The Arts Advantage: Impacts of Arts Education on Boston Students - Full Report

Launched in 2009, BPS Arts Expansion, the public-private partnership led by the Boston Public Schools Visual and Performing Arts Department and EdVestors, brings together local foundations, the school district, arts organizations, higher education institutions, and the Mayor's Office to focus on a coherent, sustainable approach to quality arts education for all BPS students. This collaboration of local leaders along with students, families, and school staff, has enabled Boston to emerge as a national leader among urban districts working to expand arts education.The purpose of this study is to examine how access to arts education in BPS influences education outcomes pertaining to student social-emotional and academic outcomes as well as parent and teacher perspectives regarding school climate. This research strengthens the case for quality arts education for every student, finding significant evidence increases in arts education lead to improvements on a range of indicators of student and parent school engagement.

Losing My Religion? The Impact of Spiritual Cues on Noncognitive Skills

Studies consistently show that Catholic schools produce positive impacts on educational outcomes. Many charter school networks in the United States now provide, what are essentially, secularized versions of the Catholic education model. However, charter schools cannot legally replicate the overt religious curriculum and mission of Catholic schools. Although difficult to disentangle its impacts from confounding variables, research suggests that religiosity is a positive predictor of educational outcomes. This relationship might suggest that religious-based education produces effects on outcomes of public value that could be difficult to replicate in secularized contexts. To examine this question we conducted an experiment where 180 secondary school students were randomly assigned to a priming task with religious, secularized, or neutral cues. We find that religious cues increase students’ self-regulatory capacities, a predictor of educational attainment, and boost political tolerance. These findings provide preliminary evidence to suggest that religious-based education provides benefits that their secularized equivalents cannot fully emulate. ¿Perdiendo mi religión? El impacto de las señales espirituales en las destrezas no cognitivas Estudios muestran consistentemente que las escuelas católicas producen impactos positivos en los resultados educativos. Muchas redes de escuelas chárter en los Estados Unidos ahora ofrecen lo que esencialmente son versiones secularizadas del modelo educativo católico. Sin embargo, las escuelas chárter no pueden legalmente replicar el currículum abiertamente religioso y la misión de las escuelas católicas. A pesar de la dificultad de desentramar sus impactos de las desconcertantes variables, la investigación sugiere que la religiosidad es un indicador positivo de los resultados educativos. Esta relación puede sugerir que la educación basada en la religión produce efectos en resultados de valor público que podrían ser difíciles de repetir en contextos secularizados. Para examinar esta pregunta llevamos a cabo un experimento en el que se les asignó al azar a 180 estudiantes de escuelas secundarias una tarea preparatoria con indicaciones religiosas, secularizadas o neutras. Encontramos que las indicaciones religiosas aumentaron las capacidades de autorregulación de los estudiantes, un indicador de los logros educativos, y potenció la tolerancia política. Estas conclusiones ofrecen una evidencia preliminar para sugerir que la educación basada en la religión provee beneficios cuyos equivalentes seculares no pueden emular. Palabras clave: educación religiosa, escuelas chárter, elección de escuela, habilidades no cognitivas, educación cívica Est-ce que je perds ma religion ? L\u27incidence des incitations spirituelles sur les compétences non cognitives Les études montrent constamment que les écoles catholiques ont une incidence positive sur les résultats scolaires. De nombreux réseaux d\u27écoles sous contrat aux États-Unis présentent maintenant ce qui constitue essentiellement des versions laïques du modèle éducatif catholique. Toutefois, les écoles sous contrat ne peuvent pas légalement reproduire les programmes et la mission ouvertement religieux des écoles catholiques. Bien qu\u27il soit difficile de démêler son incidence parmi des variables qui prêtent à confusion, des recherches indiquent que la religiosité est une variable prédictive positive des résultats scolaires. Ce lien pourrait indiquer qu\u27une éducation religieuse a des incidences sur des résultats d’utilité publique, et qu\u27il serait difficile de les reproduire dans un contexte laïque. Pour examiner la question, nous avons mené une expérience dans laquelle 180 élèves d\u27écoles secondaires catholiques ont été affectés de manière aléatoire à des tâches préparatoires assorties d\u27indications religieuses, laïques ou neutres. Nous avons trouvé que les indications religieuses augmentent les capacités autorégulatrices des élèves, une variance prédictive de l\u27atteinte des objectifs et d\u27un renforcement de la tolérance politique. Ces conclusions donnent des éléments de preuve indiquant qu\u27une éducation religieuse apporte des avantages que les équivalents laïques ne peuvent pas égaler totalement. Mots-clés : éducation religieuse, écoles sous contrat, choix de l\u27école, compétences non cognitives, instruction civiqu

Estigma sem sanções: A (falta de) impacto dos vales de escolares (voucher) para escolas particulares no desempenho dos alunos.

Under the Florida A+ Accountability Program, Florida’s schools are graded based on student performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Previously, when schools would earn their second failing grade within four years, students assigned to these schools were offered school vouchers which parents and guardians could use to transfer students to a private or another traditional public school. In January of 2006 the Florida Supreme Court declared that private school voucher component of the Florida A+ Accountability Program was unconstitutional, eliminating the threat of having these students and funds leaving to attend private schools. This exogenous shock allows us to test whether private voucher threats and the funding tied to these students led to increases in student achievement. We find no evidence that the private school voucher threats drive academic improvement beyond what is seen in schools when this private school voucher threat is removed.En el marco del Programa de Evaluación Florida A +, las escuelas de la Florida se clasifican en función del rendimiento de los estudiantes en el Examen de Evaluación Integral de la Florida. Anteriormente, cuando las escuelas recibían una calificación negativa en un lapso de cuatro años, a los estudiantes de esas escuelas se les ofrecían vales escolares (voucher) que los padres y tutores podrían utilizar para transferir a los estudiantes a una escuela pública tradicional u otra privada. En enero de 2006 la Corte Suprema de la Florida declaró que el voucher para las escuelas privadas del Programa de Responsabilidad Florida A + era inconstitucional, lo que elimina la amenaza de que esos estudiantes y los fondos fueran transferidos las escuelas privadas. Este choque exógeno nos permite comprobar si las amenazas de los vouchers y la financiación vinculada a estos estudiantes llevaron a aumentar el rendimiento estudiantil. No encontramos ninguna evidencia de que las amenazas de los vouchers generara mejorías académicas más allá de lo que se observó en las escuelas cuando se eliminó la amenaza de los vouchers.No âmbito do programa de avaliação Flórida A +, as escolas da Flórida são classificados com base no desempenho do estudante na Avaliação Global da Flórida. Anteriormente, quando as escolas receberam uma avaliação negativa em um período de quatro anos, aos alunos dessas escolas foram oferecidos vales escolares (voucher) que os pais e responsáveis poderiam utilizar para transferir os alunos para uma escola pública tradicional ou outra privada. Em janeiro de 2006, o Supremo Tribunal da Flórida decidiu que o programa de vales (voucher) para escolas particulares, do programa Flórida A + era inconstitucional, eliminando a ameaça de que esses alunos e os fundos fossem transferidos para escolas particulares. Este choque exógeno nos permite verificar se a ameaça dos vouchers e financiamentos vinculados a esses alunos levaram a aumentar o desempenho acadêmico dos alunos. Nós não encontramos nenhuma evidência de que a ameaça de vouchers gerara melhorias acadêmicas para além do que foi observado nas escolas onde a ameaça dos vouchers foi removida.

São Bem Sucedidos Professores-Treinadores? A Eficácia dos Treinadores Como Professores de Leitura e Matemática

Math and reading teachers who also coach athletics in the public school system are challenged to balance the responsibilities that come with fulfilling dual occupational roles. While many studies have examined teacher-coaches' stress levels and job perception in the context of role strain, there is no evidence of how student achievement in tested subjects is affected by assignment to these teacher-coaches. A large administrative panel data set provided by the Florida Department of Education allows us to match students to teachers and use a student fixed effects approach to track changes in math and reading test scores over a seven-year time period, from 2002 through 2009. Despite the challenges associated with holding dual occupational roles, we find that students assigned to teacher-coaches perform at the same level in reading and math as when they are assigned to non-coaching teachers.Docentes de matemáticas y de lectura que también son entrenadores de atletismo en el sistema de escuelas públicas tienen el reto de equilibrar las responsabilidades que vienen con el cumplimiento de dos roles ocupacionales. Aunque muchos estudios han examinado los niveles de estrés de los profesores-entrenadores y la percepción de empleo en el contexto de la tensión asociadas al rol, no hay evidencia de cómo el rendimiento estudiantil en materias que se evalúan se ve afectada por recibir instrucción por estos profesores-entrenadores. Un gran conjunto de datos de panel administrativo establecido por el Departamento de Educación de la Florida nos permite relacionar estudiantes y profesores y el uso de un enfoque de efectos fijos para seguir los cambios en matemáticas y resultados de las pruebas de lectura durante el período de 2002 hasta 2009. A pesar de los desafíos asociados con los roles ocupacionales duales, los estudiantes asignados a profesores-entrenadores obtienen el mismo nivel en lectura y matemáticas que cuando tienen profesores no entrenadores. Os professores de matemática e leitura que são também treinadores de atletas no sistema de escolas pública têm o desafio de equilibrar as responsabilidades que vêm com a implementação de dois papéis ocupacionais. Apesar de muitos estudos examinaram os níveis de estresse dos professores-treinadores e a percepção sobre o emprego no contexto da tensão associada com o papel, não há nenhuma evidência de como o desempenho do aluno em exames é afetada por a instrução de professores-treinadores. Um grande conjunto de dados de painel administrativo estabelecido pelo Departamento de Educação da Flórida nos permite relacionar os alunos e professores e o uso de uma abordagem de efeitos fixos para controlar alterações em matemática e resultados dos testes de leitura sobre o período de 2002 até 2009. Apesar dos desafios associados com papéis ocupacionais duplas, os alunos designados para professores-treinadores obter o mesmo nível em leitura e matemática quando os professores não têm treinadores

How was it for you? Experiences of participatory design in the UK health service

Improving co-design methods implies that we need to understand those methods, paying attention to not only the effect of method choices on design outcomes, but also how methods affect the people involved in co-design. In this article, we explore participants' experiences from a year-long participatory health service design project to develop ‘Better Outpatient Services for Older People’. The project followed a defined method called experience-based design (EBD), which represented the state of the art in participatory service design within the UK National Health Service. A sample of participants in the project took part in semi-structured interviews reflecting on their involvement in and their feelings about the project. Our findings suggest that the EBD method that we employed was successful in establishing positive working relationships among the different groups of stakeholders (staff, patients, carers, advocates and design researchers), although conflicts remained throughout the project. Participants' experiences highlighted issues of wider relevance in such participatory design: cost versus benefit, sense of project momentum, locus of control, and assumptions about how change takes place in a complex environment. We propose tactics for dealing with these issues that inform the future development of techniques in user-centred healthcare design

Investigation of geometries of bistable piezoelectric-laminate plates for vibration-based energy harvesting

The need for reduced power requirements for small electronic components, such as wireless sensor networks, has prompted interest in recent years for energy harvesting technologies capable of capturing energy from broadband ambient vibrations. Encouraging results have been reported for an arrangement of piezoelectric layers attached to carbon fiber / epoxy laminates which possess bistability by virtue of their specific asymmetric stacking sequence. The inherent bistability of the underlying structure is exploited for energy harvesting since a transition from one stable configuration to another, or 'snap-through', is used to repeatedly strain the surface-bonded piezoelectric and generate electrical energy. Existing studies, both experimental and modelling, have been limited to simple geometric laminate shapes, restricting the scope for improved energy harvesting performance by limiting the number of design variables. In this paper we present an analytical model to predict the static shapes of laminates of any desired profile, validated experimentally using a digital image correlation system. Good accuracy in terms of out-of-plane displacements (5-7%) are shown in line with existing square modelling results. The static model is then mapped to a dynamics model and used to compare results against an experimental study of the harvesting performance of an example arbitrary geometry piezoelectric-laminate energy harvester

'Collective Making' as knowledge mobilisation: the contribution of participatory design in the co-creation of knowledge in healthcare

The discourse in healthcare Knowledge Mobilisation (KMb) literature has shifted from simple, linear models of research knowledge production and action to more iterative and complex models. These aim to blend multiple stakeholders’ knowledge with research knowledge to address the researchpractice gap. It has been suggested there is no 'magic bullet', but that a promising approach to take is knowledge co-creation in healthcare, particularly if a number of principles are applied. These include systems thinking, positioning research as a creative enterprise with human experience at its core, and paying attention to process within the partnership. This discussion paper builds on this proposition and extends it beyond knowledge co-creation to co-designing evidenced based interventions and implementing them. Within a co-design model, we offer a specific approach to share, mobilise and activate knowledge, that we have termed 'collective making'. We draw on KMb, design, wider literature, and our experiences to describe how this framework supports and extends the principles of co-creation offered by Geenhalgh et al[1] in the context of the state of the art of knowledge mobilisation. We describe how collective making creates the right ‘conditions’ for knowledge to be mobilised particularly addressing issues relating to stakeholder relationships, helps to discover, share and blend different forms of knowledge from different stakeholders, and puts this blended knowledge to practical use allowing stakeholders to learn about the practical implications of knowledge use and to collectively create actionable products. We suggest this collective making has three domains of influence: on the participants; on the knowledge discovered and shared; and on the mobilisation or activation of this knowledge

A direct comparison of natural and acoustic-radiation-force-induced cardiac mechanical waves

Natural and active shear wave elastography (SWE) are potential ultrasound-based techniques to non-invasively assess myocardial stiffness, which could improve current diagnosis of heart failure. This study aims to bridge the knowledge gap between both techniques and discuss their respective impacts on cardiac stiffness evaluation. We recorded the mechanical waves occurring after aortic and mitral valve closure (AVC, MVC) and those induced by acoustic radiation force throughout the cardiac cycle in four pigs after sternotomy. Natural SWE showed a higher feasibility than active SWE, which is an advantage for clinical application. Median propagation speeds of 2.5–4.0 m/s and 1.6–4.0 m/s were obtained after AVC and MVC, whereas ARF-based median speeds of 0.9–1.2 m/s and 2.1–3.8 m/s were reported for diastole and systole, respectively. The different wave characteristics in both methods, such as the frequency content, complicate the direct comparison of waves. Nevertheless, a good match was found in propagation speeds between natural and active SWE at the moment of valve closure, and the natural waves showed higher propagation speeds than in diastole. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that the natural waves occur in between diastole and systole identified with active SWE, and thus represent a myocardial stiffness in between relaxation and contraction

Absolute Doubly Differential Angular Sputtering Yields for 20 keV Kr+ on Polycrystalline Cu

We have measured the absolute doubly differential angular sputtering yield for 20 keV Kr+ impacting a polycrystalline Cu slab at an incidence angle of {\theta}i = 45{\deg} relative to the surface normal. Sputtered Cu atoms were captured using collectors mounted on a half dome above the sample, and the sputtering distribution was measured as a function of the sputtering polar, {\theta}s, and azimuthal, phi, angles. Absolute results of the sputtering yield were determined from the mass gain of each collector, the ion dose, and the solid angle subtended, after irradiation to a total fluence of ~ 1 x 10^18 ions/cm^2. Our approach overcomes shortcomings of commonly used methods that only provide relative yields as a function of {\theta}s in the incidence plane (defined by the ion velocity and the surface normal). Our experimental results display an azimuthal variation that increases with increasing {\theta}s and is clearly discrepant with simulations using binary collision theory. We attribute the observed azimuthal anisotropy to ion-induced formation of micro- and nano-scale surface features that suppress the sputtering yield through shadowing and redeposition effects, neither of which are accounted for in the simulations. Our experimental results demonstrate the importance of doubly differential angular sputtering studies to probe ion sputtering processes at a fundamental level and to explore the effect of ion-beam-generated surface roughness.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figure

A novel algorithmic approach to generate consensus treatment guidelines in adult Acute Myeloid Leukaemia

Induction therapy for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) has changed with the approval of a number of new agents. Clinical guidelines can struggle to keep pace with an evolving treatment and evidence landscape and therefore identifying the most appropriate front-line treatment is challenging for clinicians. Here, we combined drug eligibility criteria and genetic risk stratification into a digital format, allowing the full range of possible treatment eligibility scenarios to be defined. Using exemplar cases representing each of the 22 identified scenarios, we sought to generate consensus on treatment choice from a panel of nine aUK AML experts. We then analysed >2500 real-world cases using the same algorithm, confirming the existence of 21/22 of these scenarios and demonstrating that our novel approach could generate a consensus AML induction treatment in 98% of cases. Our approach, driven by the use of decision trees, is an efficient way to develop consensus guidance rapidly and could be applied to other disease areas. It has the potential to be updated frequently to capture changes in eligibility criteria, novel therapies and emerging trial data. An interactive digital version of the consensus guideline is available