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Increased attention is being placed on improving psychological well-being and academic achievement in school students. Prior research on meditation provides support for student improvement in these important educational areas. As part of a 9th grade Quiet Time school program, 98 students were randomly assigned either to learn the Transcendent Meditation (TM) program or to engage in sustained silent reading twice daily during school time at a West Coast public high school. Students were measured on overall emotional stress symptoms (p=.030), anger (p=.027), and fatigue (p=.083), and improvements in quality of sleep (p=.013) and English Language Arts (ELA) academic achievement (p=.079). Both groups were baseline tested prior to intervention in the fall semester and posttested at the end of the spring semester. Results for the meditation group compared to silent reading controls indicated significant reductions in overall emotional stress symptoms, anger, and fatigue, and improvements in quality of sleep and English Language Arts (ELA) academic achievement. Taking into account students below ELA proficiency at baseline, 69% of the meditation students improved at least one performance level at posttest compared to 33% of the control students (p=.033). These findings indicate the value of implementing a school-based TM program to improve well-being and academic performance in high school students. Future larger-scale research is encouraged. Keywords: meditation, academic performance, absenteeism, stress, Transcendental Meditation, Student emotional wellbeing is a concern both in the U.S. and worldwide (Verger et al. 2009; Dyrbye, Thomas, & Shanafelt 2006; Blanco et al. 2008). Psychological distress factors are associated [...]

This paper presents a method to develop students' knowledge about energy resources and energy production through scientific argumentation in a panel debate. The method was used with fifteen different 11th grade classes in a high school in Romania. In the last five years, research was conducted on the change in attitudes of students towards different types of energy resources and how they accepted environmental hazards resulting from energy production. Throughout these years, several misconceptions were observed regarding the origin of energy resources, the energy production processes, and their effects on the environment. To have a sound understanding of these misconceptions, a study was conducted with the help of a 21-item multiple-choice energy resources knowledge assessment. The test was completed by 720 high school students (9th to 11th grade) from nine different schools in Transylvania, Romania. Data analysis shows that misunderstandings regarding energy resources and energy production were similar to those in US schools and presented in other research papers. To help create a society well-prepared to make decisions about energy production constraints, it is essential that we add a chapter to the Physics curriculum. In this paper, we present our arguments for introducing energy production as a new topic in the Physics curriculum. Our results show the energy panel debate is a very effective method for teaching this topic. Key words: energy resources, energy production, energy assessment, scientific argumentation, teaching physics in high school. Nous presentons une methode utilisant des discussions en table ronde, qui vise l'amelioration des connaissances en ressources et productions energetiques chez les etudiants. La methode a ete utilisee avec quinze classes d'etudiants de 11e annee dans des ecoles secondaires de Roumanie. Pendant cinq ans, la recherche s'est faite sur le changement d'attitude des etudiants face a differents types de ressources energetiques et comment ils acceptent les impacts environnementaux resultant de la production energetique. Pendant ces annees, nous avons note plusieurs idees fausses concernant l'origine des ressources energetiques et les processus de production d'energie, avec leurs effets sur l'environnement. Afin d'avoir une solide comprehension de ces idees fausses, nous avons fait une etude a l'aide d'un test de 21 questions a choix multiples sur les ressources energetiques. Le test a ete complete par 720 etudiants du secondaire (9e a 11e annee) de neuf ecoles differentes en Transylvanie, Roumanie. L'analyse des donnees indique que les idees fausses touchant la ressource et la production energetique sont similaires aux idees fausses identifiees dans d'autres publications de recherches faites aux U.S.A. Pour aider a creer une societe bien preparee a prendre les decisions concernant les contraintes touchant la production energetique, il est essentiel d'ajouter un chapitre au cursus de physique au secondaire. Nous presentons ici nos arguments pour l'introduction de la production energetique comme nouveau chapitre a ajouter au cursus de physique. Nos resultats montrent que le format de la table ronde est un moyen tres efficace pour l'enseignement de ce sujet. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : ressources energetiques, production d'energie, evaluation energetique, argumentation scientifique, enseignement de la physique au secondaire., 1. Introduction This paper will outline the importance of learning scientific argumentation in school. There are many areas of science-based policy in which the public's input is vital. Many of [...]

