Differentiating the Principal Evaluation: Policy Advocacy Document

High-quality school leadership is pertinent to improving school performance and raising student achievement. Research supports that the impact of leadership is most significant in schools with the greatest needs (Clifford & Ross, 2012). Further, research suggests that leadership is the second most important factor impacting student achievement (Mitgang, 2013). This policy advocates for Chicago Public School (CPS) District 299 to implement a policy that differentiates Principal Evaluation. Implementing this policy could create a more equitable evaluation system to support, hire, and retain effective leadership in every school in Chicago. Creating a policy to support the implementation of a principal evaluation system designed to provide all students the high-quality education they deserve represents a critical tool for building equity in the education children receive in every school in CPS District 299

Improving Progress Structures To Impact Student Achievement At An Elementary School

This Change Plan paper is the second part of a three-part dissertation on improving the progress monitoring structures to impact student achievement. Progress monitoring is a powerful instructional tool within the instructional cycle to increase student performance. When teachers implement the instructional cycle with fidelity, planning instruction, incorporating research-based practices, assessing instruction, and analyzing data, the use of progress monitoring can shift from a mundane task needing to be completed for the administration, district, and/or state, to an integral component of teaching (Santi & Vaughn, 2007). Wagner et al’s (2006) As-Is and To-Be charts were used for ABC Elementary School, a pseudonym for a charter school located on the South Side of an urban community in the Midwest, to identify and present the current status and future desired state of the school’s competencies, conditions, culture, and context. As well, this research examined research-based strategies to implement progress-monitoring structures to impact student achievement

The Impact of Progress Monitoring Structures on Student Achievement

This program evaluation studied the impact of teacher efficacy on progress monitoring structures. To examine the effectiveness of teachers’ efficacy on implementing a progress monitoring tool, teachers in grades 3-8 were administered a questionnaire to discover their perceptions about implementing progress monitoring with fidelity, their ability to use a computer-based program, their comfort in doing so, and the quality of the data it enabled them to view. The results of the questionnaire suggest that teacher efficacy is an important factor in implementing progress monitoring

Treatment outcomes using CBT-IA with Internet-addicted patients

Background and Aims: Internet Gaming Disorder, a subtype of Internet Addiction, is now classified in Section 3 of the DSM-5. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been suggested in treating Internet addiction as this modality has been shown to be an effective treatment for similar impulse control disorders. Given the daily and necessary use of the Internet and technology in general compared to other compulsive syndromes, a specialized form of CBT has been developed called Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Internet Addiction (CBT-IA). CBT-IA is a comprehensive three phase approach that includes behavior modification to control compulsive Internet use, cognitive restructuring to identify, challenge, and modify cognitive distortions that lead to addictive use, and harm reduction techniques to address and treat co-morbid issues associated with the disorder. Methods: As the first model of its kind, this study examines 128 clients to measure treatment outcomes using CBT-IA. Clients were evaluated using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) to classify subjects and were administered twelve weekly sessions of CBT-IA. Treatment outcomes were measured at the end of the twelve weeks, one-month, three months and at six month post-treatment. Results: Results showed that over 95% of clients were able to manage symptoms at the end of the twelve weeks and 78% sustained recovery six months following treatment. Discussion and Conclusions: Results found that CBT-IA was effective at ameliorating symptoms associated with Internet addiction after twelve weekly sessions and consistently over one-month, three months, and six months after therapy. Further research implications such as investigating long-term outcome effects of the model with larger client populations and treatment differences among the subtypes of Internet addiction or with other cultural populations using CBT-IA are discussed

Psychometric properties of the Internet Addiction Test in Turkish

Background and aims In this study, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) was adapted to Turkish language, which was originally developed by Young (1998) in English to measure the presence and severity of the Internet dependency. The main purpose was to ensure that the psychometric features and the factor structure of the test were suitable for Turkish university students. Method The study was conducted in two sequent phases. Participants were 990 undergraduate students from several public universities in Turkey. Results In the first phase, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied to figure out the factor structure of the Turkish version of the IAT. The EFA revealed four factors, which explained 46.02% of the total variance. In the following phase, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted with a different sample, to verify the factor structure that was found in the initial EFA. The CFA resulted four-factor model was satisfactory for the Turkish version of the IAT. These four factors were named as Mood, Relationship, Responsibilities, and Duration. Conclusions Based on the findings, the administration of Turkish version of the IAT provided acceptable results on undergraduate students

Current Trends in Inclusive and Special Education in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and Finland

Although there is a global commitment to the implementation of inclusive education, it is developing at a different pace and taking different forms in different school systems. The existing educational structures as well as current socio-political context impact the developmental paths of any school system. In this chapter we will describe recent changes in education policy and educational practices related to the support system of students with special education needs in country of Finland and in a Canadian province, Newfoundland and Labrador. Educational statistics, policy documents as well as recent research findings from these jurisdictions will be examined in order to provide a comparison and analysis of current trends in inclusive and special education.Peer reviewe

An Adolescent Nutrition Learning Model to Facilitate Behavior Change in Overweight Teens

Understanding the process by which adolescents learn about nutrition is necessary for developing tailored education that leads to sustainable behavior change. Teens aged 15–17 participating in an obesity prevention program were interviewed. From the data, three themes emerged and informed development of an adolescent nutrition learning model. The themes were (a) valuable nutrition information provided by a reputable source, (b) hands-on learning as a learning preference, and (c) the linking of concepts learned to behavior change. The adolescent nutrition learning model that resulted encapsulates obese adolescents\u27 process for learning about nutrition to bring about behavior change and can be integrated into nutrition education programs and interventions

Fostering the Art of Scientific Communication in the Center

Our research asks how communication centers can assist advanced graduate students in the sciences to foster the art of developing scientific presentations for expert, non-expert, and generalist audiences. In a sustained collaboration supported by a national grant, the communication center at a mid-sized public comprehensive regional university in the Southeastern United States has facilitated a series of workshops for select graduate fellows in the sciences in recent years. In each of these workshops, we focus heavily on audience adaptation, thus creating a vibrant conversation between the disciplines of Communication Studies and the sciences. This research project collects data from workshops held in 2017 and 2018. Via a co-constructed narrative, we examine the notion of audience from the perspective of the research participants as well as administrators and graduate students who facilitated the workshops. 

Understanding Perceptions of Problematic Facebook Use: When People Experience Negative Life Impact and a Lack of Control

While many people use social network sites to connect with friends and family, some feel that their use is problematic, seriously affecting their sleep, work, or life. Pairing a survey of 20,000 Facebook users measuring perceptions of problematic use with behavioral and demographic data, we examined Facebook activities associated with problematic use as well as the kinds of people most likely to experience it. People who feel their use is problematic are more likely to be younger, male, and going through a major life event such as a breakup. They spend more time on the platform, particularly at night, and spend proportionally more time looking at profiles and less time browsing their News Feeds. They also message their friends more frequently. While they are more likely to respond to notifications, they are also more likely to deactivate their accounts, perhaps in an effort to better manage their time. Further, they are more likely to have seen content about social media or phone addiction. Notably, people reporting problematic use rate the site as more valuable to them, highlighting the complex relationship between technology use and well-being. A better understanding of problematic Facebook use can inform the design of context-appropriate and supportive tools to help people become more in control.Comment: CHI 201