Growing School Networks for Instructional Improvement in Jordan, 2009-2010

In the last decade, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has made a substantial commitment to improving the quality of its public education system. The main vehicle for this work has been the Education Reform for Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) initiative. To date, key investments have been made in early childhood education, school infrastructure, technology, and curriculum development. The emphasis has been placed on the development of skills essential to Jordan’s emerging knowledge economy and the use of technology both as a skill set and a delivery platform for the new curriculum. The second phase of this initiative, ERfKE II, which is underway at this writing, is focused on improving the quality of teaching and learning. The primary challenge facing Jordan is the improvement of the quality of instruction provided by the current teacher work force. Thus, a major priority for ERfKE II is the provision of high quality in-service training for current teachers. In 2009, the Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA) and Teachers College of Columbia University (TC/CU) formed a new partnership, which was facilitated by the Columbia University Middle East Research Center (CUMERC), to contribute to meeting this challenge. Funded by the Jordan Ministry of Planning and United States Agency for International Development, and supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Partnership is developing and demonstrating a model of high quality professional development that is scalable within Jordan and supports the use of effective instruction in Jordan elementary and secondary schools. The Partnership creates and supports networks of schools as vehicles for providing professional development for teams of teachers in core content areas as well as leadership training for principals and education supervisors to support the desired changes in classroom practice. This strategy aims to support the implementation of the ERfKE curriculum. Reaching these goals will take a number of years. The purpose of this interim report is to summarize the key activities of the Partnership and the development of the school network strategy to date. It also examines available evidence on the progress of the Partnership towards its goals with particular attention to the start-up and first year implementation of the cohort 1 school networks, April 2009 to May 2010

A Randomized Evaluation of Ohio\u27s Personalized Assessment Reporting System (PARS)

In the 2006–07 school year, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) launched a pilot of its Personalized Assessment Reporting System (PARS) for the Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT). The PARS program included several new OGT test score reports for teachers, administrators, students, and parents along with two new websites for educators and students. The new PARS test score reports and associated websites are designed to provide teachers, administrators, students and parents with more detailed information about student performance as well as numerous suggestions and resources for improving performance. One of the primary goals of PARS is to increase student motivation to pass the OGT and graduate high school. ODE hopes that by providing clear and detailed information to each student about his or her performance relative to the state standards, along with resources for improving performance and planning for the future, PARS may lead to improvements in student attitudes and behaviors that are fundamental to success in high school and beyond. Research suggests that grades or scores in the absence of constructive feedback can have a detrimental effect on student achievement (Butler 1987; 1988). The PARS reports are designed to provide this kind of detailed constructive feedback. Furthermore, by providing clear and detailed information to teachers and administrators about student performance, along with tools for making sense of the data and resources for improving and targeting instruction, PARS has the potential to inform numerous aspects of instruction. This research report presents program evaluation findings from the first-year pilot of PARS. The primary goals for the evaluation were to (a) document the implementation of the program and (b) provide scientifically based evidence of potential impacts on instruction and student learning. The evaluation involved a district random assignment design and a mixed-methods approach to measuring program implementation and impacts. A total of 100 high schools in 60 school districts participated in this research, with 51 schools in 30 districts randomly assigned to participate in the PARS pilot during the 2006–07 school year. A subsample of 5 schools agreed to site visits during which researchers conducted interviews with teachers and students to learn more about PARS