Nonacademic skills related to college and career readiness (CCR) have become more prevalent in the literature as proposed conceptual models and frameworks, yet little empirical research exists in their support. We employed latent variable modeling to empirically test a previously proposed six-domain framework of CCR for adolescents with and without disabilities. Results support four specific factors of CCR: Academic Engagement, Critical Learning Processes, Mind-Set, and Transition Knowledge. Using a bifactor model, we confirmed one general factor (CCR) and one specific factor (Transition Knowledge), established measurement invariance on the basis of disability, and found latent mean differences between these groups; students without disabilities had greater overall CCR and transition knowledge. Findings support the use of a CCR measurement model with two potential factor scores in future research and practice and may inform efforts to measure CCR nonacademic skills., Adolescents with and without disabilities must be college and career ready to be prepared to engage in adult life, and recent policy efforts confirm this prioritization (Mishkind, 2014). Even so, [...]

Introduction: A major goal of the Faculty of Medicine at the Memorial University of Newfoundland is to produce physicians who will return to rural areas that are currently underserviced. Research shows that the strongest indicator of practice in a rural area is a rural background, and thus it is important that rural students apply to medical school. We investigated what high school students believe to be preventing them from pursuing medical education. Methods: Between September 2013 and June 2014, we administered a paper survey to high school students in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Results: A total of 665 participants completed the survey. We found that fewer rural students (75.6%) than urban students (98.6%) believed that they could gain admission to medical school (p < 0.01) and that medicine was promoted as a career choice in fewer rural schools (55.7%) than urban schools (69.7%). Also, 55.4% of urban students, but only 44.4% of rural students, believed that rural students were disadvantaged when applying to medical school. Conclusion: In our study, rural students believed they were less likely to be accepted into medical school than urban students, and fewer rural students felt that medicine was promoted as a potential career choice. Our results may be explained by a lack of role models or perhaps by financial barriers, although further research is needed. Introduction : Un des grands objectifs de la Faculte de medecine de l'Universite Memorial de Terre-Neuve est de former des medecins qui retourneront exercer dans les zones rurales qui sont actuellement mal desservies. Des etudes ont demontre que le facteur le plus fortement associe au choix de la pratique en milieu rural est le fait d'y avoir habite; il est donc important que des jeunes ruraux entrent en faculte de medecine. Nous avons demande a des eleves de niveau secondaire ce qui pourrait les empecher de poursuivre des etudes en medecine. Methodes : Entre septembre 2013 et juin 2014, nous avons invite des eleves de TerreNeuve-et-Labrador, du Nouveau-Brunswick et de l'Ile-du-Prince-Edouard a repondre a un sondage papier. Resultats : Le sondage a ete realise aupres de 665 repondants. Les eleves en milieu rural (75,6%) sont moins nombreux que les eleves en milieu urbain (98,6%) a croire en leurs chances d'etre admis en medecine (p < 0,01). De plus, la promotion de la profession medicale a l'ecole serait moins repandue en milieu rural (55,7%) qu'en milieu urbain (69,7%). Finalement, 55,4% des eleves en milieu urbain et seulement 44,4% des eleves en milieu rural croient que le milieu represente un frein a l'admission en medecine. Conclusion : En resume, les eleves du milieu rural croient que les citadins sont plus susceptibles d'etre admis en medecine, et ils sont moins nombreux a dire que leur ecole les a encourages a faire carriere dans ce domaine. Nos resultats pourraient s'expliquer par un manque de modeles ou des contraintes financieres; il faudra approfondir la recherche a ce sujet., INTRODUCTION In Newfoundland and Labrador, a very sparsely populated province, there is an increasing demand for physicians of all specialties to return to rural areas and provide medical care. With [...]

In this article, we evaluate the impact of social origin on the realisation of educational intentions at the time of becoming eligible for higher education in Germany. In general, we find high persistence of intentions and actual attendance of higher education. However, effects of parental education on the changes of educational intentions increase the existing social inequality with regard to higher education at the time of leaving secondary school. The group which is affected most are those young adults planning to study after vocational training--while the gap between different origin groups does not widen much during other stop-outs from education. This can be explained only partly by previous educational performance. The findings suggest that estimates of educational inequality are attenuated when entry into higher education is approximated by educational intentions of young adults. Keywords Educational inequality * Social origin * Educational expectations and intentions Educational careers, Introduction Numerous studies have reported that the educational decisions of young adults depend on their social origin which leads to differences in educational careers and achievement. For Germany, this finding [...]

There are many assumptions made by teacher-librarians, teachers, and school management about information literacy and transfer in high schools. For instance, school staff may assume information literacy is developed across [...]

