The cultural capital in families, more specifically, the educational level of parents, has during the last decades been shown to be the most important dimension of socioeconomic influence on school performance in many countries. Less is known about the factors that actually mediate this influence. The aim, therefore, is to investigate the relative importance of various mediating factors, as well as the total effects of parents' educational levels, on the reading achievement levels of children in Grade 4. Data in this comparative analysis come from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2001 and include representative samples from 7 countries: Sweden, Norway, Bulgaria, France, Hong Kong, Hungary, and Italy. Variables indicating possession of cultural capital in the families are collected from the home questionnaire. A total achievement score is used as outcome variable. The effects of parents' education on reading achievement are estimated with structural equation modelling. Substantial effects of parental education were found, but the pathways for indirect effects that were mediated through other variables varied between countries.
[Copyright of Educational Research & Evaluation is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13803610802576742]

Examines the impact of health education programs on health behavior for children and teachers in Hong Kong, including composition of health education, establishment of health-promoting schools, launch of Healthy Schools program.
[Copyright of Education for Health: Change in Learning & Practice is the property of Towards Unify for Health. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/135762800750059516]

Sex education is not treated as an important subject in the school curriculum of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Education Department issued in 1986 and 1997, respectively, two guidelines on sex education for schools' reference. The 1997 Guidelines cover a broader conceptual framework relating to different aspects of human sexuality and also include teaching strategies. Surveys by the Education Department in the early 1990s showed that there were a lot of problems in promoting sex education in schools. To see whether there had been any progress in sex education in the post-handover period to China from the United Kingdom, a working group of the Hong Kong Institute of Education carried out a study on this issue in the year 1999-2000. Data were collected through a survey and a small number of structured interviews. The study reveals that secondary schools are now generally more positive in promoting sex education and more interactive teaching methods are used. However, there are still a lot of constraints in the promotion of sex education in schools in Hong Kong.
[Copyright of Sex Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14681810500171458]

The highly infectious Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) affected most continents in the world in 2003. While the outcomes of different studies on SARS have been discussed in various journals, there is an absence of published articles that examine the relationship of SARS and hospitality and tourism education. This research note reviews the outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong, analyses its influence on hospitality and tourism education using a local university as a case study, and offers suggestions to educators on how to deal with impacts from diseases such as SARS and other epidemics.
[Copyright of Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J172v05n04_04 ]

Structural equation models linking cognitive and affective factors, approach to learning, and perceptions of the actual and preferred mathematics classroom environments were tested in a longitudinal study involving 356 secondary school students in Hong Kong. Models of acceptable fit that clarified the effects of classroom environment on how students learn and the outcomes they achieve were obtained. Numerous significant paths from prior learning experience to environmental variables were identified; the most salient path from classroom environment to learning outcomes was that between an enjoyable classroom environment and cognitive achievement. An enjoyable classroom environment mediated the causal relationship between a deep approach and high-level achievement. However, classroom environment did not seem to influence changes in approach to learning.
[Copyright of Journal of Educational Research is the property of Routledge . Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220679809597550]