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The mental health of undergraduate students is a concern across many North American institutions. To support students' mental well-being and help them manage stress, many Canadian post-secondary institutions have introduced a mid-semester break during the fall term. However, there has been limited work evaluating whether this fall break is associated with a decrease in stress (a well-established correlate of mental health). Further, it is not known which demographic variables and lifestyle factors (e.g., sleep patterns, regular exercise) may contribute to a change in stress surrounding the fall break. We assessed the effects of the fall break on perceived stress levels and investigated whether these effects varied according to gender and the quality of students' social network. Our results indicate that on its own, the fall break did not reduce students' level of perceived stress. Further, students who reported feeling socially disconnected reported greater stress (both pre- and post-break) than those who reported being more content with their social network. Men in our sample reported less perceived stress than women. We recommend that mental health initiatives on campuses integrate strategies to build social connections between students and emphasize outreach programs to students who report feeling socially disconnected. We acknowledge the increased necessity and challenge of doing this in the context of education in the time of COVID-19.

A case study using mixed methods that critically appraises the implementation of a mental health policy in higher education in the absence of evidence to inform the policy using an exemplar case from one mid-sized post-secondary institution was the motivation for this research. Explanation building was used to iteratively analyse data on rival explanations of the implementation of the fall break policy. Analyses from the surveys revealed that overall, only 36.9 per cent of students perceived an increase in workload before the break and only 29.6 per cent of students perceived an increase in workload after the break. However, the focus groups and professor interviews revealed that the timing of the fall break had an impact on how students and professors experienced the break and their perceptions on its impact on student mental health. If baseline data regarding the implementation of the fall break would have been collected prior to its implementation, we could have possibly avoided the implementation issues that arose. While this research provides an exemplar case of a fall break policy at one post-secondary institution, the policy learning is universal.

Attempting to support student mental health, many Canadian universities have implemented a fall break with the assumption it would be helpful in alleviating students' stress and anxiety. However, there is no baseline data regarding stress level or mental illness burden of students to understand its effectiveness. Using case study methodology with mixed methods, this research sought to appraise, given a lack of baseline data, the impact of a fall break on student mental health. While the surveys revealed that students overwhelmingly liked the break and perceived it to reduce their school related stress, the focus groups revealed key insights into understanding stress and coping among university students about how students like to de-stress that have practical implications for any policy aimed at promoting students' mental wellness. This research offers practical policy suggestions to help post-secondary institutions determine whether a fall break week can be effective in addressing students' stress and anxiety.

Studies consistently show associations between school absences and academic achievement. However, questions remain about whether this link depends on the reason for children's absence. Using a sample of the Scottish Longitudinal Study (n = 4,419), we investigated whether the association between school absenteeism and achievement in high-stakes exams at the end of compulsory and postcompulsory schooling varies with the reason for absence. In line with previous research, our findings show that overall absences are negatively associated with academic achievement at both school stages. Likewise, all forms of absences (truancy, sickness absence, exceptional domestic circumstances, and family holidays) are negatively associated with achievement at the end of compulsory and postcompulsory schooling. First difference regressions confirm these negative associations, except for family holidays. These findings suggest that, in addition to lost instruction, other mechanisms such as behavioral, health-related, and psychosocial pathways may account for the association between absenteeism and achievement. The findings have implications for designing tailored absenteeism interventions to improve pupils' academic achievement.

This research investigated the developmental patterns of students' writing and public-speaking self-efficacy throughout their experience in the basic communication course (BCC). Questions were posed regarding (1) whether students grew in their reported writing and public speaking self-efficacy over two semesters; (2) whether growth differed based on biological sex; and (3) whether affinity and apprehension (as sources of performance self-efficacy) played a role in student growth. Two multilevel models revealed significant differences in students' initial status and rate of growth for each outcome. Specifically, sex, affinity, and apprehension influenced students' starting positions in the course, while only apprehension had a significant impact on growth. Analyses also revealed a contextual effect of the winter break on growth patterns. The results paint an important picture of the factors influencing students' personal development in the BCC, while also highlighting the use of multilevel modeling as a potential and relevant tool for contextualizing communicative development over time.

