Sample records for create positive school

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thornton, Frank

    2018-01-01

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

  2. Positive Educative Programme. A Whole School Approach to Supporting Children's Well-Being and Creating a Positive School Climate: A Pilot Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elfrink, Teuntje R.; Goldberg, Jochem M.; Schreurs, Karlein M. G.; Bohlmeijer, Ernst T.; Clarke, Aleisha M.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on a process and impact evaluation of the Positief Educatief Programma (Positive Education Programme (PEP)), a whole school approach to supporting children's well-being and creating a positive school climate in primary schools in the Netherlands. PEP adopts a competence skill enhancement approach…

  3. Creating a Positive School Climate at the Junior High Level.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Licata, Vincent F.

    One of the seven correlates of an effective school, as identified by the Effective Schools Research, is a positive school climate: a positive attitude on the part of the entire staff and student body exhibited through overt behavior that creates a warm, orderly learning environment. Development of such an environment depends upon: (1) strong…

  4. Creating a Culture of Professional Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    von Frank, Valerie, Ed.

    2008-01-01

    This compilation of articles from NSDC's newsletters and JSD is a comprehensive resource on creating a positive school culture. The collection includes descriptions of healthy cultures and specific information about how district and school leaders can take actions to create more positive environments, beginning with the audits provided and…

  5. "Structures beneath the Skin": How School Leaders Use Their Power and Authority To Create Institutional Opportunities for Developing Positive Interethnic Communities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Norte, Edmundo

    1999-01-01

    Explores key features of processes school leaders employ to create positive interethnic school communities, identifying five elements for effective intervention and applying an analytical model to each to provide a schema for framing elements of central importance. Addresses how school leaders use their power and authority and how they determine…

  6. School Nurses: Positive Deviant Leaders in the School Setting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ladd, Victoria J.

    2009-01-01

    A variety of leadership theories are examined to support the idea that school nurses can be positive deviants in the school setting. Transformational leadership, situational leadership, and complexity theory can all be used by school nurses to create positive change in the school environment because all recognize the need for flexible leadership…

  7. Creating a Positive School Culture in Newly Opened Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holmes, Michael Todd

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the most effective practices by school administrators when creating school culture in newly opened schools. Using semi-structured interviews, four principals who opened a new school were interviewed individually and in a focus group. The constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. Two themes…

  8. Safe Schools, Staff Development, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gonsoulin, Simon; Zablocki, Mark; Leone, Peter E.

    2012-01-01

    Zero-tolerance policies have created schools that are often intolerant and destructive to children and communities. High rates of suspension and expulsion of students are associated with negative outcomes and school dropout. New approaches to staff development that create positive school communities are essential in stemming the…

  9. CEC's Policy on Safe and Positive School Climate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Council for Exceptional Children (NJ3), 2008

    2008-01-01

    The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) recognizes the important impact a safe and positive school climate has on the personal development and academic achievement of all students. Research has shown that schools implementing supportive and positive school climate strategies are more successful in creating environments conducive to learning. As…

  10. Promoting School-Wide Mental Health

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trussell, Robert P.

    2008-01-01

    Although schools are not traditionally designed to provide intensive mental health services to children, they are in a position to create systems that foster mental health. By creating school-wide systems in which students are academically, behaviorally and socially successful, schools can integrate those essential protective factors shown to…

  11. Success for All? The Role of the School Counselor in Creating and Sustaining Culturally Responsive Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Programs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Betters-Bubon, Jennifer; Brunner, Todd; Kansteiner, Avery

    2016-01-01

    Successful implementation of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) programs should include culturally responsive practices to reduce disproportionality in school discipline referrals and create effective learning environments for all students. Sustaining culturally responsive PBIS programs requires attention to student demographics…

  12. Would Having a Lead Instructional Designer Position Encourage Change in a K-12 Educational Setting?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morris, John

    2011-01-01

    Adding the position Lead Instructional Designer (LID) will help an educational company or school district to work with principals and instructional designers to implement better instructional design strategies. This type of change creates more jobs and takes added pressure away from schools. The vision is to create better customer service to the…

  13. The Enrollment Funnel

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perna, Mark C.

    2005-01-01

    A smart marketing plan creates emotional attachment and loyalty in a school's prospective students, but how does a school go about creating this type of positive environment?. In this brief paper, the author describes a step-by-step approach that he created--the enrollment funnel. The enrollment funnel is a systematic method of moving…

  14. Safe Is Not Enough: Better Schools for LGBTQ Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sadowski, Michael

    2016-01-01

    "Safe Is Not Enough" illustrates how educators can support the positive development of LGBTQ students in a comprehensive way so as to create truly inclusive school communities. Using examples from classrooms, schools, and districts across the country, Michael Sadowski identifies emerging practices such as creating an LGBTQ-inclusive…

  15. Service Learning Creates a Positive Relationship between Teachers and Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lubchenko, Sandra

    2016-01-01

    The current pedagogy in creating a positive school climate is building personal relationships with students. Teachers and students work together to create a safe environment where students engage in the academic pursuit of knowledge. Service-learning projects that create this close bond and offer a collective pursuit of helping others give…

  16. Analysis on the Relationship between Trust Culture and Prejudices in Primary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Erdogan, Cetin

    2016-01-01

    Problem Statement: Trust is crucial for creating a positive culture in the school environment, which is called as trust culture. On the other hand, prejudice is thought to be a potential barrier for creating trust culture in schools. Thus, it is meaningful to examine the relationship between trust culture and prejudice in schools and then to…

  17. Principal-Teacher Interactions: How Affective Relationships Shape Principal and Teacher Attitudes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Price, Heather E.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: Research finds that the attitudes of principals and teachers create an atmosphere for learning, often referred to as school climate, that influences school effectiveness. Other research shows that atmospheres of trust, shared vision, and openness create positive school climate conditions. Little is known, however, about how these climates…

  18. Practical Considerations in Creating School-Wide Positive Behavior Support in Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Handler, Marcie W.; Rey, Jannette; Connell, James; Thier, Kimberly; Feinberg, Adam; Putnam, Robert

    2007-01-01

    School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) has been identified as an effective and efficient method to teach students prosocial skills. It requires both effective behavior support practices and systems that will support these changes, including data-based decision making among the school leadership team. There are many practical and systemic…

  19. Teens in Action. Creating a Drug-Free Future for America's Youth.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adams, Tom; Resnik, Hank

    This book on drug abuse prevention is addressed to teenagers and covers five main areas where drug use can be prevented: schools, communities, media, the social scene, and the family. The first chapter on school programs briefly discusses peer-led alcohol and drug education, peer counseling, creating a positive school climate, and developing…

  20. The Principal Factor

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westerberg, Tim

    2016-01-01

    If classrooms teachers play the lead role in establishing relationships that help students do their personal best, principals are leaders in creating good school environments for adults. Westerberg, former principal of award-winning Littleton High School in Colorado, shares six principles that help create positive schoolwide relationships. Drawing…

  1. Creating Safer and More Nurturing Schools: Expanding the Capacity of Schools in the Era of Future National Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hughes, Tammy L.; Fenning, Pamela A.; Crepeau-Hobson, Franci; Reddy, Linda A.

    2017-01-01

    Positive academic performance is a strong indicator of subsequent positive life course outcomes (e.g., employment) as well as underrepresentation in psychiatric populations, drug use, school dropout, and subsequent legal trouble (A. Farn & J. Adams, 2016). As such, helping all children to be successful in school is a top priority for parents,…

  2. Creating a Positive Classroom Culture: Minute by Minute

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wright, Ali

    2014-01-01

    This article offers a peek into high school math teacher Ali Wright's typical school day, which includes time-tested strategies that she uses to build a positive culture in her classroom. Scheduled timeframes and activities include before school starts, five minutes before class, during announcements, during class, last five minutes of class,…

  3. A Culture-Change Approach to School Discipline: Reaction Paper to "School Organization and Student Behavior".

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Purkey, Stewart C.

    Organizational changes, within the existing structure of public schooling, have the potential to decrease the oppositional behavior of students and to foster humane, positive learning and working enviroments. It has been documented that managers can create organizational structures that promote positive behaviors and facilitate people's…

  4. Creating the Grateful School in Four Phases

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Griffith, Owen M.

    2018-01-01

    Author and educator Owen Griffith shares how leaders can infuse small acts of gratitude to energize their schools and create a positive, thriving culture. Leaders must begin by practicing gratitude personally, then slowly introducing the practice to their faculty and eventually students. With the right attitude and creativity, the acts of…

  5. Rediscovering Hope: Building School Cultures of Hope for Children of Poverty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sheehan, Kevin; Rall, Kevin

    2011-01-01

    A chronicle of the success of a small Catholic school on Long Island, N.Y. in overcoming poverty, race, and language for the 65 male students it has served in grades 5-8 for eight years. The authors posit that the secret of the school's success resides in creating goals, agency and pathways for success in its students, creating a climate of hope…

  6. Women of Color School Leaders: Leadership Schools Should Not Ignore

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haar, Jean M.; Robicheau, Jerry W.

    2009-01-01

    School districts are faced with challenges resulting from the changing demographics of the student population. Consequently, school districts are creating positive, multicultural learning environments. School districts intent on establishing multicultural learning environments should consider the contributions people of color, specifically women…

  7. Case Study on the Implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports in an Alternative Educational Setting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gelbar, Nicholas W.; Jaffery, Rose; Stein, Ravit; Cymbala, Heather

    2015-01-01

    School-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SW-PBIS) can effectively reduce problem behaviors and simultaneously increase pro-social behaviors in general education settings. SW-PBIS is not a "packaged" intervention, but a framework through which schools create systemic changes for promoting expected behaviors, while also…

  8. Empowering school personnel for positive youth development: the case of Hong Kong school social workers.

    PubMed

    To, Siu-ming

    2009-01-01

    While empowerment has become a popular concept in working with adolescents, few attempts have been made to explore the possibilities for empowering school personnel to create an environment in which young people can make maximum use of the opportunity to learn and grow. Based on the field experiences of 15 Hong Kong school social workers, this article examines how practitioners use various strategies to interact with school personnel to generate empowering practices in the school setting: namely, (1) exerting influence on school personnel in daily conversations and interactions; (2) creating an environment conducive to the teacher-student relationship; (3) achieving consensus with school personnel through lobbying and negotiation; and (4) collaborating with school personnel to organize life education and positive youth development programs. The findings provide valuable reference materials to guide other practitioners in applying the empowerment approach in actual practice. It also helps fill the gap in existing literature on empowerment and school social work.

  9. Learning within and beyond the Classroom: Compulsory School Students Voicing Their Positive Experiences of School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Backman, Ylva; Alerby, Eva; Bergmark, Ulrika; Gardelli, Asa; Hertting, Krister; Kostenius, Catrine; Ohrling, Kerstin

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this study was to describe, reflect upon, and create a deeper understanding of aspects relevant for promoting a positive school environment from a student perspective. The data was analyzed by using an inductive phenomenological method and based on written responses from 200 Swedish students from grades 5-9. The results indicated that…

  10. School Environment Handbook Part I: Overview and Workshop Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gillespie, Judith; And Others

    This handbook, produced by the School Environmental Impact Program (Indiana) was developed to improve school environments and to create more positive attitudes and behaviors in school participants (all those involved in the school and its environment). It is designed to help in the assessment of school conditions by individuals, groups, or school…

  11. Creating New Small Schools for Urban Youth: Understanding Early Design Processes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cade, Vilicia

    2010-01-01

    Discussions about the ways of improving high schools have frequently considered school size and many "new" schools reduce the size to personalize the school experience and produce more positive student outcomes. Interest in designing new small schools has increased. Embedded in many of the small school design initiatives is the belief that new…

  12. Principals Can and Should Make a Positive Difference for LGBTQ Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boyland, Lori G.; Swensson, Jeff; Ellis, John G.; Coleman, Lauren L.; Boyland, Margaret I.

    2016-01-01

    School principals should lead for social change, particularly in support of vulnerable or marginalized students. An important social justice issue in which principals must provide strong leadership, but may not be adequately prepared in university training, is creating positive and inclusive school environments for lesbian, gay, transgender,…

  13. The Myth of Our Failed Education System.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Troy, J. Forrest

    1998-01-01

    A veteran newspaper editor speaks unashamedly in support of public schools, dispelling myths about teacher workload, student performance, vouchers and charter schools as reform models, outdated school boards, and overpaid administrators. Schools should revamp their public relations by publishing positive items in newsletters and creating speaker's…

  14. The Influence of Closing Poor Performing Primary Schools on the Educational Attainment of Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De Witte, Kristof; Van Klaveren, Chris

    2014-01-01

    This paper examines whether the closure of poor performing primary schools improved students' educational attainment. It is believed that school closure affects children's educational outcomes positively because children switch to better primary schools. At the same time, school closure creates a social disturbance such that educational outcomes…

  15. The Culture-Friendly School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rodberg, Simon

    2016-01-01

    As the founding principal of DC International School, a public charter school in Washington, D.C., Simon Rodberg has set out to create what he calls a "culturally-positive school" to prepare students for a global future. In this article, he details how the school has invited students and families to bring their cultures into classrooms.…

  16. Creating a Whole School Ethos of Care

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Warin, Jo

    2017-01-01

    This paper raises questions about schools as positive models of caring societies. Against a background of growing concern for the mental health of children it addresses the centrality of "nurture" and its close cousin "care" as a whole school value, theorised as both a means and an end of schooling. How might school leaders…

  17. Creating School Change: Discovering a Choice of Lenses for the School Administrator.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amatea, Ellen S.; And Others

    1996-01-01

    Proposes a variety of epistemological lenses for viewing the school change process for school administrators' use. Applies these lenses in an actual case study depicting school change, illustrating how administrators can shift focus, position, and mode of inquiry from their usual rational viewpoint. Analyzes implications of using such lenses for…

  18. Contextualized Teacher-Training and Racial/Ethnic Tensions in U.S. Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guinn, Cameron S.

    2017-01-01

    Public school teachers are required to have specialized training to appropriately address discipline problems and foster positive school culture. Despite good intentions, many teacher-training initiatives fall short of creating an unbiased school atmosphere. This study used data collected by the National Center for Educational Statistics through…

  19. School Discipline: Best Practices for Administrators. Second Edition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosen, Louis

    2005-01-01

    In this book, the author offers the best ideas and most workable discipline practices from more than 1,000 school leaders. The book is loaded with updates and gives administrators all the tools they need to create a safe environment, from dealing effectively with the 5% of students who take up 90% of their time, to creating a positive public image…

  20. Creating a Positive Classroom Environment to Meet the Needs of the Foster Child

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    LaCour, Misty; McGlawn, Penny; Dees, Laura

    2016-01-01

    Foster children often struggle socially, emotionally, and academically in the school setting leading to school failure. By establishing a positive classroom environment, teachers can provide for the needs of the foster child while encouraging academic achievement. This study seeks to determine teacher best practices for meeting the needs of foster…

  1. Climate Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frascone, Anthony C.

    2011-01-01

    As an assistant principal of a middle school, cultivating and promoting a positive school culture is what the author believes to be one of his most important roles. Creating a positive culture is like taking care of a delicate flower. It takes constant care and maintenance to keep it looking healthy. One cannot just throw water at a garden and…

  2. A Travel Agent in Cyber School: The Internet and the Library Media Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    LeBaron, John F.; And Others

    The global computing networks that are revolutionizing our society have created an opportunity for school libraries and librarians. Taking the position that librarians occupy key positions in the educational technology revolution, this book explores how technology-enhanced education improvements fit together with the library media program and how…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pedersen, Jeff; Yager, Stuart; Yager, Robert

    2012-01-01

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

  4. Beyond Metal Detectors: Creating Safe School Environments. The Editor Reflects.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Erb, Tom

    2000-01-01

    Discusses a model for the interactions between the elements of a safe school environment. Elements are curriculum, climate, and instruction leading to a safe setting, resulting in positive student outcomes. (JPB)

  5. Climate Change: Implementing School Discipline Practices That Create a Positive School Climate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cardichon, Jessica; Roc, Martens

    2013-01-01

    Middle and high school students subjected to harsh school discipline policies and practices such as suspensions and expulsions are more likely to disengage from the classroom and course work, and increases their chances of dropping out, according to this new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education. The report recommends implementing…

  6. Governing Education in Europe: A "New" Policy Space of European Schooling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carlos, Sofia

    2012-01-01

    European Schools are a particular type of school that are not integrated into any national education system but are nonetheless official educational establishments that constitute a European Schools System (ESS) governed jointly by the Member States of the European Union. This positioning creates particularly interesting issues of governance that…

  7. Using School Lunch Programs To Promote Positive Dietary Habits.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoff, Mary E.

    2002-01-01

    The variety of school lunch foods available has dramatically expanded as school food managers strive to increase sales and generate revenue. Though lunchtime offerings are often based on student preferences versus nutritional value, with a small investment of effort and commitment to student well-being, schools can create lunch programs that…

  8. "We Don't Recruit, We Educate": High School Program Marketing and International Baccalaureate Programmes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Donovan, Martha K.; Lakes, Richard D.

    2017-01-01

    Public education reformers have created a widespread expectation of school choice among school consumers. School leaders adopt rigorous academic programs, like the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) and Career Programme (CP), to improve their market position in the competitive landscape. While ample research has investigated…

  9. Schools of Education: Legal and Political Issues of Accreditation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koff, Robert H.; Florio, David H.

    1977-01-01

    A policy-making forum created to examine substantive issues related to the formulation of a national accreditation policy for schools of education will help sort out and accommodate differences in ideological positions. (Author)

  10. Oil City PREP: Putting Positive Principles into Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eisenman, Jessica; Barnhill, Rachelle; Riley, Ben

    2013-01-01

    Tamara Shepard from Southwest Behavioral Health Management (SBHM) proposed a plan to schools in Venango County, Pennsylvania. School districts would collaborate with mental health agencies to create a school-based integrated classroom model that would combine education and behavioral health interventions in one setting. When she initially…

  11. Using National Data to Make Decisions as a Solo Librarian: A Conversation with NCES

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Andrews, Sandra D.

    2011-01-01

    School libraries have increasingly seen the number of school librarians in each school decrease, creating more solo librarian positions in schools. While this is not a new dilemma, it is one that requires initiative and persistence on the part of the school librarian to accomplish tasks and make decisions. Making decisions about individual school…

  12. Teacher and Staff Voices: Implementation of a Positive Behavior Bullying Prevention Program in an Urban School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Letendre, Joan; Ostrander, Jason A.; Mickens, Alison

    2016-01-01

    Bullying is a problem that affects the academic, social, and emotional well-being of scores of children and youths daily in U.S. schools. Understanding how to influence the environment in which the bullying occurs is essential to creating safe schools. Whole-school intervention programs train teachers, school staff, and administrators to model and…

  13. School Recognition: Principals, Do You Know Who You Are?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schoer, Lisa Unger

    2014-01-01

    For high school and middle school principals, the ability to create and maintain positive recognition and identity both personally and for the school is crucial for support from all stakeholders. Finding proactive ways to do this is not much different than the way a large corporation develops a campaign for a major product. Nine principles for…

  14. Professional Learning Communities Enhancing Teacher Experiences in International Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lalor, Brian; Abawi, Lindy

    2014-01-01

    In international school contexts, schools that establish support networks for newly arrived staff tend to stand a better chance of retaining staff and creating a positive and successful work environment. The case study at the center of the paper is an International School in Vietnam and this paper aims to highlight the importance of building…

  15. Creating a Leadership Style

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bonnici, Charles A.

    2011-01-01

    Many articles about school improvement talk about data-driven instruction and statistics. In the barrage of evaluative numbers, school leaders can forget that teaching and leading are arts, not sciences. Positive outcomes depend on the ambience of the school, which is a direct result of the leadership style of its principal and assistant…

  16. Engaging in Collaboration: A Team of Teams Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, Carol; Hill, Rachel; Morris, Greg; Woods, Fabiola

    2016-01-01

    Adapting a Team of Teams model to a school environment provides a framework for a collaborative team culture based on trust, common vision, purposeful conversations, and interconnectivity. School leaders facilitate collaboration by modeling teamwork, as well as transparency and adaptability, to create a positive school culture and thereby improve…

  17. The Family Liaison Position in High-Poverty, Urban Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dretzke, Beverly J.; Rickers, Susan R.

    2016-01-01

    This study examined the roles and responsibilities of family liaisons working in urban schools with enrollments characterized by high poverty, high mobility, and ethnic diversity. Results indicated that the major responsibilities of the liaisons were creating a trusting and welcoming environment, facilitating parent involvement in the school,…

  18. "Living with Volcanoes": Cross-Curricular Teaching in the High School Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jolley, Alison; Ayala, Gianna

    2015-01-01

    A new, interdisciplinary high school geoarchaeology curriculum unit, titled "Living with Volcanoes," was created and tested in two pilot lessons with 30 high school students total studying geography and classical civilization in northern England. Students were highly engaged during the curriculum unit and showed positive learning gains…

  19. Nine Tips for Creating an Effective Extended School Year Program for Students with Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sobeck, Emily Eyrolles

    2017-01-01

    Extended school year (ESY) is a summer program available for students with disabilities who meet specific qualifying criteria. Teachers are often hesitant to accept the position of the ESY teacher due to the ambiguities and demands of the position. The purpose of this article is to briefly share the impetus and focus of ESY and give special…

  20. The ACCE Position Statement on Media Enriched Learning Communities: "If We're Not Standing on the Edge and Thinking Ahead We're Taking up Too Much Room"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kember, Deborah; Brandenburg, Tony; Murphy, Angela

    2007-01-01

    The ACCE position statement for creating media enriched learning communities targets all stakeholders in educational policy and practice who influence the future of learning, schools, and systems. Stakeholders include policy-makers in government, national and international organisations, professional networks and institutions, school leaders,…

  1. Administrative Methods for Reducing Crime in Primary and Secondary Schools: A Regression Analysis of the U.S. Department of Education School Survey of Crime and Safety

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Noonan, James H.

    2011-01-01

    Since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting school administrators have been tasked with creating positive education environments while also maximizing the safety of the students and staff. However, limited resources require school administrators to only employ safety policies which are actually effective in reducing crime. In order to help…

  2. Strategies for Improving School Culture: Educator Reflections on Transforming the High School Experience for Black and Latino Young Men. Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klevan, Sarah; Villavicencio, Adriana

    2016-01-01

    Researchers and practitioners increasingly recognize that a positive school culture not only enhances students' day-to-day experiences, but also plays a role in raising student achievement. Yet many schools struggle to create a welcoming and supportive schoolwide culture. Indeed, there is evidence that students of color in particular--and perhaps…

  3. Montana Cook Fresh Workshop Pilot: A K-12 School Nutrition Professional Training to Incorporate Whole Foods in School Meals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stephens, Lacy; Shanks, Carmen Byker; Roth, Aubree; Bark, Katie

    2016-01-01

    Purpose/Objectives: To meet new school meal guidelines, create meals that appeal to students, and promote positive food choices and health status among students, school nutrition programs are increasingly moving towards scratch cooking. This pilot research aimed to evaluate the outcomes of the Montana Cook Fresh Workshop, a culinary skills class…

  4. Laterality Influences Schooling Position in Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia spp

    PubMed Central

    Bibost, Anne-Laurence; Brown, Culum

    2013-01-01

    Cerebral lateralization is a widespread trait among animals, is often manifested as side biases in behaviour (laterality) and has been suggested to provide fitness benefits. Here we examined the influence of laterality on the organisation of fish schools using rainbowfish (Melanotaenia spp) as model species. The pattern and strength of laterality for each individual was determined by examining eye preferences whilst examining their reflection in a mirror. Schools of four fish of known laterality were then created and the preferred position for each fish within the school was repeatedly observed in a flume. Fish which showed right eye preferences in the mirror test preferentially adopted a position on the left side of the school. Conversely, fish that showed left eye preferences in the mirror test or where non-lateralised preferentially adopted a position slightly to the right side of the school. However, this general pattern varied depending on the species and sex of the school. Our results strongly implicate individual laterality in the geometry of school formation. PMID:24260506

  5. Laterality influences schooling position in rainbowfish, Melanotaenia spp.

    PubMed

    Bibost, Anne-Laurence; Brown, Culum

    2013-01-01

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

  6. Motivating Students with Authentic Science Experiences: Changes in Motivation for School Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hellgren, Jenny M.; Lindberg, Stina

    2017-01-01

    Background: Students' motivation for science declines over the early teenage years, and students often find school science difficult and irrelevant to their everyday lives. This paper asks whether creating opportunities to connect school science to authentic science can have positive effects on student motivation. Purpose: To understand how…

  7. Bully Proofing Your School: Creating a Positive Climate.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garrity, Carla; And Others

    1997-01-01

    This article identifies the components of school programs necessary for preventing physical or emotional "bullying." The need for a systems approach that places power with the "caring majority" and encourages the assertive use of prosocial interventions is stressed, along with the importance of training all school staff and non-bullying students.…

  8. Building Relationships Step by Step: One Teacher Leader's Journey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mangin, Melinda M.

    2010-01-01

    This case describes how Hannah, a new math specialist, strives to create a positive math culture in her elementary school. Along the way, she works to build relationships with the teachers and the school principal. The accompanying teaching notes facilitate analysis of the case from the perspective of professional relationships in schools.

  9. Using Mentoring, Coaching, and Self-Mentoring to Support Public School Educators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carr, Marsha L.; Holmes, William; Flynn, Kelly

    2017-01-01

    Assimilating new teachers into schools is a critical component of administrative responsibility and sustainability. About 580 000 teachers (17% of all teachers) were newly hired at their school, according to the US Department of Education. Most of these positions were created because of "teacher turnover." Some of these newly hired…

  10. Nepotism and the Jackson County School Board

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heisler, William; Hanlin, Lesa

    2017-01-01

    In 2015, the superintendent of the Jackson County School District revised the existing nepotism policy, and, subsequently, his wife was hired to a newly created position of director of innovation at a salary nearly twice the average paid to teachers in the district. Because of community reaction, the Jackson County School Board met in special…

  11. Promising and Successful Programs and practices in Schools with Intermediate Grade Levels: Programs, Projects & Activities. Information & Dissemination Series 18.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hawaii State Dept. of Education, Honolulu. Office of Instructional Services.

    Outlined are the following 11 successful programs, projects, and activities functioning in Hawaii's intermediate schools: Alternative Learning Center (Waipahu and Pearl City Highlands); Career Awareness Exploring through Basic Practical Arts; Career Education Guidance (Kailua); Creating a Positive School Climate; Learning through the Arts;…

  12. Quality Education through Child-Friendly Schools: Resource Allocation for the Protection of Children's Rights

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Orkodashvili, Mariam

    2010-01-01

    The paper discusses the idea and purpose of Child-Friendly Schools (CFSs) initiated by the UNICEF. It analyses the implications of CFSs in terms of improving children's health and nutrition, promoting gender equality, protecting children's rights, re-defining education quality and creating positive psycho-emotional environment at schools.…

  13. Bullying Prevention: Creating a Positive School Climate and Developing Social Competence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Orpinas, Pamela; Horne, Arthur M.

    2005-01-01

    Bullying is the most prevalent form of violence in American schools. In their new book "Bullying Prevention," authors Pamela Orpinas and Andy Horne bring together years of experience in research and applied behavioral sciences to show how educators, school psychologists, counselors, and other professionals can address the problem of bullying and…

  14. School-Wide Proactive Approaches to Working with Students with Challenging Behaviors.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bullock, Lyndal M., Ed.; Gable, Robert A., Ed.

    This monograph presents highlights from a 2002 forum on school-wide approaches to working with students with challenging behaviors. The forum's focus was on ways to make systemic changes to create school environments that support the use of positive academic and behavioral interventions at the building and classroom levels. The following…

  15. Don't Fight the Man Who Buys His Ink by the Barrel.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Akers, James T.

    Positive school-media relations are essential if schools are to expect an "understanding press" during crucial periods. Recommendations for developing and maintaining such relations fall into 10 areas, including school boards' establishing a firm media relations policy, appointing a board spokesman, creating a "game plan" for media dealings, and…

  16. Implementing Global Studies Curriculum through International School-to-School Partnerships.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parrett, William H.; Hartsock, Jerry

    Alaska's geographic position at the crossroads between East and West and heavy trade with Japan have sparked widespread interest among Alaskans in education about Pacific Rim countries. In 1985 the Alaska Sister Schools Network was formed by the Alaska Department of Education and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, to create opportunities for…

  17. The Restorative Justice Center: An Alternative to School Detention

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ashworth, Julie; Van Bockern, Steve; Ailts, Julie; Donnelly, Jason; Erickson, Kelsey; Woltermann, Jenna

    2008-01-01

    The traditional "stay silent, sit still, do nothing" school detention approach is a punitive and ineffective way to change behavior. It does little to create positive school climates. For children who have been traumatized through fear, isolation, and emotional abuse, poorly managed detention can add to that trauma. A restorative justice approach…

  18. Effectiveness of School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports in a Middle School as Measured by Office Discipline Referrals and Explored in Teacher Perceptions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nunn, William E.

    2017-01-01

    Student behavior stands out among issues that greatly affect students' success and even teacher job satisfaction. Researchers have created Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) as a system of interventions that can help students improve their behavior and become more successful. This study sought to add to the body of knowledge…

  19. Parent Experiences in Using Positive Behavior Support to Reduce Challenging Behavior in Children with Severe Disabilities: A Qualitative Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, C. Adrainne

    2010-01-01

    In the 1970s, the Education for the Handicapped Act (EAHCA) gave rights to parents to receive training and mandated that schools provide it. The 1997, Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA 1997) mandated the use of PBS for children with problem behaviors. IDEA 1997 required that schools create behavior plans with positive behavioral strategies…

  20. Policies and Procedures To Develop Effective School-Wide Discipline Practices at the Elementary School Level. CASE/CCBD Mini-Library Series on Safe, Drug-Free, and Effective Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newcomer, Lori L.; Lewis, Timothy J.; Powers, Lisa J.

    Elementary schools can play an important role in early identification of and intervention for children with problem behavior by creating the infrastructure to provide preventive, proactive supports for all students. This monograph provides an overview of key features of effective school-wide systems of positive behavior support (PBS) at the…

  1. Interpersonal Assessment of Future School Psychologists.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dixon, Robert J.

    The roles and expectations of school psychologists are expanding. Practitioners are increasingly being asked to move beyond the testing expectations to provide effective counseling and consultation interventions. Training programs are expected to create balanced, functioning practitioners who will make positive impacts on children's lives. This…

  2. The Retention of Teachers in Rural Idaho: An Action Research Study in the Longevity of Central Elementary Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Orr, Cynthia K.

    2013-01-01

    If a school is able to retain its teachers, the school has the potential to function as a team and create a positive learning environment. Brown and Schainker (2008) indicate, "Most teacher turnover, whether through attrition or migration, is costly and has negative effects at the school level" (p. 13). If a school has high turnover, the…

  3. Strategies for Improving School Culture: Educator Reflections on Transforming the High School Experience for Black and Latino Young Men. Executive Summary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klevan, Sarah; Villavicencio, Adriana

    2016-01-01

    Researchers and practitioners increasingly recognize that a positive school culture not only enhances students' day-to-day experiences, but also plays a role in raising student achievement. Yet many schools struggle to create a welcoming and supportive schoolwide culture. Indeed, there is evidence that students of color in particular--and perhaps…

  4. Climate Change: Creating an Integrated Framework for Improving School Climate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alliance for Excellent Education, 2013

    2013-01-01

    This report from the Alliance finds that schools that struggle most with providing a positive school climate more often disproportionately serve students of color and low-income students. It also confirms that students of color and students from low-income families are less likely to have access to rigorous course work and experienced teachers,…

  5. Evidence of Positive Student Outcomes in JROTC Career Academies.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elliott, Marc N.; Hanser, Lawrence M.; Gilroy, Curtis L.

    In 1992, the U.S. Departments of Defense and Education jointly created a new high school program aimed at encouraging at-risk youth to remain in school until graduation. The program, which is a marriage of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and the comprehensive high school reform initiative known as career academies, was called…

  6. School Consolidation Efforts in Mississippi

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peters, Gary B.; Freeman, David

    2007-01-01

    Mississippi lawmakers have struggled with budgetary matters as turf wars intensified between political parties. The somber mood of legislators permeated the state. Hostile environments in both chambers had driven legislators to uncompromising positions, which created deadlock in the state capital. School consolidation, which not long ago was…

  7. Behavioral Interventions: Creating a Safe Environment in Our Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Association of School Psychologists, Bethesda, MD.

    This publication features articles on prevention of school violence and focuses upon promising practices that reflect practical approaches to positive behavioral interventions. Directed at both regular and special education students, these articles feature prosocial skills for improving student responsibility and discipline, effective parenting…

  8. School Practices to Foster LGBT-Supportive Climate: Associations with Adolescent Bullying Involvement.

    PubMed

    Gower, Amy L; Forster, Myriam; Gloppen, Kari; Johnson, Abigail Z; Eisenberg, Marla E; Connett, John E; Borowsky, Iris W

    2017-10-14

    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth experience disproportionate rates of bullying compared to their heterosexual peers. Schools are well-positioned to address these disparities by creating supportive school climates for LGBT youth, but more research is needed to examine the variety of practices and professional development opportunities put in place to this end. The current study examines how school practices to create supportive LGBT student climate relate to student reports of bullying. Student-level data come from the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey, a state-wide survey of risk and protective factors. Ninth and eleventh grade students (N = 31,183) reported on frequency of physical and relational bullying victimization and perpetration and sexual orientation-based harassment. School administrators reported on six practices related to creating supportive LGBT school climate (N = 103 schools): having a point person for LGBT student issues, displaying sexual orientation-specific content, having a gay-straight alliance, discussing bullying based on sexual orientation, and providing professional development around LGBT inclusion and LGBT student issues. An index was created to indicate how many practices each school used (M = 2.45; SD = 1.76). Multilevel logistic regressions indicated that students attending schools with more supportive LGBT climates reported lower odds of relational bullying victimization, physical bullying perpetration, and sexual orientation-based harassment compared to students in schools with less supportive LGBT climates. Sexual orientation did not moderate these relations, indicating that LGBT-supportive practices may be protective for all students, regardless of their sexual orientation. Findings support school-wide efforts to create supportive climates for LGBQ youth as part of a larger bullying prevention strategy.

  9. Creating Mathematics Websites in Middle School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    King, Alessandra

    2015-01-01

    During middle school years, students generally finalise their attitude toward mathematics and their perception of themselves as students of mathematics in terms of aptitude, motivation, interest, and competence. Therefore, giving them varied opportunities to foster a positive and successful approach to the study of mathematics is critical, and can…

  10. Discipline in the School. Second Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hartwig, Eric P.; Ruesch, Gary M.

    This book is intended to assist in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of more effective, legally sound disciplinary policies and procedures for all students in school. Case histories, court decisions, literature reviews, and positive education practices regarding the use of properly created intervention plans are available in many…

  11. Politicas de uniformes y codigos de vestuario (Uniforms and Dress-Code Policies). ERIC Digest.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lumsden, Linda

    This digest in Spanish examines schools' dress-code policies and discusses the legal considerations and research findings about the effects of such changes. Most revisions to dress codes involve the use of uniforms, typically as a way to curb school violence and create a positive learning environment. A recent survey of secondary school principals…

  12. Tapping on the Glass: The Intersection of Leadership and Gender in Independent School Administration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ostos, Barbara Escobio

    2012-01-01

    While independent schools are a small sector of the American school system, they educate a significant cross section of society. Creating equitable models of leadership in their top administrative positions is important as students see those models and equate them with what leaders look and act like. This study examined leadership styles of heads…

  13. Voices from the Field: School Psychologists

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    King, Emily W.; Schanding, Thomas; Elmore, Gail

    2015-01-01

    As school psychologists, educators and parents most often approach us with questions relating to a concern. We have the privilege of serving students in their natural learning environment where skills and behaviors can be observed and analyzed, where interventions can be created and tested, and, hopefully, where a positive change can be made…

  14. Classroom Management and Students' Self-Esteem: Creating Positive Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Demirdag, Seyithan

    2015-01-01

    Middle school students experience substantial changes in their emotion and cognition while they grow. They have mixed feelings, which may negatively affect their motivation, self-esteem, and academic success due to different classroom management strategies of their teachers. There is available research about motivation of middle school students…

  15. Joyful Leadership in Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cunningham, Katie Egan; Rainville, Kristin N.

    2018-01-01

    Happiness leads to greater success and higher achievement, so it makes sense to infuse joy into school leadership to create positive results. Cunningham and Rainville offer up four key pieces of advice to school leaders on how to incorporate gratitude, compassion, and empathy into their leadership practice and, as a result, transform school…

  16. The Impact of Values Education on School Ambience and Academic Diligence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lovat, Terence; Clement, Neville; Dally, Kerry; Toomey, Ron

    2011-01-01

    The article will focus on demonstrating the effects of values education on enhancing students' academic diligence through the more positive ambience it creates in the school. Evidence will be drawn from international studies but principally from the Australian Government's Values Education Program and, especially from the "Values Education…

  17. Cyberbullying and the Law: Implications for Professional School Counselor

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crawford, Sherrionda; Doss, Kanessa Miller; Babel, Korrinne H.; Bush, Holly

    2017-01-01

    Cyberbullying or the use of technology to intimidate, harass, or bully has become increasingly problematic. School Counselors are in a unique position to provide prevention and intervention services concerning acts of cyberbullying, however varying state laws and confusing legal language has created ambiguity regarding the "reach" and…

  18. Building Success beyond High School with Career-and College-Ready Literacies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foote, Carolyn

    2016-01-01

    When secondary school librarians teach students digital life literacies, they help students perceive that librarians can provide support for real-life problems. The more librarians work with students, create inviting library environments, and have positive engagements with students, the more they change student perceptions of librarians in…

  19. Principals and Counselors Partnering for Student Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Connolly, Faith, Ed.; Protheroe, Nancy, Ed.

    2009-01-01

    Today's schools, with their increasingly diverse student populations and ever-higher achievement standards, need to use all of their resources in ways that create the maximum positive impact for students and student learning. A school's counseling program is one of these resources, and this book provides a roadmap principals and counselors can…

  20. T-Shirts Can Create Positive Images (Rainbow Teachers, Rainbow Students).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parks-Lee, Barbara D.

    1995-01-01

    Explains how the artistic design of t-shirts with positive images, some having grown out of the study of particular literary works, do much for student attitudes, self-awareness, pride, and interest in school, especially in a "rainbow classroom." (TB)

  1. "I Don't Want Him Hitting on Me": The Role of Masculinities in Creating a Chilly High School Climate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bortolin, Sandra

    2010-01-01

    This study reports on a qualitative analysis of data from interviews with 15 heterosexual males ages 16-18 in Canadian high schools. Findings indicate that gay male youth often occupy lower status positions in the school's social hierarchy. Heterosexual males did not typically want to associate with gay male peers for fear of being perceived as…

  2. Making Cereal Box Dioramas of Native American Historic Homes and Culture

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rule, Audrey C., Ed.; Lindell, Lois A., Ed.

    2009-01-01

    Hands-on projects such as creating a three-dimensional diorama are among the most memorable of positive elementary school experiences, yet they are generally uncommon because these complex projects are daunting to undertake. Therefore, it is important to prepare preservice teachers with the skills to lead children in creating these types of…

  3. Digital Media Shapes Youth Participation in Politics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kahne, Joseph; Middaugh, Ellen

    2012-01-01

    Will those who Tweet vote? Social media clearly create new opportunities for voice, for agency, and potentially for influence. But they create risks as well, because there is no reason to assume that engagement with participatory politics will inevitably or organically develop in positive ways. That's where schools come into the picture, playing…

  4. [New medical schools in Chile].

    PubMed

    Castillo, P

    1994-03-01

    In Chile there are six established medical schools at public (Chile, Valparaiso and Temuco) or private (Catholic, Concepción and Austral) universities created between 1833 and 1971. Since 1990, three new medical schools (two private) were created and a fourth is projected, concerning the chilean medical corps. We present three position articles on the subject written by Dean Pedro Rosso, from the Catholic University, Dr Pedro Castillo, Chief of Human Resources of the Ministry of Health and Dean Alejandro Goic from the University of Chile. Dean Rosso emphasizes the need to have assessment procedures that guarantee quality standards in the new medical schools. Dr Castillo attracts attention on preserving the compromise with the society, inherent to chilean medicine. Dean Goic analyzes systematically the reasons to prevent the proliferation of medical schools in the country, maintaining an equilibrium between freedom of teaching and public faith protection.

  5. "Drinking won't get you thinking": a content analysis of adolescent-created print alcohol counter-advertisements.

    PubMed

    Banerjee, Smita C; Greene, Kathryn; Hecht, Michael L; Magsamen-Conrad, Kate; Elek, Elvira

    2013-01-01

    Involvement in creating antialcohol advertisements generates enthusiasm among adolescents; however, little is known about the messages adolescents develop for these activities. In this article, we present a content analysis of 72 print alcohol counteradvertisements created by high school (age 14-17 years old) and college (18-25 years old) students. The posters were content analyzed for poster message content, persuasion strategies, and production components, and we compared high school and college student posters. All of the posters used a slogan to highlight the main point/message of the ad and counterarguments/consequences to support the slogans. The most frequently depicted consequences were negative consequences of alcohol use, followed by negative-positive consequence comparison. Persuasion strategies were sparingly used in advertisements and included having fun/one of the gang, humor/unexpected, glamour/sex appeal, and endorsement. Finally, posters displayed a number of production techniques including depicting people, clear setting, multiple colors, different font sizes, and object placement. College and high school student-constructed posters were similar on many features (e.g., posters displayed similar frequency of utilization of slogans, negative consequences, and positive-negative consequence comparisons), but were different on the use of positive consequences of not using alcohol and before-after comparisons. Implications for teaching media literacy and involving adolescents and youth in developing alcohol prevention messages are discussed.

  6. “Drinking Won’t Get You Thinking”: A Content Analysis of Adolescent-Created Print Alcohol Counter-Advertisements

    PubMed Central

    Banerjee, Smita C.; Greene, Kathryn; Hecht, Michael L.; Magsamen-Conrad, Kate; Elek, Elvira

    2013-01-01

    Involvement in creating anti-alcohol advertisements generates enthusiasm among adolescents, however, little is known about the messages adolescents develop for these activities. In this paper, we present a content analysis of 72 print alcohol counter-advertisements created by high school (age 14–17 years old) and college (18–25 years old) students. The posters were content analyzed for poster message content, persuasion strategies, and production components, and we compared high school and college student posters. All of the posters used a slogan to highlight the main point/message of the ad and counter-arguments/consequences to support the slogans. The most frequently depicted consequences were negative consequences of alcohol use followed by negative-positive consequence comparison. Persuasion strategies were sparingly used in advertisements and included having fun/one of the gang, humor/unexpected, glamour/sex appeal, and endorsement. Finally, posters displayed a number of production techniques including depicting people, clear setting, multiple colors, different font sizes, and object placement. College and high school student constructed posters were similar on many features (for instance, posters displayed similar frequency of utilization of slogans, negative consequences and positive-negative consequence comparisons), but were different on the use of positive consequences of not using alcohol and before-after comparisons. Implications for teaching media literacy and involving adolescents and youth in developing alcohol prevention messages are discussed. PMID:23980705

  7. What to Do in Week One?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wormeli, Rick

    2016-01-01

    Although teachers can build positive relationships with students throughout the school year, the first weeks are crucial, writes Wormeli. They set the tone and conditions for the year ahead, creating a more effective teaching and learning enterprise for everyone. Wormeli tells how, as a middle school teacher, he set a goal of learning the names of…

  8. Technology Resource Teachers: Is This a New Role for Instructional Technologists?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moallem, Mahnaz; And Others

    Public schools have created the position of the Technology Resource Teacher (TRT) in an attempt to establish a technical and instructional support system at the school level to assure the proper usage of technology (particularly computers) by both teachers and students. This study explores the roles and responsibilities of the Technology Resource…

  9. Instructional Technologists at Public Schools: A Study of the Role and Effectiveness of Technology Resource Teachers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moallem, Mahnaz; Micallef, Suzanne

    Human resource positions that are becoming known as Technology Coordinator (for district-level personnel) and Technology Resource Teacher (for school-level personnel) have been created to help integrate technology into classroom instruction. This study assessed the progress and effectiveness of Technology Resource Teachers, or TRTs, as technical…

  10. Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Experiences with School-Based and District-Based Support and Its Relationship to Integrating Technology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hampshire, Onequa N.

    2014-01-01

    Technological advances play a major role in educating students' in mathematics. Research indicates that technology could create learning environments that support innovativeness and assist teachers in developing a positive attitude toward integrating technology. Unfortunately, teachers are not utilizing technology on a regular basis in mathematics…

  11. Proof Positive

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harac, Lani

    2005-01-01

    After figuring out why many kids hate math, these longtime educators Bob and Ellen Kaplan created an after-school program in which children as young as 5 formulate equations of their own--and actually enjoy doing it. This paper discusses the experiences of the Kaplan couple, Bob and Ellen, on their Math Circle class during after-school sessions…

  12. Creating a Culture of Intellectual Feedom through Leadership and Advocacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stripling, Barbara K.

    2015-01-01

    Culture involves behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and invisible norms and expectations. The question for school librarians is: How is a culture of intellectual freedom built, and what is the role of the librarian? School librarians are expected to be instructional leaders from "the middle." They are not in positions of authority over other…

  13. Performance-Based Funding & Online Learning: Maximizing Resources for Student Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Patrick, Susan; Myers, John; Silverstein, Justin; Brown, Amanda; Watson, John

    2015-01-01

    There is a new conversation taking place in public education on creating systemic incentives through school finance to encourage schools to innovate and be rewarded for positive student outcomes and performance. What if education funding was not based on seat-time, but on rewarding student performance? Performance-based funding is a term that…

  14. Creating Peaceful and Effective Schools through a Culture of Care

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cavanagh, Tom; Macfarlane, Angus; Glynn, Ted; Macfarlane, Sonja

    2012-01-01

    Many schools in New Zealand, the USA, and elsewhere, are searching for ways to respond positively to the educational achievement disparities that exist between majority culture students and students from minority ethnic and cultural communities. Most of the approaches and strategies that have been implemented to date have either failed, or had…

  15. Empowerment through Communication: Key People-to-People and Organizational Success.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geddes, Doreen S.

    1993-01-01

    To empower teachers, school administrators must be effective communicators adept at matching style to purpose, recognizing the content and relational aspects of verbal messages, and realizing the importance of perceptions, positive reinforcement, active listening, flexible speaking styles, and nonverbal messages. Creating a positive communication…

  16. Implementing Comprehensive School Health in Alberta, Canada: the principal's role.

    PubMed

    Roberts, Erica; McLeod, Nicole; Montemurro, Genevieve; Veugelers, Paul J; Gleddie, Doug; Storey, Kate E

    2016-12-01

    Comprehensive School Health (CSH) is an internationally recognized framework that moves beyond the individual to holistically address school health, leading to the development of health-enhancing behaviors while also improving educational outcomes. Previous research has suggested that principal support for CSH implementation is essential, but this role has yet to be explored. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to examine the role of the principal in the implementation of a CSH project aimed at creating a healthy school culture. This research was guided by the grounded ethnography method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with APPLE School principals (n = 29) to qualitatively explore their role in creating a healthy school culture. A model consisting of five major themes emerged, suggesting that the principal played a fluid role throughout the CSH implementation process. Principals (i) primed the cultural change; (ii) communicated the project's importance to others; (iii) negotiated concerns and collaboratively planned; (iv) held others accountable to the change, while enabling them to take ownership and (v) played an underlying supportive role, providing positive recognition and establishing ongoing commitment. This research provides recommendations to help establish effective leadership practices in schools, conducive to creating a healthy school culture. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. High Stakes: Children, Testing, and Failure in American Schools. A Year in the Life of One Rural School and Its Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Dale D.; Johnson, Bonnie

    This book connects the educational conditions created by high-stakes testing to the students and teachers who are influenced or victimized by the currents driving this movement. The authors left their positions as teacher-educators and taught grades 3 and 4 for 1 year as regular teachers in one of America's most impoverished schools. Redbud…

  18. Student Attitudes towards Diversity in Sweden

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elmeroth, Elisabeth

    2009-01-01

    The aim of the research reported in this paper was to study and analyse student attitudes towards ethnic diversity and their expectations regarding the school in creating positive attitudes. The results show that the majority of the students embrace a positive attitude towards multicultural society. However, this attitude varies when the variables…

  19. Teaching the Young to Love

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frymier, Jack R.

    1969-01-01

    "We often become so obsessed with rationality in the schools that we forget it is necessary to teach young people positive ways to behave toward their fellowman. This can best be accomplished by creating a positive image which will serve as a stimulus "to help young people learn to love. (Author/AP)

  20. Governors' Sights May Be Zeroing In on Policy Levers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cavanagh, Sean

    2011-01-01

    When Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire announced recently that she wants to take control of education policy in her state by creating a new, Cabinet-level schools position that answers to her, she set the stage for a political fight--and revived a perennial debate. Governors, elected state schools chiefs, and, to some extent, state boards…

  1. Creating Supportive Learning Environments: Experiences of Lesbian and Gay-Parented Families in South African Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Breshears, Diana; Lubbe-De Beer, Carien

    2016-01-01

    Through in-depth interviews with 21 parents and 12 children in lesbian/gay-parented families, we explored the experiences of this unique family form in South African schools. Specifically, families reflected on their positive and negative experiences in the children's education and used these reflections to offer advice to teachers and…

  2. Leadership Characteristics of Military Veterans as School Administrators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bolles, Elliot Foster

    2014-01-01

    The Troops to Teachers (TTT) program was created in 1994 to provide funds to recruit and support former members of the military as teachers in high-poverty schools. Most of the research on TTT participants has been positive, and leadership is often mentioned as an important factor in participants' successes. A number of these military veterans…

  3. Skills for Living: Group Counseling Activities for Young Adolescents, Volume Two.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smead, Rosemarie

    Group counseling offers a content-plus-process approach to counseling of youth. Counselors in schools or mental health settings can use this book to learn how to create meaningful group experiences for adolescents. The group agendas are aimed at middle school youth and offer them the opportunity to experience positive growth and change in the…

  4. The Effect of Background Music on Bullying: A Pilot Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ziv, Naomi; Dolev, Einat

    2013-01-01

    School bullying is a source of growing concern. A number of intervention programs emphasize the importance of a positive school climate in preventing bullying behavior. The aim of the presented pilot study was to examine whether calming background music, through its effect on arousal and mood, could create a pleasant atmosphere and reduce bullying…

  5. Organizational Climate in Schools in White Communities in South Africa: A Validation of the OCDQ-RS.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mentz, Kobus; Westhuizen, Philip van der

    Teacher-principal relations play an important role in creating a positive school climate. This paper describes findings of a study that sought to: (1) determine the reliability of the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire--Rutgers Secondary (OCDQ-RS) in a South African context, and (2) measure the openness of the organizational climates…

  6. Creating the Climate for Humanistic Change in the Elementary School with Principal as Change Agent

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heichberger, Robert L.

    1975-01-01

    It is suggested that three necessary components prerequisite to educational change are: dynamic leadership, a philosophical base, and a positive environment. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these components and indicate why and how they can be made available in a given elementary school situation. (Editor/RK)

  7. Expelling Stress for Primary School Teachers: Self-Affirmation Increases Positive Emotions in Teaching and Emotion Reappraisal

    PubMed Central

    Morgan, James; Atkin, Lisa

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the present pilot study was to assess the effect of a brief work-related self-affirming implementation intention (WS-AII) on the well-being of primary school teachers. Participants were randomly allocated to one of two conditions: one in which they were asked to create a WS-AII or one in which they were asked to create a control implementation intention (C-II). State anxiety was measured pre- and post-manipulation, self-efficacy at post-manipulation only, and emotions in teaching and emotion regulation at baseline and at a two-week follow-up. There were statistically significant differences between the WS-AII condition and the control. Teachers who created work-related self-affirming implementation intentions reported an immediate reduction in state anxiety. Positive effects extended over the two-week period, with teachers in the WS-AII condition also reporting more positive emotions in teaching and the use of reappraisal emotion regulation strategies rather than emotion suppression. Results suggest that the integration of the WS-AII into existing organisational practice may be of benefit to the well-being of teachers and other highly stressed workers. PMID:27187437

  8. Expelling Stress for Primary School Teachers: Self-Affirmation Increases Positive Emotions in Teaching and Emotion Reappraisal.

    PubMed

    Morgan, James; Atkin, Lisa

    2016-05-13

    The aim of the present pilot study was to assess the effect of a brief work-related self-affirming implementation intention (WS-AII) on the well-being of primary school teachers. Participants were randomly allocated to one of two conditions: one in which they were asked to create a WS-AII or one in which they were asked to create a control implementation intention (C-II). State anxiety was measured pre- and post-manipulation, self-efficacy at post-manipulation only, and emotions in teaching and emotion regulation at baseline and at a two-week follow-up. There were statistically significant differences between the WS-AII condition and the control. Teachers who created work-related self-affirming implementation intentions reported an immediate reduction in state anxiety. Positive effects extended over the two-week period, with teachers in the WS-AII condition also reporting more positive emotions in teaching and the use of reappraisal emotion regulation strategies rather than emotion suppression. Results suggest that the integration of the WS-AII into existing organisational practice may be of benefit to the well-being of teachers and other highly stressed workers.

  9. Youth Outcomes Following Implementation of Universal SW-PBIS Strategies in a Texas Secure Juvenile Facility

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Leah E.; Wang, Eugene W.; Gilinsky, Nicole; He, Zhaomin; Carpenter, Clint; Nelson, C. Michael; Scheuermann, Brenda K.

    2013-01-01

    School-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SW-PBIS) is a framework for creating safe and effective learning environments and cultivating a positive educational climate. Researchers show that SW-PBIS can improve behavioral outcomes, while demonstrations of a causal relationship between improvements in students' academic achievement…

  10. Examining Students' Math Course-Taking and Educational Outcomes in the Garden Grove Unified School District (Year 1). Issue Brief

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Biag, Manuelito; Williams, Imeh

    2014-01-01

    Research demonstrates that students' success in rigorous middle and high school math courses is positively associated with their admission to college, earnings later in life, and career prospects. The sequential nature of math course-taking, however, can create an opportunity structure that puts certain students at a disadvantage, specifically…

  11. Engaging Students in Constructive Youth-Adult Relationships: A Case Study of Urban School-Based Agriculture Students and Positive Adult Mentors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bird, William A.; Martin, Michael J.; Tummons, John D.; Ball, Anna L.

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this bounded single case study was to explore the day-to-day functioning of a successful urban school-based agriculture veterinary program. Findings indicated student success was a product of multiple youth-adult relationships created through communal environments. Adults served as mentors with whom students felt constant, caring…

  12. Heard the One About the Principal Who Painted the Door?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Noe, Laurie R.

    2002-01-01

    Describes how school leaders can harness the power of stories to help maintain or create a positive school environment, explaining the role of the storyteller, how to choose the story, where to find meaningful stories, how to recognize people by name in a story, how to shape the message, and how to appeal to the audience's intellect and emotions.…

  13. Creating Democratic Class Rooms in Asian Contexts: The Influences of Individual and School Level Factors on Open Classroom Climate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kuang, Xiaoxue; Kennedy, Kerry J.; Mok, Magdalena Mo Ching

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: Literature indicates that open classroom climate (OCC) is a positive influence on civic outcomes. Few studies have explored factors that appear to facilitate OCC. Most research on OCC has focused on Western countries. The emphasis has been on individual student characteristics related to OCC with little attention made to school level…

  14. Creating Effective Civic Engagement Policy for Adolescents: Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluations of Compulsory Community Service

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henderson, Ailsa; Pancer, S. Mark; Brown, Steven D.

    2014-01-01

    For high school community service programs to have a positive impact on subsequent civic engagement, students must volunteer in a sustained manner and must evaluate their volunteering experiences positively. Using a survey with 1,293 respondents and 100 semistructured interviews with past participants of the mandatory community service program…

  15. The Reduction of Bullying in an Elementary Program: An Action Research Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brock, Jacqueline M.

    2013-01-01

    Bully Prevention in Positive Behavior Support (BP-PBS) is a prevention-oriented program created to support students with strategies to combat bullying. BP-PBS supports the idea that all students should have access to positive behavior support to minimize problem behavior at school (Horner, 2011). The goal of this study was to investigate the…

  16. LGBTQ Awareness and Allies: Building Capacity in a Bachelor of Education Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kearns, Laura-Lee; Mitton-Kukner, Jennifer; Tompkins, Joanne

    2014-01-01

    This research describes the impact of an integrated training program (Positive Space I and Positive Space II) on pre-service teachers' understandings of and abilities to create safe spaces for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered, two-spirited, queering and/or questioning (LGBTQ) youth and allies in schools. Our Bachelor of Education program…

  17. Building LGBTQ Awareness and Allies in Our Teacher Education Community and Beyond

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kearns, Laura-Lee; Kukner, Jennifer Mitton; Tompkins, Joanne

    2014-01-01

    In this article we share the impact of a training program (Positive Space I and Positive Space II) on pre-service teachers' understandings of and abilities to create safe spaces for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered and Queering/Questioning (LGBTQ) youth and allies in our teacher-education program and in schools. Research has demonstrated…

  18. From Drab to Fab: The Tale of a Crafty Librarian and Her Quest to Create a 21st Century Learning Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gilcreast, Jessica

    2014-01-01

    Six years ago Jessica Gilcreast accepted the position as the school librarian in a diverse urban elementary school (80 percent low-income student population). The library had a bare-bones automation system, block scheduling, and no library assistant. None of this, however, was her biggest challenge. Inheriting an institutional, cold,…

  19. Critical Connections: Health and Academics

    PubMed Central

    Michael, Shannon L; Merlo, Caitlin L; Basch, Charles E; Wentzel, Kathryn R; Wechsler, Howell

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND While it is a national priority to support the health and education of students, these sectors must better align, integrate, and collaborate to achieve this priority. This article summarizes the literature on the connection between health and academic achievement using the Whole School, Whole Community, and Whole Child (WSCC) framework as a way to address health-related barriers to learning. METHODS A literature review was conducted on the association between student health and academic achievement. RESULTS Most of the evidence examined the association between student health behaviors and academic achievement, with physical activity having the most published studies and consistent findings. The evidence supports the need for school health services by demonstrating the association between chronic conditions and decreased achievement. Safe and positive school environments were associated with improved health behaviors and achievement. Engaging families and community members in schools also had a positive effect on students' health and achievement. CONCLUSIONS Schools can improve the health and learning of students by supporting opportunities to learn about and practice healthy behaviors, providing school health services, creating safe and positive school environments, and engaging families and community. This evidence supports WSCC as a potential framework for achieving national educational and health goals. PMID:26440816

  20. Critical connections: health and academics.

    PubMed

    Michael, Shannon L; Merlo, Caitlin L; Basch, Charles E; Wentzel, Kathryn R; Wechsler, Howell

    2015-11-01

    While it is a national priority to support the health and education of students, these sectors must better align, integrate, and collaborate to achieve this priority. This article summarizes the literature on the connection between health and academic achievement using the Whole School, Whole Community, and Whole Child (WSCC) framework as a way to address health-related barriers to learning. A literature review was conducted on the association between student health and academic achievement. Most of the evidence examined the association between student health behaviors and academic achievement, with physical activity having the most published studies and consistent findings. The evidence supports the need for school health services by demonstrating the association between chronic conditions and decreased achievement. Safe and positive school environments were associated with improved health behaviors and achievement. Engaging families and community members in schools also had a positive effect on students' health and achievement. Schools can improve the health and learning of students by supporting opportunities to learn about and practice healthy behaviors, providing school health services, creating safe and positive school environments, and engaging families and community. This evidence supports WSCC as a potential framework for achieving national educational and health goals. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of School Health published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American School Health Association.

  1. From Empiricism to Total Quality Management in Greek Education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karavasilis, Ioannis; Samoladas, Ioannis; Nedos, Apostolos

    Nowadays the education system in Greece moves towards democratization and decentralization. School unit is the cell and the base of the education system. Principal's role is highly demanding, multi-dimensional, and a critical determinant of school performance and effectiveness. The paper proposes an effective organizational plan of school units in Primary Education based on basic administration processes and Total Quality Management. Using theory of emotional intelligence and Blake-Mouton's grid it emphasizes the impact of Principal's leadership on democratizing the school unit, on creating a safe and secure environment and positive school climate and motivating teachers committee to participate in the decision making process.

  2. To Tell or Not to Tell: What Influences Children's Decisions to Report Bullying to Their Teachers?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cortes, Khaerannisa I.; Kochenderfer-Ladd, Becky

    2014-01-01

    Teachers are the primary agents for creating and maintaining a positive classroom climate--and promoting healthy interpersonal relations with, and among, their students (including the prevention of school bullying) is key to achieving this goal. For this study it was posited that students' willingness to report bullying to their teachers is an…

  3. The social environment of schools and adolescent nutrition: associations between the school nutrition climate and adolescents' eating behaviors and body mass index.

    PubMed

    Cvjetan, Branko; Utter, Jennifer; Robinson, Elizabeth; Denny, Simon

    2014-10-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the association between the school nutrition climate and students' eating behaviors and body mass index (BMI). Data were collected as part of Youth'07, a nationally representative health survey of high school students in New Zealand. Overall, 9107 randomly selected students from 96 randomly selected schools participated. School-level measures were created by aggregating students' reports within schools. Analyses were conducted using multilevel modeling, accounting for student-level characteristics. There was a positive association between the school nutrition climate and students' consumption of fruits and vegetables. This relationship was statistically significant after controlling for the background characteristics of students. There were no associations between the school nutrition climate and students' junk food consumption or BMI. The school nutrition climate appears to have a positive influence on adolescents' healthy eating behaviors (fruit and vegetable intake), but a limited effect on unhealthy eating behaviors and ultimately body weight. This may reflect the pervasiveness of junk food in the environments of adolescents outside of school and the difficulty in limiting its consumption. © 2014, American School Health Association.

  4. Playing fair: the contribution of high-functioning recess to overall school climate in low-income elementary schools.

    PubMed

    London, Rebecca A; Westrich, Lisa; Stokes-Guinan, Katie; McLaughlin, Milbrey

    2015-01-01

    Recess is a part of the elementary school day with strong implications for school climate. Positive school climate has been linked to a host of favorable student outcomes, from attendance to achievement. We examine 6 low-income elementary schools' experiences implementing a recess-based program designed to provide safe, healthy, and inclusive play to study how improving recess functioning can affect school climate. Data from teacher, principal, and recess coach interviews; student focus groups; recess observations; and a teacher survey are triangulated to understand the ways that recess changed during implementation. Comparing schools that achieved higher- and lower-functioning recesses, we link recess functioning with school climate. Recess improved in all schools, but 4 of the 6 achieved a higher-functioning recess. In these schools, teachers and principals agreed that by the end of the year, recess offered opportunities for student engagement, conflict resolution, pro-social skill development, and emotional and physical safety. Respondents in these four schools linked these changes to improved overall school climate. Recess is an important part of the school day for contributing to school climate. Creating a positive recess climate helps students to be engaged in meaningful play and return to class ready to learn. © 2014, American School Health Association.

  5. Positive outcome expectancy mediates the relationship between social influence and Internet addiction among senior high-school students.

    PubMed

    Lin, Min-Pei; Wu, Jo Yung-Wei; Chen, Chao-Jui; You, Jianing

    2018-06-28

    Background and aims Based on the foundations of Bandura's social cognitive theory and theory of triadic influence (TTI) theoretical framework, this study was designed to examine the mediating role of positive outcome expectancy of Internet use in the relationship between social influence and Internet addiction (IA) in a large representative sample of senior high-school students in Taiwan. Methods Using a cross-sectional design, 1,922 participants were recruited from senior high schools throughout Taiwan using both stratified and cluster sampling, and a comprehensive survey was administered. Results Structural equation modeling and bootstrap analyses results showed that IA severity was significantly and positively predicted by social influence, and fully mediated through positive outcome expectancy of Internet use. Discussion and conclusions The results not only support Bandura's social cognitive theory and TTI framework, but can also serve as a reference to help educational agencies and mental health organizations design programs and create policies that will help in the prevention of IA among adolescents.

  6. Creating Spaces for Students to Position Themselves as Writers through Experiences with Digital Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zoch, Melody; Adams-Budde, Melissa; Langston-Demott, Brooke

    2016-01-01

    The authors present the experiences of Wyatt, a nine-year-old whose mother described him as a struggling writer, in a summer digital writing camp. The authors consider how Wyatt was positioned as a writer at camp and how this may have differed from his experiences at school. They found that for Wyatt, being able to compose with digital tools along…

  7. Preparing Special Education Teachers to Collaborate with Families

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collier, Margo; Keefe, Elizabeth B.; Hirrel, Laura A.

    2015-01-01

    Positive family-school-community relationships are associated with student success. Creating successful relationships with parents is an important but difficult task for teachers to master. Therefore, teacher candidates need opportunities to learn how to develop collaborative relationships with parents of all children, including children with…

  8. Creating and Diffusing a Technology Champion Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Granitz, Neil; Hugstad, Paul

    2004-01-01

    Excitement has been generated for using Internet technology as a vehicle to further numerous educational objectives, including enhanced student learning, greater integration of business school functional areas, and increased job market relevance. This article discusses how the Introductory Internet Marketing course can be positioned as a…

  9. Challenges and benefits of conducting environmental justice research in a school setting.

    PubMed

    Guidry, Virginia T; Lowman, Amy; Hall, Devon; Baron, Dothula; Wing, Steve

    2014-01-01

    Environmental justice (EJ) research requires attention to consequences for research participants beyond those typically considered by institutional review boards. The imbalance of power between impacted communities and those who create and regulate pollution creates challenges for participation, yet research can also benefit those involved. Our community-academic partnership designed the Rural Air Pollutants and Children's Health (RAPCH) study to provide positive impacts while measuring health effects at three low-resource public middle schools near concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in North Carolina. We evaluated perceived benefits and challenges of study involvement by interviewing school staff and community liaisons who facilitated data collection. Reported benefits included enhancement of students' academic environment and increased community environmental awareness; challenges were associated mainly with some participants' immaturity. Leadership from a strong community-based organization was crucial to recruitment, yet our approach entailed minimal focus on EJ, which may have limited opportunities for community education or organizing for environmental health.

  10. Linking Classroom Environment with At-Risk Engagement in Science: A Mixed Method Approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Collins, Stephen Craig

    This explanatory sequential mixed-method study analyzed how the teacher created learning environment links to student engagement for students at-risk across five science classroom settings. The learning environment includes instructional strategies, differentiated instruction, positive learning environment, and an academically challenging environment. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered in the form of self-reporting surveys and a follow-up interview. The researcher aimed to use the qualitative results to explain the quantitative data. The general research question was "What are the factors of the teacher-created learning environment that were best suited to maximize engagement of students at-risk?" Specifically explaining, (1) How do the measured level of teacher created learning environment link to the engagement level of students at-risk in science class? and (2) What relationship exists between the student perception of the science classroom environment and the level of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social engagement for students at-risk in science class? This study took place within a large school system with more than 20 high schools, most having 2000-3000 students. Participating students were sent to a panel hearing that determined them unfit for the regular educational setting, and were given the option of attending one of the two alternative schools within the county. Students in this alternative school were considered at-risk due to the fact that 98% received free and reduced lunch, 97% were minority population, and all have been suspended from the regular educational setting. Pairwise comparisons of the SPS questions between teachers using t-test from 107 students at-risk and 40 interviews suggest that each category of the learning environment affects the level of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social engagement in science class for students at-risk in an alternative school setting. Teachers with higher student perceptions of learning environment showed increased levels of all types of engagement over the teachers with a lower perception of learning environment. Qualitative data suggested that teachers who created a more positive learning environment had increased student engagement in their class. Follow-up questions also revealed that teachers who incorporated a wider variety of classroom instructional strategies increased behavioral engagement of students at-risk in science class.

  11. The Impact of a Teacher Professional Development Program on Student Engagement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Powers, Kristin; Shin, Seon-Hi; Hagans, Kristi S.; Cordova, Monica

    2015-01-01

    Student engagement is associated with many positive outcomes, including academic achievement, school persistence, and social-emotional well-being. The present study examined whether the Freedom Writers Institute, a professional development program designed to improve teachers' skills in creating personalized learning environments, can increase…

  12. Homeroom: An Updated Classic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vitale, Julie A.

    2008-01-01

    For teenagers, finding positive connections during their high school experience is essential to their level of comfort and possibly even their level of success. Without personal relationships, nothing else matters. Creating opportunities for students to interact with one another and discuss issues that they are grappling with was a major force…

  13. Evaluation of a pilot oral health promotion programme 'Keep Smiling': perspectives from GDPs, health champions and school staff.

    PubMed

    Yusuf, H; Wright, K; Robertson, C

    2015-04-24

    To evaluate a pilot oral health promotion programme (fluoride varnish and tooth brushing), targeting 3-7-year-olds in primary schools in a deprived area of London. A pilot programme was conducted among five primary schools targeting 3-7-year-old children in a deprived area of London. The programme consisted of a fluoride varnish application and tooth brushing sessions. Outcome (participation rates) and process evaluations were carried out using semi-structured interviews with school staff, health champions and dentists. Overall, 79.2% of the targeted children participated in tooth brushing and 68.6% of children received fluoride varnish. The programme received positive feedback from school staff, dental teams and health champions. It raised awareness of dental health among all stakeholders and provided children with a unique experience, creating a positive image of dental teams. Community engagement and collaboration between health, education and the voluntary sector is feasible and integral in developing oral health promotion programmes aimed at children attending primary schools in a deprived area of London.

  14. Integrating Pet Therapy into Daily School Life

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brous, Miriam T.

    2010-01-01

    Stories abound in literature of the ways that people and their pets have fostered and created valuable relationships. More recently, research has shown a strong impact from the pet relationship in health-related settings. Positive changes have been seen in people developing resilience, self-reliance, and in making progress in treatment. Children…

  15. Replacing Coercive Power with Relationship Power

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boldt, Randal W.; Witzel, Melanie; Russell, Chuck; Jones, Van

    2007-01-01

    A long-established agency for troubled children was following a philosophy based on behavioral control and treatment of pathology. As staff examined their beliefs about the process of change, the climate evolved from enforcing behavior control to empowering youth to develop positive strengths. A charter school was created and new behavior…

  16. Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavior Support Plans for Work-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kittelman, Angus; Wagner Bromley, Katherine; Mazzotti, Valerie L.

    2016-01-01

    Work experiences are linked to positive post-school outcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities. Unfortunately, students who struggle to manage conflict and challenges in work settings have a difficult time maintaining employment. Though ecological assessments are used to create supported work plans surrounding socially inappropriate…

  17. Ashley's Amygdala

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grimes, Tiffany

    2012-01-01

    Many fingers are pointed at today's youth who are maligned for problems of bullying, school dropout, teen violence, suicide, and sexual encounters at ever younger ages. But these are symptoms of the culture of discord adults have created for youth. Too many youth lack positive adult and peer relationships, a loving and caring community, and a…

  18. Making a Difference: A Simple Recipe

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glisson, Susan M.

    2013-01-01

    Students learn about the history of the civil rights movement and are empowered to create positive change in their communities, states this author, Susan M. Glisson, Executive Director of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation. She describes the efforts to build racial understanding among young high school students through the…

  19. Seeing Academically Marginalized Students' Multimodal Designs from a Position of Strength

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Kate T.; Stewart, Olivia G.; Kachorsky, Dani

    2017-01-01

    This article examines multimodal texts created by a cohort of academically marginalized secondary school students in Singapore as part of a language arts unit on persuasive composition. Using an interpretivist qualitative approach, we examine students' multimodal designs to highlight opportunities taken up for expanding literacy practices…

  20. Creating Digital Authors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zoch, Melody; Langston-DeMott, Brooke; Adams-Budde, Melissa

    2014-01-01

    Elementary students find themselves engaged and learning at a digital writing camp. The authors find that such elementary students usually have limited access to technology at home and school, and posit that teachers should do all they can to give them more access to and experience in digital composing. Students were motivated and learned to use…

  1. Early Childhood Education: Babies Are Everybody's Business

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cox, Kitt

    2009-01-01

    A movement is building that favors creating a national network of high-quality early education and care systems that begin at birth. It makes sense. Promoting positive early learning experiences, healthy caregivers, and a connection between families and community resources can reverse rising rates of expulsion, high school dropouts, and the need…

  2. Creating a Translanguaging Space for High School Emergent Bilinguals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Shuzhan; Luo, Wenjing

    2017-01-01

    Translanguaging is a rapidly developing concept in bilingual education. Working from the theoretical background of dynamic bilingualism, a translanguaging lens posits that bilingual learners draw on a holistic linguistic repertoire to make sense of the world and to communicate effectively with texts. What is relatively underdeveloped is the…

  3. Relations between the school physical environment and school social capital with student physical activity levels.

    PubMed

    Button, Brenton; Trites, Stephen; Janssen, Ian

    2013-12-17

    The physical and social environments at schools are related to students' moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels. The purpose of this study was to explore the interactive effects of the school physical environment and school social capital on the MVPA of students while at school. Data from 18,875 grade 6-10 students from 331 schools who participated in the 2009/10 Canadian Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey were analyzed using multi-level regression. Students answered questions on the amount of time they spend in MVPA at school and on their school's social capital. Administrator reports were used to create a physical activity related physical environment score. The school physical environment score was positively associated with student MVPA at school (β = 0.040, p < .005). The association between the school social capital and MVPA was also positive (β = 0.074, p < .001). The difference in physical environments equated to about 20 minutes/week of MVPA for students attending schools with the lowest number of physical environment features and about 40 minutes/week for students attending schools with the lowest school social capital scores by comparison to students attending schools with the highest scores. The findings suggest that school social capital may be a more important factor in increasing students MVPA than the school physical environment. The results of this study may help inform interventions aimed at increasing student physical activity levels.

  4. The Use of Short, Animated, Patient-Centered Springboard Videos to Underscore the Clinical Relevance of Preclinical Medical Student Education.

    PubMed

    Adam, Maya; Chen, Sharon F; Amieva, Manuel; Deitz, Jennifer; Jang, Heeju; Porwal, Aarti; Prober, Charles

    2017-07-01

    Medical students often struggle to appreciate the clinical relevance of material taught in the preclinical years. The authors believe videos could be effectively used to interweave a patient's illness script with foundational basic science concepts. In collaboration with four other U.S. medical schools, educators at the Stanford University School of Medicine created 36 short, animated, patient-centered springboard videos (third-person, narrated accounts of authentic patient cases conveying foundational pathophysiology) in 2014. The videos were used to introduce students to 36 content modules, created as part of a microbiology, immunology, and infectious diseases curriculum. The videos were created with input from faculty content experts and in some cases medical students, and were piloted using a flipped classroom pedagogical approach in January 2015-June 2016. Student feedback from course evaluations and focus groups was analyzed using a mixed-methods approach. On the course evaluations, the majority of students rated the patient-centered videos positively, and the majority of comments on the videos were positive, highlighting both enhanced engagement and enhanced learning and retention. Comments from focus groups mirrored the course evaluation comments and highlighted different usage patterns for the videos. The authors will continue to gather and analyze data from schools using the videos as part of their core preclinical curriculum, and will produce similar videos for use in other areas of undergraduate medical education. These videos could support students' review of content taught previously and be repurposed for use in continuing and graduate medical education, as well as patient education.

  5. Characteristics of schools in which fatal shootings occur.

    PubMed

    de Apodaca, Roberto Flores; Brighton, Lauren M; Perkins, Ashley N; Jackson, Kiana N; Steege, Jessica R

    2012-04-01

    School-based violence, and fatal school shootings in particular, have gained increased attention in the media and psychological literature. Most reports have focused on the characteristics of perpetrators, but there is a growing awareness that school-related factors may also influence the occurrence of fatal school shootings. The current study examined several key characteristics of all schools where random (38) and targeted (96) fatal shootings occurred in the United States between 1966 and 2009. These were compared with a group (138) of schools randomly selected to represent the population of all schools in the United States. The size of a school's enrollment, urban or suburban locale, public funding, and predominantly non-white enrollment were positively associated with fatal shootings. Universities and colleges were disproportionately associated with random shootings and high schools with targeted ones. It was proposed that characteristics of schools that allow feelings of anonymity or alienation among students may help create environmental conditions associated with fatal school shootings. Implications for future research and interventions are considered.

  6. Evaluation of the Alliance for Climate Education's national high school edutainment program (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lappe, M.; Flora, J.; Saphir, M.; Roser-Renouf, C.; Maibach, E.; Leiserowitz, A.

