Physical inactivity is a major concern and poor adherence to exercise programs is often reported. The aim of this paper was to systematically review published reviews on the study of adherence to physical exercise in chronic patients and older adults and to identify those adherence-related key factors more frequently suggested by reviews for that population. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Results were classified considering the target population and participants’ characteristics to identify the most repeated factors obtained for each condition. Fifty-five articles were finally included. Fourteen key factors were identified as relevant to increase adherence to physical exercise by at least ten reviews: (a) characteristics of the exercise program, (b) involvement of professionals from different disciplines, (c) supervision, (d) technology, (e) initial exploration of participant’s characteristics, barriers, and facilitators, (f) participants education, adequate expectations and knowledge about risks and benefits, (g) enjoyment and absence of unpleasant experiences, (h) integration in daily living, (i) social support and relatedness, j) communication and feedback, (k) available progress information and monitoring, (l) self-efficacy and competence, (m) participant’s active role and n) goal setting. Therefore, adherence to physical exercise is affected by several variables that can be controlled and modified by researchers and professionals.

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The work done here involved estimating the extent of bullying in Latin American schools and its impact on the academic achievement of primary school students. Pupils' socio-demographic characteristics were analysed and linked with bullying. Three-and four-multilevel models were applied to data from the Second Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (serce) conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (unesco), analysing 2,969 schools, 3,903 classrooms and 91,223 sixth-grade students in 16 Latin American countries (not including Mexico for the association between school bullying and academic performance). The study found that bullying is a serious problem throughout the region; students who suffer peer aggression yield a significantly lower performance in reading and math than those who do not; and those in classrooms with more episodes of physical or verbal violence perform worse than those in less violent classroom settings.

La brecha entre lo que se considera calidad de la educación y las acciones que se toman para evaluarla en América Latina es cada vez más amplia. Desde esa perspectiva, en este artículo se plantea la necesidad de asumir un enfoque global e integrador de la evaluación. Para ello se proponen principios y criterios que deben sostener esta evaluación y ser coherentes con los principios de aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida, una educación para todos y el desarrollo integral de los estudiantes como finalidad. También se sugieren cuatro temas que parecen prioritarios para avanzar en la mejora de la evaluación de la calidad de la educación: evaluar a los docentes, a los estudiantes en sus escuelas y al funcionamiento de las administraciones educativas; valorar la participación de la sociedad en la evaluación; abordar el estudio de factores asociados, y plantear la necesidad de la participación social en el diseño de las políticas de evaluación.

The main objective of this study was the validation of the Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire (EVS II), using a confirmatory factorial analysis of the measurement model, with veteran athletes. A total of 348 veteran Portuguese athletes of both genders, aged between 30 and 60 years (M = 41.64, SD = 9.83), of whom 200 were males and 148 were females, from several sports. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis demonstrate the adequacy of the adapted version of the EVS II, as the factorial structure (6 factors/24 items) has acceptable validity indexes: χ2 = 305.925, p = 0.000, df = 120.017, χ2/df = 2.549, NFI (Normed Fit Index) = 0.909, TLI (Tucker Lewis Index) = 0.918, CFI (Comparative Fit Index) = 0.944, GFI (Goodness of Fit Index) = 0.944, AGFI (Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index) = 0.909, SRMR (Standardized Root Mean Square Residual) = 0.048, RMSEA (Root Mean Square of Approximation) = 0.060, allowing evaluation of the dimensions of balanced diet, respect for mealtime, tobacco and alcohol consumption, other drugs consumption and resting habits. The adaptation to sport of the Portuguese version of EVS II can be used with reasonable confidence in the evaluation of healthy lifestyles in the context of sport.

Enriquecer los ambientes de aprendizaje de los estudiantes mediante la incorporación de tecnologías de información y comunicación requiere que los centros educativos dispongan de computadoras y conectividad - en cantidad y calidad suficiente - para que docentes y estudiantes puedan incorporar dichas tecnologías en el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje. La investigación que se presenta estima la incidencia del acceso y uso de computadoras en el logro escolar que obtienen los estudiantes latinoamericanos de 6° de primaria en Matemáticas y Lectura. Para ello, y mediante modelos multinivel de cuatro niveles (alumno, aula, escuela y país), se analiza información de dieciséis países de América Latina, cerca de 91.000 estudiantes de sexto grado y algo más de 3.000 docentes, disponible en la base de datos del Segundo Estudio Comparativo y Explicativo (SERCE) de la UNESCO. Con importantes variaciones entre países, los resultados dan cuenta de que apenas un tercio de los niños y niñas latinoamericanos que estudian 6º grado dispone de una computadora en casa y más de la mitad de ellos afirma que nunca han utilizado una computadora en la escuela. Entre sus principales hallazgos se constata que un estudiante que cuente con una computadora en su hogar, que concurra a una escuela con más de diez computadoras, que los utilice al menos una vez por semana y tenga un profesor/a que use habitualmente la computadora en su casa, obtendrá un desempeño significativamente más alto en ambas áreas evaluadas: 23 puntos más en matemáticas y 25 en lectura.

The aim of this study was the adaptation and validation of Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire (EVS), of Jimenez Castuera (2004) adapted of Wold (1995), using an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the measurement model, with a sample of sports veterans. In the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis part 684 Portuguese veteran athletes of both genders, aged between 30 and 90 years (M=43.78 SD=8.61), of which 547 male subjects and 137 subjects were female, which are competitors of various sports. The main results showed that the psychometric qualities of both the exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis, proved the adequacy of adaptation performed, demonstrating that the factor structure (Adaptation to Sports Questionnaire EVS: 3 factors/20 items) It has quite acceptable levels of validity (χ2 = 172.117, df=41, p = .000, χ2/g.l. = 4.190, CFI = .966, IFI = .966, MFI = .909, GFI = .955, AGFI = .927, RMR = .049, SRMR = .043, RMSEA = .068), with reasonable levels of internal consistency of the three primary factors (eating habits =.80; tobacco consumption =.91; resting habits =.84). This led us to conclude that the adaptation to the Sports of the Portuguese version of the EVS can be used with high confidence in the assessment of healthy lifestyles in the sports context.