Sexual harassment (SH) in schools is unwanted and unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that, when severe, offensive, and pervasive, creates a hostile environment that is prohibited under Title IX of ...the Education Amendments of 1972. In the current mixed methods study, using analyses of school policies and reports, and student survey and qualitative data, we examined (a) whether public high schools’ policies about SH were in compliance with Title IX guidance, (b) whether SH policies were related to alumni's knowledge and attitudes about their schools’ SH policies, and (c) whether SH policies were related to alumni's experiences with and reporting of SH. Results indicated that, of the 172 school districts within one state, only one‐fourth of the school districts had SH policies in which SH was clearly defined and in which there were noted consequences for perpetrating SH. Despite students experiencing SH, very few students ever reported SH to an adult at school. However, of the small number of students who reported SH to an adult at school, 87.5% went to a school with an explicit SH policy. Many students stated that they did not report SH because they did not trust adults to handle it fairly or effectively.
Leadership is a matter of both intentions and perceptions, which do not necessarily always match. Because employees' motivation and commitment are only affected by leadership if they notice it, ...employee-perceived leadership is expected to have a stronger correlation with organizational performance than leader-intended leadership. This expectation is tested for transformational and transactional leadership, as both types of practices are expected to increase performance. Using a sample of 1,621 teachers and 79 Danish high school principals, the authors find that leader-intended and employee-perceived transformational and transactional leadership are only weakly correlated and that only employee-perceived leadership practices (both transformational and transactional) are significantly related to objectively measured school performance. The results show that it is important to distinguish between intended and perceived leadership and that leaders should be aware of how their practices are perceived.
The primary objective of this paper is to present a curriculum design model that extends the 'Powerful Knowledge' ideas of social realist theory. The Model called 'Curriculum Design Coherence' (CDC) ...hypothesizes an approach in which subject concepts and the subject's epistemic structure are central to the design process to enable deep learning. The model differentiates and then links subject concepts, subject content, subject competencies, and assessment. The underlying premise is that deep learning for students is more likely if teachers utilize and make visible the epistemic structure of the area of study; the subject concepts and subject competencies to be taught and their inter-relationships as 'knowledge-that' (epistemic knowledge) and 'knowledge-how-to' (procedural knowledge). The usefulness of the model for coherence in curriculum design is currently being tested by primary and secondary school teachers in New Zealand and England. The study takes a realist approach utilizing qualitative methods including workshops, analysis of curricular materials, and teacher interviews. The model is in the early stages of testing and some initial findings indicate its usefulness along with the challenges for teachers in engaging deeply with the structure of their subject
In this study, critical situations relating to students with emotional and behavioral problems in inclusive German secondary schools were analyzed. The objective was to identify behaviors and ...behavioral patterns that impede or even terminate the inclusive education of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Critical situations, their antecedent conditions, and consequences were collected using Flanagan’s critical incident technique in group discussions with teachers (N = 77). The situations were categorized using qualitative content analysis. Students’ behaviors in the critical incidents were disruptive behaviors, displays of aggression toward classmates, and behaviors perceived as unusual. A distinctive category involved situations on students enjoying special treatment because more favorable conditions for examinations were provided and misbehaviors were handled in lenient ways. This elicited feelings of unfair advantage from other students and had an adverse impact on class dynamics. A strong influential factor was parents prohibiting disclosure of information about their children’s disorder(s). Therefore, measures especially on class level are expedient, such as sensitizing processes making students understand that misbehavior and disorders lead to disadvantages and that special treatment is to compensate for these disadvantages. Moreover, individual agreements between schools and parents may be arrived at to negotiate the modalities of an information disclosure.
Generally, vocational high schools in the Special Region of Yogyakarta have implemented Curriculum 2013in the learning process. This study aims at obtaining a depiction of the Curriculum 2013 ...implementation by conducting a survey on vocational high school teachers in the Yogyakarta province as the research sample. The data were collected through a variation of survey, documentation, and interviews; and analyzed descriptively. The findings suggest that the implementation of Curriculum 2013 in vocational high schools can be assessed in three components, namely the conformity between Curriculum 2013 and the vocational high schools, the curriculum implementation, as well as the motivation and support of the school. The first component reveals a high percentage with 82.53%, while the second and last components have relatively low and moderate percentage, with 75.63% and 78.80%, respectively.
Abstract
There have been few studies on students’ difficulty in the computer studies curriculum of African senior secondary schools. This study attempts to fill this gap by investigating the concepts ...students find difficult in the Ghanaian and Nigerian computer science curriculum and the influence of students’ career interests on these perceived difficult concepts. The study is important to the extent that our understanding of “where the shirt tights” regarding topics difficulty will guide teachers, students, secondary schools’ managers, and governments in applying applicable remediating measures. The study sought to establish (a) the concepts that students perceive to be difficult in the computer studies curriculum in Ghanaian and Nigerian schools and (b) if there is a statistically significant relationship between students’ career interests and perceived concept difficulty in computer studies. Anchored on cognitive constructivism theory of Piaget, a quantitative method was employed with the sample (
N
= 1776). The study reports computer basics and evolution, programme development cycle, managing computer files, Developing problem-solving skills, computer ethics and human concerns, Networking, Logic circuits, Machine language, flowcharting, Algorithm and arithmetic logic unit as perceived difficult concepts. The study also found a negative statistically significant relationship between students’ career interests and perceived concept difficulty in the Ghanaian and Nigerian computer studies curriculum. Various remediating measures have been preferred.
School resource officers (SROs) are commonplace in schools, but little research has examined students' views of these officers. This study used a large school-based sample (N = 126,868) to test ...associations between the awareness of presence and perceptions of SROs, school safety and disciplinary experiences, and differences by race/ethnicity. 71% of students reported awareness of an SRO and perceptions were fairly neutral. Four of six racial/ethnic groups had no statistical difference in feeling safe associated with SRO presence, and perceptions of SROs were associated with feeling safe (OR = 1.08) and small decreases in discipline experiences (OR = 0.87). Interaction terms indicated that students of Color had smaller benefits related to SROs than White students. SRO programs may deserve critical review and further training to improve well-being among students of all backgrounds.
•Perceptions of SROs differ significantly across racial/ethnic groups.•Race modifies the association between SRO programs and safety and discipline.•Generally, awareness of an SRO is associated with school discipline for secondary students.•Native American students with an SRO have 66% greater odds of being disciplined.
We previously proposed that science capital (science‐related forms of cultural and social capital) can be used as a theoretical lens for explaining the patterned nature of aspirations and educational ...participation among young people aged 11–16. Building on these findings, the present article investigates whether science capital is related to post‐18 aspirations to pursue further STEM study and whether science capital can be extended to related disciplines including engineering, maths and technology. Specifically, we report on correlational analyses exploring the relationships between science, technology, engineering and maths attitudes and science capital. Drawing on data from a new survey of 7,013 17/18 year old English secondary school students, analyses showed that science capital, while strongly related to engineering and physical science future study aspirations, was not strongly related to the pursuit of either maths or technology postsecondary study. The findings also suggest that engineering and maths attitudes have a stronger relationship to science capital than attitudes relating to technology. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings and propose that science capital might be more usefully applied to “SEM,” with links to technology fields and aspirations needing further exploration.
Kentucky experiences the highest overall cancer incidence and mortality rates in the USA with the greatest burden in the eastern, Appalachian region of the state. Cancer disparities in Kentucky are ...driven in part by poor health behaviors, poverty, lack of health care access, low education levels, and low health literacy. Individuals with inadequate health literacy are less likely to participate in preventive measures such as obtaining screenings and making healthy lifestyle choices, thus increasing their chances of developing and dying from cancer. By increasing cancer literacy among youth and adults, it may be possible to decrease cancer disparities across Kentucky. This study aimed to establish connections with middle and high schools in Kentucky that would facilitate pilot implementation of a brief cancer education intervention and assessment of cancer health literacy among these student populations. A baseline pretest cancer literacy survey consisting of 10 items was given to 349 participants, followed by the delivery of a cancer education presentation. Immediately following the presentation, participants were given a posttest with identical items to the pretest. Participants were primarily Caucasian (89.4%), female (68.7%), and in 10th through 12th grade (80.5%). Significant (
p
< 0.0001) increases in both average and median percent of correctly marked items were observed between the pretest and posttest (average, pretest = 56% versus posttest = 85%; median, pretest = 60% versus posttest = 90%). The scores for all individual items increased after the brief intervention. The results demonstrated a significant increase in cancer literacy levels immediately after the pilot educational intervention. We suggest that it may be possible to improve cancer literacy rates in Kentucky by integrating cancer education into middle and high school science and/or health education curricula. This could ultimately drive changes in behaviors that may help lower cancer incidence and mortality rates. Plans for future interventional studies measuring long-term cancer knowledge retention and resultant behavioral changes among middle and high school students as well as the feasibility of integrating cancer education into middle and high school curricula are also discussed.
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