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This paper discusses the role of evaluation in the development of Professional Development Schools (PDS) and how evaluation techniques can be used to increase the rigor of self-study activities in a PDS. Evaluation activities may be challenging for a PDS given limited resources. Yet, creative use of school and university expertise can help PDSs gain valuable information about their development and areas for improvement. We describe a collaborative evaluation project in which university and school site members worked together to develop evaluation questions and methods to enhance National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) self-study procedures for Professional Development Schools. The processes surrounding the development of the PDS partnership, the development of the evaluation project, and the steps undertaken to conduct the evaluation are described. The description of the project highlights partnership activities in areas other than teacher education, which are not as common in the PDS literature. The article concludes with general findings from the evaluation and recommendations for PDSs wishing to conduct similar evaluation projects.

Prospective teachers pursue a graduate degree in TESOL with the expectation that they will become more qualified, on paper and in practice, and more recognized as professionals in the field. In this article, the authors interrogate that assumption by exploring what it means to be a TESOL professional and how graduate students begin to shape this identity. Using their own professional-development paths and input from other graduate students to guide their investigation, the authors make the claim that when graduate students take advantage of professional-development opportunities in a structured and reflective way, they professionalize themselves and the TESOL field at large.

Globally, teacher dispositions along with knowledge and skills continue to be the focal point of teacher education programs. Teachers influence children's development and therefore dispositions are a universal concern. For the past 20 years in the United States, teacher education programs have assessed dispositions. We, however, must now also use these assessment results to ensure that teacher candidates are graduating with the knowledge, skills and dispositions to be effective teachers. In this paper, the authors use case study examples to discuss teacher candidates with problematic dispositions and the resulting improvement plan and process using the Preparing Reflective and Effective Practitioners (PDQ-PREP), developed by the authors. The goal of this process is to ensure that all teacher candidates have the opportunity to reflect on their actions and develop or refine the dispositions necessary to be effective professionals. (Contains 2 figures.)

This article discusses why and how states are integrating "DC:0-5™: Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood" (DC:0-5) into state policy and systems; provides state examples to highlight some of the strategies that states have used to allow, promote, or require the use of DC:0-5; and provides recommendations for further improvements in state infant and early childhood mental health policy and practice. The article provides a point-in-time overview of how DC:0-5 is being integrated into state systems and policies and is a sample of the innovative work going on across the United States. The article is adapted from a paper of the same name published in 2018 by the ZERO TO THREE Policy Center.

Colleges and universities commonly review the criminal history of students who apply to live in campus housing, but this practice may be inherently discriminatory. New guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development warns that the Fair Housing act, which applies to higher education institutions, prohibits the use of any practice that unnecessarily results in discriminatory effects for people from protected classes. Because the U.S. criminal justice system disproportionately affects people of color, the use of criminal background checks in housing could violate the Fair Housing act. This paper presents an analysis of the new guidance in the higher education context and offers a critical perspective on the use of criminal background checks in campus housing. In addition, a review of state laws and university system policies found that a small number prohibits certain offenders from living on campus, which complicates implementation of the federal Fair Housing Act. For campus housing officers, recommendations for defending against housing discrimination lawsuits and for reconsidering the use of criminal history in campus housing are presented. [Discussion questions developed by Amelia King-Kostelac.]

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.]

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] As part of a larger project studying undergraduate students' understanding of cosmology, we explored students' ideas about the curvature of the Universe. We investigated preinstruction ideas held by introductory astronomy (ASTRO 101) students at three participating universities and postinstruction ideas at one. Through thematic analysis of responses to questions on three survey forms and preinstruction interviews, we found that prior to instruction a significant fraction of students said the Universe is round. Students' reasoning for this included that the Universe contains round objects, therefore it must also be round, or an incorrect idea that the big bang theory describes an explosion from a central point. We also found that a majority of students think that astronomers use the term curvature to describe properties, such as dimensions, angles, or size, of the Universe or objects in the Universe, or that astronomers use the term curvature to describe the bending of space due to gravity. Students are skeptical that the curvature of the Universe can be measured, to a greater or lesser degree depending on question framing. Postinstruction responses to a multiple-choice exam question and interviews at one university indicate that students are more likely to correctly respond that the Universe as a whole is not curved postinstruction, though the idea that the Universe is round still persists for some students. While we see no evidence that priming with an elliptical or rectangular map of the cosmic microwave background on a postinstruction exam affects responses, students do cite visualizations such as diagrams among the reasons for their responses in preinstruction surveys.

The purpose of this paper is to share our experiences involving a creative approach to service learning that was implemented in a Human Development and Family Studies graduate course. In our departmental pursuit of evolving scholarship and promoting scholarly teaching and learning (Kopera-Frye, Hilton, & Cavote, 2003), this course represents an example of how one can promote higher-level learning among our future professionals. This service learning approach utilized in this particular course focuses on needs assessment and program evaluation, a direction not usually found in typical service learning projects that involve a social volunteerism approach. By discussing the theoretical basis for the project, course format, and providing some qualitative/evaluative data, we will contribute to the knowledge base on innovative ways to promote scholarly learning. Challenges and issues that need to be anticipated before designing this type of service learning experience will be highlighted.

This paper describes qualitative and quantitative research conducted with middle school students participating in a Future Cities Engineering course. Insights were sought regarding both affective and cognitive changes which transpired during the one-semester schedule of activities focused on modeling the infrastructure of a city built 150 years in the future. Modeling activities consisted of both a computer simulation, "SimCity 3000 Unlimited," and the construction of a physical scale model depicting student visions. To determine the efficacy of "SimCity" in serving as a realistic modeling tool, the software was "ground-truthed" by comparing "Sim" dimensions to the dimensions of analogous objects (roads, water pipes) in the real world. An age-appropriate attitude survey was developed and administered with the goal of measuring student disposition towards the engineering profession. Additionally, a multiple-choice content test was developed and administered both pre and post instruction to obtain a quantifiable measure of student learning. Findings show that student participation in such a course can lay favorable foundations for appreciation of and participation in the engineering profession.

