Suchergebnisse

The aims of the present study were to investigate principals' opinions of PE resourcing in schools. Resourcing was divided for different resourcing factors in schools: principals' money allocation, qualified PE teachers, PE teachers' in-service education, extracurricular PE and optional PE courses. These resource factors were investigated by associations between school size and different resourcing factors and between school's regional location and different resourcing factors. Other aims were to study if principals' and PE teachers' opinions of PE resourcing diverge and to compare results of PE resourcing to previous PE evaluations study (Huisman 2004) in 2003. A follow-up evaluation 2010 of physical education learning outcomes, commissioned by the National Board of Education, was conducted by the Department of Sports Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä in spring 2010. Data, questionnaires, were collected from 51 comprehensive schools, of which four are Swedish speaking. Questionnaires were answered by 1619 ninth grade students, PE teachers and principals. The evaluation study sample represented extensively different provinces, municipal groups and European Union support schools. (Palomäki & Heikinaro-Johansson 2011, 5-17.) According to the results, large-sized schools allocated more money for PE in last two academic years, had more qualified PE teachers and arranged more optional PE courses than medium-sized schools. All other resourcing factors were somewhat equal between large-sized and medium-sized schools. From the regional point of view, schools from Southern and Western Finland had more qualified PE teachers than Eastern and Northern Finland. PE teachers from Southern Finland did not take part in in-service education as much as PE teachers in other provinces. Compared to the previous PE evaluation study (Huisman 2004) both, PE teachers' participation in in-service education and arranged extracurricular PE in schools, had decreased. Interesting finding was that arranged extracurricular PE in schools had decreased although government had given subsidies for arranging them. Most principals thought PE is not expensive compared to other subjects. Principals for the most part wanted more money for arranging optional PE and thought extracurricular sports are necessary in schools. Most principals thought all PE facilities are at least in satisfying condition but 21 % of PE teachers thought they were poor. This study confirms also that, in Finland, the need for enhancing in-service education and PE teacher training is remarkable. Interesting would be to know also where the money is used in schools.

Currently, many businesses are implementing a proactive, strategic tool known as an environmental management system (EMS) to gain a competitive advantage. Companies can no longer simply use compliance plans to deal with environmental concerns; consumer demands for greener products and services, and operational efficiencies require long term strategic and sustainable approaches for environmental management. An EMS includes documentation of: commitment and policy; planning; implementation; measurement and evaluation; and review and improvement. Establishment and maintenance of an EMS can be costly and time consuming, therefore implementation should be carefully structured to assure success. This paper identifies human resource (HR) factors such as top management support, environmental training, employee empowerment, teamwork, and rewards systems as key elements of the implementation process of an EMS. Furthermore, the interaction of these factors is examined in terms of the five categories of an EMS mentioned above. Finally, a conceptual model of the EMS‐HR factors is proposed to assist in proper facilitation of the environmental management program.

It seems that Nigeria's educational system has been undergoing improvement only on quantitative when it comes to the number of enrolments in students and schools. However, little effort has been put in place in terms of capacity (physical and material resources, human and financial resources) to manage high enrollment. Resources capacity in secondary schools was nothing to write home about. Most of these resources in secondary school were dilapidated. To worsen the scenario, the scarce resources allocated to these schools are grossly inadequate compared to students' enrollment and come late to the end-users in the public secondary schools. The various stakeholders in the education sector express stern concern about the consistently poor performance of students in secondary schools, especially in mathematics. Since secondary school education is expected to be free by the government, coupled with population increase, it is reasonable for people to take advantage of the free education program. Although the government and private sector of education keep providing qualified teaching staff and non-teaching staff, students in secondary schools still face poor performance in mathematics. The effect of all these on the academic performance in Nigeria's mathematics secondary school students concerns researchers of this empirical work. It is based on these issues and many more that this work sought to empirically investigate the impact of resource factors and quality of instruction on the performance of Nigeria secondary school students in mathematics.

The paper estimates party-related and non-party-related factors of electoral success in single-member district elections to the Russian State Duma in December 1999. As demonstrated by the analysis, both kinds of factors facilitate candidates' performance, but the utility of personal political resources of non-electoral origins is greater than that of party support. Thus it is likely to be valued by Russian politicians as a supplement, not as a core component of their electoral strategies. By distorting the structure of incentives for elite partisanship, this situation conserves party system underdevelopment in the country.

Purpose. To examine pathways between individual, social, and environmental factors associated with leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among Mexican-American adults. Design. Cross-sectional design using random-digit dialing to administer a structured telephone interview. Setting. Mexican-American adults living in a U.S.-Mexican border community in San Diego, California (N = 672). Measures. Data were collected on LTPA, demographic characteristics, acculturation, and other psychosocial and environmental factors associated with LTPA. Analysis. Structural equation modeling to test an a priori model of LTPA. Results. Participants were mostly female (71%) with a mean age of 39 years (SD = 13). Only 32% of participants met PA guidelines in their leisure time, with men (39%) meeting the guidelines more than women (29%). Using structural equation modeling, neighborhood factors, both social and environmental, showed indirect relationships with meeting PA guidelines through community resource factors. Significant covariates included marital status and age. Conclusion. Individual, social, and environmental factors were associated with LTPA in this sample of Mexican-American adults. These findings can inform intervention studies that aim to increase LTPA in this population.