Professional Learning Communities: Are Schools Ready to Collaborate to Educate?

Every school in Texas has a common goal: students must pass the state-mandated test called the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). With pressure from the state and federal government to raise achievement scores, schools are frantically searching for a program that will guarantee student success. Unfortunately, no program will be found because it is people, not programs, who make a difference in education

The Economic Model of Intercollegiate Athletics and Its Effects on the College Athlete Educational Experience

The financial growth and popularity of intercollegiate athletics presents unique and challenging opportunities to institutions of higher education. Intercollegiate athletics, specifically men’s basketball and football, elicit considerable media attention and publicity for these institutions. Yet, the current economic model of intercollegiate athletics engenders challenges to the academic welfare of athletes in both revenue and nonrevenue sports. This paper examines the challenges athletes incur as a result of the current economic model of intercollegiate athletics, and it poses several thought provoking questions to continue the debate on athletic reform

Faced with Crisis: The Importance of Establishing a Comprehensive Crisis Management Plan

By now, the story surrounding the death of Baltimore man Freddie Gray while in police custody is common knowledge. A series of protests afterward and emergency responses by state and local governments turned the lives of many of Baltimore’s residents upside-down for more than a week in late April and early May, including the staff at the law libraries at the University of Baltimore School of Law (UB Law) and the Thurgood Marshall Law Library at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (Carey Law). The mood got progressively uglier as the days wore on until, just after Gray’s funeral on April 27, a protest in the northwestern part of the city turned violent. The governor declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard while the city imposed a curfew throughout the following week. Both libraries and their universities were forced to respond rapidly to swiftly developing events in order to ensure the safety of their patrons and staff and to mitigate the disruptive effect of early closures

Assessing the impacts of COVID-19 on activity-travel scheduling: A survey in the greater Toronto area

The COVID-19 lockdown provided many individuals an opportunity to explore changes in their daily routines, particularly when considered in combination with an ever-changing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) landscape. These new routines and alternative activities have the potential to be continued in the post-COVID era. Transportation planners must understand how routines vary to effectively estimate activity-travel scheduling. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on activity-travel behavior and the adoption of ICT-based alternative options. A special emphasis is placed on predicting the long-term effects of this disturbance on activity-travel scheduling. This study examines the changes in the frequency and mode of completing five of the most repetitious tasks in the daily schedule (working, grocery and non-grocery shopping, preparing/eating meals, and visiting family/friends) during the lockdown and immediately after reopening. We find an increased preference for home meal preparation over online ordering and a reluctance to engage in in-person shopping until a substantial proportion of the population has acquired a vaccination against the virus. Respondents prefer to work from home if they have adequate access to home office materials (e.g., desk, chair, computer monitor). Individuals with children must also consider suitable childcare before considering a return to work

Secondary choral music educators’ use of technology-assisted assessment tools

Assessment of student learning is a crucial part of what all teachers do in all disciplines and at all levels. Music educators often find administering and documenting this important step of the educational experience difficult due to a myriad of curricular and logistical challenges, but the expectation that music teachers conduct and record regular and systematic assessments has increased with educational reform efforts that rely on student growth as a measure of teacher accountability. The potential for using technology to assist with student assessment in the music classroom is substantial; however, technology integration in secondary music ensembles in particular has been found to be inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to investigate secondary choral music educators’ use of technology-assisted assessment tools by determining their rationales for using certain assessment-related technology; their perceptions of the efficacy of using technology for assessing choral students; and the relationships between demographic, educational, and attitudinal factors and their reported technology use. Data were obtained through a researcher-designed survey completed by 658 secondary school choir teachers who were members of the National Association for Music Education in U.S. states that require documentation of student growth as part of teachers’ performance evaluations. Results indicated that choral music educators used technology-assisted assessment tools infrequently compared with their colleagues in other disciplines, with a large percentage of choir teachers reporting that they never use technology for many areas of choral student assessment. Select technological tools were used by a large percentage of teachers (e.g., laptops, smartphones, online collaborative platforms), but many respondents reported that they use a limited range of tools when assessing choral students. While the teachers cited benefits to using technology-assisted assessment tools (e.g., efficiency in calculating and assigning grades, providing timely assessment feedback for students), many barriers were found to impede successful technology integration (e.g., lack of time, lack of resources, high cost of implementation). Multiple regression analyses revealed that choir teachers’ comfort with technology-assisted assessment tools predicted a significant increase in the frequency with which they used them as well as the variety of technology tools they use. Personal and school-related demographic variables were not significant predictors of choral music educators’ frequency of technology-assisted assessment tools use. This study suggests a number of implications that could inform current practice or policy and potentially help choral music educators assess their students in more efficient, effective, and practical ways. By identifying types of technology-assisted assessment tools that are being used most often, teachers and administrators may be able to work together to prioritize the allocation of resources and provide technology that would benefit choral students. Since barriers such as time constraints and high cost were found to limit music teachers’ use of technology, it is suggested that school administrators provide time for teachers to incorporate technological tools that will assist in student assessment, especially since administrators are now requiring a new level of assessment documentation for teacher evaluation. Finally, as comfort with technology-assisted assessment tools was the most significant predictor of increased frequency of use, those involved in the assessment process need to look for ways to help teachers feel more comfortable with technology, such as increased access to quality professional development

Engagement to Enhance Community: An Example of Extension’s Land-Grant Mission in Action

Engagement is a foundational practice for the Extension systems of land-grant universities and is demonstrated through its’ work in partnership with individuals, organizations and communities. This article will share how an Extension-led effort, focused on an aspect of community development, integrated several components of engagement starting with the initial conversation through the evaluation process. Practitioner reflections on two examples that occurred in different states will highlight the processes and tools that helped nurture engagement between faculty and community and support the development of a sustainable and resilient community. The multi-state implementation will illustrate the unique depth and breadth of public participation that can be achieved when academic institutions are focused on engagement to strengthen communities

Session III

Moderator: Lynn D. Wardle (BYU Law School) Prof. Alan Hawkins & Prof. Jason Carroll, Beyond the Expansion Framework: How Same-Sex Marriage Changes the Institutional Meaning of Marriage and Heterosexual Men’s Conception of Marriage (full-text PDF) Prof. Jessica Dixon Weaver, The Fluid Family Theory Prof. Paul Sullins, Biology and Child Well-Being: The Irreducible Difference of Same-Sex Familie