Dual Enrollment Policies and Practices

The James Irvine Foundation joins educators and policymakers across the country who share a growing interest in the potential of dual enrollment. In particular, when high school students take college courses to earn transferable college credits, how are they positioned to succeed in college and career? How can we expand this opportunity to a broader range of students? Irvine's Youth program seeks to help increase the number of low-income youth in California who complete high school on time and attain a postsecondary credential by age 25. To ensure access to better educational and economic opportunities for a diverse group of students, our funding supports multiple pathways to the same destination: success in high school, college and careers. The multiple pathways approach integrates rigorous academics with demanding career and technical education, comprehensive student support services and relevant work-based learning opportunities, so that all high school students are prepared for both college and career. Research suggests that career-focused dual enrollment programs can improve secondary and postsecondary academic outcomes for a variety of students. In this context, the Concurrent Courses initiative was created to demonstrate the feasibility of using dual enrollment to enhance career and technical education pathways -- particularly for low-income youth who are struggling academically or who are within populations historically underrepresented in higher education. The Concurrent Courses initiative is being managed by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) housed at Teachers College, Columbia University. We would like to thank and recognize the authors of this brief: Joanne Wang Golann, who is a Senior Research Assistant and Katherine L. Hughes, who is the Assistant Director for Work and Education Reform Research at CCRC. The authors conducted extensive research on the dual enrollment environment in California in preparation for Concurrent Courses. This brief shares their analysis with the field to clarify the opportunities and challenges for supporting promising pathways to college

Accessing Socially Excluded People — Trust and the Gatekeeper in the Researcher-Participant Relationship

This paper describes methodological findings from research to recruit and research hard-to-reach socially excluded people. We review the ways in which researchers have used particular strategies to access hard-to-reach individuals and groups and note that little attention has been given to understanding the implications of the nature of the trust relationship between researcher and participant. Gatekeepers invariably play a role in accessing socially excluded people in research, yet discussion to date invariably focuses on the instrumental role gatekeepers play in facilitating researchers\' access. In this paper we explore the possibilities for analysing relationships in terms of trust and distrust between gatekeeper and socially excluded participant. Our analysis considers the different kinds of relationships that exist between gatekeepers and socially excluded people and, in particular, the relationships of power between gatekeepers and socially excluded people. Insights into the nature of trust among socially excluded people will also be considered. Finally, we discuss how size and use of social networks among socially excluded groups and perceptions of risk in interactions with gatekeepers are important to understanding the possibilities for trustful relationships, and for meaningful and successful access for researchers to socially excluded individuals and groups.Social Exclusion, Access, Research, Gatekeepers, Trust, Distrust, Risk

A novel DRD2 single-nucleotide polymorphism associated with schizophrenia predicts age of onset: HapMap tag-sincle-nucleotide polymorphism analysis

Background: Dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) is thought to be critical in regulating the dopaminergic pathway in the brain which is known to be important in the aetiology of schizophrenia. It is therefore not surprising that most antipsychotic medication acts on the Dopamine D2 receptor. DRD2 is widely expressed in brain, levels are reduced in brains of schizophrenia patients and DRD2 polymorphisms have been associated with reduced brain expression. We have previously identified a genetic variant in DRD2, rs6277 to be strongly implicated in schizophrenia susceptibility. Methods: To identity new associations in the DRD2 gene with disease status and clinical severity, we genotyped seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in DRD2 using a multiplex mass spectrometry method. SNPs were chosen using a haplotype block-based gene-tagging approach so the entire DRD2 gene was represented. Results: One polymorphism rs2734839 was found to be significantly associated with schizophrenia as well as late onset age. Individuals carrying the genetic variation were more than twice as likely to have schizophrenia compared to controls. Conclusions: Our results suggest that DRD2 genetic variation is a good indicator for schizophrenia risk and may also be used as a predictor age of onset

The Star Formation History of the WLM Dwarf Irregular Galaxy

https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fss-2019/1002/thumbnail.jp