Twenty Years in the Trenches: A Fight for Equitable and Adequate School Funding in Ohio

Abstract This single case study examined the perceptions of William L. “Bill” Phillis, the Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, concerning an unconstitutional funding model, subsequent sociopolitical barriers, and their impact on students and school districts from underprivileged socioeconomic background within the context of the DeRolph v. State of Ohio legal battle. This research adds to the extant literature on the educational implications of the property tax and foundation model of school funding. As well, we discuss William’s insights regarding the politics, nature, and development of the current state of public school financing in Ohio. There were four emergent themes: sociopolitical sentiment and rhetoric, the plight of poorer districts, seeing a shared vision, and constitutional language and responsibility. Key findings from the study provide awareness to foster civic responsibility to effect change for inequitable and inadequate funding formulae, to encourage politicians to abandon political agendas over constitutional will, and for educators and students alike to continually advocate for a reformed system of school funding. These findings are especially relevant among under-resourced districts such as those in Appalachian Ohio. Key words: advocacy, educational leadership, equity, foundation model, school funding, single-case stud

Democratic Teacher Preparation and Praxis: Creating Active, Reflective Educators (CARE)

This qualitative study investigates the ability of teachers that have completed their clinical experience—i.e., teacher preparation—in a school grounded in Deweyan theory to maintain a democratic practice. As such, the study focused on educators that were graduates of a school-university partnership program, known as CARE—Creating Active, Reflective Educators. Data were collected to address the following research question: “To what extent can former CARE students practice democratic education in their current public-school teaching environment?” Interviews conducted with current school teachers and leaders that were former CARE program students. Responses were audio-recorded and transcribed, then coded and organized into thematic units to report findings

Toward Justice: Reflections on A Lesson Before Dying

In 2016, the citizens of Knoxville, Tennessee, joined in a community reading program called the Big Read. Knoxvillians read Ernest Gaines\u27s book A Lesson Before Dying, and community groups hosted a series of lectures, book discussions, film screenings, and dramatic performances that immersed the community in a five-week conversation on racism. This book of essays is the University of Tennessee Libraries\u27 contribution to Knoxville\u27s Big Read. The Libraries put out a community-wide call for written responses to A Lesson Before Dying and was richly rewarded with the thoughtful and heartfelt commentaries gathered here.https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_newfound-ebooks/1015/thumbnail.jp

Engaging Emergency Department Patients in the Creation of a Shared Decision-­Making Tool Regarding CT Scanning in Kidney Stones: Challenges to Traditional Stakeholder Engagement

Background: Every year approximately 2 million patients are seen in US EDs for suspected renal colic, and the majority receive CT scans. The objective of our study was to develop a stakeholder-informed conversation aid to help clinicians use SDM regarding CT scanning in patients with suspected renal colic. Methods: Using a published decision aid development framework, and under the direction of a multi-disciplinary Steering Committee, we engaged a diverse set of stakeholders via qualitative methods. EM clinicians, urologists, radiologists, researchers, and emergency department patients participated in focus groups and semi-structured interviews. All groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in an iterative process by a four-person coding team. Emergent themes were identified and used to develop a decision aid which was iteratively refined. Results: A total of 8 interviews and 7 focus groups were conducted with 36 stakeholders (including local ED patients) The following three themes emerged: 1. Patient participants reported a desire to be involved in this decision and wanted more information regarding risks and benefits of CT scans. 2. Clinicians were comfortable diagnosing kidney stones without a CT scan, however, some felt that clinical uncertainty was a barrier to SDM. 3. All stakeholders identified strategies to facilitate this conversation such as check-lists and visual aids. Conclusion: Using stakeholder input, we developed a communication tool to facilitate an SDM conversation around the use of CT in suspected renal colic. Further testing will assess whether this tool can safely improve patient engagement and decrease low yield CT usage

The Paranormal is (Still) Normal: The Sociological Implications of a Survey of Paranormal Experiences in Great Britain

Historically, there has been limited sociological interest in the paranormal and no systematic study of reported paranormal experiences. There are also few medium-to-large-scale survey results with nationally representative populations focusing on paranormal experiences. This paper provides details of an exploratory survey conducted in 2009 with a nationally representative sample of 4,096 adults aged 16 years and over across Great Britain. Our findings show that 37% of British adults report at least one paranormal experience and that women, those who are middle-aged or individuals resident in the South West are more likely to report such experiences. These results establish incidence levels of reported paranormal experiences in contemporary Britain. We argue also that they merit a more sustained sociological consideration of the paranormal. In this respect we renew and update the robust justification and call for serious research positioning the paranormal as a social phenomenon, originally proposed well over thirty years ago by Greeley (1975)

The Apertif Surveys:The First Six Months

Apertif is a new phased-array feed for the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT), greatly increasing its field of view and turning it into a natural survey instrument. In July 2019, the Apertif legacy surveys commenced; these are a time-domain survey and a two-tiered imaging survey, with a shallow and medium-deep component. The time-domain survey searches for new (millisecond) pulsars and fast radio bursts (FRBs). The imaging surveys provide neutral hydrogen (HI), radio continuum and polarization data products. With a bandwidth of 300 MHz, Apertif can detect HI out to a redshift of 0.26. The key science goals to be accomplished by Apertif include localization of FRBs (including real-time public alerts), the role of environment and interaction on galaxy properties and gas removal, finding the smallest galaxies, connecting cold gas to AGN, understanding the faint radio population, and studying magnetic fields in galaxies. After a proprietary period, survey data products will be publicly available through the Apertif Long Term Archive (ALTA, https://alta.astron.nl). I will review the progress of the surveys and present the first results from the Apertif surveys, including highlighting the currently available public data

A search for radio emission from double-neutron star merger GW190425 using Apertif

ContextDetection of the electromagnetic emission from coalescing binary neutron stars (BNS) is important for understanding the merger and afterglow. Aims. We present a search for a radio counterpart to the gravitational-wave (GW) source GW190425, a BNS merger, using Apertif on the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT). MethodsWe observed a field of high probability in the associated localisation region for three epochs at ΔT\ue2€., =\ue2€., 68, 90, 109 d post merger. We identified all sources that exhibit flux variations consistent with the expected afterglow emission of GW190425. We also looked for possible transients. These are sources that are only present in one epoch. In addition, we quantified our ability to search for radio afterglows in the fourth and future observing runs of the GW detector network using Monte Carlo simulations. ResultsWe found 25 afterglow candidates based on their variability. None of these could be associated with a possible host galaxy at the luminosity distance of GW190425. We also found 55 transient afterglow candidates that were only detected in one epoch. All of these candidates turned out to be image artefacts. In the fourth observing run, we predict that up to three afterglows will be detectable by Apertif. ConclusionsWhile we did not find a source related to the afterglow emission of GW190425, the search validates our methods for future searches of radio afterglows