School Version Research Articles

Do High School Gifted Programs Lead to Later-in-Life Success?

This paper investigates the effects of participation in gifted education programs, and offers several contributions to existing research. First, this paper studies the effects of high school programs, as opposed to the more commonly-studied elementary and middle school versions. Second, this paper considers impacts of gifted programs on later-in-life socioeconomic success, including college graduation and eventual employment, as opposed to short-run standardized test outcomes. Third, this paper uses sibling fixed effects, coupled with a recently-proposed decomposition method, as an identification approach. The main conclusion is that gifted programs tend to include students who possess traits that already correlate with later-in-life success. After controlling for those traits, gifted programs, per se, show little statistical relationship to later-in-life outcomes.

Inquiry Based Science Education and Getting Immediate Students’ Feedback about Their Motivation

The paper is based on collecting evidence of the Establish project impact on students. For the purpose two questionnaires based on the existing tools have been used. Questionnaire 1 is a part of Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) based on the Self-determination theory. It is aimed at assessing students’ interests, their perceived choice and usefulness of implemented learning units and should be answered after each learning unit/several IBSE activities. Several items of CLES questionnaire are included there as well. Questionnaire 2 assesses the impact on students’ attitudes towards science and technology and on their knowledge about nature of building up science knowledge. Both questionnaires exist in the lower and upper secondary school versions. The paper presents selected data and results which were obtained by addressing the Questionnaire 1, so that the focus is on getting students’ feedback about their intrinsic motivation. Our assumption is that active learning is associated with positive intrinsic motivation of students. That is why we find as very important that educators have a possibility to understand the phenomenon more deeply. We aim to present the reliable tool for getting the feedback and to present a way of data processing which does not need advanced statistical methods, so that teachers (as well as science education researchers) can use and analyze data obtained by the tool. Means and standard deviations for items of the subscales Interest/Enjoyment, Perceived choice and Value/Usefulness were computed. To determine the consistency of results, the Standard Pearson correlation cofficient was computed for all items within the subscales. Based on the findings, we can conclude that participants’ answers (questionnaire results) were consistent (not responded mechanically).

Developing and Validating a High School Version of the Robotics Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire

Robotics has become a crucial domain in technology education, helping students to improve their abilities in assembly and programming. Despite the considerable research that has gone into the learning performance associated with robotics, little work has been done on the cognitive processes involved in learning this subject. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument (based on the theoretical framework of MSLQ), with which to evaluate the motivation of high school students to learn robotics and the strategies they employ. Fifty participants in the open category competition of the World Robot Olympiad 2010 completed the self-reported questionnaire (RMSLQ-HS). Thirteen factors and fifty one items were extracted using exploratory factor analysis. Implications for the educational application of robotics and research suggestions related to RMSLQ are also discussed.

Executive functioning of Portuguese preschoolers in the Shape School test: A cross cultural study

ABSTRACTThe Shape School is a neuropsychological test of executive functions (EF) for preschool-aged children. The purposes of this study were: (a) to adapt the use of the Shape School for European Portuguese preschool children and (b) to examine the cultural sensitivity of this test comparing the performance of Portuguese sample and U.S. normative sample. The executive functioning of 233 typically developing children aged 3 to 5 years old (M = 57.52; SD = 10.25; in months) was analyzed and according to our results, the adapted version was appropriate to obtain the discrimination among age-groups. Portuguese and American preschoolers show similar EF profiles. It was possible, in both samples, to note the sensitivity of the measurement to age-related differences, with the older age groups outperforming the younger. Therefore, the Portuguese version of the Shape School was considered suitable for research and clinical purposes.

