Components of Effective Leadership

[First paragraph] The effective schools literature demonstrates that the principal\u27s leadership is key to the revitalization of schools. The purpose of this article is to feature those components of leadership on which principals need to place attention and to provide suggested activities to enhance these components

Leadership Styles

[First paragraph] Effective schools literature shows clearly that the leadership of the principal is key to the effectiveness of the school (Hoy and Miskell, 1982, and Arnn and Mangieri, 1988). To be effective, principals must use leadership styles appropriate to the situation

Virginia\u27s Plan for Dual Enrollment

[First paragraph] There is a plan where Virginia pays Average Daily Membership (ADM) monies to a school system for a student attending a community college - and the community college collects the Full Time Equivalency (FTE) from the State. Principals must be aware of this dual enrollment plan for secondary students with community colleges approved in September of 1988. This plan provides options for students which were not available before. Dual enrollment allows high school students to accumulate credits for graduation while simultaneously earning college credit. The courses to be offered are to be mutually agreed upon by the school division and the community college

Unit Plans

[First paragraph] Careful unit planning as a framework for daily lesson plans can help teachers individualize instruction, manage time and classroom behavior, bring cohesive-ness to a series of related daily lessons, and ultimately improve student achievement. Principals can help teachers by providing clear expectations and a consistent framework for unit planning. School and district philosophy will help determine the particular model chosen from the wide variety available. Following is one format

Grievances

[First Paragraph] The Virginia Board of Education has adopted a procedure for resolving disputes concerning the application of local board policies, rules, and regulations as they impact the work or disciplinary actions of teachers. It is vital that the principal be aware of the process and the timeline involved in the grievance procedure since the solution should be secured at the lowest administrative level in the process. It is beyond the scope of this article to provide every detail of the grievance process. For a complete detailing of procedure, please refer to Chapter 15, Article 3, Sections 22.1-306 through 22.1-314 of the Code of Virginia

A mathematical model of a criminal-prone society

Criminals are common to all societies. To fight against them the community takes different security measures as, for example, to bring about a police. Thus, crime causes a depletion of the common wealth not only by criminal acts but also because the cost of hiring a police force. In this paper, we present a mathematical model of a criminal-prone self-protected society that is divided into socio-economical classes. We study the effect of a non-null crime rate on a free-of-criminals society which is taken as a reference system. As a consequence, we define a criminal-prone society as one whose free-of-criminals steady state is unstable under small perturbations of a certain socio-economical context. Finally, we compare two alternative strategies to control crime: (i) enhancing police efficiency, either by enlarging its size or by updating its technology, against (ii) either reducing criminal appealing or promoting social classes at ris

A new rhynchocephalian from the late jurassic of Germany with a dentition that is unique amongst tetrapods.

Rhynchocephalians, the sister group of squamates (lizards and snakes), are only represented by the single genus Sphenodon today. This taxon is often considered to represent a very conservative lineage. However, rhynchocephalians were common during the late Triassic to latest Jurassic periods, but rapidly declined afterwards, which is generally attributed to their supposedly adaptive inferiority to squamates and/or Mesozoic mammals, which radiated at that time. New finds of Mesozoic rhynchocephalians can thus provide important new information on the evolutionary history of the group. A new fossil relative of Sphenodon from the latest Jurassic of southern Germany, Oenosaurus muehlheimensis gen. et sp. nov., presents a dentition that is unique amongst tetrapods. The dentition of this taxon consists of massive, continuously growing tooth plates, probably indicating a crushing dentition, thus representing a previously unknown trophic adaptation in rhynchocephalians. The evolution of the extraordinary dentition of Oenosaurus from the already highly specialized Zahnanlage generally present in derived rhynchocephalians demonstrates an unexpected evolutionary plasticity of these animals. Together with other lines of evidence, this seriously casts doubts on the assumption that rhynchocephalians are a conservative and adaptively inferior lineage. Furthermore, the new taxon underlines the high morphological and ecological diversity of rhynchocephalians in the latest Jurassic of Europe, just before the decline of this lineage on this continent. Thus, selection pressure by radiating squamates or Mesozoic mammals alone might not be sufficient to explain the demise of the clade in the Late Mesozoic, and climate change in the course of the fragmentation of the supercontinent of Pangaea might have played a major role

Age-related human small intestine methylation: evidence for stem cell niches

BACKGROUND: The small intestine is constructed of many crypts and villi, and mouse studies suggest that each crypt contains multiple stem cells. Very little is known about human small intestines because mouse fate mapping strategies are impractical in humans. However, it is theoretically possible that stem cell histories are inherently written within their genomes. Genomes appear to record histories (as exemplified by use of molecular clocks), and therefore it may be possible to reconstruct somatic cell dynamics from somatic cell errors. Recent human colon studies suggest that random somatic epigenetic errors record stem cell histories (ancestry and total numbers of divisions). Potentially age-related methylation also occurs in human small intestines, which would allow characterization of their stem cells and comparisons with the colon. METHODS: Methylation patterns in individual crypts from 13 small intestines (17 to 78 years old) were measured by bisulfite sequencing. The methylation patterns were analyzed by a quantitative model to distinguish between immortal or niche stem cell lineages. RESULTS: Age-related methylation was observed in the human small intestines. Crypt methylation patterns were more consistent with stem cell niches than immortal stem cell lineages. Human large and small intestine crypt niches appeared to have similar stem cell dynamics, but relatively less methylation accumulated with age in the small intestines. There were no apparent stem cell differences between the duodenum and ileum, and stem cell survival did not appear to decline with aging. CONCLUSION: Crypt niches containing multiple stem cells appear to maintain human small intestines. Crypt niches appear similar in the colon and small intestine, and the small intestinal stem cell mitotic rate is the same as or perhaps slower than that of the colon. Although further studies are needed, age-related methylation appears to record somatic cell histories, and a somatic epigenetic molecular clock strategy may potentially be applied to other human tissues to reconstruct otherwise occult stem cell histories

Why alternative teenagers self-harm: exploring the link between non-suicidal self-injury, attempted suicide and adolescent identity

Background: The term ‘self-harm’ encompasses both attempted suicide and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Specific adolescent subpopulations such as ethnic or sexual minorities, and more controversially, those who identify as ‘Alternative’ (Goth, Emo) have been proposed as being more likely to self-harm, while other groups such as ‘Jocks’ are linked with protective coping behaviours (for example exercise). NSSI has autonomic (it reduces negative emotions) and social (it communicates distress or facilitates group ‘bonding’) functions. This study explores the links between such aspects of self-harm, primarily NSSI, and youth subculture.<p></p> Methods: An anonymous survey was carried out of 452 15 year old German school students. Measures included: identification with different youth cultures, i.e. Alternative (Goth, Emo, Punk), Nerd (academic) or Jock (athletic); social background, e.g. socioeconomic status; and experience of victimisation. Self-harm (suicide and NSSI) was assessed using Self-harm Behavior Questionnaire and the Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation (FASM).<p></p> Results: An “Alternative” identity was directly (r ≈ 0.3) and a “Jock” identity inversely (r ≈ -0.1) correlated with self-harm. “Alternative” teenagers self-injured more frequently (NSSI 45.5% vs. 18.8%), repeatedly self-injured, and were 4–8 times more likely to attempt suicide (even after adjusting for social background) than their non-Alternative peers. They were also more likely to self-injure for autonomic, communicative and social reasons than other adolescents.<p></p> Conclusions: About half of ‘Alternative’ adolescents’ self-injure, primarily to regulate emotions and communicate distress. However, a minority self-injure to reinforce their group identity, i.e. ‘To feel more a part of a group’

Community participation for malaria elimination in Tafea Province, Vanuatu: Part I. Maintaining motivation for prevention practices in the context of disappearing disease

Background: In the 1990s, the experience of eliminating malaria from Aneityum Island, Vanuatu is often given as evidence for the potential to eliminate malaria in the south-west Pacific. This experience, however, cannot provide a blueprint for larger islands that represent more complex social and environmental contexts. Community support was a key contributor to success in Aneityum. In the context of disappearing disease, obtaining and maintaining community participation in strategies to eliminate malaria in the rest of Tafea Province, Vanuatu will be significantly more challenging. Method: Nine focus group discussions (FGDs), 12 key informant interviews (KIIs), three transect walks and seven participatory workshops were carried out in three villages across Tanna Island to investigate community perceptions and practices relating to malaria prevention (particularly relating to bed nets); influences on these practices including how malaria is contextualized within community health and disease priorities; and effective avenues for channelling health information. Results: The primary protection method identified by participants was the use of bed nets, however, the frequency and motivation for their use differed between study villages on the basis of the perceived presence of malaria. Village, household and personal cleanliness were identified by participants as important for protection against malaria. Barriers and influences on bed net use included cultural beliefs and practices, travel, gender roles, seasonality of mosquito nuisance and risk perception. Health care workers and church leaders were reported to have greatest influence on malaria prevention practices. Participants preferred receiving health information through visiting community health promotion teams, health workers, church leaders and village chiefs. Conclusion: In low malaria transmission settings, a package for augmenting social capital and sustaining community participation for elimination will be essential and includes: 'sentinel sites' for qualitative monitoring of evolving local socio-cultural, behavioural and practical issues that impact malaria prevention and treatment; mobilizing social networks; intersectoral collaboration; integration of malaria interventions with activities addressing other community health and disease priorities; and targeted implementation of locally appropriate, multi-level, media campaigns that sustain motivation for community participation in malaria elimination. © Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved