Per Pupil Spending: How Much Difference Does a Dollar Make?

Education. The one thing everyone needs and no one thinks is good enough. Wherever students and policy makers turn there is the desire for something more, something better, coming out of the public education system. Over the years more and more funding has been poured into the education system in attempt to increase the student success rates and intellect of American students. However, American students are still behind internationally and more and more jobs are going to students from different countries. Is there a point when the money being funneled into education doesn’t make enough difference in student achievement and success? When looking at education spending economically, is it a problem of diminishing marginal returns? Is there a better way to spend money in education? Through this analysis, it is hoped that a greater understanding of the diminishing marginal returns on per-pupil spending will be evident and that the issues, other than simply spending, will be brought to the forefront of the education reform discussion. Also through this analysis, a better understanding of school funding, the type of funding that schools are receiving and how they are using said funding, and how that funding might be more successful in educating America’s children will be seen. It is not that the funding isn’t necessary, it is that the current funding is not doing what it America’s schools need

The Impact Of Newsela On Disciplinary Content Area Literacy To Improve Vocabulary Instruction

The research question addressed in this project was, what is the impact of Newsela on developing disciplinary content area literacies to improve vocabulary instruction? The author describes the process of researching and creating a literacy action plan developed for the purpose of providing secondary schools with the timeline and implementation tasks for engaging students in authentic literacy experiences in all content areas. Research around effective literacy plans, specifically by Irvin, Meltzer, and Dukes assisted in development of goals, implementation tasks, and criteria for success. The author defines the key components of this plan, detailing new learnings and struggles throughout the process. She concludes that Newsela can be used to develop an effective plan for change if collaboration and a vision for success are clearly established

A Dance/Movement Therapist\u27s Perspective on Self-Regulation With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability

This clinical case study explores my understanding of self-regulation and the impact it had on my clinical decision-making while in dance/movement therapy (DMT) sessions with a client diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). I was motivated by the interactions I had at my internship while working with this client. For the purpose of this study, I chose the theoretical lens of Daniel Siegel’s theory of self-regulation. Self-regulation is a process that organizes the mind and the body in space (Siegel, 2015). Currently, there is research on working with self-regulation and adults with ASD and ID, but there is limited research specifically using DMT as the means of facilitating and aiding in the self-regulation process. 67 pages. The primary question guiding my case study was: how does my understanding of self-regulation influence my clinical choices in DMT sessions with a client who has co-occurring diagnoses of ASD and ID? Through charting my clinical decision-making process, my DMT interventions, and client responses, I synthesized data through highlighting patterns and themes related to self-regulation. I observed patterns of mirroring and attuning with this client to successfully aid in the self-regulation process. My clinical choices involved rhythmic awareness and exaggeration of breath. In the self-regulation process, my clinical choices helped this client to organize his body and to regulate, control, and calm his movements and vocalizations

Thinking Inside the Box — Graduate Students\u27 Perspectives on Hindered Creativity: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this study is to understand the lived experience of adult graduate students who have had their creativity hindered in an educational context. The phenomenological method developed by Thomas and Pollio (2002) at the University of Tennessee was utilized to understand the essence of meaning and to gain an in-depth awareness into the experience of hindered creativity from an adult learner‟s perspective. Participants in this study experienced having their creativity hindered in a variety of ways with a prolonged and multifaceted aftermath. The study was conducted with twelve adult graduate students from a state university. Utilizing phenomenology and transformative learning theory as the conceptual framework for the study, the data revealed three themes that stood out against the ground of the learners‟ mistrust of authority. A dynamic relationship between the professor and student within the academic box created the ground of the experience. Within the ground of the box participants experienced an initial mistrust of the professor who hindered their creativity. This mistrust dominated their experience and influenced their relationship with the professor and academia. The mistrust was then interpreted by the participant to be either justified or unjustified depending upon the merit of the explanation provided by the professor upon the time of the hindrance. The outcomes of the hindered creativity were described by the participants through their changed mindsets of acceptance, cautiousness, and loss of confidence. Upon reflection of the experience, each participant offered his or her own understanding of how the situation could have been handled differently so that the hindering could have been a positive learning experience. These findings reveal highly individualized adult learning experiences laden with the potential for powerful outcomes and changes to the learner‟s creativity and identity. The hindrance of creativity brought to the educational setting influenced the future manifestation of creativity by the adult learners. Implications for practice include professors recognizing their implicit assumptions, power, and influence in relation to the adult learner. Careful considerations are required by the professor when creativity is going to be hindered. Further research recommendations are also included

Organized Activity Involvement Among Urban Youth: Understanding Predictors and Mechanisms

Organized activities (OA) are a major context of adolescent development which are linked with positive development outcomes, yet the research is limited in understanding predictors of involvement and mechanisms that explain its effect. Using longitudinal data from a subsample of youth enrolled in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 1,043), this study examined relations between neighborhood characteristics (i.e., perceived neighborhood safety and neighborhood collective efficacy) and parent characteristics (i.e., parental supervision and parental warmth) and participation in organized activities (OA) at multiple points in adolescence, and whether these relations varied by age and sex. This study also explored whether community violence exposure (victimization and witnessing) and peer characteristics (positive characteristics and deviancy) in middle adolescence mediated the relation between OA involvement in early adolescence and developmental outcomes in later adolescence (e.g., internalizing and externalizing symptoms, delinquency, substance use, and self-efficacy), and whether this varied by sex and SES. Findings indicated that parental supervision significantly predicted participation in OA across multiple waves. Some significant neighborhood effects also emerged. Community violence witnessing significantly mediated the link between OA and developmental outcomes. These findings have important implications for program developers, those working with urban youth, and for the larger organized activity literature

Immune Function and Metabolism of Hibernating North American Bats with White-Nose Syndrome

White-nose syndrome (WNS) causes substantial mortality in certain species of hibernating North American bats. The responsible agent is Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), a fungus which causes physiological complications such as increased arousals and energy depletion during the hibernation season. Tricolored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) and northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis) suffer extensive WNS mortality, while gray bats (Myotis grisescens) and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) are infected, but mortality is rarely observed. It is hypothesized that there is a difference in immune responses and/or hibernation metabolism between these bat species, resulting in this interspecific variation in disease severity. To test these hypotheses, experiments were conducted at both the cellular and whole-bat level. Tricolored bats were infected with Pd and half were treated with an anti-inflammatory to mute any immune response. Data from measurements of torpor energetics did not support the hypothesis, but an immune response was observed in mid-hibernation, based on white blood cell counts. Also, wing tissue fibroblasts from the four species listed above were infected with Pd, and RNA-seq analysis revealed interspecific differences in gene expression in response to Pd. This study could aid in establishing treatment and conservation strategies for North American bats. In addition, a cell culture method has been pioneered that will allow researchers to address a myriad of immunological questions, such as which western bat species might be most susceptible to WNS as it spreads westward