The Costs of Experience Corps® in Public Schools

Objective: To describe the annual operational costs of a mature Experience Corps® program in elementary schools in the Baltimore City Public School System. Methods: Systematic records of expenditures kept by the community partner, Greater Homewood Community Corporation, to be reported to funders were made available for analysis. Expenditures were aggregated to the level of fiscal year and grouped in categories in consultation with the community partner. Results: Expenditures to provide reimbursement to volunteers and to administer this complex volunteer program in an environment in which the school district needed additional management resources for such a program dominate the total expenditures. In the 2008 fiscal year, the program provided 158,305 hours of older adult volunteer service to public elementary schools in Baltimore City and the cost per volunteer hour was $9.79; in the 2009 fiscal year the program provided 157,238 hours of older adult volunteer service and the cost per volunteer hour was $9.60. This suggests consistency and may also suggest that the program is becoming more efficient over time. Conclusion: The costs presented represent the costs of running a mature program after an initial investment has been made. These costs would need to be compared with the short-term and long-term benefits to the older adult volunteers, the school children, other school personnel, and the schools' and volunteers' communities to perform a comprehensive benefit-cost analysis to inform public policy.     

Cracking the Challenge of Changing Dispositions: Changing Hearts and Minds through Stories,Narratives, and Direct Cultural Interactions

This paper reports the findings of a study that examined changes in interns’ culturally and family-responsive dispositions over the course of a 2-year early childhood teacher preparation program that prepares teachers who are willing and able to work with culturally, linguistically, and ability-diverse young children and their families. Specifically, we studied shifts in dispositions about (a) building relationships with families, (b) feeling comfortable working with children and families with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and (c) being willing to implement culturally responsive and relevant curriculum and instruction. Qualitative methodologies were employed to examine the guiding-principles paper interns wrote at the conclusion of the program. Results of the study indicate that interns perceived that their attitudes toward and beliefs about families with cultures different from their own changed over the course of the program. They attributed these changes, in part, to their engagement in activities that involved home visits and gathering families’ stories. The interns felt they gained a greater understanding of cultural diversity and changed some of their assumptions and biases as a result of spending time with families and getting to know their sociocultural context as well as their beliefs, priorities, and goals. The interns perceived that this intimate knowledge of families helped them provide culturally responsive instruction that took into account children’s diversity and promoted cultural and linguistic continuity between home and school.     

The Changing Face of Retirement: Exploring Retirees’ Communicative Construction of Tensions through Bridge Employment

As more adults see bridge employment as part of their retirement, it becomes important to understand the communicative construction of this experience. This point is especially true as bridge employment emphasizes tensions between work and leisure and serves as a way to affirm or create occupational identity. To address this topic we conducted qualitative interviews with retirees and completed an abductive analysis of the data. In doing so, we found two overarching themes: bridge employment is an uncertain experience (negative, positive, or both frames), and bridge employment is an opportunity to (re)establish identities (maintenance, change, or both orientations). Not only do these findings make theoretical contributions, but inform practical implications for retirees and organizations, such as updating retention and recruitment efforts and changing age-based organizational structures.     

Examining professional learning and the preparation of professionally competent teachers in initial teacher education

The relative contributions of higher education and schools, and hence the conceptual and practical aspects of ITE, to student teachers’ professional learning have been an issue of concern in teacher education. This article reports a mixed-methods study showing the relationship between student teachers’ engagement with the practical and conceptual aspects of a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) Programme in Hong Kong and different facets of their perceived professional competence. One hundred and thirty-two student teachers participated in the quantitative survey of whom seven were interviewed. The findings reveal that experiences associated with learning the pragmatic facets of professional practice were more valued by student teachers compared to learning the conceptual aspects of ITE. Yet, in terms of relationship with professional competence, student teachers’ engagement with the practical aspects of ITE was related to competence in classroom teaching, whereas their engagement with the conceptual aspects contributed to their mastery of professional knowledge, competence in classroom teaching and competence in interacting with stakeholders. The study illuminates the distinctive contributions of schools and higher education in ITE. While acknowledging the important role of schools in providing a setting for practical work, this study affirms the distinctive contribution of higher education in equipping student teachers with practical and conceptual tools in the preparation of professionally competent teachers.     

如此简单,你也能做

手工克隆,一种制作与动物基因相同的拷贝的新方法,不仅比现有的方式花费少、操作简便,而且看来效果更好。目前,克隆的关键仪器是“显微操作器”,它价格高昂,并且需要熟练的技术人员在显微镜下钳住一个卵细胞,插入一根极其精细的针头以吸出其核仁,再用另外一根针头注入待克隆动物的核仁,还有一种选择就是融合一空的卵细胞和待克隆动物的一个细胞。两种方法都是极其复杂且非常耗时的。