This study examined the learning experiences of 6 young adolescent students in Grades 6 to 8 in India during COVID-19 lockdowns. The lockdowns resulted in teaching through virtual learning instead of the traditional face-to-face learning in a formal classroom during 2020-22. Since students are important stakeholders in their education process, hearing their voices and understanding their perspectives in this learning process was important as they had been directly affected by this sudden change in the teaching-learning medium. To understand the personal and cultural conditions of the young learners the study drew on socio-cultural theory (Rogoff, 2003, Vygotsky,1978) and the dialogical perspective of Bakhtin (1984). In-depth narrative interviews with 6 adolescents were conducted and were analyzed using the framework proposed by Clandinin and Connelly (2000). A narrative interpretation focused on both the individual experiences and the common themes that emerged from six in-depth narratives. The analyses revealed the learners' resilience and their ability to adapt to change by developing constructive coping strategies. They also revealed the learners' recognition of the value of in-person social connection and the role that in-person classes, which foster collaboration, have for meaningful learning to take place. Finally, all the young learners expressed joy in being invited to share their learning experiences.

In addition to the increased risk they face for social and academic problems, adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) must also contend with stigma attached to the disorder. For instance, youth prefer greater social distance from students described with ADHD symptoms than from peers with asthma (Walker, Coleman, Lee, Squire, & Friesen, 2008), and adolescents are also reluctant to engage in activities (e.g., go to the movies, study together) with a peer described with ADHD symptoms compared to peers described as obese or autistic (Law, Sinclair, & Fraser, 2007). Familiarity with individuals diagnosed with ADHD may influence adolescents' perceptions of their peers with ADHD, but the extant research on this relationship in adolescents is limited and mixed. The purpose of this study was to investigate middle school students' familiarity with ADHD, their willingness to engage in activities with a peer exhibiting ADHD symptoms, and how familiarity impacts their willingness to engage in a variety of activities with that peer. A sample of middle school students (N = 176) completed self-report measures of contact with ADHD and willingness to engage with a peer described in a vignette. Participants were randomly assigned vignettes describing either a peer displaying ADHD symptoms or a typical peer, employing a true experimental design. Middle school students expressed greater willingness to engage with a typical peer than one with ADHD symptoms overall. However, a significant difference (p < .05) was found only for academic activities, and not for social and recreational activities. This difference was present regardless of the inclusion of positive characteristics in the description of the peer with ADHD, suggesting that it is something about ADHD symptoms leading to middle school students' reluctance, not simply the lack of appealing characteristics. Additionally, approximately 70% of middle school students indicated some contact with ADHD, although familiarity with ADHD was not found to predict participants' willingness to engage in activities with a peer with ADHD symptoms. Implications for school psychologists and directions for future research are discussed.

No description available.

Although breakfast programs in schools have been encouraged in school-aged children due to numerous benefits on physical and academic performance, participation in School Breakfast Programs (SBP) remains lower than the National School Lunch Program in the United States. Some studies have found that lower participation in the SBP are due to barriers and stigmas. Some studies have found that when breakfast programs are taken into the classroom, uptake of the program improves. However, the relationship between breakfast intake and academic outcomes among young adolescents remains inconclusive. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of a newly implemented Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) program within a large urban school district in Western Massachusetts. A secondary comparative cross-sectional analysis was conducted to investigate the impact of the “Breakfast in the Classroom” (BIC) program on middle school students’ academic performance, absenteeism rates, and school nurse visits, factors that influence learners positive experience within the school system. Data on a total of 1,897 students from seven public schools in Western Massachusetts were included in the analysis. Linear regression models showed that breakfast in the classroom (BIC) program did not have a significant effect on student academic performance, attendance, and school nurse visits in a cohort of middle school students. Sensitivity analysis on a subset of the sample of students receiving free lunch who are also participants of the BIC program, had significantly higher academic performance outcomes than their BIC peers who were ineligible for the free lunch program. Findings of the study provide important baseline data for both food services and the school board district and can help inform future studies on the impact of the BIC program on student outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to identify middle level leaders' perceptions of their responsiveness to students' developmental needs and their support of staff and structures related to meeting those needs. This study also sought a broader understanding of how transition programs aligned with the developmental needs of young adolescents. A mixed-methods approach was used to address the study's research questions. Participants in the study included middle school principals and assistant principals in two Virginia school divisions. Participants completed an online questionnaire reporting their self-perceptions about their responsiveness to their students' developmental needs and their support of staff and structures related to meeting those needs. Participants rated their responsiveness to their students' developmental needs as fairly often and their responsiveness to supporting staff and structures related to those needs as falling between frequently, if not always, and fairly often. Middle school leaders also shared how their schools' transition programs aligned to their students' developmental needs in focus group interviews. Participants identified that young adolescents need additional emotional, social-emotional and organizational support during the transition to middle school. They also shared the need and desire for training to best serve young adolescents. Overall, the findings aligned with existing research underscoring the critical role middle level leaders play in meeting the developmental needs of young adolescents when transitioning to middle school. This study provided implications for middle level and school division leaders and principal prep programs to emphasize strategic, on-going, and collaborative learning opportunities to prepare middle level leaders. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this mixed method study was to identify middle level leaders' perceptions of their responsiveness to students' developmental needs and their support of staff and structures related to meeting those needs. This study also sought a broader understanding of how schools' transition programs aligned with the developmental needs of young adolescents. Middle school principals and assistant principals from two Virginia school divisions shared their levels of responsiveness to the needs of their students and how their school sites' programs aligned with their students' needs. Middle level leaders rated their responsiveness to their students' developmental needs as fairly often and rated their responsiveness to supporting the staff and structures related to those needs as falling between frequently, if not always, and fairly often. Middle level leaders identified that during the transition to middle school, young adolescents need additional emotional, social-emotional and organizational support. They also shared the need and desire for additional training and development to best serve young adolescents. Overall, the findings aligned with existing research underscoring the critical role of the middle level leader in meeting the developmental needs of young adolescents, particularly during the transition to middle school. This study provided implications for middle level and division leaders and principal prep programs to emphasize strategic, on-going, and collaborative learning opportunities to prepare middle level leaders.

