Secondary School Population Research Articles

Mental health and the use of alcohol, tobacco, analgesics and vitamins in a secondary school population.

A survey of mental health in relation to patterns of alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceutical drug use and reducing diets was carried out in six Hobart high schools and matriculation colleges. A response rate of 89% was achieved, yielding a sample of 2,419 teenagers. Psychiatric disorder was assessed by the 60-item General Health Questionnaire. A statistically significant association was found between the probability of psychiatric disturbance and the use of alcohol, cigarettes, analgesics, vitamin supplements and weight-reducing diets.

Social attitudes, self-description and perceived reasons for using drugs: A survey of the secondary school population in Malaysia

The present paper is the third and concluding part of a study of the secondary school population of two of Malaysia's thirteen states, Penang and Selangor. Since completion of the two earlier papers, the research team has investigated the pattern and nature of drug use among the equivalent population in a third state, Kelantan, and has again found essentially the same pattern of results: youthful drug use is most clearly related to precocious self-assertion, and a set of beliefs and attitudes about drugs and drug taking, and is largely unrelated to indicators of social deprivation or personal problems. The significance of this repeated finding in Kelantan is that, in this much more rural and traditional state, adult and established patterns of drug use had historically differed considerably from those found in the two more urban and cosmopolitan states of Penang and Selangor. Our findings indicate that the new pattern of drug use by youth has transcended the older cultural differences between the states, and is in turn explained by a more universally familiar set of characteristics in adolescent development.

Patterns of drug use amongst malaysian secondary schoolchildren

A representative sampling of the secondary school population of two states of Malaysia (sample size 16 166) indicated that 11% of students had had experience of drug use. Use of a single drug was the common pattern, with cannabis reported most often by older students, and sedatives most often by younger students. A quarter of those who had used drugs reported experience with four or more substances and were likely to have progressed rapidly to heroin. This progression may be facilitated by the ready availability of heroin and the local tradition of smoking or inhaling rather than injecting opiates. Descriptions of drug migration patterns based on Western samples are not fully appropriate worldwide, because the youthful abuser is much influenced both by local market forces and by cultural traditions, even though the epidemic of youthful drug abuse is itself worldwide.

ASSESSING BEHAVIOURAL ADJUSTMENT TO SCHOOL

Summary. The development of a 34‐item self‐report measure of behavioural adjustment to school is described in detail. Analysis identified three distinct scales—studiousness, compliance and teacher contact. All three scales and the total score are shown to have acceptable reliability and well‐defined construct validity within a normal lower secondary school population. Various applications of the instrument, including the use of a teacher form, are also discussed.

A Study of the Efficacy and Interactions of Several Theories for Explaining Rebelliousness among High School Students

The purpose of this article is to compare the efficacy of three main categories of theoretical explanations which have been used in the past in an attempt to explain delinquent or deviant adolescent behavior. This comparison will be made in terms of the ability of the three theories to account for the variance in delinquent or deviant behaviors in a public secondary school population. The later portion of this article will have a second purpose -an assessment of the manner in which the three

Education Policy: Recommendations from the Aspen Institute

F or the past three years a number of the nation's leading scholars and education policy commentators have been taking a hard look at educational policy in the United States for the purpose of making recommendations the country can follow until 1990. Working under the auspices of the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, the Program on Education for a Changing Society has completed the initial phase of its study and its recommendations are ready for review and possible implementation. The timing for such recommendations probably couldn't be better. President Carter appears prepared to focus more executive attention on education (he has pledged to create a separate department of education); elementary and secondary school populations are declining; and friction between state and federal regulatory agencies seems to be increasing. Director of the Institute's Program on Education is Francis Keppel, a former Commissioner of Education under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and a highly respected educator and administrator. The Institute's recommendations grew out of workshops held in 1975 to study the issues in a number of background papers that have now been issued as the Keppel Education Series. Keppel's overview of the series, Educational Policy in the Next Decade, is due to be published shortly. The comments that follow are taken from that overview and

An epidemiologic study of occlusal anomalies in relation to development of the dentition in Icelandic children

The purpose of the investigation was to determine the prevalence of occlusal anomalies in relation to dental stages (DS) in Icelandic schoolchildren, and to compare it with results from other Scandinavian countries and Ireland found on the basis of the same method. The material consisted of 1,641 randomly selected children, 791 boys and 850 girls, corresponding to 9.5% of the total primary and secondary school population of Reykjavík. A significant sex difference was only recorded in the frequencies of of two of the single morphologic traits of occlusal anomalies, the boys showing higher frequencies in deep bite and in scissors-bite. Significant differences in the occurrence of occlusal anomalies in Iceland and Denmark were only found in two out of 108 pairs of frequencies.

