Impact of an Exit Examination on English Teachers’ Instructional Practices

The purpose of this study was to determine if a high school exit examination influences instructional practices. Data were obtained from a survey instrument given to a stratified random sample of Tennessee English teachers who teach the same content tested on their state’s exit examination. An analysis showed teachers using a balance of student-centered and teacher-centered practices including writing assignments, textbook-based assignments, supplementary materials, and open-response questions. Also, although no relationship was found between the type of instructional practice used and time spent on test preparation, over 90% of teachers spending the most amount of time preparing students for the examination felt that “personal desire,” “belief these are the best practices,” and an “interest in helping my students attain examination scores that will allow them to graduate high school” were factors influencing their use of instructional practices

Using Instructional Time and Race/Ethnicity to Predict Social Studies Accountability Test Results

This study investigated the relationship among the variables instructional time configuration, gender, race/ethnicity, and poverty to predict the academic performance of seventh-grade students on a state-mandated social studies accountability test. Results of 24,919 seventh-grade student social studies test scores from 117 middle schools, as well as a survey given to principals of the same 117 middle schools, were analyzed. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that when controlling for poverty, the variables instructional time configuration and race/ethnicity were significant, explaining 11% of the variation in student social studies accountability test results; a small effect. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were also used to illuminate the relationship of these variables on accountability test performance

Physicians’ Knowledge and Beliefs Regarding Athletic Trainers

Purpose: The relationship between athletic trainers (ATs) and physicians is a legal obligation and collaboration to improve patient outcomes. The objective of this study was to examine the knowledge of physicians regarding the educational preparation, legal obligations, and scope of practice for ATs and how it relates to previous experiences with ATs. Additionally physicians’ perceptions of Interprofessional Collaboration (IPC) were studied. Methods: 169 physicians medical doctors (MD)=133/169, 78.7%, doctor of osteopathy (DO)=36/169, 21%) completed a 36-question web-based survey, which included a validated IPC scale. Results: Respondents with experience working with an AT scored significantly higher (P \u3c 0.01) on the knowledge assessment, where physicians currently working with an AT scored higher (5.4/8) than those who previously worked with an AT (4.2/8) and those who had never worked with an AT (3.3/8). Additionally, physicians with previous exposure to an AT as an athlete had significantly higher knowledge scores than those without exposure (P \u3c 0.01). Two areas of weakness in IPC from the physician’s perspective included sharing of important information (2.48/4) and importance of work as compared to others on the team (2.38/4). Conclusions: Physicians who have a current working relationship with an AT and those that had access to an AT as an athlete demonstrated significantly higher knowledge about an AT’s academic preparation, legal obligations, and scope of practice. Moreover, physicians currently working with an AT report positive interprofessional collaborations

Fine-scale Identification of the Most Likely Source of a Human Plague Infection

We describe an analytic approach to provide fine-scale discrimination among multiple infection source hypotheses. This approach uses mutation-rate data for rapidly evolving multiple locus variable-number tandem repeat loci in probabilistic models to identify the most likely source. We illustrate the utility of this approach using data from a North American human plague investigation

2017 HRS/EHRA/ECAS/APHRS/SOLAECE expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation: executive summary.

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2017 HRS/EHRA/ECAS/APHRS/SOLAECE expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation: executive summary.

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withdrawn 2017 hrs ehra ecas aphrs solaece expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation

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