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The objective of this study is twofold: 1) To examine the current situations, desired conditions, and requirements for participation in quality assurance efforts of small schools under the Office of the Basic Education Commission; 2) To explore developmental guidelines for enhancing the quality assurance practices of these educational institutions. The research methodology involved: 1) surveying to assess the current situations, desired conditions, and essential requirements; and 2) investigating development guidelines embedded in the working processes of three schools with the best educational assurance practices. The sample groups included 385 persons who were school administrators and teachers. Research tools included a survey form, interview forms, and an assessment form, which was verified and approved by nine qualified individuals. Data analysis involved content validation and factor analysis. The statistics also indicated the correctness, appropriateness, feasibility, and utility of the information. The statistical techniques used in the research included basic statistics and the analysis of essential requirements. The findings of the study revealed the following: 1) The current situation of the participation in educational quality assurance efforts of the small schools was rated at a moderate level, with the highest level of the desired conditions. An area of the requirements that was rated with the highest score of development priority was active participation in quality assurance; 2) The developmental guidelines for quality assurance practices in educational institutions encompassed five domains with a total of 16 strategies. The experts' evaluation of these domains indicated a high level of accuracy, while appropriateness, feasibility, and utility were scored at the highest level.

This research examines the role of effort at the school level in ensuring climate literacy and the influence of climate literacy on the environmental behavior of children. Literature has shown that pro-environmental behavior is mediated by hope and despair amongst the children. An attempt has been made to study the same. Also, the role of climate literacy in inducing indoor generation behavior was studied. The research is based on a questionnaire developed to measure the constructs (Efforts at the school level, hope, despair, climate literacy, pro-environmental behavior, and indoor generation behavior). The questionnaires were used to survey 477 students of the middle and high-level schools in Delhi National Capital Region (DelhiNCR), India. CB-Structural Equation modeling was used to study the influence and significance of the relationships. The research revealed that climate literacy, positively and significantly influenced pro-environmental behavior, while it wasn't positively influencing indoor generation behavior. Hope was been found to positively mediate pro-environmental behavior. This research is one of its kind and explored the psychological and behavioral implications of climate literacy amongst school students.

Private school leaders weigh costs and benefits when deciding whether to participate in school voucher programs. Regulatory costs associated with accepting voucher funding could reduce private school leaders' willingness to participate. We test this hypothesis through the first random assignment analysis of the effects of various regulations on the expressed willingness of private school leaders to participate in hypothetical voucher programs that draws upon national data. We randomly assign different regulations to U.S. private school leaders and ask them whether they would participate in a hypothetical school voucher program during the following school year. Relative to no regulations, we find that open-enrollment mandates reduce the likelihood that private school leaders report being certain to participate in a hypothetical choice program by about 14 percentage points, or 67%. The requirement that private schools accept the voucher funding amount as payment-in-full reduces the likelihood that private school leaders report being certain to participate by 16 percentage points, or 77%. Some regulations are more likely to deter private schools with higher reported tuitions, higher enrollment trends, more specialization, and more climate problems.

Students' discussions of their experiences in postsecondary programs for undergraduates with intellectual disability is a largely untapped yet fundamental resource in the examination of inclusive university programs. Through phenomenological interviews of undergraduates enrolled in a program for students with intellectual disability, we explored student descriptions of their experiences in their first semester living on a college campus. Additionally, we assessed the perceptions of others involved in the program, including students' peer mentors, their parents, and their faculty. Students' experiences mirrored those of many college students throughout their first semester, yet there were successes and challenges specific to these students with respect to relationships, belonging, sense of self, and understanding others. Parents reported gains in students' sense of self, confidence, and interpersonal skills, but reported that students may need more focus on developing career-related skills. Peer-mentors and faculty noted both positive effects of the program on the students as well as on themselves. We offer recommendations for research and practice focused on creating truly inclusive environments for undergraduate students with intellectual disability.

