Competing for School Improvement Dollars: State Grant-Making Strategies

Outlines early findings about the the revamped School Improvement Grant program's impact on states and three approaches to evaluating district and school grant applications, including the use of external reviewers and cutoff scores. Makes recommendations

Reading, Writing, and the Common Core State Standards

During the 2014-15 school year, more high school seniors read the young adult-oriented books The Fault in Our Stars andDivergent than Shakespeare's Macbeth or Hamlet, according to a report that tracks what K-12 students at more than 30,000 schools are reading during the school year. These books are generally self-selected, making it not all that surprising that students would prefer to read a contemporaryNew York Times bestseller than a 17th-century play written in early modern English. And while some of the books that students select are thematically targeted to a mature audience, they are not particularly challenging to read for the average high schooler. The Fault in Our Stars and Divergent, for example, have the readability of a fourth- or fifth-grade text in terms of sentence structure and word difficulty.There is substantial evidence that much of what students are currently reading is not particularly challenging. This lack of complexity in students' reading and writing is likely undermining their preparedness for college and the workplace. In addition, despite the predominant role that reading and writing serve in other subjects and disciplines, literacy development has long been relegated to the English or reading classroom.Take the issue of reading complexity. Three of the top five most commonly assigned titles in grades 9 through 12 are To Kill a Mockingbird, The Crucible, and Of Mice and Men. All three books, while classics, are not particularly challenging in terms of sentence structure and complexity. Does that mean that Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which broaches issues of racial inequality should instead be introduced to elementary school-aged children? Most people—including English teachers—probably would not agree. Readability is only one factor when considering the intended audience of a work of literature.But the difficulty of the reading material to which students are exposed is not inconsequential. An ACT report finds that "performance on complex texts is the clearest differentiator in reading between students who are likely to be ready for college and those who are not." This holds true across gender, race and ethnicity, and family income levels

The corrosion of austenitic 304 stainless steel in biodiesel

As distribuidoras de combustíveis utilizam containers de aço inoxidável para o armazenamento de biocombustíveis, entretanto, na literatura, há poucos relatos sobre os aspectos corrosivos desse aço em biodiesel. O objetivo desse trabalho é estudar o comportamento corrosivo do aço inoxidável austenítico 304 na presença de biodiesel, não lavado e lavado com soluções aquosas de ácido cítrico, oxálico, acético e ascórbico 0,01 mol L-1e comparar com os resultados obtidos para o cobre (ASTM D130). Empregaram-se técnicas como: espectrometria de absorção atômica (EAA) e microscopia óptica (MO). Os resultados de EAA mostraram uma baixa taxa de corrosão para o aço inoxidável, os elementos de liga estudados foram Cr, Ni e Fe, a maior taxa observada foi para o cromo, 1,78 ppm/dia em biodiesel não lavado ou lavado. As MO do aço 304, quando comparados com as do cobre, comprovaram a baixa taxa de corrosão para o sistema aço 304/biodiesel, entretanto comprovaram que, tanto o aço 304, quanto o cobre, sofrem corrosão em amostras de biodiesel.Fuel distribution uses 304 stainless steel containers for the storage of biofuels, however, there are few reports in the literature about the corrosive aspects this steel in biodiesel. The objective of this research is to study the corrosive behavior of 304 austenitic stainless steel in the presence of biodiesel, unwashed and washed, with aqueous solutions of citric, oxalic, acetic and ascorbic acids 0,01 mol L-1, and compare with results obtained for the copper (ASTM D130). The employedtechniques were: atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and optical microscopy (OM). The results of EAA showed a low rate of corrosion for the stainless steel, the alloys elements studied were Cr, Ni and Fe, the highest rate was observed for the chrome, 1.78 ppm / day in biodiesel with or without washing. The OM of the 304 steel, when compared with that of copper, has a low corrosion rate in the 304 steel/biodiesel system. Not with standing, this demonstrates that not only the 304 steel, but also the copper, corrodes in biodiesel.CNP

Genetic Counselors’ Perspectives and Practices Regarding Expanded Carrier Screening after Initial Clinical Availability

Expanded carrier screening (ECS), introduced in 2009, identifies carriers for dozens or hundreds of recessive diseases. At the time of its introduction into clinical use, perspectives of the genetic counseling community regarding ECS were unknown. We conducted a survey in early 2012 of GCs and report the results here. They represent a snapshot of opinions and usage at that time, providing a baseline for comparison as the technology continues to evolve and as usage increases. The survey assessed personal perspectives, opinions on clinical implementation and clinical utilization of ECS. The sample included 337 GCs of varying clinical fields, of whom 150 reported practicing in reproductive settings. Our findings demonstrate that, at the time, GCs indicated general agreement with ECS as a concept – for example, most GCs agreed that carrier screening should address diseases outside of current guidelines and also indicated personal interest in electing ECS. There were also disagreements or concerns expressed regarding appropriate pre- and post-test counseling (e.g., the content and delivery mode of adequate informed consent) and practical implementation (e.g., the amount of time available for follow-up care). This was the first quantitative study of a large number of GCs and it revealed initial overall support for ECS among the GC profession. The authors plan to re-administer a similar survey, which may reveal changes in opinions and/or utilization over time. A follow up survey would also allow further exploration of questions uncovered by these data

Controle informatizado do monitoramento de pragas de Eucalyptus spp. por cartão amarelo em hortos florestais.

RESUMO: Este trabalho teve por objetivo apresentar resultados obtidos no âmbito do desenvolvimento do sistema informatizado de monitoramento em campo de pragas de eucalipto por cartões-armadilha adesivos amarelos, mais especificamente do módulo de controle informatizado dos registros de monitoramento de adultos das pragas exóticas de eucalipto, a saber, psilídeo-de-concha Glycaspis brimblecombei, bem como de seu bioagente exótico de controle Psyllaephagus bliteus, e percevejo bronzeado Thaumastocoris peregrinus. Desenvolvido em linguagens HTML, PHP e MySQL, o módulo de controle considerou as informações obtidas em monitoramentos por cartões-armadilha adesivas amarelos utilizados em monitoramentos de hortos florestais de Eucalyptus spp de Minas Gerais e análises laboratoriais decorrentes das contagens de adultos dos insetos coletados em cada cartão amostrado em campo. A recuperação das informações pode ser feita por ponto de monitoramento, por amostragem, por data de instalação do cartão e por data de retirada do cartão. Os registros inseridos no sistema recuperam informações de 23 pontos de monitoramento e de monitoramentos realizados em 2011. O resultado por ponto de monitoramento possibilitou identificar falta de periodicidade na instalação de cartões, maior tempo de permanência de cartões em campo e o não envio de cartões em lotes de amostragens encaminhados para análises laboratoriais, subsidiando orientações operacionais locais mais precisas e a adequação das análises posteriores. Foi possível identificar pontos monitorados com maiores quantidades de insetos, principalmente de expressivas quantidades de percevejos bronzeados, bem como a quase que total ausência do psilideo e de seu parasitoide durante o período avaliado

Avaliações preliminares da dinâmica populacional do percevejo bronzeado em Eucalyptus camaldulensis em condições de criação laboratorial: estudo por simulação numérica.

Resumo: A importância mundial ao segmento florestal foi reforçada em 2011 pela Organização das Nações Unidas ao elegê-lo como Ano Internacional das Florestas. O Brasil registrou nos últimos dez anos significativo aumento na área de florestas plantadas, sendo 95% de eucalipto e pinus no ano de 2009. Nesse ano, os estados de Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul e Rio Grande do Sul responderam por pouco mais de 78% da área plantada de eucalipto. Todavia, esse potencial produtivo vem sendo afetado por novas pragas exóticas. O percevejo bronzeado Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae), de origem australiana e no país desde 2008, vem exigindo pesquisas sobre seu comportamento em ambiente brasileiro para fundamentar propostas de controle. O biocontrole por Cleruchoides noackae (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), parasitóide exótico de ovos do percevejo, apresenta-se como opção. Porém, sua criação massal demanda a prévia identificação de períodos de maior quantidade de ovo-hospedeiro, consideradas alternativas de criação inicial da praga nas gaiolas com eucaliptos, para a posterior introdução de parasitóides adultos. A simulação numérica possibilita organizar sistemicamente o conhecimento existente e analisar cenários alternativos. Este trabalho avaliou por simulação a dinâmica populacional de T. peregrinus em Eucalyptus camaldulensis em condição controlada, visando identificar quantidades de adultos da praga para a formação da gaiola e o posterior período de maior disponibilidade de ovos-hospedeiro. O resultado indica que a gaiola com 36 machos e 36 fêmeas pode fornecer a maior quantidade de ovos-hospedeiro disponíveis a partir do 25º dia após a formação da gaiola com a praga. Abstract: The worldwide importance of forest sector was reinforced by United Nation Organization at 2011, which was elected as the Forest International Year. Brazil also registered significant increase on the planted forest area along the last ten years, where 95% of it was registered for eucalyptus and pinus in 2009. Considering this year, the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul and Rio Grande do Sul were responsible for more than 78% of the eucalyptus planted area. Despite of that, this productive potential has been affected by exotic plagues arrivals. The bronze bug Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae), an Australian insect found in Brazil since 2008, has demanded researches in order to describe its behavior in Brazilian environment to well subside control proposes. The bio-control by Cleruchoides noackae (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), an egg-parasitoid of bronze bug, has been presented as option. Thereby, its massive creation demands the previous identification of periods where the highest egg-host quantities could be available, taking into account different alternatives for plague initial creation inside the cages containing eucalyptus, to further parasitoid adults introduction. Numerical simulation makes available the systemic organization of available knowledge, as well as, the evaluation of different scenarios. The present work used simulation to evaluate the population dynamic of T. peregrines on E. camaldulensis at controlled conditions, in order to identify the plague-adults quantities on the cage which provide a further period with the most egg-host availability. The result indicates that the cage with 36 males and 36 females can provide more host-eggs found after the 25th day after the beginning of plague creation on the cage

Children's Budget 2008

Examines trends in mandatory and discretionary federal spending on children by tracking funding from fiscal year 2004 through 2009 for specific programs in child welfare, education, health, housing, income support, nutrition, safety, and training

Where Are the Female Lit Mag Editors? Here.

What has always stuck with me about the VIDA count isn’t the statistics themselves—horrid but not, if you’re from any underrepresented group, shocking—but the discussion, mostly anecdotal, of how women are not repeat submitters to literary magazines; men are more likely to send out again once they’ve been rejected. This was me: I have many kind rejections, years old, that say “please send again,” or “we’d like to see more work,” and yet, I didn’t

Temporal Architecture: Poetic Dwelling in Japanese buildings

Heidegger’s thinking about poetic dwelling and Derrida’s impressions of Freudian estrangement are employed to provide a constitutional analysis of the experience of Japanese architecture, in particular, the Japanese vestibule (genkan). This analysis is supplemented by writings by Japanese architects and poets. The principal elements of Japanese architecture are: (1) ma, and (2) en. Ma is usually translated as ‘interval’ because, like the English word, it applies to both space and time.  However, in Japanese thinking, it is not so much an either/or, but rather a both/and. In other words, Japanese architecture emphasises the temporal aspect of dwelling in a way that Western architectural thinking usually does not. En means ‘joint, edge, the in-between’ as an ambiguous, often asymmetrical spanning of interior and exterior, rather than a demarcation of these regions. Both elements are aimed at producing an experience of temporality and transiency

