Teachers\u27 Motivational Responses to New Teacher Performance Management Systems: An Evaluation of the Pilot of Aldine ISD\u27s inVEST System

Research has shown that some teachers are dramatically more effective than others and further, that these differences are among the most important schooling factors affecting student learning. Accordingly, shifts in policy have resulted in the development of new performance management systems with the goal of improving teacher effectiveness. Although a growing body of research has begun to examine the impact of recent systems, we have very limited knowledge on how these systems influence teachers\u27 motivation and improvement. This dissertation moves the body of research forward by using expectancy-value theory and mixed-methods analysis to examine the impact of INVEST, a new teacher evaluation system in Aldine ISD in Houston, Texas, on teacher motivation, effectiveness, and retention. It also explores how individual personality characteristics, school organizational factors, and evaluation system features influence these outcomes. It employs a mixed methods design, utilizing the strengths of both methodological approaches. The quantitative research captures broad-based results from a teacher survey given to the population of teachers pre- and post- pilot and uses difference-in-differences analysis to examine the impact of the pilot on key outcomes (i.e., motivation, effectiveness, and retention) and multiple regression analysis to examine which predictors (at the individual, school, and system level) influenced outcomes. This analysis is supplemented by the qualitative research which draws from a small purposive sample of teachers to gain an in- depth understanding of how the policy influenced teachers\u27 experiences. Analyses revealed that overall INVEST had a negative impact on teachers\u27 belief in their abilities (expectancy) and no significant impact on the importance they placed on their work (value), their effectiveness, or their decision to remain in teaching. However, teachers\u27 responses varied considerably based on their individual characteristics (e.g., teachers\u27 grit), their school\u27s conditions (e.g., leadership), and their system perceptions (e.g., understanding, accuracy of measures, quality of feedback). The extensive data collected in this analysis offer a rich picture of the implementation of new performance management systems. Thus, it provides both policymakers and researchers with a better understanding of how new policies impact teacher\u27s behavior and the influence of various characteristics (at the individual, school, and system level)

‘Looking: Thinking: Making’: How is digital culture influencing practice?

Looking: Thinking: Making considers the initial findings and observations gathered during the first phase of a project at Central Saint Martins (CSM), University of the Arts (UAL), investigating the creative processes with which students engage. This collaborative educational research – initially piloted on the MA Fashion Communication with Promotion – focuses on the values, roles and uses of digital capabilities, literacies and spaces, that students experience throughout a one year course. This on-going study provides a framework through which to explore the anxieties of being a creative practitioner in an evolving digital culture with wide ranging modes of communication

How is digital culture influencing your practice?

Looking: Thinking: Making considers the initial findings and observations gathered during the first phase of a project at Central Saint Martins (CSM), University of the Arts (UAL), investigating the creative processes with which students engage. This collaborative educational research ‐ initially piloted on the MA Fashion Communication with Promotion ‐ focuses on the values, roles and uses of digital capabilities, literacies and spaces, that students experience throughout a one year course. This on-going study provides a framework through which to explore the anxieties of being a creative practitioner in an evolving digital culture with wide ranging modes of communication

People’s beliefs about the meaning of crepitus in patellofemoral pain and the impact of these beliefs on their behaviour : a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: A feature of patellofemoral pain is joint crepitus. Several causes of crepitus have been described, but previous research has focused on the pathological meaning of crepitus. No research has demonstrated a definitive link between noise and pathology and its importance and meaning to patients is unresearched. OBJECTIVE: To explore the beliefs of patients with non-osteoarthritic patellofemoral pain regarding their crepitus, and how this impacts on their behaviour. DESIGN: Qualitative design using semi-structured interviews. METHOD: A general inductive approach was used as this is a previously unresearched topic. Underpinned by the health beliefs model, an interview schedule was used to reflect different elements. Inductive thematic analysis was used to generate themes to represent the dataset. Participants were 11 patients diagnosed with non-osteoarthritic patellofemoral pain, crepitus as one of their symptoms, referred to an outpatient clinic. RESULTS/FINDINGS: Three key themes emerged all with sub-themes within them. Firstly, belief about the noise had a sub-theme of search for and perceived meaning of noise. Symbolising ageing was another sub-theme whereby participants described feelings of premature ageing. The final sub-theme was emotional response with participants feeling a range of negative emotions. The second theme of the influence of others reveals participants describing two distinctly different relationships, one with friends and family and one with professionals. The final theme was avoiding the noise. A sub-theme of altering movement shows participants describing fear-avoidant behaviour. CONCLUSION: Crepitus is a poorly understood symptom that creates negative emotions, inaccurate etiological beliefs and ultimately leads to altered behaviour

