Building a workforce from preschool up: a western Massachusetts commitment

With the western Massachusetts economy struggling in 2005, area leaders formed the Berkshire Compact to develop solutions. As the cornerstone of a comprehensive plan, members are pursuing efforts to interest children at younger ages in higher education.Education - Massachusetts ; Economic conditions - Massachusetts ; Labor market - Massachusetts

Incorporating financial literacy into the secondary school accounting curriculum: a New Zealand perspective

This paper examines whether selected stakeholder groups believe accounting should continue to be taught as an elective subject in its current form at New Zealand secondary schools or whether incorporating a financial literacy component would increase the subject’s relevance to students. A mixed method approach combining qualitative and quantitative research methods was used. An electronically administered survey was used to obtain the responses of secondary school accounting teachers, while additional insight in the form of semi-structured interviews was obtained from other stakeholders. Although respondents generally agreed that students benefited from accounting as an elective subject at secondary school, all agreed that the development of financial literacy skills was important. Difficulties in introducing a new core subject into an already overcrowded curriculum were acknowledged. However, this difficulty could be overcome by making modifications to the subject “Accounting”. As the most widespread, existing “finance” related subject, Accounting would be the most appropriate vehicle through which to teach financial literacy

Attachment Matters for All - An Attachment Mapping Exercise for Children's Services in Scotland

As part of the first phase of the Looked After Strategic Implementation Group (LACSIG), the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) undertook research into care and permanence planning for younger children in care.1 They focused on 100 children all aged under four years old when they first came to the attention of services and examined how long it took from that point to achieve permanence. For over 90% of children this process took longer than two years and more than half had still not achieved a permanent placement four years after first contact with services. Several children had also experienced multiple placements, with transitions between carers often occurring at critical developmental points. The research highlighted the negative impact on long-term outcomes of such continued disruption of children’s attachments

IGFBP-5 as a biomarker of de-differentiation in hepatocytes

Describes IGFBP-5 as a biomarker of de-differentiation in hepatocytes presented at the 47th Congress of the European-Societies-of-Toxicolog

Effect of 405 nm high-intensity narrow-spectrum light on osteoblast function

A significant portion of medical devices fail due to acquired infection, with infection rates after arthroplasty surgery between 1-4%, and considerably higher after revision surgery. To reduce the associated costs of infection, a new preventative method is required. High intensity narrow spectrum (HINS) 405 nm light is a new technology shown to have bactericidal effects on a range of medically important bacteria[1]. The effect of HINS-light on osteoblasts and bacteria were investigated to determine the potential of this technology to contribute to infection prevention in operating theatres, during surgery and postoperative dressing changes

Impact of the Kindergarten Teacher Reading Academy on the Instructional Practices of Kindergarten Teachers

The research question for this study was: Did the Kindergarten Teacher Reading Academy (KTRA) Professional Development Model impact the kindergarten teachers¡¯ instructional practices? Moat (2004) indicated that professional development should be job-embedded with substantive and sustaining power. This research employed a qualitative method. The Participant Knowledge Survey (pre-and posttest), was administered to all kindergarten participants at the KTRA. Six kindergarten teachers were then selected to participate in follow-up. This follow-up included a classroom observation and teacher interview at each teacher¡¯s school. All participants are certified kindergarten teachers that teach in public schools in Mississippi. The results of the interview revealed that these teachers¡¯ instructional practices were very different. Teachers that received on going support and guidance throughout the academic year provided more instruction in kindergarten. These teachers have been trained on all professional development models held in the state. After the initial trainings, participants attend Peer Coaching Study Teams weekly (2 hours per week). These teachers are given time to reflect on their practices, and are provided moral support from their peers and administrator. Teachers that participated in this study indicated that they valued the activities and strategies from the KTRA. They have implemented the topics from the KTRA Professional Development Model. The results of the study indicate that attending a professional development session is not enough. Teachers need direct support and guidance if they want to improve their instructional practices. The KTRA did have an instructional impact on all of the kindergarten teachers that attended the session

Becoming the Crossroads: Female Cultural Creators of the Mexican American Generation in the Texas Borderlands

This dissertation examines the cultural accomplishments of Mexican American women in 20th century Texas, looking at how women in the arts paved the way for a new Mexican American hybrid identity. I examine how Mexican American women in the borderlands, as Gloria Anzaldúa so aptly put it, “became the crossroads” in their bodies, minds and spirits. By examining the lives and work of the four women, Jovita González, Rosita Fernández, Alicia Dickerson Montemayor, and Consuelo “Chelo” González Amezcua, I have demonstrated that Mexican American women broke boundaries of their own culture and of Anglo Texas culture in order to create their art. In the process of becoming American, they flouted the conventional gender roles and paved the way for a generation of Chicana artists, musicians, and authors. My research was conducted in archives throughout Texas, by examining and analyzing letters, manuscripts, newspapers, recordings, films, TV and video clips, magazines, and art work. As artists of the borderlands, the women I researched participated in laying the groundwork for a hybrid Mexican American identity, developing Mexican American art that paved the way for the development of a distinctive Mexican American culture by the hybridization and use of common Mexican forms and references in their art, through which they reinforced and redefined Mexican American culture while telling stories that had not been told before

Young America: The Transformation of Nationalism before the Civil War

Mark Power Smith examines how mid-nineteenth-century European liberal nationalist movements affected United States’ nationalism(s), especially as configured by the Young America bloc of the Democratic Party. Smith finds that Europeans\u27 embrace of \u27more interventionist forms of liberalism,\u27 such as socialism, or abolitionism, \u27made popular resistance to interventionism a conservative, rather than radical force.\u2

Changing Populations, Rules, and Roles: Conflict and Ambiguity

Over the past ten years, public housing agencies across the country have been allowed greater discretion in the implementation of policies that affect public housing management and who will live there. Discretion in public management has the potential to be a slippery slope. While managers may have greater flexibility in responding to local need and making the best use of the limited resources available to public housing, the potential exists for risk of conflicting interpretation of policies, unclear program goals, and a conflict in roles, for example, What exactly is my job and how do I manage in this new environment? The author examines these issues against the backdrop of mixed populations, namely, housing policies that enable low-income individuals with disabilities to become eligible for what has traditionally been considered housing for the elderly