Sure Start Dino parent satisfaction survey

This project report evaluates the Sure Start Dino programme, established in 2002, in Halton.NC

An exploratory survey of factors affecting satisfaction with educational experiences for parents of children with Cystic Fibrosis

Consumer satisfaction has been studied extensively as it relates to service seeking behavior, positive perceptions of services rendered, and measurable benefit as a result of service delivery. Furthermore, numerous studies have explored the importance of a strong, collaborative home-school partnership for student success. Additionally, previous research has identified children with chronic illnesses as a special population frequently requiring individualized accommodations and modifications to promote success in the educational environment, and therefore testing the limits of the educational system to adequately meet their needs. Finally, research has described the common sequelae of Cystic Fibrosis, including wide-ranging physical, behavioral, and functional consequences. However, these various contributing factors have not yet been synthesized to inspect their impact on parent satisfaction with educational experiences for children with Cystic Fibrosis. The proposed study aims to characterize the demographics of parents of children with CF, describe their responses to questions regarding various aspects of satisfaction, and determine the predictive value of the survey questions for measuring parent satisfaction

Building for the Future: Revitalization through Architecture

This thesis focuses on the revitalization of a once thriving manufacturing city, Gardner, Massachusetts. In the past the city of Gardner was rich with furniture manufacturers. Over the years the manufacture of furniture has left Gardner. The goal of this thesis is to reinvigorate the furniture making and craft back into Gardner. The proposed revitalization of the town was furthered through teaching and the design and production of a new product line. The renovation and retrofit of an existing now abandoned, building. Designing to meet the strategies, methods, and processes of furniture production; merged with an architecture meant to signal both respect for the history of Gardner and a new revitalization; designing from the inside – out. Thoughts about sustainability and environmental design are incorporated into the design. There are a multitude of new building practices and strategies that are explored and will be used to try and form a design that could unite usability, function, aesthetics, and comfort as well as meeting current code and ADA requirements, through retrofitting an existing building. Teaching the former craft of furniture making will ignite revitalization in the downtown area. A new form of universally designed furniture making will be taught and practiced in the facility

Effect of Exercise on Photoperiod-Regulated Hypothalamic Gene Expression and Peripheral Hormones in the Seasonal Dwarf Hamster Phodopus sungorus

Acknowledgments: Many thanks to Dana Wilson, Susan Hay, David Brown and Vivienne Buchan at RINH, Siegrid Hilken and Esther Lipokatic-Takacs at UVMH for the excellent technical support and advice provided. Many thanks are due to Claus Mayer of Biomathematics, Statistics Scotland for assistance with the statistical analysis of data. Author Contributions: Conceived and designed the experiments: IP SS FS PB. Performed the experiments: IP RD FS. Analyzed the data: IP RD FS SS PB. Wrote the paper: PB SS FS IP.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Spotlight on Student Achievement: Analyses of Statewide Assessment Data in Math in Common Districts

The Math in Common (MiC) initiative was launched in 2013, amid the introduction of many education policy changes in California. The California State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-M) in 2010, although there was a delay in associated state policy supports for CCSS-M implementation. For instance, there was no state-approved list of CCSS-M-aligned instructional materials until 2014, and the first standards-aligned summative achievement test was not administered until spring 2015.The MiC initiative aimed to support 10 California districts in implementing the CCSS-M and improving mathematics teaching and learning in grades K-8. Another goal of the initiative was for participating districts to identify and share best practices that could help the state's other 900-plus districts accelerate implementation of the CCSS-M and improve their math achievement (S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, 2012).Five years into the initiative, and with several years of data available from the state's standards-aligned summative achievement test, the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), we are in a position to examine some trends in student achievement scores in the CCSS-M era. Analyzing these data can help us understand how MiC districts, with their infusion of both material and intellectual resources, are performing in relation to the state mathematics standards, and how this progress looks when compared to peer districts and to districts across the entire state.This report documents the uneven math gains made by MiC districts, schools, and students, by analyzing the patterns of those gains, which range from outperforming statewide trends to more moderate growth. While progress in student achievement in the MiC districts has been slow, there are some promising signs to share with the field

Recruiting and engaging new mothers in nutrition research studies: lessons from the Australian NOURISH randomised controlled trial

Background: Despite important implications for the budgets, statistical power and generalisability of research findings, detailed reports of recruitment and retention in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are rare. The NOURISH RCT evaluated a community-based intervention for first-time mothers that promoted protective infant feeding practices as a primary prevention strategy for childhood obesity. The aim of this paper is to provide a detailed description and evaluation of the recruitment and retention strategies used. Methods: A two stage recruitment process designed to provide a consecutive sampling framework was used. First time mothers delivering healthy term infants were initially approached in postnatal wards of the major maternity services in two Australian cities for consent to later contact (Stage 1). When infants were about four months old mothers were re-contacted by mail for enrolment (Stage 2), baseline measurements (Time 1) and subsequent random allocation to the intervention or control condition. Outcomes were assessed at infant ages 14 months (Time 2) and 24 months (Time 3). Results: At Stage 1, 86% of eligible mothers were approached and of these women, 76% consented to later contact. At Stage 2, 3% had become ineligible and 76% could be recontacted. Of the latter, 44% consented to full enrolment and were allocated. This represented 21% of mothers screened as eligible at Stage 1. Retention at Time 3 was 78%. Mothers who did not consent or discontinued the study were younger and less likely to have a university education. Conclusions: The consent and retention rates of our sample of first time mothers are comparable with or better than other similar studies. The recruitment strategy used allowed for detailed information from non-consenters to be collected; thus selection bias could be estimated. Recommendations for future studies include being able to contact participants via mobile phone (particular text messaging), offering home visits to reduce participant burden and considering the use of financial incentives to support participant retention

