Baltimore Public Schools Research Articles

Baseline vision results from the Baltimore Reading and Eye Disease Study

ObjectiveWe describe the Baltimore Reading and Eye Disease Study, report baseline ocular findings, and explore the feasibility of eye examinations in the school setting. DesignProspective, school-based cohort study. ParticipantsStudents in second and third grades. MethodsBaseline eye examinations, including near and distance presenting visual acuity (VA), stereopsis, ocular alignment, dilated retinal examination, and cycloplegic refraction, were performed in 12 Baltimore public schools during the 2014–15 school year. Main outcome measuresPresenting VA, prevalence of refractive error, and other ocular findings. ResultsAmong the 1054 eligible students, 321 participated. There were 271 (84.4%) African American and 186 (57.9%) female students; mean age was 7.9 ± 0.8 years. Cycloplegia was achieved in 308. The mean presenting distance and near VA was 0.1 ± 0.2 logMAR (range −0.1 to 1.5) and 0.1 ± 0.2 logMAR (range 0.0–1.6) in the better-seeing eye, respectively. The most common ocular findings were +1.00 diopter (D) or greater hyperopia (34.7%), −0.50 D or greater myopia (29.5%), 1.00 D or greater astigmatism (23.4%), and convergence insufficiency (7.2%). Thirty-seven (11.5%) children needed referral to an eye care provider; 10% of students required glasses full-time. ConclusionsWhereas the majority of second and third grade students in this study have good VA and minimal refractive error, 1 in 9 have an ocular finding necessitating further evaluation. It was feasible to conduct cycloplegic eye examinations in the school setting.

Baltimore Reading and Eye Disease Study: vision outcomes of school-based eye care

ObjectiveThere are unmet needs for refractive correction in the pediatric population, especially in high-poverty communities. We reported the impact of refractive correction on vision outcomes over a 2-year follow-up in the Baltimore Reading and Eye Disease Study. DesignProspective, school-based cohort study. ParticipantsStudents of second and third grades who were prescribed glasses during baseline assessment. MethodsWe conducted baseline eye exams in 12 Baltimore public schools during the fall of school year 2014–15 with follow-up visits in the spring of school year 2014–15 (first follow-up) and school year 2015–16 (second follow-up). Visual acuity (VA) was measured at distance and near with correction. Refractive status was determined based on the eye with the larger refractive error and categorized as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. Main outcome measuresVA in better-seeing and worse-seeing eye at first and second follow-up, and acuity improvement from baseline. ResultsIn the 206 students (84% African American) who completed the first follow-up, both distance (from 0.14 ± 0.20 to 0.05 ± 0.10 logMAR) and near presenting VA (from 0.08 ± 0.16 to 0.03 ± 0.06 logMAR) improved from the baseline assessment; children with more severe hyperopia showed improvement in near VA by 0.05 ± 0.16 logMAR. Children who were prescribed glasses through a school-based research study had improved vision, which was sustained into the following school year. ConclusionsMany second and third graders in Baltimore Schools needed refractive correction and benefited from provision of glasses with sustained vision improvement over the 2-year observation.

Loneliness: A Modern Epidemic Psychiatry Is Poised to Address

Loneliness: A Modern Epidemic Psychiatry Is Poised to Address

An Evaluation of Financial Literacy in Elementary Schools towards Financial Education Enhancement: A Case Study of Baltimore Public Schools

Financial literacy education has traditionally never been a major subject area in most public schools in Maryland. With the unanticipated struggling of the United States of America (USA) Economy, Maryland (one of the richest states in the USA and its residents, especially of its major urban city, Baltimore, is facing severe family and personal financial crisis. This unanticipated financial crisis characterized by declining family and personal savings, mortgage defaults and foreclosures, and tenant evictions due to rent defaults is motivating educators, business entities, and politicians to develop education strategies to educate children from future financial crisis. Although there is an overwhelming consensus for providing financial education as a major curriculum to our schoolchildren, the practicability of most curriculums is obscure. To develop a practical approach to teaching financial literacy in elementary schools, an assessment using a Grid Familiarity Rating Chart (Very Familiar – Not Familiar) of basic financial and economics concepts was assigned to 210 students (4th – 5th graders) in four inner city schools. Students received information to place a check mark by each concept if they are very familiar or familiar with the concept. Results revealed that 97% of the students were very familiar or familiar with the basic financial concepts as compared to 49% of the students who were very familiar or familiar with basic economic concepts. Even when students were encouraged to explain their very familiar or familiar concepts, 80% provided explanations that were accurate or almost accurate for basic financial concepts as compared to 20% accuracy for explanations with basic economic concepts. Conclusively, the most basic economic concepts (scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost), which are essential decision making tools for most financial decisions should be simplified and included in financial education lesson plans.

Child's Self-Control Reflected in Adult Health, Wealth, and Crime

Child's Self-Control Reflected in Adult Health, Wealth, and Crime

Latent Patterns of Risk Behavior in Urban African-American Middle School Students in Baltimore City

Students who engage in high-risk behaviors, including early initiation of sexual intercourse, alcohol use, marijuana use, tobacco use, and externalizing behavior are vulnerable to a broad range of adverse outcomes as adults. Latent class analysis was used to determine whether varying patterns of risk behavior existed for 212 urban African-American students from Baltimore public schools who were recruited as part of a study for the prevention of drug use. A two-class model was estimated. The proportion of the sample bearing a high probability of each of the five risk behaviors was 10.7%; in comparison, the proportion of students with a low probability of the risk behaviors was 89.3%. Controlling for other variables, older age and parental drug or alcohol use was associated with being in the high-risk class, whereas neighborhood was not predictive of latent class. Results from this study may be used to target early adolescents with co-occurring risk behaviors for prevention and treatment.

Mental Illness Prevention Finally Gets Support From Science

Mental Illness Prevention Finally Gets Support From Science

Two-Part Factor Mixture Modeling: Application to an Aggressive Behavior Measurement Instrument

This study introduces a two-part factor mixture model as an alternative analysis approach to modeling data where strong floor effects and unobserved population heterogeneity exist in the measured items. As the names suggests, a two-part factor mixture model combines a two-part model, which addresses the problem of strong floor effects by decomposing the data into dichotomous and continuous response components, with a factor mixture model, which explores unobserved heterogeneity in a population by establishing latent classes. Two-part factor mixture modeling can be an important tool for situations in which ordinary factor analysis produces distorted results and can allow researchers to better understand population heterogeneity within groups. Building a two-part factor mixture model involves a consecutive model building strategy that explores latent classes in the data for each part as well as a combination of the two-part. This model building strategy was applied to data from a randomized preventive intervention trial in Baltimore public schools administered by the Johns Hopkins Center for Early Intervention. The proposed model revealed otherwise unobserved subpopulations among the children in the study in terms of both their tendency toward and their level of aggression. Furthermore, the modeling approach was examined using a Monte Carlo simulation.

The Atheist: Madalyn Murray O'Hair. By Bryan F. Le Beau. (New York: New York University Press, 2003. x, 387 pp. $29.95, isbn 0-8147-5171-7.)

In this judicious work, Bryan F. Le Beau examines the atheist philosophy and tumultuous life of Madalyn Murray O'Hair (1919–1995), “an American original” (p. 17) who was once stigmatized as “The Most Hated Woman in America” (pp. 118–19). While Le Beau's book is largely biographical, it also explores the history of freethinking, Cold War American culture, the issue of church and state, and gender relations. O'Hair became notorious after filing a 1960 lawsuit (Murray v. Curlett) against the Baltimore public schools, which had required her older son, William, to recite the Lord's Prayer. Subsequently, she crusaded for decades to advance the cause that animated her most—atheism. O'Hair's zealotry, combined with a law degree and savvy media instincts, helped non-theists gain a measure of respectability that was often outweighed by her notoriety. Exactly why O'Hair, who was raised Presbyterian, became antireligious remains ambiguous. Perhaps she was bitter against the Roman Catholic Church for denying her married lover a divorce; perhaps, as a feminist, she hated a male god. She did think that religion was a dangerous delusion that created a repressive society. Whatever her motivation, she attacked religion caustically. Only irrational people, she wrote, would follow a bible that was “‘replete with the ravings of madmen’” and a god who was “‘sadistic’” (p. 85). An atheist, by contrast, “‘loves his fellow man instead of god’” and “‘believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church’” (p. 172).

General growth mixture modeling for randomized preventive interventions.

This paper proposes growth mixture modeling to assess intervention effects in longitudinal randomized trials. Growth mixture modeling represents unobserved heterogeneity among the subjects using a finite-mixture random effects model. The methodology allows one to examine the impact of an intervention on subgroups characterized by different types of growth trajectories. Such modeling is informative when examining effects on populations that contain individuals who have normative growth as well as non-normative growth. The analysis identifies subgroup membership and allows theory-based modeling of intervention effects in the different subgroups. An example is presented concerning a randomized intervention in Baltimore public schools aimed at reducing aggressive classroom behavior, where only students who were initially more aggressive showed benefits from the intervention.

School--Family--Community Partnerships Focused on School Safety: The Baltimore Example

Working with the Fund for Educational Excellence and Johns Hopkins University, schools throughout Baltimore, Maryland, have formed the Baltimore School-Family-Community Partnership Program. Schools participating in this initiative plan and implement partnership activities that target specific school goals, including improved student safety. This article describes student safety activities initiated by Action Teams in three Baltimore Partnership schools. Further, it shares participant insights into the ways these programs provide urban public school youth with greater support in avoiding maladaptive behaviors, supply them with safe havens after school, and ensure that they can travel to and from school without harm. INTRODUCTION In our nation's states, cities, and neighborhoods, students exposure to and involvement in violence is increasing. Baltimore, Maryland is no exception. Between April 1, 1993, and March 31, 1994, 293 youth under the age of 20 were hospitalized for assaults in Baltimore. This number constitutes approximately 62% of the total number of hospitalizations for assaults among youth in the state of Maryland (Brownell, 1995). The violence that youth in Baltimore are exposed to is symptomatic of the increasingly distressed nature of their communities. Seventy-two neighborhoods in Maryland have been classified by the Annie E. Casey Foundation as severely distressed by virtue of their high levels of poverty, female-headed families, high school dropouts, unemployment, and reliance on welfare; 62 of these are in Baltimore City (Gouvis, 1995). Such distressed communities are often permeated with drug markets and drug-related violence. In 1996, for example, the Baltimore City Police Department (1996) reported processing 11,332 juvenile arrests. The five most common offenses were automobile theft (1,169), cocaine possession (1,035), possession of cocaine with intent to distribute (1,027), common assault (881), and marijuana possession (828). Further, 211 juveniles were charged with handgun-related offenses in 1996. The majority of these youth (168) were African American males between the ages of 14 and 15. While some of these arrests were for the use of handguns in violent offenses, most arrests (86) were for carrying a handgun. Although data is not available to explain why youth in Baltimore carry handguns, national studies indicate that protection against violent assault is a primary reason for juvenile gun possession. The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence (1997) reports that in a nationwide profile of juvenile gun possession and use, 70% of students who said they carried a gun said they did so to protect themselves from a perceived threat. These statistics indicate that for far too many youth in Baltimore and in the nation, exposure to, involvement in, and fear of violence is a familiar part of their daily existence. The statistics also emphasize the need for treatment programs that serve youth and families in violent situations, as well as prevention programs that assist youth and their families in avoiding violence. As one response to statistics such as those noted above, schools throughout Baltimore are working with families and communities to create safer environments in which children can live, learn, and grow. Many of these schools are members of the Baltimore SchoolFamily-Community Partnership Program. This program works with the Fund for Educational Excellence and the educational center at Johns Hopkins University to develop comprehensive school, family, and community partnerships in the Baltimore public schools. Through the program, member schools plan and implement school, family, and community partnership activities that target specific school goals, including improved student safety. This article describes the Baltimore program, discusses several partnership activities to improve student safety that have been planned by various schools in the program, and highlights activities in three of the schools that are working to ensure the safety of Baltimore's most valuable resource-its youth. …

Effect of first‐grade classroom environment on shy behavior, aggressive behavior, and concentration problems

Investigates the effect of the first-grade classroom environment on the shy behavior, aggressive behavior, and concentration problems of 609 children in 19 East Baltimore public schools. First-grade classroom environment was assessed in terms of dominant pattern of classroom achievement and behavior. Structured teacher ratings assessed child shy behavior, aggressive behavior, and concentration problems at the end of first grade. Children in low-achieving classroom environments had significantly higher teacher ratings of shy behavior and aggressive behavior than children in mixed-achieving or high-achieving environments, even after controlling for potentially confounding child characteristics and classroom behavior environment effects. Analyses controlling for child characteristics and classroom achievement environment effects indicated that children in poor-behaving classroom environments also had significantly higher teacher ratings of shy behavior than children who were not in poor-behaving environments. Subgroup analyses indicated that repeaters in mixed-achieving environments had significantly higher levels of shy behavior compared with nonrepeaters, and repeaters in poor-behaving environments had significantly higher levels of aggressive behavior compared with nonrepeaters. Implications for prevention research are discussed.

Developmental epidemiologically based preventive trials: Baseline modeling of early target behaviors and depressive symptoms

Describes a conceptual framework for identifying and targeting developmental antecedents in early childhood that have been shown in previous work to predict delinquency and violent behavior, heavy drug use, depression, and other psychiatric symptoms and possibly disorders in late adolescence and into adulthood. Criteria are described that guided choices of targets for two epidemiologically based, randomized preventive trials carried out in 19 elementary schools in the eastern half of Baltimore, involving more than 2,400 first-grade children over the course of first and second grades. Baseline models derived from the first of two cohorts show the evolving patterns of concurrence among the target antecedents. The central role of concentration problems emerged. From Fall to Spring in first grade, concentration problems led to shy and aggressive behavior and poor achievement in both genders and to depressive symptoms among girls. There was evidence for reciprocal relationships in girls. For example, depressive symptoms led to poor achievement in both girls and boys, whereas poor achievement led to depressive symptoms in girls but not boys, at least over the first-grade year. These results provide important epidemiological data relevant to the developmental paths leading to the problem outcomes and suggest preventive trials.

Book Reviews

Abstract Malcolm Davies. Geographic Dictionary. Baltimore Public Schools, Baltimore 18, Maryland, 1958. 128 pages with index, diagrams and definitions. $1.00. Patricia Lauber. Changing the Face of North America. Coward-McCann, Inc., 210 Madison Avenue, New York, 1959. 96 pages with index. 49 photographs, 9 full-page maps, 1 full-plate diagram. $2.50. David Lowenthal. George Perkins Marsh: Versatile Vermonter. Columbia University Press, 2960 Broadway, New York 27, New York, 1958. xii and 442 pages with illustrations, bibliography, index, and table of contents. $6.50. Marguerite Logan. Geographical Bibliography for all the Major Nations of the World: Selected Books and Magazine Articles. M. Logan, 630 Pinehurst, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1959. 396 pages. $7.50. Morton Duryea. Who Lives in a Field. Coward-McCann, Inc., 210 Madison Avenue, New York, 1959. 118 pages including 34 pages of authentic nature drawings by Douglas Howland. $3.00. A. Austin Miller and M. Parry. Everyday Meteorology. Philosophical Library, Inc., 15 East 40th Street, New York 16, New York, 1959. 270 pages with appendix, index, introduction, illustrations, and table of contents. $7.50. Sanson d'Abbeville. America 1667. Edited by L. M. Bloch, Jr. Bloch and Company, 1010 Euclid Building, Room 402, Cleveland 15, Ohio, 1959. 64 pages with index, table of contents, and maps. $3.95. Andrew Hill Clark. Three Centuries and the Island. University of Toronto Press, Toronto 5, Canada, 1959. xiv and 287 pages with notes, appendices, index, maps, tables, and table of contents. $10.00.

Class Piano for Elementary Classroom Teachers

FOR two and one-half years, the Baltimore Public Schools have sponsored free class piano instruction for elementary teachers. Mr. Hjelmervik, director of music education in Baltimore, tells of results of the program, as gleaned from an interesting opinion poll.

Indices of Inequalities in a Dual System of Education

In any system of public education where Negro and white children are separated for purposes of instruction, there exists some inequalities in facilities and in the character of instruction available to the Negro child. The very existence of a dual system of education implies the justification for a differential in favor of the white child. Moreover, the Negro constitutes a minority group whose facilities for education are controlled by a board of education composed entirely of white persons, or a majority thereof. The situation just indicated is a truism in the American dual system of education. There is ample evidence of this on every hand. Therefore, one need not here belabor a well recognized fact concerning inequalities in a dual system of education. This article will deal with indices of inequalities in the dual system of education in Baltimore. The conditions herein described similarly exist in American cities where there is a dual system of education. Data will be presented showing several of the existing inequalities in building facilities and in the several levels of instruction in Baltimore. The implications of these data, regarding either the local system of public instruction or the implications regarding dual systems generally, will be secondary to our immediate interest of presenting factual data on existing inequalities in the Baltimore Public Schools.

THE PROGRAM OF HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN THE BALTIMORE PUBLIC SCHOOLS*

Journal of School HealthVolume 10, Issue 4 p. 107-110 THE PROGRAM OF HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN THE BALTIMORE PUBLIC SCHOOLS* Louis R. Burnett M.D., Louis R. Burnett M.D. Director of Health and Physical Education, Baltimore, Md.Search for more papers by this author Louis R. Burnett M.D., Louis R. Burnett M.D. Director of Health and Physical Education, Baltimore, Md.Search for more papers by this author First published: April 1940 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.1940.tb01342.x * Reprinted from Baltimore Bulletin of Education, A Journal of the Public Schools of Baltimore, Md., Vol. XVII, November-December, 1939, page 29. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume10, Issue4April 1940Pages 107-110 RelatedInformation

GUIDANCE IN A LARGE CITY A Dynamic Program as Developed in the Baltimore Public Schools

Guidance must necessarily fall short of its full efficiency and value if it is left entirely to the counseling staff. This is no reflection on the counselors, whose part in this vital service of the schools is the most direct and certainly not the least important. It is becoming increasingly recognized that effective guidance calls for the cooperation of the teachers. But even so, the success of any guidance program depends in the well‐known last analysis on the understanding and sympathy, the encouragement and support, of the responsible administrative officer of the school system in which it operates. The superintendent of the Baltimore public schools is that kind of administrator. Here he tells how the guidance function is integrated with the educational work of the schools, and how guidance philosophy is translated into practical procedures and methods. He himself gives chief credit for the success of the Baltimore program to Leona C. Buchwald, Supervisor of Guidance, and her staff of counselors. The work has been under the general direction of Charles W. Sylvester, Director of Vocational Education, who cooperated in the preparation of this article.