Early Childhood Special Education in a Refugee Resettlement Community: Challenges and Innovative Practices

There has been a significant increase in the number of children who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) who qualify for early childhood special education (ECSE) services (Banerjee & Guiberson, 2012). The current study investigates the challenges and innovative practices in the evaluation and (ECSE) services for preschool aged children who are refugees. Twenty-eight early childhood educators who work in a small refugee resettlement community participated in a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews resulting in themes regarding challenges and innovative practices. Challenges include: lack of validated assessments, wait time for evaluations, different cultural perspectives and family advocacy. Innovative practices include: assessing skills not dependent on language and including caregivers in evaluations. Implications for future research and teacher preparation are discussed

“When in Rome”: identifying social norms using coordination games

Previous research in economics, social psychology, and sociology has produced compelling evidence that social norms influence behavior. In this paper we apply the Krupka and Weber (2013) norm elicitation procedure and present U.S. and non-U.S. born subjects with two scenarios for which tipping and punctuality norms are known to vary across countries. We elicit shared beliefs by having subjects match appropriateness ratings of different actions (such as arriving late or on time) to another randomly selected participant from the same university or to a participant who is born in the same country. We also elicit personal beliefs without the matching task. We test whether the responses from the coordination task can be interpreted as social norms by comparing responses from the coordination game with actual social norms (as identified using independent materials such as tipping guides for travelers). We compare responses elicited with the matching tasks to those elicited without the matching task to test whether the coordination device itself is essential for identifying social norms. We find that appropriateness ratings for different actions vary with the reference group in the matching task. Further, the ratings obtained from the matching task vary in a manner consistent with the actual social norms of that reference group. Thus, we find that shared beliefs correspond more closely to externally validated social norms compared to personal beliefs. Second, we highlight the importance that reference groups (for the coordination task) can play

What Happens During Language and Literacy Coaching? Coaches’ Reports of Their Interactions With Educators

Research Findings: This study investigated coaches’ interactions with educators in the context of a large-scale, state-implemented literacy professional development (PD). We examined log data and open-comment reports to understand what coaches found salient about their interactions with educators as well as how those reports aligned with the initial design of the PD. Coaches reported spending a large proportion of their interactions with educators completing administrative tasks. Our findings also indicate that coaches disproportionally targeted instructional content from the PD while also adding unrelated instructional content to their coaching. Although coaches reported focusing on relationship building, they reported using less efficacious coaching strategies (e.g., observation and discussion) more frequently than coaching strategies demonstrated to be more efficacious (e.g., modeling and co-teaching). Practice or Policy: Our findings suggest an explanation for the mixed evidence around coaching, as coaches in the study seemed to move beyond the specifications of the PD in their coaching interactions. This work has implications for the design of PD for both improving coach training and allowing some flexibility to meet educators’ learning needs that may be secondary to the content of the PD. Findings also support the need for more nuanced mechanisms for investing in coaching and coaching outcomes

What Happens During Language and Literacy Coaching? Coaches’ Reports of Their Interactions With Educators

Research Findings: This study investigated coaches’ interactions with educators in the context of a large-scale, state-implemented literacy professional development (PD). We examined log data and open-comment reports to understand what coaches found salient about their interactions with educators as well as how those reports aligned with the initial design of the PD. Coaches reported spending a large proportion of their interactions with educators completing administrative tasks. Our findings also indicate that coaches disproportionally targeted instructional content from the PD while also adding unrelated instructional content to their coaching. Although coaches reported focusing on relationship building, they reported using less efficacious coaching strategies (e.g., observation and discussion) more frequently than coaching strategies demonstrated to be more efficacious (e.g., modeling and co-teaching). Practice or Policy: Our findings suggest an explanation for the mixed evidence around coaching, as coaches in the study seemed to move beyond the specifications of the PD in their coaching interactions. This work has implications for the design of PD for both improving coach training and allowing some flexibility to meet educators’ learning needs that may be secondary to the content of the PD. Findings also support the need for more nuanced mechanisms for investing in coaching and coaching outcomes

What Happens During Language and Literacy Coaching? Coaches’ Reports of Their Interactions With Educators

Research Findings: This study investigated coaches’ interactions with educators in the context of a large-scale, state-implemented literacy professional development (PD). We examined log data and open-comment reports to understand what coaches found salient about their interactions with educators as well as how those reports aligned with the initial design of the PD. Coaches reported spending a large proportion of their interactions with educators completing administrative tasks. Our findings also indicate that coaches disproportionally targeted instructional content from the PD while also adding unrelated instructional content to their coaching. Although coaches reported focusing on relationship building, they reported using less efficacious coaching strategies (e.g., observation and discussion) more frequently than coaching strategies demonstrated to be more efficacious (e.g., modeling and co-teaching). Practice or Policy: Our findings suggest an explanation for the mixed evidence around coaching, as coaches in the study seemed to move beyond the specifications of the PD in their coaching interactions. This work has implications for the design of PD for both improving coach training and allowing some flexibility to meet educators’ learning needs that may be secondary to the content of the PD. Findings also support the need for more nuanced mechanisms for investing in coaching and coaching outcomes

What Happens During Language and Literacy Coaching? Coaches’ Reports of Their Interactions With Educators

