Socioeconomic Level Schools Research Articles

The Effect of Common Knowledge Construction Model-Based Instruction on 7th Grade Students’ Academic Achievement and Their Views about the Nature of Science in the Electrical Energy Unit at Schools of Different Socio-economic Levels

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the common knowledge construction model (CKCM)-based instruction on academic achievement and 7th grade students’ views about the nature of science (NOS) presented in electrical energy unit at schools of different socio-economic levels. In accordance with this purpose, three secondary schools at different socio-economic levels (lower, middle and upper) in Kastamonu Province, Turkey, were selected. One experimental group and one control group were randomly selected from schools at each socio-economic level. The teaching interventions in all groups lasted for 6 weeks (24 class-hours). While the lessons of the experimental group were taught with the activities developed in accordance with the CKCM, the lessons of the control group were taught in compliance with the 2013 Science Curriculum. As a result of this study, it was observed that the CKCM-based instruction increased students’ level of academic achievement and ensured the permanence of the knowledge learned. In terms of academic achievement, no significant difference was observed between the schools at the lower and middle socio-economic levels and the schools at middle and upper socio-economic levels. However, a significant difference between the schools at the lower and upper socio-economic levels was observed in favor of the upper socio-economic level school. Moreover, the CKCM-based instruction had a positive effect on the students’ views on the nature of science.

Training of early childhood teachers for the use of successful shared reading strategies.

Verify the effects of a training program held with pre-school teachers to carry out specific strategies in shared reading and generalize these strategies in other daily activities of oral language motivation. A total of 14 teachers from low socioeconomic level schools participated in the study. The teachers were randomly distributed in an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group attended training on how to use five strategies during shared reading in the classroom and discuss how to motivate their students towards oral language. To evaluate the effectiveness of training, two instruments were applied pre- and post-intervention. The Assessment Scale of Oral Language Teaching in School (EVALOE) was applied to analyze the teaching of oral language and the Checklist was used to characterize the behavioral changes of the teachers during shared reading. Overall, EVALOE data were higher at post-intervention analysis for 11 of the 13 participants. Checklist showed that 10 of the 13 teachers presented higher post-intervention total scores compared with their respective pre-intervention scores. The training program provided improvement in teacher behavior during shared reading activities and demonstrated to have a positive impact on the increase of interactions, previously identified in the literature as important for oral language motivation.

Comparison of Strategies Used by Preschool Teachers in Different Socio-Economic Level Schools

Bu araştırmada, farklı sosyoekonomik düzeye sahip okullarda görev yapmakta olan okulöncesi öğretmenlerinin eğitim ortamlarında kullandıkları önleyici yaklaşım biçimlerinin kuralların işleyişi, fiziksel ortamın düzenlenmesi, günlük eğitim akışının planlanması /uygulanması ve olumlu bir sınıf atmosferinin oluşturulması boyutlarında incelenerek karşılaştırılması amaçlanmaktadır. Araştırmada çalışma grubu oluşturulurken aykırı durum örneklemesine başvurulmuş ve bu kapsamda düşük ve yüksek sosyo-ekonomik düzeye sahip olan 2017-2018 eğitim öğretim yılında İzmir’e bağlı iki merkez ilçede Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı’na bağlı üç bağımsız anaokulundan 24 okul öncesi öğretmeni ile çalışma yürütülmüştür. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak “Önleyici Yaklaşımları Değerlendiren Yarı Yapılandırılmış Öğretmen Görüşme Formu” ve “Öğretmenlerin Önleyici Yaklaşımlarını Değerlendiren Gözlem Formu” kullanılmıştır. Görüşme yoluyla elde edilen verilerin analizinde içerik analizine; gözlem yoluyla elde edilen verilerin analizinde ise betimsel istatistik ile yüzde hesaplamasına başvurulmuştur. Bu çalışmadan elde edilen bulgular değerlendirildiğinde her iki grupta yer alan öğretmenler arasındaki en temel farklılık fiziksel ortamın düzenlenmesi boyutunda ortaya çıkmıştır. Ekonomik açıdan desteklenen ve veliler ile işbirliği içerisinde bulunan okullarda öğretmenlerin bu boyuta yönelik farkındalık ve uygulamalarının daha yüksek seviyede olduğu saptanmıştır. Olumlu bir sınıf atmosferinin oluşturulması boyutunda ise öğretmenlerin yetersiz performans sergiledikleri görülmüştür. Sonuçlar genel olarak değerlendirildiğinde ise öğretmenlerin önleyici yaklaşıma yönelik uygulamalarda donanımlarının geliştirilmesine gereksinim olduğu düşünülmektedir.

