Navigating Middle of the Road Reforms through Collaborative Community

The current wave of educational reform is complex and situated in market-based initiatives coupled with a renewed emphasis on local autonomy, deliberation, and community—middle-of-the-road reforms. In practice, schools are challenged to develop organizational forms that can support collaboration and community engagement, alongside the bureaucratic and accountability-driven reforms that demand more oversight, transparency, and demonstrable results. Our intent in this paper is to begin to map the emerging contradictions and opportunities that the complex reform climate presents for practitioners through a case study of a personalized learning charter school. In so doing, we illustrate how a community of teachers within a charter school navigated their work in the current policy climate. We found that explanatory frames that focused either on the market-oriented policy design or the democratically oriented structural mechanisms inside of schools were limited in their ability to help us account for what we were observing—that is, how teachers and staff used strategies of community and collaboration to reorganize how the accountability press from above unfolded in their school and in their day-to-day practices. We ultimately found that literature on collaborative community provided a compelling framework through which to interpret these findings

Examining Post-Graduation Career Plans of International Doctoral Students in the United States

Understanding the career trajectories of PhD recipients is an important topic of investigation, particularly for foreign students who may work in a different country from where their degree was obtained. In the United States, approximately 70% of PhD recipients enter employment in industry, government, or academia upon graduation, while nearly 30% seek further training through a postdoctoral appointment (NCSES, 2019). Over the last decade, post-doctoral appointments have become a more popular option for those who are seeking to transition into academia. The purpose of this research is to examine whether demographic variables and sources of financial support received during doctoral education influences the career decisions of international doctoral students in the United States. A multinomial logistic model and predicted probabilities were employed to examine relationships between primary sources of financial support and choices of faculty versus non-faculty positions – faculty, postdoctoral training, and other employment categories. The post-graduation location has the most significant and robust impact on career plans, with those who will remain in the United States being more likely to choose to work in academia. Plots of predicted probabilities show that research and teaching assistantships have greater influence on those from lower-income countries in choosing faculty positions. Keywords: Doctoral students, international students, career plans DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-20-03 Publication date:July 31st 202

Características do movimento de “opt-out”: Evidencia temprana para Colorado

Testing and accountability measures have continued to expand since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. In addition to school and district accountability, student test scores increasingly formed the foundation of teacher performance metrics. State participation rates exceeded the 95% minimum prescribed by law despite increasing opposition to many testing requirements. However, the rollout of the Common Core aligned PARCC tests in 2015 marked the start of a backlash against state mandated testing. The movement, commonly called opt-out, encouraged families not to participate in required tests. We use pooled OLS regression on statewide panel data from Colorado schools to examine school-level characteristics in one of the states with the largest declines in test participation. We find the prevalence of opt-out is largest in charter schools, suburban and rural areas, higher performing schools, and schools with a higher proportion of White students. Las medidas de evaluación y rendición de cuentas han continuado expandiéndose desde la aprobación del Acta de No Child Left Behind en 2001. Además de la responsabilidad de la escuela y el distrito, los puntajes de las pruebas de los estudiantes formaron cada vez más la base de las métricas de rendimiento de los maestros. Las tasas de participación del estado superaron el mínimo del 95% prescrito por la ley a pesar de la creciente oposición a muchos requisitos de prueba. Sin embargo, el lanzamiento de las pruebas PARCC alineadas con Common Core en 2015 marcó el inicio de una reacción violenta contra las pruebas exigidas por el estado. El movimiento, comúnmente llamado de exclusión, alentó a las familias a no participar en las pruebas requeridas. Usamos la regresión OLS agrupada en los datos del panel estatal de las escuelas de Colorado para examinar las características a nivel escolar en uno de los estados con los mayores descensos en la participación en las pruebas. Encontramos que la prevalencia de la exclusión voluntaria es mayor en las escuelas charter, áreas suburbanas y rurales, escuelas con mayor rendimiento y escuelas con una mayor proporción de estudiantes blancos.As medidas de teste e rendição de contas continuaram a se expandir desde a aprovação da Lei de No Child Left Behind, de 2001. Além da responsabilidade escolar e distrital, os resultados dos testes dos alunos formaram cada vez mais a base das métricas de desempenho dos professores. As taxas de participação do Estado excederam o mínimo de 95% prescrito pela lei, apesar da crescente oposição a muitos requisitos de teste. No entanto, a implementação dos testes PARCC alinhados ao Common Core em 2015 marcou o início de uma reação contra os testes obrigatórios do Estado. O movimento, comumente chamado de opt-out, encorajou as famílias a não participarem dos testes exigidos. Usamos a regressão OLS agrupada em dados de painel estaduais de escolas do Colorado para examinar as características do nível escolar em um dos estados com os maiores declínios na participação em testes. A prevalência de opt-out é maior em escolas charter, suburbanas e rurais, escolas de melhor desempenho e escolas com maior proporção de estudantes brancos

