US Secondary Schools Research Articles

Physical activity breaks and facilities in US secondary schools.

Research on physical activity breaks and facilities (indoor and outdoor) in secondary schools is relatively limited. School administrators and students in nationally representative samples of 8th (middle school) and 10th/12th grade (high school) students were surveyed annually from 2008-2009 to 2011-2012. School administrators reported information about physical activity breaks and facilities. Students self-reported height, weight, and physical activity. The prevalence of physical activity breaks and indoor and outdoor facilities (dichotomized by median split) differed significantly by region of the country, school size, student race/ethnicity, and school socioeconomic status (SES). Breaks were associated with lower odds of overweight (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.91, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.83-1.00) and obesity (AOR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.75-0.99) among middle school students. Among low-SES middle school students and schools, higher indoor facilities were associated with lower rates of overweight and obesity. Among high school students, higher indoor and outdoor facilities were associated with 19-42% higher odds of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Physical activity breaks and school facilities may help to address high rates of overweight/obesity and low physical activity levels among secondary students, especially lower-SES students. Students in all schools should have equal access to these resources.

Snacks, Beverages, Vending Machines, and School Stores: A Comparison of Alternative and Regular Schools in Minnesota, 2002 to 2008

In US secondary schools, vending machines and school stores are a common source of low-nutrient, energy-dense snacks and beverages, including sugar-sweetened beverages, high-fat salty snacks, and candy. However, little is known about the prevalence of these food practices in alternative schools, which are educational settings for students at risk of academic failure due to truancy, school expulsion, and behavior problems. Nationwide, more than 5,000 alternative schools enroll about one-half million students who are disproportionately minority and low-income youth. Principal survey data from a cross-sectional sample of alternative (n=104) and regular (n=339) schools collected biennially from 2002-2008 as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Minnesota School Health Profiles were used to assess and compare food practice prevalence over time. Generalized estimating equation models were used to estimate prevalence, adjusting for school demographics. Over time, food practice prevalence decreased significantly for both alternative and regular schools, although declines were mostly modest. However, the decrease in high-fat, salty snacks was significantly less for alternative than regular schools (–22.9% vs –42.2%; P<0.0001). Efforts to improve access to healthy food choices at school should reach all schools, including alternative schools. Study findings suggest high-fat salty snacks are more common in vending machines and school stores in alternative schools than regular schools, which may contribute to increased snacking behavior among students and extra consumption of salt, fat, and sugar. Study findings support the need to include alternative schools in future efforts that aim to reform the school food environment.

The school breakfast program: a view of the present and preparing for the future-a commentary.

Eating breakfast has been linked to positive outcomes for children, including improved cognitive function and academic performance1,2 and better diet quality, possibly leading to obesity prevention.3,4 Still, 10–25% of children aged 5–14 do not eat breakfast.5 Given the benefits of eating breakfast, and considering that an average of 35% of children’s daily calories are consumed at school,6 school breakfasts have potential to provide nutritionally balanced meals to the estimated 50 million children attending US elementary and secondary schools.7 The School Breakfast Program (SBP) is a federal effort to increase regular consumption of a healthful breakfast among school-aged children in the United States. This report reviews the status of the SBP and summarizes discussions about possible expansions and improvements.

Erratum to: A known group analysis validity study of the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education in US elementary and secondary schools

Erratum to: A known group analysis validity study of the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education in US elementary and secondary schools

A known group analysis validity study of the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education in US elementary and secondary schools

The Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED) provides educators with a tool for principal evaluation based on principal, teacher, and supervisor reports of principals’ learning-centered leadership. In this study, we conduct a known group analysis as part of a larger argument for the validity of the VAL-ED in US elementary and secondary schools. We asked superintendents to select the principals in their district who they believe in performance of their duties are in the top 20 % and the bottom 20 %. We ask how accurately VAL-ED scores can identify membership of the two known groups. Using a discriminant analysis, the VAL-ED places principals in the superintendent groups, on average, 70 % of the time for both elementary and secondary schools. Placement accuracy is greater for the top group than the bottom group.

‘Class work’: producing privilege and social mobility in elite US secondary schools

Drawing upon two ethnographic studies of affluent and elite co-educational secondary schools in the United States, Weis and Cipollone spotlight the explicit ‘class work’ of a now highly insecure middle/upper middle class, as they attempt to maintain advantage via entrance to particularly located post-secondary destinations. Affirming the notion that class position must now be ‘won’ at both the individual and collective level, rather than constituting the ‘manner to which one is born,’ the authors track and theorize intensified preparation for and application to particular kinds of post-secondary destinations in an increasingly segmented national and international marketplace for higher education. Although the US media have taken note of such ‘application frenzy,’ little scholarly work tracks and theorizes this ‘frenzy’ as a distinctly ‘class process,’ one that represents intensified ‘class work’ at one and the same time as class ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ become ever more apparent in the larger global arena.

