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Secondary Schools (secondary + school)
Terms modified by Secondary Schools Selected AbstractsRaising the issue of domestic abuse in schoolCHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 3 2005Helen Alexander Previous studies suggest that around 30 per cent of children may witness domestic abuse, by which we mean physical or mental violence perpetrated by men on women. This paper reports the views of older children,a group from which there is little direct evidence available. Ninety-eight percent of pupils in a Scottish Secondary School consented to participate. Thirty-two per cent wrote that they were currently witnessing domestic abuse. We compared their responses with those of pupils who said they were not currently experiencing domestic abuse and found marked differences. For example ten ,experiencing' pupils said a young person might feel suicidal in this situation, a response that was not used at all by ,non-experiencing' pupils. This group also wrote a greater number and wider range of negative descriptors for how a young person might feel. These results have implications for the well-being of young people experiencing domestic abuse. There may be scope for building on this methodology for further education and training among school pupils and their teachers, and to highlight the crucial support that these pupils may need. [source] Theory Meets Practice: A Case Study of Preservice World Language Teachers in U.S. Secondary SchoolsFOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 1 2006Article first published online: 31 DEC 200, Brigid M. Burke This case study looked at the transition of preservice teachers from world language education methods courses at a major U.S. university to a 5-week field experience in secondary school classrooms. Data included lesson plans and self-critiques of two lessons implemented during the field experience, world language teaching philosophies the preservice teachers wrote, e-mail correspondence between the preservice teachers and their supervisor reflecting on the field experience, a final reflection paper, and responses to an open-ended survey after completion of the field experience. Analysis of the data served to identify three teacher profiles: the communicative (CLT) teacher, the grammar-translation teacher, and the hybrid teacher (a mix of the two other profiles). The article concludes with discussion of the findings and their implications for university methods courses, field experiences, and professional development. [source] The Impact of Formal Assessment Procedures on Teaching and Learning in Art and Design in Secondary SchoolsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ART & DESIGN EDUCATION, Issue 2 2006Rachel Mason Assessment is widely considered to be the most significant issue affecting art and design practice at secondary level. The article begins with an historical overview of developments in and critiques of assessment procedures in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since the inception of GCSE examination. This is followed by a report of an attempt to carry out a systematic review of research on the impact of assessment on the art and design curriculum in secondary schools. Author conclusions and findings from eight studies subjected to in-depth analysis are discussed together with the implications of the review exercise for art education policy, practice and research. [source] Art & Design:The Rhetoric and the PracticeINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ART & DESIGN EDUCATION, Issue 1 2000John Bowden In this paper I will outline what I perceive to be the current context in which Art and Design activities operate in Primary and Secondary Schools in England. I will argue that significant advances in the teaching of the subject in the last two decades are being threatened, particularly in the primary sector, due to the impact of a number of factors, including the new ,standards' agenda, and constraints arising from limitations in resources, teaching expertise and deployment, and the effects of assessment. The under achievement of boys will be considered in relation to some observations on differentiation in the subject at Secondary level. The paper will suggest that the attempts by teachers to offer an art curriculum that covers all aspects of artistic activity has led to a superficiality of experience for pupils, and therefore a ,depth' rather than a breadth approach to art curriculum planning is now necessary. The variable impact of Critical Studies activities will be considered, including that of Artists in Schools, and I will suggest that there is an opportunity to extend current art practice encouraging greater risk-taking, through an open-ended problem-solving approach, and a development of work which celebrates pupils' own cultures and interests. [source] Resource Utilization and Economies of Size in Secondary SchoolsBULLETIN OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, Issue 2 2000Jim Taylor This paper identifies the determinants of costs per pupil in English secondary schools. A distinction is made between the short run and the long run in order to estimate the separate effects on costs per pupil of short-run variations in school output and school size. A school's capacity utilization rate is used to indicate short-run deviations in output from pupil capacity, and pupil capacity is used as an indicator of school size to capture scale effects on costs per pupil. The statistical analysis uses both published and unpublished data for secondary schools in England. Two separate analyses are undertaken, one for grant-maintained schools alone and the other for all schools. A separate analysis is undertaken for grant-maintained schools since cost data are available only for schools in this sector. Staff hours per pupil is used as a proxy for costs per pupil for schools as a whole. The main finding is that costs per pupil and staff hours per pupil are both highly significantly negatively related to both school size and the capacity utilization rate of schools. A range of other variables are also estimated to have a significant effect on costs per pupil in secondary schools. The main finding is that there is scope for reducing the costs of schooling in the secondary schools sector in England. [source] A thirteen-year follow-up study of young Norwegian adults with dyslexia in childhood: reading development and educational levelsDYSLEXIA, Issue 4 2009Anne Mari Undheim Abstract As part of a larger follow-up study, 75 students were diagnosed with dyslexia at 10 years of age. At the end of secondary school, grades for the whole cohort of 16-year olds were examined. At age 23 the whole study group responded to a questionnaire and the subgroup with dyslexia who responded to this questionnaire were invited to come for testing and interviews. The persistence of dyslexia into young adulthood and educational levels were examined. The results showed that almost all students still suffered dyslexia and showed lower decoding ability. However, they only showed slightly lower educational attainment levels compared with a representative sample of half the cohort (n=530) they were part of. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Impact of National and State Policy on Elementary School Foreign Language Programs: The Iowa Case StudyFOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 5 2002Marcia Harmon Rosenbusch ABSTRACT: This article reviews selected national policy recommendations and examines their impact on state policy making in Iowa, specifically in terms of the number and quality of Iowa elementary school foreign language programs and teacher qualifications from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. Understanding the effect that these policies have had on early language programs in Iowa may help the profession determine the impact of national policy on state educational programs. This study suggests that future research on the impact of national policies in other states can help professionals design strategies for shaping policies in support of foreign language programs that begin in the early grades and continue through secondary school, building skills across levels. [source] Supporting Pupils with Dyspraxia in the Visual Arts Does Drawing from Observation Function as an Official and Discriminatory Discourse?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ART & DESIGN EDUCATION, Issue 2 2007Claire Penketh This article examines the demands that pupils with dyspraxia may face when engaging with the secondary art and design curriculum in a mainstream secondary school. It explores the possibility that there is an exclusive approach to art and design, prioritising a formalist approach to the teaching of specific skills and mastery of techniques, and considers the implications that this may have for such pupils. Specific attention is paid to the role of observational drawing and the demands that this may make for pupils with dyspraxia. The article will explore existing guidance offered for subject-based practitioners and aims to contextualise this within the current debates on art and design education and the recollections of individual experiences of art and design. It will outline the hypothesis that pupils with dyspraxia may be one group of pupils amongst many for whom their art and design experience does not offer an inclusive experience, and it seeks to question the existence of a hierarchy of practice and its subsequent relevance. [source] Multimedia in the Art Curriculum: Crossing BoundariesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ART & DESIGN EDUCATION, Issue 3 2001Steve Long Art educators, like those in other areas of the curriculum, are under pressure from various directions to use digital technology in the classroom. Whilst some of this pressure is politically motivated I believe there are also what could be described as more legitimate educational reasons for using computers; what is lacking at this stage is a coherent body of knowledge amongst art educators as to what happens when we do use them. This article focuses on a development project which took place last year in a secondary school involving a Year 10 class in the use of multimedia software. The project was collaborative in nature and was carried out by Miles Jefcoate, an art teacher at Beacon Community College in East Sussex, a group of Year 10 students at Beacon and myself as a member of the teaching team on the Art and Design PGCE course at the University of Brighton. Supported by research funding from the University, the school was provided with multimedia software which was installed into its computer network. The design and delivery of the students' project was undertaken by Miles whilst I evaluated the impact of the digital technology