Leadership Experiences of Male African-American Secondary Urban Principals: The Impact of Beliefs, Values and Experiences on School Leadership Practices

Uneasiness about leading ethnically diverse urban schools implies that principals of color may have an important role in accomplishing their schools\u27 goals. Findings from this study revealed that in areas of image administration and relationship development African-American principals and European American principals in urban schools perceive their principals\u27 leadership in a different way. Results revealed that (a) African-American male principals were critical in creating an inclusive school among groups of ethnically diverse groups of students (b) due to their racial affiliation, African-American principals played an important role in mentoring and providing an atmosphere of love and support and (c) African-American male principals were responsible for ensuring that a belief system that encourages self respect, unwavering values and a student focus approach to leadership will help to ensure a positive and supportive learning milieu for all students in an urban school setting. Our schools are undergoing immense challenges as they evolve from mono-cultural nondiverse contexts to ones that contain ethnically diverse, multilingual, and costeffectively poorer children. In leading urban schools, African-American male principals must possess administrative skills to mobilize a diverse teaching staff so children in urban schools will succeed academically. Thus, if African-American male principals are to play this significant role, what critical functions of effective leadership are needed to work with a varied group of followers? The intent of this qualitative study will be to inspect the beliefs, values and leadership practices that African-American principals endorse to lead successful urban school

Leadership Experiences of Male African-American Secondary Urban Principals: The Impact of Beliefs, Values and Experiences on School Leadership Practices

Uneasiness about leading ethnically diverse urban schools implies that principals of color may have an important role in accomplishing their schools\u27 goals. Findings from this study revealed that in areas of image administration and relationship development African-American principals and European American principals in urban schools perceive their principals\u27 leadership in a different way. Results revealed that (a) African-American male principals were critical in creating an inclusive school among groups of ethnically diverse groups of students (b) due to their racial affiliation, African-American principals played an important role in mentoring and providing an atmosphere of love and support and (c) African-American male principals were responsible for ensuring that a belief system that encourages self respect, unwavering values and a student focus approach to leadership will help to ensure a positive and supportive learning milieu for all students in an urban school setting. Our schools are undergoing immense challenges as they evolve from mono-cultural nondiverse contexts to ones that contain ethnically diverse, multilingual, and costeffectively poorer children. In leading urban schools, African-American male principals must possess administrative skills to mobilize a diverse teaching staff so children in urban schools will succeed academically. Thus, if African-American male principals are to play this significant role, what critical functions of effective leadership are needed to work with a varied group of followers? The intent of this qualitative study will be to inspect the beliefs, values and leadership practices that African-American principals endorse to lead successful urban school

Leadership Experiences of Male African-American Secondary Urban Principals: The Impact of Beliefs, Values and Experiences on School Leadership Practices

Uneasiness about leading ethnically diverse urban schools implies that principals of color may have an important role in accomplishing their schools\u27 goals. Findings from this study revealed that in areas of image administration and relationship development African-American principals and European American principals in urban schools perceive their principals\u27 leadership in a different way. Results revealed that (a) African-American male principals were critical in creating an inclusive school among groups of ethnically diverse groups of students (b) due to their racial affiliation, African-American principals played an important role in mentoring and providing an atmosphere of love and support and (c) African-American male principals were responsible for ensuring that a belief system that encourages self respect, unwavering values and a student focus approach to leadership will help to ensure a positive and supportive learning milieu for all students in an urban school setting. Our schools are undergoing immense challenges as they evolve from mono-cultural nondiverse contexts to ones that contain ethnically diverse, multilingual, and costeffectively poorer children. In leading urban schools, African-American male principals must possess administrative skills to mobilize a diverse teaching staff so children in urban schools will succeed academically. Thus, if African-American male principals are to play this significant role, what critical functions of effective leadership are needed to work with a varied group of followers? The intent of this qualitative study will be to inspect the beliefs, values and leadership practices that African-American principals endorse to lead successful urban school

SB40-07/08: Creation of the Union Emergency Account

SB40-07/08: Creation of the Union Emergency Account. This resolution passed 18Y-0N on a roll call vote during the April 9, 2008 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM)

Multidimensional measurement within adult protective services: design and initial testing of the tool for risk, interventions, and outcomes.

