The Perceived Impact of the LEAD Program on the Efficacy of Teacher Candidates in Diverse Classrooms

This study focuses on pre-service teacher candidate’s confidence in their ability to integrate diversity into their classrooms. Teacher candidates were given the Multicultural Efficacy Scale (MES), where their efficacy scores were compared based on their enrollment in the enrichment program Leadership Experience for Academic Direction (LEAD). LEAD candidates are provided with teaching strategies, meta-cognitive and leadership/mentoring skills, resources, professional development opportunities, and are placed with Student Success Teachers during practicum to learn from students deemed “in risk” . The results found that LEAD candidates scored higher on efficacy than NONLEAD candidates. LEAD candidates were also given open-ended questions to explore the perceived impact of their experience in the LEAD program and its potential relationship with efficacy in diverse classrooms. The responses revealed themes of practical experience, empathy and understanding, social learning and lifelong learning and assisted in providing deeper insight into the quantitative results. Keywords: pre-service teacher education; efficacy; teacher candidates; LEAD; diversity; multicultural efficacy scale; empathy; practical experience; social learning; life-long learnin

Breaking silence: The voices of Syrian refugee children in the Canadian classroom

The researchers in the study explored the lived experiences of Syrian refugee students in the Canadian classroom. The participant sample included four students who entered their first year in a South-western Ontario public school as of the 2015-2016 calendar year. Data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Analysis of results indicated the District’s growing need for understanding refugee students using a holistic approach, utilizing and building peer relationships for language acquisition, and recognizing the effects of the structure of the learning environment on student experiences

SEMA6A drives GnRH neuron-dependent puberty onset by tuning median eminence vascular permeability.

Funder: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003246Innervation of the hypothalamic median eminence by Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) neurons is vital to ensure puberty onset and successful reproduction. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying median eminence development and pubertal timing are incompletely understood. Here we show that Semaphorin-6A is strongly expressed by median eminence-resident oligodendrocytes positioned adjacent to GnRH neuron projections and fenestrated capillaries, and that Semaphorin-6A is required for GnRH neuron innervation and puberty onset. In vitro and in vivo experiments reveal an unexpected function for Semaphorin-6A, via its receptor Plexin-A2, in the control of median eminence vascular permeability to maintain neuroendocrine homeostasis. To support the significance of these findings in humans, we identify patients with delayed puberty carrying a novel pathogenic variant of SEMA6A. In all, our data reveal a role for Semaphorin-6A in regulating GnRH neuron patterning by tuning the median eminence vascular barrier and thereby controlling puberty onset