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The German school system employs centrally organized performance assessments (some of which are called “VERA”) as a way of promoting lesson development. In recent years, several German federal states introduced a computer-based performance testing system which will replace the paper-pencil testing system in the future. Scores from computer-based testing are required to be equivalent to paper-pencil testing scores so that the new testing medium does not lead to disadvantages for students. Therefore, the current study aimed at investigating the size of the mode effect and the moderating impact of students’ gender, academic achievement and mainly spoken language in everyday life. In addition, the variance of the mode effect across tasks was investigated. The study was conducted in four German federal states in 2019 using a field experimental design. The test scores of 5140 eighth-graders from 165 schools in the subject German were analysed. The results of multi-level modelling revealed that students’ test scores in the computerized version of the VERA test were significantly lower than in the paper-pencil version. Students with a lower academic achievement were more disadvantaged by the VERA computerized test. The results were inconsistent regarding the interactions between testing mode and students’ gender and mainly spoken language in everyday life. The variance of the mode effect across tasks was high. Research into different subjects and in other federal states and countries under different testing conditions might yield further evidence about the generalizability of these results.

It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, School Nutrition Association (SNA), and Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB) that comprehensive, integrated nutrition programs in preschool through high school are essential to improve the health, nutritional status, and academic performance of our nation's children. To maximize impact, the Academy, SNA, and SNEB recommend specific strategies in the following key areas: food and nutrition services available throughout the school campus, nutrition initiatives such as Farm to School and school gardens, wellness policies, nutrition education and promotion, and consideration of roles and responsibilities. This paper supports the joint position paper of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, SNA, and SNEB published in the May 2018 Journal of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In alignment with the joint position paper, this practice paper provides registered dietitian nutritionists and nutrition and dietetics technicians, registered with an overview of current school nutrition services and opportunities for professional careers in school settings. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has several position papers related to youth preschool through adolescence that cover specific nutrition needs in more detail at www.eatright.org.

Why do some people adapt better to life's adversities? Why do some students with a high IQ fail at school, while others with less intellectual capacity do better academically? How do we explain that people with a low IQ are able to interact with others effectively? The concept of emotional intelligence (from now on, EI) emerged to try to answer these questions and similar ones. The interest to study EI has increased significantly in the last decades due to the empirical evidence shown by some studies on the influence it can have on variables such as job success, health and well-being, or academic performance (AP). In the educational field, there is some consensus that EI is an important skill for the development of the students, both for their well-being and for their future success. However, there are still many remaining gaps to be explained in the relationship between EI and AP and the actual influence of EI in the school context. Most of the research done so far has studied the relationship between EI and academic achievement in secondary and university students and, therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze whether the results obtained in previous studies can be replicated in a population group that has been little studied in this regard, such as in primary school children. Moreover, in previous research, other important variables that may play a key role in this relationship (such social or cognitive factors) have not always been taken into account. Consequently, we are in front of an information gap on the EI-AP relationship at this educational stage, which is considered basic for the personal and academic development of the students. Hence, we find it necessary to study in depth the concept of EI and its components, as well as its influence in the educational context, specifically in the AP of primary school students. This results in a complementary contribution to the research done to date. Consequently, the main objective of this doctoral thesis is to explore the relationship between EI and students’ AP, as well as the possible relative influence of EI in comparison to other constructs such as social skills (SS) and executive functions (EF). The results of the present thesis, developed as a compendium of articles, show that EI have an impact on the school performance of primary education students, suggesting that EI, together with SS and EF, should be considered within the school context to achieve the well-being of the students and all of their potential, not only academically but also socially and personally. Per què hi ha persones que s’adapten millor a les adversitats de la vida? Per què alguns alumnes amb un quocient intel·lectual alt fracassen a l’escola, mentre que d’altres amb menys capacitat intel·lectual tenen un millor rendiment acadèmic? Com s’explica que persones amb un baix quocient intel·lectual siguin capaces de relacionar-se amb els altres de manera eficaç? El concepte d’intel·ligència emocional (IE) neix per intentar respondre a aquestes i altres preguntes similars. L’interès per estudiar la IE ha augmentat significativament en les últimes dècades degut a l’evidència empírica mostrada per alguns estudis sobre la influència que aquesta pot tenir sobre variables com l’èxit laboral, l’estat de salut i benestar o el rendiment acadèmic (RA). Dins l’àmbit educatiu, hi ha cert consens que la IE és una habilitat important perquè els alumnes es desenvolupin correctament. No obstant això, encara queden molts buits per explicar sobre la relació entre IE i RA i la influència que juga la primera dins el context escolar. Gran part de la recerca realitzada fins el moment, ha estudiat la relació entre IE i rendiment en alumnes de secundària i d’universitat. Aquesta tesi analitza si els resultats obtinguts en estudis previs es poden replicar en una població poc estudiada com és l’alumnat de primària. A més, no sempre s’han tingut en compte altres variables importants que poden jugar un paper clau en la relació, com els factors socials o cognitius. Ens trobem per tant, en un buit d’informació sobre la relació IE-RA en aquesta etapa educativa que es considera bàsica per al desenvolupament personal i acadèmic de l’alumnat. Així doncs, pensem que és important estudiar a fons el concepte de la IE i els seus components, així com la seva influència en el context educatiu, específicament en el RA dels alumnes de primària. Això resulta en una contribució complementària i poc explorada del treball realitzat fins al moment. En conseqüència, l’objectiu principal de la tesi és explorar la relació entre la IE i el RA dels alumnes de primària, així com la possible influència relativa de la IE en comparació amb d’altres constructes com ara les habilitats socials i les funcions executives. Els resultats de la present tesi, desenvolupada per compendi d’articles, mostren que la IE té un impacte en el rendiment dels alumnes de primària, suggerint que la IE, juntament amb les habilitats socials i les funcions executives, s’haurien de tenir en compte dins el context escolar per assolir el benestar dels alumnes i promoure el seu màxim potencial, no només acadèmic sinó també personal i social. Programa de Doctorat Interuniversitari en Psicologia de l'Educació

