Schools of the Future Year 5 Evaluation Report

The Schools of the Future (SOTF) initiative was funded by the Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF) to promote the teaching and learning of 21st century skills in participating private schools. Eighteen five-year grants to private schools (including two partnerships representing four schools) were awarded in 2009. For a variety of reasons (e.g., school closings, perceived lack of fit, implementation capacity), several of the original grants ended before the fifth grant year. In 2013 -- 14, 14 of the original 18 school grantees completed the five-year grant period. American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted the evaluation of the SOTF initiative. AIR's affiliate, Learning Point Associates, was the original contracted evaluator before it merged with AIR in January 2011. The evaluation was designed to describe the differences among the SOTF schools and their individual project designs; assess the maturation of the SOTFs; and provide the client with useful information. The evaluation does not include an outcome component -- that is, an assessment of changes in student achievement -- because of the limited availability of student achievement data used across the initiative

A PROGRAM EVALUATION OF THE MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM OF SUPPORTS (MTSS) AND ITS ROLE IN SUPPORTING STUDENTS’ READING AND MATH PERFORMANCE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to employ a quantitative research study to measure the degree of impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on students’ academic performance and determine the extent to which the MTSS program served to counter the impact of the pandemic on students’ reading and math performance. This study analyzed pre-existing STAR Reading and STAR Math data collected from 7th-grade students at one Midwest public middle utilizing the September (Fall) and December (Winter) scores. The data sets were compared to determine the students’ reading and math performance trends in the three years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3) to measure the degree of impact during the year of the pandemic (Year 4) and the year that followed (Year 5). Further, differences between subgroups (i.e., gender, ethnicity, SPED status, EL status, and 504 status) were examined. This study was unique in that the data were broken down into tiers of instruction that coincide with the MTSS framework to measure the growth of students receiving Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 instruction. This study found that although most students remained above the benchmark, in Year 4 and Year 5, there was an observed downward shift in mean scores. In addition, more students were identified as needing Tier 2 or Tier 3 supports and interventions over the span of the identified years. This research can help fill a void in the existing research by focusing on MTSS at the secondary level and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic achievement. This research study can guide future initiatives and inform best practices for MTSS implementation

Preservice teachers, sixth graders and instructors use dialogue journals to extend their classroom communities

The use of dialogue journals has been studied extensively for its positive effect on children\u27s personal adjustment, development of awareness for audience, understanding of others, increased motivation for purposeful writing, improved skill in conversing, and overall growth as writers. This manuscript extends that research to preservice teachers\u27 exchanging journals with sixth graders. As a result of participation in this project, preservice teachers experienced the value of journal-based written and oral discourse activities for understanding and fostering their own social and academic development and that of their younger partners. University and classroom instructors\u27 written observations and reflections shared from their own journals modeled what can be learned about one\u27s students through systematic observations and reflections on them

Small RNA Regulation of the Innate Immune Response: A Role for Dicer in the Control of Viral Production and Sensing of Nucleic Acids: A Dissertation

All organisms exist in some sort of symbiosis with their environment. The food we eat, air we breathe, and things we touch all have their own microbiota and we interact with these microbiota on a daily basis. As such, we employ a method of compartmentalization in order to keep foreign entities outside of the protected internal environments of the body. However, as other organisms seek to replicate themselves, they may invade our sterile compartments in order to do so. To protect ourselves from unfettered replication of pathogens or from cellular damage, we have developed a series of receptors and signaling pathways that detect foreign bodies as well as abnormal signals from our own perturbed cells. The downstream effector molecules that these signaling pathways initiate can be toxic and damaging to both pathogen and host, so special care is given to the regulation of these systems. One method of regulation is the production of endogenous small ribonucleic acids that can regulate the expression of various receptors and adaptors in the immune signaling pathways. In this dissertation, I present work that establishes an important protein in small ribonucleic acid regulation, Dicer, as an essential protein for regulating the innate immune response to immuno-stimulatory nucleic acids as well as regulating the productive infection of encephalomyocarditis virus. Depleting Dicer from murine embryonic fibroblasts renders a disparate type I interferon response where nucleic acid stimulation in the Dicer null cells fails to produce an appreciable interferon response while infection with the paramyxovirus, Sendai, induces a more robust interferon response than the wild-type control. Additionally, I show that Dicer plays a vital role in controlling infection by the picornavirus, encephalomyocarditis virus. Encephalomyocarditis virus fails to grow efficiently in Dicer null cells due to the inability for the virus to bind to the outside of the cell, suggesting that Dicer has a role in modulating viral infection by affecting host cellular protein levels. Together, this work identifies Dicer as a key protein in viral innate immunology by regulating both the growth of virus and also the immune response generated by exposure to pathogen associated molecular patterns. Understanding this regulation will be vital for future development of small molecule therapeutics that can either modulate the innate immune response or directly affect viral growth

