Parental Involvement and High School Dropout: Perspectives from Students, Parents, and Mathematics Teachers

<p>Students drop out of schools for many reasons, and it has negative effects on the individual and society. This paper reports a study using data published in 2015 from the Educational Longitudinal Study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics to analyze the influence of parental involvement on low-achieving U.S. students’ graduation rates from high school. Findings indicate that both students and parents share the same perspective on the need for parental involvement in their academic progress. For low-achieving high school students, parental involvement in academic work is a positive factor influencing students’ graduation from high school.</p>

Mass Shootings and Their Proximity to a Public or Private School: Protecting the Health and Livelihood of Our Children

Introduction Firearm-related violence occupies the third leading age-adjusted mortality rate among all mechanisms of injury. We aim to analyze the distribution of mass shootings in relation to the distance to the nearest public/private school in the United States. Methods A retrospective study investigating mass shootings and proximity to school areas. Information regarding mass shootings was obtained from the Gun Violence Archive. The locations of public/private schools for the 2019-2020 school year were obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Euclidian distance from a mass shooting to the nearest school was measured. Results There were 417 mass shootings in 2019 and 610 in 2020. The average distance from a mass shooting to the nearest public/private school was 0.52 miles in 2019 and 0.57 miles in 2020. Most mass shootings occurred within 0.30 miles of a school in 2019 and 0.40 miles in 2020. There was no significant association between average distance of a mass shooting to a public/private school and the population density in 2019 ( P = .313) or 2020 ( P = .351). Conclusion The growing number of mass shootings from 2019-2020 was associated with an average distance of <0.60 miles from the location of a mass shooting to a public or private school, highlighting the danger posed to children living and learning in these areas. Mass shootings are prevalent throughout the country and the close proximity of these events to places of learning warrants further investigation into policies and preventive measures aimed at preventing gun violence occurring near schools.

Teaching Russian in a closely-related Slovak environment

The article discusses features of studying Russian as a foreign language in schools in Slovakia. The relevance of the research is determined by the fact that the new socio-political conditions in which Russian is studied as a second foreign language competing with other languages have brought about changes in the status, goals, motives for study, content, approaches to selecting, grouping and presenting material, the methodological concept of teaching. The aim of the work is to identify the features of teaching Russian as a second foreign language in a closely related Slovak language environment. The authors drew on the method of comparison and collation, the method of application (overlaying fragments of language systems), method of component analysis, method of word-formation analysis, methods of analysis of official statistical, sociolinguistic data. In the course of the study, the data of the State Institute for Education Statistics and Forecasts of the Slovak Republic, the peculiarities of Slovak students motivation for learning the Russian language were analyzed, a comparative analysis of the main lexical and grammatical phenomena of the Russian and Slovak languages was carried out. The research resulted in identifying the specifics of Russian as a Slavic language in the status of a second foreign language, the extent of its demand in school practice in Slovakia, reviewing the motives for studying it, and, on the basis of this, developing requirements for selecting, grouping, and studying lexical and grammatical material. The authors see the prospects for teaching the Russian language in Slovakia in combining the system-structural and linguoculturological approaches.

USE OF SHARING KNOWLEDGE ACTIVELY LEARNING MODEL WITH GUIDED DISCOVERY METHOD AT TUTORIAL STATISTICS IN GROUP STUDY AT UNIVERSITAS TERBUKA IN BANJARBARU

The aim of this action research is increasing the activity and learning through the application of sharing knowledge actively learning model with guided discovery method on statistics courses tutorial at open university (UT) study group in Banjarbaru. The subject of this study were Students of UT at, Pendas S-1 class A of PGSD, who took an educational statistics courses (PEMA - 4210) semesters VII, 2011.1 registered.Action research activities divided students into small groups, and each time of the meeting, the tutor provides the Group Worksheet (LKK), which contains materials summary to be studied by each group. Tutor only facilitated groups who had barriers, with reminded to reread LKK, the tutor was not allowed to give a direct answer.During the research activities carried out by using LKK, it could be concluded that students really learned in groups, and they also helped each other between a group with other groups to discuss the material that was less mastered by them.The results showed the use of sharing knowledge actively learning model with guided discovery method, capable to provide assistance students in learning statistical material, and outcomes indicated that PGSD Pendas S-1 class A, who took education statistics (Pema 4210) semesters VII, period 2011.1 were graduated 100 percent. (*)

