Giving Students a Chance to Learn: Hitting Pause and Engaging Students

A book review of Gail Rice\u27s book, Hitting pause: 65 lecture breaks to refresh and reinforce learning

Teens Acting Against Violence (TAAV) Program Evaluation

Teens Acting Against Violence (TAAV) is a violence prevention and youth empowerment program at the Tundra Women’s Coalition (TWC) for teenagers living in Bethel, Alaska. Participation is voluntary and open for any interested teens aged 12-18. TWC and TAAV partnered with the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Justice Center to conduct an evaluation of the TAAV program through a one-time survey of former and current adult members (over 18 years of age) of TAAV. Pursuant to TAAV objectives, the focus of the evaluation was placed on examining efforts in the areas of domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, building healthy relationships, encouraging sobriety, and suicide prevention.Tundra Women’s CoalitionTable of Contents / Acknowledgments / Executive Summary / Section I. Introduction and Background / Section II. Methodology / Section III. Program Satisfaction / Section IV. TAAV Staff / Section V. Cultural Considerations / Section VI. TAAV Activities / Section VII. TAAV Impacts / Section VIII. Life Skills / Section IX. Self-perceptions / Section X. Interpersonal Relationships / Section XI. Bystander Intervention / Section XII. High-risk Behaviors / Section XIII. Member Feedback / Section XIV. Conclusion and Recommendations / Appendix A: TAAV Survey / Appendix B: List of Survey Resources / Appendix C: Data Table

An Assessment of Agreement in Detection Methods for Histophilus somni in Bovine Lungs

Objectives: To examine the inter-laboratory agreement between multiplex realtime quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay results and aerobic culture results on bovine lung samples for detection of Histophilus somni (HS), and to assess associations of laboratory-derived factors on test agreement. Methods: A survey of records from the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) was conducted to evaluate test results from grossly pneumonic bovine lung samples submitted during the period April 1, 2015 through August 31, 2018. Cohen’s kappa coefficient with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to describe the extent of agreement. Animal, environmental and laboratory factors were examined for associations to culture results using logistic regression analysis. Results: Of the 417 cases analyzed, 56 were qPCR positive and culture positive for HS, 90 were qPCR positive and culture negative, 3 were qPCR negative and culture positive, and 268 were negative on both tests. Calculations yielded a Cohen’s kappa coefficient of 0.43 [CI: (0.35, 0.51)], considered moderate agreement, for the qPCR assay versus aerobic culture. Results from the final model revealed male gender and cycle threshold (Ct) value measured by qPCR were significantly associated with the probability of a positive HS culture result. Conclusion: The specificity of qPCR for detection of HS, when evaluated against the gold standard of aerobic culture, is falsely low due to the challenges of growing this organism. Bacterial qPCR assays should be routinely performed 2 on all cases of bovine respiratory disease, in addition to aerobic culture, to enhance organism detection

“I’m Just a Middleman : A Phenomenological Study of Specialized Literacy Professionals\u27 Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Specialized literacy professionals (SLPs) are an integral part of schools, serving as interventionists, coaches, coordinators, and more. They are called on to guide reading and writing in their schools, helping to build academic success for students. However, these individuals are asked to do so much in schools that they have difficulty meeting the expectations set for them. The International Literacy Association has spent decades creating and revising standards for literacy professionals helping to delineate roles for SLPs so that they have set responsibilities that they can focus on. Despite these efforts, SLPs continue to serve a multiplicity of roles. During the COVID-19 pandemic this was exacerbated as SLPs took on more roles and responsibilities than they have in the past. Further, research has failed to dig deeply into how SLPs perceive their role and their identity in schools. To help move SLPs toward the standards set forth by the International Literacy Association, we must first work to understand their current experiences. This phenomenology investigated the lived experiences of SLPs working in elementary school settings during the COVID-19 pandemic using dialogical self theory. Dialogical self theory acknowledges that individuals take on multiple positions in their lives and seeks to understand how those positions are negotiated within the self. Nine SLPs working throughout the United States participated in this study. Each participant completed an entry survey, two individual interviews, and six participants participated in focus group interviews. Data were analyzed using the guidelines set forth by Moustakas (1994). Results revealed that all participants had a professional and personal identity that they attempted to separate; they also used coping strategies to navigate their positions within their identities. All participants’ experiences were influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic because of the changes it created in their personal and professional identities and the positions within them. Some participants also experienced power differences and were influenced by the reading wars. A few participants’ experiences were influenced by taking on a new role during a pandemic. Findings from this study can be used to inform practice in elementary schools and SLP preparation programs in institutions of higher education