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More than 300 Members of Parliament (MPs) found themselves in an awkward position after the vote on Britain's membership in the EU: They had taken a public stance on Brexit in opposition to their constituents. We investigate whether MPs attempted to bolster their personal vote in response and if this provided electoral protection. Using Early Day Motions (EDMs), we find that MPs supporting Leave in Remain constituencies sponsored more EDMs after Brexit but were also more likely to lose re-election in 2017. Remain supporting MPs in Leave constituencies switched their position on Brexit when voting to trigger Article 50, but did not sponsor more EDMs post-Brexit and did not lose disproportionately compared to Brexit-aligned MPs. We conclude by considering whether the value of the personal vote and incumbency may have declined as affective polarization (Mason, 2018) among the British electorate may be on the rise during the era of Brexit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most democratic regimes, the public often dislikes and distrusts parliamentarians. This should not surprise: the public likes neither compromise nor conflict, both of which are legislative hallmarks. One of the most famous examples of parliamentary conflict is Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the British House of Commons. It is the most viewed and commented upon part of the parliamentary week, but attracts strong criticism as a noisy charade promoting a poor image of politics. Does PMQs undermine individual levels of political efficacy and trust in Parliament, as some commentators suggest? We use an experimental design to answer this question and find evidence to suggest that, contrary to its negative reputation, PMQs does not adversely affect most citizens' perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much is known about the role of vocabulary in reading and the instructional procedures that improve vocabulary. Relatively less is known about feasible approaches to implement vocabulary interventions for struggling readers within tiered frameworks. The current study randomly assigned at-risk kindergarten and first-grade students to a vocabulary intervention that was implemented by noneducator AmeriCorps interventionists from local school communities. Analyses showed that kindergarten students assigned to intervention showed significantly greater improvement on a researcher-developed measure of vocabulary knowledge but not on a distal vocabulary measure. Significant findings were not observed within first grade. Results are discussed in terms of implications and future research for vocabulary interventions within tiered frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from a large-scale math intervention program were used to evaluate the degree to which implementation fidelity (IF) and interventionist content knowledge were associated with student outcomes. Data were available for 33 interventionists serving 658 students in Grades 4–6 across one school year. A series of multilevel models were fit to the data to evaluate the impact of procedural IF and interventionists' math content knowledge on students' postintervention achievement, controlling for preintervention achievement and intervention dosage. Higher student posttest scores were observed for interventionists with an average fidelity rating of 95% or greater (β =.15); however, no effects on students' math achievement scores were observed for interventionist content knowledge. Adding IF and a measure of interventionist content knowledge to the model explained a statistically significant amount of variance in growth estimates attributable to interventionists (15%). Results highlight the potential importance of ongoing evaluation and remediation of IF in the context of standardized supplemental intervention in math, while also providing some evidence that higher levels of content knowledge may not translate into greater impact in a standard-protocol intervention setting. Results suggest a need for more research examining characteristics of interventionists and aspects of implementation that may account for variance in student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence-based interventions exist for improving multiple fundamental math competencies, but delivering interventions with fidelity and within a data-driven, tiered framework is a practical challenge faced by most schools. The current study evaluated a math intervention program delivered with community-based resources via AmeriCorps. At the beginning of the school year, students in Grades 4–8 (n = 550) were randomly assigned to receive math support via the program or to a waitlist control group. Outcomes were measured with a broad-based assessment of math achievement in the winter. Results from intent-to-treat analyses showed a significant and positive effect (d =.17) for the program that increased slightly under optimal dosage conditions (d =.24). The observed results extend existing literature on math interventions in schools by illustrating the potential for partnerships between community-based organizations and schools to improve outcomes for at-risk students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No political observer, politician, or political scientist doubts that party polarization has weakened the social fabric of Congress. Measuring that effect, however, is exceedingly difficult. In this article, we operationalize the congressional social fabric by examining the foreign travel behavior of members of Congress over time. We evaluate the social disintegration in Congress by examining if and whether changes in member travel can explain why the social connectedness of members has waned. Using a unique dataset of foreign travel for House members from 1977 to 2012, we find that Republican House members, in particular, have altered their foreign travel patterns. Ideologically extreme members have always been less likely to take foreign trips, but extremely conservative Republican have become much more likely to travel only with co-partisans as polarization has increased in Congress. Ideologically moderate Republicans, while still traveling as members of bipartisan delegations, have also increased their willingness to travel only with fellow Republicans. Our results suggest that bipartisan foreign travel is a victim of the partisan war waging in Congress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achievement disparities between American Indian students and non-American Indian peers are persistent and well documented. Student engagement is a promising target for intervention given its relation to academic achievement. This study investigated the relation between specific teacher practices (opportunities to respond [OTRs], praise, and reprimands) and classroom on-task behavior in an urban, public K–8 school that serves primarily American Indian students. OTRs and praise were positively associated with student on-task behavior, whereas reprimands were negatively associated with on-task behavior. Results from multilevel logistic regression indicated that OTRs significantly increased the likelihood that a classroom was highly on-task, whereas the reprimands significantly