Whole Language Collaboration Project: Implementing Change in One Elementary School

The purpose of this article is to describe the impact of the initial phase of a long-term inservice program aimed at restructuring one elementary school\u27s literacy program. It focuses on observed changes that occurred as teachers became active participants in staff development sessions designed around effective change principles. Fannin Elementary School in Grand Prairie, Texas, is a multi-eth nic, urban elementary school situated in a neighborhood changing from lower middle socioeconomic status to low socioeconomic status. Nearly seventy percent of the children enrolled in the school qualify for free or reduced lunch. At least half of the population is non-English speaking and comprised of first generation immigrants from Latin America and Mexico. During the past two years, informal discus sions among the Fannin principal, teachers, and other dis trict personnel had focused on whole language approaches to literacy instruction for meeting the changing needs of Fannin\u27s student population. Traditional skills-based instruction was proving inadequate in meeting the needs of these students

Gazelle: A Human Powered Vehicle

This thesis details the year-long Senior Design process in which our goal was to create a human powered vehicle that could be a short-distance replacement for cars. Our team designed our vehicle to be entered in the ASME Human Powered Vehicle Competition in April of 2016. Our vehicle featured a seat that could be adjusted for users of different heights, making it more comfortable to ride. This report will describe the process and design choices that were made throughout the year in order to create a vehicle. Our frame was welded using Chavez Welding, and the welding created some complications with our frame and adjustable seat, which will be talked about later in the document. Solutions and improvements for our vehicle will be discussed, as well as reasoning for our initial design choices

A JUDICIALIZAÇÃO DA POLÍTICA E A EFETIVIDADE DOS DIREITOS SOCIAIS

Judicializar a política, em síntese, é quando o Judiciário trata de questões e efetiva direitos que não lhe competem na condição de poder subsidiário, pois se tratam de tarefas a serem exercidas e efetivadas por políticas públicas do Poder Executivo e abordadas pelo Congresso Nacional, como por exemplo, o acesso a medicamentos pela população e até mesmo a conquista de uma vaga em escola da rede pública de ensino. Ainda, o fenômeno é amplamente discutido e muito criticado, dada a separação dos três poderes e a clara distribuição de competências. Todavia, sem perder a crítica em relação ao tema que é relevante e importante nesse tempo, é preciso abordar a problemática de estar a judicialização da política servindo de grande instrumento de efetivação de inúmeros direitos sociais, pois supõe-se que ela pode estar servindo de caminho para o cumprimento das promessas do Estado Democrático de Direito na Carta Magna de 1988, no que tange aos direitos de natureza social

