Firing the canon : identity negotiation among Chinese American youth through the mediation of multicultural literature

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A COMPARISON OF METADISCOURSE MARKERS AND WRITING QUALITY IN ADOLESCENT WRITTEN NARRATIVES

Discourse, a series of sentences that communicates a topic, consists of two distinct yet connected components. The first element is the propositional content or the meaning of the sentences, and the second consists of the words and expressions that enhance the communicative efficiency and effectiveness of the factual message. Metadiscourse markers, members of the second linguistic category, guide the reader through the text and establish a means for the writer to interact or influence the reader. The use of metadiscourse in writing and speaking embodies the concept that communication is more than just the exchange of information, facts, and figures. Effective use of metadiscourse increases the coherence or holistic meaning of the written piece and also distinguishes maturity in writing. Although coherence is considered fundamental to proficient writing ability, it is an element that is difficult to learn, teach, and assess. In this study, metadiscourse markers in essays written by 69 adolescent students were counted, categorized, and compared to the Subtest 8, Story Construction of the Test of Written Language-Third Edition (TOWL-3), (Hammill & Larsen, 1996). It is hypothesized that there will be a correlation between the number of metadiscourse markers and the standard score of Subtest 8, Story Construction of the TOWL-3, (Hammill & Larsen, 1996). Essays given a high score on this subtest, indicating a well-constructed essay, should show a greater overall number of metadiscourse markers when compared to essays given a lower-quality rating. Being able to quickly assess coherence in writing as indicated by the use of metadiscourse in a student’s writing sample is an important tool for the Speech-Language Pathologist who is involved in writing assessments and interventions of school-age students

M.F.A. Thesis Statement

The work in this thesis exhibition deals with a concept of space utilizing color and design in stained glass panels. I am drawn towards organic shapes and subject matter. I feel close to and find great satisfaction in organic, freely flowing lines and shapes. At this point my work is involved with exploring different approaches to form and shape characteristics. One of the most important concerns in working with colored glass is the quality of the glass. Much contemporary glass has little character. To achieve a rich visual quality in the windows, much rare Tiffany glass has been used. Tiffany glass is approximately eighty years old; it is "hard to come by." The glass in these windows was acquired from locations across the United States. It has been used in combination with the finest modern glass. In the progress of my work, I have made 250 windows and 100 lampshades and have worked with other craftsmen on eight very large windows executed in 1976 for the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. &nbsp;</p

Clients, Consumers, or Collaborators? Parents and their Roles in School Reform During Children Achieving, 1995-2000

The Children Achieving reform plan envisioned parents as critical players in school reform, a vision that freshly emphasized the need to transform relations between local schools and parents and communities. This vision represented a departure from the passive view of parents as clients and consumers to an active view of them as collaborators with education professionals in shaping children’s school experience. This report provides an overview of the many roles Children Achieving envisioned for parents between 1995- 2000, with particular attention to their role as education leaders and collaborators with teachers and principals in school reform

The Cultivation of Psychosocial Skills For High Performance Within Educational Programs

Gifted specialists recognize the importance of psychosocial skills to high achievement but rarely deliberately focus on them in their programming. We present case studies of systematic efforts to cultivate these skills in three different contexts: a K-12 gifted school, selective STEM high school, and community-based program. Participants learn effective ways to incorporate psychosocial skill training into their program models

Military Lives: Coaching Transitions

Purpose – The purpose of this study is firstly to consider how veterans employ talk to shape interpretations of personal and social identify. Secondly, we seek to gain an understanding of how veterans see themselves in a civilian world, their ability to re-conceptualise and realign their perspective on life to support their transition in to a civilian world. Design/methodology/approach – Underpinned by Ricoeur’s theory of narrative identity, the work provides a qualitative analysis data from coaching interviews with 5 veterans Findings – The findings revealed the on-going legacy of military life and how its distinctiveness and belief centred on kinship shapes personal identity and the way they see their civilian world. The work sheds light on to the benefits of this Ricoeur’s self-reflexive approach and how it can be used to provide a deeper insight in to the nature of personal transitions and how narrative can be used to expose complexities of the narratives of personal history and meaning as the narrator becomes both the seeker and what is sought. Practical implications –the work reinforces the value of Ricoeur’s self-reflexive approach identifying narrative mediating between two ‘poles’ of identity and the act of mimesis; prefiguration, configuration and refiguration as veterans project stories of their world and their place within it. Originality/value – The paper provides new insights in to the important of narrative identify broadening its potential application with engagement across diverse communities, thereby providing depth and rigour of its conceptual understanding of personal identify. The work further provides insights in to the challenges facing veteran to integrate within a civilian society. Keywords –narrative identity, military veterans, coaching, Ricoeur Paper type - Research pape

