A need for evidence-based and multidisciplinary research to study the effects of the interaction of school environmental conditions on student achievement

With funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Healthy Schools initiative, a research team from the University of Nebraska– Lincoln (UNL) is currently working on establishing how environmental conditions in K-12 school buildings impact student scholastic achievement. The objectives of the research project are: (1) to study comprehensively the impacts of a wide set of indoor environmental factors (including indoor air quality, thermal, lighting and acoustic conditions) on student achievement; (2) to investigate how these environmental conditions interact with each other to impact student achievement; (3) to rank order the environmental variables in terms of their relative impact on student achievement and (4) to determine how these effects vary with different demographic (e.g. socio-economic) groups

Meeting the Challenges of Effective International HRM: Analysis of the Antecedents of Global Mindset

The full force of globalization has hit today’s organizations, and it is clear that there are many cultural and human problems. International human resource management (IHRM) is being asked to better understand and develop multinational organizational leaders to meet the challenges. A prominent solution that is receiving increased attention is the construct of global mindset, which has growing rhetoric but little research support. To help fill this need, after first theoretically framing global mindset as made up of one’s cultural intelligence and global business orientation, this study identifies and empirically tests some theory-driven antecedents. Utilizing a diverse sample (N = 136) of global leaders of a well-known multinational, we found that personal, psychological, and role complexity antecedents were related to the participants’ level of global mindset. The practical implications of these findings for effective international human resource management conclude the article

BMQ

BMQ: Boston Medical Quarterly was published from 1950-1966 by the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Memorial Hospitals

Exploring the views of being a proxy from the perspective of unpaid carers and paid carers: developing a proxy version of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT)

Background: Outcomes-based policy and administration of public services present a compelling argument for the value of outcomes data. However, there are a number of challenges inherent in collecting these data from people who are unable to complete a paper-based survey or interview due to cognitive or communication impairments. In this paper, we explore the views of being a proxy from the perspective of unpaid carers and paid carers who may be asked to act as a proxy on behalf of the person(s) they care for. We consider the key issues that need to be addressed when adapting an instrument designed to measure social care outcomes, the Adult Social Care Outcomes Tool (ASCOT), into a proxy-report tool. Methods: Participants took part in either a focus group (35 paid carers in eight focus groups), or a one-to-one interview (eight unpaid carers). All participants were recruited via carer organisations and care providers. Transcripts, field notes and audio data collected during focus groups and interviews were analysed using a thematic framework approach. Results: Participants agreed that any person acting as a proxy would need to be very familiar with the care recipient, as well as their needs and care provision. A number of provisions for proxy respondents were proposed to improve face validity and acceptability of completing a questionnaire by proxy, and to ensure that any potential bias is reduced in the design of the questionnaire. These included: providing two sets of response options for each proxy perspective (the proxy themselves and the proxy view of how they think the care recipient would respond); a comments box to help people explain why they have selected a given response option (especially where these indicate unmet need); and providing clear guidance for the proxy respondent on how they should complete the questionnaire. Conclusions: This study has shown some of the challenges involved in assessing outcomes by proxy and explored some potential ways these can be mitigated. The findings highlight the benefits of developing and testing proxy measures in a robust way to widen participation in social care research

Measuring Attentional Ability in Older Adults: Development and Psychometric Evaluation of DriverScan

Although deficits in visual attention are often postulated as an important component of many declines in cognitive processing and functional outcomes in older adults, surprisingly little emphasis has been placed on evaluating psychometric instruments with which individual differences in visual attention ability can be assessed. This article reports the development and beginning psychometric evaluation of DriverScan, a change detection measure of attentional search for older adults. A constrained graded response model is used to approximate response speed and accuracy with categories of immediate, delayed, or no response. DriverScan items are shown to have excellent reliability over the studied sample, and the distribution of items is shown to adequately cover the difficulty continuum and to be maximally sensitive at distinguishing individuals with lower than average abilities (i.e., individuals with attention deficits). Item design features representing goal-directed and stimulus-driven attentional processing significantly predict item difficulty as hypothesized

A Physical Therapy Intervention to Advance Cognitive and Motor Skills: A Single Subject Study of a Young Child with Cerebral Palsy

Background: Physical therapy interventions for children with severe motor impairments do not address the relationship between motor and cognitive development. Purpose: Evaluate the potential of a physical therapy intervention focusing on enhancing cognitive and motor outcomes in a child with severe motor impairments. Design: AB phase design without reversal. Methods: One child participated in 8 assessments from 4 to 29 months of age. The START-Play intervention was provided for 3 months following 4 baseline assessments over 12 months. Total Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM), Sitting, Reaching, and Problem Solving assessments were completed. Visual inspection, 2 standard deviation (SD) Band Method, and percent of nonoverlapping data methods evaluated change. Results: This child had improved GMFM total and sitting scores, increased frequency of toys contacts, and increased rate of problem-solving behaviors following intervention. Conclusion: START-Play shows promise for children with severe motor impairments. Additional research is needed to evaluate efficacy. Video Abstract: For more insights from the authors, access Supplemental Digital Content 1, available at: http://links.lww.com/PPT/A273. (Pediatr Phys Ther 2019;31:347-352)

A Physical Therapy Intervention to Advance Cognitive and Motor Skills: A Single Subject Study of a Young Child with Cerebral Palsy

Background: Physical therapy interventions for children with severe motor impairments do not address the relationship between motor and cognitive development. Purpose: Evaluate the potential of a physical therapy intervention focusing on enhancing cognitive and motor outcomes in a child with severe motor impairments. Design: AB phase design without reversal. Methods: One child participated in 8 assessments from 4 to 29 months of age. The START-Play intervention was provided for 3 months following 4 baseline assessments over 12 months. Total Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM), Sitting, Reaching, and Problem Solving assessments were completed. Visual inspection, 2 standard deviation (SD) Band Method, and percent of nonoverlapping data methods evaluated change. Results: This child had improved GMFM total and sitting scores, increased frequency of toys contacts, and increased rate of problem-solving behaviors following intervention. Conclusion: START-Play shows promise for children with severe motor impairments. Additional research is needed to evaluate efficacy. Video Abstract: For more insights from the authors, access Supplemental Digital Content 1, available at: http://links.lww.com/PPT/A273. (Pediatr Phys Ther 2019;31:347-352)