The lockdown of schools in Spain to confront the effects of COVID-19 caused an enormous impact at both societal and educational levels. Schools and families had to react rapidly to a new teaching and ...learning scenario without the benefit of previous planning or government guidelines. In this context, some schools were better able to adapt to the new circumstances than others. Likewise, the structure and size of families’ economic, social and cultural capital produced significant differences in the learning opportunities for children from different backgrounds. This article assesses the impact of the school lockdown on the learning gap between children from different social backgrounds in Catalonia. Based on 35,419 responses to an online survey administered between 26 and 30 March 2020 to families with children aged between 3 and 18, the authors’analysis shows that learning opportunities varied significantly. Middle-class families were able to maintain higher standards of education quality in a critical context, while children from socially disadvantaged families had few learning opportunities both in terms of time and learning experiences (schoolwork and maintenance of after-school activities). Results differed by type of school (public/private) where students were enrolled, family economic, social and cultural capital, and family living conditions. In the final part of the article, the authors highlight the importance of the role of the school in ensuring learning opportunities for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and they discuss some policy implications of their findings.
L’impact du confinement sur les écarts en matière d’apprentissage : disparités familiales et scolaires en période de crise – La fermeture des écoles en Espagne durant le confinement pour faire face aux effets de la COVID-19 a eu d’immenses répercussions sur les plans sociétal et éducatif. Les écoles et les familles ont rapidement réagi au nouveau scénario de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage sans pouvoir s’appuyer sur une planification préalable ou des directives gouvernementales. Dans ce contexte, certaines écoles ont réussi mieux que d’autres à s’adapter à ces nouvelles circonstances. De même, la structure et la taille du capital économique, social et culturel des familles a montré qu’en fonction de leur milieu, les enfants avaient des possibilités d’apprendre très inégales. Cet article évalue l’impact de la fermeture des écoles en Espagne durant le confinement sur les écarts en matière d’apprentissage chez des enfants de différents milieux sociaux en Catalogne. S’appuyant sur 35 419 réponses à une enquête en ligne menée entre le 26 et le 30 mars 2020 auprès de familles avec des enfants âgés de trois à dix-huit ans, l’analyse des auteurs révèle de considérables disparités concernant les possibilités d’apprendre. Les familles de la classe moyenne ont réussi à maintenir un niveau d’éducation élevé dans cette situation critique, tandis que dans les familles défavorisées sur le plan social, les possibilités des enfants étaient restreintes, tant en termes de temps que d’expériences éducatives (devoirs et maintien d’activités extrascolaires). Les résultats étaient différents en fonction du type d’établissement (public/privé) où les élèves étaient inscrits, de la situation économique de la famille, du capital social et culturel de cette dernière et de ses conditions de vie. Dans la dernière partie de l’article, les auteurs soulignent l’importance du rôle de l’école pour garantir la possibilité d’apprendre aux enfants de milieux socioé-conomiquement faibles. Ils abordent en outre un certain nombre de conséquences qu’entraînent leurs constatations pour les politiques en matière d’éducation.
El impacto del cierre escolar en la brecha de aprendizaje: divisiones familiares y escolares en tiempos de crisis – El cierre de escuelas en España para hacer frente a los efectos de la COVID-19 causó un enorme impacto tanto a nivel social como educativo. Escuelas y familias tuvieron que reaccionar rápidamente a un nuevo escenario de enseñanza y aprendizaje sin contar con planificación previa o con directrices gubernamentales. En este contexto, algunas escuelas fueron capaces de adaptarse mejor a las nuevas circunstancias que otras. Asimismo, la estructura y el tamaño del capital económico, social y cultural de las familias produjeron diferencias significativas en las oportunidades de aprendizaje de los niños y niñas de diferentes orígenes. Este artículo evalúa el impacto del cierre de las escuelas en la brecha de aprendizaje entre el alumnado de diferentes orígenes sociales en Cataluña. Sobre la base de 35.419 respuestas a una encuesta en línea realizada entre el 26 y el 30 de marzo de 2020 a familias con hijos e hijas de entre 3 y 18 años, el análisis muestra que las oportunidades de aprendizaje varían significativamente. Las familias de clase media pudieron mantener niveles más altos de calidad educativa en un contexto crítico, mientras que los niños de familias socialmente desfavorecidas tuvieron pocas oportunidades de aprendizaje, tanto en términos de tiempo como de experiencias de aprendizaje (tareas escolares y mantenimiento de las actividades extraescolares). Los resultados difieren según el tipo de escuela (pública o privada) en que estaban matriculados los estudiantes, el capital económico, social y cultural de la familia y sus condiciones de vida. En la parte final del artículo, se destaca la importancia del papel de la escuela para garantizar las oportunidades de aprendizaje de los niños procedentes de entornos socioeconómicos bajos, y se examinan algunas de las repercusiones en clave de política educativa.
The nature and extent of bullying among school children is discussed, and recent attention to the phenomenon by researchers, the media, and policy makers is noted. The Olweus Bullying Prevention ...Program (OBPP) is a comprehensive, school-wide program that was designed to reduce bullying and achieve better peer relations among students in elementary, middle, and junior high school grades. Several large-scale studies from Norway are reviewed, which provide compelling evidence of the program's effectiveness in Norwegian schools. Studies that have evaluated the OBPP in diverse settings in the United States have not been uniformly consistent, but they have shown that the OBPP has had a positive impact on students' self-reported involvement in bullying and antisocial behavior. Efforts to disseminate the OBPP in Norway and the United States are discussed.
School food environment policies may be a critical tool to promote healthy diets in children, yet their effectiveness remains unclear.
To systematically review and quantify the impact of school food ...environment policies on dietary habits, adiposity, and metabolic risk in children.
We systematically searched online databases for randomized or quasi-experimental interventions assessing effects of school food environment policies on children's dietary habits, adiposity, or metabolic risk factors. Data were extracted independently and in duplicate, and pooled using inverse-variance random-effects meta-analysis. Habitual (within+outside school) dietary intakes were the primary outcome. Heterogeneity was explored using meta-regression and subgroup analysis. Funnel plots, Begg's and Egger's test evaluated potential publication bias.
From 6,636 abstracts, 91 interventions (55 in US/Canada, 36 in Europe/New Zealand) were included, on direct provision of healthful foods/beverages (N = 39 studies), competitive food/beverage standards (N = 29), and school meal standards (N = 39) (some interventions assessed multiple policies). Direct provision policies, which largely targeted fruits and vegetables, increased consumption of fruits by 0.27 servings/d (n = 15 estimates (95%CI: 0.17, 0.36)) and combined fruits and vegetables by 0.28 servings/d (n = 16 (0.17, 0.40)); with a slight impact on vegetables (n = 11; 0.04 (0.01, 0.08)), and no effects on total calories (n = 6; -56 kcal/d (-174, 62)). In interventions targeting water, habitual intake was unchanged (n = 3; 0.33 glasses/d (-0.27, 0.93)). Competitive food/beverage standards reduced sugar-sweetened beverage intake by 0.18 servings/d (n = 3 (-0.31, -0.05)); and unhealthy snacks by 0.17 servings/d (n = 2 (-0.22, -0.13)), without effects on total calories (n = 5; -79 kcal/d (-179, 21)). School meal standards (mainly lunch) increased fruit intake (n = 2; 0.76 servings/d (0.37, 1.16)) and reduced total fat (-1.49%energy; n = 6 (-2.42, -0.57)), saturated fat (n = 4; -0.93%energy (-1.15, -0.70)) and sodium (n = 4; -170 mg/d (-242, -98)); but not total calories (n = 8; -38 kcal/d (-137, 62)). In 17 studies evaluating adiposity, significant decreases were generally not identified; few studies assessed metabolic factors (blood lipids/glucose/pressure), with mixed findings. Significant sources of heterogeneity or publication bias were not identified.
Specific school food environment policies can improve targeted dietary behaviors; effects on adiposity and metabolic risk require further investigation. These findings inform ongoing policy discussions and debates on best practices to improve childhood dietary habits and health.
ABSTRACT
Background
Strategies used by wellness teams (WTs) to foster local wellness policy (LWP) implementation have been documented, yet there remains a need to better understand how WTs respond to ...district‐level LWP requirements, particularly when bundled with additional health‐related policies. This study's goal was to explore how WTs implement Healthy Chicago Public School (CPS), a district‐led initiative focused on both LWP and other health policy implementation in the CPS district, one of the most diverse in the nation.
Methods
Eleven discussion groups were conducted with WTs in CPS. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, and thematically coded.
Results
Six overarching strategies used by WTs in working to achieve Healthy CPS include: (1) using district guides and resources to support planning, progress monitoring, and reporting; (2) under the leadership of wellness champions, as required by the district, facilitating engagement among staff, students, and/or families; (3) taking district guidance and adapting and integrating it into their schools' existing structures, curricula, and practices, often taking a holistic approach; (4) fostering linkages in the communities surrounding their schools to supplement internal school capacities; and (5) stewarding resources, time, and staff for sustainability.
Implications
Strategies for LWP implementation by WTs in urban and diverse schools include planning for staff turnover, integrating health and wellness into existing curricula and structures, and leveraging relationships with the local community.
Conclusion
WTs can play a critical role in supporting schools in diverse, urban districts to implement district‐level LWP and the plethora of related policies that schools are subject to at the federal, state, and district levels.
Schools Under Surveillance Monahan, Torin; Torres, Rodolfo D; Kupchik, Aaron ...
2009, 2010, 20091013, 2009-10-30
eBook, Book
Schools under Surveillancegathers together some of the very best researchers studying surveillance and discipline in contemporary public schools. Surveillance is not simply about monitoring or ...tracking individuals and their dataùit is about the structuring of power relations through human, technical, or hybrid control mechanisms. Essays cover a broad range of topics including police and military recruiters on campus, testing and accountability regimes such as No Child Left Behind, and efforts by students and teachers to circumvent the most egregious forms of surveillance in public education. Each contributor is committed to the continued critique of the disparity and inequality in the use of surveillance to target and sort students along lines of race, class, and gender.
Mary Story, Karen Kaphingst, and Simone French argue that U.S. schools offer many opportunities for developing obesity-prevention strategies by providing more nutritious food, offering greater ...opportunities for physical activity, and providing obesity-related health services. Meals at school are available both through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's school breakfast and lunch programs and through "competitive foods" sold à la carte in cafeterias, vending machines, and snack bars. School breakfasts and school lunches must meet federal nutrition standards, but competitive foods are exempt from such requirements. And budget pressures force schools to sell the popular but nutritionally poor foods à la carte. Public discomfort with the school food environment is growing. But can schools provide more healthful food options without losing money? Limited evidence shows that they can. Although federal nutrition regulations are inadequate, they permit state and local authorities to impose additional restrictions. And many are doing so. Some states limit sales of nonnutritious foods, and many large school districts restrict competitive foods. Several interventions have changed school food environments, for example, by reducing fat content of food in vending machines and making more fruits and vegetables available. Interventions are just beginning to target the availability of competitive foods. Other pressures can also compromise schools' efforts to encourage physical activity. As states use standardized tests to hold schools and students academically accountable, physical education and recess have become a lower priority. But some states are now mandating and promoting more physical activity in schools. School health services can also help address obesity by providing screening, health information, and referrals to students, especially low-income students, who are at high risk of obesity, tend to be underinsured, and may not receive health services elsewhere.
For the vast majority of Native American students in federal Indian boarding schools at the turn of the twentieth century, the experience was nothing short of tragic. Dislocated from family and ...community, they were forced into an educational system that sought to erase their Indian identity as a means of acculturating them to white society. However, as historian John Gram reveals, some Indian communities on the edge of the American frontier had a much different experience even influencing the type of education their children received.
Shining a spotlight on Pueblo Indians interactions with school officials at the Albuquerque and Santa Fe Indian Schools, Gram examines two rare cases of off-reservation schools that were situated near the communities whose children they sought to assimilate. Far from the federal government s reach and in competition with nearby Catholic schools for students, these Indian boarding school officials were in no position to make demands and instead were forced to pick their cultural battles with nearby Pueblo parents, who visited the schools regularly. As a result, Pueblo Indians were able to exercise their agency, influencing everything from classroom curriculum to school functions. As Gram reveals, they often mitigated the schools assimilation efforts and assured the various pueblos cultural, social, and economic survival.
Greatly expanding our understanding of the Indian boarding school experience, Education at the Edge of Empire is grounded in previously overlooked archival material and student oral histories. The result is a groundbreaking examination that contributes to Native American, Western, and education histories, as well as to borderland and Southwest studies. It will appeal to anyone interested in knowing how some Native Americans were able to use the typically oppressive boarding school experience to their advantage.
Increasing constraints placed on race-based school diversification have shifted attention to socioeconomic desegregation. Although past research suggests that socioeconomic desegregation can produce ...heightened achievement, the "frog pond" perspective points to potential problems with socioeconomic desegregation in nonachievement domains. Such problems are important in their own right, and they may also chip away at the magnitude of potential achievement benefits. In this article, I report conducted propensity score analyses and robustness calculations on a sample of public high schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. As the proportion of the student body with middle- or high-income parents increased, low-income students progressed less far in math and science. Moreover, as the proportion of the student body with middle- or high-income or college-educated parents increased, low-income students experienced more psychosocial problems. Such patterns were often more pronounced among African American and Latino students. These findings suggest curricular and social psychological mechanisms of oft-noted frog pond effects in schools and extend the frog pond framework beyond achievement itself to demographic statuses (e.g., race/ethnicity and SES) perceptually linked to achievement. In terms of policy, these findings indicate that socioeconomic desegregation plans should also attend to equity in course enrollments and the social integration of students more generally.
This guide helps leaders of color succeed within white spaces while working to dismantle those spaces for a new system where they--and students--thrive.
This open access book explores democratic schools and learning environments globally. The book focuses on a newly developed framework for democratic education. The authors describe existing schools ...and concept schools—those that are ideas but not in operation. The first section includes the editors’ own journeys Pillar One includes schools that emphasize the open flow of ideas and choices, regardless of their popularity. Pillar 2 maintains that it is impossible to have a high quality education that ignores equity. Chapters explore how many diverse ‘marginalized’ communities experience education and some innovations that hold great promise for inclusion. Pillar 3 provides examples of schools where active engagement, consensus and compromise support the ‘common good.’ Pillar 4 investigates schools which organize students, parents, social institutions and the larger community collaboratively to achieve its goals and to solve theirs and society’s most urgent challenges.
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