A Mídia Entendeu Errado!: Análise Crítica do Discurso di Mudança no Ambiente para a Formulação de Políticas de Educação

The context for education policy making has changed dramatically in recent years. Policy-making at the state-level has become characterized by near-unprecedented enactment of neo-liberal education policies, increased influence of so-called Education Reform Advocacy Organizations (ERAOs) and increased challenges to unions’ political influence. In this article, I explore the news media’s characterization of power and political influence in this new policy making arena. I offer case study analysis of a Massachusetts law, passed in the summer of 2012 with support from a non-profit advocacy group called Stand for Children, that limits seniority-based tenure for public school teachers. I use Critical Discourse Analysis to explore how themes, or discourses, common to this new context of policy making played out in the media coverage of the law, and I identify and characterize differences between media coverage of the law and the historical account as told in stakeholder interviews with major players involved in policy debate and development. Ultimately, I suggest that differences between media and interview data can tell us a lot about power and political influence in a time of dramatic policy change.El escenario para la formulación de políticas educativas ha cambiado dramáticamente en los últimos años. La formulación de políticas a nivel de estado ha comenzado a caracterizarse por la promulgación casi sin precedentes de políticas neoliberales en educación, el incremento de la influencia de las llamadas organizaciones que promueven reformas educacionales (ERAOs) y el incremento de los desafíos de influencia política de los sindicatos. En este artículo, exploro la caracterización de la prensa escrita del poder y la influencia política en este nuevo escenario de formulación de políticas. Se presenta un estudio de caso de la Ley de Massachusetts, aprobada en el verano del 2012 con apoyo de un grupo sin fines de lucro que promueve reformas llamado Stand for Children. Esta ley limita los cargos vitalicios basados en antigüedad para los profesores de escuelas públicas. Utilizo un análisis critico de discurso para explorar como los temas, o discursos, comunes en este nuevo escenario de formulación de políticas se presentan en la cobertura de los medios de comunicación sobre esta ley, e identifico y caracterizo las diferencias entre la cobertura de los medios de comunicación y el relato histórico descrito en entrevistas con los principales actores involucrados en el desarrollo y debate de esta política. Finalmente, sugiero que las diferencias entre la información de los medios de comunicación y las entrevistas pueden decirnos mucho acerca del poder y la influencia política en un tiempo de cambio dramático en las políticas.O ambiente para a formulação de políticas de educação tem mudado dramaticamente nos últimos anos. A formulação de políticas no nível estadual está agora caracterizado 1) pela promulgação de políticas neo-liberais de educação quase sem precedentes, 2) pelo aumento da influência de organizações que pretendem defender a Reforma da Educação ( ERAOs ), e 3) pelo aumento dos desafios contra a influência política dos sindicatos.  Neste artigo, eu exploro a caracterização do poder e da influência política nesta formulação nova de políticas feita pela mídia de noticías. Ofereço analise e interpretação dum caso duma lei de Massachusetts (E. U. A) que passou no verão de 2012 com o apoio de um grupo de advocacia sem fins lucrativos chamado Stand for Children (Suporte de Crianças).  Esta lei estabaleceu limites de posse baseada em antiguidade para os professores de escolas públicas. Eu uso Análise Crítica do Discurso para explorar como certos temas, ou discursos, tornaram-se comuns nesta nova arena de formulação de políticas jogado nos meios de comunicação com respeito a esta lei.  Eu, tambem, identifico e caracterizo as diferenças entre a cobertura da mídia sobre a lei e o relato histórico dado em entrevistas com os participantes que foram os atores principais envolvidos no debate e elaboração de políticas .  Finalmente, eu sugiro que as diferenças entre os dados na mídia e os dados das entrevistas podem nos dizer muito sobre o poder e a influência política num momento de mudança dramática na política

Neo-democracy in educational policy making: Teachers' unions, Education Reform Advocacy Organizations and threats to public engagement in the new policy arena