My Teaching Partner-Secondary: A Video-Based Coaching Model

In the My Teaching Partner (MTP) program, coaches engage teachers in 6 to 9 coaching cycles across a school year. Guided by the program’s theory, coaches help teachers reflect on the emotional, organizational, and instructional features of classrooms. MTP was originally developed for pre-K and early elementary classrooms (MTP Pre-K), but this article focuses on the secondary school version of this program, MTP-Secondary (MTP-S), given the need for coaching models with middle and high school teachers. The article presents the guiding theory of MTP-S and how it relates to key components of the coaching cycle. We then offer a brief synthesis of research demonstrating its effectiveness in raising achievement, promoting positive peer interactions, and reducing racial disparities in teachers’ discipline practices. We provide ideas for future research that would help advance theory on the essential components of effective coaching programs in secondary schools.

The Next National Curriculum and Environmental Education (Senior High School Version)

The Next National Curriculum and Environmental Education (Senior High School Version)

Somewhere to Live, Something to Do, Someone to Love: Examining Levels and Sources of Social Capital Among People with Disabilities

Social capital has emerged as an important ingredient in the maintenance of physical and mental wellbeing. Although this construct has been studied within the disability community, a comparative analysis of social capital among individuals with disabilities and the general population is missing from the literature. Also sparse is an investigation into the sources from which people with disabilities draw their social capital. Building on the seminal work of political scientist Robert Putnam, a modified version of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey was administered to 218 adults with high support needs living with a broad range of disabilities and currently receiving support from one of six disability organizations across the United States and Canada. Chi-squared analyses were conducted to test for differences between observed frequencies and expected frequencies obtained from general population surveys on six key measures of social capital. Results indicate that, in most areas, social capital levels among individuals with disabilities were lower when compared with those of general population respondents. In cases where social capital levels were higher than or comparable to general population respondents, an incongruity between subjective evaluations and quantitative reports, and/or support received from non-normative sources such as parents and professionals are likely explanations. Our findings support continued efforts by rehabilitation professionals to facilitate community integration for people with disabilities through the promotion of friendships and other social relationships in a variety of contexts.

Analysis of morphophonemic patterns of <i>Gujii</i> dialect: an insight from optimality theory, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics in the determination of peculiarities of the dialect

The Gujii dialect which is one of southern dialects of Afaan Oromoo is highly characterized by assimilation patterns. This assimilation is dictated by some linguistic and non-linguistic factors and it has impact on the communication held between Gujii dialect speakers and school text version speakers. Therefore, this paper presents the analysis of Gujii morphophonemic patterns in comparison to school version of Afaan Oromoo using some insights from Optimality Theory, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics. Besides, it explores psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic constraints that possibly caused peculiar morphophonemic assimilations in Gujii dialect. From the analysis, it is found out that assimilation pattern in Gujii dialect is highly observed in inflection morphemes of verbs as well as of some nouns and adverbs. Similarly, patterns such as using ‘hudhaa’/ stop velar sound / at the end of plural compound nouns, negative markers/ using [hin-] as a prefix together with [–u]as a suffix/, and some greeting phrases are other peculiar patterns observed in Gujii dialect. The peculiarity of these morphophonemic patterns is determined by psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic factors. Moreover, this peculiarity is linguistically justifiable by Optimality Theory and they are made primarily for ease of communication. Because of these peculiarities, the Gujii dialect speakers face several problems when they are required to speak or read the school version of Afaan Oromoo. Key Words: Gujii, morphophonemic patterns, dialect, assimilation, Afaan Oromoo

