Principal Roles, Work Demands, and Supports Needed to Implement New Teacher Evaluation

Policy makers at the federal level have embraced an educator effectiveness agenda, which in turn has driven many states across the country to rapidly develop and implement new and more complex teacher evaluation systems. It is increasingly clear that the success of these nascent teacher evaluation systems partly depends on the will, skill, and capacity of school principals, individuals who have historically been tasked with evaluating teachers. School principals have traditionally had, and will in most cases continue to have, primary responsibility for evaluating the 3.7 million public school teachers nationwide. While teacher evaluation innovations present several opportunities for improving instructional supervision and teacher quality, they also involve several challenges, especially on the part of principals. Time demands and cognitive challenges will be inevitable as principals learn about and implement new teacher evaluation systems. Simultaneously, other educational changes going to scale, including Common Core State Standards with aligned assessments and state school accountability systems, will compete for the attention of school leaders and teachers. Negotiating these changes to maximize the positive potential of evaluation reforms requires a commitment by states and districts to resources for training and support as well as policy coherence

Teacher Quality and Educational Equality: Do Teachers With Higher Standards‐Based Evaluation Ratings Close Student Achievement Gaps?

Using standards‐based evaluation ratings for nearly 400 teachers, and achievement results for over 7,000 students from grades 4–6, this study investigated the distribution and achievement effects of teacher quality in Washoe County, a mid‐sized school district serving Reno and Sparks, Nevada. Classrooms with higher concentrations of minority, poor, and low‐achieving students were more likely to be taught by teachers with lower evaluation scores. Two‐level multilevel models, nesting students within classrooms, tended to show higher mean achievement in classrooms taught by teachers of higher than lower quality, with differences of approximately one‐tenth of 1 standard deviation. Findings relating teacher quality to closing within‐classroom achievement gaps, though, were mixed. Implications are discussed related to teacher evaluation, teacher quality, and educational inequality

Band alignment of epitaxial ZnS/Zn_(3)P_2 heterojunctions

The energy-band alignment of epitaxial zb-ZnS(001)/α-Zn_(3)P_(2)(001) heterojunctions has been determined by measurement of shifts in the phosphorus 2p and sulfur 2p core-level binding energies for various thicknesses (0.6–2.2 nm) of ZnS grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Zn_(3)P_(2). In addition, the position of the valence-band maximum for bulk ZnS and Zn3P2 films was estimated using density functional theory calculations of the valence-band density-of-states. The heterojunction was observed to be type I, with a valence-band offset, ΔE_V, of −1.19 ± 0.07 eV, which is significantly different from the type II alignment based on electron affinities that is predicted by Anderson theory. n^(+)-ZnS/p-Zn_(3)P_(2) heterojunctions demonstrated open-circuit voltages of >750 mV, indicating passivation of the Zn_(3)P_(2) surface due to the introduction of the ZnS overlayer. Carrier transport across the heterojunction devices was inhibited by the large conduction-band offset, which resulted in short-circuit current densities of <0.1 mA cm^(−2) under 1 Sun simulated illumination. Hence, constraints on the current density will likely limit the direct application of the ZnS/Zn_(3)P_(2) heterojunction to photovoltaics, whereas metal-insulator-semiconductor structures that utilize an intrinsic ZnS insulating layer appear promising

Boreal forest CO2 exchange and evapotranspiration predicted by nine ecosystem process models: Intermodel comparisons and relationships to field measurements

Nine ecosystem process models were used to predict CO2 and water vapor exchanges by a 150-year-old black spruce forest in central Canada during 1994–1996 to evaluate and improve the models. Three models had hourly time steps, five had daily time steps, and one had monthly time steps. Model input included site ecosystem characteristics and meteorology. Model predictions were compared to eddy covariance (EC) measurements of whole-ecosystem CO2exchange and evapotranspiration, to chamber measurements of nighttime moss-surface CO2release, and to ground-based estimates of annual gross primary production, net primary production, net ecosystem production (NEP), plant respiration, and decomposition. Model-model differences were apparent for all variables. Model-measurement agreement was good in some cases but poor in others. Modeled annual NEP ranged from −11 g C m−2 (weak CO2source) to 85 g C m−2 (moderate CO2 sink). The models generally predicted greater annual CO2sink activity than measured by EC, a discrepancy consistent with the fact that model parameterizations represented the more productive fraction of the EC tower “footprint.” At hourly to monthly timescales, predictions bracketed EC measurements so median predictions were similar to measurements, but there were quantitatively important model-measurement discrepancies found for all models at subannual timescales. For these models and input data, hourly time steps (and greater complexity) compared to daily time steps tended to improve model-measurement agreement for daily scale CO2 exchange and evapotranspiration (as judged by root-mean-squared error). Model time step and complexity played only small roles in monthly to annual predictions

