Beyond your biases: a training module on implicit biases for peer mentors who work with college students with mental health conditions

The prevalence and severity of mental health conditions experienced by students on college campuses has significantly grown in the last two decades (Lipson, Lattie, & Eisenberg, 2019). A serious mental health condition can be defined as a person, over the age of 18, that has a mental, behavioral or emotional disorder that causes significant functional impairment and substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2019). The evidence-based research has documented that mental health conditions impact student functioning and wellbeing and are associated with lower grade point averages and a higher likelihood of dropping out of college. The consequences of low educational attainment are severe for students with mental health conditions as it has been associated with underemployment and unemployment (Hutchinson, 2016). Seeking help for mental health conditions is associated with increased student retention (O’Keefe, 2013) and failure to seek treatment is associated with a longer course of illness and increased rates of relapse (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010). Two-thirds of college students indicate that when in distress, they will turn to their peers for support (American College Health Association, 2012). Colleges however often do not utilize peers who live successfully with mental health conditions to help address the academic demands and social challenges experienced by other students with mental health conditions. Additionally, college aged students often do not feel equipped to help peers in need (Morse & Schulze, 2013). One of the most significant critiques of existing peer mentor programs across college campuses is a lack of structured training for the peer mentors (Yomtov et al., 2017). Research on peer mentor programs has also demonstrated that implicit biases, which are social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside of their conscious awareness, may have an impact on the mentor-mentee relationship and may contribute to disparities in engagement (UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach, 2019). Beyond your Biases is an evidence-based, theory-driven training module for college aged peer mentors that addresses implicit biases. This two-hour training module, developed for this project, will be incorporated into the NITEO program at Boston University, a semester long program that supports young adults with mental health conditions to develop wellness tools, academic skills, resilience and work-readiness (BU Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 2019). Beyond your Biases will aim to educate peer mentors on the nature of implicit biases, challenge peer mentors to identify and acknowledge their own implicit biases, and help peer mentors to problem solve strategies to overcome their biases to best support the individual mentees. This module will better prepare mentors for their role and associated responsibilities, in order to more effectively support mentees as they navigate the complexities of the college environment. Although this module was developed for peer mentors of the NITEO program at Boston University, dissemination efforts will aim to promote incorporation of this module into other peer mentor programs across college campuses

English language proficiency and other factors influencing mathematics achievement at junior secondary level in South Africa

South Africa participated in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)in 1995 and its repeat in 1999. In 1995, none of the data on school or teacher level could be analyzed to provide the context for the students' poor achievements in mathematics and science. With the 1999 data now available at both school and teacher levels in addition to the student level data, this backdrop to the results can be provided. Path analysis, using Partial Least Square analysis, was conducted on the TIMSS repeat study (TIMSS-R) data to explore the effect of language and other factors at school level within South African schools on the students' performance in mathematics. The work is currently in progress, but the initial results already indicate the strong relationship between English language proficiency and South African students' achievement in mathematics. The first results from the school level analysis reveals a relationship between the location of the schools, the number of first language speakers in the class, and the role of teacher unions influencing the curriculum to pupils' achievement in mathematics. These and other results of this research are discussed in the paper. (Contains 3 figures, 10 tables, and 43 references.) (SLD

A comparison of higher-order reading comprehension performance for different language of instruction models in South African primary schools