Modafinil for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analysis

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common and a debilitating neuro-behavior disorder in the pediatric population. Although numerous effective psychostimulants are available, more than 30% of patients still do not show adequate treatment response rendering diverse pharmacological options. We aimed at assessing the efficacy and safety of modafinil in the treatment of children and adolescents with ADHD by conducting a meta-analysis. An extensive search of databases and clinical trial registries resulted in five published short-term randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. Primary efficacy measures were mean change in ADHD Rating Scale-IV Home (ADHD-RS-IV Home) and School Version (ADHD-RS-IV School) from baseline to study end point. The results showed that modafinil more significantly improved ADHD-RS-IV Home (SMD, −0.77 [95%CI, −1.11 to −0.44]) and School (SMD, −0.71 [95%CI, −0.96 to −0.47]) than placebo. Dropout rate due to adverse event did not significantly differ between two groups. In terms of commonly observed side effects, modafinil showed significantly higher incidence of decreased appetite (RR = 5.02, 95% CIs, 2.55 to 9.89, P < 0.00001) and insomnia (RR = 6.16, 95% CIs, 3.40 to 11.17, P < 0.00001). Modafinil did not cause a clinically significant increase of heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure. Although we found that modafinil may be another treatment option in children and adolescents with ADHD, the results should be interpreted and translated into clinical practice with caution, as the meta-analysis was based on a limited number of clinical trials.

&lt;i&gt; &lt;/i&gt;A Comparative Study on Objectives and Components of Writing Skill in National Curriculum of Iran and America (New Jersey) at High School

This study aims to provide an introductory of the codification of the objectives and components of teaching writing within the National Language curriculum in upper secondary in correlation with elementary and lower secondary curriculums. The method is a qualitative analysis of the contents. The data includes the Persian Language curriculum in Iranian upper secondary schools (version 2007) and American core curriculum for Language Arts (in New Jersey, 2004) collected through library study and note taking from Iran and foreign documents. In the present research, objectives and components of teaching writing within the curriculums in countries cited are analyzed and perused based on Autonomous and Ideological approaches to literacy; suggesting that objectives and components of American curriculum for teaching writing are formularized and influenced by Ideological approach, whereas Iranian writing curriculum possess properties of Autonomous Approach(consciously or unconsciously)and characteristics concerned with Ideological approach are marginal in Iran. After discussing features of curriculums in America (New Jersey), impressed by the Ideological approach to literacy, we proceed to bring forward the advantages and drawbacks of objectives and components of Iranian curriculum for teaching writing and some suggestions to improve are mentioned

Influence of Academic Motivation on Academic Achievement and Emotional Intelligence in Secondary School Students

The present study tried to examine the relationship between academic achievement and emotional intelligence, blocking the influence of academic motivation on the relationship in secondary school students. Sample for the study includes 49 students (25 girls and 24 boys) from VIIIth and IXth classes of a secondary school in Sriram Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The data for measuring Emotional intelligence is collected by using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Adolescent Short Form (TEIQue-ASF), prepared by Petrides, K. V. &amp; Furnham, A. (2006) for adolescents. The data for measuring academic motivation is collected using Academic Motivation Scale, High School Version (AMS-HS 28) for high school students prepared by Vallerand and et.al (1992). Academic achievement of the students is measured by collecting the students' grade point average in a summative assessment. For data analysis, Pearson's Product Moment and Partial Correlations are used. The significance of the test is calculated by using t-test formula for partial correlation for the level of significance α at 0.05. The findings of the study reveal that the influences of academic motivation on the relationship between academic achievement and emotional intelligence in secondary school students, cannot be ignored.

Adaptation and preliminary validation evidences of the School Climate Questionnaire – Revised, Elementary and Middle School Version (SCS-MS)

This study presents the procedures for adapting the School Climate Survey – Revised, Elementary and Middle School Version (SCS-MS) to the Brazilian context and demonstrates the first evidence of the validity of its use among elementary school students. Participants were 511 children (52,1 % girls) from Porto Alegre, between 3rd and 5th grade. Analysis of internal validity was performed by evaluating the factor structure of the instrument, and analysis of convergent validity by testing the correlation between the SCS-MS, social skills and childhood peer aggression. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and an exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) analysis were conducted. The results indicated that the structure provided in the ESEM analysis were more adequate than the original structure for this sample. ESEM provided satisfactory indices of fit for the model of six factors, including modifications in four factors. The overall score of the SCS-MS showed positive and moderate correlations with social skills and negative and moderate correlations with peer aggression. The results suggest that the SCS-MS is a measure that can be used to assess the students’ perception of school climate in Brazilian schools, contributing to overcome the shortage of instruments in this context.

