Polarized and liking it: How political polarization affects active avoidance behavior on Facebook

This research sought to determine how and if political polarization is affecting behavior on Facebook. An online survey was constructed to measure levels of polarization, offline political activity, online political activity, and active avoidance behaviors on Facebook. The survey was conducted over 4 weeks. I found that those who encounter a higher amount of political content and discussions on Facebook also reported a higher number of active avoidance behaviors over all. This group was also more likely to report unFriending someone because of something that Friend posted related to political or social issues. Those with a higher number of reported encounters with political content on Facebook reported a higher level of self-moderation as well, being more likely to delete one of their own posts when that post resulted in disagreeable or offensive comments from others. Those who reported greater frequency of political discussions on Facebook are more likely to delete comments from Friends that they find disagreeable or offensive on their own posts. The higher the intensity of ideology the more likely respondents were to discuss politics on Facebook and encounter or engage with political content on Facebook. Those with stronger political views were more likely to engage in political discussions and more likely to encounter political content on Facebook. Those with a higher level of perceived political knowledge were more likely to discuss politics and more likely to encounter political content on Facebook. Those with a higher intensity of ideology, stronger political views, and higher levels of perceived political knowledge discuss politics more frequently and engage in more political activities offline

From the Inside In: An Examination of Common Core Knowledge & Communication in Schools

In this report, CPRE researchers explore how Common Core knowledge and influence are distributed inside of schools and how these configurations may help teachers to engage with the Common Core and influence their understanding and implementation. To do so, we used a mixed-method approach to examine knowledge and influence in eight schools, including five elementary schools and three middle schools. Our central method was a survey of knowledge and influence of all faculty members in a sample of eight schools. These data are supplemented with interview data from a purposeful sample of teachers and administrators in the eight schools. Sponsored by the General Electric Foundation, which also provides support to New York City through its Developing FuturesTM in Education Program, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) at the University of Pennsylvania has examined Common Core implementation in New York City in a series of studies. In 2013 CPRE released the findings of two investigations, one which described how the district constructed the 2011-12 Citywide Instructional Expectations (CIEs) for teachers, which were a small number of assignments for school faculties to complete during the school year to facilitate their engagement with the new Common Core (Supovitz, 2013). The second report examined how a diverse sample of 16 schools understood and implemented these CIEs and how their choices influenced their levels of engagement (Goldsworthy, Supovitz, & Riggan, 2013). A third report is a companion to the current report, focusing on teacher collaboration as a means of cultivating and transferring knowledge about the Common Core

Stand Up for Health: Health and Wellness Services for Your Community

Health information is the number two most searched for information online. This preconference will review core competencies of providing health and wellness services, coach public library staff through understanding their community’s needs, and explore how to create fun and informative health-related programming for different age groups and special populations. Participants will learn about core reference and other materials, tips for helping library users evaluate health materials, and an action plan to put your new expertise to work

The Role of the Common Core in the Gubernatorial Elections of 2014

After the Spring 2014 primaries, the Common Core State Standards were viewed as a political hot potato. As former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said, “the Common Core has become toxic, I think it’s radioactive…It has become an incredibly controversial topic on both the left and the right.” Even so, the Common Core turned out to play a role in some of the governor’s races in November 2014. In this analysis of candidate positions and the role of the Common Core across the 36 gubernatorial races of 2014, CPRE researchers Bobbi Newman, Jonathan Supovitz and Arial Smith used campaign websites, debate transcripts, State of the State addresses, Twitter accounts, and candidate interviews, to identify the positions of 62 of the 81 candidates (including 3rd party representatives). Our findings show that support for, and opposition to, the Common Core was pretty evenly split, mostly across party lines. Arguments in support of the Common Core tended to emphasize economic benefits, while opposition emphasized Federal intrusion and the importance of local control. In a few races, the Common Core became a substantial issue

Developing an Online Consumer Health Course for Public Library Staff

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Greater Midwest Region (NNLM GMR) received funding to support the evaluation and development of an asynchronous consumer health information course. Requirements of this project included: incorporating recommendations from NNLM instructors, National Library of Medicine staff and public library staff; piloting the revised course with a nationwide cohort; incorporating feedback from the pilot; and delivering a second instance of the revised course. The revised course meets existing requirements for public library certification and for Level 1 certification of the Medical Library Association’s Consumer Health Information Specialization

State Leadership Development Policies An Analysis of 50 States and Territories

State education systems to support leadership development have received relatively scant attention and resources, despite the demonstrated importance of leadership to school improvement. This need spurred the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) to form a study group with its members and partner with the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) to examine the problem from a state policy perspective; to offer a framework, guidance, and resources to help states develop and keep effective leaders; provide examples of practices for states; and share insights from partner organizations. The report, Successful Leaders for Successful Schools: Building and Maintaining a Quality Workforce, details findings that emerged from this work. As a companion piece to this work, State Leadership Development Policies -An Analysis of 50 States and Territories, presents a comprehensive picture of school leadership development policies across all 50 states and US territories. CPRE Researchers Bobbi Newman, Jonathan Supovitz, and Greg Collins, in collaboration with NASBE\u27s Robert Hull and Stephen Prociw, produced an interactive report that seeks to operationalize the framework developed for state education agencies to improve the school leadership pipeline. Researchers interviewed state board members and staff members from state education agencies to learn about their states\u27 school leadership development policies and practices. Data collection questions focused on identifying the organizational and individual supports that states have established. State Leadership Development Policies -An Analysis of 50 States and Territories provides a wealth of information for state leaders interested in learning about a sample of each state\u27s policies and programs that support the school leadership pipeline

Evaluation of the GE Foundation-Supported Coaching & Demonstration Schools Initiative in Erie Public Schools, SY 2012-2013

This evaluation report summarizes the evidence of the implementation and early impacts of the General Electric Foundation’s (GEF) Demonstration Schools Initiative in the Erie Public School district (EPS) conducted by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) during the 2012-2013 school year. The Demonstration Schools Initiative provided intensive support to four schools (two elementary, one middle, and one high) implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics and English language arts. Concurrently during the 2012- 2013 school year, EPS also continued their implementation of another GEF-supported initiative— the Coaching Initiative—using a cadre of instructional coaches in mathematics, science, and ELA for the other schools in the district. In both the Coaching and Demonstration School Initiatives, instructional coaches are key agents of change. Their function is to target and customize the support needed at the building, grade, and teacher levels to shift teachers’ understanding and practice to align to the CCSS. For the Demonstration Schools Initiative, coaches also focused much of their time trying to develop professional learning communities (PLCs) within their schools. This evaluation was designed to answer three overarching questions: Did teachers in the Demonstration Schools gain more knowledge of the CCSS as a result of their participation in the GEF-supported initiative? What were the impacts of the initiative for the teachers in the GEF- Foundation supported Demonstration Schools compared to the rest of the district? How did teachers perceive their respective coaches throughout the district

Population, resources, and environment: Implications of human behavioral ecology for conservation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43481/1/11111_2005_Article_BF02207996.pd

Polarized and liking it: How political polarization affects active avoidance behavior on Facebook

This research sought to determine how and if political polarization is affecting behavior on Facebook. An online survey was constructed to measure levels of polarization, offline political activity, online political activity, and active avoidance behaviors on Facebook. The survey was conducted over 4 weeks. I found that those who encounter a higher amount of political content and discussions on Facebook also reported a higher number of active avoidance behaviors over all. This group was also more likely to report unFriending someone because of something that Friend posted related to political or social issues. Those with a higher number of reported encounters with political content on Facebook reported a higher level of self-moderation as well, being more likely to delete one of their own posts when that post resulted in disagreeable or offensive comments from others. Those who reported greater frequency of political discussions on Facebook are more likely to delete comments from Friends that they find disagreeable or offensive on their own posts. The higher the intensity of ideology the more likely respondents were to discuss politics on Facebook and encounter or engage with political content on Facebook. Those with stronger political views were more likely to engage in political discussions and more likely to encounter political content on Facebook. Those with a higher level of perceived political knowledge were more likely to discuss politics and more likely to encounter political content on Facebook. Those with a higher intensity of ideology, stronger political views, and higher levels of perceived political knowledge discuss politics more frequently and engage in more political activities offline.</p

From the Inside In

Developing instructional capacity in schools is a central challenge of the Common Core movement. Most conceptualizations of capacity building focus on infusing externally generated professional development into schools. In this article, we explore the professional resources that reside inside schools that might be utilized to develop instructional capacity from within. Overall, we found that an abundance of these resources existed in schools, but they were unevenly distributed across and within schools. We also found that coaches and administrators were more likely to be recipients for requests for assistance and that they tended to have more Common Core subject matter knowledge, on average, than teachers did. We also found that external resource seeking was correlated with Common Core knowledge and with those who were recipients of requests for advice from colleagues. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for research and practice