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Intervention assistance (IA) programs have been developed as a mechanism for avoiding costly special education referrals and for supporting teachers in their instruction of students with varying needs within the general education classroom (Safran and Safran, 1996). Although IA programs are designed to be consultative, multidisciplinary approaches to assisting teachers, some studies report that teachers conduct the majority of classroom-based interventions for a given student on their own prior to referring students to an IA team (Wilson, Hagen, Gutkin, and Oats, 1998). It is important to determine what interventions or strategies teachers commonly consider and what factors are associated with breadth and depth of intervention knowledge. The purpose of the present study was to replicate a portion of the research of Wilson et al. (1998), which assessed general education teachers knowledge of classroom-based interventions. The present study also extended the work of Wilson et al. by using an exploratory descriptive/nonexperimental design to examine the degree to which teachers individual professional characteristics, as well as the IA practices of the schools in which they work, were related to their knowledge of interventions. Twenty-nine general education teachers in Hillsborough County, FL responded to a vignette describing a typical classroom-based problem in a structured-interview format. Participants responses were then counted and coded for (a) how specifically interventions were described, and (b) what types of interventions the teachers used (e.g., instructional, behavioral, etc.). Teachers also completed a brief demographic questionnaire, which included items about the IA programs at their schools, as well as their individual referral history over the last two years, and the degree to which they had been trained in classroom-based interventions. Results were similar to Wilson et al. with regard to number of intervention ideas, but teachers were more specific than in previous investigations. Descriptive data regarding teachers' characteristics as problem-solvers and their perceptions of IA at their school are offered, but few noteworthy relationships were identified between these variables and structured interview outcomes. Nevertheless, the present study offers a glimpse into the intervention practices of general education teachers. Implications for both school psychology practice and research are offered.

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Students with disabilities have historically underperformed on achievement tests in comparison to their non-disabled peers (Eckes and Swando, 2009; Hurt, 2012). This qualitative study explored parents' perceptions of school factors that contribute to and hinder the academic success of students with disabilities. The researcher collected data by interviewing a purposeful sample of parents of students with disabilities and gathered and reviewed their child's academic information. This qualitative research study utilized a phenomenological design approach that allowed the researcher to gain insights into parents' perceptions of students' lived experiences. Participants included a sample of parents of fifth-grade students with disabilities attending an intermediate school in southeastern Virginia. The researcher collected data for this study in the spring of 2017. Interviews were administered in one session, allowing the researcher to ascertain from responses to the 22 interview questions which school factors parents perceive as contributing to and hindering academic progress. The results of this study indicated that the success of students with disabilities was impacted by staff members' understanding of multi-modality learning, needs of students with disabilities, and the level of support needed by students. The findings also indicated large class size and the physical and cosmetic characteristics of a classroom had an impact on achievement. Parents recommended mentoring programs, restructuring the classroom environment, improving parent-teacher communication, and meeting the unique needs of students with disabilities as areas of improvement. / Ed. D.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of socioeconomic status, school factors (classroom climate, classroom activities) and affective variables (motivation, self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety, beliefs about the nature of mathematics and teaching of mathematics, students&rsquo / perceptions of their teachers and parents&rsquo / attitudes toward them) on mathematics achievement with 9th grade students in Ankara. For this purpose, structural equation modeling techniques were used. In the study, there were two research problems: &ldquo / What was the general model explaining the effects of socioeconomic status, affective and school factors on students&rsquo / mathematics achievement?&rdquo / and &ldquo / how the proposed model explained mathematics achievement in three school types (Anatolian, general and vocational high schools)?&rdquo / Some of the results of the analyses conducted in the study are the followings: In the main study, socioeconomic status had strong effect on mathematics achievement. In addition, while student-centered activities generally affected students&rsquo / mathematics achievement in a positive way but indirectly, teacher-centered activities had negative effects on affective variables. But for Anatolian and vocational high schools, this negative effect turned positive on mathematics achievement. In the main study, classroom climate had positive direct effects on self-efficacy and motivation toward mathematics as well as on mathematics achievement. Generally, affective variables had positive effects on mathematics achievement. But mathematics anxiety had no significant effect on it except general high school. The results of present study indicated that students&rsquo / perceptions of their parents and teachers&rsquo / attitudes and expectations toward them had positive indirect effects on mathematics achievement.

