Teaching in the Middle Grades Today: Examining Teachers’ Beliefs About Middle Grades Teaching

Since the beginning of the middle school movement in the mid-1960s, middle level advocates have called for a school experience for young adolescents grounded in adolescent development that engages students in meaningful learning (Eichhorn, 1966; Alexander & Williams, 1965). The aim of this exploratory multi-case study was to understand middle level teachers’ beliefs about middle level instruction in the current educational environment. To gain this understanding, researchers asked ten current middle grades teachers with varying levels of experience to discuss their beliefs regarding their primary purpose as a middle grades teacher, the current status of middle level teaching, their best and worst instructional lessons, and their perceived barriers to teaching at the middle level. The teachers described the role of teaching in the middle grades as challenging and stressful, but of great importance. In general, they described instruction that included discovery, student engagement, and relevance in an effort to address students’ academic development. There was minimal mention of the non-academic aspects of adolescent development. Finally, teachers viewed curriculum restrictions, students’ attitudes toward learning, difficulty with differentiation, and lack of technology as significant barriers to their success in the classroom

Sunk or Dunk?: An Empirical Analysis of the Effect of Sunk Cost Fallacy in Professional Basketball

This project is divided into two sections. The first section is a comparison between the NBA and WNBA, using performance metrics from game statistics. Using performance characteristics, an empirical analysis was used to determine if the number of minutes played was determined by consistent parameters across these organizations. This finding showed inconsistency. The WNBA showed higher valuation for blocks, steals, and assists while the NBA showed higher valuation for three-point percentages and defensive rebounds. The second section of the paper evaluates the sunk cost fallacy and its impacts in the NBA. The WNBA was not able to be included in this part of the study due to a lack of salary data. The sunk cost fallacy is described as: as the spending for a person or thing increases, the perceived need to get the most out of that financial decision increases. It was found that a 1% increase in salary statistically increases minutes played by 1.5 minutes. This reveals that the sunk cost fallacy could be at play in the NBA, however, more investigation is needed to make more firm conclusions

Hoop Dreams: An Empirical Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap in Professional Basketball

The gender wage gap is a very prominent point of discussion in the professional world, but in the sports world, it has taken the spotlight in recent years. One sport that has seen discussion and debate over salary differences is the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association. In 2018, the average salary in the NBA was 6.4 million dollars, while the average salary in the WNBA was 71,635 dollars. A reason why these salaries are so differently is due to the amount of revenue that each league brings in. The NBA brings in roughly 7.4 billion dollars a year, compared to the 60 million that the WNBA brings in. However, of the 60 million that the WNBA brings in, only 20% of it is directed towards player salary while the NBA players see 50% of revenue set aside for salaries (Jope, 2019). The disparities here raise two important questions for this research. First, why does the WNBA bring in so little revenue compared to the NBA. Second why are the WNBA players seeing such a small portion of revenue invested in them? Using data from both leagues answers to these questions will be sought

The Status of Middle Schools in the Southeastern United States: Perceptions and Implementation of the Middle School Model

For more than 100 years, education communities have debated how best to educate the young adolescent. Proponents of both the junior high school model and the current middle school model have advocated for a specialized approach to educating adolescents that emphasizes the developmental needs of students. To accomplish this, various organizational structures and instructional approaches are recommended. This survey study examines the perceptions of these middle school practices and the implementation of those practices in middle schools in the Southeastern region of the United States. We note several key trends in our results and highlight key differences in perception of importance and implementation of middle school components and strategies compared to the most recent large scale survey administered by McEwin and Greene (2011)

The New Normal: Families, Caretakers, and Adults with Autism

Over the last several decades, the clinical prevalence of autism has increased considerably, as has the amount of popular and scientific attention directed towards the condition. However, discussions of autism tend to focus on children and finding a cause and a cure, while the growing numbers of adults diagnosed with autism have received relatively little attention. This dissertation begins with the argument that popular representations of autism are shaped by the idealism of modern medicine, and its overriding search to discover etiologies and treatments for all forms of biological difference that fall within its purview. And yet, for those responsible for adults with autism, management, care, and support are more relevant concerns to everyday experience than are cause and cure. In order to describe and analyze this everyday experience, this dissertation features a three-year ethnographic study of thirteen families with adult members with severe forms of autism. After reviewing pertinent historical and demographic information, the body of the manuscript explores: 1) the process by which caretakers negotiate between different definitions of problem behavior in the face of persistent situational complexity and ambiguity; 2) the contextual dynamics that make it possible for caretakers to perceive as innocent and/or humorous behaviors that are often viewed as atypical by others; and 3) the ways in which the experience of continued atypicality and dependency comes into conflict with popular representations of autism while at the same time highlighting the reality of the ever-looming future and the care and support required after primary caretakers are gone. At the end of the dissertation, I return to the argument that modern medical idealism discourages popular recognition that, in the case of autism, continued atypicality and dependency constitute the condition\u27s usual prognosis. I conclude with a short consideration of how the themes explored in this thesis resonate with the experiences of those living with or alongside other forms of biological difference (e.g. disability, mental illness, Alzehemier\u27s) that are currently incurable

Description of a Pressure Measurement Technique for Obtaining Surface Static Pressures of a Radial Turbine

The aerodynamic performance of a solid uncooled version of a cooled radial turbine was evaluated in the Small Engine Components Test Facility Turbine rig at the NASA Lewis Research Center. Specifically, an experiment was conducted to rotor surface static pressures. This was the first time surface static pressures had been measured on a radial turbine at NASA Lewis. These pressures were measured by a modified Rotating Data Package (RDP), a standard product manufactured by Scanivalve, Inc. Described here are the RDP, and the modifications that were made, as well as the checkout, installation, and testing procedures. The data presented are compared to analytical results obtained from NASA's MERIDL TSONIC BLAYER (MTSB) code

Process-writing instruction in one teacher\u27s classes and its impact on the writing of her seventh grade students

The purpose of the project was to determine whether process-writing instruction in the classroom was improving one group of seventh grade language arts students\u27 writing. Students in three classes with the same language arts teacher were involved in the study. Over the course of the first three marking periods, writing samples were collected from each of the students involved. Each student\u27s writing was assessed according to criteria on both the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards and the New Jersey Registered Holistic Scoring Rubric. The teacher was also both observed and interviewed in order to determine what process-writing techniques she implemented into her writing instruction. The goal was to determine how effective process-writing instruction was on improving the students\u27 writing over the course of the first three marking periods. Data from each writing sample was compiled and recorded on graphs and in descriptive qualitative terms. This was helpful in establishing the conclusion that the process-writing instruction implemented by the teacher was beneficial to her students as evidenced by decreased errors and increased sophistication of the writing collected in the study

Experimental Evaluation of a Cooled Radial-inflow Turbine

Two 14.4 inch tip diameter rotors were installed and tested in the Small Engines Component Turbine Facility (SECTF) at NASA Lewis Research Center. The rotors, a solid and a cooled version of a radial-inflow turbine, were tested with a 15 vane stat or over a set of rotational speeds ranging from 80 to 120 percent design speed (17,500 to 21,500 rpm). The total-to-total stage pressure ratios ranged from 2.5 to 5.5. The data obtained at the equivalent conditions using the solid version of the rotor are presented with the cooled rotor data. A Reynolds number of 381,000 was maintained for both rotors, whose stages had a design mass flow of 4.0 Ibm/sec, a design work level of 59.61 Btu/lbm, and a design efficiency of 87 percent. The results include mass flow data, turbine torque, turbine exit flow angles, stage efficiency, and rotor inlet and exit surveys