Search

Noncontiguous school attendance zone boundaries (AZBs) have a unique, relatively uncommon shape that assign two or more non-adjacent residential areas to the same school. Given their ability to shape school enrollments by taking advantage of residential sorting, noncontiguous AZBs have historically been linked to explicit efforts to both segregate and desegregate schools. In this paper, we use a novel, longitudinal dataset of AZBs and descriptive quantitative and geospatial methods to understand how the relationship between noncontiguous zones, school diversity, and neighborhood demographics changed from 1990-2020 in two southwestern school districts--Tucson Unified School District, Arizona and Fort Bend Independent School District, Texas. Each district has a unique legal history and demographic context that informs their use of noncontiguous AZBs. We find noncontiguous AZBs are more strongly associated with racially diverse schools and are more likely to bring together neighborhoods with different compositions in Tucson compared to Fort Bend. However, the association between Tucson's noncontiguous AZBs and racially diverse schools has waned since 1990, as the district has negotiated the end of its court-ordered desegregation plan. Our findings provide insight into when and how noncontiguous AZBs can effectively contribute to ethnoracially diverse schools.

This quasi-experimental study examines the effectiveness of a psychoeducational group intervention program consisting of psychoeducation sessions and group exercises based on psychodrama warm-up activities resulting from the needs of public sector call center agents in the workplace. Forty municipality call center employees from two municipalities (intervention and control groups) completed pre- and post-test measures before and after the intervention program. Within the scope of the study in sociodemographic form, the Brief Psychological Resilience Scale (BPRS), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS), Organization-Based Self-Esteem Scale (OBSES), Group Cohesion Scale (GCS), and Group Atmosphere Scale (GAS) were used. A follow-up session and follow-up test for the intervention group took place one month after the completion of the intervention sessions. The intervention group showed significant pre-to-post-test short-term effects on psychological resilience and pre-to-follow-up long-term effects on group atmosphere scores. However, there was no significant change in burnout, well-being, or organization-based self-esteem scores. Moreover, no significant difference was noted in the control group from pre- to post-test, except for the decrease in the group atmosphere scores.

Sports and Physical Education (SPE), like any other discipline, contributes to students' education. These students, for a good acquisition of teaching content, should be invited to take notes of the theoretical and technological knowledge conveyed by Physical and Sport Activities (PSA), subject of teaching. This quantitative and qualitative study aims to identify the usefulness of the implementation of theoretical knowledge and note-taking of the information taught in the training of students in Physical Education classes at the secondary school level. To achieve this objective, certain key concepts from "The Anthropological Theory of Didactics" by Chevallard were employed. In accordance with this theoretical framework, a methodological approach was adopted that focuses on administering questionnaires to students in the second cycle. These students meet the criterion of regular attendance at physical education courses in two secondary colleges. This approach includes recording three sessions of physical education courses and conducting interviews with each teacher at the course's conclusion. The results indicated that the students do not have a favorable relationship with the theoretical knowledge transmitted in PE during the practice of the different Physical and Sports Activities (PSA). This is due to the fact that the teacher does not focus the student's attention on what he or she has really learned and what he must retain in order to facilitate the practice of the different Physical and Sports Activities. To summarize, the essential finding derived from this study was that students in PE would greatly benefit from an introduction of theoretical courses combined with written documentation of the pedagogical information provided. The integration of both elements could foster the development of citizens who are proficient both physically and intellectually.

Migration continues to emerge as a significant issue in the present day, extending beyond its historical context. This phenomenon not only forms a broad spectrum of impact in social, economic, and cultural realms but also holds notable consequences in the realm of education. Migration, on one hand, has the potential to stimulate cultural interaction, enhancing diversity in knowledge and experience. On the other hand, immigrant individuals may encounter early challenges such as educational inequalities or negative attitudes. This intricate relationship between migration and education contributes to cultural development while simultaneously bringing about areas of societal conflict. Understanding the effects of migration on the younger generation falls within the responsibilities of Psychological Counseling and Guidance (PCG) teachers. These educators aim to support students' academic, personal, social, and emotional development, particularly addressing the challenges posed by the education of immigrant students in the context of social diversity. Research on understanding the attitudes among school stakeholders towards immigrant students contributes valuable insights to this field. In this context, the study is an original work focusing on the perspectives of PCG teachers concerning the attitudes of other stakeholders in schools with immigrant students in private schools. Conducted using qualitative research methods and the phenomenology design, the study involved 12 PCG teachers working in private schools in Gaziantep, Kilis, and Mersin, which are among Turkey's cities experiencing significant migration. Data collected through interviews were analyzed using content analysis. The findings revealed that, overall, teachers and students in private schools with immigrant students tended to have a positive attitude, while parents held a negative outlook. A collective evaluation of all data suggests a notably positive perception and attitude toward immigrant students.

