The 86th Legislative Session Look-Back

State legislatures govern many of the daily concerns in education, yet the politics at play in shaping legislators’ approaches to pressing education issues remain underexamined. This paper provides an overview of the education policy issues that defined the 86th Texas Legislative Session. The contributing authors to this critical issue draw on their political and professional expertise to offer their unique perspectives on Texas K-12 and higher education funding, new modes of teachers’ political advocacy, and persistent racial inequities in educational institutions. Together, these pieces provide readers with a review of the achievements and challenges in Texas education policy, as well as future directions for research, policy, and educational advocacy.Educatio

Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Saba Island, Lesser Antilles: Unusually high species richness indicates the Caribbean Biodiversity Hotspot is woefully undersampled

Saba Island (Caribbean Netherlands) is one of the northernmost islands of the Lesser Antilles. It is only 13 square kilometers but contains a wide variety of potential spider habitats including dry, moist, and elfin forests. As part of a collaborative effort between Conservation International and Saba Conservation Foundation, during a several week period in March and May 2008 we briefly surveyed the island for spiders and other arthropods. This survey, the first for spiders of Saba, resulted in the identification of 18 families and 76 spider species, including six new species that will be described elsewhere and may be endemic to Saba. The species richness of Saba’s spider fauna is considerably higher than that reported from other small Caribbean islands. We conclude this is probably a combined result of undersampling and lower habitat diversity on these other islands

Researching Barriers to Cultural Change for Those in Loco Parentis

Drawing on recent research on professional fears around touching children, and also on the consequences for those professionals who find themselves the subject of a false allegation of abuse, this paper considers some of the barriers to changing the \'parenting\' culture of those in loco parentis. It consists of three linked sections. The first sets the scene by describing briefly the research relating to \'touch\' and to \'false allegation\' as well as outlining the particular ethical and methodological approach of the latter. This leads into the central section of the paper which comprises a first person account of the experiences of a male teacher who was wrongly accused and convicted of touching young children inappropriately in the classroom, serving a prison sentence before being found not guilty. In spite of this verdict his career is ruined and he will not be able to teach or work with children/vulnerable adults in the future. The final section reflects on the implications of this and other accounts, and offers tentative suggestions as to how accusations could be dealt with in a more appropriate way. The challenge is to identify principles and practices which are in keeping with our joint responsibility in relation to human rights (ie those of both children and professionals), and which also contribute towards encouraging the changes required in the \'parenting\' culture of those in loco parentis.False Accusation, Sensitive Research; Carers' and Educators' Lives and Careers; Parenting, Touch

Hijacked by the Project? Research Which Demands to be Done

This paper discusses how a commitment to follow C. Wright Mills’s (1959) imperative to engage the sociological imagination ethically and critically and in such a way that ‘the personal uneasiness of individuals is focused upon explicit troubles and the indifference of publics is transformed into involvement with public issues’ (1970: 11–12) can have the effect of shaping research agendas. I tell two stories from my career about research that I didn’t so much choose to do but which, rather, seemed to choose me to do it

And then he threatened to kill himself: nightmare viva stories as opportunities for learning

Purpose In the UK and countries following similar systems of doctoral assessment, there is little research-based evidence about what goes on in vivas. However, “doctoral assessment ‘horror stories’”, abound. The purpose of this paper is to report a study focussing on difficult doctoral examining experiences and argue that sharing such stories can provide a useful basis for examiner and supervisor education. Design/methodology/approach The study took a narrative auto/biographical approach. Findings The stories participants told show that doctoral examining is relational, emotional and ethical work and that viva outcomes are strongly influenced by subjectivities. There was felt to be a need to share stories of difficulties in order to bring them into the open with a view to prompting transformational change. Research limitations/implications Participants were self-selecting and all worked at the same institution. Originality/value There are few accounts of examiners’ experiences of the viva

Experiences of School Counselors During and After Making Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect Reports

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of school counselors during or after making suspected child abuse and neglect reports. The survey population for this study consisted of all members of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) who identified themselves as working in elementary, elementary/middle, middle/junior high, middle/secondary, secondary/high school, and K-12 work settings. Email addresses were obtained from the ASCA online member directory during the summer of 2008. A total of 847 surveys were completed and returned. A total of 11,113 ASCA members were sent surveys. Of those sent, 7,021 were returned undeliverable, suggesting that the on-line directory was out of date. A total of 847 of the 4,092 surveys that were successfully delivered were completed and returned for a 21% response rate. This study investigated the following broad research question: What are the experiences of professional school counselors in reporting suspected child abuse or neglect? School counselor variables including amount of training, years of experience, and credentials were explored in relation to the experiences of school counselors in making suspected child abuse reports. In addition, this study explored school variables including school setting, school level, and socioeconomic level of school. No studies that examined the experiences of school counselors after reporting cases of suspected child abuse and neglect were found in the literature. Thus, a survey entitled the Child Abuse Post-Reporting Experiences of School Counselors Survey (CARE) was developed to gather this information. Results showed that professional school counselors are encountering some interpersonal and intrapersonal negative experiences during and after making reports of suspected child abuse. In this study, elementary school counselors reported more negative experiences in making suspected abuse or neglect reports than secondary school counselors. Results revealed that years of school counseling experience and post-master\u27s degree training events significantly predicted the frequency of negative reporting experiences among school counselors. School counselors with more years of experience and with fewer post-master\u27s degree training events had less negative reporting experiences than school counselors with fewer years of experience and more postmaster\u27s degree training events. Additionally, several noteworthy findings emerged from the item analysis for Section I items of the CARE instrument

Digitizing the Appalachian Oral History Project: Engaging Students through Project-Based Learning in the Digital Humanities

The Appalachian Oral History Project (AOHP) was begun in 1973 and developed through a consortium involving Emory & Henry College, Appalachian State University, Alice Lloyd College, and Lees Junior College. Over many years, students and faculty conducted and recorded personal interviews with thousands of citizens across the Appalachian region. The project created a trove of data for scholars in multiple disciplines interested in studying and researching the region and its history and culture. Approximately 3,000 such interviews were collected, with most of them being conducted, recorded, and transcribed by students. Emory & Henry’s share of the AOHP includes well over 1,000 audio tapes and printed transcripts. To ensure the long-term preservation of the audio files and transcripts and to make the collection accessible to students and scholars, the Appalachian Center for Civic Life (ACCL) at Emory & Henry has embarked on a project to create a digital collection of the material that will be fully accessible, searchable, and made widely available online. This paper describes plans to integrate this effort into the learning objectives of multiple courses within the Civic Innovation major and across the College curriculum. Recognizing the concept of place as an intertwined relationship between the natural environment, the built environment, and the human culture and history, the major in Civic Innovation provides an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of public life in the development of innovative solutions to civic issues and problems. In addition to creating an accessible, professionally-developed digital collection that preserves important historical material, the project will enhance students’ conception of civic memory and civic life and provide a chance to engage in valuable, long-term, and hands-on scholarship while gaining vital experience in preparation for either graduate school or the professional world. The creation of the collection and the resulting digital repository will offer enormous potential for both student research and projects and for more widespread scholarly work related to the Appalachian region