Correlation Between Interactive eBooks and Printed Text in Reading Achievement and Student Interest

Interactive eBooks or traditional printed text? Teachers face difficult decisions when determining which are the most effective tools to use to increase student reading achievement. Studies (Chong, Lim, & Ling, 2009; Ciampa, 2012; Coyle, 2008; Huang, Liang, Su, & Chen, 2012; Jones, & Brown, 2011; Larson, 2010; Martinez-Estrada, & Conaway, 2012; Maynard, 2010), have found that students prefer the additional features of interactive eBooks over traditional printed text; however, studies have failed to prove that these additional text features increase student reading achievement over traditional printed text. There has not been enough evidence to show that student reading achievement increases in the general education classroom when students read from an interactive eBook rather than a traditional printed text. This study was conducted to determine if the additional text features of interactive eBooks in the general education classroom increased student reading achievement and student motivation over traditional printed text. The results of this study did not provide significant evidence that the additional text features of interactive eBooks increase reading achievement over traditional printed text. The results of the study did indicate that while students prefer the additional text features of interactive eBooks, use of interactive eBooks did not increase student motivation

Integrative Approach: A Teacher Evaluation Process to Improve Practice at Fraser Valley Christian High School

This qualitative case study examines if the teacher evaluation process at Fraser Valley Christian High School (FVC) leads to improved teacher practices. In this case study, the author examines three current teachers at FVC who have gone through the evaluation process in the last twelve months and the impact the evaluation process had on their practice. FVC takes an integrated approach to its evaluation, combining both summative and formative evaluations with a focus on teacher participation in all facets of the process. Teachers at FVC are invited to consider how the domains of Planning and Preparation, Classroom Instruction, Classroom Community, Professional Responsibility, and Mission and Vision impact their teaching practice. These domains are considered through the use of dialogue, journaling, reading, peer observation, student surveys, parent surveys, and a summative evaluation. This case study demonstrates how the integrated teacher evaluation system at Fraser Valley Christian High School leads to improved practice

Encouraging Our Community and Retaining Our Educators

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the challenge of retaining high quality, committed teachers from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation. https://inallthings.org/encouraging-our-community-and-retaining-our-educators

Thriving Against the Technological Tide (Part II): A Review Conversation of The Life We\u27re Looking For

We need to ask what it would look like to design more instruments and less devices. And we need to build our lives more around instruments and less around devices. Posting about ­­­­­­­­the book The Life We\u27re Looking For from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation. https://inallthings.org/thriving-against-the-technological-tide-part-2-a-review-conversation-of-the-life-were-looking-for

Senior Nutrition - Meeting an Essential Minnesota Need

Food insecurity and malnutrition are significant public health concerns among older adults. Over the past two decades, the number of older adults in the U.S. who are food insecure has more than doubled (Ziliak & Gunderson, 2022). During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, deaths among older adults due to malnutrition increased in Minnesota (Olson, 2023). Food insecurity among older adults is associated with numerous health issues, isolation, and increased health costs (ACL, 2021). One prominent strategy to reduce food insecurity among older adults is to directly provide meals to those who may be food insecure. The State of Minnesota works to reduce food insecurity by providing funding to regional area agencies on aging for senior nutrition programs. However, funding for senior nutrition programs from the State of Minnesota has stagnated over the past few decades. This has reduced the ability of area agencies on agencies to meet the need that exists throughout the state. The State of Minnesota can address food insecurity and malnutrition among older adults by increasing funding for Senior Nutrition Programs. Increased funding will improve the ability of Minnesota Area Agencies on Aging to meet the demand for congregate and homedelivered meals and reduce food insecurity among older adults

Searching for the Structural Vision of City of Boerne v. Flores: Vertical and Horizontal Tensions in the New Constitutional Architecture

During the Rehnquist Court, America has witnessed accelerating federal judicial activism on behalf of States\u27 rights, and a judicial branch that increasingly views itself as final arbiter of the proper allocation of power between the federal and State governments. Apologists for this trend identify it closely with perceived structural checks embedded in the Constitution, which are designed to ensure greater participatory access in self-governance. Despite this laudable goal, federalism-based precedents appear to conflict with civil rights legislation, such as the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination In Employment Act. This article attempts to reconcile this apparent conflict by reference to the jurisprudence of Justice Brandeis, who embodied the simultaneous concern for States\u27 and individual rights. This article begins by analyzing the Court\u27s opinion in City of Boerne v. Flores and other decisions. It then examines the questions raised by lower court applications of City of Boerne to delimit congressional power to implement antidiscrimination legislation. In response to such decisions, this article situates City of Boerne squarely within existing separation of powers jurisprudence. Though federalism concerns clearly motivate the Court\u27s decision in City of Boerne, they are not the centerpiece of the Court\u27s decision. Rather, they constitute an important consideration for courts applying the test set forth in that decision. Turning more directly to the federalism concerns implicated by City of Boerne, this article concludes that such considerations necessarily give way to the more fundamental protections embodied in the challenged antidiscrimination laws