More Than A Score: The Test-Optional Movement in Higher Education

“Test optional”, “test flexible,” and “no tests required” are buzzwords surrounding the college admissions’ process today. Getting into a college or university may require a student to submit several sets of grades and scores from either the SAT or ACT, write essays, prepare for interviews and/or complete other admission requirements. As of 2018, there are at least 1,000 accredited, bachelor-degree-granting colleges and universities that altered their admissions policy to either eliminate consideration of standardized testing scores or have moved to test optional or test-flexible admissions policies (Safier, 2017). This qualitative mixed methods study investigated why higher education institutions are implementing test-optional policies as part of their admissions process. The answer to this question required inquiry into the decision-making processes at test-optional higher education institutions. Admissions officers answered survey questions regarding demographics, admissions materials, the rationale for implementing a test-optional admissions policy, and perceived benefits and drawbacks of their test-optional policy. Additional in-person interviews were also conducted with four admissions officers who consented through the survey. Utilizing qualitative survey and interview feedback, admissions officers identified diversity, access, and a desire to realign the admissions process with the institution’s mission and values as some of the main drivers for the implementation of a test-optional admissions policy. This study provides additional insight to the existing literature encompassing the reasons why higher education institutions are choosing to adopt a test-optional admissions policy and how this decision has impacted faculty and students

More Than A Score: The Test-Optional Movement in Higher Education

Test optional , test flexible and no tests required are buzzwords surrounding the college admissions\u27 process today. Getting into a college or university may require a student to submit several sets of grades and scores from either the SAT or ACT, write essays, prepare for interviews and/or complete other admission requirements. As of 2018, there are at least 1,000 accredited, bachelor-degree-granting colleges and universities that altered their admissions policy to either eliminate consideration of standardized testing scores or have moved to test-optional or text-flexible admissions policies (Safier, 2017). This qualitative mixed methods study investigated why higher education institutions are implementing test-optional policies as part of their admissions process. The answer to this question required inquiry into the decision-making processes at test-optional higher education institutions. Admissions officers answered survey questions regarding demographics, admissions materials, the rationale for implementing a test-optional admissions policy, and perceived benefits and drawbacks of their test-optional policy. Additional in-person interviews were also conducted with four admissions officers who consented through the survey. Utilizing qualitative survey and interview feedback, admissions officers identified diversity, access, and a desire to realign the admissions process with the institution\u27s mission and values as some of the main drivers for the implementation of a test-optional admissions policy. This study provides additional insight to the existing literature encompassing the reasons why higher education institutions are choosing to adopt a test-optional admissions policy and how this decision has impacted faculty and students

Mindfulness-based Intervention for Perinatal Grief Education and Reduction among Poor Women in Chhattisgarh, India: a Pilot Study

INTRODUCTION: Stillbirth is a significant public health problem in low to middle income countries and results in perinatal grief, often with negative psychosocial impact. In low-resource settings, such as Chhattisgarh, India, where needs are high, it is imperative to utilize low-cost, effective interventions. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an empirically sound intervention that has been utilized for a broad range of physical and mental health problems, and is adaptable to specific populations. The main objective of this pilot study was to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of a shortened, culturally adapted mindfulness-based intervention to address the complex grief after stillbirth. METHODS: We used an observational, pre-post-6 week post study design. The study instrument was made up of descriptive demographic questions and validated scales and was administered as a structured interview due to low literacy rates. We used a community participatory approach to culturally adapt the five-week mindfulness-based intervention and delivered it through two trained local nurses. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses explored study outcomes as well as acceptability and feasibility of the intervention. RESULTS: 29 women with a history of stillbirth enrolled, completed the pretest and began the intervention; 26 completed the five-week intervention and post-test (89.7%), and 23 completed the six-week follow-up assessment (88.5%). Pretest results included elevated psychological symptoms and high levels of perinatal grief, including the active grief, difficulty coping, and despair subscales. General linear modeling repeated measures was used to explore posttest and six-week follow up changes from baseline, controlling for significantly correlated demographic variables. These longitudinal results included significant reduction in psychological symptoms; four of the five facets of mindfulness changed in the desired direction, two significantly; as well as significant reduction in overall perinatal grief and on each of the three subscales. DISCUSSION: The shortened, culturally adapted, mindfulness-based intervention pilot study was well received and had very low attrition. We also found significant reductions of perinatal grief and mental health symptoms over time, as well as a high degree of practice of mindfulness skills by participants. This study not only sheds light on the tremendous mental health needs among rural women of various castes who have experienced stillbirth in Chhattisgarh, it also points to a promising effective intervention with potential to be taken to scale for wider delivery

Native rodent species are unlikely sources of infection for Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis along the Transoceanic Highway in Madre de Dios, Peru.