Compounding vulnerabilities: Syndemics and the social determinants of disease in the past

Objective: This article explores the theory and utility of a syndemic approach for the study of disease in the past. Syndemic principles are examined alongside other theoretical developments within bioarchaeology. Two case studies are provided to illustrate the efficacy of this approach: Tuberculosis and vitamin D deficiency in 18th and 19th century England, and malaria and helminth infections in Early Medieval England. Materials: Public health studies of present syndemics, in addition to published bioarchaeological, clinical and social information relating to the chosen case studies. Methods: The data from these two historical examples are revisited within a syndemic framework to draw deeper conclusions about disease clustering and heterogeneity in the past. Results: A syndemic framework can be applied to past contexts using clinical studies of diseases in a modern context and relevant paleopathological, archaeological, and historical data. Conclusions: This approach provides a means for providing a deeper, contextualised understanding ancient diseases, and integrates well with extant theoretical tools in bioarchaeology Significance: Syndemics provides scholars a deep-time perspective on diseases that still impact modern populations. Limitations: Many of the variables essential for a truly syndemic approach cannot be obtained from current archaeological, bioarchaeological, or historical methods. Suggestions for further research: More detailed and in-depth analysis of specific disease clusters within the past and the present, which draws on a comprehensive analysis of the social determinants of health

Improving the Dynamics of Classroom Instruction in Response to the Common Core

Over the last few years, WestEd has conducted a survey of mathematics educators in the 10 Math in Common districts, asking a wide range of questions about their beliefs and efforts toward implementing the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS-M). In our review of teacher and administrator survey findings from 2016 through 2018,1 we see educators' steadily increasing levels of confidence and feelings of support for making the serious changes required by the CCSS-M.With several years of implementation efforts behind us, districts and policymakers across the state are wondering how best to understand the effects that these efforts are having in classrooms. Because deep reform efforts like the CCSS-M tend to require years of incremental progress toward a shared goal for changed instruction, the changes in teaching and learning can be difficult to measure. In analyzing the results of the 2018 survey, we wondered in particular what the responses could tell us about teachers' changing beliefs about the standards and their sense of readiness to implement them, since research tells us that beliefs can serve as indicators for teachers' instructional choices in the classroom.We looked more closely at teachers' beliefs about the following: CCSS-M-aligned instruction, their administrators' capacity to lead their sites in implementation, and several professional development structures that aim to support changes to the dynamics of classroom instruction. We also examined administrators' feelings about their own preparation to lead CCSS-M implementation at their sites. To learn more about variation within the population of teachers, we further broke down some responses according to teachers' professional experience levels. We found that teachers of different experience levels responded differently to some prompts about their confidence in shifting their instruction to align with the CCSS-M, and they valued some professional development structures differently.The findings suggest two main takeaways for school district staff supporting their educators:- Stay the course. MiC districts have moved toward professional learning supports for teachers and principals that are tied closely to shifts in classroom instruction and teachers' everyday practices -- what we like to call "the dynamics of classroom instruction." Often these models are based in classrooms and school sites, instead of offered at the central office. Positive responses from teachers and administrators about their professional learning supports show that this is likely the right professional learning approach to continue (and a model districts can look to as they begin implementing the Next Generation Science Standards).- Deepen work that has been started. Teachers and principals are feeling comfortable and confident with what they've learned so far. This is a great indication that they are ready to go deeper and take on new challenges around CCSS-M instruction.In the responses of all of these groups (teachers, teachers and principals, and new and experienced teachers), we find a wealth of information that confirms for us that MiC districts are right to focus on implementing new standards through changes to the dynamics of classroom instruction. The slow and steady improvements to teacher and principal confidence and feeling of preparation over the years of the survey should be taken as evidence that although progress may feel slow, MiC districts are on the right path

Balancing Site Autonomy and District Priorities for Sustained Mathematics Progress: Three School Case Studies from the Math in Common Initiative

From 2013-2018, the Math in Common (MiC) initiative supported 10 California school districts as they began implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. The districts received funding as well as access to a community of practice (CoP) to explore and share improvement strategies for math instruction and systems change. Beginning in the 2018-19 school year, the CoP entered a second phase in which funding continued at a reduced rate for districts to sustain their work as a community.To understand the reach of MiC districts' math improvement efforts, WestEd has been conducting teacher focus groups and principal interviews at schools in MiC districts for a series of case studies about implementing and sustaining district-level improvement efforts. Data collection is ongoing, but analysis of findings from our first set of conversations with teachers and principals have identified one common and compelling story about the ongoing challenges of education change in districts.This report focuses on two districts facing significant internal and external forces that challenge coherent and sustained districtwide focus on mathematics improvement and explores how these forces impact educators at three different school sites in those districts.Readers knowledgeable about the history of education change efforts will recognize the familiar tale of how difficult long-term improvement can be in decentralized district systems. At the same time, these examples offer hope that improvement work can persist from year to year even in challenging circumstances