Putting induction into practice: a case study of how school context mediates induction policies and practices

This study describes beginning teacher support and retention in four high schools in a large school district in North Carolina. State and district policies mandate that all beginning teachers receive multiple layers of mentor support, including district mentors, school-level mentors, school buddies, and school Induction Coordinators. Little is known about how individual schools enact the induction policies set forth by the district, or about individual teacher’s response to the activities within a given school context. This qualitative research study on the nature of the implementation of induction at four different high school sites and beginning teachers’ experiences in these contexts during their first two years provided information about the kinds of support that beginning teachers need and receive, and the impact that induction practices had on their decisions to stay, move to another school, or leave the profession. Data collection from 25 first and second year teachers and 13 Support Providers (district administrators, school administrators, mentors, and Induction Coordinators) provided evidence regarding what factors were helpful to them for transitioning into their professional roles and what factors most influenced their decisions to stay or leave. The general research question for this study is: “How do participants (Support Providers and beginning teachers) involved with induction perceive the relationship between school context, support, and teacher retention at their respective schools?” Two specific research and several sub-questions guided this study: 1) How do participants perceive support for beginning teachers at their schools? *How do they perceive the implementation of induction policies and practices at their schools? *How do participants perceive other types of support at their schools? 2) Why do some beginning teachers choose to leave, and why do some beginning teachers choose to stay in their schools? *How do participants perceive support needs in relationship to the unique needs of their school? *How do participants perceive retention for beginning teachers at their schools? The research found that Support Providers and Beginning Teachers cited similar sources of support for beginning teachers, including induction-related activities, mentors, administrators, and colleagues. Some teachers found induction supports cumbersome, time consuming, and misaligned to their needs. Support Providers reported that a primary role in support of beginning teachers was to provide a menu of options for beginning teachers to choose from. District personnel felt that they set up a strong structure of support for beginning teachers, but that they felt constrained by their case-load to work with schools with large numbers of beginning teachers. All participants felt that beginning teachers who left their school were not adequately prepared for and supported in their particular school environment. Beginning teachers who stayed did so because of their passion for working with their students and satisfaction from seeing students make academic gains, regardless of whether or not they felt supported by their administration. These teachers had a personal commitment to their school and students and felt supported enough to continue in their respective schools. Each of the four schools presented a unique teaching context. As a result, the needs of the beginning teachers varied greatly depending on the school’s needs and their individual preparation and expectations for the role. Induction was embedded in each school’s particular culture, and as a result, district level induction policies played out differently at each school

An analysis of selected mechanical factors that contribute to vertical jumping height of four basketball players

The purpose of this investigation was to study, through cinematography, selected mechanical factors that contribute to vertical jumping performance. The investigation included an analysis of the angular measurements of the elbow, shoulder, hip, knee, ankle, and body lean. In addition to the angular measurements the velocities of the arm movement, hip extension, knee extension, and plantar flexion were also investigated as was the sequential order of the position, velocity, and acceleration of body parts during the selected jumps

The relationship between intelligence and motor proficiency in the intellectually gifted child

The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between motor proficiency as measured by the Lincoln Revision of the Oseretsky Tests of Motor Proficiency and intelligence as measured by the California Tests of Mental Maturity in the intellectually gifted child. Twenty gifted girls and twenty gifted boys comprised the experimental group. All of the I.Q.'s in the experimental group were 120 or higher. The control group was made up of twenty boys and twenty girls who had I.Q.'s of between 90 and 110. All subjects of both groups had passed their eighth birthday and had not yet reached their tenth birthday. All subjects were selected from upper middle-class neighborhoods. Low positive correlation coefficients were found between subjects' I.Q. and Lincoln-Oseretsky scores in both the gifted and normal samples. This was expected, due to the relative homogeniety of I.Q. of subjects within each sample. A t-test of significance for the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was computed for the combined samples and was found to be significant at the .01 level of confidence. The significant high positive correlation between I.Q. and Lincoln-Oseretsky scores for the combined samples supports Hypothesis I which stated that both gifted and average children should show a significant positive correlation between intelligence and motor proficiency. This study showed that gifted children had significantly higher motor scores than did normal children. This result supports Hypothesis II which stated that gifted children should demonstrate a definite superiority in motor proficiency when compared with average children of their own age. Within the limits of this study, intellectually gifted children are definitely superior to average children of the same chronological age when comparing their motor proficiency. An intellectually gifted child tends to have better control over his sensori-motor responses than do children of lower I.Q. It may be concluded that up to a point intelligence and motor proficiency are positively related, in so far as this study is concerned,, It is obvious that intelligence is more than just an I.Q. score on a so-called intelligence test. Many factors enter into the concept of intelligence. Certainly this study indicates that motor proficiency may well be one of these factors. The implications of this study should be of value to educators, guidance directors, and psychologists who have the responsibility of establishing or modifying the educational programs of school children. Further studies are needed in the area of motor proficiency. One of the more important would be the establishment of the concept of "motor age" so that a child's motor expectancy may be determined as a guide for the counselor and educator. It would also be desirable to shorten the administration time of the Oseretsky Scale if possible. As it now stands, the length of time it takes to administer the entire test and the fact that it is an individual test make it impractical to use in most classroom situations