The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of success in the state exam (equivalent to the baccalaureate) of students by gender in the math-physics option in the provincial city of Kinshasa. To do this, we used a documentary method supported by the consultation of the results of the state exams (2019) via the website of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. Specifically, the aim was to compare the success rate and the quality of success in the state exams for this option according to the gender variable. The results obtained can be summarized as follows: (1) the participation rate of girls (23.4%) is low compared to that of boys (75.6%); (2) the success rate in the state exam for the math-physics option is 93.2%; (3) the success rate of girls is 94.07% and that of boys is 92.9%; and (4) no statistical difference was established between the success rates of girls and boys as well as their quality of success. Based on these results, it can be concluded that there is homogeneity in the performance of students in the math-physics option in the state exam (2019 edition) according to gender., La présente étude a eu pour objectif d’évaluer la qualité de la réussite à l‘examen d’état (équivalent du baccalauréat) des élèves selon le genre à l’option math-physique dans la ville province de Kinshasa. Pour ce faire, nous avons recouru à une méthode documentaire appuyée par la consultation des palmarès des points aux examens d’état édition (2019) via le site du ministère de l’enseignement primaire et secondaire. Concrètement, il était question de comparer le taux de réussite et la qualité de réussite aux examens d’état pour cette option selon la variable genre. Les résultats obtenus peuvent se résumer par les constats suivants : (1) le taux de participation des filles (23,4%) est faible comparativement à celui des garçons (75,6%) ; (2) le taux de réussite à l’examen d’Etat pour l’option math-physique est de 93,2 % ; (3) le taux de réussite des filles est de 94,07 % et celui des garçons de 92,9 % et (4) aucune différence statistique n’a été établie entre les taux de réussite des filles et des garçons ainsi que leur qualité de réussite. On peut conclure à une homogénéité des résultats des élèves de l’option math-physique à l’examen d’état (édition 2019) selon le genre.

Introduction The cohort of students enrolled in the discipline-specific bioscience paper reflects a structural diversity in that it includes students of multiple ethnicities, varied age groups, differing scholastic and life experiences. These divergent identities of students are known to influence academic performance. The purpose of this retrospective quantitative study was to determine the ability of a set of variables such as age, gender, ethnicity, level of prior education, the place from which prior education was obtained, work experience and prior academic achievement to predict academic performance in the discipline-specific bioscience paper. Method The sample for this study was a purposive sample of all oral health students who had enrolled in the paper at the Auckland University of Technology from 2011 to 2014. The desensitised empirical data of 116 students from the University's database were subject to multivariable regression analysis. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated. Results Prior academic achievement was a statistically significant predictor variable (P < 0.001) for the academic performance in the discipline-specific bioscience paper and was also positively correlated (r = 0.641, P < 0.001) to the grades in the discipline-specific bioscience paper. Conclusion Prior academic achievement was the only variable that was demonstrated to be correlated to and predictive of the academic performance in the discipline-specific bioscience paper.

The Programme for International Assessment (PISA) is an important cross-national study of 15-year olds academic achievement. Although it has traditionally been conducted using paper-and-pencil tests, the vast majority of countries will use computer-based assessment from 2015. In this paper, we consider how cross-country comparisons of children’s skills differ between paper and computer versions of the PISA mathematics test. Using data from PISA 2012, where more than 200,000 children from 32 economies completed both paper and computer versions of the mathematics assessment, we find important and interesting differences between the two sets of results. This includes a substantial drop of more than 50 PISA test points (half a standard deviation) in the average performance of children from Shanghai-China. Moreover, by considering children’s responses to particular test items, we show how differences are unlikely to be solely due to the interactive nature of certain computer test questions. The paper c...

English is one of two official languages in Cameroon and it is used as L2 from pre-school to university. It therefore implies that the language is crucial in the academic achievement of primary school pupils. Success in the First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC) Examination marks the end of the primary cycle and possession of the first education certificate which opens the way to several avenues. However, failure in the English language paper would hardly lead to success in the examination. In addition, the majority of careers require success and competence in the English language. The English language paper then is High-Stakes, with great washback effects not only for pupils and candidates but also for various stakeholders. Recently, there have been loud cries on the disparity existing between English language results and language use of primary school students. The trend seems continuous right up to higher education. The question has been raised as to how to explain the mass success rate in English language in the FSLC Examination given the poor level of communication of students. Many reasons and explanations have been suggested for this state of affairs, such as the policy of education for all, the young ages of pupils, inadequate teaching materials, inadequate teacher training and development, and poor parental support. This chapter takes a critical look at the involvement of classroom teachers in the development, organisation, administration and marking of the English language paper in the FSLC Examination. The chapter attempts to examine the roles and duties of classroom teachers, and whether their involvement enhances or reduces the validity and reliability of the examination.