New Institutionalism in Everyday Life

In this paper, I examine how new institutionalism is similar to, and may expand upon Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis of human action and social life. I argue that while Goffman’s dramaturgical lens is useful for examining micro-social interactions among individuals, the ‘audience,’ and the organization, integrating new institutionalism as a theoretical framework into Goffman’s framework of dramaturgical analysis may provide the tools for combined micro-/macro-social analysis that incorporates the overarching influence of the institution (the ‘theater’) on micro-social interactions. I examine the potential of combining new institutionalism with dramaturgical analysis and I provide a brief example using ‘education’ as the institution to demonstrate how new institutional theory may be used in conjunction with Goffman’s dramaturgical theory

Barriers to Identifying Trafficked Youth in the Vermont Healthcare Setting

Introduction. Human trafficking affects victims’ physical and psychological health. This study aimed to identify the barriers to access, disclosure, and identification in a healthcare setting for potential trafficked youth in Vermont.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1190/thumbnail.jp

Identification and functional characterisation of CRK12:CYC9, a novel cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-cyclin complex in Trypanosoma brucei

The protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei, is spread by the tsetse fly and causes trypanosomiasis in humans and animals. Both the life cycle and cell cycle of the parasite are complex. Trypanosomes have eleven cdc2-related kinases (CRKs) and ten cyclins, an unusually large number for a single celled organism. To date, relatively little is known about the function of many of the CRKs and cyclins, and only CRK3 has previously been shown to be cyclin-dependent in vivo. Here we report the identification of a previously uncharacterised CRK:cyclin complex between CRK12 and the putative transcriptional cyclin, CYC9. CRK12:CYC9 interact to form an active protein kinase complex in procyclic and bloodstream T. brucei. Both CRK12 and CYC9 are essential for the proliferation of bloodstream trypanosomes in vitro, and we show that CRK12 is also essential for survival of T. brucei in a mouse model, providing genetic validation of CRK12:CYC9 as a novel drug target for trypanosomiasis. Further, functional characterisation of CRK12 and CYC9 using RNA interference reveals roles for these proteins in endocytosis and cytokinesis, respectively

Systemic lupus erythematosus phenotypes formed from machine learning with a specific focus on cognitive impairment

OBJECTIVE: To phenotype SLE based on symptom burden (disease damage, system involvement and patient reported outcomes), with a specific focus on objective and subjective cognitive function. METHODS: SLE patients ages 18-65 years underwent objective cognitive assessment using the ACR Neuropsychological Battery (ACR-NB) and data were collected on demographic and clinical variables, disease burden/activity, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), depression, anxiety, fatigue and perceived cognitive deficits. Similarity network fusion (SNF) was used to identify patient subtypes. Differences between the subtypes were evaluated using Kruskal-Wallis and χ2 tests. RESULTS: Of the 238 patients, 90% were female, with a mean age of 41 years (s.d. 12) and a disease duration of 14 years (s.d. 10) at the study visit. The SNF analysis defined two subtypes (A and B) with distinct patterns in objective and subjective cognitive function, disease burden/damage, HRQoL, anxiety and depression. Subtype A performed worst on all significantly different tests of objective cognitive function (P < 0.03) compared with subtype B. Subtype A also had greater levels of subjective cognitive function (P < 0.001), disease burden/damage (P < 0.04), HRQoL (P < 0.001) and psychiatric measures (P < 0.001) compared with subtype B. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the complexity of cognitive impairment (CI) in SLE and that individual, multifactorial phenotypes exist. Those with greater disease burden, from SLE-specific factors or other factors associated with chronic conditions, report poorer cognitive functioning and perform worse on objective cognitive measures. By exploring different ways of phenotyping SLE we may better define CI in SLE. Ultimately this will aid our understanding of personalized CI trajectories and identification of appropriate treatments

Axial Globe Position Measurement: A Prospective Multicenter Study by the International Thyroid Eye Disease Society

Identify a reproducible measure of axial globe position (AGP) for multicenter studies on patients with thyroid eye disease (TED)

(Hydroxy)apatite on cement: insights into a new surface treatment

(Hydroxy)apatite [Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2], has emerging potential as a cement coating material, with applications in environmental remediation, nuclear waste storage and architectural preservation. In these low temperature environments and when precipitating from aqueous solution on to a porous substrate, the crystal size, nucleation sites and modified surface properties created are key to designing the most effective coating. In this study we show that bacterial (biogenic) or chemical (abiotic) syntheses on to Portland cement alter these critical performance parameters. We identify the most significant difference between these two methods is the rate of pH change of the solution during synthesis, as this alters the surface properties and layer structure of HAp formed on cement. We show that iron present in Portland cement is not incorporated into the HAp structure; that formation of nanoparticulate/nanocrystalline HAp begins in the top 20 – 50 μm of the cement pore structure; and that a pH rise in the deposition solution controlled by bacteria metabolic activity leads to a rougher and more hydrophobic HAp coating compared to the abiotic synthesis. The results present the possibility of tailoring the surface topography and hydrophobicity of (hydroxy)apatite coated cement