This study describes the development, field utility, reliability, and validity of the multidimensional Tool for Risk, Interventions, and Outcomes (TRIO) for use in Adult Protective Services (APS). The TRIO is designed to facilitate consistent APS practice and collect data related to multiple dimensions of typical interactions with APS clients, including the investigation and assessment of risks, the provision of APS interventions, and associated health and safety outcomes. Initial tests of the TRIO indicated high field utility, social worker "relevance and buy-in," and inter-rater reliability. TRIO concurrent validity was demonstrated via appropriate patterns of TRIO item differentiation based on the type of observed confirmed abuse or neglect; and predictive validity was demonstrated by prediction of the risk of actual APS recurrence. The TRIO is a promising new tool that can help meet the challenges of providing and documenting effective APS practices and identifying those at high risk for future APS recurrence

LGR5 is associated with tumor aggressiveness in papillary thyroid cancer.

PurposeLeucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5 (LGR5) is a cancer stem cell marker and a down-stream target in Wnt/β-catenin signaling. In human papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), over activation of Wnt/β-catenin has been associated with tumor aggressiveness.Patients and methodsUsing established human cell lines (TPC-1, KTC-1, Nthy-ori-3-1), we report LGR5 and R-spondin (RSPO1-3) overexpression in PTC and manipulate LGR5 and Wnt/β-catenin signaling via both pharmacologic and genetic interventions. We test the association of LGR5 tumor expression with markers of PTC aggressiveness using a Discovery Cohort (n = 26 patients) and a Validation Cohort (n = 157 patients). Lastly, we explore the association between LGR5 and the BRAFV600E mutation (n = 33 patients).ResultsOur results reveal that LGR5 and its ligand, RSPO, are overexpressed in human PTC, whereby Wnt/β-catenin signaling regulates LGR5 expression and promotes cellular migration. In two separate cohorts of patients, LGR5 and RSPO2 were associated with markers of tumor aggressiveness including: lymph node metastases, vascular invasion, increased tumor size, aggressive histology, advanced AJCC TNM stage, microscopic extra thyroidal extension, capsular invasion, and macroscopic invasion. As a biomarker, LGR5 positivity predicts lymph node metastasis with 95.5% sensitivity (95% CI 88.8%-98.7%) and 61% specificity (95% CI: 48.4%-72.4%) and has a negative predictive value (NPV) of 91.3% (95% CI 79.2%-97.5%) for lymph node metastatic disease. In human PTC, LGR5 is also strongly associated with the BRAFV600E mutation (p = 0.005).ConclusionWe conclude that overexpression of LGR5 is associated with markers of tumor aggressiveness in human PTC. LGR5 may serve as a future potential biomarker for patient risk stratification and loco regional metastases in PTC

The UK Women's Cohort Study: comparison of vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters

Background: This paper describes the development of the UK Women's Cohort Study and presents cohort baseline characteristics. Methods: In total, 35 372 women, aged 35–69 years at recruitment, were selected to ensure a wide range of dietary intakes. Diet was assessed by a 217-item food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Detailed lifestyle information was collected by postal questionnaire. Vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters were compared. Results: The cohort women are mainly white, well-educated, middle-class and married with children. They are health-conscious with only 11% current smokers and 58% taking dietary supplements. Twenty-eight per cent of subjects self-report as being vegetarian and 1% as vegan. However, only 18% are defined as 'vegetarian' from the FFQ. Fat provides 32% of energy; vitamin and mineral intakes are high, with a broad range of intakes. Meat-eaters are older, with a higher body mass index (BMI) and the lowest intakes of carbohydrate, fibre, vitamin C, folate, iron and calcium. Other fish-eaters are similar to vegetarians. Vegetarians have the lowest intakes of protein, fat and saturated fat. Oily fish-eaters have the lowest BMI; are the least likely to smoke or use full-fat milk; and are the most likely to use dietary supplements and consume the most fruit and vegetables. Oily fish-eaters have the highest total energy intake and vegetarians the lowest. Semi-skimmed milk, bread, potatoes, wine, bananas and muesli are important contributors to energy for all groups