Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Iraqi Refugee Mothers’ Perceptions Of Parental Involvement And Experiences Within School Systems, Bethany Deniece Parker

Masters Theses

The purpose of the current study was to examine Iraqi refugee mothers’ perceptions of their involvement in and experiences within their children’s schools. Research was informed by symbolic interaction framework, which views human behaviors in relation to their perceptions of and experiences with the world around them. Therefore, qualitative methodology was employed in order to ask participants specific questions related to their perceptions of parental involvement and their experiences with the local school system. Four participants were recruited, and recruitment of participants was facilitated through an organization that aids refugees as they resettle in the United States. The organization assisted …

Results From Ireland North And South's 2016 Report Card On Physical Activity For Children And Youth, Deirdre M. Harrington, Marie Murphy, Angela Carlin, Tara Coppinger, Alan Donnelly, Kieran P. Dowd, Teresa Keating, Niamh Murphy, Elaine Murtagh, Wesley O'Brien, Catherine Woods, Sarahjane Belton

Publications

Background: Physical activity (PA) is a key performance indicator for policy documents in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Building on baseline grades set in 2014, Ireland's second Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth allows for continued surveillance of indicators related to PA in children and youth. Methods: Data and information were extracted and collated for 10 indicators and graded using an international standardized grading system. Results: Overall, 7 grades stayed the same, 2 increased, and 1 decreased. Grades were assigned as follows: Overall PA, D (an increase); Sedentary Behavior (TV), C-; Physical Education, D-; …

What Is Love? A Needs Assessment To Identify A Relevant Teen Dating Violence Education Curriculum For A High School, Nicole Pina

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

No abstract provided.

State-Level Anti-Bullying Policy: Toward A System-Level Implementation Framework, Andrew Martinez

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a public health concern, with negative mental health and academic consequences. In response to the prevalence of bullying in our nation’s schools, all 50 states have now enacted anti-bullying legislation. Overall, these mandates include a series of requirements geared toward addressing bullying in school settings and improving overall school climate.

Following this trend of states enacting anti-bullying legislation, the State of Connecticut, the focus of this study, passed PA 11-232, An Act Concerning the Strengthening of School Bullying Laws (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 11-232). This legislation was passed in 2011 and brought forth a series of mandates geared …

Gambling Education Programs For Adolescents: A Systematic Review, Brittany Keen, Alex Blaszczynski, Fadi Anjoul

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Around two thirds of Australian adolescents aged 10-14 years old have gambled in the last year, and rates of problem gambling are up to four times higher among adolescents than in the adult population. Schools provide a unique opportunity to intervene in cognitive and behavioural development, and while several gambling education programs exist in schools across Australia and internationally, few have been empirically evaluated. The purpose of this review was to provide a systematic appraisal of the published research on gambling education programs for adolescents. The review aimed to identify the number and quality of studies that have evaluated gambling …

The Evaluation Of Family-School Collaboration With Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Families, Samantha Silver

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Research has demonstrated that when parents are involved in their children’s academic and school life, children experience improved language achievement, overall behavior, grades, test scores, have improved attendance, and a lower chance of dropping out of school (Friend and Cook, 2007). Despite the growing diversity of U.S. schools, there is a still a systemic lack of effort to include parents of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This research study sought to examine barriers to establishing a successful collaborative relationship with these families from the perspective of elementary, middle, and high school teachers using an online survey. A total of 39 …

Systematic Review: Social Work School Interventions For Food Accessibility Among Impoverished Children, Rebecca Christensen

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Mothers and children from impoverished families discuss the continuous sacrifices related to food insecurity. Sacrifices like trade-offs can lead to attention of a family’s immediate needs like food but these often come with the cost or sacrifice of other long term needs such as a means of income. Working with children and their families in attending to the underlying causes for their food insecurity may not only help to alleviate their immediate but also their long term needs in maintaining a standard of living. This systematic literature review was designed to investigate the research question: What interventions are being taken …

Interventions That Support At-Risk Children Within School Settings: A Systematic Review, Heidi Hasbargen

