The Educational Achievement Gap as a Social Justice Issue for Teacher Educators

The educational achievement gap is a critical social justice issue. Catholic and Marianist conceptions of social justice in particular call people to work with others in their spheres of life to transform institutions in order to further human rights while promoting the common good. Drawing on key elements of Catholic teaching on social justice, we argue that the achievement gap constitutes a social injustice. We then offer a case illustrating collaboration between university-based teacher educators and school faculty to address the achievement gap through transforming the institutions of school and of teacher preparation. The Dayton Early College Academy (DECA), founded on the University of Dayton’s campus to prepare seventh through 12th graders to become first-generation college graduates, has become an essential site for preparing University of Dayton teacher candidates to become effective teachers of traditionally underachieving students. Our collaboration has resulted in the ongoing transformation of a school and a university’s teacher education program to address the social injustice of the educational achievement gap

Career Choice among First-Generation, Minority STEM College Students

We qualitatively investigated ways in which undergraduates unpacked their perceptions of STEM careers after attending a seminar series that introduced them to diverse scientists. Using Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) as a guiding framework, we explored how culturally-specific realities impacted students’ career choices. Our findings suggest that familial ties and cultural expectations played key roles in determining how students navigated career choice. Our results have implications for how institutions navigate career pursuit discussions with students

The Educational Achievement Gap as a Social Justice Issue for Teacher Educators

The educational achievement gap is a critical social justice issue. Catholic and Marianist conceptions of social justice in particular call people to work with others in their spheres of life to transform institutions in order to further human rights while promoting the common good. Drawing on key elements of Catholic teaching on social justice, we argue that the achievement gap constitutes a social injustice. We then offer a case illustrating collaboration between university-based teacher educators and school faculty to address the achievement gap through transforming the institutions of school and of teacher preparation. The Dayton Early College Academy (DECA), founded on the University of Dayton’s campus to prepare seventh through 12th graders to become first-generation college graduates, has become an essential site for preparing University of Dayton teacher candidates to become effective teachers of traditionally underachieving students. Our collaboration has resulted in the ongoing transformation of a school and a university’s teacher education program to address the social injustice of the educational achievement gap

Synthesis and Characterization of Ketone and Ketal Coronands Containing 2,6-Pyridino And/Or 6,6\u27-(2,2\u27-Dipyridino) Subunits.

Pyridyllithium reagents were employed in the synthesis of 6-substituted bis(2-pyridyl) ketones and 6,6\u27-disubstituted 2,2\u27-dipyridines. The resulting compounds were used in the attempted preparation of pyridine analogues of simple corrins. Coronands were generated from 2,2-bis(6\u27-bromo-2\u27-pyridyl)-1,3-dioxolane. Hydrolysis of the protecting dioxolane gave the corresponding ketone coronands, which could be reduced to macrocyclic carbinols with sodium borohydride. Although these compounds would not complex transition metal ions, several were observed to sequester neutral molecules. In particular, the hexaethylene glycol ketone coronand was proven by X-ray diffraction methods to encircle a molecule of water. Electron-poor aromatic ketones were discovered to decarbonylate under mild, basic conditions. The mechanism of this reaction was proposed to be analogous to that of the benzilic acid rearrangement. Coronands of 2,2\u27-dipyridine could be formed by the decarbonylation of the corresponding ketone macrocycles. Attempts to prepare pyridyl ketone and ketal coronands that possess a methylene unit between the heteroaromatic ring and the glycol bridge were thwarted by the photosensitivity of the parent bis(6-methyl-2-pyridyl) ketone. Efforts to functionalize the methyl groups of the dioxolane-protected ketone by free radical halogenation produced a plethora of virtually inseparable haloketones and ketals. 2,2-Bis(2\u27-pyridyl)- and 2,2-bis(6\u27-methyl-2-pyridyl)-1,3-dioxolane were observed to be excellent ligands for transition metal ions. X-ray analysis showed the chelation of the metal to occur primarily through the pyridine nitrogens, with a moderate interaction to one of the dioxolane oxygens. In the octahedral Ni(II) complex of the methylpyridyl ketal, the ligand was bound to the metal in a tridentate fashion. Coronands were formed from 6,6\u27-bis{2\u27\u27-6\u27\u27-bromo-2\u27\u27-pyridyl)-1\u27\u27,3\u27\u27-dioxolan-2\u27\u27-yl}-2,2\u27-dipyridine and subsequently hydrolyzed to the diketone coronands. The diketal coronand of bis(2-mercaptoethyl) ether formed complexes with transition metals

Celebrating 70 years of nursing and midwifery in NHS Scotland. [Exhibition]

This set of infographics were displayed together in an exhibition celebrating 70 years of nursing and midwifery in NHS Scotland. They highlight events and images covering each decade of the history of NHS Scotland, from the 1940s through to present day and beyond