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, schools are required to provide a free appropriate public education to students with disabilities and show that the students are making academic progress. This study compares within- and across-years academic growth from kindergarten to 4th grade for students who were ever in special education (ever-SPED) to students who were never in special education (never-SPED). We use math and reading assessment scores from NWEA's Growth Research Database. Our dataset contains one cohort of about 4,200 students, assessed up to three times per year for five years. Although ever-SPED students started kindergarten with lower math and reading test scores and grew less in both subjects than never-SPED students during the kindergarten school year, ever-SPED students grew more than never-SPED students during the 1st and 2nd grade school years in math and 1st, 3rd, and 4th grade school years in reading. However, ever-SPED students lost more learning during every summer than never-SPED students. This led the test score disparities between the two to grow from under 0.5 standard deviations in kindergarten to 1.0 standard deviation in 4th grade. These findings suggest that summer learning opportunities are crucial for improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities.

In recent years, many Canadian universities have added a Fall Pause to their academic calendars. However, those who have been making these decisions have been doing so without having access to any resources that provide an overview of existing Fall Pause practices or models across the nation. Additionally, there exists a paucity of literature that provides a sound rationale for the introduction of a Fall Pause. This paucity of literature makes research-informed decision making about the introduction of a Fall Pause an especially difficult task. Given these observations, we have undertaken the task of writing this article with two goals in mind: (1) to provide an overview of the current Canadian university landscape with respect to the Fall Pause; and (2) to provide a scoping review of the related emerging literature related to the Fall Pause. With this information made available, it is our hope that university faculty and administrators will be better positioned to make informed decisions about the possible introduction or continued inclusion of a Fall Pause in their own universities' schedules. They, and we, might also then be able to have a better (informed) sense of the research-based outcomes for those who have already introduced and/or experienced a Fall Pause.

The purpose of this study is to examine the recreational tourism preferences of university students within the framework of their push and pull travel motivations. In addition, it was aimed to highlight how some variables and motivations affect tourism preferences in mutual interaction. Validity and reliability were obtained by "Scale of Recreational Activities in Destination Choices" (SRADC), "Scale of Intrinsic Travel Motivations" (SITM) and "Scale of Extrinsic Travel Motivations" (SETM) conducted by Özdemir, Karaküçük, and Büyüköztürk (2013). Descriptive statistics, independent sample t test, one way ANOVA and Univariate test were used for data analysis, for in-group comparisons Tukey (HSD-LSD) and Pearson Correlation test were used. In this study, it was determined that .85 for recreational activities in destination choices scale, 0.90 for SITM and 0.91 for SETM. While the push and pull travel motivation of the participants was above the mean values (123.96 ± 15.65; 121.35 ± 16.81), the highest subscale score in push travel motivation was obtained by the Exploring-Knowledge subdimension (39.01 ± 5.74). The highest sub-dimension score was obtained from the Escape sub-dimension (38.31 ± 5.98). In the pull travel motivation sub-dimensions, the highest sub-dimension score was the quality-atmosphere sub-dimension (39.29 ± 5.24), while the lowest sub-dimension score was obtained by the Natural Environment sub-dimension (19.98 ± 4.58). The findings of the study showed that the importance given to recreational activities was influenced by variables such as gender, year of study and perceived welfare, but also revealed differences in gender, field of study, year of study, and perceived welfare in push and pull travel motivations. In addition, there is a moderate positive relationship between recreational choices, push travel motivation and pull travel motivation. As a result, it has been determined that university students have high push and pull travel motivation and recreation preferences are differentiated between SITM and SETM by certain variables.

The activities of the students during the summer holidays, learning losses or the forgetfulness of the return of the holidays have been discussed in the educational sciences for a long time. However, very little research is being done and has little place in educational policies. This is especially important in applications and continuity courses such as coding and robotics. This is because out-of-school learning environments for skills that require this type of practice remain limited or not available to all students. The aim of this study is to determine whether secondary school students are doing any learning activities during the summer holidays for the subjects of Information Technologies and Software (ITS) and to determine whether there are learning losses during the summer holiday return. For this purpose, a working group was formed with 5th and 6th grade students. For the determination of summer holiday activities, interview form and knowledge test for the determination of forgetfulness were developed and applied to students before and during the holiday return. According to the results of the research, it is seen that middle school students perform many out-of-school activities for ITS during the summer holidays. Coding and robotics are at the top of the topics. It was determined that the most block-based coding activities were among the activities. When the levels of forgetfulness are addressed, it was seen that there was no learning loss.

The mental health of post-secondary students has dominated recent discourse surrounding higher education. Accordingly, many institutions have introduced a break in the fall term, designed to support student well-being. As part of an interdisciplinary, longitudinal study examining the effects of the fall break on student stress, we held focus groups with undergraduates. We observed mixed feedback surrounding this intervention. Students appreciated the fall break as an opportunity to reduce their stress, yet they frequently reported negative impacts of the break on the timing of academic assessments and their ability to effectively manage study time. Based on extensive dialogue with students, we provide recommendations for institutions which have implemented or are considering implementing a fall break as a way to support student mental health. We aim to address the paucity of qualitative research on student stress and develop a deeper understanding of the factors driving students' responses to stress intervention policies.

Growing evidence suggests that contrary to popular belief, schools mostly do not generate achievement gaps in cognitive skills but, rather, reflect the inequalities that already exist. In the case of socioeconomic status, exposure to school often reduces gaps. Surprisingly little is known, however, about whether this pattern extends to gender gaps in cognitive skills. We compare how gender gaps in math and reading change when children are in school versus out (in the summer) among over 900,000 U.S. children. We find that girls learn faster than boys when school is out (in both reading and math), but this advantage is completely eliminated when school is in session. Compared to the family environment, schools act as a relatively standardizing institution, producing more similar gendered patterns in learning.

Universities across Canada are responding to increasing levels of student stress and mental illness by introducing a fall break. However, scant research has investigated the effectiveness of this intervention. Our team assessed perceived stress and the number of stressors experienced by students at McMaster University using established self-report stress questionnaires, comparing stress before and after the break. We found that despite the widespread expectation that a fall break will decrease student stress, the effects of this intervention are not straightforward. Students experienced fewer stressors after the break than before it, but experienced higher levels of overall stress. Additionally, stress varied according to several demographic variables, revealing some groups to be at higher risk for stress-related problems. Given the wide-scale adoption of fall breaks, we hope that this investigation can initiate dialogue about the importance of evidence-based decisions in the development of stress-reduction interventions for Canadian university students.

Taking into consideration the teachers' direct influence on students' educational life and indirect influence on the community life, the present study aims to reveal perspectives of sociologists, who study human social relationships and institutions, toward teaching profession. Data were collected from 20 sociologists working in educational institutions in Turkey through a semi-structured interview, and analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods under the supervision of three experts (an education programme developer, an educational sociologist, and a member of faculty of education). Findings of the study demonstrated that relatively more professional and technical aspects of teaching are perceived inferior to personal and psychological characteristics of teachers, and that it is still evaluated as a reliable and divine profession despite negative perceptions about it. Financial security, professional satisfaction and vacation time were reported as positive aspects of the profession while exhaustiveness, low prestige and low quality of the profession as negative aspects. As a conclusion, it tends to lose its professional prestige and reliability, and teachers are faced with a variety of problems triggered by different factors in Turkey. The study concludes with possible reasons for the problems in concern, and practical implications to overcome them.

School administrators across the nation are actively searching for solutions to increase student achievement due in part to the significant amount of knowledge that is lost annually each summer. Mathematical computation skills are especially at-risk. This quantitative research study was designed to investigate the impact of summer recess also known as summer vacation on mathematical computation skills. Assessing children in second and third grade from two different school calendars accomplished this on two separate occasions. First, children from a traditional calendar school and a balanced calendar school were assessed the last week of school respectively using a standardized benchmark assessment called the M-COMP. The same children were then post-tested using the same test following the summer recess. For the traditional calendar children the length of time between each assessment was 12-weeks. Participants from the balanced school calendar were posted-tested following a six-week summer recess. Dramatic results were revealed. [Pagination shown on provided PDF is incorrect.]

