Teacher Evaluation in the State of Indiana: Alignment Efforts in University Based Teacher Instruction

As teacher evaluation in the state of Indiana continues to evolve it has become increasingly difficult to prepare, expose and train pre-service teachers to the evaluation process utilized in K-12 education. While the State adopted The Rise Evaluation instrument to create a common standard of measurement, many school corporations modified, interpreted and scored each domain differently. During the evaluation process many shared themes were discovered in over 20 different school corporation evaluation instruments. In an effort to find the basis for a common assessment, a new instrument was created that incorporates these common themes. The new evaluation form has been constructed into a reusable digital template. This new instrument not only helps with teacher training but also aids in comparing University induction evaluation to each individual school corporation. This data is critical in supporting Woodrow Wilson teachers as they enter and work through Induction years. This effort will also serve as University based data collection for Teacher Education program evaluation, while also allowing for a more delicate transition into the fast paced competitive K-12 workforce

Black Carbon on Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier’s snowpack is an essential aspect of Washington State’s ecosystem as it is a critical source of fresh water for over five major river systems. The purpose of this study is to analyze how climate change is affecting the snow’s melt rate, which in turn has a major effect on the state as a whole. Anthropogenic activities, like the burning of fossil fuels, result in the accumulation of black carbon (BC) in snow, expediting its melting process. This research will determine the concentration of BC equivalent in Rainier’s snowpack using the Light Absorbing Heating Method (LAHM) and various coding software

Utilisation d’une co-médication morphine/maropitant ou morphine/kétamine à dose infra-anesthésique lors d’ovariectomie ou d’ovario-hystérectomie chez la chienne

aLa kétamine et le maropitant sont deux molécules couramment utilisées en médecine vétérinaire. L’utilisation de la kétamine à dose infra-anesthésique en co-analgésie a fait l’objet de recherches uniquement en post-opératoire. Mais peu de recherches ont été menées sur le potentiel analgésique du maropitant en tant qu’antagoniste des récepteurs NK1. Ce travail a pour objectif de démontrer la pertinence clinique d’une co-analgésie morphine-kétamine à dose infra-anesthésique ou morphinemaropitant versus morphine seule, lors d’ovariectomie ou ovario-hystérectomie chez la chienne. Notre étude prospective, randomisée en double aveugle contre placebo, compare 3 groupes : un groupe maropitant/morphine (n = 7), un groupe kétamine (à dose infra-anesthésique)/morphine (n = 6) et un groupe morphine (n = 7). Les résultats nous montrent que seul le maropitant administré lors de la prémédication permet une amélioration du confort post-opératoire immédiat. Cela se traduit par une meilleure couverture des besoins énergétiques de repos ainsi qu’une reprise alimentaire plus précoce. Aucun effet co-analgésique n’est mis en évidence

Say Mister Have You Met Rosie\u27s Sister

Illustration of flowers; Photograph of George Givothttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/12196/thumbnail.jp

Decision-Making by and for Academic Libraries during Covid-19

Academic libraries are fundamental in promoting equitable access to education but are often overlooked and underfunded. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified these inequities. This study investigates how 39 library deans and directors perceived decision-making by university administration during COVID-19’s onset. Open-ended survey questions were sent to deans and directors asking them to describe their experiences working with university administration to adjust library services during the crisis. Some library leaders reported that working closely with other departments strengthened their campus connections. Others commented that disagreement between library personnel and university administration caused discord. Some deans and directors were forced to cut staff funding or felt pressured to reopen, while others were trusted to choose their budget and service priorities. The authors recommend that library leaders be more consistently relied upon for their expertise during university decision-making

Stream Geometry And Streambed Material Characteristics Of The Streams Within The Highland Silver Lake Watershed, Highland, Illinois

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Optimizations for a Current-Controlled Memristor-based Neuromorphic Synapse Design

The synapse is a key element of neuromorphic computing in terms of efficiency and accuracy. In this paper, an optimized current-controlled memristive synapse circuit is proposed. Our proposed synapse demonstrates reliability in the face of process variation and the inherent stochastic behavior of memristors. Up to an 82% energy optimization can be seen during the SET operation over prior work. In addition, the READ process shows up to 54% energy savings. Our current-controlled approach also provides more reliable programming over traditional programming methods. This design is demonstrated with a 4-bit memory precision configuration. Using a spiking neural network (SNN), a neuromorphic application analysis was performed with this precision configuration. Our optimized design showed up to 82% improvement in control applications and a 2.7x improvement in classification applications compared with other design cases