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

In this systematic review I examined current literature on interventions that help at-risk children succeed in schools. To find clinical intervention studies that supported at-risk children in the school system, I used exact keywords to search for the actual intervention. Using the two databases, Social work abstracts and Clicnet, I located nine intervention studies that provided key data on intervention offered, population served, and outcomes collected. In these results I identified three main themes: yoga/mindfulness, school based mental health support, and parental engagement. Based on these themes, I also recommend further research into ways school professionals can implement different interventions …

Integrating Mental Health Therapy Into The School Environment, Jeanette Mcgie

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The need for school-based mental health services has increased over the past decade but little has been researched surrounding school-based mental health therapists and how they are integrating mental health into the school environment. This research will focus on how school- based therapists are integrating mental health therapy into the school environment. This research interviews 8 school-based therapists and 2 school-based therapists’ supervisors. The interviews consistent of qualitative questions that focused on gathering information on integrating mental health. The results indicate the uniqueness of this position, the openness to the position, the differences in the purpose of the environment, the …

Exploratory Two-Level Analysis Of Individual- And School-Level Factors On Truant Youth Emotional/Psychological Functioning, Richard Dembo, Jennifer Wareham, James Schmeidler, Ken C. Winters

Criminology Faculty Publications

Research on samples of truant adolescents is limited, with little known about mental health problems among truant youths. This study provided an exploratory, multilevel examination of mental health problems for a sample of 300 truant adolescents. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a single factor of multiple mental health problems at the individual level, but the structure of these problems was not the same at the school level. A number of covariate effects were found at the individual level on the mental health factor. Further, youths attending middle school were more likely to report attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) problems than those …

‘Students That Just Hate School Wouldn’T Go’: Educationally Disengaged And Disadvantaged Young People’S Talk About University, Samantha Mcmahon, Valerie Harwood, Anna Hickey-Moody

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper contributes to a growing body of literature on widening university participation and brings a focus on the classed and embodied nature of young people’s imagination to existing discussions. We interviewed 250 young people living in disadvantaged communities across five Australian states who had experienced disengagement from compulsory primary and secondary schooling. We asked them about their education and their educational futures, specifically how they imagined universities and university participation. For these young people, universities were imagined as ‘big’, ‘massive’ alienating schools. The paper explores how the elements of schooling from which these young people disengaged became tangible barriers …

'Physical Activity 4 Everyone' School-Based Intervention To Prevent Decline In Adolescent Physical Activity Levels: 12 Month (Mid-Intervention) Report On A Cluster Randomised Trial, Rachel Sutherland, Elizabeth Campbell, David R. Lubans, Philip J. Morgan, Anthony D. Okely, Nicole Nathan, Luke Wolfenden, Jarrod Wiese, Karen Gillham, Jenna Hollis, John Wiggers

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Adolescence is a recognised period of physical activity decline, particularly among low-income communities. We report the 12-month (midpoint) effects of a 2-year multicomponent physical activity intervention implemented in disadvantaged secondary schools. Methods: A cluster randomised trial was undertaken in 10 secondary schools located in disadvantaged areas in New South Wales, Australia. Students in Grade 7 were recruited, with follow-up in Grade 8. The intervention was guided by socioecological theory and included seven physical activity strategies, and six implementation adoption strategies. The primary outcome was mean minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day assessed using Actigraph GT3X accelerometers. Outcome …

Principals As Literacy Leaders With Indigenous Communities (Pallic) Building Relationships: One School's Quest To Raise Indigenous Learners' Literacy, Tasha Riley, Amanda A. Webster

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In 2011 to 2012, 48 schools in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland participated in the Principals as Literacy Leaders with Indigenous Communities (PALLIC) project. Central to this project was the establishment of positive working relationships between school principals and Indigenous community leaders in order to improve Indigenous literacy rates. Professional development in leadership skills and effective literacy instruction was provided through five professional learning modules. Participants worked together to create an action plan to support the literacy achievement of Indigenous students in their schools and communities. This article presents a case study of one participating school in Northern …