The last quarter of the nineteenth century witnessed a new but rapidly spreading perspective on the link between education and nature: middle-class philanthropists joining together to provide summer vacations in the countryside for poor, sickly, urban children. Drawing on numerous examples of such work in Europe and the United States, this essay highlights the common traits and local variations of these programmes designed to improve the physical health and often the moral tone of such endangered children. It highlights in particular the fundamental disagreements over whether it was better to house such children in the homes of rural families or to keep them together in groups under the supervision of teachers or other adults. In conclusion, it examines the important role of a single patron, the Prussian/German Crown Princess Victoria.

Papay (2011) noticed that teacher value-added measures (VAMs) from a statistical model using the most common pre/post testing timeframe--current-year spring relative to previous spring (SS)--are essentially unrelated to those same teachers' VAMs when instead using next-fall relative to current-fall (FF). This is concerning since this choice--made solely as an artifact of the timing of statewide testing--produces an entirely different ranking of teachers' effectiveness. Since subsequent studies (grades K/1) have not replicated these findings, we revisit and extend Papay's analyses in another Grade 3-8 setting. We find similarly low correlations (0.13-0.15) that persist across value-added specifications. We delineate and apply a literature-based framework for considering the role of summer learning loss in producing these low correlations.

This study examines the effects of including the summer period on value-added assessments (VAA) of teacher and school performance at the early grades. The results indicate that 40-62% of the variance in VAA estimates originates from the summer period, depending on the outcome (i.e., reading or math achievement gains). Furthermore, when summer is omitted from the VAA model, 51-61% of the teachers and 58-61% of the schools change performance quintiles, with many changing 2-3 quintiles. Extensive statistical controls for student background and classroom and school context reduce the summer effect, but 36-47% of the teachers and 42-49% of the schools are still in different quintiles. Furthermore, besides misclassifying teachers and schools, the results show that including summer tends to bias VAA estimates against schools with concentrated poverty. The results suggest that removing summer effects from VAA estimates will likely require biannual achievement assessments (i.e., fall and spring).

Background: The association between maternal depression and child negative behavior outcomes has been well established in the literature. However, understanding how maternal depression is associated with child behaviors will have important implications for research and intervention strategies. Objective: We used samples from two distinct family contexts: urban, middle-class families (N = 454); and rural, low-income families (N = 240), to compare the impact of family rituals and maternal depressive symptoms on child externalizing behaviors. We also examined the impact of maternal depressive symptoms on family rituals. Methods: Structural equation modeling and multiple group analyses were conducted. Child age, child gender, mother age, mother education, mother partner status, family income, and family size served as control variables. Indirect effect tests and incremental validity tests were performed. Results: Depressive symptoms were linked to externalizing behaviors in both samples. The impacts of family rituals on child externalizing behaviors were more context-specific. For urban, middle-class families, vacations played a particularly helpful intermediate role. Also, in these families, maternal depressive symptoms were associated with less involvement in religious holidays. For rural, low-income families, involvement in annual celebrations was associated with less child externalizing behaviors, although maternal depressive symptoms did not impact involvement in any family rituals. Conclusions: Results suggest that family context matters in determining the impacts of maternal depression on the practice of family rituals, as well as the benefits of family rituals for child behaviors, and that certain family rituals can do more than others to reduce child externalizing behaviors (e.g., vacation).

Students' summer experiences during college potentially influence their postsecondary outcomes and job placement. Little is known, however, about how college students spend their summers. Drawing from prior research, current strands of literature, and Pierre Bourdieu's theory of societal reproduction, the author suggests that scholars explore the possibility of a "Summer Divide." The author's argument is twofold: (1) focusing on the summer might provide further insight to students' postsecondary outcomes and (2) class hierarchies might be further reified during the summer.

There is a push for universities to equip graduates with desirable employability skills and "hands-on" experience. This article explores the perceptions of students and staff experiences of a research assistantship scheme. Nine students from the University of Worcester were given the opportunity to work as a student vacation researcher for up to 10 weeks. This opportunity gave "hands-on" experience to students to understand real world research, thereby enabling the development of academic and research skills and increasing a student's employability. The scheme received positive feedback from both students and academic staff and was recommended as a means to enhance student's future employment.

