Teachers\u27, Educational Specialists\u27 and School Leaders\u27 Perceptions of the Cumulative Impact of Education Reform Mandates

Throughout the history of education, there have been changes in funding, organization, governance, and curriculum. As a result of these changes, education reform and mandates have become cyclical in nature. However, with so many structural changes, the purpose of reform mandates often fall short of the intended purpose; closing achievement gaps and allowing equal access for all students. The purpose of this study is to examine the way in which teachers’, educational specialists’, and school leaders perceive the cumulative impact of education reform efforts that will be bounded by subject of mathematics. In a qualitative case study, a combination of 7 teachers, educational specialists, and school leaders were interviewed. An interview protocol was used to gather data regarding participants’ perception of educational reform mandates as it pertains to mathematics. A code book was derived from the findings. Four themes emerged from the study: knowledge building and support, communication and honest conversations, and moral purpose and social justice concerns and reform being seen as a system of improvement or retrenchment. Fundamental for sustainability, all stakeholders were active participants in the reform process. In addition, checks and balances, supports and communication were vital factors that needed to be addressed and revisited along the way to ensure that feedback and improvements to the mandates were implemented with fidelity to ensure sustainability

The Global Competition for International Students as Future Immigrants: The role of Ontario universities in translating government policy into institutional practice

This project examines the implications for the roles and responsibilities of Ontario universities in offering programs and services to international students, given Ontario’s policy imperative to target international students as permanent residents. Through a comprehensive mapping exercise, this project proposes to offer a system wide perspective on gaps in alignment of policy and practice, establish key benchmarks for international student programs and services and propose globally competitive best practices. Three main research questions will guide this study: How are provincial and national policies to attract international students as future immigrants acknowledged by Ontario universities in their mission statement/goals/visions and/or strategic plans? What is/are the explicitly and implicitly stated role of the universities in relation to these provincial/national policies? What are the range and types of programs and services offered for international students by Ontario’s universities? How do these programs and services meet the academic, social and professional engagement needs of international students? How do they meet the needs of international students over their student life cycle, in particular post-graduation and employment? What do university staff perceive as factors that facilitate and hinder the transition of international students as future immigrants? What do they perceive as strengths and gaps in their programs and services in supporting international students as future immigrants? How do they think government policies (national/provincial) have impacted the international student experience and international student-oriented services and programs? The project addresses three key policy concerns for Ontario’s higher education system: quality and global competitiveness, student experience and success, educational outcomes and labour market pathways. While the role of universities in preparing students for careers and as citizens is widely recognized, it is seldom clearly articulated, especially for international students. This research project will provide a framework to have informed discussions on institutional policies in the context of changing provincial/national policy environments and the sharing and development of effective good practices. It will contribute to our understanding of how research policy and practice interrelate; how they act upon one other; and how research can get translated into practice

Direction for Protection: Multimedia Messaging to Address Racial Health Disparities

According to the CDC (2021), black people have higher risks of hospitalization and death from COVID 19. The Kaiser Family Foundation (2021) reports that black adults are less likely to have received the COVID 19 vaccination than white, Asian and Hispanic adults, placing them at greater risk for COVID 19 infection. Lower rates of vaccination focus attention on the need for messages tailored to underserved populations. In this study, we review historical and contemporary events to acknowledge important milestones in public health. Using graphic arts, we present a symbolization of the social determinants of health and a poster highlighting some of the many contributions to microbiology and immunology from African Americans. This was a pilot project for developing more sensitive and culturally relevant vaccine messages

Advanced Care Planning Discussions and Documentation in Primary Care

Background: As the life spans of Americans are increasing, so is the number of people who are living longer with multiple chronic comorbid conditions. Advanced care planning is, therefore, important because it is a process that helps patients discuss and communicate their future treatment and end-of-life preferences with their providers if they lose their capacity to make decisions or communicate their wishes and preferences. Primary care settings are ideal for integrating advanced care planning into routine care and health maintenance. Purpose: This project aims to increase advanced care planning discussions and documentation in a primary care clinic through a workflow that identifies patients without advance directives and educates staff and providers about appropriately documenting and billing for advanced care planning discussions. Methods: Under the framework of the Transtheoretical Model, this quality improvement project implemented different interventions to increase advanced care planning discussion rates. A live PowerPoint presentation was conducted with the clinic staff on appropriately identifying patients without advance directives documents. Additionally, information was provided on how to document and bill advanced care planning discussions. Advanced care planning current procedural terminology code billing frequencies were tracked pre and post intervention over three months. Results: Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data because it was small; this also meant there would be no hypothesis testing. Four providers participated, and the project resulted in a slight increase in advanced care planning billing codes post intervention compared to pre intervention. The pre intervention phase revealed 3 documented advanced care planning billing codes 99497. There was no documentation for billing code 99498. The post intervention phase had 5 documented billing codes, including 99497. Recommendations and Conclusion: The project identified that timing can be a barrier for providers in primary care clinics. As a result, this can affect the number of advanced care planning discussions and documentation conducted. A standardized system, such as utilizing support staff to engage in the advanced care planning process, can help increase those rates. Advanced care planning can increase revenue for primary care settings and the overall quality of care rendered during end-of-life

Understanding Gender Inequality in Poverty and Social Exclusion through a Psychological Lens:Scarcities, Stereotypes and Suggestions

Poverty and social exclusion are a gendered phenomenon. They are rooted deeply in the stereotypes, biases, prejudices, and discriminations against women, especially those suffering from poor living conditions. Unfortunately, gender inequality is manifested in most, if not all, major life domains. It is therefore important to understand the gender aspect of poverty and social exclusion through a psychological lens. We begin this chapter by introducing the concepts of multi-dimensional poverty and social exclusion with a sketch of the gender disparities displayed in these areas. We turn next to several mainstream psychological theories which have attempted to investigate and interpret the relationship between poverty and gender inequality from the dispositional, motivational, cognitive, and behavioural perspectives. Finally, we evaluate the reliability, objectivity, and generalisability of the reviewed theories and studies and offer suggestions for future research.</p

Ethnic and Racial Self-Definitions of Second-Generation Canadians: An Analysis of Discourse

The present study was designed to investigate the social construction of racial and ethnic identities and categories among second-generation Canadian youth who identify as, or can be physically identified as Black. A culturally diverse sample of 34 participants aged 13 – 19 years was recruited from communities in the General Toronto Area to participate in six discussion groups. Discourse analysis was utilized to demonstrate the fluidity and negotiability of racial and ethnic identity, and the role of the immediate and wider social contexts in the constructions of these identities and the content of their associated social categories. Results are discussed with regards to the implications of the reliance on mainstream social-cognitive approaches that do not adequately address the social construction of these phenomena

Towards Greater Funding Allocation Transparency

This poster was presented at an event hosted by CESI in 2012. It explores the process of designing a funding assessment rubric to create more transparent means of allocating funding

Evaluating the Effectiveness, Feasibility, and Treatment Acceptability of a Culturally Adapted Version of Discriminated Functional Communication with Afro-Caribbean Families

The majority of behavioral analytic interventions reflect European-American values. One useful intervention is discriminated functional communication training (DFCT), which may be implemented to increase the generalizability of functional communication training (FCT). However, the discriminative stimuli used during DFCT may not adequately reflect what is commonly used in various cultures. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility (in the form of training parents to implement), and treatment acceptability of a culturally adapted version of DFCT with Afro-Caribbean families. Three children with ASD along with their mothers participated in the study. Results showed that culturally adapting DFCT was as effective as the traditional procedure in obtaining discriminated manding for 2 of 3 participants. An alternate DFCT procedure used with the third participant was also effective. Also, it was feasible to train parents to implement the intervention. Social validity measures indicated the study incorporated cultural values, and beliefs, and produced favorable effects on replacing problem behavior with discriminated manding that was culturally relevant

How do we understand the relationship between social role and psychological well-being in older women? : a qualitative study.

Objective: This research investigates how older women understand their social roles, and the part that social roles play in their well-being, to underpin the development of interventions aimed at increasing social role participation in order to improve the well-being of older women in the United Kingdom. Methods: Five focus groups were analysed using Inductive Thematic Analysis. Snowball sampling was used to identify 20 female participants, residing in the United Kingdom, aged 60 and above. Results: The analysis generated four themes: the nature of a social role; social roles support well-being in older age; societal expectations of age and gender lead to role loss; and freedom to choose meaningful social roles leads to well-being. Conclusions: Participants reported that social roles facilitate well-being through the prevention of isolation, increased levels of activity, improved cognitive health through brain activity, and increased confidence and flexibility. Freedom to choose meaningful social roles was reported as having the most positive impact on well-being. Results provide a framework from which to design social role interventions that facilitate choice of meaningful social roles, which can be facilitated through joined-up working with external agencies, including those that provide volunteering opportunities. Appropriate psychological interventions include those that address relationships with others, such as Interpersonal Psychotherapy