Writing Systems as a Reflection of Ancient Societies

This thesis examines the writing systems of two ancient societies: the Latin alphabet as a writing system within the Roman Empire and the hieroglyphic writing system within the Maya city-state. This thesis first situates writing as a technology and explains the common uses of writing systems in modern contexts, before turning to an examination of the past. Next, basic literary patterns—including estimated literacy rates, education patterns and opportunities, types of documents, and themes within writing—are examined within the context of both societies. After evaluating these literary patterns, as well as the social, political, and economic organization of both societies, this thesis examines the relationship between these writing systems and their respective societies. The literary patterns discussed in the context of these writing systems reflect the previously discussed socio-political-economic hierarchies within the two farming societies. Additionally, these literary patterns are used to examine the reflection of a society’s food surplus—one based on wheat within the Roman Empire and one supported by maize in the Maya city-state—within written documents, as well as the differences formed among these farming societies due to their respective forms of subsistence

An Open, Large-Scale, Collaborative Effort to Estimate the Reproducibility of Psychological Science

Reproducibility is a defining feature of science. However, because of strong incentives for innovation and weak incentives for confirmation, direct replication is rarely practiced or published. The Reproducibility Project is an open, large-scale, collaborative effort to systematically examine the rate and predictors of reproducibility in psychological science. So far, 72 volunteer researchers from 41 institutions have organized to openly and transparently replicate studies published in three prominent psychological journals in 2008. Multiple methods will be used to evaluate the findings, calculate an empirical rate of replication, and investigate factors that predict reproducibility. Whatever the result, a better understanding of reproducibility will ultimately improve confidence in scientific methodology and findings

Classroom Learning Conditions Predict Academic Performance

A great deal is known about how _students'_ psychological characteristics; growth mindset, belonging, grit, and many more relate to students' academic achievement. Much less is known about how the classroom conditions under which students must learn affects their achievement. This study examines how classroom _learning conditions_ relate to students' academic achievement. Specifically we ask how students' experience of their teachers' caring, the feedback they receive to grow as learners, and the meaningfulness of their work relate to their academic achievement, controlling for factors such as prior academic achievement and prior psychological variables (grit, growth mindset, etc.)

Leading Indicators of Educational Outcomes

Students are more engaged, motivated, and resilient when they experience learning in specific ways—when they experience psychological safety, caring relationships, meaningful content, and personal agency. PERTS worked with leading researchers to develop Copilot, an advanced professional learning platform that helps educators create supportive conditions for social and emotional learning and development. Copilot enables teachers to get rapid feedback from their students about how they are experiencing key classroom learning conditions. It couples that feedback with best-practices for improving those conditions and promoting higher and more equitable academic achievement and social-emotional growth (see perts.net/creating-learning-conditions). Our research examines which Copilot student survey metrics serve as top leading indicators for equity gaps in students' outcomes. These leading indicators will then be used by educators across the country to improve learning conditions and promote more equitable social and emotional learning and academic outcomes for their students

Stronger Together: A Global Conversation (Panel discussion)

We opened our meeting with the panel discussion Stronger Together: A Global Conversation. While people throughout the world may share common goals and desires in their efforts to protect the natural world, in practice these efforts are surely informed by a range of cultural, political, economic, and other influences. In an open-ended discussion, we brought together a diverse group of panelists with a wide range of international experience in conservation, biodiversity and ecosystem protection to share their perspectives on these ideas

Stronger Together: A Global Conversation (Panel discussion)

We opened our meeting with the panel discussion Stronger Together: A Global Conversation. While people throughout the world may share common goals and desires in their efforts to protect the natural world, in practice these efforts are surely informed by a range of cultural, political, economic, and other influences. In an open-ended discussion, we brought together a diverse group of panelists with a wide range of international experience in conservation, biodiversity and ecosystem protection to share their perspectives on these ideas

Student Thriving Index

Character Lab Research Network seeks to close the gap between science and practice by determining the most impactful ways to cultivate the strengths students need to thrive. The Student Thriving Index was developed to provide a comprehensive “snapshot” of student social, emotional, academic, and physical thriving at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. We deliver this data back to our school partners using interactive dashboards so they can best understand how their students are doing and tailor their educational practices accordingly. Publication: Duckworth, A. L., Kautz, T., Defnet, A., Satlof-Bedrick, E., Talamas, S., Lira, B., & Steinberg, L. (2021). Students Attending School Remotely Suffer Socially, Emotionally, and Academically. Educational Researcher, 50(7), 479-482. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X21103155

An Open, Large-Scale, Collaborative Effort to Estimate the Reproducibility of Psychological Science

Reproducibility is a defining feature of science. However, because of strong incentives for innovation and weak incentives for confirmation, direct replication is rarely practiced or published. The Reproducibility Project is an open, large-scale, collaborative effort to systematically examine the rate and predictors of reproducibility in psychological science. So far, 72 volunteer researchers from 41 institutions have organized to openly and transparently replicate studies published in three prominent psychological journals in 2008. Multiple methods will be used to evaluate the findings, calculate an empirical rate of replication, and investigate factors that predict reproducibility. Whatever the result, a better understanding of reproducibility will ultimately improve confidence in scientific methodology and findings