Effects of Educator Preparation Programs Versus Alternative Licensure Pathways on Teacher Licensure Exams in Arkansas

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the effect of varying pathways to educator licensure on licensure exam scores by racial groups. The study was designed to aid in developing state-level policy that could better strengthen and diversify the educator workforce in the state. For the study, Knowles’ adult learning theory provided the core framework of the research. Each of the hypotheses addressed a subtest on the PRAXIS Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects exam. The research was carried out using a 3 x 2 factorial ANOVA casual comparative study. No significant interaction between educator licensure pathway and race was found. Also, the study found no significant main effect for program type or race on any of the four subtests. White test takers did outperform Non-White test takers in most instances, but it was not found to be statistically significant. One limitation that might have affected the results was that this study only examined scores for those who had attained some passing scores and submitted them to the Arkansas Department of Education, Division of Elementary and Secondary Education for probable licensure in some areas. Therefore, scores from all the candidates who took the Praxis and did not pass the exam were not available. Research that includes all scores could indicate racial disparity. Recommendations for further research were centered around expanding the scope of research to better analyze racial groups with more scrutiny. Policy that provides more equitable opportunities and options for licensure should be explored as states continue seeking ways to maintain and diversity their educator workforce

Restoring Reputational Rights Through a Government Publication of a Declaration of Innocence

In a society that has become increasingly interconnected through advancements in technology, the stig matizing consequences of a false criminal accusation or conviction ca n be devastating. Ironically, unlike the technological advancements societ y has experienced, the ability to protect one’s reputation from such harm requires using the same limited remedies that existed decades ago. With few effective remedies available, those who have been falsely accused or convicted of a crime are without adequate ways to restore their reputations. To fill this remedial void, the federal government should create a forum whereby an individual’s innocence might be published as government speech. This approach incorporates the idea of protecting reputation through a declaration of innocence but differs in that this proposal seeks to incorporate the same technologies that have created societal interconnectedness to pronounce such innocence forcefully throughout society. This pronouncement will fill a void in re putational remedies by directly confronting and remedying the stigmatization such accusations and convictions create. This comment advocates the development of a declaration of innocence in the defamation context in order for the declaration to be transferred into the criminal law arena as a remedy for falsely accused or convicted plaintiffs to be decl ared innocent. This comment further endorses the idea of publicizing individual declarations of innocence on a government website, which declarations thereby become government speech. The government’s declaration of innocence publication has the powerful potential to restore reputational rights for accused or convicted of crimes. The tools to enable the development of this remedy are already in existence. This publication could create the necessary procedural foundation on which to emphasize the benefits of a substantive reputation right under the Due Process Clause that might be adopted to protect the reputational rights of the entire citizenry of this countr

Teen childbearing and public policy

Working PaperAbout 80 percent of teen pregnancies and 60 percent of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended at conception (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1999; Henshaw, 1998). When adolescent females give birth, approximately 80 percent are unmarried, compared to 34 percent of women of all ages (Ventura, Mosher, Curtin, Abma, & Henshaw, 1999). Martial status is strongly related to pregnancy intentions and pregnancy outcomes; about three quarters of pregnancies that occurred in 1995 among married women resulted in live births, compared to less than half among unmarried women (Ventura et al., 1999)

We met in a bar by happenstance : Master narratives in couples stories

The focus of this study is on uncovering the underlying cultural assumptions, or Master Narratives, across four couples narratives that I elicited. I use Deborah Tannen\u27s work and definitions to frame my analysis (2008). She identifies three narrative types: small-n narrative, the accounts of specific events or interactions that speakers said had occurred with one another; big-N Narrative, the themes speakers develop in telling about one another and in support of which they told the small-n narratives; and Master Narrative, the culture-wide ideologies shaping the big-N Narratives. Specifically, I identify two Master Narratives that underscore couples narratives in a broad sense: (1) relationships occur by happenstance and (2) adversity enhances the coupling bond. These assumptions are identified in locating the big-N Narratives and small-n narratives across four couples stories. Like Tannen, I aim to show how these three narrative types operate on different levels of abstraction and how couples conceptualize and talk about their relationships with one another

Adaptive Optics: introduction to the feature issue

This Applied Optics feature issue is a companion to the Journal of the Optical Society of America A feature issue on the same topic. The feature highlights the expansion of adaptive optics to different applications as well as its development to routine applications brought about because of significant advances in component technologies

Internal fluid mechanics research on supercomputers for aerospace propulsion systems

The Internal Fluid Mechanics Division of the NASA Lewis Research Center is combining the key elements of computational fluid dynamics, aerothermodynamic experiments, and advanced computational technology to bring internal computational fluid mechanics (ICFM) to a state of practical application for aerospace propulsion systems. The strategies used to achieve this goal are to: (1) pursue an understanding of flow physics, surface heat transfer, and combustion via analysis and fundamental experiments, (2) incorporate improved understanding of these phenomena into verified 3-D CFD codes, and (3) utilize state-of-the-art computational technology to enhance experimental and CFD research. Presented is an overview of the ICFM program in high-speed propulsion, including work in inlets, turbomachinery, and chemical reacting flows. Ongoing efforts to integrate new computer technologies, such as parallel computing and artificial intelligence, into high-speed aeropropulsion research are described

Recruiting Majors: Decision Factors and the Impact of an Introductory Information Systems Course

Although the demand for Information Systems (IS) professionals continues to grow, the number of students choosing to major in the discipline has not kept pace. Clearly more majors need to be recruited. Unfortunately, the interaction between students and the IS discipline is often limited to just one introductory course. In order to make the introductory IS course a more effective recruiting tool, a field study was conducted to determine what factors students consider when choosing a major. Interestingly, many of the factors that were identified as most important when choosing a major (job availability and salary prospects) are also strengths of the current IS job market. The study also examines the impact of an introductory IS course on a student’s knowledge and view of the IS profession. The results show that the course can improve a student’s view of the profession but the overall impact on recruitment is still limited