Emerging Definitions of Leadership in Higher Education

The higher education literature suggests that alternative leadership styles are replacing the traditionally held definitions of leadership and provide new and different (and possibly superior) ways to understand leadership. This article looks for parallels within the current leadership literature to see if community college administrators use the alternative language or emerging definitions of leadership to self-describe their own leadership or if their self-descriptions fit the more traditional hierarchical ideal of the positional or hero leader

Tumor Endothelial Cells with Distinct Patterns of TGF -Driven Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition

Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) occurs during development and underlies the pathophysiology of multiple diseases. In tumors, unscheduled EndMT generates cancer-associated myofibroblasts that fuel inflammation and fibrosis, and may contribute to vascular dysfunction that promotes tumor progression. We report that freshly isolated subpopulations of tumor-specific endothelial cells (TEC) from a spontaneous mammary tumor model undergo distinct forms of EndMT in response to TGFβ stimulation. Whereas some TEC strikingly up-regulate alpha smooth muscle actin (SMA), a principal marker of EndMT and activated myofibroblasts, counterpart normal mammary gland endothelial cells (NEC) showed little change in SMA expression after TGFβ treatment. Compared with NEC, SMA+ TEC were 40 % less motile in wound healing assays and formed more stable vascular-like networks in vitro when challenged with TGFβ. Lineage tracing using ZsGreenCdh5-Cre reporter mice confirmed that only a fraction of vessels in breast tumors contain SMA+ TEC, suggesting that not all endothelial cells (EC) respond identically to TGFβ in vivo. Indeed, examination of 84 TGFβ-regulated target genes revealed entirely different genetic signatures in TGFβ-stimulated NEC and TEC cultures. Finally, we found that basic FGF (bFGF) exerts potent inhibitory effects on many TGFβ-regulated genes but operates in tandem with TGFβ to up-regulate others. EC challenged with TGFβ secrete bFGF which blocks SMA expression in secondary cultures suggesting a cell-autonomous or lateral-inhibitory mechanism for impeding mesenchymal differentiation. Together, our results suggest that TGFβ-driven EndMT produces a spectrum of EC phenotypes with different functions that could underlie the plasticity and heterogeneity of the tumor vasculature

A review of spatial downscaling of satellite remotely sensed soil moisture

Satellite remote sensing technology has been widely used to estimate surface soil moisture. Numerous efforts have been devoted to develop global soil moisture products. However, these global soil moisture products, normally retrieved from microwave remote sensing data, are typically not suitable for regional hydrological and agricultural applications such as irrigation management and flood predictions, due to their coarse spatial resolution. Therefore, various downscaling methods have been proposed to improve the coarse resolution soil moisture products. The purpose of this paper is to review existing methods for downscaling satellite remotely sensed soil moisture. These methods are assessed and compared in terms of their advantages and limitations. This review also provides the accuracy level of these methods based on published validation studies. In the final part, problems and future trends associated with these methods are analyzed

Common Core: Passing the Test?

The supposed decay in public education, whereby the United States is declining rapidly and falling behind other industrial nations, has been blamed on bad teaching and the lack of common and consistent standards. The solution to this supposed decay in public education is not only a common set of standards, but common tests that align with those standards. These tests are positioned as next generation assessments. Common Core: Passing the test? describes the development of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the accompanying next generation assessments. It questions whether America’s public school classrooms will be able to focus on enhancing student learning and authentic assessment or whether the classrooms will become even more focused on teaching to the test. Chapter 1 provides a brief review of the pathway and arrival of the CCSS on the nation’s agenda. It also details the initial development of the two primary assessment consortia through the federal government’s Race to the Top Assessment Program. Chapter 2 delves into the two assessment consortia, the “winners” of the Race to the Top Assessment Program, and reviews their articulated objectives and their means to achieve those objectives. The chapter also explores the role of for-profit entities lurking underneath the surface of all aspects of education reform. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the promises of the CCSS next generation assessments and explores the necessary conditions for schools to be able to implement next generation assessments, such as technology integration and professional development of teachers. Chapter 4 reviews the ways in which assessment in classrooms can truly become next generation by utilizing authentic and formative assessment methods. Chapter 5 explores the winners and losers of the Race to the Top. And the book concludes with a summation of the possible consequences of the continuation of the current path of education reform. Common Core: Passing the test? posits that the CCSS assessments and this next generation of school reform will perpetuate the engine of inequity and the existing social hierarchy. The audience for this book includes educators, policy-makers, decision-makers, and individuals concerned about the privatization of higher education and the continuation of policies and reforms that perpetuate social inequities in education. --Publisher description.https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/bookshelf/1046/thumbnail.jp

Common Core: Passing the Test?

The supposed decay in public education, whereby the United States is declining rapidly and falling behind other industrial nations, has been blamed on bad teaching and the lack of common and consistent standards. The solution to this supposed decay in public education is not only a common set of standards, but common tests that align with those standards. These tests are positioned as next generation assessments. Common Core: Passing the test? describes the development of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the accompanying next generation assessments. It questions whether America’s public school classrooms will be able to focus on enhancing student learning and authentic assessment or whether the classrooms will become even more focused on teaching to the test. Chapter 1 provides a brief review of the pathway and arrival of the CCSS on the nation’s agenda. It also details the initial development of the two primary assessment consortia through the federal government’s Race to the Top Assessment Program. Chapter 2 delves into the two assessment consortia, the “winners” of the Race to the Top Assessment Program, and reviews their articulated objectives and their means to achieve those objectives. The chapter also explores the role of for-profit entities lurking underneath the surface of all aspects of education reform. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the promises of the CCSS next generation assessments and explores the necessary conditions for schools to be able to implement next generation assessments, such as technology integration and professional development of teachers. Chapter 4 reviews the ways in which assessment in classrooms can truly become next generation by utilizing authentic and formative assessment methods. Chapter 5 explores the winners and losers of the Race to the Top. And the book concludes with a summation of the possible consequences of the continuation of the current path of education reform. Common Core: Passing the test? posits that the CCSS assessments and this next generation of school reform will perpetuate the engine of inequity and the existing social hierarchy. The audience for this book includes educators, policy-makers, decision-makers, and individuals concerned about the privatization of higher education and the continuation of policies and reforms that perpetuate social inequities in education. --Publisher description.https://fisherpub.sjf.edu/bookshelf/1046/thumbnail.jp