New Profile of a Virginia High School Graduate: A Research Brief

Guided by recommendations from the Standards of Learning Innovation Committee - a group of educators, policymakers, and community members charged by the Virginia Secretary of Education with furthering PK-12 education in the Commonwealth - the Virginia General Assembly has recently passed legislation through House Bill 895 and Senate Bill 336 directing the Board of Education to redefine the “Profile of a Virginia Graduate.” The legislation indicates that beginning with the freshman class of 2018, students receiving a diploma in the state of Virginia must adhere to new graduation standards that include life skills that could potentially enhance the academic, civic, and social/emotional competencies of those entering post secondary education and the workforce. Ultimately, the purpose of the legislation is to ensure that Virginia high school graduates leave high school “life ready. According to State Senator John C. Miller, “The vision ... is that both college-bound and career-bound students will be much better-prepared to enter the workforce or to be successful in college.” However, in order to get students to that point it is necessary to know more about what resources will be required as well as what the intended and unintended consequences are of changing graduation standards. The purpose of this research brief is to provide background on the origins of the reform, summarize the rationale for the revised state high school graduation requirements, outline the timeline for implementation of the new standards, and explore the current research relevant to this policy initiative

Cultural Diversity Professional Development for Teachers: A Research Brief

Many regions of the United States have experienced rapid shifts in the racial and ethnic makeup of the population over the past decade. As a result, many of the nation’s schools have undergone significant changes in student demographics. This includes growth in the numbers of Asian, Hispanic, and multi-racial students.1 Regionally, enrollment data reflect this demographic change (figure 1). It is also worth noting that these demographic changes are more dramatic in some schools and communities than others. Aggregate data for the region shows the largest growth in the population of Hispanic students, which increased from 2.98% of the population in the 2003- 04 school year to 10.23% in the 2015-16 school year. This demographic shift has increased the cultural and language diversity of our schools

Reading and Math Interventions at the Secondary Level: A Research Brief

Starting in the early 2000’s with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, federal and state education authorities promoted the use of accountability policies that require schools to meet certain measures of academic progress overtime. Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) and Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) have become the new measure of school success. These policies rely heavily on students’ Math and Reading achievement at particular benchmark grades, leading local educational agencies (i.e. school divisions) to place increased emphasis on the reading and math results of state-mandated testing. In Virginia, pressures to meet AYP and AMOs by improving school performance on the Standards of Learning assessments – especially in academically underperforming schools – has to led to the adoption of various reading and math interventions designed to support student learning. While there is some broadening of school success criteria in the newly authorized Every Student Succeeds Education Act, it is likely that achievement in math and reading will still be a top priority in our education system. Therefore, even amidst changing policy, the importance of identifying and implementing effective interventions still exists. At the secondary level, reading and math interventions play a unique role in student achievement. While there may be students that struggle with math and reading at the secondary level, in most cases secondary course work has moved beyond these basic skills. For example, high school English classes are literature-based, and the teachers at this level are not trained to teach reading skills. For this reason, many local school divisions have had to develop interventions that restructure the form and the content of the curriculum, and draw on new resources for addressing these needs. Strategies include increasing instructional time in math and reading, integrating math and reading skills across the curriculum, and purchasing off the shelf curriculums, many of which are computer based. However, while the implementation of interventions has been widely accepted, some ambiguity still exists around which programs are most effective for school divisions to implement with their students1 . With hundreds of reading and math interventions available to school divisions, it can be challenging to select the most appropriate intervention for local schools. As a result, divisions often adopt multiple interventions that can sometimes appear to be fragmented. In accordance with the Regulations Establishing Accrediting Standards for Public Schools in Virginia (SOA), the Virginia Board of Education has published a list of recommended instructional interventions. While this list is beneficial, it still provides school divisions with a potentially overwhelming number of intervention options and provides little evidence that demonstrate their efficacy.1 As a result, school divisions are left to do their own research to decide which option is most appropriate to implement with their students

