Positivity in Action: Character Education through the Positivity Project

Recently, a new program – The Positivity Project (P2; https://posproject.org/) – has been developed to address key implementation challenges for teachers. P2 is a professional development program focused on teacher’s use of project-based learning and a universal student character education curriculum that provides educators and students with tools to support socio-emotional skills through daily, 15-minute learning modules across the school year. In this article, we (a) explain the theory informing P2, (b) detail key implementation components, (c) include real-life accounts from students and teachers using P2 across K-12 and alternative settings, and (d) provide suggestions for evaluating the impact of P2 for those schools considering implementation. The P2 program is informed by positive psychology, a strengths-based approach to instruction that is well-suited to support students with disabilities. Currently, there is promising evidence of P2 effectiveness that could be classified as practice-based evidence (see https://posproject.org/). Schools wishing to explore use of P2 may wish to consider the best ways to measure the effectiveness of the program. One option is the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth, which was developed to assess the 24 character strengths from positive psychology and has been translated into multiple languages

Classroom Management for Rural Students with or at Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: A Longitudinal Study across Early Elementary School

Besides their homes, children spend more time in classrooms than any other place. Especially in rural areas, the classroom may be one of the most important settings for children's emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development. Considering the strong push for inclusion and the under-identification of students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), general education classrooms are likely to include students who experience significant emotional and behavior problems that challenge teachers' management skills and adversely affect academic achievement. Teachers and administrators across rural America have called out for professional development related to EBD and classroom management; yet, no study in the literature has investigated the quality of classroom management taking place in rural elementary schools to assess potential associations with the reading achievement and behavior of students with or at risk for EBD. Data from this study were drawn from the Family Life Project, an epidemiological study of families in low-wealth, rural communities. With a sample of 235 children with or at risk for EBD who were followed from kindergarten through third grade, this study explored the cumulative effects of classroom management quality across the first four years in school on children's reading achievement and behavior in third grade. Results suggested students' self-reported engagement and disaffection in third grade was not related to the quality of classroom management they had experienced. However, hierarchical multiple regressions and moderation analysis suggested that as the overall quality of classroom management improved, boys with or at risk for EBD scored significantly higher on a standardized test of reading comprehension in third grade, while girls appeared unaffected by the quality of classroom management. Implications for teachers and future directions in research are discussed.Doctor of Philosoph

Sex-related differences in aging rate are associated with sex chromosome system in amphibians

Sex-related differences in mortality are widespread in the animal kingdom. Although studies have shown that sex determination systems might drive lifespan evolution, sex chromosome influence on aging rates have not been investigated so far, likely due to an apparent lack of demographic data from clades including both XY (with heterogametic males) and ZW (heterogametic females) systems. Taking advantage of a unique collection of capture-recapture datasets in amphibians, a vertebrate group where XY and ZW systems have repeatedly evolved over the past 200 million years, we examined whether sex heterogamy can predict sex differences in aging rates and lifespans. We showed that the strength and direction of sex differences in aging rates (and not lifespan) differ between XY and ZW systems. Sex-specific variation in aging rates was moderate within each system, but aging rates tended to be consistently higher in the heterogametic sex. This led to small but detectable effects of sex chromosome system on sex differences in aging rates in our models. Although preliminary, our results suggest that exposed recessive deleterious mutations on the X/Z chromosome (the "unguarded X/Z effect") or repeat-rich Y/W chromosome (the "toxic Y/W effect") could accelerate aging in the heterogametic sex in some vertebrate clades.Peer reviewe

Is full inclusion lessening self-contained teachers’ feeling of personal accomplishment?

Burnout is a significant challenge for special educators’ wellbeing, as they report higher levels of stress than general educators. Rates of burnout are highest among special educators serving youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). At a time when nearly half of all students with EBD are spending more than 20% of their school day outside of the general education classroom—and when special education researchers continue to support the need for self-contained settings for students with EBD—it is necessary to explore if and to what extent the movement toward full inclusion is having an impact on self-contained EBD classroom teachers. A focus group with three special educators provided unique insights regarding advantages and disadvantages of working in self-contained settings, as well as the extent to which working in a self-contained setting during an era of full inclusion is having deleterious effects on teachers’ feelings of personal accomplishment. Implications for research and practice are provided

Characteristics of Individualized Education Programs for Students With Learning Disabilities: A Systematic Review

Students who receive special education services are entitled to receive an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that provides an appropriate level of benefit. Although IEP content is informed by policy mandates and practice recommendations, research has yet to investigate the degree to which school practice is in alignment. The purpose of this investigation was to perform a systematic review of peer-reviewed studies investigating the characteristics and/or quality of IEPs for students with learning disabilities (LDs). A multi-step article identification process revealed 13 studies meeting selection criteria, many of which did not report specific demographic characteristics and findings for students with LD. However, some concerns regarding IEP quality are documented within this pool of investigations. Study limitations and areas for future research are discussed