    2013-12-01

    The Alliance for Climate Education educates high school students on the science of climate change and inspires them to create effective solutions. Since 2009, ACE has reached over 1.6 million students nationwide with its multi media assembly presentation. In this paper, we evaluate the climate science knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, behavior and communication impact of the ACE Assembly program in a random sample of 49 schools (from population of 779) and a panel of 1,241 high school students. Pre and post assembly surveys composed of questions from the Global Warming Six Americas segmentation and intervention specific questions were administered in classrooms. We demonstrate that exposure to climate science in an engaging edutainment format changes youths' beliefs, involvement, and behavior positively and moves them to more climate science literate audience segments. The net impact of scaled and engaging programs for youth could be a population shift in climate science literacy and positive engagement in the issue of climate change. In addition, such programs can empower youth for deeper engagement in school programs, personal action, political and consumer advocacy.

  7. It's about Relationships: Creating Positive School Climates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ashley, Dana M.

    2016-01-01

    When teachers wonder "What should I do?" in response to challenging student behaviors, the answers are not as simple as they might seem. What teachers can do also depends, at least in part, on external demands (e.g., discipline codes, principal expectations, time pressures on teaching content and testing) that can either facilitate or…

  8. Instructing and Assessing Cooperative Team-Building Activities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hagood, Susan; Lynn, Susan; Riverso, Orlando

    2005-01-01

    Children need to learn teamwork and communication skills so that they can work successfully as a part of a community. Social-skill deficits in children have been linked to delinquency, school drop out, and substance abuse (McCay & Keyes, 2001). Physical education can teach students the importance of working together to create a positive learning…

  9. Creating a Positive School Culture: How Principals and Teachers Can Solve Problems Together

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beaudoin, Marie-Nathalie; Taylor, Maureen E.

    2004-01-01

    Principals and teachers have very different perspectives, pressures, and struggles. As a result, problems of negativity, isolation, or censure often develop among staff members. This may cause principals and teachers to spend a tremendous amount of energy addressing these issues instead of focusing on their primary goal -- improved student…

  10. Perceived Differences and Preferred Norms: Dutch Physical Educators Constructing Gendered Ethnicity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    van Doodewaard, Corina; Knoppers, Annelies

    2018-01-01

    Many physical education (PE) teachers have been challenged by the shift from teaching in primarily ethnic homogenous contexts to multi-ethnic (ME) classes. Teachers in secondary schools often experience difficulty in class management in such classes. This difficulty may limit their ability to create a positive student--teacher relationship and may…

  11. How Paradigms Create Politics: The Transformation of American Educational Policy, 1980-2001

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mehta, Jal

    2013-01-01

    American educational policy was rapidly transformed between 1980 and 2001. Accountability was introduced into a sphere that had long been loosely coupled, both major political parties reevaluated longstanding positions, and significant institutional control over the schooling shifted to the federal government for the first time in the nation's…

  12. Ethnopedagogy: Culturally Contextualised Learning and Teaching as an Agent of Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dunbar-Hall, Peter

    2009-01-01

    Lucy Green's latest book, "Music, Informal Learning and the School: A New Classroom Pedagogy" (Green, 2008) posits that the learning taking place among popular musicians, developed out of a need to create and perform pieces of music, and found "everywhere in everyday life" rather than in the formalised settings of the majority…

  13. A Cognitive Behavioral Depression Prevention Program for Early Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miloseva, Lence

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study was to present results of our one year experience with Cognitive Behavioral Psychology Program, in order to contribute to the building of whole school approach and positive psychology preventive mental health problems model. Based on Penn Resilience program (PRP), we modify and create program for early adolescents: how to…

  14. Nicholas Hobbs and Schools of Joy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newman, Dee

    2012-01-01

    In creating Project Re-ED, Nicholas Hobbs (1913-1983) embarked on a bold new approach to emotionally troubled children and youth. Re-ED, an acronym for the Re-education of Emotionally Disturbed Children, builds on positive concepts of normalcy and health rather than deviance and illness. Hobbs had been impressed by the "educateur" of Europe and…

  15. Teaching in the Cracks: Using Familiar Pedagogy to Advance LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Page, Michelle L.

    2017-01-01

    English language arts teachers and other literacy educators have the opportunity to create more positive and more inclusive school experiences for gender- and sexual-minority students, but many hesitate to transform their curricula and practices because of fear of community protest. To support educators who feel vulnerable or constrained, this…

  16. Motivation to Learn and Teacher-Student Relationship

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koca, Fatih

    2016-01-01

    When children enter school for the first time, they encounter a variety of new challenges that include creating positive relationships with peer groups and adults as well as learning to meet the demands of a wide range of cognitive, social, and academic tasks (Baker, 2006; Birch & Ladd, 1997; Pianta, Steinberg, & Rollins, 1995). Infants…

  17. Gearing up for Fast Grading and Reporting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Connor, Ken; Jung, Lee Ann; Reeves, Douglas

    2018-01-01

    The authors posit that the traditional grading system involving points and percentages is not the best way to prepare students to be the self-directed, independent learners they need to be. A better system would produce grades that are FAST (fair, accurate, specific, timely). To bring about these changes, school leaders need not create full…

  18. Legal Implications for Teacher Selection as Defined by the ADA and the ADEA.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, I. Phillip; Prince, Arthur L.

    1999-01-01

    Hypothetical teacher candidates were created, some of whom were depicted as having an acknowledged disability, others having no acknowledged disability and all varied with respect to chronological age. A national random sample of public school principals evaluated the teacher candidates as if screening for a vacant position within their school…

  19. Indian Youth Leadership Development Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hall, McClellan

    The Indian Youth Leadership Program and the Indian Youth Leadership Camp (IYLC) were created in 1981 in response to the need to develop specific skills in Indian youth who will assume leadership positions in the future at the family, school, community, tribal, and national level. Patterned after the National Youth Leadership Camp, the IYLC emerged…

  20. Association of Classroom Participation and Examination Performance in a First-Year Medical School Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Millis, Richard M.; Dyson, Sharon; Cannon, Dawn

    2009-01-01

    The advent of internet-based delivery of basic medical science lectures may unintentionally lead to decreased classroom attendance and participation, thereby creating a distance learning paradigm. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that classroom attendance/participation may be positively correlated with performance on a written examination…

  1. Teaching for Real Learning: Classroom Applications, Grades 4-12

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Devlin-Scherer, Roberta

    2005-01-01

    Here is a roadmap to success affecting the growth and achievement of all students. This book integrates research about teaching and learning using a variety of sources, both popular and academic, to create a readable text. The author offers: (1) A description of current practices in schools that successfully promote positive relationships; (2)…

  2. Concept Cartoon Conversations Lead to Inspiring Investigations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Constantinou, Yanoula

    2016-01-01

    Deansfield Primary School, Eltham, south-east London, is always striving to enable children to become successful learners who are confident and enthusiastic. Teachers have endeavoured to give more emphasis to science teaching and learning by bringing it up to date through research and creating a positive attitude to it among the teachers and…

  3. Let's Meet in Nepantla: The Possibility of Thirdspace as a Place "Others" Call Home

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chávez, Minerva S.

    2015-01-01

    This autoethnography posits that my presence as a working-class Chicana obtaining an education in the United States consequently created a Thirdspace environment I recognize as Nepantla. Thirdspace allowed me to navigate urban schooling and elite institutions of higher education. Two narratives demonstrate opposing forms of acquired dominant and…

  4. How to Create Healthy Indoor Environments in Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rhodes, Diane; Di Nella, Frank

    2012-01-01

    A green and healthy indoor environment should be a fundamental concern in the place where kids learn and grow. Good indoor air quality (IAQ) has been shown to have positive effects on student and staff productivity, performance, comfort and attendance. Conversely, poor IAQ in classrooms--caused by mold and moisture issues, problems with HVAC…

  5. Classroom Climate, Rigorous Instruction and Curriculum, and Students' Interactions in Urban Middle Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matsumura, Lindsay Clare; Slater, Sharon Cadman; Crosson, Amy

    2008-01-01

    In this study we investigated the relation of rigorous instructional practices and teachers' efforts to create a respectful, collaborative learning environment to students' positive behavior toward one another and to the rate and quality of students' participation in classroom discussions. Full class period (i.e., 50-minute) observations of…

  6. Class, Race, and Power: Interest Group Politics and Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, Adriane

    2005-01-01

    Literature review focuses on what theory and research primarily from political science and sociology of education have to say about families and communities working for change in education. Questions: (1) Do low-income minority families have the power to create positive and lasting change in school and/or district organization and policy? (2) Is…

  7. The Alternative Certification of Teachers. Teacher Education Monograph No. 14.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hawley, Willis D., Ed.

    Criticisms of teacher education, the low economic and political costs of trying to reform schools by reforming teacher education, along with the difficulty of filling some teaching positions with persons certified in traditional ways, have fueled a movement to create alternative routes to teacher certification in the vast majority of states. This…

  8. CHALLENGES AND BENEFITS OF CONDUCTING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE RESEARCH IN A SCHOOL SETTING

    PubMed Central

    GUIDRY, VIRGINIA T.; LOWMAN, AMY; HALL, DEVON; BARON, DOTHULA; WING, STEVE

    2015-01-01

    Environmental justice (EJ) research requires attention to consequences for research participants beyond those typically considered by institutional review boards. The imbalance of power between impacted communities and those who create and regulate pollution creates challenges for participation, yet research can also benefit those involved. Our community-academic partnership designed the Rural Air Pollutants and Children's Health (RAPCH) study to provide positive impacts while measuring health effects at three low-resource public middle schools near concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in North Carolina. We evaluated perceived benefits and challenges of study involvement by interviewing school staff and community liaisons who facilitated data collection. Reported benefits included enhancement of students’ academic environment and increased community environmental awareness; challenges were associated mainly with some participants’ immaturity. Leadership from a strong community-based organization was crucial to recruitment, yet our approach entailed minimal focus on EJ, which may have limited opportunities for community education or organizing for environmental health. PMID:25085828

  9. A case study of ‘The Good School:’ Examples of the use of Peterson’s strengths-based approach with students

    PubMed Central

    White, Mathew A.; Waters, Lea E.

    2015-01-01

    This applied case study centers on two aspects of Peterson’s research as introduced into a large K-12 school in Australia: (i) creating enabling institutions and (ii) applications of character strengths. The paper describes five character strengths initiatives. Four of the strengths initiatives have been integrated into existing school experiences such as English curriculum, school sport, student leadership, and counseling. The fifth initiative involved a brand new program which introduced a Positive Education Curriculum for years K-10. We describe these five initiatives and then explain how students at the school may experience these in a more holistic and integrated way. We hope that this article will act as a fitting tribute to the legacy of Christopher Peterson. PMID:25431614

  10. Zero Energy Building Pays for Itself: Odyssey Elementary

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Torcellini, Paul A

    Odyssey Elementary is a large public school in an area of Utah with a growing population. Created as a prototype for the Davis School District, Odyssey is a zero energy building whose design has already been copied for two other new schools, both of which are targeting zero energy. It has a unique design with four 'houses' (or classroom wings) featuring generously daylit classrooms. This design contributes to the school's energy efficiency. In an effort to integrate positive messages about fitness into the learning environment, each house has a different take on the theme of 'bodies in motion' in themore » natural world. In a postoccupancy survey of parents, students, and teachers, more than 87% were satisfied with the building overall.« less

  11. Relations between the school physical environment and school social capital with student physical activity levels

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background The physical and social environments at schools are related to students’ moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels. The purpose of this study was to explore the interactive effects of the school physical environment and school social capital on the MVPA of students while at school. Methods Data from 18,875 grade 6–10 students from 331 schools who participated in the 2009/10 Canadian Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey were analyzed using multi-level regression. Students answered questions on the amount of time they spend in MVPA at school and on their school’s social capital. Administrator reports were used to create a physical activity related physical environment score. Results The school physical environment score was positively associated with student MVPA at school (β = 0.040, p < .005). The association between the school social capital and MVPA was also positive (β = 0.074, p < .001). The difference in physical environments equated to about 20 minutes/week of MVPA for students attending schools with the lowest number of physical environment features and about 40 minutes/week for students attending schools with the lowest school social capital scores by comparison to students attending schools with the highest scores. Conclusions The findings suggest that school social capital may be a more important factor in increasing students MVPA than the school physical environment. The results of this study may help inform interventions aimed at increasing student physical activity levels. PMID:24341628

  12. The provision of healthy food in a school tuck shop: does it influence primary-school students' perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards healthy eating?

    PubMed

    Bekker, Francette; Marais, Maritha; Koen, Nelene

    2017-05-01

    To investigate students' tuck shop buying behaviour, choices of lunchbox items and healthy eating perceptions and attitudes at a school with a nutritionally regulated tuck shop and a school with a conventional tuck shop. Mixed-methods research comprising a cross-sectional survey and focus groups. Bloemfontein, South Africa. Randomly selected grade 2 to 7 students from a school with a nutritionally regulated tuck shop (school A; n 116) and a school with a conventional tuck shop (school B; n 141) completed a self-administered questionnaire about perceptions, attitudes, buying behaviours and lunchbox content. Six students per grade (n 72) in each school took part in focus group discussions to further explore concepts pertaining to healthy eating. In school A, older students had a negative attitude towards their 'healthy' tuck shop, while younger students were more positive. School B students were positive towards their conventional tuck shop. In both schools students wanted their tuck shop to allow them to choose from healthy and unhealthy items. School A students mostly bought slushies, iced lollies and baked samoosas, while school B students mostly bought sweets and crisps. The lunchboxes of school A students contained significantly (P<0·05) more healthy items but also significantly more unhealthy items. A single intervention such as having a nutritionally regulated tuck shop at a primary school cannot advance the healthy school food environment in its totality. A multi-pronged approach is recommended and awareness must be created among all role players, including parents who are responsible for preparing lunchboxes.

  13. Empowering School Social Work Practices for Positive Youth Development: Hong Kong Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    To, Siu-ming

    2007-01-01

    Empowerment has become a popular concept in working with adolescents in recent years. It challenges the deficit model of youth work and focuses on creating a facilitative climate in which young people can make maximum use of the opportunity to learn and grow. While many practitioners have adopted the empowerment approach in youth services,…

  14. Ready for Success: Creating Collaborative and Thoughtful Transitions into Kindergarten

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Patton, Christine; Wang, Justina

    2012-01-01

    In this brief, Christine Patton and Justina Wang, from Harvard Family Research Project, look at ways of helping to make the transition into kindergarten a positive experience that will serve as a foundation to help children reach their full potential throughout their school years. The brief highlights promising practices in six states--New Jersey,…

  15. Eat, Drink, Play, Discover: Engaging the Imagination through the Senses to Discover Spanish-Speaking Cultures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lindner, Blue

    2010-01-01

    At Sonrisas Spanish School, educators are interested in finding ways to teach children in the way children actually learn. Their mission is to create high quality, standards-based Spanish classes and curriculum materials that are both effective for teachers and also provide a positive foreign language learning experience for students. They value…

  16. Fun & Fit, Phase I: A Program for Overweight African American and Hispanic American Children from Low-Income Families

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Meaney, Karen S.; Hart, Melanie A.; Griffin, L. Kent

    2009-01-01

    Fun & Fit is a program designed to create positive physical activity experiences and to promote healthy lifestyle choices among overweight children from low-income African American and Hispanic American families. The program is a collaborative project between Texas Tech University and the Lubbock Independent School District funded through a…

  17. Fundamentalist Christianity, Neoliberal Capitalism, and the Destruction of Rural Public Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cervone, Jason A.

    2017-01-01

    In this article, the author examines the growth of the current strain of fundamentalism that is influencing rural schools in the United States, and how it is, according to him, creating a self-sustaining pipeline of fundamentalists into positions of power. The author details the type of anti-public and anti-democratic education being expressed…

  18. Max's Family Experience: Web-Resources for Working with Special Education Students and Their Families

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Theoharis, Raschelle; Fitzpatrick, Michael

    2011-01-01

    Today's principals are required to put in longer hours, lead larger schools, and supervise more faculty and staff members. Additionally they need to create a positive learning environment for students, a productive work environment for their employees, and contend with a variety of student behaviors at the building level. Aside from the duties…

  19. Playing the game: sports as a force for promoting improved academic performance for urban youth.

    PubMed

    DeMeulenaere, Eric

    2010-01-01

    Using qualitative research methods involving observations and interviews with four students, their families and friends, this paper examines six ways that student involvement in sports promoted student success: structuring schedules, creating incentives, building confidence, developing positive adult and peer role models, and its role in getting students to develop future aspirations. It then turns to consider how students use their involvement with sports to negotiate the challenges they faced in adopting a successful student identity. Participation in school sports became a powerful justification for successful school performance for the participating students in this study. Finally, this paper ends with several policy implications for considering sports programming in urban schools.

  20. The perceived perceptions of head school nurses in developing school nursing roles within schools.

    PubMed

    Morberg, Siv; Lagerström, Monica; Dellve, Lotta

    2009-11-01

    To gain a deeper understanding of how Swedish head school nurses perceive their leadership in developing school health care. A well-functioning school health care is important for promoting the health of children and young people. Constructivist-grounded theory was used to analyse 11 individual interviews with nine head school nurses. Head school nurses strive to find a balance between what they experience as vague formal goals and strong informal goals which leads to creating local goals in order to develop school health care. The head school nurse's job is experienced as a divided and pioneering job in which there is uncertainty about the leadership role. They provide individual support to school nurses, are the link between school nurses and decision makers and highlight the importance of school nurses' work to organizational leaders. This study shows that school health care needs to be founded on evidence-based methods. Therefore, a structured plan for education and training in school health care management, based on research and in cooperation with the academic world, would develop the head school nurses' profession, strengthen the position of school health care and advance the school nurses' work.

  1. The effect of secular trends in the classroom furniture mismatch: support for continuous update of school furniture standards.

    PubMed

    Castellucci, H I; Arezes, P M; Molenbroek, J F M; Viviani, C

    2015-01-01

    In order to create safer schools, the Chilean authorities published a Standard regarding school furniture dimensions. The aims of this study are twofold: to verify the existence of positive secular trend within the Chilean student population and to evaluate the potential mismatch between the anthropometric characteristics and the school furniture dimensions defined by the mentioned standard. The sample consists of 3078 subjects. Eight anthropometric measures were gathered, together with six furniture dimensions from the mentioned standard. There is an average increase for some dimensions within the Chilean student population over the past two decades. Accordingly, almost 18% of the students will find the seat height to be too high. Seat depth will be considered as being too shallow for 42.8% of the students. It can be concluded that the Chilean student population has increased in stature, which supports the need to revise and update the data from the mentioned Standard. Positive secular trend resulted in high levels of mismatch if furniture is selected according to the current Chilean Standard which uses data collected more than 20 years ago. This study shows that school furniture standards need to be updated over time.

  2. Taking a Step to Identify How to Create Professional Learning Communities--Report of a Case Study of a Korean Public High School on How to Create and Sustain a School-Based Teacher Professional Learning Community

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ahn, Joonkil

    2017-01-01

    This study intends to identify some key factors in creating and sustaining school-based teacher professional learning communities (PLCs) through a case study of a South Korean public high school. To achieve this, the study identified some essential infrastructure, preparation, and necessary social organization for creating PLCs. The ideal unit and…

  3. Using Evidence to Create Next Generation High Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, US Department of Education, 2016

    2016-01-01

    Next Generation High Schools are schools that redesign the high school experience to make it more engaging and worthwhile for high school students. In order to create such Next Generation High Schools, schools, districts, and States should utilize evidence-based strategies to transform high schools in ways that engage students and help prepare…

  4. The impact of desegregation on black teachers in the metropolis, 1970–2000

    PubMed Central

    Oakley, Deirdre; Stowell, Jacob; Logan, John R.

    2013-01-01

    One-third of public school students are racial and/or ethnic minorities. Yet only 14 per cent of teachers represent these groups. Frequently lost in broader debates concerning this disparity is the paradoxical contribution of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. Schools were mandated under Brown to desegregate the student body. But the law did not necessarily protect the jobs of black teachers and administrators. Using a unique database of court orders, we examine the impact of mandated desegregation on black teachers. Findings indicate regional differences. Mandated desegregation created conditions that resulted in decreases in the black teaching force in the South. The opposite occurred in the nonsouth, with mandated desegregation positively associated with increases (although small) in the black teaching force. Our findings suggest that the legacy of mandated desegregation may have created broader institutional conditions in which black and other minority teachers remain underrepresented in the teaching force. PMID:24039318

  5. Burnout Factories: The Challenge of Retaining Great Teachers in Charter Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fusco, Mark

    2017-01-01

    In its well-intentioned effort to create alternatives to public school dropout factories, the charter school sector has created teacher burnout factories. But it does not have to be this way. Charter schools can continue to maintain high standards while creating a more sustainable work environment for teachers. This article examines the teacher…

  6. Climate Change Series: Federal, State, and Local Policy Recommendations for Creating a Positive School Climate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cardichon, Jessica; Roc, Martens

    2015-01-01

    Too frequently, education reform takes a siloed view that focuses on an individual issue instead of a broader and more comprehensive perspective. For example, students' lack of access to challenging and rigorous course work and their lack of access to experienced, engaging, and effective teachers are often discussed as separate issues rather than…

  7. Once a Year to Be Black: Fighting against Typical Black History Month Pedagogies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    King, LaGarrett J.; Brown, Keffrelyn

    2014-01-01

    Our study examined the experiences of three middle school teachers who created their own Black History Month curriculum. Although, the relevance of Black History Month is under scrutiny by opponents who feel it marginalized the history of Black Americans, proponents of this position have failed: to account for teachers who view and use this Month…

  8. Using Design Thinking to Create a New Education Paradigm for Elementary Level Children for Higher Student Engagement and Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Noel, Lesley-Ann; Liub, Tsai Lu

    2017-01-01

    Can design education have a positive impact on primary school education beyond merely preparing designers? As designers, we know almost intuitively that design education is "good education", and most designers would affirm that it would be beneficial to expose children to design education, because of the benefits of the signature…

  9. Give Peace a Chance: The Diminution of Peace in Global Education in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cook, Sharon Anne

    2008-01-01

    This study surveyed the literature on peace and global education in secondary schools to explore the position of peace education within the global education field. To create a database from Canada, the United States, and Britain, this article includes secondary studies from professional and peer-reviewed periodicals, articles in published…

  10. Executive Headship: A Summary of the Executive Headteacher (EHT) Role, with Practical Questions and Exemplar Role Descriptors to Consider When Creating the Position

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buck, Andy; Wespieser, Karen; Harland, Jennie

    2017-01-01

    Based on research conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), Ambition School Leadership (formerly The Future Leaders Trust) and the National Governors' Association called: "Executive headteachers: What's in a name?," this brief guide provides a summary of the executive headteacher (EHT) role, with practical…

  11. Campus Recreation Program Involvement, Athletic Identity, Transitional Loss and Life Satisfaction in Former High School Athletes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Helms, Katie E.

    2010-01-01

    Sports participation can result in strong associations with the athlete role for participants. While strong athletic identity can have positive implications, it can also create vulnerability to emotional difficulty following exit from sport (Brewer, 1993). Exit from sport is inevitable, resulting from a wide range of sources such as injury, aging,…

  12. Science inquiry learning environments created by National Board Certified Teachers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saderholm, Jon

    The purpose of this study was to discern what differences exist between the science inquiry learning environments created by National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) and non-NBCTs. Four research questions organized the data collection and analysis: (a) How do National Board Certified science teachers' knowledge of the nature of science differ from that of their non-NBCT counterparts? (b) How do the frequencies of student science inquiry behaviors supported by in middle/secondary learning environments created by NBCTs differ from those created by their non-NBCT counterparts? (c) What is the relationship between the frequency of students' science inquiry behaviors and their science reasoning and understanding of the nature of science? (d) What is the impact of teacher perceptions factors impacting curriculum and limiting inquiry on the existence of inquiry learning environments? The setting in which this study was conducted was middle and high schools in Kentucky during the period between October 2006 and January 2007. The population sampled for the study was middle and secondary science teachers certified to teach in Kentucky. Of importance among those were the approximately 70 National Board Certified middle and high school science teachers. The teacher sample consisted of 50 teachers, of whom 19 were NBCTs and 31 were non-NBCTs. This study compared the science inquiry teaching environments created by NBCTs and non-NBCTs along with their consequent effect on the science reasoning and nature of science (NOS) understanding of their students. In addition, it examined the relationship with these science inquiry environments of other teacher characteristics along with teacher perception of factors influencing curriculum and factors limiting inquiry. This study used a multi-level mixed methodology study incorporating both quantitative and qualitative measures of both teachers and their students. It was a quasi-experimental design using non-random assignment of participants to treatment and control groups and dependent pre- and post-tests (Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002). Teacher and student NOS understanding was measured using the Student Understanding of Science and Science Inquiry (SUSSI) instrument (Liang, et. al, 2006). Science inquiry environment was measured with the Elementary Science Inquiry Survey (ESIS) (Dunbar, 2002) which was given both to teachers and their students. Science inquiry environment measurements were triangulated with observations of a stratified random sub-sample of participating teachers. Observations were structured using the low-inference Collaboratives for Excellence in Teaching Practice (CETP) Classroom Observation Protocol (COP) (Lawrenz, Huffman, & Appleldoorn 2002), and the high-inference Reform Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) (Piburn & Sawada, 2000). NBCTs possessed more informed view of NOS than did non-NBCTs. Additionally, high school science teachers possessed more informed views regarding NOS than did middle school science teachers, with the most informed views belonging to high school science NBCTs. High school science NBCTs created learning environments in which students engaged in science inquiry behaviors significantly more frequently than did high school science non-NBCTs. Middle school science NBCTs, on the other hand, did not create learning environments that differed in significant ways from those of middle school science non-NBCTs. Students of high school science NBCTs possessed significantly higher science reasoning than did students of high school science non-NBCTs. Middle school students of science NBCTs possessed no more science reasoning ability than did middle school students of science non-NBCTs. NOS understanding displayed by students of both middle school and high school science NBCTs was not distinguished from students of non-NBCTs. Classroom science inquiry environment created by non-NBCTs were correlated with science teachers' perceptions of factors determining the curriculum, and the factors limiting inquiry. NBCT classroom science inquiry environment were not correlated with science teacher perceptions. They were, however, strongly correlated with science teacher attendance at science workshops and negatively correlated with teacher perception that experience limits inquiry. The results of this study have implications for policy, practice, and research. Having a science teacher who is an NBCT appears to benefit high school students; however, the benefit for students of middle school science NBCTs appears only when the teacher is also experienced. Additionally, science NBCTs appear to be able to create more controlled science inquiry learning environments than do science non-NBCTs. At the high school level the practice of using data to explain patterns appears to positively affect student science reasoning. Implications results of this study have for further research include examining the differences of the NBPTS certification process for middle and high school teachers; deeper investigation of the causes of the differences in science reasoning between students of NBCTs and non-NBCTs; and studies of the relationship between the NBPTS certification process and teacher efficacy and personal agency.

  13. Physiologic performance test differences in female volleyball athletes by competition level and player position.

    PubMed

    Schaal, Monique; Ransdell, Lynda B; Simonson, Shawn R; Gao, Yong

    2013-07-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine physiologic performance test differences by competition level (high school and Division-I collegiate athletes) and player position (hitter, setter, defensive specialist) in 4 volleyball-related tests. A secondary purpose was to establish whether a 150-yd shuttle could be used as a field test to assess anaerobic capacity. Female participants from 4 varsity high school volleyball teams (n = 27) and 2 Division-I collegiate volleyball teams (n = 26) were recruited for the study. Participants completed 4 performance-based field tests (vertical jump, agility T-test, and 150- and 300-yd shuttle runs) after completing a standardized dynamic warm-up. A 2-way multivariate analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc adjustments (when appropriate) and effect sizes were used for the analyses. The most important findings of this study were that (a) college volleyball athletes were older, heavier, and taller than high school athletes; (b) high school athletes had performance deficiencies in vertical jump/lower-body power, agility, and anaerobic fitness; (c) lower-body power was the only statistically significant difference in the performance test measures by player position; and (d) the correlation between the 150- and 300-yd shuttle was moderate (r = 0.488). Female high school volleyball players may enhance their ability to play collegiate volleyball by improving their vertical jump, lower-body power, agility, and anaerobic fitness. Furthermore, all player positions should emphasize lower-body power conditioning. These physical test scores provide baseline performance scores that should help strength and conditioning coaches create programs that will address deficits in female volleyball player performance, especially as they transition from high school to college.

  14. Achieving transformational change: using appreciative inquiry for strategic planning in a school of nursing.

    PubMed

    Harmon, Rebecca Bouterie; Fontaine, Dorrie; Plews-Ogan, Margaret; Williams, Anne

    2012-01-01

    To achieve transformational change, a transformational approach is needed. The Appreciative Inquiry (AI) summit is a method that has been used to achieve transformational change in business for at least 20 years, but this innovative alternative approach is unknown to nursing. At the University of Virginia School of Nursing, an AI Summit was designed to bring all staff, faculty, student representatives, and members of the community together to rewrite the school's strategic plan. New connections within the school, the university, and the community were made when 135 participants engaged in the appreciative, 4-step AI process of discovering, dreaming, designing, and creating the school's future. During the summit, 7 strategic teams formed to move the school toward the best possible future while building on the existing positive core. This article describes 10 steps needed to design an AI summit and implications for using this method at other schools of nursing. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Code of Silence: Students’ Perceptions of School Climate and Willingness to Intervene in a Peer's Dangerous Plan

    PubMed Central

    Syvertsen, Amy K.; Flanagan, Constance A.; Stout, Michael D.

    2009-01-01

    The current study presented 1,933 adolescents from 13 schools with a scenario about a hypothetical peer's plan to “do something dangerous” at school and asked how likely they would be to respond with four different actions: intervene directly, tell a teacher or principal, discuss it with a friend but not an adult, and do nothing. High school students were less likely than those in middle school to say they would approach the peer directly or confide in a teacher or principal. Students were most likely to favor taking action on their own over all of the other response strategies. Students with positive perceptions of their schools were more likely to say they would do something rather than ignore their peer's dangerous intentions. These relationships were mediated by students’ beliefs that confiding in a teacher may have unfavorable consequences. Findings from this study support the important role schools play in creating a culture where students take responsibility for one another. PMID:20126300

  16. A Blueprint for Transitioning Pharmacy Residents Into Successful Clinical Faculty Members in Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy

    PubMed Central

    Garey, Kevin W.

    2013-01-01

    With the increase of new pharmacy colleges and schools throughout the country, the number of open clinical academic pharmacy positions continues to grow. Considering the abundance of clinical faculty positions available nationwide and the increased likelihood of current pharmacy residents transitioning from residency directly into academia, pharmacy residents must be prepared to succeed in the role of new clinical faculty member. However, no blueprint or recommendations have yet been provided to facilitate this transition. The purpose of this review article is to evaluate the literature regarding transitioning pharmacy students and/or residents into faculty roles. The literature reviewed represents nursing, medical, graduate school, and engineering disciplines because no literature on this topic was available from the pharmacy profession. Based on the recommendations provided in the literature and on the authors’ experience at their college, they created a blueprint consisting of 7 components to help residents transition directly into their roles as faculty members. PMID:24249862

  17. Healthy school as an ecological model for prevention of childhood obesity.

    PubMed

    Lee, Albert; Ho, Mandy; Keung, Vera

    2010-01-01

    A number of risk factors including obesity, insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables, and lack of physical activities are responsible for the majority of chronic disease burden. Healthy behaviours should begin early in life with sustained actions, but in many countries there is no system addressing positive health. The opportunities offered by different settings for gaining entry into individuals and groups are of paramount importance for health promotion. Evidence has shown the effectiveness of the Healthy School model to improve healthy eating and physical activities. In this article we report key findings of studies in Hong Kong showing changes in school policies and environment in relationship to student health apart from improvement of health behaviours by adopting the Healthy School framework. A case study has illustrated how the framework created a supportive environment, policies changes, and personal health skills development to improve healthy eating. The Healthy School model can help to combat childhood obesity.

  18. Renaissance Schools Fund-Supported Schools: Early Outcomes, Challenges, and Opportunities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, Viki M.; Humphrey, Daniel C.; Wang, Haiwen; Bosetti, Kristin R.; Cassidy, Lauren; Wechsler, Marjorie E.; Rivera, Elizabeth; Murray, Samantha; Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore

    2009-01-01

    Chicago's Renaissance 2010 seeks to create 100 new and autonomous schools by 2010. These new schools are expected to increase choice for parents and students, enact innovative practices, and help create a portfolio of schools designed to make the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) more diversified, responsive, and effective. Renaissance Schools Fund…

  19. Which factors play a role in Dutch health promotion professionals’ decision to recruit actively primary schools to use a web-based smoking prevention programme?

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Municipal Health Promotion Organisations (MHPOs) play an important role in promoting and disseminating prevention programmes, such as smoking prevention programmes, in schools. This study identifies factors that may facilitate or hinder MHPOs’ willingness to recruit actively primary schools to use a smoking prevention programme. Methods In 2011, 31 Dutch MHPOs were invited to recruit schools to use a smoking prevention programme. All MHPO employees involved in smoking prevention activities (n = 68) were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing psychological factors and characteristics of their organisation that might affect their decision to be involved in active recruitment of schools. T-tests and multivariate analysis of variance assessed potential differences in psychological and organisational factors between active and non-active recruiters. Results A total of 45 professionals returned the questionnaire (66.2%). Active recruiters (n = 12) had more positive attitudes (p = 0.02), higher self-efficacy expectations (p < 0.01) and formulated more plans (p < 0.01) to recruit primary schools, compared with non-active recruiters. Organisational factors did not discriminate between active and non-active recruiters. Conclusions Primarily psychological factors seem to be associated with MHPOs’ decision to recruit schools actively. This indicates that creating more positive attitude, self-efficacy beliefs and formation of plans may help in getting more MHPOs involved in active recruitment procedures. PMID:24298942

  20. Which factors play a role in Dutch health promotion professionals' decision to recruit actively primary schools to use a web-based smoking prevention programme?

    PubMed

    Cremers, Henricus-Paul; Oenema, Anke; Mercken, Liesbeth; Candel, Math; de Vries, Hein

    2013-12-03

    Municipal Health Promotion Organisations (MHPOs) play an important role in promoting and disseminating prevention programmes, such as smoking prevention programmes, in schools. This study identifies factors that may facilitate or hinder MHPOs' willingness to recruit actively primary schools to use a smoking prevention programme. In 2011, 31 Dutch MHPOs were invited to recruit schools to use a smoking prevention programme. All MHPO employees involved in smoking prevention activities (n = 68) were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing psychological factors and characteristics of their organisation that might affect their decision to be involved in active recruitment of schools. T-tests and multivariate analysis of variance assessed potential differences in psychological and organisational factors between active and non-active recruiters. A total of 45 professionals returned the questionnaire (66.2%). Active recruiters (n = 12) had more positive attitudes (p = 0.02), higher self-efficacy expectations (p < 0.01) and formulated more plans (p < 0.01) to recruit primary schools, compared with non-active recruiters. Organisational factors did not discriminate between active and non-active recruiters. Primarily psychological factors seem to be associated with MHPOs' decision to recruit schools actively. This indicates that creating more positive attitude, self-efficacy beliefs and formation of plans may help in getting more MHPOs involved in active recruitment procedures.

  1. Using Technology to Create Safer Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Townley, Arthur J.; Martinez, Kenneth

    1995-01-01

    Although classes to create student self-esteem and antigang programs are gaining in popularity, most school districts have not used available technology to help create safer campuses. Increased availability of telephones and two-way radios would enhance school security, along with incorporation of newer technologies such as computers, digitized…

  2. Using transformational change to improve organizational culture and climate in a school of nursing.

    PubMed

    Springer, Pamela J; Clark, Cynthia M; Strohfus, Pamela; Belcheir, Marcia

    2012-02-01

    A positive organizational culture and climate is closely associated with an affirming workplace and job satisfaction. Especially during a time of faculty shortages, academic leaders need to be cognizant of the culture and climate in schools of nursing. The culture of an organization affects employees, systems, and processes, and if the culture becomes problematic, transformational leadership is essential to create change. The purpose of this article is to describe an 8-year journey to change the culture and climate of a school of nursing from one of dissatisfaction and distrust to one of high employee satisfaction and trust. Kotter's model for transformational change was used to frame a longitudinal study using the Cultural and Climate Assessment Scale to transform the organizational culture and climate of a school of nursing. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.

  3. Changes in physical activity and sedentary time in the Finnish Schools on the Move program: a quasi-experimental study.

    PubMed

    Haapala, Henna L; Hirvensalo, Mirja H; Kulmala, Janne; Hakonen, Harto; Kankaanpää, Anna; Laine, Kaarlo; Laakso, Lauri; Tammelin, Tuija H

    2017-11-01

    The aim of the Finnish Schools on the Move program is to create a more active and pleasant school day through physical activity (PA). In this quasi-experimental design, we compared changes in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time (ST) during the school day and outside school hours for Grades 1-9 over two academic years in four program schools and two reference schools. Altogether 319 girls and boys aged 7-15 participated in the study between 2010 and 2012. MVPA and ST were measured four times over the 1.5-year follow-up period for seven consecutive days, using a hip-worn ActiGraph accelerometer. Linear growth curve modeling was used to examine the effect of the program on MVPA and ST during follow-up. School day MVPA increased (P = 0.010) and school day ST decreased (P = 0.008) in program primary schools (Grades 1-6) more compared with the reference schools. The effect sizes (Cohen's d) for the difference in change (from the first to the last measurement) were small (d = 0.18 and d = -0.27, respectively). No differences in the changes of leisure-time or whole-day MVPA and ST between the program and reference schools were observed during follow-up. In conclusion, the changes in school day MVPA and ST did not translate into positive effects across the whole day. More effective and longer promotion actions are needed for positive changes in PA and ST, especially in lower secondary schools and for all daily segments. © 2016 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Why won't it Stick? Positive Psychology and Positive Education.

    PubMed

    White, Mathew A

    Following the launch of the positive psychology movement teachers and educators emerged as early adopters of this fledgling science. This approach was called positive education. It describes scientifically validated programs from positive psychology, taught in schools, that have an impact on student well-being. The growing body of evidence about the reach of positive psychology has formed a convincing case to consider well-being an operational goal for educational systems. It is argued that this goal is pivotal and should be pursued in the same way in which we develop strategies to harness academic growth, school retention rates, and student engagement. National education policies can have widespread influence at the grassroots level on school improvement, good quality of classroom teaching and learning, student performance, creating confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens, but not necessarily on the preventative skills for lifelong well-being. In this article I take stock on the positive education movement. Three approaches to positive education are identified and eight hurdles to the field are noted as reasons why positive education won't stick in policy. Then, I reflect on two case studies: a Well-being Summit and Round Table held at Wellington College and No. 10 Downing Street and Dr. Martin Seligman's role as Adelaide's Thinker in Residence as examples of grass-roots initiatives in well-being. Finally, six strategies are suggested for researchers and practitioners to grow the field. Last, I argued that until research centers focus on the development of common definitions of the key terms underpinning positive psychology, positive education and well-being the impact of the movement will be limited to a handful of institutions as models of best practice.

