TAKING THE “SQUEEZE” OFF OF SOCIAL STUDIES: A Phenomenological Study of Teacher “Curricular” Autonomy and its Effects on Social Studies Instructional Time

The state of social studies instruction in US schools has become dismal. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain an understanding of the impact of high stakes testing on social studies teaching when it is not tested by the state. I examined the elementary teacher’s “curricular” autonomy (curricular/instructional decision making) within the context of social studies teaching in a suburban low performing, urban demographic, school. Participants were asked to describe the experience of making instructional decisions regarding social studies education. The specific aims of this study were to: 1. reveal the meaning of teacher autonomy for teachers in a low performing elementary school in the state of Missouri 2. reveal the perceptions of the role of social studies for teachers in a low performing elementary school in the state of Missouri 3. give voice to teachers in low performing elementary schools who are in high stakes testing states, where social studies is not teste

Hotel Asset and Equity Risk Before, During, and After the Global Financial Crisis

In this paper, we use asset betas and equity betas over the period January 2000 through December 2015 to investigate the operating and financial risk of hotel industry REITs and C-Corps. We conclude that, on average over our sample period, the operating risk of C-Corps exceeds that of REITs. One interpretation of this result is that management contracts between REITs and C-Corps allocate more operating risk to C-Corps than to REITs. We also find that, on average, during our sample period, the equity betas of C-Corps exceed those of REITs. However, the difference between the average equity risk of the two sectors is much smaller than is the sectors’ difference in operating risk. Because equity betas capture both operating and financial risk, these results imply that REITs have significantly less operating risk than C-Corps and offset their lower business risk with higher financial leverage. During the global financial crisis, operating risk increases in both hotel industry subsectors, and the amount by which C-Corp asset betas exceed REIT asset betas is roughly proportionate to that observed in noncrisis periods. During the financial crisis, however, REITs experienced a greater increase in finan- cial leverage than did C-Corps, with the result being that the normal relation reverses, i.e., during the global financial crisis, REIT average equity betas significantly exceeded the average equity betas of C-Corps

Colorism Among Black Youth in the United States: An Examination of Impacts on Education

Black students with darker complexions experience a disproportionate application of exclusionary practices within educational settings (Crutchfield et al., 2022). This review seeks to highlight colorism’s impact on the Black community in the education system through examining the historical context of colorism, the connection between colorism and racism, and how colorism is manifested and perpetuated in contemporary society in the United States. “Antiblackness” is an enduring trait of the United States that has rooted and fixed itself to its school structures (Coles & Powell, 2019). Schools are inherently political in that they adhere to and perpetuate the dominant ideologies of society (Picower & Mayorga, 2015), essentially functioning as a microcosm of society. Colorism functions as an extension of antiblackness in its perpetuation of prejudice and discriminatory behavior against darker skinned individuals and those with more African phenotypes. Black students are mandated by state-driven compulsory education laws to attend school but may receive differential treatment on the basis of skin tone, facial feature, and hair texture variations with the ethnic group. Exclusionary practices restrict students’ access to the school environment and may lead to a diminished academic identity, a sense of invisibility, feelings of invalidation, and limited access to future opportunities. In this review, the need for interventions addressing colorism in educational settings will be discussed. Recommendations for future directions of colorism research are also discussed

Mixing Family With Business: A Study of Thai Business Groups and the Families Behind Them

Families run a large fraction of business groups around the world. In this paper, we analyze how the structure of the families behind these business groups affects the groups' organization, governance and performance. To address this question, we constructed a unique data set of family trees and business groups for nearly 100 of the largest business families in Thailand. We find a strong positive association between family size and family involvement in the ownership and control of the family business. The sons of the founders play a central role in both ownership and board membership, especially when the founder of the group is gone. The availability of more sons is also associated with lower firm-level performance, especially when the founder is no longer present. We identify a possible governance channel for this performance effect. Excess control by sons, but not other family members, is associated with lower firm performance. In addition, excess control by sons increases with the number of sons and with the death of the founder. One hypothesis that emerges from our analysis is that part of the decay of family-run groups over time may be due to a dilution of ownership and control across a set of equally powerful descendants of the founder, which creates a race to the bottom in tunneling resources out of the group firms.

Link Between Couple Discord and Adolescent Adjustment: an Examination of Direct and Moderating Effects

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the link between couple discord and adolescent adjustment (i.e. antisocial behavior, prosocial behavior, depressive symptoms, school grades) and whether this link was moderated by parent-youth relationship quality, adolescent emotion regulation, and adolescent gender. The sample consisted of 145 families with adolescents who participated in the Family Youth and Development Project. The results indicate that high levels of couple discord was significantly related to poorer school grades. The findings also indicate that couple discord was positively and significantly related to antisocial behavior under low levels of parent-youth relationship quality. In addition, there were significant couple discord X youth sex interactions in the prediction of antisocial behavior. Likewise, adolescent emotion regulation served as a moderator in the link between couple discord and adolescent adjustment. Specifically, youth positive affect served as a moderator in the link between couple discord and youth antisocial behavior such that couple discord was significantly and positively related to youth antisocial behavior for boys (but not girls). Similarly, youth anger served as a moderator in which results showed that high levels of couple discord were significantly related to antisocial behavior for boys (but not girls). Moreover, significant couple discord X youth sadness X youth sex interaction terms were found in the prediction of youth antisocial behavior and youth prosocial behavior. The findings indicate that for boys, the link between couple discord and antisocial behavior was significant and positive under high levels of youth sadness but not significant among youth displaying low levels of sadness. Likewise, the findings indicate that for boys, the link between couple discord and prosocial behavior was significant and negative under high levels of youth sadness but not significant among youth displaying low levels of sadness. For girls, couple discord was not significantly related to antisocial behavior or prosocial behavior regardless of level of sadness. Implications for the findings for parents, therapists, and interventionists are discussed.Human Development & Family Scienc

Using Genetics to Assess Differentiation Among Raccoons in an Area with Variable Rabies Status in Alabama

The western spread of raccoon rabies in Alabama has been slow and even appears to regress eastward periodically. While the disease has been present in the state for over 30 years, areas in northwest Alabama are devoid of raccoon rabies. This variation resulting in an enzootic area of raccoon rabies primarily in southeastern Alabama may be due to landscape features that hinder the movement of raccoons (i.e., gene flow) among different locations. We used 11 raccoon-specific microsatellite markers to obtain individual genotypes to examine gene flow among areas that were rabies free, enzootic with rabies, or had only sporadic reports of the disease. Samples from 70 individuals were collected from 5 sampling localities in 3 counties. The landscape feature data were collected from geographic information system (GIS) data. We inferred gene flow by estimating FST and by using Bayesian tests to identify genetic clusters. Estimates of pairwise FST indicated genetic differentiation and restricted gene flow between some sites, and an uneven distribution of genetic clusters was observed. Of the landscape features examined (i.e., land cover, elevation, slope, roads, and hydrology), only land cover had an association with genetic differentiation, suggesting this landscape variable may affect gene flow among raccoon populations and thus the spread of raccoon variant of rabies in Alabama

Capstone Design Project Experience: Lunar Ice Extraction Design

A group of senior undergraduate students came together as part of a non-traditional capstone design project. The assignment was to take part in the NASA RASC-AL competition and required adjustment to the class curriculum. Two examples are that a direct point of contact from the customer would not be possible as there is no specific person at NASA meant to act as the customer and the submission deadline was after the semester concluded. The students were all from the mechanical engineering department and had a fascination with space technology but came from vastly different demographic backgrounds representing multiple spheres of diversity. This diversity brought unique and unexpected approaches to the project. The project required close interaction of the group throughout and after the semester to accomplish a very difficult goal: the design of a full scale lunar ice extraction facility capable of running autonomously and producing at least 100 metric tonnes of ice per year. The operational plan is to be accompanied by a detailed budget and launch plans to begin taking effect in 2025. Having no experience working with one another prior to this project, the group was required to quickly develop a productive team ethos to address such a large challenge. The aim of this study is to assess the outcomes and reactions during a project from a diverse group of students attempting to complete an unusual capstone design. Accompanying this are pre-, intra-, and post-project surveys to assess effectiveness of the group on key project issues. The primary research questions to answer are: does the perception of the group regarding effectiveness positively correlate with the feelings of ownership of the project and feelings that the individual students’ passions are being considered. Further, because the competition is staged and set to go on the full academic year, the students are interviewed regarding plans on continuing the project beyond the current semester when the majority of the team will have graduated

