Socialization of preservice teachers in the area of early literacy education

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine the lived experiences of five preservice teachers enrolled in an early literacy methods course and concurrent field experience. The need for this study is justified by the research pointing to the importance of early literacy learning and, therefore, the necessity of teachers who are well prepared to teach children to read and write. Additionally, this study investigates the teacher socialization process and how it is positively and negatively affected by field experiences. The notion that experience is the best teacher is examined through interpretation of the informants\u27 experiences in their early literacy practica placements;Data collection included semi-structured, in-depth interviews and a review of the informants\u27 lesson plans. Triangulation was achieved by interviewing the informants\u27 cooperating teachers and making field observations at the practica sites. Member checks and peer debriefing were used to verify the data collected;Interpretation of the data revealed that field experiences broadened the background knowledge of preservice teachers in early literacy education, but they were unable to identify specific instructional strategies. Additionally, classroom management concerns outweighed concerns about teaching literacy. In the area of teacher socialization, sexism was reported by the male and female respondents as problematic in the teaching profession and in field experiences. Despite this obstacle, the preservice teachers report that one learns more about how to teach while in the field rather than in the college classroom. Implications for this research include purposeful attention to the stages of concern exhibited by preservice teachers; reconsidering the structure of the college classroom; and making early literacy field experience placements in kindergarten and first grade classrooms only

Stroke and aphasia quality of Life Scale-39: investigating preliminary content validity of picture representations by people with mild to moderate aphasia

Speech-language pathologists must consider the clients’ quality of life (QoL) to provide effective and meaningful evidence-based treatment (ASHA, 2005). Quality of life assessment goes beyond language impairments and is often a key part of planning intervention. However, few QoL measures exist for people with aphasia (PWA). The Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale-39 (SAQOL-39; Hilari, 2003) is one of the few valid and reliable measures used to assess QoL in people with mild to moderate aphasia. However, the validity and reliability of the SAQOL-39 has not been established for individuals with severe aphasia who are unable to read and comprehend the written items (Hilari & Byng, 2001). Proxy reports for people with severe aphasia are not reliable and can contribute to misinterpretation of people with severe aphasia and their QoL (Hilari & Byng, 2009). High-context color photographs may access intact linguistic processes in PWA by bypassing their reading deficits (McKelvey, Hux, Dietz, & Beukelman, 2010). Therefore, visual aids may enhance accessibility of written assessments like the SAQOL-39 for people with severe aphasia. Preliminary content validity has been established for high-context color photographs paired with SAQOL-39 items by normal aging adults (Brouwer, 2013). The present study aimed to continue to establish the content validity of the photographs by investigating how 10 adults with mild to moderate aphasia, aged 30-89 years, rated similarities of photographic representations of SAQOL-39 items, rated on a 7-point Likert scale. The present results supported high content validity of photographic representations. The overall mean rating of items was 6.40 and 92% of the photographs were rated a 6 or 7 at least 60% of the time, indicating most people with mild to moderate aphasia rated photographs highly similar to the written questions they were paired with. This study’s results suggest the photographs may make the SAQOL-39 more accessible for people with severe aphasia to self-report on their QoL. Further research is warranted to investigate accessibility of the photographs among the severe aphasia population

Water Runs Downhill: The Realities of Brain Drain in Eastern Kentucky

Similar to national calls for increases in post-secondary educational attainment, the Commonwealth of Kentucky\u27s educational policy currently focuses on doubling the numbers of citizens with baccalaureate degrees. Where do college degrees take Eastern Kentucky graduates? Using analysis of a longitudinal data base that marries person-centered educational and workforce data, this paper examines the realities of Appalachian Kentucky\u27s brain drain. The study tracks the 2005-2006 graduates of all of public and independent college from Kentucky\u27s Appalachian counties for five years after graduation into employment to identify what types of students remain in the region, what types remain, and how home and destination counties, economic opportunities, and individual characteristics factor into the high out-migration rates for college graduates from the region. These data are compared with results from a qualitative study of two Eastern Kentucky high school groups eight years after graduation. Both studies are discussed relative to recent scholarship on rural educational attainment and conceptual understandings of push and pull factors of out-migration. The problem of out-migration of college graduates from the Appalachian region is not new; however, deeper understanding of the real mobilities of educated Appalachians is needed to understand what is, in essence, a public subsidy of a private good. What opportunities exist in these realities

The Caltech Tomography Database and Automatic Processing Pipeline

Here we describe the Caltech Tomography Database and automatic image processing pipeline, designed to process, store, display, and distribute electron tomographic data including tilt-series, sample information, data collection parameters, 3D reconstructions, correlated light microscope images, snapshots, segmentations, movies, and other associated files. Tilt-series are typically uploaded automatically during collection to a user’s “Inbox” and processed automatically, but can also be entered and processed in batches via scripts or file-by-file through an internet interface. As with the video website YouTube, each tilt-series is represented on the browsing page with a link to the full record, a thumbnail image and a video icon that delivers a movie of the tomogram in a pop-out window. Annotation tools allow users to add notes and snapshots. The database is fully searchable, and sets of tilt-series can be selected and re-processed, edited, or downloaded to a personal workstation. The results of further processing and snapshots of key results can be recorded in the database, automatically linked to the appropriate tilt-series. While the database is password-protected for local browsing and searching, datasets can be made public and individual files can be shared with collaborators over the Internet. Together these tools facilitate high-throughput tomography work by both individuals and groups