Working Partnerships, Partnerships Working

Involvement in community partnerships at Virginia Commonwealth University has its roots in the institution\u27s history. The Medical College of Virginia, founded in1838, and the Richmond Professional Institute, founded in 1917, both sought to extend knowledge into the community to change peoples\u27 lives for the better. Today, the VCU campuses are even more entwined with the City of Richmond -- physically, and increasingly so as a partner in the economic and social challenges and opportunities facing the City

The Role of Handheld Computing in Facilitating Resilience Through Problem Solving

Becoming an effective teacher that thrives not only survives involves much more than finishing a licensing higher education program. This study explored problem-solving strategies that student teachers used during their internship semester to cope with professional challenges and to develop resilience. The research questions in this study included: What strategies support the development of resilience? How are teachers approaching the professional dilemmas encountered? How can handheld devices facilitate reflective problem-solving? Six student teachers from early childhood education, special education, and science education used mobile computing devices for a variety of professional and personal purposes and reflected upon and documented uses. Data was analyzed using a case study approach. Major themes included risk factors such as low self-confidence, and protective factors such as strong motivation to teach, and critical reflection skills. Mobile technology devices proved to be easy to use and very helpful in the problem solving process

Transoral laser surgery for laryngeal carcinoma: has Steiner achieved a genuine paradigm shift in oncological surgery?

Transoral laser microsurgery applies to the piecemeal removal of malignant tumours of the upper aerodigestive tract using the CO2 laser under the operating microscope. This method of surgery is being increasingly popularised as a single modality treatment of choice in early laryngeal cancers (T1 and T2) and occasionally in the more advanced forms of the disease (T3 and T4), predomi- nantly within the supraglottis. Thomas Kuhn, the American physicist turned philosopher and historian of science, coined the phrase ‘paradigm shift’ in his groundbreaking book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. He argued that the arrival of the new and often incompatible idea forms the core of a new paradigm, the birth of an entirely new way of thinking. This article discusses whether Steiner and col- leagues truly brought about a paradigm shift in oncological surgery. By rejecting the principle of en block resection and by replacing it with the belief that not only is it oncologically safe to cut through the substance of the tumour but in doing so one can actually achieve better results, Steiner was able to truly revolutionise the man- agement of laryngeal cancer. Even though within this article the repercussions of his insight are limited to the upper aerodigestive tract oncological surgery, his willingness to question other peoples’ dogma makes his contribution truly a genuine paradigm shift

