Most school health education programs focus on a single behavioral domain. Integrative programs that address multiple behaviors may be more efficient, but only if the elements of change are similar for these behaviors. The objective of this study was to examine which effective elements of school health education are similar across three particular behavioral domains. A systematic review of reviews of the effectiveness of school-based health promotion programs was conducted for the domains of substance abuse, sexual behavior, and nutrition. The literature search spanned the time period between 1995 and October 2006 and included three databases, websites of review centers and backward search. Fifty-five reviews and meta-analyses met predetermined relevance and publication criteria and were included. Data was extracted by one reviewer and checked by a second reviewer. A standardized data extraction form was used, with detailed attention to effective elements pertaining to program goals, development, content, methods, facilitator, components and intensity. Two assessors rated the quality of reviews as strong, moderate or weak. We included only strong and moderate reviews in two types of analysis: one based on interpretation of conflicting results, the other on a specific vote-counting rule. Thirty six reviews were rated strong, 6 moderate, and 13 weak. A multitude of effective elements was identified in the included reviews and many elements were similar for two or more domains. In both types of analysis, five elements with evidence from strong reviews were found to be similar for all three domains: use of theory; addressing social influences, especially social norms; addressing cognitive-behavioral skills; training of facilitators; and multiple components. Two additional elements had positive results in all domains with the rule-based method of analysis, but had inconclusive results in at least one domain with the interpretion-based method of analysis: parent involvement and a larger number of sessions. Five effective elements of school health promotion were found to be similar across the three behavioral domains examined (substance abuse, sexual behavior, nutrition). An integrative program that addresses the three domains seems feasible. The five elements are primary candidates to include in programs targeting these behaviors.

The results of a nationwide study of the citizenship competences of adolescents in the Netherlands are presented from the perspective of democratic citizenship in this article. Citizenship competences are defined as the knowledge, skills, attitudes and reflection needed by young people in a democratic and multicultural society to adequately fulfil social tasks that are part of their daily lives. The Citizenship Competences Questionnaire was administered to 16,000 adolescents in either sixth or ninth grade. With the help of analyses of variance and partial correlations, background factors related to the students and the environment were analysed in conjunction with each other. The results showed significant differences in citizenship competences to depend upon the gender, age, cognitive level, socio-economic status and ethnic backgrounds of the adolescents in addition to the degree of urbanisation characteristic of their school environments. The findings are discussed in light of research previously conducted on the citizenship of young people.

This study investigates the relationship between the quality of student dialogue and students’ ability to justify their viewpoints on a moral issue. A curriculum unit for dialogic citizenship education was developed and implemented in the 8th grade of secondary education. In the final lesson, students discussed a moral issue and then wrote an essay on it. The results show that students who made more value-related utterances during the discussion also referred more often and more explicitly in their individually written essays to moral values. This study indicates that the quality of the content of students’ dialogue is important for their ability to substantiate their opinion on moral issues with value-laden argumentation. Approaches to citizenship education in which dialogue is a central element should, therefore, pay specific attention to the validation of ideas in student dialogue. Cette étude examine la relation entre la qualité du dialogue des élèves et le pouvoir d’étayer leur propres opinions concernant une question de morale. On a développé une méthode dans l’éducation civique dialogique et puis on l’a expérimenté en classe de quatrième de l’enseignement secondaire. Pendant le dernier cours les élèves ont discuté en petits groupes sur une question de morale dans le but d’une dissertation. Les résultats montrent que les élèves qui travaillaient en groupes formulant des énonciations reliées à un jugement de valeur, se référaient plus souvent et plus explicitement dans leurs propres dissertations à des valeurs morales. Cette étude montre que la qualité du contenu du dialogue entre les élèves est importante pour se former une opinion de soi-même concernant des questions de morales avec des argumentations de valeurs. Il faudra que l’éducation civique prête plus d’attention au dialogue entre les élèves, élément déterminant à un meilleur étayement aux idées de dialogue

We still have only a limited understanding of the effectiveness of schools in promoting citizenship, the factors explaining this effectiveness and the way in which these aspects interact. Using elaborate cross-sectional data from students, teachers, team leaders and school leaders at 78 Dutch secondary schools, this study empirically examines a school effectiveness model of citizenship education in order to achieve a more comprehensive explanation of citizenship competence acquisition. Using multilevel structural equation models, we analyze direct and indirect school-level predictors of student knowledge, attitudes and self-evaluated skills regarding citizenship. Four aspects of citizenship education are examined: the school’s policies regarding citizenship education, its teaching practices, and its professional and pedagogical learning environment (i.e., teaching community and classroom climate). With respect to school policies, positive effects are found for the attention paid to citizenship education in staff meetings. The professional learning environment is related to students’ citizenship competences mainly indirectly, via the average classroom climate. Effects of teaching practices vary: more emphasis on monitoring is more frequently found at schools with lower average levels of citizenship competences, whereas schools that let students choose their own topics in class have on average higher levels of citizenship competences.