on the learning taking place, with an emphasis on how Miles and the students experienced and evaluated their activities. [source] Acne vulgaris in Nigerian adolescents , prevalence, severity, beliefs, perceptions, and practicesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2009Husain Yahya MSc Background, Community-based studies of acne vulgaris conducted in many parts of the world show that it is very common in adolescents but little is known from Africa. Methods, In a cross-sectional study, 539 randomly selected students aged 11,19 years in a secondary school in Kaduna, Nigeria were administered a questionnaire to assess self-report of acne, its severity and impact; beliefs and perceptions of causes, and treatments used. 418 students were later examined to detect and grade acne severity. Results, 274 (50.8%) were male while 265 (49.2%) were female. Mean age for respondents was 16 years. 320 students (59.4%) self-reported acne. Of 418 students examined, 379 had acne giving a prevalence of 90.7%. There was no significant gender difference in prevalence at all ages of adolescence. Prevalence of acne increased with age (76.7% at age 10,13 years; 88.2% at age 14,16 years; 97.1% at age 17,19 years). 353 of 379 (93.1%) had mild acne while 26 of 379 (6.9%) had moderate acne. The severity of acne was similar in boys and girls. 47.7% of students reported feeling "very sad/unhappy" about their acne although in more than 70% of those who self-reported, this did not interfere with relationship with family, friends or school work. Diet was the commonest factor believed to cause acne. Cleansing agents were the most commonly used treatments. Conclusions, Acne vulgaris is very common in Nigerian adolescents, although it is mild acne in most. [source] Prevalence of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and clinical conditions in children and adolescents from rural and urban areas of central ItalyJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PERIODONTOLOGY, Issue 8 2000Michele Paolantonio Abstract Background: The aim of this study was to report on the prevalence of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) and the periodontal clinical conditions in children and adolescents from a rural area of central Italy compared with the ones from an urban area of the same region. Method: The study population consisted of 780 systemically healthy children, aged 6,14 years inhabiting the county of Chieti. 505 children attended 3 primary and 2 secondary schools from a rural area whereas 275 individuals attended 1 primary and 1 secondary school from the city of Chieti. The 2 provincial areas present a great difference in socioeconomic level and cultural background. Clinical examination consisted of recording the % of gingival sites positive for the presence of plaque (Pl+), bleeding on probing (BOP+), mean probing depth (PD) from each primary or permanent tooth fully erupted in the oral cavity. Loss of periodontal attachment (AL+) was evaluated only in interproximal sites. AL+ subjects were distinguished in juvenile periodontitis (JP) prepubertal periodontis and early periodontitis (EP) patients. 8 gingival sites were microbiologically sampled in each subject and cultured, after pooling, for the presence of Aa. Results: 30.3% of rural subjects, were positive for the presence of Aa, the difference from urban children (16%) being statistically significant (p=0.01) irrespective of gender and age. Aa showed a significantly (p=0.006) higher mean proportion in subgingival plaque samples from rural children (0.13% versus 0.02%). Loss of periodontal attachment in at least one site was found in 18 rural children (3.56%) (3 JP; 15 EP) and 2 urban girls (0.72%) (1 JP; 1 EP). No significant differences for AL were observed within the rural group according to the gender and age differentiation. In the urban group, both AL+ subjects were Aa+, while among children from rural areas all 3 JP and 13 EP subjects were Aa+. Rural subjects evidenced significantly worse clinical parameters with respect to urban children (% Pl+ sites: p=0.000; % BOP+ sites: p=0.010; mean PD: p=0.000.) The relative risk for AL+ sites was significantly greater (2.42) in rural subjects harboring Aa in subgingival plaque. Similarly, the presence of Aa in subgingival plaque was related to a greater risk of more than 50% of BOP+ gingival sites in both rural and urban subjects (1.45 and 8.40, respectively). Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that Aa colonization in children and adolescents from central Italy is affected by socioeconomic and cultural factors; these factors also affect the periodontal condition of the subjects. [source] Group-based evaluations for pupil-on-teacher violence: The impact of teacher intervention strategyJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2010Claire Lawrence Abstract Although extreme violence to teachers is rare, the fact remains that in the UK, 29% of teachers report having been physically assaulted by a pupil (ATL, 2008a). The ways in which responsibility for such assaults are attributed can have legal, educational and managerial implications. In the current study, teachers (N,=,66), pupils (N,=,68) and parents (N,=,64) from a large secondary school in the UK read an incident report form outlining an incident depicting a pupil physically assaulting a teacher. The incident report was manipulated such that, prior to being assaulted, the teacher had either separated the assailant pupil from another pupil using a physical or non-physical intervention. Results revealed that participating parents' and teachers' evaluations of the assailant's parents and the teacher differed from those of pupils in several ways. The results are discussed in terms of group-based responsibility for deviant behaviour and implications for teacher behaviour in response to pupil on teacher violence. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] From bar diagrams to letter-symbolic algebra: a technology-enabled bridgingJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 4 2009C.-K. Looi Abstract In the Singapore primary school Mathematics curriculum, students are taught the model method that uses bar diagrams to visualize the problem structure in a given word problem. When these students progress to secondary school, they learn the algebraic way of solving word problems. Studies (e.g. Ng et al.) have shown that poor bridging of students from the use of bar diagrams to the use of letter-symbolic algebraic methods can hinder their learning of algebra. We design a software tool ,AlgeBAR' to scaffold the learning of the algebraic process, especially the formulation of equations to support a pedagogy that seeks to help students transit from bar diagrams to algebraic methods. In this paper, we report a cycle of evaluation of the intervention pedagogy by examining a class that uses the software tool as part of a holistic intervention package. This evaluation is in the context of an overall design research approach that sought to address complex problems in real classroom contexts in collaboration with practitioners and to integrate design principles with technological affordances to render plausible solutions. Our findings show that the software tool can be an important enabler of the bridging process. [source] Natural resource-collection work and children's schooling in MalawiAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2-3 2004Flora J. Nankhuni Abstract This paper presents results of research that investigates if long hours of work spent by children in fuel wood and water-collection activities, i. e., natural resource-collection work, influence the likelihood that a child aged 6,14 attends school. Potential endogeneity of resource-collection work hours is corrected for, using two-stage conditional maximum likelihood estimation. Data from the 1997,1998 Malawi Integrated Household Survey (IHS) conducted by the Malawi National Statistics Office (NSO) in conjunction with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) are used. The study finds that Malawian children are significantly involved in resource-collection work and their likelihood of attending school decreases with increases in hours allocated to this work. The study further shows that girls spend more hours on resource-collection work and are more likely to be attending school while burdened by this work. Consequently, girls may find it difficult to progress well in school. However, girls are not necessarily less likely to be attending school. Results further show that presence of more women in a household is associated with a lower burden of resource-collection work on children and a higher probability of children's school attendance. Finally, the research shows that children from the most environmentally degraded districts of central and southern Malawi are less likely to attend school and relatively fewer of them have progressed to secondary school compared to those-from districts in the north. [source] Caterers' experiences and perceptions of implementing the 2006 school meal standardsJOURNAL OF HUMAN NUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 5 2008C.J. Weir Background:, School meal standards were introduced in 2006 (Department for Education and Skills) and caterers are expected to comply with these standards. No research has been conducted looking at the caterer's experiences and perceptions of implementing these standards. This area has 32 school meal provider organisations for 103 schools. Half the schools are with one provider and the others are, mostly, single-handed in-house operations, often managed by a local community member. The aim of the current study was to explore caterers' understanding of the school meal standards, the barriers to implementation, and proposed solutions, to inform local practice. Methods:, A combined quantitative and qualitative design was used. A questionnaire was used to assess understanding and implementation of the standards and distributed to all the catering provider organisations (n = 32), with a good response rate of 78% (n = 25). For each question about achievement of the ten food-based standards the responses were scored 0,4 where: 0 = ,Do not intend to achieve this standard'; to 4 = ,Fully achieved'. This gave a total standards achievement score for each catering provider organisation, where the minimum score that could be achieved was zero which indicated the minimum level of achievement and the maximum score which could be achieved was forty which indicated all ten standards fully achieved. Four focus group were undertaken involving 40 people who considered themselves to be in a management role within a catering provider organisation. Semi structured interviews were undertaken with 11 people (until saturation), using purposive sampling, to explore barriers and solutions to implementation