  5. Ecology: Learning To Love Our Planet. A Self-Directed Learning Experience. Grades K-8.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Enz, Judith; Diffenderfer, Susan

    This self-directed study unit for grades K-3 and 4-8 was developed expressly to transport the student from the position of passive recipient to active participant in his/her own pursuit of knowledge. Within the guide are two complete units: one created for the lower elementary student and one for the upper elementary/middle school student. Units…

  6. Work of the Psychologist on Correction of Senior Preschool Children Self-Esteem

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fedorenko, Marina V.; Bykova, Svetlana S.

    2016-01-01

    The relevance of the topic is due to the need of self-correction of senior preschoolers. Adequate self-esteem of preschoolers will give us an opportunity to prepare them for school more effectively, as well as to create some positive character traits. The preschool age is the initial period of development of a child's self-esteem. This is the most…

  7. School Finance in the Digital-Learning Era. Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning. A Working Paper Series from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hill, Paul T.

    2011-01-01

    America's system for financing K-12 education is not neutral about innovation and the use of new technologies. Indeed, that system is stacked against them. To remedy this, our education-funding system needs to shift dramatically. Instead of today's model--which rigidly funds programs, staff positions, and administrative structures, instead of…

  8. Teaching: First Impressions First, or Choosing Atmosphere over Method and Management

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Levy, Aaron

    2004-01-01

    As a writer who teaches and a teacher who writes, this author offers creative ways of producing a positive first impression on the first day of school. The key is finding a way to surprise one's students and creating first impressions that somehow introduces the tone a teacher wants his or her class to have. The author has learned that if he can…

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Loughran, E.; Reed, H. B.

    1980-09-01

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

  10. Creating Inclusive Schools for All Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Causton-Theoharis, Julie; Theoharis, George

    2008-01-01

    In this article, a former principal at Falk Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin, describes his school's shift as it sought to create an inclusive school for all students and establish an authentic sense of belonging. Nationwide, schools and districts from Concord, New Hampshire, to Whittier, California, and from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to…

  11. Educational Charter Schools: A Civil Rights Mirage?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frankenberg, Erica

    2011-01-01

    The idea of charter schools arose as a means to allow for innovation by creating schools that were free from traditional regulations, but were held accountable for their performance. More recently, however, charter school advocates have suggested that increasing school choice options will create competition that improves the quality of education…

  12. Utilizing Educational Corporate Culture To Create a Quality School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Osborne, Bill

    Strategies for utilizing educational corporate culture to create a quality school are presented in this paper, which argues that the understanding of the shared belief system of organizational members is crucial to the process. Creating a quality school entails moving from a "teach the process" oriented model to one that internalizes the…

  13. Community-Based Collaboration with High School Theater Students as Standardized Patients

    PubMed Central

    Marks, Alla

    2007-01-01

    Objectives To describe a collaborative undertaking between a private school of pharmacy (Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy) and a public high school (John Handley High School) in the development, and implementation of a partnership utilizing high school theater students as standardized patients. Methods High school theater students were trained to portray patients within the Standardized Patient Assessment Laboratory. The patient encounters were videotaped and evaluated by both peer and faculty members. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of semi-structured interviews, focus groups, post-encounter surveys of students and faculty members, and encounter grades were used to evaluate the outcomes. Results Pharmacy students exhibited competence in clinical assessment skills as evidenced by high encounter grades (91.5% ± 6.8%) and 100% positive faculty feedback. The high school theater students self-reported that their improvisational skills improved through learning patient conditions and behaviors. Both schools met their mission statement and accreditation goals, including increased collaboration with the community. Conclusion This model for collaboration between a school of pharmacy and a high school using adolescents as simulated patients was successful in creating a beneficial learning experience for both the theater and pharmacy students. PMID:17533438

  14. Balancing the Equation. Supply and Demand in Tomorrow's School Choice Marketplaces

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McShane, Michael Q.

    2015-01-01

    School choice is an education reform premised on a simple proposition: give families more choices, and they will find schools that best fit their children's needs. In short, school choice aims to create a marketplace of schooling options. School choice programs will succeed or fail based on how well they are able to create this marketplace and how…

  15. How to Create the Conditions for Learning: Continuous Improvement in Classrooms, Schools, and Districts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jaquith, Ann

    2017-01-01

    "How to Create the Conditions for Learning" shows how the conditions for continuously improving instruction can be created at every level--from the classroom to the school to the central office. More Ann Jaquith presents a framework for understanding and building instructional capacity, based on her original research in schools and…

  16. Dashboard Videos

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gleue, Alan D.; Depcik, Chris; Peltier, Ted

    2012-11-01

    Last school year, I had a web link emailed to me entitled "A Dashboard Physics Lesson." The link, created and posted by Dale Basier on his Lab Out Loud blog, illustrates video of a car's speedometer synchronized with video of the road. These two separate video streams are compiled into one video that students can watch and analyze. After seeing this website and video, I decided to create my own dashboard videos to show to my high school physics students. I have produced and synchronized 12 separate dashboard videos, each about 10 minutes in length, driving around the city of Lawrence, KS, and Douglas County, and posted them to a website.2 Each video reflects different types of driving: both positive and negative accelerations and constant speeds. As shown in Fig. 1, I was able to capture speed, distance, and miles per gallon from my dashboard instrumentation. By linking this with a stopwatch, each of these quantities can be graphed with respect to time. I anticipate and hope that teachers will find these useful in their own classrooms, i.e., having physics students watch the videos and create their own motion maps (distance-time, speed-time) for study.

  17. ERCMExpress. Volume 2, Issue 8

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    US Department of Education, 2006

    2006-01-01

    This issue of ERCMExpress provides direction to schools and school districts in "Creating Emergency Management Plans." To ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff, schools and school districts nationwide should create comprehensive, multi-hazard emergency management plans that focus on the four phases of emergency management--…

  18. Change, Lead, Succeed

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Munger, Linda; von Frank, Valerie

    2010-01-01

    Redefine leadership in your school, and create capacity through school leadership teams that successfully coordinate professional learning. "Change, Lead, Succeed" shows school leaders and teachers in leadership roles what they need to know to effectively create a culture for change. Find out what distinguishes a school leadership team from other…

  19. Stakeholders' Voices: Defining Needs of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Transitioning between School Settings.

    PubMed

    Buchanan, Rohanna; Nese, Rhonda N T; Clark, Miriam

    2016-05-01

    Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) too often do not receive adequate services or care in their school settings, particularly during transitions in educational placements. In addition, school support teams often struggle with creating transition plans that honor the needs of students with input from key stakeholders responsible for supporting student success. This article presents findings from the information-gathering phase of an iterative project that aims to develop a support program for students with EBD transitioning from day-treatment schools to district schools. We conducted 5 semistructured, qualitative focus groups with parents and teachers to explore needs during students' transitions between school settings. Five themes emerged from the focus groups: (a) consistent, behavior-specific feedback and positive reinforcement are vital to sustaining learned prosocial skills; (b) students benefit from regular opportunities to learn and practice social skills; (c) transition programming should emphasize communication between school and home; (d) routines at home and school should be coordinated; and (e) parents need support at school meetings. We will use findings from this study to develop a multifaceted intervention that aims to support students, their caregivers, and their teachers during transitions between the aforementioned types of schools.

  20. Stakeholders’ Voices: Defining Needs of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Transitioning between School Settings

    PubMed Central

    Buchanan, Rohanna; Nese, Rhonda N. T.; Clark, Miriam

    2017-01-01

    Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) too often do not receive adequate services or care in their school settings, particularly during transitions in educational placements. In addition, school support teams often struggle with creating transition plans that honor the needs of students with input from key stakeholders responsible for supporting student success. This article presents findings from the information-gathering phase of an iterative project that aims to develop a support program for students with EBD transitioning from day-treatment schools to district schools. We conducted 5 semistructured, qualitative focus groups with parents and teachers to explore needs during students’ transitions between school settings. Five themes emerged from the focus groups: (a) consistent, behavior-specific feedback and positive reinforcement are vital to sustaining learned prosocial skills; (b) students benefit from regular opportunities to learn and practice social skills; (c) transition programming should emphasize communication between school and home; (d) routines at home and school should be coordinated; and (e) parents need support at school meetings. We will use findings from this study to develop a multifaceted intervention that aims to support students, their caregivers, and their teachers during transitions between the aforementioned types of schools. PMID:29706679

  1. Piloting a Searchable Database of Dropout Prevention Programs in Nine Low-Income Urban School Districts in the Northeast and Islands Region. Issues & Answers. REL 2008-No. 046

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Myint-U, Athi; O'Donnell, Lydia; Osher, David; Petrosino, Anthony; Stueve, Ann

    2008-01-01

    Despite evidence that some dropout prevention programs have positive effects, whether districts in the region are using such evidence-based programs has not been documented. To generate and share knowledge on dropout programs and policies, this report details a project to create a searchable database with information on target audiences,…

  2. Chickalicious: Want to Woo Reluctant Female Readers? Chick Lit May Be the Ticket

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Meloni, Christine

    2010-01-01

    Five years ago, when the author transferred from a local elementary school to her current position, she took one look at the dismal circulation figures and knew she had her work cut out for her. One of the first things she did was create a graphic novel section to attract young male readers. She also began stocking up on guy-friendly adventure and…

  3. Creating Unity through Celebrating Diversity: A Case Study That Explores the Impact of Music Education on Refugee Background Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crawford, Renée

    2017-01-01

    This article reports the findings of a case study that investigated the impact of music education on students in an F-12 school in Victoria, Australia that is considered as having a high percentage of young people with a refugee background. Key findings from this research indicated that music education had a positive impact on this group of young…

  4. USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Creates Positive Change in Children's Consumption and Other Behaviors Related to Eating Fruit and Vegetables

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bica, Lori A.; Jamelske, Eric M.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the 2009-2010 USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) on fruit intake and other behaviors related to fruit and vegetable consumption among Wisconsin fourth- and fifth-grade students. Methods: Participants were fourth- and fifth-grade from one FFVP school (n = 51)…

  5. Cure4Kids for Kids: school-based cancer education outreach.

    PubMed

    Van Kirk Villalobos, Aubrey; Quintana, Yuri; Ribeiro, Raul C

    2012-01-01

    In 2006, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital created Cure4Kids for Kids, a school-based outreach program. The objectives of this community education program are to teach about cancer and healthy lifestyles and to inspire an interest in science and health-related careers. A multidisciplinary team of St. Jude and outside experts developed and pilot tested age-appropriate educational materials and activities with 4th grade students. Eight schools and more than 800 children have participated in the program since 2006. Teachers and students have demonstrated a very positive response to the program for it being both fun and educational. Cure4Kids for Kids resources have been collected into a teacher's kit and are now freely available online at www.cure4kids.org/kids.

  6. Learning to teach science in urban schools by becoming a researcher of one's own beginning practice

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Furman, Melina; Calabrese Barton, Angela; Muir, Ben

    2012-03-01

    An urgent goal for science teacher educators is to prepare teachers to teach science in meaningful ways to youth from nondominant backgrounds. This preparation is challenging, for it asks teachers to critically examine how their pedagogical practices might adaptively respond to students and to science. It asks, essentially, for new teachers to become researchers of their own beginning practice. This study explores the story of Ben as he coauthored a transformative action research project in an urban middle school as part of a teacher education program and, later, over his first year of teaching at that same school. We describe how Ben and his partner teacher created innovative spaces for science learning. This offered Ben an opportunity to make some of his deeply engrained pedagogical beliefs come alive within a context of distributed expertise, which provided for him a space of moderate risk where he could afford the chances of failure without undermining how he felt about his own capacity as a teacher. Our study highlights the importance of creating reform opportunities within the context of teacher education programs that may help beginner teachers construct positive images of teaching that they can hold on to in their future practice.

  7. Teaching children about immunization in a digital age

    PubMed Central

    Wilson, Kumanan; Atkinson, Katherine; Crowcroft, Natasha

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT We believe that public health efforts to address issues of vaccine hesitancy should increase their focus on childhood education. An opportunity exists to create positive, accurate vaccine attitudes through fun and interactive approaches early in life. Leveraging digital technologies may provide a way to deliver these messages to children in a way that complements immune system and immunization education in school curricula. We recommend that public health officials explore and identify the most effective ways to deliver positive digital messages to children in hopes of “inoculating” the next generation against vaccine hesitancy. PMID:28165917

  8. Making Schools Safe for Students: Creating a Proactive School Safety Plan.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blauvelt, Peter D.

    This guide offers strategies for creating a proactive school safety plan that encourages parents, teachers, principals, and students to take the initiative and identify threats to school safety. It emphasizes that schools must have an active plan that addresses fights, name calling, bullying, changes in kid's behaviors, and staff who have run out…

  9. Defining and understanding healthy lifestyles choices for adolescents.

    PubMed

    He, Ka; Kramer, Ellen; Houser, Robert F; Chomitz, Virginia R; Hacker, Karen A

    2004-07-01

    To: (a) establish criteria for defining positive health behaviors and lifestyle; and (b) identify characteristics of adolescents who practice a healthy lifestyle. Responses from a 1998 survey via questionnaire, of 1487 students, from a public high school, Cambridge, Massachusetts, were used to assess correlates of healthy lifestyle choices. Strict and broad assessments of healthy behaviors were defined for students: use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs; sexual behavior; attempted suicide. Whereas the "strict" criteria included only those adolescents who did not practice any of the behaviors in question, the broad criteria reflected experimentation and moderate risk-taking. The prevalence of positive behaviors was assessed by demographic and student characteristics. In addition, logistic regression models were created to predict determinants of teenagers' healthy lifestyles using both strict and broad definitions. Using strict criteria of healthy lifestyle, significant predictors were being female, born outside the United States, higher academic performance, and fewer stressful life events. Using a broad definition of a healthy lifestyle, significant predictors were being non-Caucasian, in the lower grade levels at the school, higher academic performance, and fewer stressful life events. In both models, peers' approval of risky behaviors negatively influenced teens' lifestyles, whereas parents' disapproval of risky behaviors was a positive influence. These results reinforce the importance of school, peer, and parent support of positive behaviors. It is important for public health workers and families to understand and define healthy lifestyles choices for adolescents.

  10. Psychosocial environment for the integrated education opportunities of the disabled in Lithuania

    PubMed Central

    Samsoniene, Laimute; Juozulynas, Algirdas; Surkiene, Gene; Jankauskiene, Konstancija; Lukšiene, Aloyza

    2006-01-01

    Background The policy of the diminution of the social isolation of the disabled is the main objective of the strategy of the EU new policy concerning the disabled. Lithuanian society faces this objective as well. For this reason, this study aiming at providing the theoretical basis for and predicting the possible psycho-social environment in an integrated education system, as well as at the evaluation of the reasons for the formation of a positive approach to the disabled, is especially relevant, since it creates the prerequisites for the optimisation of the process of the integration of disabled schoolchildren into the general system of education. Method The sample of the study consisted of 2471 children from the same schools: not integrated (1958), integrated (126) and special schools (382). Empirical methods: questionnaire poll, comparative analysis. The statistical analysis was carried out using SAS. Results Our study showed that the majority of schoolchildren without disabilities and disabled schoolchildren have positive intentions for interpersonal interactions (>82%) and positive emotions (>69%) independently of the discrepant character of interpersonal contacts, different conditions of education and family life, and despite of low level of knowledge. Conclusion The results of the study confirmed positive intentions for interpersonal interaction between disabled schoolchildren and schoolchildren without disabilities, as well as a positive character of emotions, and disprove the unsound myth of the opponents of the social integration of the disabled stating that disabled children in comprehensive schools would undoubtedly experience offence from their peers without disabilities. PMID:17173706

  11. Creating the Total Quality Effective School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lezotte, Lawrence W.

    This book shows how Deming's Total Quality Management (TQM) theory for organizational management can be integrated with the effective-schools literature. Part 1 compares the 14 principles of TQM with the tenets of effective-schools research. The second part develops a blueprint for creating the total quality effective school. The conceptual…

  12. Understanding Effective Program Improvement Schools through a Distributed Leadership Task Context Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gipson, Frances Marie

    2012-01-01

    Federal, state, and local agencies face challenges organizing resources that create the conditions necessary to create, sustain, and replicate effective high performing schools. Knowing that leadership does impact achievement outcomes and that school districts tackle growing numbers of sanctioned Program Improvement schools, a distributed…

  13. The Fairness Committee: Restorative Justice in a Small Urban Public High School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hantzopoulos, Maria

    2013-01-01

    Rather than creating safer schools, punitive policies--such as zero-tolerance discipline policies--appear only to have created hostile learning environments. In response, many advocacy organizations have urged schools to adopt a human rights framework, including restorative practices. Schools with restorative approaches have noted dramatic…

  14. Cultivating youth resilience to prevent bullying and cyberbullying victimization.

    PubMed

    Hinduja, Sameer; Patchin, Justin W

    2017-11-01

    In an effort to better prevent and respond to bullying and cyberbullying, schools are recognizing a need to focus on positive youth development. One often-neglected developmental construct in this rubric is resilience, which can help students successfully respond to the variety of challenges they face. Enhancing this internal competency can complement the ever-present efforts of schools as they work to create a safe and supportive learning environment by shaping the external environment around the child. Based on a national sample of 1204 American youth between the ages of 12 and 17, we explore the relationship between resilience and experience with bullying and cyberbullying. We also examine whether resilient youth who were bullied (at school and online) were less likely to be significantly impacted at school. Results show resilience is a potent protective factor, both in preventing experience with bullying and mitigating its effect. Implications for school and community-based interventions are offered. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Taking Stock and Creating a Vision: A Middle School Community Takes the First Steps toward Creating an Accelerated School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McBride, Ron E.; Stuessy, Carol

    1996-01-01

    Accelerated schools strive to bring at-risk students into the educational mainstream and perform at grade level through acceleration rather than remediation. Describes four steps to initiate the accelerated process and how a Texas middle school involved all members of the school community in implementing the first two steps, taking stock and…

  16. Realization of entry-to-practice milestones by Canadians who studied medicine abroad and other international medical graduates: a retrospective cohort study.

    PubMed

    Mathews, Maria; Kandar, Rima; Slade, Steve; Yi, Yanqing; Beardall, Sue; Bourgeault, Ivy

    2017-06-19

    International medical graduates must realize a series of milestones to obtain full licensure. We examined the realization of milestones by Canadian and non-Canadian graduates of Western or Caribbean medical schools, and Canadian and non-Canadian graduates from other medical schools. Using the National IMG Database (data available for 2005-2011), we created 2 cohorts: 1) international medical graduates who had passed the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part I between 2005 and 2010 and 2) those who had first entered a family medicine postgraduate program between 2005 and 2009, or had first entered a specialty postgraduate program in 2005 or 2006. We examined 3 entry-to-practice milestones; obtaining a postgraduate position, passing the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part II and obtaining a specialty designation. Of the 6925 eligible graduates in cohort 1, 2144 (31.0%) had obtained a postgraduate position. Of the 1214 eligible graduates in cohort 2, 1126 (92.8%) had passed the Qualifying Examination Part II, and 889 (73.2%) had obtained a specialty designation. In multivariate analyses, Canadian graduates of Western or Caribbean medical schools (odds ratio [OR] 4.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.82-5.71) and Canadian graduates of other medical schools (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.31-1.70) were more likely to obtain a postgraduate position than non-Canadian graduates of other (not Western or Caribbean) medical schools. There was no difference among the groups in passing the Qualifying Examination Part II or obtaining a specialty designation. Canadians who studied abroad were more likely than other international medical graduates to obtain a postgraduate position; there were no differences among the groups in realizing milestones once in a postgraduate program. These findings support policies that do not distinguish postgraduate applicants by citizenship or permanent residency status before medical school. Copyright 2017, Joule Inc. or its licensors.

  17. Neuroscience curriculum changes and outcomes: medical university of South Carolina, 2006 to 2010.

    PubMed

    Holden, Kenton R; Cooper, S Lewis; Wong, Jeffrey G

    2012-07-01

    To develop future neurologists and translational neuroscientists, we created a neurosciences pathway throughout our medical school curriculum that included early exposure to clinical neurosciences decision-making and added variety to the choices of later clinical neurosciences experiences. Our curricular innovation had 3 parts: (1) integrating basic neurosciences content into an explicit clinical context in a College of Medicine (COM) first year of medical school; (2) expanding pathophysiological principles related to neurosciences in COM second year of medical school; and (3) creating a variety of 3-week clinical neurosciences selectives in COM third year of medical school and 4-week electives/externships for interested learners in COM fourth year of medical school. These new changes were evaluated (1) by comparing national standardized examinations including Neurology Subject examination scores for students choosing clinical neurosciences selectives; (2) by student satisfaction Graduate Questionnaires; and (3) by the total number of our graduates matching in US neurosciences disciplines. Students taking neuroscience selectives demonstrated a nonsignificant trend toward higher Step 2 Clinical Knowledge scores. The students' Neurology Subject examination scores were comparable with those scores reported nationally for other US COM third year of medical school students on 4-week rotations. Student-reported satisfaction in clinical neurology teaching improved from 43.9% (before) to 81.8% (after). The percentage of students matching into clinical neuroscience disciplines rose from 2% (before) to 6% (after). Our neurosciences curricular innovation increased graduating student satisfaction scores, had a mild positive impact on Step 2 Clinical Knowledge scores, and increased the number of students choosing careers in the clinical neurosciences. This model may be a consideration for other medical schools who wish to integrate neurosciences teaching throughout their curriculum.

  18. Environmental education and its effect on the knowledge and attitudes of preparatory school students.

    PubMed

    Abd El-Salam, Magda M; El-Naggar, Hesham M; Hussein, Rim A

    2009-01-01

    Considering the serious environmental threats facing Egypt, environmental education (EE) that provides the knowledge, skills, and motivation to take individual or collective action is needed to create a sustainable quality of life. This study was carried out aiming at measuring the level of environmental knowledge among preparatory school students in Alexandria, determining their attitudes towards some environmental concepts, and assessing the effect of EE on these knowledge and attitudes. The study sample was selected by stratified random method, and the assessment was conducted using a questionnaire. Results of the study revealed that 77% of the students had poor level of environmental knowledge and that 23% had fair level. In addition, 80% of the students were found to have negative attitude toward the environment and the remainder 20% were indifferent. Such knowledge and attitudes were positively correlated to their socio-economic levels. Following six EE sessions, an improvement in their knowledge and attitudes was observed where 69% of the students had a satisfactory level of knowledge and 88% had positive attitude toward the environment. Attitude was found to be positively correlated to their level of knowledge prior to and following the EE sessions. These results support the need for development and implementation of environmental education programs as part of the regular school curriculum.

  19. Creating High Functioning Schools: Practice and Research.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cano, Yvonne, Ed.; Wood, Fred H., Ed.; Simmons, Jan C., Ed.

    This book contains 17 papers, chosen from those presented within the last 2 years at the annual National Conference on Creating the Quality School, hosted by the Center for the Study of Small/Rural Schools at the University of Oklahoma. The papers are grouped into three sections: leadership for school improvement; classroom practices for school…

  20. Creating a Culture of Tolerance in Schools: Everyday Actions To Prevent Hate-Motivated Violent Incidents.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cobia, Debra C.; Carney, Jamie S.

    2002-01-01

    Establishes the relationships between prejudice or intolerance and hate-motivated school violence, describing the aspects of school climate or culture that foster prejudice, stereotyping, and scapegoating. Offers examples of interventions that educators might use, both individually and systematically, to create a school culture of tolerance and…

  1. Creating a Healthy School Community? Consider Critical Elements of Educational Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gleddie, Douglas L.; Robinson, Daniel B.

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, the concept of creating and sustaining healthy school communities (HSC) has increased in popularity and acceptance as a way to link health and education outcomes within school communities across the globe. With the dual goal of enhancing student learning and facilitating action for health through education, schools with…

  2. Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School: Banishing Anonymity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Principal Leadership, 2010

    2010-01-01

    It is no accident that the staff at Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School adopted a central tenet of "Breaking Ranks in the Middle"--to banish anonymity by creating a personalized learning environment for all of its students. The school was created six years ago when the four middle schools in Henry County, VA, were consolidated into two…

  3. Student-Parent-Teacher Partnerships: Creating Safe Classrooms and Communities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hall, Horace R.

    2008-01-01

    In this article, the author talks about "Safe Space," an after school program created by a parent-teacher advisory board which maintained that students needed a safe in-school environment where they could openly talk about their out-of-school lives. Being that the school's curriculum heavily focused on academic standards, students' affective…

  4. Learning to Do Well or Learning to Do Good? Estimating the Effects of Schooling on Civic Engagement, Social Cohesion, and Labor Market Outcomes in the Presence of Endowments

    PubMed Central

    Schnittker, Jason; Behrman, Jere R.

    2013-01-01

    Although some point to the large effects of schooling on civic engagement (usually measured in terms of volunteering and participation in civic organizations) and social cohesion (usually measured in terms of social networks and relationship quality), the effects of schooling on social outcomes have not been estimated with the same rigor as the effects of schooling on labor-market outcomes, such as earnings. In particular, previous research has failed to consider (i) the many potential and often unobserved confounding factors (“endowments”) influencing both schooling and social outcomes, including family upbringing, innate characteristics, and personality, and (ii) the ways in which schooling pushes individuals in multiple directions simultaneously, including toward greater social engagement, but also toward more independent and market-driven pursuits. Using samples of unrelated persons, ordinary siblings, and identical twins, this study explores the effects of schooling on measures of civic engagement and social relationships, as well as labor-force earnings and labor-force participation. The siblings models reveal a more complex picture than typically suggested by standard individual estimates. On one hand, the results reveal a robust positive effect of schooling on earnings: well-schooled persons work more and earn more, albeit not as much as associations without control for endowments suggest. On the other hand, the results reveal more tenuous and occasionally negative effects of schooling on social outcomes. The effects of schooling on volunteering and membership in civic organizations, for example, disappear almost entirely with control for endowments. Also, within-identical-twins models reverse the positive effects of schooling on reports of support from friends, family, and coworkers. These results may reflect the tension schooling creates between market and non-market commitments, as well as between independence and interpersonal reliability. Schooling may, indeed, induce some pro-social behaviors, but schooling allows individuals choices of whether to pursue more personal interests as well. PMID:23017753

  5. Cloudy with a Chance of Sarcasm or Sunny with High Expectations: Using Best Practice Language to Strengthen Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Efforts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holloman, Hal; Yates, Peggy H.

    2013-01-01

    What's the forecast in your classroom? Are you forecasting cloudy with a chance of sarcasm or sunny with high expectations? A teacher's Language of Practice holds the key to creating a climate of mutual respect in our schools. This article will explore the power and promise of "teacher language," and how it can be used to…

  6. A Study on the Feasibility of Creating a Web-Accessible Marine Mammal Sound Library Based upon the Collections at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-09-01

    NPS-OC-08-005 NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Approved for public release; distribution is...official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. 12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public...release; distribution is unlimited. 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) A universally accessible web-based marine

  7. Schools as Ecosystems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seydel, Jennifer

    2011-01-01

    Creating green schools often hinges on administrators. Principals, superintendents, and other school leaders have the authority and skill sets to make important, even if incremental, progress toward creating green learning environments. This article provides background and reference information that will help administrators with their initial…

  8. A rural math, science, and technology elementary school tangled up in global networks of practice

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carlone, Heidi B.; Kimmel, Sue; Tschida, Christina

    2010-06-01

    This is an ethnographic study of a newly created math, science, and technology elementary magnet school in a rural community fiercely committed to cultural preservation while facing unprecedented economic instability brought on by massive loss of manufacturing jobs. Our goal was to understand global- and community-level contexts that influenced the school's science curriculum, the ways the school promoted itself to the community, and the implicit meanings of science held by school staff, parents and community members. Main sources of data were the county's newspaper articles from 2003 to 2006, the school's, town's, and business leaders' promotional materials, and interviews with school staff, parents, and community members. A key finding was the school's dual promotion of science education and character education. We make sense of this "science with character" curriculum by unpacking the school and community's entanglements with historical (cultural preservation), political (conservative politics, concerns for youth depravity), and economic (globalization) networks. We describe the ways those entanglements enabled certain reproductive meanings of school science (as add-on, suspect, and elitist) and other novel meanings of science (empathetic, nurturing, place-based). This study highlights the school as a site of struggle, entangled in multiple networks of practice that influence in positive, negative, and unpredictable ways, the enacted science curriculum.

  9. A cluster randomized trial to evaluate external support for the implementation of positive behavioral interventions and supports by school personnel

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Urban schools lag behind non-urban schools in attending to the behavioral health needs of their students. This is especially evident with regard to the level of use of evidence-based interventions with school children. Increased used of evidence-based interventions in urban schools would contribute to reducing mental health services disparities in low-income communities. School-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is a service delivery framework that can be used to deliver universal preventive interventions and evidence-based behavioral health treatments, such as group cognitive behavioral therapy. In this article, we describe our ongoing research on creating internal capacity for program implementation. We also examine the cost-effectiveness and resulting school climate when two different levels of external support are provided to personnel as they implement a two-tier SWPBIS program. Methods/Design The study follows six K – 8 schools in the School District of Philadelphia randomly assigned to consultation support or consultation-plus-coaching support. Participants are: approximately 48 leadership team members, 180 school staff and 3,900 students in Tier 1, and 12 counselors, and 306 child participants in Tier 2. Children who meet inclusion criteria for Tier 2 will participate in group cognitive behavioral therapy for externalizing or anxiety disorders. The study has three phases, baseline/training, implementation, and sustainability. We will measure implementation outcomes, service outcomes, child outcomes, and cost. Discussion Findings from this study will provide evidence as to the appropriateness of school-wide prevention and treatment service delivery models for addressing services disparities in schools. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analyses of the two levels of training and consultation should help urban school districts and policymakers with the planning and deployment of cost-effective strategies for the implementation of evidence-based interventions for some of the most common behavioral health problems in school children. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01941069 PMID:24428904

  10. A cluster randomized trial to evaluate external support for the implementation of positive behavioral interventions and supports by school personnel.

    PubMed

    Eiraldi, Ricardo; McCurdy, Barry; Khanna, Muniya; Mautone, Jennifer; Jawad, Abbas F; Power, Thomas; Cidav, Zuleyha; Cacia, Jaclyn; Sugai, George

    2014-01-15

    Urban schools lag behind non-urban schools in attending to the behavioral health needs of their students. This is especially evident with regard to the level of use of evidence-based interventions with school children. Increased used of evidence-based interventions in urban schools would contribute to reducing mental health services disparities in low-income communities. School-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is a service delivery framework that can be used to deliver universal preventive interventions and evidence-based behavioral health treatments, such as group cognitive behavioral therapy. In this article, we describe our ongoing research on creating internal capacity for program implementation. We also examine the cost-effectiveness and resulting school climate when two different levels of external support are provided to personnel as they implement a two-tier SWPBIS program. The study follows six K - 8 schools in the School District of Philadelphia randomly assigned to consultation support or consultation-plus-coaching support. Participants are: approximately 48 leadership team members, 180 school staff and 3,900 students in Tier 1, and 12 counselors, and 306 child participants in Tier 2. Children who meet inclusion criteria for Tier 2 will participate in group cognitive behavioral therapy for externalizing or anxiety disorders. The study has three phases, baseline/training, implementation, and sustainability. We will measure implementation outcomes, service outcomes, child outcomes, and cost. Findings from this study will provide evidence as to the appropriateness of school-wide prevention and treatment service delivery models for addressing services disparities in schools. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analyses of the two levels of training and consultation should help urban school districts and policymakers with the planning and deployment of cost-effective strategies for the implementation of evidence-based interventions for some of the most common behavioral health problems in school children. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01941069.

  11. The Sense of School Belonging and Implementation of a Prevention Program: Toward Healthier Interpersonal Relationships Among Early Adolescents.

    PubMed

    Drolet, Marie; Arcand, Isabelle; Ducharme, Daphne; Leblanc, Raymond

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this qualitative study is to pave the way for the establishment of healthy interpersonal relations by facilitating an understanding of the impacts of Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence as perceived by adolescents and teachers who took part in it. Lions Quest has become recognized as an evidence-based program for preventing alcohol and drug use through the development of social skills and the promotion of meaningful engagement in the school community (Lions Clubs International, Overview of Skills for Adolescence 2013). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7th and 8th grade Francophone and Anglophone adolescents from three schools in Eastern Ontario who had participated in Lions Quest . Deductive and inductive analysis of interview transcripts clearly underscored that the positive perceptions of those early adolescents on the quality of their relationships with friends outweigh the negative impression that can be created by peer pressures at this age. It is through such a filter that these adolescents came to appreciate the impact of Lions Quest. Their need to be part of a circle of friends also comes to the fore as a crucial component of a sense of school belonging (Faircloth and Hamm (2005) J Youth Adolesc 34:293-309), highlighting the need to incorporate more of this form of positive social norm into interventions and prevention geared toward early adolescents. The data also underline the complementary importance attributed to having positive relationships with supportive adults.

  12. Association Between the Built Environment in School Neighborhoods With Physical Activity Among New York City Children, 2012

    PubMed Central

    Gray, Heewon Lee; Quinn, James; Rundle, Andrew G.; Contento, Isobel R.; Koch, Pamela A.

    2016-01-01

    Introduction The benefits of physical activity for health and well-being are well established, yet built environment characteristics in the school neighborhood may constrain students’ ability to engage in physical activity and contribute to the considerable variation in physical activity among students at different schools. Methods Baseline data from the Food, Health and Choices obesity prevention trial were used to create multilevel linear models of the relationship between fifth-grade students’ (n = 952) physical activity and related psychosocial factors and characteristics of the built environment of the school’s neighborhood (park access, public transportation density, total crime, and walkability), controlling for age and body mass index z scores. Results Total crime was inversely associated with boys’ light physical activity duration (β = −0.189; P = .02) and behavioral intention for physical activity (β = −0.178; P = .03). Boys’ habit strength for physical activity was positively associated with public transportation density (β = 0.375; P = .02) and negatively associated with total crime (β = −0.216; P = .01), explaining 67% of between-school variation. Girls’ frequency of light physical activity was positively associated with park access (β = 0.188; P = .04). Built environment characteristics explained 97% of the between-school variation in girls’ self-efficacy in walking for exercise. Conclusions Characteristics of the built environment surrounding schools were associated with and explain between-school variation in students’ physical activity and several theory-based psychosocial factors. Partnerships between public health practitioners, policy makers, and school administrators may be warranted to shape the school neighborhood, specifically to decrease crime rates and increase park access, to encourage physical activity in youth. PMID:27536902

  13. School Tracking and Youth Self-Perceptions: Implications for Academic and Racial Identity.

    PubMed

    Legette, Kamilah

    2017-02-09

    School tracking creates vast differential learning and schooling opportunities that lead to different academic trajectories. Black adolescents are disproportionally placed in nonhonors tracks possibly compromising their racial and academic identity. Interviews with 20 socioeconomically diverse 12 to 13 year old Black seventh graders revealed that narratives about racial and academic identity vary by track placement. Although most adolescents held negative perceptions about students enrolled in nonhonors courses, students in nonhonors seemed to view the negative perceptions of their classmates as reflections of themselves as Black people and as students. In contrast, adolescents in honors courses viewed these negative perceptions as limited to students in nonhonors. They reported having a greater connection to academics and viewed themselves as positive representatives of Blackness. © 2017 The Author. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  14. The Opportunities and Challenges of Partnering with Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, University of Southern California, 2005

    2005-01-01

    While the benefits of partnerships between school and external groups are many (building social capital, enhancing educational reform, creating stronger communities, increasing academic achievements, and enhancing school performance), creating effective partnerships does not always come easily. One of the first decisions that organizations…

  15. Library Spaces for 21st-Century Learners: A Planning Guide for Creating New School Library Concepts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sullivan, Margaret

    2013-01-01

    "Library Spaces for 21st-Century Learners: A Planning Guide for Creating New School Library Concepts" focuses on planning contemporary school library spaces with user-based design strategies. The book walks school librarians and administrators through the process of gathering information from students and other stakeholders involved in…

  16. It's Who You Know "and" What You Know: The Process of Creating Partnerships between Schools and Communities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hands, Catherine

    2005-01-01

    Based on qualitative research, this article aims to clarify the process of creating school-community partnerships. Two secondary schools with numerous partnerships were selected within a southern Ontario school board characterized by economic and cultural diversity. Drawing on the within- and cross-case analyses of documents, observations, and 25…

  17. How Do Stakeholders Engaged in School-University Partnerships Create Value for Their Own Organizations?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cuppett, Kevin S.

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine how stakeholders engaged in school-university partnerships, specifically in the work preparing future school administrators, created and captured value for their own organizations. These case studies examined three partnerships that involved three school systems who all partnered with the same college,…

  18. How To Create Safe Schools: Action Steps for the Community. A Workshop and Planning Guide To Help Communities Bring Security and Peace to Their Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Educational Service, Bloomington, IN.

    This workshop and planning guide is designed to help stakeholders create safe schools for students. The guide is intended to be used with three 20-minute videotape programs that feature an inside look at two schools that actively involved their communities in improving school safety. The three videos--"Building the Team,""The Safe School…

  19. [Effects of active parenting today based on goal attainment theory on parenting stress, parenting behavior, and parenting satisfaction in mothers of school-age children].

    PubMed

    Park, Kyung Im; Oh, Sangeun

    2012-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to verify effects of the Active Parenting Today (APT) program based on King's Goal Attainment Theory on parenting stress, parenting behavior, and parenting satisfaction in mothers of school-age children. This was a quasi-experimental study with a non-equivalent control group pre-post test design. Participants were 39 mothers of school-age children (19 in the experiment group and 20 in the control group) who were registered at two community children centers in G city. The experimental group received the APT program (2 hours/session/week) and telephone counseling (2 times/week) for 8 weeks. Data were analyzed using χ²-test, t-test, Fisher exact probability test, and ANCOVA with the SPSS/Win15.0 program. Parenting stress was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group. Positive parenting behavior and parenting satisfaction were significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group. However, negative parenting behavior was not significantly different between the two groups. The results of this study indicate that the APT program based on King's Goal Attainment Theory is useful in reducing parenting stress, creating positive parenting behavior change, and promoting parenting satisfaction in mothers of school-age children.