Effect of an Online Video-Based Intervention to Increase HIV Testing in Men Who Have Sex with Men in Peru

Although many men who have sex with men (MSM) in Peru are unaware of their HIV status, they are frequent users of the Internet, and can be approached by that medium for promotion of HIV testing.We conducted an online randomized controlled trial to compare the effect of HIV-testing motivational videos versus standard public health text, both offered through a gay website. The videos were customized for two audiences based on self-identification: either gay or non-gay men. The outcomes evaluated were ‘intention to get tested’ and ‘HIV testing at the clinic.’In the non-gay identified group, 97 men were randomly assigned to the video-based intervention and 90 to the text-based intervention. Non-gay identified participants randomized to the video-based intervention were more likely to report their intention of getting tested for HIV within the next 30 days (62.5% vs. 15.4%, Relative Risk (RR): 2.77, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.42–5.39). After a mean of 125.5 days of observation (range 42–209 days), 11 participants randomized to the video and none of the participants randomized to text attended our clinic requesting HIV testing (p = 0.001). In the gay-identified group, 142 men were randomized to the video-based intervention and 130 to the text-based intervention. Gay-identified participants randomized to the video were more likely to report intentions of getting an HIV test within 30 days, although not significantly (50% vs. 21.6%, RR: 1.54, 95% CI: 0.74–3.20). At the end of follow up, 8 participants who watched the video and 10 who read the text visited our clinic for HIV testing (Hazard Ratio: 1.07, 95% CI: 0.40–2.85).This study provides some evidence of the efficacy of a video-based online intervention in improving HIV testing among non-gay-identified MSM in Peru. This intervention may be adopted by institutions with websites oriented to motivate HIV testing among similar MSM populations

The role of religion in the longer-range future, April 6, 7, and 8, 2006

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Conference Series, a publication series that began publishing in 2006 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. This conference that took place during April 6, 7, and 8, 2006. Co-organized by David Fromkin, Director, Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, and Ray L. Hart, Dean ad interim Boston University School of TheologyThe conference brought together some 40 experts from various disciplines to ponder upon the “great dilemma” of how science, religion, and the human future interact. In particular, different panels looked at trends in what is happening to religion around the world, questions about how religion is impacting the current political and economic order, and how the social dynamics unleashed by science and by religion can be reconciled.Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affair

Cold season emissions dominate the Arctic tundra methane budget

Arctic terrestrial ecosystems are major global sources of methane (CH4); hence, it is important to understand the seasonal and climatic controls on CH4 emissions from these systems. Here, we report year-round CH4 emissions from Alaskan Arctic tundra eddy flux sites and regional fluxes derived from aircraft data. We find that emissions during the cold season (September to May) account for >= 50% of the annual CH4 flux, with the highest emissions from noninundated upland tundra. A major fraction of cold season emissions occur during the "zero curtain" period, when subsurface soil temperatures are poised near 0 degrees C. The zero curtain may persist longer than the growing season, and CH4 emissions are enhanced when the duration is extended by a deep thawed layer as can occur with thick snow cover. Regional scale fluxes of CH4 derived from aircraft data demonstrate the large spatial extent of late season CH4 emissions. Scaled to the circumpolar Arctic, cold season fluxes from tundra total 12 +/- 5 (95% confidence interval) Tg CH4 y(-1), similar to 25% of global emissions from extratropical wetlands, or similar to 6% of total global wetland methane emissions. The dominance of late-season emissions, sensitivity to soil environmental conditions, and importance of dry tundra are not currently simulated in most global climate models. Because Arctic warming disproportionally impacts the cold season, our results suggest that higher cold-season CH4 emissions will result from observed and predicted increases in snow thickness, active layer depth, and soil temperature, representing important positive feedbacks on climate warming.Peer reviewe

