Poor Academic Achievement Research Articles

Depression symptoms among adolescents in Morocco: a school-based cross-sectional study.

depression in adolescents is a major health condition that can interfere with daily life, lead to suicidal thoughts and behavior, and affect a person throughout life. However, studies about adolescents´ depression in Morocco are scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression symptoms among in-school adolescents from the region of Settat-Morocco, as well as assessing its relation to daytime sleepiness and poor academic achievement. the researchers conducted a cross-sectional school-based study. The sample included participants aged 12-20 years, in either urban or rural areas. We selected 722 students through a proportionate stratified sampling procedure. The participants responded to multiple questionnaires that included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, a questionnaire assessing several sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables, and finally an academic achievement questionnaire. We analyzed the collected data using descriptive statistical methods, χ2 test, and odds ratios. forty-four point seven percent (44.7%) of the respondents had "moderately severe" to "severe depression symptoms" and 32.5% of the sample suffered from excessive daytime sleepiness. Nineteen point nine percent (19.9%) of the total sample reported having a poor academic achievement. Significant predictors for depression symptoms included "female gender" (OR = 2.06; p-value < 0.001), "having divorced parents" (OR = 6.00; p-value < 0.001), "poor academic achievement" (OR = 5.03; p-value < 0.001), and "excessive daytime sleepiness" (OR = 2.30; p-value = 0.002). this study provides important information about Morocco adolescents´ depression symptoms. These findings can help in implementing school-based mental and sleep health programs that target the promotion of mental wellness, prevention of mental health problems, and reduction of adolescent suicide risk.

Does anyone benefit from exclusionary discipline? An exploration on the direct and vicarious links between suspensions for minor infraction and adolescents' academic achievement.

The intended purpose of exclusionary discipline is to improve the learning environment by removing disruptive students; however, emerging evidence has suggested that these practices may have the opposite effect. Exclusionary discipline-especially policies that use suspensions as punishment for minor, developmentally normative behavioral infractions-is a known threat to suspended students' academic achievement, but few have examined whether and how these suspensions may vicariously affect nonsuspended classmates' academic achievement. This article uses a two-study approach to examine the mechanisms linking suspensions for minor infractions and educational outcomes in science (N-student = 558; N-classroom = 41; Mage = 12.83; age range = 10-16; 40% Black, 55% White, 5% other race; 51% girls; 62% eligible for free/reduced-priced lunch) and math (N-student = 1,302; N-classroom = 64; Mage = 13.00; age range = 10-16; 41% Black, 53% White, 6% other race; 50% girls; 64% eligible for free/reduced-priced lunch) classrooms among both suspended and nonsuspended students. Results showed that students who received a suspension for a minor infraction were more likely to have poorer academic achievement in both studies. In classrooms where suspensions for minor infractions were used more frequently, students had lower academic achievement, with student engagement partially mediating this relation. These results add to a growing body of school discipline literature that advocates for replacing exclusionary discipline with more developmentally responsive policies and practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Role of Teachers’ Quantity on the Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students

Sequel to a national personnel audit that was recently conducted on public and private education in Nigeria, there has been a growing debate on the immediate need to increase the academic staff strength in all secondary schools in the country. This debate has however taken a controversial trend as a large part of the educational chiefs in the country have stood on an opinion to ordinarily improving the working condition of the existing academic staff since, to them, teachers’ quantity has no direct impact on students’ academic achievement. This paper therefore investigated the role of teachers’ quantity on the academic achievement of secondary school students to determine whether small or excess teachers’ quantity have a direct significant influence on how students perform academically. Using a descriptive survey design, the study sampled 120 teachers from a population of 1,205 in Chikun local government area of Kaduna state, Nigeria. A researcher-designed questionnaire of Likert scale was used for the data collection and descriptive statistical tools of frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation were used for the data analysis. It was therefore concluded that most schools in the local government are underserved with teachers and that – that had created some sorts of low academic achievement among the secondary school students. Schools do not give a fair share of their revenue to improve staff strength in their schools. Also, schools that are characterized by a low number of teachers are faced by pressure, high workload, and overstress which invariably influence the poor academic achievement of students. Keywords: role, teachers’ quantity, academic achievement, secondary school, students DOI: 10.7176/DCS/13-1-06 Publication date: January 31 st 2023

Unlocking Students Areas of Difficulties in Mathematics through the Teachers Creativity Fostering Behaviours

Creativity fostering behaviours of teachers are essential in every teaching and learning environment. It promotes teachers’ consistent efforts that are aimed at enhancing independent and flexible thinking. It also equips students with a variety of knowledge and materials for divergent thinking, encourages novel ways of solving problems and helps students cope with obstacles and failures. Unlocking students’ academic potential is a priority for many researchers and practitioners within the educational context. Reports on students’ academic achievement in mathematics revealed that there are areas of difficulties among the students. It could be that these areas of difficulties have led to poor academic achievement in mathematics over the years. On issues relevant to this study, teachers should give students direct feedback, encourage autonomy, re-word assignments to promote creativity and also create an accepting environment. Mathematics anxiety, inadequate problem-solving skills, lack of conceptual understanding and language barriers in mathematics were all highlighted as challenges of students’ difficulties in mathematics. Theoretically, this study was anchored on Self-Determination Theory. Practically, students, teachers, parents, educational administrators, government and researchers are all expected to benefit from the findings of this study. The ability to be creative, to create something from personal feelings and experiences, can reflect, nurture and unlock students’ understanding of mathematical concepts. The educational implications was highlighted and it was recommended among others that teachers should provide opportunities for students to share strengths and weaknesses as this in turn increases students’ active participation in the classroom.

A statistical analysis of the effect of social networking sites on students' academic performance in the western Odisha universities

The purpose of this research is to investigate the core notion of social networking sites, as well as their relevance, use, and effect on the academic performance of students. The university students from western Odisha are the major source of information for this study. Primary data on demographic information, educational qualifications & achievements are collected through Google forms in online and offline methods that were utilized for the study. From the sample of size 277, gender-wise distribution [Female- 141 (50.9%) and Male- 136 (49.1%)] have been responded to and selected for our study. A five-point Likert Type Rating Scale Questionnaire, titled: Social Media and Academic Performance of Students Questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. The data so collected are analyzed through IBM SPSS Statistics 26 under MS Excel environment and the results are analyzed. Statistical tools like Graphs, Pie- Charts, Diagrams, Chi-Square tests, and t-tests were used for the statistical data analysis to assess the various effects of social networking sites on the academic performance of students. The results reveal that the students who spend more time on SNSs are likely to demonstrate poor Academic achievement. Students can be able to boost their Academic achievement by collecting data and gathering important information.

남녀 중학생의 성관계 경험 및 피임실천 관련 요인: 제14차(2018년) 청소년건강행태조사 통계를 이용하여

The purpose of this study was to identify factors related to sexual intercourse and contraceptive practice among middle school students in South Korea. Using statistics from the 14th (2018) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey, logistic regression analysis was conducted. The study sample was 20,118 students in grades 1 through 3 in middle school. Common factors related to sexual intercourse among male and female middle school students were age, ever drinking, and ever smoking. Additional factors for male students were affluent economic status and depressive mood. Additional factors for female students were not living together with parents and poor academic achievement. The significant factors of contraceptive practice among male middle school students were age and academic achievement. In female students, no factors related to contraceptive practice were found. It is suggested that an educational program that integrates easy, practical, and specific contraceptive education with health risk behaviors such as drinking and smoking is developed using a school-based peer group.

Effectiveness of Psycho-Religious Sexuality Education upon Anger and Depression of Iranian Female Adolescents: The Relationship of Quality Family Relationships and Birth Order.

Sexually active adolescents tend to have a wider range of psychosocial problems, including depression, anger, poor academic achievement, low self-esteem, and substance use. Developing a high-quality and curriculum-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) program is of great importancefor adolescents following Iranian culture. Due to the lack of such an educational program, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of psycho-religious CSE upon anger and depression of Iranian female adolescents, as well as therelationship of quality family relationships and birth order. The research design is quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test with experimental and control groups. The statistical population of this study comprised all Iranian female adolescents aged 15 to 18years in Mashhad who participated in this workshop voluntarily. For data collection, the Child and Adolescent Depression Inventory and Spielberger's State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) were used. SPSS 21 software and analysis of variance (ANOVA) and covariance (ANCOVA) were used for data analysis. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the mean difference between depression and anger in the control and experimental groups (p-Value < 0.05). The results also showed a significant relationship between birth order and the quality of family relationships on depression and anger. Psycho-religious-based SE can reduce depression and anger in female students. These findings can be used in planning educational interventions with a psycho-religious-based approach to reducing anger, depressive symptoms and dangerous sexual behaviors among adolescents.

Factors Affecting Academic Achievements of Secondary School Students at Bor Municipality Council, Jonglei State, South Sudan

The purpose of this study was to explores on the factors affecting academic achievement of the students in secondary schools of Bor Municipal Council, Jonglei State, the study focused on the Senior threes and senior fours outputs in the National examinations in relation to access to University entry and better learned skills, Due to the exploratory nature of the study and the holistic approach that was undertaken, home environment, parents, school environment, Teachers, and Learners factors were targeted as points of the investigation, Multiple methods of data collection were used, first, data was collected through Focused Group Discussion interviews with the learners, teachers, PTAs, and Key Informants interviews with head teachers of the schools and the directors in the directorate of secondary schools, Secondly, an observational method was used to collect the data such as time management by learners and teachers, behavioral patterns inside and outside the classrooms and in the schools compound, Teachers teaching methodologies, school learning facilities inside and outside. Documentary analysis was used to review on the attendance registers of learners and Teachers schemes of work, lesson plans and previous years SSCSE results, data collected was analyzed using contents analysis and the use of Excel spread sheet using tables since the design was qualitative. The key findings of this research revealed that; learners’ environment was not adequately supporting better learning due to the following factors, parents’ low level of education, unemployment rates among the parents, parents over working students after school hours, lack of educational resources at home. In school environment, the study results revealed; poor learning structures, use of use English language as the medium of the instruction in schools, long distance being travelled from home to the schools, poor locations of the learning institutions, lack of setup libraries and laboratories in the school environment, lack of teaching/learning aid in the schools, teacher-learner absenteeism, lack of teachers motivations, students overcrowding and lack of teachers experiences in teaching leading to teacher centered method hence leading to less attentions being paid to the learners with special learning needs, present of unqualified teachers in the schools. Peers group influence among the students in the schools due to low socio-economic status, lack of learners’ motivation and low attitude toward learning among the students. As a result, the study concluded that; Home, Parents, school environment, teachers and learners factors collaborated in producing poor academic achievements of the students at Bor Municipal council secondary schools. Recommendations were made for more attentions to be given to these factors by all the educational stakeholders both National and Privates actors.

A Blueprint for Collaborative Action to Build a Trauma-Informed School: A Case Study

Analysis of multiple forms of data from a high-need K–8 charter school led to the hypothesis that increasing disciplinary disruptions and poor student academic achievement were the results of endemic student trauma. The principal, the lead school counselor, and an advisory council created a plan to explore and address behavioral and social/emotional issues, and wrote grants to sustain programming changes. The school achieved success in multiple areas, including: improving its comprehensive school counseling program using the ASCA National Model framework; benchmarking its practice with the ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards &amp; Competencies; reducing noncounseling duties for school counselors and providing 80% direct and indirect services to students; reducing the school counselor-to-student ratio; restructuring student discipline policies through the implementation of school-wide trauma-informed care practices; and utilizing social/emotional learning and trauma-informed lessons in the classroom. This case study outlines how one school created multidisciplinary internal and community-based teams to support trauma-informed practices for students, teachers, staff, and families, while emphasizing school counselor–principal leadership to build social capital. The discussion includes a review of progress toward systemic change goals.

A statistical investigation of the impact of social networking sites on students' academic achievement in western Odisha universities

The purpose of this research is to investigate the core notion of social networking sites, as well as their relevance, use, and effect on the academic performance of students. The university students from western Odisha are the major source of information for this study. Primary data on demographic information, educational qualifications & achievements are collected through google forms in online and offline methods that were utilized for the study. From the sample of size 277, gender-wise distribution [Female- 141 (50.9%) and Male- 136 (49.1%)] have been responded to and selected for our study. A five-point Likert Type Rating Scale Questionnaire, titled: Social Media and Academic Performance of Students Questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. The data so collected are analyzed through IBM SPSS Statistics 26 under MS Excel environment and the results are analyzed. Statistical tools like Graphs, Pie- Charts, Diagrams, Chi-Square tests, and t-tests were used for the statistical data analysis to assess the various effects of social networking sites on the academic performance of students. The results reveal that the students who spend more time on SNSs are likely to demonstrate poor Academic achievement. Students can be able to boost their Academic achievement by collecting data and gathering important information.

EMPOWERING BENINESE EFL TEACHERS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EFFECTIVE SUPERVISORY WORKS: CASE STUDIES OF OUÉMÉ AND PLATEAU REGIONS, BENIN / RENFORCEMENT DES CAPACITES DES PROFESSEURS D’ANGLAIS DU BENIN POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT PROFESSIONNEL PAR LES ACTIVITES DE L’INSPECTION PEDAGOGIQUE : ETUDE DU CAS DES DEPARTEMENTS DE L’OUEME ET DU PLATEAU, BENIN

Inspectors are required to design activities that focus on quality insofar as teaching is concerned. The purpose of this work consists in raising the highest pedagogical institution’s awareness of its prominent role and the immediate actions to take in order to positively impact the education system as a whole with specific regard to EFL teachers’ classroom performances in the secondary schools in Ouémé and Plateau district in Benin. The paper also aims to have their teaching practice improved and thereafter allow them to reach professional development for the benefit of their students. The study has then identified specific activities to be carried out and implemented by the target teachers in a classroom situation. To find out the type of activities that can be carried out to reach the study’s purpose, instruments that made it easy to collect data have been displayed, analysed and discussed. The analysis and discussion of the results have brought about the justification of the three hypotheses formulated in the study. All this was done on the basis of a properly described procedure that resulted in the findings of the study which revealed that the poor academic achievement of numerous students of the target region is due to their teachers’ pedagogical weakness. It has been suggested that inspectors should then train, coach and accompany those teachers through purposely selected activities.&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0597/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Causes of Subpar Academic Achievement of Public Basic Schools with Emphasis on Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE): A Case Study of Sagnarigu Municipality in Northern Region, Ghana

The study was set up to determine the causes of poor academic achievement in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Sagnarigu Municipality in Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana. The study sought to identify the contributing causes of such subpar learning outcomes and to provide some policy interventions to address them. For the study, two research questions were established. Data collection and analysis were done using a qualitative approach. In relation to the basic schools in the Sagnarigu Municipality, the study's accessible population included students, head teachers, teachers, parents, and municipal examination officers. As data sources, interviews and historical records were used. The researcher used the case study technique because he wanted to clearly understand why Sagnarigu Municipality students perform poorly on the BECE examination. Twenty (20) Junior High Schools were chosen purposively from the Municipality. The sample size was also chosen using a random sampling technique and included (10) head teachers, (20) teachers, (20) parents, (20) students, and (2) municipal education examination officers, making a total of (72) participants. The study discovered that the low academic accomplishment in the BECE was mostly caused by all inputs and processes, including teachers, the school environment, parents, and the students themselves. The highlighted school environmental problems included a dearth of teachers with advanced degrees, a lack of suitable physical and material resources to support teaching and learning, and teachers abusing their time spent in direct contact with students. Instances of routine tardiness and absenteeism to school, inability to complete the curriculum and inadequate exercises, assignments, and projects given to students, as well as low/inadequate motivation and pay from the employer, were found to be teacher factors that contributed to the low academic achievement. The student traits that I considered relevant included instances of tardiness and absenteeism, lack of parental or guardian support for homework at home, involvement in vices like internet fraud also known as "yahoo" or "game guys", going to movie theaters and dance clubs, and drug usage. Parents' inability to offer reading materials like textbooks and supplemental readers, their lack of engagement with their children's instructors, and their lack of participation in PTA activities were all factors in the home that affected students' academic performance. Given the foregoing, the study came to the conclusion that all stakeholders—including the government, nongovernmental organizations, teachers, parents, and students—must play their respective parts in addressing the causes of low achievement in the basic schools under consideration in the Sagnarigu Municipality.

Factors Contributing to Poor Academic Achievement Among Low Performing Pupils: A Case Study

: Despite numerous efforts by the Malaysian Ministry of Education to raise educational quality especially in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic, the number of low-performing pupils in Malaysian schools remains a serious concern. Additionally, the number of pupils’ dropping out has increased during the period of online facilitation. This qualitative case study examines factors contributing to poor academic achievement among low performing pupils. Also, it explored the strategies to overcome those factors. Sampling was purposeful as this study required the views of both those who were directly part of the low-performing group either as students or educators. Five teachers and five low academic performing pupils were chosen as participants from a Malaysian primary school. Data was gathered through scheduled semi-structured interviews with teachers and pupils. The study sought to explore the factors that contribute to poor academic achievement, and those which are frequently overlooked. The findings revealed that the main factors related to pupils with low academic performance, were lack of family or parental support, financial issues, motivation, learning facilities, interaction, equality and teaching techniques. These findings will help teachers, school administrators, curriculum designers and developers to plan new teaching and learning strategies in their classrooms.

Longitudinal associations between weight status and academic achievement in primary school children.

Evidence for longitudinal associations between childhood weight status and academic achievement remains unclear due to considerable heterogeneity in study design, measures of academic achievement and appropriate categorization of weight status. To examine longitudinal associations between childhood weight status (underweight, healthy weight, overweight/obese) and academic achievement in the transition from preschool to primary (elementary) school among Australian school children. Data were from the Healthy Active Preschool and Primary Years study. Height and weight, for calculating BMI were measured at baseline (preschool age 3-5 years; 2008/9) and follow-up (primary school age 6-8 years; 2011/12). Academic achievement was measured at age 9 years. No associations between BMI z-score or weight category in the preschool years and later NAPLAN scores were found for boys. For girls, having a higher BMI z-score (B=-13.68, 95%CI: -26.61, -0.76) and being affected by overweight (B=-33.57, 95%CI: -61.50, -5.24) in preschool was associated with lower language scores. Remaining affected by overweight from preschool to primary school was associated with lower numeracy (B=-25.03, 95%CI: -49.74, -0.33), spelling (B=-33.5, 95%CI: -63.43, -3.58), language (B=-37.89, 95%CI: -72.75, -3.03) and total achievement scores (B=-24.24, 95%CI: -44.85, -3.63) among girls. For boys, becoming affected by overweight was associated with lower spelling (B=-38.76, 95%CI: -73.59, -3.93) and total achievement scores (B=-27.70, 95%CI: -54.81, -0.58). Associations between being affected by overweight/obesity and poorer academic achievement were more pronounced in girls than boys, indicating potentially inequitable impacts of excess weight and highlighting the greater need for intervention among girls. However, stronger study designs are needed to confirm our findings.

Leading-Edge Strategies for Enhancing Higher Education Institutions' Management Systems

This paper deeply analyses the latest strategies for enhancing the management system of higher education institutions. This study sets out the importance of the management system of higher education institutions (HEIs); (b) states the leading-edge strategies for modernizing the management system of HEIs; (c) calls attention to changing the mindset of the university pedagogical staff and leaders and using broader methods in reforming management system of HEIs; (d) suggests further approaches for superior academic outcomes. This study gathered data through field trip HEIs observations, interviewing HEIs rectors, lecturers, and university staff, and analyzing available data. The qualitative research findings reveal dissatisfaction with the present strategies and leading to poor academic achievements in the HEIs of Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, within the framework of the article, based on the methods of analysis and synthesis, generalization, and deduction, the main features and elements of the university management system, as well as current approaches to the management of a modern university, will be studied. Found data shows that improper infrastructure of government expenditure on education, low salary, and limited quota in pedagogical universities lead to a shortage of teachers and poor academic achievements.

Chasing a dream against all odds

BackgroundYouth of color growing up in poverty face many challenges that children from more affluent families never experience. These children often reside in disadvantaged neighborhoods with substandard housing, inadequate medical care, and under resourced schools. This places these children at risk for poor academic achievement, school dropout, abuse and neglect, behavioral and socioemotional problems, and physical health problems. In spite of these risks, some children “beat the odds” and overcome the challenges and adversities in their external contexts. The paper reports the findings of a draw-and-write activity designed to learn the processes whereby protective factors promote resilience from a child’s point of view.MethodsIn this qualitative study, a draw-and-write activity was conducted with a convenience sample of 33 children, (23 females and 10 males of which 10 were Hmong, 11 were Middle Eastern, and 12 were African Americans) .The children were asked to make visual representations of resources (persons or things that, in their view, contribute to their wellbeing.) In depth interviews with a subset of 15 of the children was conducted to discuss the meaning of the images in their drawings. A summative content analysis of the visual and narrative data was performed using a resilience framework.ResultsRegardless of racial/ethnic background, parents, and especially mothers, were the main “person or thing” identified by these children living in poverty as helping them “make it thus far in life.” Ninety seven percent of the participants in this study described their parent(s) as nurturing and supportive, enabling them to overcome obstacles and adversities within their environment.Forty five percent of participants identified their mother as a key anchor in their life Fifty eight percent of the African American children indicated that their parent(s) encouraged education to escape poverty.ConclusionThe findings support that families, particularly parents have the strongest influence on supporting the resilience process in a child. These findings were consistent across ethnicity and gender. Families, particularly parents, should be the target of future interventions designed to produce resilient behaviors in youth of color living in poverty.

The Effect Of Covid-19 On Sedentary Behavior And Physical Activity Levels In College Students.

Participating in regular physical activity (PA) has various health benefits including, but not limited to, improved muscular and cardiorespiratory fitness, bone health, and reduces the risk of hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, various types of cancer, and depression. Sedentary behavior is associated with increased blood pressure, increased cholesterol levels, lower self-esteem, social behavior problems, and poor academic achievement. Since the emergence of COVID-19, individuals needed to make various modifications in their daily lives, such as adjusting their levels of physical activity and/or their sedentary behavior. PURPOSE: To understand the effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on physical activity levels and sedentary behavior in college students. METHODS: A questionnaire was developed from two publicly available questionnaires: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire and the International Sedentary Assessment Tool. The questionnaires were modified to relate to college-aged individuals. Exclusion criteria were participating in any of the university varsity teams, or individuals that suffer a debilitating injury in the past six months. The questionnaires were distributed to students. Nineteen students participated in the study. Paired t-tests were used to determine the effects of COVID-19 on physical activity levels and sedentary behavior in college students, alpha level was set to 0.05. RESULTS: Significant increase in mean hours per week (hr/wk) spent in sedentary behavior was identified (p = 0.04). Students spent less hr/wk in sedentary behavior before COVID 19 (114.2 (50.9)) then during (139.2 (54.6)). No significant differences were found between the other dependent variables before and during COVID 19 respectively: vigorous PA 12.9 (13.9) hr/wk vs. 12.5 (11.6) hr/wk, (p = 0.882); moderate PA 15.4 (15.4) hr/wk vs, 12.5 (10.6) hr/wk, (p = 0.460); walking 19.1 (23.1) hr/wk vs. 11.8 (12.9) hr/wk, (p = 0.085); total time for PA 47.5 (42.3) hr/wk vs. 36.8 (25.8) hr/wk, (p = 0.288). CONCLUSION: The study identified a trend of decrease in physical activity levels and a significant increase in sedentary behavior during COVID-19 for these college students.