  20. Families created through surrogacy: Mother-child relationships and children’s psychological adjustment at age 7

    PubMed Central

    Golombok, Susan; Readings, Jennifer; Blake, Lucy; Casey, Polly; Marks, Alex; Jadva, Vasanti

    2011-01-01

    Each year, an increasing number of children are born through surrogacy and thus lack a genetic and/or gestational link with their mother. This study examined the impact of surrogacy on mother-child relationships and children’s psychological adjustment. Assessments of maternal positivity, maternal negativity, mother-child interaction and child adjustment were administered to 32 surrogacy, 32 egg donation and 54 natural conception families with a 7-year-old child. No differences were found for maternal negativity, maternal positivity or child adjustment, although the surrogacy and egg donation families showed less positive mother-child interaction than the natural conception families. The findings suggest that both surrogacy and egg donation families function well in the early school years. PMID:21895360

  1. Families created through surrogacy: mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment at age 7.

    PubMed

    Golombok, Susan; Readings, Jennifer; Blake, Lucy; Casey, Polly; Marks, Alex; Jadva, Vasanti

    2011-11-01

    Each year, an increasing number of children are born through surrogacy and thus lack a genetic and/or gestational link with their mother. This study examined the impact of surrogacy on mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment. Assessments of maternal positivity, maternal negativity, mother-child interaction, and child adjustment were administered to 32 surrogacy, 32 egg donation, and 54 natural conception families with a 7-year-old child. No differences were found for maternal negativity, maternal positivity, or child adjustment, although the surrogacy and egg donation families showed less positive mother-child interaction than the natural conception families. The findings suggest that both surrogacy and egg donation families function well in the early school years.

  2. Philanthropy and Beyond: Creating Shared Value to Promote Well-Being for Individuals in Their Communities.

    PubMed

    Kottke, Thomas E; Pronk, Nico; Zinkel, Andrew R; Isham, George J

    2017-01-01

    Health care organizations can magnify the impact of their community service and other philanthropic activities by implementing programs that create shared value. By definition, shared value is created when an initiative generates benefit for the sponsoring organization while also generating societal and community benefit. Because the programs generate benefit for the sponsoring organizations, the magnitude of any particular initiative is limited only by the market for the benefit and not the resources that are available for philanthropy.In this article we use three initiatives in sectors other than health care to illustrate the concept of shared value. We also present examples of five types of shared value programs that are sponsored by health care organizations: telehealth, worksite health promotion, school-based health centers, green and healthy housing, and clean and green health services. On the basis of the innovativeness of health care organizations that have already implemented programs that create shared value, we conclude that the opportunities for all health care organizations to create positive impact for individuals and communities through similar programs is large, and the limits have yet to be defined.

  3. Developing School Policies and Procedures for Physical Restraint and Seclusion in Nebraska Schools. A Technical Assistance Document

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peterson, Reece L.

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this document is to provide information and guidance for Nebraska School districts in creating new, or revising existing policies and procedures related to the use of physical restraint and seclusion in school settings. The goal is to create policies that are informed by national policy directions, research, good practice and…

  4. Job-Embedded Professional Development: How School Leaders Create and Support the Structures for Improved Teacher Effectiveness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hussey, Maureen P.

    2013-01-01

    This study was an exploration of the steps school leaders take when creating site-based professional support for school-based staff. The objective was to learn the steps taken by school leaders to implement job-embedded professional development practices and to identify the impact those steps had on the teachers, the students, and the school…

  5. Always Being on Your Toes: Elementary School Dance Teachers' Perceptions of Inclusion and Their Roles in Creating Inclusive Dance Education Environments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zitomer, Michelle R.

    2017-01-01

    Teachers are key players in creating inclusive dance education environments. Guided by a conceptual framework of relational ethics, this qualitative study explored the perceptions and practices of four elementary school dance teachers teaching in public schools in two large school districts in Western Canada. Data collection involved interviews,…

  6. Finding Safety in Small Numbers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McPartland, James; Jordan, Will; Legters, Nettie; Balfanz, Robert

    1997-01-01

    A large Baltimore high school has shown how personalizing relationships and focusing the curriculum can turn around an unsafe school and create a climate conducive to learning. The school adopted the Talent Development model, which created six smaller units or academies. Instead of suspending or transferring ill-behaved students, Patterson…

  7. A Response to Deborah Meier.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sarason, Seymour

    1998-01-01

    Meier is no bleeding-heart liberal who oversimplifies difficulties involved in creating classrooms and schools reflective of productive learning contexts. Larger system of school governance is inimical to creating such contexts. In his book "How Schools Might Be Governed and Why" (Teacher's College Press, 1997), author argues that the…

  8. The Strategic Use of Chaplain Liaison in a Policy Projection Platform to Resolve Conflict and Promote Peace

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-05-26

    College is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia...speak to religious leaders out of respect, a shared devotion to faith group, and the mutual understanding of the ―golden rule.‖ 22 Indigenous...relationships are ―created through conversations that reach beyond (conflict) positions and arguments to shared experiences of the loss of loved ones

  9. Media Literacy, Social Networking, and the Web 2.0 Environment for the K-12 Educator. Minding the Media: Critical Issues for Learning and Teaching. Volume 4

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    de Abreu, Belinha S.

    2011-01-01

    This book, a resource for educators, uses the theme of media literacy as a lens through which to view and discuss social networking and Web 2.0 environments. There is ongoing and positive research on the participatory culture created by youth who are heavily involved in the new digital technologies, yet schools tend to avoid these mediums for fear…

  10. Harassment and Mental Distress Among Adolescent Female Students by Sexual Identity and BMI or Perceived Weight Status.

    PubMed

    Johns, Michelle Marie; Lowry, Richard; Demissie, Zewditu; Robin, Leah

    2017-08-01

    Sexual minority girls (lesbian/bisexual) and girls with overweight/obesity experience high rates of discrimination and mental distress. This study explored whether BMI or perceived weight status might compound sexual minority girls' risk for harassment and mental distress. Data on female students from the national 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 7,006) were analyzed. Logistic regression was used to examine differences in bullying, harassment, and mental distress across sexual identity/BMI groups: heterosexual/normal-weight, heterosexual/overweight, sexual minority/normal-weight, and sexual minority/overweight. Procedures were repeated with four analogous groups created from sexual identity and perceived weight. Across sexual identity/BMI groups, being overweight increased heterosexual females' odds of being bullied or experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Regardless of weight status, sexual minority females had greater odds for each outcome than heterosexual females. Sexual minority females who perceived themselves as overweight had greater odds of suicidality than all other sexual minority/perceived weight groups. Double jeopardy may exist for sexual minority female students who perceive themselves as overweight. Professional development with school staff on how to create a positive climate for sexual minorities and those with overweight/obesity and addressing positive identity and body image within school-based suicide prevention efforts may be important to the well-being of adolescent girls. © 2017 The Obesity Society.

  11. Observational scores of dampness and mold associated with measurements of microbial agents and moisture in three public schools

    PubMed Central

    Cho, S. J.; Cox-Ganser, J. M.; Park, J.-H.

    2015-01-01

    We examined associations between observational dampness scores and measurements of microbial agents and moisture in three public schools. A dampness score was created for each room from 4-point-scale scores (0–3) of water damage, water stains, visible mold, moldy odor, and wetness for each of 8 room components (ceiling, walls, windows, floor, ventilation, furniture, floor trench, and pipes), when present. We created mixed microbial exposure indices (MMEIs) for each of 121 rooms by summing decile ranks of 8 analytes (total culturable fungi; total, Gram-negative, and Gram-positive culturable bacteria; ergosterol; (1→3)-β-D-glucan; muramic acid; and endotoxin) in floor dust. We found significant (P ≤ 0.01) linear associations between the dampness score and culturable bacteria (total, Gram-positive, and Gram-negative) and the MMEIs. Rooms with dampness scores greater than 0.25 (median) had significantly (P < 0.05) higher levels of most microbial agents, MMEIs, and relative moisture content than those with lower scores (≤0.25). Rooms with reported recent water leaks had significantly (P < 0.05) higher dampness scores than those with historical or no reported water leaks. This study suggests that observational assessment of dampness and mold using a standardized form may be valuable for identifying and documenting water damage and associated microbial contamination. PMID:25650175

  12. Trace: Your Land Is My Land Is Our Land

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boyson, Marc

    I think about the space between places. I search for ways to record the invisible, ephemeral act of movement. Through the use of complex and simply technologies I collect habitual movements that I carry out over the course of months and years. These banal movements of the commute are logged through the use of Global Positioning Systems, through intuitive drawings, video, sound, text, and performance. I gather this data and think about how to repurpose them from their original intent to create a new psychogeographic map. These maps are temporal, site-specific works created over days that reinterpret my real, intuitive, and memory traces to create the fiction of place. I am an Assistant Professor at the School of Visual Art & Design at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale and participated in a group show FRESH 2013 Emerging Artist Exhibit at the Association of Visual Arts in Chattanooga, TN.

  13. Partnering with Business Amplifies Students' Career Opportunities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Friend, Ernie

    2010-01-01

    It's becoming common for schools and community colleges to join with leaders of the business and industry community to create public-private partnerships to create new and enhanced opportunities for both parties. By creating a public-private partnership between schools, the local business community, and organizations like Cisco, Florida State…

  14. A qualitative examination of factors related to the decrease in physical activity behavior in adolescent girls during the transition from primary to secondary school.

    PubMed

    Knowles, Ann-Marie; Niven, Ailsa; Fawkner, Samantha

    2011-11-01

    Quantitative research has suggested that the decline in physical activity levels for adolescent girls is most marked during the transition from primary school to secondary school yet understanding the contributing factors for this decline may be advanced through qualitative research methods to gain an individual perspective of the girls' school transition experience. This study explored factors related to the decrease in physical activity behavior in 14 adolescent girls (mean age = 13.6 ± 0.3 years) during the transition between primary and secondary school through the use of narrative interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings suggested that a change in the environment was central to understanding the decline in physical activity levels since primary school. During secondary school, a positive environment can be created by ensuring a choice of activities in Physical Education lessons; allowing a girls-only environment, to reduce the focus on competence and competition, and recognizing the importance of social support. These could enhance self-perceptions, reduce self-presentational concerns, increase enjoyment, and subsequently reduce the decrease in physical activity behavior during this key transitional period.

  15. Empowering school social work practices for positive youth development: Hong Kong experience.

    PubMed

    To, Siu-ming

    2007-01-01

    Empowerment has become a popular concept in working with adolescents in recent years. It challenges the deficit model of youth work and focuses on creating a facilitative climate in which young people can make maximum use of the opportunity to learn and grow. While many practitioners have adopted the empowerment approach in youth services, however, we know little about the possibilities for empowerment practice in the field of school social work. Based on the findings of a qualitative study conducted in Hong Kong, this paper explores how school social workers engage in different dimensions of empowerment: (1) the personal dimension in regard to how students recapture a sense of competence to meet life challenges and fight for their own benefits; (2) the school and community dimensions in regard to how practitioners collaborate with service users and partners to initiate constructive changes to school policies and strengthen the school-community partnership for student development; and (3) the institutional dimension in regard to how practitioners play the advocacy role in the education sector. The findings provide rich information for other youth workers, especially those who render service in the school setting, as they apply the empowerment approach in daily practice.

  16. Papilian's anatomy - celebrating six decades.

    PubMed

    Dumitraşcu, Dinu Iuliu; Crivii, Carmen Bianca; Opincariu, Iulian

    2017-01-01

    Victor Papilian was born an artist, during high school he studied music in order to become a violinist in two professional orchestras in Bucharest. Later on he enrolled in the school of medicine, being immediately attracted by anatomy. After graduating, with a briliant dissertation, he became a member of the faculty and continued to teach in his preferred field. His masters, Gh. Marinescu and Victor Babes, proposed him for the position of professor at the newly established Faculty of Medicine of Cluj. Here he reorganized the department radically, created an anatomy museum and edited the first dissection handbook and the first Romanian anatomy (descriptive and topographic) treatise, both books received with great appreciation. He received the Romanian Academy Prize. His knowledge and skills gained him a well deserved reputation and he created a prestigious school of anatomy. He published over 250 scientific papers in national and international journals, ranging from morphology to functional, pathological and anthropological topics. He founded the Society of Anthropology, with its own newsletter; he was elected as a member of the French Society of Anatomy. In parallel he had a rich artistic and cultural activity as writer and playwright: he was president of the Transylvanian Writers' Society, editor of a literary review, director of the Cluj theater and opera, leader of a book club and founder of a symphony orchestra.

  17. School Reports: Creating Common Understandings.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewis, Sharon

    1998-01-01

    Suggesting that creating a report for each school involved in the Reading Recovery program can have a powerful impact, this paper shows the current model of campus reports for the Spring Branch Independent School District, Houston, Texas. The report form described in the paper is continually growing and changing through need and collaboration with…

  18. Administrator Perceptions of Their Role in Creating an Inclusive School Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Steck, Andrew K.

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine how administrators perceived their role in creating a safe and inclusive school environment wherein all students are accepted, able to achieve academically and remain safe. LGBT students suffer ostracism, victimization, peer isolation, excessive absenteeism and early school separation. This qualitative…

  19. Instructional Capacity: How to Build It Right

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jaquith, Ann

    2013-01-01

    Principals can increase the instructional capacity of their schools by creating opportunities for teachers to work collaboratively as they use key resources to improve teaching and learning. The author looks at how the principals in two schools she studied organized teachers to work together. One school created an organizational structure that…

  20. Investing in High School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Daniel G.

    2012-01-01

    Strapped for cash, a Massachusetts high school creates its own venture capital fund to incentivize teachers to create programs that improve student learning. The result has been higher test scores and higher job satisfaction. One important program is credited with helping close the achievement gap at the school, while others have helped ambitious…

  1. School and Neighborhood Predictors of Physical Fitness in Elementary School Students.

    PubMed

    Kahan, David; McKenzie, Thomas L

    2017-06-01

    We assessed the associations of 5 school and 7 neighborhood variables with fifth-grade students achieving Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) or Needs Improvement-Health Risk (NI-HR) on aerobic capacity (AC) and body composition (BC) physical fitness components of the state-mandated FITNESSGRAM ® physical fitness test. Data for outcome (physical fitness) and predictor (school and neighborhood) variables were extracted from various databases (eg, Data Quest, Walk Score ® ) for 160 schools located in San Diego, California. Predictor variables that were at least moderately correlated (|r| ≥ .30) with ≥1 outcome variables in univariate analyses were retained for ordinary least squares regression analyses. The mean percentages of students achieving HFZ AC (65.7%) and BC (63.5%) were similar (t = 1.13, p = .26), while those for NI-HR zones were significantly different (AC = 6.0% vs BC = 18.6%; t = 12.60, p < .001). Correlations were greater in magnitude for school than neighborhood demographics and stronger for BC than AC. The school variables free/reduced-price lunch (negative) and math achievement (positive) predicted fitness scores. Among neighborhood variables, percent Hispanic predicted failure of meeting the HFZ BC criterion. Creating school and neighborhood environments conducive to promoting physical activity and improving fitness is warranted. © 2017, American School Health Association.

  2. To tell or not to tell: what influences children's decisions to report bullying to their teachers?

    PubMed

    Cortes, Khaerannisa I; Kochenderfer-Ladd, Becky

    2014-09-01

    Teachers are the primary agents for creating and maintaining a positive classroom climate--and promoting healthy interpersonal relations with, and among, their students (including the prevention of school bullying) is key to achieving this goal. For this study it was posited that students' willingness to report bullying to their teachers is an indicator of the degree to which teachers have successfully created such environments. Data were gathered on 278 (135 boys; 152 girls) ethnically diverse (46.4% Hispanic; 43.5% White; 10.2% Black and Other) 8- to-10-year-old students. Results showed that classrooms in which children reported greater willingness to report bullying evidenced lower levels of victimization. Moreover, believing that teachers would take an active role in intervening, such as by separating involved students or involving parents and principals, was associated with greater willingness to report than child-level characteristics, such as grade, personal blame, and individuals' propensity toward aggression. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  3. Becoming a science teacher: moving toward creolized science and an ethic of cosmopolitanism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seiler, Gale

    2011-03-01

    Although communities and schools in North America are increasingly diverse and positioned in a global web, schools continue to adhere to Western norms and the teacher workforce remains largely White, continuing an ideology of collective sameness and conformity. Hybridization of teacher identity and of science teaching are suggested as ways to advance an ethic of solidarity through difference (cosmopolitanism) with science teaching as its vehicle. In this paper, I explore identity hybridization among non-dominant science teachers as they merge identity narratives, or who they are around science and science teaching, with who they are out-of-school. Our attention is focused on their experiences of dis-identification with science in terms of diaspora, or the sense of being taken away from what one knows and values. By generating a creolized approach to science teaching, teachers create possibilities for greater student identification with science in school, which in turn has potential for changing the face of who does science and of science itself.

  4. Inquiry-Based Educational Design for Large-Scale High School Astronomy Projects Using Real Telescopes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fitzgerald, Michael; McKinnon, David H.; Danaia, Lena

    2015-12-01

    In this paper, we outline the theory behind the educational design used to implement a large-scale high school astronomy education project. This design was created in response to the realization of ineffective educational design in the initial early stages of the project. The new design follows an iterative improvement model where the materials and general approach can evolve in response to solicited feedback. The improvement cycle concentrates on avoiding overly positive self-evaluation while addressing relevant external school and community factors while concentrating on backward mapping from clearly set goals. Limiting factors, including time, resources, support and the potential for failure in the classroom, are dealt with as much as possible in the large-scale design allowing teachers the best chance of successful implementation in their real-world classroom. The actual approach adopted following the principles of this design is also outlined, which has seen success in bringing real astronomical data and access to telescopes into the high school classroom.

  5. "Change in Schools It's More Like Sort of Turning an Oil Tanker": Creating Readiness for Health Promoting Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gardner, Belinda; Ollis, Debbie

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to add to the evidence of best practice in the implementation of the Health Promoting Schools (HPS) framework by examining the process of creating readiness for change in a large international school in South-East Asia. Using a settings-based approach and guided by readiness for change theory the data…

  6. Inter-organizational relationships of seven Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and their affiliated medical schools: results of a multiple-case-study investigation.

    PubMed

    Leeman, J; Kilpatrick, K

    2000-10-01

    This study describes the costs and and value added to Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs) through their affiliations with medical schools. The study also creates a conceptual framework for evaluating the critical dimensions across which these affiliations vary. Case studies of seven VAMCs' affiliations with medical schools, ranging from two highly affiliated VAMCs to one with only one funded residency position, were conducted in 1997 and 1998 using a survey and in-depth interviews with 78 key individuals at the institutions. The qualitative data were then used to develop a conceptual framework for evaluating these affiliations. The results are reported in two stages. In stage one, three organizing themes emerged from the data that formed the conceptual framework for evaluating affiliations: (1) the characteristics of each VAMC and its environment, (2) the characteristics of the relationships between each VAMC and its medical school affiliates, and (3) the costs and value that medical school affiliations add to VAMCs. The affiliations that were most beneficial to VAMCs were characterized by a relationship of trust, extensively shared education and research programs, and a high degree of physician interaction. The achievement of these characteristics is influenced by the distance between the VAMCs and their affiliated medical schools, the VAMCs' levels of organizational complexity, the degree of managed care penetration, and the continuity and academic orientation of leadership at the VAMCs. In stage two, study data were used to create a conceptual framework to evaluate the characteristics of VAMCs and their affiliations with medical schools. The study supplied data to construct a conceptual framework that describes many of the relationships among the different affiliations in the study. The framework offers a tool for evaluating the dimensions across which affiliations vary and how these differences influence the costs and value of medical school affiliations to VAMCs.

  7. Electrifying Engagement in Middle School Science Class: Improving Student Interest Through E-textiles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tofel-Grehl, Colby; Fields, Deborah; Searle, Kristin; Maahs-Fladung, Cathy; Feldon, David; Gu, Grace; Sun, Chongning

    2017-08-01

    Most interventions with "maker" technologies take place outside of school or out of core area classrooms. However, intervening in schools holds potential for reaching much larger numbers of students and the opportunity to shift instructional dynamics in classrooms. This paper shares one such intervention where electronic textiles (sewable circuits) were introduced into eighth grade science classes with the intent of exploring possible gains in student learning and motivation, particularly for underrepresented minorities. Using a quasi-experimental design, four classes engaged in a traditional circuitry unit while the other four classes undertook a new e-textile unit. Overall, students in both groups demonstrated significant learning gains on standard test items without significant differences between conditions. Significant differences appeared between groups' attitudes toward science after the units in ways that show increasing interest in science by students in the e-textile unit. In particular, they reported positive identity shifts pertaining to their perceptions of the beliefs of their friends, family, and teacher. Findings and prior research suggest that student-created e-textile designs provide opportunities for connections outside of the classroom with friends and family and may shift students' perceptions of their teacher's beliefs about them more positively.

  8. Future engineers: the intrinsic technology motivation of secondary school pupils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jones, Lewis C. R.; McDermott, Hilary J.; Tyrer, John R.; Zanker, Nigel P.

    2018-07-01

    The supply of students motivated to study engineering in higher education is critical to the sector. Results are presented from the 'Mindsets STEM Enhancement Project'. Fifty-seven new resources packs, designed to improve STEM education in Design and Technology, were given to schools across London. A modified Intrinsic Motivation Inventory questionnaire measured pupils' (n = 458) motivation towards technology. The results show that although pupils have positive reactions to the technology content within Design and Technology lessons, the type of STEM resources and lessons created through the project had made no significant difference on pupils' interest/enjoyment towards technology. This suggests stand-alone resources do not improve pupil motivation. The impact of this work to engineering higher education is that the existing levels and the inability to improve pupil motivation in technology at school could be a factor affecting the pursuit of a technology or engineering related education or career.

  9. Creating Healthy Active Minds for Personal Success (CHAMPS) in Middle School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shawley, Jessica

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to provide support for middle school physical education programs that meet the developmental needs of students while providing for student choice. With its health and physical education program called Creating Healthy Active Minds for Personal Success (CHAMPS), Moscow Middle School is striving to cultivate student…

  10. Creating Teacher Incentives for School Excellence and Equity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berry, Barnett; Eckert, Jon

    2012-01-01

    Ensuring that all students in America's public schools are taught by good teachers is an educational and moral imperative. Teacher incentive proposals are rarely grounded on what high-quality research indicates are the kinds of teacher incentives that lead to school excellence and equity. Few of the current approaches to creating teacher…

  11. Reaching Success through Involvement--Implementation Strategy for Creating and Maintaining Effective Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Furtwengler, Willis J.

    The educational change strategy termed "reaching success through involvement" (RSI) has yielded promising results in creating school effectiveness. This paper analyzes the theoretical bases and practical applications of RSI strategy among 14 schools over an 8-year period. RSI theory assumes that educational organizations are dynamic social systems…

  12. Smart Schools an Innovation in Education: Malaysian's Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mirzajani, Hassan; Bayekolaei, Mehraneh Delaviz; Kookandeh, Meysam Rajaby; Rezaee, Seyede Safoora Razzaghpoor; Kamalifar, Ali Akbar; Shani, Hassan Razaghi

    2016-01-01

    According to the new environment created by the information period, training and learning new skills are being inevitable. Retraining the skills of group working to coordinate the information age has created special conditions for education. Smart schools are one of the strategies adopted by schools in response to today's modern needs. Smart…

  13. A Wiki Collaboration to Create National Guidelines: Tips for Professional Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moser, Patt

    2009-01-01

    In 2006, technology directors from independent schools across the country had banded together and created "Principles of Good Practice" for technology in independent schools. These principles "define high standards and ethical behavior in key areas of independent school operations" (NAIS 2006). This author decided that it was time for the National…

  14. 21st-Century Schools and School Leadership: Creating and Sustaining Innovation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Butler, Victoria Lee

    2016-01-01

    As schools move from more traditional educational curricula and systems to practices more innovative and relevant to 21st-century learning, it is necessary to understand the actions and attributes that are effective for creating innovative learning environments. This study explored how 21st-century learning environments and practices are…

  15. A Community Prevention Approach to Peaceful Schools: Application of Wakanheza

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Erickson, Christina L.; Lee, Serita; Mattaini, Mark A.

    2009-01-01

    Schools have long recognized the importance of creating climates that are peaceful, laying the groundwork for good student academic learning. This article explores the work of a large urban school district as it applies a community violence prevention model developed by the local county public health department to create peaceful communities.…

  16. The Effectiveness of a Web-Based Resource in Improving Post-Concussion Management in High Schools

    PubMed Central

    Glang, Ann E.; Koester, Michael C.; Chesnutt, James C.; Gioia, Gerard A.; McAvoy, Karen; Marshall, Sondra; Gau, Jeff M.

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND Because many sports concussions happen during school-sponsored sports events, most state concussion laws specifically hold schools accountable for coach training and effective concussion management practices. Brain 101: The Concussion Playbook is a web-based intervention that includes training in sports concussion for each member of the school community, presents guidelines on creating a concussion management team, and includes strategies for supporting students in the classroom. METHODS The group randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of Brain 101 in managing sports concussion. Participating high schools (N=25) were randomly assigned to the Brain 101 intervention or control. Fall athletes and their parents completed online training, and Brain 101 school administrators were directed to create concussion management policy and procedures. RESULTS Student athletes and parents at Brain 101 schools significantly outperformed those at control schools on sports concussion knowledge, knowledge application, and behavioral intention to implement effective concussion management practices. Students who had concussions in Brain 101 schools received more varied academic accommodations than students in control schools. CONCLUSIONS Brain 101 can help schools create a comprehensive school-wide concussion management program. It requires minimal expenditures and offers engaging and effective education for teachers, coaches, parents, and students. PMID:25438964

  17. Protective factors at school: reciprocal effects among adolescents' perceptions of the school environment, engagement in learning, and hope.

    PubMed

    Van Ryzin, Mark J

    2011-12-01

    Although some research suggests that schools can be a source of protective factors for students, the processes by which school environments impact students' behavior, performance and adjustment over time are not clear. Guided by both self-determination theory and hope theory, this article evaluated reciprocal effects among adolescent perceptions of the school environment, engagement in learning, hope, and academic achievement. Using a sample of 423 students (M age 15.72 years; 46.7% female; 77.6% white; 30.9% eligible for FRPL) from five small secondary schools in the upper Midwest, students' perceptions of the school environment were linked to engagement in learning, which, in turn, was linked to change in academic achievement and hope over the span of 1 year. Evidence was found for reciprocal links between earlier levels of engagement and hope and later perceptions of the environment. These results suggest that the school environment represents a potential leverage point for educational reform, and interventions that target students' perceptions of autonomy, teacher/peer support, and goal orientation may be able to promote engagement, hope, and academic achievement. In addition, such changes may create a positive feedback loop in which change in academic performance and adjustment accelerate over time.

  18. How the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model Works: Creating Greater Alignment, Integration, and Collaboration Between Health and Education

    PubMed Central

    Chiang, Rachelle Johnsson; Meagher, Whitney; Slade, Sean

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model calls for greater collaboration across the community, school, and health sectors to meet the needs and support the full potential of each child. This article reports on how 3 states and 2 local school districts have implemented aspects of the WSCC model through collaboration, leadership and policy creation, alignment, and implementation. METHODS We searched state health and education department websites, local school district websites, state legislative databases, and sources of peer-reviewed and gray literature to identify materials demonstrating adoption and implementation of coordinated school health, the WSCC model, and associated policies and practices in identified states and districts. We conducted informal interviews in each state and district to reinforce the document review. RESULTS States and local school districts have been able to strategically increase collaboration, integration, and alignment of health and education through the adoption and implementation of policy and practice supporting the WSCC model. Successful utilization of the WSCC model has led to substantial positive changes in school health environments, policies, and practices. CONCLUSIONS Collaboration among health and education sectors to integrate and align services may lead to improved efficiencies and better health and education outcomes for students. PMID:26440819

  19. A Multi-Institutional Longitudinal Faculty Development Program in Humanism Supports the Professional Development of Faculty Teachers.

    PubMed

    Branch, William T; Frankel, Richard M; Hafler, Janet P; Weil, Amy B; Gilligan, MaryAnn C; Litzelman, Debra K; Plews-Ogan, Margaret; Rider, Elizabeth A; Osterberg, Lars G; Dunne, Dana; May, Natalie B; Derse, Arthur R

    2017-12-01

    The authors describe the first 11 academic years (2005-2006 through 2016-2017) of a longitudinal, small-group faculty development program for strengthening humanistic teaching and role modeling at 30 U.S. and Canadian medical schools that continues today. During the yearlong program, small groups of participating faculty met twice monthly with a local facilitator for exercises in humanistic teaching, role modeling, and related topics that combined narrative reflection with skills training using experiential learning techniques. The program focused on the professional development of its participants. Thirty schools participated; 993 faculty, including some residents, completed the program.In evaluations, participating faculty at 13 of the schools scored significantly more positively as rated by learners on all dimensions of medical humanism than did matched controls. Qualitative analyses from several cohorts suggest many participants had progressed to more advanced stages of professional identity formation after completing the program. Strong engagement and attendance by faculty participants as well as the multimodal evaluation suggest that the program may serve as a model for others. Recently, most schools adopting the program have offered the curriculum annually to two or more groups of faculty participants to create sufficient numbers of trained faculty to positively influence humanistic teaching at the institution.The authors discuss the program's learning theory, outline its curriculum, reflect on the program's accomplishments and plans for the future, and state how faculty trained in such programs could lead institutional initiatives and foster positive change in humanistic professional development at all levels of medical education.

  20. A Multi-Institutional Longitudinal Faculty Development Program in Humanism Supports the Professional Development of Faculty Teachers

    PubMed Central

    Frankel, Richard M.; Hafler, Janet P.; Weil, Amy B.; Gilligan, MaryAnn C.; Litzelman, Debra K.; Plews-Ogan, Margaret; Rider, Elizabeth A.; Osterberg, Lars G.; Dunne, Dana; May, Natalie B.; Derse, Arthur R.

    2017-01-01

    The authors describe the first 11 academic years (2005–2006 through 2016–2017) of a longitudinal, small-group faculty development program for strengthening humanistic teaching and role modeling at 30 U.S. and Canadian medical schools that continues today. During the yearlong program, small groups of participating faculty met twice monthly with a local facilitator for exercises in humanistic teaching, role modeling, and related topics that combined narrative reflection with skills training using experiential learning techniques. The program focused on the professional development of its participants. Thirty schools participated; 993 faculty, including some residents, completed the program. In evaluations, participating faculty at 13 of the schools scored significantly more positively as rated by learners on all dimensions of medical humanism than did matched controls. Qualitative analyses from several cohorts suggest many participants had progressed to more advanced stages of professional identity formation after completing the program. Strong engagement and attendance by faculty participants as well as the multimodal evaluation suggest that the program may serve as a model for others. Recently, most schools adopting the program have offered the curriculum annually to two or more groups of faculty participants to create sufficient numbers of trained faculty to positively influence humanistic teaching at the institution. The authors discuss the program’s learning theory, outline its curriculum, reflect on the program’s accomplishments and plans for the future, and state how faculty trained in such programs could lead institutional initiatives and foster positive change in humanistic professional development at all levels of medical education. PMID:28991846

  1. Understanding screen-related sedentary behavior and its contributing factors among school-aged children: a social-ecologic exploration.

    PubMed

    He, Meizi; Harris, Stewart; Piché, Leonard; Beynon, Charlene

    2009-01-01

    To explore the factors that contribute to children's screen-related sedentary (S-RS) behaviors. Elementary schools. A random sample of children in grades five and six and their parents. The outcome measure was children's S-RS activity level measured by a self-administered questionnaire. A full spectrum of potential contributing factors for children's S-RS behaviors was obtained through surveys. Multilevel linear regression methods were used to determine the associations between these factors and children's screen time (hours per day) and results were expressed as regression coefficients (g). Of 955 child-parent pairs in 14 participating schools, 508 pairs (53%) completed the surveys. At an intrapersonal level, protective factors included being a girl (g = -.71); belonging to a sports team inside (g = -.56) or outside (g = -.49) of school; having a negative attitude toward S-RS activities (g = -.13); and having a positive attitude toward physical activity (g = .48). At the interpersonal and social levels, parental leisure S-RS behaviors (g = .32) were positively associated, whereas strict parental rules on computer use (g = -.27) and family income (g = -.32) were inversely correlated with S-RS behavior. At the environmental level, the presence of TVs in children's bedrooms (g = .44) and owning videogame devices (g = .58) increased the risk of S-RS behaviors, whereas after school programs (g = - .86) and schools' participation in the Turn Off the Screen Week campaign (g = -.91) decreased the risk. Public health interventions should target multilevel factors, including increasing children's awareness, promoting parental involvement in healthy lifestyle pursuits, and creating less screenogenic environments.

  2. Fellowships in community pharmacy research: Experiences of five schools and colleges of pharmacy.

    PubMed

    Snyder, Margie E; Frail, Caitlin K; Gernant, Stephanie A; Bacci, Jennifer L; Coley, Kim C; Colip, Lauren M; Ferreri, Stefanie P; Hagemeier, Nicholas E; McGivney, Melissa Somma; Rodis, Jennifer L; Smith, Megan G; Smith, Randall B

    2016-01-01

    To describe common facilitators, challenges, and lessons learned in 5 schools and colleges of pharmacy in establishing community pharmacy research fellowships. Five schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States. Schools and colleges of pharmacy with existing community partnerships identified a need and ability to develop opportunities for pharmacists to engage in advanced research training. Community pharmacy fellowships, each structured as 2 years long and in combination with graduate coursework, have been established at the University of Pittsburgh, Purdue University, East Tennessee State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and The Ohio State University. Program directors from each of the 5 community pharmacy research fellowships identified common themes pertaining to program structure, outcomes, and lessons learned to assist others planning similar programs. Common characteristics across the programs include length of training, prerequisites, graduate coursework, mentoring structure, and immersion into a pharmacist patient care practice. Common facilitators have been the existence of strong community pharmacy partnerships, creating a fellowship advisory team, and networking. A common challenge has been recruitment, with many programs experiencing at least one year without filling the fellowship position. All program graduates (n = 4) have been successful in securing pharmacy faculty positions. Five schools and colleges of pharmacy share similar experiences in implementing community pharmacy research fellowships. Early outcomes show promise for this training pathway in growing future pharmacist-scientists focused on community pharmacy practice. Copyright © 2016 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Fellowships in Community Pharmacy Research: Experiences of Five Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy

    PubMed Central

    Snyder, Margie E.; Frail, Caitlin K.; Gernant, Stephanie A.; Bacci, Jennifer L.; Coley, Kim C.; Colip, Lauren M.; Ferreri, Stefanie P.; Hagemeier, Nicholas E.; McGivney, Melissa Somma; Rodis, Jennifer L.; Smith, Megan G.; Smith, Randall B.

    2017-01-01

    Objective To describe common facilitators, challenges, and lessons learned of five schools and colleges of pharmacy in establishing community pharmacy research fellowships. Setting Five schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States. Practice Description Schools and colleges of pharmacy with existing community partnerships identified a need and ability to develop opportunities for pharmacists to engage in advanced research training. Practice Innovation Community pharmacy fellowships, each structured as two years in length and in combination with graduate coursework, have been established at the University of Pittsburgh, Purdue University, East Tennessee State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Ohio State University. Evaluation Program directors from each of the five community pharmacy research fellowships identified common themes pertaining to program structure, outcomes, and lessons learned to assist others planning similar programs. Results Common characteristics across the programs include length of training, pre-requisites, graduate coursework, mentoring structure, and immersion into a pharmacist patient care practice. Common facilitators have been the existence of strong community pharmacy partnerships, creating a fellowship advisory team, and networking. A common challenge has been recruitment, with many programs experiencing at least one year without filling the fellowship position. All program graduates (n=4) have been successful in securing pharmacy faculty positions. Conclusion Five schools and colleges of pharmacy share similar experiences in implementing community pharmacy research fellowships. Early outcomes show promise for this training pathway in growing future pharmacist-scientists focused on community pharmacy practice. PMID:27083852

  4. Restructuring for Caring and Effective Education: An Administrative Guide to Creating Heterogeneous Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Villa, Richard A.; And Others

    This collection of papers offers advice on restructuring education to create heterogeneous schools, with the goal of creating happy, comfortable, and successful learning environments for all the children and adults who learn and teach in them. Section I, titled "A Rationale for Restructuring and the Change Process," contains the following papers:…

  5. The Experience of Creating Community: An Intrinsic Case Study of Four Midwestern Public School Choral Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parker, Elizabeth Cassidy

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore four midwestern choral teachers' experiences of creating and sustaining community within their public school choirs. Research questions included (1) how choral teachers describe their experiences of creating choral communities, (2) how the teacher-student relationship is experienced, and (3)…

  6. Field Test of the World Health Organization Multi-Professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide

    PubMed Central

    Farley, Donna; Zheng, Hao; Rousi, Eirini; Leotsakos, Agnès

    2015-01-01

    Introduction Although the importance of training in patient safety has been acknowledged for over a decade, it remains under-utilized and under-valued in most countries. WHO developed the Multi-professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide to provide schools with the requirements and tools for incorporating patient safety in education. It was field tested with 12 participating schools across the six WHO regions, to assess its effectiveness for teaching patient safety to undergraduate and graduate students in a global variety of settings. Methods The evaluation used a combined prospective/retrospective design to generate formative information on the experiences of working with the Guide and summative information on the impacts of the Guide. Using stakeholder interviews and student surveys, data were gathered from each participating school at three times: the start of the field test (baseline), soon after each school started teaching, and soon after each school finished teaching. Results Stakeholders interviewed were strongly positive about the Guide, noting that it emphasized universally important patient safety topics, was culturally appropriate for their countries, and gave credibility and created a focus on patient safety at their schools. Student perceptions and attitudes regarding patient safety improved substantially during the field test, and their knowledge of the topics they were taught doubled, from 10.7% to 20.8% of correct answers on the student survey. Discussion This evaluation documented the effectiveness of the Curriculum Guide, for both ease of use by schools and its impacts on improving the patient safety knowledge of healthcare students. WHO should be well positioned to refine the contents of the Guide and move forward in encouraging broader use of the Guide globally for teaching patient safety. PMID:26406893

  7. Field Test of the World Health Organization Multi-Professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide.

    PubMed

    Farley, Donna; Zheng, Hao; Rousi, Eirini; Leotsakos, Agnès

    2015-01-01

    Although the importance of training in patient safety has been acknowledged for over a decade, it remains under-utilized and under-valued in most countries. WHO developed the Multi-professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide to provide schools with the requirements and tools for incorporating patient safety in education. It was field tested with 12 participating schools across the six WHO regions, to assess its effectiveness for teaching patient safety to undergraduate and graduate students in a global variety of settings. The evaluation used a combined prospective/retrospective design to generate formative information on the experiences of working with the Guide and summative information on the impacts of the Guide. Using stakeholder interviews and student surveys, data were gathered from each participating school at three times: the start of the field test (baseline), soon after each school started teaching, and soon after each school finished teaching. Stakeholders interviewed were strongly positive about the Guide, noting that it emphasized universally important patient safety topics, was culturally appropriate for their countries, and gave credibility and created a focus on patient safety at their schools. Student perceptions and attitudes regarding patient safety improved substantially during the field test, and their knowledge of the topics they were taught doubled, from 10.7% to 20.8% of correct answers on the student survey. This evaluation documented the effectiveness of the Curriculum Guide, for both ease of use by schools and its impacts on improving the patient safety knowledge of healthcare students. WHO should be well positioned to refine the contents of the Guide and move forward in encouraging broader use of the Guide globally for teaching patient safety.