Co-curricular activities have been shown to impact many measures of academic success, such as academic self-confidence, leadership abilities, identity development, personal development, and student thriving. Borrowing from established research paradigms on pluralistic ignorance, the current study sought to explore whether first-year and senior students' perceptions of themselves and others vary when it comes to attending and participating in campus activities and whether sex has an impact on those perceptions. Using data from the 2018 National Survey of Student Engagement, the study included 10,512 students attending 33 institutions. The results suggest significant differences across the sexes and within reference group (self vs. other) for attending campus activities and participating in co-curricular activities. These findings can help guide faculty, advisors, and administrators to better understand how students' perceptions of peer co-curricular activities might relate to their own, and how those perceptions might affect their behavior positively and negatively.

This article examines the involvement of family, community, and school in citizenship education in China, particularly in terms of the tension between traditional cultural values and today's modernisation. The analysis was based on written materials acquired through a systematic search of English and Chinese scholarly literature on the subject and relevant Chinese policy documents and laws. Following a hermeneutic approach, the image formed in the literature of Chinese citizenship education was interpreted and explained in a broader historical-cultural-social context. The results show that the traditional values of Chinese civilisation continue to play a strong role in all three arenas of citizenship education, although the conflict between traditional values emphasising conformism and modern values emphasising individual self-determination is also recognisable in them.

The internationalization of higher education institutions (HEIs) often focuses almost exclusively on the number of students and staff involved in mobility programs. In contrast, internationalization at home (IaH) is a holistic and inclusive approach that focuses on change in different areas and levels of university structure and life. It considers the entire university community as a system and includes those students who never study abroad. This article analyses the elements of IaH programs described in the literature, identifying seven main areas common to them all and proposing a general IaH framework that may be used when implementing an IaH process.

The present study explored Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' experience of flow in online teaching. To this aim, interviews were conducted to explore the conditions reported to facilitate or hinder the experience of flow among teachers. Twenty-four Iranian EFL teachers (eleven males and thirteen females) were selected for semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data concerning their perceptions towards the online teaching-learning process. Participants had limited experience of online teaching Findings revealed that all teachers had experienced flow in online classes. It was also found that, besides previously used concepts which led to teacher flow, students' digital literacy, teachers' feeling of dominance on the subject, and peer communication were influential in enhancing teachers' flow in online classes. Finally, the inability to judge learners' physical and emotional condition, technical obstacles as well as limitations due to face-to-face interaction were reported to be the main obstacles hindering teachers' perceived flow in online classes. Possible implications for teacher education programs are discussed.

Elementary school children are spending more time using digital technologies. Teachers and schools are concerned about the student's digital safety. We interviewed ten elementary school teachers virtually to understand their concerns and understand the actions they take regarding elementary school children's digital safety. Using thematic analysis, we identified themes of concerns and actions of teachers and schools on elementary school children's digital safety. Some digital safety concerns discussed by the teachers included content-related concerns such as accessing inappropriate content, contact-related concerns, inappropriate contact with others online, sharing personal information, lack of understanding of danger, conduct-related concerns regarding cyberbullying and digital footprint, contract-related concerns such as digital security and privacy, and home-related concerns. Teachers and schools have taken several actions to address these concerns. Some of the digital safety actions included security measures and limits, monitoring student activities, providing education on digital safety, and support from guidance counselors. This study has implications for elementary school educators, administrators, parents, and students on the safe use of digital technologies.

Background: Schools are essential public health partners for safeguarding students' health. Child Death Review (CDR) is one public health activity where collaboration with schools is integral for developing strategies to prevent child death but the degree of collaboration is unknown. This study assessed school participation in CDR and the prevalence of school problems in reviewed child death cases, comparing non-suicide and suicide-related deaths. Methods: Using the National Fatality Review-Case Reporting System, we created a dataset of school-aged children (5 to 20 years) whose death was reviewed from 2005 to 2017 and used frequencies, proportions, and chi-squared statistics on selected measures. Results: Educational representatives infrequently participated in CDRs (24.9%). School records were rarely accessed for reviewed deaths (5.2%). Less than half (41.2%) of reviewed deaths had any school information and of these, 35.5% of children were indicated as having problems in school. Compared with non-suicide deaths, a larger proportion of suicide deaths had school representatives attend CDRs (28.4% vs 24.1%, P < 0.0001), and access to educational records (4.2% vs 9.2%, P < 0.0001). Implications: Efforts are needed to address potential barriers to systems integration, including state policies and federal educational privacy laws. Conclusions: School participation in CDRs is lacking for both suicide and non-suicide deaths.

