The disproportionality of ethnic minority teachers in England: trends, patterns, and problems

Data availability: Underlying data: All of the datasets used in this paper are freely and publicly available at the following sites. The School Workforce Census and School Census data from 2015 to 2021 is available here from the website of the Department of Education: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. (DfE, 2023a) The data on applicants to teacher training is available from the UCAS website: https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/ucas-teacher-training-releases/ucas-teacher-training-end-cycle-2021-data-resources. The data shows the number of applicants and the number accepted by ethnicity for 2014–2021, and broken down by ITT provider. The figures on the ethnicity of the resident population of England are available from the Office of National Statistics website here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021#ethnic-groups-in-england-and-wales The data on teaching in multi-cultural settings is available from TALIS 2018: https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?QueryId=97205Latest Version Published: 21 Apr 2023, 2:13 (https://doi.org/10.12688/routledgeopenres.17798.1) [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review] This article is included in Education, Equity and Equality collectionCopyright 2023 The Author(s). Background: England has an ethnically diverse population; reflected in the teacher workforce, and the student body in schools. However, it is not clear that these figures are in proportion to each other. This paper examines the ethnic profile of students and their teachers and considers their geographical distribution. Methods: This paper uses existing aggregated official publicly available datasets to describe the patterns and trends in the proportion of ethnic minority teachers compared to ethnic minority pupils in England 2015-2021. Data comes from the Department for Education (DfE), the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and development (OECD/TALIS), and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Results: Compared to the student intakes to schools, we found that there are more White British teachers than expected. This disproportion (where there are more White British teachers among teachers than there are White British pupils among pupils) is worse for promoted school leaders like deputies and headteachers than it is for classroom teachers. In London, due to the exceptional number of ethnic minority students, the disproportion (or mismatch) is worse in London than anywhere else. Areas with the fewest ethnic minority pupils (and teachers), like the North East, have the most proportionate workforce (in this limited sense). Conclusions: A student lacking any teachers of the same ethnic group might be treated differently at school, and there is some evidence that this might affect their attainment outcomes. The lack of ethnic diversity in some schools and areas, regardless of proportions, may impoverish the diversity of the whole school system. Several possible reasons for these patterns are noted in the paper, but it is clear that ethnic minority applicants to teacher training are less likely to be accepted, and less likely to obtain qualified teacher status or an eventual teaching post.Economic & Social Research Council (Investigating Recruitment and Retention of Minority Ethnic Teachers)

Recent advances in electronic structure theory and their influence on the accuracy of ab initio potential energy surfaces

Recent advances in electronic structure theory and the availability of high speed vector processors have substantially increased the accuracy of ab initio potential energy surfaces. The recently developed atomic natural orbital approach for basis set contraction has reduced both the basis set incompleteness and superposition errors in molecular calculations. Furthermore, full CI calculations can often be used to calibrate a CASSCF/MRCI approach that quantitatively accounts for the valence correlation energy. These computational advances also provide a vehicle for systematically improving the calculations and for estimating the residual error in the calculations. Calculations on selected diatomic and triatomic systems will be used to illustrate the accuracy that currently can be achieved for molecular systems. In particular, the F+H2 yields HF+H potential energy hypersurface is used to illustrate the impact of these computational advances on the calculation of potential energy surfaces

Stress-Induced Reinstatement of Drug Seeking: 20 Years of Progress

In human addicts, drug relapse and craving are often provoked by stress. Since 1995, this clinical scenario has been studied using a rat model of stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. Here, we first discuss the generality of stress-induced reinstatement to different drugs of abuse, different stressors, and different behavioral procedures. We also discuss neuropharmacological mechanisms, and brain areas and circuits controlling stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. We conclude by discussing results from translational human laboratory studies and clinical trials that were inspired by results from rat studies on stress-induced reinstatement. Our main conclusions are (1) The phenomenon of stress-induced reinstatement, first shown with an intermittent footshock stressor in rats trained to self-administer heroin, generalizes to other abused drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine, and alcohol, and is also observed in the conditioned place preference model in rats and mice. This phenomenon, however, is stressor specific and not all stressors induce reinstatement of drug seeking. (2) Neuropharmacological studies indicate the involvement of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), noradrenaline, dopamine, glutamate, kappa/dynorphin, and several other peptide and neurotransmitter systems in stress-induced reinstatement. Neuropharmacology and circuitry studies indicate the involvement of CRF and noradrenaline transmission in bed nucleus of stria terminalis and central amygdala, and dopamine, CRF, kappa/dynorphin, and glutamate transmission in other components of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system (ventral tegmental area, medial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and nucleus accumbens). (3) Translational human laboratory studies and a recent clinical trial study show the efficacy of alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists in decreasing stress-induced drug craving and stress-induced initial heroin lapse

