Critical Connections: High-Ability Students Perceptions of Factors that Influence NZQA Scholarship - a Mixed Method Study

<p>This mixed methods study involved 332 high school students and investigated those factors that students perceived as having facilitated their success in New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) Scholarship. A key finding from this study suggests that New Zealand Scholarship students form a connection with at least one teacher and consider this relationship to be a catalyst in their success. Family, peers and friends play a lesser but still important role in the student's success, providing support for the student. These successful students reported reduced time spent in extracurricular activities in order to prepare for subjects in which they believed they would be successful. Students related experiences where teachers, schools and some learning communities were not supportive of their aspirations for high academic achievement, and described the impact of this on their quest for Scholarship success. This research has identified a number of aspects relating to high academic achievement and New Zealand secondary education that require further investigation. These include an investigation into those practices of teachers who work with high-ability students to yield greater understanding of the beliefs that teachers hold about teaching high-ability students and the ways in which these beliefs affect student outcomes.</p>

Critical Connections: High-Ability Students Perceptions of Factors that Influence NZQA Scholarship - a Mixed Method Study

<p>This mixed methods study involved 332 high school students and investigated those factors that students perceived as having facilitated their success in New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) Scholarship. A key finding from this study suggests that New Zealand Scholarship students form a connection with at least one teacher and consider this relationship to be a catalyst in their success. Family, peers and friends play a lesser but still important role in the student's success, providing support for the student. These successful students reported reduced time spent in extracurricular activities in order to prepare for subjects in which they believed they would be successful. Students related experiences where teachers, schools and some learning communities were not supportive of their aspirations for high academic achievement, and described the impact of this on their quest for Scholarship success. This research has identified a number of aspects relating to high academic achievement and New Zealand secondary education that require further investigation. These include an investigation into those practices of teachers who work with high-ability students to yield greater understanding of the beliefs that teachers hold about teaching high-ability students and the ways in which these beliefs affect student outcomes.</p>

Links between nutrition, life style habits and academic acheivment in Palestinian schoolchildren: A cross-sectional study

Objective: To examine the association between nutrition, physical activity, lifestyle, the combined behavior e"ect, and the schoolchildren's academic achievement. Design: Observational and cross-sectional study. Setting: West Bank, Palestine. Participants: A group of schoolchildren (n=1945) in grades 5-9 (11-16 years). Measurements: Students were surveyed about the their ’dietary, physical activity (PA), leisure time activity, and academic achievement. Academic achievement was measured using students' marks in Arabic, English, math, science courses, and the total average score. The linear regression model was conducted to analyze the relationship between dietary, PA, combined behavior, and academic achievement, while adjusted for demographic confounders; body mass index (BMI), and parental education. Results: Findings indicated that healthy nutrition and adequate levels of PA significantly predict achievement scores. In both boys and girls, high academic achievement was associated with a high intake of fruits and vegetables (AOR: 1.1 (0.72-1.68); 1.18(0.81-1.7), and (AOR: 1.21(0.8-1.82); 1.33(0.93-1.91), respectively. In both girls and boys, high academic achievement was associated with low intake of soft drink, beverages (juice with sugar) and energy drink (AOR: (0.75(0.47-1.19), 0.85(0.58-1.27)); (0.99(0.63-1.57), 0.76(0.52-1.12)); (0.66(0.38-1.15), 0.49(0.27-0.89)), respectively. The active and healthy nutrition group scored higher on Arabic, English, math, science, and total average score. Conclusions: There is a strong relationship between healthy nutrition, acceptable PA, and the average academic achievement within schoolchildren. Findings emphasize the importance of linking nutrition, school PA, and health policies for improving cognitive functions and academic performance of Palestinian schoolchildren. Thus, school-based healthy lifestyle educational, health behaviors policy, and recommendation programs may have a greater e"ect on students’ academic achievement.

Relationships in a Family with High Academic Achievement Students

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: School achievements are an important dimension of human life and are conditioned by internal and external factors, to which family belongs. The purpose of this investigation was to answer the question how of high academic achievement students perceive their relationships in the family. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The Family Questionnaire was used in the version “My Family, My Father and My Mother,” developed by Plopa and Połomski. The subjects were 16 year-old students (n = 155), who achieved high scores in the lower secondary school test, and a comparative group with the average score (n = 161). THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The students assessed relationships in their families in terms of the following dimensions: communication, cohesion, identity and autonomy-control. RESEARCH RESULTS: It was found that for students with high school performance, cohesion in relation to father is more important than for the comparative group. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: In addition, it was found that there are differences in the perception of family relationships on the basis of the gender of the studied students. Boys assessed cohesion and communication with their father on a higher level than girls. An interesting result of the study is a higher assessment of family identity in the perceptions of boys than girls.

