Bad boys,good girls? Implicit and explicit attitudes toward ethnic minority students among elementary and secondary school teachers

Teachers’ attitudes toward ethnic minority students might differ by students’ gender and the type of school teachers are working in because of different motivations for teaching and different school practices. Hence, the aim of the current research was to investigate elementary (n = 82) and secondary school (n = 82) teachers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward male and female ethnic minority students. Teachers worked on either a male or a female Implicit Association Test and filled out a gender-specific questionnaire for measuring explicit attitudes. The results showed that elementary and secondary school teachers had negative implicit attitudes toward ethnic minority students, independent of students’ gender. Whereas secondary school teachers were implicitly more positive toward boys, elementary school teachers were implicitly more positive toward girls. Elementary school teachers were more enthusiastic about teaching ethnic minority boys than girls. The findings provide the first insights into differences in attitudes between elementary and secondary school teachers.     

The effects of school-based physical activity interventions on students' health-related fitness knowledge: A systematic review

This systematic review includes 34 studies examining the effects of school-based physical activity interventions on students' health-related fitness knowledge. The study design, methodological quality, and effectiveness of interventions on students' health-related fitness knowledge were analysed. The majority of the studies (79.4%) revealed significant positive intervention effects on students' health-related fitness knowledge. Studies examining adolescents were more frequently in a position to influence students' health-related fitness knowledge (87.5%) than studies examining children (75%), and studies with low methodological quality (88.8%) had more frequent positive effects than studies with moderate quality (75%). The effects on students' health-related fitness knowledge were independent of moderator variables such as the intervention content, duration and frequency. Only few studies were able to simultaneously positively influence students' health-related fitness knowledge and students' physical activity and/or fitness levels. These programmes can positively influence students' health-related fitness knowledge, but it remains unclear what the practical significance of these changes is. Further research is needed to clarify the influence of students' health-related fitness knowledge on reflection, understanding, physical activity behaviour, and overall physical literacy levels.     

艺术兴学理念下啦啦操的开展促进了校园文化建设

艺术兴学的办学理念影响桂林师范高等专科学校啦啦队的开展和发展，校园啦啦操队的不断成熟与完善，增强校园的凝聚力，营造良好的校园氛围，促进了校园文化的建设与发展．     

Social relations as predictors of achievement in math in Kenyan primary schools

In sub-Saharan Africa, where there is limited financial and human capital, it is important to examine how social relationships may serve to promote or undermine human capital formation. However, little is known about the contributions of social relations to human capital development, especially in terms of academic achievement in Africa. This study examined how variations in key aspects of social relations among teachers; between teachers and students; between principals, teachers, parents and students affect achievement in mathematics among sixth graders in 70 schools in six districts in Kenya. We modeled mathematics achievement as a function of measures of social perception and support while adjusting for school-, classroom- and student level background characteristics. We found that net of teacher subject knowledge and background characteristics, teachers who display commitment to teaching by always correcting homework and keeping students engaged during math lessons had their students performing better. Teacher absenteeism and lack of interest in teaching were negatively associated with performance in math. Lack of parental involvement in the classroom also had negative effects on grades. At the school level, the level of engagement of the principal, measured by supervision of teachers and good interpersonal interactions with parents had positive effects on math achievement. Schools where parents provided material and financial support had better grades, while student delinquency and absenteeism negatively affected grades.     

Do children spend too much time in schools? Evidence from a longer school year in Indonesia

I examine the effects of a longer school year in Indonesia on grade repetition, educational attainment, employability, and earnings. I exploit an arbitrary rule that assigned students to a longer school year in Indonesia in 1978–1979, which fits a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. I find the longer school year decreases the probability of grade repetition and increases educational attainment; it also increases the probability of working in formal sectors and wages later in life. These results suggest the length of school years in Indonesia is not too long.     

