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This study measured physical activity (PA) and explored its correlates among children with multimorbidity (co-occurring chronic physical and mental illness; MM) versus those with chronic physical illness only (PI). This study used baseline data from the Multimorbidity in Children and Youth Across the Life Course (MY LIFE) study, an on-going cohort study following 263 children with a PI 2 to 16 years of age (mean age: 9.8 years, SD = 4.0; 47.7% female). PA was measured using accelerometry, and demographic and psychosocial variables were collected using questionnaires. Of the 55 children with MM and the 85 with PI with valid accelerometer data, 38.1% and 41.2%, respectively, met average daily PA guidelines. Correlates of moderate-to-physical PA (MVPA) among children with MM were age, [rho](53) = -0.45, p = 0.001, body mass index (BMI), [rho](48) = -0.28, p = 0.04, self-perceived behavioral conduct, [rho](24) = -0.45, p = 0.02, physical health-related quality of life, [rho](51) = 0.56, p < 0.001, and peer support, [rho](52) = 0.27, p = 0.04. Correlates of MVPA among children with PI were age, [rho](83) = -0.40, p < 0.001, sex, [rho](83) = -0.26, p = 0.01, self-perceived social competence, [rho](31) = 0.42, p = 0.02, self-perceived athletic competence, [rho](31) = 0.48, p = 0.005, physical health-related quality of life, [rho](83) = 0.34, p = 0.001, participation in community sport, [rho](31) = 0.41, p = 0.02, and family functioning, [rho](83) = 0.26, p = 0.02. These results demonstrate that children with PI and MM are insufficiently active and their PA is correlated with demographic and psychosocial factors.

Although students with stronger executive functions (EFs) tend to do better on math computation (MC) assessments than students with weaker EFs, stressful testing situations may lower or affect their mathematical ability. Rumination is one maladaptive coping strategy that can negatively affect EF processes, but little is known about how it impacts the relationship between EFs and MC. This study aimed to examine the relationship between students' performance on a standardized MC task and ratings of EF ability as a function of their level of rumination. In a sample of students from Grades 4 to 6 (n = 72, mean age = 10.74), there was an interaction between EF scores and rumination in predicting MC. Students with weaker EF scores demonstrated worse math performance than students with stronger EF scores. Interestingly, their level of rumination moderated this association. Specifically, EF difficulties were only associated with less proficient MC performance among high ruminators; this association was not observed among those students reporting low rumination levels. For school psychologists, these findings provide insight into the potential causes of poor MC performance among students with average or better EFs.

Background: The Move 2 Learn (M2L) program is an evidence-based intervention designed to improve movement and pre-literacy skills in children ages 1.5-6 years. Purpose: The objective of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention as delivered by non-experts in a community-based setting. Methods: Staff from four community centers were trained to implement M2L. Two sites were evaluated using a quasi-experimental design and the remaining two were evaluated using a pre-post design. Movement and pre-literacy skills were assessed twice in all children. Implementation fidelity was assessed using a weekly checklist and through site-visits. Results: Thirty-one children (15 girls and 16 boys; age range 23-53 months) participated in the study. The results of the quasi-experimental study (n = 17) showed that there was an overall effect of the program on time 2 total gross motor scores (standardized beta = 1.3, p < 0.05) but not pre-literacy scores, specifically print or alphabet knowledge. The pre-post design (n = 14) showed significant change over time for total gross motor scores (Cohen's d = 1.78) and print knowledge (Cohen's d = 1.76). Conclusions: Overall, the M2L program seems to have had a positive impact on participants when delivered in a community setting by trained, non-expert leaders. Future research will need to evaluate the effectiveness of the program delivered by various educators in larger and more diverse samples of children, using more robust research designs, and to determine whether there is long-term effect of M2L on health and academic outcomes in children.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the convergent validity of the PLAYfun tool, a physical literacy-based measure of movement competence, by examining its association with objectively measured physical activity in a sample of children and youth. Method: Participants included 110 children between the ages of seven to 14 years attending a stratified random sample of 27 afterschool programs across the province of Ontario, Canada. The PLAYfun tool was administered to the participants on one occasion at their afterschool program and then they were asked to wear a pedometer for seven consecutive days to measure their physical activity levels. A series of multiple linear regression models were used to examine the association between PLAYfun scores and physical activity, while controlling for age, sex, and time of year (season) in which the data were collected. Results: On its own, the PLAYfun average score accounted for close to 13% of the variance in physical activity, R = 0.36, R[superscript 2] = 0.13, p < 0.001. The PLAYfun average score was also a significant independent predictor of physical activity, b (SE) = 145.98 (53.46), p < 0.01, when controlling for age, sex, and season in which the data were collected, R[superscript 2] = 0.30, F (4, 105) = 11.04, p < 0.001. Conclusion: Results from the present study indicate that the PLAYfun tool is a significant predictor of objectively measured physical activity, supporting the convergent validity of the tool.

