Virtual Coaching for Novice Teachers

Virtual bug-in-the-ear technology presents one tool that allows practitioners and university educators can use to attract, prepare, and retain high-quality teachers. The experience of Project TEEACH based at the University of Alabama suggests that simple technology tools could be used effectively to support teachers through their most challenging instructional situations. Such coaching provides the kind of at-the-elbow support that can be most beneficial to young teachers

See Me, Hear Me, Coach Me

The writers describe the implementation of virtual coaching for teachers in Alabama and Pennsylvania. They describe use of bug-in-ear devices, revolutionized by Internet and mobile technology advances, to provide on-the-spot feedback as teachers deliver instruction. They outline lessons learned from virtual coaching initiatives and present research results showing the positive impact of this approach on both teachers and students. They also provide advice for those using this approach on making contact and providing feedback

Human dermal CD14⁺ cells are a transient population of monocyte-derived macrophages.

Dendritic cells (DCs), monocytes, and macrophages are leukocytes with critical roles in immunity and tolerance. The DC network is evolutionarily conserved; the homologs of human tissue CD141(hi)XCR1⁺ CLEC9A⁺ DCs and CD1c⁺ DCs are murine CD103⁺ DCs and CD64⁻ CD11b⁺ DCs. In addition, human tissues also contain CD14⁺ cells, currently designated as DCs, with an as-yet unknown murine counterpart. Here we have demonstrated that human dermal CD14⁺ cells are a tissue-resident population of monocyte-derived macrophages with a short half-life of <6 days. The decline and reconstitution kinetics of human blood CD14⁺ monocytes and dermal CD14⁺ cells in vivo supported their precursor-progeny relationship. The murine homologs of human dermal CD14⁺ cells are CD11b⁺ CD64⁺ monocyte-derived macrophages. Human and mouse monocytes and macrophages were defined by highly conserved gene transcripts, which were distinct from DCs. The demonstration of monocyte-derived macrophages in the steady state in human tissue supports a conserved organization of human and mouse mononuclear phagocyte system

Assessment for Instructional Planning in Special Education

385 p.; 23 cm

Modified alternate assessment participation screening consortium

The Modified Alternate Assessment Participation Screening (MAAPS) Consortium included the departments of education from Arizona, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, along with researchers from Arizona State University, Rutgers University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Discovery Education Assessment, with the shared purpose of creating a multipart screening system for identifying students who would be eligible for an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS). The MAAPS System included electronic screening tests to predict proficiency in reading and mathematics, as well as a measure of opportunity to learn (OTL) essential academic objectives. The primary goals of the MAAPS Consortium were to (1) develop tools to facilitate educators’ accurate assessment for participation decisions for students with disabilities, (2) evaluate the validity and consequences of the participation decision-making tools, (3) apply the MAAPS system for students with disabilities to determine its utility and likely conseqences, and (4) disseminate knowledge learned from the development and implementation of the MAAPS System. The primary outcomes of this project were a new measure of OTL (i.e., My instructional Learning Opportunity Guidance System or MyiLOGS) and an objective process for developing a screening assessment to predict end of year test performance

Assessing opportunity-to-learn for students with disabilities in general and special education classes

Current legislation encourages schools to educate students with disabilities (SWDs) in general education settings to the greatest extent appropriate. However, it is unclear whether inclusion in general education settings provides SWDs a sufficient opportunity to learn the academic content assessed by accountability measures. This initial study was designed to (a) describe the extent to which general and special educators provide their eighth-grade classes with an opportunity to learn the state-specific standards and to (b) examine the extent to which SWDs experience a differentiated opportunity to learn compared with their overall class. Across three states, we trained 38 general and special educators to use an online teacher log to report on various opportunity-to-learn (OTL) indices for 46 mathematics and reading classes and 89 nested SWDs. Based on an average logging period of 151 days, the results indicated that this sample’s SWDs included in general education classes experienced less time on standards, more non-instructional time, and less content coverage than their overall class. Limitations and implications for policy and future research are discussed