  8. How market-oriented education policies might influence young people's health: development of a logic model from qualitative case studies in English secondary schools.

    PubMed

    Bonell, Chris; Fletcher, Adam; Sorhaindo, Annik; Wells, Helene; McKee, Martin

    2012-07-01

    School systems are increasingly typified by diversity of provision, parental choice and publication of performance data. Schools shape their students' lifestyles and health, but the effects of 'marketisation' are under-researched. The authors use qualitative data to develop a logic model regarding such effects. Case studies in seven English secondary schools, interviews with 103 students and 39 staff. 'Parental choice' was associated with dispersal of students' friendship groups on transition to secondary school, reduced social support and emotional harms. 'Choice' meant some schools were regarded as 'dumping grounds' for socially disadvantaged students, creating potentially violent environments where students engaged in risk behaviours such as substance use to facilitate protective bonds with peers. Schools focused strongly on academic attainment, reflecting external pressures from the school inspectorate and performance league tables. Some schools sought to improve their league table position by targeting resources on 'key marginal' students on the threshold of passing five exams, the key metric. Less-academic students commonly became disengaged, engaging in various health risk behaviours as alternative status markers. The exam-focused environment aroused anxiety among high and low attainers, some using substances as self-medication. Schools also de-prioritised health education and sport in this performance-driven context. Our logic model aims to guide further research on how marketisation might affect young people health behaviours.

  9. Whose Choice? Student Experiences and Outcomes in the New Orleans School Marketplace. Research Brief

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adamson, Frank; Cook-Harvey, Channa; Darling-Hammond, Linda

    2015-01-01

    As charters and other public and private schools of choice have created a new landscape in many urban areas across the country, some districts have adopted the idea of creating "portfolios" of options. Central to the philosophy of a portfolio district is continuous improvement, as lowest-performing schools are transformed or replaced. In…

  10. How School Administrators and Board Members Are Improving Learning and Saving Money. Energy-Smart Building Choices.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

    This guide shows ways that school administrators and board members can contribute to energy choice decisions for educational facilities, and it discusses how reducing operating costs also can create better learning environments. The guide reveals how design guidelines help create high-performance school buildings. It explains the use of energy…

  11. Creating Original Opera at Lake Agassiz Elementary School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sherwood, Connie; And Others

    1994-01-01

    In 1993 Lake Agassiz School in North Dakota received a Knight Foundation grant so teachers and students could participate in a program to learn how to create an opera. The program instructed teachers on how students could maximize their understanding about producing an opera. The school formed a partnership with the Metropolitan Opera Guild of New…

  12. New Schools for Older Neighborhoods: Strategies for Building Our Communities' Most Important Assets.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kauth, Ann

    The case studies in this booklet highlight how five communities, in big cities and small towns, overcame the obstacles inherent in creating good new schools in existing neighborhoods. These studies illustrate the creativity that people across the United States have brought to the task of creating new schools in older neighborhoods. There is…

  13. Helping School Leaders Help New Teachers: A Tool for Transforming School-Based Induction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Birkeland, Sarah; Feiman-Nemser, Sharon

    2012-01-01

    Ample research demonstrates the power of comprehensive induction to develop and retain new teachers. Education scholars generally agree on what powerful systems of induction include, yet few tools exist for guiding schools in creating such systems. Drawing on theory and practice, we have created such a tool. This article introduces the "Continuum…

  14. The Chocolate Shop and Atomic Orbitals: A New Atomic Model Created by High School Students to Teach Elementary Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liguori, Lucia

    2014-01-01

    Atomic orbital theory is a difficult subject for many high school and beginning undergraduate students, as it includes mathematical concepts not yet covered in the school curriculum. Moreover, it requires certain ability for abstraction and imagination. A new atomic orbital model "the chocolate shop" created "by" students…

  15. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Opportunities for High School Improvement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rutenberg, David

    2009-01-01

    The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) creates a unique opportunity for states, districts, and high schools to work in concert on behalf of high school students. Generally, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds are not intended to create new programs; rather, the majority of the funds are intended to fill gaps in existing…

  16. Creating and Sustaining Successful Mixed-Income Communities: Conceptualizing the Role of Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Joseph, Mark; Feldman, Jessica

    2009-01-01

    This article examines the theory and evidence behind the increased policy and scholarly interest in the role that schools might play in promoting neighborhood revitalization, focuses on the extent to which schools might be a key component in the growing efforts across the country to address urban poverty by creating and sustaining mixed-income…

  17. Fostering Resilience in At-Risk High School Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tepovich, Ann

    2012-01-01

    There is a large volume of literature that discusses the at-risk high school student. This literature tends to focus on the factors that create the at-risk student whether those are environmental factors or perhaps the failure of schools in general that create the at-risk problem in the United States. Although the causes are important to…

  18. Whose Choice?: Student Experiences and Outcomes in the New Orleans School Marketplace

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adamson, Frank; Cook-Harvey, Channa; Darling-Hammond, Linda

    2015-01-01

    As charters and other public and private schools of choice have created a new landscape in many urban areas across the country, some districts have adopted the idea of creating "portfolios" of options. Central to the philosophy of a portfolio district is continuous improvement, as lowest-performing schools are transformed or replaced.…

  19. Online Comic in Mandarin Chinese's Vocabulary Learning: A Case Study of Budi Utama Multilingual School in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilujeng, Nuning Catur Sri; Lan, Yu-Ju

    2015-01-01

    This study was aimed to investigate (1) the improvement of CFL elementary-school students' skill in learning Mandarin Chinese (hereafter referred to as Mandarin) vocabulary through creating comic without online resources, creating online comics individually and collaboratively; (2) the CFL elementary-school students' attitude towards the…

  20. The Mentored Multigenre Project: Fostering Authentic Writing Interactions between High School Writers and Teacher Candidates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    West, Jessica A.; Saine, Paula

    2017-01-01

    This article describes the Mentored Multigenre Project, a virtual writing collaboration experience between high school writers and teacher candidates. Our goal was to create an authentic opportunity for our high school students to receive writing feedback from virtual writing mentors, while also creating an opportunity for our teacher candidates…

  1. Philanthropy and Beyond: Creating Shared Value to Promote Well-Being for Individuals in Their Communities

    PubMed Central

    Kottke, Thomas E; Pronk, Nico; Zinkel, Andrew R; Isham, George J

    2017-01-01

    Health care organizations can magnify the impact of their community service and other philanthropic activities by implementing programs that create shared value. By definition, shared value is created when an initiative generates benefit for the sponsoring organization while also generating societal and community benefit. Because the programs generate benefit for the sponsoring organizations, the magnitude of any particular initiative is limited only by the market for the benefit and not the resources that are available for philanthropy. In this article we use three initiatives in sectors other than health care to illustrate the concept of shared value. We also present examples of five types of shared value programs that are sponsored by health care organizations: telehealth, worksite health promotion, school-based health centers, green and healthy housing, and clean and green health services. On the basis of the innovativeness of health care organizations that have already implemented programs that create shared value, we conclude that the opportunities for all health care organizations to create positive impact for individuals and communities through similar programs is large, and the limits have yet to be defined. PMID:28488982

  2. An Appreciative Exploration of How Schools Create a Sense of Belonging to Facilitate the Successful Transition to a New School for Pupils Involved in a Managed Move

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Flitcroft, Deborah; Kelly, Catherine

    2016-01-01

    Much of the current guidance on managed moves focuses on the benefits of the "fresh start" provided. This paper describes an appreciative inquiry to explore how schools in one local authority create a sense of belonging to facilitate a fresh start for pupils involved in a managed move to a new school. Six deputy head teachers with…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

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

  4. Creating an Anti-Bullying Culture in Secondary Schools: Characteristics to Consider When Constructing Appropriate Anti-Bullying Programs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Joseph R.; Augustine, Sharon Murphy

    2015-01-01

    Bullying in schools is a tremendous challenge that many secondary educators are attempting to address within their school environments. However, educators are often unsure of the attributes of an effective anti-bullying program; thus, they tend to create programs on a "trial and error" basis. This article provides an overview of the…

  5. Creating Good Problems: Redesigning High School for College Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Domers, Ted

    2017-01-01

    At most high schools, the goal is to prepare students to make the leap to a college environment. By contrast, Philadelphia's G.W. Carver High School of Engineering and Science has decided to create an environment that mirrors the culture and expectations of college so the transition to college won't seem like a leap at all. Three changes have been…

  6. Observational scores of dampness and mold associated with measurements of microbial agents and moisture in three public schools.

    PubMed

    Cho, S J; Cox-Ganser, J M; Park, J-H

    2016-04-01

    We examined associations between observational dampness scores and measurements of microbial agents and moisture in three public schools. A dampness score was created for each room from 4-point-scale scores (0-3) of water damage, water stains, visible mold, moldy odor, and wetness for each of 8 room components (ceiling, walls, windows, floor, ventilation, furniture, floor trench, and pipes), when present. We created mixed microbial exposure indices (MMEIs) for each of 121 rooms by summing decile ranks of 8 analytes (total culturable fungi; total, Gram-negative, and Gram-positive culturable bacteria; ergosterol; (1→3)-β-D-glucan; muramic acid; and endotoxin) in floor dust. We found significant (P ≤ 0.01) linear associations between the dampness score and culturable bacteria (total, Gram-positive, and Gram-negative) and the MMEIs. Rooms with dampness scores greater than 0.25 (median) had significantly (P < 0.05) higher levels of most microbial agents, MMEIs, and relative moisture content than those with lower scores (≤0.25). Rooms with reported recent water leaks had significantly (P < 0.05) higher dampness scores than those with historical or no reported water leaks. This study suggests that observational assessment of dampness and mold using a standardized form may be valuable for identifying and documenting water damage and associated microbial contamination. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  7. Schools and neighborhoods: organizational and environmental factors associated with crime in secondary schools.

    PubMed

    Limbos, Mary Ann P; Casteel, Carri

    2008-10-01

    While crime and violence in schools are derived primarily from factors external to schools, violent behavior may also be aggravated by factors in the school environment, including the physical environment, its educational and social climate, and its organizational capacity and composition. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of the school's organizational and educational environment on crime rates in secondary schools and to examine how neighborhood factors influence these relationships. School and neighborhood crime rates for 95 middle (MS) and high (HS) schools were calculated using data from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Police Department and Los Angeles Police Department, respectively. School-level organizational and educational variables, including the academic performance index (API), were obtained from the California Department of Education. A measure of neighborhood dilapidation was created using variables collected on a neighborhood environmental survey. Linear regression was used to examine the relationship between organizational and educational school variables and school crime rates. Community crime and dilapidation were added to the model to examine the influence of the school-community context relationships. HS had higher crime rates than MS. As the percentage of certified teachers and student to staff ratios increased, school crime decreased (p < .01). An API of below basic performance was significantly associated with increasing school crime rates (p < .05). Neighborhood crime was not significantly associated with school crime, although dilapidation was positively and significantly associated with school crime even after controlling for community crime (p < .05). Both school- and neighborhood-level factors were associated with increasing crime rates in secondary schools. School violence prevention efforts should include school and community partnerships to address these potentially modifiable factors.

  8. Developing a fully online course for senior medical students

    PubMed Central

    Chapman, Chris; White, Casey B.; Engleberg, Cary; Fantone, Joseph C.; Cinti, Sandro K.

    2011-01-01

    In 2002 the University of Michigan Medical School created a one-month course in advanced medical therapeutics (AMT). All senior medical students were required to complete the course. To provide some flexibility for students who were interviewing for residency positions the AMT course was created using a distance-learning model, and in the 2008–2009 academic year it was offered in a fully online format. The components of the course are weekly case-based modules, a weekly online seminar, quizzes based on modules and seminars, and a research project based on a therapeutic question. The paper discusses the development and components of the AMT course, a survey of fourth-year medical students who participated in the course between 2007 and 2010, and how the course evolved over three years. PMID:21566733

  9. Health promoting schools.

    PubMed

    1998-01-01

    Promoting the health of children through schools has long been an important task of the WHO. Guided by the recommendations of the Expert Committee on Comprehensive School Health Education and Promotion, the Initiative seeks to strengthen health promotion and education activities at the local, national, regional, and global levels. It aims to increase the number of schools that can truly be called "Health-Promoting Schools". The four strategies undertaken by WHO in creating Health-Promoting Schools are: 1) strengthening the ability to advocate for improved school health programs, 2) creating networks and alliances for the development of Health-Promoting Schools, 3) strengthening national capacities, and 4) research to improve school health program. Finally, WHO recognizes that the success of the Global School Health Initiative lies on the extent to which partnerships can be formed at local, national, and international levels.

  10. Role Models and Teachers: medical students perception of teaching-learning methods in clinical settings, a qualitative study from Sri Lanka.

    PubMed

    Jayasuriya-Illesinghe, Vathsala; Nazeer, Ishra; Athauda, Lathika; Perera, Jennifer

    2016-02-09

    Medical education research in general, and those focusing on clinical settings in particular, have been a low priority in South Asia. This explorative study from 3 medical schools in Sri Lanka, a South Asian country, describes undergraduate medical students' experiences during their final year clinical training with the aim of understanding the teaching-learning experiences. Using qualitative methods we conducted an exploratory study. Twenty eight graduates from 3 medical schools participated in individual interviews. Interview recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using qualitative content analysis method. Emergent themes reveled 2 types of teaching-learning experiences, role modeling, and purposive teaching. In role modelling, students were expected to observe teachers while they conduct their clinical work, however, this method failed to create positive learning experiences. The clinical teachers who predominantly used this method appeared to be 'figurative' role models and were not perceived as modelling professional behaviors. In contrast, purposeful teaching allowed dedicated time for teacher-student interactions and teachers who created these learning experiences were more likely to be seen as 'true' role models. Students' responses and reciprocations to these interactions were influenced by their perception of teachers' behaviors, attitudes, and the type of teaching-learning situations created for them. Making a distinction between role modeling and purposeful teaching is important for students in clinical training settings. Clinical teachers' awareness of their own manifest professional characterizes, attitudes, and behaviors, could help create better teaching-learning experiences. Moreover, broader systemic reforms are needed to address the prevailing culture of teaching by humiliation and subordination.

  11. Papilian’s anatomy - celebrating six decades –

    PubMed Central

    DUMITRAŞCU, DINU IULIU; CRIVII, CARMEN BIANCA; OPINCARIU, IULIAN

    2017-01-01

    Victor Papilian was born an artist, during high school he studied music in order to become a violinist in two professional orchestras in Bucharest. Later on he enrolled in the school of medicine, being immediately attracted by anatomy. After graduating, with a briliant dissertation, he became a member of the faculty and continued to teach in his preferred field. His masters, Gh. Marinescu and Victor Babes, proposed him for the position of professor at the newly established Faculty of Medicine of Cluj. Here he reorganized the department radically, created an anatomy museum and edited the first dissection handbook and the first Romanian anatomy (descriptive and topographic) treatise, both books received with great appreciation. He received the Romanian Academy Prize. His knowledge and skills gained him a well deserved reputation and he created a prestigious school of anatomy. He published over 250 scientific papers in national and international journals, ranging from morphology to functional, pathological and anthropological topics. He founded the Society of Anthropology, with its own newsletter; he was elected as a member of the French Society of Anatomy. In parallel he had a rich artistic and cultural activity as writer and playwright: he was president of the Transylvanian Writers’ Society, editor of a literary review, director of the Cluj theater and opera, leader of a book club and founder of a symphony orchestra. PMID:28246506

  12. The effectiveness of a web-based resource in improving postconcussion management in high schools.

    PubMed

    Glang, Ann E; Koester, Michael C; Chesnutt, James C; Gioia, Gerard A; McAvoy, Karen; Marshall, Sondra; Gau, Jeff M

    2015-01-01

    Because many sports concussions happen during school-sponsored sports events, most state concussion laws specifically hold schools accountable for coach training and effective concussion management practices. Brain 101: The Concussion Playbook is a Web-based intervention that includes training in sports concussion for each member of the school community, presents guidelines on creating a concussion management team, and includes strategies for supporting students in the classroom. The group randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of Brain 101 in managing sports concussion. Participating high schools (N = 25) were randomly assigned to the Brain 101 intervention or control. Fall athletes and their parents completed online training, and Brain 101 school administrators were directed to create concussion management policy and procedures. Student athletes and parents at Brain 101 schools significantly outperformed those at control schools on sports concussion knowledge, knowledge application, and behavioral intention to implement effective concussion management practices. Students who had concussions in Brain 101 schools received more varied academic accommodations than students in control schools. Brain 101 can help schools create a comprehensive schoolwide concussion management program. It requires minimal expenditures and offers engaging and effective education for teachers, coaches, parents, and students. Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Connecting Fabric Families and Folk Art.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haussler-Mathews, Mary E.

    2001-01-01

    Discusses an art project in which students at the Quaker Farms School (Oxford, Connecticut) created a rag rug for the school bicentennial. Describes how the rag rug was created, stating that the students learned about their heritage in a cooperative way. (CMK)

  14. Schooling, cognition and creating capacity for technological innovation in Africa

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eisemon, Thomas Owen

    1989-09-01

    This paper examines the important role of schooling in creating capacities for technological innovation in Africa. Schooling is a principal source of the modern scientific knowledge which most individuals possess. However, increasing levels of educational attainment does not necessarily increase capacities for innovation; it is what students learn in school rather than how long they attend school that is important. Policies to strengthen the impact of schooling must be based on a better understanding of how the content, language and processes of instruction influence the ways individuals think about the natural world and perform practical tasks in daily life involving use of modern health and agricultural technologies.

  15. Integrating Physics and Literacy Learning in a Physics Course for Prospective Elementary and Middle School Teachers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Zee, Emily H.; Jansen, Henri; Winograd, Kenneth; Crowl, Michele; Devitt, Adam

    2013-06-01

    The ability to listen closely, speak clearly, write coherently, read with comprehension, and to create and critique media offerings in science contexts is essential for effective science teaching. How might instructors develop such abilities in a physics course for prospective elementary and middle school teachers? We describe here such a course, involving collaboration among physics, science education, and literacy faculty members and two graduate assistants. Meeting twice a week for 10 weeks, the course emphasized questioning, predicting, exploring, observing, discussing, writing, and reading in physical science contexts. We report common themes about aspects that fostered or hindered science and literacy learning, changes in views about science teaching and learning, and positive shifts in interest in science and intended teaching practices.

  16. Creating Learning Environments in the Early Grades That Support Teacher and Student Success: Profiles of Effective Practices in Three Expanded Learning Time Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farbman, David A.; Novoryta, Ami

    2016-01-01

    In "Creating Learning Environments in the Early Grades that Support Teacher and Student Success," the National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL) profiles three expanded-time elementary schools that leverage a longer school day to better serve young students. In particular, the report describes how a longer day opens up opportunities…

  17. Making Sense of Social Justice Leadership: A Case Study of a Principal's Experiences to Create a More Inclusive School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeMatthews, David

    2015-01-01

    Social justice leadership in high-poverty urban schools is complex. Principals experience a range of feelings and emotions while practicing social justice leadership with implications on their leadership. This article presents a qualitative case study of an elementary school principal in an urban setting and how she led to create a more inclusive…

  18. Effects of student ontological position on cognition of human origins

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ervin, Jeremy Alan

    In this study, the narratives from a hermeneutical dialectic cycle of three high school students were analyzed to understand the influences of ontological position on the learning of human origins. The interpretation of the narratives provides the reader an opportunity to consider the learning process from the perspective of worldview and conceptual change theories. Questions guiding this research include: Within a context of a worldview, what is the range of ontological positions among a high school AP biology class? To what extent does ontological position influence the learning of scientific concepts about human origins? If a student's ontological position is contradictory to scientific explanation of human origins, how will learning strategies and motivations change? All consenting students in an AP biology class were interviewed in order to select three students who represented three different ontological positions of a worldview: No Supernatural, Supernatural Without Impact, or Supernatural Impact. The issue of worldview is addressed at length in this work. Consenting students had completed the graduation requirements in biology, but were taking an additional biology course in preparation for college. Enrollment in an AP biology course was assumed to indicate that the selected students have an understanding of the concept of human origins at a comprehensive level, but not necessarily at an apprehension level, both being needed for conceptual change. Examination of the narratives reveals that students may alternate between two ontological positions in order to account for inconsistencies within a situation. This relativity enables the range of ontological positions to vary depending on concepts being considered. Not all Supernatural Impact positions conflict with biological understanding of human origins due to the ability of some to create a dichotomy between religion and school. Any comprehended concepts within this dichotomy lead to plagiaristic knowledge rather than conceptual change. When conflicts occur, students employ alternate learning strategies for comprehension, but not apprehension, which result in plagiaristic knowledge. These findings suggest that teachers consider the ontological positions of student worldviews because of the potential influence on knowledge construction and conceptual change, especially about topics involving the theory of evolution.

  19. Collaborating with Space-related Research Institutes, Government Agencies and an Artistic team to create a series of Space-themed public events in Ireland in 2014

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shaw, N.; McSweeney, C.; Smyth, N.; O'Neill, S.; Foley, C.; Phelan, R.; Crawley, J.; Henderson, C.; Cullinan, M.; Baxter, S.; Colley, D.; Macaulay, C. J.; Conroy, L.

    2015-10-01

    A suite of informal interactive public engagement initiatives was created, to promote the importance of Space exploration, to ignite curiosity and discover new and engaging platforms for science in the Arts & in STEM Education, and to increase awareness of careers in Ireland's Space science industries. These included: (1)'To Space'- A live multimedia theatre performance aimed at the general public & young adult, (2) an adaptation of 'To Space' for 13- 17 year old students entitled 'ToSpace for School leavers' and (3) 'My Place in Space', created for families. Blending humour, warmth and humanity and positioning science within story is a highly effective public engagement tool in igniting curiosity across many audience types. The nurturing and investment of artists working within these new cross-disciplinary relationships should be encouraged and supported to further broaden and develop new methodology in public engagement of the planetary sciences.

  20. Game Based Learning as a Means to Teach Climate Literacy in a High School Environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fung, M. K.; Tedesco, L.; Katz, M. E.

    2013-12-01

    As part of RPI's GK-12 graduate fellowship program (which involves graduate STEM fellows in K-12 education) a climate change board game activity was developed and implemented at inner city Troy High School in Troy, New York. The goal was to engage and teach two classes of the Earth Science General Repeat (GR) tenth grade students about climate change through a game-based leaning module. Students placed in the GR course had previously failed Earth Science, and had never passed a general science class in high school. In the past, these students have responded positively to hands-on activities. Therefore, an interactive board game activity was created to teach students about climate, explore how humans impact our environment, and address the future of climate change. The students are presented with a draft version of the game, created by the graduate fellow, and are asked to redesign the game for their peers in the other GR class. The students' version of the game is required to include certain aspects of the original game, for example, the climate change Trivia and Roadblock cards, but the design, addition of rules and overall layout are left to the students. The game-based learning technique allows the students to learn through a storyline, compete against each other, and challenge themselves to perfect their learning and understanding of climate change. The climate change board game activity also incorporates our cascade learning model, in which the graduate fellow designs the activity, works with a high school teacher, and implements the game with high school students. In addition, the activity emphasizes peer-to-peer learning, allowing each classroom to design the game for a different group of students. This allows the students to take leadership and gives them a sense of accomplishment with the completed board game. The nature of a board game also creates a dynamic competitive atmosphere, in which the students want to learn and understand the material to succeed in the overall game. Although this board game activity was designed for high school students, it could easily be adapted for all K-12 levels as an interactive, informative and successful way of teaching students about climate literacy.

  1. The Pediatrician's Role in Optimizing School Readiness.

    PubMed

    2016-09-01

    School readiness includes not only the early academic skills of children but also their physical health, language skills, social and emotional development, motivation to learn, creativity, and general knowledge. Families and communities play a critical role in ensuring children's growth in all of these areas and thus their readiness for school. Schools must be prepared to teach all children when they reach the age of school entry, regardless of their degree of readiness. Research on early brain development emphasizes the effects of early experiences, relationships, and emotions on creating and reinforcing the neural connections that are the basis for learning. Pediatricians, by the nature of their relationships with families and children, may significantly influence school readiness. Pediatricians have a primary role in ensuring children's physical health through the provision of preventive care, treatment of illness, screening for sensory deficits, and monitoring nutrition and growth. They can promote and monitor the social-emotional development of children by providing anticipatory guidance on development and behavior, by encouraging positive parenting practices, by modeling reciprocal and respectful communication with adults and children, by identifying and addressing psychosocial risk factors, and by providing community-based resources and referrals when warranted. Cognitive and language skills are fostered through timely identification of developmental problems and appropriate referrals for services, including early intervention and special education services; guidance regarding safe and stimulating early education and child care programs; and promotion of early literacy by encouraging language-rich activities such as reading together, telling stories, and playing games. Pediatricians are also well positioned to advocate not only for children's access to health care but also for high-quality early childhood education and evidence-based family supports such as home visits, which help provide a foundation for optimal learning. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  2. Master of Arts in Physics Education (MAPE) Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lindgren, Richard A.; Thornton, Stephen T.

    2001-11-01

    In the past 15 years, the Department of Physics at the University of Virginia in collaboration with the Curry School of Education has supported numerous summer high school physics and physical science teacher enrichment programs through the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. As a result of this accumulated experience in working with teachers, we created the Master of Arts in Physics Education (MAPE) program to address the needs of the high school physics teacher of the present and future. Through distance learning and summer study at UVa, participants earn the 30 hours needed for the Masters degree within 2 1/2 years while maintaining their current teaching position. Summer study includes the calculus based primary physics courses 631, 632, and 633 and associated laboratory courses. Summer physics course assignments and responsibilities do not terminate until late in the fall. Distance learning during the academic year is accomplished via the Internet using WebAssign, chat rooms, email, videotapes, and streamline video. Although recently approved in the spring 2000, 12 teachers have already graduated with the MAPE degree.

  3. Prevalence of internet addiction and its risk and protective factors in a representative sample of senior high school students in Taiwan.

    PubMed

    Lin, Min-Pei; Wu, Jo Yung-Wei; You, Jianing; Hu, Wei-Hsuan; Yen, Cheng-Fang

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study investigated the prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) in a large representative sample of secondary school students and identified the risk and protective factors. Using a crosssectional design, 2170 participants were recruited from senior high schools throughout Taiwan using both stratified and cluster sampling. The prevalence of IA was 17.4% (95% confidence interval, 15.8%-19.0%). High impulsivity, low refusal self-efficacy of Internet use, high positive outcome expectancy of Internet use, high disapproving attitude of Internet use by others, depressive symptoms, low subjective well-being, high frequency of others' invitation to Internet use, and high virtual social support was all independently predictive in the logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of IA among secondary school students in Taiwan was high. Results from this study can be used to help educational agencies and mental health organizations create policies and design programs that will help in the prevention of IA in adolescents. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Grade six students' understanding of the nature of science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cochrane, Donald Brian

    The goal of scientific literacy requires that students develop an understanding of the nature of science to assist them in the reasoned acquisition of science concepts and in their future role as citizens in a participatory democracy. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the range of positions that grade six students hold with respect to the nature of science and to investigate whether gender or prior science education was related to students' views of the nature of science. Two grade six classes participated in this study. One class was from a school involved in a long-term elementary science curriculum project. The science curriculum at this school involved constructivist epistemology and pedagogy and a realist ontology. The curriculum stressed hands-on, open-ended activities and the development of science process skills. Students were frequently involved in creating and testing explanations for physical phenomena. The second class was from a matched school that had a traditional science program. Results of the study indicated that students hold a wider range of views of the nature of science than previously documented. Student positions ranged from having almost no understanding of the nature of science to those expressing positions regarding the nature of science that were more developed than previous studies had documented. Despite the range of views documented, all subjects held realist views of scientific knowledge. Contrary to the literature, some students were able to evaluate a scientific theory in light of empirical evidence that they had generated. Results also indicated that students from the project school displayed more advanced views of the nature of science than their matched peers. However, not all students benefited equally from their experiences. No gender differences were found with respect to students' understanding of the nature of science.

  5. Teaching Astronomy to K-4 Children via Interactive Play

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Strelnitski, V.; Trott, M.; Girvin, M.

    1999-12-01

    The goal of this project, which won a NASA/IDEAS grant, was the creation, performance and dissemination of the pilot of an interactive show that informally introduces elementary school children to the basics of the Solar System. A professional astronomer and primary school teachers of science and drama combined their efforts to achieve the maximum of esthetic attractiveness, scientific truth, and educational effectiveness of the show. We created a new design of a model of the Solar System for children. The model proved to be extremely attractive to the children, both during the shows and in regular family visits to the Observatory. The show has been tested on the children of Nantucket Elementary School and several other schools in MA and NJ. We used a variety of methods to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of this project --- all with highly positive results. Besides bringing our show to different schools, we disseminate this initiative via our home page (www.mmo.org) and conferences. The original children's model of the Solar System, a video clip with one of our performances, and other materials will be presented together with our poster at this meeting. This project was supported by the NASA grant ED-90169.01-97A.

  6. Being, becoming, and belonging: Improving science fluency during laboratory activities in urban education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pitts, Wesley

    The research presented in this dissertation uses authentic ethnography, augmented by video and conversational analysis, to investigate the teaching and learning of chemistry across boundaries of difference in an urban high school. A coordinated set of theoretical lenses from cultural sociology and sociology of emotion is used to deploy and analyze these methods. All four students highlighted in this study are Black and/or Latino females from working class income families. They identify as second-generation Americans either of African American of Caribbean heritage or Latina of Latin American or Caribbean heritage. The students achieved mild to moderate success in a tenth-grade level chemistry class. Their chemistry teacher is a first-generation immigrant middle-aged male who would ethnically be considered Filipino-American. The focal fields of this research occur in Regents chemistry laboratory classes in a small secondary inner city high school in the Bronx, New York City, and associated cogenerative dialogues. One of the major premises of this study is that learning is a form of cultural enactment (i.e., production, reproduction, and transformation). Culture (schema and practices) enacted by students and teachers in one field can be enacted successfully in another field because fields are surrounded by porous boundaries. Accordingly, participants use resources to meet their goals (e.g., learn chemistry), in so doing, create interstitial culture that becomes part of the structure of the field and resources for learning. A priority was to examine how learning and teaching of science is enacted when students and their teachers are able to coparticipate in culturally adaptive ways and use their capital successfully. A key implication is the need for teachers and students to be aware of cultural encounters that afford positive emotional energy and solidarity. The important point here is to minimize encounters that create negative emotional energy. What we learned from observing successful student-student and student-teacher encounters is that creating structures and agency that support positive emotional energy and solidarity is a necessary ingredient towards the emergence of fluency in science. Creating and appropriating interstitial cultural resources that support success in science is a path to engaging in more canonical ways of doing science.

  7. Eliciting Parents' Individual Requirements for an Inclusive Digital School System.

    PubMed

    Eftring, Håkan; Rassmus-Gröhn, Kirsten; Hedvall, Per-Olof

    2016-01-01

    Parents often have a busy time sorting out their life puzzles, including getting information about their children's activities in school. More and more communication between teachers and parents take place via digital school systems. It can be hard for parents to find the information they are looking for and the teacher decides when information is sent and what communication method to use. All parents, but especially parents with disabilities, might have individual preferences on how to receive information and how to adapt meetings at school. In this paper we present a project where we involved parents and teachers in focus groups, an idea workshop and iterative user trials of a digital prototype. The goal was to elicit parents' individual requirements for an inclusive digital school system, where they can store their individual preferences about how and when to receive information from school and what requirements they have on meetings at school. Preliminary results show that we managed to create open and focused discussions among parents and teachers. The parents reacted very positively on an onboarding page with the possibility to quickly and easily enter preferences after their first log in, but more work needs to be done on how preferences are categorized on the onboarding page. Finally, parents need to get clear feedback from teachers and school when they have entered or updated preferences, so they can trust that their preferences will be met.

  8. Support for healthy eating at schools according to the comprehensive school health framework: evaluation during the early years of the Ontario School Food and Beverage Policy implementation.

    PubMed

    Orava, Taryn; Manske, Steve; Hanning, Rhona

    2017-09-01

    Provincial, national and international public health agencies recognize the importance of school nutrition policies that help create healthful environments aligned with healthy eating recommendations for youth. School-wide support for healthy living within the pillars of the comprehensive school health (CSH) framework (social and physical environments; teaching and learning; healthy school policy; and partnerships and services) has been positively associated with fostering improvements to student health behaviours. This study used the CSH framework to classify, compare and describe school support for healthy eating during the implementation of the Ontario School Food and Beverage Policy (P/PM 150). We collected data from consenting elementary and secondary schools in a populous region of Ontario in Time I (2012/13) and Time II (2014). Representatives from the schools completed the Healthy School Planner survey and a food environmental scan (FES), which underwent scoring and content analyses. Each school's support for healthy eating was classified as either "initiation," "action" or "maintenance" along the Healthy School Continuum in both time periods, and as "high/increased," "moderate" or "low/decreased" within individual CSH pillars from Time I to Time II. Twenty-five school representatives (8 elementary, 17 secondary) participated. Most schools remained in the "action" category (n = 20) across both time periods, with varying levels of support in the CSH pillars. The physical environment was best supported (100% high/increased support) and the social environment was the least (68% low/decreased support). Only two schools achieved the highest rating (maintenance) in Time II. Supports aligned with P/PM 150 were reportedly influenced by administration buy-in, stakeholder support and relevancy to local context. Further assistance is required to sustain comprehensive support for healthy eating in Ontario school food environments.

  9. Creating and Sustaining a Collaborative Culture: Lee Richmond School Improved Instruction by Creating a Culture Where It Is Good to Question Instructional Practices and Commit to Finding Answers Together

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Akhavan, Nancy

    2005-01-01

    Creating and sustaining a collaborative culture takes work, effort and focus. If professional development delivered in the classrooms is to be successful, the focus and practice must become part of the school culture (Danielson, 2002). Providing in-classroom professional development has been the key to instructional reform at Lee Richmond…

  10. HUNCH Student Culinary Competition at USSRC's Davidson Center

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2018-02-08

    High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH) students from 6 schools meet at the U.S. Space and Rocket center in order to participate in the annual culinary challenge where students create meals suitable for astronaut use in space. Students in 2018 created different dishes for breakfast dining. Other NASA centers also participate in this program with the top 10 voted recipes being judged at Johnson Space Center.

  11. Physical activity among adolescents and barriers to delivering physical education in Cornwall and Lancashire, UK: a qualitative study of heads of PE and heads of schools.

    PubMed

    Boyle, Spencer Earl; Jones, Georgina L; Walters, Stephen J

    2008-08-01

    Recent initiatives have been introduced by the UK government into secondary schools to increase pupils' access to physical activity (PA). Despite this, not enough is known about pupils' levels of physical activity or whether the delivery of these initiatives in schools facilitates or creates a barrier for pupils' PA. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of adolescents PA levels from the perspective of those responsible for delivering physical education (PE) in schools; heads of PE (HOPE) and heads of school (HS). Seventeen semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out with a snowball sample of HOPE and HS in schools in the Northwest and Southwest of England. Thematic data analysis using NVIVO was used to identify emergent themes. 17 core themes were generated, 12 of which confirmed the findings from similar research. However, five themes relating to 'ethos of performance/elitism', 'lower fitness leads to lower ability', 'undervaluing activities within PE dept' or school as a whole', 'role of the school' and 'PE department doing all it can' offer valuable new insight into the factors which may encourage or prevent PA inside or outside the curriculum. Despite many positive perceptions of the delivery of PE in schools, it is evident that barriers still exist within that delivery which discourages physical activity. More research is needed to particularly address the complex issues of elitism and the ethos of PA in schools.

  12. Bringing an Ocean to School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    MacMillan, Mark W.

    1997-01-01

    Describes a school program in which two sixth-grade science classes researched, created, and put together an ocean museum targeted at kindergarten through eighth graders who are geographically distanced from the ocean. Details the process for investigating topical areas, organizing teams of students, researching, writing, creating displays, and…

  13. Practical solutions for staff recruitment & retention.

    PubMed

    Vander Hoek, N

    2001-01-01

    There are three essential topics for radiology managers to consider in light of persistent staffing shortages: support of the profession and educational programs, perks as recruitment tools and incentives as retention tools. Some activities that can help support departments and educational programs for radiologic technologists are job shadowing, training for volunteer services, advanced placement for school applicants, sponsoring an educational program or clinical training site, creating a positive work environment and supporting outreach projects geared to local high schools. Traditional perks used in recruitment efforts have included relocation assistance, travel and lodging expenses during the interview process, loan repayment, scholarships and sign-on bonuses. Some common incentives for retaining employees are tuition reimbursement, cross training, availability of educational resources, continuing education opportunities, professional development and incremental increases in salary. There are many other tools that can be used, such as career ladders, creating an environment conducive to teamwork or a more personal atmosphere and showcasing talents of various staff members. There is much overlap among these suggestions in support of the profession and educational programs, recruitment and retention of qualified staff radiologic technologists. Radiology managers can and should be creative in developing different programs to build loyalty and commitment to a radiology department.

  14. National Association of School Psychologists

    MedlinePlus

    NASP: The National Association of School Psychologists Leadership Tools About NASP NASP Store Career Center Create an Account Join NASP Login Go About School Psychology Who Are School Psychologists A Career ...