Humanistic counselling plus pastoral care as usual versus pastoral care as usual for the treatment of psychological distress in adolescents in UK state schools (ETHOS):a randomised controlled trial

Background About one in seven adolescents have a mental health disorder in England, UK. School counselling is one of the most common means of trying to address such a problem. We aimed to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of school-based humanistic counselling (SBHC) for the treatment of psychological distress in young people in England, UK. Methods We did a two-arm, individually randomised trial in 18 secondary state-funded schools across the Greater London area of the UK. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) using a centrally secure randomisation procedure with random permuted blocks to either SBHC plus schools' pastoral care as usual (PCAU), or PCAU alone. Participants were pupils aged 13–16 years who had moderate-to-severe levels of emotional symptoms (measured by a score of ≥5 on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Emotional Symptoms scale) and were assessed as competent to consent to participate in the trial. Participants, providers, and assessors (who initially assessed and enrolled participants) were not masked but testers (who measured outcomes) were masked to treatment allocation. The primary outcome was psychological distress at 12 weeks (Young Person's Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation measure [YP-CORE]; range 0–40), analysed on an intention-to-treat basis (with missing data imputed). Costs were assessed at 24 weeks (Client Service Receipt Inventory and service logs). The trial was registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN10460622. Findings 329 participants were recruited between Sept 29, 2016, and Feb 8, 2018, with 167 (51%) randomly assigned to SBHC plus PCAU and 162 (49%) to PCAU. 315 (96%) of 329 participants provided data at 12 weeks and scores were imputed for 14 participants (4%). At baseline, the mean YP-CORE scores were 20·86 (SD 6·38) for the SBHC plus PCAU group and 20·98 (6·41) for the PCAU group. Mean YP-CORE scores at 12 weeks were 16·41 (SD 7·59) for the SBHC plus PCAU group and 18·34 (7·84) for the PCAU group (difference 1·87, 95% CI 0·37–3·36; p=0·015), with a small effect size (0·25, 0·03–0·47). Overall costs at 24 weeks were £995·20 (SD 769·86) per pupil for the SBHC plus PCAU group and £612·89 (1224·56) for the PCAU group (unadjusted difference £382·31, 95% CI £148·18–616·44; p=0·0015). The probability of SBHC being more cost-effective reached 80% at a willingness to pay of £390 for a 1-point improvement on the YP-CORE. Five serious adverse events occurred for four participants in the SBHC plus PCAU group, all involving suicidal intent. Two serious adverse events occurred for two participants in the PCAU group, one involving suicidal intent. Interpretation The addition of SBHC to PCAU leads to small reductions in psychological distress, but at an additional economic cost. SBHC is a viable treatment option but there is a need for equally rigorous evaluation of alternative interventions. Funding This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (grant reference ES/M011933/1)

Non-smooth developable geometry for interactively animating paper crumpling

International audienceWe present the first method to animate sheets of paper at interactive rates, while automatically generating a plausible set of sharp features when the sheet is crumpled. The key idea is to interleave standard physically-based simulation steps with procedural generation of a piecewise continuous developable surface. The resulting hybrid surface model captures new singular points dynamically appearing during the crumpling process, mimicking the effect of paper fiber fracture. Although the model evolves over time to take these irreversible damages into account, the mesh used for simulation is kept coarse throughout the animation, leading to efficient computations. Meanwhile, the geometric layer ensures that the surface stays almost isometric to its original 2D pattern. We validate our model through measurements and visual comparison with real paper manipulation, and show results on a variety of crumpled paper configurations

Rice auxin influx carrier OsAUX1 facilitates root hair elongation in response to low external phosphate

Root traits such as root angle and hair length influence resource acquisition particularly for immobile nutrients like phosphorus (P). Here, we attempted to modify root angle in rice by disrupting the OsAUX1 auxin influx transporter gene in an effort to improve rice P acquisition efficiency. We show by X-ray microCT imaging that root angle is altered in the osaux1 mutant, causing preferential foraging in the top soil where P normally accumulates, yet surprisingly, P acquisition efficiency does not improve. Through closer investigation, we reveal that OsAUX1 also promotes root hair elongation in response to P limitation. Reporter studies reveal that auxin response increases in the root hair zone in low P environments. We demonstrate that OsAUX1 functions to mobilize auxin from the root apex to the differentiation zone where this signal promotes hair elongation when roots encounter low external P. We conclude that auxin and OsAUX1 play key roles in promoting root foraging for P in rice