The Role of Learning Progressions in Standards-Based Education Reform

The Role of Learning Progressions in Standards-Based Education Reform written by Frederic A. Mosher, summarizes findings from two reports examining the concepts of learning progressions and learning trajectories as they are being applied in science and mathematics education. This policy brief reviews conclusions from the two extensive reports and discusses the implications of their findings for policy and for future research and development

A Hitchhiker\u27s Guide to Thinking about Literacy, Learning Progressions, and Instruction

Content pending

Autoimmunity in Arabidopsis acd11 Is Mediated by Epigenetic Regulation of an Immune Receptor

Certain pathogens deliver effectors into plant cells to modify host protein targets and thereby suppress immunity. These target modifications can be detected by intracellular immune receptors, or Resistance (R) proteins, that trigger strong immune responses including localized host cell death. The accelerated cell death 11 (acd11) “lesion mimic” mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana exhibits autoimmune phenotypes such as constitutive defense responses and cell death without pathogen perception. ACD11 encodes a putative sphingosine transfer protein, but its precise role during these processes is unknown. In a screen for lazarus (laz) mutants that suppress acd11 death we identified two genes, LAZ2 and LAZ5. LAZ2 encodes the histone lysine methyltransferase SDG8, previously shown to epigenetically regulate flowering time via modification of histone 3 (H3). LAZ5 encodes an RPS4-like R-protein, defined by several dominant negative alleles. Microarray and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses showed that LAZ2/SDG8 is required for LAZ5 expression and H3 lysine 36 trimethylation at LAZ5 chromatin to maintain a transcriptionally active state. We hypothesize that LAZ5 triggers cell death in the absence of ACD11, and that cell death in other lesion mimic mutants may also be caused by inappropriate activation of R genes. Moreover, SDG8 is required for basal and R protein-mediated pathogen resistance in Arabidopsis, revealing the importance of chromatin remodeling as a key process in plant innate immunity

Freshwater Seepage Into Sediments of the Shelf, Shelf Edge, and Continental Slope of the Canadian Beaufort Sea

Long‐term warming of the continental shelf of the Canadian Beaufort Sea caused by the transgression associated with the last deglaciation may be causing decomposition of relict offshore subsea permafrost and gas hydrates. To evaluate this possibility, pore waters from 118 sediment cores up to 7.3‐m long were taken on the shelf and slope and analyzed for chloride concentrations and δ180 and δD composition. We observed downcore decreases in pore waters Cl− concentration in sediments from all sites from the inner shelf (<20‐m water depth), from the shelf edge, from the outer slope (down to 1,000‐m water depths), and from localized shelf features such as midshelf pingo‐like features and inner shelf pockmarks. In contrast, pore water freshening is absent from all investigated cores of the Mackenzie Trough. Downcore pore waters Cl− concentration decreases indicate regional widespread freshwater seepage. Extrapolations to zero Cl− of pore water Cl− versus δ180 regression lines indicate that freshwaters in these environments carry different isotope signatures and thus are sourced from different reservoirs. These isotopic signatures indicate that freshening of shelf sediments pore waters is a result of downward infiltration of Mackenzie River water, freshening of shelf edge sediments is due to relict submarine permafrost degradation or gas hydrate decomposition under the shelf, and freshening of slope sediments is consistent with regional groundwater flow and submarine groundwater discharge as far as 150 km from shore. These results confirm ongoing decomposition of offshore permafrost and suggest extensive current groundwater discharge far from the coast

Mosher, Fritz, Knowledge and Policy, pp. 233-241 in David K. Cohen, Susan H. Fuhrman, and Fritz Mosher, eds., The State of Education Policy Research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2007.

Discusses what policymakers ought to want to know in order to create viable policies and analyzes the kinds of policy research required to provide them this knowledge, including instructional aspects, curriculum materials design, policy evaluation, among others

Mosher, Fritz, and Susan H. Fuhrman, The Research that Policy Needs, pp. 372-382 in David K. Cohen, Susan H. Fuhrman, and Fritz Mosher, eds., The State of Education Policy Research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2007.

Discusses what would be necessary to produce knowledge related to successful policymaking (as a summary of earlier studies in the same volume); these are expressed as conditions, not as research agenda items

Cohen, David K., Susan H Fuhrman, and Fritz Mosher, eds., The State of Education Policy Research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2007.

Contains 16 chapters summarizing the current status of research topics related to education policymaking