Young people's views on accelerometer use in physical activity research : findings from a user involvement investigation

The use of accelerometers to objectively measure physical activity is important in understanding young people's behaviours, as physical activity plays a key part in obesity prevention and treatment. A user-involvement qualitative study with young people aged 7–18years (n = 35) was carried out to investigate views on accelerometer use to inform an obesity treatment research study. First impressions were often negative, with issues related to size and comfort reported. Unwanted attention from wearing an accelerometer and bullying risk were also noted. Other disadvantages included feeling embarrassed and not being able to wear the device for certain activities. Positive aspects included feeling "special" and having increased attention from friends. Views on the best time to wear accelerometers were mixed. Advice was offered on how to make accelerometers more appealing, including presenting them in a positive way, using a clip rather than elastic belt to attach, personalising the device, and having feedback on activity levels. Judgements over the way in which accelerometers are used should be made at the study development stage and based on the individual population. In particular, introducing accelerometers in a clear and positive way is important. Including a trial wearing period, considering practical issues, and providing incentives may help increase compliance

Does globalisation affect crime? theory and evidence

Globalization skeptics argue that trade liberalization has high social costs, including an increase in expropriative behavior such as civil-conflict, coercion of labor and crime. We show that a theoretical relationship between trade and expropriation exists, but the sign differs for developed and developing economies. We verify this empirically using data on crime rates. Specifically we find trade liberalization,as measured by both higher openness and lower import duty rates, tends to increase burglaries and theft in very labor abundant countries. For other countries, however,we find that trade liberalization has either a small negative effect on crime,or no effect, depending on the country’s capital abundance

The tyranny of distance and the gravity of resources

To what extent does geography remain an important determinant of comparative advantage and factor incomes in resource markets? We estimate gravity models for resources and find that some minerals and fuels, particularly Iron Ore and Gas, do have very high elasticities of trade with respect to distance. To assess the implications of this we then consider a simple counterfactual where location advantages are eliminated. We find that for a few countries, including Australia and New Zealand, distance barriers have a large impact of their market share

Incidence of necrotising enterocolitis before and after introducing routine prophylactic Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium probiotics

Objective: To compare rates of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), late-onset sepsis, and mortality in 5-year epochs before and after implementation of routine daily multistrain probiotics administration in high-risk neonates. Design: Single-centre retrospective observational study over the 10-year period from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2017. Setting: Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, UK. Patients: Preterm neonates at high risk of NEC: Admitted to NICU within 3 days of birth at <32 weeks' gestation or at 32-36 weeks' gestation and of birth weight <1500 g. Intervention: Prior to 1 January 2013 probiotics were not used. Thereafter, dual-species Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum combination probiotics were routinely administered daily to high-risk neonates; from April 2016 triple-species probiotics (L.acidophilus,B.bifidum, and B.longum subspecies infantis) were used. Main outcome measures: Incidence of NEC (modified Bell's stage 2a or greater), late-onset sepsis, and mortality. Results: Rates of NEC fell from 7.5% (35/469 neonates) in the pre-implementation epoch to 3.1% (16/513 neonates) in the routine probiotics epoch (adjusted sub-hazard ratio=0.44, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.85, p=0.014). The more than halving of NEC rates after probiotics introduction was independent of any measured covariates, including breast milk feeding rates. Cases of late-onset sepsis fell from 106/469 (22.6%) to 59/513 (11.5%) (p<0.0001), and there was no episode of sepsis due to Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium. All-cause mortality also fell in the routine probiotics epoch, from 67/469 (14.3%) to 47/513 (9.2%), although this was not statistically significant after multivariable adjustment (adjusted sub-hazard ratio=0.74, 95% CI 0.49 to 1.12, p=0.155). Conclusions: Administration of multispecies Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium probiotics has been associated with a significantly decreased risk of NEC and late-onset sepsis in our neonatal unit, and no safety issues. Our data are consistent with routine use of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium combination probiotics having a beneficial effect on NEC prevention in very preterm neonates

Conference on the Status of Women\u27s Studies in Africa 1991

Correspondence regarding a conference on the status of Women\u27s Studies in Africa 1991