Background: A better understanding of how multicomponent school-based interventions work and their effects on health and education outcomes are needed. This paper described the methods of the Movimente Program, a school-based intervention that aims to increase physical activity (PA) and decrease sedentary behavior (SB) among Brazilian students. Methods: This is a cluster randomized controlled trial with adolescents from 7th to 9th grade in public schools from Florianopolis, Southern Brazil. After agreement, 6 schools were randomly selected to intervention or control groups (3 schools each), and all eligible students were invited to the study. The Movimente intervention program was performed during a school year and included 3 main components: Teacher training (including face-to-face meeting, social media platform, and handbook with lesson plans); improvements in the PA environment in school; and educational strategies. Control schools continued with their traditional schedule. Baseline (March/April 2017), postintervention (November/December 2017), and maintenance (June/July 2018) evaluations included PA and SB as primary outcomes (assessed by self-report and accelerometry). Secondary outcomes included psychosocial factors related to PA and SB (e.g., social support and self-efficacy), as well as health (e.g., quality of life and nutritional status) and education (e.g., academic achievement) outcomes. A program evaluation was performed based on the RE-AIM framework. Participants, intervention staffs, and evaluators were not blinded to group assignment, but a standardized evaluation protocol was applied independently of the trial allocation. Results: Statistical analyses will include a multilevel approach for repeated measurements and mediation analysis. Any side effects of the intervention will be recorded. The sample size close to that expected (n = 1090) was reached (n = 999). The results of this trial will involve valuable information about the effect and the evaluation of a multicomponent intervention carried out in a middle-income country. Conclusion: By creating opportunities for adolescents to be active at school using multicomponent strategies, the Movimente program has the potential to enhance students health and academic performance which may encourage the school community (e.g., teachers, principals) to adopt the program. Also, this trial will provide evidence for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers on how multicomponent program may be implemented in a school setting. Trial registration: The trial is registered at the Clinical Trial Registry (Trial ID: NCT02944318; date of registration: 18 October 2016).

Background High-stakes assessments, such the Graduate Records Examination, have transitioned from paper to computer administration. Low-stakes research-based assessments (RBAs), such as the Force Concept Inventory, have only recently begun this transition to computer administration with online services. These online services can simplify administering, scoring, and interpreting assessments, thereby reducing barriers to instructors’ use of RBAs. By supporting instructors’ objective assessment of the efficacy of their courses, these services can stimulate instructors to transform their courses to improve student outcomes. We investigate the extent to which RBAs administered outside of class with the online Learning About STEM Student Outcomes (LASSO) platform provide equivalent data to tests administered on paper in class, in terms of both student participation and performance. We use an experimental design to investigate the differences between these two assessment conditions with 1310 students in 25 sections of 3 college physics courses spanning 2 semesters. Results Analysis conducted using hierarchical linear models indicates that student performance on low-stakes RBAs is equivalent for online (out-of-class) and paper-and-pencil (in-class) administrations. The models also show differences in participation rates across assessment conditions and student grades, but that instructors can achieve participation rates with online assessments equivalent to paper assessments by offering students credit for participating and by providing multiple reminders to complete the assessment. Conclusions We conclude that online out-of-class administration of RBAs can save class and instructor time while providing participation rates and performance results equivalent to in-class paper-and-pencil tests.

The purpose of this article is to examine two policies in an attempt to measure their impact and ascertain any potential trajectory from government-level agenda to borough-level contextualisation. Inspired by content analysis, but also taking into account the implementation of the documents, this study draws upon the Every Child Matters green paper (2003) as a government initiative and seeks to establish the progression route taken by one particular borough (Knowsley). Knowsley, a borough with high unemployment figures for school leavers, aims to address its problematic areas through policy implementation and strongly acknowledges the significance of Every Child Matters. The two policies looked at here are the government green paper Every Child Matters (2003) and Knowsley's Children and Young People's Strategic Plan 2007–2010 (2007). Both policies concern themselves with progression routes for young people and problematic areas are identified at an early age.

Homework gives students an opportunity to practice important college-level physics skills. A switch to Web-based homework alters the nature of feedback received, potentially changing the pedagogical benefit. Calculus- and algebra-based introductory physics students enrolled in large paired lecture sections at a public university completed homework of standard end-of-the-chapter exercises using either the Web or paper. Comparison of their performances on regular exams, conceptual exams, quizzes, laboratory, and homework showed no significant differences between groups; other measures were found to be strong predictors of performance. This indicates that the change in medium itself has limited effect on student learning. Ways in which Web-based homework could enable exercises with greater pedagogical value are discussed. 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 1050-1071, 2003 Web-based homework is a rapidly growing educational use of the Internet. At least a hundred thousand U.S. students currently submit their homework for computerized grading over the Web while attending real (nonvirtual) classes, and the practice is also growing rapidly in math, chemistry, and other sciences. 1 In addition to this are students enrolled in on-line courses and those who use on-line practice quizzes and the like. ''Anytime, anywhere'' computerized systems which instantly mark answers right or wrong and then allow errors to be corrected are replacing traditional paper homework handed in during class, graded by the instructor or an assistant, and returned with marks and comments days to weeks later. Homework is an important component of introductory physics instruction at the college level. Introductory algebra- and calculus-based physics courses at the college level put a great emphasis on the ability to solve problems. Specifically, these are word problems requiring students to find a numerical quantity using given information and applying one or more physics formulas. All the widely used textbooks devote significant space to examples of how to solve these types of

The Association of Educational Therapists supports the position that when the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is administered, the option of extended time should be available for all students.

Introduction The prevalence of adolescent e-cigarette use has increased markedly in recent years. Specifically, the prevalence of e-cigarette use over the past 30 days was higher than the prevalence of use of other tobacco products. However, there is no definitive data on e-cigarette use among adolescents, including a description of how e-cigarette use is part of a more widespread pattern of substance abuse. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of e-cigarette use in combination with tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana, and the risk of polysubstance use among a sample of Thai adolescents, analyzed by sociodemographic characteristics. Methods Data were extracted from the Bangkok Behavioral Surveillance Survey (BBSS) cross-sectional survey conducted in 2019. The survey used self-reports from a sample of adolescents aged 14-17 years in Bangkok (n=6167). Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the status of poly drug use in combination with e-cigarettes. Results In all, 6.8% of adolescents in this sample reported having used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days. Among the students who used e-cigarettes, the majority (72.0%) reported using other substances along with e-cigarettes, and alcohol was the most common addictive substance used in combination with e-cigarette use. The use of e-cigarettes only and e-cigarettes in combination with other addictive substances (compared to the non-e-cigarette group) tended to be higher among male students, having low academic achievement, having a friend who smokes, being persuaded by a close friend, having ever had sex (OR: 1.48-3.70), and having close friends who drink alcohol (vs none) (OR=3.26). Conclusions Polysubstance use is highly prevalent among adolescents who use e-cigarettes. There should be extensive screening for e-cigarette consumption, including use of other addictive substances, especially alcohol. Early and comprehensive prevention efforts to reduce the use of e-cigarettes and other addictive substances can have a huge impact on the health of the adolescent population.

Most of undergraduate courses in higher institutions in Malaysia use final exam as assessment tool to measure students’ academic achievement. Good constructed items/questions on final exam would be able to measure both students’ academic achievement and their generic skills. As such, this study using Rasch Measurement Model to evaluate the reliability and quality of final exam questions Mathematics Engineering III course. The items in the examination paper were studied and items that do not measure up to expectations were identified. The item analysis provides clues to how well the content of the item yielded useful information about student ability. This study focuses on constructed items, where items must retain their relative difficulty on the equal interval scale ( logit ), regardless of the ability of the students that challenges the item. The analysis revealed that even though there are three misfit questions, but overall, the reliability and quality of the exam questions constructed were relatively good and calibrated with students’ learned ability.

This study investigated whether self-concordance of adolescents’ achievement-related goal predicts their school engagement and lack of burnout during upper secondary school as well as their subsequent educational trajectories. We also examined whether goal effort and progress mediate these associations. The sample consisted of 614 17-year-old upper secondary school students, who were surveyed three times: (1) in the second grade of upper secondary, (2) in the third grade of upper secondary school, and (3) one year later. The results showed that when adolescents pursued their achievement-related goal for internal reasons, they also invested effort in their goal, which was reflected in a high level of goal progress. Among girls, goal progress predicted a high level of school engagement during upper secondary school and, subsequently, success in the educational transition after upper secondary school, whereas low goal progress was related to school burnout, which in turn was reflected later on in delay in studies and low educational aspirations.

Based on its survey responses, the California Open Educational Resources Council identified several impediments to adopting OER textbooks and concluded that rigorous peer review was ultimately the first step towards advocating for adoption of OER textbooks. The Council quickly identified 50 highly-enrolled courses with expensive textbooks across the three public systems of higher education and, over the following two years, collected more than 160 existing OER textbooks for these courses, established a rigorous peer review process, recruited faculty reviewers from the three systems, managed more than 450 reviews, and helped to curate the resulting high-quality, peer-reviewed collection of OER textbooks at COOL4ED, an online repository featuring reviews and case studies. Throughout, the CA-OERC’s work was supported by State monies, as well as grants from the Gates Foundation and Hewlett Foundation secured and administered by the CSU Chancellor’s Office.

We examined the perceptions and performance of students who used an electronic versus a traditional paper textbook. Introductory psychology students (N = 392) who chose between the 2 formats did not differ in course grades. However, students using the electronic text reported spending less time reading for class compared to students using the paper text and generally evaluated the electronic text unfavorably. No student who purchased an electronic text in a prior class chose to purchase it for introductory psychology. These findings suggest that it may be premature to abandon the paper text in favor of the electronic text.

The author investigated the impact of assessment methods on student performance on accounting tests. Specifically, the author used analysis of variance to determine whether the use of computer-based tests instead of paper-based tests affects students' traditional test scores in accounting examinations. The author included 2 independent variables, student gender and student class, as covariates. The findings indicate that there was no significant difference in the values of the students' performance according to the 2 methods of assessment. The findings also revealed that neither student gender nor class was correlated to the test scores in either form of testing.

This investigation seeks to confirm several key factors in computer-based versus paper-based assessment. Based on earlier research, the factors considered here include content familiarity, computer familiarity, competitiveness, and gender. Following classroom instruction, freshman business undergraduates (N = 105) were randomly assigned to either a computer-based or identical paper-based test. ANOVA of test data showed that the computer-based test group outperformed the paper-based test group. Gender, competitiveness, and computer familiarity were NOT related to this performance difference, though content familiarity was. Higher-attaining students benefited most from computer-based assessment relative to higher-attaining students under paper-based testing. With the current increase in computer-based assessment, instructors and institutions must be aware of and plan for possible test mode effects.

Few historical studies of government’s interest in student achievement exist and, of those that do, most concern themselves with relatively short periods of time, a decade or two in general. This discussion takes a longer view of measurement practices in one jurisdiction, British Columbia. Based on archival records, it examines testing and assessment developments in Canada’s westernmost province from the establishment of public education in 1872, to 1999, when narrow test‐based approaches to measuring achievement gave way to broader assessment practices based on formative, anecdotal, and portfolio reporting strategies. The study illustrates that government’s interest in measuring student achievement – and thereby demonstrating public accountability for educational expenditures – is anything but new and may be traced in an unbroken line of concern that stretches back to the Victorian Era and to the earliest days of public schooling in the province.

Physics teachers are most effective when their students are active learners who think and participate in every class. This extends beyond the classroom too: ideally, students would tackle challenging questions and exercises after every class—not just before the exam or the night before the weekly homework is due.1 Just‐in‐Time‐Teaching2 was developed to encourage this by having students submit daily homework online; their answers can be quickly graded (by hand) and then used as a springboard for class discussions that day. More recently, online homework services have become available that can automate the grading process and provide instantaneous feedback to students. Unfortunately in both of these cases, the range of possible questions is limited to what can be easily answered via computer. But while pencil and paper is still an easier medium for expressing diagrams and equations, daily collection of paper homework is cumbersome and does not allow same‐day feedback. This paper describes a hybrid strategy...

Religious organizations within communities of colour have traditionally been ignored by educational institutions, even though they provide community cultural wealth and literacy assets. While churches are often considered as having nothing to do with school, intergenerational experiences fostered by religious networks positively influence academic achievement and should be considered. In an effort to confront the minority deficit myth and promote a responsive pedagogy, this literature-based position paper promotes the acknowledgment of religion’s role in the cultural makeup of many children of colour, and the recognition of the intergenerational assets within marginalized religious social networks.

Largescale movement of diverse groups of people continue to redefine the demographics of an increasing number of societies all around the world. Global migration has an impact on education as the shift in ethnic demographics profiles comes with dramatic demographic shifts in the student population worldwide as well. Situated within these current geosociopolitical realities, in this position paper we argue for the urgency of culturally relevant pedagogies as a response to the challenge of meeting the needs of increasingly diverse and multicultural science classrooms. In doing so, we first provide a definition of culturally relevant pedagogies alongside a historical overview of how the term has been framed and utilized in science education over the past two decades. Following on these theoretical underpinnings, we synthesize the findings of contemporary empirical research studies that are situated both in and out-of-school contexts. In doing so, we aim to respond to the question of what might be the value of adopting CRP in science education? As the synthesis of related literature shows, there exists a strong relation between CRP and multiple kinds of benefits related to students’ engagement in science, both in out-of-school and in school contexts. These benefits include the three tenets of CRP: increasing academic achievement, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness. Other benefits refer to increasing students’ interest in science, motivation and engagement as well as self-identification with science. We end the paper by offering recommendations for future research based on identified gaps in existing knowledge base.

There is still lack of understanding or research on how the combined presence of overconfidence, risk aversion, critical and creative thinking skills had influenced students’ academic achievement. Hence, a research model is developed based on constructs mentioned above and underpinned on “input-process-output” approach of General Systems Theory (Bertalanffy, 1968; McGrath, 1984). This conceptual model is meant for further empirical research. The outcome of this research can further provide evidence on how overconfidence, risk aversion, creative and critical thinking skills can influence academic achievement among undergraduate/postgraduate students. Moreover, this research might enable education institutions to provide guidance how to manage these constructs accordingly to improve the student’s academic achievement.

Peter Mutunga and Julie Stewart. Life Skills, Sexual Maturation and Sanitation: What's (Not) Happening in Our Schools? An Exploratory Study from Kenya. Harare: Weaver Press/University of Zimbabwe, Women's Law Centre, 2003. Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd., 27 Park End Street, Oxford, 0X1 1HU U.K. 200 pp. Tables. Notes. Index. Index of References. $27.95. Paper. This valuable exploratory study from Kenya, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, examines the teaching of "life skills" at the primary school level and its relationship to girls' enrollment, retention, and academic achievement. Life skills refers to basic learning competence and issues of girls' sexual maturation and menstrual practices. The hypothesis is that girls' perennial low enrollment and level of academic success are linked, perhaps causally, to how factors often shrouded in secrecy and silence at home-sexual maturation, sanitation, and life skills acquisition-are (not) addressed in the primary school curriculum or the wider educational context. The book consists of six case studies and several tables, and an introduction and conclusion by Peter Mutunga. The researchers found "great gender disparity in access to education and performance at all tiers of education" (23) linked to several factors: infrastructural shortcomings, an examination-oriented curriculum, inadequate teacher training, insufficiently implemented educational policies, and negative cultural beliefs, attitudes, and practices surrounding girls' puberty both at home and school. Kenyan girls tend to start school older in age than boys, have higher primary school dropout rates than boys, experience sexual maturation while still in lower grades even though "family education" is not taught until the middle school years, are prioritized lower than boys in the wider cultural context, particularly where education is concerned, and receive education from policymakers and planners who are predominantly male (22). Macro-level variables shaping gender disparity in education include Kenya's high fertility rate and population growth, drought and economic decline in the late 1990s and early 2000s, ethnic, geographical, and cultural diversity, and poverty, as well as what rural parents often experience as the exorbitant costs associated with education-school fees, mandatory uniforms, and supplies. Institutional problems loom large: underequipped infrastructures with severely inadequate sanitation systems make girls' modest management of personal hygiene an imposing if not impossible challenge. …

Purpose An inverse relationship between mental health and academic achievement is a well-known phenomenon in the scientific literature. However, how and when this association develops is not fully understood and there is a lack of longitudinal, population-based studies on young children. Early intervention is important if associations are to be found already during childhood. The aim of the present study was to investigate the development of the association between mental health and academic performance during different developmental periods of childhood and adolescence. Methods Data from a longitudinal birth cohort study of 1700 children were used. Child mental health was assessed through mother’s reports at age 3, and self-reports at age 12 and 20. Academic performance was assessed through teacher reports on educational results at age 12 and final grades from compulsory school (age 15–16) and upper secondary school (age 18–19). The association between mental health and academic performance was assessed through regression models. Results The results indicate that social selection mechanisms are present in all three periods studied. Behavioral and emotional problems at age 3 were associated with performing below grade at age 12. Similarly, mental health problems at age 12 were associated with lack of complete final grades from compulsory school and non-eligibility to higher education. Academic performance at ages 15 and 19 did not increase the risk for mental health problems at age 20. Conclusion Mental health problems in early childhood and adolescence increase the risk for poor academic performance, indicating the need for awareness and treatment to provide fair opportunities to education.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education continues to be a national concern. In the State of the Union address in January 2011, President Obama called for 100,000 new STEM teachers over the next decade. The Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) investigated the academic achievement of 15-year-old students from 60 countries and five education systems in the areas of math, science, and reading. Results of the 2009 study indicated that the U.S. students were ranked 23 rd of 60 countries involved (Fleischman, Hopstock, Pelczar, & Shelley, 2010). Published in 1983, A Nation At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform called for improvement of education at the secondary levels (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). The report demanded more emphasis on science and mathematics at both the primary and secondary level, creating the academic foundation for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.