An estimated 2.3 million disability-adjusted life years are lost globally from leishmaniasis. In Peru's Amazon region, the department of Madre de Dios (MDD) rises above the rest of the country in terms of the annual incidence rates of human leishmaniasis. Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis is the species most frequently responsible for the form of disease that results in tissue destruction of the nose and mouth. However, essentially nothing is known regarding the reservoirs of this vector-borne, zoonotic parasite in MDD. Wild rodents have been suspected, or proven, to be reservoirs of several Leishmania spp. in various ecosystems and countries. Additionally, people who live or work in forested terrain, especially those who are not regionally local and whose immune systems are thus naïve to the parasite, are at most risk for contracting L. (V.) braziliensis. Hence, the objective of this study was to collect tissues from wild rodents captured at several study sites along the Amazonian segment of the newly constructed Transoceanic Highway and to use molecular laboratory techniques to analyze samples for the presence of Leishmania parasites. Liver tissues were tested via polymerase chain reaction from a total of 217 rodents; bone marrow and skin biopsies (ear and tail) were also tested from a subset of these same animals. The most numerous rodent species captured and tested were Oligoryzomys microtis (40.7%), Hylaeamys perenensis (15.7%), and Proechimys spp. (12%). All samples were negative for Leishmania, implying that although incidental infections may occur, these abundant rodent species are unlikely to serve as primary reservoirs of L. (V.) braziliensis along the Transoceanic Highway in MDD. Therefore, although these rodent species may persist and even thrive in moderately altered landscapes, we did not find any evidence to suggest they pose a risk for L. (V.) braziliensis transmission to human inhabitants in this highly prevalent region

Does Intervention Change Anything? New Directions in Promoting Positive Youth Development

Although a literature on interventions that promote positive development has begun to emerge, important gaps concerning these interventions continue to exist. As part of our program of research, we have made an effort to begin addressing these gaps. An overview of a research project conducted using two sets of multi-ethnic data drawn from the Miami Youth Development Project (Kurtines, Montgomery, Lewis Arango, & Kortsch, 2001) is presented. Though tentative and preliminary, the findings from the project provide preliminary evidence for the success of Changing Lives Program (CLP) in promoting positive qualitative change. Specifically, the results document a relation between participation in CLP and short-term qualitative longitudinal change in life course experiences at the individual developmental level. The basic pattern of qualitative change for participants in the CLP intervention condition tended to be positive, significant, and in the hypothesized direction relative to non-intervention controls, suggesting that intervention does effect positive change

Going the distance for procurement of donation after circulatory death livers for transplantation—Does reimbursement reflect reality?

Donation after circulatory death (DCD) liver transplantation (LT) has increased slowly over the past decade. Given that transplant surgeons generally determine liver offer acceptance, understanding surgeon incentives and disincentives is paramount. The purpose of this study was to assess aggregate travel distance per successful DCD versus deceased after brain death (DBD) liver procurement as a surrogate for surgeon time expenditure and opportunity cost. All consecutive liver offers made to Michigan Medicine from 2006 to 2017 were analyzed. Primary outcome was the summative travel distance (spent on all attempted procurements) per successful liver procurement that resulted in LT. Donation after circulatory death liver offer acceptance was lower than DBD liver offers, as was proportion of successful procurements among accepted offers. Overall, 10 275 miles were travelled for accepted DCD liver offers, resulting in 23 successful procurements (mean 447 miles per successful DCD liver procurement). For accepted DBD liver offers, 197 299 miles were travelled, resulting in 863 successful procurements (mean 229 miles per successful DBD liver procurement). On average, each successful DCD liver procurement required 218 more miles of travel than each successful DBD liver procurement. Current reimbursement policies poorly reflect increased surgeon travel (and time) expenditures between DCD and DBD liver offers.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154400/1/ctr13780_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154400/2/ctr13780.pd

Ephemeral wetlands of the Pilliga Outwash, northwest NSW

The floristic composition and vegetation partitioning of the ephemeral wetlands of the Pilliga Outwash within the Pilliga National Park and Pilliga State Conservation Area (30˚30’S, 149˚22’E) on the North Western Plains of New South Wales are described. SPOT5 imagery was used to map 340 wetlands across the Pilliga Outwash. A total of 240 plots within 31 wetlands explored composition and species richness in relation to water depth and wetland size. The predominant community described is the species-rich herbfield of shallow basin wetlands, along with the structurally distinct but the less common sedgeland/herbfield of the deeper ‘tank’ wetlands and a single wetland with a floristically depauperate Diplachne fusca wet grassland. A total of 131 taxa were recorded including three species listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act (1995): Eriocaulon australasicum, Lepidium monoplocoides and Myriophyllum implicatum. New records for an additional six taxa were recorded for the North Western Plains. 11% of taxa were exotic in origin