Determining Best Practices of Peer Mediation Methods in Kalamazoo Public Schools

Determining Best Practices of Peer Mediation methods in Kalamazoo Public Schools Melanie Bourgeau, Dagan Hammar, Neil Hughes, Sarah Kemp, Sydney Spitler, Catherine Kothari BACKGROUND Peer mediation is a method of conflict resolution in which a conflict between two people or groups is guided by a fellow student in order to reach an agreement. Peer mediation has been shown to be an effective tool in helping students resolve conflict and how to respond to future conflicts. This has led to a reduction in school violence and suspensions in schools that have adopted this method. Several methods have been employed in the implementation of peer mediation. However, the two most common methods are the whole school and the cadre approach. The whole school approach requires everyone at the school to be trained, while the cadre approach only requires a few to be trained. PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to explore the various forms of peer mediation and determine best practices for peer mediation in Kalamazoo Public Schools. MATERIALS AND METHODS An online survey was distributed to eligible educators and administrators throughout the Kalamazoo public elementary schools that currently have a peer mediation program. Survey included questions ontheir opinion regarding the effectiveness of peer mediation program currently in place and if there were any barriers to successfully implementing the program. RESULTS 16 Surveys were completed by the study participants at multiple schools in the Kalamazoo area. Overall, the survey respondents found the peer mediation program to be somewhat beneficial to the students (3.69/5; 5 being most beneficial). The results show that the greatest barriers to using the peer mediation program are student willingness (50%) and time (38%). Respondents also feel there is not enough school-wide support for the program (2.94/5) CONCLUSION One of the main barriers to the peer mediation program is having school-wide engagement in the program., Evidence from literature show that the most effective way to implement peer-mediation is through the school-wide approach. Findings from our study show that peer mediation program could be a effective intervention for conflict resolution, however, this is not currently functioning at its full potential. The best way to improve the program, without going to the full school approach, would be to increase awareness and participation at all levels

A Year in Review: Clarifying the State of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Research in 2016

Introduction: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated mild traumatic brain injury. In the past decade, CTE has raised concern regarding safety in athletics and has been subject to intense media coverage. The medical and lay community continue to debate its impact as it pertains to athletics, military trauma, and domestic abuse. Despite newfound focus in recent years, fundamental knowledge gaps persist in understanding CTE. Purpose: To better understand the state of current CTE research, we performed a systematized review of publications from 2016. The study clarifies the manner in which CTE research has evolved over time, distinguishes the various areas of research as of 2016, and identifies knowledge gaps requiring further investigation. Methods: We completed a PubMed search with MeSH terms Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and CTE on publications released after January 1st, 2016. The search places priority on articles considered to have had the most impact in the past year based on their number of times cited and impact factor. The various papers are organized into categories based on their primary focus: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms, Pathology and Pathophysiology, Antemortem Diagnosis, Suicide, Risk and Protective Factors, Review articles, and Controversy and Challenges in the diagnosis of CTE. Results: After applying inclusion criteria, 136 articles were identified and categorized. Efforts to identify impact articles from the overall search cohort are ongoing as of abstract submission in order to avoid study exclusion. Search results demonstrate the breadth of ongoing research and the areas in which researchers made particularly notable achievements in 2016. Of greatest note, a NINDS/NIBIB consensus panel (McKee et al. 2016) published a series of studies to standardize neuropathological criteria for post-mortem diagnosis of CTE and to distinguish CTE from other neurodegenerative tauopathies. Furthermore, significant research was published in the above categories including the development of biomarkers for antemortem diagnosis of CTE and the impact of cognitive reserve on the progression of symptomatic disease. Discussion: Despite increased awareness of CTE in the medical community, debate continues over the underlying pathogenic mechanism and its status as its own entity rather than as a subset of another neurodegenerative disease. A knowledge gap exists in the ability to make a definitive antemortem diagnosis of CTE and requires further research. Overall, this review accomplishes its primary aims of clarifying the state of current CTE research and identifying areas for future direction