Heart rate variability as an assessment of fall risk in older adults

Falls in the older adult population are a critical public health concern, resulting in significant personal and societal financial burden, and reduced independence and quality of life. Early identification of elevated fall risk is vital for implementation of effective fall prevention strategies. However, the unidimensional nature of traditional fall risk assessments fails to accurately determine fall risk (incidence of falls) in older adults. Additionally, fall risk assessments are most often measured in the clinical setting, and consequently many injurious falls occur prior to the identification of elevated risk by a healthcare provider. Assessment of heart rate variability (HRV) in the free-living environment provides a robust solution to the limitations of traditional fall risk assessments. HRV or the fluctuations in the time intervals between adjacent heartbeats, has emerged as a valuable assessment reflecting the dynamic, non-linear autonomic nervous systems (ANS) influence on cardiac rhythm. In alignment with dynamic systems theory, previous work supports system-based overlaps of the ANS and other fall risk related physiological systems. Thus, measurement of HRV presents an opportunity to assess the interaction of multiple physiological systems that influence falls. However, the efficacy of HRV to determine fall risk in healthy, community dwelling older adults is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is threefold: 1) to determine if HRV indices observed over a 24-hour monitoring period differ in community dwelling older adults with a history of falls and those who have not sustained a fall, 2) to determine the discriminative validity of HRV indices observed over a 24-hour monitoring period for classifying fall risk in older adults compared to traditional fall risk assessment tools, including the Timed Up and Go (TUG), the Functional Gait Assessment (FGA), and the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC), 3) to examine associations between intrinsic fall risk factors [e.g., postural control, vestibular function, lower extremity muscular strength, executive function, and depression] and HRV indices observed over a 24-hour monitoring period and whether the relationships differ for those with a history of falls versus non-fallers. Forty-two healthy, community dwelling older adults (age 74.40 ± 5.46 years) participated in this study and were assigned to either the fallers group (n = 15) or non-fallers group (n = 27) based on self-reported fall history. Participants in the fallers group reported =1 fall during the 12 months prior to testing. All participants completed a demographics and health history survey, three traditional fall risk assessments (TUG, FGA, and ABC), and five measures to assess intrinsic fall risk. To measure HRV, participants wore a heart rate monitor for 24-hours in their free-living environment. Mann Whitney U tests were run to determine if HRV metrics differed between groups, and Wilcoxon effect size calculations were executed to determine the magnitude of the effect. The results reported in Manuscript I show that HRV metrics did not significantly differ between fallers and non-fallers; however, a medium effect of fall risk on the standard deviation of the normal-to-normal intervals was observed (SDNN). This suggests that SDNN may provide clinically relevant information regarding fall risk. Receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curves were run to determine the discriminative validity of HRV indices in comparison to traditional fall risk assessments. The results of Manuscript II suggest that SDNN had the greatest accuracy to differentiate fallers from non-fallers but was not significantly better than traditional fall risk assessments. Multiple regressions were completed to determine the extent to which intrinsic fall risk factors are associated with HRV indices, and whether the relationships differ for those with a history of falls versus non-fallers. The results reported in Manuscript III show that declines in postural control and vestibular function were associated with alterations in HRV non-linear parameters. These data suggest that HRV may be an effective measure of fall risk in community dwelling older adults. It is recommended that future work expand to include older adults with diagnoses of age-related diseases known to increase fall risk

Is group cognitive behaviour therapy for postnatal depression evidence-based practice? A systematic review

Background: There is evidence that psychological therapies including cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) may be effective in reducing postnatal depression (PND) when offered to individuals. In clinical practice, this is also implemented in a group therapy format, which, although not recommended in guidelines, is seen as a cost-effective alternative. To consider the extent to which group methods can be seen as evidence-based, we systematically review and synthesise the evidence for the efficacy of group CBT compared to currently used packages of care for women with PND, and we discuss further factors which may contribute to clinician confidence in implementing an intervention. Methods: Seventeen electronic databases were searched. All full papers were read by two reviewers and a third reviewer was consulted in the event of a disagreement on inclusion. Selected studies were quality assessed, using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool, were data extracted by two reviewers using a standardised data extraction form and statistically synthesised where appropriate using the fixed-effect inverse-variance method. Results: Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analyses showed group CBT to be effective in reducing depression compared to routine primary care, usual care or waiting list groups. A pooled effect size of d = 0.57 (95% CI 0.34 to 0.80, p < 0.001) was observed at 10–13 weeks post-randomisation, reducing to d = 0.28 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.53, p = 0.025) at 6 months. The non-randomised comparisons against waiting list controls at 10–13 weeks was associated with a larger effect size of d = 0.94 (95% CI 0.42 to 1.47, p < 0.001). However due to the limitations of the available data, such as ill-specified definitions of the CBT component of the group programmes, these results should be interpreted with caution. Conclusions: Although the evidence available is limited, group CBT was shown to be effective. We argue, therefore, that there is sufficient evidence to implement group CBT, conditional upon routinely collected outcomes being benchmarked against those obtained in trials of individual CBT, and with other important factors such as patient preference, clinical experience, and information from the local context taken into account when making the treatment decision