The Milky Way Tomography With SDSS. III. Stellar Kinematics

We study Milky Way kinematics using a sample of 18.8 million main-sequence stars with r 20 degrees). We find that in the region defined by 1 kpc < Z < 5 kpc and 3 kpc < R < 13 kpc, the rotational velocity for disk stars smoothly decreases, and all three components of the velocity dispersion increase, with distance from the Galactic plane. In contrast, the velocity ellipsoid for halo stars is aligned with a spherical coordinate system and appears to be spatially invariant within the probed volume. The velocity distribution of nearby (Z < 1 kpc) K/M stars is complex, and cannot be described by a standard Schwarzschild ellipsoid. For stars in a distance-limited subsample of stars (< 100 pc), we detect a multi-modal velocity distribution consistent with that seen by HIPPARCOS. This strong non-Gaussianity significantly affects the measurements of the velocity-ellipsoid tilt and vertex deviation when using the Schwarzschild approximation. We develop and test a simple descriptive model for the overall kinematic behavior that captures these features over most of the probed volume, and can be used to search for substructure in kinematic and metallicity space. We use this model to predict further improvements in kinematic mapping of the Galaxy expected from Gaia and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.NSF AST-615991, AST-0707901, AST-0551161, AST-02-38683, AST-06-07634, AST-0807444, PHY05-51164NASA NAG5-13057, NAG5-13147, NNXO-8AH83GPhysics Frontier Center/Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA) PHY 08-22648U.S. National Science FoundationMarie Curie Research Training Network ELSA (European Leadership in Space Astrometry) MRTN-CT-2006-033481Fermi Research Alliance, LLC, United States Department of Energy DE-AC02-07CH11359Alfred P. Sloan FoundationParticipating InstitutionsJapanese MonbukagakushoMax Planck SocietyHigher Education Funding Council for EnglandMcDonald Observator

The Cosmos of a Public Sector Township: Democracy as an Intellectual Culture

The public sector plays an important role in responding to the rights of citizens and evolving norms of social interest (Qu 2015). Qu argues that the nature of public enterprise is never final and there is a constant negotiation between the private and the public emergence of life and rights. One such space where the tension between the private and the public manifests itself is the public sector township or the residential colony in India. The sociality of hierarchy in public sector organizations manifest itself in the public sector township and may nurture everyday aspirations, angsts and divides. The officer lives in a bigger hone, in a bungalow, and the clerk lives in a smaller home, many times with a larger family. [excerpt

The Milky Way Tomography with SDSS: III. Stellar Kinematics

We study Milky Way kinematics using a sample of 18.8 million main-sequence stars with r<20 and proper-motion measurements derived from SDSS and POSS astrometry, including ~170,000 stars with radial-velocity measurements from the SDSS spectroscopic survey. Distances to stars are determined using a photometric parallax relation, covering a distance range from ~100 pc to 10 kpc over a quarter of the sky at high Galactic latitudes (|b|>20 degrees). We find that in the region defined by 1 kpc <Z< 5 kpc and 3 kpc <R< 13 kpc, the rotational velocity for disk stars smoothly decreases, and all three components of the velocity dispersion increase, with distance from the Galactic plane. In contrast, the velocity ellipsoid for halo stars is aligned with a spherical coordinate system and appears to be spatially invariant within the probed volume. The velocity distribution of nearby ($Z<1$ kpc) K/M stars is complex, and cannot be described by a standard Schwarzschild ellipsoid. For stars in a distance-limited subsample of stars (<100 pc), we detect a multimodal velocity distribution consistent with that seen by HIPPARCOS. This strong non-Gaussianity significantly affects the measurements of the velocity ellipsoid tilt and vertex deviation when using the Schwarzschild approximation. We develop and test a simple descriptive model for the overall kinematic behavior that captures these features over most of the probed volume, and can be used to search for substructure in kinematic and metallicity space. We use this model to predict further improvements in kinematic mapping of the Galaxy expected from Gaia and LSST.Comment: 90 pages, 26 figures, submitted to Ap