Investigating Childhood Fears During Preschool Period in Terms of Child, Mother and Teacher Opinions

<p style="text-align:justify">In this study, it is aimed to discover childhood fears of 60-72-month-old children through the opinions of preschool children, preschool teachers and mothers. Study group of the investigation consists of 52 participants; 18 children aged 60-72 months, 16 teachers and 18 mothers with preschool children, in Istanbul. An “Interview Form” which consists of 9 questions, was developed by the researchers. According to the findings, there are not significant differences in fear types among preschool children in different socioeconomic levels. In general, the most common fear types among all children are animals, robbery, natural events and nightmares. According to the mothers in lower and middle socioeconomic levels, children are mostly afraid of the dark and loneliness and to the mothers from upper socioeconomic level, they are afraid of strangers and unfamiliar settings, animals and loneliness. According to the teachers working in lower socioeconomic level schools, children are mostly afraid of animals; to the teachers from middle socioeconomic level schools, children are mostly afraid of the dark, strangers and unfamiliar settings; and according to the teachers working in high socioeconomic level schools, children are mostly afraid of separation, strangers and unfamiliar settings and loneliness.</p>

İLKOKUL 4. SINIF MATEMATİK DERSİ PROGRAMINA İLİŞKİN ÖĞRETMENLERİN GÖRÜŞLERİ TEACHERS’ VIEWS WITH REGARD TO THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 4TH GRADE MATHEMATICS LESSON CURRICULUM

Bu calismanin amaci, sinif ogretmenlerinin ilkokul 4. sinif Matematik dersi programina iliskin goruslerini belirlemektir. Arastirma, betimsel nitelikte tarama modelinde bir calismadir. Calismaya, Elazig il merkezindeki ilkokullarda gorev yapmakta olan 118 sinif ogretmeni katilmistir. Veriler, Oksuz (2015) tarafindan gelistirilen “Ilkokul Matematik Programini Degerlendirme Olcegi” ile toplanmistir. Olcek, 5’li likert tipi olup, 78 maddeden olusmaktadir. Verilerin analizinde, yuzde, frekans, betimsel analiz, t- testi ve tek yonlu varyans (ANOVA) analizi yontemleri kullanilmistir. Arastirma sonucunda ogretmenlerin, ilkokul 4. sinif matematik dersi programini cok ust duzeyde olmasa da genel olarak olumlu duzeyde gordukleri sonucuna ulasilmistir. Ogretmenlerin cinsiyet ve kidem degiskenlerine iliskin olarak yapilan analiz sonucunda, gruplar arasinda anlamli bir farklilik tespit edilmemistir. Okulun sosyo-ekonomik duzeyi degiskeni acisindan ust-sosyo ekonomik duzey okullardaki ogretmenler ile alt-sosyo ekonomik duzey okullarda gorev yapan ogretmenler arasinda, ust sosyo ekonomik duzey okullarda gorev yapan ogretmenler lehine anlamli farklilik tespit edilmistir. Anahtar Sozcukler: Ilkokul 4. sinif matematik dersi programi, program degerlendirme, ogretmen gorusleri. The purpose of this study was to determine the views of elementary teachers about elementary education 4th grade mathematics lesson curriculum. The model of the research was descriptive survey. Participants of this study were 118 elementary teachers who have been working in Elazig province. “Primary School Mathematics Curricula Evaluation Scale” which has been developed by Oksuz (2015), has been used in the research. The data have been collected by using 5-point Likert scale, which consists of 78 items. In data analysis, percentage, frequency, descriptive analysis, t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis methods have been used. It has been observed from the research findings that the teachers generally find the elementary school 4th grade mathematics lesson curriculum at positive level, although not at a very high level. As a result of performed analysis with regard teachers' gender and seniority variables, there was not a significant difference between the groups. In terms of socio-economic level variable of the school, there was a significant difference between the teachers who work in high socio-economic level schools and the teachers who work in low socio-economic level schools, in favor of the teachers who work in high socio-economic level schools. Key Words: Elementary school 4th grade mathematics curriculum, curriculum evaluation, teacher’s views.