Fall and Injury Prevention in Residential Care—Effects in Residents with Higher and Lower Levels of Cognition

Artikkelen omhandler en studie hvor hensikten var å evaluere effekten av et program for forebygging av fall og fallskade hos eldre med ulikt kognitivt funksjonsnivå.To evaluate the effectiveness of a multifactorial fall and injury prevention program in older people with higher and lower levels of cognition. A preplanned subgroup comparison of the effectiveness of a cluster‐randomized, nonblinded, usual‐care, controlled trial. Nine residential facilities in Umeå, Sweden. All consenting residents living in the facilities, aged 65 and older, who could be assessed using the Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE; n = 378). An MMSE score of 19 was used to divide the sample into one group with lower and one with higher level of cognition. The lower MMSE group was older (mean ± standard deviation = 83.9 ± 5.8 vs 82.2 ± 7.5) and more functionally impaired (Barthel Index, median (interquartile range) 11 (6–15) vs 17 (13–18)) and had a higher risk of falling (64% vs 36%) than the higher MMSE group. A multifactorial fall prevention program comprising staff education, environmental adjustment, exercise, drug review, aids, hip protectors, and postfall problem‐solving conferences. The number of falls, time to first fall, and number of injuries were evaluated and compared by study group (intervention vs control) and by MMSE group. A significant intervention effect on falls appeared in the higher MMSE group but not in the lower MMSE group (adjusted incidence rates ratio of falls = .016 and = .121 and adjusted hazard ratio < .001 and = .420, respectively). In the lower MMSE group, 10 femoral fractures were found, all of which occurred in the control group ( = .006). The higher MMSE group experienced fewer falls after this multifactorial intervention program, whereas the lower MMSE group did not respond as well to the intervention, but femoral fractures were reduced in the lower MMSE group

A Butterfly Effect: The Impact of Marriage and Family Therapy Training on Students\u27 Spouses

This qualitative study examines the impact of mar- riage and family therapy (MFT) training on the marriages of trainees. Analysis of data from 18 spouses of alumni from a training program in an evangelical Protestant seminary found participants reporting mostly negative impacts related to time and finances, both negative and positive impacts related to role changes and adjustments, and mostly positive impacts related to marital communication. The additional contribution of this study has to do with the report of an overwhelmingly positive impact of systemic, integrative MFT training on the student’s faith as observed by their spouse and on the spouse’s own faith

William Kloefkorn : His Works and His Women

Kloefkorn\u27s poetry explores the relationship between people and their land, an integral part of the psyche of a people whose livelihood depends upon this relationship. His first book of poetry, Alvin Turner As Farmer, deals almost entirely with learning to live with the land instead of trying to dominate it. After writing poetry on other subjects, Kloefkorn returns to this theme in Platte Valley Homestead, his eleventh collection, as he incorporates both the river and the land as learning experiences for the Midwestern farmer. In other collections, he goes beyond farm people and writes of small-town life, especially as it affects boys and young men. But what about the Midwestern woman? She was there with the first settlers, crossing the prairie in a covered wagon. She fed and clothed her usually large family, and she worked side by side with her husband in the fields. She was responsible for the education and religious instruction of her children. She felt the harshness of the prairie, and sometimes she succumbed to the loneliness of life there. But she al so became aware of the beauty and fertility of the land. She planted large gardens in this soil and washed her family\u27s clothing in the prairie\u27s shallow creeks. Often, she literally was surrounded by the land if her home was a sod house, which was built into the creek\u27s bank. She learned to live. in harmony with this land, and with this knowledge, she survived. Kloefkorn writes of the Midwestern woman in his poetry. Martha Turner knows the hardships and rewards involved with living on the land. Later Kloefkorn writes of Anna in Platte Valley Homestead. Anna is one generation away from the modern Midwestern woman, Doris, whom Kloefkorn creates in the volume Honeymoon. Kloefkorn also writes of his grandmother, a German immigrant, and of his mother in several poems. Even though he writes of ·many women, Kloefkorn always maintains his male point of view. This viewpoint enables the reader to trace the Midwestern woman\u27s evolution, according to Kloefkorn, and in addition, to trace the maturation of Kloefkorn\u27s male persona in his relationship to women. This study will focus first on Kloefkorn, the man, because most of his poetry comes from his personal experiences and attitudes. Then there will be an overall critique of each volume of his poetry. Since women have been especially influential in Kloefkorn\u27s 1ife and have served as models for many of his poetic characters, this study will closely examine the female characters in his poetry. The woman\u27s role in the male narrator\u27s evolution, as well as the change in the female characters themselves, will be traced. The study will also note possible influences from William Faulkner and Mark Twain, two authors who Kloefkorn says have affected his writing. The emphasis of this study is on the women in Kloefkorn\u27s poetry. His female persona develops from a symbolic Mother Earth figure to a complex, independent character. In addition, she has an important function in Kloefkorn\u27s male persona\u27s development. Kloefkorn confesses that ·his attitude toward women has changed since he began writing, and these changes can be traced in his poetry