The Effect of an In-Class Behavioral Intervention Plus Differentiated Instruction Program on the Achievement and Behavior Outcomes of Verbally Disruptive 8th-Grade Students With and Without Co-Occurring Reading Delimitations

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of an in-class behavioral intervention plus differentiated instruction program on the achievement and behavior outcomes of 8th-grade students with verbally disruptive behavior and co-occurring below grade level reading test scores compared to 8th-grade students with verbally disruptive behavior and grade level reading test scores. Statistically significantly improved posttest reading vocabulary and reading total Normal Curve Equivalent scores and between class tardy frequencies supported the use of an in-class behavioral intervention program that allowed students with verbally disruptive behavior and co-occurring below grade level reading test scores to reclaim themselves after verbally disruptive behavioral incidences with scripted administrator assistance and student return to differentiated individualized instructional classroom activities. Posttest reading comprehension scores, Grade Point Average Scores, in-school suspension, and out of school suspension frequencies were also in the direction of improvement for these students. Students with verbally disruptive behavior and grade level reading test scores had a statistically improved posttest reading vocabulary score and statistically improved between class tardy and out of school suspension frequencies. Posttest-posttest between group comparisons indicated statistically significant reading vocabulary, reading comprehension, reading total, and Grade Point Average differences but no between class tardy, office referral, in-school suspension, or out of school suspension statistically significant differences. Educators should sustain programs that directly help students reclaim themselves after verbally disruptive escape responding incidences in support of their timely return to differentiated classroom activities. Overall, the results of this study suggest continued use of this intervention

A parameterization of Greenland's tip jets suitable for ocean or coupled climate models

Greenland's tip jets are low-level, high wind speed jets forced by an interaction of the synoptic-scale atmospheric flow and the steep, high orography of Greenland. These jets are thought to play an important role in both preconditioning for, and triggering of, open-ocean convection in the Irminger Sea. However, the relatively small spatial scale of the jets prevents their accurate representation in the relatively low resolution (~1 degree) atmospheric (re-)analyses which are typically used to force ocean general circulation models (e.g. ECMWF ERA-40 and NCEP reanalyses, or products based on these). Here we present a method of ‘bogussing’ Greenland's tip jets into such surface wind fields and thus, via bulk flux formulae, into the air-sea turbulent flux fields. In this way the full impact of these mesoscale tip jets can be incorporated in any ocean general circulation model of sufficient resolution. The tip jet parameterization is relatively simple, making use of observed linear gradients in wind speed along and across the jet, but is shown to be accurate to a few m s-1 on average. The inclusion of tip jets results in a large local increase in both the heat and momentum fluxes. When applied to a 1-dimensional mixed-layer model this results in a deepening of the winter mixed-layer of over 300 m. The parameterization scheme only requires 10 meter wind speed and mean sea level pressure as input fields; thus it is also suitable for incorporation into a coupled atmosphere-ocean climate model at the coupling stage

Noxious weed survey of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Farish Outdoor Recreation Area - 2007

Prepared for: U.S. Air Force Academy, Dept. of Natural Resources.April 30, 2008.Includes bibliographical references

Principal Led In-Class Positive Behavioral Support Intervention

Results of this one-year study supported the use of an in-class behavioral intervention program that allowed 8th-grade students to reclaim themselves after verbally disruptive behavioral incidences with direct principal led administrator assistance resulting in student return to differentiated individualized instructional classroom activities. Students involved in a second verbally disruptive incident in the classroom were identified for intervention. Academic and behavioral improvement noted for verbally disruptive students with co-occurring below grade level reading test scores (n = 23) and verbally disruptive students with grade level reading scores (n = 12) suggests continued use of this intervention. All participants were in attendance in a large metropolitan, racially and economically diverse, Midwestern school district. Programs that reduce the amount of missed class time due to students’ verbally disruptive behavior merit consideration by educators for implementation.Student disruptive behavior represents one of the greatest barriers to student achievement(Brown, 2007; Dupper & Bosch, 1996; Shanker, 1995). Researchers have documented that as much as one half of classroom instructional time is taken up with non-instructional activities (Cotton, 1991) and discipline problems are responsible for a significant portion of this lost instructional time (Cotton, 1991;Dupper & Bosch, 1996; National Education Goals Report, 1995). Disruptive students are often removed from the class (Hill & Coufal, 2005; Obenchain & Taylor, 2005) and referred to the administrator for further discipline(Blomberg, 2004; Dupper & Bosch, 1996; Kritsonis & Cloud, 2006). Thus begins the unfortunate process of excluding children from classrooms just when they need increased time with a teacher the most (Blomberg, 2004). After many office referrals fail to stop the disruptions, repeated violators are often assigned to in-school suspension programs (Kritsonis & Cloud, 2006; Morrison, Anthony, Storino, & Dillon, 2001). When problems persist, students are suspended from school (Arcia, 2006; Dupper & Bosch, 1996). If repeated uses of these measures do not work, the final phase in this vicious downward cycle is long term out of school suspension or reassignment to an alternative school. Once removed from the classroom, students struggle and most often fail academically thus compounding the problem and increasing risk factors which lead to early school leaving. Furthermore, poor attendance is linked to lower test scores and higher failure rates (Roby, 2004). Predictably, a student is much more likely to drop out of school where there is a history of disruptive behavior resulting in either in or out of school suspension (Suh & Suh, 2007)

Noxious weed monitoring at the U.S. Air Force Academy: year 2 results

Prepared for: U.S. Air Force Academy, Dept. of Natural Resources.June 26, 2007.Includes bibliographical references

Noxious weed monitoring at the U.S. Air Force Academy: year 6 results

Prepared for: U.S. Air Force Academy, Dept. of Natural Resources.April 2011.Includes bibliographical references

Noxious weed survey of Peterson Air Force Base

Includes bibliographical references.October 31, 2003.Prepared for: Peterson Air Force Base, Dept. of Natural Resources; prepared by: David G. Anderson, Amy Lavender and Ron Abbott