Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate risk factors, developmental pathways and the rate of attempted or accomplished suicide in a longitudinal population-based prospective birth cohort. The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (NFBC 1966) consists of 12,068 pregnant women with expected dates of delivery in 1966, and their 12,058 live-born children. The data used here was collected prospectively for 10,934 individuals who were alive and resident in Finland at the age of 16. This study utilized an extensive data set collected in antenatal clinics at mid-pregnancy, by postal questionnaire at the age of 14 years and through national registers. A total of 121 suicide attempts (57 males) and 69 suicides (56 males) had occurred by the end of 2005. A single-parent family was a risk factor for attempted suicides and grand multiparity for suicides in male offspring. Adolescent regular smoking was associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts in both genders and for suicide among males. Good school performance at age 16 years was associated with an increased risk of suicide in psychosis cases, whereas in persons who did not develop psychosis it was associated with a lower suicide risk. The suicide rate in new-onset schizophrenia followed until the age of 39 was 7%. Over two thirds of the suicides took place during the first 3 years of the illness. This was the first study of suicide rates in a prospectively followed population-based birth cohort of individuals with schizophrenia. This study replicated association between some early family-related risk factors for attempted and accomplished suicide, and also presented data for previously unstudied early factors, namely maternal antenatal depression, smoking and unwanted pregnancy This study has clarified the association between adolescent smoking and later suicide risk. It also revealed the association between good school performance and elevated risk of suicide in psychotic people, in contrast to its protective effect in the non-psychotic population. However, even though there were significant antenatal and developmental risk factors, a later psychiatric disorder seems to be the major risk factor for both attempted and accomplished suicide. Nevertheless, suicide usually seems to be a long multifactorial process that begins in early life and has complex trajectories in adolescence or early midlife. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoitus oli tutkia itsemurhien esiintyvyyttä, riskitekijöitä, siihen johtavia kehityspolkuja yleisväestöön perustuvassa prospektiivisessa pitkittäistutkimuksessa. Pohjois-Suomen vuoden 1966 syntymäkohorttiin kuului alun perin 12,068 raskaana olevaa naista joiden laskettu aika oli vuonna 1966, ja heidän 12,058 elävänä syntynyttä lastaan, kohortin jäsenet. Tässä tutkimuksessa käytetty aineisto on kerätty 11,017 kohortin jäsenestä, jotka olivat elossa ja asuivat Suomessa 16-vuotiaana. Käytetty aineisto on kerätty äitiysneuvoloissa, 14-vuotiaana tehdyssä postikyselyssä ja kansallisista rekistereistä. Kaikkiaan 121 itsemurhayritystä (joista 57 miehillä) ja 69 itsemurhaa (56 miehillä) tapahtui vuoden 2005 loppuun mennessä. Yhden vanhemman perhe syntymän aikaan oli riski myöhemmälle itsemurhayritykselle ja syntyminen monilapsiseen perheeseen (yli viisi lasta) oli riski itsemurhalle. Tupakointi 14-vuotiaana ennusti itsemurhayrityksiä kummallakin sukupuolella sekä itsemurhia miehillä. Hyvä koulumenestys 16-vuotiaana liittyi kohonneeseen itsemurhavaaraan niillä jotka myöhemmin sairastuivat psykoosiin, kun muilla se liittyi alentuneeseen vaaraan. Skitsofreniaan sairastuneista 7 % teki itsemurhan ja yli kaksi kolmannesta skitsofreniaan sairastuneiden itsemurhista tapahtui kolmen vuoden kuluessa sairastumisesta. Tämä tutkimus vahvisti aikaisempia havaintoja varhaisista riskitekijöistä itsemurhayrityksiin ja itsemurhiin. Tässä tutkimuksessa tutkittiin myös kokonaan uusia varhaisia riskitekijöitä, joita ei ole ennen tutkittu suhteessa itsemurhaan tai itsemurhayrityksiin, kuten äidin raskaudenaikainen masennus ja tupakointi sekä ei-toivottu raskaus. Tämän tutkimuksen avulla saatiin myös uutta tietoa teini-iässä aloitetun tupakoinnin suhteesta itsemurhiin ja -yrityksiin. Tutkimus paljasti hyvän koulumenestyksen lisäävän riskiä itsemurhaan henkilöillä jotka sairastuvat myöhemmin psykoosiin. Tämä oli ensimmäinen tutkimus, jossa skitsofreniaa sairastavien henkilöiden itsemurhakuolleisuutta selvitettiin yleisväestöön pohjautuvassa syntymäkohortissa. Vaikka tutkimuksessa tuli ilmi sekä syntymän, että nuoruuden aikaisia varhaisia riskitekijöitä, myöhempi psykiatrinen sairaus on merkittävin itsemurhan ja -yritysten riskitekijä. Siitä huolimatta itsemurha on aina monitekijäinen prosessi, joka voi alkaa jo ennen syntymää ja johon myöhemmät elämänvaiheet vaikuttavat.