For more than 100 years the public school system has been the foundation of our society. Millions of our nation's citizens have moved through the primary, middle and secondary schools which, although they vary slightly from region to region, provided a shared experience and are a part of Americana. History tells us the reasons that school systems used only a 10 month calendar were due to agrarian needs, but in recent years this rationale does not seem as applicable. In light of global competition and America's consistently poor international rankings, it would seem logical conclusion to extend the school year to increase instructional time. But the move to year-round schooling isn't so easy, nor is it unanimously embraced by parents, community members, businesses or politicians.

Vacation jobs often mix work and play. For some, the job is their ticket to career happiness. The article's first section describes four jobs specific to entertainment and leisure: (1) cruise ship musician; (2) destination marketing manager; (3) resort activities director; and (4) river rafting guide. The second section helps a person decide if a vacation career is a good fit for him/her. The third section explains how to find and get these jobs. (Contains 8 online resources.)

Histories of teachers' experiences in the United States between the 1880s and the 1930s argue that teaching restrained and often debilitated teachers' bodies. The emerging theory of constraint is limited, however, because the historiography of American teachers focuses for the most part only on the months when school was in session. This examination of publications in which education leaders discussed how teachers should spend their summers and teachers' memoirs, diaries, and letters, reveals a full quarter of the year during which the focus was on the rejuvenation of teachers' bodies. As administrative efforts to control teachers' bodies extended into the summer months, leaders expressed their concern by prescribing rest. The meaning of "rest", however, soon evolved into reinvigoration through breathing fresh air and physical activity. Full of vitality, teachers' own accounts reveal how their summer activities released them from the restraints of teaching. Rural teachers engaged in agricultural work and other outdoor activities, and urban teachers communed with nature and exercised in the open air. These activities had important gender ramifications: they allowed women to challenge boundaries by demonstrating the robustness of a "new woman" and men to reinforce boundaries by demonstrating rugged masculinity. In both cases, teachers used the summer months to revitalise bodies worn down by the physical restrictions of teaching, as administrators directed.

What causes the literacy gap and can schools compensate for it? The authors investigated 3 drivers of the gap: preliteracy knowledge, schooling, and the summer vacation. Longitudinal literacy data over 5 time points were collected on 126 five-year-olds attending higher or lower socioeconomic status (SES) schools during their first 15 months of school. There were several noteworthy findings: (a) gaps in preliteracy knowledge at school entry favor higher SES schools, (b) preliteracy knowledge predicted later progress over and above SES and gender, (c) during the school year there was a widening of the gap between higher SES schools and lower SES schools in reading and spelling skills, and (d) children attending lower SES schools exhibited losses during summer whereas children attending higher SES schools nearly always gained. Contrary to previous studies, the present results indicated that when there are concentrations of children from higher and lower SES in schools located in the children's respective SES areas, the achievement gap widens.

This article presents a list of 26 adventures listed in alphabetical order that teachers can do during the summer. During the summer, teachers can trek through the Alps, build a class blog, or turn trash into cash. They can also read books or volunteer for a cause.

Background: Exposure to solar ultra violet radiation (UVR) is a primary risk factor for skin cancer. Vacationers often fail to protect themselves from harmful UVR. Purpose: The study assessed the sun protection practices of resort guests in various outdoor leisure and recreation venues during warm-weather seasons. Method: Forty-one North American resorts were enrolled in a quasi-experimental randomized controlled trial. Adult guests were observed (n = 4 091) and surveyed (n = 3 694) in a cross-sectional sample. Data collection was conducted in recreation and leisure venues with outdoors commons/reception areas acting as the comparison condition. Results: The mean percentage of vacationers at pools and beaches were more likely (P < 0.001) to wear sunscreen than in commons areas but less likely (P < 0.001) to wear coverup clothing or use shade. In both samples, the combined sun protection scores were higher in commons areas compared to all venues except for outdoor dining (P < 0.001). Discussion: Sun safety was suboptimal in all venues and was potentially mitigated by venue type. Translation to Health Education Practice: Approaches are needed to encourage vacationers to practice comprehensive sun protection and to work with resorts to construct built environments that facilitate rather than act as barriers to sun safety.