Maori and European teenagers: A comparison of self and examiner health appraisal: The Rotorua Lakes study 4

A health survey of a secondary school population in New Zealand enabled comparison between health as determined by an examining doctor and as assessed by the subject. Subjective appraisal identified respiratory symptoms, joint dysfunction and neuropsychiatric disorders as contributing to poorer health. Examiner-determined ill-health was commoner in the lowest socioeconomic strata but showed no relation to sex or ethnicity. Among students without examiner-determined ill-health, lower socioeconomic status was associated with lower self-appraisal of health. Among students having any examiner-determined abnormality, an ethnic difference emerged, but this was attributable mainly to the higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms in Maori subjects.

Expanding the Availability of High School Art

Art teachers are dedicated and hardworking people, but as committed as they are it is usually impossible for them to reach all of the students in their schools. As art educators all well know, art in secondary schools is an elective subject following a period when it may be required of all students. This requirement, however-where it occurs at all-may extend from a few weeks to a year or more. As soon as art becomes an elective, only about 10% to 15% of students can be expected to enroll. If there were more art teachers in secondary schools, then a larger proportion of secondary school populations might be reached; but no such prospect is likely. The professional efforts of art educators will continue to be held down to the present token proportions in schools unless means are devised to overcome obstacles of staffing and programming. What follows is a description of an instructional system that has been developed and applied successfully, whereby a single art teacher's effectiveness has been considerably expanded. The full potential of this system has not yet been reached, but even at the present stage of development it is possible to open the instructional enrollment of art in a school quite considerably, virtually without any increase to the load of the art teacher-and yet with the teacher deriving considerable satisfaction from what has happened. The ultimate goal, however, remains as nothing less than making art instruction a natural part of the education of all secondary school students. This topic presents one step along that road.

Free Schools and Self-Concept in Adolescents

A number of authors support the importance of working in the affective domain with respect to students from racial minority and low income populations. (cf. Cameron, 1971; Carter, 1968; Deutsch, 1963; Fredrichs, 1971; Freenberg, 1970; Hodgekins & Stakenas, 1969; Kvaraceus, 1965; Newton, 1969; Singleton, 1963; Soares, 1969; and Zirkel and Moses, 1971). Intuitive acceptance of the concepts advocated has contributed in large measure to the recent growth in free or alternative schools within the urban milieu in which Black students represent the largest segment of the secondary school population. There appears, however, to be relatively little experimental evidence as to whether or not the free school concept contributes significantly to selfconcept formation in racial minority students and, if it does, what the nature of the contribution may be. This article, then, details an attempt to systematically assess the effect of a free school program with respect to student's self-concept. Beginning with a definition of self-concept, the article describes the development of a semantic differential instrument and a modification of the material developed by Wilbur Brookover (Brookover, Patterson, & Thomas, 1962, 1968) for specific use in the urban school system. The application of the instrument and an analysis of the results are followed by some conclusions with respect to the test population and general observations concerning potential applications of this kind of assessment technique and the evaluation of free programs. In early 1969, as a consequence of severe overcrowding at the local high school, a group of parents formed an ad hoc committee with the school administration to seek a solution to a number of educational problems The school, West Philadelphia High School, at that time had an enrollment of over 3,800 students in Grades 10 through 12.

Psychiatric disorder in the young adolescents of an industrial town.

The opportunity to conduct a prevalence study of psychiatric disorder among young adolescents arose because a Family and Community Project had been established in Blackburn and the neighbouring town of Accrington. This Project, which is under the direction of Dr. G. Rose, aims to study the causes and possible methods of prevention of delinquency. As part of the survey, the secondary school population had been screened by means of questionnaires given to parents, teachers, and the children themselves, and this provided the starting point for the study described here.

Some Implications of Population Growth for Senior Secondary School Enrolments

The marked post-war expansion in the secondary school population is explained by both the growth in the overall population and by the heightened aspirations and expectations which have resulted in an increasing rate of retention. It is here demonstrated on the basis of a number of apparently tenable assumptions that in the approaching decades both tendencies will continue to put heavy strains upon the school system. A strong case can be put for an appeal to demographers to apply themselves to the problems of educational planning. The area of greatest growth and greatest uncertainty is the 15–18 age group. This is largely a ‘new’ school population, coming from a different socio-economic stratum than the pre-war 8–10 per cent of the age-group from middle-class educated homes who were generally destined for university, or for a predetermined career, and may have very different expectations. Many important policy decisions must be made in relation to this expanded group, but the research evidence available and upon which these can be based, is fragmented and scanty. It is to help alleviate this situation that the research project from which this report is an early product is directed.