In the United States, public school enrollment is typically organized by neighborhood boundaries. This dissertation examines whether the federally funded HOPE VI program influenced performance in neighborhood public schools. In effect since 1992, HOPE VI has sought to revitalize distressed public housing using the New Urbanism model of mixed income communities. There are 165 such HOPE VI projects nationwide. Despite nearly two decades of the program’s implementation, the literature on its connection to public school performance is thin. My dissertation aims to narrow this research gap. There are three principal research questions: (1) Following HOPE VI, was there a change in socioeconomic status (SES) in the neighborhood public school? The hypothesis is that low SES (measured as the proportion of students qualifying for the Free and Reduced Lunch Program) would reduce. (2) Following HOPE VI, did the performance of neighborhood public schools change? The hypothesis is that the school performance, measured by the proportion of 5th grade students proficient in state wide math and reading tests, would increase. (3) What factors relate to the performance of public schools in HOPE VI communities? The focus is on non-school, neighborhood factors that influence the public school performance. For answering the first two questions, I used t-tests and regression models to test the hypotheses. The analysis shows that there is no statistically significant change in SES following HOPE VI. However, there are statistically significant increases in performance for reading and math proficiency. The results are interesting in indicating that HOPE VI neighborhood improvement may have some relationship with improving school performance. To answer the third question, I conducted a case study analysis of two HOPE VI neighborhood public schools, one which improved significantly (in Philadelphia) and one which declined the most (in Washington DC). The analysis revealed three insights into neighborhood factors for improved school performance: (i) a strong local community organization; (ii) local community’s commitment (including the middle income families) to send children to the public school; and (iii) ties between housing and education officials to implement the federal housing program. In essence, the study reveals how housing policy is de facto education policy.

Submitted by Jakeline Ortega (jakortega@unoeste.br) on 2017-09-13T21:26:58Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Nattacia Rocha Duarte Ruani.pdf: 16197332 bytes, checksum: 8d0b8719de22eaaac6ff6c47d52bdc46 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-13T21:26:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Nattacia Rocha Duarte Ruani.pdf: 16197332 bytes, checksum: 8d0b8719de22eaaac6ff6c47d52bdc46 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-16 / As a general objective, this work aimed to identify and analyze the organizational culture and climate of a public high school whose students achieved high performance in the National High School Examination (ENEM) in 2015. In this way, what motivated us to Developing this dissertation on the importance of culture, climate, and school management in achieving educational goals is our belief that schools run on the basis of leadership policies that can detect and act on organizational culture and climate, In the sense of making them explicit and manifest to all members of the organization, successfully achieve their educational goals. Thus, this work is justified by addressing the relevance and impact of the principles characteristic of the culture and organizational climate of the institution to be researched, especially in the results obtained in the teaching and learning process of the student. We have as central problem the following question: to what extent does the culture and the organizational climate of the school intervene in the results of the teaching process of the student? Of course, there are other variables that need to be explored to understand the phenomenon in its depth. We agree that climate and organizational culture are only part of many