The Wasp & the Fig

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A DisCrit Narrative Case Study: How are the Cards Stacked in Alternative School for African American Students with Disabilities?

The purpose of this qualitative narrative case study is to develop a better understanding of how African American students with disabilities in alternative schools make sense of their educational journeys. Critical race theory and disability studies (DisCrit) is used as a framework for the investigation of (a) the process of being identified as a student with disabilities and (b) behavioral factors associated with placement in the alternative school environment, and (c) how students develop characteristics of resiliency in the alternative school environment. Five African American students with disabilities who were currently attending or who had previously attended alternative school were interviewed individually about their educational experiences; participated in a focus group interview; and digitally recorded a reflective journal on their educational experiences before, during, and after attending alternative school. The researcher also conducted a document analysis utilizing the students’ educational records. The data was compiled to form a narrative inquiry for each of the participants. An analysis of the student’s data evidenced four themes: Identified as a Student Placed “At-Risk”, My Behavior Impacted my Education, Second Chance, and The End of the Story Can be Good. Students’ perceptions of their educational experiences were influenced by the societal challenges of being identified as a student with disabilities, inability to be successful in the traditional school setting, and exposure to the alternative school setting as a pivotal point in the students’ lives

Mechanism-based thresholds of toxicological concern (TTC) for developmental and reproductive toxicity of anticancer compounds

Includes bibliographical references.2015 Fall.To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document

Dismantling the “Deep State”: The Evolution of Legitimacy in the American Intelligence Community

SYDNEY CAROL STANARD: Dismantling the “Deep State”: The Evolution of Legitimacy in the American Intelligence Community (Under the direction of Dr. John Winkle) This thesis explores the nature of legitimacy and how it applies to the American intelligence community. The laws and regulations that allow the intelligence community to be a legitimate actor within the American democracy have changed over the years, and there have been periods where these safeguards have failed. I will examine how and why these legitimacy crises, were rectified in the past and how current legitimacy questions are affecting the intelligence community. My research is based on open-source information, such as the work of political scientists, statements by former intelligence professionals, and the legal and legislative record. My research finds that the legitimacy of the intelligence community is based on its neutrality, transparency, and accountability, with specific care being placed on accountability. The process of making the intelligence community accountable is reactionary, however. Current questions of the intelligence community’s neutrality being made by prominent politicians and political pundits are largely unfounded, though these questions may have a negative effect on perceived neutra

The Leopard, the Lion, and the Cock

Thought-provoking reflection on culture, colonialism, and the remainders of empire in Belgium after 1960 The degree to which the late colonial era affected Europe has been long underappreciated, and only recently have European countries started to acknowledge not having come to terms with decolonisation. In Belgium, the past two decades have witnessed a growing awareness of the controversial episodes in the country’s colonial past. This volume examines the long-term effects and legacies of the colonial era on Belgium after 1960, the year the Congo gained its independence, and calls into question memories of the colonial past by focusing on the meaning and place of colonial monuments in public space. The book foregrounds the enduring presence of “empire” in everyday Belgian life in the form of permanent colonial markers in bronze and stone, lieux de mémoire of the country’s history of overseas expansion. By means of photographs and explanations of major pro-colonial memorials, as well as several obscure ones, the book reveals the surprising degree to which Belgium became infused with a colonialist spirit during the colonial era. Another key component of the analysis is an account of the varied ways in which both Dutch- and French-speaking Belgians approached the colonial past after 1960, treating memorials variously as objects of veneration, with indifference, or as symbols to be attacked or torn down. The book provides a thought-provoking reflection on culture, colonialism, and the remainders of empire in Belgium after 1960. Free digital appendix: detailed list of monuments in Belgium linked to the country’s colonial past This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content)

AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN LIVING IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: AN INVESTIGATION OF EARLY LITERACY AND THE INFLUENCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STRENGTHS AND FAMILY SUPPORT

Literacy is a basic fundamental skill for academic, professional, and social success in our culture. Children with low exposure to reading can experience reading difficulties, diminished cognitive development, and poor academic outcomes. Inconsistency in the conceptualization of early literacy has hampered research and development of successful, translational early literacy interventions, particularly for children from low-income households. Preschoolers from low-income, urban backgrounds (n = 426), including 221 females and 205 males aged 35 - 60 months (M = 47.46, SD = 6.44) participated in an investigation of the latent factorial structure of early literacy. The study also explored whether children’s psychological strengths and their family’s literacy-related behaviors support improvement of early literacy skills following completion of a literacy development intervention. Results support a three-factor model of early literacy proposed by Sénéchal, LeFevre, Smith-Chant, and Colton (2001). This study also found that, despite the influence of age, sex, and family income, children’s psychological strengths and family literacy behaviors are predictive of early literacy skills comprised of this three-factor structure. However, only children’s psychological strengths predicted improvements in early literacy scores at post-test. Implications for preschool interventions and measurement of early and family literacy constructs are discussed