The Brazilian plant-based meats industrial flourishment

The increasing global demand for meat in the 2020s threatens the sustainability and continuity of the food system. While reducing meat consumption is essential, stimulating changes in dietary patterns is complex, and promoting vegetarianism is not suffice. Plant-based meats are a novel food category that has been developed to replicate the culinary, sensory, and nutritional characteristics of traditional animal tissues. Silicon Valley-based food tech startups have added novel food technology to formerly 1960s-developed grain extrusion and texturing industrial processes to create plant-based meats with the potential to expand the consumption of vegetable proteins, thereby saving animals, the environment, the climate, our current food system, and human lives. A collaborative market narrative has sustained the nascent food category, attracting investors interested not only in greening their portfolio but also in disruptive innovation with multiplicative potential. In light of this international food market scenario, we inquired about the role of the Brazilian agrifood sector in this novel food category and how the local foodscape would incorporate it. Brazil's agribusiness is highly productive, particularly in exporting commoditized grains and meats. However, innovation is hindered, especially in food manufacturing instances. Financial flows in Latin America are less fluid than those established in the northern hemisphere, constraining innovation development and implementation. Although prosumer and activist entrepreneur enterprises are working on plant-based meats in Brazil, the country remained on the periphery of the emerging meat substitute industry. The Good Food Institute and FAIRR's multi-level actuation clarified the association between investments in plant-based meats and ESG, while also increasing pressure on global meat corporations and investors to gradually transform the animal farming system, directly impacting the formation and configuration of the Brazilian assemblage. Through an ethnographic study, we report the assembly of a unique conjuncture in Brazil that allowed the flourishing of the plant-based meat industry through the collaboration of various actors with different and sometimes even contrary interests. By following institutional events and mapping market devices, we describe this assemblage as being strategically mediated and partly mirrored in market events previously occurred in the United States. We demonstrate a multi-actor collaborative implementation of an innovative modus operandi, detailing Future Farm, JBS, Archer Daniels Midland, Marfrig, and The Good Food Institute Brasil, and other performative actors in the Brazilian plant-based meat industry. Thus, we explain how this assemblage overcame presupposed weaknesses and obstacles inherent to the Brazilian food industry by mobilizing multiple market devices to construct a shared narrative that framed, guided, and gave meaning to performances and market practices such as unprecedented collaborations, startup modus operandi, international learning, launch speed, competitiveness, and innovation across the whole value chain. Far from primarily focusing on consumers or food technology itself, the assemblage is embedded in the financial market interests. We conclude that the newly flourishing Brazilian plant-based meat industry enhances the chances of a sustainable transformation in the global food system. The study's findings are meaningful to policymakers, investors, and stakeholders in the global food system, mainly for those positioned in other peripheral countries or contexts.A crescente demanda global por carne projetada para a década de 2020 ameaça a sustentabilidade e a continuidade do sistema alimentar humano. Embora a redução do consumo de carne seja essencial, estimular mudanças nos padrões alimentares é complexo e promover o vegetarianismo não é suficiente. As carnes vegetais são uma nova categoria de alimentos desenvolvida para replicar as características culinárias, sensoriais e nutricionais das carnes animais em seus cortes e produtos mais tradicionais. As foodtech do Vale do Silício adicionaram novas tecnologias de alimentos a processos industriais de extrusão e texturização de grãos datados da década de 1960 para criar carnes vegetais com potencial de expandir o consumo de proteínas vegetais para além dos nichos vegetarianos, salvando assim os animais, o meio ambiente, o clima, nosso sistema alimentar atual e vidas humanas. Uma narrativa de mercado colaborativa sustentou a nascente categoria de alimentos, atraindo investidores interessados não apenas em esverdear seu portfólio, mas também em inovação disruptiva com potencial de crescimento exponencial. Diante desse cenário do mercado internacional de alimentos, indagamos sobre o papel do setor agroalimentar brasileiro junto a essa nova categoria de alimentos e como a paisagem alimentar local a incorporaria. O agronegócio brasileiro é altamente produtivo, principalmente na exportação de grãos comoditizados e carnes, também consideradas commodities. No entanto, a inovação é travada, especialmente nas instâncias de processamento de alimentos. Os fluxos financeiros na América Latina são menos fluidos do que os estabelecidos no hemisfério norte, restringindo o desenvolvimento e a implementação de inovações. Embora iniciativas prosumidoras e de empreendedorismo ativista tenham iniciado projetos de carnes vegetais no Brasil, inicialmente a indústria brasileira e o mercado alimentar local estavam à margem da emergente indústria de substitutos da carne. A atuação multinível do Good Food Institute e do FAIRR esclareceu a associação entre investimentos em carnes vegetais e ESG, ao mesmo tempo em que aumentou a pressão sobre as companhias globais de processamento de carnes e investidores para transformar gradativamente o sistema pecuário; o que impactou diretamente a formação e configuração da assemblage brasileira de carnes vegetais. Por meio de um estudo etnográfico, relatamos a assemblagem de uma conjuntura única no Brasil que permitiu o florescimento da indústria de carnes vegetais por meio da colaboração de diversos atores com interesses variados e por vezes até contrários. Ao acompanhar eventos institucionais e mapear dispositivos de mercado, descrevemos essa assemblagem como sendo estrategicamente mediada e parcialmente espelhada em eventos de mercado ocorridos anteriormente nos Estados Unidos. Demonstramos a implementação colaborativa dessa indústria detalhando os casos de Fazenda Futuro, JBS, Archer Daniels Midland, Marfrig e The Good Food Institute Brasil, e outros atores performativos na indústria brasileira de carne vegetais. Assim, explicamos como essa assemblagem superou fragilidades e obstáculos pressupostos inerentes à indústria alimentar brasileira ao mobilizar múltiplos dispositivos de mercado para construir uma narrativa compartilhada que emoldurasse, orientasse e desse sentido a performances e práticas de mercado como colaborações inéditas, startup modus operandi, aprendizado internacional, aceleração de lançamentos, competitividade e inovação em toda a cadeia de valor. Ao invés de se sustentar nas demandas dos consumidores ou na própria tecnologia de alimentos, essa assemblagem está pautada pela lógica do mercado financeiro. Concluímos que a recém-florescida indústria brasileira de carnes vegetais aumenta as chances de uma transformação sustentável no sistema alimentar global. As descobertas do estudo são significativas para políticas públicas, investidores e stakeholders do sistema alimentar, principalmente para aqueles posicionados em outros países ou contextos periféricos