The Educational Achievement Gap as a Social Justice Issue for Teacher Educators

The educational achievement gap is a critical social justice issue. Catholic and Marianist conceptions of social justice in particular call people to work with others in their spheres of life to transform institutions in order to further human rights while promoting the common good. Drawing on key elements of Catholic teaching on social justice, we argue that the achievement gap constitutes a social injustice. We then offer a case illustrating collaboration between university-based teacher educators and school faculty to address the achievement gap through transforming the institutions of school and of teacher preparation. The Dayton Early College Academy (DECA), founded on the University of Dayton’s campus to prepare seventh through 12th graders to become first-generation college graduates, has become an essential site for preparing University of Dayton teacher candidates to become effective teachers of traditionally underachieving students. Our collaboration has resulted in the ongoing transformation of a school and a university’s teacher education program to address the social injustice of the educational achievement gap

Smoking as a risk factor for lung cancer in women and men: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Published by BMJ. Objectives To investigate the sex-specific association between smoking and lung cancer. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources We searched PubMed and EMBASE from 1 January 1999 to 15 April 2016 for cohort studies. Cohort studies before 1 January 1999 were retrieved from a previous meta-analysis. Individual participant data from three sources were also available to supplement analyses of published literature. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Cohort studies reporting the sex-specific relative risk (RR) of lung cancer associated with smoking. Results Data from 29 studies representing 99 cohort studies, 7 million individuals and >50 000 incident lung cancer cases were included. The sex-specific RRs and their ratio comparing women with men were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis with inverse-variance weighting. The pooled multiple-adjusted lung cancer RR was 6.99 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 5.09 to 9.59) in women and 7.33 (95% CI 4.90 to 10.96) in men. The pooled ratio of the RRs was 0.92 (95% CI 0.72 to 1.16; I 2 =89%; p<0.001), with no evidence of publication bias or differences across major pre-defined participant and study subtypes. The women-to-men ratio of RRs was 0.99 (95% CI 0.65 to 1.52), 1.11 (95% CI 0.75 to 1.64) and 0.94 (95% CI 0.69 to 1.30), for light, moderate and heavy smoking, respectively. Conclusions Smoking yields similar risks of lung cancer in women compared with men. However, these data may underestimate the true risks of lung cancer among women, as the smoking epidemic has not yet reached full maturity in women. Continued efforts to measure the sex-specific association of smoking and lung cancer are required

Sometimes Hesitancy is Key: Effects of Moral Deliberations on Children\u27s Interpretation of Credibility Cues

Children often treat confident individuals as credible sources of information. Yet, confidence may differentially signify credibility depending upon the domain of knowledge. For example, when dealing with factual information, confident responses indicate greater credibility. However, when deliberating about moral issues, hesitancy may reflect a deeper level of thoughtfulness, and therefore credibility. This study investigated children’s credibility judgments of individuals who differed in the level of confidence (confident vs. hesitant) in two domains of knowledge (factual, moral).In a between-subjects design, children 3-8 years (N=96 planned with 52 participants thus far) listened to a confident and hesitant model make either novel factual (e.g., which animal has an omentum inside?) or moral claims (e.g., which animal should get the last piece of fish?). Across eight trials (4 confident, 4 hesitant), children rated the models on a 4-point scale (0=not at all, 3=a lot) in terms of confidence level, likeability, smartness, and agreement with her answer.Preliminary analyses using a 2 (confidence level) x 2 (domain) x 6 (age) ANOVA indicated significant main effects (psThis research will advance knowledge in how (and when) children use cues about individuals’ credibility when determining who is a trustworthy source of new information. This research will also provide a more nuanced understanding of how children interpret levels of confidence across different domains of knowledge

THE EFFECTS OF AN ERGONOMIC DEVICE ON SAGITTAL PLANE LOWER EXTREMITY MOTION DURING A FULL SQUAT IN ACL-REPAIRED AND NON-INJURED FEMALES

Each year, 250,000 Americans experience injuries affecting the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), with women four to six times more likely to incur an ACL injury than their male counterparts. Knee Savers® (KS) are an ergonomic aid purported to lessen the risk of such injuries linked to deep squats. While widely used, KS have not been tested to determine their effect upon lower extremity kinematics. Female participants (n=20) with a history of ACLrepair (n=10) or non-injury (n=10) completed a deep squat with and without KS, while being filmed with 2D videography using methods increasingly available in clinical environments. Results from the study indicate no significant differences were found in sagittal plane lower extremity kinematics when squatting with and without KS. KS did not appear to influence lower extremity joint positions during the bottom phase of a deep squat as purported

Efficacy of Electromyography and the Dead Bug Exercise

The Dead Bug exercise is performed in physical therapy clinics to restore lumbar spine stability and core strength in patients with lower back pain (LBP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of using electromyography (EMG) feedback to enhance proper mechanics during the Dead Bug exercise. Sixteen healthy, college age students volunteered as subjects for the study. Subjects performed the Dead Bug (Fig. 1a.) with and without visual EMG cues and were given instructions on how to execute the exercise. Data was recorded using a BTS FREEEMG Analyzer and signal processed and data analyzed using the BTS SEMGanalyzer software (BTS Bioengineering, Brooklyn, NY). Electrodes were placed on the right rectus abdominis (RA) and right rectus femoris (RF) of each subject of the agonist and antagonist muscle of the movement, respectively. Subjects performed two trials of the exercise on two test days with two weeks in between testing. EMG data were normalized using subjects’ maximum voluntary contraction. Students’ paired t-tests were used for statistical analysis with a p \u3c 0.05 used for significance. The averages of the normalized EMG data (ND) between both visual trials for RA and RF, mean + standard deviation, were 0.302 ± 0.158 and 0.118 ± 0.094, respectively. The averages of the normalized EMG data between both nonvisual trials for RA and RF were 0.284 ± 0.146 and 0.084 ± 0.049, respectively. No significant differences were found for visual and nonvisual trials for agonist and antagonist muscles (Table 2). After evaluation of the study, the study protocol was determined to not be identical to a typical physical therapy setting which utilizes continuous feedback to the patient. Therefore, pilot testing of two subjects was performed on the Dying Bug exercise (Fig. 1b&c.) with continuous visual, biomechanical, palpation, and verbal feedback. As anticipated, a positive trend was shown in mean visual values relative to nonvisual values for the targeted muscles (Table 1)

The Use of EMG as a Physical Therapy Learning Aid

The purpose of this study was to compare the muscle recruitment of an agonist and antagonist muscle during the step up physical therapy exercise with and without visual electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback. 15 healthy, college-aged subjects were recruited to participate in the study. Subjects performed the step up with and without visual feedback in two separate sessions over a four week period. Muscle activity was recorded from the Vastus Medialis (VMO) of the target leg and Medial Gastrocnemius on the contralateral leg. EMG recordings were collected using a BTS FREEEMG system and data was processed using BTS SEMGanalyzer software (BTS Bioengineering, Brooklyn, NY). Results: Average Gastrocnemius muscle activity during visual sessions was .340 mV (SD .141) and .310 mV (SD .138) during non-visual sessions. Average VMO muscle activity was .309 mV (SD .097) during visual sessions and .299 mV (SD .139) during non-visual sessions. A paired t-test was used to determine statistical significance between visual and non-visual sessions. Values were considered significant with a p\u3c.05. No significant difference was observed between visual and non-visual trials for the agonist and antagonist muscles. Two subsequent trials were conducted while visual, verbal and palpation feedback was given throughout the entirety of the exercise. The results showed greater muscle activity in the agonist muscle and less activity in the antagonist muscle when the subject received biofeedback. These findings support the conclusions of previous studies (Holermann, Taian, Vieira, Taskiran, Ekblom, One-Bin), suggesting that EMG biofeedback can be used as a tool for proper muscle recruitment during physical therapy exercises