Studies of the Middle Class

I create oil paintings and drypoints that bring attention to scenes of American middle class life. I present crowds of people engaged in community activities and festivals. This enables me to depict a cross section of the residents of a given region. I also create a counterpoint to these peopled gatherings by painting and drawing the exteriors of middle class homes. In my work, I attempt to imbue a sense of intrigue and pathos. I work from candid photos that I take of people and their living spaces. In these photos, I modify and delete elements to optimize narrative and drama. I use natural light to define hard shadows and bright hues or light values to define forms

A Computational Model of Driver Decision Making at an Intersection Controlled by a Traffic Light

An important challenge associated with driving simulation development is the computational representation of agent behaviors. This paper describes the development of a preliminary autonomous agent behavior model (based on the Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) model, and Hintzman’s multiple-trace memory model) mimicking human decision making in approaching an intersection controlled by a traffic light. To populate the model, an initial Cognitive Task Analysis was conducted with six drivers to learn the important cues, expectancies, goals, and courses of action associated with traffic light approach. The agent model learns to associate environmental cues (such as traffic light color) with expectancies of upcoming events (like light color change) and appropriate courses of action (such as decelerating). At present, the model is currently being evaluated for its successful representation of the RecognitionPrimed Decision Making process

Creating Connections Between Environmental and Human Health and Messaging a Call to Pro-Environmental Action

Final project for ENSP 400: Capstone in Environmental Science and Policy (Fall 2017). University of Maryland, College Park.The Montgomery County Department of Parks, and other environmentally-oriented organizations, have historically had a difficult time communicating the importance of environmental issues to the general public. A major reason is that much of this communication has promoted environmental protection for the intrinsic sake of the environment, and not for human well-being. As a result, people who are not already environmentally inclined may not be interested in protecting it; they are unaware of how environmental crises may impact their own well-being. If they were made aware of such impacts, they might be more invested in environmental protection. To address this issue, we investigated the connections between environmental and human health, and determined how those connections should be crafted and messaged, to initiate a call to pro-environmental action among diverse groups in the Montgomery County public. We carried these tasks out in the context of a park system and focused our work on how parks are beneficial to both human and environmental health, and how they can be used to message human-environment connections and pro-environmental behavior. We researched the history of environmental communication in the U.S., current environmental-human health connections in water and air quality, and communication strategies that could encourage sustainability and support for parks in the County. This research culminated in a set of final recommendations for optimizing the pro-environmental messaging of the Department of Parks. Research into the history of environmental communication revealed wide variety of message types to gain support for sustainable behavior. Since the 1950s, messages catering to human values—altruistic or egoistic—and messages in line with social and media norms, have been prevalent. We believe that such messages could be used by the Department of Parks to promote park visitation and support. The investigation of environmental-human health connections revealed water and air quality deterioration as strong forces that are affecting both environmental and human health. Such forces, ranging from lead poisoning in water to carbon emissions in air, were found to be detrimental to both environments and humans, thus connecting the two—when environments are damaged, human health is damaged as well. However, parks can help mitigate these forces in a variety of ways. Finally, the most effective forms of communication are those that are simple; messages that are straightforward and easy to understand by varied audiences. Furthermore, we found that messages that encourage environmental-human health protection were most effective when crafted as a social norm or human value, not by using information alone. Based on of these findings, we devised a set of recommendations for Department of Parks messaging that include four steps that should be used in crafting Department messages: begin with an introductory hook; describe environmental-human health connections; craft environmental-human health connections; conclude with a call to action. We hope that these steps will help the Department garner optimal public support for its parks and natural environment.Montgomery Count

Autism spectrum disorder in fragile X syndrome: Communication, social interaction, and specific behaviors

The present study extends our previous work on social behavior impairment in young males with fragile X syndrome (FraX). Specifically, we evaluated whether the autistic phenomenon in FraX is expressed as a range of behavioral impairments as in idiopathic autism (Aut). We also examined whether there are behaviors, identified as items of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), that in FraX predispose to or differentiate subjects with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Finally, regression models were utilized to test the relative contribution of reduced communication and socialization skills to ADI-R scores and diagnoses. A cohort of 56 boys (3-8 years) with FraX was examined in terms of scores on measures of cognition (IQ was a co-variate in most analyses.), autistic behavior, problem/aberrant behavior, adaptive behavior, and language development. We found that, indeed, in terms of problem behavior and adaptive skills, there is a range of severity from FraX þ Aut to FraX þ PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder) to FraX þ none. ADI-R items representing ''Play'' types of interaction appear to be ''susceptibility'' factors since they were abnormal across the FraX cohort. Integrated regression models demonstrated that items reflecting complex social interaction differentiated the FraX þ ASD (Aut þ PDD) subgroup from the rest of the FraX cohort, while abnormalities in basic verbal and non-verbal communication distinguished the most severely affected boys with FraX þ Aut from the milder FraX þ PDD cohort. Models incorporating language, adaptive communication, and adaptive socialization skills revealed that socialization was not only the main influence on scores but also a predictor of ASD diagnosis. Altogether, our findings demonstrate that the diagnosis of ASD in FraX reflects, to a large extent, an impairment in social interaction that is expressed with variable severity in young males with FraX. ß 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc