Preparing School Leaders for Special Education: Old Criticisms and New Directions

In the context of accountability and high-stakes testing, professors of educational administration in Texas and across the nation are under tremendous pressure to develop innovative principal preparation programs that produce effective school leaders, especially as research methodologies emerge to disaggregate the effects of such programs. One area few programs adequately address, including more innovative programs, is special education - despite the fact that principals struggle with accountability for all students, but particularly those principals in schools and districts with limited resources and limited professional development opportunitie~ (Bays & Crocket, 2007; Wakeman, Browder, Flowers, & Ahlgrim-Delzell, 2006). Principals have long reported that their preparation programs did not prepare them with the legal and instructional knowledge in the area of special education (DiPaola & Walther-Thomas, 2003; Hirth & Valesky, 1990)

Internal structural loading of the lower extremity during running: Implications for skeletal injury

Running is a popular activity of choice for many, and a necessity for athletes and military personnel. The positive physiological adaptations associated with running are well established, and these adaptations can only be exploited if runners remain free from overuse injury. This dissertation utilized a combination of experimentation, musculoskeletal modeling, and a probabilistic model of bone damage, repair, and adaptation to investigate internal structural loading of the lower extremity during running. Specific emphasis was placed on stress fracture development, a common overuse injury that results, in part, from the mechanical fatigue of bone. A series of studies were conducted that addressed the influence of speed on lower-extremity contact forces during running, the relationship between internal femoral loads and stress fracture development, and changes in the probability of tibial stress fracture with practical alterations in kinematics and running mileage. The findings of these studies can be summarized as follows: 1) musculoskeletal models provide meaningful non-invasive estimations of internal structural loads in healthy young adults; 2) joint contact forces increase with speed, 3) stress fractures tend to occur at femoral locations experiencing the largest mechanical loads; 4) the probability of tibial stress fracture increases with stride length and running mileage for a given speed; and 5) the probability of tibial stress fracture increases with running speed for a given mileage. Ultimately this information can be used to develop running regimens that maximize the positive adaptations associated with running and minimize the potential for overuse injury and stress fracture development

THE DEVELOPMENT OF GLOBAL EDUCATION POLICY: A CASE STUDY OF THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF EL SALVADOR'S EDUCO PROGRAM

The Education with Community Participation (EDUCO) program began in El Salvador in early 1991, near the end of the twelve-year civil war. It not only represented an extreme form of decentralization in that it transferred the responsibility for hiring, firing and supervising teachers to rural communities, but it was also the first reform of its kind in Latin America. During the ensuing 20 years, the program has received tremendous attention. Indeed, within the country it became the central program through which the education sector was rebuilt and expanded in the post-war era of the 1990s and 2000s. Internationally, the program has been widely recognized as a successful and desirable example of community-level education management decentralization. In fact, the program has become a "global education policy" in that it has been and continues to be recognized, promoted and adapted around the world. To date, however, the majority of research on this program has been a-historical in nature and has focused narrowly on whether the program "worked" - statistically speaking and with regard to such outcomes as student achievement. In contrast, in this dissertation, I analyze the dynamics of how the policy was developed. I shed new light on the trajectory of the EDUCO program by focusing, from an international political economy framework, on how the program was developed, scaled up, and internationally promoted. In so doing, I am able to highlight relevant political economic structures that impinge on education reform, as well as the various mechanisms of transnational influence that contributed to its advancement within and beyond El Salvador. In a number of different ways, international organizations are central to the policy development process. Methodologically, I focus not only on the process of development itself, but also on the ways in which actors and forces from multiple levels (local, national, international) interact and intersect in that process. Theoretically, by choosing to analyze EDUCO's origins, I attempt to contribute to our understanding of how (i.e., through which mechanisms of transnational influence) and why certain policies come into existence and subsequently go global

AN APPROACH TO EXAMINE THE EFFECT OF TAPER ANGLE AND THREADING ON PERIPROSTHETIC BONE REMODELING FROM BONE-ANCHORED AMPUTATION PROSTHESES

