An Analysis Of Teacher Action Research Focused On Differentiated Instruction For Student Subgroups In One Florida School District In 2009-2010

This study examined the action research reports written by teachers in one Florida school district after they had received professional development on differentiated instruction and the action research process in the 2009-2010 school year. The 69 reports that were completed by the teachers were assessed using the Action Research Rubric that was developed for this study. This rubric evaluated whether the reports contained the elements of action research along with the characteristics that the district emphasized as part of the professional development such as differentiation, student subgroups, and collaboration. The Action Research Rubric contained seven subscales: Purpose of the Study, Plan, Professional Collaboration and Resources, Data and Evidence, Results, Instructional Decisions and Professional Reflection, and Sharing Results. Descriptive statistics were found for the aggregate group of reports as well as subgroups depending upon the school level (elementary, middle, or high school), the types of teachers within the elementary category, or the FCAT subject area of focus for the report. Overall, the action research reports met the district‟s standard as measured by the Action Research Rubric. As an aggregate group, the reports also met the standard on the Purpose of the Study, Professional Collaboration and Resource, and Data and Evidence Subscales. They did not perform as well on the Plan and Sharing Results Subscales

Authority, Obedience, and Justification

We have a duty to think for ourselves. The law claims authority over us. We have a duty, at least sometimes, to obey the law. Alone, each of these premises is fairly uncontroversial. Combined, they create some intriguing puzzles. Can law’s claim of authority be justified? If so, does justified legal authority entail an obligation to obey the law? If not, are we nonetheless justified, and perhaps even obligated, to act as if such an obligation exists? While this essay is hardly the first to address these questions, it is the first to do so by combining elements of Joseph Raz’s prominent “service conception of authority,” along with John Gardner’s influential account of justification, to defend a modest version of philosophical anarchism. These philosophical resources illuminate new explanations regarding the justification of law’s claims to authority and our obedience to those claims. This Article is an exercise in analytic legal philosophy. It clarifies the nature of authority, obedience, and justification to provide a framework for understanding when claims of authority and obedience to such claims are justified. This framework has at least three important implications for the practical attitude we should adopt toward the law in our current political climate. First, we should resist currently fashionable arguments grounded in the condemnation of “lawlessness.” Second, we should acknowledge the potential value of the law, and its claim to authority, when it comes to (re)establishing the trust required to maintain our political community. Third, we should recognize obligations to the law that extend beyond any supposed obligation to obey, including obligations both to know and improve the law. Applying the framework set out in this Article allows us to maintain a healthy skepticism toward law’s claim of authority over us, recognize the value of justified obedience to law’s authority, and identify the circumstances under which we may be obligated to obey law’s claim of authority over us

Teaching Strategies Leading to Success in Self-Contained Classrooms

This applied dissertation addressed the strategies used in self-contained classrooms that lead to the success of students with intellectual disabilities in Jamaica. The study was prompted by the poor performance of primary schools in teaching delivery as evidenced in the National Inspectorate Report. The views of successful teachers were collated in order to provide meaningful research data that can be used to improve the effectiveness of teachers regarding their teaching strategies and engagement of their students in the teaching-learning process. In addition, the research findings may be used to inform policies regarding the education of special needs students who are taught in self-contained classrooms in the island of Jamaica. The researcher used a qualitative descriptive case study research design to analyze participant responses on teaching strategies that lead to success of students with intellectual disabilities. The study focused on factors that determine the strategies used, the models used to design the teaching strategies, and accommodations made to the teaching strategies that lead to the success of intellectually disabled students who are taught in self-contained classrooms. Findings revealed that a constructivist approach was taken to teaching that allowed students to be more engaged in the learning process and created positive attitudes toward learning. Use of an individualistic approach allows teachers to accommodate students and target specific learning deficiencies. An implication of the research is the value of good relationships and with students and parents that can facilitate the holistic development of students with intellectual disabilities

Preparing Australasian medical students for environmentally sustainable health care

Climate change and environmental degradation are harming the health of Australians and New Zealanders and pose a serious challenge to our health care systems.1, 2 The World Health Organization in 2019 identified climate change and air pollution as the top threat to human health globally;3 a threat clearly visible in the sustained air pollution over south-eastern Australia from bushfire smoke during the 2019–20 bushfire season. The health consequences of the bushfires and the associated prolonged, hazardous air quality prompted the Australian Medical Association and three medical colleges to declare climate change a public health emergency.4 Health care systems also contribute to climate change and environmental degradation. In Australia, health care contributes 7% of the country’s total carbon emissions and produces considerable waste which is either incinerated or sent to landfill.5 Despite these environmental challenges, there has been little response by medical programs to prepare medical graduates to manage the health impacts of climate change, and to practise environmentally sustainable health care. In 2018, we described an initiative to support medical educators and medical student organisations to work collaboratively to develop proposed learning objectives, curricula and learning resources addressing the health effects of climate change.6 This article describes the development of the model graduate outcome statements and learning objectives which have been shared with all medical schools in Australasia

The Urban/Rural Divide in Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Utah

Death by drug poisoning is the leading cause of death due to injury in the state of Utah (UDOH, 2014). From 2013-2015, Utah ranked seventh in the nation for drug overdose deaths, the majority of which were opioid-related (CDC, 2018a). In 2017, the age-adjusted mortality rate from drug overdose in Utah was 15.5 per 100,000, putting the state above the national average of 14.9 per 100,000 (CDC, 2018b). Opioid overdose death rates in most of rural Utah far exceeds rates across the urban counties of the state. The higher rates of deaths in rural Utah is indeed concerning. Evidence indicates that rural areas are particularly hard hit due to limited access to care and resources (USDA, 2019). Three kinds of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) approved for treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) include: methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone (SAMHSA, 2019a). These medications block the euphoric effect of drugs, relieve cravings, and stabilize brain chemistry without the negative side effects of the previously abused drug (SAMHSA, 2019b). This fact sheet gives details about MAT for opioid use disorder

Isolated Ocular Manifestation of Relapsed Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Presenting as Myeloid Blast Crisis in a Patient on Imatinib Therapy: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Blast phase in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) has rarely been reported to involve extramedullary sites like skin, lymph nodes, and central nervous system. Clinical history, characteristic hematologic findings (elevated leukocyte counts, myelocytic predominance, and basophilia), and Philadelphia chromosome are of high diagnostic significance especially in isolated extramedullary presentations. We describe a unique case of CML relapse with blast phase involving the eye. A 66-year-old man with a known diagnosis of CML on imatinib and in molecular remission for 3 years presented with a painful blind eye. Histologic examination revealed diffuse involvement of choroid, iris, vitreous humor, and the optic nerve by blast cells. The blasts expressed CD34, aberrant TdT, and a myeloid phenotype (CD13, CD33, and CD117). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of vitreous fluid detected BCR-ABL1 gene rearrangement. Additionally, trisomy 8 and gains of 9 and 22 were seen which were not present in the initial diagnostic marrow study 3 years ago. At relapse, the bone marrow, peripheral blood, and the cerebrospinal fluid were not involved by CML. Patient received induction chemotherapy and single dose prophylactic intrathecal methotrexate and was maintained on antityrosine kinase therapy and eventually underwent allogenic stem cell transplantation