Neural Basis for the Relationship Between Academic Motivation and Academic Achievement

The present study is an attempt to provide evidence to the neural basis of the relationship between academic motivation and academic achievement constructs. Sample for the study includes 49 students (25 girls and 24 boys) from VIIIth and IXth classes of a secondary school in Sriram Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The data for measuring academic motivation is collected using &lt;italic&gt;Academic Motivation Scale, High School Version (AMS-HS 28)&lt;/italic&gt; for high school students prepared by Vallerand and et.al (1992). Academic achievement of the students is measured by collecting the students’ grade point average in a summative assessment. For data analysis, Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation coefficient is used. The significance of the test is calculated using critical value table for Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation for the level of significance α at 0.05. The findings of the study establish the prefrontal cortex of the brain as the neural basis for the relationship between academic motivation and academic achievement in the chosen subjects.

Dimensional Analysis of the Academic Motivation Scale with Respect to Gender in Secondary School Students with Neural Basis in Indian Context

The present study is an attempt to provide a neural underpinning to the role of gender difference in the construct academic motivation, in secondary school students in Indian context. For this purpose, comparisons of students’ scores of the dimensions of academic motivation were carried out. Samples for the study include 49 urban students (24 boys and 25 girls ) of classes VIII and IX of secondary school in Sriram Nager of Hyderabad city, Telangana, India. Academic motivation construct is measured by using &lt;italic&gt;Academic Motivation Scale, High School Version (AMS-HS 28)&lt;/italic&gt; for high school students prepared by Vallerand and et.al (1992). For data analysis, measures like mean, standard deviation are used. The significance of the test is calculated using t-test for the level of significance α at 0.05. The findings of the study reveal no differences between the genders in the measured dimensions of academic motivation.

Role of the Prefrontal Cortex in the Combined Relationship Between Academic Motivation and Academic Achievement with Emotional Intelligence in Secondary School Students

The present study is an attempt to examine the role of prefrontal cortex in the relationship between academic motivation and academic achievement in combination, with emotional intelligence in secondary school students. Sample for the study includes 49 students (25 girls and 24 boys) from VIIIth and IXth classes of a secondary school in Sriram Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The data for measuring Emotional intelligence is collected by using the &lt;italic&gt;Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Adolescent Short Form (TEIQue-ASF)&lt;/italic&gt;, prepared by Petrides, K. V. &amp; Furnham, A. (2006) for adolescents. The data for measuring academic motivation is collected using &lt;italic&gt;Academic Motivation Scale, High School Version (AMS-HS 28)&lt;/italic&gt; for high school students prepared by Vallerand and et.al (1992). Academic achievement of the students is measured by collecting the students’ grade point average in a summative assessment. For data analysis, Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation coefficient and Multiple Regression are used. The significance of the test is calculated using critical value table for Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation and F-test for the level of significance α at 0.01. The findings of the study reveal that the linear combination of variables academic motivation and academic achievement positively and moderately predict the variable emotional intelligence in secondary school students.

Neural Basis for the Relationship Between Academic Motivation and Emotional Intelligence

The present study is an attempt to provide evidence to the neural basis of the relationship between academic motivation and emotional intelligence constructs. Sample for the study includes 49 students (25 girls and 24 boys) from VIIIth and IXth classes of a secondary school in Sriram Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The data for measuring Emotional intelligence is collected by using the &lt;italic&gt;Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Adolescent Short Form (TEIQue-ASF)&lt;/italic&gt;, prepared by Petrides, K. V. &amp; Furnham, A. (2006) for adolescents. The data for measuring academic motivation is collected using &lt;italic&gt;Academic Motivation Scale, High School Version (AMS-HS 28)&lt;/italic&gt; for high school students prepared by Vallerand and et.al (1992). For data analysis, Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation coefficient is used. The significance of the test is calculated using critical value table for Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation for the level of significance α at 0.05. The findings of the study establish the prefrontal cortex of the brain as the neural basis for the relationship between academic motivation and emotional intelligence in the chosen subjects.

A Validation of the Family Involvement Questionnaire-High School Version

&lt;p&gt;The purpose of this study was to validate the Family Involvement Questionnaire (FIQ) for use in high school settings (9&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt;-12&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; grade). After the FIQ was redesigned for use in the high school setting, 519 parents completed the questionnaire online. Internal consistency was for the 40-item questionnaire was high (α = 0.93). A confirmatory factor analysis failed to substantiate the FIQ-HS to the elementary version from which it was adapted. However, an exploratory factor analysis yielded three factors consistent with the FIQ-E. Family demographics were compared to participant responses, and significant effects of students’ school and special education status were found.&lt;/p&gt;

As dimensões da Educação do Campo

A Educação do Campo, como parte de um projeto contra-hegemônico de sociedade, vai além de sua versão escolarizada, colocando-se na contramão da lógica capitalista. Sua proposta incorpora as dimensões política, social e cultural, além da própria dimensão pedagógica. Este artigo discute três dessas dimensões: epistemológica, sociológica e formativa, e as articulações entre elas. Em sua dimensão epistemológica, a Educação do Campo contesta a instrumentalização capitalista da ciência; no plano sociológico, opõe-se à exclusão da cultura e do conhecimento dos sujeitos do campo imposta dissimuladamente pela classe dominante; e, do ponto de vista da formação, afirma o trabalho como princípio educativo. Ela sustenta o direito dos povos do campo a pensar e a definir a educação a partir de seu lugar, de sua cultura e de suas necessidades.

Away We Go by Emil Ostrovski (review)

Reviewed by: Away We Go by Emil Ostrovski April Spisak Ostrovski, Emil Away We Go. Greenwillow, 2016 [288p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-223855-9 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-06-223857-3 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 9-12 There’s a lot to unpack in this complex, nihilistic novel where teens all have a virus (PPV, the Peter Pan Virus) that will kill them before adulthood, assuming the world doesn’t end via the meteor that may hit Earth in a few months. Most teens now reside at “recovery centers,” facilities that mostly just distract them from their imminent deaths and keeps them out of the general population. Noah lives at Westing, an exclusive prep school version of these centers, where at least the intellectual pursuits offered are more challenging. Noah is often bitter, selfish, and self-pitying, but he’s also trying to be the person he knows he should be. This would be a believable combination even in realistic fiction, but it’s even more so in this this dystopian world where teens know they are going to die soon, and everyone seems bent on keeping them locked up and ignored. It’s more remarkable, in fact, that Noah is surrounded by a core group of caring, thoughtful, earnest friends who struggle mightily to keep our narrator from total darkness. The complex organization of the novel requires careful attention—time jumps in sometimes confusing ways, flyers, scripts, and announcements are interleaved with the chapters, and the world building is subtle. Even so, brainy readers who want to see just how grim Holden Caulfield would get if he knew he was dying soon will find this to be a pretty accurate approximation. Copyright © 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Development and Testing of the Observational System for Recording Physical Activity in Children: Elementary School

Purpose: This study describes the development and pilot testing of the Observational System for Recording Physical Activity–Elementary School (OSRAC–E) Version. Method: This system was developed to observe and document the levels and types of physical activity and physical and social contexts of physical activity in elementary school students during the school day. Interobserver agreement scores and summary data were calculated. Results: All categories had Kappa statistics greater than .80, with the exception of the activity initiator category. Interobserver agreement scores were 96% or greater. The OSRAC–E was shown to be a reliable observation system that allows researchers to assess physical activity behaviors, the contexts of those behaviors, and the effectiveness of physical activity interventions in the school environment. Conclusion: The OSRAC–E can yield data with high interobserver reliability and provide relatively extensive contextual information about the physical activity of students in elementary schools.