Teachers are finding that a number of students do not complete homework assignments for various reasons, and have long experienced the frustration of students who do not or will not complete their homework assignments. The purpose of this action research project was to research ninth grade freshmen student attitudes about homework at a single large urban public high school. Data from surveys was compiled and aggregate frequency counts of students' responses for each of the survey items were tabulated. According to the data obtained from the 136 freshmen respondents, only 39% reported completed their homework frequently. Sixty-nine percent of the students surveyed indicated that they think homework is meaningful and that it reinforces concepts learned in class, while 64% of the students disagreed with the statement that homework served little or no purpose. Based on the results from this study, educators may need to help students to see and know that their homework assignments are meaningful and that it is not just 'busy work'. Students need to realize that homework can help them succeed academically and intellectually., Introduction and Background Information Teachers are finding that a number of students do not complete homework assignments for various reasons, and have long experienced the frustration of students who do [...]

This paper uses a life course approach to investigate the association between family structure histories and high school completion. Using data from a population-based data registry for the 1984 Manitoba birth cohort, we selected a sample of children born or adopted at birth into a married two-parent household (n = 9,403) and derived family structure histories for each child to the age of 18. Marital disruption occurred for 1,834 children (19.5%), with 337 children (3.6% of the total sample) experiencing multiple changes in family structure. Logistic regression models showed that children who experienced marital dissolution before the age of 18 were significantly less likely to complete high school than children in intact households, and that children who were younger at the time of a first transition were more vulnerable than children who were older when their parents' marriage ended. Further work is needed to elucidate the pathways that link family structure histories to child outcomes. Key Words: divorce, high school graduation, marital instability Le but de cette communication consistait a utiliser une approche tiree de la vie pour examiner la relation entre les antecedents en termes de structure familiale et l'obtention du diplome d'etudes secondaires. En utilisant les donnees d'un registre base sur la population de la cohorte de naissance de 1984 du Manitoba, nous avons pris un echantillon d'enfants nes, ou adoptes a la naissance, dans un menage de deux parents maries (n = 9,403) et les antecedents en termes de structure familiale pour chaque enfant jusqu'a l'age de 18 ans. Des perturbations matrimoniales se sont produites dans le cas de 1 834 enfants (19,5%), et 337 enfants (3,6 % de l'echantillon total) ont vecu des changements multiples dans la structure familiale. Les modeles de regression logistiques indiquent que les enfants qui vivent une perturbation matrimoniale avant l'age de 18 ans etaient considerablement moins enclins a terminer leurs etudes secondaires que les enfants de menages intacts. Les enfants qui etaient plus jeunes au moment de la premiere transition etaient plus vulnerables que les enfants qui etaient plus ages lors de la fin du mariage de leurs parents. D'autres recherches sont necessaires pour elucider les voies reliant les antecedents de structure familiale aux resultats des enfants. Mots clefs: le divorce; remise des diplomes d'ecole secondaire; instabilite maritale, Families represent one of the most important mechanisms for the transmission of human and social capital with implications for intergenerational mobility and a successful transition to adulthood (Biblarz and Raftery [...]

The current research extended to memories of others the life script theory of abstract, idealized mental representations of transitional experiences. Recent and earlier high school graduates rated positive and negative characteristics of popular, average, and unpopular girls from their schools. 'Average' girls were rated as higher than average on possessing positive characteristics. Recent but not earlier graduates distinguished between popularity conditions on negative characteristics (negative information is not included in life scripts). For positive characteristics, earlier graduates remembered unpopular girls less favorably (perhaps using stereotypical scripts) than recent graduates remembered them (having greater access to episodic memories of individual girls). A smaller graduation time difference in the same direction resulted for average and popular girls.

We examined the technical adequacy of writing progress measures as indicators of success on state standards tests. Tenth-grade students wrote for 10 min, marking their samples at 3, 5, and 7 min. Samples were scored for words written, words spelled correctly, and correct and correct minus incorrect word sequences. The number of correct minus incorrect word sequences written in 7 and 10 min yielded the highest reliability and validity coefficients. Tables of Probable Success were created to illustrate the relation between scores on the progress measures and the state tests. Exploratory analyses of differences in correlations between English Language Learners (ELL) and non-ELL students revealed a similar pattern of results for the 2 groups, but correlations were stronger for ELL students than for non-ELL students., In this study, we examine the validity and reliability of curriculum-based measures (CBMs) as indicators of performance on a state standards test in writing. More than 41 states require students [...]

