Effective Accountability Mechanisms for New York State's English Language Learners

In September 2011, the New York State Department of Education convened a School and District Accountability Think Tank to provide public input regarding the creation of a second generation educational accountability system for the State's Elementary and Secondary Education Act waiver application. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) participated in the Think Tank and submitted a set of comprehensive recommendations regarding sound accountability practices for English Language Learners (ELLs). In May 2012, the U.S. Department of Education granted New York's waiver application, which included several of AALDEF's and AFC's recommendations. We believe our ELL accountability recommendations have relevance beyond the ESEA waiver, and now release this paper which sets forth key principles for a sound ELL accountability framework in New York State

Incorporation of Photoperiod Insensitivity and High-Yield Genes into an Indigenous Rice Variety from Myanmar, Paw San Hmwe

Paw San Hmwe (PSH) is an indigenous rice variety from Myanmar with a good taste, a pleasant fragrance, and excellent elongation ability during cooking. However, its low yield potential and strong photoperiod sensitivity reduce its productivity, and it is vulnerable to climate changes during growth. To improve the photoperiod insensitivity, yield, and plant stature of PSH, the high-yield genes Grain number 1a (Gn1a) and Wealthy Farmer’s Panicle (WFP), together with the photoperiod insensitivity trait, were introgressed into PSH via marker-assisted backcross breeding and phenotype selection. For the photoperiod insensitivity trait, phenotypic selection was performed under long-day conditions during the dry season. After foreground selection of Gn1a and WFP via simple sequence repeat genotyping, genotyping-by-sequencing was conducted to validate the introgression of target genes and determine the recurrent parent genome recovery of the selected lines. The improved lines were insensitive to photoperiod, and the Gn1a and WFP introgression lines showed significantly higher numbers of primary panicle branches and spikelets per panicle than the recurrent parent, with comparative similarity in cooking and eating qualities. This study successfully improved PSH by decreasing its photoperiod sensitivity and introducing high-yield genes via marker-assisted selection. The developed lines can be used for crop rotation and double-season cropping of better-quality rice