Teach For America Teachers\u27 Blogs on Teaching

In 1989, Princeton University senior Wendy Kopp conceived the idea of a national teacher corps that would place the brightest young people in the schools that were the most difficult to staff. This idea, which became Teach For America (TFA), took life in 1990, and has since become a powerful force in the public education reform movement. TFA consistently attracts college graduates from the nation’s top universities, and with the funding it receives from private donors as well as the federal government, the organization recruits and trains these individuals who commit to teach in the country’s highest-needs public schools. Critics of Teach For America, including the National Education Association (NEA) and scholar Linda Darling-Hammond—whose 1994 critique of TFA nearly destroyed the organization, argue that TFA poses a threat to the future of public education because it places the most inexperienced teachers in the country’s most struggling schools. While politicians, CEOs, prominent educators, teachers unions, and celebrities engage in debates on whether TFA teachers have a positive or negative impact on students, the voices of Teach For America teachers themselves have been largely left out of this conversation. This study identifies their attitudes, concerns, and anxieties about teaching by analyzing the blogs of fifteen different TFA teachers on the Teach For Us blogging network. It found that Teach For America teachers felt unprepared for the work of teaching, the culture of the schools where they were placed, and the academic level of their students, yet maintained an optimistic attitude in spite of these feelings

Professional development design in elementary school blended learning environments : changes in teacher mindsets and adaptive thinking skills

Field of study: Educational leadership and policy analysis.Dr. Cornelius-White, Dissertation Supervisor.Includes vita."May 2018."This mixed method convergent study explored the impact of design and delivery of professional development practices in a large, urban school district in Missouri. Certificated classroom teachers at 23 pre-determined elementary school sites (541 participants) were electronically surveyed. Additionally, three department leaders were interviewed and their responses provided insights about core features of professional development (content focused, active learning, coherence, duration and collective participation) present within the district. The International Association for K-12 Online Learning's (iNACOL) Blended Learning Teacher Competency Framework and transformative learning theory both provided a lens for examining professional development design and practice within the research study. The quantitative results of the study reveal significant increase in teacher responses from the technical skill and adaptive thinking domains. Additionally, qualitative data collected during the study found professional development delivered during the implementation window did include all five core features of professional development (content focused, active learning, coherence, duration and collective participation). While significance was noted in several variables studied, the Mindset domain showed no significant improvements in teacher responses on either measurement.Includes bibliographical references (pages 152-162)

Identifying Associations Between the Family Environment and Anxiety and Depression Among Children Ages 0-17 in the United States

This study analyzes whether physical, emotional & neurological, family environment, or community-related factors display the strongest association with anxiety and depression among children ages 0-17 in the United States. Using IBM SPSS v. 27, we conducted a univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis on data from the 2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) with a sample size of 21,599. Our independent variables included 30 questions from the NSCH which were compared to a mental health index score. Our study shows that about 10.6% of children suffer from either anxiety, depression, or both, and the univariate model found that 19 out of the 30 variables tested displayed a strong association with anxiety and depression (OR \u3e 1.00). In the multivariate model, the factors that displayed the strongest association with anxiety and depression were ACE 3 - parental divorce (OR 1.316 [1.125, 1.539]) and ACE 8 - living in the same household with someone who is mentally ill (OR 2.213 [1.820, 2.691]), which were both assigned to the family environment category. These results indicates that the family environment is a major contributor towards childhood development, which emphasizes the need for healthcare providers to have access to the necessary diagnostic tools to identify underlying mental health issues in pediatric patients. These findings are significant in that pediatric healthcare providers could implement screening techniques and treatment options that address a patient’s family environment

Parental Characteristics Related to Specialty Therapy Service Utilization Among Children: A Virginia and National Comparison

Purpose: Identify how parental characteristics impact specialty therapy service utilization among children between the ages of 1-17 from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). Methods: Data for this study included 50,212 parents from a nationally representative sample and 1,158 parents in the state of Virginia where characteristics were identified that negatively influenced the utilization of specialty therapy services for child. Results: Of 1,158 children between the ages of 1-17 years in Virginia, 9.5% of children needed special therapy such as physical, occupational, or speech therapy. Of those children in need of special therapy services, 3.6% did not receive the necessary health resources. Impacting variables associated with the needed health care not received included, coordination of care among health care providers or services (75%), health care costs (58.3%), difficulties paying for child’s medical bills (88.9%) and complications accumulating necessary specialist care (83.3%). Conclusions: Long-lasting consequences will arise if children are not receiving early intervention specialty services such as educational and employment disadvantages, low socioeconomic status, and poor health outcomes. This analysis suggests public health concerns should be focused on what parental characteristics directly impact specialty therapy services among children and what type(s) of intervention services would promote the uptake of services to improve health outcomes

Social Determinants of Health and the Prevalence of Overweight Status and Mental Health Conditions Among Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic Children in the United States

