Teacher Bullies or Frustrated Teachers? How the Classroom Environment Affects the Teacher-Student Relationship

This quantitative research study examined the issue of teacher-student bullying behavior as perceived by third through eighth grade teachers in three suburban schools to determine if there was any relationship between teacher bullying behavior and an inclusive classroom setting. Two survey instruments were used, the Survey of Teachers’ Attitudes toward Inclusion (Cochran, 1998), and the Survey on Bullying Teachers and Teacher Bullying (Twemlow, Fonagy, Sacco, & Brethour, 2006). The results indicated there is a statistically significant difference between special education teachers’ and general education teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive classrooms. The results also indicated that teacher bullying occurs across settings by both special education teachers and general education teachers. No statistically significant relationship was found between inclusion classroom settings and teacher-student bullying behavior. Research on teacher-student bullying is in its infancy. By conducting studies like this one, teachers may become more aware of the impact their behavior has on students. Uncovering the serious issue of teacher-student bullying, and by identifying the elements related to teacher-student bullying, professional development, programming, and administrative intervention can be implemented more directly and effectively

How men and women learn about sex: multi-generational perspectives on insufficient preparedness and prevailing gender norms in Scotland

Attitudes towards sexual health and relationships are learned from a young age, and there is an ongoing need for innovative and comprehensive approaches to sex education that keep pace with rapidly changing contexts of people’s lives. We used thematic analysis of data from two qualitative studies in Scotland to explore learning contexts from a multi-generational perspective, as well as the influence of different socio-cultural factors on provision, access to and experience of sex education. The importance, but inadequacy, of school as a source of learning, was a persistent theme over time. Participants’ strategies to address perceived gaps in knowledge included experience, conversations, vicarious and online learning. Gender and age differences emerged, with younger participants more likely to go online for information, and prevailing gender norms shaping attitudes and behaviours across both study groups. Participants who identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual described feeling particularly unprepared for sex and relationships due to the narrow, heteronormative content received. Although schools continue to be a common source of information, it appears that they fail to equip young people for their post-school sexual life-course. We recommend the mandatory provision of comprehensive, positive, inclusive and skills-based learning to improve people’s chances of forming and building healthy, positive relationships across the lifespan

Expression of RUNX1 correlates with poor patient prognosis in triple negative breast cancer

The RUNX1 transcription factor is widely recognised for its tumour suppressor effects in leukaemia. Recently a putative link to breast cancer has started to emerge, however the function of RUNX1 in breast cancer is still unknown. To investigate if RUNX1 expression was important to clinical outcome in primary breast tumours a tissue microarray (TMA) containing biopsies from 483 patients with primary operable invasive ductal breast cancer was stained by immunohistochemistry. RUNX1 was associated with progesterone receptor (PR)-positive tumours (P<0.05), more tumour CD4+(P<0.05) and CD8+(P<0.01) T-lymphocytic infiltrate, increased tumour CD138+plasma cell (P<0.01) and more CD68+macrophage infiltrate (P<0.001). RUNX1 expression did not influence outcome of oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive or HER2-positive disease, however on univariate analysis a high RUNX1 protein was significantly associated with poorer cancer-specific survival in patients with ER-negative (P<0.05) and with triple negative (TN) invasive breast cancer (P<0.05). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis of cancer-specific survival showed a trend towards significance in ER-negative patients (P<0.1) and was significant in triple negative patients (P<0.05). Of relevance, triple negative breast cancer currently lacks good biomarkers and patients with this subtype do not benefit from the option of targeted therapy unlike patients with ER-positive or HER2-positive disease. Using multivariate analysis RUNX1 was identified as an independent prognostic marker in the triple negative subgroup. Overall, our study identifies RUNX1 as a new prognostic indicator correlating with poor prognosis specifically in the triple negative subtype of human breast cancer

Role of Self-Care in Sickle Cell Disease

Self-care is an important aspect of managing a chronic disease. In sickle cell disease (SCD), home self-care contributes to individual pain management and thus pain crisis prevention. A better understanding of self-care can help health care providers equip patients with the resources and skills necessary to participate in their disease management

