This study investigated the relationships between early adolescent substance use and perceptions of school climate and attitudes towards school using self-report data from a sample of 443 middle school students. The present study examined school climate and attitudes towards school comprehensively in order to identify important relationships between these classes of variables and multiple types of substance use in early adolescents. The results of the study include that the model of school climate consisting of six factors (fairness, order and discipline, parental involvement, sharing or resources, student interpersonal relations, and student-teacher relations) accurately predicted 11% of the variance in middle school students' alcohol use. Additionally, the study found the model of attitudes towards school consisting of four factors (school satisfaction, academic self-efficacy, school belonging, and goal valuation) accurately predicted 13% of the variance in students' alcohol use and 4% of the variance in students' use of illicit drugs. Substance use was most highly associated with student-teacher relations, academic self-efficacy, and attachment to school. Implications for practice are discussed.

Lövgren, Marlene (2021). Det där relationella är ju så viktigt. Specialpedagogprogrammet, Institutionen för skolutveckling och ledarskap, Lärande och samhälle, Malmö universitet, 90 hp. Syfte och frågeställningar  I detta arbete är avsikten att belysa hur lärare uppfattar och uttrycker relationskompetens i yrkesrollen och hur detta uppfattas av elever. Arbete fokuserar på vilka relationella aspekter som hjälper elever och frågeställningarna är. • Hur upplever lärare detta?• Vad anser eleverna? Teori  Arbetet utgår från begreppet relationell pedagogik och de teorier om människan som subjekt som dessa bygger på. Metod  Studien är inspirerad av grundad teori och två olika undersökningsmetoder har använts. Enkäter till både elever och lärare samt efterföljande intervjuer. I arbetet pågick analys och inhämtande av data samtidigt eftersom intervjuerna grundade sig på enkätsvaren. Resultat  Resultatet tyder på att skolan behöver arbeta vidare med fördjupad förståelse av det komplexa begreppet relationskompetens. Lärarna behöver fördjupad kunskap både när det gäller hur yrkesprofessionell relationskompetens utvecklas och hur det praktiska relationella arbetet med elever kan utvecklas. Lärarna behöver även fördjupad kunskap om varför det relationella mötet är viktigt för ett framgångsrikt lärande Specialpedagogiska implikationer  Inom specialpedagogiken har de relationella aspekternas vikt för lärandeprocessen varit välkända länge. Därför är det lämpligt att använda sig av skolans specialpedagog i den kompetensutveckling som lärarna är i behov av.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the factors affecting mathematical literacy of 15-year-old students in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) across different cultural settings. The present study was conducted across three countries. These countries are Brazil, Japan and Norway. The countries were selected on the basis of their rankings in PISA 2000 study. Japan represented a high performing country with an average score of 557, Norway represented an average performing country with an average score of 499, and Brazil represented a low performing country with an average score of 334. The study explored how mathematical literacy is stimulated by predictors related to the students, the families and the school. A separate factor analysis was carried out for each questionnaire such as student questionnaire and cross curricular competencies questionnaire within the data of each country. Since the results of factor analyses of three countries were parallel, the observed variables representing the latent variables were selected from the student questionnaire and cross curricular competencies questionnaire administered in PISA 2000 in order to be used in the structural equation modeling. The included factors affecting mathematical literacy in PISA 2000 are attitudes towards reading, student-teacher relations, climate, communication with parents, usage of technology and facilities, attitudes towards mathematics and reading literacy. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling across three different cultures with different performance levels in PISA 2000. The findings of the study show that the latent independent variable having the strongest effect on mathematical literacy is the usage of technology and facilities in Brazil, communication with parents in Japan and attitudes towards reading in Norway. Moreover, the results were as follows: (1) Reading literacy significantly and positively influences mathematical literacy in all three countries. (2) There is a reciprocal relationship between the attitudes towards mathematics and mathematical literacy. In Brazil, the influence of attitudes towards mathematics on mathematical literacy is higher. However, the influence of mathematical literacy on attitudes towards mathematics is higher in Norway. (3) The attitudes towards reading have a negative direct effect and a positive indirect effect on mathematical literacy. (4) The student-teacher relations have a positive effect on mathematical literacy in Japan and Norway. But, in Brazil, this effect is negative. (5) The student-related factors affecting school climate are significantly and positively related to mathematical literacy in Brazil. On the other hand, the effect of climate on mathematical literacy is negative in Japan and non-significant in Norway. (6) Communication with parents significantly and positively influences the mathematical literacy in all three countries. (7) The usage of technology and facilities significantly and positively affects mathematical literacy in Brazil. However, this effect is negative in Japan and non-significant in Norway.