of the standards in detail. Descriptive and appropriate inferential statistics (Fisher's Exact tests and independent samples t- tests) were performedon the datausingStatistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The process undertaken for the qualitative analysis was thematic analysis, and used analytic hierarchy (Richie & Lewis, 2003). Approval for this study was obtained from Leeds Metropolitan University ethics committee. Results:, The qualitative discussions led to caterers' identifying two main themes. These were: support from various groups, and the roles and responsibilities caterers believed these groups had and should be performing in order to achieve successful implementation of the standards ,Think it's good someone's shaken up school meals but who is doing the actually work , it's us isn't it'.(Semi structured interview respondent medium primary provider) ,I've found it really difficult as I'm on my own at the school, totally on my own without anyone to help'. (Focus group participant primary school group). The groups that caterers identified as those who had roles and responsibilities and who should be providing support were the ,whole school'; catering provider organisations; parents; the local authority; and, the broader environment/whole population. Caterers felt the standards had ,gone too far too soon' and did not allow choice. Caterers felt finances were a barrier, and that training was required across all sectors to achieve success. The standards implementation achievement score were statistically higher for caterers who had received formal training compared with those with only food and hygiene (P = 0.001); and, between caterers who provided to a secondary school as opposed to a primary school only (P = 0.034). There was a statistically significant relationship between providers and qualifications with those providing to secondary schools more likely to have had formal qualifications (P = 0.015). Discussion:, Caterers felt all those involved in schools and school meals needed to undertake their roles and responsibilities, to provide support, and, to implement the ethos of a whole school approach. The caterers in this study identified many barriers and practical obstacles either experienced or perceived to implementing the new school meals standards. Conclusions:, The results will be used to inform the Local Authority and Primary Care Trust to ensure the effective implementation of the school meal standards. There may be opportunity to transfer these results to other school caterers, and to develop support and training to assist implementation. [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] Non-at-risk adolescents' attitudes towards reading in a Singapore secondary schoolJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 3 2008Wendy Bokhorst-Heng In this paper, we examine the various nuanced dimensions of adolescents' dispositions towards reading in one secondary school in Singapore, where a high-stakes examination culture often threatens to colonise the practices of leisure reading. Our focus is on the better and more avid readers as they were the ones that developed the more negative attitudes towards reading at the end of their first year in secondary school. Our analysis found that there were no significant differences between boys and girls in their declining attitudes, and that for both ,intrinsic motivation' saw the greatest decline. However, attitudes related to learning orientation remained stable, suggesting both the impact of constraints in an exam-oriented educational structure as well as possibilities for developing reading pedagogy and adolescent reading programmes. We argue that the more educators are aware of the multidimensionality and complexity of the attitudes and values that students bring to their reading, the more effectively they will be able to design and implement programmes and pedagogy to foster positive attitudes and promote a lifelong love for reading. [source] Learning from and responding to students' questions: The authoritative and dialogic tensionJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 2 2010Orlando G. Aguiar Abstract In this study we present an analysis of classroom interactions initiated by students' wonderment questions. Our interest in such events arises from their potential to stimulate active intellectual engagement in classrooms, which can impact upon the subsequent development of the classroom discourse. In investigating this issue we shall address the following research question: How do student questions impact upon the teaching explanatory structure and modify the form of the ongoing classroom discourse, in selected science lessons? From data collected in a Brazilian secondary school we have selected three classroom episodes, with large differences in both the context in which the student's question emerges and in the communicative approach developed in response to it. The analysis, based on the framework proposed by Mortimer and Scott [Mortimer and Scott (2003). Meaning making in secondary science classrooms. Maidenhead: Open University Press], shows that questions made by students are important in providing feedback from students to the teacher, enabling adjustments to the teaching explanatory structure. These adjustments sometimes occur smoothly, at other times with major changes to the features of the classroom discourse, and elsewhere with misunderstanding and disagreement. The data also suggest the need to consider students' intentions and their active participation in the negotiation of both the content and structure of classroom discourse. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:174,193, 2010 [source] The complexity of school and neighbourhood effects and movements of pupils on school differences in models of educational achievementJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES A (STATISTICS IN SOCIETY), Issue 3 2009George Leckie Summary., Traditional studies of school differences in educational achievement use multilevel modelling techniques to take into account the nesting of pupils within schools. However, educational data are known to have more complex non-hierarchical structures. The potential importance of such structures is apparent when considering the effect of pupil mobility during secondary schooling on educational achievement. Movements of pupils between schools suggest that we should model pupils as belonging to the series of schools that are attended and not just their final school. Since these school moves are strongly linked to residential moves, it is important to explore additionally whether achievement is also affected by the history of neighbourhoods that are lived in. Using the national pupil database, this paper combines multiple membership and cross-classified multilevel models to explore simultaneously the relationships between secondary school, primary school, neighbourhood and educational achievement. The results show a negative relationship between pupil mobility and achievement, the strength of which depends greatly on the nature and timing of these moves. Accounting for pupil mobility also reveals that schools and neighbourhoods are more important than shown by previous analysis. A strong primary school effect appears to last long after a child has left that phase of schooling. The additional effect of neighbourhoods, in contrast, is small. Crucially, the rank order of school effects across all types of pupil is sensitive to whether we account for the complexity of the multilevel data structure. [source] Convexity and Sheepskin Effects in the Human Capital Earnings Function: Recent Evidence for Filipino MenOXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 2 2003Norbert R. Schady The issue of possible non-linearities in the relationship between log wages and schooling has received a good deal of attention in the literature. This paper uses data from a recent, high quality household survey for the Philippines, the 1998 Annual Poverty Indicator Survey (APIS), to test the fit of the log-linear specification for Filipino men. The results are based on a number of estimation strategies, including spline regressions, and semi-parametric regressions with a large number of dummies for years of schooling and experience. The basic conclusions of the paper are two. First, there appear to be large differences between the rates of return to education across levels in the Philippines. In particular, the returns to both primary and secondary education are lower than those for tertiary education, a difference which persists even after correcting for differences in direct private costs across levels. Second, within a given level, the last year of schooling is disproportionately rewarded in terms of higher wages. That is, there are clear sheepskin effects associated with graduation from primary school, secondary school, and university. [source] Outreach after IYA2009 , a school projectASTRONOMY & GEOPHYSICS, Issue 4 2010Article first published online: 23 JUL 2010 International Year of Astronomy 2009 was a catalyst for astronomical societies and groups worldwide to do a bit more to engage the general public , but in many cases IYA2009 was only the start of a new enthusiasm for astronomy. This is the case for one state secondary school, whose outreach work is going from strength to strength. [source] A randomised controlled trial of vitamin E in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoeaBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 4 2005S. Ziaei Objective To study the effect of vitamin E in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea. Design A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Setting A secondary school in Tehran, Iran. Population Two hundred and seventy-eight girls aged 15,17 years who suffered from primary dysmenorrhoea. Methods Participants were given 200 units of vitamin E or placebo twice a day, beginning two days before the expected start of menstruation and continued through the first three days of bleeding. Treatment was continued over four consecutive menstrual periods. Main outcome measures The severity and duration of pain, and the amount of menstrual blood loss, at two and four months. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to record pain, and a validated Pictorial Blood Loss Assessment Chart (PBLAC) to measure menstrual loss. Results In the vitamin E group, pain severity was lower with vitamin E at two months (median VAS score 3 vs 5, P > 0.001) and four months (0.5 vs 6, P > 0.001), pain duration was shorter at two months (mean 4.2 [7.1] hours vs 15 [17], P > 0.001) and at four months (1.6 [4.0] hours vs 17 [18] hours, P > 0.0001), and blood loss assessed by PBLAC score was lower at two months (54 [31] vs 70 [40], P > 0.0001) and at four months (46 [28] vs 70 [37], P > 0.0001). Conclusion Vitamin E relieves the pain of primary dysmenorrhoea and reduces blood loss. [source] ICT implementation: what makes the difference?BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 5 2003Penni Tearle This paper addresses the question of why some schools have managed to introduce widespread use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) into teaching and learning across the curriculum, where other schools have had much less "success" in this matter. The issue is addressed through interpretive, case study research in a UK secondary school where almost all staff are now using ICT to enhance and extend learning in their subject areas. After setting the context, a summary of the methods used and an overview of the findings are presented. Whilst some of the findings are specific to the context, it is suggested that much can be learnt from the single case, both by practitioners seeking to develop ICT use and researchers interested in taking the subject forward in other contexts. [source] THE EFFECT OF GRADING PRACTICES ON GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCEBULLETIN OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, Issue 3 2008Hans Bonesrønning I21; J160 ABSTRACT This paper adds to the debate about the sources of the gender gaps in student outcomes by highlighting explanations related to interactions between teachers and students. The evidence comes from the lower secondary school in Norway. The teachers' grading practices are the focal point of the analysis. First, it is shown that girls are exposed to easier grading than boys. Thereafter, evidence is provided that both boys and girls are negatively affected when the teacher practises easy grading. The boys' responses to easy grading are more uniformly negative than the girls' responses. Some exploratory analyses that make use of information about the students' school motivations are provided to make sense of these findings. [source] Borderline intellectual functioning in children and adolescents , insufficiently recognized difficultiesACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 5 2010Elisabeth Fernell Abstract Aim:, To draw attention to groups of children and adolescents with borderline intellectual functioning, especially with respect to their school-situation. Methods:, In one study, population-based, children with borderline intellectual functioning at age 10 years were followed until they finished compulsory school when their final certificates could be analysed. In a second study parents of 20 individuals in the upper secondary school for pupils with mild mental retardation were interviewed according to the Vineland adaptive scales and school health records were reviewed. In a third study pupils attending an individual programme in upper secondary school were assessed and we report one representative case. Results:, (1) Pupils with borderline intellectual functioning, assessed in grade 4, received significantly lower grades when finishing the compulsory school. (2) In the group of pupils in the upper secondary school for the mildly mentally retarded, compiled data indicated that a considerable number did not fulfil the combined IQ and adaptive criteria for mild mental retardation. (3) The subtle nature of borderline intellectual functioning may delay appropriate measures at school, which our case illustrates. Conclusion:, Borderline intellectual functioning seldom attracts attention. Our studies indicate that school and also society at large must be prepared to adapt educational and working conditions for the large minority of individuals with borderline intellectual functioning. [source] Longitudinal Study of Preadolescent Sport Self-Concept and Performance: Reciprocal Effects and Causal OrderingCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2007Herbert W. Marsh Do preadolescent sport self-concepts influence subsequent sport performance? Longitudinal data (Grades 3, 4, and 6) for young boys and girls (N= 1,135; mean age = 9.67) were used to test reciprocal effects model (REM) predictions that sport self-concept is both a cause and a consequence of sport accomplishments. Controlling prior sport performance (performance-based measures and teacher assessments), prior sport self-concept had positive effects on subsequent sport performance in both Grade 4 and Grade 6 and for both boys and girls. Coupled with previous REM studies of adolescents in the academic domain, this first test for preadolescents in the sport domain supports the generalizability of REM predictions over gender, self-concept domain, preadolescent ages, and the transition from primary to secondary school. [source] Transferring friendship: girls' and boys' friendships in the transition from primary to secondary schoolCHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 1 2005Simon Pratt This paper seeks to explore the issues and concerns that impact upon girls' and boys' friendship groups as they transfer from primary to secondary school. Using the girls' and boys' own voices, we document the extent to which their existing social relationships are disrupted as they adapt to and engage with a new school setting. Through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires conducted in the final year of primary school and the first year of secondary school, we identify students' concerns regarding their attitudes to friendship. We consider the extent to which account is taken of this aspect of children's friendships and explore and analyse commonalities and differences in their responses. We argue that the priorities of our student groups are different to those advocated by the school. We further attempt to examine how the girls and boys in our sample negotiate their new environment. [source] Metabolic syndrome in youth: a cross-sectional school-based surveyACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 12 2007Dirk Vissers Abstract Aim: To assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among students attending vocational secondary school (VSE). VSE provides practice-oriented education in which young people learn a specific occupation. Previously we reported VSE to be the type of education with the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity. Methods: All data were collected in a cross-sectional school-based survey. Subjects were recruited from a community sample of 869 adolescents in 14 secondary schools. In this total sample all components of the metabolic syndrome were assessed in a subgroup of 506 students. MetS was defined analogous to National Cholesterol Education Program: Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, with modifications for students under 19 years of age. Results: In the subsample (n = 506) 4.1% of the students had metabolic syndrome. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among BMI categories (p < 0.001). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was higher in obese students (39.1%) than in overweight students (2.8%) and normal weight students (0.3%). Conclusion: Being overweight or obese substantially increases the risk for metabolic syndrome, even in an adolescent school population. [source] A Secondary School Career Education Program for ESL StudentsCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 4 2001June Wyatt-Beynon Using Bourdieu's theory of different types of capital and social "fields," this paper analyzes one curriculum model, the ESL Co-op program, which is designed to meet the needs of immigrant adolescents who are primarily dependent on their first language. The program couples instruction in English as a second language (ESL) with work experience. ESL Co-op is offered in two secondary schools in a suburban Vancouver school district that is the most rapidly growing district in British Columbia. More than 30 percent of the approximately 50,000 students enrolled in the district speak a language other than, or in addition to, English in the home. A collaborative team of university researchers and district curriculum consultants inquired into the program's success in helping recent immigrant students become aware of possible future career and job opportunities and any other aspects of the program's operation deemed salient by the interviewees. We wondered if the folk theory of success embedded in federal, provincial, and district policy discourse, which emphasizes work experience, was in fact setting the stage for educational and occupational success of these young people. Interviews with 44 parents, 43 students, and six staff members from a total of 10 different language backgrounds revealed that staff perceive the program as a unique opportunity for students to gain exposure to Canadian work environments and to develop survival, language, and job-related skills or, in Bourdieu's terms, embodied capital. Students' and parents' overriding concern is that the program precludes the possibility of graduation with the grade-12 diploma (institutional capital) available from the mainstream program. [source] The unmet treatment need of traumatized anterior teeth in selected secondary school children in Ibadan, NigeriaDENTAL TRAUMATOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Mojirade Deborah Ajayi The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of damage to permanent anterior teeth in school adolescents, the average duration of trauma and to ascertain the level of the unmet treatment need. A total of 1532 secondary school children between the ages 12 and 19 years participated in the study. They were randomly selected from public secondary schools in five local government areas in Ibadan using a multistage sampling method. Participants were examined with the aid of mouth mirrors and probes under natural light. Traumatic anterior dental injuries were recorded by the same investigator (DMA) according to WHO classification. One hundred and sixty-five participants sustained injuries to their anterior teeth. Their mean age was 15.47 ± 2.09 years, with a male to female ratio of 1.5:1. The commonest cause was fall (78.8%) with road traffic accident being the least (1.8%). The tooth most commonly injured is the upper left incisor (48.0%) closely followed by upper right central (43.1%). Enamel fracture was seen in 46.5% and enamel,dentine in 42.6% of the traumatized teeth. Most (79.4%) of the children sustained injury to one tooth only. Of the participants, only 30 (18.2%) had previous dental consultation while only nine (5.5%) consulted the dentist following the trauma; however, none of the teeth had any form of restoration. Average time elapsed between trauma and dental examination was about 3.5 years. Many participants had had injury for about 2 years before dental examination. In conclusion, there is a high unmet treatment need of traumatized anterior teeth in the study population. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||