Histone Acetylation-Mediated Regulation of the Hippo Pathway

The Hippo pathway is a signaling cascade recently found to play a key role in tumorigenesis therefore understanding the mechanisms that regulate it should open new opportunities for cancer treatment. Available data indicate that this pathway is controlled by signals from cell-cell junctions however the potential role of nuclear regulation has not yet been described. Here we set out to verify this possibility and define putative mechanism(s) by which it might occur. By using a luciferase reporter of the Hippo pathway, we measured the effects of different nuclear targeting drugs and found that chromatin-modifying agents, and to a lesser extent certain DNA damaging drugs, strongly induced activity of the reporter. This effect was not mediated by upstream core components (i.e. Mst, Lats) of the Hippo pathway, but through enhanced levels of the Hippo transducer TAZ. Investigation of the underlying mechanism led to the finding that cancer cell exposure to histone deacetylase inhibitors induced secretion of growth factors and cytokines, which in turn activate Akt and inhibit the GSK3 beta associated protein degradation complex in drug-affected as well as in their neighboring cells. Consequently, expression of EMT genes, cell migration and resistance to therapy were induced. These processes were suppressed by using pyrvinium, a recently described small molecule activator of the GSK 3 beta associated degradation complex. Overall, these findings shed light on a previously unrecognized phenomenon by which certain anti-cancer agents may paradoxically promote tumor progression by facilitating stabilization of the Hippo transducer TAZ and inducing cancer cell migration and resistance to therapy. Pharmacological targeting of the GSK3 beta associated degradation complex may thus represent a unique approach to treat cancer. © 2013 Basu et al

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

Subjective and objective measures of dryness symptoms in primary Sjögren's syndrome: capturing the discrepancy

Objective: To develop a novel method for capturing the discrepancy between objective tests and subjective dryness symptoms (a sensitivity scale) and to explore predictors of dryness sensitivity. Methods: Archive data from the UK Primary Sjögren's Syndrome Registry (n = 688) were used. Patients were classified on a scale from −5 (stoical) to +5 (sensitive) depending on the degree of discrepancy between their objective and subjective symptoms classes. Sensitivity scores were correlated with demographic variables, disease-related factors, and symptoms of pain, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Results: Patients were on average relatively stoical for both types of dryness symptoms (mean ± SD ocular dryness −0.42 ± 2.2 and −1.24 ± 1.6 oral dryness). Twenty-seven percent of patients were classified as sensitive to ocular dryness and 9% to oral dryness. Hierarchical regression analyses identified the strongest predictor of ocular dryness sensitivity to be self-reported pain and that of oral dryness sensitivity to be self-reported fatigue. Conclusion: Ocular and oral dryness sensitivity can be classified on a continuous scale. The 2 symptom types are predicted by different variables. A large number of factors remain to be explored that may impact symptom sensitivity in primary Sjögrenʼs syndrome, and the proposed method could be used to identify relatively sensitive and stoical patients for future studies

A Formative Study of the Implementation of the Inquiry Team Process in New York City Public Schools: 2007‐08 Findings

During the 2007-08 school year, the New York City Department of Education launched the second phase of its ambitious and innovative initiative known as Children First. The reform is guided by three principles: leadership, empowerment, and accountability. Key components include restructuring central-office services, increasing principal authority, providing schools access to new forms and sources of support through affiliate school support organizations (SSOs), and developing new data-driven accountability tools that hold schools responsible for student performance while providing rich diagnostic information to support organizational and instructional improvement. Ultimately, this initiative aims to intensify the focus by all educators on student performance and in doing so to stimulate the development of evidence-based cultures at all levels of the system. This report provides formative feedback on the implementation of an important new component of Children First called the Inquiry Team process. The Inquiry Team initiative was rolled out in all 1,450 city schools in the summer of 2007 after being piloted in Empowerment Schools in 2006-07. Under this initiative, schools are expected to establish small “Inquiry Teams” of teachers and administrators charged with examining the performance problems of small, select target populations of students with the goal of identifying instructional “change strategies” that will improve their performance. Through this process, these small teams are expected to make use of performance data and other information to diagnose and monitor student learning and to make recommendations for changes in any aspect of their school to help close the achievement gap for these target populations of low-performing students. Teams are expected to become experts in the diagnostic use of the accountability tools and other data and the Inquiry Team process itself. The goal is for teams to share their new knowledge with the broader school community throughout the year to simulate instructional changes and improvements in the conditions of teaching and learning