A School-Based Intervention Incorporating Smartphone Technology To Improve Health-Related Fitness Among Adolescents: Rationale And Study Protocol For The Neat And Atlas 2.0 Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial And Dissemination Study, David R. Lubans, Jordan J. Smith, Louisa Peralta, Ronald Plotnikoff, Anthony D. Okely, Jo Salmon, Narelle Eather, Deborah Dewar, Sarah G. Kennedy, Chris Lonsdale, Toni A. Hilland, Paul Estabrooks, Tara Finn, Emma Pollock, Philip J. Morgan

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Introduction Physical inactivity has been described as a global pandemic. Interventions aimed at developing skills in lifelong physical activities may provide the foundation for an active lifestyle into adulthood. In general, school-based physical activity interventions targeting adolescents have produced modest results and few have been designed to be 'scaled-up' and disseminated. This study aims to: (1) assess the effectiveness of two physical activity promotion programmes (ie, NEAT and ATLAS) that have been modified for scalability; and (2) evaluate the dissemination of these programmes throughout government funded secondary schools. Methods and analysis The study will be conducted in two phases. In …

Personality And Body-Mass-Index In School-Age Children: An Exploration Of Mediating And Moderating Variables, Mark S. Allen, Stewart A. Vella

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study explored longitudinal associations between personality and body-mass-index (BMI) in school-age children, including the potential mediating role of screen time and physical activity, and the potential moderating roles of child demographics and neighbourhood socioeconomic position. Participants were the parents (and teachers) of 3857 ten-year-old children, who completed questionnaires at baseline with a two-year follow-up. After controlling for child demographics (e.g., sex, pubertal status), we found that personality was unimportant for concurrent BMI, but was important for subsequent BMI and change in BMI over two years. Low levels of introversion and persistence at baseline, and decreases in persistence over time, …

Assessing The Sustained Impact Of A School-Based Obesity Prevention Program For Adolescent Boys: The Atlas Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial, David R. Lubans, Jordan J. Smith, Ronald Plotnikoff, Kerry A. Dally, Anthony D. Okely, Jo Salmon, Philip J. Morgan

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Obesity prevention interventions targeting 'at-risk' adolescents are urgently needed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the sustained impact of the 'Active Teen Leaders Avoiding Screen-time' (ATLAS) obesity prevention program. Methods: Cluster RCT in 14 secondary schools in low-income communities of New South Wales, Australia. Participants were 361 adolescent boys (aged 12-14 years) 'at risk' of obesity. The intervention was based on Self-Determination Theory and Social Cognitive Theory and involved: professional development, fitness equipment for schools, teacher-delivered physical activity sessions, lunch-time activity sessions, researcher-led seminars, a smartphone application, and parental strategies. Assessments for the primary (body mass index …

Pre-School Benefits All, And Influences The Nation's Well-Being, Edward Melhuish

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Use Of Mobile And Cordless Phones And Cognition In Australian Primary School Children: A Prospective Cohort Study, Mary Redmayne, Catherine L. Smith, Geza Benke, Rodney J. Croft, Anna Dalecki, Christina Dimitriadis, Jordy Kaufman, Skye Macleod, Malcolm R. Sim, Rory Wolfe, Michael J. Abramson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Use of mobile (MP) and cordless phones (CP) is common among young children, but whether the resulting radiofrequency exposure affects development of cognitive skills is not known. Small changes have been found in older children. This study focused on children's exposures to MP and CP and cognitive development. The hypothesis was that children who used these phones would display differences in cognitive function compared to those who did not. Methods: We recruited 619 fourth-grade students (8-11 years) from 37 schools around Melbourne and Wollongong, Australia. Participants completed a short questionnaire, a computerised cognitive test battery, and the Stroop colour-word …

Governing Food Choices: A Critical Analysis Of School Food Pedagogies And Young People's Responses In Contemporary Times, Deana Leahy, Jan Wright

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Recently a proliferation and intensification of school programmes that are directed towards teaching children and young people about food has been witnessed. Whilst there is much to learn about food, anxieties concerning the obesity epidemic have dramatically shaped how schools address the topic. This article draws on governmentality to consider 'the conditions of possibility' for teaching about food in contemporary times. In particular the form that knowledge about food takes in the midst of an obesity epidemic, the authorities on which it draws for its legitimacy and the learnings made possible are considered. To do this two Australian studies investigating …

How Well Are Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Doing Academically At School? An Overview Of The Literature, Deb Keen, Amanda Webster, Greta Ridley