INTRODUCTION The most common problems experienced by transfemoral amputees using socket prostheses are soft tissue pain and a limited range of motion around the hip joint [1].  Recently, intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prostheses (ITAP) have been developed as an alternative to the standard socket prostheses for amputees.  A current shortcoming of ITAP is the change in the local mechanical loading at the bone-implant interface leading to bone resorption.  The clinical consequences of this bone loss are increased risks of bone fracture and implant loosening [2].  The purpose of this study was to develop a finite element modeling approach to examine the effect of ITAP fixture threading and taper angle on femoral bone remodeling. METHODS An intact femoral geometry was generated using Mimics software (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium) from CT scans obtained from the VAHKUM database [3]. Twelve ITAP (six threaded and six unthreaded) implants of varying taper angles were designed using SolidWorks (Waltham, MA). Implants were registered and aligned within the femoral diaphysis, and the implant-femur assembly was meshed with quadratic tetrahedral elements; elements at the bone-implant interface shared identical nodes to represent full osseointegration.  Bone elements were assigned inhomogeneous linear-elastic material properties based on CT Hounsfield units. Implant material was modeled as titanium alloy Ti6Al4V (E=114 GPa, ν=0.3), which is commonly used for prostheses due to its superior strength and biocompatibility. Boundary conditions and loads applied to the finite element models were taken from Tomaszewski et al. [4], which were linearly scaled to correspond to an individual with a mass of 70.1 kg and a height of 170 cm.  All models were solved using ABAQUS Standard v6.1 (Providence, RI). Strain energy density was calculated for each implanted femur and compared to those of an intact femur. RESULTS Considerable energy was transferred to the ITAP (Figure 1). Consequently, the periprosthetic cortical bone in the implanted femur had a significantly lower strain energy density than that of the intact femur (Figure 1). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS It is critical that implant geometry is optimized to decrease periprosthetic bone resorption and reduce the incidence of bone fracture and implant loosening.  Changes in strain energy density following prosthetic implantation is a driving stimulus for bone remodeling, and our future work will incorporate adaptive bone remodeling algorithms into our simulations

THE INFLUENCE OF INDIVIDUAL MUSCLE GROUPS ON FEMORAL STRAIN DISTRIBUTION DURING WALKING

INTRODUCTION Mechanical strain resulting from muscle forces in locomotion plays an important role in the maintenance of bone health [1]. Depending on their magnitude and line of action, these muscle forces may lead to an overall increase or decrease in mechanical strain [2]. Thus, the exclusion of specific muscle groups in finite element models may have a significant impact of simulation results. Our purpose was to quantify the influence of individual muscle groups on the femoral strain distribution during walking using the finite element method. METHODS Kinematic and kinetic data were collected from ten males (age 24.9 ± 4.7 yrs; height 1.7 ± 0.1 m; mass 70.1 ± 8.9 kg) walking overground at 1.25 and 1.75 m/s. Joint reaction forces and moments were calculated using standard inverse dynamics procedures. Muscle and hip contact forces were quantified using musculoskeletal modeling [3] with a static optimization routine (cost function = sum of squared muscle stresses) [4]. For both walking speeds, two instances in stance were examined in the finite element models, coinciding with the first (Peak 1) and second peak (Peak 2) of the axial hip contact force. A finite element model of a young, healthy femur was generated from the VAHKUM database (http://www.ulb.ac.be/project/vakhum/) and scaled to average subject size. Bone was assigned inhomogeneous linear-elastic material properties based on apparent density [5]. The femur was physiologically constrained at the lateral epicondyle, center of the patellar groove, and femoral contact point [6]. Muscle and hip contact forces were applied as point loads. Seven different simulations were run in ABAQUS Standard v6.1 (Providence, RI) for each of the two instances in stance at both 1.25 and 1.75 m/s. For baseline analyses, all the muscle loads were included. For subsequent analyses, muscles forces from specific muscle groups (Hip Adductors, Hip Abductors, Hip Flexors, Hip Extensors, Hip Internal Rotators, and Hip External Rotators) were orderly removed.  Principal strains were quantified along the anterior, lateral, medial, and posterior aspects of the femoral periosteal surface. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS For all simulations, principal compressive and tensile strains were greatest on the medial and lateral aspect of the femur, respectively (Figure 1). Strain magnitudes for baseline analyses were consistent with in vivo measurements [7], ranging from 1,500-2,000 με and increasing with walking speed. Strains were higher during Peak 1, compared to Peak 2, and removal of specific muscle groups had a greater influence on the strain distribution at this instance in stance. Removal of the hip extensors, abductors, and internal rotators resulted in an overall increase in the femoral strain distribution (Figure 1), suggesting these muscles have a prophylactic action to reduce femoral bending. On the other hand, removal of the hip flexors, adductors, and external rotators had a negligible effect of the femoral strain distribution (Figure 1), but these muscles were minimally activated during walking. CONCLUSIONS Specific muscle groups make important contributions to the femoral strain distribution during walking, and failure to include these muscles in finite element models will lead to erroneous conclusions regarding femoral strain magnitudes

Junior Recital: Xandrya Kim Edwards, soprano

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Performance. Ms. Edwards studies voice with Eileen Moremen.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2210/thumbnail.jp

THE INFLUENCE OF EFFECTIVE MASS ON IMPACT FORCE AND ACCELERATION

Accelerometry is often used as a means to quantify the osteogenic or injury potential of impacts. This paper uses a series of four experiments to demonstrate theoretically, mechanically, and experimentally that increasing the effective mass of an impact can lead to an increase in impact force with a corresponding decrease in acceleration. The four experiments included: 1) mass spring models, 2) shoe impact testing, 3) cadaver impact simulation, and 4) an in vivo study manipulating knee angle during running. Results were consistent with the aim, illustrating a limitation for the use of accelerometers for impact assessment. In order to appropriately interpret the results from accelerometry it is necessary to quantify the effective mass of the impact. Failure to account for the influence of effective mass can lead to erroneous conclusions about impact severity

As tendências históricas nos processos de descentralização educacional nos Estados Unidos e em países em desenvolvimento no contexto pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial

In the present work, we fill a gap in the writing on the decentralization of educational governance by periodizing and comparing trends that have fallen under this label in both the United States and developing countries in the post-WWII period (1945-present). The findings are informed by a review of 127 decentralization-related studies from seven leading, peer-reviewed journals in comparative and international education, in addition to the Journal of Education Policy, Journal of Educational Administration, and Harvard Education Review. We combine this review with works that address larger political and economic shifts and, in so doing, are able to delineate two pushes for decentralization in the United States. In developing countries, the term decentralization has emerged during three distinct periods. Beyond characterizing the nature of decentralization in general terms over time, we also compare key features of these trends and the forces that brought them about. One key finding is that the application of community-level decentralization in developing countries has not been as widespread as global rhetoric during the 1990s and 2000s would imply. A second key finding is that there has been a relatively recent shift away from decentralization towards other forms of accountability-based reforms in both the United States and developing countries.Este trabajo, completa una brecha en la literatura sobre la descentralización de la gestión educativa con la periodización y la comparación de los procesos descentralizadores tanto en Estados Unidos como en los países en desarrollo en el período posterior a la Segunda Guerra Mundial (1945-presente). Los resultados provienen de una revisión de 127 estudios sobre descentralización publicados en siete de las principales revistas en educación comparada e internacional, además de Journal of Education Policy, Journal of Educational Administration, and Harvard Education Review. Combinamos esta revisión con análisis de trabajos que abordan grandes cambios políticos y económicos para delinear dos dinámicas que impulsaron la descentralización. Un hallazgo clave es que la aplicación de la descentralización al nivel de las comunidades locales en los países en desarrollo no ha sido tan generalizada como la retórica mundial durante los años 1990 y 2000 implicaría. Un segundo hallazgo clave es que ha habido un cambio relativamente reciente que abandona los modelos de descentralización hacia otras formas de reformas basadas en la rendición de cuentas, tanto en los Estados Unidos y los países en desarrollo.Este trabalho completa uma lacuna na literatura sobre a descentralização da gestão da educação, com a periodização e comparação das tendencias  descentralizadores, tanto nos Estados Unidos como em os países em desenvolvimento no período após a II Guerra Mundial (1945-presente). Os resultados vêm de uma revisão de 127 estudos sobre  descentralização publicados em sete dos principais periódicos em educação comparada e internacional, e Journal of Education Policy, Journal of Educational Administration, e Harvard Education Review. Nós combinamos esta revisão com análise de obras que abordam as principais mudanças políticas e econômicas para delinear duas dinâmicas que levaram à descentralização. A principal conclusão é que a implementação da descentralização ao nível das comunidades locais nos países em desenvolvimento não tem sido tão difundido como retórica global durante o 1990 e 2000 média. A segunda constatação importante é que tem havido uma relativamente recentes modelos de mudança deixando a outras formas de reformas de descentralização com base na prestação de contas, tanto em os EUA e os países em desenvolvimento

Essential Reading on Education Reform Dynamics. A Book Review of \u3cem\u3ePhilanthropy, Hidden Strategy, and Collective Resistance\u3cem\u3e

This review looks at what sets Philanthrophy, Hidden Strategy, and Collective Resistance (2019) apart from the rest of the available literature surrounding the politics involved in behind the scenes policy-making decisions. The book is broken down into easily digestible chapters that focus on a variety of topics from a quick primer on neoliberalism to the hidden hand of philanthropy and the way it shapes education. Of special note is the focus on praxis, with concrete examples on how the reader can fight to bring democracy to education whether they are a student, professor, teacher, or parent