School Policies Research Articles

School Climate and Student Mental Health: Conceptions and Experiences of Nonbinary Students

Anti-transgender school policies have proliferated in the United States from 2019 to 2024, impacting school climate for transgender and nonbinary learners. In this quantitative study, we examined differences in the experiences of school climate factors (e.g., safety, mattering, mental health outcomes, etc.) between male, female, and nonbinary high school students in Virginia ( N = 219,233) using a gender minority stress framework. Nonbinary students reported greater exposure to distal and proximal minority stressors and worse mental health outcomes than male or female students. We explore implications for school counselors.

An analysis of attainment grouping policy in Singapore

AbstractThis paper extends the scholarship on attainment grouping by focusing on the policy initiatives of streaming and subject‐based banding (SBB) in Singapore. The study is framed by the concept of pragmatic perfectionism, which refers to the continuous and ideals‐oriented drive to improve a system through practical, incremental and paradoxical measures. It is argued that SBB is aligned with setting by giving students the flexibility and choice to study different subjects at varying levels. Mixed‐attainment grouping is also evident, where students are grouped in mixed‐form classes for selected subjects. However, SBB may have inadvertently maintained between‐school segregation for elite and non‐elite schools by supporting the existing policy of school posting based on students' exam scores. This paper contributes to the diverse formulations, adaptations and justifications surrounding attainment grouping. The study also illustrates the usefulness of pragmatic perfectionism in foregrounding the potential and tensions in educational policymaking.

Implementation of Sexual and Reproductive Health Education Policy in Schools in Asia and Africa: A Scoping Review

Objectives: This review aimed to map and synthesize existing literature on sex and reproductive education policy implementation in primary and secondary schools in Asia and Africa. Methods: Database searches yielded 24 relevant articles, which underwent thematic analysis. Results: Most studies were conducted in Africa and looked at barriers to implementation. Studies assessing implementation showed it was incomprehensive. Barriers were: policy/curriculum issues, societal opinions, teaching discomfort, lack of educator training, and lack of sufficient economical support. Conclusions: Based on the limited evidence, a cultural shift to reduce stigma seems necessary, alongside teacher and student involvement in policy formulation and implementation monitoring.

Co-Creation and Implementation of a Healthy Snacks Policy in Primary Schools: Data from Sintra Grows Healthy.

Policy interventions in the school food environment can improve dietary behaviors. However, the literature describing its development and implementation is scarce. This manuscript aims to describe the process of co-creation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a Healthy Snacks Policy, in the scope of Sintra Grows Healthy intervention. Through a community-based participatory research methodology, the co-creation of the Healthy Snacks Policy comprises six stages: snacks evaluation, feedback sessions, class assemblies, school community assemblies, school cluster policy approval, and process evaluation. Within one school year, a Healthy Snacks Policy was co-created, approved, incorporated in the school regulations, implemented, continuously monitored, and evaluated. Regarding snacks evaluation, 1900 snacks were evaluated at the beginning of the school year and 1079 at the end of the school year. There were three feedback sessions, twenty-two class assemblies, and three school community assemblies. Most teachers perceived that children began to consume healthier snacks (72%); 66% of the children were considered to have started eating healthier; and most families said "yes or sometimes" when asked whether their children started requesting healthier snacks (70%), trying new foods (63%), and noticing improvements in their eating habits (74%). The co-creation of a Healthy Snacks Policy establishes an approach to effectively implement existing guidelines for school food supplies, complying with national priority implementation recommendations.

Teacher Induction Policy Development and Implementation: A Case of Ontario’s New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP)

Attrition and turnover among early career teachers (ECTs) have garnered the attention of policymakers and educational leaders across Canada. However, due to provincial/territorial responsibility for education in Canada, teacher induction efforts to keep novice teachers in the profession depend on school system structures and policies specific to given jurisdictions. This article describes an in-depth policy analysis of the development and implementation of Ontario’s New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP). Using a policy document analysis methodology, the review of the induction policy mandates, program evaluations, and empirical studies highlights the NTIP’s organization and scope, the stakeholders’ roles, duties, and responsibilities, the programmatic impacts, and the challenges associated with its implementation. The article concludes with implications for policy development and implementation as well as for the practice of supporting ECTs.