  15. The art of creating a school: The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1979-1986

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Coates, Judith Mary

    The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy is a three-year, public, residential learning environment for high school aged, gifted students. Established in 1986, it was one of only four such high schools in the United States. It continues to be successful and is often cited for its exemplary educational practices. The Academy is located in Aurora, Illinois and attracts gifted students from across the state. This study analyzes the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy's stages of development over a seven year period prior to its opening in September of 1986. Through documentary research, this dissertation analyzes the methods, procedures, and marketing strategies utilized by the individuals and organizations who successfully managed the development of the Academy. Some of these methods and strategies include: defining a purpose, rallying community support, acquiring legislative approval, recruiting faculty and students, identifying a site, etc. The research identifies political, social, ideological, technological, utilitarian, environmental and educational needs unmet at the time by existing high schools, and illustrates how the Academy positioned itself to address those unmet needs. The information provides historical facts about the Academy and reveals some common and unique methodologies used to research, organize, manage, and implement the developmental process used to establish the school. The seven year period of development documented in the research begins at the definitive moment that the idea for establishing the new Academy occurred, and concludes with the first day the Academy opened its doors to its first class of students. The study uses a considerable volume of direct quotations from the individuals involved in the Academy's establishment to authenticate the historical facts. Quotations are cited from students, teachers, community members, board members, legislators, business owners, scientists, etc. Using the Academy's process of development as a model for creating other schools, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are proposed regarding seven key phases of development in the creation of a school. Issues are identified which could prove to be useful to educators involved in or considering the development of a new alternative school.

  16. Dental School Administrators' Attitudes Towards Providing Support Services for LGBT-Identified Students.

    PubMed

    Behar-Horenstein, Linda S; Morris, Dustin R

    2015-08-01

    A lack of curriculum time devoted to teaching dental students about the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) health care patient needs and biases against LGBT students and faculty have been reported. Understanding dental school administrators' attitudes about LGBT students' needs might provide further insight into these long-standing issues. The aims of this study were to develop a survey to assess dental administrators' attitudes regarding the support services they believe LGBT-identified students need, to identify dental schools' current diversity inclusion policies, and to determine what types of support dental schools currently provide to LGBT students. A survey developed with the aid of a focus group, cognitive interviewing, and pilot testing was sent to 136 assistant and associate deans and deans of the 65 U.S. and Canadian dental schools. A total of 54 responses from 43 (66%) schools were received from 13 deans, 29 associate deans, and 11 assistant deans (one participant did not report a position), for a 40% response rate. The findings suggest there is a considerable lack of knowledge or acknowledgment of LGBT dental students' needs. Future studies are needed to show the importance of creating awareness about meeting the needs of all dental student groups, perhaps through awareness campaigns initiated by LGBT students.

  17. Women in neuroscience (WIN): the first twenty years.

    PubMed

    Haak, Laurel L

    2002-03-01

    Women in Neuroscience (WIN) is an international organization whose major goal is to promote the professional advancement of women neuroscientists. To this end, WIN facilitates contacts and communication among women working in neuroscience, and organizes appropriate activities at the annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting. WIN was created in 1980, when despite major changes and advances in 'equal opportunities', women were still not achieving a proportionate level of success in the subdiscipline of neurosciences. In 1980, women made up 40 to 50% of entering classes in medical schools or graduate programs, but often comprised only 5 to 15% of leadership in respective organizations. Although there had been women elected to serve as SfN presidents, council, and committee members, women were under-represented in other positions of the Society, such as symposium and session chairs. There was an even lesser degree of representation in leadership positions at universities and medical schools in terms of full professorships, chairs, and program directors, as well as on editorial boards, advisory boards, and councils. Over the years, WIN has worked with success toward increasing the participation of women in neuroscience.

  18. Georgia Teachers in Academic Laboratories: Research Experiences in the Geosciences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barrett, D.

    2005-12-01

    The Georgia Intern-Fellowships for Teachers (GIFT) is a collaborative effort designed to enhance mathematics and science experiences of Georgia teachers and their students through summer research internships for teachers. By offering business, industry, public science institute and research summer fellowships to teachers, GIFT provides educators with first-hand exposure to the skills and knowledge necessary for the preparation of our future workforce. Since 1991, GIFT has placed middle and high school mathematics, science and technology teachers in over 1000 positions throughout the state. In these fellowships, teachers are involved in cutting edge scientific and engineering research, data analysis, curriculum development and real-world inquiry and problem solving, and create Action Plans to assist them in translating the experience into changed classroom practice. Since 2004, an increasing number of high school students have worked with their teachers in research laboratories. The GIFT program places an average of 75 teachers per summer into internship positions. In the summer of 2005, 83 teachers worked in corporate and research environments throughout the state of Georgia and six of these positions involved authentic research in geoscience related departments at the Georgia Institute of Technology, including aerospace engineering and the earth and atmospheric sciences laboratories. This presentation will review the history and the structure of the program including the support system for teachers and mentors as well as the emphasis on inquiry based learning strategies. The focus of the presentation will be a comparison of two placement models of the teachers placed in geoscience research laboratories: middle school earth science teachers placed in a 6 week research experience and high school teachers placed in 7 week internships with teams of 3 high school students. The presentation will include interviews with faculty to determine the value of these experiences to the scientific community and interviews/classroom observations of teachers to determine the transfer of knowledge from the teacher to the students through the implementation of their Action Plans into their classroom.

  19. Creating an Online Library To Support a Virtual Learning Community.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sandelands, Eric

    1998-01-01

    International Management Centres (IMC), an independent business school, and Anbar Electronic Intelligence (AEI), a database publisher, have created a virtual library for IMC's virtual business school. Topics discussed include action learning; IMC's partnership with AEI; the virtual university model; designing virtual library resources; and…

  20. We Hate Ashley

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Willard, Nancy

    2008-01-01

    Two Oregon students create a racist profile on a social networking site, with cartoons about lynching and racist language. Other students link to the profile and post ugly, racist comments. Teachers report that many of the school's minority students are frightened. In another instance, several high school students create a "We Hate…

  1. Parent Involvement: "The Key to Quality Education."

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martinez, Jesus

    The paper briefly describes Project PADRES (Parents and Auxiliary Development Resources in Education Services), a program designed to create a partnership between parents and school representatives in order to improve educational services to limited English proficient students; and discusses parent involvement with the school. To create the…

  2. Journaling: A Bridge between School and Home

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McGough, Julie

    2013-01-01

    This article describes how first-grade students create meaningful communication with families and help build the student-teacher-parent relationship through journaling. Journals are a useful tool to bridge school and home. A journal can communicate learning goals, develop scientific vocabulary, and create dialogue through oral and written…

  3. Creating Quality Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    American Association of School Administrators, Arlington, VA.

    This booklet presents information on how total quality management can be applied to school systems to create educational improvement. Total quality management offers education a systemic approach and a new set of assessment tools. Chapter 1 provides a definition and historical overview of total quality management. Chapter 2 views the school…

  4. Creating Spaces to Support Transgender Youth

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McGuire, Jenifer K.; Conover-Williams, Meredith

    2010-01-01

    This article explores the opportunity to create spaces within the family, school, and community that specifically promote the well-being of transgender adolescents and young adults. When social contexts are supportive, transgender youth report significantly less risk. Supportive home and school environments have been linked to better outcomes…

  5. Deferred School Maintenance Creates National Crises.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geiger, Philip E.

    2002-01-01

    Describes the cost and causes of the school maintenance "crises"; lists seven questions to determine if a school district has a quality maintenance program; describes consequences of deferred school maintenance in Yuma (Arizona) Union High School District. (PKP)

  6. Entry of US Medical School Graduates Into Family Medicine Residencies: 2014-2015.

    PubMed

    Kozakowski, Stanley M; Fetter, Gerald; Bentley, Ashley

    2015-10-01

    This is the 34th national study conducted by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) that reports retrospectively the percentage of graduates from US MD-granting and DO-granting medical schools who entered Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited family medicine residency programs as first-year residents in 2014. Approximately 8.5% of the 18,241 students graduating from US MD-granting medical schools between July 2013 and June 2014 entered a family medicine residency. Of the 1,458 graduates of the US MD-granting medical schools who entered a family medicine residency in 2014, 80% graduated from 69 of the 131 schools. Eleven schools lacking departments or divisions of family medicine produced only a total of 26 students entering family medicine. In aggregate, medical schools west of the Mississippi River represent less than a third of all US MD-granting schools but have an aggregate rate of students selecting family medicine that is two-thirds higher than schools to the east of the Mississippi. A rank order list of US MD-granting medical schools was created based on the last 3 years' average percentage of graduates who became family medicine residents, using the 2014 and prior AAFP census data. US MD schools continue to fail to produce a primary care workforce, a key measure of social responsibility as measured by their production of graduates entering into family medicine. DO-granting and international medical school graduates filled the majority of ACGME-accredited family medicine first-year resident positions in 2014.

  7. The AstroPAL Starter Pack: How to Create a Grad Mentoring Program That Fosters Equity and Inclusion in Your Department

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cabrera, Nicole

    2017-01-01

    The Astronomy Peer Advising Leaders program (AstroPAL) at Georgia State University is a grassroots effort initiated by one PhD student with no budget, yet has quickly become a successful program that especially impacts students of marginalized identities. AstroPAL provides guidance for incoming grad students and helps them adjust to the workload, stress, and other difficulties that can come with grad school. This talk will cover the AstroPAL goals and accomplishments, its logistical structure, and its longterm sustainability. We will discuss how the program has helped create a bridge between faculty and students as well as the positive effect it has had on our community. I will also provide tools that anyone can use to launch AstroPAL at their home institution.

  8. Teacher and staff perceptions of school environment as predictors of student aggression, victimization, and willingness to intervene in bullying situations.

    PubMed

    Espelage, Dorothy L; Polanin, Joshua R; Low, Sabina K

    2014-09-01

    This study examines how teacher and staff perceptions of the school environment correlate with student self-reports of bullying, aggression, victimization, and willingness to intervene in bullying incidents using multi-informant, multilevel modeling. Data were derived from 3,616 6th grade students across 36 middle schools in the Midwest, who completed survey measures of bullying, aggression, victimization, and willingness to intervene in bullying situations. Teachers and staff (n = 1,447) completed a school environment survey. Bivariate associations between school-level and student self-reports indicated that as teacher and staff perceive aggression as a problem in their school, students reported greater bully perpetration, fighting, peer victimization, and less willingness to intervene. Further, as staff and teacher report greater commitment to prevent bullying and viewed positive teacher and student relationships, there was less bullying, fighting, and peer victimization, and greater willingness to intervene. In a model where all school environment scales were entered together, a school commitment to prevent bullying was associated with less bullying, fighting, and peer victimization. Student-reports of bully perpetration and peer victimization were largely explained by staff and teacher commitment to bully prevention, whereas fighting and willingness to intervene were largely explained by student characteristics (e.g., gender). We conclude that efforts to address bullying and victimization should involve support from the school administration. School psychologists should play an active role in the school climate improvement process, by creating a school climate council consisting of students, parents, and teachers; administering school climate measures; identifying specific school improvement targets from these data, and engaging all stakeholders in the ongoing school improvement plan. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  9. Returning to School After Adolescent Cancer: A Qualitative Examination of Australian Survivors' and Their Families' Perspectives.

    PubMed

    McLoone, Jordana K; Wakefield, Claire E; Butow, Phyllis; Fleming, Catharine; Cohn, Richard J

    2011-06-01

    To examine key factors related to adolescent cancer survivors' return to school after cancer treatment completion, which can be a time of complex transition. Seventy semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 adolescent cancer survivors (mean age 16.1 years), 21 mothers, 15 fathers, and 15 siblings from 22 Australian families. The conceptual framework of Miles and Huberman (1994) was employed to analyze interview data and emergent themes were organized using the software package QSR NVivo 8.0. Barriers to successful school re-entry included symptoms of fatigue, anxiety (particularly regarding examinations), and poor communication between families and the broader school community. Changing grade or school typically extinguished pre-existing support networks and was perceived by parents as a period of unmet need. Support from friends, teachers, tutors, and the hospital outreach nurse were seen as instrumental in creating a positive school re-entry experience. However, the majority of participants reported that support from the school counselor was minimal. Siblings reported this period as relatively non-impactful regarding their own education. Additional support is needed to help parents navigate the education system and to advocate effectively for their child's academic needs beyond the immediate re-entry period. There is strong potential for school counselors to increase the level of support they provide adolescents and their parents during the school re-entry period. The impact of this period on siblings' education is under-studied and warrants further research.

  10. Talent Management in Academies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Davies, Brent; Davies, Barbara J.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: Academies are semi-autonomous schools set up outside the normal local government structures with sponsors from business and charity groups to create new and innovative ways of creating and sustaining school transformation. The aim of this paper is to assist in a strategic conversation within the academy movement on talent development.…

  11. Re-Awakening the Learner: Creating Learner-Centric, Standards-Driven Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stoll, Copper; Giddings, Gene

    2012-01-01

    Transformation of public education requires the reawakening of the sleeping giant in the room: the learners. Students, teachers, and principals must develop a learner-centric, standards-driven school. "Reawakening the Learner" is a guide to creating just such an environment. Continua describe the journey of teachers, teacher leaders, and…

  12. K-12 Project Management Education: NASA Hunch Projects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morgan, Joe; Zhan, Wei; Leonard, Matt

    2013-01-01

    To increase the interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) among high school students, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) created the "High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware" (HUNCH) program. To enhance the experience of the students, NASA sponsored two additional projects that require…

  13. Artificial Intelligence and the High School Computer Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dillon, Richard W.

    1993-01-01

    Describes a four-part curriculum that can serve as a model for incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into the high school computer curriculum. The model includes examining questions fundamental to AI, creating and designing an expert system, language processing, and creating programs that integrate machine vision with robotics and…

  14. Wellness Matters

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arteaga, Brenda

    2011-01-01

    Creating a healthier school in today's world of budget cuts and seemingly endless to-do lists is not only possible, but it is also imperative. Beyond the health implications, one of the most compelling reasons for creating healthier schools is that wellness serves as a power booster for learning. Numerous studies have documented what educators…

  15. Habitat Gardening--How Schoolyards Are Being Transformed into Wildlife Sanctuaries.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dunne, Niall

    2000-01-01

    Students from JFK High School and community gardening clubs in the Bronx cleaned up wetlands adjacent to the school and created various small theme gardens supporting diverse wildlife. Nationally, the schoolyard habitat movement aims to create stimulating outdoor environments where students can learn about local ecology, biodiversity, and…

  16. A Provably Necessary Symbiosis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hochberg, Robert; Gabric, Kathleen

    2010-01-01

    The "new biology" of the 21st century is increasingly dependent on mathematics, and preparing high school students to have both strong science and math skills has created major challenges for both disciplines. Researchers and educators in biology and mathematics have been working long hours on a project to create high school teaching modules…

  17. Parents and Students and Healthy Indoor School Environments

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    School-aged children spend a great deal of time inside school buildings. Parents can play an important role in creating healthy indoor school environments. Parents and students alike can make a powerful case for protecting health in schools.

  18. Making science education meaningful for American Indian students: The effect of science fair participation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Welsh, Cynthia Ann

    Creating opportunities for all learners has not been common practice in the United States, especially when the history of Native American educational practice is examined (Bull, 2006; Chenoweth, 1999; Starnes, 2006a). The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is an organization working to increase educational opportunity for American Indian students in science, engineering, and technology related fields (AISES, 2005). AISES provides pre-college support in science by promoting student science fair participation. The purpose of this qualitative research is to describe how American Indian student participation in science fairs and the relationship formed with their teacher affects academic achievement and the likelihood of continued education beyond high school. Two former American Indian students mentored by the principal investigator participated in this study. Four ethnographic research methods were incorporated: participant observation, ethnographic interviewing, search for artifacts, and auto-ethnographic researcher introspection (Eisenhart, 1988). After the interview transcripts, photos documenting past science fair participation, and researcher field notes were analyzed, patterns and themes emerged from the interviews that were supported in literature. American Indian academic success and life long learning are impacted by: (a) the effects of racism and oppression result in creating incredible obstacles to successful learning, (b) positive identity formation and the importance of family and community are essential in student learning, (c) the use of best practice in science education, including the use of curricular cultural integration for American Indian learners, supports student success, (d) the motivational need for student-directed educational opportunities (science fair/inquiry based research) is evident, (e) supportive teacher-student relationships in high school positively influences successful transitions into higher education. An overarching theme presented itself embedded within all themes: the importance of understanding the continued resiliency of the American Indian culture as it relates to success. Ultimately, for long-lasting change to occur, teachers and the community must focus on eliminating educational barriers, while supporting academic success, in order to initiate renewal and school wide change.

  19. Educating for diversity: an evaluation of a sexuality diversity workshop to address secondary school bullying.

    PubMed

    Lucassen, Mathijs F G; Burford, James

    2015-10-01

    To evaluate the potential of a 60-minute sexuality diversity workshop to address bullying in secondary schools. Students completed pre- and post-workshop questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise results with pre- to immediate post-workshop changes compared using t-tests. Thematic analysis was used to analyse open-ended questionnaire responses. We had 229 students (mean age 13.7 years) attending 10 workshops participate in the study. Three-quarters of students thought the workshop would reduce bullying in schools, and over 95% of the participants thought that other secondary schools should offer the workshop. There was a significant increase in valuing (p < 0.001) and understanding (p < 0.001) sexuality-diverse individuals (e.g. lesbian, gay and bisexual people), between the pre- and post-workshop results. School climates were largely perceived to be 'hard' and included 'bullying/mocking' of sexuality-diverse students; however, many individual students reported a desire to be supportive of their sexuality-diverse peers. Sexuality-based bullying is commonplace in secondary schools. This form of bullying is associated with depression and suicide attempts. Reducing sexuality-based bullying is very likely to have a positive impact on the mental health of young people. Brief workshops, as a part of a wider suite of interventions, have some potential to create safer school environments. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

  20. School Health Programs in Australia - A Special Insert.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nader, Philip R.; Rissel, Chris; Rowling, Louise; Marshall, Bernard J.; Sheehan, Margaret M.; Northfield, Jeff R.; Maher, Shelley; Carlisle, Rachel; St. Leger, Lawrence H.; Stewart, Donald E.; Parker, Elizabeth; Gillespie, Amaya; Stokes, Helen; Mukherjee, Dev; Nutbeam, Don; Mitchell, Anne; Ollis, Debbie; Watson, Jan

    2000-01-01

    Eight papers on Australia's school health programs discuss: creating health promoting schools in the United States; intersectoral collaboration for developing a national framework for health promoting schools; school-based health promotion nationwide; auditing health promoting schools policy documentation; the nature of health service/school…

  1. The effect of a healthy school tuck shop program on the access of students to healthy foods.

    PubMed

    Kim, Kirang; Hong, Seo Ah; Yun, Sung Ha; Ryou, Hyun Joo; Lee, Sang Sun; Kim, Mi Kyung

    2012-04-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a healthy school tuck shop program, developed as a way of creating a healthy and nutritional school environment, on students' access to healthy foods. Five middle schools and four high schools (775 students) participated in the healthy school tuck shop program, and nine schools (1,282 students) were selected as the control group. The intervention program included restriction of unhealthy foods sold in tuck shops, provision of various fruits, and indirect nutritional education with promotion of healthy food products. The program evaluation involved the examination of students' purchase and intake patterns of healthy foods, satisfaction with the available foodstuffs, and utilization of and satisfaction with nutritional educational resources. Our results indicated that among of the students who utilized the tuck shop, about 40% purchased fruit products, showing that availability of healthy foods in the tuck shop increased the accessibility of healthy foods for students. Overall food purchase and intake patterns did not significantly change during the intervention period. However, students from the intervention schools reported higher satisfaction with the healthy food products sold in the tuck shop than did those from the control schools (all P < 0.001), and they were highly satisfied with the educational resources provided to them. In conclusion, the healthy school tuck shop program had a positive effect on the accessibility of healthy food. The findings suggest that a healthy school tuck shop may be an effective environmental strategy for promoting students' access to healthy foods.

  2. The effect of a healthy school tuck shop program on the access of students to healthy foods

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Kirang; Hong, Seo Ah; Yun, Sung Ha; Ryou, Hyun Joo; Lee, Sang Sun

    2012-01-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a healthy school tuck shop program, developed as a way of creating a healthy and nutritional school environment, on students' access to healthy foods. Five middle schools and four high schools (775 students) participated in the healthy school tuck shop program, and nine schools (1,282 students) were selected as the control group. The intervention program included restriction of unhealthy foods sold in tuck shops, provision of various fruits, and indirect nutritional education with promotion of healthy food products. The program evaluation involved the examination of students' purchase and intake patterns of healthy foods, satisfaction with the available foodstuffs, and utilization of and satisfaction with nutritional educational resources. Our results indicated that among of the students who utilized the tuck shop, about 40% purchased fruit products, showing that availability of healthy foods in the tuck shop increased the accessibility of healthy foods for students. Overall food purchase and intake patterns did not significantly change during the intervention period. However, students from the intervention schools reported higher satisfaction with the healthy food products sold in the tuck shop than did those from the control schools (all P < 0.001), and they were highly satisfied with the educational resources provided to them. In conclusion, the healthy school tuck shop program had a positive effect on the accessibility of healthy food. The findings suggest that a healthy school tuck shop may be an effective environmental strategy for promoting students' access to healthy foods. PMID:22586503

  3. Taking Stock: The Movement To Create Mini-Schools, Schools-within-Schools, and Separate Small Schools. Urban Diversity Series No. 108.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Raywid, Mary Anne

    Many educators see school downsizing efforts as the linchpin of school restructuring. Several forms that school downsizing efforts are taking are explored, along with a discussion of the reasons for which small schools are being established. The types of subschools that are being launched (houses, mini-schools, schools-within-schools) are…

  4. Creating Robust STEM Research Ecosystems in Schools: Joining the Dots for Young Researchers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pritchard, M.; Ibarra, D. L.

    2017-12-01

    Developing an intelligent curiosity about the world in school-aged learners is one of the key purposes of education. Nurturing this intelligent curiosity in a systematic and integrated manner is essential for rigorous, scientific literacy, which in turn inspires advanced research and innovation in post-school life. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education has been widely adopted as the conceptual framework to achieve this goal. For young learners, their experienced world is largely confined to the spaces within the boundaries of educational institutions. This type of environment might be perceived as sterile or even hostile to genuine research, as institutional endeavor is largely shaped by examination syllabi. This can be changed by viewing the school as a living laboratory of processes and products, all of which offer enormous potential for meaningful and valuable student-led STEM research. Creating research-focused ecosystems within schools, however, requires considerable effort to create a learning culture that defragments knowledge systems and connects isolated pools of inquiry. The existing parameters and processes of school ecosystems, such as energy generation, consumption, waste creation and disposal offer opportunities for school students to utilize STEM-related skills observe and measure their own ecological footprint, undertake research into these living processes in an integrated manner, and develop solutions to create closed loops of optimally managed and measured consumption with the institution. For example, connecting a deep understanding of the principles of renewable energy generation with close, real-time monitoring of classroom energy usage creates the opportunity to develop a higher level of user awareness and more optimized consumption habits. Food waste, when composted and recycled on-site, similarly offers the potential to connect the sociological issue of excess consumption with a scientific understanding of aerobic and anaerobic decomposition and the subsequent purposes to which the product of the process might be put. In adopting a STEM framework to examine and shape school ecosystems, young researchers develop the capacity to observe, measure, analyze, troubleshoot, and optimize their own environment.

  5. The cool, the bad, the ugly, and the powerful: identity struggles in schoolboy peer culture.

    PubMed

    Govender, Kaymarlin

    2011-09-01

    Drawing upon a one-year-long ethnography of boys' constructions of their gender and sexual identities in one South African high school, this paper seeks to empirically explore and theorise how 58 grade 10 and grade 11 working-class boys create and seek out spaces among their male peers from which to cultivate their masculinities through heterosexual discourses, including being 'at risk' of getting AIDS. In this study, boys' daily struggles of trying to straddle the divide between hypersexual versus homosexual/effeminate versions of masculinity both subverted and reinforced hegemonic gender/sexual relations in the school context. Being caught up in this restrictive grip of heteronormativity meant that there were few spaces in male peer culture to resist hegemonic masculinity. The 'responsible male/controlled' position is indicative of one such space in which boys attempted to resist forms of hyper-sexuality. While this position cannot really be viewed as progressive, it nevertheless allowed boys to re-position themselves as moral agents through an assertion of control over their sexuality. Given the presence of these identity struggles, this paper, in general, suggests that interventions with boys need to cautiously explore these tensions/contradictions in identity making as opportunities to cultivate more gender sensitive and less violent discourses on masculinity.

  6. Wind for Schools (Presentation)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kelly, M.

    2007-06-01

    Schools are key to achieving the goal of producing 20% of the nation's electricity demand. Most significantly, schools are training the scientists, technicians, businesspeople, decisionmakers, and teachers of the future. What students learn and believe about wind energy will impact the United States' ability to create markets and policy, develop and improve technology, finance and implement projects, and create change in all of our public and private institutions. In the nearer term, school districts have large facility costs, electrical loads, and utility costs. They are always in search of ways to reduce costs or obtain revenue to improve educational programs.more » Schools value teaching about the science and technology of renewable energy. They are important opinion leaders, particularly in rural communities. And their financial structures are quite different from other institutions (funding, incentives, restrictions, etc.). Learning objectives: The presentation will use case studies, project experience, and discussion with the audience to convey the current status of wind energy applications and education in U.S. schools and understanding of the elements that create a successful school wind energy project. The presentation will provide attendees with a background in the current level of knowledge and generate discussion on several themes.« less

  7. School Violence: Reported School Shootings and Making Schools Safer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Duplechain, Rosalind; Morris, Robert

    2014-01-01

    This manuscript consists of three sections. Section one provides historical data on some 310 documented shootings that have taken place on school property within the United States. Section two discusses numerous risk factors associated with school shooters. Section three discusses numerous strategies for creating safe schools.

  8. Factors Impacting School Closure and Configuration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corrales, Antonio

    2017-01-01

    Newly implemented state policy dealing with school finance created several consequences in a school district to include school configuration and restructuring of educational programs. This case describes how a new school finance law changes the entire dynamic of a school district and its newly appointed superintendent. The superintendent…

  9. Creating Authentic Research Centers In Secondary Classrooms And Retaining The Best Science Teachers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rodriguez, D.; McHenry, R. M.

    2006-12-01

    My name is David Rodriguez. I am a middle school science teacher with 18 years of teaching experience both in Leon County, Florida and in Guinea West Africa, and South Africa. I am a National Board Certified Teacher. Richard McHenry is a high school Chemistry Advance Placement teacher with over 25 years of teaching experience, also in Leon County, Florida. Rich is a National Board Certified Teacher as well. We participated in a Research Experience For Teachers (RET) program at the National High Magnetic Field Lab in Tallahassee, Florida in 2001 and 2002. This experience has had a profound impact on our teaching, and on our student's learning. During our experience, it became clear to us that there is great importance in how scientists approach their research. We discussed this approach with teams of scientists, and asked them how they thought it could be modeled in classrooms. As teachers, we have been convinced of the value of cooperative learning for years, but to assign roles in cooperative groups similar to the roles that are created in a research science setting has improved student learning. Each team of students is assigned a project manager, data analyst, engineer, and principal investigator. The role of each scientist is specific. As a result of our RET experience, Rich also created a new program in his high school class in which students write scientific papers at the end of each grading period that outline the achievements and lab experiences completed during that period. The importance of publishing research and communicating with the greater scientific community are highlighted through this unique experience. These papers go through a peer review process within the school, and are then sent to the National High Magnetic Field Lab for further review provided by scientists and educators. I was also involved in an atmospheric research project during my RET program that utilized teachers and students throughout the state in the collection of data. Elementary through high school teachers in the state of Florida were contacted and asked to collect a sample of Spanish Moss from trees near their schools. These samples were sent to scientists and educators involved in the RET program at the National High Magnetic Field Lab who examined and compared the concentrations of a number of pollutants. When presented with a an opportunity leave the classroom two years ago to take on a new position, I decided to continue teaching middle school science, in large part due to my continued involvement in the research programs available at the the National High Magnetic Field Lab. Programs such as the RET program are essential to retaining the best science teachers in our schools.

  10. In Delaware, Creating Pathways and Opportunities for Youth

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rothman, Robert

    2017-01-01

    Launched in 2011 by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Jobs for the Future, the Pathways to Prosperity initiative is helping states create seamless transitions from high school to college and the workforce. Inspired by youth development systems that have long been in place in other high-performing nations--such as Australia, Switzerland,…

  11. Creating Cultures of Integrity: Ethics Education in UK Business Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bell, Emma; Caulfield, Paul; Hibbert, Paul; Jennings, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Recent corporate scandals and responses by regulators have created an environment in which there is a heightened awareness of business ethics. This report presents a series of case studies exploring how the current curricula in UK business schools could be scoped differently to give new business leaders the tools required for strong ethical…

  12. Businesses Partner with Schools, Community to Create Alternative Career Pathways

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Overman, Stephenie

    2012-01-01

    Business, education and community leaders are working together to create alternative career pathways for young people who are not profiting from the four-year college track. The new Pathways to Prosperity Network brings together the Pathways to Prosperity Project at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), Jobs for the Future (JFF) and six…

  13. A New Model for Mix It Up

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holladay, Jennifer

    2009-01-01

    Since 2002, Teaching Tolerance's Mix It Up at Lunch Day program has helped millions of students cross social boundaries and create more inclusive school communities. Its goal is to create a safe, purposeful opportunity for students to break down the patterns of social self-segregation that too often plague schools. Research conducted in 2006 by…

  14. Language Policy, Language Ideology, and Visual Art Education for Emergent Bilingual Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, Beth A.

    2017-01-01

    In 1968 the Bilingual Education Act marked the first comprehensive federal intervention in the schooling of language minoritized students by creating financial incentives for bilingual education in an effort to address social and educational inequities created by poverty and linguistic isolation in schools. Since that time federal education…

  15. Getting beyond Traditional Measures of District Financial Health.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Everett, Ronald E.

    1995-01-01

    Discusses balance sheets and income statements for private-sector companies and the ratios that have been developed to guide corporate decision makers. Discusses the various public-sector reports that school districts create and how they can be used to create information via ratios to help school administrators and policymakers in directing and…

  16. Creating Climate Change Awareness in South African Schools through Practical Chemistry Demonstrations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sunassee, Suthananda N.; Young, Ryan M.; Sewry, Joyce D.; Harrison, Timothy G.; Shallcross, Dudley E.

    2012-01-01

    In accordance with the requirements for the National Curriculum Statement for both Life sciences and Physical sciences and the importance of community engagement in Higher Education in South Africa, this paper described the use of the lecture-demonstration "A Pollutant's Tale" to create climate change awareness amongst school learners.…

  17. Creating a Ninth-Grade Community of Care

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellerbrock, Cheryl R.; Kiefer, Sarah M.

    2010-01-01

    This qualitative case study analyzed how one large high school created a community of care for ninth-grade students. Data were collected during the 2006-2007 school year, including observations, individual interviews, and focus group interviews of 1 female teacher and 9 of her students. Findings suggest the Freshman Focus teachers and program…

  18. 10 Ways to Promote a Culture of Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gilmore, Barry

    2017-01-01

    Barry Gilmore, a principal at Hutchinson School in Memphis, Tennessee, has set out to create a culture of literacy at his school. In this article, he outlines 10 steps for fostering such an environment. Among other recommendations: publicly celebrate reading, create channels for booksharing, read and write across content areas, value disciplinary…

  19. Teaching Statistics: Creating an Intersection for Intra and Interdisciplinarity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Savard, Annie; Manuel, Dominic

    2016-01-01

    Statistics is taught in mathematics courses in all school levels. We suggest that using rich tasks in statistics can develop statistical reasoning and create both intra and interdisciplinary links in students. In this paper, we present three case studies where middle school mathematics teachers used different tasks in lessons on pie charts. We…

  20. Creating comprehensive Mandarin training model for Taiwanese industry: An anticipation of Taiwan ‘Southbound policy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ying, Y.; Mursitama, T. N.; Sofi; Anggreani, L.

    2018-03-01

    The study discusses the effort of preparing human resources in mastering Mandarin for Taiwan industry as the anticipation of Southbound policy created by Taiwan government. In this point, the Southbound policy represents Taiwan’s government strategy in 2016-2020 which encourages multilateral and bilateral cooperation with ASEAN and South Asian countries. One of the most important elements in the program centers as the Internship Scholarship Program in Taiwan. Utilizing qualitative research methods, researchers collected secondary data from various available official resources. The publications, documents, books, and websites contain the policy and mechanism of the internship scholarship program. On the other hand, this study conducted interviews with senior high school and vocational high school stakeholders to create synergy in the program. This study offers a model of cooperation between junior high school/vocational school and the candidates of the employer in the Taiwan industry. The contribution of this research is to create a comprehensive cooperative model that includes preparing human resources before leaving for Taiwan, providing teachers and supplying training materials that are relevant to the needs of industry players in Taiwan eventually.

  1. Vignettes of scholars: A case study of black male students at a STEM early college high school

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adams, Tempestt Richardson

    Ensuring students graduate high school ready to enter college or the workforce has become a prime focus within secondary education. High school graduates are often ill-prepared for college-level work and often have to register for remedial courses before they can take standard college level courses (Southern Regional Education Board, 2010). Serving as both a solution to this concern and an alternative to traditional high schools, early college high schools were created to focus on increasing the number of students graduating from high school and enrolling in college. Early college high schools seek to serve students who have traditionally underperformed in school and those who are underrepresented in higher education including students of color, first-generation college students, students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and English language learners (Barnett, Bucceri, Hindo, Kim, 2013; "Overview & FAQS," 2013). In efforts to learn more about how early colleges are meeting the needs of students, this dissertation examines the experiences, identity construction, and perceptions of Black male students at a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) based early college high school. Using a qualitative case study design, participants were eight Black male upperclassmen enrolled in a STEM early college high school, located on the campus of a four-year university. Data was collected through focus groups and individual interviews and data was analyzed thematically. Findings suggest students in this study have largely positive experiences at their early college high school. Despite some challenges, the early college high school environment helps facilitate scholar identities, and the STEM focus of the school helps students learn more about their strengths and weaknesses. The implications of the research, recommendations for educational stakeholders, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

  2. Charter Schools: Creating Hope and Opportunity for American Education. The Jossey-Bass Education Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nathan, Joe

    Charter schools are public, nonsectarian schools that operate under a written contract from a local school board or other organization. This book describes the history of the charter-school movement and the patterns that current charter-school advocates may find themselves repeating; offers examples of existing charter schools, enabling…

  3. The School Leader's Tool for Assessing and Improving School Culture

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wagner, Christopher R.

    2006-01-01

    School culture consists of "the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors which characterize a school" (Phillips, 1996, p. 1). It is the shared experiences both in school and out of school (traditions and celebrations) that create a sense of community, family, and team membership. It affects everything that happens in a school, including student…

  4. Magnet Schools, Innate Talent and Social Justice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vopat, Mark C.

    2011-01-01

    Beginning in the 1970s, many school US school districts reallocated their already scarce resources from local schools to specially created magnet schools. Many of these magnet schools have some sort of entrance exam, portfolio, or audition requirement that students must pass in order to gain admission. These selective magnet schools are predicated…

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dyson, Hilarie

    2008-10-01

    The purpose of the study was to identify structures and systems implemented in a high-performing high-poverty urban school to promote high academic achievement among students of color. The researcher used a sociocultural theoretical framework to examine the influence of culture on the structures and systems that increased performance by African American and Hispanic students. Four research questions guided the study: (1) What are the trends and patterns of student performance among students of color? (2) What are the organizational structures and systems that are perceived to contribute to high student performance in high-poverty urban schools with high concentrations of students of color? (3) How are the organizational structures and systems implemented to support school-wide effective classroom instruction that promotes student learning? (4) How is the construct of race reflected in the school's structures and systems? Qualitative data were collected through interviews, observations, and artifact collection. A single case study method was employed and collected data were triangulated to capture and explore the rich details of the study. The study focused on a high-performing high-poverty urban elementary school located in southern California. The school population consisted of 99% students of color and 93% were economically disadvantaged. The school was selected for making significant and consistent growth in Academic Performance Index and Adequate Yearly Progress over a 3-year period. The school-wide structures and systems studied were (a) leadership, (b) school climate and culture, (c) standards-based instruction, (d) data-driven decision making, and (e) professional development. Four common themes emerged from the findings: (a) instructional leadership that focused on teaching and learning; (b) high expectations for all students; (c) school-wide focus on student achievement using standards, data, and culturally responsive teaching; and (d) positive relationships and interactions among students, teachers, parents, and community. Suggestion for future research include a deep examination of how and why culturally relevant pedagogy supports students of color, research on leadership and its impact on creating a positive school climate and culture to produce high student achievement by students of color, and the impact of early education programs on student achievement among poor students and students of color.

  6. Creating a Comprehensive School Reform Model: The Talent Development High School with Career Academies.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jordan, Will J.; McPartland, James M.; Legters, Nettie E.; Balfanz, Robert

    2000-01-01

    Discusses the need for comprehensive reforms in school organization, curriculum and instruction, and professional development to address the problems of large urban high schools. Describes the Talent Development High School with Career Academies model being developed to meet the needs of such schools. (SLD)

  7. What do we know about promoting mental health through schools?

    PubMed

    Weare, Katherine; Markham, Wolfgang

    2005-01-01

    There is a growing evidence base on what schools need to do to promote mental health effectively. There is strong evidence that they need first and foremost to use a whole school approach. This shapes the social contexts which promote mental health and which provide a backdrop of measures to prevent mental health disorders. In this context the targeting of those with particular needs and the work of the specialist services can be much more effective. Schools need to use positive models of mental health, which emphasise well being and competence not just illness--this will help overcome problems of stigma and denial and promote the idea of mental health as 'everyone's business'. The most effective programmes in schools which address mental health have the following characteristics: They provide a backdrop of universal provision to promote the mental health of all and then target those with special needs effectively. They are multi-dimensional and coherent. They create supportive climates that promote warmth, empathy, positive expectations and clear boundaries. They tackle mental health problems early when they first manifest themselves and then take a long term, developmental approach which does not expect immediate answers. They identify and target vulnerable and at risk groups and help people to acquire the skills and competences that underlie mental health. They involve end users and their families in ways that encourage a feeling of ownership and participation, and provide effective training for those who run the programmes, including helping them to promote their own mental health. Using these starting points, we need to develop a rigorous evidence-based approach on this issue. We also require the facilitation of the dissemination of such research findings while encouraging new and innovative approaches.