This article presents an analysis of the participation of Texas public school districts in the Advanced Placement (AP) program for academic years ending 2013 through 2019. We develop and estimate to a panel of school district data a hurdle count model composed of: (1) a first stage fixed effect binomial logistic regression model of the probability that a school district opts-in to locally offer AP program courses in a given academic years; and (2) a second stage fixed effect zero truncated Poisson regression model of the number of unique AP courses offered in a given year by opting-in districts. We find that the number of Texas school districts providing local access to AP courses is decreasing through time; however, we also find that districts that do provide local access to AP courses offer increasingly greater numbers of unique AP courses.

Abstract Households with children eligible for Free School Meals are at risk of food insecurity. This paper reports on a rapid-response study that investigated the impact of the school food voucher scheme during the COVID-19 crisis on young people, families and schools. It pays close attention to the reliance of the state on the goodwill of society and its citizens in feeding those most in need. The Capabilities Approach is used to highlight factors that inhibited and restricted the use of the vouchers to produce the capability of having good nutrition for children in need of Free School Meals. The approach moves towards creating a society where children and young people are able to lead a life of their own choice and contribute to key policy decisions. This qualitative study funded by the British Education Research Association was conducted between September 2020 and March 2021. The study posed two research questions: (1) how have schools responded to COVID-19 in relation to food during holiday provision; and (2) what have families identified as barriers to accessing the school food voucher scheme? Data collection involved online interviews with young people, schools and organisations (i.e. public health, director from the food industry. etc.). The findings highlight the difficulties with accessing and using the school food voucher and implications for future policy directions. Owing to this being a small-scale study, it is not generalisable to the wider population but does highlight localised issues.

This research study analyzed the role of CEPs in strategic planning processes by examining the use of the civic action plan ("Campus Compact, 2018"). To ascertain whether institution-wide planning efforts around civic and community engagement create new opportunities for CEPs to take on institutional leadership roles, we interviewed CEPs who were involved in creating civic action plans at their campuses and examined their role in plan development, the competencies most utilized in that process, and the most important support for building competencies and framing the change process. These interviews gave new insights into how strategic planning processes have contributed to the growth, development, and elevation of the role of CEPs on campus and the types of support structures they found valuable. The conclusions will inform future planning work by CEPs and support for that work by organizations. We make preliminary recommendations for change, process accountability, development, and future research.

The community engagement professional (CEP) plays a critical role in engaging faculty, staff, and students with communities. In order to do this in the most effective way, this essay advocates for CEPs to become familiar with the Cooperative Extension system and develop competency for engaging Extension personnel, even when those personnel are not a part of the CEP's home institution. The essay extends the work of Dostilio et al. (2017) on preliminary competencies for the community engagement professional by identifying additional competencies, organized as knowledge, skill, and dispositions, that can help CEPs work with the Cooperative Extension system to maximize engagement opportunities for faculty, staff, and students. This essay also includes ideas for implementing competency training for CEPs. Conclusions include thoughts on preparing the community engagement professional to learn and collaborate with Cooperative Extension to enrich the academic experience and benefit the communities they serve.

This study explores the circumstances of Kurdish refugee youth in Canada. Using a critical ethnographic approach, I interviewed twenty young people, aged 15-30, to examine their transnational identities and lived experiences in the Canadian context. Arendt's notion of the right to have rights, Isin's concept of acts of citizenship, and Hall's concept of state hegemony proved to be useful theoretical tools to examine the exclusion of refugee youth from the educational market and their statelessness, rightlessness, and statuslessness in the nation-states. The interview data indicate that the statelessness and statuslessness of refugee youth stem from the practices of hegemony, assimilation, and racism by their home and host state. The study also suggests the importance of questioning the state's hegemony and the domination of the western construction of citizenship to provide alternative forms of social and educational participation that can transform the youths' status from refugees to actors and citizens.

