School Policies and Practices at Upper Secondary Schools in Turkey According to PISA 2009 Data
In this study, the question “According to PISA 2009 data, what is the situation of the school policies and practices at upper secondary schools in Turkey?” was answered. Study group included 150 principals at upper secondary schools, which were taken into PISA 2009 Turkey sample. The data related to school policies and practices used in this study were derived from OECD database of which were the responses of school principals to the questions placed in the part F of the PISA 2009 school questionnaire. The dimensions of study are as follows: The considered factors in admitting students to school; grouping students; the reasons for transferring students; using assessment of student data in declaration/transparency and monitoring-developing; the methods for monitoring the practice of teachers; using assessment of student data in evaluation of teachers’ and principal’s performance. Using data from the PISA 2009, the findings suggest that equity is not taken sufficiently into account for school policies and practices, and administrative accountability is used predominantly rather than professional accountability.
Uluslararası Öğrenci Başarılarını Değerlendirme Programı (PISA)’nda Türkiye’deki Öğrencilerin Fen Bilimleri Başarılarını Etkileyen Faktörler
This study aims at determining the factors influencing the 15 year olds’ success at science in Turkey within the framework of the Programme for International Students’ Achievement (PISA). The research has been conducted with 4942 students aged 15. In the analysis of the data, questions on the students’ questionaire were specified through fundamental components paraphrasing factors analysis so as to determine the factors affecting success at science. Procedural multi-regression analysis was used in determining the predicting power of the predictive variables concerning the 15 year olds’ success at science in the sub-problem of the research. For this purpose, frequencies and percentages were utilized. According to the findings of the research, it was found that “education status of the father” is the most predictive variable for the 15 year old students’ science success in Turkey.
Efficacy of life skills training on general health in students
BACKGROUND
With regard to the importance of life skills, the present study deals with the effect of life skills training on general health of the students.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
This was a one-group, pre-test, post-test, quasi-experimental research. Forty students were selected through purposive sampling method. The data collection tool was Goldberg General Health Questionnaire.


RESULTS
Paired t-test showed a 22 score significant decrease in general health after education compared to before education (P < 0.01).


CONCLUSION
This study showed that life skills education increases general health level of the students.