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This paper presents the results of a nationwide survey of educators for grades 6-12 who specialize in family and consumer sciences education (N=380). The paper examines teacher reports about their self-efficacy in online learning during the switch to off-campus instruction. Data revealed that district communication to teachers indicating that they were doing a good job and teachers having had prior online interactions with students were significantly related to the teachers' positive perceptions of self-efficacy.

State officials responsible for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations used in the production of oil and gas resources will inevitably confront a key policy issue; that is, to what extent can statewide regulations be developed without reducing land use autonomy typically exercised by local officials? Most state regulators have historically recognized the economic importance of industry jobs and favor the adoption of uniform regulatory requirements even if these rules preempt local policymaking authority. Conversely, many local officials seek to preserve land use autonomy to provide a greater measure of protection for public health and environmental quality goals. This paper examines how public officials in three states--Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Texas--address the question of state control versus local autonomy through their efforts to shape fracking policy decisions. While local officials within Texas have succeeded in developing fracking ordinances with relatively little interference from state regulators, Colorado and Pennsylvania have adopted a tougher policy stance favoring the retention of preemptive oil and gas statutes. Key factors that account for between state differences in fracking policy decisions include the strength of home rule provisions, gubernatorial involvement, and the degree of local experience with industrial economic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authored by a teacher-researcher design team, this manuscript explores the boundaries and processes of literacy research enacted across perilous timescales. Building from fieldnotes, reflections, and dialogue from a two and a half year social design-based experiment, this study extends scholarship focused on kinship and communities of practice. Through considering the boundaries of where and how critical research is enacted, this paper demonstrates the ethical imperatives for considering when collective research continues or ends. Considering a lineage of solidarity tied to new literacy studies, we examine the multiple activity systems occupied by our community members and explore the pedagogies of healing and reconstitution that emerged. These findings push for speculative approaches to design that center affect and analog interactions. [This article was written with the Digital Democratic Dialogue (3d) Teacher Community.]

On February 24, 2017, all of the authors of the state-of-the-state manuscripts published in the "Journal of Education Finance" met in Cincinnati, Ohio, to participate in a roundtable discussion focused on recent legislative actions in 38 states. A majority of those papers were revised to reflect a final report on legislative actions impacting the funding of P-12 and higher education. Overall, adequate funding for education continues to be an issue many states are struggling with. There is reason to be hopeful, as several states have seen increases in per pupil funding and teacher salaries. When facing funding shortfalls, some states have begun considering alternate sources of funding for public education. In complicated fiscal times like these, it is anticipated that an increasing number of states will look to novel forms of raising revenue for public schools. The following contents are included: (1) The Good, the Bad, and the Alarming: Commentary on the 2017 State of the States Submissions (Brittany Larkin, Christine Kiracofe, and Spencer Weiler); (2) Alabama (Philip Westbrook and Brenda Mendiola); (3) Alaska (Amy Dagley); (4) Arizona (David G. Martinez and Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos); (5) Arkansas (Steve Bounds); (6) California (Henry Tran); (7) Colorado (Gabriel R. Serna and Spencer C. Weiler); (8) Connecticut (Lesley A. DeNardis); (9) Florida (Megan Lane, Jolande Morgan, and R. Craig Wood); (10) Georgia (David G. Buckman and Tommy Jackson); (11) Illinois (Christine Kiracofe); (12) Indiana (Scott Rodger Sweetland); (13) Kansas (Thomas A. DeLuca); (14) Kentucky (Tyrone Bynoe); (15) Louisiana (Arvin Johnson, Venice M. Adams, and David G. Buckman); (16) Massachusetts (Tyrone Bynoe); (17) Michigan (Brett A. Geier); (18) Minnesota (Nicola A. Alexander); (19) Mississippi (Spencer D. Stone and Joshua A. Money); (20) Nebraska (Barbara La Cost); (21) Nevada (Deborah A. Verstegen, Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, and David Martinez); (22) New Hampshire (F. Frank Ayata and Jeremy M. Anderson); (23) New Jersey (Luke J. Stedrak); (24) New Mexico (David G. Martinez and Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos); (25) New York (Osnat Zaken); (26) North Carolina (Walter Hart, Jim R. Watson, and Lisa G. Driscoll); (27) Ohio (Barbara M. De Luca, Krystel H. Chenault, and Randall S. Vesely); (28) Oklahoma (Jeffrey Maiden and Channa Byerly); (29) Oregon (Michael C. Petko); (30) Pennsylvania (Jeremy Anderson and F. Frank Ayata); (31) Tennessee (Lisa G. Driscoll and Betty Cox); (32) Texas (Ken Helvey); (33) Virginia (William Owings and Leslie S. Kaplan); (34) West Virginia (Drew Milligan); (35) Wisconsin (Michael C. Petko); and (36) Wyoming (Joshua M. Cohen). [For the previous year, see EJ1170086.]

Data from 17 recovery high schools suggest programs are dynamic and vary in enrollment, fiscal stability, governance, staffing, and organizational structure. Schools struggle with enrollment, funding, lack of primary treatment accessibility, academic rigor, and institutional support. Still, for adolescents having received treatment for substance abuse, recovery schools appear to successfully function as continuing care providers, reinforcing and sustaining therapeutic benefits gained from treatment. Small size and therapeutic programming allow for a potentially broader continuum of services than currently exists in most of the schools. Recovery schools thus provide a useful design for continuing care, warranting further study and policy support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent that diagrammatic literacy is necessary for success on standardized science tests at the late-elementary and middle grade levels. Towards this goal, we quantified the frequency, form and function of graphical representations on select state science tests. 985 tests items from 14 states were analyzed with 52.7% of the test items including graphical representations. The majority of these graphics, 79.5%, contained information that was essential for correctly answering the questions. The paper also discussed the trends of graphical representations in grade levels and alignment to national standards, following with teacher-implications. (Contains 5 tables and 8 figures.)

The oil boom in the North Dakota oilfields has resulted in improved energy security for the US. Recent estimates of oil production rates indicate that even completion of the Keystone XL pipeline will only fractionally reduce the need to ship this oil by rail. Current levels of oil shipment have already caused significant strain on rail infrastructure and led to crude oil train derailments, resulting in loss of life and property. Treating crude oil as a multicomponent liquid fuel, this work aims to understand crude oil droplet burning and thereby lead to methods to improve train fire safety. Sub-millimeter sized droplets of Pennsylvania, Texas, Colorado, and Bakken crude were burned, and the process was recorded with charge-couple device (CCD) and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) high-speed cameras. The resulting images were post-processed to obtain various combustion parameters, such as burning rate, ignition delay, total combustion time, and microexplosion behavior. The soot left behind was analyzed using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). This data is expected be used for validation of combustion models for complex multicomponent liquid fuels, and subsequently in the modification of combustion properties of crude oil using various additives to make it safer to transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]