The lifetime costs of pediatric abusive head trauma and a cost-effectiveness analysis of the Period of Purple crying program in British Columbia,Canada

BackgroundAbusive head trauma (AHT) is a severe form of child abuse causing devastating outcomes for children and families, but its economic costs in Canada has yet to be determined. The Period of PURPLE crying program (PURPLE) is an AHT prevention program implemented in British Columbia for which success in reducing AHT events was recently reported.ObjectiveThis study estimated the lifetime costs to society of incidental AHT events and compared the benefits and associated costs of AHT before and after the implementation of the PURPLE program.Participants and Setting: Children aged 0–24 months old with a definite diagnosis of AHT between 2002 and 2014 in British Columbia were included in this study.MethodsAn incidence-based cost-of-illness analysis, using the human capital approach was used to quantify the lifetime costs of AHT events according to their severity (least severe, severe and fatal). A cost-effectiveness analysis of the PURPLE program was conducted from both a societal and a health services’ perspectives using decision tree models.ResultsThere were sixty-four AHT events between 2002–2014, resulting in a total cost of $354,359,080 to society. The costs associated with fatal, severe and least severe AHT averaged $7,147,548, $6,057,761 and $1,675,099, respectively. The investment of $5 per newborn through the PURPLE program resulted in a $273.52 and $14.49 per child cost avoidance by society and by the healthcare system.ConclusionsThis study provides evidence to policymakers and health practitioners that investing upstream in well-developed AHT prevention programs, such as PURPLE, not only promote child safety and health, but also translates into avoided costs to society.     

The Effect of the Sunship Earth Program on Knowledge and Attitude Development

ABSTRACT:

The influence of the earth education program, Sunship Earth, on ecological knowledge and environmental attitudes was examined. It was found that students who attended the Sunship Earth program increased their ecological knowledge significantly. Participation in the Sunship Earth program did not result in more positive environmental attitudes. Part of the success of the Sunship Earth program is attributed to the setting in which it occurs and the techniques used to develop ecological concepts. The need for more opportunities for teachers to develop skills in environmental education and to participate in environmental education curriculum development that would link extension education more firmly to the school curriculum is discussed.     

Mentorship programs: Bridging the gap between theory and practice

Criminal justice/law enforcement students are exposed to distorted images of the criminal justice system created by the media. One method for dispelling myths students may have of the system is a mentorship program. This paper describes the process for developing and implementing a mentorship program. Our experience coordinating this program for five years suggests four key elements for creating a successful program: a workshop at the start of the program, commitment that builds over the year, meaningful communication, and adequate contact.     

Reweaving the tapestry of teacher education

Abstract

This article describes what happened to an elementary education preparation program when a few faculty members started asking questions, looking at practice, making changes, and collecting data based on the changes. The current program has many outstanding attributes; but when student perceptions were examined, holes were found and ways to mend these holes have been implemented. The authors describe the process of weaving concept Strands throughout the entire four‐year program.     

Training the Ethanol Workforce: The Importance of Partners in Niche Program Development

Educational, industry, and state leaders worked together to design a program to meet the training needs of Nebraska's fast-growing ethanol industry. The statewide initiative, guided by Northeast Community College and funded through the President's Community-Based Job Training Grants program, is developing dual-credit, short-term training that leads to a certificate, and degree programs in renewable fuels technology.     

Foreign languages across the curriculum: A model for the delivery of professional language training

In 1995, Boise State University undertook an interdisciplinary languages program under a FLAC (Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum) grant sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Coordinated through the Department of Modern Languages, the program utilized non-foreign language faculty across the colleges of the campus who were fluent in a foreign language. FLAC courses were conceptualized and designed as “trailer” courses, in which a class offering one unit of instruction in Spanish was attached to an existing course in each department's curriculum. At Boise State, FLAC was extended for the first time to criminal justice. This paper discusses the FLAC program nationally and the FLAC program at Boise State with a focus on the criminal justice department. Positive outcomes and institutional problems in sustaining the program are described.     

Comprehensive Staff Development Programs: Implications for the Office of Institutional Research and Planning

Abstract

An increasing number of two-year colleges are drawing on an emerging model of comprehensive staff development. The model includes not only instructional improvement, but organizational and personal development as well. In this model, as staff development becomes an integral part of the college, the planning of such a program becomes an essential part of institutional planning.

The office of institutional research and planning should serve as a major resource in the formulation and implementation of the staff development program. Three major areas where this can occur are discussed: setting goals for the program, assessing staff development needs, and evaluating the impact of the program.     