Ensuring Quality in AFRINEST and SATT: Clinical Standardization and Monitoring

Background: Three randomized open-label clinical trials [Simplified Antibiotic Therapy Trial (SATT) Bangladesh, SATT Pakistan and African Neonatal Sepsis Trial (AFRINEST)] were developed to test the equivalence of simplified antibiotic regimens compared with the standard regimen of 7 days of parenteral antibiotics. These trials were originally conceived and designed separately; subsequently, significant efforts were made to develop and implement a common protocol and approach. Previous articles in this supplement briefly describe the specific quality control methods used in the individual trials; this article presents additional information about the systematic approaches used to minimize threats to validity and ensure quality across the trials. Methods: A critical component of quality control for AFRINEST and SATT was striving to eliminate variation in clinical assessments and decisions regarding eligibility, enrollment and treatment outcomes. Ensuring appropriate and consistent clinical judgment was accomplished through standardized approaches applied across the trials, including training, assessment of clinical skills and refresher training. Standardized monitoring procedures were also applied across the trials, including routine (day-to-day) internal monitoring of performance and adherence to protocols, systematic external monitoring by funding agencies and external monitoring by experienced, independent trial monitors. A group of independent experts (Technical Steering Committee/Technical Advisory Group) provided regular monitoring and technical oversight for the trials. Conclusions: Harmonization of AFRINEST and SATT have helped to ensure consistency and quality of implementation, both internally and across the trials as a whole, thereby minimizing potential threats to the validity of the trials’ results

Portraits of life: Patterns of events over the lifespan

This explorative content-analytic study completes earlier studies on the lifespan distributions of number and affect of past and future life-events, collected by means of the Life-line Interview Method (LIM), for three age groups of men and women (young, middle and late adulthood). LIM events were classified into 40 subcategories divided over 9 categories: Relations, School, Work, Health, Growth, Home, Birth, Death and Other. Compression of the full data set by age group, gender, affect, decade, and time perspective, disclosed various patterns of events underlying the human life-course, e.g., the ‘bump,’ ‘rosy view’ and ‘gender phase contrast’ patterns. The compressed data set provided detailed material for the composition of three written group portraits of life, reflecting the modal life story of young, middle-aged and older men and women. Patterns and portraits show a content shift of past memories and future expectations over the lifespan, supporting a more dynamic view on the human life-course

Integrins as therapeutic targets: lessons and opportunities.

The integrins are a large family of cell adhesion molecules that are essential for the regulation of cell growth and function. The identification of key roles for integrins in a diverse range of diseases, including cancer, infection, thrombosis and autoimmune disorders, has revealed their substantial potential as therapeutic targets. However, so far, pharmacological inhibitors for only three integrins have received marketing approval. This article discusses the structure and function of integrins, their roles in disease and the chequered history of the approved integrin antagonists. Recent advances in the understanding of integrin function, ligand interaction and signalling pathways suggest novel strategies for inhibiting integrin function that could help harness their full potential as therapeutic targets

School Perspectives on Collaborative Inquiry: Lessons Learned From New York City, 2009-2010

The New York City Department of Education has supported collaborative inquiry as a potentially powerful process for helping administrators and teachers use student data to improve instruction and raise student achievement. Beginning with a pilot project in 2006, teams of teachers have learned to work together to diagnose the needs of students who have not been successful in their classrooms and to develop strategies to improve their learning. Collaborative inquiry sits at the heart of the Department\u27s larger Children First initiative and aims to help educators close the achievement gap in their schools. Each year New York City schools have engaged higher proportions of faculty in the inquiry work. The goal is at least 90% participation in collaborative inquiry. The purpose of this research report is to share lessons learned about the conditions, structures, relationships, and leadership practice that support teacher participation in inquiry. The report also presents perceived benefits of collaborative inquiry as reported by school leaders and teachers. Data come from site visits to 13 schools actively engaged in collaborative inquiry. The research team conducted 213 interviews with principals, assistant principals, instructional support staffs, and teachers participating in inquiry and 37 observations of inquiry team meetings