Parents: Active partners in the educational achievement of their children

Parents exercise a significant influence on student achievement and psychosocial functioning within the school environment. However, the best way to involve parents as active partners in the education of their children is not always evident. This article explores the perceptions of parents and their role in the academic achievement of students in nine high performing Catholic secondary schools in Western Australia. Initially, the review of literature focuses on three constructs: relational trust, parental involvement and policy documents for Catholic schools. Data collection involved a series of focus group interviews in which parents were invited to reflect not only on their role but also on the impact of school leaders, teachers and student peers on their sons and daughters achievement. The findings of the study are outlined under the following themes: the place of school leadership; the significant role of teachers in their child’s academic achievement; teachers knowing the students; the influence of school culture; and parental reflections on their own capacity to enhance the educational experience of their child

The School Voucher Debate After Zelman: Can States Be Compelled to Fund Sectarian Schools Under the Federal Constitution?

The U.S. Supreme Court in al man v. Simmous-Hanis held in June 2002 that a state does not violate the Establishment Clause by providing funding to a religiously affiliated school if the program meets certain criteria outlined in that opinion. One of the questions that remains after Nan, however, is whether a state, once it has initiated some form of tuition voucher program that includes non-sectarian private schools, can be compelled under the federal Constitution to include sectarian schools in its program. This Note analyzes this question under two lines of U.S. Supreme Court precedent—the limited public forum cases and the government-as-speaker cases—and concludes that Zebnan does not require a state to include religiously affiliated schools in its school voucher program. This Note then applies this reasoning to the Maine school voucher program that is currently the focus of two lawsuits, and concludes that the Maine program, which excludes sectarian schools, does not violate the federal Constitution

THRESHOLDS

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College

Status of veterinary care for organic livestock producers in Iowa and suggestions for improvement

From 1997 to 2008, organic food sales in the United States have seen average yearly increases of over 18%. Producers are responding to this consumer demand, but one challenge is the need for alternative veterinary care options for livestock production, as antibiotics and a variety of other conventional treatments are excluded by National Organic Program (NOP) standards. This study assessed access to and education about veterinary care for organic livestock systems, with the goal of identifying areas for potential improvements. Two surveys were conducted to address the issue. The first was mailed to all USDA certified organic livestock producers in Iowa, and the second was mailed to all production animal veterinarians in the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association (IVMA). The producers surveyed handled most routine herd health needs without veterinary consultation and indicated that herd health was not a significant challenge. The biggest reason producers cited for their self-reliance was lack of herd health problems. However, the veterinarians surveyed indicated widespread health challenges within organic systems, and stressed the importance of veterinary involvement. While most veterinarians expressed some reservations about organic production, the majority indicated interest in it and recognized consumer demand for organic products. Most believed information related to organic systems is difficult to access and favored increased educational options, such as continuing education credits and/or increased information within veterinary medicine programs. The veterinarian survey showed a high degree of misunderstanding regarding the definition and rules of organic production, existence of national organic standards, and where to access authoritative information. This indicates that available information regarding organic standards does not always make its way into the hands of veterinary professionals

Transitioning year 7 primary students to secondary settings in Western Australian Catholic Schools: A description of the process

In 2009 the Catholic education system moved to a six plus six model, even though the public education system in Western Australia decided to remain with a seven year primary and five year secondary school structural arrangement. Prior to implementation, a great deal of planning was undertaken by the Catholic Education Office and individual schools to ensure the smooth transition of Year Seven students to a secondary school setting. This system-wide shift presented a one-time opportunity to investigate the planning arrangements of six Catholic secondary schools that agreed to participate in the study. This study reports the unique challenges experienced by each school, what they learned from the process and what hindsight taught them about how things might have been done differently. Insights should be valuable to other systems contemplating a similar transition

Long term outcome of stroke: Stroke is a chronic disease with acute events.

Long term outcome of stroke: Stroke is a chronic disease with acute events

Irish Heart Foundation National Audit of Stroke Care

Stroke is the third leading cause of death and disability worldwide. It constitutes a formidable burden of disability for patients, their families, health professionals and the wider community. It combines aspects of both acute and chronic disease, and there is increasing evidence that those affected by stroke can benefit to a very significant extent from organised stroke care throughout the course of the illness. Delivering this care requires a unique combination of skills, drawing on neurosciences, cardiovascular medicine, general medicine, the science of ageing, rehabilitation, vascular surgery, and public health. Local and timely evidence on the service performance is essential to assess quality of care and to improve services. This has not been available to date in Ireland. The aim of this project was to conduct a national audit of stroke care in hospital and the community in the Republic of Ireland. This was achieved by completing six separate surveys and by drawing conclusions based on complementary information across the studies. The six surveys are described next. Where possible, audit systems used in the UK’s Sentinel audit were used to provide an opportunity for comparison of relative, as well as absolute, levels of achievement of recommended standards of care

Promoting Resilience amongst Young People Transitioning from Care to Independent Living: Experiences of Residential Social Care Workers

The capacity for a young adult to develop and overcome obstacles in life underpins the concept of resilience building (Gilligan, 1997). A key role of the social care worker is to ensure that young adults growing up in the care system are afforded the best possible outcomes. This includes social care workers helping young people build their resilience in preparation for the transition into independent living and aftercare. The research reported here examines the experiences and perspectives of two residential social care workers regarding the promotion of resilience amongst young people transitioning from residential care to independent living. From analysis of the data collected, three themes were identified: the importance of a secure base, maintaining consistent and long-term relationships and challenges faced by social care workers in building the resilience of care leavers. Findings concur with previous research, which identified the importance of young people having a secure base in their lives as well as long-term relationships as a source of support to aid them in their transition from care to independence. This research in exploring some of the challenges of helping build the resilience of care leavers highlights the possible value of allowing young people to engage in positive risk taking opportunities in order to build important life skills for independent livin