Anemia and its Effect on the Scholastic Performance of Fifth Grade School Children

Aim: To study the effect of anemia on the academic performance of fifth grade students, Study design: Cross-sectional comparative study. Place and duration of study: Local schools in Abbottabad from January to June 2018. Methods: Study subjects were fifth grade students who were randomly divided into two groups based on their hemoglobin (Hb) levels. First group, which was control group, had 40 students with Hb levels ≥ 10.0 gm/dL while second group, which was anemic group, consisted of 40 anemic students who had Hb levels < 10.0 gm/dL. Hemoglobin levels were estimated using 03 cc of blood in EDTA containing vials using aseptic technique and using standard method. Academic performance was assessed based on the scores obtained using tests (both objective and subjective) in the subjects of English, Math and Urdu. Results: Mean Hb levels were 14.5gm/dL in control group while it was 9.45gm/dL in case of anemic group. There was a significant association between anemia and the academic performance of the students. Average test score of control subjects was 96.23 while mean score for anemic subjects was 76.35. This showed that the students in control group had performed significantly well as compared to that in anemic group (p value 0.001). Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between anemia and scholastic performance of the students wherein anemia affects their educational performance. Therefore, nutritional supplementation programs should be initiated particularly at primary school levels so as to avoid the detrimental effects of micronutrient deficiency particularly iron on cognition and education and which in turn will lead to better educational performance and achievement. Keywords: Anemia, school, performance, scholastic

The impact of childhood injury and injury severity on school performance and high school completion in Australia: a matched population-based retrospective cohort study

Background Exploring the impact of injury and injury severity on academic outcomes could assist to identify characteristics of young people likely to require learning support services. This study aims to compare scholastic performance and high school completion of young people hospitalised for an injury compared to young people not hospitalised for an injury by injury severity; and to examine factors influencing scholastic performance and school completion. Method A population-based matched case-comparison cohort study of young people aged ≤18 years hospitalised for an injury during 2005–2018 in New South Wales, Australia using linked birth, health, education and mortality records. The comparison cohort was matched on age, gender and residential postcode. Generalised linear mixed modelling examined risk of performance below the national minimum standard (NMS) on the National Assessment Plan for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and generalised linear regression examined risk of not completing high school for injured young people compared to matched peers. Results Injured young people had a higher risk of not achieving the NMS compared to their matched peers for numeracy (ARR: 1.12; 95%CI 1.06–1.17), reading (ARR: 1.09; 95%CI 1.04–1.13), spelling (ARR: 1.13; 95%CI 1.09–1.18), grammar (ARR: 1.11; 95%CI 1.06–1.15), and writing (ARR: 1.07; 95%CI 1.04–1.11). As injury severity increased from minor to serious, the risk of not achieving the NMS generally increased for injured young people compared to matched peers. Injured young people had almost twice the risk of not completing high school at year 10 (ARR: 2.17; 95%CI 1.73–2.72), year 11 (ARR: 1.95; 95%CI 1.78–2.14) or year 12 (ARR: 1.93; 95%CI 1.78–2.08) compared to matched peers. Conclusions The identification of characteristics of young people most likely to encounter problems in the academic environment after sustaining an injury is important to facilitate the potential need for learning support. Assessing learning needs and monitoring return-to-school progress post-injury may aid identification of any ongoing learning support requirements.

Relationship Between Retained Primitive Reflexes and Scholastic Performance

Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. Fifty-three kindergarten and first-grade students were screened to examine the relationship between primitive reflexes and scholastic performance. Overall, 100% of participants had retention of at least one reflex. Results indicated statistically significant relationships between reflexes and areas of academic performance. Further research is warranted to understand why reflexes are not being integrated and how school-based OTs ought to use these findings. Primary Author and Speaker: Diana Feldhacker Additional Authors and Speakers: Reilly Cosgrove, Benjamin Feiten, Kayleigh Schmidt, and Marissa Stewart

Investigation of Inferential Skills in School Going Preadolescents

Inferential skill plays an important part in the comprehension of language and enhances educational performance of school-aged children. We examined the role of age, gender and scholastic performances in inferential skills of preadolescent students attending English medium school (age range 8 to 12 years). In order to compare the inferential skills across age, gender and scholastic performances, t-test was used. There was a steady increase in the inference skills of students with increasing age. The inferential skills of male students were found to be better than female students. Students with above average scholastic performance made more inferences than students with below average scholastic performance. The higher scores in inferential skills across these three domains could be due to better vocabulary, reading comprehension and world knowledge. This paper emphasizes on the importance of inferential skills in educational success. It identifies the key factors influencing the inferential skills and the need to work on them by the school-based speech language pathologists (SLP). Key words: Inferential skill, educational success, scholastic performance, preadolescent, inference.

TREATABLE AND CURABLE CAUSES OF POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SCHOOL CHILDREN

Background: There are many causes of “Poor Scholastic Performance” in Children in addition to Delayed Mental Development. Many of such causes are totally curable and treatable. Aim:To list the various Treatable and Curable Causes of Poor Academic Performance in School Children Settings and Design:Areview article to suggest changes in the Protocols and Guidelines being followed by School Health Programmers Methods and Material:Various Causes are analyzed and explained. Statistical analysis used: Not Used. Results and Conclusions: parents and teachers should make sure that the child does not suffer from treatable and curable causes of poor academic performance before considering the child as “not intelligent.

Attendance Monitoring System of Schools in the Philippines with an Inclusion of Optimization Query Algorithm

In this paper, researchers had provided definite solutions in order to check and validate student attendance with the use of computerized seat plans along with the information and image of each student. This study also discussed the inclusion of Optimization Query Algorithm in order to identify and monitor student’s punctuality as well as the analysis of the reasons why they fail to attend their class. Attendance patterns are formed early in life because it validates one of the components of student’s academic and scholastic performance. Regular attendance is vital part of the grading component necessary to attain some portion of the student’s academic progress. You are missing out on active learning experiences and class attendance. As a result, they are more likely to to fail which tends to affect their academic performances.

Alcohol Consumption and Scholastic Performance of Collegiate Physical Education Students

Alcohol is widely used in the world. Either for happiness or resolving problems, college students continue to have interaction with alcoholic drinks. This paper was aimed to examine the connection between alcohol intake and scholastic performance of second-year college students who took Physical Education subject in Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology. The authors employed descriptive-correlational design with 115 students as samples out of 377 participated respondents. One set of adopted, contextualized, and tested 15-items of types of drinker instrument gaining excellent Cronbach’s alpha was used. Academic grades had been acquired and generated from an electronic database school system for academic records of the students. The findings discovered that the general level of alcohol consumption of the students was moderate, while the overall educational performance score was generally determined as satisfactory. The students aged 15 to 17 years gained f value 6758.46 (p0.01), while the students aged 18 to 20 years gained f=3564.71 (p0.01). Each of the result defined the sizable distinction within the alcohol consumption of college students. Meanwhile, the investigation also observed an extensive distinction in the level of alcohol use analyzed by gender (f=1780.55; p0.01). Courses and study time parameters did not show statistically significant difference in alcohol consumption. Finally, alcohol intake was not significantly correlated to instructional performance. Furthermore, the problem and high-risk of drinking in students had been found out for the maximum salience of the study. A functional and sustainable moral recovery program of each school organization that includes risk assessment, alcohol and drug education, mental health, physical exercises, games and sports, and recreational activities is recommended.