Suchergebnisse

The increase in average distance from home to secondary school over recent decades has been accompanied by a significant growth in the proportion of pupils travelling to school by motorized means as opposed to walking or cycling. More recently this switch in travel mode has received considerable attention as declining levels of physical activity, growing car dependence and the childhood obesity "crisis" have pushed concerns about the health of future generations up the public health agenda, particularly in the U.S., but also in the UK and Europe. This has led to a proliferation of international studies researching a variety of individual, school and spatial characteristics associated with children's active travel to school which has been targeted by some governments as a potential silver bullet to reverse the trend. However, to date national pupil census data, which comprises annual data on all English pupils, including a mode of travel to school variable, has been under-utilised in the analysis of how pupils commute to school. Furthermore, methodologically, the grouped nature of the data with pupils clustered within both schools and residential neighbourhoods has often been ignored - an omission which can have considerable consequences for the statistical estimation of the model. The research presented here seeks to address both of these points by analysing pupil census data on all 26,709 secondary pupils (aged 11-16) who attended schools in Sheffield, UK during the 2009-10. Individual pupil data is grouped within school, and neighbourhood, within a cross-classified multilevel model of active versus motorised modes of commuting to school. The results support the findings of other research that distance to school is key, but find that sociospatial clustering within neighbourhoods and schools are also critical. A further finding is that distance to school varies significantly by ethnicity, with white British pupils travelling the shortest distance of all ethnic groups. The implications of these findings for education and transport policy are discussed.

AbstractThis study examined the longitudinal associations of emotional regulation and school readiness among Chinese kindergarten children. Data were collected from 523 children (mean age at time 1 = 52.42 months; 52.9% male) at two time points separated by approximately 1 year in Hong Kong, China. At times 1 and 2, children's school readiness was assessed by their teachers and parents while their emotional regulation was directly tested. Teachers also rated children's emotional regulation at both time points. The results from the two reciprocal path models showed that, controlling for the corresponding autoregressive effects, school readiness at time 1 was predictive of emotional regulation at time 2. However, emotional regulation at time 1 did not emerge as a significant predictor of school readiness at time 2. Theoretically, these results underscored children's school readiness as a potential contributor to their emotional regulation. Practically, these findings suggested the utility of supporting children's school readiness to foster their emotional regulation.

Based on new, original research, this book highlights the significance of school exclusion as a pivotal process that has long-term negative effects not just on the individuals themselves but also for society as a whole. Drawing on individual accounts, the author demonstrates how aspects of the care system contribute to looked-after children being out of school. Her book explores the reasons for the difficulties they experience, and argues that they need to be differently conceptualised. By drawing on both the personal accounts of the young people and on evidence gained by interviewing teachers

Abstract
What is the impact of after-school center-based care on the development of primary school-aged children? Answering this question is challenging due to non-random selection of children into after-school center-based care. We tackle this challenge using detailed data of the German Child Panel and employing a value-added method. While we do not find significant effects on average, our analysis provides evidence for beneficial returns to after-school center-based care attendance for more disadvantaged children. To be more precise, children of less educated mothers and low-income families benefit from attending after-school care centers in terms of their socio-behavioral development.

AbstractThis study examined the extent to which teacher ratings of the frequency of parent–teacher contacts and quality of parent–teacher relationships in prekindergarten were associated with teachers' perceptions of the quality of their relationship with children and children's social development. Participants were a diverse sample of 2966 four‐year‐olds who attended publicly funded prekindergarten programs in the USA. Results indicated that after controlling for child and family characteristics, the perceived quality of the parent–teacher relationship during prekindergarten was associated with prekindergarten teachers' ratings of children's social development during prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers' ratings at the beginning of kindergarten. Furthermore, the association between quality of the parent–teacher relationship and reductions in problem behavior was stronger among children who experienced social/economic risks.

School-based dental clinics, when well-managed, can bring good quality care to children where they normally congregate, thus avoiding many of the problems found where children must be taken to private offices out of school hours. Both capital and running expenses for primary care can be substantially reduced. Utilization figures for school-based dental services now reach 98 per cent of eligible children in New Zealand, where dental nurses do simple operative dentistry including cavity preparation and fillings. Australia, where a modified New Zealand plan has been expanding for about 12 years, is moving rapidly to attain similar utilization. In Sweden, 95 per cent of the school-age population is reported to receive school-managed dental service through a government program. In the United States, however, it is commonly reported that less than one-half the school-age population receives good periodic dental care.

"This edited volume's chief aim is to bring together, in an English-language source, the principal histories and narratives of some of the most significant academies and national schools of art in South America, Mexico and the Caribbean, from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. The book highlights issues shared by Latin American academies of art, but also those that differentiate them from their European counterparts. Authors examine issues including: statutes; influence of workshops and guilds; the importance of patronage; discourses of race and ethnicity in visual pedagogy; and European models versus the quest for national schools. It also offers first-time English translations of many foundational documents of the subject academies and schools. This book will be of interest to scholars in art history, Latin American and Hispanic studies, and modern visual cultures"--

The literature proves an evident association between indoor radon exposure and lung cancer, even at low doses. This study brings a new approach to the study of children's exposure to radon by aiming to evaluate exposure to indoor radon concentrations in nursery and primary schools from two districts in Portugal (Porto and Bragança), considering different influencing factors (occupation patterns, classroom floor level, year of the buildings' construction and soil composition of the building site), as well as the comparison with IAQ standard values for health protection. Fifteen nursery and primary schools in the Porto and Bragança districts were considered: five nursery schools for infants and twelve for pre-schoolers (seven different buildings), as well as eight primary schools. Radon measurements were performed continuously. The measured concentrations depended on the building occupation, classroom floor level and year of the buildings' construction. Although they were in general within the Portuguese legislation for IAQ, exceedances to international standards were found. These results point out the need of assessing indoor radon concentrations not only in primary schools, but also in nursery schools, never performed in Portugal before this study. It is important to extend the study to other microenvironments like homes, and in time to estimate the annual effective dose and to assess lifetime health risks.

Abstract
In response to the threat of school shootings, lockdown drills have become commonplace in K–12 schools throughout the United States. Educators, parents, and others continue to debate the potential disruptive and traumatizing impact drills have on children. A small number of quantitative studies have examined the effects of lockdown drills on students' perceptions of safety, preparedness for crises, and fear and anxiety. Less is known about children's actual lived experiences of lockdown drills. This pilot child-centered qualitative study explored how children ages eight to 11 thought and felt about their experiences of school lockdown drills. Fear was found to be their common emotional response to the drill and, to a lesser extent, so were feelings of safety, annoyance, and excitement. Although children were found to have good understanding of what to do in lockdown drills, they were not always clear about what the purpose of the drills was and what threats the drills were intended to protect against. These findings support professional and advocacy groups' recommendations for planning and implementing lockdown drills and offer original recommendations from children's points of view on ways to mitigate negative outcomes of drills for students.