Una Búsqueda de la Equidad y la Justicia: District Leaders Attempt to Expand Dual Language Bilingual Education for Equity

This case examines one district’s attempts to enhance and rework its approach to dual language bilingual education (DLBE). Upon her hire at “Triton Public Schools,” the new coordinator for language services noticed that Spanish-speaking students designated as English Learners (ELs) had inequitable access to the district’s only DLBE school, and that other programs designed for them did not result in as high academic achievement as DLBE. Conversations by district leadership to make significant changes in their approach to DLBE resulted in public outcry and confusion from educators, as well as Spanish- and English-speaking parents. Our discussion centers on how to employ courageous and social justice–minded leadership to enhance equity, access, and high academic achievement for marginalized student populations in bilingual education.

Methodology based on collaborative problem solving implemented in a high academic achievement group

The High Academic Achievement (ARA, by its acronym in Spanish) group began its course in the 2011/12 academic year to reinforce the potential of the most outstanding students since the beginning of their university studies. In order to improve the employability of this students, at least 50% of basic or compulsory credits of the degree are taught in English. In addition, a series of language training aids are provided, which also has advantages in obtaining Erasmus scholarships. The ARA group only offers 25 places each academic course. Being a small group, personalized teaching is enhanced while the schedule is compacted. In this contribution the methodology used in the subject of Signals and Systems of the Degree in Sound and Image in Telecommunication Engineering of the Alicante University (Spain) is presented. The methodology emphasizes the practical application of the subject and its direct applicability in real systems.

Effectiveness of a Rational Behavioral Emotive Program in Reducing Test Anxiety among University Students with High Academic Achievement

The present study aims to identify the effectiveness of a rational behavioral emotive program in reducing test anxiety among university students with high academic achievement in Riyadh. The author adopted the quasi-experimental approach. The sample comprised (26) students with high academic achievement who were encountering test anxiety at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) in Riyadh. The participants were divided into two groups: An experimental group of (13) students and a control group of (13) students. The author also used the test anxiety scale (Spielberger, 1972) and designed the rational behavioral emotive program using new electronic applications. The results showed statistically significant differences between the average scores of the experimental group students in the pre and posttests in favor of the post-test. There were statistically significant differences between the average scores of the two groups in the post-test of the scale in favor of the experimental group. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences between the average scores of the experimental group in the post and successive tests of the scale.

Academic Achievement of college students based on Co-curricular Activities

The purpose of this study is to find out the relationship between Co-curricular activities and Academic Achievement. Co-curricular activities also helpful for the benefit of country. There are many benefits of co-curricular activities for students it includes, self-confidence, better communication skills, improves physical and mental abilities. Qunantative method of survey is used for this research Data is collected from almost 400 students of different colleges from both genders. With the help of analysis there are positive relationship between Co-curricular activities and Academic Achievement. From results of this research the government and education institutes have to play a very strong part. Government should provide proper resources, finance and a plate-form on which students can show their abilities. Educational institutes also focus on co-curricular activities rather than to get just high score and motivate them. Students will concentrate on co-curricular activities according to the quickest shift in technology to high academic achievement

Mentoring Style, Self-Description, and Academic Achievement in English Class

The intention of the study was to examine student mentoring, self-description, and academic achievement in a selected private university in Jakarta, Indonesia. There were 150 respondents in the study. The 2 instruments used for collecting data were adopted from Cohen (1995) for identifying the mentoring style of the mentors of the students, and from Marsh (1999) for identifying self-description of the students. The analysis of data employed descriptive statistics (independent t-test) as well as Chisquare, One-way ANOVA, and Two-way ANOVA. The research inquiries focused on the following issues: (1) identifying the mentoring style, self-description, and academic achievement of the students; (2) the relationship of mentoring style, self-description, academic achievement, and demographic profiles; and (3) the interactive effects—individual and joint—of mentoring style, self-description, and student academic achievement. The findings of the study showed that 2 mentoring styles were predominant among their mentors: relationship emphasis and mentor model; students perceived themselves with a self-description focused on spiritual values; and students had high academic performance. Both male and female students perceived similar mentoring styles among their mentors, while, 1st year and 2nd year students perceived mentoring style to be different among their mentors. In self-description, differences were found between genders while there was no difference found between 1st and 2nd year students. There was no difference found between gender and year of study in the academic achievement, the students showed high performance. Mentoring style and self-description did not have a significant individual or joint difference on academic achievement. Since the students, as a whole had high academic achievement, this study seemed to suggest that the different mentoring style did not have a difference on their academic achievement. However, that did not mean that mentoring did not work. On the contrary, it seemed that mentoring, regardless of style—based on the high academic achievement scores—did work. However, there was also the possibility that high achieving students might not need mentoring for improving their academic achievement.