Graph Construction in the Field of EBD: A Decade Review

The identification of effective interventions for students identified with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) is paramount to push the field forward and provide scientifically grounded suggestions to practitioners. Single-case experimental designs (SCED) are frequently used to evaluate whether a functional relation exists between interventions (i.e., independent variables) and student outcomes (i.e., dependent variables), with studies demonstrating evidence of an effect aggregated in an effort to identify EBPs. A critical factor in decision-making is the evaluation of graphical data, typically displayed in time-series graphs. Distortion in the graphical display of data can lead to invalid decisions on whether a functional relation exists, as well as the magnitude of an effect. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the graphical display of data from SCEDs in the field EBD. The review included 40 SCEDs, including 258 graphs, published in Behavioral Disorders and Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders over the last 10 years (2010–2019). Results suggest less than 20% of the graphs met current recommendations for graph construction in regard to y:x ratio and DPPXYR. We provide recommendations to the field on designing graphs to enhance the validity of visual analysis

Contrasting demographic responses under future climate for two populations of a montane amphibian

For species with complex life histories, climate change can have contrasting effects for different life stages within locally adapted populations and may result in responses counter to general climate change predictions. Using data from two, 14-year demographic studies for a North American montane amphibian, Cascades frog (Rana cascadae), we quantified how aspects of current climate influenced annual survival of larvae and adult stages and modeled the stochastic population growth rate (λs) of each population for current (1980–2006) and future periods (2080s). Climate drivers of survival for the populations were similar for larvae (i.e., decreases in precipitation lead to pond drying and mortality), but diverged for terrestrial stages where decreases in winter length and summer precipitation had opposite effects. By the 2080s, we predict one population will be in sharp decline (λs = 0.90), while the other population will remain nearly stable (λs = 0.99) in the absence of other stressors, such as mortality due to disease. Our case study demonstrates a result counter to many climate envelope predictions in that stage-specific responses to local climate and hydrology result in a higher extinction risk for the more northern population

Reading Interventions for Students with Reading and Behavioral Difficulties: a Meta-analysis and Evaluation of Co-occurring Difficulties

This meta-analysis systematically identified reading intervention research for students with reading difficulties and problem behaviors in grades K–12 to determine the (a) impact of these reading interventions on reading outcomes and (b) extent to which reading outcomes varied based on student characteristics (e.g., grade, disability), intervention characteristics (e.g., group size, additional behavioral supports), and quality indicator characteristics. Follow-up analyses investigated three of the four hypothesized mechanisms underlying the high co-occurrence rate between reading difficulties and problem behaviors: (a) reading difficulties lead to future problem behaviors, (b) problem behaviors lead to future reading difficulties, and (c) a bi-directional association exists between reading difficulties and problem behaviors. Eleven studies were identified. There was a statistically significant main effect of reading interventions on reading outcomes (g = 0.86, p \u3c .01). We did not find evidence to support either of the three stated hypotheses. The primary limitation of this study was a lack of reading intervention research for students with reading difficulties and problem behaviors. Due to the limited sample of intervention research to investigate the first three hypotheses, future intervention research is needed to better understand the relationship between reading and behavior difficulties. Furthermore, future reading intervention research is needed to better understand how to best develop a program of instruction for this population of students

20th Century Retreat and Recent Drought Accelerated Extinction of Mountain Glaciers and Perennial Snowfields in the Trinity Alps, California

The Trinity Alps is a compact glaciated subrange of the Klamath Mountains in northwest California with elevations \u3c 2,750 m making it a unique location in the western US to study glacier change. We examined glacier change since the last Little Ice Age advance in the late 19th century by mapping historic glacier areas using clearly defined moraines. At least six glaciers existed in the Trinity Alps around the 1880s and estimated glacier cover was at least 55.4 ha (0.554 km2). We tracked changes in two glaciers and two perennial snowfields since that time. Total glacier area decreased by 79% (43.8 ha to 9.1 ha) from the 1880s to 1994. By 2013, glacier area decreased another 7% of the 1880s area to 6.0 ha. Overall, retreat was similar for Salmon Glacier (–89%) and Grizzly Glacier (–84%), but since 1994 Salmon retreat has been much faster, 53% versus 16% for Grizzly. The extended 2012 to 2016 drought resulted in catastrophic retreat of both glaciers such that by 2015 Salmon Glacier disappeared and Grizzly Glacier retreated to 1.67 ha and partially stagnated, a –97% loss of total glacier area since the 1880s. Two snowfields (3.02 ha total area in 1955) were tracked since 1955, the Mirror Lake snowfield disappeared by the summer of 2013 and the Canyon Creek snowfield disappeared by October 2014. The unusually warm summer temperatures since 2005 combined with extremely low winter precipitation from 2013 to 2015 caused rapid retreat and near elimination of the Trinity Alps perennial snow and ice threatening local biodiversity that depends on these features