Factors associated with school psychologists' perceptions of campus violence

Recent concern about school violence has increased demands on school psychologists to respond to safety concerns on their school campuses. In this study, 123 school psychologists responded to a survey about their perceptions, experiences, and readiness to meaningfully address school violence. School psychologists reported that they do not worry about their personal safety at school (78%), but most felt unprepared to deal with school violence (73%) and had received no specialized training in this area (85%). A principal components analysis of the types of violence school psychologists perceived to occur on their campuses identified a range of incidents from bullying to antisocial behavior. School psychologists working in inner-city schools were more likely to believe that their schools had high levels of violence (45.6%) compared with those working in urban-not inner-city (14.3%), suburban (4.9%), or rural (0%) schools. Recommendations to prepare school psychologists to help prevent, reduce, and respond to campus violence are discussed. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Further validation of the Qualitative Scoring System for the modified bender-gestalt test

This study compared the Qualitative Scoring System for the modified version of the Bender-Gestalt Test and the Developmental Scoring System for the Bender-Gestalt Test in predicting performance on the Metropolitan Achievement Test. The subjects were 409 first through fourth graders from regular classes in a public elementary school. Both scoring systems correlated significantly with school achievement. However, the Qualitative system correlated higher than the Developmental system with all Metropolitan Achievement Test subscores. Tests for differences between correlations indicated that five of these comparisons were statistically significant.     

Finding Common Ground

Teen Tokyo, a 3,000-square-foot, $1-million long-term exhibition at The Children's Museum, Boston, opened in 1992. It was developed to complement the museum's permanent Japanese House exhibition and to further its commitment to teaching about cultural differences and similarities. Designed primarily, but not exclusively, for youngsters aged 10 to 15 years, it is about growing up in contemporary Japan and the international culture of youth. An international team of developers, designers, and consultants spent five years preparing and funding the exhibition, using formative evaluation throughout. The project also included publication of a 50-page catalogue/curriculum unit.     

DNA microarray wet lab simulation brings genomics into the high school curriculum

We have developed a wet lab DNA microarray simulation as part of a complete DNA microarray module for high school students. The wet lab simulation has been field tested with high school students in Illinois and Maryland as well as in workshops with high school teachers from across the nation. Instead of using DNA, our simulation is based on pH indicators, which offer many ideal teaching characteristics. The simulation requires no specialized equipment, is very inexpensive, is very reliable, and takes very little preparation time. Student and teacher assessment data indicate the simulation is popular with both groups, and students show significant learning gains. We include many resources with this publication, including all prelab introductory materials (e.g., a paper microarray activity), the student handouts, teachers notes, and pre- and postassessment tools. We did not test the simulation on other student populations, but based on teacher feedback, the simulation also may fit well in community college and in introductory and nonmajors' college biology curricula.     

But I like PE: factors associated with enjoyment of physical education class in middle school girls

The current study examined associations between physical education (PE) class enjoyment and sociodemographic, personal, and perceived school environment factors among early adolescent girls. Participants included 1,511 sixth-grade girls who completed baseline assessments for the Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls, with 50% indicating they enjoyed PE class a lot. Variables positively associated with PE class enjoyment included physical activity level, perceived benefits of physical activity, self-efficacy for leisure time physical activity, and perceived school climate for girls' physical activity as influenced by teachers, while body mass index was inversely associated with PE class enjoyment. After adjusting for all variables in the model, PE class enjoyment was significantly greater in Blacks than in Whites. In model testing, with mutual adjustment for all variables, self-efficacy was the strongest correlate of PE class enjoyment, followed by perceived benefits, race/ethnicity, and teachers' support for girls' physical activity, as compared to boys, at school. The overall model explained 11% of the variance in PE class enjoyment. Findings suggest that efforts to enhance girls' self-efficacy and perceived benefits and to provide a supportive PE class environment that promotes gender equality can potentially increase PE class enjoyment among young girls.