How Leaders Invest Staffing Resources for Learning Improvement

Analyzes staffing challenges that guide school leaders' resource decisions in the context of a learning improvement agenda, staff resource investment strategies that improve learning outcomes equitably, and ways to win support for differential investment

DYNAMICS OF RODENT ASSEMBLAGES INHABITING ABANDONED PETROLEUM LANDFARMS IN OKLAHOMA

Studies on the effects of anthropogenic contamination on wildlife have largely been focused at the individual level. Biomarkers have been used to monitor changes in the health of individuals exposed to contaminants; however, little attention has been given to the effects of chronic exposure at the population or community levels. We studied rodent assemblages from uncontaminated (reference) sites (n 5 5) and abandoned petrochemical landfarms (n 5 5) in Oklahoma to investigate potential alterations in community structure and composition. Rodent assemblages inhabiting landfarms had lower species diversity, lower richness, and a more even distribution of individuals across species. Reference sites showed typical rodent assemblage structure dominated by hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) and fulvous harvest mice (Reithrodontomys fulvescens). Assemblages inhabiting landfarms also were dominated by cotton rats; however, harvest mice were replaced by deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) on two landfarms. Contaminated sites also were characterized by an increase in house mice (Mus musculus) and an absence of voles (Microtus spp.). Although landfarms tended to have lower cotton rat densities, we could not separate the effects of contamination from increased bare ground associated with landfarms. The results of this study suggest that rodent assemblages were different on landfarms, when compared with reference sites. However, no direct link between site contamination and rodent community structure could be established

Explorando a intersecção da política de educação e análise do discurso: Uma introdução

In this article, we introduce the special issue focused on diverse perspectives to discourse analysis for education policy. This article lays the foundation for the special issue by introducing the notion of a third generation of policy research – a strand of policy research we argue is produced at the intersection of education policy and discourse analysis. We also very briefly discuss discourse analysis writ large, noting that there is no single definition or orientation. Then, we present the six articles included in the special issue, highlighting the ways in which they offer contemporary understandings of the varying applications of discourse analytic perspectives to the study of education policy. We conclude by discussing key policy and methodological implications, as well as future directions for policy scholars working at the intersection of education policy and discourse analysis.Este artículo presenta el tema especial sobre diversas perspectivas del análisis del discurso para la política educativa. Este artículo establece las bases para el número especial introduciendo la noción de una tercera generación de investigación sobre políticas, una línea de investigación sobre políticas en la intersección de la política educativa y el análisis del discurso. También discutimos el análisis del discurso en general, en particular que no hay una sola definición o orientación. Presentamos los seis artículos incluidos en el número especial y destacamos cómo ofrecen una comprensión contemporánea de las diversas aplicaciones de las perspectivas analíticas discursivas al estudio de la política educativa. Concluimos discutiendo las principales implicaciones políticas y metodológicas y las direcciones futuras para los académicos de políticas que trabajan en la intersección de la política educativa y el análisis del discurso.Este artigo apresenta a edição especial sobre várias perspectivas de análise do discurso para a política educacional. Este artigo estabelece a base para a edição especial, introduzindo a noção de uma terceira geração de pesquisa política, uma linha de pesquisa política, na intersecção da política de educação e análise do discurso. Nós também discutida a análise de discurso em geral, em particular, que não existe qualquer definição ou única orientação. Apresentamos os seis artigos incluídos na edição especial e destacar como eles oferecem interpretações contemporâneas das aplicações variadas de perspectivas analíticas discurso para o estudo da política de educação. Concluímos discutindo as principais implicações políticas e metodológicas e direções futuras para os estudiosos que trabalham em no cruzamento da política de educação e análise do discurso

Teacher Reading as Professional Development: Insights from a National Survey

Over the past four decades, a number of researchers have attempted to describe the reading habits of teachers. Some have investigated the impact of reading habits generally, while most have focused on some kind of loosely defined “professional reading.” In relationship to this body of literature, the purpose of our descriptive survey study, which invited teachers from randomly selected schools in both large and small districts across the United States, was to both add to and update the available literature regarding teachers’ professional reading habits. We found that reading for professional development appears to be a common activity for the classroom teachers who participated in our survey. We also found that that the bulk of the teachers’ professional reading time was completed in the evenings and on weekends. We did not find statistically significant differences in reading preferences and behaviors when differences in degree were considered. Further, we did not find statistically significant differences in reading preferences when we compared the teachers’ responses by years of experience. Teachers noted that limited time and lack of relevancy were two primary reasons for why they did not read. We discuss implications for professional development

The immunology of wild Rodents: Current Status and Future Prospects

Wild animals’ immune responses contribute to their evolutionary fitness. These responses are moulded by selection to be appropriate to the actual antigenic environment in which the animals live, but without imposing an excessive energetic demand which compromises other component of fitness. But, exactly what these responses are, and how they compare with those of laboratory animals, has been little studied. Here, we review the very small number of published studies of immune responses of wild rodents, finding general agreement that their humoral (antibody) responses are highly elevated when compared with those of laboratory animals, and that wild rodents’ cellular immune system reveals extensive antigenic exposure. In contrast, proliferative and cytokine responses of ex vivo-stimulated immune cells of wild rodents are typically depressed compared with those of laboratory animals. Collectively, these responses are appropriate to wild animals’ lives, because the elevated responses reflect the cumulative exposure to infection, while the depressed proliferative and cytokine responses are indicative of effective immune homeostasis that minimizes immunopathology. A more comprehensive understanding of the immune ecology of wild animals requires (i) understanding the antigenic load to which wild animals are exposed, and identification of any key antigens that mould the immune repertoire, (ii) identifying immunoregulatory processes of wild animals and the events that induce them, and (iii) understanding the actual resource state of wild animals, and the immunological consequences that flow from this. Together, by extending studies of wild rodents, particularly addressing these questions (while drawing on our immunological understanding of laboratory animals), we will be better able to understand how rodents’ immune responses contribute to their fitness in the wild

Eastern redcedar update - 1990

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Ecologic Immunology of Avian Influenza (H5N1) in Migratory Birds

Studies do not support the claim that migratory birds can spread highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) over long distances

A further cost for the sicker sex? Evidence for male-biased parasite-induced vulnerability to predation

Males are typically the sicker sex. Data from multiple taxa indicate that they are more likely to be infected with parasites, and are less ‘tolerant’, or less able to mitigate the fitness costs of a given infection, than females. One cost of infection for many animals is an increased probability of being captured by a predator. A clear, hitherto untested, prediction is therefore that this parasite-induced vulnerability to predation is more pronounced among males than females. We tested this prediction in the sexually size dimorphic guppy, Poecilia reticulata, in which females are typically larger than males. We either sham or experimentally infected guppies with Gyrodactylus turnbulli, elicited their escape response using an established protocol and measured the distance they covered during 60 ms. To discriminate between the effects of body size and those of other inherent sex differences, we size-matched fish across treatment groups. Infection with G. turnbulli reduced the distance covered during the escape response of small adults by 20.1%, whereas that of large fish was unaffected. This result implies that parasite-induced vulnerability to predation is male-biased in the wild: although there was no difference in escape response between our experimentally size-matched groups of males and females, males are significantly smaller across natural guppy populations. These results are consistent with Bateman’s principle for immunity: natural selection for larger body sizes and longevity in females seems to have resulted in the evolution of increased infection tolerance. We discuss the potential implications of male-biased parasite-induced vulnerability for the evolutionary ecology of this host-parasite interaction in natural communities

Eastern redcedar update - 1991

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311