School mask policies and SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among school-age children-United States, September to December 2021.

During the U.S. Fall 2021 school semester, the estimated proportion of previously uninfected school-aged children who experienced a first infection with SARS-CoV-2 was lower in areas where public school district policies required masks for all staff and students compared with areas where the school districts had no mask requirements. Because children are more likely than adults to experience asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infections, the presence of infection-induced antibodies is a more accurate measure of infection history than clinical testing. The proportion of children with these antibodies (i.e., seroprevalence) can improve our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 by detecting more infections and eliminating potential bias due to local testing and reporting practices. Enhanced robustness of surveillance for respiratory infections in children, including records of mitigation policies in communities and schools, as well as seroprevalence data, would establish a better evidence base for policy decisions and response measures during future respiratory outbreaks.

Strategi Komunikasi Pondok Pesantren dalam Menyosialisasikan Moderasi Beragama: Persepsi Masyarakat Aceh Singkil terhadap Upaya Deradikalisasi

As a religious country, Indonesia recognizes 6 (six) religions and provides the right and equal position in the law to carry out their respective beliefs, Besides that, Indonesia which adheres to Bhinneka Tunggal Ika is not all understood by the community in all aspects, so that there is a potential for conflict or conflict. understood by the community in all aspects, so that the potential for conflict or grouping each other into a problem in grouping each other into a problem in the territory of a unitary state, for this reason, religious moderation activities that are promoted by the government become an important activity and even this activity is also carried out by the government. important activities and even this activity is also carried out in the Islamic boarding school by displaying various traditions from Christianity. by displaying various traditions from Christianity. Research with the Title Socialization of religious moderation in Islamic boarding schools in the view of the Aceh Singkil community. Aceh Singkil is a qualitative research, aims to find out how the community views the Religious Moderation Socialization activities socialization activities carried out in Islamic boarding schools, which in fact have been understood as the center of Islamic studies. as the center of Islamic studies. From the results of the research conducted at least can be conclusions can be drawn (1) Religious Moderation Socialization activities are good activities to unite the Indonesian nation (2) Religious Moderation Socialization activities carried out in the Indonesian nation (2) Religious Moderation Socialization activities in Islamic boarding schools are not a problem because they support the policies of the Islamic Boarding School. Pesantren is not a problem because it supports Government Policy (3) Appearances and Cultures that violate Islamic Sharia and Special Traditions for other religions are seen as less beautiful in the Islamic Boarding School. Other religions are considered less Appropriate to be displayed in Islamic Boarding Schools.

School-level variation in children's moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity before and after COVID-19: a multilevel model analysis.

Schools play a crucial role in facilitating physical activity among children, but the COVID-19 pandemic has affected both children's physical activity and the school environment. It is essential to understand between-school differences in children's physical activity post lockdown, to determine if and how the role of schools has changed. Active-6 is a natural experiment comparing postlockdown accelerometer-estimated physical activity to a pre-COVID-19 comparator group. Accelerometer and individual data were collected on 1296 children aged 10-11 pre-COVID-19 (2017-8), with school characteristics collected from the 50 schools they attended. Post lockdown, we collected accelerometer, individual and school data from 393 children in 23 of the same schools and 436 children in 27 of the same schools in 2021 (Wave 1) and 2022 (Wave 2), respectively. Sources of variation (between-school, between-pupil and within-pupil) in child weekday moderate to vigorous physical activity at each wave were modelled using linear mixed-effects models with school-level wave random coefficients. We extended the model to estimate the proportion of between-school variation explained by school policy, curriculum and physical environment factors and school-aggregated pupil characteristics. We also explored the extent to which postlockdown differences in moderate to vigorous physical activity were mediated by individual or school factors. Between-school variation comprised 13% of the total variation pre-COVID-19, 7% in Wave 1 and 13% in Wave 2. School factors associated with moderate to vigorous physical activity were the following: whether physical education was compromised due to space (often: 9 minutes lower moderate to vigorous physical activity; sometimes: 5.4 minutes lower); high after-school club attendance (7 minutes higher moderate to vigorous physical activity for each additional club attended on average in the school); cycle training policy (4 minutes higher moderate to vigorous physical activity); and higher prevalence of active travel (1 minute higher moderate to vigorous physical activity for each 10% point increase in prevalence). These factors explained 22% of the between-school variation pre-COVID-19, and 72% at Wave 2. The relative importance changed, with cycle training policy and active travel being the most important pre-COVID-19 and cycle training policy, active after-school clubs and compromised physical education space most important in Wave 2. No factors were found to mediate the postlockdown differences in moderate to vigorous physical activity, except compromised physical education space, which had a suppressor effect in Wave 2. Only 27 of the initial 50 schools participated post lockdown, limiting our ability to make comparisons across waves. Sample sizes were additionally affected by missing data for some variables. While schools continue to play an important role in facilitating children's physical activity, the factors that contribute to this have changed post-COVID-19, with cycle training, active after-school clubs and ensuring physical education is prioritised even when space is limited now explaining nearly three-quarters of the between-school variation in children's moderate to vigorous physical activity. School-level interventions that focus on these areas, and policies that support them, may offer the potential to increase children's physical activity. This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme as award number NIHR131847.

