Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among school children in capital areas of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, West Africa.

Background: Although the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe (DRSTP) has undertaken school children-based deworming programs against intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) using a single dose of mebendazole annually since 2005, it remains unclear as to the outcome to date. The present study intends to investigate the recent IPIs status among school children living in capital areas of the DRSTP. Methods: A total of 252 school children (121 boys and 131 girls) of grades 4 and 5 from 4 primary schools located in the capital areas participated in the present study and their fresh fecal specimens were examined for the presence of any parasites using the merthiolate- iodine-formaldehyde concentration method as conducted. Results: The overall prevalence of IPIs was 64.7% (163/ 252). No significant gender difference in prevalence between boys (67.8%) and girls (61.8%) was found (p = 0.3). The majority of school children were infected with a single species of parasite (55.8%). Altogether, 12 different intestinal parasite species were identified in DRSTP school children, of which 9 species were pathogenic and the remaining 3 were non-pathogenic. Conclusion: Improving the detection method, sanitation facilities and personal hygiene as well as utilizing combined drugs are all important measures to greatly reduce IPIs in DRSTP school children.

Research, STEM Education, & Native American Programs in Montana

Oscillating electroosmotic flows in microchannels can be used as a separating mechanism for biological species. This MEMS related work specifically studies the separation of different sized DNA on the microscale as a pre-cursor to lab on a chip systems. In addition to this research, Dr. Thomas will present programs and activities that enable Native American students to obtain their STEM degrees. This involves working with middle school through graduate students at the 4 year institutions, Tribal colleges, and K-12 schools in Montana.

Factors Influencing the Implementation of Substance Use Prevention Programs in Elementary Schools

Prevention scientists have called for more research on the factors affecting the implementation of substance use prevention programs. Given the lack of literature in this area, coupled with evidence that children as early as elementary school engage in substance use, the purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence the implementation of substance use prevention programs in elementary schools. This study involved a mixed methods approach comprised of a survey and in-person interviews. Sixty-five guidance counselors and teachers completed the survey, and 9 guidance counselors who completed the survey were interviewed individually. Correlation analyses and hierarchical multiple regression were conducted. Quantitative findings revealed ease of implementation most frequently influenced program implementation, followed by beliefs about the program’s effectiveness. Qualitative findings showed curriculum modification as an important theme, as well as difficulty of program implementation. The in-person interviews also shed light on three interrelated themes influencing program implementation – The Wheel, time, and scheduling. Results indicate the majority of program providers modified the curriculum in some way. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed, and areas for future research are suggested.

SOUTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY BLOCK GRANTS FOR EDUCATION PILOT PROGRAMS

The South Carolina General Assembly created the South Carolina Community Block Grant for Education Pilot Program by Proviso 1.94 in the 2014-15 General Appropriation Act. The intent of the proviso is to encourage public school districts and district entrepreneurial public educators to undertake state-of-the-art initiatives to improve student learning and to share the results with the state’s public education community. Although community partnerships were the focus of the grant, school districts were the lead agencies on the grant were directed by proviso to provide reports, summaries and items for the evaluation component of the grant. Through this proviso, one million dollars was allocated for the block grants with direct allocations to school districts. One hundred percent of the funds were allocated to school districts. No grant award was to exceed $250,000 annually unless the grants committee found that exceptional circumstances warranted exceeding this amount.

South Carolina Community Block Grants for Education Pilot Programs: Year 1 Report

The South Carolina General Assembly created the South Carolina Community Block Grant for Education Pilot Program by Proviso 1.94 in the 2014-15 General Appropriation Act. The purpose of the proviso was to encourage and sustain partnerships between a community and its public school district for the implementation of innovative, state-of-the-art education initiatives and models to improve learning. Any public school, including a charter school, was eligible to submit a grant application. The proviso asserts that the success of the grant program is best served when there is vigorous community support, which is integral to the development and implementation on innovative initiatives for young people. Through this proviso, one million dollars was allocated for the block grants with direct allocations to school districts. Grants awarded were to be implemented for a period of one year beginning July 1, 2015 until June 30, 2016.

An intervention program for children with school failure problems.

School failure is a chronic problem in many developing countries and in some developed as Portugal due to factors like cognitive deficiencies of children, an inadequate family environment, low SES and bad teaching methods or school organization. It is important to develop effective and simple intervention strategies able to cope with the problem at an individual level independently of the cause. The general objective of the following study is to develop behavioral training techniques to help children with problems of school failure. 6 - 12 years old children attending ISCED 1, with academic difficulties because of family problems, social exclusion (living in poverty or belonging to an ethnic minority) or poor schooling were trained. Cognitive-behavioral techniques that have been widely used to train persons with intellectual, sensorial, physical or social deficiencies were applied. Results are evaluated in terms of % of attained objectives, time, and (subjective) teacher satisfaction. Some results of individual children are shown. Training programs seem to be successful independently of the (mostly unknown) cause of failure of the trained subject.

Competencies Required in Education Research and Teaching Systematization according to Students from the Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education Programs of the University of Costa Rica

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of two online forums carried out with the participation of 42 students of the Licenciaturas  in Preschool Education, Primary Education and Secondary Education of the University of Costa Rica. The main purpose of the forums was to determine the insights of the participant students about the competencies they have achieved in the field of education research, and which have been the essential tools for them to systematize their own teaching practices. The discussion forums were part of the course FD5091 Métodos de Investigación Educativa [Education Research Methods] of the School of Teacher Education, delivered from March-April 2010.  Of the sample, 60 percent were students of the Preschool teaching program, 35 percent were from the Primary Education teaching program and 5 percent were from the Secondary Education teaching program in the fields of Science, Mathematics and Social Studies. According to the insights and beliefs showed by the participants –both, the future teachers and the profession practitioners–, there are no opportunities for research or systematization of their own teaching mediation, in the current work situation.(1) Translator’s Note: In Costa Rica, the “Licenciatura” is a one-year post-Bachelor study program, usually including thesis. “Primary Education” refers to students from the 1st to 6th grades, and “Secondary Education” refers to students from the 7th to 11th grades.

School-time Extension: Are the School Structure’s Hard Components Modified? Literature Review on the Subject

For more than two decades we have witnessed in Latin America –in Argentina particularly– the development of policies to expand the school day. We understand that the implementation of such policies is an opportunity to observe the behavior of the school’s behavior faced with the attempt to modify one of its hardest components –school-time–; it becomes also a natural laboratory to analyze how much does the traditional organization of school-time can resist, how does it change and how do these changes (if implemented) impact the rest of the school components (spaces, groups, etc.). This paper shows the state of the art of the most significant studies in two research fields, in the context of primary education, on this matter: on the one hand, the studies related to organization and extension of school time and, on the other hand, research on the structural and structuring components of school-related aspects. The literature review indicates that studies on school-time and on the corresponding extension policies and programs do not report the difficulties found when trying to modify the hard components of the school system. Studies with the ‘school system’ as object of study have not approached the numerous school-time extension experiences, although time is one of the structural elements of the system.