How do Kentucky Educators\u27 Opinions of Single Sex Classrooms differ between those with Experience in Sex Classes and those with no Experience in Single Sex Classes?

An applied project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Education Specialist at Morehead State University by Dewey Ray Ward on May 7, 2009

Dewey Ward Correspondence

Entries include the brief biographical information of a New York City author and her letter of reply to the Maine State Library that she had just been married and was moving to Paris, France, with a typed letter from the Maine State Library on receipt of Mrs. Dewey Ward Hervey\u27s novel set in Maine The Unsheltered for the Maine Author Collection

Qualitative study of the effect of a quality improvement collaborative for better management of sleep problems presenting to primary care

Introduction Sleep problems are common with scope for improving sleep management in general practice. There is considerable evidence of inappropriate long term prescribing of hypnotics and underuse of psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBTi). We aimed to investigate practitioners’ experience of the feasibility and practicability of implementing sleep assessment tools and non-pharmacological interventions for sleep management in primary care. Method We set up a Quality Improvement Collaborative (QIC) with eight general practices in Lincolnshire, East Midlands, UK as part of the Resources for Effective Sleep Treatment (REST) project to study potential new approaches for implementing sleep assessment methods and CBTi in practice. The project team met monthly with practice teams to share learning about sleep management and data were collected using audiotapes to understand the facilitators, barriers and changes that practices were making as a result of the QIC. Audiotapes were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was carried out with the aid of MAXQDA. Results Meetings with each practice team (2 each) and the collaborative group (4) during the QIC were analysed. Nine themes emerged: engagement of staff, practitioner views of different tools, barriers to implementing the sleep tools and techniques, practitioner and patient preconceptions and expectations of treatment, educational and support needs of patients and staff, changes initiated/to be initiated by practices and the importance of a tailored approach. Discussion Practitioners’ preconceptions, attitudes, beliefs and educational needs needed to be addressed for successful implementation of sleep tools and techniques. Qualitative methods for collecting and analysing data were invaluable in understanding the factors which helped bring about change, how change happened and the effect of the change on process of care. A collaborative approach utilising quality improvement techniques informed development of an interdisciplinary model for management of sleep problems in primary care: ‘problem focused therapy’. This uses a consultation approach comprising careful assessment and use of modified CBTi for insomnia in the consultation, which is being investigated in an exploratory randomised controlled trial. If ‘problem focused therapy’ is successful then we expect a substantial improvement in the quality of patient care in the primary care treatment of insomnia

Resources for Effective Sleep Treatment (REST): case study of engaging general practice teams to improve the quality of care for patients presenting with sleep problems

Introduction Sleep problems are common with perceptions that management should be improved in general practice. There is considerable evidence of underuse of sleep assessment tools and psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBTi), continuing evidence of inappropriate long term prescribing of hypnotics and a perception of poor practice among patients and practitioners. The Resources for Effective Sleep Treatment (REST) project aimed to study new approaches and models for implementing sleep assessment methods and CBTi into routine practice in a large rural county as part of a wider quality improvement programme. Method We used a multiple case study approach and logic model to describe how we approached the problem of engaging general practitioners in improving sleep management. Using practices as the units of analysis we describe how we (re)framed the problem, developed solutions and saw the impact of these on changing practice. We used qualitative and time series analysis of prescribing to show changes in care over time. Results Within two years of starting, over one third of practices had participated in the quality improvement project with evidence of change in routines in some practices. We gathered evidence on what care patients currently received and what they needed, how practitioners responded and how they could change practice, how practice teams redesigned processes of care and the impact of these changes on quality of care and prescribing for sleep problems. Discussion We used a range of approaches to understand the need for and receptiveness to change in management of sleep problems, how change could be introduced into general practice and how these changes could be spread more widely. Potential problems of generalisability were addressed through triangulating evidence. An approach using multiple methods sequentially and concurrently, to understand the problem of sleep management and how to improve it, has helped inform development of a multidisciplinary model for management of sleep problems in primary care. ‘Problem focused therapy’ uses a consultation approach comprising careful assessment and use of modified CBTi for insomnia, which if adopted more widely will potentially improve the quality of patient care in the primary care treatment of insomnia

Talk to us! Communication is a key factor in improving the comfort of MRI research participants

Context: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an invaluable diagnostic and research tool. Having an MRI scan is not always comfortable and may deter people from taking part in MRI research. Maximising comfort during scanning will improve participants' experiences and image quality. Objective: To define which factors are important for comfort during a research MRI scan by asking people who have participated in MRI research. Setting and participants: People who had participated in MRI research during the past two years were invited, as 'public advisors' to discuss their experiences together and agree on which factors are most important in ensuring comfort while participating in MRI research. Results: Public advisors ranked researcher-participant communication as the most important factor. In response, an example script to guide MRI researchers in communicating with participants was developed through close consultation between research staff, public advisors, and the public. This outlines the often-missing information necessary to convey to participants, including explaining the reasons behind instructions, managing expectations, providing reassurance, encouragement, and progress updates during scanning. Conclusions: Drawing upon personal experiences as MRI research participants, public advisors highlighted the importance of effective and ongoing researcher communication throughout. The example script may be used as a training tool for researchers to help ensure participants' comfort during scanning. Patient and public contribution: All contributors had previously taken part in MRI research. The project was co-designed, co-delivered and co-authored with a public research partner. Public advisors agreed key factors of importance. External public reviewers and public advisors reviewed example script drafts. Data Availability Statement No further data were generated in this patient and public consultation

Knowing in primary physical education in the UK: negotiating movement culture

This paper aims to understand how pupils and teachers actions-in-context constitute being-a-pupil and being-a-teacher within a primary school physical education (PE) movement culture. Dewey and Bentley's theory of transaction, which views organism-in-environment-as-a-whole, enables the researcher to explore how actions-in-ongoing activities constitute and negotiate PE movement culture. Video footage from seven primary school PE lessons from a school in the West Midlands in the UK was analysed by focusing upon the ends-in-view of actions as they appeared through the educational content (what) and pedagogy (how) of the recorded PE experiences. Findings indicated that the movement culture within the school was a monoculture of looks-like-sport characterised by the privileging of the functional coordination of cooperative action. Three themes of pupils' and teachers' negotiation of the movement culture emerged U-turning, Knowing the game and Moving into and out of games. This movement culture required teachers to ensure pupils looked busy and reproduced cooperative looks-like-sport actions. In fulfilling this role, they struggled to negotiate between their knowledge of sport-for-real and directing pupils towards educational ends-in-view within games activities. Simply being good at sports was not a prerequisite for pupils' success in this movement culture. In order to re-actualise their knowledge of sport, pupils were required to negotiate the teacher's ‘how’ and ‘what’ by exploring what constituted cooperative actions within the spatial and social dimensions of the activities they were set. These findings suggest that if PE is to be more than just the reproduction of codified sport, careful adjustment and consideration of ends-in-view is of great importance. Without regard for the latter there is potential to create significant complexity for both teachers and pupils beyond that required by learning and performing sport

Narratives of self and identity in women's prisons: stigma and the struggle for self-definition in penal regimes

A concern with questions of selfhood and identity has been central to penal practices in women's prisons, and to the sociology of women's imprisonment. Studies of women's prisons have remained preoccupied with women prisoners’ social identities, and their apparent tendency to adapt to imprisonment through relationships. This article explores the narratives of women in two English prisons to demonstrate the importance of the self as a site of meaning for prisoners and the central place of identity in micro-level power negotiations in prisons

The missing link: self-assessment and continuing professional development

The purpose of this paper is to review current understanding of the role of self-assessment in continuing education, particularly in the health professions, and to examine how this knowledge can assist in more effective continuing education. The ongoing debate over compulsory continuing professional development (CPD) has seen a variety of approaches proposed. CPD programmes are expected to foster self-assessing and self-directed practitioners, but the common structure is reported to be largely ineffectual in modifying behaviour. If dentistry is to maintain the rights and privileges of a self-regulating profession, then it must ensure that the development and judgement of ongoing competence is meaningful. Improving practitioners’ knowledge of the how and why of effective self-assessment should improve participation in, and outcomes of, CPD. An oft-repeated observation is that the least competent are the most confident. If this is the case, then the idea that dentists should be able, or entitled, to choose the path of their continuing professional development must be open to question. We propose that development of the ability of practitioners to self-assess their ongoing requirements for CPD is essential if all stakeholders are to get the maximum return for effort.C. Redwood, T. Winning, G. Townsen