Statistical Significance and Evidenced-Based Policies: A Realistic View

The call for evidenced-based policies in the field of education has prompted the encouragement of a greater reliance on experimental designs. Without an awareness of the limitations of Null Hypothesis Statistical Testing (NHST), these changes will likely fail in making educational research more influential. NHST does not yield practical information. Researchers and educators must work together to develop theory that is meaningful and practical that can be tested and replicated over time. The purpose of this article is to revisit the limitations of NHST while explaining how these limitations are important to practitioners

Mathematics Teacher Learning Preferences: Self-Determination Theory Implications for Addressing Their Learning Needs

Participant perceptions of the effectiveness of the Middle School Project Partnership (pseudonym) professional development course strategies were evaluated using Q Methodology. Factor analysis of participant sorts of a Q set developed from interviews and observations yielded three teacher types, with one group preferring social activities, the second preferring activities promoting deeper understanding, and the third preferring autonomy in their learning. These teacher types are consistent with the basic needs identified in Self-Determination Theory which is commonly employed as a theory to explain motivation associated with positive outcomes in the field of education.  Participant types did not differ by gender, course location, teaching experience, or scores on measures of teacher conceptual understanding of mathematics. Findings indicate that professional development activities should be varied to meet the learning needs of teachers, which tend to differ based on the range of teachers’ self-determination to engage in the professional learning activities. Teachers appeared to interact with course strategies and activities in a manner that met underlying needs for learning. Therefore, collecting this type of information from teachers could be used to design training in ways that will lead to increased self-efficacy and enhanced experiences for all teachers. Future research is necessary to explore the possible connection between self-determination theory and teacher outcomes as designing teacher development activities and strategies using a theoretical framework for motivation might strengthen existing approaches and outcomes including retention and fidelity to instructional approaches. Keywords: Self-Determination Theory, Professional Development, Middle School, Learning Preference

Cross-Sectional Nutrition Profile of Palliative Home Care Clients in Ontario and Performance of the interRAI Palliative Care Nutrition Clinical Assessment Protocol

Background: The nutrition profile of palliative home care clients is unknown. This study describes this group and their nutrition issues and evaluates the performance of the interRAI nutrition Clinical Assessment Protocol (CAP). Methods: This was a cross-sectional secondary analysis using Ontario interRAI Palliative Care (interRAI PC) Assessment data. The sample represents 74,963 unique Ontario home care clients assessed between 2011 and 2018. Frequencies and standardized differences (stdiffs) of nutrition characteristics were presented for cancer (n = 62,394) and noncancer (n = 12,569) diagnostic subgroups. Rates of triggering the nutrition CAP were presented by nutrition issue to evaluate its performance. Results: Of this sample, 16.7% were ≥85 years of age, 52.6% had a prognosis between 6 weeks and 6 months, and 41.4% required assistance with eating. The prevalence was higher among those with nervous/mental/behavioral disorders (72.6%) compared with those with cancer (37.6%; stdiff = 0.75). However, most nutrition issues experienced were similar (stdiff \u3c 0.20) across diagnostic groups. Of the entire sample, 21% triggered the nutrition CAP, indicating a need for further evaluation or intervention. Yet, 73.4% of those who experienced dry mouth, 71.8% of those who required assistance with eating, and 68.4% of those who received a nutrition consult within the last 3 days did not trigger the nutrition CAP. Conclusions: Nutrition issues are prevalent in palliative home care clients, regardless of diagnosis; yet the nutrition CAP identified a small fraction of this group. There is a need to focus research and care guidelines toward life-limiting illnesses beyond cancer and address nutrition-related issues in this population

Middle Level Mathematics Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Growth through Professional Development: Differences Based on Mathematical Background

Profile analyses were used to investigate differences in the self-efficacy growth of teachers with more and less mathematics background as the teachers participated in professional development across two summers. Professional development activities were associated with increases in teachers’ self-efficacy; however, without considering mathematics knowledge for teaching, teachers with more math background tended to benefit more than those with less background. Nonetheless, teachers with less math background had higher levels of teacher self-efficacy although this gap was closed by the last measurement. Such considerations are important when designing professional development as teachers may have different needs based on specific characteristics such as preparation in their teaching domain

Data Security: Protecting the Privacy of Phone Records

This report discusses recent legislative and regulatory efforts to protect the privacy of customer telephone records, and efforts to prevent the unauthorized use, disclosure, or sale of such records by data brokers. In addition, it provides a brief overview of the confidentiality protections for customer information established by the Communications Act of 1934

Data Security: Protecting the Privacy of Phone Records

This report discusses recent legislative and regulatory efforts to protect the privacy of customer telephone records, and efforts to prevent the unauthorized use, disclosure, or sale of such records by data brokers. In addition, it provides a brief overview of the confidentiality protections for customer information established by the Communications Act of 1934

Prognosis Does not Change the Landscape: Palliative Home Care Clients Experience High Rates of Pain and Nausea, Regardless of Prognosis

Background: Most individuals who typically receive palliative care (PC) tend to have cancer and a relatively short prognosis (\u3c 6 months). People with other life-limiting illnesses can also benefit from a palliative care approach. However, little is known about those who receive palliative home care in Ontario, Canada\u27s largest province. To address this gap, the goal of this project was to understand the needs, symptoms and potential differences between those with a shorter (\u3c 6 months) and longer prognosis (6+ months) for individuals receiving PC in the community. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using interRAI Palliative Care (interRAI PC) assessment data collected between 2011 and 2018. Individuals with a shorter prognosis (\u3c 6 months; n = 48,019 or 64.1%) were compared to those with a longer prognosis (6+ months; n = 26,945) across several clinical symptoms. The standardized difference (stdiff), between proportions, was calculated to identify statistically meaningful differences between those with a shorter and longer prognosis. Values of the stdiff of 0.2 or higher (absolute value) indicated a statistically significant difference. Results: Overall, cancer was the most prevalent diagnosis (83.2%). Those with a shorter prognosis were significantly more likely to experience fatigue (75.3% vs. 59.5%; stdiff = 0.34) and shortness of breath at rest (22.1% vs. 13.4%; stdiff = 0.23). However, the two groups were similar in terms of severe pain (73.5% vs. 66.5%; stdiff = - 0.15), depressive symptoms (13.2% vs. 10.7%; stdiff = 0.08) and nausea (35.7% vs. 29.4%; stdiff = 0.13). Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of earlier identification of individuals who could benefit from a palliative approach to their care as individuals with a longer prognosis also experience high rates of symptoms such as pain and nausea. Providing PC earlier in the illness trajectory has the potential to improve an individual\u27s overall quality of life throughout the duration of their illness

Health Sciences Librarians’ Perceptions of Interprofessional Education & Collaboration

Objective: Librarians have a unique perspective on the value of working with other health professions. We sought to learn more about health sciences librarians' experiences with interprofessional activities and to assess their perceptions of interprofessional education (IPE) using a standard measure, the Interprofessional Education Perception Scale (IEPS). Methods: We used a cross-sectional survey design to assess librarians’ perceptions toward IPE, and to gather information on librarian participation in interprofessional activities. The survey consisted of a demographics section; the IEPS, an instrument developed to assess perceived attitudes about interdisciplinary collaboration for one’s own profession; and questions about the librarian’s prior and current experiences with IPE. It was sent via email lists to the MLA Interprofessional Education Special Interest Group (IPE-SIG), and the Research Section (RS), as a comparison group. After overlap between groups was addressed, mean IEPS scores between populations were compared to explore differences in attitudes and perceptions. Other variables of interest included years of experience as a librarian, previous career as a health professional, and experience teaching or supporting interprofessional education. We also compared librarians’ IEPS scores with those of health professional students published previously. Results: Librarians’ scores on the IEPS indicated highly positive perceptions towards IPE. There were no statistically significant differences between the IPE-SIG and RS groups (p=0.59), years of experience as a librarian (p=0.82), previous career as a health professional (p=0.91), or experience supporting IPE (p=0.16). Librarians’ mean IEPS score (262.9) was slightly less than the mean score of all health profession students (265.9) from a prior study by Hawk, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.43). Themes identified from two open-ended questions included librarian involvement in teaching and facilitating required learning activities for health professions students, committee involvement, and non-curricular activities such as Grand Rounds and book clubs. Five respondents addressed impact of their activities. Less frequent themes included perceiving respect for librarians as part of IPE, feeling undervalued, and desiring more involvement. Conclusion: This study provides the first data for the IEPS with health sciences librarians. The health sciences librarians who participated in this research report highly positive attitudes towards IPE, in line with the majority of other health professionals studied previously. Years of experience, previous health professional careers, and experience supporting IPE as a librarian had little bearing on the responses to the survey. This suggests that health sciences librarians have positive attitudes towards IPE, regardless of whether they directly support IPE programs

Mathematicians’ Central Role in Educating the STEM Workforce

In the recent report Engage to Excel,1 President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) identifies mathematics as a bottleneck in undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Among PCAST’s recommendations are ones calling for the development and teaching of college-level mathematics courses “by faculty from mathematics-intensive disciplines other than mathematics” and for “a new pathway for producing K–12 mathematics teachers…in programs in mathematics-intensive fields other than mathematics.”2 While we are in sharp disagreement with these specific recommendations, we do share PCAST’s concern for the state of STEM education. We encourage the mathematics community to focus constructively on the broad view the report sketches. We appeal to the community to amplify its communications with other STEM disciplines, to publicize its teaching innovations, and to redouble its efforts to meet the challenges discussed by PCAST