This longitudinal study investigates the factors at home and school that influence children's attainment and progress in writing at Key Stage 1. Sixty children between the ages of four and seven years in four Reading primaiy schools were tracked and data was collected in the term before they started school, at school entry, on a termly basis once in school and at the end of Key Stage 1. Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation schedules, checklists and standardised assessments were used. Associations between measures and continuity over time were assessed using multiple regression analysis. Pre-school independent variables that were found to be significantly associated with writing proficiency at school entry included mother's educational level, family size, parental assessment of writing and a measure of home writing. Child characteristics, skills and competencies were measured at school entry and those found to be significantly associated with writing at outcome included season of birth, WPPSI-R vocabulary score, pre-reading skills and proficiency in writing their own name. The only pre-school variable that maintained its significant relationship to writing at outcome was home writing. Teacher assessments of pupil attitudes to writing were consistently found to be significantly associated with writing at outcome. Data from the termly writing samples indicated that only the handwriting assessment predicted general writing ability at seven years of age. Eight pupils were observed writing at two points in time and the records are discussed in terms of processes and products. Issues such as quality and quantity of writing generated are considered in relation to the development of component skills (e.g. handwriting, spelling, vocabulary), within the context of the curriculum and role of the teacher. The results confirm the complexity of learning to write for children at Key Stage I and developmental considerations are discussed in relation to policy and practice issues.

acase@tulane.edu / This dissertation includes three essays analyzing the socio-economic impacts of fiscal policies in the areas of educational attainment, interstate migration, inequality, and poverty. The first chapter, Labor versus Capital in the Provision of Public Services: Estimating the Marginal Products of Inputs in the Production of Student Outcomes, evaluates and compares the impact of various types of school expenditures on student test scores. It finds that additional operating expenditure has a positive short-term impact on students’ test scores (mainly through its impact on teachers’ compensation) while capital expenditures do no have any impact. The second chapter, Do Government Subsidies to Low-income Individuals Affect Interstate Migration? Evidence from the Massachusetts Health Care Reform, estimates the impact of MHCR on interstate migration of low income individuals to Massachusetts. It finds that providing health subsidy to low income individuals increases the population growth rate of low income individuals in border cities of Massachusetts with the other states and the effect diminishes quickly as distance to the state border increases. The third chapter, Fiscal Policy, Inequality, and Poverty in Iran: Assessing the Impact and Effectiveness of Taxes and Transfers, analyzes the fiscal system in Iran and its impact on inequality and poverty. It finds that the Targeted Subsidy Reform plays the major role in reducing inequality and poverty in Iran. / 1 / Ali Enami

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Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Psychology

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-156). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-156). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract The current education policy in Finland tends to result in higher levels of education, and to avoid educational failures. The aim of the present study was to determine school predictors for later severe mental disorders requiring hospital treatment, and to determine whether or not severe mental disorders or smoking are associated with educational achievement. Educational attainments were analysed in the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (n = 12 058 born alive) using school performance and attained level of education. Data was collected using questionnaires as well as from national registers. Data on psychiatric morbidity was gathered from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register. The case notes of all potential subjects were examined. Up to the end of 1994, a total of 387 subjects had received a DSM-III-R psychiatric diagnosis categorized as follows: schizophrenia (n = 89), other psychoses (n = 55), and non-psychotic disorders (n = 243). Smoking habits were assessed at 14 and 31 years by postal questionnaires. The association between exposure, confounding and outcome variables were analysed by cross-tabulations. Regression models were fitted and adjusted for confounding. Children not in their normal grade or not in normal school at the age of 14 years had a 2 to 8 times higher risk than those in the comparison category (with no psychiatric hospitalisation) to develop some form of mental disorders. Among adolescents with non-psychotic disorders, the means of school marks were lower than in the comparison category, but lower marks did not predict schizophrenia or other psychoses. 11% of the pre-schizophrenic boys had excellent mean school marks compared with only 3% of the comparison category (adjusted OR 3.8; 95% CI 1.6 - 9.3). Over half of all those with a hospital-treated mental disorder progressed beyond basic education, but few completed their tertiary education. Early schizophrenia, (i.e. onset before 22 years of age) as well as non-psychotic cases had an approximately 3- to 6- fold adjusted odds for staying in the basic level. Persons with psychoses with an onset at age 23 or later performed nearly as well as the comparison group. Adult smoking (at age 31) and prolonged smoking (at ages 14 and 31) were associated with an approximately 2- to 6- fold, adjusted odds for educational underachievement, but not smoking only at the age of 14. These results provide new information on the need for earlier therapeutic, rehabilitative and educational interventions directed at children with poor school performance as well as at mentally vulnerable and smoking young persons.

Introduction: Childhood obesity is associated with increased physical and psychosocial co-morbidities, and with lower cognitive function and educational attainment. Clinical guidelines recommend lifestyle interventions (healthy diet, increased physical activity and decreased sedentary behaviour) for the treatment of childhood obesity. Lifestyle interventions are known to benefit cognitive function and educational attainment in normal weight children. However, it is not known whether the same benefits occur when lifestyle interventions are used to treat overweight and obese children. Aim & Objectives: The aim of this thesis was to assess the effect of lifestyle interventions on educational attainment in overweight and obese children in three studies: Objective 1: Assess the efficacy of lifestyle interventions for improving educational attainment. Objective 2: Establish the feasibility of assessing the effectiveness of a childhood primary care weight management programme on educational attainment. Objective 3: Investigate the potential mechanisms for how lifestyle interventions for weight management might benefit educational attainment of overweight children. Methods: Study 1: Systematic (Cochrane) review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials of single or multicomponent lifestyle interventions in children aged 3-18 years. Study 2: Quasi-experimental study linking childhood weight management data of children 5-15 years with education data from local education authorities in Scotland. Study 3: Qualitative study designed to gain insight into overweight and obese children’s and their parents’ perceptions and experiences in school and weight management programme obtained from focus groups and interviews. Results: Study 1: The systematic review included six studies of 674 overweight and obese children and adolescents. Findings indicated that school-based healthy lifestyle education combined with nutrition interventions can produce small improvements in overall school attainment. Single component physical activity interventions produced small improvements in mathematics attainment and associated cognitive skills (executive function, and working memory). There was no evidence of an effect of any lifestyle intervention on reading, vocabulary and language attainment, attention, inhibitory control, and simultaneous processing. Study 2: Cross-sectorial administrative data-linkage was shown to be feasible. This pilot study showed no evidence of a beneficial effect of a primary care child weight management programme on reading, writing and mathematics attainment in overweight and obese children. However, a definitive study to properly assess the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions outside the research environment is clearly feasible in Scotland. Study 3: The themes emerging from focus groups and interviews were body weight related school experiences, attitudes towards school, obesity and school performance, and influence of weight management. Participants perceived that being overweight can benefit educational attainment because a lack of friends means they are less distracted from learning. Low psychosocial well-being experienced by the participants was improved after taking part in a weight management programme. Parents understood this benefit could potentially impact positively on school experiences and attainment in the long-term. Conclusion: Given the high prevalence of childhood obesity, educational and cognitive outcomes could be improved, to some extent, in a very large number of school-aged children through increased physical activity and nutrition education intended for weight management. Health policy makers should be aware of these potential additional benefits when promoting physical activity and healthy eating in schools. Childhood weight management programmes exist widely and thus provide an opportunity to evaluate their impact on educational outcomes in the community. Implemented child weight management programmes may benefit from improved recording of routine data and from obtaining participants’ administrative education data to ensure adequate support and supervision of this vulnerable population. In addition, weight management programmes could consider promoting psychosocial well-being of participants to potentially benefit both health and educational outcome. Lifestyle interventions for obese children and adolescents are under-investigated particularly with regard to a) efficacy in clinical and community settings, b) short and long-term effectiveness for improving educational attainment and c) mechanisms of benefit on educational attainment and cognitive function.

In line with the national trend, Mississippi faces the same challenge that fewer students are completing college degrees. In response to the national call for more degrees, many states have implemented dual enrollment programs to try to decrease the transition anxiety between high school and college, which could possibly lead to more college degrees. This study will add to the very limited body of quantitative research relating to the relationship between students participating in dual enrollment and college degree completion at rural Mississippi community colleges. With an increased focus on a higher number of college graduates, this study could provide information for rural community colleges in Mississippi in regards to retention of dual enrollment participants through obtaining a degree. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not there was a significant difference in the number of students completing an Associate’s degree when comparing students who participated in a dual enrollment program to students who did not participate in a dual enrollment program at a rural Mississippi community college. The sample was comprised of 320 students - 160 students who participated in dual enrollment and a comparative group of 160 students who did not participate in dual enrollment - from across the district of the target community college. Participants included students who were enrolled at the target community college in the fall and spring semesters of 2010 and 2011. A Chi-square test for independence was used for all four research questions to analyze the two categorical variables. Results of the study indicate that there is a significant relationship between the participation in dual enrollment and the completion of a degree, AA and AAS, at the target community college. Findings indicate that students who participate in the dual enrollment program are much less likely to complete their degree at the target community college. There is a need to further investigate dual enrollment as it pertains to completion of a degree at a rural Mississippi community college.