Students identified by talent search programs were studied to determine whether spatial ability could uncover math-science promise. In Phase 1, interests and values of intellectually talented adolescents (617 boys, 443 girls) were compared with those of top math-science graduate students (368 men, 346 women) as a function of their standing on spatial visualization to assess their potential fit with math-science careers. In Phase 2, 5-year longitudinal analyses revealed that spatial ability coalesces with a constellation of personal preferences indicative of fit for pursuing scientific careers and adds incremental validity beyond preferences in predicting math-science criteria. In Phase 3, data from participants with Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores were analyzed longitudinally, and a salient math-science constellation again emerged (with which spatial ability and SAT-Math were consistently positively correlated and SAT-Verbal was negatively correlated). Results across the 3 phases triangulate to suggest that adding spatial ability to talent search identification procedures (currently restricted to mathematical and verbal ability) could uncover a neglected pool of math-science talent and holds promise for refining our understanding of intellectually talented youth. Keywords: spatial ability, human capital, talent searches, math-science pipeline, individual differences

Drawing on a national probability sample of high school seniors (n = 2,560), this research explores relationships between exposure to four types of mass communication--magazines, movies, newspapers, and television--and attitudes toward anabolic steroids, operationalized along three dependent measures. Logistic regression analyses revealed statistically significant relationships among (a) magazine exposure and estimates of drug use in professional sports, (b) newspaper and television exposure and disapproval of steroid use, (c) newspaper exposure and estimates of self-inflicted harm caused by steroid use, and (d) exposure to anti-drug spots and each of the three dependent variables. Theoretical and methodological implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Abstract Is a master's thesis an appropriate venue for service learning? Are all students equally equipped, given proper training, to manage the increased pressures of working on efforts for the [...]

Stress caused by chronic difficulties encountered by people residing in poor urban neighborhoods is associated with health problems and disease in developed countries, but the relationship between neighborhood stress and health in developing nations, such as India, has not been assessed. In this study, the authors administered the City Stress Inventory, a self-report measure assessing stress experienced as a function of environmental conditions unique to living in large cities that was validated in the United States, to 163 high school students in New Delhi, India. Components of urban stress in India, with some modifications, appear to be similar to components of urban stress reported by adolescents in the United States. Urban stress was predictive of high blood pressure as reported by the adolescents 'parents. In addition, urban stress also predicted health habits, such as chewing tobacco and alcohol use, and psychosocial characteristics, such as hostility. Adolescents' reports of parental stress concerning money and social pressures were also associated with city stress. The current study indicates that the City Stress Inventory is valid in an Indian sample and is predictive of health problems. Index Terms: adolescents, health, hostility, India, neighborhood stress, socioeconomic status, Globalization has led to rapid industrialization and urbanization in developing countries, such as India, and an increase in lifestyle-related disorders, such as coronary heart disease (CHD), essential hypertension (EH), stroke, [...]

This study examined adolescents' ideas about girls' and boys' use and experience of physical and psychological abuse in heterosexual dating relationships. Canadian high school students who were enrolled in Grades 9 and 11 took part in single-gender focus groups. Eight themes emerged from the analysis. The themes highlight the importance teenagers place on context for defining specific behaviors as abusive. They also underscore gender differences in the criteria adolescents use to make these judgments, in the forms of abusive behavior teenagers typically use in a dating relationship, and in the reasons for youths' declining use of physical abuse and increasing use of psychological abuse. These views have important implications for future research and for programs targeting adolescent dating violence. Keywords: dating violence; adolescents; psychological abuse; physical abuse; focus groups

The present series of studies sought to develop and conceptually validate a taxonomy of reasons that give rise to academic amotivation and to investigate its social antecedents and academic consequences. In Study 1 (N = 351), an exploratory factor analysis offered preliminary support for an academic amotivation taxonomy comprising four dimensions: ability beliefs, effort beliefs, characteristics of the task, and value placed on the task. In Study 2 (N = 349), the proposed taxonomy was further corroborated through 1st- and 2nd-order confirmatory factor analyses, and its discriminant validity and construct validity were documented. Study 3 (N = 741) offered evidence for a model of the relationships among social support (from parents, teachers, and friends), amotivation, and academic outcomes (e.g., achievement, academic self-esteem, intention to drop out). Results are considered in terms of an increased conceptual understanding of academic amotivation, and implications for curricula and interventions are discussed. Keywords: academic amotivation, social support, self-determination theory, cognitive evaluation theory, school dropout

As part of an ongoing investigation, data were collected on behaviors and attitudes about substance abuse and general knowledge about substances for high school students (N = 1,103) during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 academic years. In preliminary analyses no meaningful sex differences were found for type or frequency of use, attitudes about substance use, or knowledge about substances. Lack of meaningful sex differences were evident even when comparisons by sex group were made within this ethnic minority population as well as within school Grades 10, 11, and 12. It is suggested that being a boy or a girl may have little to do with the American middle-class adolescents' choice to use substances. Findings should be understood to suggest possible cohort effects.