In this article, preProgress in Reading Literacy Study (prePIRLS) 2011 data is used to compare the performance of different language of instruction groupings (English, Afrikaans and African languages) in primary schools on the more complex, higher-order reading comprehension items tested in a large-scale international test. PrePIRLS 2011 (N=15 744) was conducted in South Africa’s eleven official languages. Schools were sampled according to the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in Grades 1–3 and the reading comprehension test was administered in that same language. To examine bilingual effects, a sub-sample was drawn from the national dataset that consisted of low socio-economic status (SES) learners whose first language was not English (but who had received instruction in English from grades 1–3) as well as low SES learners who received their Foundation Phase instruction in one of the African languages as a mother tongue. A linear regression (n = 6 342) showed that low socio-economic status (SES) learners whose language of instruction is English, despite it not being their mother tongue, benefitted by 20.35 score points with a t-value of 3.19. This is significant at the 0,01 level (equivalent to half a year) from being in the English L2 group, in comparison to the African languages L1 group, as a measure of achievement on the higher-order subscale. It is argued in this paper that learners whose LoLT is English, but who do not speak English as a home language and tend to be part of the most disadvantaged sector of the population, perform better on the higher-level reading comprehension processes when compared with African language mother tongue instruction across the same grades and socio-economic status. The findings highlight the importance of improved English second language instruction for all LoLT groupings

An analysis of quality of education and its evaluation: A case of Zimbabwean primary schools

This study sought to analyse quality of education and its evaluation in Zimbabwean primary schools. A qualitative research methodology was adopted. Thirty-five schools, 73 teachers, 15 school administrators and four Education Officials participated in the study. Data were collected through interviews and questionnaires and analysed through thematic content analysis. Findings indicate that a lot still needs to be done for quality of education to be fully realised. Overall, no meaningful school self-evaluation (SSE) of quality of education is taking place and teachers are not involved in the evaluation of quality of education in schools. Moreover, there is no standard instrument used to evaluate quality of education in schools. The study concluded that schools should engage in SSE and recommends the Ministry of Education to develop an SSE framework to be used in schools. It also recommends that teachers, as the main mediators between policy and practice, ought to be actively involved in SSE of education quality for its realisation and improvement.Keywords: evaluation; primary schools; quality of education; school self evaluation; school self-evaluation framework; Zimbabw

An increased CD25-positive intestinal regulatory T-lymphocyte population is dependent on Cox-2 activity in the Apc Min/+ model

Summary Only mismatch repair (MMR)-deficient colorectal cancer (CRC) appears to respond well to programmed death (PD)-1 inhibition at the present time. Emerging evidence suggests a role for micro-environmental factors such as CD25+ cells modulating response to PD-1 inhibition. In the ApcMin/+ model of familial adenomatous polyposis (MMR-proficient CRC), increased Cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) expression by cells which include alternatively activated mononuclear phagocytes promotes intestinal tumorigenesis by mechanisms which may include immune suppression. To gain insight into this, we compared regulatory T cell (Treg) populations between ApcMin/+ and wild-type mice prior to and after the phase of increased intestinal Cox-2-dependent prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production. There was no difference in systemic Treg function or numbers between ApcMin/+ and wild-type mice. However, increased numbers of small intestinal CD25+ Tregs were observed with increased Cox-2 activity in the absence of any difference in the expression of Tgf-β or Tslp between ApcMin/+ and wild-type mice. Cox-2 inhibitor therapy (Celecoxib) reversed the increase in ApcMin/+ intestinal CD25+ Treg numbers, without decreasing numbers of CD25+ systemic Tregs. Forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3+) and Cox-2+ cells were co-localized to the interstitium of adenomas of Apcmin/+ mice. These results suggest selective dependence of an ‘activated Treg’ phenotype on paracrine Cox-2 activity in ApcMin/+ small intestine. For therapeutic potential, further studies are required to evaluate the relevance of these findings to human cancer as well as the functional significance of CD25+ intestinal Tregs in cancer.</jats:p

High-stakes testing in South Africa : friend or foe?

The Jomtien conference in 1990 on Education for All is seen by many as a turning point for the introduction of increased monitoring and evaluation of the quality of education systems around the world. Internationally, debates have arisen about the nature and frequency of assessment and its impact on education systems with its intended and unintended consequences. The phenomenon of large-scale testing is a relative latecomer to South African education. Since 1994, large-scale assessments have been implemented in core subjects such as mathematics, science and language in national and international assessments. In this paper, various forms of the large-scale assessments in South Africa are discussed in relation to high-stakes testing and their effect on the education system as a whole in the light of international experience.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/caie20hb2016Humanities Educatio