A Neuroeducation Approach to Writing Instruction with Kindergarteners: A Case Study

American elementary schools are seeing the lowest literacy rates to date across grade-levels. As this literacy rate has dropped across our nation, reading and writing standards have simultaneously increased in difficulty through Common Core State Standards. Kindergarten writing standards have drastically changed in the last decade in our American schools, yet many of our youngest learners are not reaching the new standards. Most commonly seen in our nation’s schools is a psycholinguistic approach to reading and writing instruction. Through this instruction, students are being left behind. The purpose of this case study was to explore an alternation method to writing instruction in a kindergarten classroom; this approach was founded by neuroeducation-based methods influenced by Arwood’s neuroeducation model. This study examined the extent to which six kindergarten students made advancements in their language function level and characteristics during an eight-week period of time at the beginning of their kindergarten academic year. The participants were assessed through four language samples; one oral and one written language sample at the beginning of the study and one oral and one written language sample after six weeks of neuroeducation-based writing instruction. The researcher found that the participants all remained at the same language function level of pre-language level; however improvements were made in language function characteristics. The results of this study suggest that neuroeducation-based writing instruction may provide educators with a new method to instruct writing in early elementary classrooms

It\u27s Time: A Meta-Analysis on the Self-Control-Deviance Link

Purpose The current meta-analysis examines the link between self-control and measures of crime and deviance, taking stock of the empirical status of self-control theory and focusing on work published between 2000 and 2010. Methods A total of 796 studies were reviewed for inclusion/exclusion criteria and yielded a final study sample of 99 studies (88 cross-sectional and 19 longitudinal effect sizes, analyzed separately). Random effects mean correlations between self-control and deviance were analyzed for cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, respectively. Publication bias was assessed using multiple methods. Results A random effects mean correlation between self-control and deviance was Mr = 0.415 for cross-sectional studies and Mr = 0.345 for longitudinal ones; this effect did not significantly differ by study design. Studies with more male participants, studies based on older or US-based populations, and self-report studies found weaker effects. Conclusions Substantial empirical support was found for the main argument of self-control theory and on the transdisciplinary link between self-control and measures of crime and deviance. In contrast to Pratt and Cullen, but consistent with theory, the effect from cross-sectional versus longitudinal studies did not significantly differ. There was no evidence of publication bias

"A Worthwhile Existence": The Conservatism and Consciousness of Indianapolis's Clubwomen, 1875-1920

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI

Dust in Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin)

We report optical imaging, optical and near-infrared polarimetry, and Spitzer mid-infrared spectroscopy of comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin). Polarimetric observations were obtained in R (0.676 micron) at phase angles from 0.44 degrees to 21 degrees with simultaneous observations in H (1.65 micron) at 4.0 degrees, exploring the negative branch in polarization. Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) shows typical negative polarization in the optical as well as a similar negative branch near-infrared wavelengths. The 10 micron silicate feature is only weakly in emission and according to our thermal models, is consistent with emission from a mixture of silicate and carbon material. We argue that large, low-porosity (akin to Ballistic Particle Cluster Aggregates) rather absorbing aggregate dust particles best explain both the polarimetric and the mid-infrared spectral energy distribution.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, 3 table

Mineralogical Characterization of Baptistina Asteroid Family: Implications for K/T Impactor Source

Bottke et al. (2007) linked the catastrophic formation of Baptistina Asteroid Family (BAF) to the K/T impact event. This linkage was based on dynamical and compositional evidence, which suggested the impactor had a composition similar to CM2 carbonaceous chondrites. However, our recent study (Reddy et al. 2009) suggests that the composition of (298) Baptistina is similar to LL-type ordinary chondrites rather than CM2 carbonaceous chondrites. This rules out any possibility of it being related to the source of the K/T impactor, if the impactor was of CM-type composition. Mineralogical study of asteroids in the vicinity of BAF has revealed a plethora of compositional types suggesting a complex formation and evolution environment. A detailed compositional analysis of 16 asteroids suggests several distinct surface assemblages including ordinary chondrites (Gaffey SIV subtype), primitive achondrites (Gaffey SIII subtype), basaltic achondrites (Gaffey SVII subtype and V-type), and a carbonaceous chondrite. Based on our mineralogical analysis we conclude that (298) Baptistina is similar to ordinary chondrites (LL-type) based on olivine and pyroxene mineralogy and moderate albedo. S-type and V-type in and around the vicinity of BAF we characterized show mineralogical affinity to (8) Flora and (4) Vesta and could be part of their families. Smaller BAF asteroids with lower SNR spectra showing only a 'single' band are compositionally similar to (298) Baptistina and L/LL chondrites. It is unclear at this point why the silicate absorption bands in spectra of asteroids with formal family definition seem suppressed relative to background population, despite having similar mineralogy