This study investigated the hypothesized relationship between internal locus of control and academic achievement among a sample of 187 students in Grades 8 through 12 using the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children. Analysis indicated that students in the higher GPA group reported higher scores on internal locus of control.

Previous research has identified student status variables (gender, ability, and parent education level) and social influence variables (encouragement from family, teachers, and peers) as predictors of science attitudes. The present study tested the extent to which social encouragement mediates the relation between status variables and science motivation and confidence. In a sample of 184 senior high school students, social encouragement was a stronger predictor of science attitudes than status variables and mediated 72% of the variance in attitudes predicted by status variables. Encouragement from family, encouragement from teachers, and encouragement from peers were each independent predictors of science attitudes. The findings provide strong evidence of the critical importance of encouragement from social agents in the development of adolescents' motivation and confidence to achieve in science.

The primary goal of this study was to assess the ability of maltreated school-age children and adolescents to understand the thoughts, feelings, and points of view of others. Level of egocentrism and social perspective-taking coordination were assessed in a group of 49 maltreated and 49 demographically matched nonmaltreated children. Twenty-six elementary and 23 high school students in each group were individually interviewed and their responses to hypothetical interpersonal situations coded for egocentricity and level of perspective-taking ability. The findings revealed that maltreated children and adolescents were more egocentric and delayed in their social perspective-taking development than their nonmaltreated peers and that they reported lower levels of global self-worth. However, differences within the group of maltreated children and adolescents emerged with regard to negotiating novel relationships, as those with fewer internalizing or externalizing symptoms exhibited better skills in this area than their peers who displayed more symptoms. Keywords: perspective taking, maltreatment, development, school-aged children and adolescents

This study explored the relationships among weight perceptions, dieting behavior, and breakfast eating in 4597 public high school adolescents using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Adjusted multiple logistic regression models were constructed separately for race and gender groups via SUDAAN (Survey Data Analysis). Adjusted odds ratios [ORs] and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to determine the strength of relationships. Approximately 42% of the sample reported not eating breakfast within the past 5 days, while 41% were trying to lose weight, and 37% were dieting to lose weight. Excessive dietary practices (eg, fasting, taking diet pills or laxatives, and vomiting to lose weight) were reported by approximately 25% of the sample. When compared to those eating breakfast within the past 5 days, all race and gender groups that did not report eating breakfast were significantly more likely to report fasting to lose weight (ORs = 1.70-2.97). In addition, all race/gender groups, with the exception of black females, were significantly more likely to perceive themselves as overweight (ORs = 1.44-1.61) and trying to lose weight (ORs = 1.40-1.72). Among males, not eating breakfast was significantly associated with taking diet pills to lose weight (ORs = 2.31-2.40), eating fewer calories to lose weight (ORs = 1.38-1.49), and inversely associated with trying to gain weight (ORs = 0.71-0.74). Results suggest that these adolescents may be skipping breakfast as part of a patterned lifestyle of unhealthy weight management and that efforts to encourage youth to eat breakfast will likely not ameliorate all dietary challenges that appear beyond the scope of increased breakfast offerings., Adolescence, a time of great change and uncertainty with the onset of puberty, is often accompanied by preoccupation with body size and shape among youth. Average weight gain is approximately [...]

The effects of training overhand ball throws to enhance underhand ball-throwing accuracy were studied with 921 Italian high school pupils (575 girls, M age= 16.5 yr., SD=1.3; 346 boys, M=16.5 yr., SD= 1.2) ages 14 to 18 years. A standardized test (10 underhand tennis-ball throws into the floor area delimited by an 80cm radius wooden hoop lying on the floor 9 m from the standing pupil) was performed and scored. An Experimental group (435 girls, M age = 16.5 yr., SD= 1.3; 204 boys, M age = 16.5 yr., SD = 1.2) was randomly selected to participate in 10 weekly training periods. The set included 10 overhand throws of a rubber bouncing ball (]4.5 cm diameter, weight 240 g) into a basketball hoop from 5 standardized positions (in front of the basketball hoop; at 45[degrees], 90[degrees] on the right and on the left of the basketball hoop) at a distance of 4.40 m. The underhand test was repeated for both groups. On the average, boys obtained higher test scores than girls of the same age. Older adolescents had higher mean scores than younger adolescents. After 10 weeks, boys and girls of all ages improved. Mean differences between sessions were significant for the Experimental group (Student t test, p