Teacher Use of High-Stakes Test Score Data to Improve Instruction

Across the United States most school districts and state departments of education have embraced high-stakes testing for their public schools and students. This has led to widespread school reform since many students have not reached the standards that the states and/or districts have set. Teachers increasingly focus on making sure that their students have enough knowledge to pass these tests, and some states and districts have made passing scores a requirement for graduation. Many states and districts have invested considerable time aligning their standardized tests with the objectives of the curriculum. One of the consequences of high-stakes testing is that teachers have become more accountable for what they do in their classrooms. Of particular relevance to this study is the professional development that teachers engage in to understand and use students’ standardized test scores. The emphasis is on helping teachers review the scores and data of these tests to help them make informed decisions about their instructional practices. This research, then, addresses the use of standardized test scores by teachers to improve instruction and student learning. In Virginia, state high-stakes tests are called Standards of Learning (SOL) tests. These tests are currently administered in grades 3, 5, and 8 and in the four major subject areas (English, mathematics, science, and social studies), and at the end of high school courses. Schools and school divisions are provided test result data at the end of the school year or in early summer for school year just ended. Further distribution of data to teachers varies, and is the focus of this study. The purpose of this research is to determine the extent to which teachers have used SOL test data to change or modify instruction, and to identify procedures that have promoted effective and accurate use of SOL test data

Teachers\u27 Use of High-Stakes Test Results to Improve Instruction: A Review of Literature

Across the United States many school districts and state departments of education have embraced high-stakes testing for their public schools and students. This has led to widespread school reform since many students have not reached the standards that the states and/or districts have set. Teachers increasingly focus on making sure that their students have enough knowledge to pass these tests, and some states and districts have made passing scores a requirement for graduation. Many states and districts have invested considerable time aligning their standardized tests with the objectives of the curriculum. One of the consequences of high-stakes testing is that teachers have become more accountable for what they do in their classrooms. Of particular relevance to this review is the professional development that teachers engage in to understand and use students’ standardized test scores. The emphasis is on helping teachers review the test scores and data of these tests so as to make informed decisions regarding instructional practices. This review will examine literature that has addressed the use of standardized test scores by teachers to improve instruction and student learning. The guidelines, principles, and suggestions are presented by level of general application, beginning with broad, general principles of test use and ending with practices specific to MERC school divisions. Figure 1 provides an overview of the major categories that will be covered

A disease-specific measure of health-related quality of life for use in adults with immune thrombocytopenic purpura: Its development and validation

BACKGROUND: No validated disease-specific measures are available to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adult subjects with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Therefore, we sought to develop and validate the ITP-Patient Assessment Questionnaire (ITP-PAQ) for adult subjects with ITP. METHODS: Information from literature reviews, focus groups with subjects, and clinicians were used to develop 50 ITP-PAQ items. Factor analyses were conducted to develop the scale structure and reduce the number of items. The final 44-item ITP-PAQ, which includes ten scales [Symptoms (S), Bother-Physical Health (B), Fatigue/Sleep (FT), Activity (A), Fear (FR), Psychological Health (PH), Work (W), Social Activity (SA), Women's Reproductive Health (RH), and Overall (QoL)], was self-administered to adult ITP subjects at baseline and 7–10 days later. Test-retest reliability, internal consistency reliability, construct and known groups validity of the final ITP-PAQ were evaluated. RESULTS: Seventy-three subjects with ITP completed the questionnaire twice. Test-retest reliability, as measured by the intra-class correlation, ranged from 0.52–0.90. Internal consistency reliability was demonstrated with Cronbach's alpha for all scales above the acceptable level of 0.70 (range: 0.71–0.92), except for RH (0.66). Construct validity, assessed by correlating ITP-PAQ scales with established measures (Short Form-36 v.1, SF-36 and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CES-D), was demonstrated through moderate correlations between the ITP-PAQ SA and SF-36 Social Function scales (r = 0.67), and between ITP-PAQ PH and SF-36 Mental Health Scales (r = 0.63). Moderate to strong inter-scale correlations were reported between ITP-PAQ scales and the CES-D, except for the RH scale. Known groups validity was evaluated by comparing mean scores for groups that differed clinically. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.01) were observed when subjects were categorized by treatment status [S, FT, B, A, PH, and QoL, perceived effectiveness of ITP treatment [S], and time elapsed since ITP diagnosis [PH]. CONCLUSION: Results provide preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of the ITP-PAQ in adult subjects with ITP. Further work should be conducted to assess the responsiveness and to estimate the minimal clinical important difference of the ITP-PAQ to more fully understand the impact of ITP and its treatments on HRQoL