Gender comparison in physical literacy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of children and adolescents

This study conducts a systematic literature review and meta-analysis on physical literacy, with a focus on gender comparisons among school-aged children and adolescents. Physical literacy (PL) is a multidimensional concept involving social and environmental interaction, knowledge and understanding, motivation and confidence, as well as physical competence. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of interventions on these domains and to examine the existing gender gap. The methods employed include a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and meta-analysis, with data sourced from the Scopus and PubMed databases. The analysis was performed using fixed and random effects models, with publication bias evaluated through Funnel plot, Rank Correlation Test, and Egger's Test. The results indicate that PL interventions have significant effects on several domains with gender-based differences. The social and environmental interaction domain showed no overall significant effect, whereas the knowledge and understanding, and motivation and confidence domains exhibited small but significant effects, with females tending to demonstrate better outcomes. The physical competence domain showed a moderate and significant influence, with males showing greater improvement. The overall physical literacy domain exhibited a significant positive effect, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach in PL interventions. These findings provide evidence-based recommendations for more inclusive physical education practices and school policies, and help address the gender gap in the development of physical literacy. Keywords: Physical literacy, gender, children and adolescents, domains, potential development

Trauma-informed practice as a component to improve student wellbeing

Trauma-informed schools are deeply responsive to the trauma experiences of students and address their primary need for safety and connection as a foundation for emotional, social, and cognitive wellbeing. Trauma-informed schools have systems in place that provide trauma awareness, knowledge, and skills as part of their school culture, practices, and policies. This article draws on a literature base to explore what it means to be trauma-informed and shows ways that schools can play a key role in addressing the effects of traumatic stress on students.

Enhancing teacher status in Kazakhstan: The role of school leaders and policy support

This article investigates the role of school leaders in enhancing the status of teachers in Kazakhstan using a mixed-methods approach with data from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Findings show a positive attitude towards legislative measures but highlight a gap between policy and practice as school leaders often neglect their legal duties. The study emphasizes the critical role of school leaders in providing support and professional growth opportunities, significantly affecting teachers' perceptions of their status and job satisfaction. It also reveals that the school's built environment and academic rankings influence teachers' social status. The results stress the importance of effective policy implementation, increased administrative support, and a focus on teacher welfare to elevate professional status, offering valuable insights for policymakers, school administrators, and educators.

Process and Practice in New Zealand Enviroschool Implementation

New Zealand's Enviroschools integrate school practice, policy and pedagogy for health promotion and environmental sustainability. We thematically analysed Enviroschools documentation and interviewed participating teachers, school leaders and Enviroschools staff. How adults and students ‘formed’ and ‘sustained’ relationships of interconnection and responsibility with natural and social environments were the key processes of an experiential, cognitive and affective journey. This journey through immersive experiences helps generate inquiry learning, an attunement to context, deeper connections between people and places and, subsequently, embed the approach overtime. The Enviroschools approach has the potential to inform the development of teaching and learning in other jurisdictions.