This study examined the relationship between scores on field dependence and field independence and sensory learning preference, cognitive learning style, personality, interpersonal trust, attributions of responsibility for solving social problems, and attitudes regarding citizenship among youth. Participants were 72 private school students in Grades 6 through 12 (26 girls, 46 boys; M age: 15.2 yr., SD-1.9). When controlling for grade and sex, field independence (measured by Group Embedded Figures Test scores) was associated with Intuitive Thinking personality, Concrete Global learning style, and rejection of individual responsibility for social problems, relative to governmental and community responsibility. Associations with other aspects of learning style fell short of significance. No association was found with generalized trust or citizenship attitudes. Reassessment of these variables with a larger sample should be undertaken.

The Theory of Planned Behavior provides a useful framework to study attitudes toward participation in physical activity. The objective of the study was to test the effectiveness of an intervention in manipulating the variables of the Theory of Planned Behavior and exercise habits with 366 high school students (M = 14.2 yr., SD = .7; 201 boys and 165 girls). The students were divided into intervention and control groups. A questionnaire to measure components of the theory, and the Baecke Questionnaire of Habitual Activity measuring exercise habits, were administered. The intervention lasted 12 wk. and included posters and lectures promoting participation in physical activity. Analyses showed the intervention was effective in improving attitudes towards physical activity, perceived behavioral control, intention, and self reported actual behavior, but it was ineffective for improving attitude strength, subjective norms, and role identity. The results provide useful information for physical education teachers interested in promoting students' positive attitudes towards physical activity.

Abstract Many educational action researchers use interviews as a method for gathering data. However, these interviews are usually on an individual basis and do not capture interactions between participants in [...]

In present study we investigated possible gender differences in how 357 secondary-school students valued the importance of masculine and feminine characteristics within sport and physical education and how their ratings of values were related to their participation in gendered sport. The results indicated that boys rated appearance strength, sports competence, endurance strength, and masculinity as significantly more important than did girls. Girls rated appearance good looking face, appearance slender, and femininity as significantly more important than did boys. Further, more boys participated in traditionally masculine sports, whereas girls to a greater extent participated in traditionally feminine sports. A discriminant function analysis separated the masculine sport group from the feminine sport group, which suggests that higher scores on the masculine function were indicative of lower value on appearance slender and flexibility, accompanied by higher value on appearance strength and masculinity. For the feminine sport group, this pattern was the opposite. KEY WORDS: adolescence; gender; masculine and feminine values; sports.

Young people are generally assumed to be less prejudiced toward people with schizophrenia than are adults. This article presents findings from a survey of 293 secondary school students in Germany, exploring their associations with the word schizophrenia and sources of information. Results indicate that the majority of young people appear either rather well informed or totally lacking information about schizophrenia. Findings are discussed in view of their implications for effective antistigma interventions and mental health education.

Abstract In developing curriculum for a Salt Lake City, Utah High School's Advance Placement--Environmental Studies class, one goal was a module on air quality/air pollution. University of Utah graduate students [...]

WASHINGTON As a relative newcomer to the Saturday afternoons spent working on computers in a community center in Washington, D.C.'s Anacostia neighborhood, Avery Hillmon has his work cut out for [...]

Gender differences and similarities in the relations of key constructs in Eccles and colleagues' (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000) model of achievement were examined as predictors of math grades and enrollment intentions for Grade 9 boys (n = 263) and girls (n = 277). A number of gender similarities were found, particularly in the prediction of math grades. There were, however, two gender-specific paths: for girls, a direct path from competence beliefs to enrollment intentions, and for boys, a direct path from prior math grades to enrollment intentions. In addition, for boys, the path from utility value to enrollment intentions was stronger than it was for girls. These differential predictive patterns were found even though girls and boys reported similar levels of math utility and girls had lower math competence beliefs. For girls, competence beliefs were a significant predictor of both intentions and current math grades, which indicates the central role of competence beliefs. KEY WORDS: gender differences; competence beliefs; task values; enrollment intentions; math achievement.