Gender Issues in Young Adult Literature

Whether we are expanding our lives through knowledge or imagination, there is no doubt that reading plays a crucial role in this process. Largely because of this, reading continues to be one of the most highly debated components in the education of our children. When they are young we argue the best way to teach children to read. Once we’ve taught them how, the arguments turn to the best way to actually get them do it. Any educator or librarian knows you can lead teens to a book but you can’t make them read it. So we do everything from forcing them to read (mandatory school reading times) to bribery (reading incentive programs). Yet, in our quest to persuade young adults to read, we may sometimes forget that it is also important what they read and what they take away from the experience

Connect the Dots: Using Evaluations of Teacher Effectiveness to Inform Policy and Practice

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has long advocated that any meaningful understanding of "effective" teaching must be rooted in results for kids. Whatever else they accomplish in the classroom, effective teachers improve student achievement. It seems like commonsense. Yet, until recently, it has been an exceptional way of thinking about teacher quality, totally out of step with teacher policy across the states. As part of the annual State Teacher Policy Yearbook, NCTQ has systematically collected and analyzed state policies on teacher preparation, training, retention, compensation and other personnel policies. In this paper we provide: 1. A detailed and up-to-date lay of the land on teacher evaluation policies across the 50 states and the District of Columbia Public Schools; 2. An in-depth look at policy in states promising ambitious teacher evaluation systems (states requiring student growth and achievement to be a significant or the most significant factor in teacher ratings), including states' efforts to "connect the dots" and use teacher evaluation results in meaningful ways to inform policy and practice; 3. A compilation of some of the important lessons learned, pitfalls and successes states have experienced on the road to improving teacher evaluation systems

The genetic architecture underlying the evolution of a rare piscivorous life history form in brown trout after secondary contact and strong introgression

Identifying the genetic basis underlying phenotypic divergence and reproductive isolation is a longstanding problem in evolutionary biology. Genetic signals of adaptation and reproductive isolation are often confounded by a wide range of factors, such as variation in demographic history or genomic features. Brown trout ( ) in the Loch Maree catchment, Scotland, exhibit reproductively isolated divergent life history morphs, including a rare piscivorous (ferox) life history form displaying larger body size, greater longevity and delayed maturation compared to sympatric benthivorous brown trout. Using a dataset of 16,066 SNPs, we analyzed the evolutionary history and genetic architecture underlying this divergence. We found that ferox trout and benthivorous brown trout most likely evolved after recent secondary contact of two distinct glacial lineages, and identified 33 genomic outlier windows across the genome, of which several have most likely formed through selection. We further identified twelve candidate genes and biological pathways related to growth, development and immune response potentially underpinning the observed phenotypic differences. The identification of clear genomic signals divergent between life history phenotypes and potentially linked to reproductive isolation, through size assortative mating, as well as the identification of the underlying demographic history, highlights the power of genomic studies of young species pairs for understanding the factors shaping genetic differentiation

Substance Abuse Among Urban Aboriginals

This paper reports findings of a study of mental health among urban Aboriginal peoples. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to explore the relationship between substance abuse and physical/sexual abuse in a sample of Aboriginal peoples living in an urban community. Open-ended interviews were conducted in a sample of 30 Aboriginals that included Aboriginal social service providers (from health, legal and family services). Forty percent of the sample had been abused and many experienced social, psychological and emotional prob- lems associated with abusive experiences. Content analysis of the interviews revealed common themes in violence discourse including loss of identity and control, the normalization of violence, and revictimization. Substance use, family dysfunction, and difficulty in interpersonal relationships were also associated with abuse experiences. Structured interviews conducted with a larger sample of urban Aboriginals (n = 245) revealed high rates of lifetime psychological distress (depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation) as well as attempted suicide (39.1%). The analyses also demonstrated that there were high rates of sexual abuse (39.6%), physical abuse (51.8%) and emotional abuse (61.6%) in the sample. When the sample was stratified for history of physical and/or sexual abuse, the analyses indicated that social, psychological and behavioural problems were amplified among those with histories of abuse. Rates of recent and lifetime psychological distress were highest among those who had been both physically and sexually abused. In addition, females were more likely to have been physically and sexually abused (males 25.6% versus females 48.4%, p \u3c 0.001). Family dysfunction was a key indicator of psychological problems among abuse victims. In particular, a family history of psychological problems was strongly associated with physical/sexual abuse. While rates of family history of drug or alcohol problems are high for abused and non-abused individuals alike, those who had experienced physical abuse or physical/sexual abuse rated higher for a current substance abuse problem. It is suggested that issues such as family functioning and the inter- generational transmission of violent behavior and substance abuse be pursued in future mental health research among urban Aboriginal peoples

Gro-Sat: The Development of an Extended Life Support System for Plants in Microgravity

The effects of a microgravity environment on the entire life cycle of plants is not yet fully understood. A conceptual design for the payload of a Get Away Special canister has been developed to implement a complete life support system for plants. This small satellite is a closed system that must maintain plant life for at least three months. It consists of an innovative lighting system and a complete plant nutrient delivery system. The use of hardware to limit long-term contamination of the nutrient solution in the closed system as well as other considerations are discussed. The design, based on the Northern Utah Satellite, considers control of both the thermal environment and the atmospheric composition. Levels of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen in the atmosphere are optimized such that plant growth rate is increased. Control of additional environmental parameters is also considered. Proper monitoring of the system will increase knowledge of the effects of microgravity on plants in a closed system. Furthermore, information acquired from Gro-Sat will be used to improve the plant life support system for future Gro-Sat missions

No One Benefits: How Teacher Pension Systems Are Failing Both Teachers And Taxpayers

A 50-state look at the funding crisis in the pension systems that serve teachers, including features that make them so costly and elements that aren't fair, advantageous or beneficial to all teachers

DO ANKLE STABILIZERS INFLUENCE DYNAMIC STABILITY IN PERSONS WITH FUNCTIONAL ANKLE INSTABILITY?

Ankle sprains are the most common injury in the physically active, and reoccurrence rate is high. Repetitive ankle sprains can cause functional ankle instability (FAI), leading to deficits in balance, strength, and stability. Sports medicine professionals prescribe and administer bracing and taping as extrinsic methods of enhancing ankle stability. What is not clear is how these methods affect neuromuscular control during dynamic movements in persons with FAI. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of taping and bracing on time to stabilization (TTS), as a measure of dynamic stability, in persons with FAI during two landing tasks

PRE-SEASON DYNAMIC STABILIZATION MEASURES IN FIVE COLLEGIATE TEAMS

The purpose of this study was to measure baseline dynamic stability using time to stabilization (TTS) during two landing tasks at the start of pre-season training in a group of college athletes. Seventy-one male and female athletes representing men’s soccer (n=22), women’s soccer (n=13), women’s volleyball (n=12), men’s basketball (n=12), and women’s basketball (n=11) performed single-leg forward jump and lateral drop landing tasks on each leg onto a force plate. GRF data were used to calculate TTS in the anteroposterior (A/P) and mediolateral (M/L) directions. Data were assessed descriptively using SPSS for differences between sports. Results showed that men’s basketball players had higher TTS values for 6 of 8 measures while women’s volleyball players had lower TTS values for 6 of 8 measures