Effectiveness of a school-based intervention to prevent child sexual abuse—Evaluation of the German IGEL program

BackgroundChild sexual abuse (CSA) is a problem with severe consequences for victimized children. A variety of interventions have been developed and implemented over the last decades to prevent CSA. However, most of them have not been systematically evaluated to determine their effectiveness. The IGEL program is a school-based intervention to prevent CSA in third-grade primary school children in Germany.MethodsThis study was conducted using a quasi-experimental design, in which almost 300 children and their parents from eight intervention and four control schools were surveyed three times (pretest, posttest, 3 months later). In order to measure outcomes, a questionnaire was developed based on validated instruments to assess the knowledge, courses of action and self-protective skills of the children. Furthermore, increased anxiety and generalized touch aversion were examined as potentially harmful side effects of the program.ResultsThe results clearly demonstrate increased CSA-related knowledge and courses of action in children from the intervention group compared to the control children. These effects were medium-sized and sustained for at least three months after the last session. No meaningful negative side effects were detected in the evaluation for either the children or parents.ConclusionThe outcome evaluation indicates that the IGEL program is an effective intervention in terms of knowledge about CSA and known courses of action, and may therefore contribute to the prevention of CSA in primary schools. Despite this positive core finding of the intermediate outcomes, some adaptations of the program to children with different cultural backgrounds were made prior to further dissemination.     

School and program related factors influencing disclosure among children participating in a school-based childhood physical and sexual abuse prevention program

BackgroundSchool-based child abuse prevention programs were created to provide knowledge so that children can recognize abuse, teach skills that decrease children’s risk for abuse, normalize the disclosure process, and provide a pathway for children who may be experiencing abuse to report the abuse.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to explore school and program factors that trainers in a school-based prevention program believed were associated with disclosure among youth from kindergarten through 12th grade.Participants and settingThis study is based on eighteen trainers and administrators who work with the Play it Safe!® school-based program in Dallas-Fort Worth area.MethodsUsing the qualitative case study method, in-depth interviews were conducted.ResultsData analysis revealed three factors that influenced disclosure: school, school personnel, and program features. The school-related factor was time allotted to the training. The school personnel-related factors were disengagement, ambiguity concerning abuse, prior history with children, and professionals’ personal history of abuse. Finally, the program-related factors were the core messages of the training, providing specific examples, and repetition of the program. To date, there is a dearth of studies that explore the role that schools and school personnel play in the disclosure process.ConclusionChild abuse has devastating effects on children’s physical, social, emotional, and psychological well-being. Understanding more about schools, personnel, and program-related factors that lead to disclosure, which are more amenable to change, is critical to ensuring the safety of children.     

Videoconferencing in the Classroom

Summary

This article presents a case study of a pilot program implemented with San Franciscan and Taiwanese fourth graders. The project utilized videoconferencing technology to create a collaborative cultural exchange in which students from both cities saw an art exhibit, The Splendors of Imperial China, and participated in a dialogue addressing the content of the exhibit, as well as their own cultural backgrounds. The program proved to be a great success based on the students' improved ability, increased knowledge, and changed attitudes toward technology in learning. Videoconferencing has been shown to have great success in classroom collaborations such as this one in educational institutions around the world.     

“I have the right to feel safe”: Evaluation of a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program in Ecuador

BackgroundChild sexual abuse (CSA) is a complex public health problem that has lifelong implications for children’s wellbeing. Interventions may provide children strategies to protect themselves against CSA, but few have been studied in Latin America.ObjectiveEvaluate the immediate and medium-term impact of a 10-week educational program on children’s knowledge of CSA self-protection strategies in Ecuador.Participants and settingsChildren aged 7–12 years from six public elementary schools in Ecuador were cluster-randomized to either receive the intervention between October and November 2016 (Group 1, k = 4) or between March and April 2017 (Group 2, k = 2).MethodsTo assess CSA knowledge, a random sample of students completed a questionnaire at three time points: 1) initial: before any group received the intervention, 2) intermediate: immediately after Group 1 completed the program but before Group 2 started it, and 3) final: after Group 2 completed the program. We evaluated changes in scores using mixed linear regression models with school as a clustering variable and adjusted degrees of freedom (df = 4).ResultsPre-post effect estimates at program completion adjusted for age, sex and clustering by school were 6.5% (95% CI: 2.9, 10.0) and 6.8% (95% CI 3.0, 10.7) for Groups 1 and 2, respectively. Scores did not change among children who had not yet received the intervention at intermediate evaluation (0.94%, 95%CI: −6.0, 7.9). Children in Group 1 maintained the scores six months after the program ended.ConclusionsThe self-protection program increased and maintained CSA knowledge six months after the intervention finished.     

Emancipatory or instrumental? Students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of the EcoSchool program

Abstract

We present findings of a mixed method evaluation study of the EcoSchool program in the Czech Republic. The innovativeness of this study is its specific focus on implementation strategies rather than learning outcomes. Using data from 148 students and 65 teachers from 54 different schools involved in the program, we investigated perceptions about the nature of the implementation and the impact of the approach on students’ and teachers’ feelings of ownership of success, loss of meaning of the program, or satisfaction with their participation in the EcoSchool program. The findings support the relevance of the emancipatory approach: students’ perceived participation predicts both their satisfaction with the program and perceived ownership of the success of their EcoTeams. Unexpectedly, the study also found that another factor predicting the program’s effectiveness is the level of students’ control over nonparticipating students.     

