Language Policy and the Preparedness of Mainstream Teachers for Serving ELs in K-12 Classrooms

English language learners (ELs) numbers are increasing steadily in classrooms across the United States. Some southeastern states have seen more than a 200% EL student increase in recent years (Migration Policy Institute, 2010). Since the inception of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and especially since Title I “flexibility” revisions, responsibility for educating ELs has shifted from ESOL and bilingual teachers to primarily mainstream teachers. States that have opted out of NCLB under flexibility revisions are no longer as accountable to the U. S. Department of Education for the education of ELs. States and school districts are no longer required to include some EL test scores in accountability measures. Mainstream classroom teachers may no longer receive quality support from ESOL professionals in educating mainstreamed ELs. Are mainstream teachers prepared to educate ELs? This study examines the perceptions that mainstream classroom teachers have regarding their preparedness in serving the ELs in their classrooms. Findings indicated four emergent categories of mainstream teachers: 1) teachers who knew virtually nothing about serving ELs, 2) teachers who presumed they would send ELs out of their classroom for instruction and assessment, 3) teachers who sought instructional and assessment assistance, and 4) teachers who were familiar with best practices for teaching ELs. Mainstream teachers in this study who were being held accountable for EL student achievement overall lacked knowledge or had misconceptions about the strategies used to teach and assess ELs. Current policy shaping the education of ELs is unlikely to assure they receive an adequate education

Employing Cueing Systems to Decode Text and Negotiate Text-Meaning in a Second Language

Many educators state that teaching English-Language Learners (ELLs) is just a matter of good teaching. While effective teaching is something that all children deserve, there are some differences between the approach a teacher may have to take with ELLs and with other students. One aspect of this difference is the fact that, while children go through the same stages of language development, ELLs may be at stages typically not found in other students. Based on a case study of an EL and his teacher, this article explains cueing systems and their role in literacy for ELs

Systematic variation of central mass density slope in early-type galaxies

We study the total density distribution in the central regions ($<\, 1$ effective radius, $R_{\rm e}$) of early-type galaxies (ETGs), using data from the SPIDER survey. We model each galaxy with two components (dark matter halo + stars), exploring different assumptions for the dark matter (DM) halo profile, and leaving stellar mass-to-light ($M_{\rm \star}/L$) ratios as free fitting parameters to the data. For a Navarro et al. (1996) profile, the slope of the total mass profile is non-universal. For the most massive and largest ETGs, the profile is isothermal in the central regions ($\sim R_{\rm e}/2$), while for the low-mass and smallest systems, the profile is steeper than isothermal, with slopes similar to those for a constant-M/L profile. For a concentration-mass relation steeper than that expected from simulations, the correlation of density slope with mass tends to flatten. Our results clearly point to a "non-homology" in the total mass distribution of ETGs, which simulations of galaxy formation suggest may be related to a varying role of dissipation with galaxy mass.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, to appear on the refereed Proceeding of the "The Universe of Digital Sky Surveys" conference held at the INAF--OAC, Naples, on 25th-28th november 2014, to be published on Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, edited by Longo, Napolitano, Marconi, Paolillo, Iodic

In vivo validation of the origin of the esophageal electrocardiogram

Esophageal electrocardiography is a clinical and investigational technique that is useful for determining atrial conduction intervals, analyzing atrial rhythms and mapping conduction pathways. Although the left atrial origin of the esophageal electrocardiogram has long been implied, recently that origin has been questioned. In the present study, the origin of the esophageal deflection is defined by direct right and left atrial mapping studies performed with simultaneous esophageal electrograms obtained from three positions (high, mid and low). Seven patients with normal left atrial dimensions (group I) and five patients with left atrial enlargement (group II) underwent transseptal catheterization during the course of electrophysiologic study.In group I (normal left atrial dimensions), conduction time from the high right atrium to each of the three esophageal positions corresponded to conduction times to left atrial sites ranging from 1 to 3 em lateral to the left interatrial septum. The mid- and low esophageal conduction times were all significantly longer than conduction time to the left side of the septum (p < 0.05). In group II (enlarged left atrium), conduction times to each of the esophageal sites corresponded to conduction times to left atrial sites lying between the mid-left atrium and a point 1 em lateral to the left side of the septum. A significant trend toward longer conduction time to the mid-esophageal position than to the left septum was noted (p < 0.1). In both groups, conduction times measured with the esophageal catheter were significantly longer than conduction time to the right interatrial septum (p < 0.05).The esophageal electrogram corresponds to atrial deflections recorded within the left atrium distinct from the interatrial septum and right atrium. Esophageal electrocardiography is a valid technique for investigation of left atrial rhythms and interatrial conduction

Plasma lensing of a laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch

We report on the first all-optical demonstration of plasma lensing using laser wakefield accelerated elec-trons in a two-stage setup. The LWFA electron bunch was focused by a second plasma stage without any ex-ternal fields applied..

Probability distributed time delays: integrating spatial effects into temporal models

Background: In order to provide insights into the complex biochemical processes inside a cell, modelling approaches must find a balance between achieving an adequate representation of the physical phenomena and keeping the associated computational cost within reasonable limits. This issue is particularly stressed when spatial inhomogeneities have a significant effect on system's behaviour. In such cases, a spatially-resolved stochastic method can better portray the biological reality, but the corresponding computer simulations can in turn be prohibitively expensive.Results: We present a method that incorporates spatial information by means of tailored, probability distributed time-delays. These distributions can be directly obtained by single in silico or a suitable set of in vitro experiments and are subsequently fed into a delay stochastic simulation algorithm (DSSA), achieving a good compromise between computational costs and a much more accurate representation of spatial processes such as molecular diffusion and translocation between cell compartments. Additionally, we present a novel alternative approach based on delay differential equations (DDE) that can be used in scenarios of high molecular concentrations and low noise propagation.Conclusions: Our proposed methodologies accurately capture and incorporate certain spatial processes into temporal stochastic and deterministic simulations, increasing their accuracy at low computational costs. This is of particular importance given that time spans of cellular processes are generally larger (possibly by several orders of magnitude) than those achievable by current spatially-resolved stochastic simulators. Hence, our methodology allows users to explore cellular scenarios under the effects of diffusion and stochasticity in time spans that were, until now, simply unfeasible. Our methodologies are supported by theoretical considerations on the different modelling regimes, i.e. spatial vs. delay-temporal, as indicated by the corresponding Master Equations and presented elsewhere

Demonstration of passive plasma lensing of a laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch

We report on the first demonstration of passive all-optical plasma lensing using a two-stage setup. An intense femtosecond laser accelerates electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) to 100 MeV over millimeter length scales. By adding a second gas target behind the initial LWFA stage we introduce a robust and independently tunable plasma lens. We observe a density dependent reduction of the LWFA electron beam divergence from an initial value of 2.3 mrad, down to 1.4 mrad (rms), when the plasma lens is in operation. Such a plasma lens provides a simple and compact approach for divergence reduction well matched to the mm-scale length of the LWFA accelerator. The focusing forces are provided solely by the plasma and driven by the bunch itself only, making this a highly useful and conceptually new approach to electron beam focusing. Possible applications of this lens are not limited to laser plasma accelerators. Since no active driver is needed the passive plasma lens is also suited for high repetition rate focusing of electron bunches. Its understanding is also required for modeling the evolution of the driving particle bunch in particle driven wake field acceleration