decreased the likelihood. Praise did not have a significant effect after controlling for the other variables in the model. Results are interpreted in a context of evidence-based instructional practices for increasing OTRs and praise, decreasing reprimands, and ultimately enhancing on-task behavior in an urban classrooms serving primarily American Indian youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of psychometrically sound and usable universal screeners is a key component to successful early identification within a response-to-intervention model. The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of oral reading fluency (ORF) and an informal reading inventory for identifying students considered at risk for failing a district-wide assessment. Participants included 968 students in 2nd and 3rd grade in a rural elementary school district in Minnesota. Results showed significant correlations between ORF and informal reading inventory data and between each potential screener and the criterion measure at 2nd and 3rd grades. However, ORF demonstrated higher diagnostic accuracy for correctly identifying at-risk students and resulted in 80% correct classification compared to 54% for the reading inventory data. We discuss implications for practice and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instructional hierarchy offers a useful framework for targeting academic interventions. Within this framework, the accuracy with which a student reads might function as an indicator that the student should receive an intervention that focuses either on accuracy or on fluency. The current study examined whether the instructional level for reading (93%–97% of words read correctly) could be used to target interventions that first facilitated accurate responding and subsequently facilitated faster rates of fluency growth. Each of 3 third-grade students had faster growth rates in the second phase of a fluency-focused reading intervention following an intervention that resulted in the students reading at least 93% of the words correctly. We discuss implications and limitations of the current study for applying the instructional hierarchy and the instructional level to target reading interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reading instruction for middle- and high-school students is focused on vocabulary and comprehension, yet research suggests that comprehension skills among these students are alarmingly low. Small-group reading interventions are becoming more prevalent in schools, but there are few studies regarding small-group reading comprehension interventions. The current study compared the effectiveness and efficiency of two evidence-based small-group interventions for struggling eighth-grade readers. All participants received a text previewing comprehension strategy and a keyword preteaching strategy in counterbalanced order. Results suggested similar effectiveness between the two strategies but efficiency greatly favored the keyword strategy. Directions for future research are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instructional level is helpful when identifying an intervention for math or reading, but researchers have yet to investigate whether the instructional-level concept can be applied to early writing. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend previous research by examining technical features of potential instructional-level criteria for writing. Weekly writing performance was assessed with 85 first-graders over 12 weeks using Picture-Word and Sentence Copying prompts. Data from the students with the highest slopes were used to derive instructional level criteria. Several scoring procedures across Picture-Word and Sentence Copying prompts produced reliable alternate-form correlations and statistically significant relationships with a standardized writing assessment. Determining an instructional level in writing appears feasible; however, further research is needed to examine the instructional utility of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mitogen-activated protein kinase extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is activated following engagement of the T-cell receptor and is required for interleukin 2 (IL-2) production and T-cell proliferation. This activation is enhanced by stimulation of the coreceptor CD28 and inhibited by the coreceptor CTLA-4. We show that the small G protein Rap! is regulated in the opposite manner; it is inhibited by CD28 and activated by CTLA-4. Together, CD3 and CTLA-4 activate Rapi in a sustained manner. To delineate T-cell function in the absence of Rap! activity, we generated transgenic mice expressing Rap1GAP1, a Rap 1-specific GTPase- activating protein. Transgenic mice showed lymphadenopathy, and transgenic T cells displayed increased ERK activation, proliferation, and IL-2 production. More significantly, the inhibitory effect of CTLA-4 on T-cell function in Rap1GAP!-transgenic T cells was reduced. We demonstrate that CTLA-4 activates Rap1, and we propose that intracellular signals from CTLA-4 antagonize CD28, at least in part, at the level of Rap1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School psychologists regularly use decision rules to interpret student response to intervention in reading. Recent research suggests that the accuracy of those decision rules depends on the duration of progress monitoring, the number of observations available, and the amount of measurement error present. In this study, we extended existing research to evaluate the influence of a student's initial level of performance, goal line type, and decision rule type on the accuracy of interpretations of progress monitoring data. Normative goal lines performed best for students scoring far below benchmark at the beginning of the year, while goal lines based upon a spring benchmark score were appropriate for students performing just below expectations at the beginning of the year. The data point rule performed poorly across all progress monitoring conditions, while comparing the median of the 3 most recent observations to a goal line performed similarly to the trend line rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic tasks that include easy responses increase the probability that less preferred and/or more challenging tasks will be performed. The current study applied the process of arranging easier stimuli within reading word lists with behavioral momentum and an interspersal technique. We hypothesized that the behavioral momentum condition, which placed a series of easier words at the beginning of a reading word list task, would result in greater reading fluency for word lists, and that the interspersal condition, which interspersed easier words into a word list, would result in higher fluency for the target words. Fourth-grade students (n = 97) were randomly assigned to the behavior momentum, interspersal, or control condition. The results indicated that the participants assigned to the behavioral momentum condition read significantly more words correctly per minute than the participants assigned to the control condition (d = .70). No statistically significant differences were observed between the remaining conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]