Finding Business "Idols": A New Model to Accelerate Start-Ups

Explores a novel approach to finding high-tech entrepreneurial enterprises that is transforming how high-tech entrepreneurs are identified, their businesses launched, and the growth of their operations accelerated

Don\u27t Worry Mom, I\u27m at the Library: Making Connections with Undergraduate Students

For the past three years Western Libraries has introduced our services, collections and facilities to students via a welcome tent erected during orientation week. A great deal of planning goes into creating interactive and meaningful orientation displays that will capture attention and educate students about the role of the academic library as a physical and a virtual space

Writing themselves in 3: the third national study on the sexual health and wellbeing of same sex attracted and gender questioning young people

Executive Summary Introduction This is the third of the Writing Themselves In national reports which have been conducted six years apart since 1998. In 2010, a total of 3134 same sex attracted and gender questioning (SSAGQ) young people participated in Writing Themselves In 3 (WTi3), almost double the number in 2004 and more than four times that of 1998. The participants, who were aged between 14 and 21 years, came from all states and territories of Australia, from remote (2%), rural (18%) and urban (67%) areas and from a range of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. There were more young women (57%) than young men (41%) and a smaller group (3%) who were gender questioning (GQ). Sexual feelings In 2010, the complex interaction of sexual attraction, identity and behaviour was even more evident than in previous studies. Most young men were exclusively same sex attracted but half of the young women were attracted to both sexes and less than one third exclusively to the same sex. More than a third of young people realized their sexual difference before puberty and there were few gender differences in age of first realization. More young people felt positive about their same sex attraction than in 2004. As in 2004, young people who felt bad about their sexuality used homophobic beliefs to describe their reasons whereas those who felt good used resistant, affirming explanations. Sexual identity Most young men identified as gay/homosexual. Young women were more likely to identify as bisexual. Young women chose a greater range of identity terms to describe their sexuality

INVESTIGATING THE USE OF MAZE-CBM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Recent legislation and initiatives set forth high academic expectations for all high school graduates in the area of reading (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, 2010; Every Student Succeeds Act, 2015). To determine which students need additional support to meet these reading standards, teachers can conduct universal screening using formative assessments. Maze Curriculum-Based Measurement (Maze-CBM) is a commonly used screening and progress monitoring assessment that the National Center on Intensive Intervention (2013) and the Center on Instruction (Torgesen & Miller, 2009) recommend. Despite the recommendation to use Maze-CBM, little research has been conducted on the reliability and validity of Maze-CBM for measuring reading ability for students at the secondary level (Mitchell & Wexler, 2016). In the papers included in this dissertation, I present an initial investigation into the use of Maze-CBM for secondary students. In the first paper, I investigated prior studies of Maze-CBM for students in Grades 6 through 12. Next, in the second paper, I investigated the alternate-form reliability and validity for screening students in Grades 9 and 10 using signal detection theory methods. In the third paper, I examined the effect of genre on Maze-CBM scores with a sample of students in Grades 9 and 10 using multilevel modeling. When writing these three papers, I discovered several important findings related to Maze-CBM. First, there are few studies that have investigated the technical adequacy of Maze-CBM for screening and progress monitoring students in Grades 6 through 12. Additionally, only two studies (McMaster, Wayman, & Cao, 2006; Pierce, McMaster, & Deno, 2010) examined the technical adequacy of Maze-CBM for high school students. A second finding is that the reliability of Maze-CBM is often below acceptable levels for making screening decisions or progress monitoring decisions (.80 and above and .90 and above, respectively; Salvia, Ysseldyke, & Bolt, 2007) for secondary students. A third finding is that Maze-CBM scores show promise of being a valid screening tool for reading ability of secondary students. Finally, I found that the genre of the text used in the Maze-CBM assessment does impact scores on Maze-CBM for students in Grades 9 and 10

The Epidemiology of U.S. Immunization Law: Mandated Coverage of Immunizations Under State Health Insurance Laws

Immunizations represent both basic clinical care as well as an essential public health activity with population-wide health implications, and for a number of reasons, the focus on national immunization policy has intensified in recent years. Insurers and employee health plans may cover immunization services as a matter of benefit design choice. Federal and state insurance laws also may mandate coverage of one or more classes of immunization services. For approximately 100 million persons who are members of state-regulated health insurance plans, state law plays a primary role in determining coverage. Thus the extent of state immunization health insurance mandates is essential in examining the overall adequacy of health insurance financing for immunization services. This analysis is part of a comprehensive study of the epidemiology of U.S. immunization law. It provides a detailed assessment of state immunization statutes in force as of winter 2003

Examining Communities of Practice for Meaningful Assessment and Engaging with the Data

This project focuses on our strategies and challenges implementing edTPA and examining the communities of practices that we intentionally create. Our examination encompasses our own experiences at UNCP and builds upon the research base for edTPA implementation and accountability measures within the United States and North Carolina. Examining the edTPA data creates opportunities for data-driven decision making within the unit and individual programs. Our involvement sought to move beyond a compliance perspective to a continuous improvement perspective