Accessory Dwelling Units And Housing Affordability In A Resistant City: Overcoming Parochialism And Restrictive Zoning In Palo Alto

The San Francisco Bay Area of California is in the midst of a housing supply and affordability crisis. As the birthplace of Silicon Valley and home to many technology powerhouses and startups attracting many newcomers, the City of Palo Alto, California shares in the greater Bay Area’s struggle for sufficient housing supply and affordability. Palo Alto has experienced incredible growth as a technology powerhouse since the 1960’s, which has placed great pressures on the housing supply and resulted in a remarkable increase in property values attainable to only the very wealthy. There is no one catchall solution to Palo Alto’s housing supply and affordability struggle but one promising tool is development of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in the city’s single family residential districts. ADUs allow for unobtrusive, gradual intensification while increasing the housing stock and helping to ease unaffordability. This major research paper traces the roots of Palo Alto’s rise in the technology sector, the housing affordability crisis and the political and policy-based barriers that have so far prevented the facilitation of an effective ADU program. The perspectives of ADUs amongst Palo Altans will be assessed and the outlook for ADUs to be used as housing affordability tool in Palo Alto’s near future will be considered

Summer learning experience for girls in grades 7–9 boosts confidence and interest in computing careers

Academic exposure to computer science, encouragement to study computer science, and connecting personal interests to computing areas influence women to pursue degrees in computer science. Guided by these recommendations, we designed and offered a summer learning experience for girls in grades 7--9 in summer 2016. The goal of the program was to improve girls\u27 perceptions of learning computer science through academic exposure in the informal setting of a girls-only summer camp. In this paper we present a study of the girls\u27 perceptions of CS learning. Four constructs were used to develop pre- and post-survey items: computing confidence, intent to persist, social supports, and computing outcomes expectations. The camp appeared to have positively influenced the girls on two of the four constructs, by improving computing confidence and positive perceptions of computing careers

Creative Computing Challenge: A Teacher Professional Development to Enhance Non-Computing Career and Technical Education Curriculum with Engaging Computational Practices for All Students (Poster Abstract)

The Creative Computing Challenge (CCC) project (2014-2018) is funded by the National Science Foundation and is designed to broaden participation in computing by providing professional development (PD) for high school teachers at Career & Technical Education (CTE) programs throughout the state of New Hampshire. Teachers receive a stipend and tablets for their classrooms; they attend several in-person PD sessions through the year, where master teachers and PD facilitators introduce modeling of inquiry and equity-based practices, as well as teach the App Inventor tool and how to inculcate computational thinking in students. Project evaluation has included teacher interviews, classroom and PD observations, as well as student and teacher surveys. External evaluation of this project has been an integral part of the project from the beginning and, along with the project team’s observations and input, has significantly reshaped the project activities. It became clear after the first year that a central challenge of this project would be working with a mix of teachers across multiple domains -- from teachers who had little experience even using computers to teachers who had computer science degrees; from teachers who came to teaching from professional backgrounds to those who had education degrees; and from beginning teachers to those who had been teaching the same courses for twenty years. Through evaluation data and really listening to teacher feedback, we not only tailored the PD content and structure, but also refined the data collection instruments and evaluation design to bridge the gap between different teacher experiences and levels of preparation. As a result, we have been able to bring computing into non-technical content areas such as Hospitality and nonprogramming classes such as Photography, as well as support computing educations in New Hampshire CTE programs. In Year 4, we now better understand the range of benefits and challenges involved in working with CTE programs and inserting CCC-inspired curricular modules in non-computing courses

Giving Voice to African American Women’s Authentic Lived Experiences with Public Assistance

African American women, welfare, and education and training are the focus of this research. Narrative Inquiry methodology was used to explore this qualitative study and it is grounded in the Africentric paradigm (Colin, III, 2010) utilizing the Womanist Epistemological Perspective (Sheared, 1994, 2010) for the unit of analysis. This study “gives voice” (Sheared 1994) to African American women authentic lived experiences (Colin, III, 2007) who have used the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Their stories highlight marginalization and oppression in access and utilization of the education and training activities in the temporary assistance program, capturing the women’s experiences from a polyrhythmic standpoint. In order for social welfare programs to be effective, women need personal development and quality adult education and training programs

Indiana Record for \u3ci\u3eOnthophagus Taurus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): Northwestward Range Extension

(excerpt) The scarab, Onthophagus taurus Schreber, was introduced from Europe, although the details of its introduction are unknown (Fincher and Woodruff 1975). It was first collected in the Florida panhandle in 1971 (Fincher and Woodruff 1975); by 1974 its range had extended into Georgia, and by 1980 it had reached South and North Carolina (Fincher et al. 1983)

