Superintendents’ decision making for funding full day prekindergarten programs in schools that serve low-income families

While abundant literature exists that outlines the benefits of investing in prekindergarten programs for children as well as the advantages of children attending prekindergarten, attention is needed to identify how decisions are actually made to fund full day prekindergarten programs. Most studies have focused on decision making in general and some studies have focused on the decision making process regarding implementing prekindergarten. Few studies, however, have focused on decision making for funding full day prekindergarten programs for low-income families. Additional research is needed to identify decision making factors and considerations that superintendents use to make decisions to fund full day prekindergarten programs. Therefore, this study identified characteristics superintendents use to describe their decision making processes and factors that were considered when making decisions for funding prekindergarten. Three questions guided the study: 1) How do superintendents characterize their decision making processes for funding full day prekindergarten programs serving low-income families? 2) What factors do superintendents consider to make full day prekindergarten funding decisions? 3) How do superintendents’ decision making practices, regarding funding for full day prekindergarten reflect rational decision making? A purposeful sampling method was used to select three superintendents for this study who had experience with decision making regarding funding for full day prekindergarten programs at the district level, had a minimum of two years in their role as superintendent, and who serve in large public school systems of at least 25,000 students. Face to face interviews, document analysis and observations were the primary data collection protocols. Findings suggest that superintendents characterize their decision making as collaborative, data-driven, and priority based. This study also found that superintendents appear to consider accessibility to high-quality education, benefit to community and sources of funding as factors when making decisions to fund full day prekindergarten. Further, a comparative analysis of the rational decision making framework and the decision making practices of superintendents suggest that the steps of a rational decision making process are completed to some extent. This study provides insight and information for practicing superintendents who attempt to make decisions for funding full day prekindergarten. Finally, given the nature and findings of the present study, recommendations for practice and further research are offeredEducational Leadership and Polic

Fields with Dreams: The Distribution of Farmland with Publicly-Funded Conservation Easements in Pennsylvania

Conservation easements have played an increasingly significant role in the American movement to preserve farmland from urban development. Conservation easements are legal instruments that enable a landowner to sell his right to develop his property to an outside party, typically a government entity or a private land conservancy. The distribution of conservation easements used to preserve farmland is highly variable. Conservation easements often are found in regions where productive farmland and intense development pressure collide. Conservation easements are most common in places where both public and private sectors give strong financial and political support for conservation. This thesis analyzes the spatial variability and effectiveness of conservation easements purchased as part of Pennsylvania’s public farmland preservation initiative. Many of Pennsylvania’s counties, particularly those in the southeast, have experienced significant population growth in the past three decades. These same counties comprise the core of Pennsylvania’s agricultural land and economy. In response to farmland loss, citizens have given strong political support to state and county boards created to preserve farmland through the purchase of conservation easements. An examination of conservation easement locations reveals that their distribution is notably uneven in Pennsylvania. My research confirms that urban development pressures and the strength of the local agricultural economy influence the lopsided usage of conservation easements. Principle components analysis of eighty-four variables for sixty-six counties demonstrates that conservation easements are purchased more frequently in counties where expansion of urban land uses conflicts with economically productive agricultural land. The research tests the model produced by principle components analysis through the comparison of counties’ component scores to the proportion of farmland they have preserved with conservation easements. My research further explores the factors affecting the use of conservation easements through an evaluation of Lancaster County’s geographical situation and its conservation easement purchase program. The study reveals that local support, religious attitudes, and the implementation of other farmland preservation methods influences the success of the Agricultural Preserve Board. This thesis explains why certain counties in Pennsylvania are committed to the use of conservation easements while others are not. The study provides a geographic interpretation of the public purchase of conservation easements as a method for preserving farmland in Pennsylvania. The study can serve as a model for others interested in public land protection in the United States

Daily Metacognitive Questioning Sheets: Implementing Metacognitive Strategies in the Secondary Classroom

This study investigated the possible impact that incorporating daily metacognitive questioning in a mathematics classroom could have on student achievement. The study integrated metacognition into the classroom through the daily use of metacognitive questioning sheets that were answered by students who participated in the research study. The study also explored patterns that emerged from the students’ individual responses on the metacognitive sheets using qualitative coding and analyses. Two classes of heterogeneously grouped high school dual-credit college algebra students were taught the same curriculum by the same teacher and given the same summative assessments during the study. One class received the metacognitive questioning sheets daily for two units, and one class received the questioning sheets for only one unit. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the two classes on one of the summative assessments at the conclusion of the study. Analyzing the individual students’ metacognitive sheets revealed compatterns among the students such as self-assessing during learning, self-confidence in their learning, and transparency about their misunderstandings and lack of knowledge. While there may not have been a significant difference among the students’ scores in each of the two classes using an ANOVA and paired samples t-tests, there was still evidence that students’ thinking and clearly describing where they were in their own learning had a positive impact on their achievement

Decolonising Environmental Risk Assessments of Potentially Polluting Wrecks:a Case Study of the Wreck of the USS Mississinewa in Ulithi Lagoon, Federated States of Micronesia

Millions of tonnes of oil lie entombed within wrecks from two world wars which, when released, can cause environmental devastation. Wrecks are predominantly risk assessed by the Global North Nations responsible, resulting in an epistemology that separates human from nature. This research aimed to decolonise risk assessments to capture the spatially heterogeneous nature of human vulnerability to oil pollution. Triangulation analysis of interviews and official reports relating to the USS Mississinewa oil spill identified three Global South issues a Eurocentric risk assessment failed to capture: region-specific meteorological conditions causing the leak, remoteness making external resources slow to arrive, and the impact of the fishery closure on traditional subsistence lifestyles. A vulnerability assessment is proposed to prioritise wrecks in susceptible locations. Recommendations are made for a collaborative approach to wreck management by including local voices, resisting the Global North assumption of generality, and recognising the priorities of those living with wrecks

Gait in Parkinson’s disease: a visuo-cognitive challenge

Vision and cognition have both been related to gait impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD) through separate strands of research. The cumulative and interactive effect of both (which we term visuo-cognition) has not been previously investigated and little is known about the influence of cognition on vision with respect to gait. Understanding the role of vision, cognition and visuo-cognition in gait in PD is critical for data interpretation and to infer and test underlying mechanisms. The purpose of this comprehensive narrative review was to examine the interdependent and interactive role of cognition and vision in gait in PD and older adults. Evidence from a broad range of research disciplines was reviewed and summarised. A key finding was that attention appears to play a pivotal role in mediating gait, cognition and vision, and should be considered emphatically in future research in this field

How are false negative cases perceived by mammographers? Which abnormalities are misinterpreted and which go undetected?

A radiographic ‘false negative’ or a case which has been ‘missed’ can be categorised in terms of errors of search (where gaze does not fall upon the abnormality); detection (a perceptual error where the abnormality may be physically ‘seen’ but remains undetected) and misinterpretation (a perceptual error whereby an abnormality, although detected, is not deemed worthy of further assessment). This study aims to investigate perceptual errors in mammographic film-reading and will focus on the later of the two error types, namely errors of misinterpretation and errors of non-detection. Previous research has shown, on a self-assessment scheme of recent and difficult breast-screening cases, that certain feature types are susceptible to errors of misinterpretation and others to errors of non-detection. This self assessment scheme, ‘PERFORMS’ (Personal Performance in Mammographic Screening), is undertaken by the majority (at present over 90%) of breast-screening mammographers in the UK Breast Screening Programme. The scheme is completed biannually and confidentially and participants receive immediate and detailed feedback on their performance. Feedback from the scheme includes information detailing their false negative decisions including case classifications (benign or malignant), feature type (masses, calcification, asymmetries, architectural distortions and others) and case perception error (percentage of misinterpretation and percentage of non-detection). Results from a recent round of PERFORMS (n=506), revealed that certain feature types had significantly higher percentages of error overall (including architectural distortion and asymmetries), and that these feature types also showed significant differences for error type. Implications for real-life screening practice were explored using real-life self-reported data on years of screening experience

What Do Students Have to Say About Ecology and Evolution? Using Podcasting to Apply Integrative Biology Themes Across the Tree of Life

We describe a versatile podcasting assignment that requires students to (i) review primary and secondary literature relating to an assigned organism with the goal of identifying the main features of its ecology and evolution, (ii) prepare an enhanced podcast about their organism, and (iii) critique peer podcasts. The goal of this assignment is for each student to gain a fuller appreciation for and understanding of biological diversity. This assignment will enhance students\u27 research, technology, and communication skills while reinforcing the main themes of integrative biology

Pulmonary Tumour Embolism Complicating a Case of Leiomyosarcoma

Patient. A case of peripheral leiomyosarcoma presenting with features of pulmonary thromboembolism is described

Presenting evidence-based health information for people with multiple sclerosis : the IN-DEEP project protocol

Background - Increasingly, evidence-based health information, in particular evidence from systematic reviews, is being made available to lay audiences, in addition to health professionals. Research efforts have focused on different formats for the lay presentation of health information. However, there is a paucity of data on how patients integrate evidence-based health information with other factors such as their preferences for information and experiences with information-seeking. The aim of this project is to explore how people with multiple sclerosis (MS) integrate health information with their needs, experiences, preferences and values and how these factors can be incorporated into an online resource of evidence-based health information provision for people with MS and their families.Methods - This project is an Australian-Italian collaboration between researchers, MS societies and people with MS. Using a four-stage mixed methods design, a model will be developed for presenting evidence-based health information on the Internet for people with MS and their families. This evidence-based health information will draw upon systematic reviews of MS interventions from The Cochrane Library. Each stage of the project will build on the last. After conducting focus groups with people with MS and their family members (Stage 1), we will develop a model for summarising and presenting Cochrane MS reviews that is integrated with supporting information to aid understanding and decision making. This will be reviewed and finalised with people with MS, family members, health professionals and MS Society staff (Stage 2), before being uploaded to the Internet and evaluated (Stages 3 and 4).Discussion - This project aims to produce accessible and meaningful evidence-based health information about MS for use in the varied decision making and management situations people encounter in everyday life. It is expected that the findings will be relevant to broader efforts to provide evidence-based health information for patients and the general public. The international collaboration also permits exploration of cultural differences that could inform international practice.<br /