Teachers professional management through teachers working group in Aceh Province

This study aims to describe the implementation of teachers management professional development through the Teachers Working Group. This study is a mixed research conducted in ten districts /cities spread in Aceh Province, involving 37 Elementary Schools. The subject in this study include core teacher, teachers, chairman of the KKKS (Principal Working Group), as well as education offices chosen by purposive sampling. Data were collected through interviews, observation and documentation. Qualitative data analysis carried out by the procedure or steps such as data reduction, data display, and verification. The results showed that: (1) Profile of KKG in general consists of the components: (a) the legal basis, the name, position, and the nature of the organization, (b) the vision, mission, and futuristic goals, (c) membership, management and organizational structure, (d) Basic budget, and (e) the facilities and infrastructure for KKG; (2) the implementation of KKG is done through the regular and development activities; (3) The obstacles encountered in the implementation of KKG include: (a) inadequate facilities and infrastructure are inadequate, (b) financing needs to be improved, (c) the motivation of teachers is still low, (d) the principal supports to include teachers in routine activities are lacking due priority school activities, and (e) the support of local government and education authorities on the development of KKG is still lack; while (4) KKG development management evaluation done with the steps: (a) the supervision and monitoring, evaluation, and feedback.

Systematic Review of Recess Interventions to Increase Physical Activity

Background:With the rapid increase in obesity rates among youth, efforts to increase physical activity (PA) have become a priority. School-based strategies for PA promotion must be cost-effective, unobtrusive, and linked to improved academic performance. Efforts to maximize recess PA are advocated because of both health and academic benefits. The purpose of this manuscript was to review recess interventions aimed to improve PA among youth, and make recommendations to develop related best practices.Methods:An extensive literature search was conducted to include all primary research articles evaluating any recess intervention with PA as an outcome.Results:The included 13 interventions represented both settings within the U.S and internationally, among preschools and elementary/primary schools. A variety of strategies were used within the design and implementation of each of the interventions including: added equipment/materials, markings, zones, teacher involvement, active video games, activity of the week, and activity cards. Of the included studies, 95% demonstrated positive outcomes as a result of the recess intervention.Conclusions:A number of simple, low-cost strategies can be implemented to maximize the amount of recess time students are allotted. Long-term follow-up studies are warranted for each of the recess strategies identified to be effective.

State Strategies to Improve Low-Performing Schools: California's High Priority Schools Grant Program

Background School accountability policies and high-stakes testing have created new demands on state policy makers to provide assistance to low-performing schools. California's response was the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP) and the High Priority School Grants Program (HPSGP). Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study explores the effects of the HPSGP on improving academic performance of the lowest performing schools in California. The study focuses on the organizational factors that influenced resource allocation decisions. The discussion addresses what might be done to ameliorate some of the key problems implicated in nonperforming schools. Participants Data for this study came from site visits to 15 schools that received HPSGP funding. Of the 15 schools we studied, 10 were high schools, and the remainder elementary schools. Eleven of the schools were urban, and four were rural. Program Description Schools in the bottom 10th percentile are eligible to apply for HPSGP funds. The State of California provided 655 schools with $400 per pupil each year for three years, with an optional fourth year. Participating schools also could apply for an optional planning grant of $50,000 in the initial year. Research Design Using qualitative case studies of 15 schools in California, the study compares HPSGP recipient schools that made significant academic improvement with HPSGP schools that remained stagnant. The site visits, which took place between February and May 2006, comprised structured interviews with principals, teachers, HPSGP and special program coordinators, and school site council members, as well as classroom observations and focus groups. During a two-day visit, at least five people at each school were interviewed. Conclusion This study found that organizational characteristics, such as leadership of principals, member participation in decision-making, and existence of coherent goals and plans, have a significant influence on the ability of schools to make effective use of grant funding and to achieve higher student performance. The study's main finding was that improving schools were deliberative and purposive in their use of program funds. Nonimproving schools, on the other hand, were opportunistic, lacking a plan or vision for using funding to build effective regimes of teaching and learning.

A Survey of the Needs of an Urban High School's Community

This project examined the needs of the community of a multicultural urban high school. A survey instrument was designed to find out what the school community thought of the school, and it was intended that the results be used to guide the school's future progress and enable it to increase its rate of student retention in Years 11 and 12. The questionnaire elicited responses to questions concerned with the things the school should do for the students, sought opinions on how the school should develop, and recorded information specific to teachers, parents and members of the local community, and present and past students. The return rates were generally good. The results of the survey are discussed under the headings of ‘Background Information from Respondents’ and ‘Areas of Community Concern’. An interesting background response was that 70% of present students stated that they wanted to complete Year 12, but only 21% of the past students said that they had stayed on until the end of this final year. The areas of community concern were divided into two categories. For the first, which comprised questions concerned with the responsibilities the school had towards its students, all school community groups recorded very strong support for what was described as basic literacy and numeracy, and for a practical application of the former. Also considered a high priority school task was sex and drug education. The questions in this category on which the school community groups differed generally showed the teachers to be less positive than the parents and students. A striking and important example of this was the teachers’ response to the matter of the school encouraging its students to remain after Year 10. Only 20% of them thought that this was an important or very important job of the school, compared with 66% of the rest of the school community. Consideration of these responses indicated that there was strong demand for the introduction of both a comprehensive literacy and numeracy program, and a sex and drug education program. The low level of teacher support for students staying at school after Year 10 was in sharp contradiction to the stated aims of the Participation and Equity Program, and it indicated a need to change this negative attitude if these aims were to be realized in this and similar schools. For the second category ‘How should your high school develop?’, all school community groups gave relatively strong support for more school-based career relevant courses. This indicated widespread community demand for the introduction of these courses, and their introduction might be expected to reduce the large gap between strong desire of students to complete Year 12 and the reality of a very low rate of retention.