Urban PDS Partnership: Preparing Teachers for Social Justice

We believe that for urban schools to meet their goals and mission — in the way the DECA is modeling — takes a partnership among many stakeholders. One such partnership that supports DECA, and might buttress other schools and students — and simultaneously help to enact a social justice ideal — is a school-university connection. DECA was founded as a Professional Development School (PDS), with the school and university developing a reciprocal relationship with a shared focus on the preparation of new teachers, the enhancement of high school students\u27 achievement, school and university faculty members\u27 professional development, and collaborative inquiries aimed at improving instructional practices for all of the educators involved. In this chapter, we will describe our Midwestern university\u27s response to two social justice issues: the lack of support for urban students to be ready for college; and the issue of teacher quality in urban schools. DECA explicitly endeavors to respond to the dearth of educational opportunities for city youth. As well, as a PDS, DECA serves the university and our profession as a site for preparing the next generation of urban teachers. Our partnership relies on a PDS framework and a social justice approach to impact students\u27 access to learning and to develop quality educators through learning communities. Using the lenses of the Marianist Catholic tradition and the PDS mission, here we will frame our social justice stance. We will specifically describe the revamping of two critical courses in the teacher education program with the goal of enacting social justice through developing effective teachers for urban settings

The risk of infection by African swine fever virus in European swine through boar movement and legal trade of pigs and pig meat

African swine fever (ASF) is currently spreading westwards throughout Europe and eastwards into China, with cases occurring in both wild boar and domestic pigs. A generic risk assessment framework is used to determine the probability of first infection with ASF virus (ASFV) at a fine spatial scale across European Union Member States. The framework aims to assist risk managers across Europe with their ASF surveillance and intervention activities. Performing the risk assessment at a fine spatial scale allows for hot-spot surveillance, which can aid risk managers by directing surveillance or intervention resources at those areas or pathways deemed most at risk, and hence enables prioritization of limited resources. We use 2018 cases of ASF to estimate prevalence of the disease in both wild boar and pig populations and compute the risk of initial infection for 2019 at a 100 km2 cell resolution via three potential pathways: legal trade in live pigs, natural movement of wild boar, and legal trade in pig meat products. We consider the number of pigs, boar and amount of pig meat entering our area of interest, the prevalence of the disease in the origin country, the probability of exposure of susceptible pigs or boar in the area of interest to introduced infected pigs, boar, or meat from an infected pig, and the probability of transmission to susceptible animals. We provide maps across Europe indicating regions at highest risk of initial infection. Results indicate that the risk of ASF in 2019 was predominantly focused on those regions which already had numerous cases in 2018 (Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, and Latvia). The riskiest pathway for ASFV transmission to pigs was the movement of wild boar for Eastern European countries and legal trade of pigs for Western European countries. New infections are more likely to occur in wild boar rather than pigs, for both the pig meat and wild boar movement pathways. Our results provide an opportunity to focus surveillance activities and thus increase our ability to detect ASF introductions earlier, a necessary requirement if we are to successfully control the spread of this devastating disease for the pig industry

Flower power: testing social media advertising strategies for floral products

Social media and the internet have impacted how companies and organizations advertise to consumers. Digital advertising has created the opportunity to engage with consumers, target specific groups, and capture metrics of use to help build effective advertising strategies. The floral industry is a large sector within the agricultural arena, which is primed to engage with young consumers. This research examined the effectiveness of utilizing static and animated social media advertisements to increase consumers’ intention to purchase floral products. Using an online survey and an experimental design, this study examined 8,488 respondents’ intention to purchase floral products after viewing static and animated social media advertisements. This study identified respondents’ attitudes, social norms, age, and internet use to be significant predictors in their intent to purchase floral products. Recommendations from a theoretical and applied perspective are discussed within relation to the study’s findings to advance strategic advertising in the floral industry