Nutrition education: the way to reduce childhood obesity?

Nutrition education: the way to reduce childhood obesity?

Rural Disparities in the Distribution of Policies that Support Healthy Eating in US Secondary Schools

The distribution of food and nutrition policies and practices from 28 US states representing 6,732 secondary schools was evaluated using data from the 2008 School Health Profiles principal survey. School policies and practices evaluated were: availability of low-nutrient, energy-dense (LNED) snacks/drinks; use of healthy eating strategies; banning food marketing; availability of fruits and vegetables; and food package sizes. For each school, school-level demographic characteristics (percentage of students enrolled in free/reduced-price meals, minority enrollment, and geographic location) were also evaluated. Schools in small town/rural locations had significantly fewer policies that support healthy eating strategies and ban food marketing, and were less likely to serve fruits and vegetables at school celebrations, have fruits and vegetables available in vending or school stores, and limit serving-size packages. Schools serving the highest percentage of minority students consistently reported the same or better school food environments. However, schools serving the highest percentage of low-income students had varied results: vending and LNED vending policies were consistently better and fruit and vegetable availability–related policies were consistently worse. Disparities in the distribution of policies and practices that promote healthy school food environments seem most pronounced in small town/rural schools. The data also support the need for continued reinforcement and the potential for expansion of these efforts in urban and suburban areas and schools with highest minority enrollment.

Trends in Competitive Venue Beverage Availability: Findings From US Secondary Schools

Trends in Competitive Venue Beverage Availability: Findings From US Secondary Schools

“Becoming Feminist”

This essay looks at the intersection of Big Football, Big Money, and the Child-Sex Abuse Scandal at Penn State. It articulates a “becoming feminist” analysis in this context in order to conduct a diffractive reading that intra-acts from within by installing the self in the event. What is produced is beyond interpretation, autoethnography, reflexivity, intentionality and rationality in addressing both what happened and why so many keep silent about childhood sexual abuse. Trying to understand what is at stake in speaking out of a situation with so many emotional investments, I explore my engagement in a project on the weight of sports in US secondary schools and raise cautions for the kind of researcher subject position I might assume in this fraught space.

Factors Affecting Sugar‐Sweetened Beverage Availability in Competitive Venues of US Secondary Schools

This study explores sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) availability in US secondary school competitive venues during the first 3 years following the school wellness policy requirement (2007-2009). Furthermore, analyses examine associations with school policy and SSB availability. Analyses use questionnaire data from 757 middle and 762 high schools in the nationally representative Youth, Education, and Society study to examine soda and non-soda SSB availability associations with school policy including (1) beverage bottling contracts and related incentives, (2) individuals/organizations responsible for decisions regarding beverages available in vending machines, and (3) school wellness policies and nutrition guidelines. Non-soda SSBs made up the majority of SSBs in both middle and high schools. Soda was especially likely to be found in vending machines; non-soda SSBs were widely available across competitive venues. Access to soda decreased significantly over time; however, non-soda SSB access did not show a similar decrease. School policy allowing beverage supplier contractual involvement (bottling contract incentives and beverage supplier "say" in vending machine beverage choices) was related to increased SSB access. However, the existence of developed nutritional guidelines was associated with lower SSB availability. Students had high access to SSBs across competitive school venues, with non-soda SSBs making up the majority of SSB beverage options. Efforts to reduce access to SSBs in US secondary schools should include a focus on reducing both soda and non-soda SSBs, reducing beverage supplier involvement in school beverage choices, and encouraging the development of targeted nutritional guidelines for all competitive venues.

Organizational citizenship behaviors in American and Portuguese public schools

PurposeOrganizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) have been studied in both private and public sector organizations in countries around the globe. The purpose of this study is to compare the perceptions of the OCB construct between American and Portuguese public secondary school teachers and test an operational measure of the construct for schools across the two cultures.Design/methodology/approachTeachers' perceptions of the OCB in their schools were measured using the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale. This operational measure, developed in the USA, was translated for use with Portuguese teachers. Data from samples of US and Portuguese secondary schools were compared. Principal axis factor analyses, reliability coefficients, and other descriptive data were used to verify the factor structures, number of factors, and reliability of the measure across these two cultures.FindingsBoth versions of the OCB Scale (American and Portuguese) were reliable and stable; they worked well for both high schools and middle schools in Portugal and in the USA. One factor of organizational citizenship emerged. The operational measure used to measure OCB in public schools in this study is reliable and stable, despite cultural differences.Practical implicationsOCB are important because they influence organizational effectiveness. Despite cultural variations, and dramatic historical differences in their public education systems, this operational measure of OCB was effective. It provides researchers and practitioners a reliable and valid measure to assess the OCB of school organizations.Originality/valueThis was the first attempt to determine the integrity of an operational measure of OCB across cultures. The construct has been studied in schools in different countries using different operational measures, which blurred the definition of the construct and made it difficult to study and compare to other variables of effectiveness.

