Students in Transition: Introducing English Language Learners from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East to U.S. History

This two-year action research project discusses the transitions that English Language Learners (ELLs) experience in moving from remedial second language learning to content-area courses. Two cohorts of twenty-seven ELL students from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East—fifteen students in 2015-16 and twelve in 2016-17— participated in a U.S. History course while attending the pseudonymous West Ackerly High School. Absent a pedagogical bridge connecting ELL instruction with social studies practice, I created a curriculum that emphasized the democratic principles embedded in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—concepts that general education students have known almost from birth—as an entry point for ELL students who lacked any knowledge about these documents. I followed this introduction with thematic choices about immigration, imperialism, Westward Expansion, the Civil War, Reconstruction, civil rights, and current events. We examined the social construct of race, and how it weaves through American society. My combined roles of practitioner and researcher created a unique awareness of the principles of second language instruction, especially best practices and co-teaching strategies that merged language learning and content instruction. I then evaluated students’ critical thinking and teachers’ methods of working with ELL students, experienced the value associated with co-teaching, and developed practical techniques to bring content knowledge into the ELL curriculum as a way to aid students in their transitions. In two journal articles (Chapters Three and Four), I combine “scholarship and story,” reminiscent of Ladson-Billings’ The Dreamkeepers (2009), in a personal scholarly narrative about co-teaching U.S. History. Both Ladson-Billings’ narrative and the stories about the West Ackerly immigrant students describe the struggle that children of color experience. My reflections about co-teaching revealed innovative ideas that emerged from our practice, helped us better understand the backgrounds of our students, explored best practices for ELL instruction, and showed how an adapted mainstream U.S. History curriculum could work for second language learners. The second article describes Socratic Seminar techniques that contribute to students’ learning and discourse development, with scaffolded instruction that incorporates the application of Common Core principles based on the work of Zwiers, O’Hara, and Pritchard (2014). I describe a thematic approach to U.S. History instruction that avoids “covering” all the material while highlighting what students need to know in order to function in American society. Hopefully, this work will bring greater awareness of the struggles experienced by ELL students in their academic and cultural transitions. In the end, I hope secondary teachers and administrators will understand that ELL students require extensive skill development around reading, writing, and research in order to transition into—and then successfully navigate—content-area classes

Recovering Food, Fighting Hunger: Philabundance’s Innovation

For 13 years, Bill Clark was CEO of Philabundance, the Delaware Valley’s largest hunger relief organization and one of the preeminent members of Feeding America, the nation’s food bank network. Philabundance was collecting and distributing 3-4 million pounds of food annually when Bill became the Executive Director in 2001. Faced with ever increasing demand for help and during the country’s worst recession since the great depression, Philabundance innovated a number of food sourcing efforts by working with the Port of Philadelphia, the nation’s largest port of entry for imported produce, area farms, area retailers and manufacturers in a constant effort to find the food needed to address hunger in the Delaware Valley. By 2013 Philabundance was capturing and distributing to families in need, over 25 million pounds of food that otherwise would have been disposed of. More than 65% of this food is highly perishable fruits and vegetables. Increasingly required to augment the supply of donated food with foods purchased at wholesale, Bill and Philabundance extended their work in providing greater access to affordable nutritious food by creating the country’s first nonprofit supermarket in Chester, PA. Before opening Fare & Square in 2013, Chester had been without a full service grocery store to service its 35,000 inhabitants for over a decade. This had led to the USDA declaring it, and much of the surrounding community, a “food desert”. Chester was a community with severe levels of economic disadvantage as evidenced by 32 % of its population living below the poverty line and 44.5% of the population classified as Food Insecure. According to a survey conducted by Philabundance 53.8% of Chester residents reported they had too far to travel to get access to nutritious foods. This supermarket, Fare & Square, offered an entirely new operating model for provisioning communities in need. The capital for building acquisition, refit construction, fixtures and initial stocking inventory was secured by government and charitable sources. With virtually no real estate costs, the need to turn a profit or reward investors, Fare & Square is able to offer prices that are generally lower than any other local option. In addition, those households receiving SNAP or WIC benefits are eligible for an additional 7% - 10% off all items in the store. After one year in operation, open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, Fare & Square now services about 10,000 households with an entire range of grocery and perishable foods including extensive produce and dairy offerings, fresh meats with an in-store butcher and a delicatessen. Still running with the need for a small operating subsidy, it is expected to reach break-even by its second year anniversary

Data Systems Dynamic Simulator

The Data System Dynamic Simulator (DSDS) is a discrete event simulation tool. It was developed for NASA for the specific purpose of evaluating candidate architectures for data systems of the Space Station era. DSDS provides three methods for meeting this requirement. First, the user has access to a library of standard pre-programmed elements. These elements represent tailorable components of NASA data systems and can be connected in any logical manner. Secondly, DSDS supports the development of additional elements. This allows the more sophisticated DSDS user the option of extending the standard element set. Thirdly, DSDS supports the use of data streams simulation. Data streams is the name given to a technique that ignores packet boundaries, but is sensitive to rate changes. Because rate changes are rare compared to packet arrivals in a typical NASA data system, data stream simulations require a fraction of the CPU run time. Additionally, the data stream technique is considerably more accurate than another commonly-used optimization technique

The Importance of Academic Deans\u27 Interpersonal/Negotiating Skills as Leaders

Four academic deans investigated when and how they used interpersonal/negotiating skills to function effectively in their positions. For two full weeks, the deans coded their on-the-job interactions during scheduled meetings, informal meetings, spontaneous encounters/meetings, telephone calls, and select email. Analyses revealed that the interpersonal/negotiating skills used, from most to least prevalent, were: working closely with others, being responsive to key persons, negotiating key players\u27 roles, and keeping key persons in the organisation informed. Across these engagements, the deans interacted with 35 different categories of stakeholders inside and outside their institutions for 32 different purposes. Given the nature and range of interactions, the deans concluded that practicing and prospective deans should likely have access to professional development opportunities explicitly focused on working closely with others. Future research would need to confirm, however, whether interpersonal/negotiating skills are essential for deans\u27 job survival and, if so, whether such skills can authentically be developed

NASA Shuttle Orbiter Reinforced Carbon Carbon (RCC) Crack Repair Arc-Jet Testing

This NASA study demonstrates the capability for testing NOAX-repaired RCC crack models in high temperature environments representative of Shuttle Orbiter during reentry. Analysis methods have provided correlation of test data with flight predictions. NOAX repair material for RCC is flown on every STS flight in the event such a repair is needed. Two final test reports are being generated on arc-jet results (both calibration model runs and repaired models runs)

Self Deploying, Thin-Film PV Solar Array Structure

Spacecraft solar array systems require launch restraint hardware, array-stiffening structures to meet minimum natural frequency and provide protection during integration and test, as well as mechanisms necessary to reliably deploy the arrays. Conventional structures, mechanisms and rigid space solar cells add undue mass, cost and complexity. Current minimum solar array system costs are $1000/Watt and maximum specific power is 106 Watts/Kg at beginning of life (BOL). Mass and cost reductions are needed to meet the demanding requirements of present and future DoD, AFRL, NASA and commercial spacecraft solar arrays. New satellite programs are looking beyond state-of-the-art (SOA) power subsystems, to thin-film photovoltaics (TFPV) that are lighter and more robust than current rigid cells. Conventional approaches to TFPV array design require a separate boom, or structure to tension the array for meeting a natural frequency requirement. Tensioning a TFPV array introduces many issues with structural integrity, complexity and also significantly increases the cost and mass of the system. MSI has developed a technology innovation that extends the bounds of SOA space PV systems by eliminating conventional rigid structures and mechanisms to take full advantage of the lightweight and low volume characteristics of TFPV. This technology uses multifunctional, foldable components with stored energy to provide deployment force and deployed stiffness for meeting the demanding mass, cost and power requirements of future spacecraft programs. MSI’s TFPV enabling technology, economies of scale, non-recurring engineering, constant efficiency improvements, as well as developments in multi-junction and polyimide substrate TFPV result in a MSI PV system cost of less than$200/watt, a stowed volumetric power of greater than 90 Kw/m3, and specific power of greater than 600 watt/kg. This paper will address the characteristics of MSI’s solar array system and demonstrate the cost, mass and stowage volume benefits that will become available to satellite manufacturers in the next few years

Profitability and risk evaluation of novel perennial pasture systems for livestock producers in the high rainfall zone: Context, Approach and Preliminary Results

The decision to invest in pasture improvement raises various questions for the livestock grazier, with the most pertinent being about the potential returns and risks. In the high rainfall zone of south-west Victoria, researchers have trialled novel perennial pasture systems with the aim of substantially increasing on-farm profits whilst simultaneously improving environmental outcomes. Results from the Hamilton EverGraze® proof site have shown potential to greatly improve livestock production. Promotion of the pasture technology is the next step. Key to this process is developing information about profitability and risk regarding the decision to invest in the new pasture. To help meet this need a model of a representative mixed livestock farm system for the region has been developed to generate information about profit, cash wealth and risk to aid extension and help inform decisions. The farm is comprised of a wool and meat producing sheep system and a beef enterprise. Using the model, the performance of two of the novel pasture systems can be evaluated against current practice, and compared to determine which of the two is the most beneficial EverGraze® option for the future. The risk associated with the pasture decision is assessed by considering different price structures and seasonal outcomes, and evaluating these effects on net benefits. Discounted cash flows, net present values and internal rates of return are estimated for the alternative systems, which include the effects of this price and seasonal variability. Preliminary results have been calculated, however further work is needed to confirm these. The method and results of the analysis provide information that is valuable for farm decisions about investing in a new pasture system and provide a basis for future economic analyses at the case study site and elsewhere.Farm Management,

Issues and Answers - Senator Edmund S. Muskie Interviewed on ABC Television

Bob Clark and Bill Gill interview Senator Muskie for ABC\u27s Issues and Answers. Topics include Vietnam, Cambodia, arms aid, Nixon\u27s policies, the arms race with China, a possible Muskie candidacy in 1972, SALT talks, MIRV testing, the crime rate, environment

Whiterock Conservancy baseline data project

Baseline surveys of pasture diversity and bird populations were conducted and will be used to help inform conservation-based land management decisions at the Whiterock Conservancy in southwest Iowa