scholarly journals A Balanced Literacy Initiative for One Suburban School District in the United States

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donita Shaw ◽  
Karen Hurst

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the teachers employed by this suburban USA school district implemented balanced literacy instruction. The 111 teachers who taught grades K-6 completed surveys and were observed. Quantitative data from the surveys and observations were analyzed through descriptive statistics, nonparametric chi-square tests, and Pearson correlations. One open-ended survey question was analyzed qualitatively. Findings show that the majority of teachers had an acceptable understanding of balanced literacy. There were differences among teachers’ instruction on literacy components and structures across grades. Weak correlations among self-reported and observed practices were found. Implications are discussed as the data are being used for research-informed improvements in the district.

2019 ◽  
pp. 525-539
Author(s):  
Ronald Pentz ◽  
He (Herman) Tang

This article describes how small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) are growing at a rapid pace. They are inexpensive and widely available for both hobbyist and commercial use. However, with this rapid growth, regulations are having a difficult time keeping pace to safely incorporate them into the United States National Airspace. Recent regulations requiring the registration of all sUAS have been overturned by the United States Courts of Appeals. This research provides a statistical analysis of the effectiveness of the registration regulation in the reduction of unauthorized and careless sUAS operation prior to being overturned by the courts. Statistical analysis including descriptive statistics and chi square hypothesis tests were used to analyze more than 3,000 reported unauthorized and careless events. The findings show a significant difference in events pre-registration and post registration.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000348942110081
Author(s):  
Alexander J. Straughan ◽  
Luke J. Pasick ◽  
Vrinda Gupta ◽  
Daniel A. Benito ◽  
Joseph F. Goodman ◽  
...  

Objectives: Fireworks are used commonly for celebrations in the United States, but can lead to severe injury to the head and neck. We aim to assess the incidence, types, and mechanisms of head and neck injuries associated with fireworks use from 2010 to 2019. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study, using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, of individuals presenting to United States Emergency Departments with head and neck injuries caused by fireworks and flares from 2010 to 2019. Incidence, types, and mechanisms of injury related to fireworks use in the US population were assessed. Results: A total of 541 patients (349 [64.5%] male, and 294 [54%] under 18 years of age) presented to emergency departments with fireworks-related head and neck injuries; the estimated national total was 20 584 patients (13 279 male, 9170 white, and 11 186 under 18 years of age). The most common injury diagnoses were burns (44.7% of injuries), laceration/avulsion/penetrating trauma (21.1%), and otologic injury (15.2%), which included hearing loss, otalgia, tinnitus, unspecified acoustic trauma, and tympanic membrane perforation. The remaining 19% of injuries were a mix, including contusion, abrasion, hematoma, fracture, and closed head injury. Associations between fireworks type and injury diagnosis (chi-square P < .001), as well as fireworks type by age group (chi-square P < .001) were found. Similarly, associations were found between age groups and injury diagnoses (chi-square P < .001); these included children 5 years and younger and adults older than 30 years. Conclusions: Fireworks-related head and neck injuries are more likely to occur in young, white, and male individuals. Burns are the most common injury, while otologic injury is a significant contributor. Annual rates of fireworks-related head and neck injuries have not changed or improved significantly in the United States in the past decade, suggesting efforts to identify and prevent these injuries are insufficient.


Author(s):  
Irana W Hawkins ◽  
A. Reed Mangels

Background: Vegetarian and vegan diets effectively reduce morbidity and mortality from many chronic diseases and are associated with reduced environmental impact. However, little is known about the role of teaching vegetarian and vegan nutrition in dietetics education in the United States. Thus, we examined the resources and methods used in teaching vegetarian/vegan nutrition in accredited dietetics programs in the United States. Methods: A cross-sectional, internet-based survey was sent to all Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) program directors in the United States (N = 574). Questions included queries about where vegetarian/vegan nutrition is taught in the curriculum (if at all), instructional methodologies, and the resourcesutilized. Overall, 205 program directors responded to our survey. Results: Vegetarian/vegan nutrition was taught in a variety of courses, most commonly in introductory nutrition courses. The evidence-based resources used most often included the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) Position Paper on Vegetarian Nutrition, the AND Evidence Analysis Library, and peer-reviewed studies. Hands-onfood preparation activities were commonly cited as a useful means for teaching vegetarian and vegan nutrition. Nearly 60% of 183 respondents to the relevant survey question indicated that their programs reviewed flexitarian/semi-vegetarian/low-meat diets. Innovative teaching techniques included stand-alone vegetarian nutrition courses, cu-linary experiences including recipe development and sensory evaluation, student presentations to the community, and asking students to follow vegetarian/vegan diets and then evaluate those experiences. Conclusions: Many dietetics educators used innovative strategies to teach vegetarian/vegan nutrition. These methods offer novel experiences for students to increase self-efficacy in vegetarian/vegan nutrition that can ultimately improve public and planetary health outcomes in practice.


Author(s):  
Matthew W Parker ◽  
Diana Sobieraj ◽  
Mary Beth Farrell ◽  
Craig I Coleman

Background: Little has been published on the practice of echocardiography (echo) in the United States. We used the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission-Echocardiography (IAC-Echo) applications database to describe the personnel in echo laboratories seeking accreditation. Methods: We used de-identified data provided on IAC-Echo applications to characterize facilities by hospital association, census region, annual volume, number of sites, previous accreditation, and numbers of physicians and sonographers as well as National Board of Echocardiography (NBE) testamur status of physicians and registered credential status of sonographers. We categorized Medical Directors by board certification in cardiovascular diseases, internal medicine, other specialty, or none. Medical Director echo training could be formal Level 2 or 3 or experiential by ≥3 years of practice. Frequencies, means, and medians were compared between groups using the chi-square test, t-test, or Mann Whitney test, respectively. Results: From 2011 to 2013, 1926 echo labs representing 10618 physicians and 6870 sonographers applied for IAC-Echo accreditation or re-accreditation. The majority of medical directors were board certified in cardiovascular diseases and 34.1% of medical directors and 27.2% of staff physicians held NBE testamur status; 79.5% of sonographers held registered credentials. Most echo labs were in the Northeast or South census regions, have an average of 1.75 sites, and are based outside of hospitals (Table). Compared to nonhospital echo labs, medical directors of hospital-based echo labs were more likely to be Level 3 trained (19.8% versus 30.8%, p<0.01) and be NBE testamurs (28.9% versus 45.6%, p<0.01). Markers of echo lab size, region, previous accreditation, and credentialed sonographers were associated with accreditation versus delay decisions; there was a trend toward accreditation among facilities with NBE medical directors. Conclusion: Among facilities seeking IAC-Echo accreditation, the minority of echo physicians hold NBE testamur status. Hospital and nonhospital facilities are different in the credentials of their personnel.


2021 ◽  
pp. 014303432110426
Author(s):  
Yi Ding ◽  
Tamique Ridgard ◽  
Su-Je Cho ◽  
Jiayi Wang

The main goal of this paper is to illustrate recruitment efforts, strategies, and challenges in the process of training bilingual school psychologists to serve diverse schools. First, we address the acute and chronic shortage of bilingual school psychologists in the United States, particularly in urban schools where student populations are increasingly diverse. Then we provide a review of strategies and efforts to recruit and retain bilingual graduate-level learners in one school psychology program in an urban university. Quantitative data regarding recruitment and retention efforts are discussed. We identify challenges and future directions to increase diversity in the field of school psychology.


Author(s):  
Olga Vladimirovna Semenova ◽  
◽  
Marina Lvovna Butovskaya ◽  

We tested this prediction on data collected in three cultural contexts of modern post-industrial societies. Quantitative data on the frequency of grandparental involvement in childcare were collected via a set of online surveys conducted in 2019 in Russia, the United States, and Brazil (N= 1531) and analyzed in R software. The current research was also focused on the analysis of the impact of the distance between households on the frequency of kinship assistance in childcare. Results. We found significant cross-cultural universalizes: 1) the distance between households negatively affects the frequency of help; 2) the care of the maternal grandparents is significantly higher than the care of the paternal grandparents. Discussion. In this study we found that the distance between households and family kin side have stable significant impact on the grandparental help cross-culturally. At the same time, it was shown that grandparental help in childcare is significantly reduced in Brazil compared to the other two studied countries. The phenomenon of reduced kin help in Brazil is an important finding and requires further research by evolutionary psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists.


This chapter focuses on the Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986) case – the United States Supreme Court's second review of students' speech rights under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. It discusses the test created in the case for determining when schools can regulate students' speech. This test, referred to as the Bethel test or the Fraser test authorizes schools to censor students' speech if the speech is vulgar, lewd, plainly offensive or obscene. The chapter also discusses the Supreme Court's decision on the scope of students' free speech rights. The ultimate goal of the chapter is to analyze the Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser case in order to determine if it empowers schools to censor off-campus student speech.


Author(s):  
Ronald Pentz ◽  
He (Herman) Tang

This article describes how small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) are growing at a rapid pace. They are inexpensive and widely available for both hobbyist and commercial use. However, with this rapid growth, regulations are having a difficult time keeping pace to safely incorporate them into the United States National Airspace. Recent regulations requiring the registration of all sUAS have been overturned by the United States Courts of Appeals. This research provides a statistical analysis of the effectiveness of the registration regulation in the reduction of unauthorized and careless sUAS operation prior to being overturned by the courts. Statistical analysis including descriptive statistics and chi square hypothesis tests were used to analyze more than 3,000 reported unauthorized and careless events. The findings show a significant difference in events pre-registration and post registration.


Author(s):  
Rafael Lara-Alecio ◽  
Shifang Tang ◽  
Kara L. Sutton-Jones ◽  
Beverly J. Irby ◽  
Fuhui Tong ◽  
...  

Teachers and school district administrators, particularly in the United States, are increasingly turning to teacher virtual professional development (VPD) to stay current and learn new pedagogical knowledge and skills. With more English learners (ELs) entering public school classrooms, it is essential to find effective ways to prepare educators to meet the needs of these students. The authors examined the improvement of Texas in-service teachers' English as a second language (ESL) pedagogical and content knowledge after participating in a VPD program designed for developing teachers' ESL instructional capacity. Chi-square analyses were conducted with participant pre- and post-survey data (n=61). Results indicated a significant improvement in teacher knowledge after program completion. There was no difference in teachers' knowledge gains based on their school district location. These findings are in line with other researchers who have found improvement in terms of teacher knowledge and instructional practices after participation in VPD.


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