(An item from ISHN Member information service) Several articles in Issue #2, 2012 of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education examine the challenges faced in educating indigenous students. The articles include a blunt assessment of the lack of progress in reducing their educational disadvantage, moving beyond a deficit-based discourse to discuss power, the controversial academy approach, the principles underlying a decolonized approach, providing resources to teachers so that they can truly consult with their communities, the benefits of reflective teaching practice when working with indigenous students, tribal leadership, using interactive media and professional training in culturally appropriate ways, practices that can help indigenous students make the transition between band elementary schools and public high schools, student retention and remediation. Read more. 

(An item from ISHN Member information service) n article in Issue #6, 2012 of Environmental Education Research discusses how teacher reflections in a small case study on implementing a curriculum on education for sustainable development can help to understand the implementation process and ongoing teacher concerns. The author notes that It examines what the teachers learned about effective pedagogy from undertaking a systematic study of their own practice in ESD/GCE-based topics, and it highlights the development of their own understanding of, and values about the place of ESD/GCE in the curriculum. Findings emerging from the study were that critical reflection on their work gave the teachers the confidence to adopt the more learner-centred pedagogy of ESD/GCE, and that teachers, too, were able to learn/benefit from the participation in ESD/GCE activities. Read more. 

(An item from ISHN Member information service) A news release from the Scottish Government launches a consultation on air guns in the same week as the terrible shootings in Conneticut re-ignite the debates in the USA about gun control. The cultural difference could not be more profound and startling. The air gun license requirement will complement gun control measures that are already in place in Scotland. The news release points out that "New statistics on firearms offences published earlier this month show the number of firearms offences recorded by Scotland's police forces fell 21 per cent, from 647 in 2010-11 to 514 in 2011-12. This represents the lowest total recorded in Scotland in 34 years and marks a reduction of more than 50 per cent of 2006/07’s total of 1,260." According to www.gunpolicy.org, there are 32,000 gun-related dearths in the US each year, compared to 155 in the UK. Read more. 

(An item from ISHN Member information service) An article from Issue #6, 2012 of the Journal of Child & Family Development presents and applies a fidelity implementation model that nudges out of the traditional rigid box of implementation science by actually including a major component on participant responses to the intervention as well as program differentiation. The authors note that " Fidelity, or the degree to which interventions are implemented as originally designed, is generally conceptualized as a system of unique and interrelated components including adherence, dosage and quality of delivery". To accept the notions that practitioners will inevitably modify the program and that different types of program participants may react differently to the intervention is a step forward. Read more.  

(An item from ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #4, 2012 of International Health provides a summary of the reasons why children afe not vaccinated. The authors prove this summary based on a review of the grey literature. "In collaboration with WHO, IMMUNIZATION-basics analyzed 126 documents from the global grey literature to identify reasons why eligible children had incomplete or no vaccinations.The main reasons for under-vaccination were related to immunization services and to parental knowledge and attitudes. The most frequently cited factors were: access to services, health staff attitudes and practices, reliability of services, false contraindications, parents’ practical knowledge of vaccination, fear of side effects, conflicting priorities and parental beliefs. Some family demographic characteristics were strong, but underlying, risk factors for under-vaccination. Studies must be well designed to capture a complete picture of the simultaneous causes of under-vaccination and to avoid biased results. Although the grey literature contains studies of varying quality, it includes many well-designed studies. Every immunization program should strive to provide quality services that are accessible, convenient, reliable, friendly, affordable and acceptable, and should solicit feedback from families and community leaders. Every program should monitor missed and under-vaccinated children and assess and address the causes. Although global reviews, such as this one, can play a useful role in identifying key questions for local study, local enquiry and follow-up remain essential. Read more. 

(An item from ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #12, 2012 of Injury reports on estimated frequency of firearm injuries to children in the US in 2008. This is a topic of unfortunate relevance to the recent incidents in that country. The authors report that " The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) for the year 2008 was used for the current study. All ED visits occurring amongst children aged less than or equal to 18 years and that had an External Cause of Injury (E-Code) for any of the firearm related injuries were selected for analysis. A total of 14,831 ED visits (in children) in the United States had a firearm injury. The average age of the ED visits was 15.9 years. Males constituted a predominant proportion of all ED visits (89.2%). A total of 494 patients died in the emergency departments (3.4% of all ED visits) whilst 323 died following in-patient admission into the same hospital (6% of all inpatient admissions). The most frequently documented firearms were assaults by firearms and explosives (55% of all ED visits), accidents caused by firearms and air gun missiles (33.6%), and injuries by firearms that were undetermined (7.4%). The average charge for each ED visit was $3642 (25th percentile is $1146, median is $2003, and 75th percentile is $4404). The mean charge for those visits that resulted in in-patient admission into the same hospital was $70,164 (25th percentile is $16,704, median is $36,111, and 75th percentile is $74,165) and the total charges for the entire United States was about $371.33 million."  Read more. 

(An item from ISHN Member information service) Three articles in Issue 5-6, 2012 of Journal of Safety Research describe the influence that peers and friends can have on teen driving safety. The first article notes that teen aggressive driving increases with the number of teen passengers in the car, presenting a classic argument for graduated licensing. The second article suggests that a friend can have a moderating and positive affect, especially a romantic partner, a friend who disapproves of anti-social behaviour and friends who model safe driving. The third article notes that risk-taking peers, substance use and tolerance of deviance can increase the likelihood of speeding. Read more. 

(An item from the ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #4, 2012 of the Journal of Emotional & Behavioral Disorders reports on a case study using the whole school strategy of Positive Behavior Supports (for troubled students) in an alternative school for students with such problems. The authors report that "This program evaluation provides additional support for this literature, indicating a positive impact of SWPBS Tier 1 implementation on key student outcome measures in a school serving students in Grades 5–12 identified with emotional disturbance or as otherwise health impaired. In addition, this program evaluation includes measures and positive findings for both (a) implementation fidelity and (b) social validity in this alternative school setting" Read More. 

(An item from ISHN Member information service) A blog post in Education Week underlines the need to address health and social issues that cause students to miss event a few days of school. These would include problems such as asthma, bullying, head lice, pregnancy and other issues. Missing even a few days of school seems to make a difference in whether 8th graders perform at the top of their game, according to a new analysis of results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The report, the first of a planned series of analyses of NAEP's background-survey data, looks at how 4th and 8th graders use existing school time, including their attendance, instructional time, and homework.Fifty-six percent of 8th graders who performed at the advanced level in NAEP reading in 2011 had perfect attendance in the month before the test, compared with only 39 percent of students who performed below the basic level. In comparison, nearly one in five 8th graders at the basic level and more than one in four below basic in reading had missed three or more days in the past month. Read more.