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Given the extremely preeminent role of students' learning engagement (LE) in their academic success, investigating the predictors of LE for EFL learners seems critical. Prior research has demonstrated that the external environmental factors (e.g., teacher support) and the internal motivational factors (e.g., self-efficacy, achievement goal orientation) were related to LE, yet the internal mechanism is still under-explored. Therefore, this study attempted to explore the associations between teacher support and LE and the possible underlying mechanism through which teacher support influences LE with individual motivational variables of self-efficacy and achievement goal orientation the mediators for EFL learners in China. A sample of 466 Chinese college EFL learners participated in the study. Results indicated that (1) both academic support and emotional support significantly predicted LE; (2) academic support predicted LE through the separate mediation of self-efficacy, mastery goals and performance-approach goals; whereas emotional support only predicted LE through mastery goals; (3) academic support, but not emotional support, predicted LE through the chain mediation of self-efficacy and mastery goals, self-efficacy and performance-approach goals. These results elucidated the mechanism of different teacher support on LE and provided some implications for promoting EFL learners' engagement., Author(s): Qiong Liu [sup.1] , Xiujun Du [sup.1] , Haoyu Lu [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) Foreign Language Department, Guangzhou Huashang College, , 511300, Guangzhou, China (2) grid.411407.7, 0000 0004 1760 [...]

Student engagement is critical to success in the first year of university, yet evidence about how and why various factors influence engagement remains relatively rare. This study addresses this gap combining an existing framework of student engagement (Kahu and Nelson, Higher Education Research and Development, 37(1), 58-71, 2018 (See CR26)) with student narratives to provide a detailed understanding of students' engagement throughout their first year. Weekly semi-structured interviews with 19 first-year students at an Australian university illustrate how student and university factors interact to influence engagement, as conceptualised in the framework. The findings provide empirical support for the framework of student engagement, offering a more nuanced understanding of the student experience within the framework's educational interface. The importance of self-efficacy, belonging, emotions and wellbeing as interwoven pathways to student engagement is demonstrated and the contextual and dynamic nature of engagement highlighted. Further work is necessary to understand how this knowledge can best facilitate student engagement and perhaps reduce cycles of disengagement., Author(s): Ella R. Kahu [sup.1], Catherine Picton [sup.2], Karen Nelson [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.148374.d, 0000 0001 0696 9806, School of Psychology, Massey University, , Wellington, New Zealand (2) grid.1034.6, [...]

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between social support and boundaries from family, school and community and student engagement among Chinese adolescents. Participants were 577 adolescents (53.5% boys) from Shanghai who provided data on student engagement, environmental support and boundaries from family, school and community. Results showed that family, school and community support and boundaries were positively related to two dimensions of student engagement (i.e., behavioral and affective). Several interaction terms were also observed. Specifically, school support strengthened the relationship between community support and behavioral engagement, and family support and affective engagement; school boundary strengthened the relationship between family boundary and affective engagement. Practical implications for the contributions of support and boundaries from family, school and community on student engagement are discussed., Author(s): Bin-Bin Chen [sup.1] , Nora Wiium [sup.2] , Radosveta Dimitrova [sup.3] , Ning Chen [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0001 0125 2443, grid.8547.e, Department of Psychology, Fudan University, , [...]

Objectives Regular engagement in physical activity (PA) has numerous health benefits in young children. Young children's parents can influence their children's PA behavior through different PA-related parenting practices. This cross-sectional study examined the independent contributions of socio-demographic, family/home and parent-perceived neighborhood environmental characteristics explaining PA-related parenting practices encouraging or discouraging PA among Hong Kong preschool-aged children (3-5 years-old). Methods Hong Kong Chinese preschoolers' parents were recruited from pre-selected kindergartens and Maternal and Child Health Centers located in areas stratified by residential density and socio-economic status. They self-completed socio-demographic, family/home and perceived neighborhood characteristics and PA-related parenting practices questionnaires. Generalized linear models were used to examine associations of socio-demographic, family/home and neighborhood variables with PA-related parenting practices. Results Socio-demographic and family/home characteristics were significantly correlated with parenting practices encouraging and discouraging PA. Parent-perceived neighborhood characteristics were significantly correlated with parenting practices discouraging PA only. Conclusions for Practice This study identified correlates of PA-related parenting practices among parents of Hong Kong Chinese preschoolers. The findings suggest future PA-promoting interventions among Chinese preschoolers via the promotion of parenting practices encouraging children's PA should consider multiple factors, including family relationships and childcare sharing, promotion of PA and its benefits among parents, and neighborhood social cohesion, traffic safety and safety from crime., Author(s): Yi-nam Suen [sup.1] , Ester Cerin [sup.2] [sup.3] , Anthony Barnett [sup.2] , Wendy Y. J. Huang [sup.4] , Robin R. Mellecker [sup.5] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000000121742757, grid.194645.b, Department [...]