Differential Expression of Iron Acquisition Genes by Brucella melitensis and Brucella canis during Macrophage Infection

Brucella spp. cause chronic zoonotic disease often affecting individuals and animals in impoverished economic or public health conditions; however, these bacteria do not have obvious virulence factors. Restriction of iron availability to pathogens is an effective strategy of host defense. For brucellae, virulence depends on the ability to survive and replicate within the host cell where iron is an essential nutrient for the growth and survival of both mammalian and bacterial cells. Iron is a particularly scarce nutrient for bacteria with an intracellular lifestyle. Brucella melitensis and Brucella canis share ∼99% of their genomes but differ in intracellular lifestyles. To identify differences, gene transcription of these two pathogens was examined during infection of murine macrophages and compared to broth grown bacteria. Transcriptome analysis of B. melitensis and B. canis revealed differences of genes involved in iron transport. Gene transcription of the TonB, enterobactin, and ferric anguibactin transport systems was increased in B. canis but not B. melitensis during infection of macrophages. The data suggest differences in iron requirements that may contribute to differences observed in the lifestyles of these closely related pathogens. The initial importance of iron for B. canis but not for B. melitensis helps elucidate differing intracellular survival strategies for two closely related bacteria and provides insight for controlling these pathogens

Li1.5La1.5MO6 (M = W6+, Te6+) as a new series of lithium-rich double perovskites for all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries

Solid-state batteries are a proposed route to safely achieving high energy densities, yet this architecture faces challenges arising from interfacial issues between the electrode and solid electrolyte. Here we develop a novel family of double perovskites, Li1.5La1.5MO6 (M = W6+, Te6+), where an uncommon lithium-ion distribution enables macroscopic ion diffusion and tailored design of the composition allows us to switch functionality to either a negative electrode or a solid electrolyte. Introduction of tungsten allows reversible lithium-ion intercalation below 1 V, enabling application as an anode (initial specific capacity >200 mAh g-1 with remarkably low volume change of ∼0.2%). By contrast, substitution of tungsten with tellurium induces redox stability, directing the functionality of the perovskite towards a solid-state electrolyte with electrochemical stability up to 5 V and a low activation energy barrier (<0.2 eV) for microscopic lithium-ion diffusion. Characterisation across multiple length- and time-scales allows interrogation of the structure-property relationships in these materials and preliminary examination of a solid-state cell employing both compositions suggests lattice-matching avenues show promise for all-solid-state batteries

Systematic review of the impact of arts education on the cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes of school-aged children.

The aim of this review was to examine empirical evidence to establish whether arts participation could lead to improvements in children’s attainment at school and their wider outcomes, and to identify the arts activities with the best evidence of success. A search of 11 databasesidentified 76,195 reports, of which 200 were included for analysis. No studies with high levels of supporting evidence were found because of serious weaknesses in design. Tentative evidence suggests that music training and integrating drama in the classroom may have beneficial effects. These had the largest number of positive studies. Weaknesses in these studies, the lack of replication and inconsistent findings across studies mean that these findings have to be interpreted with caution. More robust and rigorous evaluations are needed to confirm the causal links. However, if improving attainment is the aim then arts may not be the solution. Promising programmes already exist that can boost learning. Given the lack of evidence so far, perhaps we should think more broadly about the purpose of arts. Can it not be just for enjoyment? Must it have a utilitarian function