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The academic achievement of individuals with autism spectrum disorder has received little attention from researchers despite the importance placed on this by schools, families and students with autism spectrum disorder. Investigating factors that lead to increased academic achievement thus would appear to be very important. A review of the literature was conducted to identify factors related to the academic achievement of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. A total of 19 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria for the review. Results indicated that many individuals demonstrate specific areas of strength and weakness and there is a great …

Faroosh And Elina, Faroosh, Elina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Faroosh was a cameraman for a private television program in Afghanistan working on a documentary about the Taliban. When he and his crew were discovered, the Taliban attacked them and he and his wife fled to Turkey, walking 12 hours to get there. Upon arrival the police arrested and harassed them. Turkey was not a safe place. After several suicide bombings in the area, they decided to move on to Greece, where they are in a refugee camp without any progress in their situation. They have no money to move forward and no ability to work and the economic situation …

Idiris, Idiris, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Idiris is an 18-year-old Somalian refugee now living inUtah. He describes his life, mentioning that he only lived in Somalia for six years then moved to Ethiopia, where he stayed for seven and a half years.His life inEthiopia was peaceful and happy in comparison to Somalia, where Idiris and his family witnessed continuous violence. Idiris’s father eventually learned of the opportunities and education available in America and decided to move his family there for a better life, leaving behind family and friends. Coming to America, Idiris and his family did not know what their new home would be like. They …

An Examination Of A Yoga Intervention And Elementary Students’ Selective Attention And Executive Function In The School Setting, M. Jill Rogers

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of yoga on children’s executive function and selective attention. There were three primary aims of this study. The first aim was to examine whether yoga would have a positive effect on children’s selective attention in a school setting. Another aim was to explore if teachers will report an improved change in children’s executive function in the classroom. The final aim was to determine if yoga would be a socially acceptable intervention to teachers and students. Participants included three fifth grade students and two teachers. Mixed methods were used to visually …

Identity Formation Of Lbote Preservice Teachers During The Practicum: A Case Study In Australia In An Urban High School, Hoa Thi Mai Nguyen, Lynn D. Sheridan

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The article presents a case study of a growing number of English language background other than English (LBOTE) students in teacher education in Australia. Topics discussed include the impact of teaching practice in the identity formation of preservice teachers, the work experience of teachers in Australian schools, and the teacher identity.

School Safety: Students And Weapon Carrying Behavior, Shadrich Levale Moore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows that risk factors may be useful clues for predicting students' potential for engaging in weapon-carrying behavior. Law makers on every level-federal, state, and local- deem the presence of weapons on school grounds to be a serious problem and a violation of school policy. A large, urban school system has put forth sustained and costly efforts to prevent students from carrying weapons to school; yet students continue to carry weapons to school in this district. The purpose of this study was to use archival data collected as part of the school system's everyday practice to identify risk factors for …

The Lived Experience Of School Bus Drivers: Bullying Prevention On School Buses, Timothy Crable

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. school bus drivers witness bullying on their buses on a regular basis but are often not consulted on how to prevent bullying or how to maintain a safe environment. Over 24 million U.S. student passengers ride school buses daily, yet the voices of bus drivers have been inadequately represented in the development of school bullying policies. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the lived experience of 12 active school bus drivers and their perceptions of bullying on the bus, driver training programs, school antibullying policies, and other mandated procedures developed for bus drivers. The conceptual framework …

The Elephant In The (Class)Room: Parental Perceptions Of Lgbtq-Inclusivity In K-12 Educational Contexts, Jacqueline Ullman, Tania Ferfolja

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

While little is known about parental beliefs and desires regarding LGBTQ-inclusive education, assumptions about these appear to justify teachers’, curriculum writers’ and policy makers’ silences regarding sexuality and gender diversity in the K-12 classroom. Thus, in order to better inform educators’ practices, this paper presents an analysis of interview data from focus groups with parents from across the Australian state of New South Wales. Findings highlight parents’ desires for LGBTQ-inclusivity, not only as a protective factor for sexuality and gender diverse students, but also to engender social cohesion and prepare all students for adult life in the modern social landscape. …