In order for America to retain its superior position in a global economy it is imperative that all students receive educational opportunities that will prepare them for the future. Currently, African-American economically disadvantaged students in the United States perform lower on standardized tests than their grade and age-level peers. Educators must find ways to improve the performance of students in this group in order to maximize future opportunities. Through a mixed-methodology approach, the current study finds three school factors that may positively impact the performance of African-American economically disadvantaged students: high expectations, student-teacher relationships and teacher effectiveness. Quantitative and qualitative analysis provides perspectives from principals primarily from a large urban school district on the impact of these factors on student performance.

The topic of this diploma thesis is based on European study: Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI). It is WHO Europe project. In the Czech Republic is this project lead by Institute of Endocrinology. The goal of this work is to determine childhood obesity prevalence and to monitor prevalence in relation to family and school environment. Obesity in children is an important health problem, accelerating throughout the world with particularly alarming trends in Europe. It causes a wide range of serious health and social consequences and increases the likelihood of morbidity in children and adults such as dyslipidaemia, hyperinsulimia, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, early atherosclerosis etc. Obesity is also strongly associated with orthopaedic problems and mental disorders, therefore, it is very important to monitor obesity prevalence in childhood. The goal of the work is to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 7-year children in the year 2010 (WHO classification and classification method of Czech republic). Another goal is to find a relation of the anthropometric data to environmental factors - identified by parents of children and representatives of schools (socioeconomic characteristics, eating habits, physical activities etc.). In this diploma thesis were measured 2594...

Of the nine South African provinces, Limpopo Province has produced the worst Grade 12 results in the ten years between 1996 and 2006. Yet Thohoyandou and Mutale districts in that province performed outstandingly well from 1994 to 2006. This study aimed to find out what influential factors made the difference within these two districts between high-performing and poorly performing schools, by comparing those that performed well with those that performed badly. Data were gathered by means of questionnaires completed by a total of 87 teachers, and structured interviews were conducted with principals. The sample of 24 schools was divided into two types, ‘high performing’ and ‘poorly performing’. By means of the questionnaires, a total of 114 variables were explored, encompassing a number of different factors, from which a total of 18 hypotheses were derived: three concerning teacher factors (qualifications, home language), 10 concerning school factors (locality, number of classrooms, assembly hall, library etc. and teacher-generated problems), one concerning parental involvement, two concerning teacher motivation and management (frequency and scheduling of staff meetings), and two concerning learner motivation and management (including performance with notes and summaries). The data from both groups of schools were compared in order to test the 18 hypotheses on the influence of different variables upon Grade 12 results, the null hypothesis being, of course, that there was no influence. Before this was done, pairs of variables were also compared and subjected to chi-square testing for each of the two groups of schools to see which of the factors might be related to one another in some way, thus impacting on interpretation of the results of the hypothesis testing. For each of the two groups of schools, results from the questionnaires were analyzed by means of: <ul> <li>Frequency analyses and descriptive statistics extracted from the tables of results where they were of possible interest. Variables such as the gender of teachers were, for example, included.</li> <li>Contingency tables with chi-square analysis testing the independence of the variables where possible relationships between the variables could emerge.</li> <li>Contingency tables with chi-square analysis where the connection was not significant and independence of the variables from each other could therefore be assumed.</li></ul> The chi-square analysis tested the difference between the variables at a 0.5% level of significance. Results of the various analyses were not particularly conclusive. Those with the most reliable levels of significance suggested that the most important variables were those relating to interpersonal relationships, specifically those involving different types of contact. Where staff meetings were scheduled and not particularly frequent, Grade 12 results were better. These results were also better where there was frequent contact between parents and teachers. The results of this study and in this sample area suggest that a school’s management style is more important to Grade 12 performance than the provision of funding and facilities. Further investigation is needed before these conclusions can be generalized to other districts and provinces. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted