Political Ideology as a Limited Protected Class Under Federal Title VII Antidiscrimination Law

As the political climate in the United States becomes increasingly divided, more and more employees are fired for their off-duty political speech. Political speech is highly protected from government interference under the First Amendment, but it is not well protected from discrimination in employment matters. This is despite the fact that employers can be just as powerful and influential as the government. Although employee political speech is not currently protected at the federal level, there are a myriad of state statutes that protect employee speech from employer retaliation. Some of these state statutes protect speech on a broader level, others protect only political speech, and some states do not protect any employee speech from retaliation. Because state statutes can vary so widely, a comprehensive federal statute protecting off-duty political speech (that includes a framework for addressing speech made on social media) is a better approach to protecting employee speech. This Note proposes the inclusion of political ideology and speech as a limited protected class under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to protect applicants and employees from discrimination based on their off-duty political speech

Beginning Teachers’ Perceptions of Induction Programs in East Central Georgia

In recent decades, researchers have made considerable contributions to the field of teacher induction. Yet limited research has been conducted on how Georgia school districts incorporate induction programs and their perceived impact. This mixed-methods study used a pragmatic approach to identify the induction supports offered in three East Central Georgia school districts and investigate induction phase elementary teachers’ perceptions of these induction supports. Analysis of survey and focus group data identified three supports critical to teacher induction (1) mentoring, (2) needs-based professional support and development, and (3) peer observations. Recommendations were also made for improving current induction practices to include adding more collaborative induction components such as scheduled release time for peer observations and planning; assignment of grade/subject alike mentor; and job-embedded learning. This study extends the existing body of induction research and provides a lens for district leaders to focus future induction planning with particular focus on East Central Georgia

A study of the relationships between high school GPA and interpersonal adjustment, potential career focus, and study skills for high scorers on the Scholastic Assessment Test

The purpose of this study was to assess the level of correlation between the high school gpa\u27s of high scorers on the SAT and three variables: degree of career focus, level of study skills knowledge and use, and quality of interpersonal relationships. It was hoped that correlations might suggest positive intervention strategies for gifted high school students who are underachieving in high school in order to improve their high school to college transitions.;The researcher worked with school personnel in 20 high schools in the southeastern region of Virginia. High SAT scorers were identified and they were provided with three survey instruments to be completed at home: a degree of career focus scale, the LASSI (Learning and Study Skills Inventory), and the AIR (Assessment of Interpersonal Relations) Scale. Best SAT I scores were collected as well as seventh semester gpa\u27s and correlated against the three survey measures.;It was hypothesized that among these high SAT scorers, gpa would correlate positively with a higher degree of career focus, with a higher level of study skills, and with higher ratings of interpersonal relationships with parents, peers, and teachers.;Statistical analyses revealed significant correlations between SAT and gpa, gpa and the motivation subscale of the LASSI, and gpa and the global score on the AIR as well as the AIR subscales for relationships with father and female peers. Math and total SAT scores also correlated positively with the Test Taking Strategics subscale of the LASSI.;It was concluded that study skills motivation may be a factor in academic underachievement among bright high school students, but that degree of career focus alone was not a good predictor of motivation. It was also concluded that family and peer relationships had an influence on gpa for the research sample, and that SAT scores correlate positively with high school gpa even among a relatively high scoring group.;Further research is needed to discern additional factors which cause, or at least predict, underachievement among gifted students and to assess how these findings and previous research and theorizing may contribute to intervention strategies

The Effects of Clinical Experiences on the Understanding of Classroom Management Techniques

For teacher educators, classroom management education is one of the least researched aspects of the profession. The purpose of this study was to determine if classroom management was most effective learned through textbook analysis coupled with classroom discussion, or the experience of observing and practicing classroom management in the clinical experience. The results of this study suggest that the clinical experience is the major contributor to feelings of confidence in classroom management situations. There is a significant difference in confidence between the classroom understanding and the post-clinical experience in regards to general classroom management understandings and confidence

Host-specific symbioses and the microbial prey of a pelagic tunicate (Pyrosoma atlanticum)

Pyrosomes are widely distributed pelagic tunicates that have the potential to reshape marine food webs when they bloom. However, their grazing preferences and interactions with the background microbial community are poorly understood. This is the first study of the marine microorganisms associated with pyrosomes undertaken to improve the understanding of pyrosome biology, the impact of pyrosome blooms on marine microbial systems, and microbial symbioses with marine animals. The diversity, relative abundance, and taxonomy of pyrosome-associated microorganisms were compared to seawater during a Pyrosoma atlanticum bloom in the Northern California Current System using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, microscopy, and flow cytometry. We found that pyrosomes harbor a microbiome distinct from the surrounding seawater, which was dominated by a few novel taxa. In addition to the dominant taxa, numerous more rare pyrosome-specific microbial taxa were recovered. Multiple bioluminescent taxa were present in pyrosomes, which may be a source of the iconic pyrosome luminescence. We also discovered free-living marine microorganisms in association with pyrosomes, suggesting that pyrosome feeding impacts all microbial size classes but preferentially removes larger eukaryotic taxa. This study demonstrates that microbial symbionts and microbial prey are central to pyrosome biology. In addition to pyrosome impacts on higher trophic level marine food webs, the work suggests that pyrosomes also alter marine food webs at the microbial level through feeding and seeding of the marine microbial communities with their symbionts. Future efforts to predict pyrosome blooms, and account for their ecosystem impacts, should consider pyrosome interactions with marine microbial communities

Geographic classification of U.S. Washington State wines using elemental and water isotope composition

Wine fraud leaves wineries vulnerable to damage in reputation and potential lost revenue. To reduce this risk for wines from Washington State (WA), USA, advanced analytical instrumentation and statistical methods were employed to geographically classify 133 wines from 4 major wine producing regions, including 70 wines from WA. Analyses of 37 elements and 2 water isotopes were performed with Triple Quadrupole Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy, respectively. Linear discriminant analysis resulted in 96.2% discrimination, achieved with 11 parameters (Mn, Zn, Pb, Ni, As, D/H, La, Ce, Si, Zr and Sr) that were linearly combined into 3 functions. WA wines were uniquely distinguished in large part with low D/H ratios and Mn concentrations derived from the isotopically light precipitation and volcanic loess soils encountered in this region, respectively. This study is the first of its kind to focus on the authentication of WA wines