Research Findings: This study investigated coaches’ interactions with educators in the context of a large-scale, state-implemented literacy professional development (PD). We examined log data and open-comment reports to understand what coaches found salient about their interactions with educators as well as how those reports aligned with the initial design of the PD. Coaches reported spending a large proportion of their interactions with educators completing administrative tasks. Our findings also indicate that coaches disproportionally targeted instructional content from the PD while also adding unrelated instructional content to their coaching. Although coaches reported focusing on relationship building, they reported using less efficacious coaching strategies (e.g., observation and discussion) more frequently than coaching strategies demonstrated to be more efficacious (e.g., modeling and co-teaching). Practice or Policy: Our findings suggest an explanation for the mixed evidence around coaching, as coaches in the study seemed to move beyond the specifications of the PD in their coaching interactions. This work has implications for the design of PD for both improving coach training and allowing some flexibility to meet educators’ learning needs that may be secondary to the content of the PD. Findings also support the need for more nuanced mechanisms for investing in coaching and coaching outcomes

Decision-making on intra-household allocation of bed nets in Uganda: do households prioritize the most vulnerable members?

Abstract Background Access to insecticide-treated bed nets has increased substantially in recent years, but ownership and use remain well below 100% in many malaria endemic areas. Understanding decision-making around net allocation in households with too few nets is essential to ensuring protection of the most vulnerable. This study explores household net allocation preferences and practices across four districts in Uganda. Methods Data collection consisted of eight focus group discussions, twelve in-depth interviews, and a structured questionnaire to inventory 107 sleeping spaces in 28 households. Results In focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, participants almost unanimously stated that pregnant women, infants, and young children should be prioritized when allocating nets. However, sleeping space surveys reveal that heads of household sometimes receive priority over children less than five years of age when households have too few nets to cover all members. Conclusions When asked directly, most net owners highlight the importance of allocating nets to the most biologically vulnerable household members. This is consistent with malaria behaviour change and health education messages. In actual allocation, however, factors other than biological vulnerability may influence who does and does not receive a net.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109479/1/12936_2014_Article_3219.pd

The effect of phenobarbital treatment on behavioral comorbidities and on the composition and function of the fecal microbiome in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy

Phenobarbital (PB) is one of the most important antiseizure drugs (ASDs) to treat canine idiopathic epilepsy (IE). The effect of PB on the taxonomic changes in gastrointestinal microbiota (GIM) and their functions is less known, which may explain parts of its pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, especially its antiseizure effect and drug responsiveness or drug resistance as well as its effect on behavioral comorbidities. Fecal samples of 12 dogs with IE were collected prior to the initiation of PB treatment and 90 days after oral PB treatment. The fecal samples were analyzed using shallow DNA shotgun sequencing, real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based dysbiosis index (DI), and quantification of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Behavioral comorbidities were evaluated using standardized online questionnaires, namely, a canine behavioral assessment and research questionnaire (cBARQ), canine cognitive dysfunction rating scale (CCDR), and an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) questionnaire. The results revealed no significant changes in alpha and beta diversity or in the DI, whereas only the abundance of Clostridiales was significantly decreased after PB treatment. Fecal SCFA measurement showed a significant increase in total fecal SCFA concentration and the concentrations of propionate and butyrate, while acetate concentrations revealed an upward trend after 90 days of treatment. In addition, the PB-Responder (PB-R) group had significantly higher butyrate levels compared to the PB-Non-Responder (PB-NR) group. Metagenomics of functional pathway genes demonstrated a significant increase in genes in trehalose biosynthesis, ribosomal synthesis, and gluconeogenesis, but a decrease in V-ATPase-related oxidative phosphorylation. For behavioral assessment, cBARQ analysis showed improvement in stranger-directed fear, non-social fear, and trainability, while there were no differences in ADHD-like behavior and canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) scores after 90 days of PB treatment. While only very minor shifts in bacterial taxonomy were detected, the higher SCFA concentrations after PB treatment could be one of the key differences between PB-R and PB-NR. These results suggest functional changes in GIM in canine IE treatment

The HIPASS Catalogue - II. Completeness, Reliability, and Parameter Accuracy

The HI Parkes All Sky Survey (HIPASS) is a blind extragalactic HI 21-cm emission line survey covering the whole southern sky from declination -90 to +25. The HIPASS catalogue (HICAT), containing 4315 HI-selected galaxies from the region south of declination +2, is presented in Meyer et al. (2004a, Paper I). This paper describes in detail the completeness and reliability of HICAT, which are calculated from the recovery rate of synthetic sources and follow-up observations, respectively. HICAT is found to be 99 per cent complete at a peak flux of 84 mJy and an integrated flux of 9.4 Jy km/s. The overall reliability is 95 per cent, but rises to 99 per cent for sources with peak fluxes >58 mJy or integrated flux > 8.2 Jy km/s. Expressions are derived for the uncertainties on the most important HICAT parameters: peak flux, integrated flux, velocity width, and recessional velocity. The errors on HICAT parameters are dominated by the noise in the HIPASS data, rather than by the parametrization procedure.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 12 pages, 11 figures. Paper with higher resolution figures can be downloaded from http://hipass.aus-vo.or