Purpose: A growing concern in the United States has been the rise of anxiety and depression and its relation to excessive weight status among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic children, racial groups with higher-than-average rates of overweight status and obesity. This study explored this prevalence by analyzing individual, interpersonal, and community factors among this population. The study also sought to determine if a correlation exists between elevated weight and mental health issues in the study population. Methods: Using data from the 2017’s National Survey of Children Health (NSCH), the prevalence of anxiety and depression was investigated among Black and Hispanic children ages 10-17 years old with a BMI greater than the 85th percentile, defined by the CDC as being overweight/obese (N=10,839). Results: Two-way chi square tests were conducted in SPSS, determining that statistically significant correlates (p \u3c 0.05) existed between the prevalence of overweight/obesity in children and individual, interpersonal, and community factors, with the most significant correlates being individual factors. A significant correlate was found to exist between overweight/obesity and the prevalence of anxiety and depression (p \u3c 0.05, for both); however, when categorized by either race, no significant correlate was observed (p = 0.40, 0.26). Using a simple linear regression model, the most significant variables that correlated with overweight/obese were age, Mental Health Index, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) score, and Family Received Assistance in 31 Last 12 Months. Family Received Assistance in Last 12 Months was indicated as a question on the NCSH. Conclusion: The results of the study found the most significant correlates to be between individual factors and overweight/obesity in children. The multiple logistic regression model demonstrated that only three variables were significant predictors of overweight/obesity in children after running stepwise selection. Additional studies investigating mental health (MH) and behavioral health factors among children who are overweight or obese (o/o) is recommended

Modeling age-related changes in muscle-tendon dynamics during cyclical contractions in the rat gastrocnemius

Efficient muscle-tendon performance during cyclical tasks is dependent on both active and passive mechanical tissue properties. Here we examine whether age-related changes in the properties of muscle-tendon units (MTUs) compromise their ability to do work and utilize elastic energy storage. We empirically quantified passive and active properties of the medial gastrocnemius muscle and material properties of the Achilles tendon in young (∼6 mo) and old (∼32 mo) rats. We then used these properties in computer simulations of a Hill-type muscle model operating in series with a Hookean spring. The modeled MTU was driven through sinusoidal length changes and activated at a phase that optimized muscle-tendon tuning to assess the relative contributions of active and passive elements to the force and work in each cycle. In physiologically realistic simulations where young and old MTUs started at similar passive forces and developed similar active forces, the capacity of old MTUs to store elastic energy and produce positive work was compromised. These results suggest that the observed increase in the metabolic cost of locomotion with aging may be in part due to the recruitment of additional muscles to compensate for the reduced work at the primary MTU. Furthermore, the age-related increases in passive stiffness coupled with a reduced active force capacity in the muscle can lead to shifts in the force-length and force-velocity operating range that may significantly impact mechanical and metabolic performance. Our study emphasizes the importance of the interplay between muscle and tendon mechanical properties in shaping MTU performance during cyclical contractions

Stratified Multilevel Logistic Regression Modeling for Risk Factors of Adolescent Obesity in Tennessee

Background: US adolescent obesity rates have quadrupled over the past 3 decades. Research examining complex factors associatedwith obesity is limited.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to utilize a representative sample of students (grades 6 - 8) in Tennessee to determine theco-occurrence of risk behaviors with adolescent obesity prevalence and to analyze variations by strata. Methods: The 2010 youth risk behavior survey dataset was used to examine associations of obesity with variables related to sampledemographics, risk and protective behaviors, and region. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses stratified by demographics andregion were conducted to evaluate variation in obesity risk occurring on three hierarchical levels: class, school and district. Results: The sample consisted of 60715 subjects. The overall obesity rate was 22%. High prevalence of obesity existed in males, non-white race, those ever smoked and was positively correlated with age. Across three state regions, race, gender, and specific behaviors (smoking, weight misperception, disordered eating, +3 hours TV viewing, and no sports team participation) persisted as significantpredictors of adolescent obesity, although variations by region and demographics were observed. Multilevel analyses indicate that\u3c 1%, 0 - 1.97% and4.03 - 13.06% of the variation in obesity was associated with district, school and class differences, respectively, whenstratifying the sample by demographic characteristics or region. Conclusions: Uniform school-based prevention efforts targeting adolescent obesity risk may have limited impact if they fail torespond to geographical and demographic nuances that hierarchal modeling can detect. Study results reveal that stratified hi-erarchical analytic approaches to examine adolescent obesity risk have tremendous potential to elucidate significant prevention insights

Comparative and Cumulative Energetic Costs of Odontocete Responses to Anthropogenic Disturbance

Odontocetes respond to vessels and anthropogenic noise by modifying vocal behavior, surface active behaviors, dive patterns, swim speed, direction of travel, and activity budgets. Exposure scenarios and behavioral responses vary across odontocetes. A literature review was conducted to determine relevant sources of disturbance and associated behavioral responses for several odontocete species (bottlenose dolphin, killer whale, harbor porpoise, and beaked whales). The energetic costs of species-specific responses to anthropogenic disturbance were then estimated. The energetic impact varies across species and scenarios as well as by behavioral responses. Overall, the cumulative energetic cost of ephemeral behavioral responses (e.g., performing surface active behaviors, modifying acoustic signals) and modifying swim speeds and activity budgets likely increases daily energy expenditure by ≤4%. In contrast, the reduction in foraging activity in the presence of vessels and/or exposure to sonar has the potential to significantly reduce individuals’ daily energy acquisition. Indeed, across all odontocete species, decreased energy acquisition as a result of reduced foraging undoubtedly has a larger impact on individuals than the increased energy expenditure associated with behavioral modification. This work provides a powerful tool to investigate the biological significance of multiple behavioral responses that are likely to occur in response to anthropogenic disturbance