Correlates of locus of control in a secondary school population.

Correlates of locus of control in a secondary school population.

Foreign Language Enrollments in Public Secondary Schools, 1965

ABSTRACT: This eighth consecutive MLA annual study of foreign language enrollments in the public secondary schools reveals that in the fall of 1965 the total FL enrollment, grades 7–12, was over 4.5 million (27.4% of the total public secondary school population) compared with 2.8 million (23.4%) in fall 1960. This represents an increase of 62% compared with an increase in the overall secondary school population of 38%. The proportion of secondary schools, grades 7–12, offering a FL was 80.4%. At the level of grades 9–12, the ratio of enrollments to the total relevant school population was Spanish (12%), French (10.8%), Latin (5.1%), German (2.8%), and all other foreign languages (0.4%), for a total of 31.5%. In grades 9–12, modern FL have increased from 13.7% of the total school population in 1948 to 26.4% in 1965; in the same period Latin declined from 7.8% to 5.1%. Charts and tables show the distribution of 1965 enrollments by regions and by languages. Tables detail the comparative 1960–65 enrollments, by states, in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Italian, and Latin.

The Secondary Schools

All schools in the secondary sector of Newcastle's educational provision have now been reorganized, apart from the six Roman Catholic secondary moderns and one Roman Catholic secondary technical school. A breakdown of the secondary school population shows that, of some 14 800 children, 13 000 are grouped in large comprehensive units. Eight of these are co‐educational, and the remaining two single‐sex schools (one boys' and one girls'). The six Roman Catholic secondary moderns have a role of from 150 to 270 pupils, the largest denominational unit being St Mary's Technical School with about 500.

Symposium. Family Planning. Population Problems, and the Secondary School Population. Indianapolis, Indiana (1111 East 54th Street): Planned Parenthood—World Population, 1966. 34 P. $0.50

Science EducationVolume 51, Issue 4 p. 396-396 Book Review Symposium. Family Planning. Population Problems, and the Secondary School Population. Indianapolis, Indiana (1111 East 54th Street): Planned Parenthood—World Population, 1966. 34 P. $0.50 First published: October 1967 https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.3730510417AboutPDF 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 onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume51, Issue4October 1967Pages 396-396 RelatedInformation

Cross Validation of an Attitude Scale for the Identification of High and Low Academic Achievers

THE RELATIONSHIP between attitudes and academic achievement has been of increasing in terest in educational circles. McGauvran (4), Shinn (6), Kerlinger and Kaya (3), Itkin (2), Haggard (1), and others have reported studies in which both student and parental attitudes have been found to be significantly related to academic success. Such results led to the development of a predictive instrument by Rothman (5), which consisted of 16 significantly discriminating di verse attitudinal statements. This scale was named the Multidimensional Achievement Orien tation Scale (MAOS). In the initial construction and concurrent vali dation, the scale was found to be successful in differentiating students of low achievement from students of high achievement in a large sample of bright secondary school students in two inde pendent schools. Because this scale was developed on and validated with a sample of high ability students, there was some concern about its va lidity with students from an intellectually broader cross section of the secondary school population. The present study was an investigation of this problem. A sample of students from secondary schools in the geographically East-Central sec tions of Pennsylvania, predominantly a suburban, semi-rural and small city sample, was used for this validation. This contrasts markedly with the previous highly urban Philadelphia sample of bright students from two independent schools.

The Changing Secondary School Population

The Changing Secondary School Population

Rojection of Primary and Secondary School Populations for Maharashtra State 1951-1981

Rojection of Primary and Secondary School Populations for Maharashtra State 1951-1981

Directed Segments of the School Population

During the tremendous growth of secondary schools since the turn of the century, they have been suffering from unavoidable growing pains. When enrollments in high schools doubled and redoubled in decade after decade, how could the curriculum keep abreast of this growth? What could be done about keeping the mathematics offerings up-to-date? Mathematics curricula did not keep up to the changes in secondary school populations, and even today we find many high schools offering only the traditional college-preparatory sequence of the mathematics curriculum of a century ago. The study of mathematics has often been surrounded by a halo of vague superiority, or a sort of aristocracy. Some teachers have perpetuated such foolishness by trying to impress students with their own mystic ability to do mathematical tricks and to expound profound mathematical truths.