College Students' Attitudes & Information Literacy Knowledge Related to Privacy on TikTok

ABSTRACTThis study is a project designed to be part of the PhD dissertation research as a pilot aimed at assessing the study's feasibility and its potential for refinement. The paper presents a study that explored the attitudes and knowledge of college students toward privacy in TikTok. This paper aims to comparatively assess student privacy literacy and privacy‐related concerns along with their response patterns towards the Florida State University policy banning TikTok on campus networks. The study utilizes semi‐structured, qualitative interviews to collect data from five undergraduate students (age 18–24) at Florida State University. It has analyzed and discussed the data collected from these interviews to achieve greater insight into the privacy literacy of students, their privacy concerns, and how Generation Z (Gen Z) students view institutional policies affect their use of social media. Preliminary findings suggests students are skeptical of the ban due to perceived ineffectiveness of the school policy. Analysis showed the new school rules had little effect on students' usage pattern or the amount of time they spent using TikTok.

The Alternative for Germany and its school policy positions

This article analyses the school policy positions of the party Alternative for Germany (AfD). Using the federal state of Thuringia as an example, three election manifestos (2014, 2019, 2024) and one position paper are analysed through qualitative content analysis. The AfD Thuringia advocates in favour of maintaining and expanding a differentiated and structured school system, including the retention of special schools for pupils with special educational needs. Gender-appropriate language, Islamic education, and sexual education in nurseries and primary schools are rejected. The AfD Thuringia also promotes a strong focus on performance and elites within the school system. Considering various documents from the last 10 years, the AfD Thuringia has experienced a radicalisation of its school policy positions.

Rising authoritarianism and changing education policies of 21st century Turkey

This paper conceptualises rising authoritarianism in Turkey under the conservative ruling party, AKP, and its Sunni-Islamist educational policies. It scrutinises the Islamisation of early childhood and primary-secondary school education during the recent authoritarian turn. The discourse of ‘raising a religious generation’ entails reframing the Turkish secular education system into a Sunni Islam model. The article first situates early childhood, primary, and secondary school policies and discusses five major policy alterations during the contemporary authoritarianism of the AKP: restructured Preacher’s Schools (Imam-Hatip Schools), the 4+4+4 system, cooperation with Islamic sects, implementation of values education, and public Islamic kindergartens.

Education Policy Implementation at School Level: A Study of School Strategies for Facing Social Change at Klaten Senior High School, Indonesia

Social changes in the digital era have had various impacts on education policy. It is important to investigate how educational institutions implement these policy practices to find out how they can realize the vision, mission and goals of education and overcome various problems of social change. This research investigated the implementation of educational policies in the face of social change in the current era of digitalization. A case study research design using a descriptive qualitative approach guided this researcher. The first findings revealed that social changes that influence educational policies in schools include changes to learning models, use of technological tools, information accessibility, interaction, and collaboration in the teaching and learning process. The second finding discussed the existence of positive impacts and potential negative risks on the implementation of school policies due to social changes that occur. The third finding explained four school policy strategies in facing social change, including curriculum adjustments, guidance counseling, collaboration, and digital literacy. The conclusion was that the education policy at Klaten Senior High School (SMA) is generally effective in dealing with the worst impacts that may occur due to social changes in the digital era. It was hoped that these findings would become concrete steps for developing education policies at the upper secondary level. The aim was to improve the ability of teachers and students to face social changes in the digital era and for a better future. The government, through educational institutions, should provide maximum support for the implementation of educational policies.