Evaluation of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Program in a Regular Norwegian School Setting

ABSTRACT

This study examined whether the Incredible Years (IY) Teacher Classroom Management (TCM) program implemented as a school-wide preventive intervention at 1st to 3rd grade in a regular school setting reduces the development of problem behavior and improves social competence. Using a quasi-experimental pre-post design, the IYTCM was implemented in 21 schools and compared with 22 matched schools that did not receive the program. A total of 241 1st to 3rd grade teachers and 1518 students aged 6 to 8 years took part in the trial. Mixed-model analyses found small positive effects on changes in students’ social competence (d_w?=?0.19), while effects on change in students problem behavior were less than small (d_w?相似文献   

Developing an Eating Disorder Peer Advocate Program on Campus: A Report on the Eating Disorder Awareness and Advocacy Program (EDAAP)

ABSTRACT

This article describes the development and implementation of a peer advocate program for eating disorders and body image outreach on a college campus. Empirical and conceptual literature on the use of peer educators and peer advocates in college student mental health is reviewed. Peer advocate program mission, history, implementation, and training components are described. Learning outcome assessment findings of peer advocate learning are discussed. A counseling center perspective on benefits, challenges, and limitations of facilitating this peer advocate program is shared.     

Small fish in a small pond: the impact of collaborative learning on academic success for less-prepared students in a highly selective STEM environment

ABSTRACT

This study examines academic outcomes for university students engaged in a supplemental peer learning program in a selective institution. Using a matched sample of 1266 students, half enrolled in the supplemental program and half not enrolled, we find that participating students on average earned higher grades in linked courses. Using a subsample of students in a chemistry course sequence, we find program participants were more likely to remain in the sequence than non-participants, and that the impact was greater for students with lower levels of preparation.     

Developments in the Teaching of Secondary School Mathematics

Abstract

Through the Purdue Opinion Panel, preferences for 12 television program types, and the relationship of these preferences to a criterion of self-reported grades, were investigated in a research sample of 974 boys and 1026 girls, representative of the national population of high school students. Television program types most preferred were comedy, detective stories, westerns, dramas and specials, mysteries, and movies. Programs least preferred were cartoons, variety, and music and dance. Television program types associated with higher grades were news and documentaries, and drama and specials; programs associated with lower grades were movies, westerns, cartoons, mysteries, detective stories, variety, and music and dance. Preferences for comedy and sports events were not associated with the criterion of reported grades.     

Design of a student lab program for nanoscience and technology – an intervention study on students’ perceptions of the Nature of Science,the Nature of Scientists and the Nature of Scientific Inquiry

Background: This article describes the design and the evaluation of a student lab program on the topic of nanoscience and technology (NST), mainly focusing on Nanoscience and its applications. The program was designed for students in grades 8–10 and was part of a larger outreach program of the Collaborative Research Center ‘Function by Switching’ at Kiel University. The Model of Educational Reconstruction (MER) served as a framework for the research-based design of the student lab.

Purpose: We aimed to develop an authentic science activity in the area of NST in order to support scientific inquiry learning and to provide a deeper understanding of scientific topics.

Sample: A total of 154 secondary school students from grades 8–10 of seven different secondary schools participated in this study.

Design and methods: A pre-post questionnaire with six subscales on students’ perceptions of the Nature of Science (NOS), Scientific Inquiry (NOSI) and the involved scientists (NOST) in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology was applied.

Results: Results show that the applied explicit and reflective approach embedded in the nanoscience content significantly improved the participating students’ perceptions of NOS, NOSI and NOST facets. After the lab visit, students’ answers corresponded to a more adequate perception of today’s science and scientists. Some gender differences in learning gains were also detected.

Conclusion: The study served its main purpose which was to investigate a well-balanced strategy to develop authentic out-of-school-learning environments with a focus on NOS/NOSI/NOST. Testing students’ perceptions of the nature of nanoscience provided insights into students’ worlds and served as feedback for the lab program. The outcomes of this study might help to better understand and further develop authentic (nano)science programs in out-of-school settings and science outreach programs.     

An Evaluation of the Connected Mathematics Project

Abstract

A formative, internal evaluation was conducted on the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP), a middle school reform mathematics curriculum used in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, by the author (lead teacher of said project). Approximately 3,500 students in this public school system were enrolled in this program, and the district school board planned to expand the program to include all 12 public middle schools. An analysis of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Louisiana Education Assessment Program mathematics data indicate that the program is working: The CMP schools significantly outperformed the non-CMP schools on both standardized tests. Questionnaires distributed to the teachers and to a sample of the students indicated that both groups believe the program is helping students become better problem solvers.