...And, If You Have a Class Like That, I\u27d Like To Sign Up! : Beginning Teachers Navigating the Constraints of Teaching Literacy in a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse, Professional Development School

Preparing all teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) populations is essential in teacher education (Banks, Cochran-Smith, Moll, Richert, Zeichner, LePage, Darling-Hammond, Duffy, & MacDonald, 2005). Simultaneously, current literacy policy serves to dictate how teachers teach literacy; requiring specific curricula and assessments, particularly in urban and low performing school districts (Woodside-Jiron & Gehsmann, 2009). As new teachers enter classrooms, they are forced to negotiate the realities of teaching in urban, diverse schools with what they learned in their preparation programs (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2006). The purpose of this study was to understand the literacy teaching experiences of three beginning teachers, graduates of an alternative teacher preparation program, who teach at the same CLD, Professional Development School. This naturalistic inquiry explored the intersection of these constructs through the questions; (1)What instructional decisions, resources, and strategies do alternatively certified beginning teachers enact when teaching CLD students? and (2) What are the contextual factors that influence beginning teachers’ literacy pedagogy? Luke and Freebody’s (1999) Four Resources Model, critical theory (McLaren, 1995), sociocultural views of literacy (Street, 1995), and constructivism (Savery & Duffy, 2001) served as theoretical lenses. Data collection took place over nine months and included interviews, observations, questionnaires, and teacher debriefs. The data was analyzed using a constant comparative approach (Merriam, 1998) and elements of Grounded Theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). These beginning teachers struggled to negotiate the prescriptive literacy mandates from the county and school. The context of the school challenged many of the theories and strategies teachers learned in their preparation program and caused tension between what they espoused about literacy and their enacted practices. Teachers felt that they were not adequately prepared to work with English Language Learners in particular, thus, they chose to adhere closely to the prescriptive curriculum. Decontextualized literacy activities dominated instruction and constrained CLD students’ opportunities for critical literacy learning. These findings suggest that teachers should be better prepared to work with ELLs and educated about the research behind current literacy policies. A Professional Development School model offers opportunities for continued learning in these areas

Thermal Shock Resistances and the Irradiation Effects ot Graphites and C/C-Composites for Fusion Reactor Devices

Graphites and/or C/C-composites as plasma-facing first wall components for fusion reactor devices are subjected occasionally to plasma disruption. Therefore the thermal shock resistances and fracture toughnesses of these materials must be evaluated to assure appropriate performances. In this study, the thermal shock resistance and fracture toughness of several kinds of graphites and C/C-composites for candidate first wall component tiles are evaluated. The mechanical and fracture mechanics properties for these specimens are also measured. Then, two graphites and three C/C-composites are irradiated with 1.1-1.9×10^n/cm^2 (Energy>29fJ) at 650-1000℃ in a fission reactor (Japan Material Testing Reactor, JMTR) and the degradations in the thermal shock resistances and fracture toughnesses and the changes of mechanical and fracture mechanics properties due to the neutron irradiation are quantitatively studied

Effect of Neutron Irradiation on the Microstructures and Tensile Properties of Different Carbon Fibers

Since carbon fiber reinforced carbon composite (C/C composite) materials have high thermal conductivity and good mechanical properties, they have been used as the plasma facing components in fusion facilities. As the plasma facing components are subjected to neutron irradiation in the fusion reactors, it is necessary to use irradiation damage resistant C/C composite materials as plasma facing components. Properties of C/C composite materials after neutron irradiation are generally influenced by irradiation behavior of carbon fiber and carbon matrix. In particular, the effect of irradiation on carbon fiber is important, because it is less crystalline than carbon matrix. The purpose of this study is to evaluate neutron irradiation effects on the microstructures and tensile properties of nine kinds of carbon fibers and to find out the necessary knowledge to identify the radiation resistant carbon fiber