Dimensions of participation. Experiences, lessons and tips from agricultural research practitioners in Sub-Saharan Africa

This book is about participation in agricultural research. It documents the experience of practitioners in implementing agricultural research projects in which participation has been a central issue. This experience is documented through case studies, and through summaries of the authors' experience. Reference is made to other literature on aspects of participation, both specific and general. The case studies give first hand accounts of the challenges and successes involved in using participatory approaches in agricultural research projects undertaking technology development and adaptation. Written by practitioners, the case studies cover many practical aspects of design and implementation that are not covered in more academic and conceptual writing on this subject, or in general manuals on how to undertake participatory agricultural research. The existing books, manuals and guidelines adequately outline the key principles and approaches in participatory agricultural research (e.g. Okali et al., 1994; Van Veldhuizen et al., 1997; Sutherland, 1998). This book is different from most others on participatory agricultural research in the following respects: it organizes and compares case-study experiences within topical chapters, rather than having case studies written as separate chapters; it embraces a wider view of participation- in addition to interaction between farmers and researchers, this view includes participation both within project teams and between the project team and other stakeholders in the agricultural research process; it is not a training manual detailing what to do, when to do it and how; however, lessons and tips are provided for the topics covered; it is rooted in project experiences rather than in development discourse, and does not advocate a particular participatory research philosophy, or claim to break new ground in terms of participatory concepts and methods. The aim of the book is to stimulate learning, primarily by presenting examples of how a range of projects handled various components of the participatory research process. These examples are given within a broader discussion of the typical challenges and issues faced by projects and practitioners when using participatory approaches to develop and adapt agricultural technology. Drawing on the case studies and other experiences, some lessons, strategies and tips are outlined in relation to particular topics within participatory agricultural research

Oral Exams in Shift to Remote Learning

In this experience report paper we present our experience with the development of oral assessments as final examinations in three introductory computing courses. The choice of this type of summative assessment was prompted by the emergency remote instruction instituted in the middle of the Spring 2020 semester, across colleges and universities in the U.S., due to the coronavirus pandemic. The principles that guided our oral assessment design were: to develop a more comprehensive measure of student competence and mitigate exam cheating; to facilitate communication and workplace skills through student-teacher interaction; and to alleviate negative emotions associated with traditional summative assessments. We report on the oral assessment features and logistics. To gain insights into the impact of this form of assessment, we conducted a student survey to learn about their emotional reactions and perceptions of assessment effectiveness. Mean scores of positive emotions (enjoyment, hope, pride, relief) were higher than negative emotions (anger, anxiety, hopelessness) across all three courses. Students found the personalized, interactive nature of the exam helpful in advancing their learning and communication skills. Many believed the oral exam to be a more accurate assessment of their knowledge than traditional methods. Additionally, feedback from the two instructors who implemented the oral assessments indicates that they enjoyed the experience and will use the lessons learned to improve the use of oral assessments in the future

Are Year-Round Schools a Viable Option for Improving Student Achievement, Combating Summer Learning Loss in Disadvantaged Youth, Controlling Expenses, and Reducing Teacher Burnout?

Interest in year-round schooling is motivated by international comparisons of time spent in-school and efforts by policymakers to identify viable policy avenues for improving achievement and reducing costs. Prior research on effectiveness of modified year-round schools finds modest support for a modified year-round calendar, but much of the research is weak. Both memory and time-on-task literatures provide a framework for understanding how patterns of schooling and non-schooling intervals could impact student learning. While there is some evidence that the learning losses from summer breaks are greatest for students of low socio-economic status, there are few inquiries into the effects of year round schooling on these students, or other important student subgroups such as English language learners and students in special education. Using an extensive micro-level longitudinal database I compare the achievement of students under a traditional or modified year-round calendars. Capitalizing on a natural experiment in Wake County, NC wherein schools were switched from a traditional to a year-round calendar, I apply a student fixed effects method to isolate the effect of calendar arrangement on student achievement and student absenteeism. To complement the student fixed effects analysis and to increase the study's external validity, I use a growth curve analysis to compare outcomes for students attending a modified year-round calendar to students attending similar schools operating under a traditional calendar. In addition, I examine whether the modified year-round calendar is advantageous for increasing retention and reducing costs. There were five major findings in this dissertation. First, the modified year-round calendar leads to improved student achievement for students of low socio-economic status and second, the modified year-round calendar is also beneficial for students with special needs. Third, the modified year-round calendar is detrimental to student performance for students who are English language learners. Fourth, the link between the modified year-round calendar and lower rates of student absenteeism is supported in the student fixed effects methodology. Fifth, higher teacher retention rates are correlated with a change from a traditional calendar to a modified year-round calendar. Future research efforts are suggested including an investigation of potential mediators for the modified year-round calendar effect