Feasibility of an oxygen-getter with nickel electrodes in alkaline electrolysers

Alkaline electrolysis is the long-established technology for water splitting to produce hydrogen and has been industrially used since the nineteenth century. The most common materials used for the electrodes are nickel and derivatives of nickel (e.g. Raney nickel). Nickel represents a cost-effective electrode material due to its low cost (compared to platinum group metals), good electrical conductivity and exhibits good resistance to corrosive solutions. The steady degradation of the nickel electrodes over time is known as a result of oxide layer formation on the electrode surface. Reducing oxide layer growth on the electrode surface will increase the efficiency and lifetime of the electrolyser. Titanium has a higher affinity to oxygen than nickel so has been introduced to the electrolyser as a sacrificial metal to reduce oxide layer formation on the nickel. Two identical electrolysers were tested with one difference: Cell B had titanium chips present in the electrolyte solution, whilst Cell A did not have titanium present. SEM results show a reduction of 16 % in the thickness of the Cell B oxide layer on nickel compared to the Cell A nickel, which is supported by the large increase in oxide layer build-up on the titanium in Cell B. EDX on the same samples showed on average a 59 % decrease in oxygen on the Cell B nickel compared to Cell A. XPS surface analysis of the same samples showed a 17 % decrease in the oxygen on Cell B nickel. These results support the hypothesis that adding titanium to an alkaline electrolyser system with nickel electrodes can reduce the oxide layer formation on the nickel

Formulating foster care in Scotland for young children's emotional and mental wellbeing (short report)

Foster carers can play a key role in supporting a child’s recovery from abuse and neglect and improving their mental health, but optimising this requires appropriate formulation of the care arrangements. This is a report on a scoping study into the extent to which the way foster care as conceived and supported, provides the basis for meeting the emotional and mental health needs of young children. It focuses on children aged up to 60 months who have been removed from their parents’ care because of maltreatment, or risk of maltreatment and who have been placed in state provided (non-familial) foster care provision in Scotland. The project had three main objectives: 1. To establish what is known about the emotional and mental health needs of young children (aged zero to five years) coming into the care system. 2. To look at the preparation and support for foster carers in Scotland relevant to caring for these children, through analysis of local authority documents. 3. To explore the experience of foster carers in meeting the emotional and mental health needs of children, through interviews with a sample of foster carers

Urban PDS Partnership: Preparing Teachers for Social Justice

We believe that for urban schools to meet their goals and mission — in the way the DECA is modeling — takes a partnership among many stakeholders. One such partnership that supports DECA, and might buttress other schools and students — and simultaneously help to enact a social justice ideal — is a school-university connection. DECA was founded as a Professional Development School (PDS), with the school and university developing a reciprocal relationship with a shared focus on the preparation of new teachers, the enhancement of high school students\u27 achievement, school and university faculty members\u27 professional development, and collaborative inquiries aimed at improving instructional practices for all of the educators involved. In this chapter, we will describe our Midwestern university\u27s response to two social justice issues: the lack of support for urban students to be ready for college; and the issue of teacher quality in urban schools. DECA explicitly endeavors to respond to the dearth of educational opportunities for city youth. As well, as a PDS, DECA serves the university and our profession as a site for preparing the next generation of urban teachers. Our partnership relies on a PDS framework and a social justice approach to impact students\u27 access to learning and to develop quality educators through learning communities. Using the lenses of the Marianist Catholic tradition and the PDS mission, here we will frame our social justice stance. We will specifically describe the revamping of two critical courses in the teacher education program with the goal of enacting social justice through developing effective teachers for urban settings

Elucidating the genetic basis of antioxidant status in lettuce (Lactuca sativa).

A diet rich in phytonutrients from fruit and vegetables has been acknowledged to afford protection against a range of human diseases, but many of the most popular vegetables are low in phytonutrients. Wild relatives of crops may contain allelic variation for genes determining the concentrations of these beneficial phytonutrients, and therefore understanding the genetic basis of this variation is important for breeding efforts to enhance nutritional quality. In this study, lettuce recombinant inbred lines, generated from a cross between wild and cultivated lettuce (Lactuca serriola and Lactuca sativa, respectively), were analysed for antioxidant (AO) potential and important phytonutrients including carotenoids, chlorophyll and phenolic compounds. When grown in two environments, 96 quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified for these nutritional traits: 4 for AO potential, 2 for carotenoid content, 3 for total chlorophyll content and 87 for individual phenolic compounds (two per compound on average). Most often, the L. serriola alleles conferred an increase in total AOs and metabolites. Candidate genes underlying these QTL were identified by BLASTn searches; in several cases, these had functions suggesting involvement in phytonutrient biosynthetic pathways. Analysis of a QTL on linkage group 3, which accounted for >30% of the variation in AO potential, revealed several candidate genes encoding multiple MYB transcription factors which regulate flavonoid biosynthesis and flavanone 3-hydroxylase, an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of the flavonoids quercetin and kaempferol, which are known to have powerful AO activity. Follow-up quantitative RT-PCR of these candidates revealed that 5 out of 10 genes investigated were significantly differentially expressed between the wild and cultivated parents, providing further evidence of their potential involvement in determining the contrasting phenotypes. These results offer exciting opportunities to improve the nutritional content and health benefits of lettuce through marker-assisted breeding

Madison County, Kentucky Hazardous Materials Commodity Flow Analysis

This report presents the results of a Commodity Flow Analysis of Hazardous Materials for Interstate-75 (I-75) (North and South Bound lanes) conducted by Western Kentucky University in partnership with the Madison County (Kentucky) Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). The only Kentucky County within the study area is Madison County as shown in Figure 1.1. The purpose of report is to give information on patterns of hazardous materials being transported along I-75 as observed from July 25th 2011 to August 5th 2011. A secondary purpose is to summarize incidents involving hazardous materials over the previous 6 years (January 2006 – June 2011). Finally, this report assesses survey information collected from fixed facilities that ship and receive hazardous materials in the I-75 highway. Commodity flow analysis is necessary in order for the LEPC to prepare for future hazardous material releases that may occur along this section of I-75. Data collected from this study will aid the emergency planning process for specific hazardous materials that were observed to frequent the study area during the study period