More than just a teacher: exploring multiple perspectives of how teachers serve as instructional leaders

Historically, roles associated with instructional leadership in schools have been the sole responsibility of the school’s principal. Increased accountability has intensified the pressure on school personnel causing a paradigm shift that has progressively acknowledged the contributions of teacher leaders as an essential component of the school improvement process. Traditionally, teacher leaders have fulfilled varying leadership roles in their schools, many of which have been administrative. With a greater call for accountability in the school improvement process, there has been a gradual shift from teacher leaders serving in administrative roles to teacher leaders serving in instructional roles. Although bureaucratic infrastructures within school systems sometimes impede teacher-focused reform, this paradigm shift supports the disposition in favor of teacher involvement in the school improvement process. In fact, scholars suggest that without the integral involvement of teachers who possess diverse and specialized skills, school improvement efforts could not achieve systematic progress towards sustainable goals (Tomal, Schilling, & Wilhite, 2014). As our nation continues to grapple with the complexity of sustainable school improvement, this dissertation introduces an innovative approach to school reform that focuses on building the instructional capacity of the teacher workforce through the development of a new group of teacher leaders—teacher instructional leaders (TILs). Three individual teacher cases and their respective school administrators participated in this qualitative case study. The following research questions guided the study: How do teachers practice as teacher instructional leaders (TILs)? How do school principals promote the development of teacher instructional leaders (TILs)? What is the impact of teacher instructional leaders (TILs) on the whole school and the teacher? Assuming that our nation is concerned with reforming our failing public schools, it would be beneficial to consider the contributions of this qualitative case study to scholarship related to educator effectiveness, teacher leadership, instructional leadership, and teacher instructional leadership. For the fate of our country will not be decided on a battlefield, it will be determined in a classroom (Weber, 2010)

Weaving weave

As an artist I frequently disclose memories shared with my mother, aunts and friends to explore the identities of African American women; specifically their relationship to their hair and skin complexion post slavery. My videos, sculptures, and photography explore multilayered issues, such as-what are ways African American women use hair manipulation as a mask to hide their true identities? And, what are the effects of colorism in present day society

A preparation guide to horn excerpts from the concert band literature

Each academic year, hundreds of students receive performance degrees from the nation's universities and conservatories. A growing number of students who complete such degrees choose to pursue performance opportunities offered by the military organizations. While the inclusion of orchestral excerpts has been a staple of wind pedagogy for decades, band literature has not been given the same attention. This author believes the inclusion of band excerpt study would improve the level of preparedness for auditions and performance in these professional ensembles. No source exists containing information on the preparation of horn excerpts with which to study the style and literature of the concert band. Although the audition lists differ slightly for each of the premier military bands, the twenty-seven compositions included in this document are recognized as staples of the literature, considered to be works of substantive and high artistic merit, distinguished by historical importance, or are contemporary works which have been well-received. The information collected for each of the works includes biographical information for the composer, a brief history of the composition, suggestions for preparation including technical and stylistic elements, and a selected discography. Audition announcements for the premier organizations are separate from the Armed Forces band recruitment program. These groups often advertise their openings in respective professional journals published by organizations such as the International Trumpet Guild, International Horn Society, International Trombone Association, and the International Tuba and Euphonium Association, as well as union magazines, including the International Musician. Requirements often include performance of a standard concerto and works from the excerpt list (orchestral and band), as well as sight-reading and ensemble playing. In some cases, such as the Navy Band, fifty percent of the audition is based on the candidate's sight-reading ability, an area that consists of transcriptions of standard orchestral literature and original compositions for band. Reading/performance sessions with the ensemble can vary from the full concert band to smaller chamber ensembles (brass quintets, woodwind quintets, and horn sections). Well-prepared candidates should be equally comfortable with the orchestral and band literature

Size, age structure and diet preferences of an invasive population of redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus) in Richland Creek, Haywood County, North Carolina

In Richland Creek, Haywood County, North Carolina, the invasive species, Redbreast Sunfish,Lepomis auritus (Linnaeus 1758), dominates the fish assemblage. As part of a study of thefeasibility of using backpack electrofishing to selectively remove the invasive, Redbreast Sunfishwere removed from three reaches of Richland Creek. The sacrificed fish were used to gain insightinto the population characteristics of this population. Data on total length, wet weight and age,were recorded. Stomach contents were identified to the lowest taxon feasible, and compared tostandardized invertebrate samples collected near the time of fish sampling. Fish sacrificed rangedfrom total lengths of 31 mm to 168 mm. Fish were found from zero to three years old, with themajority of fish being in their first or second year of life. The fish collected in sites close to asmall reservoir downstream were smaller than fish collected upstream, indicating that the riverpopulation was likely a sink population to the reservoir. This population of Redbreast Sunfish atea variety of invertebrates, as well as a fish, supporting our hypothesis that they, as many invasivespecies, are generalists. They showed a slight preference for chironomids, and appeared to avoidmayflies

The effects of gamelike features and test location on cognitive test performance and participant enjoyment