Reliability of the Cerebral Performance Category to classify neurological status among survivors of ventricular fibrillation arrest: a cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) score is widely used in research and quality assurance to assess neurologic outcome following cardiac arrest. However, little is known about the inter- and intra-reviewer reliability of the CPC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We undertook an investigation to assess the inter-reviewer and source document reliability of the CPC among a cohort of survivors from out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest (n = 131) in a large metropolitan area between November 1, 2003 and December 31, 2005. Subjects with a CPC of 1 or 2 were classified as favorable outcome and those with CPC 3 or greater were classified as unfavorable outcome. One abstractor first used the discharge summary alone to determine the CPC. All 3 abstractors independently reviewed the entire hospital record. Reliability was assessed by determining the proportion of determinations that agreed between abstractors and the respective kappa statistics. We also evaluated the implications for determining survival with favorable neurological outcome when survival to hospital discharge was 20% and 30%.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When the entire hospital record was used to determine CPC, favorable neurologic outcome (CPC 1 or 2) was recorded in 92% by abstractor 1, 89% by abstractor 2, and 74% by abstractor 3. Agreement was 96% (kappa = 0.78) between abstractors 1 and 2, 84% (kappa = 0.49) between abstractors 2 and 3, 82% (kappa = 0.38) between abstractors 1 and 3. The 3-way kappa was 0.50. Agreement was 90% (kappa = 0.71) between the discharge summary alone and the entire hospital record. If the results from review of the entire record are applied to a circumstance where survival to discharge is 20%, favorable neurologic status would occur in 18.4% for abstractor 1, 17.8% for abstractor 2, and 14.8% for abstractor 3. For survival to hospital discharge of 30%, favorable neurologic status would occur in 27.6% for abstractor 1, 26.7% for abstractor 2, and 22.2% for abstractor 3.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this cohort study of survivors of out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest, the use of the CPC to classify favorable versus unfavorable neurological status at hospital discharge produced variable inter- and intra-reviewer agreement. The findings provide useful context to interpret outcome evaluations that report CPC.</p

The amino-acid stress sensing eIF2α kinase GCN2 is a survival biomarker for malignant mesothelioma

BackgroundMalignant mesothelioma is a tumour that is strongly associated with a history of asbestos exposure, and which derives from mesothelial cells that line the serous cavities of the body. The tumour most commonly arises in the pleural cavity, but can also arise in the pericardium, peritoneum, and tunica vaginalis. At present the lesion has a very poor prognosis and is an incurable form of cancer with median survival times of up to 19 months being quoted for some histological subtypes. A large proportion of mesotheliomas have been shown to be arginine auxotrophic, leading to new research for therapeutics which might exploit this potential vulnerability.MethodsWe measured the levels of General Control Non-derepressible 2 (GCN2) protein in malignant mesothelioma tumour samples and determined whether these levels correlate with clinical outcomes.ResultsWe observed that the expression levels of GCN2 correlated with patient survival and was an independent prognostic variable in pairwise comparisons with all available clinical data.ConclusionThese findings suggest that GCN2 levels provides prognostic information and may allow for stratification of care pathways. It may suggest that targeting GCN2 is a viable strategy for mesothelioma therapy development

A Natural Fit: Collaborations Between Community Health Centers and Family Planning Clinics

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and family planning clinics funded through Title X of the Public Health Service Act are critical components of the health care safety net in urban and rural medically underserved communities. Although they share the common mission of serving vulnerable and low-income populations, health centers and Title X clinics possess different, but complementary, strengths. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act) will expand coverage to an additional 32 million people while leaving 23 million uninsured. Most of the newly insured and the remaining uninsured will be residents of medically-underserved communities, and thus, positioning the safety net to meet demand will be highly important

Can improving working memory prevent academic difficulties? a school based randomised controlled trial

Background: Low academic achievement is common and is associated with adverse outcomes such as grade repetition, behavioural disorders and unemployment. The ability to accurately identify these children and intervene before they experience academic failure would be a major advance over the current &lsquo;wait to fail&rsquo; model. Recent research suggests that a possible modifiable factor for low academic achievement is working memory, the ability to temporarily store and manipulate information in a &lsquo;mental workspace&rsquo;. Children with working memory difficulties are at high risk of academic failure. It has recently been demonstrated that working memory can be improved with adaptive training tasks that encourage improvements in working memory capacity. Our trial will determine whether the intervention is efficacious as a selective prevention strategy for young children at risk of academic difficulties and is cost-effective.Methods/Design: This randomised controlled trial aims to recruit 440 children with low working memory after a school-based screening of 2880 children in Grade one. We will approach caregivers of all children from 48 participating primary schools in metropolitan Melbourne for consent. Children with low working memory will be randomised to usual care or the intervention. The intervention will consist of 25 computerised working memory training sessions, which take approximately 35 minutes each to complete. Follow-up of children will be conducted at 6, 12 and 24 months post-randomisation through child face-to-face assessment, parent and teacher surveys and data from government authorities. The primary outcome is academic achievement at 12 and 24 months, and other outcomes include child behaviour, attention, health-related quality of life, working memory, and health and educational serviceutilisation.Discussion: A successful start to formal learning in school sets the stage for future academic, psychological and economic well-being. If this preventive intervention can be shown to be efficacious, then we will have the potential to prevent academic underachievement in large numbers of at-risk children, to offer a ready-to-use intervention to the Australian school system and to build international research partnerships along the health education interface, in order to carry our further studies of effectiveness and generalisability.<br /