Social Justice Advocacy Trends Related to Gay/Straight Alliance Advisors\u27 Experiences in Schools

Social justice within education increasingly has been emphasized over the past decade (Kraft, 2007; Oakes et al., 2000; Riester et al., 2002). Little is known about the demographic trends and the advocacy experiences of school-based social justice advocates such as Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) advisors despite the established importance of teachers engaging in social justice advocacy within schools. Data were collected from a national sample (N = 262) of GSA advisors to further the understanding of the demographic characteristics and the experiences of these social justice advocates and to investigate the relationships between these variables. An ethnographic survey (Schensul, Schensul, & LeCompte, 1999) was utilized for data collection in which the language and experiences reported by GSA advisors (Graybill et al., 2009; Watson et al., 2010) were incorporated. Using an ecological model established in a previous study with GSA advisors (Watson et al., 2010), the individual-, school-, and sociocultural-level characteristics that affect advisors were examined. The results suggested that this sample of GSA advisors was a demographically homogenous group with 67.3% female, 85.7% White, 72.2% who voted Democrat, and 77.1% who were educated at the Master‟s level or higher. Exploratory factor analysis identified two dimensions (i.e., Barriers, Facilitators) by which the advisors appeared to define their experiences when advocating for LGBT youth. Hierarchical regression analyses suggested that at the individual level, experiencing negative personal and professional consequences to advocating and thelevel of self-perceived preparedness to advocate based on prior training contributed to the variability in the advisors‟ experiences with social justice advocacy. At the sociocultural level, advisors in rural schools reported more barriers and fewer facilitators to advocating. Overall, all seven predictors entered, including those at the individual (i.e., experiencing negative personal or professional consequences to advocating, level of self-perceived preparedness to advocate), school (i.e., school resources, school size), and sociocultural levels (i.e., region of the country, community type), accounted for 33.0% (p \u3c .05) of the variance in the Barriers and 10.6% (p \u3c .05) of the variance in the Facilitators to advocating for LGBT youth in schools

Using a Participatory Approach to Organizational Behavioral Consultation in Schools

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a process through which challenging behavior is decreased by reducing behavior triggers and by teaching individuals more appropriate ways to communicate what they were attempting to communicate through their challenging behavior. Despite the legislative support for the FBA process, educators have found it cumbersome to implement with fidelity (Scott, McIntyre, Liaupsin, Nelson, & Conroy, 2004). The current study aims to train and consult with staff in therapeutic day schools on the use of functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) using the Participatory Culture-Specific Consultation (PCSC) model (Nastasi, Varjas, Bernstein, & Jayasena, 2000). The PSCS “combines ethnographic research methods and an action research process with participatory or collaborative approach to consultation to address the concerns of clients, consultees, and systems in a manner that reflects their cultural experiences” (pg. 403, Nastasi et al., 2000). Preliminary results suggest that the needs of educators vary considerably across settings and that targeting training content to the culture-specific needs of settings increases training acceptability and effectiveness. School-based trainers and coaches will learn methods for collaborating with educators and schools during the training and consultation process to ensure that time spent training and coaching is time well spent

How Breastfeeding Behavior is Affected by the Breastfeeding Perspectives of Fathers in Georgia (USA)

Background: Father support has recently been associated with increasing breastfeeding rates, but research is limited on how the American father’s perspectives of breastfeeding influence breastfeeding behavior. The aim of the study was to investigate the perspectives of fathers residing in Georgia on breastfeeding and to understand if it contributed to mothers’ decisions to breastfeed. Methods: We conducted 10 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with parents of ever-breastfeed infants who were at least six months of age. Results: Mothers often led the decision-making process to breastfeed based on her prepartum knowledge of breastfeeding. Many fathers had no prepartum opinion on breastfeeding, and their lack of opinion was not a determining factor in a mother\u27s decision to initiate and continue exclusive breastfeeding. Fathers generally developed a favorable opinion of breastfeeding due to the perceived benefits their child(ren) received. Data also suggested that reasons for supplementing or transitioning to formula were not associated with the father’s perspective of breastfeeding. Conclusions: Although the father’s perspective on breastfeeding had minimal impact on the mother’s decision to breastfeed, having the father\u27s support during breastfeeding aided mothers on their breastfeeding journey and with everyday care taking