The staff involvement (SI) and family and community engagement (FCE) components of the CSPAP framework constitute the support system for program implementation and sustainability. These components embody the essence of the framework because they focus on the coordination and synergy needed for a successful program, and such attributes are the hallmark of multicomponent approaches to school-based health promotion. But what does it take to galvanize school staff, families, and communities in a collective effort to bolster quality physical education and promote and increase the physical activity (PA) of children and adolescents? In this article, the authors summarize research on SI and FCE, particularly over the past decade. While research on these CSPAP components is still in its emergent stages, we identify key findings to date and suggest strategies for translating research to practice. It is our hope that this article will provide school PA leaders (PALs) and physical education teacher educators with actionable ideas to more fully leverage the CSPAP support system.

Tackling environmental problems is one of the main policy challenges facing governments. The process of forming attitudes starts at a young age, and is mostly shaped by education. Participation in pro-environmental initiatives at schools is mainly voluntary. Local governments can play an important role as the institution that links communities with the environment. In this paper, we examine the role of local governments/municipalities on school participation in an environmental educational program, with a special focus on primary and secondary education. We use data from the Sustainable School Program in Chile. We model schools' participation and level of participation by an ordered probit model with sample selection. Results show that public schools are more likely to participate in the program compared with private schools, and schools with more teachers reveal a higher probability of being part of the program. In addition, while school performance and teachers' perceptions correlate with achieving higher levels of certification, a more intense commitment to the program is more likely in communes whose local authorities have the capacity to promote voluntary financial and environmental initiatives. Thus, in order to promote successful co-management of environmental policy, local governments should take into account the heterogeneity of the school system.

This case study focuses on one district's process of continuous improvement in family engagement. The improvement effort addresses the point at which family engagement tends to decline precipitously and students are particularly vulnerable--the transition into high school. In this article we analyze the implementation of a continuous improvement approach to engaging families as students make this critical transition. In particular, we describe (a) the variation in schools' family engagement activities and participation in cycles of inquiry, (b) the challenges identified by schools to implementing the family engagement approach and cycles of inquiry, and (c) the learning that occurred for both the participating schools and the district-university partnership team through the continuous improvement process.

This case study focuses on one district's process of continuous improvement in family engagement. The improvement effort addresses the point at which family engagement tends to decline precipitously and students are particularly vulnerable--the transition into high school. In this article we analyze the implementation of a continuous improvement approach to engaging families as students make this critical transition. In particular, we describe (a) the variation in schools' family engagement activities and participation in cycles of inquiry, (b) the challenges identified by schools to implementing the family engagement approach and cycles of inquiry, and (c) the learning that occurred for both the participating schools and the district-university partnership team through the continuous improvement process. [This article was published in "School Community Journal" (EJ1184768).]

The work of contemporary school principals is intensifying in terms of complexity and volume. Many factors moderate and drive such work intensification. More than ever before, school principals are expected to build relationships with organizations and agencies connected to the student and school community. Using findings generated from a large-scale survey of 1,400 Ontario principals, this paper reports on the influence of opportunities for school--community involvement on the work principals do on a daily basis and details how involvement in such activities influences and impacts their workloads. Survey findings indicate that principals are engaged in an average of 4.4 community involvement opportunities at the school level. Almost two-thirds of principals reported that school-community involvement increases their workload. Four ways in which work intensification influences principals' ventures in school-community involvement are also identified, including how school-community involvement leaves less time for direct instructional leadership practices.

University-community engagement often involves students engaging with people who experience multiple forms of disadvantage or marginalization. This is particularly true when universities work with communities in developing nations. Participation in these projects can be challenging for students. Assumptions about themselves, their professional practice, and broader society are tested while dealing with the challenges of life in a developing nation. In light of this, students' learning and their personal well-being need to be supported before, during, and after participating in international community engagement. This paper reports on the development of a conceptual framework for the support and enhancement of student learning during international community engagement. The paper then reports on the development of a resource that aims to support student learning. Early pilot data suggested that the resource is effective in supporting student learning and well-being and that the resource shows potential for wider use in the higher education sector.