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-SmithThis dissertation explores the many, complex changes to educational policy making in recent years. I conduct a critical policy analysis of a Massachusetts law that limits seniority-based job protections for public K-12 teachers. Garnering considerable controversy, the law was the result of private negotiations between the state's largest teachers' union and Stand for Children, a national Education Reform Advocacy Organization (ERAO). I use data from interviews with policy stakeholders, observations of public meetings and policy artifacts to explore struggles over public engagement in what unfolded as a highly undemocratic policy development process. My theoretical framework combines Stephen Ball's "policy cycle" (Ball, 1993; Bowe, Ball & Gold, 1992) with deliberative democratic theory. Aligned with Ball's work, I explore the ways that political discourses shaped struggles in various "contexts" of the policy development process. I demonstrate that policy development was a messy, non-linear process that involved complicated argumentation about teachers' unions, ERAOs, and community organizing. Informed by deliberative democratic theory, I focus on concrete efforts taken to include, or exclude, the public from the policy debate, and I highlight discourses that appeared to justify these political decisions. I argue that the case is indicative of what I am calling "neo-democratic" decision making, in which high-level interest group conflict leads to narrow forms of democratic engagement. I trace changes in each organization's political identity over the course of the conflict, and I demonstrate that identity was connected in important ways to underlying beliefs about policy making and public engagement. Fueled by interest group conflict, both Stand for Children and the Massachusetts Teachers' Association sought to promote the organizational identity that best suited their political interests. In the process, each organization pursued narrow forms of democratic engagement that clashed with their own organizational mission statements. I use findings from the case to offer suggestions for moving beyond the "neo-democratic" era and towards a system of policy making that aspires to higher democratic ideals.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction

When Claiming to Teach for Social Justice is Not Enough: Majoritarian Stories of Race, Difference, and Meritocracy

To understand how dominant messages about race and effective pedagogy impact teacher beliefs and practice, this study employs critical race theory (CRT) in a case study analysis of Rebecca Rosenberg, a mid-career entrant into the teaching profession who was terminated from her first job before the end of her district’s probationary period. Despite believing she was teaching for social justice, being prepared in a program oriented toward social justice, and being hired in a school with a comparable mission, Rebecca’s beliefs and practices affirmed uncritical perspectives of the status quo regarding race, schooling, and social ascendance. This research underscores the substantial work to be done in preparing teachers to be reflective of the overarching cultural myths and majoritarian stories that may guide their practice

When Claiming to Teach for Social Justice is Not Enough: Majoritarian Stories of Race, Difference, and Meritocracy

To understand how dominant messages about race and effective pedagogy impact teacher beliefs and practice, this study employs critical race theory (CRT) in a case study analysis of Rebecca Rosenberg, a mid-career entrant into the teaching profession who was terminated from her first job before the end of her district’s probationary period. Despite believing she was teaching for social justice, being prepared in a program oriented toward social justice, and being hired in a school with a comparable mission, Rebecca’s beliefs and practices affirmed uncritical perspectives of the status quo regarding race, schooling, and social ascendance. This research underscores the substantial work to be done in preparing teachers to be reflective of the overarching cultural myths and majoritarian stories that may guide their practice

Disordered proteins and network disorder in network descriptions of protein structure, dynamics and function. Hypotheses and a comprehensive review

During the last decade, network approaches became a powerful tool to describe protein structure and dynamics. Here we review the links between disordered proteins and the associated networks, and describe the consequences of local, mesoscopic and global network disorder on changes in protein structure and dynamics. We introduce a new classification of protein networks into ‘cumulus-type’, i.e., those similar to puffy (white) clouds, and ‘stratus-type’, i.e., those similar to flat, dense (dark) low-lying clouds, and relate these network types to protein disorder dynamics and to differences in energy transmission processes. In the first class, there is limited overlap between the modules, which implies higher rigidity of the individual units; there the conformational changes can be described by an ‘energy transfer’ mechanism. In the second class, the topology presents a compact structure with significant overlap between the modules; there the conformational changes can be described by ‘multi-trajectories’; that is, multiple highly populated pathways. We further propose that disordered protein regions evolved to help other protein segments reach ‘rarely visited’ but functionally-related states. We also show the role of disorder in ‘spatial games’ of amino acids; highlight the effects of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) on cellular networks and list some possible studies linking protein disorder and protein structure networks

On the Muskat problem: global in time results in 2D and 3D

This paper considers the three dimensional Muskat problem in the stable regime. We obtain a conservation law which provides an L2 maximum principle for the fluid interface. We also show global in time existence for strong and weak solutions with initial data controlled by explicit constants. Furthermore we refine the estimates from our paper [P. Constantin, D. Córdoba, F. Gancedo and R. M. Strain. On the global existence for the Muskat problem. J. Eur. Math. Soc. (JEMS) 15, 201-227 (2013)] to obtain global existence and uniqueness for strong solutions with larger initial data than we previously had in 2D. Finally we provide global in time results in critical spaces, giving solutions with bounded slope and time integrable bounded curvature.National Science FoundationMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovació

Teachers’ Education and Outcomes: Mapping the Research Terrain

Background/Context: Questions about teacher quality, including how teachers ought to be educated and licensed, rank near the top of the educational agenda in the United States. These controversies persist because of lack of consensus about what “teacher quality” means, conflicting claims about the empirical evidence, and public skepticism about the need for formal teacher preparation. Because there has been relatively little research on the outcomes of preparation programs and pathways and because researchers work from diverging paradigms, there are few clear conclusions in this area. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The purpose of this article is to offer a conceptual analysis of empirical research on teachers’ education and outcomes that is linked to the political controversies and policy debates that shape it. Using the concept of research “genres,” the article addresses two questions: (1) How have researchers conceptualized and studied the connections between teachers’ education and its outcomes, consequences, or results? (2) What are the policy controversies and larger social and political factors that have shaped these genres? Research Design:This review focuses on research conducted in the United States since 1998 and published by peer-reviewed journals or centers with peer review procedures. The review includes only empirical research that explicitly examines connections between particular aspects of teachers’ education (e.g., certification status, academic background, pathways into teaching, program mission/curriculum, transitions to teaching, life experiences) and specific posteducation outcomes (e.g., teacher preparedness, beliefs, practice, retention, student achievement). Findings/Results: The review reveals that there are six distinguishable genres that examine connections between teachers’ education and posteducation outcomes: teacher certification and its correlates, teachers’ educational backgrounds and the teacher workforce, entry pathways into teaching and their consequences, teacher preparation programs and their graduates, teacher preparation and learning to teach in the early career years, and teachers’ life experiences and beliefs/practices. The article analyzes and critiques each genre, including its contributions/limitations and the controversies it addresses. Conclusions/Recommendations: The review concludes that there continue to be relatively few studies that connect aspects of teachers’ education to outcomes; some genres focus primarily on outcomes related to student achievement, whereas others focus primarily on outcomes related to teacher learning. These genres have grown up relatively separately from one another. The review recommends that all six research genres ought to be taken into account by policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in order to have a rich understandings of teachers’ education and outcomes

Risk of Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism in Selected Subgroups of Men:A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study

Background  Although men are considered at high risk for recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE), sex-specific data on prognostic factors are lacking. We estimated the cumulative recurrence risks associated with clinical characteristics and comorbidities known or suspected to be associated with the development of VTE recurrence: major surgery, trauma, history of cancer, rheumatic disorder, ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, chronic renal disease, varicose veins, alcohol-related diseases, and arterial hypertension. Methods  We linked nationwide Danish health registries to identify all incident VTE in- and outpatients in men from 2008 through 2018. Recurrent VTE risk 2 years after anticoagulant discontinuation was calculated using the Aalen-Johansen estimator, stratified by age above/below 50 years. Results  The study included 13,932 men with VTE, of whom 21% ( n  = 2,898) were aged <50 years. For men aged <50 years with at least one of the clinical characteristics, 2-year recurrence risk ranged from 6% (major surgery) to 16% (history of cancer). For men ≥50 years with at least one of the characteristics, recurrence risk ranged from 7% (major surgery) to 12% (ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic renal disease). Men aged <50 and ≥50 years without the clinical characteristics all had a recurrence risk of 10%. Discussion  We demonstrated a 2-year recurrence risk of at least 6%, regardless of age category and disease status, in this nationwide cohort of men with VTE. The recurrence risk must be balanced against bleeding risk. However, the high recurrence risk across all subgroups might ultimately lead to greater emphasis on male sex in future guidelines focusing on optimized secondary VTE prevention

An enrichment protocol and analysis pipeline for long read sequencing of the hepatitis B virus transcriptome

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the smallest human DNA viruses and its 3.2 Kb genome encodes multiple overlapping open reading frames, making its viral transcriptome challenging to dissect. Previous studies have combined quantitative PCR and Next Generation Sequencing to identify viral transcripts and splice junctions, however the fragmentation and selective amplification used in short read sequencing precludes the resolution of full length RNAs. Our study coupled an oligonucleotide enrichment protocol with state-of-the-art long read sequencing (PacBio) to identify the repertoire of HBV RNAs. This methodology provides sequencing libraries where up to 25 % of reads are of viral origin and enable the identification of canonical (unspliced), non-canonical (spliced) and chimeric viral-human transcripts. Sequencing RNA isolated from de novo HBV infected cells or those transfected with 1.3 × overlength HBV genomes allowed us to assess the viral transcriptome and to annotate 5′ truncations and polyadenylation profiles. The two HBV model systems showed an excellent agreement in the pattern of major viral RNAs, however differences were noted in the abundance of spliced transcripts. Viral-host chimeric transcripts were identified and more commonly found in the transfected cells. Enrichment capture and PacBio sequencing allows the assignment of canonical and non-canonical HBV RNAs using an open-source analysis pipeline that enables the accurate mapping of the HBV transcriptome