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This study explored a place-based summer enrichment offering for gifted rural students through the lens of a critical pedagogy of place (Greenwood, 2003). To ameliorate well-documented opportunity gaps for rural students, we established a residential camp on our university's campus where middle school students engaged in STEM and humanities enrichment courses. Inductive analysis of students' culminating projects revealed two salient themes: (a) students thought critically about environmental and social issues specific to their rural communities, and (b) students expressed strong connections to place through artistic projects. This study suggests a need to honor rural students' funds of knowledge (Moll et al., 1992) and sense of place when designing and implementing enrichment activities geared toward increasing equity for rural gifted students.

This paper explores how beliefs about mathematics may influence low-achieving adults' re-engagement with mathematics in the tertiary sector. Adult learners who have problematic mathematical histories often hold negative beliefs about the nature of mathematics and how it is learned. In New Zealand these adults are often required to re-engage in mathematical provision in the tertiary sector to gain qualifications for employment. The beliefs they hold about mathematics may negatively influence their approach to learning mathematics and their affective response to it. This paper explores several ways in which negative beliefs about mathematics may undermine adults' success.

The Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) special education programs function with a multidisciplinary team called the Child Management Committee. The Child Study Committee, which usually meets once a week, develops, implements, and monitors comprehensive, multidisciplinary assessment procedures; summarizes assessment results in written form; develops, implements, and monitors each child's individualized education program (IEP); implements specific written procedures to assure that parents are cognizant of all procedural safeguards and to assure that the school follows procedural safeguard provisions; and monitors a record management system. Specific procedures are outlined for screening (including regional screening and Child Find); the referral process (including the prereferral, formal referral, and assessment stages); IEP development; and educational placement. Other components briefly considered are the Guidance Resource Centers and the Special Olympics. (SW)

Reforms in bilingual education currently sought by Secretary of Education Bennett would enable school districts to apply for and receive federal bilingual education funds regardless of the methodology they choose for those programs. The objective is to get the federal government out of the business of mandating curriculum to local schools. The rationale behind the reforms is based on the history of the federal role in bilingual education. Regulations issued in June 1986 for implementation of 1984 amendments to the Bilingual Education Act represent a major step in bringing about this reform. They have three main focuses: the autonomy of the local education agencies in deciding the amount of native language instruction to be used, recognition of the importance of parental involvement in the bilingual programs, and the need for local agencies to outline plans for managing and financing the instructional program when Title VII funds are reduced or are no longer available. These reforms recognize the major role of the local community in bilingual education. It is the responsibility of those who deal with the parents of limited-English-proficient students to carry the message to them about their role in the reform's success. (MSE)

The flight of rural youth to suburban and urban areas contributes significantly to the plight of rural communities. Social capital has been shown to affect this migration pattern (Tolbert, Irwin, Nucci, & Lyson, 2002). This paper details a web-based intervention aimed at increasing the social capital of rural youth. Researchers linked high-school aged students with rural community business and volunteer leaders through an online class to teach skills and provide the project with the necessary opportunity to build a web-based community information resource. Results show that the experience had a significant impact on the participant's social capital, increasing local career plans and volunteer and social networking efficacy. ICT literacy also significantly increased. This study provides evidence that the creation of web-based community information resources can lead to increased social capital in rural communities. Results of this study are valuable for researchers developing ICT solutions to address the flight of rural youth and the plight of rural communities. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A growing numbers of individuals affected by breast cancer are turning to the web for information. The internet has unique capabilities for supplying health information, including the use of targeting specific populations and employing specific evidence strategies to create more effective messages. Objective: This research sought to address the presence of information targeting low literacy, racially diverse, non-English speaking, and age diverse audiences. In addition, this study documented the utilization of evidence strategies for these four audiences. Specifically, the likelihood that those websites which target one of these four audiences are to make use of statistical or storytelling evidence was compared to websites that do not target one of these four audiences. Method: This research examined these relationships on 157 breast cancer websites through content analysis. Results: Nearly half of the websites did not target the groups of interest here. Websites with multiple languages were found to be more likely to use statistical evidence and websites with low literacy sections were found to be less likely to do so, as compared to websites that did not target these groups. Websites with ethnic or racial diversity and age diversity sections were more likely to use first person storytelling about breast cancer, as compared to websites that did not target these groups. Conclusions: Current breast cancer websites demonstrate promising use of targeting specific audiences and employing evidence strategies prescribed as effective by past research. Future research examining these issues will benefit with direct input from website users. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internet is a prominent source of health information for the public. This research evaluated both basic use and design tenets and the presence of theoretical components to motivate healthy breast cancer behavior for users of the most frequented breast cancer websites. Methodology: Each website was evaluated with two sets of questions. The first attends to the basic use and design tenets of the website. The second coding form assessed the websites use of three behavior change theories. Results: The majority of the websites fared well with regards to their use of basic tenet and design principles. Theoretical components were used sparingly on the majority of websites. Discussion: The most frequented breast cancer websites are currently well equipped with basic use and design tenets. However, their lack of behavioral change components is likely to impede users' motivations to protect themselves against breast cancer. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Health providers are challenged to find efficacious ways to provide health education to a population with diverse levels of health literacy. Traditional means of educating through print brochures have limited effectiveness and a low shelf life as new information is continually released for public consumption. A number of chronic health conditions are growing at staggering rates. Type II diabetes is an example of a chronic disease that could be fought with improved educational offerings. This project sought to test the effectiveness of a website (Diabetes and You) about Type II diabetes designed for non-diabetics with low health literacy. Methods: Research participants were observed as they viewed the Diabetes and You website, tested for diabetes knowledge before and after viewing the website, checked for functional health literacy, and interviewed to discover their perceptions of the website. Results: Results indicate that users were engaged and interested in the website and particularly preferred the interactive risk assessment page. Users demonstrated an increase in knowledge about diabetes and its risks after viewing the website. Conclusions: Results indicate that users appreciate this style of intervention and can learn from it regardless of health literacy level. Further research into more effective ways of delivering health information online to this key target population is still necessary to minimize the impact of health literacy. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper addresses a gap in existing literature to explain successes and failures of telemedicine. Rather than attempt to generalize through clinical and cost outcomes, we re-frame existing state of knowledge of telemedicine through a critical review of three distinct theoretical paradigms: diffusion of innovation theories, cognitive approaches, and behavior change theories. This review reveals that communication-based theoretical explanations for telemedicine’s successes and failures are still in their infancy. To understand the co-evolution of communication processes and telemedicine, there is an urgent need to examine its current and long-term consequences and constraints (Whitten & Collins, 1997) including: (a) critical implications for cost and access related to deployment of telemedicine; (b) changing patient-provider inter-relationships and its effect on health outcomes at a social level; (c) ethical issues raised by implications for privacy of personal information; and, (d) sociological consequences implying fundamental changes to quality of life and societal expectations of health. Such implications embody fundamental questions about the impact of telemedicine on the very health of our society. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The convergence of affordable multimedia capabilities with local and wide area wireless data networking on handheld devices is a particularly important trend. Using off-the-shelf technology, we conducted a simple experiment that required subjects to engage in a person-identification task while posing as security agents in field setting. Subjects attempted to identify a target person in a public setting under different conditions with or without the aid of video information distributed to them via wireless-enabled multimedia PDAs. We develop expectations based on previous research in the areas of social presence, information richness, and the role of video in grounding. Our findings suggest new directions for research on this new generation of video-enabled devices. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caregivers often feel isolated and experience stress from balancing caregiving, work, and other family responsibilities (Caregiving, 2002). Telemedicine, the use of telecommunication technologies to deliver health services over a distance, may be one means of alleviating the stress on caregivers. Researchers found that perceived social support is correlated with caregiver quality of life. Furthermore, caregivers reported that although they have a social support network in place, very little respite care and support from extended family is available. Although pilot projects have shown that patients and physicians feel telehospice is a beneficial service, caregivers are hesitant to use telecommunication technologies for their own support. The researchers conclude that for telehospice to be successful in enhancing social support of caregivers in rural areas, a significant education component from hospice providers is necessary to illustrate benefits of the service for caregivers, and policy needs to be enacted to provide telehospice services to caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy People 2010 identified increasing access to the internet as an objective due to the internet's role as a popular channel for health information. However, this access is meaningless if individuals are not able to operate and learn from health websites. This inability to maximize use of health websites results from a myriad of barriers including low literacy levels, lack of internet skills, and diverse cultural backgrounds. Unfortunately, most studies evaluating health websites to date have superficially focused on basic design tenets. The few studies measuring other assets of health websites have yielded poor results demonstrating that these websites are not friendly to a diverse array of audiences. In an attempt to launch a robust means to assess the plethora of issues surrounding optimal use of health websites we have developed four evaluation sheets to grade design, literacy, health and information content qualities of health websites. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asthma is a chronic disease and a growing health problem worldwide. People suffering with asthma miss 11.8 million days of work and 14 million days of school annually. Asthma is also the third highest cause of hospitalization and many of the patients are seen at the emergency department. The annual cost of asthma is estimated at $18 billion. While there is currently no cure for asthma, management of the disease can effectively control it. Mobile phones can serve as a potential platform to facilitate the management of asthma. The objective of this study is to employ principles from social cognitive theory to test the feasibility and utilization of tracking asthma symptoms through a mobile phone application. This research also seeks to understand if managing asthma through mobile phones can also improve health literacy of asthma patients, by helping them better understand their chronic condition and provide better communication opportunities with their primary care physician regarding their asthma. If the data shows improvement in subjects' asthma self-efficacy and satisfaction of tracking asthma in this manner, a future study with controls will be conducted to determine changes in health outcomes and improved health literacy. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the costs associated with providing healthcare to low health literate audiences, communicating information to low health literate individuals is an important issue. But with the continuous increasing complexity of health information, even those with adequate health literacy can appreciate simpler health communication. This project investigated the potential for two specially-tailored e-health interventions, designed to provide information to low health literate audiences, to deliver information to broader and more health literate audiences. These websites provided information through animated health providers, with supporting images and animations. Subjects approved of both websites' designs, preferring the newer and more graphically appealing of the two. Respondents learned from both interventions, as measured by pre- and post-tests of knowledge. Participants did not exhibit significant preferences for animated health providers matching their own ethnicity, suggesting the importance of true cultural customization of content. Study results provide interesting implications for both health communication professionals and researchers. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual participation in online health-related support communities and educational websites has potential to contribute to education as well as improvements in the ability to manage different diseases and conditions. Challenges to the adoption of online support are varied and include issues related to both providers and patients. From the provider's perspective, there may be a hesitation to recommend online sources of support. From a patient perspective, there may be a lack of computer knowledge and skills, lack of access to a computer or the Internet, and/or perceived privacy issues. Despite the challenges to adoption of online health-related support communities, these eCommunities and digital education initiatives have many features that set them apart from traditional face-to-face support groups that may make them attractive to people suffering from different diseases or conditions, including increased privacy and increased availability independent of geographic or time constraints. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of household and community chemicals pose risks to pre-pubertal girls for mid-life development of breast cancer. This study reports evidence regarding the safety of environmental contaminants presented on N=177 breast cancer websites (e.g., half of sites describe negative consequences of environmental risks and one-quarter present self-efficacy information) , reviews content analytic findings regarding news stories describing risks in the environment (e.g., chemicals are mentioned in only a handful of N=231 breast cancer items in leading national newspapers, newsmagazines, and network newscasts, and treatment and detection stories are much more prevalent than prevention), and describes data from survey research with N=330 females measuring perceived credibility of web vs. mass media vs. medical professional vs. interpersonal sources, and perceived risks of key contaminants relative to other factors that contribute to breast cancer (e.g., chemical risks rank far behind smoking, family history, hormone replacement therapy, or diet). ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]