Análise Volumétrica da Cavidade Nasal Após Expansão Maxilar: Rápida x Lenta

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Ciências da Saúde. Odontologia.Introdução: A deficiência transversal da maxila se caracteriza por ser uma deformidade dentofacial, em que se observa a deficiência de crescimento transversal da maxila em relação à mandíbula. Essa alteração geralmente acarreta mordida cruzada posterior uni ou bilateral e pode também interferir na permeabilidade do fluxo respiratório, devido a proximidade da cavidade nasal com a maxila. O diagnóstico precoce, ainda na fase da dentição mista, pode aumentar as chances de sucesso no tratamento de expansão rápida da maxilar (ERM) ou expansão lenta da maxila (ELM). Objetivo: Verificar e comparar a alteração volumétrica na cavidade nasal, após ERM e ELM, com aparelho expansor de Haas, por meio da tomografia computadorizada de feixe cônico após estabilização do parafuso fase ativa da expansão. Metodologia: Neste estudo retrospectivo, 42 indivíduos foram divididos aleatoriamente em dois grupos. O Grupo 1 apresentou 21 indivíduos (13F e 8M), no qual foram tratados com aparelho expansor de Haas seguindo o protocolo de ERM. No Grupo 2, 21 pacientes (10F e 11M), foram submetidos a ELM com aparelho expansor de Haas. As tomografias computadorizadas de feixe cônico foram obtidas antes do tratamento (T1) e após a estabilização do parafuso expansor (T2). Após a padronização dos eixos tridimensionais das tomografias, foram realizadas as mensurações dos volumes das cavidades nasais. Resultados: Foi constatado que houve aumento estatisticamente significativo no volume da cavidade nasal, tanto em protocolo de ERM quanto de ELM, ambos com expansor de Haas. Não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa entre ERM e ELM. Conclusão: Os protocolos de ERM e ELM, através do aparelho expansor de Haas, produzem mudanças volumétricas significativas e semelhantes na cavidade nasal. Esse aumento é igualmente distribuído entre a porção anterior e posterior do terço inferior da cavidade nasal.Introduction: The transverse maxillary deficiency is characterized by being a dentofacial deformity, in which the transverse maxillary growth deficiency in relation to the mandible is observed. This change usually results in unilateral or bilateral posterior crossbite and may also interfere with the permeability of the respiratory flow due to the proximity of the nasal cavity to the maxilla. Early diagnosis, still in the mixed dentition phase, may increase the chances of success in the treatment of rapid maxillary expansion (MRE) or slow maxillary expansion (MLE). Objective: To verify and compare the volume change in the nasal cavity after MRS and ELM with Haas expander by means of cone beam computed tomography after stabilization of the active phase expansion screw. Methodology: In this retrospective study, 42 subjects were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 presented 21 individuals (13F and 8M) who were treated with Haas expander following the MRS protocol. In Group 2, 21 patients (10F and 11M) underwent ELM with Haas expander. Cone-beam computed tomography was obtained before treatment (T1) and after stabilization of the expander screw (T2). After the standardization of the three-dimensional axes of the tomographs, nasal cavity volume measurements were performed. Results: It was found that there was a statistically significant increase in nasal cavity volume, both in ERM and ELM protocol, both with Haas expander. There was no statistically significant difference between ERM and ELM. Conclusion: The MRE and ELM protocols through Haas expander produce significant and similar volume changes in the nasal cavity. This increase is equally distributed between the anterior and posterior portion of the lower third of the nasal cavity

DIREITOS HUMANOS NO ORDENAMENTO JURÍDICO: O FRACASSO DO SISTEMA INTERNACIONAL E A ASCENSÃO DE NOVOS ATORES

o estudo em tela tem como objetivo a análise do fracasso do sistema internacional de efetivação dos Direitos Humanos, notadamente no que diz respeito aos documentos internacionais e o sistema onusiano de proteção, enquanto ocorre a ascensão de novos atores na efetivação de direitos humanos. Para isso, o trabalho é dividido em duas seções, sendo que na primeira são analisados alguns marcos teóricos e jurídicos acerca da proteção dos Direitos Humanos, e em segundo momento, é traçada crítica em relação ao sistema onusiano de proteção, evidenciando a atuação de novos atores globais com a proposta de fazer valer as normas acerca do tema nesse cenário transnacional. Quanto à metodologia utilizada, o método é o dedutivo e a técnica de pesquisa é a bibliográfica.Palavras-Chave: Direitos Humanos; Efetivação; Internacional