Investing in Happiness: An Analysis of the Contributing Factors to the Positive Professional Work Environment

The professional workplace is an environment prone to both jubilation and disdain. Research indicates that employees in a more positive work environment are more productive and satisfied in their work. Understanding the contributing factors to a positive work environment is the first step to creating a more satisfying workplace for employees. These contributing factors may be material or relational and hold different levels of influence. Guided by the theory of structuration, this study employed a three-phased Q-methodology, including a Q-sort questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and a cluster analysis. Participants included the employees of the Southeastern region financial institution, BB&T. Two research questions guided the study to find the contributing factors of a positive work environment in the offices of a financial institution, and the positive contributing factors that employees prefer. Results indicated an affinity for relational contributions, with material contributions being viewed as a bonus to an already existent positive work environment. A typology of the contributor to the positive work environment was developed to include four clusters of contributors to the positive work environment

A canonical neighborhood theorem for the mean curvature flow in higher codimension

In dimensions $n \geq 5$, we prove a canonical neighborhood theorem for the mean curvature flow of compact $n$-dimensional submanifolds in $\mathbb{R}^N$ satisfying a pinching condition $|A|^2 0$ for $c = \min \{\frac{1}{n-2}, \frac{3(n+1)}{2n(n+2)}\}$Comment: Added details, corrected minor mistakes, and gave a better proof of the compactness result in the Appendi

A Review of Disciplinary Interventions in K12 Public Education

As a part of the Achieving Racial Equity in School Disciplinary Policies and Practices study from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium, this literature brief offers an overview of school discipline interventions in K12 public education. This includes more punitive models that have been used in the past that have contributed to racial disparities in discipline outcomes, including corporal punishment and zero-tolerance policies. Additionally, this brief offers an overview of four prominent alternative approaches to school discipline: Trauma Informed Care, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, Culturally Responsive Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and Restorative Practices. The literature brief offers the history, theory of action, and evidence of effectiveness for each alternative discipline approach and offers a discussion of how to effectively implement them in schools. Implications for the Commonwealth of Virginia are discussed throughout the brief

Photovoltaic stand-alone modular systems, phase 2

The final hardware and system qualification phase of a two part stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) system development is covered. The final design incorporated modular, power blocks capable of expanding incrementally from 320 watts to twenty kilowatts (PK). The basic power unit (PU) was nominally rated 1.28 kWp. The controls units, power collection buses and main lugs, electrical protection subsystems, power switching, and load management circuits are housed in a common control enclosure. Photo-voltaic modules are electrically connected in a horizontal daisy-chain method via Amp Solarlok plugs mating with compatible connectors installed on the back side of each photovoltaic module. A pair of channel rails accommodate the mounting of the modules into a frameless panel support structure. Foundations are of a unique planter (tub-like) configuration to allow for world-wide deployment without restriction as to types of soil. One battery string capable of supplying approximately 240 ampere hours nominal of carryover power is specified for each basic power unit. Load prioritization and shedding circuits are included to protect critical loads and selectively shed and defer lower priority or noncritical power demands. The baseline system, operating at approximately 2 1/2 PUs (3.2 kW pk.) was installed and deployed. Qualification was successfully complete in March 1983; since that time, the demonstration system has logged approximately 3000 hours of continuous operation under load without major incident

How to Talk about Science in the Face of Religious Mistrust

King Ashoka (268to 232 BCE). Ralph Waldo Emerson. Homer Simpson. Us and THEM. Timothy Gay, UNL Prof. of Physics. Ken Miller, Prof. of Biology, Brown. Richard Dawkins. Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis. THEM = Truthful Humble Evidential Memorable Theistic Evolution. Human Babies Barely Fit. The right & left laryngeal nerves take wildly differing paths. Progeria. General Theory of Relativity. Sun’s Gravity Bends Starlight. GPS & Relativity. Sugar vs. Fat. U.S. stock market. Pope. Dalai Lama. Epicurus