  8. USDA Snack Policy Implementation: Best Practices From the Front Lines, United States, 2013-2014.

    PubMed

    Asada, Yuka; Chriqui, Jamie; Chavez, Noel; Odoms-Young, Angela; Handler, Arden

    2016-06-16

    The Smart Snacks in Schools interim final rule was promulgated by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) as authorized by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (PL 111-296) and implementation commenced beginning July 1, 2014; however, in the years leading up to this deadline, national studies suggested that most schools were far from meeting the USDA standards. Evidence to guide successful implementation of the standards is needed. This study examined snack policy implementation in exemplary high schools to learn best practices for implementation. Guided by a multiple case study approach, school professionals (n = 37) from 9 high schools across 8 states were recruited to be interviewed about perceptions of school snack implementation; schools were selected using criterion sampling on the basis of the HealthierUS Schools Challenge: Smarter Lunchrooms (HUSSC: SL) database. Interview transcripts and internal documents were organized and coded in ATLAS.Ti v7; 2 researchers coded and analyzed data using a constant comparative analysis method to identify best practice themes. Best practices for snack policy implementation included incorporating the HUSSC: SL award's comprehensive wellness approach; leveraging state laws or district policies to reinforce snack reform initiatives; creating strong internal and external partnerships; and crafting positive and strategic communications. Implementation of snack policies requires evidence of successful experiences from those on the front lines. As federal, state, and local technical assistance entities work to ensure implementation of the Smart Snacks standards, these best practices provide strategies to facilitate the process.

  9. Physical activity among adolescents and barriers to delivering physical education in Cornwall and Lancashire, UK: A qualitative study of heads of PE and heads of schools

    PubMed Central

    Boyle, Spencer Earl; Jones, Georgina L; Walters, Stephen J

    2008-01-01

    Background Recent initiatives have been introduced by the UK government into secondary schools to increase pupils' access to physical activity (PA). Despite this, not enough is known about pupils' levels of physical activity or whether the delivery of these initiatives in schools facilitates or creates a barrier for pupils' PA. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of adolescents PA levels from the perspective of those responsible for delivering physical education (PE) in schools; heads of PE (HOPE) and heads of school (HS). Methods Seventeen semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out with a snowball sample of HOPE and HS in schools in the Northwest and Southwest of England. Thematic data analysis using NVIVO was used to identify emergent themes. Results 17 core themes were generated, 12 of which confirmed the findings from similar research. However, five themes relating to 'ethos of performance/elitism', 'lower fitness leads to lower ability', 'undervaluing activities within PE dept' or school as a whole', 'role of the school' and 'PE department doing all it can' offer valuable new insight into the factors which may encourage or prevent PA inside or outside the curriculum. Conclusion Despite many positive perceptions of the delivery of PE in schools, it is evident that barriers still exist within that delivery which discourages physical activity. More research is needed to particularly address the complex issues of elitism and the ethos of PA in schools. PMID:18673562

  10. North Carolina Partnership for Accelerated Schools Review of the 1996-97 School Year. Profiles in School Change.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    North Carolina State Dept. of Public Instruction, Raleigh.

    The North Carolina Partnership for Accelerated Schools was created to contribute to North Carolina's efforts to reform its educational system. Nine schools (seven elementary schools and two middle schools) that are in this partnership are profiled. The schools profiled were at various stages of implementing the Accelerated School process and had…

  11. Evaluation of School of health students' ethics position in Turkey.

    PubMed

    Şen, Emine; Dal, Nursel Alp; Üstün, Çağatay; Okursoy, Algın

    2017-03-01

    The advances in science and technology increasingly lead to the appearance of ethical issues and to the complexity of care. Therefore, it is important to define the ethics position of students studying in health departments so that high quality patient care can be achieved. The aim of this study was to examine the ethics position of the students at Shool of Health of an University in western Turkey. The study design was descriptive and cross-sectional. The study population included 540 first, second, third, and fourth year students from the Departments of Nursing, Midwifery, and Rescue and Disaster Management in the 2013-2014 academic year. Data were collected with a Personal Identification Form and The Ethics Position Questionnaire. Obtained data were analyzed with Chi-square test, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Nested Analysis of Variance. Ethical considerations: Before conducting the research, approval was obtained from Ege University Clinical Research Ethics Committee in İzmir and written informed consent was taken from all the participants. There was no significant difference in the mean scores for the Ethics Position Questionnaire between the students in terms of years and fields of study. Although the mean scores for the subscale idealism did not differ between fields of study, the mean scores significantly differed between years of study. However, the mean scores for the subscale relativism did not differ in terms of years and fields of study. Whether students are idealistic or relativistic in terms of ethical judgment will be effective in ethical decision-making skills during patient care. Therefore, we need to define the factors that influence students' ethics position in the future. It is suggested that the courses and practices that teach students to be aware of their ethics position to create an ethical outlook can be placed in the curriculum in health schools.

  12. Arizona Takes on School Construction and Renovation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geiger, Philip E.

    2001-01-01

    Spurred by a state superior court deadline for developing a constitutional school capital finance system, Arizona Governor Jane Hull signed legislation (Students FIRST) that dramatically reformed school construction. This legislation created a School Facilities Board and established three funds for improving school conditions and meeting building…

  13. Rightsizing a School District

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Esselman, Mary; Lee-Gwin, Rebecca; Rounds, Michael

    2012-01-01

    The transformation of the Kansas City, Missouri Public Schools (KCMSD) has been long overdue. Multiple superintendents and administrations, using billions of dollars of desegregation funds ventured to transform the district by creating magnet schools, themed schools, and career-focused high schools. Missing from these initiatives, but included in…

  14. Support of A Summer School Workshop and Workshop Focused on Theory and Applications of Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Maitra, Neepa

    The first US-based summer school and workshop on Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TDDFT) was held July 11-21, 2017 in Telluride, CO. This grant provided funding to enable 33 students to attend the school, specifically with lodging and registration fee reductions. TDDFT is increasingly used in computational molecular and materials science to calculate electronic-excitation spectra and dynamics in a wide variety of applications, including photocatalysis, photo-controlled bond dissociation, and light-induced charge transfer. Software development in this community targets multiple software packages, many of which are open source, such as octopus, NWchem and Qb@ll, which are the ones our school focused on.more » The goal of this first iteration was to create a home for a national community of scholars, including users and developers, with a deep understanding of TDDFT, its capabilities, limitations, and high-performance computing context. We used this opportunity to explore interest in such an event in the future and based on overwhelmingly positive feedback from students and teachers, we intend to hold a similar school+workshop every two years in the US, in order to maintain the high level of interest that we witnessed and the enthusiasm amongst participants.« less

  15. Social Networks, Social Participation, and Health among Youth Living in Extreme Poverty in Rural Malawi

    PubMed Central

    Rock, Amelia; Barrington, Clare; Abdoulayi, Sara; Tsoka, Maxton; Mvula, Peter; Handa, Sudhanshu

    2017-01-01

    Extensive research documents that social network characteristics affect health, but knowledge of peer networks of youth in Malawi and sub-Saharan Africa is limited. We examine the networks and social participation of youth living in extreme poverty in rural Malawi, using in-depth interviews with 32 youth and caregivers. We describe youth’s peer networks and assess how gender and the context of extreme poverty influence their networks and participation, and how their networks influence health. In-school youth had larger, more interactive, and more supportive networks than out-of-school youth, and girls described less social participation and more isolation than boys. Youth exchanged social support and influence within their networks that helped cope with poverty-induced stress and sadness, and encouraged protective sexual health practices. However, poverty hampered their involvement in school, religious schools, and community organizations, directly through lack of required material means, and indirectly by reducing time and emotional resources and creating shame and stigma. Poverty alleviation policy holds promise for improving youth’s social wellbeing and mental and physical health by increasing their opportunities to form networks, receive social support, and experience positive influence. PMID:27760393

  16. Social networks, social participation, and health among youth living in extreme poverty in rural Malawi.

    PubMed

    Rock, Amelia; Barrington, Clare; Abdoulayi, Sara; Tsoka, Maxton; Mvula, Peter; Handa, Sudhanshu

    2016-12-01

    Extensive research documents that social network characteristics affect health, but knowledge of peer networks of youth in Malawi and sub-Saharan Africa is limited. We examine the networks and social participation of youth living in extreme poverty in rural Malawi, using in-depth interviews with 32 youth and caregivers. We describe youth's peer networks and assess how gender and the context of extreme poverty influence their networks and participation, and how their networks influence health. In-school youth had larger, more interactive, and more supportive networks than out-of-school youth, and girls described less social participation and more isolation than boys. Youth exchanged social support and influence within their networks that helped cope with poverty-induced stress and sadness, and encouraged protective sexual health practices. However, poverty hampered their involvement in school, religious schools, and community organizations, directly by denying them required material means, and indirectly by reducing time and emotional resources and creating shame and stigma. Poverty alleviation policy holds promise for improving youth's social wellbeing and mental and physical health by increasing their opportunities to form networks, receive social support, and experience positive influence. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. KidsWalk-to-School: A Guide To Promote Walking to School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (DHHS/CDC), Atlanta, GA.

    This guide encourages people to create safe walking and biking routes to school, promoting four issues: physically active travel, safe and walkable routes to school, crime prevention, and health environments. The chapters include: "KidsWalk-to-School: A Guide to Promote Walking to School" (Is there a solution? Why is walking to school important?…

  18. Creating a School-within-a-School. Fastback 462.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sicoli, Aldo

    This fastback document explores ways to develop alternative high-school programs to help at-risk students. It focuses on the "school within a school" model where the emphasis is on a caring school climate and smaller class sizes. The booklet offers a step-by-step guide for developing an alternative school, which begins with determining the need…

  19. Learning Spaces in School: Comparing Math Instruction and Learning in School Gardens and Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boynton, Christine Mary

    2010-01-01

    In 2006, the California legislature released $14 million to the schools of California to create school gardens through the California Instructional School Garden Bill (CA Assembly Bill 1535, 2006). This study examined the differences and similarities of school gardens as learning spaces by exploring a fifth grade school standards-based mathematics…

  20. Partnership Schools: New Governance Models for Creating Quality School Options in Districts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gill, Sean; Campbell, Christine

    2017-01-01

    In at least ten cities across the country, there are schools that operate under some sort of partnership school model: a "third way" governance strategy that breaks through district-charter divides that could help improve struggling schools or increase the number of quality school options in a neighborhood. Like charter schools,…

  1. The Impact of Charter Schools on the Budget, Operations, and Educational Services of Columbus City Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Logan, Stephanie R.

    2009-01-01

    Today one of the most notable school reform efforts is that of providing school choice options to families. An aim of this reform effort is to create market driven changes in the performance of traditional public schools. Of all school choice options, charter schools have emerged as an influential educational choice. As public schools, charter…

  2. Documenting and Examining Practices in Creating Learning Communities: Exemplars and Non-Exemplars.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hipp, Kristine A.; Huffman, Jane B.

    Though promising as an implement for school reform, few professional learning centers (PLCs) have turned the vision into reality. This paper looks at how PLCs develop and maintain momentum. It examines and documents efforts in schools actively engaged in creating PLCs based on Hord's model. Hord's model employs external change agents, or…

  3. Supplement to This School Works for Me: Creating Choices to Boost Achievement. A Guide for Data Analysts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2010

    2010-01-01

    This paper serves as a supplement to the "This School Works for Me: Creating Choices to Boost Achievement. A Guide for Data Analysts" report. This paper contains the following sections: (1) Initial Steps; (2) Developing Baseline District Facts; (3) Identifying Effective Options; (4) Identifying Effective Options: Preventative; and (5) Identifying…

  4. Bush Offers "Blueprint" for NCLB: Partisan Split Expected as Strategies Diverge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoff, David J.

    2007-01-01

    This article reports how President Bush's new blueprint for the No Child Left Behind Act will create a partisan debate on educational strategies. In its plans for NCLB, the administration said it wants private and charter schools to create competition that would spur improvement in substandard schools. Democrats, however, have their own priorities…

  5. How to Create Social Media Guidelines for Your School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Steven

    2012-01-01

    Social media is fast becoming as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. In recent months, many schools and districts around the country have taken steps to create social media policies and guidelines for their students and staff. In the author's work with several districts to draft these documents, he has seen many approaches that work well, and some…

  6. If the Want Is Strong Enough, the How Will Come

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perna, Mark C.

    2006-01-01

    This article discusses how benefits can be used to market a school. Creating emotional attachment can help use benefits to market the school and its programs to a target audience. Such emotional attachment can be created through clear and concise benefit statements. Powerful benefit statements that project a clear picture of the programs, services…

  7. Using the Theory of Successful Intelligence as a Basis for Augmenting AP Exams in Psychology and Statistics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stemler, Steven E.; Grigorenko, Elena L.; Jarvin, Linda; Sternberg, Robert J.

    2006-01-01

    Sternberg's theory of successful intelligence was used to create augmented exams in Advanced Placement Psychology and Statistics. Participants included 1895 high school students from 19 states and 56 schools throughout the U.S. The psychometric results support the validity of creating examinations that assess memory, analytical, creative, and…

  8. Creating Optimal Learning Environments through Invitational Education: An Alternative to Control Oriented School Reform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fretz, Joan R.

    2015-01-01

    Understanding what motivates people to put forth effort, persevere in the face of obstacles, and choose their behaviors is key to creating an optimal learning environment--the type of school that policy makers desire, but are unknowingly sabotaging (Dweck, 2000). Many motivation and self-concept theories provide important insight with regard to…

  9. Fostering ICT and Inquiry Enhanced Instruction in Early Years Science Education: Creating a Model of Team Teaching

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Havu-Nuutinen, Sari

    2017-01-01

    This study aims to develop team teaching approach at elementary school science by piloting the created model of teachers' collaboration in three different stages. In the research the model of team teaching is seen as teachers' collaboration in which university teachers, elementary school teachers and teacher students are working towards…

  10. Relative Levels of eLearning Readiness, Applications and Trainee Requirements in Botswana's Private Sector

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nleya, Paul T.

    2009-01-01

    The rapid growth and modernization of economies in developing countries like Botswana creates new and unmet demands for certain kinds of educated and skilled labour. The expansion of secondary and tertiary school systems has also created a problem of unemployed school leavers. The growth of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs),…

  11. Teaching and Learning How to Create in Schools of Art and Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sawyer, R. Keith

    2018-01-01

    This article describes the "studio model"--a cultural model of teaching and learning found in U.S. professional schools of art and design. The studio model includes the pedagogical beliefs held by professors and the pedagogical practices they use to guide students in learning how to create. This cultural model emerged from an…

  12. How Vermont's Expectations for Local Comprehensive Assessment Systems Create Flexible Pathways to Post-Secondary Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rickerby, Kendra

    2017-01-01

    Fluid "systems of assessment" increase college and career readiness for all students, create a more equitable PK-16 school-to-work transition, and foster collaboration across stakeholders. This study explores how a local comprehensive assessment system (CAS) offers a mechanism for matching high school graduation requirements with…

  13. Scaffolding Learning from Informational Texts in the Intervention Setting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bergeson, Kristi Tamte

    2016-01-01

    The act of creating meaning with texts is complex, and this complexity creates unclear views of instruction in schools and even greater perplexity in knowing how to instruct students who may be struggling in this area of their schoolwork. Comprehension is often measured in schools as a product and an outcome, making it difficult to understand why…

  14. We All Belong! The Tecumseh Mural Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lukawecky, Kristine

    2009-01-01

    The author of this article describes how as the visual-arts teacher of Tecumseh Public School, she brought the entire school and community together by creating a mural that promoted belonging. The mural involved tapping into the the creativity of all 400 students from kindergarten through eighth grade at Tecumseh while creating a work of art with…

  15. Wildfires and Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 2009

    2009-01-01

    This publication discusses conditions that feed wildfires, how a building catches fire, determining the school's risk, creating a survivable space for the school, the importance of maintenance, the fire-resistant school, meeting code requirements, and related flood and mudslide risks. Much of this publication has been adapted for schools from the…

  16. Supporting School Responsiveness to Immigrant Families and Children: A University-School Partnership

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mogge, Stephen G.; Martinez-Alba, Gilda; Cruzado-Guerrero, Judith

    2017-01-01

    A partnership between a university program and an urban public school was created to help the school respond to the significant increase in the school's population of immigrant, English language learners. School staff and university faculty established an agenda to learn about local immigrant families, improve communications with the families, and…

  17. Elementary School Reorganization: Looking Back One Year Later.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vann, Allan S.

    1993-01-01

    Evaluates a small New York school district's efforts to reorganize its two K-5 elementary schools into one K-2 primary grade school and one 3-5 intermediate school, focusing on student, staff, and parent reactions. Although the new arrangement created more focused schools, the intermediate principal misses the energy deriving from the Kindergarten…

  18. Margaret Thatcher: Iron Lady of Charter Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tanner, Daniel

    2017-01-01

    Documentary history reveals that charter schools are a vestige of the socially divided school system of 19th-century England. The current charter school movement in the United States raises the danger to American democracy of splitting up the U.S. school structure and creating a separate system of schools for other people's children.

  19. Outreach programmes to attract girls into computing: how the best laid plans can sometimes fail

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lang, Catherine; Fisher, Julie; Craig, Annemieke; Forgasz, Helen

    2015-07-01

    This article presents a reflective analysis of an outreach programme called the Digital Divas Club. This curriculum-based programme was delivered in Australian schools with the aim of stimulating junior and middle school girls' interest in computing courses and careers. We believed that we had developed a strong intervention programme based on previous literature and our collective knowledge and experiences. While it was coordinated by university academics, the programme content was jointly created and modified by practicing school teachers. After four years, when the final data were compiled, it showed that our programme produced significant change to student confidence in computing, but the ability to influence a desire to pursue a career path in computing did not fully eventuate. To gain a deeper insight in to why this may be the case, data collected from two of the schools are interrogated in more detail as described in this article. These schools were at the end of the expected programme outcomes. We found that despite designing a programme that delivered a multi-layered positive computing experience, factors beyond our control such as school culture and teacher technical self-efficacy help account for the unanticipated results. Despite our best laid plans, the expectations that this semester long programme would influence students' longer term career outcomes may have been aspirational at best.

  20. The Women in Medicine and Health Science program: an innovative initiative to support female faculty at the University of California Davis School of Medicine.

    PubMed

    Bauman, Melissa D; Howell, Lydia P; Villablanca, Amparo C

    2014-11-01

    Although more female physicians and scientists are choosing careers in academic medicine, women continue to be underrepresented as medical school faculty, particularly at the level of full professor and in leadership positions. Effective interventions to support women in academic medicine exist, but the nature and content of such programs varies widely. Women in medicine programs can play a critical role in supporting women's careers and can improve recruitment and retention of women by providing opportunities for networking, sponsorship, mentorship, and career development. The University of California Davis School of Medicine established the Women in Medicine and Health Science (WIMHS) program in 2000 to ensure the full participation and success of women in all roles within academic medicine. The authors describe the components and evolution of the WIMHS program. A steady increase in the number and percentage of female faculty and department chairs, as well as a relatively low departure rate for female faculty, strong and growing internal partnerships, and enthusiastic support from faculty and the school of medicine leadership, suggest that the WIMHS program has had a positive influence on recruitment and retention, career satisfaction, and institutional climate to provide a more inclusive and supportive culture for women. Going forward, the WIMHS program will continue to advocate for broader institutional change to support female faculty, like creating an on-site child care program. Other institutions seeking to address the challenges facing female faculty may consider using the WIMHS program as a model to guide their efforts.

  1. The Women in Medicine and Health Science Program: An Innovative Initiative to Support Female Faculty at the University of California Davis School of Medicine

    PubMed Central

    Bauman, Melissa D.; Howell, Lydia P.; Villablanca, Amparo C.

    2014-01-01

    Problem Although more female physicians and scientists are choosing careers in academic medicine, women continue to be underrepresented as medical school faculty, particularly at the level of full professor and in leadership positions. Effective interventions to support women in academic medicine exist, but the nature and content of such programs varies widely. Approach Women in medicine programs can play a critical role in supporting women’s careers and can improve recruitment and retention of women by providing opportunities for networking, sponsorship, mentorship, and career development. The University of California Davis School of Medicine established the Women in Medicine and Health Science (WIMHS) program in 2000 to ensure the full participation and success of women in all roles within academic medicine. The authors describe the components and evolution of the WIMHS program. Outcomes A steady increase in the number and percentage of female faculty and department chairs, as well as a relatively low departure rate for female faculty, strong and growing internal partnerships, and enthusiastic support from faculty and the school of medicine leadership, suggest that the WIMHS program has had a positive influence on recruitment and retention, career satisfaction, and institutional climate to provide a more inclusive and supportive culture for women. Next steps Going forward, the WIMHS program will continue to advocate for broader institutional change to support female faculty, like creating an onsite childcare program. Other institutions seeking to address the challenges facing female faculty may consider using the WIMHS program as a model to guide their efforts. PMID:25006704

  2. Excellence Creates Itself.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keegan, Lisa Graham

    2001-01-01

    Discusses challenges and benefits of Arizona's public charter-school system enacted by the state legislature in 1994. Includes descriptions of some charter-school experiences. Arizona was the first state to pass legislation allowing public charter schools to operate independently of local school board control. (PKP)

  3. Gaining a Professional Edge.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jonen, Ruth; Griffith, Phyllis

    1998-01-01

    The American School Food Service Association has two recognition programs: the recently revised School Foodservice and Nutrition Certification Program and the new School Foodservice and Nutrition Specialist Credentialing Program. The credentialing program was created to enhance school food-service professionals' image and improve their management…

  4. Longitudinal Relations Among Positivity, Perceived Positive School Climate, and Prosocial Behavior in Colombian Adolescents.

    PubMed

    Luengo Kanacri, Bernadette P; Eisenberg, Nancy; Thartori, Eriona; Pastorelli, Concetta; Uribe Tirado, Liliana M; Gerbino, Maria; Caprara, Gian V

    2017-07-01

    Bidirectional relations among adolescents' positivity, perceived positive school climate, and prosocial behavior were examined in Colombian youth. Also, the role of a positive school climate in mediating the relation of positivity to prosocial behaviors was tested. Adolescents (N = 151; M age of child in Wave 1 = 12.68, SD = 1.06; 58.9% male) and their parents (N = 127) provided data in two waves (9 months apart). A model of bidirectional relations between positivity and perceived positive school climate emerged. In addition, adolescents with higher levels of perceived positive school climate at age 12 showed higher levels of prosocial behaviors in the following year. Positive school climate related positivity to adolescents' prosocial behavior over time. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  5. Back to School Resources for School Personnel

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2011

    2011-01-01

    As the school year begins, staff at the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) would like to offer all school personnel (including educators, administrators, counselors and support staff) the opportunity to use their many resources for schools! Their resources were created to highlight issues related to trauma, to explain how trauma can…

  6. Organizing Schools into Small Units: Alternatives to Homogeneous Grouping.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oxley, Diana

    1994-01-01

    Large school size adversely affects attendance, school climate, student involvement. Dividing large schools into small units creates a learning and teaching context that is more stable, intimate, supportive, interdisciplinary. Kohn-Holweide, a comprehensive German secondary school, groups all students at a given grade level with the same teachers…

  7. The Potential of "Alternative" Charter School Authorizers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Palmer, Bierlein

    2007-01-01

    In the early 1990s a handful of states created independent public charter schools, providing opportunities for teachers and others to develop innovative schooling options. Unlike private schools funded through vouchers or tuition tax credits, these new public schools practice open admissions, accepting all students as space permits. In exchange…

  8. Parental After-School Stress and Psychological Well-Being

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barnett, Rosalind Chait; Gareis, Karen C.

    2006-01-01

    The mismatch between employed parents' work schedules and their children's school schedules creates the structural underpinning for an as-yet-unstudied stressor, namely, parental after-school stress, or the degree of parents' concern about their children's welfare after school. We estimate the relationship between parental after-school stress and…

  9. Scale & Care: Charter Schools & New Urbanism.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garber, Michael P.; Anderson, R. John; DiGiovanni, Thomas G.

    The Charter School movement combined with New Urbanist designers have uncovered the importance of scale in creating school environments that are more responsive to the needs of children. This paper examines the possibilities for mutual benefit for school and community by integrating school-building into the new urbanist tool kit. The discussion…

  10. University-Partnered New School Designs: Fertile Ground for Research-Practice Partnerships

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Quartz, Karen Hunter; Weinstein, Rhona S.; Kaufman, Gail; Levine, Harold; Mehan, Hugh; Pollock, Mica; Priselac, Jody Z.; Worrell, Frank C.

    2017-01-01

    This commentary suggests that new school design is a fertile policy context for advancing research-practice partnerships. The authors represent four public universities that have created new school designs in partnership with urban school districts. Unlike the laboratory schools of previous generations, these university-partnered public schools…

  11. The Neighborhood School Stigma: School Choice, Stratification, and Shame

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McWilliams, Julia Ann

    2017-01-01

    Social scientists have begun to document the stratifying effects of over a decade of unprecedented charter growth in urban districts. An exodus of students from traditional neighborhood schools to charter schools has attended this growth, creating troubling numbers of vacant seats in neighborhood schools as well as concentrating larger percentages…

  12. Pathways to School Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development, 2012

    2012-01-01

    In 2006, the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development began implementing a multi-year school readiness project in several area schools. Evidence from both research and the field point to several key elements that foster school readiness and create pathways to school success for all children. This paper presents components of a…

  13. Fiscal Impacts of Charter Schools: Lessons from New York

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bifulco, Robert; Reback, Randall

    2014-01-01

    This brief argues that charter school programs can have direct fiscal impacts on school districts for two reasons. First, operating two systems of public schools under separate governance arrangements can create excess costs. Second, charter school financing policies can distribute resources to or away from districts. Using the city school…

  14. Shared Services: Opportunities for Small Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clark County School District, Las Vegas, NV.

    An approach used in the Virgin Valley High School, a small, rural school in Mesquite, Nevada, in finding the solution to shortages of personnel created by involvement in educational changes is discussed. Shared services in a small school are described with relationship to school personnel, community personnel, and other governmental agencies. The…

  15. Creating Better Schools through Democratic School Leadership

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    San Antonio, Diosdado M.

    2008-01-01

    This paper examines the impact of implementing democratic school leadership via advisory school councils in Philippine public secondary schools. Through an experiment with empirical surveys and interviews, this study reveals that the experimental group had higher levels of commitment, empowerment and trust compared with the control group after one…

  16. Grading School Report Cards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobson, Rebecca; Saultz, Andrew; Snyder, Jeffrey W.

    2013-01-01

    Recognizing the need for information in public education, Congress mandated in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that all states create and disseminate annual school performance report cards. A decade after NCLB passed, school report cards are widely available for nearly every school in the country. As the amount of school performance data…

  17. Evaluation of Alabama Public School Wellness Policies and State School Mandate Implementation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gaines, Alisha B.; Lonis-Shumate, Steven R.; Gropper, Sareen S.

    2011-01-01

    Background: This study evaluated wellness policies created by Alabama public school districts and progress made in the implementation of Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) school food and nutrition mandates. Methods: Wellness policies from Alabama public school districts were compared to minimum requirements under the Child Nutrition…

  18. Schools and Families: Creating Essential Connections for Learning. The Guilford School Practitioner Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Christenson, Sandra L.; Sheridan, Susan M.

    Noting that productive family-school relationships are necessary for socializing and supporting children and adolescents as learners, and that such relationships can take many forms, this book examines the goals, contributions, and accountability of families and schools for educational outcomes. Addressed to school psychologists, the book…

  19. Measuring Systematic Long-Term Trajectories of School Effectiveness Improvement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Valenzuela, Juan Pablo; Bellei, Cristián; Allende, Claudio

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this study was to identify trajectories of school improvement experienced by Chilean elementary schools over the last decade. Using econometric analysis and controlling for potential confounding factors, we created an index of school performance combining outcome indicators focused on different school dimensions, and estimated the…

  20. Exercise deficit disorder in youth: an emergent health concern for school nurses.

    PubMed

    Faigenbaum, Avery D; Gipson-Jones, Trina L; Myer, Gregory D

    2012-08-01

    Although the benefits of regular physical activity are widely acknowledged, recent findings indicate that a growing number of youth are not as active as they should be. The impact of a sedentary lifestyle during childhood on lifelong pathological processes and associated health care costs have created a need for immediate action to manage, if not prevent, unhealthy behaviors during this vulnerable period of life. The concept of identifying children with exercise deficit disorder early in life and prescribing effective interventions to prevent the cascade of adverse health outcomes later in life is needed to raise public awareness, focus on primary prevention, and impact the collective behaviors of health care providers and public health agencies. School nurses are in a unique position to take advantage of well-child visits as an ideal opportunity to assess physical activity habits and encourage daily participation in play, recess, sports, planned exercise, and physical education.

  1. The influence of psychosocial factors on academic performance of adolescents: a quality assurance project.

    PubMed

    Gulzar, Saleema A; Ali, Tazeen Saeed; Aijaz, Amina; Hussain, Neesha

    2010-07-01

    Adolescence is a time of rapid psychological and physiological changes and is associated with anxiety and mental distress. This project looks at the potential of school-based programs to reduce these negative effects of academic performance in both the short- and long-term. This study was conducted in a private school in Karachi, Pakistan between October 1998 and December 2006 on 305 students with low academic performance. Results show that students scoring low grades had a mean of 55 + 2.8 and postintervention score of 56 + 2.6. The intervention package significantly created a difference in reducing the number of students receiving low grades. Qualitative analysis showed that study participants had enhanced self-esteem, confidence levels, positive attitudes towards learning, improved time management and decision-making skills. This suggests that in an academic institution, the presence of a professional support system enhances learning and coping mechanisms.

  2. The Power of One: Creating the New Culture of Upstanders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stromsland, Frances C.; Lott-Jones, Jamie; Sok, Mary

    2016-01-01

    By infusing social justice themes into social studies lessons and creating interdisciplinary units, educators not only changed the curriculum, but also created a school-wide culture of understanding and valuing human rights.

  3. The Placement of Secondary School Students with Statements of Special Educational Needs in the More Diversified System of English Secondary Schooling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Norwich, Brahm; Black, Alison

    2015-01-01

    This article examines the pattern of placement of students with significant special educational needs at Statement and School Action Plus levels in English secondary schools, comparing sponsored and converter academies, maintained schools and the newly created free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges for 2013 and 2014. The…

  4. Violence Prevention and School Climate Reform. School Climate Brief, Number 5

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nader, Kathleen

    2012-01-01

    Research has demonstrated that a positive school climate is an essential part of violence prevention. Many factors influence the association between school climate and behavioral outcomes. Positive school climate alone cannot prevent all variables that may contribute to the expression of aggression. Nevertheless, positive school climates influence…

  5. The Complementary Roles of the School Nurse and School Based Health Centers. Position Statement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ondeck, Lynnette; Combe, Laurie; Baszler, Rita; Wright, Janet

    2015-01-01

    It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that the unique combination of school nursing services and school-based health centers (SBHCs) facilitate positive health outcomes for students. The registered professional school nurse (hereinafter referred to as school nurse) is responsible for management of the daily health…

  6. Grand Prize Winner Profile: Manassas Park High School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Learning By Design, 2000

    2000-01-01

    Profiles the award-winning Manassas Park High School design that took a small school with limited land space and created small-scale learning communities from it. Interior and exterior photos are included. (GR)

  7. Support for healthy eating at schools according to the comprehensive school health framework: evaluation during the early years of the Ontario School Food and Beverage Policy implementation

    PubMed Central

    Taryn, Orava; Steve, Manske; Rhona, Hanning

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Introduction: Provincial, national and international public health agencies recognize the importance of school nutrition policies that help create healthful environments aligned with healthy eating recommendations for youth. School-wide support for healthy living within the pillars of the comprehensive school health (CSH) framework (social and physical environments; teaching and learning; healthy school policy; and partnerships and services) has been positively associated with fostering improvements to student health behaviours. This study used the CSH framework to classify, compare and describe school support for healthy eating during the implementation of the Ontario School Food and Beverage Policy (P/PM 150). Methods: We collected data from consenting elementary and secondary schools in a populous region of Ontario in Time I (2012/13) and Time II (2014). Representatives from the schools completed the Healthy School Planner survey and a food environmental scan (FES), which underwent scoring and content analyses. Each school’s support for healthy eating was classified as either “initiation,” “action” or “maintenance” along the Healthy School Continuum in both time periods, and as “high/increased,” “moderate” or “low/decreased” within individual CSH pillars from Time I to Time II. Results: Twenty-five school representatives (8 elementary, 17 secondary) participated. Most schools remained in the “action” category (n = 20) across both time periods, with varying levels of support in the CSH pillars. The physical environment was best supported (100% high/increased support) and the social environment was the least (68% low/decreased support). Only two schools achieved the highest rating (maintenance) in Time II. Supports aligned with P/PM 150 were reportedly influenced by administration buy-in, stakeholder support and relevancy to local context. Conclusion: Further assistance is required to sustain comprehensive support for healthy eating in Ontario school food environments. PMID:28902479

  8. Creating a Multimedia Enhanced Problem-Based Learning Environment for Middle School Science: Voices from the Developers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, Min; Horton, Lucas; Lee, Jaejin; Kang, Jina; Rosenblum, Jason; O'Hair, Matthew; Lu, Chu-Wei

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes the design and development process used to create Alien Rescue, a multimedia-enhanced learning environment that supports problem-based learning (PBL) in middle school science. The goal of the project is to further our understandings of technology, pedagogy, and instructional theories as they relate to the application of PBL…

  9. Characteristics of Quality OER Textbook Curators: An Analysis of Tullahoma City Schools' Flexbook Curators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hodge, Zach

    2017-01-01

    Tullahoma City Schools, a rural district in Middle Tennessee, recently switched from traditional static textbooks to an online, open educational resource platform. As a result of this change the role of curator, a teacher who creates the Flexbook by compiling and organizing content, was created. This research project sought to add to the limited…

  10. What It Takes to Complete High School: The Shifting Terrain of Course and Diploma Requirements

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoffman, Nancy

    2013-01-01

    In recent months, several states have altered their high school course requirements in various ways, from creating endorsements within a single diploma to creating new diplomas. These states appear to be making changes for a variety of reasons: to elevate career and technical education; to emphasize STEM fields; to improve the alignment with…

  11. From Policy to Practice: How Competency-Based Education Is Evolving in New Hampshire

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Freeland, Julia

    2014-01-01

    In 2005, New Hampshire abolished the Carnegie unit--the core unit around which schools typically measure credit hours. In its place, the state mandated that all high schools measure credit according to students' mastery of material, rather than time spent in class. This policy shift created the first-ever state-wide effort to create a…

  12. Creating a Continuum of Excellence: A U.S. Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Conference Proceedings (Coral Gables, Florida, 1999).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nalley, Donna

    These proceedings of the conference "Creating a Continuum of Excellence: A U.S. Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Conference," produced by SERVE in collaboration with Nova Southeastern University was held in Coral Gables, Florida, 1999. It lists keynote speakers, action planning meetings, think tanks, and titles of exemplary practice sessions, as…

  13. A Contest to Create Media Messages Aimed at Recruiting Adolescents for Stop Smoking Programs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Croghan, Ivana T.; Campbell, Heather M.; Patten, Christi A.; Croghan, Gary A.; Schroeder, Darrell R.; Novotny, Paul J.

    2004-01-01

    This project engaged adolescents in a contest to create advertising messages aimed at recruiting teens for stop smoking programs. Middle school students were invited to design a media message for television, radio, Web, or print (newspaper or billboard). 0f 4,289 students in eight middle schools of Rochester, Minn., 265 (6.2%) developed 172 stop…

  14. iss050e056553

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-03-09

    iss050e056553 (03/09/2017) --- NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson unloads spaceflight hardware delivered on SpaceX CRS-10 that was built as part of the NASA High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH) program. Students in the HUNCH program receive valuable experience creating goods for NASA from hardware to the culinary arts, while NASA receives the creativity of the High School students.

  15. Think to Learn (Creating a Standards-Driven Thinking Classroom). Occasional Paper Series. Volume 1, Number 2

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fluellen, Jerry E., Jr.

    2006-01-01

    Think to Learn. That's how Robert Sternberg boils down his approach for teaching thinking. In an urban technology high school, two Teacher Consultants in the District of Columbia Area Writing Project at Howard University co-constructed a prototype for creating standards driven thinking classrooms. With 132 high school students, they used the…

  16. Linked Learning in Pasadena: Creating a Collaborative Culture for Sustainable District Reform. Linked Learning Case Study Series

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rice, Erik; Rutherford-Quach, Sara

    2012-01-01

    This is the story of how Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) is creating sustainable high school reform. PUSD, through a set of district leadership practices, thoughtfully built the capacity of and sense of ownership among essential stakeholders to design, implement, and support a system of Linked Learning pathways. Though firmly anchored by…

  17. Using Learning Walks to Improve Collaboration and Charter School Performance (A University/?P-12 School Partnership): Year One

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bole, Paul Thomas; Farizo, Kenneth Paul

    2013-01-01

    Many universities exist apart from their community's public schools. A New Orleans area public university took measures to facilitate collaborative partnerships with four public schools. Those schools were taken over and converted to charter schools by state officials for poor performance. The partnerships created simultaneous opportunities and…

  18. In Service of Mission: Assessing Catholic School Guidance Counselors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murray, Robert J.; Kane, Kristy S.

    2010-01-01

    Catholic schools are set apart from public schools in that Catholic schools aim to create for the school community an atmosphere enlivened by the Gospel spirit of freedom and charity. Those who serve in Catholic schools, therefore, need to understand their role as unique, that is, faith driven. The purpose of this study was to assess this…

  19. "Find the Strength in Every Teacher": Urban Middle School Teachers' Perceptions of Effective Change Leadership

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allen, Timothy Clancy

    2013-01-01

    Urban middle schools face many accountability measures which often create the need for school improvement. Leading urban middle schools through the change process is extremely challenging for principals. The combination of leading change, leading urban schools, and leading middle schools is an uphill climb. Teachers' perceptions of leadership…

  20. Creating the New American School: A Principal's Guide to School Improvement. Transforming Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DuFour, Richard; Eaker, Robert

    This book details the characteristics of schools that continue to provide their students with a good education. It integrates two important bodies of research in its findings: (1) the research on effective schools and the characteristics of effective schools; and (2) studies of effective business practices and the leadership behind those…

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