We present a dialogue about the current context for educational leadership preparation that draws upon worldwide thought and discussion. We examine some of the significant developments and a new conceptualization of educational leadership, and we link these developments to implications for preparation of school leaders for the future. These developments may be categorized as shifts in epistemology and values, concerns about the integration of theory with practice, the rise of the standards movement in education for leadership preparation, the contested role of the academy in addressing these issues, new ideas about program design, and specific features of the Alberta context that inform the orientation of an educational leadership program. Upon reflection of these trends and contexts, we conclude with a structure and content proposal for a Master of Education cohort focus group specializing in educational leadership at The University of Lethbridge, Alberta. Appendix A features a description of topics that each of our courses tackle; Appendix B includes some of the Internet sources we used to scan what others say about educational leadership programming. (Contains 15 notes.)

We interviewed 45 district-level staff, principals, and trustees in two high-performing and one rapidly improving Alberta school districts. We asked interviewees to detail the what and the how of key leadership practices to promote and sustain student achievement and how they had changed over the last five to ten years. The cross-case findings are clustered around four practices that respondents described and strongly endorsed: (1) collaboration between school- and district-level leadership in setting the direction in leadership for learning; (2) development of a shared expertise in the uses of evidence about student learning; (3) provision of professional development that is job-embedded and based on school needs; and (4) alignment of an array of practices and structures to support student learning.

As global issues continue to place increasing demands on soil resources, the need to provide soil science education to the next generation of soil scientists and the general public is becoming more imminent. In many countries around the world, including Canada, soil is either not included in the high school curriculum or it is not covered in depth. To address this need for better integration of soil science into high school programs in Canada, a national collaborative program entitled Soil 4 Youth (soilweb.landfood.ubc.ca/youth/), was established in 2009. The goals of the Soil 4 Youth program are to: (1) promote the discipline of soil science to high school students and teachers, (2) create open access soil education resources that can be directly implemented in high school curricula in Canada, and (3) raise awareness about the importance of soil. During the initial 4 years of the Soil 4 Youth program, we developed a variety of soil education resources, struck collaboration with several provincial high school teachers' associations and not-for-profit organizations focused on promotion of science, and focused our efforts toward reaching a broader group of high school teachers and students. Our initial efforts of building the Soil 4 Youth program indicate that it is a viable platform through which collaboration among Canadian soil scientists and high school teachers can take place to ensure that high school students are better informed about the importance of soil. Impact Statement: The Canadian collaborative program, Soil 4 Youth, was established to promote the discipline of soil science to high school students and teachers. The program provides a platform for collaboration among soil scientists and high school teachers to ensure that high school students are better informed about the importance of soil. This article describes the development of the Soil 4 Youth program, offering insights into the challenges and potential solutions to advance soil science education for youth.

Although it is generally accepted that the proportion of children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) has increased in the past two decades, there is no consensus on the prevalence of these conditions. The accompanying large rise in demand for services, together with uncertainty regarding the extent to which the observed increases are due to a true change in risk, has made PDDs a major public health concern. As few data exist on the prevalence of PDDs in Canada, the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of diagnosed PDDs in two Canadian provinces (Manitoba and Prince Edward Island (PEI)) and compare characteristics of diagnosed cases between the two regions. To obtain the estimates, children under the age of 15 years with a PDD diagnosis who lived in either province in 2002 were identified by workers at Children's Special Services, a provincial government program that supports children with special needs in Manitoba, and by the PEI provincial early intervention coordinator (Department of Social Services and Seniors) and special education autism coordinator (Department of Education). The findings show that the prevalence among children 1-14 years of age was 28.4 per 10,000 (95% confidence interval: 26.1-30.8) in Manitoba and 35.2 per 10,000 (95% confidence interval: 28.2-43.4) in PEI. In Manitoba, children of aboriginal identity with PDDs (8.3%) were significantly underrepresented compared with the general population of aboriginal children living off native reserves (15.6%). Sex ratio, sibling risk, and age at initial diagnosis were similar in the two provinces. These findings can serve as a baseline from which to monitor the prevalence of these conditions over time, providing valuable data for researchers, planners, and service providers.

Recent findings [Turcotte, Gagnon, & Poirier, 2005. The effect of old age on the learning of supra-span sequences. "Psychology and Aging," 20, 251-260.] indicate that incidental learning of visuo-spatial supra-span sequences through immediate serial recall declines with old age (Hebb's paradigm). In this study, we examined whether strategies induced by awareness of the repeated sequence might explain age differences. Young (18-35 years old) and older (65-80 years old) participants underwent either incidental or intentional learning instructions. Results indicated that older adults demonstrated reduced learning of the repeated sequence under both incidental and intentional instructions. In comparison, young adults showed superior learning of the repeated sequence in both conditions but intentional instructions triggered faster and greater learning in this age group. The results strongly indicated that knowledge of the repeated sequence enhanced learning only in the group of young adults. Older adults were unable to translate the knowledge of the repetition into elaborate strategies that would increase recall of the repeated sequence. Other findings suggest that incidental learning in young adults was mediated by both non-conscious and conscious recollection processes.

Using Canadian census data, finds that the size and direction of the impact of class size, school size, and teacher salaries vary across points in the conditional wage distribution. (Contains 25 references.) (PKP)

Examines feasibility and effectiveness of implementing a directive education program called "Let Me Decide" to veterans living in Ontario. Discusses two methods used to evaluate implementation of the program. Reports that 97% of the veterans found the education process beneficial whether or not they completed the directives. (Author/JDM)