescent gambling as well as its association with negative health and sociological outcomes through the literature for child and adolescent gambling studies. CONCLUSION:,The literature shows gambling to be associated with many negative health and socioeconomic effects. The increasing participation of children and adolescents is of particular concern, for the earlier a person starts gambling, the more likely that person is to develop serious gambling problems. We propose the application of the precautionary principle in this situation. Until it is proven that adolescents will not be negatively affected by exposure to gambling, the exposure of adolescents to gambling must be carefully restricted. [source] Parental influences and social modelling of youth lottery participationJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2003Jennifer R. Felsher Abstract Objective The present study sought to investigate the relationship between perceived parental lottery involvement and the bearing this has upon youth lottery participation. Participants One thousand seventy(two youth, 10,18 years of age participated from 20 elementary and nine high schools throughout the province of Ontario, Canada. Measurements Measuring Youth Lottery Participation and Playing Behaviour Questionnaire and the DSM(IV(MR(J Revised to screen for youth pathological gambling. Findings Youth reported playing all forms of lottery tickets with 77% reporting that their parents purchase scratch tickets, lottery draws (50%), and sports tickets (23%) for them. Parental purchases of lottery tickets for their children increased by level of gambling severity. Participants with significant gambling problems perceived higher parental participation in the lottery compared to non(gamblers and social gamblers. The majority of participants reported that their parents were aware of their lottery involvement and were not afraid of getting caught purchasing lottery tickets in spite of legal prohibitions. Conclusion The results suggest youths' perception of parental involvement with the lottery plays an important role in the initiation and maintenance of lottery participation for youth. Given that youth report receiving lottery tickets from their parents, it is clear that the lottery is perceived as an innocuous form of gambling. Public awareness programmes and education of this issue is critical. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Improving middle school climate through teacher-centered changeJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2009Jean E. Rhodes A collaborative school-based intervention aimed at modifying relationships among administrators and teachers was implemented in three middle and junior high schools. Across the intervention schools, teachers were active collaborators in identifying problems and then articulating and implementing customized interventions to redress those problems. Analyses of both teacher (N=180) and student (N=2,631) data provide support for positive outcomes. Teachers' perceptions of school climate improved, and longitudinal models suggested that these improvements mediated the impact of treatment on teacher reports of affiliation and academic focus. In addition, the treatment had a positive impact on teachers' perceptions of principal support, which led to improvements in teacher attitudes. Furthermore, students in the intervention schools reported improvements in school climate relative to students in the comparison schools. Taken together, these results suggest that a strategy of encouraging and supporting teacher-led interventions, customized to the needs and circumstances of each particular school, can successfully revitalize school settings, leading to improvements not only in school's climate, but also in the quality of interactions within the settings. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] How can self-regulated learning be supported in mathematical E-learning environments?JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 1 2006B. Kramarski Abstract This study compares two E-learning environments: E-learning supported with IMPROVE self-metacognitive questioning (EL+IMP), and E-learning without explicit support of self-regulation (EL). The effects were compared between mathematical problem-solving and self-regulated learning (SRL). Participants were 65 ninth-grade students who studied linear function in Israeli junior high schools. Results showed that EL+IMP students significantly outperformed the EL students in problem-solving procedural and transfer tasks regarding mathematical explanations. We also found that the EL+IMP students outperformed their counterparts in using self-monitoring strategies during problem solving. This study discusses both the practical and theoretical implications of supporting SRL in mathematical E-learning environments. [source] New Perspectives on the Correlation of SAT Scores, High School Grades, and Socioeconomic FactorsJOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT, Issue 1 2007Rebecca Zwick In studies of the SAT, correlations of SAT scores, high school grades, and socioeconomic factors (SES) are usually obtained using a university as the unit of analysis. This approach obscures an important structural aspect of the data: The high school grades received by a given institution come from a large number of high schools, all of which have potentially different grading standards. SAT scores, on the other hand, can be assumed to have the same meaning across high schools. Our analyses of a large national sample show that, when pooled within-high-school analyses are applied, high school grades and class rank have larger correlations with family income and education than is evident in the results of typical analyses, and SAT scores have smaller associations with socioeconomic factors. SAT scores and high school grades, therefore, have more similar associations with SES than they do when only the usual across-high-school correlations are considered. [source] Constructing a Universal Scale of High School Course DifficultyJOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT, Issue 2 2003Dina Bassiri This study examined the usefulness of applying the Rasch rating scale model (Andrich, 1978) to high school grade data. ACT Assessment test scores (English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science Reasoning) were used as "common items" to adjust for different grading standards in individual high school courses both within and across schools. This scaling approach yielded an ACT Assessment-adjusted high school grade point average (AA-HSGPA) on a common scale across high schools and cohorts within a large public university. AA-HSGPA was a better predictor of first-year college grade point average (CGPA) than the regular high school grade point average. The best model for predicting CGPA included both the ACT composite score and AA-HSGPA. [source] Decline of hepatitis B carrier rate in vaccinated and unvaccinated subjects: Sixteen years after