Parental Attitude and Teacher Behaviours in Predicting School Bullying

The main goal of this research is to present the relationship between “parental attitude and teacher behaviors in predicting school bullying”. The population of this research is consisted of all primary school 4 th grade students within Istanbul Kucukcekmece Municipality borders. Data were gathered from lower, mid and upper socio-economic level schools (2 schools on each level, 6 schools in total.) 702 volunteer students constitute the sample of this research. 363 (52%) of these students are female students and 338 (48%) of the students are male students. Tendency for Bullying Scale, Parental Attitude Scale, Perceived Teacher Behavior Scale and an information form which was developed by the researcher were used in collecting data. T-test, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis were used in data analysis. Female students who do not attend cultural activities and who have low success levels have a higher bullying tendency. As students’ ages increase, bullying tendency increases, too. Authoritarian behaviors of teachers, mothers and fathers (respectively) are the main predictors of bullying. Students who cannot have emotional sharing, who like to use force and who reflect negatively about events have a higher bullying tendency. Positive attitudes of teachers especially and their efforts to develop empathy skills in students are thought to be important in decreasing school bullying.

Cues to Action as Motivators for Children’s Brushing

Dental caries is the most common chronic childhood disease. Home self-care procedures are the most important strategies to prevent tooth decay. Brushing is the most important single intervention for the prevention of tooth decay, yet compliance is not practiced and there is limited understanding of children’s behavioral decisions. Guided by the Health Belief Model, this study consisted of eight focus groups with children in the second through fifth grades at three different socioeconomic-level school districts to determine the cues to action that are motivating or can motivate their brushing behavior. Results indicated children are primarily motivated to brush for aesthetic reasons, mainly due to viewed media pictures of “perfect” teeth. Other less commonly expressed motivations for brushing stemmed from interpersonal connections, such as relatives with dentures. Social media, on the other hand, played a key role in some children’s understanding of more advanced oral health connections such as links between cardiovascular and oral disease, and smoking and oral cancer. These links were viewed as threatening to children to motivate better brushing. Additionally, the study found that home computers can be used as an external motivator to deliver tailored messages to encourage better brushing.

Children living near a sanitary landfill have increased breath methane and Methanobrevibacter smithii in their intestinal microbiota.

This study evaluated the breath CH4 excretion and concentration of M. smithii in intestinal microbiota of schoolchildren from 2 slums. One hundred and eleven children from a slum near a sanitary landfill, 35 children of a slum located away from the sanitary landfill, and 32 children from a high socioeconomic level school were included in the study. Real-time PCR was performed to quantify the M. smithii nifH gene and it was present in the microbiota of all the participating children, with higher (P < 0.05) concentrations in those who lived in the slum near the landfill (3.16 × 107 CFU/g of feces), comparing with the children from the slum away from the landfill (2.05 × 106 CFU/g of feces) and those from the high socioeconomic level group (3.93 × 105 CFU/g of feces). The prevalence of children who present breath methane was 53% in the slum near the landfill, 31% in the slum further away from the landfill and, 22% in the high socioeconomic level group. To live near a landfill is associated with higher concentrations of M. smithii in intestinal microbiota, comparing with those who live away from the landfill, regardless of their socioeconomics conditions.

Effect of activity and television viewing on BMI z-score in early adolescents in Turkey

television, computer and other causes of increased inactivity are reported to be among the major causes of obesity. This cross-sectional study was aimed to evaluate the effect of television viewing and other daily activities on body mass index (BMI) z-score of early adolescents. a total of 860 students and their parents (581) from different socioeconomic level schools were included. They were instructed to fill in a self-designed questionnaire. Weight and height were measured, and BMI z-scores were calculated. BMI z-score was higher in boys and in those attending high socioeconomic level schools. Children with a BMI z-score >2SD watched television (2.5 ± 0.9 h/day) longer than those with <-2SD (1.6 ± 0.8 h/day) (P=0.027). The three categories (<-2SD, -2SD-2SD, >2SD) differed significantly according to maternal (P<0.05) and paternal (P<0.005) BMI. Linear logistic regression analysis revealed that socioeconomic level, maternal BMI and paternal BMI are factors affecting BMI z-score significantly. genetic and/or family environment which may affect the nutrition and activity of adolescents seems to be the most important factor affecting their BMI z-score.

Timing of Permanent Teeth Emergence and Dental Caries among Jatsikh Children of Public and Government Schools of Patiala District

The purpose of this study is to establish the median timing of permanent teeth emergence in a low to high socio-economic level school children. A sample of 1648 Jat-Sikh children which includes 821 children (452 boys, 369 girls) from public schools and 827 children (377 boys, 460 girls) from government schools forms the basis of this study. Each child has been studied for permanent dental eruption and dental caries. The median emergence times have been found in general relatively advanced in public school children with few exceptions although differences are not to the level of significance when compared with government school children. The girls from both public and government schools have been found to be relatively advanced in their emergence times except for first maxillary molar and mandibular central incisors which make their appearance earlier in public school boys and the differences have been found to be statistically non significant. Therefore no differences in dental eruptions between Govt. and Public schools have been observed. No bilateral differences and no sex differences in eruption timings have been observed. The incidence of dental caries has been found to be high in public school children i.e.7.30% in boys and 8.94% in girls as compared to government school children, where the percentage has been found to be 6.36% in boys and 5.77% in girls

Determination of the science process skills and critical thinking skill levels

In this research, it was tried to determine the science process skill (SPS) and critical thinking skill (CTS) levels of the 8th grade elementary school students. With this purpose, 308 8th grade students from each of high, middle, and low socioeconomic level schools (totally from six schools) in a randomly selected province of Aegean region were selected as the sample. At the end of the research, it can be said that the students who completed elementary education have middle level developed SPS and CTS. And it is thought according to this research findings that it is important to perform more comprehensive instruction by using different measurement tools.

Iron deficiency prevalence and dietary patterns by school district in Istanbul

The aim of this study was to record the prevalence of iron deficiency (serum ferritin concentration <15 microg L(-1)) among schoolchildren and identify possible factors related to the development of this medical condition. The study population consisted of 504 schoolchildren attending three primary schools, located in two districts of Istanbul with higher and lower socio-economic level (SEL) respectively. Certain biochemical and haematological indices of iron status were measured. Dietary intake was estimated using the 24-h recall technique and a food frequency questionnaire. The prevalence of iron deficiency in the lower SEL school district was twice that of the higher SEL school district (42% and 21.2% respectively). Furthermore, the levels of serum ferritin, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin (all P < 0.001) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (P = 0.016) were higher for students in the higher than in the lower SEL school district. Consumption of tea, cola beverages and dairy products was more frequent by children living in the lower than in the higher SEL school district. Furthermore, consumption of red meat and citrus fruits was less frequent by boys in the lower than in the higher SEL school district. Iron deficiency was more prevalent among children from the lower SEL school district. Different patterns in the consumption of foods and beverages that inhibit or enhance intestinal iron absorption between children in the two school districts could provide some explanation for the observed differences in the prevalence of iron deficiency.

Levels of plasma malondialdehyde in low socioeconomic level school children

Levels of plasma malondialdehyde in low socioeconomic level school children

String Programs in Low Socioeconomic Level School Districts

This study examined string programs in low socioeconomic level school districts where more than twenty-five percent of the children fell below the U.S. Census poverty level. The preliminary findings revealed a 28 percent decrease in the number of such districts that offered strings during the five-year period from 1994 (100) to 1999 (72). Questionnaires were sent to the remaining 72 districts that still had viable string programs with a response rate of 83.3 percent (60). The findings indicated that 90 percent of the districts offered orchestra at the high school level, 85 percent offered strings at the middle school level, and 70 percent offered beginning string classes at the elementary school level. It was also found that as school district size increased, strings were offered primarily in either performing arts or academically gifted schools. Findings related to string program funding indicated that one-third to one-half of the districts with less than 10,000 students or more than 30,000 students used outside funding sources to pay the teachers’ salaries and provide instruments. Among the outside funding sources identified were 1) private foundation grants, 2) corporate grants, 3) state arts grants, 4) federal government Title I funds, and 5) magnet school desegregation funds.

Stunting in School Age Children of Low Socioeconomic Level (SEL): Cognitive Performance 14

Stunting is a problem of high prevalence in underveloped and developing counties. In Chile, 30% of 6 years old children are small for their age, which increases to 63% at 13 years. The objective of this papers was to study cognitive development and psychoeducation abilities of low SEL school age children. 163 school children, both sexes, 7 to 19 years old, and birth weight>=2800 grs were selected. They had no genetic or neurological, and attended schools in the outskirts of Santiago. 103 were stunted (height for age 95% and = 97%; weight for height > 95% and < 120%; 50th centile NCHS). 4 study groups were prepared, according to the history of malnutrition and/or infections: during their first 6 years of life(records of the outpatients clinics, National Health0: Stunted without history of malnutrition and/or infection: 53, Stunted with history: 50; NH without history: 34; NH with history: 26. Results suggest that stunted and non stunted children reach, average intellectual performances (WISC-R). Nevertheless, proportion of children with Verbal and Total IQ lower than 90 is significantly higher in the stunted group. Differences are also observed in psycholinguistic abilities (ITPA), reading comprehension (CLP) and maths skills (Benton-Luria), with lower scores for stunted children. Within stunted group, children wiht history of undemourishment and infections show lower scores in psycholinguistic abilities when compared with children without that history. Results suggest an association effect between linear growth retardation and lower cognitive performance. It is not possible to establish a causal effect, specially considering that stunted children come from poorer families. (Funded by FONDECYT, project 1051/91)

Prevalence and distribution of gingivitis and dental caries in children aged 6-12 years in Brisbane primary schools.

A study of caries experience and gingivitis prevalence in 6-, 9- and 12-yr-old children attending primary schools in Brisbane was undertaken in November/December 1983. Children from high socioeconomic level (SEL) schools exhibited lower dmft and DMFT scores at all ages. At age 6 yr the proportion of children with caries-free primary dentitions was for high SEL Schools 70%, for middle SEL schools 52% and for low SEL Schools 23%. At 12 yr DMFT scores were 1.8 (high), 2.1 (middle) and 3.3 (low). Similar differences in gingivitis prevalence occurred, children from high SEL schools displaying a much lower proportion of bleeding sites than those from middle and low SEL schools. For selection of children at "high risk" to gingival disease for intensive prevention programmes, an increased emphasis on probing techniques is indicated to achieve diagnostic consistency.

The Effect of Three Methods of Presentation and Socioeconomic Class on Recognition Performance in the Presentation of Low Frequency Words to Kindergarteners

A word recognition task was presented to 72 lower social class and 72 upper-middle social class kindergarteners who were randomly assigned to one of 3 methods (Word, Word Picture, or Word Object) and were asked to learn to recognize eight low frequency words. There were significant differences between lower and upper socioeconomic levels and among the three methods ( p &lt; .01). The Word Method was superior to the Word Picture and Word Object Methods ( p &lt; .05) for children from both lower and middle class schools and students from upper socioeconomic level schools scored higher than those from the lower socioeconomic schools ( p &lt; .01).