Trabeculated (non-compacted) and compact myocardium in adults: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis

BACKGROUND: A high degree of non-compacted (trabeculated) myocardium in relationship to compact myocardium (T/M ratio >2.3) has been associated with a diagnosis of left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC). The purpose of this study was to determine the normal range of the T/M ratio in a large population-based study and to examine the relationship to demographic and clinical parameters. METHODS AND RESULTS: The thickness of trabeculation and the compact myocardium were measured in eight LV regions on long axis cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) steady-state free precession cine images in 1000 participants (551 women; 68.1±8.9 years) of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis cohort. Of 323 participants without cardiac disease or hypertension and with all regions evaluable 140 (43%) had a T/M ratio >2.3 in at least one region; in 20/323 (6%), T/M>2.3 was present in more than two regions. Multivariable linear regression model revealed no association of age, gender, ethnicity, height and weight with maximum T/M ratio in participants without cardiac disease or hypertension (p>0.05). In the entire cohort (n=1000) LVEF (β=−0.02/%; p=0.015), LVEDV (β=0.01/ml; p=<0.0001) and LVESV (β=0.01/ml; p<0.001) were associated with maximum T/M ratio in adjusted models while there was no association with hypertension or myocardial infarction (p>0.05). At the apical level T/M ratios were significantly lower when obtained on short- compared to long-axis images (p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: A ratio of trabeculated to compact myocardium of more than 2.3 is common in a large population based cohort. These results suggest reevaluation of the current CMR criteria for LVNC may be necessary

Resource Extraction and Infrastructure Threaten Forest Cover and Community Rights

Mineral and hydrocarbon extraction and infrastructure are increasingly significant drivers of forest loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and threats to the rights of forest communities in forested areas of Amazonia, Indonesia, and Mesoamerica. Projected investments in these sectors suggest that future threats to forests and rights are substantial, particularly because resource extraction and infrastructure reinforce each other and enable population movements and agricultural expansion further into the forest. In each region, governments have made framework policy commitments to national and cross-border infrastructure integration, increased energy production, and growth strategies based on further exploitation of natural resources. This reflects political settlements among national elites that endorse resource extraction as a pathway toward development. Regulations that protect forests, indigenous and rural peoples’ lands, and conservation areas are being rolled back or are under threat. Small-scale gold mining has intensified in specific locations and also has become a driver of deforestation and degradation. Forest dwellers’ perceptions of insecurity have increased, as have documented homicides of environmental activists. To explain the relationships among extraction, infrastructure, and forests, this paper combines a geospatial analysis of forest loss overlapped with areas of potential resource extraction, interviews with key informants, and feedback from stakeholder workshops. The increasing significance of resource extraction and associated infrastructure as drivers of forest loss and rights violations merits greater attention in the empirical analyses and conceptual frameworks of Sustainability Science

Positive youth development in swimming: clarification and consensus of key psychosocial assets

The purpose of this study was to gain a more cohesive understanding of the assets considered necessary to develop in young swimmers to ensure both individual and sport specific development. This two stage study involved (a) a content analysis of key papers to develop a list of both psychosocial skills for performance enhancement and assets associated with positive youth development, and (b) in-depth interviews involving ten expert swim coaches, practitioners and youth sport scholars. Five higher order categories containing seventeen individual assets emerged. These results are discussed in relation to both existing models of positive youth development and implications for coaches, practitioners and parents when considering the psychosocial development of young British swimmers