The literature related to the development of education in the middle grades and to the features associated with the implementation of the middle school concept provides a theoretical grounding for the development and testing of an Innovation Configuration map for the middle school concept. The description provided of the historical development of middle-grades education presents the context for recent research studies and ongoing policy debate. In addition, features of the middle school concept as described within the literature are identified and an overview of salient research findings related to these features is given. A synthesis and critical review of previous research methodologies and findings reveal the need for further research. The purpose of the instrument development and testing process was to identify critical features of the middle school concept implemented in the context of standards and accountability. The instrument development and testing process investigated the nature of the implementation of middle school concept features, recognizing that actual practices in schools may vary somewhat without the schools losing their identity as middle level schools. The principle product of the process was the development of a diagnostic tool that may be used in future research to identify acceptable forms of implementation of the middle level philosophy of education. The instrument development and testing process employed research methodology based on the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) of Hall and Hord (2006). Specifically, an Innovation Configuration map was developed identifying components of the middle level philosophy of education and describing variations in implementation of the components. / Ed. D.

ABSTRACT This study aims to explore, the nature and the extent of parental involvement in the career development of young adolescents through the perceptions of disadvantaged young adolescents. The two-fold goals were to identify the role of parents and the awareness of other barriers in the career development of young adolescents. Therefore, qualitative research method of semi-structured interviews was applied to fourteen volunteers (eight boys and six girls) from a Secondary School at Mabopane Township in the North West Province. In accordance with previous trends, parental involvement was revealed by young adolescents to be an important factor and was further categorised as constructive and destructive parental involvement. Furthermore, the effects of parental involvement in the development of the young adolescents’ career self-concept and self-efficacy were revealed. Destructive parental involvement and low household incomes were identified as career barriers. Most young adolescents demonstrated a strong resilience in overcoming these barriers. The study also illustrated a dire need for attention to and funding of career programmes aimed at empowering disadvantaged parents and young adolescents. Keywords: Parents, parental involvement, career, career development, young adolescents, disadvantaged communities, career barriers, career counselling, career self-concept and self-efficacy.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T13:16:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2344571 bytes, checksum: a34cac467b290bb43b44cd146c6b32a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-07 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Questões socioculturais e econômicas aumentam a vulnerabilidade dos jovens à infecção pelas DSTs/HIV e ao risco de uma gravidez não planejada, devendo ser abordados nas estratégias de prevenção, tendo em vista que a educação se desenvolve em espaços formais e não formais desde que haja interação entre as pessoas e saberes. Partindo destes pressupostos, este estudo está fundamentado na teoria da Vulnerabilidade e na teoria do Comportamento Planejado, tendo como objetivo elaborar e verificar os efeitos da aplicação de uma estratégia de intervenção psicoeducativa para a prevenção das DSTs e gravidez não planejada para adolescentes jovens, enfocando de modo abrangente e integrado os aspectos da vulnerabilidade individual, social e programático. Trata-se de um estudo com delineamento quase-experimental com grupo de controle, que se divide em 03 estudos: (1) Construção e Validação de um instrumento de avaliação da percepção de vulnerabilidade adolescente jovem para uso no pré e pós-teste. (2) Construção de uma estratégia de intervenção psicoeducativa. (3) Aplicação e avaliação da intervenção psicoeducativa. A população do estudo é constituída por jovens de 14 a 24 anos, matriculados em escolas públicas e privada de ensino médio da cidade de João Pessoa. Para o primeiro estudo, a amostra foi constituída por 432 estudantes, no qual foi aplicada a escala de Percepção frente à Vulnerabilidade. A escala foi construída através das bases teóricas da teoria da Vulnerabilidade e os seus itens foram delineados a partir de estudo anterior. A partir da Análise Fatorial dos Componentes Principais e o alpha de Crombach, obteve-se um instrumento com 29 itens, dividido em três fatores de vulnerabilidade individual, social e programático -, confirmando os pressupostos teóricos e evidencias empíricas. No segundo estudo foi construída uma intervenção psicoeducativa nos moldes de oficinas, com base na Teoria da Vulnerabilidade e Teoria do comportamento Planejado. A intervenção resultou em três encontros em dias consecutivos no qual foram discutidas a iniciação sexual, as ideologias de gênero, negociação e uso do preservativo, DST e gravidez, crenças e normas sociais. Para análise dos resultados foram gravados os 15 minutos finais de cada dia, no qual foi discutida a percepção dos participantes sobre a intervenção, transcritos e analisados por categorização temática. Os dados demonstraram sua adequação ao publico alvo. O terceiro estudo ocorreu em quatro instituições escolares pública e privada, onde foram formados randomicamente dois grupos (experimental e controle), compostos em média por 10 alunos, equiparados em relação a sexo. Após a aplicação do pré-teste, o grupo experimental participou da oficina psicoeducativa, enquanto para o grupo controle foram realizadas palestras informativas. Os debates realizados no grupo experimental foram gravados (autorização dos participantes). Passados 4 meses da intervenção, foi aplicado o pós-teste, cuja eficácia foi verificada através do test t para amostras emparelhadas. Para os dados qualitativos referentes aos relatos dos participantes durante o processo de Intervenção Psicoeducativa, foi utilizada Análise Categorial Temática. Os resultados provenientes do grupo experimental e controle demonstraram que a intervenção psicoeducativa se mostrou eficaz na mudança da percepção de vulnerabilidade individual (p<0,05), decréscimo no primeiro e aumento no segundo grupo. No que tange os dados qualitativos emergiram quatro Classes Temáticas: Vulnerabilidade Social (Crenças Normativas); Vulnerabilidade Programática (Acesso ao Insumo); Vulnerabilidade Individual (Uso do Preservativo, Crenças de Gênero e Informação); e Ressignificação após Intervenção (Autopercepção e Autocuidado). Conclui-se, portanto, que a presente pesquisa alcançou o objetivo proposto, demonstrando a necessidade de intervenções que priorize as relações intersubjetivas, o que possibilita a construção de sujeito-cidadão.

I föreliggande uppsats har ambitionen varit att utifrån ett UVAS-perspektiv, unga vuxna som varken arbetar eller studerar, undersöka och skapa en större förståelse för riskfaktorer och skyddsfaktorer som kan leda till eller förebygga att hamna i ett utanförskap, om en digital plattform som Discord kan bidra till en positiv utveckling för UVAS framtid eller inte samt om de vuxnas närvaro på Discord haft någon betydelse för UVAS. Vidare har ambitionen varit att undersöka hur UVAS ser på sig själva och sin framtid. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi och bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer som har genomförts med nio unga vuxna inom ramen för Vi-projektet. Genom intervjuerna framkom det att det finns ett flertal riskfaktorer för att hamna i ett utanförskap, men även ett flertal skyddsfaktorer identifierades / In the present essay, the ambition has been to, from a NEET perspective, investigate young adults who are not in employment, education or training, and create a greater understanding of risk factors and protective factors that can lead to or prevent ending up in exclusion. Moreover, to examine if a digital platform such as Discord can contribute to a positive development for NEET future or not and whether the adults´ presence at Discord had any significance for NEET. Furthermore, the ambition has been to investigate how NEET describes themselves and their future. The study is based on a qualitative research strategy and is based on semi-structured interviews that have been conducted with nine young adults within the framework of the Vi-project. Through the interviews, it emerged that there are a number of risk factors for ending up in exclusion, but also a number of protective factors were identified.