Security Challenges and Students’ Academic Achievement in English Language in the Senior Secondary Schools in Ebonyi State

The study examined security challenges and students’ academic achievement in English language in the senior secondary schools in Ebonyi state. The study was a descriptive survey study. The population of the study consisted one thousand and thirty-seven language teachers out of which a sample study of 205 English language teachers with the school administrators were randomly selected in Eighteen (18) secondary schools in the three Education Zones. In each zone 6 schools were selected making it a total of 18 secondary schools. Three research questions and a null hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. The research instrument was security challenges and students’ academic achievement English language questionnaire (SCSALQ). The instrument was validated by experts in the Arts and Social Science Education and Measurement and Evaluation units in the Ebonyi State University. The instrument was further subjected to a reliability test in a test-retest and an index of .082 was realized and this certified the use of the instrument. Data collected were analyzed using percentages, rank order and t-test statistics respectively. Findings revealed that different security challenges existed in secondary schools in teaching English language in the State and that there were many causes of these security challenges. These security challenges had adversely affected students’ academic achievement in the State. The implications were that brain drain and students’ poor academic achievement were experienced in schools and the State as a whole. It was recommended that government should seriously and in all honesty put to a stop insecurity in the State. School administrators and individual students should be at alert and instill discipline in the students. More teachers should be recruited, trained and retrained to guard students’ irrational behaviours and ensure effective teaching and learning. Keywords: Security Challenges, English language teaching, academic achievement, school administrators DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-23-06 Publication date: August 31 st 2022

Compulsory School Achievement and Future Gambling Expenditure: A Finnish Population-Based Study

Background: Gambling is associated with many conditions that can compromise young people’s health and wellbeing, such as substance use and poor school achievement. Conversely, low school achievement can be linked to lower socio-economic position. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine whether compulsory school achievement is linked with gambling participation and gambling expenditure (GE) later in youth and whether GE is linked with lower socio-economic position. Methods: The Finnish Gambling Harms survey data (n = 7186) were used. The data were collected in three regions during spring 2017. Participants aged 18–29 years old were selected from the data. Past-year GE was examined using two measures: weekly gambling expenditure (WGE, in €) and relative gambling expenditure (RGE, in %). Logistic regression and log-linear regression models for past-year gambling, WGE and RGE were created. Results: Persons who had no more than a mediocre grade point average (GPA) had a 25% higher WGE and 30% higher RGE in 2016 than those who had an outstanding GPA in the compulsory school. Compared with persons with an outstanding GPA, those with a satisfactory to very good GPA spent 13% more on gambling, and their RGE was 17% higher. Additionally, those with lower socio-economic status (SES) had a higher WGE and RGE compared with higher SES. Conclusions: Even after controlling for other crucial background characteristics, early life success, in the form of compulsory school outcomes, seems to correlate with gambling expenditures later in youth. This suggests that the gambling behaviour can be linked to the cognitive ability of an individual. Our findings also imply that gambling could be more heavily concentrated on individuals that are already more socially disadvantaged. However, it is worth noting that individual factors such as traumas, antisocial personality, anxiety and depression are all associated with gambling and poor academic achievement. Overall, this suggests that various educational tools at a younger age can be effective in preventing gambling-related problems in later life.

Continual disobedience: a term perpetuating exclusive practices in schools

ABSTRACT Schools in New Zealand (NZ) have a range of disciplinary options when dealing with challenging behaviours, one of which is excluding students by way of stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions or expulsions. Following marginal downward trend from 2006 to 2015, the numbers of stand-downs and suspensions have been on the rise again since 2016 despite well-established evidence of strong links between poor academic achievement, educational exclusions and youth justice encounters. One of the key reasons cited by schools for excluding students in New Zealand is for continual disobedience (CD). According to the NZ Ministry of Education Guidelines to schools, behaviours must be persistent and set a harmful or dangerous example to other students to meet the criteria for CD, and it is up to schools to interpret these guidelines. This paper reports the findings from a national study in New Zealand, that sought to understand how the category of CD was interpreted in high schools and the type of behaviours they associated with this category. The findings highlighted the need to question the existence of this category (CD) in the guidelines, as it provides a carte blanche to schools to exclude students.