Improving Mathematics Education through Teacher Professional Development: A Tanzanian Perspective

This study aimed to explore mathematics teachers’ perceptions of professional development. The study involved two public secondary schools in Ilala Municipality, Dar es Salaam. This was a qualitative study based on case study design. The study involved fourteen (14) participants that were selected purposefully. Two (2) heads of the schools, two (2) Academic Teachers, two (2) heads of mathematics departments, and eight (8) mathematics teachers were equally involved from both schools. Interviews, focus group discussions, surveys, and document analysis methods were used in data collection. Both interviews and focus group discussion were audio-recorded by using a protected smartphone with password to ensure data security. The documents reviewed includes; school policies, school calendars, and mathematics departmental meetings’ minutes. The data collected were analysed thematically to identify and interpret key themes. The data analysis was based on the following steps: transcription, data reduction, presentation, and discussion of findings. Fictitious names were used for names of people and schools to ensure confidentiality and anonymity. The study revealed that teachers perceived professional development as formal programs to improve teachers’ quality that were time-consuming and costly, while informal professional development programs were overlooked by teachers and other educational stakeholders. The study recommends that, in order to improve teachers’ quality as intended in professional development, there is a need to raise awareness for both formal and informal professional development programs among teachers and a learning community as a whole.

Implementation of PPDB Policy for State Middle Schools in Cirebon City

This research examines the implementation of the zoning-based New Student Admissions (PPDB) policy in State Middle Schools in Cirebon City, which is regulated by Minister of Education and Culture Regulation Number 44 of 2019. The aim of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of zoning policies in equalizing access to education, identify the challenges faced, and provide recommendations for improvement. This research used a qualitative descriptive approach, involving school principals, teachers, students and parents as respondents. The research results show that zoning policies have succeeded in increasing equitable access to education, but face challenges in communication, information consistency and socialization. Recommendations include increased coordination, ongoing training, and intensified outreach to support more effective policy implementation in the future.

TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND CHALLENGES IN SUPPORTING LGBTQI LEARNERS IN RURAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS

This study explores the perceptions and challenges faced by secondary school teachers in supporting LGBTQI learners within the Nongoma Circuit in South Africa. Adopting a phenomenological approach, the research aims to uncover nuanced understandings and lived experiences of teachers regarding LGBTQI learners. The study employs a qualitative methodology, utilizing purposive sampling to select five Life Orientation teachers for in-depth, semistructured interviews. Thematic analysis reveals varied attitudes among teachers, ranging from supportive to biased, highlighting significant disparities in acceptance and understanding. Key findings indicate that while some teachers recognize the importance of fostering an inclusive environment, others perpetuate misconceptions and biases, contributing to an unwelcoming school atmosphere for LGBTQI learners. The study underscores the urgent need for comprehensive training programmes and policy reforms to equip teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to support LGBTQI learners effectively. Enhanced teacher training on LGBTQI issues, along with a review of school policies, is recommended to promote inclusivity and safeguard the well-being of all learners. These findings are crucial for teachers, policymakers, and stakeholders in developing strategies to create a more supportive and inclusive educational environment in rural areas. The research contributes to the broader discourse on educational equity and the role of teachers in fostering a safe and inclusive learning environment for marginalized groups.

State Schooling Policies and Cognitive Performance Trajectories: A Natural Experiment in a National US Cohort of Black and White Adults.

Education is strongly associated with cognitive outcomes at older ages, yet the extent to which these associations reflect causal effects remains uncertain due to potential confounding. Leveraging changes in historical measures of state-level education policies as natural experiments, we estimated the effects of educational attainment on cognitive performance over 10 years in 20,248 non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White participants, aged 45+ in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Disparities in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort (2003-2020) by (1) using state- and year- specific compulsory schooling laws, school-term length, attendance rate, and student-teacher ratio policies to predict educational attainment for US Census microsample data from 1980 and 1990, and (2) applying policy-predicted years of education (PPYEd) to predict memory, verbal fluency, and a cognitive composite. We estimated overall and race- and sex-specific effects of PPYEd on level and change in each cognitive outcome using random intercept and slope models, adjusting for age, year of first cognitive assessment, and indicators for state of residence at age 6. Each year of PPYEd was associated with higher baseline cognition (0.11 standard deviation [SD] increase in composite measure for each year of PPYEd, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.07, 0.15). Subanalyses focusing on individual cognitive domains estimate the largest effects of PPYEd on memory. PPYEd was not associated with rate of change in cognitive scores. Estimates were similar across Black and White participants and across sex. Historical policies shaping educational attainment are associated with better later life memory, a major determinant of dementia risk.