Relationships Among Band Festival Ratings, Director Gender, and Other Selected Factors

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among high school band festival ratings and director gender as well as school locale, school size, student socioeconomic status (SES), student race, repertoire difficulty, and ensemble name. Data included overall ratings of bands ( N = 257) that performed at District Concert Assessments held across the state of Virginia during 2019 as well as demographic information from the National Center for Education Statistics. Statistical analysis of a subset of these performances ( n = 151) revealed a statistically significant association between ratings and director gender, with male-directed ensembles more likely to receive a “I” rating than female-directed ensembles. However, hierarchical logistic regression revealed that repertoire difficulty and ensemble name were the best predictors of whether an ensemble would receive a “I” rating. Implications include the need to examine why female band directors may choose less difficult repertoire than male directors and to explore strategies for making the secondary band teaching profession more equitable and inclusive.

Accessibility Is in the Eye of the Beholder

According to the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics, 19% of undergraduates report having a disability. Many of these students access our libraries in person or online. While theological and academic librarians recognize the need to accommodate people with disabilities, librarians without disabilities might not be aware of ways in which their library places obstacles in the way of those with disabilities, such as computers that cannot have the font color or size changed or steps but no ramps for wheelchairs. This essay describes issues for patrons with disabilities in accessing library services and resources. There are several ways to improve the accessibility of libraries. This essay highlights challenges for those with visual, auditory, and mobility disabilities and describes ways to address these challenges and thus give those with disabilities a more equitable, inclusive library experience.

Improving school performance and student academic orientation: the role of safety-oriented knowledge management and diversity

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of the implementation of safety-oriented knowledge management (KM) processes and student diversity acceptance in schools and the interaction effect of safety-oriented KM processes and student diversity acceptance over school performance and student academic orientation. Design/methodology/approach Responses of 977 American schools available in the database of the National Center for Education Statistics were analyzed using hierarchical regression analyses. Findings Results show that implementation of safety-oriented KM processes and diversity acceptance in schools have varying effects on school performance and student academic orientation. The impact of knowledge acquisition from parents on the academic achievement of students is positive and stronger in schools that are low in student diversity acceptance than schools that are high in student diversity acceptance. Originality/value This study adds value to the KM literature by exploring how KM processes are executed in American schools to improve their performance and students’ academic orientation and how diversity among students alters the strength of the relationships.

The Demographic Transformation of the Teaching Force in the United States

This article summarizes the results of an exploratory research project that investigated what demographic trends and changes have, or have not, occurred in the elementary and secondary teaching force in the U.S. over the past three decades, from 1987 to 2018. Our main data source was the Schools and Staffing Survey and its successor, the National Teacher Principal Survey, collectively the largest and most comprehensive source of data on teachers available in the U.S. These surveys are conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Education. The results show that the teaching force has been, and is, greatly changing; yet, even the most dramatic trends appear to have been little noticed or understood by researchers, policy makers, and the public. This article summarizes seven of the most prominent trends and changes that we found. The U.S. teaching force is: larger; older; less experienced; more female; more diverse, by race/ethnicity; consistent in academic ability; unstable. For each of the trends, we explore two broad questions: 1. What are the reasons for and sources of the trend? 2. What are the implications and consequences of the trend?

Grade Retention and School Dropout: Comparing Specific Grade Levels Across Childhood and Early Adolescence

Students who repeat a grade are at a higher risk of dropping out of high school. Previous research has examined this in a methodologically aggregated way (e.g., repeated any grade versus never repeated) or only specific grades/grade ranges (e.g., Kindergarten or elementary) leaving questions about which grades are more detrimental to repeat with respect to school dropout. This study uses data from the National Center for Education Statistics ( N = 9,309) to comparatively examine which grades, when repeated, show the strongest associations with dropping out. Overall, those who repeated sixth or seventh had the highest odds of dropping out of high school with unique patterns by gender and race/ethnicity. These grades are typically when youth transition into middle school. When examined through a developmental lens, these results highlight the important impact that grade retention while youth experience other normative physical, cognitive, and social changes.