School Food Environments and Policies in US Public Schools

The purpose of this study was to describe school food environments and policies in US public schools and how they vary according to school characteristics. We analyzed cross-sectional data from the third School Nutrition and Dietary Assessment study by using a nationally representative sample of 395 US public schools in 129 school districts in 38 states. These 2005 data included school reports of foods and beverages offered in the National School Lunch Program and on-site observations, in a subsample of schools, of competitive foods and beverages (those sold in vending machines and a la carte and that are not part of the National School Lunch Program). Seventeen factors were used to characterize school lunches, competitive foods, and other food-related policies and practices. These factors were used to compute the food environment summary score (0 [least healthy] to 17 [most healthy]) of each school. There were vending machines in 17%, 82%, and 97% of elementary, middle, and high schools, respectively, and a la carte items were sold in 71%, 92%, and 93% of schools, respectively. Among secondary schools with vending and a la carte sales, these sources were free of low-nutrient energy-dense foods or beverages in 15% and 21% of middle and high schools, respectively. The food environment summary score was significantly higher (healthier) in the lower grade levels. The summary score was not associated with the percentage of students that was certified for free or reduced-price lunches or the percentage of students that was a racial/ethnic minority. As children move to higher grade levels, their school food environments become less healthy. The great majority of US secondary schools sell items a la carte in the cafeteria and through vending machines, and these 2 sources often contain low-nutrient, energy-dense foods and beverages, commonly referred to as junk food.

US secondary schools and food outlets

We examined the availability of fast food restaurants and convenience stores within walking distance (0.5 miles or 805 m) of US public secondary schools. We found that one-third of schools nationwide have at least one fast food restaurant or convenience store within walking distance. In multivariate analyses, schools in the lowest-income versus the highest-income neighborhoods have more fast food restaurants and convenience stores, while schools in African-American versus White neighborhoods generally have fewer food outlets. Furthermore, urban neighborhoods with a high school versus no secondary school have more food outlets. Curbing the obesity epidemic among adolescents requires addressing the food environment surrounding schools.

Listening to the stakeholders: exploring possibilities for family and community science education in the US

Vocational academic programs in secondary classrooms and in university settings are interdependent in terms of teacher preparation and curriculum design. Significant changes in either entity will affect the viability of the other. Family and Consumer Science programs in US secondary schools are facing several challenges. A focus group design was used to gain insight on the vitality and viability of these programs from the perspectives of three stakeholder groups—students, parents, and school administrators. Emerging themes are presented and discussed. The impact of multiple realities and their possible negative consequences on this and similar vocational programs are explored.

A survey of sun protection policy and education in secondary schools

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued recommendations for school programs to reduce skin cancer. Personnel at US secondary schools were surveyed to describe sun protection policy and education before the CDC recommendations. School principals or other personnel at 484 secondary schools in 27 cities responded to a telephone survey in January and February 2002 (response rate = 31%). A sun protection policy was reported at 10% of the schools, but sun protection education occurred at nearly all schools (96%). Policies were more prevalent in regions with high ultraviolet radiation (P < .0001), but education was not. Many personnel were willing to adopt a policy (41%) and interested in obtaining a sun safety curriculum (96%). Self-report measures, nonresponse, and new schools not in the sampling frame. Sun protection was a low policy priority for US schools. Sun safety education was prevalent, but written materials were used infrequently. A substantial proportion of school personnel were receptive to the CDC's advice.

Why Physicists leave teaching

Educators have long been concerned about the quality of science and mathematics education in US secondary schools. In recent years, this concern has spread: Congressional task forces, governors, mayors and the media have begun to recognize the serious educational crisis now facing the nation. While this time there is no dramatic event like the Sputnik of 1957 to spur increased attention to education, some fundamental challenges are becoming apparent. These include the decline in this country's competitive edge in many areas of industry and research, the structural change in the nation's industrial base from heavy manufacturing to high‐technology and service industries, and the revolution in information technology and exchange. In many ways we are entering a new era, and there are serious questions about how well prepared today's youth and future generations will be to participate in it.