Advances in technology have significantly augmented the potential of online education, particularly during crises, such as COVID-19, earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods. This qualitative survey study ascertains 150 English-as-a-foreign language (EFL) learners' perceptions of the efficacy of online language education in a preparatory school of a state university after the Kahramanmaras earthquake in Türkiye in 2023. Data were gathered via an online survey with open-ended inquiries to elicit favourable and adverse experiences and recommendations from students. In order to ensure the thorough and systematic analysis of the collected data, a rigorous methodological approach was employed. Specifically, the data were analyzed through content analysis, facilitated by the MAXQDA. The research outcomes revealed that the participants appreciated online language education for its time-saving nature, comfort, ease of attendance, access to recorded sessions, teacher support, and cost-effectiveness. However, some students also considered online education ineffective and reported challenges, such as technical issues, diminished concentration, lack of motivation and discipline, limited interaction, and class participation. EFL learners also provided suggestions for improving the curriculum, assessment methods, and instructors' teaching approaches.

This research examines the reasons for school dropout occurring at varying education levels in the Turkish education system (TES). To this end, research on school dropouts pertaining to TES has been targeted. The systematic data analysis method was used in the research. 47 studies suitable for the purposes of the study were analyzed through content analysis. A total of 290 coding processes were carried out. The results suggest that the family factor emerges as the main factor for school dropout in primary education in TES. The inadequacy of families' financial situation and low interest in education are effective. At the high school level, students' academic failure, absenteeism, peer pressure, and indifference of families appear as the causes of school dropouts. In higher education, difficulties learners experience in adapting to novel social environments, academic failure, financial problems and the thought of being a misfit for the selected department seem to be among the causes of school dropout. In the other group, the reasons for dropping out are determined as academic failure, financial difficulties, early marriages, dislike of school, indifference of family, negative effects of friend groups, and indifference towards school.

Funded by the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant, this national study examines arts-based adult education organizations involved in dance, music, drama, and visual arts with a philosophical perspective aligned with a multiliteracies theoretical framework. Multiliteracies considers how cultural and linguistic diversity must be fostered to encourage adults to thrive in all learning environments and recognizes that multimodality provides an expanded way to engage in literacy practices. Utilizing Carey Jewitt's four theoretical tenets to characterize multimodality serves to structure the analytical framework for the findings and discussion of this paper. Multiple case studies and constructivist grounded theory were used for the methodology. Some of the sites discussed in this paper include an art gallery; an immigration museum; and a chamber music organization that offers interactive performances. Participants included adult educators and learners who had options around face-to-face interviews; observations; document analysis of lesson plans or exemplars; or secondary data analysis of original ¿lm footage shot in these spaces. This research has found that arts-based approaches can infuse the work of adult educators to engage adult learners in inclusive pedagogy and active citizenship.

The study aimed to investigate the Effect of Academic Stress on Students' Academic Achievements and Its Implications for Their Future Lives. A correlational research design was employed through stratified random sampling (n[subscript i] = 270, where female = 80 and male =190) to collect pertinent data through a questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed. Firstly, academic stress highly affects students' academic achievement, with females being more stressed (65.20%) than males (59.60%), which leads to a high dropout rate and low graduation rate. Secondly, about 69% were accustomed to drinking alcohol, chewing Khat, absenteeism, and smoking whereas about 31% were regularly engaging in unsafe sex, physical fights, smoking shisha, and poor personal sanitation. Thirdly, there were significant positive relationships among sex, age, academic batch, and student's cumulative grade point average. To conclude, academic stress hinders good academic achievement, increases college dropout rates, low graduation rates, and lack of self-confidence. It leads to drinking alcohol, absenteeism, chewing khat, reduced academic morale of students, and failure in completing assignments on time. Therefore, university authorities should ensure a good academic environment for the students and minimize academic stress through appropriate course load, appropriate lecture hours, proper lecture schedules, and non-congested lecture halls.