BACKGROUND: There has been much educational verbosity over the past decade related to building capacity for effective schools. However, there seems to be a scarcity of clarification about what is meant by school capacity building or how to accomplish and sustain this process. This article describes the preexisting conditions and ongoing processes in Pueblo, Colorado School District 60 (Pueblo 60) that built capacity for the development and continuous improvement of health-promoting schools. METHODS: Capacity building strategies and a program-planning model for continuous improvement for health-promoting schools were used that included: (a) visionary/effective leadership and management structures, (b) extensive internal and external supports, (c) development and allocation of adequate resources, (d) supportive policies and procedures, and (e) ongoing, embedded professional development. RESULTS: Pueblo 60 strategically developed an infrastructure through which they successfully delivered a wide array of health programs and services. CONCLUSIONS: Through building organizational capacity at the school district and school level, additional school health programming can be developed and sustained. Keywords: health-promoting schools; capacity building; continuous improvement in school health; coordinated school health; school improvement., A school district's capacity can be defined as its potential ability to sustain itself at a high level of performance, ensuring teachers' ability to teach and students' ability to benefit [...]

Background Observational epidemiological studies indicate that maternal height is associated with gestational age at birth and fetal growth measures (i.e., shorter mothers deliver infants at earlier gestational ages with lower birth weight and birth length). Different mechanisms have been postulated to explain these associations. This study aimed to investigate the casual relationships behind the strong association of maternal height with fetal growth measures (i.e., birth length and birth weight) and gestational age by a Mendelian randomization approach. Methods and Findings We conducted a Mendelian randomization analysis using phenotype and genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data of 3,485 mother/infant pairs from birth cohorts collected from three Nordic countries (Finland, Denmark, and Norway). We constructed a genetic score based on 697 SNPs known to be associated with adult height to index maternal height. To avoid confounding due to genetic sharing between mother and infant, we inferred parental transmission of the height-associated SNPs and utilized the haplotype genetic score derived from nontransmitted alleles as a valid genetic instrument for maternal height. In observational analysis, maternal height was significantly associated with birth length (p = 6.31 x [10.sup.-9]), birth weight (p = 2.19 x [10.sup.-15]), and gestational age (p = 1.51 x [10.sup.-7]). Our parental-specific haplotype score association analysis revealed that birth length and birth weight were significantly associated with the maternal transmitted haplotype score as well as the paternal transmitted haplotype score. Their association with the maternal nontransmitted haplotype score was far less significant, indicating a major fetal genetic influence on these fetal growth measures. In contrast, gestational age was significantly associated with the nontransmitted haplotype score (p = 0.0424) and demonstrated a significant (p = 0.0234) causal effect of every 1 cm increase in maternal height resulting in ~0.4 more gestational d. Limitations of this study include potential influences in causal inference by biological pleiotropy, assortative mating, and the nonrandom sampling of study subjects. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that the observed association between maternal height and fetal growth measures (i.e., birth length and birth weight) is mainly defined by fetal genetics. In contrast, the association between maternal height and gestational age is more likely to be causal. In addition, our approach that utilizes the genetic score derived from the nontransmitted maternal haplotype as a genetic instrument is a novel extension to the Mendelian randomization methodology in casual inference between parental phenotype (or exposure) and outcomes in offspring., Introduction Gestational age at birth (or simply gestational age), birth length, and birth weight are pregnancy outcomes associated not only with perinatal morbidity and mortality but also with long-term adverse [...]

This study determined the extent to which a coordinated school health program (CSHP) infrastructure was in place and functioning adequately within a two- to three-year developmental period in South Carolina. The Mariner Project's eight-component model was implemented in three middle schools and their four feeder elementary schools in three communities. Evaluation criteria for the Mariner Project reflect rigorous, minimum adequacy performance standards, and were based on national standards for school health practice and research and objective judgments of project performance. Eleven critical performance elements were developed, and a modified indexing procedure was utilized for project evaluation efforts. Results suggest that a combination of four critical performance elements, 1) Administrative Support/Buy-In, 2)Coordination of the Eight-Component Personnel School-Based Health Promotion Team, 3) Program Champion/Liaison/Facilitator, and 4) Staff Wellness Coordinator, served as the foundation for adequate or less-than-adequate performance for each school among the remaining critical elements, and subsequently for the overall Mariner Project. (J Sch Health. 2000;70(3):95-103), Schooling is the only universal entitlement for children and adolescents in the United States. As part of this entitlement, it is widely accepted that students should receive the health-related programs [...]