Planning in the Middle: Co-Planning Between General and Special Education

Professional development programs tailored to address co-teaching performance in Arkansas provided data for 3 cohorts of middle school co-taught teams. This study provides an analysis of middle school plans and provides recommendations as to how to more effectively meet the needs of co-taught teams. Using a content analysis approach, monthly lessons plans submitted by teams over a 3-year period were analyzed. The purpose of this analysis is to provide the field with considerations about what is and is not occurring in the written process related to co-teaching, specifically co-planning in middle schools. In total, 155 lesson plans were analyzed, which were further broken down into 755 days of plans. Findings indicate these teachers utilized a diversity of co-taught models, but 1 model (1 lead, 1 support) dominated their planning. Areas of concern focused on a lack of focus on behavior and utilization of technology for students with disabilities.     

School-Based Programs for Increasing Connectedness and Reducing Risk Behavior: A Systematic Review

School connectedness has a significant impact on adolescent outcomes, including reducing risk-taking behavior. This paper critically examines the literature on school-based programs targeting increased connectedness for reductions in risk taking. Fourteen articles describing seven different school-based programs were reviewed. Programs drew on a range of theories to increase school connectedness, and evaluations conducted for the majority of programs demonstrated positive changes in school connectedness, risk behavior, or a combination of the two. Many of the reviewed programs involved widespread school system change, however, which is frequently a complex and time-consuming task. Future research is needed to examine the extent of intervention complexity required to result in change. This review also showed a lack of consistency in the definitions and measurement of connectedness as well as few mediation analyses testing assumptions of impact on risk-taking behavior through increases in school connectedness. Additionally, this review revealed very limited evaluation of the elements of multicomponent programs that are most effective in increasing school connectedness and reducing adolescent risk taking.     

Examining a Ferguson Effect on College Students’ Motivation to Become Police Officers

Abstract

The current study examines the impact of the Ferguson Effect and related public scrutiny on college students’ motivation to become police officers. Using data from 654 students located at two US universities with over 20,000 students, the results indicate that students’ who perceived that officer motivation and dangerousness has been affected by negative media scrutiny had significantly higher log-odds of strongly agreeing that such scrutiny has negatively impacted their trajectory to work in the police profession and had higher log-odds of strongly agreeing that it has made them apprehensive about applying for police positions in comparison to the reference category. The current study highlights how the negative attention directed towards law enforcement is adversely influencing college students’ motivation to enter the police profession. Police departments must make a concerted effort to mitigate such negative scrutiny in order to ensure a strong candidate pool for prospective police officers.     

Exploring Electronic Landscapes: Technical Communication,Online Learning,and Instructor Preparedness

Instead of focusing on technologies of online delivery, specific course design, or reporting on the successes or lessons learned of an online or distance education course, in this essay I focus on the readiness of technical communication teachers for teaching in online settings. Using ideas gleaned from cultural geography, specifically the concept of reading and interpreting landscapes, I develop a framework for instructors to determine their willingness, readiness, and preparedness to teach online. The final section of this essay provides an example of using this framework based on my explorations into my readiness to teach online. I find that self-selection for online instruction is a critical step in developing powerful instructional settings and allows technical communication teachers to cross or remove existing boundaries within their own pedagogical practices.     

Teachers’ Concerns About Biotechnology Education

The impacts of biotechnology are found in nearly all sectors of society from health care and food products to environmental issues and energy sources. Despite the significance of biotechnology within the sciences, it has not become a prominent trend in science education. In this study, we seek to more fully identify biology teachers’ concerns about biotechnology instruction and their reported practices. Consistent with the Stages of Concern framework as modified by Hord et al., we investigated teachers’ awareness, informational, personal, management, consequences, collaboration, and refocusing concerns about biotechnology teaching by employing a qualitative design that allowed for the emergence of teachers’ ideas. Twenty high school life science teachers attending a biotechnology institute were interviewed using an interview protocol specifically designed to target various Stages of Concern. Although the Stages of Concern framework guided the development of interview questions in order to target a wide range of concerns, data analysis employed a grounded theory approach wherein patterns emerged from teachers’ own words and were constantly compared with each other to generate larger themes. Our results have potential to provide guidance for professional development providers and curriculum developers committed to supporting initial implementation of biotechnology education. Recommendations include supporting teacher development of biotechnology content knowledge; promoting strategies for obtaining, storing and managing biotechnology equipment and materials; providing opportunities for peer teaching as a means of building teacher confidence; and highlighting career opportunities in biotechnology and the intersections of biotechnology and everyday life.     

Dismantling Segregation Together: Interconnections between the Méndez v. Westminster (1946) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954) School Segregation Cases

May 17, 2004 marked the 50th anniversary of the most significant school segregation case: Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka et al. 1954. 347 U.S. 483, 74 S. Ct. 686, 98 L. Ed. 873  [Google Scholar]. While the Brown decision eliminated the legal theory of “separate but equal,” the success of the Méndez et al. v. Westminster School District et al. (1946) Méndez et al. v. Westminster School Dist. of Orange County et al. 1946. 64 F. Supp. 544 (S.D.Ca.)  [Google Scholar] case helped boost public sentiment against segregation, setting the stage for Brown. Méndez made possible the defeat of school segregation laws by revealing the detrimental effects and moral dangers of segregation; in California, it helped bring about the end of de jure school segregation. In this essay, I analyze the similarities of Méndez and Brown by comparing key legal strategies and rhetoric in each case. I also show that civil rights leaders of the time thought that Méndez had ramifications for black desegregation efforts, even if the basis for Chicano and black discrimination were not the same. Before examining the ties between the two, I discuss important historical works on Méndez written between 1976 and 2001 that this essay builds upon.     

Influence of starting position on finishing position in World Cup 500 m short track speed skating

Abstract

Top short track speed skaters and their coaches have suspected that starting positions influence finishing positions, especially in the 500 m racing distance. The objective of this study was to examine systematically the influence of starting position on finishing position in 500 m short track speed skating. The data analysed included results from World Cup 500 m races ranging from the 1999 – 2000 season through to the end of the 2003 – 2004 season. All 500 m men's and women's races with four skaters starting and finishing (preliminaries, heats, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals) were included in the data set. The association between starting position and finishing position was examined using Kendall's tau. Results show that for both sexes, there is a significant positive correlation between starting position and finishing position (P < 0.001). This effect is generally more pronounced in semi-finals and finals than it is in preliminaries, heats and quarter-finals. Strategies to counter this inequity are proposed, drawing upon similar experiences in other sports.     

Development of the children’s active play imagery questionnaire

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to develop an instrument, the Children’s Active Play Imagery Questionnaire (CAPIQ), to assess imagery use during children’s (7–14 years) active play. Phase 1 involved an assessment of content validity using experts (N = 7), while Phase 2 assessed the factorial validity of the CAPIQ using a sample of children (N = 302). Phase 3 contributed to the factorial validity of the CAPIQ by utilising confirmatory factor analysis among an independent sample of children (N = 252). The final version of the CAPIQ consists of 11 items across three factors: fun, social and capability. Further use of the CAPIQ will aid in identifying types of imagery used among children (7–14 years) in their active play, which may contribute to physical activity interventions.