In this paper, a data perturbation method for minimizing the possibility of disclosure of participants' identities on a survey is described in the context of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The method distinguishes itself from most approaches because of the presence of cognitive tasks. Hence, a data edit should have minimal impact on both relations among demographic variables and relations between demographic and proficiency variables. Furthermore, since only a few students are at risk to be disclosed in a typical sampling setting common to educational surveys, the proposed data perturbation is governed by a nonuniform probabilistic process. The method is applied to data from NAEP and impact is computed using proficiency averages, demographic proportions, statistical inference results, and loglinear models. Results show that the proposed perturbation method has very little impact on NAEP results, even at relatively large editing rates. Some data coarsening results are reported as well. While the univariate results are relatively unaffected from the coarsening, loglinear models from higher order contingency tables are affected. It is recommended to restrict disclosure limitation techniques to perturbation methods in the case of NAEP.

The Fort Sage Drift Fence is one of the largest pre-Contact rock features known in the Great Basin, and appears to date between 3700 and 1000 cal b.p. When Pendleton and Thomas (1983) first recorded the 2 km long complex, they were impressed by its sheer size and the amount of labor required to build it. This led them to hypothesize that it must have been constructed, maintained, and used by specialized groups associated with a centralized, village-based settlement system--a system that was not recognized in the archaeological record at that time. Their hypothesis turned out to be quite insightful, as subsequent analyses of faunal remains and settlement pattern data have documented the rise of logistical hunting organization linked to higher levels of settlement stability between about 4500 and 1000 cal b.p. throughout much of the Great Basin. Although Pendleton and Thomas' (1983) proposal has been borne out on a general, interregional level, it has never been evaluated with local archaeological data. This monograph remedies this situation through reporting the excavation findings from a nearby, contemporaneous house-pit village site. These findings allow us to place the drift fence within its larger settlement context, and provide additional archaeological support for the original Pendleton-Thomas hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legalized gambling is growing substantially and provides both a dilemma and an opportunity for those in the health promoting professions. Gambling represents a form of economic development and, for certain segments of society, improved health and quality of life. On the other hand, gambling is a known addiction, with a host of sociological problems associated with its practice. Consequently, a number of opportunities and responsibilities emerge for health educators. This paper provides both background information and suggestions for professional development, and begins a dialogue in the health education literature on this largely neglected and misunderstood topic.

Objectives: The tissue expansion process using standard of care, saline-filled expanders is lengthy, inconvenient, and uncomfortable and may lead women to make the decision to decline breast reconstruction. The efficacy and safety of a novel, needle-free, patient-controlled tissue expander using CO2 as the filling medium was compared with the standard of care in the US-based XPAND study. Data from this multicenter, prospective, randomized clinical trial are presented to inform care providers of this new development in breast reconstruction. Methods: One hundred fifty women were enrolled and randomized (2:1) to the AeroForm expander or traditional saline expander control group. Inclusion was restricted by age (18-65 years), BMI (<33), and tissue suitability for expansion. Women randomized to the AeroForm group self-administered 10-cc doses of CO2 up to 3 times daily, whereas the saline group underwent serial injections of saline. Upon reaching full expansion, the expanders in both groups were exchanged to standard breast implants. This paper presents data for the latest generation of the device from 72 patients: 44 CO2 and 28 saline implanted within the same time period. The protocol was designed as a noninferiority study, and the protocol-stated success for the primary end point (successful second-stage surgery) was a margin of d10%. Additional end points analyzed include successful second-stage surgery, time to complete expansion, time to reconstruction, and satisfaction. Results: Data are presented by breasts implanted with an expander (AeroForm = 78, saline = 50), with the successful exchange to breast implant achieved in 97.3% (CO2) and 97.8% (saline) of patients. The primary end point was met with the treatment difference (-0.51) within a margin of noninferiority of -7.7. The average number of expansion days were 17 for CO2 and 35 for saline, and total reconstruction days were 111 for CO2 and 121 for saline. Overall satisfaction for the AeroForm was 84% (patients) and 89% (physicians). Conclusions: The results of the XPAND study demonstrate that patient-controlled, needle-free CO2 expansion using the AeroForm expander is a viable alternative to saline expansion for 2-stage breast reconstruction. Management of patients receiving this device will be critical to successful adoption of the technology when it becomes available for general use in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several papers discussed at the conference sponsored by the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) on the developments of the non-destructive testing (NDT) industry in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2007. Claudia Kropas-Hughes, chairperson of the association, has discussed some technical and social exchange in NDT community to promote personal, national and economic safety of individuals. Among of the notable speakers were Rod Standley and Dan Keck. INSET: Images of Lincoln at Gettysburg... and Carestream Health at ASNT.

Information about several papers discussed at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada is presented. A once-daily formulation of mesalamine that relies on multimatrix (MMX) technology is effective agent in inducing and maintaining remission in patients with ulcerative colitis. Data have demonstrated that the MMX formulation of mesalamine is as effective with the added benefit of once-daily dosing.

Information about several papers discussed at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada is presented. Certolizumab and adalimumab demonstrate efficacy in inducing and maintaining response in patients with Crohn's disease. Stephen Hanauer, professor of medicine and clinical pharmacology chief at the University of Chicago, noted the importance of studying alternative agents in prior users of infliximab.