The evidence for the impact of policy on physical activity outcomes within the school setting: A systematic review

BackgroundDespite the well-established health benefits of physical activity (PA) for young people (aged 4–19 years), most do not meet PA guidelines. Policies that support PA in schools may be promising, but their impact on PA behavior is poorly understood. The aim of this systematic review was to ascertain the level and type of evidence reported in the international scientific literature for policies within the school setting that contribute directly or indirectly to increasing PA.MethodsThis systematic review is compliant with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Six databases were searched using key concepts of policy, school, evaluation, and PA. Following title and abstract screening of 2323 studies, 25 progressed to data synthesis. Methodological quality was assessed using standardized tools, and the strength of the evidence of policy impact was described based on pre-determined codes: positive, negative, inconclusive, or untested statistically.ResultsEvidence emerged for 9 policy areas that had a direct or indirect effect on PA within the school setting. These were whole school PA policy, physical education, sport/extracurricular PA, classroom-based PA, active breaks/recess, physical environment, shared use agreements, active school transport, and surveillance. The bulk of the evidence was significantly positive (54%), 27% was inconclusive, 9% was significantly negative, and 11% was untested (due to rounding, some numbers add to 99% or 101%). Frequency of evidence was highest in the primary setting (41%), 34% in the secondary setting, and 24% in primary/secondary combined school settings. By policy area, frequency of evidence was highest for sport/extracurricular PA (35%), 17% for physical education, and 12% for whole school PA policy, with evidence for shared use agreements between schools and local communities rarely reported (2%). Comparing relative strength of evidence, the evidence for shared use agreements, though sparse, was 100% positive, while 60% of the evidence for whole school PA policy, 59% of the evidence for sport/extracurricular PA, 57% of the evidence for physical education, 50% of the evidence for PA in classroom, and 50% of the evidence for active breaks/recess were positive.ConclusionThe current evidence base supports the effectiveness of PA policy actions within the school setting but cautions against a “one-size-fits-all” approach and emphasizes the need to examine policy implementation to maximize translation into practice. Greater clarity regarding terminology, measurement, and methods for evaluation of policy interventions is needed.     

中小学图书馆在校园阅读活动体系中的主体作用及未来路向

中小学校园阅读活动的内容与质量,关乎全民阅读的整体质量和基础教育改革的成效。受当前我国文化与教育两类政策的影响,在围绕校园阅读活动的供给与需求的变动调整中,中小学图书馆遇到了新的价值彰显契机和发展空间。中小学图书馆在校园阅读活动体系中处于何种定位、发挥何种功能、承担何种责任、与其他参与主体的关系如何,对这些问题的研究和解答能够为中小学图书馆适应外在教育环境变化、实现内在职业使命提供参考和帮助。根据中小学图书馆所发挥的职业价值和基础教育价值,可将中小学校园阅读活动的类型划分为以培养德智体美人才而开展的活动、以实现课程教学目标而开展的活动、以提升教师专业技能和学生综合素养为目标的活动、以帮助师生提升信息素养而开展的活动等四种。中小学图书馆在校园阅读活动中的主要功能定位是全校性阅读活动的支撑者和推动者、课程学习中阅读活动的嵌入者、面向师生综合能力提升的阅读行为的引导者、师生信息素养和数字素养教育的主导者和实施者、校园内外阅读活动的协调者和沟通者。中小学图书馆在参与和推动校园阅读活动的过程中,需要根据校园阅读活动的具体类型和目标,适配相对应的角色功能。图1。表1。参考文献41。     

Investigating the role of the HLTA in supporting learning in English schools

The development of support staff was a key aspect of the Labour government’s reform of the school workforce in England. As part of this strategy approximately 25,000 Teaching Assistants (TAs) gained Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) status and were deployed in schools in a variety of roles, often operating in a quasi-teaching role. The research re-visits individuals who had acquired HLTA status between 2006 and 2009 and had participated in a questionnaire survey regarding their role at that time. A duplicate questionnaire was distributed in 2013 to 305 of these HLTAs and was followed up in 2014 by focus groups with self-selecting individuals from the original sample. To date there has been little research relating to the development of the HLTA role and the implications this has for both teachers and pupils, particularly in terms of provision for the most vulnerable learners.     

Cannot Supply: An Examination of Interlibrary Loan Requests Which Could Not Be Filled by Members of the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries

No abstract available for this article.     

New Vision and Challenges in Inquiry-Based Curriculum Change in Singapore

A new primary science syllabus with strong inquiry focus has been implemented in Singapore since 2008. In this study, we attempted to understand how teachers experience the emphasis of inquiry-based curriculum under the current educational conditions that is routined and highly teacher fronted. We invited 50 pre-service and 41 in-service teachers to participate in survey questionnaires and narratives, reflective writings, and group discussions related to science inquiry which formed our data corpus. Data analysis in the form of thematic coding was carried out using NVivo8, with over 80% inter-rater coding agreement level. Three key aspects of teachers’ perceptions of science inquiry were revealed: (1) teachers’ responsibilities as facilitators, (2) privileging content knowledge rather than process skills, and (3) pressure of assessment systems in current educational contexts. These understandings bring out conflicts of inquiry teaching between teacher- and student-centredness, content and process, and curriculum and assessment. Based on these teachers’ perceptions and dilemmas of inquiry science teaching, the visions and challenges of inquiry science curriculum change against assessment requirements are discussed.     

西部地区中小学图书馆现代化建设路向

西部地区中小学图书馆的现代化建设应抓好如下工作:树立现代化图书馆新理念;寻求发展动力;重视资源建设;加强技术平台;把握发展方向。参考文献5。     

浅谈怎样发挥图书室在素质教育中的作用

随着当前素质教育在教育改革中的实施，学校图书室的作用越来越重要，本文从引导学生进入图书室、指导学生阅读课外读物、开好阅览课三方面探讨了如何发挥学校图书室在素质教育中的作用。     

Social and emotional problems associated with integration in the Israeli junior high school

Teachers and pupils in 28 integrated junior high schools in Israel were interviewed and observed to determine the kinds of social and emotional problems encountered in integrated schools. Though these schools are mandated to achieve both academic and social goals, academic aspects of schooling are inordinately stressed while the social goal is neglected. This strategy has major implications for teaching methods, curriculum, tracking, extra-curricular activities and staff morale. Furthermore, while bright, achieving disadvantaged pupils tend to gain socially and emotionally from this strategy, most disadvantaged children sustain significant losses in the social and emotional spheres and meaningful ethnic integration in the school is not achieved. It is recommended that the school invest greater resources in enhancing pupils' social and emotional development and that there be a dual emphasis in integrated schools on academic and personal development. Implementation of this recommendation requires retraining teachers to provide them with concrete skills in both areas that can be applied in the heterogeneous class.     

Reprint requesting: A possible adjunct to citation analysis for judging research: Preliminary questions and findings

Interest in the quality of published research is evident across the range of disciplines including education. Several comprehensive studies either sponsored or published by the American Educational Research Association attest to this fact. In the sciences, citation analysis is attracting interest as a methodology for assessing research. The procedure has both theoretical and practical promise. The present study considers an overlooked source of information, reprint requesting, as a possible adjunct to citation analysis. The study stems from the questionnaire responses of 24 reprint requestors for an article by the authors. Requestor characteristics, motives, and reprint uses are considered. Implications for further research are advanced.     

浅析愉快体育在“体育与健康”课中的运用

就“愉快体育”教学思想的内涵及特点进行探讨 ,提出将这一教学思想运用于当前中学的“体育与健康”课 ,并就根据这一教学思想建议采用的一些教学方法及应注意的问题谈谈看法