A variety of feedback systems was evaluated with regard to their effects on college students' pertormance on written essay papers. The first system included a very general procedure that involved the notation of total points received in each major section of the paper; the second system involved the provision of specific points on subsections within major sections of the paper; and the third system involved the provision of written descriptive comments in addition to points on each subsection of the paper. A specific format was utilized by the experimenters to provide the descriptive feedback. A multiple-baseline design across three major sections of the essay papers was used to evaluate the effectiveness of each feedback procedure on the written content of the essay papers. Additionally, students were asked how satisfied they were with each f'eedback system. An evaluation of the essay papers showed that the mean percentage scores of the written compositions were higher during the descriptive-feedback condition than during the general-points condition, the specific-points condition, or the baseline condition. Results from student ratings suggest that the descriptive-feedback procedure was the most desired by the students and was the most helpful in improving their performance on subsequent papers.

This white paper provides an overview of the issues that affect the quality and equity of education in grades K–16 for Latino students in the United States. This paper is organized chronologically to reflect the typical educational timeline for students in the United States, and we focused on several key transition points in the educational timeline: from elementary school to middle school, from middle school to high school, from high school to college, and from a two-year college to a four-year college. Each of these transition points can pose challenges for every student, but in this paper, we focused specifically on the unique challenges that Latino students encounter. It is our hope that this paper will provide an impetus to action and will serve as a guide for future directions for collective research efforts on the critical issues regarding the education of Latino students in the 21st century.

International audience; The use of computers to deliver course-related materials is rapidly expanding in most universities. Yet the effects of computer vs. printed delivery modes on students' performance and motivation are not yet fully known. We compared the impacts of Web vs. paper to deliver practice quizzes that require information search in lecture notes. Hundred and twenty two undergraduate students used either a web site or printed documents to answer 18 mathematics questions during a tutored session. A revised Web site was designed based on ergonomic criteria, to test the hypothesis that improved usability would decrease time spent on the task, the number of pages consulted, and students' perceived cognitive load. The group working with printed documents had the highest performance. Furthermore, students perceived the paper materials as less effortful to read, and expressed preference for printing lecture notes and questions. However, students appreciated having a Web site available. No differences were found between the two sites. We conclude that Web delivery imposed higher perceived cognitive load due to the need to read lengthy documents. We suggest possible ways to improve Web-based practice materials, such as simultaneous display of questions and lecture notes.; Le recours aux documents numériques pour les supports de cours s'accroît dans les universités. Mais les effets sur les performances des étudiants et leur motivation ne sont pas encore bien connus. Nous comparons le support papier au support numérique (site web) dans le cas de questionnaires à choix multiples(QCM) qui nécessitent de se référer aux supports de cours. L'expérimentation a porté sur 122 étudiants et 18 questions. Le site web a été reconfiguré sur des bases ergonomiques pour tester l'hypothèse qu'une meilleure présentation diminuait le temps passé sur une tâche, le nombre de pages consultées et la surcharge cognitive perçue par les étudiants. Le groupe qui utilisait le support papier a les meilleures performances. De plus, les étudiants perçoivent le support papier plus aisé à lire et expriment des préférences pour des questionnaires et des supports imprimés. Aucune différence n'est sensible entre les groupes qui utilisent la première ou la deuxième version du site. Nous concluons que le support numérique impose une charge cognitive supérieure pour lire des longs documents. Nous proposons des idées d'amélioration comme l'affichage simultané des questions et des documents

The authors investigated subgroup differences on a multiple-choice and constructed-response test of scholastic achievement in a sample of 197 African American and 258 White test takers. Although both groups had lower mean scores on the constructed-response test, the results showed a 39% reduction in subgroup differences compared with the multiple-choice test. The results demonstrate that the lower subgroup differences were explained by more favorable test perceptions for African Americans on the constructed-response test. In addition, the two test formats displayed comparable levels of criterion-related validity. The results suggest that the constructed-response test format may be a viable alternative to the traditional multiple-choice test format in efforts to simultaneously use valid predictors of performance and minimize subgroup differences in high-stakes testing.

With high demands on curriculum coverage within the classroom, career and technical education teachers are in need of an efficient method to conduct assessment activities without lessening their impact or purpose. Test administration is one type of activity that can be proctored. The integration of technology into the classroom is now affordable and realistic for most educational institutions. One of the latest technological advances that has potential to impact education is online testing.

Objectives: Stress can affect learning and memory in students. Previous studies on stress in students were conducted mainly through surveys. We investigated how heart rate variability (HRV)-measured stress is related to academic achievement in medical students during clerkship. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. HRV measurements were performed in 97 third-year medical students during their family medicine clerkship course. Data on written and skilled examination scores of the end of the school year were also collected. We assessed the association between HRV-measured stress and written/skilled examination scores. Results: Written examination scores showed a positive correlation with standard deviation of the normal-to-normal intervals (SDNNs) (r = 0.245, p = −0.016), sympathetic nervous system/parasympathetic nervous system (SNS/PNS) balance (r = 0.218, p = 0.033), and stress index (r = 0.381, p = 0.004). Students with an unhealthy SDNN, a dominant SNS, and a high stress index had higher scores in written examinations than students with a healthy SDNN, a balanced SNS/PNS, and a normal stress index, respectively (p = 0.004, 0.018, and 0.012, respectively). Moreover, skilled examination scores were negatively correlated with BMI (r = −0.249, p = 0.014) and were higher in female students (r = 0.240, p = 0.018). Students with an abnormal autonomic balance diagram (ABD) had a higher score than students with a normal ABD (p = 0.03). Conclusions: This study shows that medical students with higher stress measured by HRV have higher academic achievement, especially in written examinations. Further studies are needed to confirm the results of this study and to assess the long-term effects of HRV-measured stress on medical students.