newborn vaccination program in TaiwanJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 4 2003Hans Hsienhong Lin Abstract Taiwan was an endemic area for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and related liver diseases cause a significant drain of public resources. To control the endemic, a nation-wide newborn vaccination program was started in 1985. We reviewed the results of the annual survey for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) performed in freshmen class of two high schools in Hualien, eastern Taiwan, from 1991 to 2001. A total of 10,194 students, most of them 15 years old, were tested for serum HBsAg using enzyme immunoassays. There is a significant trend (P,<,0.0001) of decreasing HBsAg carrier rate from 20.3 to 4.4% in males and 14.3% to 2.4% in females, respectively, over 11 years. The HBsAg carrier rate was 16.0,20.3% in students surveyed during 1991,1993 (born more than 6 years before the start of the national vaccination program), which decreased to 7.7,11.9% during 1994,1999 (born 1,6 years before the program). It further declined to 4.7% and 3.4% in 2000 and 2001 (born after the start of the program). The HBsAg carrier rate in male students was significantly higher than that in female students in most of the years. The HBV newborn vaccination program not only successfully prevented most of the perinatal transmission of HBV but also reduced horizontal transmission of HBV to children born up to 6 years before the start of the program. Also, the protection persisted for at least 15 years. J. Med. Virol. 69:471,474, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Explaining race, poverty, and gender disparities in advanced course-takingJOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2009Dylan Conger We use panel data on Florida high school students to examine race, poverty, and gender disparities in advanced course-taking. While white students are more likely to take advanced courses than black and Hispanic students, these disparities are eliminated when we condition on observable pre,high school characteristics. In fact, black and Hispanic students are more likely than observably similar white students to take advanced courses. Controlling for students' pre,high school characteristics substantially reduces poverty gaps, modestly reduces Asian,white gaps, and makes little dent in female,male gaps. Black and Hispanic students attend high schools that increase their likelihood of taking advanced courses relative to observably similar white students; this advantage is largely driven by minorities disproportionately attending magnet schools. Finally, recent federal and state efforts aimed at increasing access to advanced courses to poor and minority students appear to have succeeded in raising the share of students who take advanced courses from 2003 to 2006. However, secular trends (or spillovers of the policies to non-poor, non-minority students) have spurred faster growth for other students, contributing to widening demographic gaps in these years. © 2009 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source] High school students' literacy practices and identities, and the figured world of schoolJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 3 2001Wendy Luttrell Conventional wisdom holds that American teenagers do not read or write , that they are a media-driven group who prefer movies, television and playing video games. Ethnographic data gathered in the High School Literacy Project, a study of four North Carolina high schools, showed a far different picture of teenage literacy. This paper reports on partial findings of the larger study and argues that students use their literacy practices to form their identities within, and sometimes in opposition to, the figured worlds of school, work and family. Many students look to school to provide formal literacy experiences, but find their reading and writing passions at odds with the demands of the school curriculum. [source] Chemical understanding and graphing skills in an honors case-based computerized chemistry laboratory environment: The value of bidirectional visual and textual representations,JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 2 2008Yehudit J. Dori Abstract The case-based computerized laboratory (CCL) is a chemistry learning environment that integrates computerized experiments with emphasis on scientific inquiry and comprehension of case studies. The research objective was to investigate chemical understanding and graphing skills of high school honors students via bidirectional visual and textual representations in the CCL learning environment. The research population of our 3-year study consisted of 857 chemistry 12th grade honors students from a variety of high schools in Israel. Pre- and postcase-based questionnaires were used to assess students' graphing and chemical understanding,retention skills. We found that students in the CCL learning environment significantly improved their graphing skills and chemical understanding,retention in the post- with respect to the prequestionnaires. Comparing the experimental students to their non-CCL control peers has shown that CCL students had an advantage in graphing skills. The CCL contribution was most noticeable for experimental students of relatively low academic level who benefit the most from the combination of visual and textual representations. Our findings emphasize the educational value of combining the case-based method with computerized laboratories for enhancing students' chemistry understanding and graphing skills, and for developing their ability to bidirectionally transfer between textual and visual representations. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 219,250, 2008. [source] Expanding our understandings of urban science education by expanding the roles of students as researchersJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 7 2005Rowhea Elmesky In this article, we explore the roles of student researchers as they have emerged over 5 years of studies on the teaching and learning of science in urban high schools. These studies incorporate sociocultural theory in an approach to research that explores the capital that urban students bring to school and situates student researchers as active participants who exercise agency by accessing and appropriating a variety of resources. We provide examples of students engaged as productive, central members of a research team and describe the roles in which they have participated, from teacher educators and science learners to curriculum developers and ethnographers. We show how the involvement of students as researchers, within these roles, allows them to produce and select artifacts and data resources for interpretation that offer unique insider perspectives on how to improve the teaching and learning of science for urban high school students. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 807,828, 2005 [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||