Assumptions and Facts About College Self-Reported Sexual Behavior

Many young people of today view sexual intercourse with a very casual attitude. The terms “hooking up” and “friends-with-benefits” have been introduced to our vocabularies. While young people are, on average, losing their virginity at the age of 17, they are holding off on marriage until their mid-to-late 20’s (Bogle, 2008; Bianchi & Casper, 2000), and that combination leaves many years for sexual experimentation. The present study was conducted to investigate some of the factors that may influence the decisions that young people are making when it comes to their sexual lives. An online survey developed for this study was administered by email to a random sample of 800 Trinity College undergraduate students and 288 responded. Some Ss were asked to report their own behavior, some were asked to give their assessment of the norm at the College, and others were asked to do both. It was hypothesized that factors, such as gender, religion, alcohol/drug use, and parents’ marital status would impact how students were behaving sexually. It was also predicted that students would perceive the sexual norm to be more promiscuous than it actually was. Results indicate that alcohol/drug use have an impact on more aspects of students’ sexual lives than gender, religion, or parents’ marital status. Students who frequently drank alcohol or used recreational drugs were more likely than expected to partake in various promiscuous sexual behaviors. Results also indicate that students perceive that their peers are more sexually promiscuous than they actually are. When this finding is thought of in the context of social norms (and that individuals often feel the desire/need to conform to the norm), it is suggested that college students feel pressure to conform to a false idea of normality

Differences in reading as a function of the economic status, ethnicity/race, and English Language Learner status of Texas Grade 4 boys and girls in special education: A multiyear statewide investigation

The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to examine the extent to which economic status, ethnicity/race, and English Language Learner status differences were present in the reading performance of Texas Grade 4 boys and girls in special education. In the first article, the degree to which economic status (i.e., Not Poor, and Poor) was related to the reading achievement of Texas Grade 4 boys and girls in special education was examined. In the second article, the extent to which ethnicity/race (i.e., Black, Hispanic, and White) differences were present in the reading achievement of Texas Grade 4 boys and girls in special education was determined. In the third article, the extent to which English Language Learner status (i.e., English Language Learner and Not English Language Learner) existed related to the reading achievement of Texas Grade 4 boys and girls in special education was addressed. For this quantitative study, a causal-comparative research design was present. Archival data from the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test for Grade 4 students were obtained from the Texas Education Agency Public Education Information Management System for the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years. Participants were Grade 4 students who had been enrolled in special education in the four school years. With respect to economic status, Grade 4 boys and girls who were Poor had statistically significantly lower reading test scores than boys and girls who were Not Poor. Regarding ethnicity/race, a clear stair-step effect was present for the majority of the analyses, with White boys and girls having the highest reading scores, followed by Hispanic boys and girls. Black boys and girls consistently had the lowest reading scores. English Language Learner boys and girls in special education had statistically significant lower reading scores than girls and boys who were Not English Language Learners. Results in all four school years and for all three articles was consistent with the existing research literature. Implications for policy and for practice, as well as recommendations for future research, were provided

Differences in Reading by the Economic Status of Texas Grade 4 Boys and Girls in Special Education: A Multiyear Statewide Investigation

In this investigation, the degree to which the economic status (i.e., Not Economically Disadvantaged, Economically Disadvantaged) of Texas Grade 4 boys and girls in special education was related to their reading performance was addressed.  Archival data from the Texas Education Agency Public Education Information Management System were analyzed for 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018 school years on the Texas state-mandated reading assessment for Grade 4 students.  Inferential statistical analyses, conducted separately for boys and girls in special education, revealed that boys and girls in poverty had statistically significantly lower reading test scores than boys and girls who were not in poverty.  Results in all four school years were consistent with the existing research literature in that poverty negatively affects reading performance. Implications for policy and practice were provided, as well as recommendations for future research

Development and implementation of a new service delivery model for children with disabilities : implications for DCD

There is a general consensus that new service delivery models are needed for children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Emerging principles to guide service delivery include the use of graduated levels of intensity and evidence-based services that focus on function and participation. Interdisciplinary, community-based service delivery models based on best practice principles are needed. In this case report, we propose the Apollo model as an example of an innovative service delivery model for children with DCD. We describe the context that led to the creation of a program for children with DCD, describe the service delivery model and services, and share lessons learned through implementation. The Apollo model has 5 components: first contact, service delivery coordination, community-, group- and individual-interventions. This model guided the development of a streamlined set of services offered to children with DCD, including early-intake to share educational information with families, community interventions, inter-disciplinary and occupational therapy groups and individual interventions. Following implementation of the Apollo model, waiting times decreased and numbers of children receiving services increased, without compromising service quality. Lessons learned are shared to facilitate development of other practice models to support children with DCD

Operations management teaching on European MBA programmes

A comprehensive review of the literature established that several investigations have been made of operations management teaching in the USA, whereas almost nothing has been published on European teaching. Therefore, an exploratory investigation was made of operations management teaching on the MBA courses of ten leading European business schools. The results show that course content is similar across schools, but there are large variations on three dimensions: the time allocated by schools to the subject; the balance between operations strategy and tools and techniques in teaching; and the level of emphasis given to service operations. The results also indicate the emerging importance of integrating operations management with other subjects in the MBA curriculum and the key challenge facing faculty - the need to raise the perceived importance of operations management. The comparison of courses will be of interest to all operations management faculty who teach core courses and particularly those who are looking for ideas on how to re-design courses

A photoelastic and FEM analysis of interfacial crack propagation

The linear elastic solution for the bimaterial interface crack is applied to determine the direction of crack propagation during surface-layer removal by scraping. The direction of the load which must be applied to the free end of the surface layer for continued interfacial crack propagation is determined using photoelasticity and finite elements, and results are found to be in good agreement