The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of parental involvement and support in a child’s education. There were two groups of middle school students that participated in the study. Each group received a letter requesting parents complete the activity presented. One group (n=18) received the task of completing 10-15 minutes of academic time with their child. The other group (n=16) received the task of completing a 10-15 minute discussion about their child’s educational goals. Student’s ILA (Integrated Language Arts) and math grades prior to the study were compared to their grades in those classes after the study. A qualitative review of the data did not indicate there was a difference in academic achievement between children whose parents spent academic time with their child and spent the time holding a goal setting discussion. With only four total students participating in the activity requested, the study began to focus more on parent participation, or lack thereof, and the implications of that. And even further, these types of activities may not be happening in homes without the guidance of a teacher or school system. Observational data showed multiple reasons for the lack of participation, including that the study relied on students bringing the form home to parents. Further research should focus on providing families executable strategies for home that will benefit the student.

Many students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) attending higher education drop out prematurely. The predictive value of self-reported daily executive functioning (EF) and (cognitive) performance-based EF (mental flexibility and working memory) for academic progress was evaluated in 54 young adults with ASD (Mage = 22.5, SD = 2.4, 72% male). Regression analyses showed that autism symptom severity explained 12% of variance in academic progress, which was raised to 36% by adding self-reported daily EF, and to 25% by adding performance-based EF. It is suggested that EF is a candidate marker for academic progress in higher education students with ASD and a candidate target for early intervention.

Aim This study aimed at evaluating the perceived stress and its sources among undergraduate dental students at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods In this cross-sectional study, the data were collected using the DES questionnaire. The overall score of stress and scores by individual domains were described and analyzed by different grouping factors: gender, study level, marital status and GPA. Results A total of 366 dental students agreed to take a part in this study. Up to 57% of the participants were females. The overall DES score was 1.67 ± 0.45. Female students and married students scored higher stress levels than their counterparts. Stress increased significantly among students as their educational level increased. Inversely, the stress levels were lower in participants with high GPA. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that "Study level" and "Gender" were significant independent determinants of overall DES and, also, most of the stress domains. Forty one percent of the variability in DES score can be explained by these determinants. Conclusion DES among dental students in Jazan University is moderate and slightly higher. It is higher among females and increases significantly with study progression. However, students who had higher GPA showed lower levels of stress. Clinical significance Reduction and/or relief of stress among dental students will reflect positively on persistence and academic achievement, which will lead to better management and care of patients.

Deans for Impact, a nonprofit organization composed of leaders of educator-preparation programs throughout the U.S., believes cognitive science is an important part of an evidence-based core of knowledge that preservice teachers should possess. Member deans believe that cognitive science holds promise for improving learning and promoting the professionalization of teaching. With that in mind, Deans for Impact published a six-page white paper entitled The Science of Learning, which summarizes existing research on how students learn and connects this research to practical implications for teaching. The paper was developed in close collaboration with cognitive scientist Dan Willingham and Paul Bruno, a former middle school science teacher. The Science of Learning contains six key questions related to how students learn, with principles from cognitive science that help answer them, and lists some practical implications for teaching that follow from these scientific principles.

The present randomized pilot intervention study examines the effects of a mindfulness-based self-leadership training (MBSLT) specifically developed for academic achievement situations. Both mindfulness and self-leadership have a strong self-regulatory focus and are helpful in terms of stress resilience and performance enhancements. Based on several theoretical points of contact and a specific interplay between mindfulness and self-leadership, the authors developed an innovative intervention program that improves mood as well as performance in a real academic setting. The intervention was conducted as a randomized controlled study over 10 weeks. The purpose was to analyze the effects on perceived stress, test anxiety, academic self-efficacy, and the performance of students by comparing an intervention and control group (n = 109). Findings demonstrated significant effects on mindfulness, self-leadership, academic self-efficacy, and academic performance improvements in the intervention group. Results showed that the intervention group reached significantly better grade point averages than the control group. Moreover, the MBSLT over time led to a reduction of test anxiety in the intervention group compared to the control group. Furthermore, while participants of the control group showed an increase in stress over time, participants of the intervention group maintained constant stress levels over time. The combination of mindfulness and self-leadership addressed both positive effects on moods and on objective academic performance. The effects demonstrate the great potential of combining mindfulness with self-leadership to develop a healthy self-regulatory way of attaining achievement-related goals and succeeding in high-stress academic environments.

This study investigated the association between mental health problems and academic and behavioral school functioning for adolescent girls in the child welfare system and determined whether school engagement and future orientation meditated the relationship. Participants were 231 girls aged between 12 and 19 who had been involved with the child welfare system. Results indicated that 39% of girls reported depressive symptoms in the clinical range and 54% reported posttraumatic symptoms in the clinical range. The most common school functioning problems reported were failing a class (41%) and physical fights with other students (35%). Participants reported a mean number of 1.7 school functioning problems. Higher levels of depression and PTSD were significantly associated with more school functioning problems. School engagement fully mediated the relationship between depression and school functioning and between PTSD and school functioning, both models controlling for age, race, and placement stability. Future orientation was not significantly associated with school functioning problems at the bivariate level. Findings suggest that school engagement is a potentially modifiable target for interventions aiming to ameliorate the negative influence of mental health problems on school functioning for adolescent girls with histories of abuse or neglect.