Technological advances and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a significant paradigm shift in the field of education, especially in the field of distance education. In this period, although distance education offers a number of advantages to its users, it has also brought some difficulties. This sudden transition has had a profound impact on students, teachers, and institutions, leading to changes in teaching methods, assessment practices, and student engagement strategies. This study aims to investigate the problems that arise in the distance education process and to examine the effects of these problems on students in detail. A qualitative approach is considered ideal since it enables deeper understanding of experiences of university students during distance education. Convenience sampling was chosen because it provided easy access for the researchers and allowed the inclusion of participants who met the required criteria. The participants consisted of 37 people, 28 girls and 9 boys, who had experienced the distance education and were studying in the Psychological Counselling and Guidance programme in the second year of a state university located in the Aegean region of Türkiye. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using content analysis and thematic analysis methods. According to the findings of the study, the problems encountered by the students in the distance education process were listed under the following main themes: technological problems, problems related to the monitoring and evaluation of the course, motivation problems, emotional and physical problems, communication problems, problems related to domestic and environmental factors, feeling of professional inadequacy. In addition, students' suggestions for solutions to these problems and their opinions about whether they prefer face-to-face or online education were also discussed. As a result, the study offers suggestions for educational institutions and educators to overcome the difficulties encountered in distance education and to make the experience a positive one.

Compulsory attendance in communication skills courses offered at colleges of engineering seems to be a problematic issue for many students because it prevents them from performing well in such courses. Many students believe that time spent on these courses comes at the expense of focusing on core courses and worsens their overall performance in these courses. As such, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between attendance and students' overall performance in communication skills courses for the sake of providing suggestions that would enhance students' performance as well as allowing them to allocate more time to the core courses they are enrolled in. Making students' life easier would not only improve their status at the educational level but would also create a feeling of comfort and satisfaction in their surroundings, particularly among family members and friends. Participants in the study are university students enrolled in the college of engineering at a Middle Eastern university. The study yields significant results showing that compulsory attendance has no significant relationship with students' overall performance in communication skills courses. Relaxing attendance regulations might provide some margin of freedom for students to focus more on the engineering core courses without compromising their success in communication skills courses. The study provides significant recommendations that stakeholders can utilize to motivate students to perform well in communication skills courses while addressing any concerns they might have regarding the core courses they are enrolled in.

This study explored low self-confidence in elementary school male students and strategies to overcome it. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach, focusing on 18 fifth grade students. Data collection methods included interviews, classroom observations, and self-confidence questionnaires. Data analysis followed the Miles and Huberman model (data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing). The results showed that most male students lacked confidence in solo dancing but were confident in groups. The inhibiting factors included lack of previous experience, discomfort in front of peers, fear of judgment, lack of support and encouragement, and lack of practice and preparation. To overcome these issues, inclusive learning strategies, support, and a supportive environment are essential. Eliminating gender stereotypes in dance education is also important. The implications of this study underscore the need to create a positive and inclusive environment for male students to develop their confidence and interest in dance. It is expected that their participation and involvement in arts activities at school will increase.

In response to the need for graduates to tackle global, complex problems, higher education is increasing attention towards approaches that cross the boundaries of disciplinary thinking. However, while students can benefit from learning across disciplines, employability practitioners can also benefit. Transdisciplinary approaches can prompt practitioners to rethink career education, take charge of their professional development, and redefine their identity as borderless, ever-evolving transdisciplinary employability practitioners. Within this provocation, a transdisciplinary approach to learning is introduced and questions pertinent to the seven habits of a transdisciplinary mind are posed, intended to provoke converging perspectives on employability. By refocusing practitioners' employability perspectives, higher education can enhance its capacity for career-led learning and transform the identities of those working within it.

Postsecondary students with disabilities underutilize career services (CS) and report systemic barriers when trying to do so. Disability resource (DR) professionals rarely have the experience to advise students on employment issues such as internship opportunities, disclosure during interviews, and how to obtain workplace accommodations. Research recommends cross-training for professionals in both offices to facilitate more effective career development. The provision of accessible and disability-informed CS can strengthen students' preparation for workplace success, thereby improving persistent gaps in employment outcomes between college graduates with and without disabilities. This practice brief describes a virtual Community of Practice (CoP) involving CS and DR professionals from multiple Midwestern universities who shared strategies, challenges, and evaluation outcomes in a collaborative manner that can be replicated on other campuses.

