Supportive Structures For Successful Science Teachers’ Professional Development

The Omaha Public Schools (OPS) Science Office collaborates closely with community partners to facilitate a private foundation grant that seeks to improve science education by focusing on in-service, science teachers’ professional learning in the context of professional development (PD) experiences and targeted graduate coursework. The three goals of the K-12 Comprehensive Science Teaching and Learning Grant are to 1) increase student achievement in science, 2) increase teacher effectiveness, and to 3) align and enhance science curriculum. At the end of year one, 83 teacher participants have taken graduate courses, attended professional conferences, completed action research projects, and/or have participated in content immersion workshops based on personalized professional learning plans. All of the participating teachers complete an action research portfolio and are assisted by one of 11 science instructional coaches—master teachers who ensure that the teachers’ professional learning is translated into improved classroom practice. The science instructional coaches’ preparation included training from the Institute for Inquiry affiliated with San Francisco’s Exploratorium, Discipline-Based Educational Research and other graduate courses through the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), The Art of Instructional Coaching Training and consulting from Elena Aguilar, and a series of Science Research Immersion Workshops by Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, as well as the University of Wisconsin-Extension affiliated with Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center. The OPS K-12 Science Supervisor is the principal investigator and the UNO STEM Community Chair and the UNO Science Community Chair are the co-PIs for the collaborative grant effort. The shared-leadership model in OPS also includes two Elementary Supervisors and the Science Lead Teacher to ensure full alignment among district goals, participants’ plans for growth, and partners’ agendas. Additionally, a grant advisory team including district-level leadership and grant officers participates in quarterly meetings to oversee the progress. Education Northwest conducts the external grant evaluation. Included in this report is the structural context of the project and implementation data from year one. These preliminary data are collected from surveys, interviews, observations, field reports, and standardized tests. Briefly, the data from assessments of youth in science from standardized test results showed slight district-wide gains at elementary school (+2% of students meeting standards) and middle school (+3% of students meeting standards) while high school standardized scores remained unchanged. Although the initial student data are encouraging, at this point in the project timeline the focus of this paper is on three of the four main structures of PD opportunities within the grant (i.e. graduate course work, conference attendance, and content immersions). The authors will discuss the details of these structures and identify potential and valuable next steps for research. The Omaha Public Schools (OPS) Science Office collaborates closely with community partners tofacilitate a private foundation grant that seeks to improve science education by focusing on in-service,science teachers’ professional learning in the context of professional development (PD) experiencesand targeted graduate coursework. The three goals of the K-12 Comprehensive Science Teachingand Learning Grant are to 1) increase student achievement in science, 2) increase teachereffectiveness, and to 3) align and enhance science curriculum. At the end of year one, 83 teacherparticipants have taken graduate courses, attended professional conferences, completed actionresearch projects, and/or have participated in content immersion workshops based on personalizedprofessional learning plans. All of the participating teachers complete an action research portfolio andare assisted by one of 11 science instructional coaches—master teachers who ensure that theteachers’ professional learning is translated into improved classroom practice.The science instructional coaches’ preparation included training from the Institute for Inquiry affiliatedwith San Francisco’s Exploratorium, Discipline-Based Educational Research and other graduatecourses through the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), The Art of Instructional CoachingTraining and consulting from Elena Aguilar, and a series of Science Research Immersion Workshopsby Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, as well as the University of Wisconsin-Extensionaffiliated with Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center. The OPS K-12 Science Supervisor is theprincipal investigator and the UNO STEM Community Chair and the UNO Science Community Chairare the co-PIs for the collaborative grant effort. The shared-leadership model in OPS also includestwo Elementary Supervisors and the Science Lead Teacher to ensure full alignment among districtgoals, participants’ plans for growth, and partners’ agendas. Additionally, a grant advisory teamincluding district-level leadership and grant officers participates in quarterly meetings to oversee theprogress. Education Northwest conducts the external grant evaluation.Included in this report is the structural context of the project and implementation data from year one.These preliminary data are collected from surveys, interviews, observations, field reports, andstandardized tests. Briefly, the data from assessments of youth in science from standardized testresults showed slight district-wide gains at elementary school (+2% of students meeting standards)and middle school (+3% of students meeting standards) while high school standardized scoresremained unchanged. Although the initial student data are encouraging, at this point in the projecttimeline the focus of this paper is on three of the four main structures of PD opportunities within thegrant (i.e. graduate course work, conference attendance, and content immersions). The authors willdiscuss the details of these structures and identify potential and valuable next steps for research

Effect of Aging on A1C Levels in Individuals Without Diabetes: Evidence from the Framingham Offspring Study and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2004

OBJECTIVE—Although glycemic levels are known to rise with normal aging, the nondiabetic A1C range is not age specific. We examined whether A1C was associated with age in nondiabetic subjects and in subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) in two population-based cohorts

Underreporting of Death Certification in a University Teaching Hospital – A Hospital Based Study in Ireland

Summary: Background: Death certificates are frequently used as the source for epidemiological data on the prevalence of diseases. We postulated that comorbidities may be under-documented, particularly in older patients with multiple coexisting conditions. Methods: Death certificates completed during a six-month period notification forms completed between January and June 2016 To investigate the accuracy of death certificate completion in Galway University Hospital, with specific emphasis on accurate documentation of common comorbidities. A retrospective review of and comparison with the deceased patients' casenotes. All death certificates were divided into those relating to patients aged over and under 75 years. Death certificates were examined for accuracy and documentation of comorbidities and these, (and the number of omissions) were compared with the actual diagnoses documented in the patients' casenotes. Results: The cause of death was accurately documented in all Death Certificates. Overall, comorbidities were more common and omissions were more frequent in the older group compared with the younger cohort, with at least one comorbidity omitted in 71% of death certificates versus 56% (p = 0.0481). For individual diagnoses, under-documentation rates were similar in both age-groups. Conclusions: While the actual cause of death was accurately completed in the death certificates reviewed in this audit, the majority of certificates in both age groups omitted one or more important comorbidity. This result may be due to an inappropriate over-emphasis in training on accurate documentation of the correct cause of death. Keywords: death certificates, omissions, documentation, inaccurac

Nocturnal leg cramps in older people

Nocturnal leg cramps are common in older people. Such cramps are associated with many common diseases and medications. Physiological methods may be useful for preventing cramps in some people, but there have been no controlled trials of these approaches. Quinine is moderately effective in preventing nocturnal leg cramps. However, there are concerns about the risk/benefit ratio with this drug. In patients with severe symptoms, a trial of 4–6 weeks' treatment with quinine is probably still justified, but the efficacy of treatment should be monitored, for example using a sleep and cramp diary

Correlates of self-rated health in geratric day-care centre

Abstract Old people and physicians perceive health in old age differently. Self-rated halth is a strong predictor of mortality, independent of objective measures of health, and can be more predictive than a physician\u27s assessment. Poorer self-rated halth is a risk factor for nursing-home admission. We studied correlates of self-rated health in a geriatric day-care centre, whose role in facilitating and prolonging independent living involves reducing mortality and admission to long-term care