ArticleComputerised cognitive assessments are a vital tool in the behavioural sciences, but participants often view them as effortful and unengaging. One potential solution is to add gamelike elements to these tasks in order to make them more intrinsically enjoyable, and some researchers have posited that a more engaging task might produce higher quality data. This assumption, however, remains largely untested. We investigated the effects of gamelike features and test location on the data and enjoyment ratings from a simple cognitive task. We tested three gamified variants of the Go-No-Go task, delivered both in the laboratory and online. In the first version of the task participants were rewarded with points for performing optimally. The second version of the task was framed as a cowboy shootout. The third version was a standard Go-No-Go task, used as a control condition. We compared reaction time, accuracy and subjective measures of enjoyment and engagement between task variants and study location. We found points to be a highly suitable game mechanic for gamified cognitive testing because they did not disrupt the validity of the data collected but increased participant enjoyment. However, we found no evidence that gamelike features could increase engagement to the point where participant performance improved. We also found that while participants enjoyed the cowboy themed task, the difficulty of categorising the gamelike stimuli adversely affected participant performance, increasing No-Go error rates by 28% compared to the non-game control. Responses collected online vs. in the laboratory had slightly longer reaction times but were otherwise very similar, supporting other findings that online crowdsourcing is an acceptable method of data collection for this type of research.The authors are members of the United Kingdom Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, a UKCRC Public Health Research: Centre of Excellence which receives funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, and the National Institute for Health Research, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration. This work was supported by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12013/6) and a PhD studentship to JL funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Cambridge Cognition Limited. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Defying domesticity: Steinbeck's critique of gender politics of the postwar generation in East of Eden

By setting East of Eden approximately fifty years before its publishing date, John Steinbeck takes a retrospective approach to critiquing contemporary gender politics in the United States. While the nation was attempting to forget the chaos of its past and look forward to the future and its promise of progress, Steinbeck took a look backwards. By setting his novel in the past, Steinbeck disguises his critique of contemporary lifestyle, which makes his novel more acceptable to contemporary readers. This thesis explores the gender politics in America throughout the 1950s while paying particular attention to the roles of women during this time period. This examination of Cathy Trask, Liza Hamilton, and Abra Bacon reveals sexual tensions and cultural dynamics as well as how these particular tensions and dynamics affected women of the post-World War II era. While Liza Hamilton represents the traditional domestic figure, Cathy Trask represents a deviant woman who refuses to accept the roles of wife and mother. Ultimately, Cathy Trask, the woman who deviates from the cultural norm in East of Eden, is punished. Rather than illustrating the idea that women who stray from traditional gender roles deserve to suffer the consequences, Steinbeck is actually portraying the limitations of postwar American society. Steinbeck offers the character of Abra Bacon as an alternative type of female who defines a new idea of femininity. While Abra observes traditional gender roles and maintains a domestic profile, at the same time, she is assertive and does not allow her femininity to be defined by domesticity

The Effects of Fire Fighting and On-Scene Rehabilitation on Hemostatis

Fire fighting is a dangerous occupation – in part because firefighters are called upon to perform strenuous physical activity in hot, hostile environments. Each year, approximately 100 firefighters lose their lives in the line of duty and tens of thousands are injured. Over the past 15 years, approximately 45% of line of duty deaths have been attributed to heart attacks and another 650-1,000 firefighters suffer non-fatal heart attacks in the line of duty each year. From 1990 to 2004, the total number of fireground injuries has declined, yet during this same period, the number of cases related to the leading cause of injury - overexertion/strain – remained relatively constant. It is well recognized that fire fighting leads to increased cardiovascular and thermal strain. However, the time course of recovery from fire fighting is not well documented, despite the fact that a large percentage of fire fighting fatalities occur after fire fighting activity. Furthermore, on scene rehabilitation (OSR) has been broadly recommended to mitigate the cardiovascular and thermal strain associated with performing strenuous fire fighting activity, yet the efficacy of different rehabilitation interventions has not been documented. Twenty-five firefighters were recruited to participate in a “within-subjects, repeated measures” study designed to describe the acute effects of fire fighting on a broad array of physiological and psychological measures and several key cardiovascular variables. This study provided the first detailed documentation of the time course of recovery during 2½ hours post-fire fighting. Additionally, we compared two OSR strategies (standard and enhanced) to determine their effectiveness.published or submitted for publicationnot peer reviewe

Nonpharmacological interventions to improve depression, anxiety, and quality of life (QoL) in people with dementia: an overview of systematic reviews

This overview aimed to systematically synthesize evidence from existing systematic reviews to signpost practitioners to the current evidence base on nonpharmacological interventions to improve depression, anxiety, and quality of life (QoL) in people with dementia and to discuss priorities for future research. The databases MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched in August 2017 with an updated search in January 2019. Fourteen systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials of nonpharmacological interventions were identified. Dementia stage was rated moderate or severe in the majority of the reviews and type of dementia varied. Interventions reported to be effective were cognitive stimulation (QoL: standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.38), music-based therapeutic interventions (depression: SMD = −0.27, anxiety: SMD = −0.43, QoL: SMD = 0.32), and psychological treatments (mainly cognitive behavior therapy; depression: SMD = −0.22, anxiety: MD = −4.57). Although health-care professionals are recommended to continue using these approaches, future research needs to focus on the type and form of interventions that are most effective for different stages and types of dementia

Predicting Extrapunitive And Intropunitive Hostility In A Juvenile Correction Population

This study examined the thesis that extrapunitive and intropunitive hostility can be predicted in a juvenile corrections subject population using a projective technique

Impaired Recognition of Basic Emotions from Facial Expressions in Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Assessing the Importance of Expression Intensity

It has been proposed that impairments in emotion recognition in ASD are greater for more subtle expressions of emotion. We measured recognition of 6 basic facial expressions at 8 intensity levels in young people (6–16 years) with ASD (N = 63) and controls (N = 64) via an Internet platform. Participants with ASD were less accurate than controls at labelling expressions across intensity levels, although differences at very low levels were not detected due to floor effects. Recognition accuracy did not correlate with parent-reported social functioning in either group. These findings provide further evidence for an impairment in recognition of basic emotion in ASD and do not support the idea that this impairment is limited solely to low intensity expressions.Sarah Griffiths was supported by a University of Bristol Science PhD Scholarship. This study was supported in part by the Medical Research Council and the University of Bristol (MC_UU_12013/6)