This article discusses the opportunities and outcomes provided by the Gregory S. Fehribach Center. The Fehribach Center recruits students with physical disabilities at colleges and universities across Indiana for full-time, eight week, paid internships in positions related to the student's academic major. The Center seeks to place between 50 to 60 students each summer, with a limited number of fall and spring internships also available. Students can apply for the program after completing their first year of college through one year after graduation. Graduate students are also encouraged to apply. Internships can be arranged for students with any academic major. Most internships are onsite in the Indianapolis area, though remote options exist and provisions are made for employers who are outside of Indianapolis. The Fehribach Center also provides weekly professional development opportunities to interns and offers additional career development assistance to current and former interns in the form of disability-informed career assessments and career coaching.

Autism is the fourth-largest disability category in the US, and autistic high school students' expectations for college education in a wide variety of fields have been ever-growing. This paper focuses on the pursuit of STEM-related education for students with autism and the unique needs of these students and techniques to improve outcomes. Although the potential to diversify the current STEM workforce is evident, college enrollment trends and STEM employment rates do not reflect the increasing interests and needs of autistic individuals. This systematic literature review aimed to understand the current knowledge about autistic students' pathways from high school to STEM employment and examined associated educational practices promising to improve their STEM career outcomes. After reviewing 5,620 articles, our search yielded seven eligible articles. Findings demonstrate the prevalence of articles landing in autism journals and possessing limited demographic diversity, as well as the featured programs improving autistic students' developmental skills while participating in STEM programming. Additionally, autistic students are increasingly pursuing STEM programs in postsecondary education. Implications point to the necessity of elevating representation among diverse autistic individuals in scholarly research, offering further guidance to autistic students in following STEM career pathways, and expanding opportunities for them to enroll in STEM fields in postsecondary education institutions.

The purpose of this research was to investigate if the addition of extra credit affected the overall rate of attendance to synchronous lectures in an online asynchronous course, compared to courses in which no extra credit was offered. Further I investigated if the amount of extra credit made a difference to the rate of attendance. I collected data from 10 courses and found that offering low levels of extra credit led to more students attending lectures. This could lead to students having better interactions with peers and instructors, enjoying their classes more, and/or achieving better academic results.

The objective of this research is to develop a model for life skills training through the strengthening of academic, personal, social, and career competencies for middle school students. We designed this model to equip students with the necessary skills to navigate the complexities of life's challenges. Design-Based Research (DBR) serves as a research methodology, encompassing four stages: identification and analysis of practical problems, solution design, iterative testing cycles and solution refinement, reflection, and producing the final design. Validation testing of the model was conducted with four experts, including one developmental guidance and counseling specialist, one developmental psychologist, one adolescent psychologist, one curriculum and learning specialist, and eight guidance and counseling teachers or practitioners. The results of expert and practitioner validation indicate that the life skills training model is worthy of further experimentation to develop student's life skills. Recommendations for future research emphasize the importance of developing new skills or competencies for the younger generation and educators to address the challenges and dynamics of the digital era. Globalization and societal shifts toward digitally automated services underscore the need for teacher preparation in imparting life skills that not only adhere to conventional norms but also integrate technological skills into student education.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a transformative force in education, significantly influencing students. This research explores AI's impact on learning experiences, academic performance, career guidance, motivation, self-reliance, social interaction, and AI dependency. Utilizing a descriptive-comparative design, 194 student respondents were chosen through stratified sampling. The results show that students generally perceive AI positively. Students agree that AI enhances personalized learning, engagement, and critical thinking, although practical hands-on learning experiences received less favorable feedback. Academically, students concur that AI helps them identify weaknesses, improve assignments, and track progress, despite some reservations about its efficacy in exam preparation. For career guidance, students agree that AI effectively matches skills with career options, recommends internships, and provides resources, though it is less effective for long-term planning. Students also believe AI boosts motivation through gamified learning and progress tracking and fosters self-reliance via self-directed learning and critical thinking support. Socially, students agree that AI facilitates collaboration, peer learning, and networking. Additionally, students demonstrate a reliance on AI for their learning processes. Notably, female students report a more significant impact on social interactions than male students. The type of device used (laptop vs. cellphone) significantly affects the learning experience, with laptop users reporting a more substantial impact. Differences in AI's impact are noted among various courses, particularly benefiting education students more than those in hospitality management and agriculture. However, age and family income do not significantly influence AI's overall impact.