© 2019 The Athors. Introduction: Knowing country-specific predictors of smoking behaviour for adolescents is crucial for successful smoking prevention programs. This study aims to assess demographic and socio-cognitive variables related to smoking initiation among Saudi male adolescents. Methods: Longitudinal data were collected at T1 (baseline) and at T2 (followup at 6 months) using a self-administered questionnaire. We assessed smoking behaviour and related demographic variables and socio-cognitive variables. Chisquared tests and independent-samples t-tests were used to identify differences in baseline characteristics between smokers and non-smokers at T1. Furthermore, non-smokers at T1 were included in logistic regression analyses to examine the predictors of smoking initiation between T1 and T2. Results: At T1, the non-smokers who were included in further analysis were 523 (84.9%) of whom 48 (9.2%) had initiated smoking at T2. They differed significantly from non-initiators, including having a more positive attitude towards smoking, reporting more social norms, modelling and pressure to smoke, having a lower self-efficacy to refrain from smoking and higher intention to smoke in the future (all p

Introduction Finland implemented a point-of-sale (POS) display ban for tobacco products and their trademarks in 2012, and for electronic cigarettes in 2016. In this study we examine whether noticing tobacco products changed among adolescents after the implementation of the display ban and describe the noticing of e-cigarette displays post-implementation. Methods Repeated cross-sectional national survey data of 12- to 16-year-olds from years 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 were used. Measures included adolescent self-report on noticing displays of tobacco and e-cigarettes in shops, kiosks and service stations. Adjusting for age, gender, smoking and academic achievement, logistic regression analyses were conducted by retailer type to test the association between survey year and noticing POS tobacco displays. Results The proportions of adolescents noticing tobacco displayed in shops, kiosks and service stations decreased from 2011 to 2013 (from over 80% to about 30%). Between 2013 and 2017, exposure to tobacco displays decreased for kiosks but slightly increased for shops and service stations. However, in all retailer types, rates in 2017 were still well below the pre-ban levels of 2011. In 2017, noticing e-cigarette displays by 12- to16-year-old adolescents was reported by 5.6% in shops, 20.5% in kiosks and 5.1% in service stations. Conclusions The pronounced decline in adolescents’ exposure to tobacco products at POS observed in the current study implies adherence to the ban, as intended by the law. We encourage more countries to enact POS tobacco advertising and display bans, and to enforce the POS regulations to all tobacco products and novel nicotine delivery systems.

Value-added measures of educational progress have been used by education researchers and policy-makers to assess the performance of teachers and schools, contributing to performance-related pay and position in school league tables. They are designed to control for all underlying differences between pupils and should therefore provide unbiased measures of school and teacher influence on pupil progress, however, their effectiveness has been questioned. We exploit genetic data from a UK birth cohort to investigate how successfully value-added measures control for genetic differences between pupils. We use raw value-added, contextual value-added (which additionally controls for background characteristics) and teacher-reported value-added measures built from data at ages 11, 14 and 16. Sample sizes for analyses range from 4,600 to 6,518. Our findings demonstrate that genetic differences between pupils explain little variation in raw value-added measures but explain up to 20% of the variation in contextual value-added measures (95% CI = 6.06% to 35.71%). Value-added measures built from teacher-rated ability have a greater proportion of variance explained by genetic differences between pupils, with 36.3% of their cross-sectional variation being statistically accounted for by genetics (95% CI = 22.8% to 49.8%). By contrast, a far greater proportion of variance is explained by genetic differences for raw test scores at each age of at least 47.3% (95% CI: 35.9 to 58.7). These findings provide evidence that value-added measures of educational progress can be influenced by genetic differences between pupils, and therefore may provide a biased measure of school and teacher performance. We include a glossary of genetic terms for educational researchers interested in the use of genetic data in educational research.

Introduction.Harsh punishment by parents is common in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), yet there is limited evidence from LMIC of the effects of harsh punishment on child outcomes.Methods.A longitudinal, prospective study was conducted with children with conduct problems to examine the associations between parents’ use of harsh punishment during the preschool years on child behaviour and school achievement in grade one of primary school. As part of an efficacy trial in 24 preschools, 225 children with the highest level of teacher-reported conduct problems were evaluated and their parents reported on how often they used harsh punishment. Outcome measures in grade one included child conduct problems by independent observation, teacher and parent report, child social skills by teacher and parent report, direct tests of children's academic achievement and language skills, and tester ratings of child attention and impulse control.Results.Children had a mean age of 6.92 years and 61% were boys. All parents reported using harsh punishment. After controlling for child age and sex, socio-economic status, parents’ involvement with child and maternal education, frequency of harsh punishment was associated with growth in child conduct problems by independent classroom observations (p = 0.037), parent (p = 0.018) and teacher (p = 0.044) report, a reduction in child social skills by teacher (p = 0.024) and parent (p = 0.014) report and poorer attention during the test session (p = 0.049).Conclusion.The associations between frequency of parents’ use of harsh punishment with their preschoolers with conduct problems and later child behaviour indicate a need to train parents in non-violent behaviour management.

Literacy and numeracy are important skills that are typically learned during childhood, a time that coincides with considerable shifts in large‐scale brain organization. However, most studies emphasize focal brain contributions to literacy and numeracy development by employing case‐control designs and voxel‐by‐voxel statistical comparisons. This approach has been valuable, but may underestimate the contribution of overall brain network organization. The current study includes children (N = 133 children; 86 male; mean age = 9.42, SD = 1.715; age range = 5.92–13.75y) with a broad range of abilities, and uses whole‐brain structural connectomics based on diffusion‐weighted MRI data. The results indicate that academic attainment is associated with differences in structural brain organization, something not seen when focusing on the integrity of specific regions. Furthermore, simulated disruption of highly‐connected brain regions known as hubs suggests that the role of these regions for maintaining the architecture of the network may be more important than specific aspects of processing. Our findings indicate that distributed brain systems contribute to the etiology of difficulties with academic learning, which cannot be captured using a more traditional voxel‐wise statistical approach.

Skeptics of the KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) charter school network argue that these schools rely on selective admission, attrition, and replacement of students to produce positive achievement results. We investigate this using data covering 19 KIPP middle schools. On average, KIPP schools admit students disadvantaged in ways similar to other local students, and attrition patterns are typically no different at KIPP than at nearby schools. Unlike district schools, however, KIPP schools tend to replace students who exit with higher achieving students, and fewer students are replaced in the later years of middle school. Overall, KIPP’s positive achievement impacts do not appear to be explained by advantages in the prior achievement of KIPP students, even when attrition and replacement patterns are taken into account.