The effects of positive behavior interventions and supports on the number of discipline referrals and academic achievement of fourth and fifth grade students

Student achievement is one of the most important aspects of school life. With the rise in current standards and the pace to which teachers and students are expected to conduct their lessons, teachers must find ways to improve student behaviors by nonpunitive discipline techniques. Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a form of classroom management that focuses on the good behavior rather than the bad behavior. A rural school in Mississippi took on such an initiative by implementing PBIS as a schoolwide discipline management plan after the 2011-2012 school year. The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of the implementation of PBIS on the number of discipline referrals and conduct trend analysis of the number of discipline referrals after the schoolwide implementation of PBIS. Further, the study sought to determine if there were statistically significant relationships between the number of discipline referrals and English language arts score and the number of discipline referrals and mathematics scores. An existing database from a rural school in Mississippi was compiled and analyzed for the purpose of the study. Data were analyzed for a year before PBIS implementation and seven years following PBIS implementation. The findings of the study indicated there was a statistically significant difference in the number of discipline referrals before PBIS implementation when compared to the first year following full implementation. The trend data indicated that Black males consistently had the highest number of discipline referrals and had the lowest test scores in ELA and mathematics. Further, the findings showed there were consistently negative relationships among the number of discipline referrals and ELA scores and the number of discipline referrals and mathematics scores

Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (APBI): A review of available techniques

Breast conservation therapy (BCT) is the procedure of choice for the management of the early stage breast cancer. However, its utilization has not been maximized because of logistics issues associated with the protracted treatment involved with the radiation treatment. Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (APBI) is an approach that treats only the lumpectomy bed plus a 1-2 cm margin, rather than the whole breast. Hence because of the small volume of irradiation a higher dose can be delivered in a shorter period of time. There has been growing interest for APBI and various approaches have been developed under phase I-III clinical studies; these include multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy, balloon catheter brachytherapy, conformal external beam radiation therapy and intra-operative radiation therapy (IORT). Balloon-based brachytherapy approaches include Mammosite, Axxent electronic brachytherapy and Contura, Hybrid brachytherapy devices include SAVI and ClearPath. This paper reviews the different techniques, identifying the weaknesses and strength of each approach and proposes a direction for future research and development. It is evident that APBI will play a role in the management of a selected group of early breast cancer. However, the relative role of the different techniques is yet to be clearly identified