The relation of sports participation to academic performance of high school students

Over the past one hundred years, interscholastic athletic programs have evolved to a place of prominence in both public and private education across America. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) estimates that approximately 3.96 million males and 2.80 million females participated in organized high school athletic programs during the 2001–2002 school year at over 17 thousand public and private high schools. The popularity of interscholastic athletic programs has resulted in continuous investigations of the relationship between high school athletic programs and academic performance. ^ The present study extends earlier investigations by examining the relation of athletic participation to several indicators of academic performance for senior high school students. This research examined: (a) average daily attendance of varsity athletes and non-athletes; (b) final cumulative grade point average; and (c) test scores on the tenth grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FLAT) in both reading and in mathematics. ^ Data were collected on 2081 randomly selected male and female high school students identified as athletes or non-athletes at ten public senior high schools in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district. The results of the overall analyses showed a positive and significant relationship between athletic participation and educational performance. On average, athletes were absent fewer days from school per year than non-athletes and athletes earned a significantly higher cumulative grade point average than their non-athlete peers. A significant statistical difference was also found in the tenth grade FCAT test scores in both reading and mathematics for athletes and non-athletes when eighth grade FCAT test scores in reading and mathematics were used as co-variates. Athletes earned significantly higher Grade 10 FCAT test scores in both reading and mathematics than non-athletes. ^ Although cause and effect cannot be inferred from this study, the findings do indicate the potentially beneficial value of athletic programs in public secondary education. The study concluded that Florida high school graduation requirements might seriously consider the role of interscholastic athletic programs as a valid and essential extra-curricular activity. ^

Secondary school inclusion rates: The relationship between the training and beliefs of school site principals and the implementation of inclusion

Programs require strong support and guidance from those in leadership positions to ensure proper implementation (Fullen, 2001). Consequently, school site principals must rely on the training they have received to support them in making appropriate decisions. It is the school site principal’s leadership that is pivotal in the success of students with disabilities (DiPaola & Walther-Thomas, 2003; Monteith, 2000). In fact, the principal has a moral obligation to provide an environment that supports social justice in schools (Grogan & Andrews, 2002). The inclusion of students with disabilities does just that—it ensures that these students are not segregated to a “separate but equal” education. This study utilized a participant survey to collect data on principals’ beliefs and training in special education. This information was compared to the percentage of time students with disabilities spent with their non-disabled peers in the principals’ respective schools. An analysis was conducted to identify if a linear relationship exists between the selected variables and the inclusion percentages. Open-ended questions were included in the original survey which allowed for a thematic analysis of the responses. These responses were utilized to allow participants to further express their thoughts on the identified variables. Results indicated that there were no statistically significant relationships identified between the beliefs and training of secondary school site principals and the percentage of time that their students in special education spend with their non-disabled peers. Although the original research questions were not supported, further post hoc analysis indicated that the results obtained did support that the principals believed inclusion had a social benefit to students. Additional investigation into the academic benefits of inclusion is still needed. In addition, principals who indicated that they had some type of training in special education indicated a higher percentage that the individual student should be the focal point when making placement decisions. These results support the need for further research in the area of principal preparation programs and their relationships to the daily practice of school site principals.

Employer participation in Florida school -to -work initiatives

This study used a cross-sectional design and descriptive research methodology to assess the characteristics and practices of employers participating in Florida school-to-work (STW) initiatives, the factors influencing their participation, and their STW partnerships with schools. The study also examined the relationships between employer characteristics and participation. ^ A sampling frame of 15,202 employers from the 28 Florida STW regions was constructed. Data were collected via a mail survey with a random sample of employers, using a researcher-designed questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlational analysis, and analysis of variance. ^ At the 95% confidence level, it was estimated that the mean establishment size in the population is between 25 and 51 employees and that employers have been involved in STW partnerships between five and seven years. ^ The study revealed broad-based employer participation in three of four areas: Working with Students, Working with Educators, and Internal Company Practices Supporting STW. A fourth area, Building a System, showed generally low participation. Data indicate that workforce needs are important incentives to employer STW participation beyond their desire to contribute to education or the community. Data also indicate that lack of information on STW is the greatest barrier to employer participation. ^ Sample employers have more positive perceptions of the value of their partnerships with schools than of the quality of the partnerships. Ninety-four percent agreed that students are better prepared for work and careers as a result of the partnership's activities. More than half agreed that a sense of trust and good communication exist between educators and employer partners. ^ Employer variables found to have a significant, positive relationship with participation include size (coefficient of determination r2 = .116), years in STW partnerships (r2 = .128), and perceptions of partnership quality (r2 = .092) and value (r2 = .112). ^ A major conclusion based on the findings of this study is that employer participation is optimized in initiatives that achieve important STW outcomes for students and build long-term relationships between employers and schools. Another that in Florida, the STW Opportunities Act of 1994 has not resulted in substantially greater employer involvement in building a STW system. ^

Participation in a positive youth development program and multi -problem alternative high school students' transformative goals: An investigation of the theoretical and methodological utility and validity of the Transformative Goal Attainment (TGAS)

There is a growing body of literature that provides evidence for the efficacy of positive youth development programs in general and preliminary empirical support for the efficacy of the Changing Lives Program (CLP) in particular. This dissertation sought to extend previous efforts to develop and preliminarily examine the Transformative Goal Attainment Scale (TGAS) as a measure of participant empowerment in the promotion of positive development. Consistent with recent advances in the use of qualitative research methods, this dissertation sought to further investigate the utility of Relational Data Analysis (RDA) for providing categorizations of qualitative open-ended response data. In particular, a qualitative index of Transformative Goals, TG, was developed to complement the previously developed quantitative index of Transformative Goal Attainment (TGA), and RDA procedures for calculating reliability and content validity were refined. Second, as a Stage I pilot/feasibility study this study preliminarily examined the potentially mediating role of empowerment, as indexed by the TGAS, in the promotion of positive development. ^ Fifty-seven participants took part in this study, forty CLP intervention participants and seventeen control condition participants. All 57 participants were administered the study's measures just prior to and just following the fall 2003 semester. This study thus used a short-term longitudinal quasi-experimental research design with a comparison control group. ^ RDA procedures were refined and applied to the categorization of open-ended response data regarding participants' transformative goals (TG) and future possible selves (PSQ-QE). These analyses revealed relatively strong, indirect evidence for the construct validity of the categories as well as their theoretically meaningful structural organization, thereby providing sufficient support for the utility of RDA procedures in the categorization of qualitative open-ended response data. ^ In addition, transformative goals (TG) and future possible selves (PSQ-QE), and the quantitative index of perceived goal attainment (TGA) were evaluated as potential mediators of positive development by testing their relationships to other indices of positive intervention outcome within a four-step method involving both analysis of variance (ANOVA and RMANOVAs) and regression analysis. Though more limited in scope than the efforts at the development and refinement of the measures of these mediators, the results were also promising. ^

Reaganomics and its effects on pricing and participation in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County public high schools

Problem: This research proposes to examine the effects of Reaganomics on pricing and participation in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools. Subproblems: The first subproblem is to examine the effects of Reaganomics on pricing in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools. The second subproblem is to examine the effects of Reaganomics on participation in the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools. Hypotheses: The first hypothesis is that Reaganomics has resulted in price increases to the regular paying sector of the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools. The second hypothesis is that Reaganomics has decreased the percentage of the regular paying sector participating in the National School Lunch Program in Dade County Public High Schools.

'Sitting alone in the staffroom contemplating my future’ : communities of practice, legitimate peripheral participation and student teachers’ experiences of problematic school placements as guests

Peer reviewed

'Sitting alone in the staffroom contemplating my future’ : communities of practice, legitimate peripheral participation and student teachers’ experiences of problematic school placements as guests

Peer reviewed

Intergenerational effects of parental substance-related convictions and adult drug treatment court participation on children's school performance.

This study examined the intergenerational effects of parental conviction of a substance-related charge on children's academic performance and, conditional on a conviction, whether completion of an adult drug treatment court (DTC) program was associated with improved school performance. State administrative data from North Carolina courts, birth records, and school records were linked for 2005-2012. Math and reading end-of-grade test scores and absenteeism were examined for 5 groups of children, those with parents who: were not convicted on any criminal charge, were convicted on a substance-related charge and not referred by a court to a DTC, were referred to a DTC but did not enroll, enrolled in a DTC but did not complete, and completed a DTC program. Accounting for demographic and socioeconomic factors, the school performance of children whose parents were convicted of a substance-related offense was worse than that of children whose parents were not convicted on any charge. These differences were statistically significant but substantially reduced after controlling for socioeconomic characteristics; for example, mother's educational attainment. We found no evidence that parent participation in an adult DTC program led to improved school performance of their children. While the children of convicted parents fared worse on average, much--but not all--of this difference was attributed to socioeconomic factors, with the result that parental conviction remained a risk factor for poorer school performance. Even though adult DTCs have been shown to have other benefits, we could detect no intergenerational benefit in improved school performance of their children.

Diversity and Inclusion As the Key to Innovating Talent Management in Law Firms?

In this chapter we argue that there is a need to reconceptualise what we mean by talent in the legal profession beyond a view that the most valuable people are those who have the highest fee-earning potential or the best CV packed with excellent grades and exceptional experiences and extra curricula achievements. And further we need a more sophisticated understanding of how organisational decision-making may be structured to provide developmental opportunities to allow talent to be nurtured and to flourish on individual and team levels. In turn, we suggest that planning, management and accountability cycles within legal entities need to be strengthened so as to ensure creativity and success in a context in which it is possible to deliver on the promise of fair access and promotion. Consequently, this chapter explores the diversity problem within the legal profession(s), further it interrogates what is “talent”, and how and why we should seek to manage and develop it. It then evaluates how talent diversity has been managed in the legal professional context, examined through what we have categorised as three waves of diversity strategies. We interrogate why diversity initiatives have not been more successful given the efforts placed on them by professional bodies and firms themselves. We posit that by using diversity as a case study in talent management legal entities may develop a more effective approach to talent management generally within law firms that will be of benefit to all lawyers and support professionals rather than just those who are from traditionally low participation groups.

Moving together – conditions for intercultural development at a highly diverse Swedish school

This thesis is a case study of a primary school in a highly diverse urban neighbourhood in Sweden. Basic pre-conditions for intercultural school development are studied by examining the overall organisation of teaching, learning and opportunities for collaboration in the investigated case. The study focuses on the targeted support measures to enhance learning for students with an immigrant background: Mother tongue instruction, Swedish as a Second Language, and tutoring in the mother tongue, as well as looking at pedagogical support provided by the school library. The latter has a mission to promote learning and inclusion, where non-native speakers of Swedish are a prioritised group. Communities of practice linked to the work organisation at a meso-level are investigated, and the collaborative relationships between professional groups at the school involved in the various support measures. Teacher relationships and categorisations implied by support measures impact the learning spaces that are shaped for students and the teaching spaces within which teachers work. Collaborative opportunities and convergence of concerns in the teaching spaces combine to shape the overall space for intercultural development. The raw data for the case study consists of interviews, national policy documents and additional information on local work organisation gained through documents and observations. Four articles resulted from the case study, each focusing a specific support measure. An overarching analysis is then made of findings from these articles and the other dimensions of the investigation. The analysis describes the organisation in terms of monocultural or intercultural school cultures, pointing to significant characteristics of the landscapes of practice, with respect to their overall implications for the spaces of school development. In the discussion, findings are considered in relation to research on professional development in education, collaboration, democracy and inclusive schooling. The relative positioning of languages and cultures is given particular attention, to ascertain if the school culture is monocultural or intercultural in the sense given by Lahdenperä (2008), and to what extent it could enable intercultural development. Such positioning plays a role interms of affordances for identity, participation and engagement discussed by Wenger (1998). This case study should be understood against the wider background of recent social developments in Europe linked to globalisation and technological changes. It is argued that looking at the concrete specifics which facilitate or obstruct school development, and simultaneously reflecting on how the different forms of teaching interrelate in the overall organisation and in policy may provide a useful vantage point from which structural changes can be contemplated.The discussion underlines the importance of the physical localisation of activities, continuity in personal contacts and time available for joint pedagogical reflection, as basic conditions for effective intercultural dialogue in the organisation. Finally, the impact of policy is considered, looking at connections between levels of policy, expressed in official steering documents, and conditions for teaching and learning at the level of an individual school.

The impact of implementing tpr stress-free activities for encouraging participation from students of a public school in their english class

Tesis (Licenciado en Lenguas Castellana, Inglés y Francés).--Universidad de La Salle. Facultad de Ciencias de La Educación. Licenciatura en Lengua Castellana, Inglés y Francés, 2014

Inclusion, Participation and the Emergence of British Chinese Websites

Previous work has drawn attention to the relative absence of British Chinese voices in public culture. No one is more aware of this invisibility than British-born Chinese people themselves. Since 2000 the emergence of Internet discussion sites produced by British Chinese young people has provided an important forum for many of them to grapple with questions concerning their identities, experiences and status in Britain. In this paper we explore the ways in which Internet usage by British-born Chinese people has facilitated forms of self-expression, collective identity production and social and political action. This examination of British Chinese websites raises important questions about inclusion and exclusion, citizenship, participation and the development of a sense of belonging in Britain, issues which are usually overlooked in relation to a group which appears to be well integrated and successful in higher education.