This article is dedicated to the 2015 Russian summer recreation campaign for children and teenagers between the ages of 6 and 18. The data presented will prove useful to experts in the field of public policy in education as a starting point for further analysis. [This article was translated by Kenneth Cargill.]

This study addressed the role of reading motivation as a potential determinant of losses or gains in reading competence over six weeks of summer vacation (SV). Based on a sample of 223 third-grade elementary students, structural equation analyses showed that intrinsic reading motivation before SV contributed positively to both word and sentence comprehension after SV when controlling for comprehension performance before SV. These effects were mediated by reading amount. Extrinsic reading motivation did not show significant associations with end-of-summer comprehension scores. Taken together, the findings suggest that intrinsic reading motivation facilitates students' development of reading comprehension over SV.

Background: Evidence suggests that children gain more weight during the summer months compared with the school year. To examine the impact of the school and summer environment on children's weight further, we conducted a 5-year longitudinal study examining changes in standardized BMI (zBMI) of students entering kindergarten. Methods: Heights and weights were obtained at the beginning and end of each school year for 3,588 ethnically diverse (Caucasian: 27.2%, Black: 29.0%, Hispanic: 26.4%, and Asian 17.4%) students aged 5-7. Results: A significant difference in change in zBMI during the school and summer months was found (-0.52, 95% CI: -0.59 to -0.45, p less than 0.001; Wald x[superscript 2] = 171.89, p less than 0.001). Overall, children decreased BMI percentile during time spent in school by 1.5 percentile points and increased by 5.2 percentile points during summer months. Differences in the velocity of weight gain were found across weight classification categories with only overweight and obese children decreasing their zBMI during the school year. Conclusion: Time spent in school was shown to have a beneficial impact on students' weight, especially for students who were overweight or obese. However, these results are alarming because weight gain during elementary school occurs primarily during the relatively short span of summer break. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Background: Research suggests that social exclusion is a problem both for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) and for people living in rural areas. This may give rise to a double disadvantage for people with ID living in rural areas. Conversely, aspects of rural life such as community spirit and social support may protect against social exclusion in this population. This study was designed to compare a number of measures of social exclusion in adults with ID living in rural and urban areas, with the aim of identifying whether a double disadvantage exists. Method: Adults with ID were recruited from a rural and an urban area in Scotland. Participants participated in a face-to-face interview and their medical notes were accessed. Social exclusion was investigated using a number of measures comprising: daytime opportunities and physical access to community facilities (using part of the British Institute of Learning Disabilities questionnaire), recent contact with others and the quality of personal relationships (using a modified Interview Measure of Social Relationships questionnaire) and area deprivation by postcode (using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation). The data were analysed using a series of binary logistic regression models that adjusted for variables including age, gender, level of ID, mental illhealth and common physical co-morbidities. Results: A representative sample of adults with ID from rural ("n" = 39) and urban ("n" = 633) areas participated. Participants from rural areas were significantly more likely to have any regular daytime opportunity [odds ratio (OR) = 10.8, 95% CI = 2.3-51.5] including employment (OR = 22.1, 95% CI = 5.7-85.5) and attending resource centres (OR = 6.7, 95% CI = 2.6-17.2) than were participants from urban areas. They were also more likely to have been on holiday (OR = 17.8, 95% CI = 4.9-60.1); however, were less likely to use community facilities on a regular basis. Participants from urban and rural areas had a similar number of contacts with other people in a wide range of situations, but the quality of relationships may have been less close in rural areas. Finally, participants lived in significantly less deprived areas when in rural compared with urban areas (Mann-Whitney "U" = 7826, "Z" = -3.675, "P" less than or equal to 0.001). Conclusions: These results suggest that adults with ID living in rural areas have better opportunities and live in less deprived areas than adults with ID living in urban areas. However, they may not hold such positive or close relationships, and this may be important when considering the subjective experience of social exclusion. (Contains 7 tables.)