elements that contribute to the achievement of good student performance. However, we also argue that school management is a fundamental element and, for this reason, we dedicate ourselves to understanding it through the analysis of climate and culture, demonstrating its impact on organizations to achieve educational objectives. The methodology used for this dissertation is the research of a qualitative approach, of phenomenological character, type of case study, with the use of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and observations. For the development of this work, we have as reference studies developed by authors such as Edgar Schein (2009), Reinaldo Dias (2012), Stephen Robbins (2010), Lucia Helena Gonçalves Teixeira (2002), Heloísa Lück (2010), Antônio Nóvoa ). The work accomplished allowed to identify that the culture and the climate that permeates this school are classified as "strong and open culture", in which the analyzed members share the same objectives and elements that constitute the culture and share the influence between parents, teachers, Students and managers, for the development of school objectives, interacting with the external environment of the school with flexibility, adaptability, having communication in a transversal way, leveraging formal and non-formal interactions among school members punctuated by respect. / Como objetivo geral este trabalho propôs-se identificar e analisar a cultura e o clima organizacional de uma escola pública de ensino médio cujos alunos alcançaram alto rendimento no Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM) em 2015. Dessa maneira, o que motivou o desenvolver desta dissertação a respeito da importância da cultura, do clima e da gestão escolar no alcance dos objetivos educacionais, é o pressuposto de que as escolas administradas com base em políticas de liderança capazes de detectar a cultura e o clima organizacional e agir sobre eles, no sentido de torná-los explícitos e manifestos a todos os membros da organização, alcançam, de modo exitoso, seus objetivos educacionais. Assim, esse trabalho se justifica por abordar a relevância e o impacto dos princípios característicos da cultura e clima organizacional da instituição a ser pesquisada, de modo especial, nos resultados obtidos no processo de ensino e aprendizagem do aluno. Têm-se como problemática central a seguinte questão: em que medida a cultura e o clima organizacional da escola intervêm nos resultados do processo de ensino aprendizagem do aluno? Certamente, há outras variáveis que precisam ser exploradas para se compreender o fenômeno em sua profundidade. Concorda-se que o clima e a cultura organizacional compõem apenas uma parte de muitos elementos que concorrem para o alcance de bons resultados no desempenho dos alunos. Entretanto, também se defende que a gestão escolar é elemento fundamental e, por este motivo, dedica-se a compreendê-la a partir da análise do clima e da cultura, demonstrando seu impacto nas organizações para o alcance dos objetivos educacionais. A metodologia utilizada para esta dissertação é a pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa, de cunho fenomenológico, tipo estudo de caso, com utilização de entrevistas semiestruturadas, questionários e observações. Para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, tem-se como referência estudos desenvolvidos por autores como Edgar Schein (2009), Reinaldo Dias (2012), Stephen Robbins (2010), Lucia Helena Gonçalves Teixeira (2002), Heloísa Lück (2010), Antônio Nóvoa (1995). O trabalho realizado permitiu identificar que a cultura e o clima que permeiam esta escola classificam-se como “cultura forte e aberta”, na qual os membros analisados partilham dos mesmos objetivos e elementos que constituem a cultura na sociedade e compartilham da influência entre pais, professores, alunos e gestores, para o desenvolvimento dos objetivos escolares, interagindo com o ambiente externo da escola com flexibilidade, adaptabilidade, tendo a comunicação de maneira transversal, alavancando as interações formais e não - formais entre os membros da escola sempre pontuadas pelo respeito.

1 Annotation: The diploma thesis deals with the evaluation of performance in athletic disciplines in relation to educational concepts. The data set was obtained from long-term records of children's performance for a selected school and was further processed and evaluated. An interview with a teacher who manages documents also makes a significant contribution to the interpretation of the results of the work itself. The research sample in question consists of male probands attending the 2nd grade at Glowackého Primary School between 1987 - 2019. Key words: performance, athletics, didactics, history, educational concepts, elementary school, pupil

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vikten av förälders engagemang i skolan samt att utforska om samarbete mellan hem och skola har en positiv påverkan på barns skolprestation. Vi har ställt upp följande frågeställningar: 1) Vad innebär föräldraengagemang i skolan? 2) Vilka hinder och utmaningar kan vi hitta i föräldrars engagemang i sitt barns skolgång? 3) Vilken betydelse har föräldrars engagemang för elevens prestation i skolan? 4) Vilken betydelse har föräldrars och lärares interaktion för elevens prestation i skolan? Vi har använt en kvalitativ metod, där semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med ett antal lärare och föräldrar. Analys har gjorts med hjälp av fenomenografisk metod.  Resultatet av vår studie visar tydligt att de elever vars förälder aktivt deltar i och stödjer deras skolgång har lättare att tillgodogöra sig utbildningen. I stort sett alla informanter är överens om att interaktion mellan hem och skola gör ett barns inlärningsprocess både enklare och roligare. Det vill säga, om både förälder och skola interagerar och effektivt deltar i barnets skolgång ser vi som resultat inte bara en ökad inlärningseffekt utan även en god social utveckling hos eleven. Många skolor i Sverige har insett detta och arbetar numera aktivt för att involvera föräldern mer aktivt i sitt barns skolgång. / Pedagogy / Educational science

There is a noticeable difference in the debate regarding adolescents’ sleep patterns between the biological clock and society’s clock when we talk about adolescents. Sleep scientists or somnologists, are alarming as more evidence reach the surface that young people are not getting the recommended sleep that is required to perform academically well. Not only are there direct connections between sleep deficit and academic performance, but sleep deficit also takes a critical toll upon their physical and mental health. The problem is that adolescents’ circadian cycle is postponed with a few hours compared to children and adults. This results in a major sleep deficit when adolescents must adjust to societal rhythms and habits – a clock they are not programmed biologically to follow. Adolescents must attend to school in the early morning, when in reality their needs point to that school times in fact should start around 10:00. Society’s view has traditionally been that teenagers are lazy but in fact evidence does prove that it may not be the case. The following essay will therefore serve as an informative update to what has been stated by somnologists and raise awareness regarding adolescents and what happens when they are exposed to a chronic sleep deficit put on them by society.

Sedan resultatet av PISA-undersökningen 2012 publicerades handlar en övervägande del av skoldebatten om att finna åtgärder för att förbättra resultaten inom gymnasieskolan. Fenomenet rörande pojkars underpresterande har fått namnet “pojkkris”. Författarna till föreliggande studie avser att utmana bilden av ”den typiska killen” som underpresterar i kontexten för en rådande ”antipluggkultur”. Utifrån ett studie-och yrkesvägledarperspektiv är det aktuellt att undersöka vilka potentiella faktorer i en ”antipluggkultur” unga män upplever konstruerar identitet i förhållande till sin karriäridentitet. Syftet med föreliggande studie är således att undersöka hur en grupp högpresterande unga män ser på vad det är att vara en ”idealelev” vid det Naturvetenskapliga programmet. Vidare avser studien att undersöka vilka distinktioner de unga männen gör i relation till andra elevgrupper. För att tolka elevernas uppfattningar används sociologiska teorier. Begreppen fält och förmak avser förklara de unga männens syn på den omgivning de befinner sig i. De olika kapitalformerna, habitus, hegemonisk maskulinitet och begreppet distinktion används för att förklara informanternas identitetskonstruktion. För att besvara frågeställningarna används fokusgruppsintervjuer. De slutsatser som sammanfattningsvis görs är att unga mäns maskulinitetsideal i förhållande till hur en idealelev ska vara är komplex. Informanterna konstruerar bilden av en idealelev i termer av en man som får höga betyg i samtliga ämnen utan att behöva studera. Således kan det tolkas att de unga männen beskriver att en lyckad idealelev skall vara naturligt begåvade. / Since the results of the PISA-study 2012 were published, the majority of the current school policy has focused on measures to improve results in secondary schools. The phenomenon to boys underachievement has been named the "boy crisis". The thesis aims to challenge the image of the "typical guy" who underachieve in the context of an "anti-school culture”. Based on a guidance counsellor perspective it is necessary to observe the potential factors in an "anti-school culture" that young men experience constructing their identity in relation to their career identity. The author’s purpose is therefore to investigate a group of high-performing young men´s view of what it means to achieve the idealised image of a student. Sociological theories is used to interpret the students' perceptions. The concepts of fields and antichamber intends to explain the young men's views of their surroundings. The different capital forms, habitus, hegemonic masculinity and the concept of distinction is used to explain the informants' identity construction. Focus group interviews is being used in order to answer the research issues. The conclusive inference is that young men´s masculinity ideals, in relation to how an ideal student should be, is complex. The respondents construct the image of an ideal student in terms of a man who gets great results in all subjects without making an effort. In conclusion, it can be interpreted that the young men describe that a successful student should ideally be naturally talented.

Background: European studies on determinants and factors associated with problematic smartphone use (PSU) in children and adolescents are still sparse. This study reports the current amount of PSU symptoms and the presence of (clinically relevant) PSU in German children and adolescents. We also investigated associations between sociodemographic factors, different smartphone usage patterns, and daily smartphone usage time and the amount of PSU symptoms in this group. In addition, associations of PSU symptoms and high smartphone usage times (> 2 h/day) with behavioural problems, quality of life (QoL), and school performance were investigated. Methods: Within the framework of the LIFE Child study, 564 children and adolescents aged 10–18 years provided information on PSU symptoms (using the Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale), daily smartphone usage time, smartphone activities, behavioural strengths and difficulties (using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), QoL (using the KIDSCREEN-27), and school performance. Multiple regression analyses were applied to assess associations. Results: In the present sample, PSU was present in 13 children (2.3%). Older age, female gender, high daily smartphone usage time of > 2 h, and intensive smartphone use for social networking, gaming, or watching video clips were significantly associated with more PSU symptoms. Children and adolescents reporting more PSU symptoms also showed lower QoL, more behavioural difficulties, and poorer school performance, independently of age, gender, socio-economic status, and daily smartphone usage time. In contrast, daily smartphone usage time per se showed only weak or non-significant associations with these aspects of health and behaviour. Conclusion: Intensive smartphone use for entertainment may increase the risk of developing PSU symptoms. Furthermore, the results indicate that PSU symptoms (more than long smartphone usage times per se) are associated with more behavioural difficulties and poorer QoL

This thesis describes the background and findings of a study of effective schools and learners achievement in Botswana senior secondary schools from an education management perspective. The aim was to identify schools that promote learners’ achievement when the students’ initial intakes were considered. The study was guided by five research questions. The study adopted an ex post facto design and a quantitative value added methodology to answer the research questions. Simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 5662 from the population of 58 032 students who wrote the BGCSE examinations for 2005, 2006 and 2007. Two sets of data: prior and later achievements at individual student level were collected from BEC and Secondary Education. The statistical software, MLwiN 2.10 beta 4, which is based on hierarchical linear modelling or multilevel modelling, was used to analyse the data for the value added by schools. The findings indicated that a) schools differ in their effectiveness. Some schools were more effective than others; b) Ten characteristics of effective schools were identified from the literature review c) schools differed in their consistency across the three core curriculum areas of Setswana, English and Mathematics; d) schools differed in their stability from year to year and e) schools were differentially effective. They were effective for the mid ability students and boys more than the other groups. The study confirmed that the use of a single statistic measure even in value added analysis could be misleading because of the internal variations between departments in schools. Furthermore, the uses of raw results for measuring school effectiveness were misleading. Some schools which were at the top in raw results were not doing so well in terms of value added and vice versa. The value added measures of school performance proved to be the most appropriate measure of school’s contribution to students’ learning. The value added by schools is also a measure of schools’ productivity. The study made recommendations to improve practice, such as the use of appropriate and fairer methods to evaluate and compare schools. The areas that need further attention were suggested based on the findings of the study. / Teacher Education / D.Ed. (Education Management)