Leadership behavior practice patterns\u27 relationship to employee work engagement in a nonprofit that supports the homeless

An organization\u27s ability to achieve its goals depends on the quality of its leaders and their ability to produce a highly engaged workforce. High levels of employee and managerial turnover and burnout can impede an organization\u27s workforce engagement and ability to grow and be successful. To minimize the impact of these 2 constructs (turnover and burnout), this study examined the link between leadership behavior practice patterns\u27 and employee work engagement in a nonprofit that supports the homeless. Responses from 48 non-managerial employees were used for this study. To investigate this study data were collected using 2 survey instruments: the Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI) and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Both surveys were completed by the same population on the same day. The combination of cross-sectional survey designs using quantitative and descriptive correlational research methods helped the researcher analyze the data to identify relationships between the variables under investigation. According to the respondents\u27 ratings, a positive correlation was found to exist between leaders\u27 behavior practice patterns and employee work engagement. Moreover, the results found no negative correlations between the LPI scores and the UWES scores. High employee engagement in a nonprofit organization leads to better economic outcomes for the community and a better workplace for employees who feel their organization cares about their health and well-being, which leads to a more tenured workforce and effective group of leaders. Future directions for research include exploring other variables (leader responses and gender) to potentially predict different work engagement levels and leadership behaviors that could impede employee burnout and turnover

Creating a responsive, real-time, malleable environment for dancers

The traditional choreographer/dancer paradigm uses the dancer as a tool of the choreographer. By contrast, a real-time responsive environment, consisting of rendered video and motion-generated video and sound allows the dancer to become a co-creator in both the rehearsal process and the performances. A malleable visual and sonic environment means that the dancer\u27s relation to their environment becomes a self-directed mixture of expressive and responsive elements. This results in a more authentic experience, as the dancer can use his or her movement to not just alter the environment, but use that environment to accompany the dancer rather than having the environment direct the dancer. However, the selection of technology for such a malleable dance-performance envionment is by no means trivial. From piezo and flex sensors, radio frequency transceivers and bluetooth radios, to the ultimate development of a novel sensor system (the VDancer) that can eliminate the need for wires and breakable flex sensors, this thesis details the search for a system that is tough enough to withstand hard use no by modern dancers, and inexpensive enough for a modern dance company. Part of the intent of this thesis is to detail the application of interactive technologies that was developed to allow dancers to manipulate sound and video projections on any stage. This thesis also documents similar previous work, the development of the VDancer, and a number of avenues for advancing that system and the interactions it can offer users

READING BUILDS EMPATHY: PILOTING A LITERACY TOOL TO MEASURE READING\u27S IMPACT ON KIDS\u27 EMPATHY DEVELOPMENT

Culturally Relevant Pedagogical (CRP; Ladson-Billings, 1995) and textual strategic approaches to reading development are gaining acceptance and broader usage among students of all ages and walks of life. With this shift, quantitative measures of efficacy can confirm, bolster, and source new policies and strategies for implementation in new and existing learning frontiers that engage at-home reading and family literacy practices. To this end, the Reading Builds Empathy literacy study seeks to develop and pilot a new instrument to be used in future intervention studies. Focusing on the active ingredient of culturally relevant pedagogy, empathy, and its three dimensions (affective, cognitive, and ethnocultural empathy) this instrument adapts proven methods for assessing early readers aged 6-8 on affective learning measures, namely Marinak’s (2015) Me and My Reading Profile, to construct a new tool to help reading researchers, educators, and families better measure and understand the power of early readers’ engagement with picture books. Outcomes from this study offered suggestions for future interventions to advance the use of picture books, development and use of empathy in a CRP context, for students’ reading and writing development, academic success, and lifelong learning

The Brownies\u27 Book

With editors such as legendary scholar and visionary publisher, W. E. B. DuBois, and Jessie Faucet, a renowned literary voice of the Harlem Renaissance, The Brownies\u27 Book (January 1920-December 1921) is a publication for the ages. In print just two years, the children\u27s magazine catered to an audience that targeted all children, but especially for ours, the Children of the Sun (DuBois, 1919, p. 285). In view of its groundbreaking contributions, the monthly is distinguished as a foundational work in American children\u27s publishing, literature, and literacy. Examination of the short-lived magazine\u27s successes and challenges uncovers and sheds light on its core strategies to move past decades-old impediments to achieve new gains in literacy, publishing, and community building

Estimating the proportion of Medicaid-eligible pregnant women in Louisiana who do not get abortions when Medicaid does not cover abortion.

BackgroundTo estimate the proportion of pregnant women in Louisiana who do not obtain abortions because Medicaid does not cover abortion.MethodsTwo hundred sixty nine women presenting at first prenatal visits in Southern Louisiana, 2015-2017, completed self-administered iPad surveys and structured interviews. Women reporting having considered abortion were asked whether Medicaid not paying for abortion was a reason they had not had an abortion. Using study data and published estimates of births, abortions, and Medicaid-covered births in Louisiana, we projected the proportion of Medicaid births that would instead be abortions if Medicaid covered abortion in Louisiana.Results28% considered abortion. Among women with Medicaid, 7.2% [95% CI 4.1-12.3] reported Medicaid not paying as a reason they did not have an abortion. Existing estimates suggest 10% of Louisiana pregnancies end in abortion. If Medicaid covered abortion, this would increase to 14% [95% CI 12, 16]. 29% [95% CI 19, 41] of Medicaid eligible pregnant women who would have an abortion with Medicaid coverage, instead give birth.ConclusionsFor a substantial proportion of pregnant women in Louisiana, the lack of Medicaid funding remains an insurmountable barrier to obtaining an abortion. Forty years after the Hyde Amendment was passed, lack of Medicaid funding for abortion continues to have substantial impacts on women's ability to obtain abortions

Impact of MAYSI-2 Mental Health Screening in Juvenile Detention

This poster reports on factors that influenced the rapid adoption and implementation of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-version 2 (MAYSI-2) and the perceived consequences of routine MAYSI-2 mental health screening. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with administrators, managers, and front-line staff in juvenile detention centers in three states (n=19). Results will allow us to better inform juvenile justice facilities regarding the conditions under which screening can more often result in increases in mental health services to youth entering the system and help guide future efforts to provide technology to juvenile justice programs in the interest of youths

Impact of Mental Health Screening with the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument (MAYSI-2) in Juvenile Detention

Introduction: Recent evidence suggests that the prevalence of mental health disorders among youth entering juvenile pretrial detention centers is two to three times higher than youths in the general population (Teplin, Abram, McClelland, Dulcan & Mericle, 2002). Within the past five years, mental health screening upon entry to a juvenile justice facility has become standard practice across the nation. We know more about the validity and reliability of mental health screening tools used in this context than we do about the factors that facilitate their implementation. If tools are not implemented properly, their adequate validity is virtually lost. Effective screening procedures require attention to how screening instruments are put into place and how they actually function within juvenile justice facilities. Introduced in 2000, the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument—Second Version (MAYSI-2; Grisso & Barnum, 2006) is now the most widely used mental health screening tool in juvenile justice secure facilities in the United States