Exploring the Literacy Leadership Practices of Literacy Teacher Educators

Literacy teacher educators must actively engage as literacy leaders who are advocates for literacy, continuous professional learners, and responsive leaders. However, the literature base for literacy leadership is narrow and does not specifically address literacy teacher educators. To address this research gap, the current study explored current literacy leadership practices of literacy teacher educators and challenges they encounter during their literacy leadership pursuits. Using a survey research design, quantitative and qualitative data were collected among 65 experienced literacy teacher educators affiliated with university-based teacher preparation programs located in the South Central United States. Quantitative data were tabulated and reported as frequencies, and qualitative data were analyzed using three levels of coding. Findings revealed preliminary understandings about the literacy leadership practices of literacy teacher educators and pointed to three practical implications for teacher preparation programs administrators and leaders of professional organizations

Reusable Agena study. Volume 2: Technical

The application of the existing Agena vehicle as a reusable upper stage for the space shuttle is discussed. The primary objective of the study is to define those changes to the Agena required for it to function in the reusable mode in the 100 percent capture of the NASA-DOD mission model. This 100 percent capture is achieved without use of kick motors or stages by simply increasing the Agena propellant load by using optional strap-on-tanks. The required shuttle support equipment, launch and flight operations techniques, development program, and cost package are also defined

An Exploration of Teacher Preparation Practices with Foundational Knowledge of Literacy

The Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 published by the International Literacy Association provide the basis for high-quality literacy teacher preparation. This study used qualitative survey responses to explore the literacy practices that teacher educators use to promote understandings among preservice teachers for each grade-level band (i.e., Pre-K/Primary, Elementary/Intermediate, Middle/High School). The researchers used conceptualizations of teacher knowledge as a theoretical lens to better understand reported preparation practices. Data analysis revealed three themes: Teacher Educator Pedagogy, Course Content, Student and Program Expectations. Researchers posit that teacher educators do not evenly focus on all components of literacy and contend that preparation programs must examine their respective curricula to ensure that all components of literacy associated with foundational knowledge are addressed sufficiently

Struggling and juggling: a comparison of assessment loads in research and teaching-intensive universities

In spite of the rising tide of metrics in UK higher education, there has been scant attention paid to assessment loads, when evidence demonstrates that heavy demands lead to surface learning. Our study seeks to redress the situation by defining assessment loads and comparing them across research-and teaching intensive universities. We clarify the concept of ‘assessment load’ in response to findings about high volumes of summative assessment on modular degrees. We define assessment load across whole undergraduate degrees, according to four measures: the volume of summative assessment; volume of formative assessment; proportion of examinations to coursework; number of different varieties of assessment. All four factors contribute to the weight of an assessment load, and influence students’ approaches to learning. Our research compares programme assessment data from 73 programmes in 14 UK universities, across two institutional categories. Research-intensives have higher summative assessment loads and a greater proportion of examinations; teaching-intensives have higher varieties of assessment. Formative assessment does not differ significantly across both university groups. These findings pose particular challenges for students in different parts of the sector. Our study questions the wisdom that ‘more’ is always better, proposing that lighter assessment loads may make room for ‘slow’ and deep learning

How Do Literacy Teacher Educators Engage as Literacy Leaders?

Literacy teacher educators play a pivotal role in developing future PreK-12 classroom teachers for the task of literacy leadership. However, little is known about literacy teacher educators and how they engage as literacy leaders. In the current study, we retrieved data from 132 literacy teacher educators and analyzed it descriptively using teacher educator identify as a theoretical lens. Findings revealed 15 different literacy leadership practices that represented five distinct groups. Among these groups, respondents demonstrated high and low levels of engagement with literacy leadership practices that pointed to important implications for administrators of teacher education programs

Photoemission evidence for crossover from Peierls-like to Mott-like transition in highly strained VO2_2

We present a spectroscopic study that reveals that the metal-insulator transition of strained VO$_2$ thin films may be driven towards a purely electronic transition, which does not rely on the Peierls dimerization, by the application of mechanical strain. Comparison with a moderately strained system, which does involve the lattice, demonstrates the crossover from Peierls- to Mott-like transitions

Investigations on the Peach 4 Debrite, a Late Pleistocene Mass Movement on the Northwest British Continental Margin

The Peach 4 debrite is the most recent in a series of large scale Pleistocene MTDs within the Barra fan on the northwest British continental margin. Geophysical data indicate that Peach 4 was formed through a combination of blocky and muddy debris flows and affects an area of ~ 700 km2. BGS core sample 56 -10 36, located directly over the Peach 4 debrite, provides a minimum age of 14.68 ka cal BP for the last major failure. An upwards fining turbidite sequence in BGS core sample 56 -10 239 is associ-ated with increased As and S concentrations, indicators of diagenetic pyrite which forms under anoxic conditions. It is proposed that As and S concentrations may pro-vide a method of distinguishing between contourite and turbidite sedimentation, though further research is required

Global net carbon exchange and intra-annual atmospheric CO2 concentrations predicted by an Ecosystem Process Model and Three-Dimensional Atmospheric Transport Model

A generalized terrestrial ecosystem process model, BIOME-BGC (for BIOME BioGeoChemical Cycles), was used to simulate the global fluxes of CO2 resulting from photosynthesis, autotrophic respiration, and heterotrophic respiration. Daily meteorological data for the year 1987, gridded to 1° by 1°, were used to drive the model simulations. From the maximum value of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for 1987, the leaf area index for each grid cell was computed. Global NPP was estimated to be 52 Pg C, and global Rh was estimated to be 66 Pg C. Model predictions of the stable carbon isotopic ratio 13C/12C for C3 and C4 vegetation were in accord with values published in the literature, suggesting that our computations of total net photosynthesis, and thus NPP, are more reliable than Rh. For each grid cell, daily Rh was adjusted so that the annual total was equal to annual NPP, and the resulting net carbon fluxes were used as inputs to a three-dimensional atmospheric transport model (TM2) using wind data from 1987. We compared the spatial and seasonal patterns of NPP with a diagnostic NDVI model, where NPP was derived from biweekly NDVI data and Rh was tuned to fit atmospheric CO2 observations from three northern stations. To an encouraging degree, predictions from the BIOME-BGC model agreed in phase and amplitude with observed atmospheric CO2 concentrations for 20° to 55°N, the zone in which the most complete data on ecosystem processes and meteorological input data are available. However, in the tropics and high northern latitudes, disagreements between simulated and measured CO2 concentrations indicated areas where the model could be improved. We present here a methodology by which terrestrial ecosystem models can be tested globally, not by comparisons to homogeneous-plot data, but by seasonal and spatial consistency with a diagnostic NDVI model and atmospheric CO2 observations

Visible light-driven H2 production over highly dispersed Ruthenia on Rutile TiO2 nanorods

The immobilization of miniscule quantities of RuO2 (~0.1%) onto one-dimensional (1D) TiO2 nanorods (NRs) allows H2 evolution from water under visible light irradiation. Rod-like rutile TiO2 structures, exposing preferentially (110) surfaces, are shown to be critical for the deposition of RuO2 to enable photocatalytic activity in the visible region. The superior performance is rationalized on the basis of fundamental experimental studies and theoretical calculations, demonstrating that RuO2(110) grown as 1D nanowires on rutile TiO2(110), which occurs only at extremely low loads of RuO2, leads to the formation of a heterointerface that efficiently adsorbs visible light. The surface defects, band gap narrowing, visible photoresponse, and favorable upward band bending at the heterointerface drastically facilitate the transfer and separation of photogenerated charge carriers.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version