Evaluating a New Prenatal Care Model During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Medical Schoolhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170682/1/AllisonPowell_1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170682/2/AllisonPowell_2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170682/3/AllisonPowell_3.pd

A case study of e-learning initiatives in New Zealand\u27s secondary schools

There is a shift occurring in education systems around the world, which could change the face of education as we have known it through blended and online learning. E-Learning offers opportunities and possibilities that were unknown to educators over a decade ago. Countries, states, and school districts are implementing online and blended learning environments to offer world class educational opportunities to all students no matter their zip code or socio-economic status. In general, research in the field of K-12 online learning has focused on the United States and Canada. However, an international survey of online learning in initiatives conducted by the International Association of K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) in 2006 showed that other countries were implementing online learning initiatives with different approaches. This survey provided a snapshot of 15 countries e-learning initiatives; however, there is very little research that further describes what is happening in each of these countries, validating the need for further research in the area of K-12 online learning initiatives. The purpose of this study will be to describe the current e-learning initiatives and projects for students in secondary schools in New Zealand. The research looked at both the policy and practices happening within New Zealand\u27s education system as the iNACOL survey showed them to be one of the most innovative countries in the area of K-12 online learning, which may help other countries implement their own e-learning initiatives. The research design was based on a case study format, with qualitative data. A total of 19 people participated in interviews for the study. The data collection instrument was an interview protocol to guide face-to-face and online learning of Ministry of Education officials and secondary school principals and teachers. The findings of the research indicate that New Zealand has been successful in implementing online learning initiatives because it started with schools and educators needing to fulfill basic needs in order to survive. These grassroots movements are now reforming the way they educate students in all learning environments in New Zealand

LGBTQ Emerging Adults and COVID-19

Emerging LGBTQ adults experience a period of major developmental milestones complicated by multiple marginalizations, and now, a global pandemic that has disrupted the social world. Both emerging adulthood and the COVID-19 pandemic are short but intense periods occurring concurrently for young people at this time, and both factors influence the spheres of housing, family, school, and friends for LGBTQ emerging adults in this study. Emerging adults are at particular risk of being negatively affected by the ways the pandemic has altered their life course and social world, and LGBTQ emerging adults are even more at risk due to their marginalized identities. While some LGBTQ emerging adults were negatively affected by the challenges and disruptions posed by the pandemic, others saw improvements in their family relationships or housing situations during this time. Qualitative interview data indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic complicates life transitions and events for LGBTQ emerging adults, who are uniquely positioned between newfound independence as emerging adults and extended dependence on their families and caregivers

VALIDITY OF CLINICIANS’ SELF-REPORTED TREATMENT TARGETS ON THE MONTHLY TREATMENT PROGRESS SUMMARY

Several decades of research have been spent identifying and testing EBTs, but there is currently very little research that examines the therapeutic practices within usual care. The lack of understanding in this area has been implicated as a factor which hinders the successful implementation of evidence-based therapies (EBTs) into usual mental health care settings. The Monthly Treatment Progress Summary (MTPS) is a measure developed to enable monthly tracking of intervention strategies and content within a statewide system of children’s mental health care. Although a growing body of research exists examining the reliability and validity of the treatment practice and progress sections of the MTPS, less research has been conducted on the treatment target section. Specifically, no information exists on the validity of the treatment target section, which is a significant limitation of the measure and has implications for gaining a full picture of usual care treatment. The current study demonstrated some support for the use of the MTPS as an indirect measure of specific content on which clinicians focus in therapy. Trained coders were able to reliably identify specific treatment targets focused on in treatment sessions for 12 of 13 targets that occurred at a high enough frequency to be analyzed. Overall coder-clinician agreement was low, with four of the 12 targets achieving acceptable levels of reliability (ICC ³ .60). These results suggest there may be a difference between clinician intent and the observable content a clinician engages in. These results may also indicate differential levels of familiarity or understanding between coders and clinicians of what constitutes ‘focus’ in session, as the present study demonstrates that several treatment targets on the MTPS can be reliably coded. Future research should incorporate larger samples of more diverse clients that will include content related to treatment targets that were removed from the present analysis. Lastly, the discrepancies noted between coders and clinicians indicate the need for future research to elucidate clinician intent, clinicians’ accuracy in reporting their session content, and the relationship between clinician intent and observable session content

THE ROLE OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN DEVELOPING MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE

Although much importance has been placed on training programs to develop multiculturally competent service providers, the question remains as to when and where clinicians acquire their multicultural competence (MCC). Currently, most training programs appear to focus on the development of multicultural awareness and knowledge, without adequate focus on skills. However, experientially based learning exercises are associated with skills development in many areas, including general clinical skills development. Thus, students who engage in higher levels of experiential learning in their multicultural training may rate themselves as more competent with multicultural skills than students with less frequent experiential learning. I hypothesize that experiential learning will moderate the strength of the association between multicultural training and multicultural skills competence. The present study examines the training experiences of clinical and counseling psychology doctoral students (N = 83), using students’ self-reports of multicultural training, experiential training exercises, as well as their ratings of perceived multicultural competence using the Multicultural Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills Survey (MAKSS-CE-R). While the proposed model was not significant (ΔR2 = .025, ΔF(1, 76) = 2.098, p = .152), experiential exercises did have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between students’ multicultural training and their estimated acquisition of multicultural skills competence (ΔR2 = .219, ΔF(1, 76) = 12.089, p = .001). Although more research is needed to better understand the role of experiential learning, these results bring into question the reliability of self-report in capturing multiculturally competent skills. Implications for training and practice are discussed

Inflation and Taxable Capacity: Some Recent Evidence

Colin Clark\u27s theory of inflation has had a profound effect on present-day economic theory concerning taxation policy. While his belief that inflation occurred when all tax revenues exceeded 25 percent of national income was rejected by his contemporaries in the 1940\u27s, supply-side economists incorporate Clark\u27s theory into their proposals for curing the unemployment and inflation of the 1970\u27s and 1980\u27s. These proposals gained popular support and resulted in the election of President Ronald Reagan who implemented such proposals. The purpose of this study is to determine the veracity of Clark\u27s theory. Clark\u27s theory was tested in this study with the use of regression analysis. The dependent variable, inflation, was measured as the percent change in the consumer price index. The consumer price index was chosen because it is a broad-based index that is representative of commodity and service prices and excludes labor costs. Measurement error was minimized by the use of annual CPI data. The independent variable is the ratio of total tax receipts as a percent of the officially reported national income. The preliminary run of the test was performed on the United States from 1941-1981 using ordinary least squares contained in the Econometric Software Package. Autocorrelation appeared in the regression and attempts to correct this failed. The modified test model used the rate of inflation acceleration (percent change in the inflation rate) as the dependent variable. This dependent variable exaggerates the magnitude of price changes, making the relationship more likely. The independent variable represented the elasticity coefficient of total tax receipts to national income (percent change in taxes divided by percent change in national income, expressed as a percentage). This independent variable is far more descriptive of the interaction between tax revenues and national income. The model was used to test Clark\u27s theory in Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States from 1963-1981. The regression results show that there is no relationship between the rate of inflation acceleration and the elasticity of total tax receipts and national income. On the basis of the regression analysis and the country by country statistical analysis, this study finds little evidence to support Clark\u27s theory of inflation. For this reason, the study recommends a re-examination of all policies that have been implemented on the basis of Clark\u27s theory or other similar theories of inflation