Efficacy of individualised starting dose (isd) and fixed starting dose (fsd) of niraparib per investigator assessment (ia) in newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer (oc) patients

Niraparib is a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor approved for maintenance treatment of patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent OC that responded to platinumbased chemotherapy and treatment in heavily-pretreated recurrent OC. Here we report efficacy in patients receiving the FSD and ISD in the PRIMA/ENGOT-OV26/GOG-3012 trial (NCT02655016)

Volume 07

Introduction from Interim Dean Dr. Jennifer Apperson Spatial Analysis of Potential Risk Factors Associated with Addition of Atlantic Coast Pipeline Through Virginia by Rachel C. Lombardi Delicate Matters with No Speaking, Hope and Nothing, Mono Duality by Ben Osterhout Connect Graphic Design Senior Project by Lindsay Graybill Phenolic Acids in Brassicaceae Plants: Ovipositional Stimulants or Deterrents for Cabbage White Butterfly, Pieris Rapae? by Rebecca E. Dey And Skyler T. Carpenter Abecedarian Cards by Emma Beckett, Jason Ware, And Mollie Andrews Helvetica: A Type Specimen Book by James Bates, Landon Cooper, Tiffani Jeffries, And Maria Wheaton “Things Left Behind” by Dallas Price Heretic Adornment by Laura Kahler Photography by Sarah Charlton Revisiting Longfellow: Expressing Universality through Accessibility by Anna Bultrowicz Magazine Spreads from “What Dreams May Come: Marriage Across Cultures” by Emily Spittle Magazine Spreads From “Live on The Street: A Naked Look at Human Sex Trafficking” by Erin Godwin Lasting Light by Eamon Brokenbroug

Step-by-Step Process for Conducting Universal Mental Health Screening

Presenter will provid

Intensive Interventions for Challenging Behaviors in Early Child Care Settings

The presenters will discuss the implementation of individualized positive behavior supports with children with challenging behaviors in early child care settings. Participants will learn how to collect functional behavioral assessment (FBA) data and how to use the FBA data to prevent challenging behaviors and to teach new, more appropriate behaviors. Interventions that are considered evidence-based practices for young children with challenging behaviors will be discussed

Mental Health Supports within a Tier 3 System

Students with challenging behaviors often have underlying, and sometimes overlooked, mental health concerns. Through this session, participants will learn how to identify and support students with mental health concerns

Step-by-Step Process for Conducting Universal Mental Health Screening

Universal screening is a research‐supported process for identifying students at risk of social, emotional, behavior, or academic challenges. Educators saw an increase in universal screening for academic challenges with the introduction of Response to Intervention ﴾RtI﴿ in 2004 special education legislation. With the increase in the use of the positive behavioral interventions and supports ﴾PBIS﴿ framework in schools over the past 10 years, schools have piloted universal screening for behavioral challenges. As increased federal funding is dedicated to the integration of school and community mental health services, educators are ﴾1﴿ examining ways to identify youth who could benefit from school‐based mental health services and ﴾2﴿ examining the availability of school‐based mental health services in their schools, districts, and larger communities.This session will teach district personnel how to implement the universal screening for mental health process from start to finish. The session will cover topics including screening readiness, resource mapping, gap analyses, screening tools that are cost‐effective and psychometrically strong, parental consent, collecting screening data, data analysis, data‐based decision making, and intervention implementation. District personnel will have the opportunity to practice resource mapping and identifying gaps in their tiered systems of support. Participants will explore the options for parental consent outlined by federal legislation. Participants will learn about the range of screening measures including the advantages and disadvantages to various tools. Participants will learn about the logistics of implementing the screening process in urban and rural school districts. Finally, participants will have practice analyzing universal screening data and using those data to inform decision‐making. This will be a hands‐on session for district personnel who would be responsible for coordinating or implementing the universal screening process in their districts

Cultural Competence in Education

Cultural competence is critical when providing supports and services to our students with mental health and behavioral health challenges and their families. Yet, cultural competence is a term that can be vague and not well defined. This presentation will provide specific recommendations for monitoring one’s own cultural competence and for ensuring culturally responsive practices when working with youth in schools and their families. Participants will gain practical strategies and resources that will help guide them on their path toward culturally competent practice