Adolescents’ autonomous functioning and implicit theories of ability as predictors of their school achievement and week-to-week study regulation and well-being

Research on students’ motivation has mainly focused on interpersonal differences rather than on the ongoing, intrapersonal dynamics that forge students’ everyday life. In this five-month longitudinal (diary) study, we recruited a sample of 179 high school students from Greece (35.8% males; M_age = 16.27; SD = 1.02) to investigate through multilevel analyses the ongoing dynamics of students’ motivation. We did so by examining the relation between autonomous functioning and aspects of study regulation (namely, study efforts and procrastination) and well-being (namely, subjective vitality and depressive feelings). After controlling for perceived competence, we found week-to-week autonomous functioning to relate positively to study efforts and subjective vitality and negatively to procrastination and depressive feelings. Interestingly, implicit theories of ability - the degree to which one believes that ability is fixed or amenable - were found to moderate the week-to-week relations of autonomous functioning to study efforts and homework procrastination. In particular, autonomous functioning co-varied positively to study efforts and negatively to homework procrastination only among students who believed that ability is malleable. Also, beliefs that ability is fixed predicted poorer grades, lower mean levels of study efforts, and higher homework procrastination. The results underscore the necessity of taking a more dynamic view when studying motivational phenomena and the importance of jointly considering the implicit theory framework and self-determination theory.     

System-wide improvement of early-grade mathematics: New evidence from the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy

This article reports on a two-year evaluation of the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy (GPLMS), an innovative system-wide reform intervention designed to improve learning outcomes in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Using data from universal testing of all learners in 2008 on a provincial systemic evaluation, as well as data from the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Annual National Assessment tests, this article investigates whether or not the GPLMS improves the numeracy skills of learners in early-grade mathematics in underperforming schools. Using as identification strategy, the natural experiment that resulted from a miscalculation of the provincial systemic evaluation test scores in 2008, which had been used to assign schools to the GPLMS intervention, the study shows that the GPLMS intervention is positively associated with improvements in early-grade mathematics performance of schools in the neighbourhood around the assignment threshold. The findings of the study contribute to the growing body of knowledge that shows the effectiveness of combining lesson plans, learner resources, and quality teacher capacity building.     

Exploring school exclusion through the perspective of child labourers living in Sultanbeyli,on the periphery of Istanbul,Turkey

This study employs a socio-ecological perspective to explore the impact of the community, school environment and personal circumstances of young people living in the squatter district of Sultanbeyli in Istanbul, Turkey, who have been excluded from school and who are working in very difficult conditions. The views explored in this paper are derived from semi-structured interviews that covered the reasons for their exclusion. The findings show that the elimination of poverty and the provision of universal education are linked and that one cannot be achieved without the other. The impact of poverty on the processes of school exclusion requires greater recognition, because it helps to perpetuate an intergenerational cycle of social and educational disadvantage. In the case of these young people from Sultanbeyli, the school system has failed to contribute to their inclusion; instead, it has further increased their marginal, disadvantaged position by unintentionally pushing them into the worst forms of child labour and criminality.     

论宿舍管理在大学生思想道德建设中的意义

胡锦涛总书记在今年1月17至18日,全国加强和改进大学生思想政治教育工作会议上,指出切实加强和改进大学生思想政治教育工作,使大学生们能够与时代同步伐、与祖国共命运、与人民齐奋斗。而学生的思想问题一般都在以宿舍为中心的环境里产生。所以,对大学生的思想教育要抓好宿舍管理这一环节。对学生平时发生的思想变动,有针对性的进行教育和管理,使学生的思想在大的方向和小的问题上有及时的指引。     

“数学核心素养”导向下的考生水平分析与反思——以2018年高考(天津卷)数学(文史类)试卷为例

依据2018年高考(天津卷)数学(文史类)试卷实测数据,通过研究"一体四层四翼"高考评价体系在试卷中的体现来分析试题特色,并参照《考生水平表现标准(数学)》,对2018年天津高考文科考生数学核心素养的水平表现及反映出的教学问题进行评价和分析,提出有针对性的教学建议。