Individualized programmes for gifted students are one of the ways in which curricula can be adapted to take account of the identified educational needs of gifted students. Planning is a key phase in ensuring that these programmes are carried out in a high-quality manner. This article explores the challenges faced in the planning of individualized programmes for gifted students, such as: purpose and objectives, selection of a concept of "giftedness" and of a curriculum model, the planning process, the engagement of students, parents and teachers, and the planning of the document

The aim of this study was to examine the relation of parental supervision, parental involvement at school and child's social competence with school achievement in primary school. A theoretical model was postulated that predicts direct and indirect effects of parental behaviors on adolescents' school achievement. Participants were 1,024 adolescents attending Grades 5 through 8 in 20 primary schools in Croatia and one of their parents or guardians. Adolescents completed a scale assessing their self-perceived social competence and data on their grade point average were collected. Parents completed scales measuring parental supervision and parental involvement at school and they rated their child's social competence. The results of model testing showed that parental behaviors have both direct and indirect effect on adolescents' school achievement. Greater parental supervision and school involvement have a direct and an indirect, through their effects on child's social competence, positive effects on adolescents' school achievement.

Research on nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has grown significantly over the last 15 years, with much of this work focused on factors that initiate and maintain NSSI among school-aged youth. Although this work is important, it does raise several ethical concerns. In this article we outline key ethical issues underlying NSSI research in schools and offer recommendations for conducting ethically sound and productive research in this area. Ethical concerns addressed include: 1) recruitment of minors to research; 2) disclosure and confidentiality; 3) the risk of iatrogenic effects; 4) duty of care; 5) engaging schools in research; and 6) safety of the researchers. In each area, we offer recommendations to assist researchers, ethics committees, and schools in working together to conduct ethical NSSI research, further our understanding of NSSI, and address and respond to these behaviors in schools.

During the Olympiad, an Olympic host country is required to organise and deliver an education programme to schools nationwide. Schools' experiences of engagement with such programmes are often reported on by the government rather than being rigorously examined by academics. Moreover, there is little scientific understanding of how individual schools facilitate the programmes and why different schools engage with the same programme in different ways and to varying degrees, and generate different levels of impact. Looking at the London 2012 Olympic education programme called Get Set, this original qualitative research was undertaken to explore local schools' experiences of involvement with the programme in a non-hosting region, Leicestershire. The paper advocates the use of programme-theory-driven evaluations (in particular a realist evaluation approach) to assess programme implementation. The results provide explanations of how and why case study schools engage more effectively or less effectively with the programme. The results identify the missing links in the programme theory, highlighting the significance of contextual factors at individual school levels, and arguing for the adoption of tailored strategies for effective programme implementation.

Little is known about the differential experiences with violence among girls in conflict-affected societies based on their involvement in formal education. A quantitative survey was conducted with girls between the ages of 10-14 across 14 sites in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The prevalence of three forms of violence was estimated across four levels of participation in formal education, and multivariable mixed effects logistic regression models were used to compare girls' increasing levels of education to those who reported never attending school. Trend tests across the four levels of education were conducted for violence outcomes. Girls' higher levels of participation in formal education were significantly associated with lower reported rates of physical and sexual violence. Findings suggest a significant protective effect of formal education on girls from physical and sexual violence. Findings also suggest a significant relationship between girls' age and risk of experiencing physical and sexual violence.

Transnational Education (TNE) has potential for expanding access to higher education in Africa, which has chronic high rates of unmet demand for access. Paradoxically, African higher education institutions (HEIs) have the least participation in TNE. There is a dearth of systematic understanding of the factors that influence the participation of African HEIs in TNE and the impacts of their participation at both institutional and societal levels. This article proposes a sociological framework for investigating the factors that enable or hinder the participation of African higher HEIs in TNE, and the impacts of their participation on the institutions themselves and their respective countries. The framework is constructed with societal and organizational factors disparately identified through a purposive review of the literature.