Perceived barriers and facilitators to participation in physical activity during the school lunch break for girls aged 12–13 years

Given the short- and long-term health implications associated with overweight and obesity plus the likelihood of overweight or obesity to continue into adulthood, addressing the causes of overweight and obesity in childhood is a significant public health concern. One underlying cause of overweight and obesity is insufficient physical activity. The Department of Health and Aging recommends children engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day; however, these recommendations are met less frequently with increasing age, and girls less often meet these recommendations than boys. School lunch times have been identified as an ideal time for maximizing children’s physical activity (PA), but studies have shown variable levels of PA among children during this time and research indicates that during school lunch times, girls are consistently less active than boys. Understanding influences on girls’ participation in PA during this time may help to increase levels of PA for this demographic. Two South Australian schools, one government and one independent, were included in the sample. Four focus groups (three or four participants per group: total 13 participants) focusing on girls’ perceptions of PA during the lunch break were conducted. Transcripts and field notes were analyzed using a social constructionist framework and thematic content analysis. The expectation to participate in activities considered “gender appropriate”, maturation, and bullying/teasing were identified as explicit barriers to participation in lunch time play. Other important barriers included a “girls’” school uniform and feelings of inadequate competency. The ability to renegotiate gender stereotypes, a unisex school uniform, and perceived high competency were important facilitators of lunch time PA. Low levels of lunch time PA evident in many young adolescent girls may be due to many complex social factors. Therefore, these barriers may need to be addressed before any environmental interventions are likely to be effective.

Composition of objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour participation across the school-day, influence of gender and weight status: cross-sectional analyses among disadvantaged Victorian school children

BACKGROUND: The after-school period has been described as the 'critical window' for physical activity (PA) participation. However, little is known about the importance of this window compared with the before and during-school period among socioeconomically disadvantaged children, and influence of gender and weight status.

METHODS: 39 out of 156 (RR=25%) invited primary schools across 26 local government areas in Victoria, Australia, consented to participate with 856 children (RR=36%) participating in the wider study. The analysis sample included 298 Grade 4 and Grade 6 children (mean age: 11.2±1.1; 44% male) whom met minimum accelerometry wear-time criteria and had complete height, weight and health-behaviours questionnaire data. Accelerometry measured duration in daily light-intensity PA (LPA), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sedentary time (ST) was calculated for before-school=8-8:59, during-school=9:00-15:29 and after-school=15:30-18:00. Bivariate and multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted.

RESULTS: During-school represented the greatest accumulation of LPA and MVPA compared with the before and after-school periods. Boys engaged in 102 min/day of LPA (95% CI 98.5 to 104.9) and 62 min/day of MVPA (95% CI 58.9 to 64.7) during-school; girls engaged in 103 min/day of LPA (95% CI 99.7 to 106.5) and 45 min/day of MVPA (95% CI 42.9 to 47.4). Linear regression models indicated that girls with overweight or obesity engaged in significantly less LPA, MVPA and more time in ST during-school.

CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of in-school PA compared with after-school PA among socioeconomically disadvantage children whom may have fewer resources to participate in after-school PA.

BRINGING STREET ART TO SCHOOL: OPEN TO INCLUDE

Inclusive Education values differences by reducing barriers to learning and promoting active participation and positive interactions between all members of school community. Nowadays, school faces numerous children/adolescents who for several reasons have developed challenging behaviours and high risk of dropping out school. They come often from socio-cultural-economic minority groups and have sometimes a repeated course of academic failure. Art has had the ability to bring together the interests of all, even of the most unsuitable. In this paper, the authors present an intervention through street art/graffiti done in a secondary school, with a ninth grade class covered by PIEF Programme. The project aimed to understand if the integration of graffiti art in educational process had impact on challenging behaviour. The study, with a qualitative methodology, shows contributions of artistic experience as an asset to educational development of students with challenging behaviours contributing to a better school and inclusion.