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Office hours are an integral component of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses at nearly all colleges and universities. Despite their ubiquity as a support mechanism, there has only been limited work examining how instructors approach office hours and what shapes these approaches. Here, we conduct a phenomenographic study to investigate how instructors of STEM courses experience office hours and how these experiences may impact their approaches to promoting and managing office hours. We identified variations in how instructors promoted office hours, the modality of office hours (i.e., when and where office hours were held), and how instructors facilitated learning during office hours. These variations spanned from student-centric (strategies instructors use with students' interest in mind, e.g., wanting to increase student learning, accessibility, comfort, etc.) to instructor-centric (strategies the instructors use with their own self-interest in mind, e.g., saving time and/or bandwidth, personal needs, comfort, etc.). Additionally, we identify several challenges and barriers, including a lack of formal training or opportunities to discuss office hour approaches with other faculty, and conclude with general recommendations for instructors and administrators in STEM departments for engaging and supporting students during office hours.

Background and context: High school students' interest in computing fields is not always sustained in community college due to a disconnect between institutions. Objective: To understand how cross-sector collaborations can align institutional pathways in computing. Research questions: What cross-sector practices can be used to build a computing education pathway? What practices can be used to promote student agency? How does a cross-sector partnership address issues of equity in the computing education pathway? Method: A case study of a cross-sector research-practice partnership using interviews, observations, and meeting documentation. Findings: Key strategies for aligning institutional systems to increase persistence in computing classes include building cross-sector connections and structures that support student agency, and addressing the structural factors that perpetuate inequity. Implications: The findings can inform efforts to build college and career pathways across the transition from high school to community college.

This self-study focuses on two teacher educators' (from the United States) exploration and examination - with the help of two critical friends (faculty from China) - of the benefits and challenges associated with cross-cultural collaboration. The teacher educators designed and implemented a virtual collaborative cross-cultural, fifteen-week faculty development experience for thirty-two faculty members from six private universities located in China. The virtual experience assisted the faculty participants in being better equipped to implement hybrid teaching and learning. Our overarching goal with this self-study was to better understand ourselves as teacher educators who provide faculty development and conduct research. We share our self-study findings that we categorized into three main areas: a) improving the understanding of one's teaching practices b) navigating the tensions associated with delivering virtual professional development across different cultures, and c) realizations about collaborative research among higher education faculty from different cultures.

Research question: For students enrolling in introductory computer science classes at community colleges, how did they experience the class in an emergency remote teaching environment, particularly in contrast to in-person instruction at the start of the semester? Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 students from diverse backgrounds who were enrolled in introductory computer science at a community college in California during the first semester of online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Grounded theory data analysis was conducted on the interview data. Results: Students' overall educational trajectories were largely unchanged by the shift to emergency remote teaching. However, one crucial factor in many students' learning experiences was the lack of a physical transition to the campus and a corresponding transition into a school or studying mode supported by physically gathering with other students and away from distractions at home. Experiences in the classroom were found less engaging by many, and virtual interactions were sometimes awkward. Students struggled to get individualized help from instructors and campus resources and to interact with peers. Conclusions/Contributions: Instructors and administrators in community colleges need to be aware that the loss of college campus spaces and embodied peer interactions may pose an especially large barrier to success for the population they serve. An important takeaway for instructors is that the modalities and tools employed in emergency remote teaching are experienced quite differently by different students, and that additional supports, such as videotaped classes and flexibility in due dates, can be key for students' success.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color experience high rates of mental health disorders, yet they experience challenges to accessing mental health services. Community health worker (CHW) models of care have potential to promote equitable mental health services among LGBTQ youth. Our aim was to understand how CHW models could be adapted to better support LGBTQ youth of color in accessing mental health services. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with LGBTQ youth of color (n = 16), caregivers of LGBTQ youth (n = 11), and CHWs (n = 15) in Massachusetts and California. Interviews were coded by 8 members of the research team. A Rapid Qualitative Analysis was conducted to identify themes. Caregivers, youth, and CHWs all endorsed the value of CHW models for this population. They also almost universally suggested multiple adaptations are needed for the model to be effective. Four main categories of themes emerged related to intervention adaptations: (1) Why adaptations are needed for LGBTQ youth, (2) Who should serve as CHWs providing care, (3) How CHWs should be trained, and (4) What content needs to be included in the intervention. Broadly, findings suggest the relevance of having CHW models for LGBTQ youth of color to address stigma and discrimination experienced, access to culturally and linguistically relevant services, and the need for caregiver support of LGBTQ youth. CHWs need increased training in these areas.

In fall 2013, The Teagle Foundation issued an RFP inviting selected institutions and organizations to apply for grants that addressed the following question: "How can faculty work together to create a more coherent and intentional curriculum whose goals, pathways, and outcomes are clear to students and other constituencies with a stake in the future of higher education?" The grant initiative sought to "support campus initiatives that delve deep into the structure of the curriculum and make transparent to students what they can expect to learn and how the curriculum's architecture delivers this learning." A total of 15 implementation grants were funded under the Faculty Planning and Curricular Coherence initiative between May 2014 and May 2018. This essay is based on an evaluation of four of the early grants in this initiative, involving 12 institutions: (a) Oberlin College, College of Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan University, Kenyon College, Denison University, and Allegheny College; (b) Virginia Wesleyan University, Davis & Elkins College, Shenandoah University, and Eckerd College; (c) San Francisco State University; and (d) Pomona College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, and Scripps College (i.e., The Claremont Colleges). The author reviewed proposals, annual project reports, and related documentation; conducted annual phone calls with representatives of each participating campus; attended the April 2017 convening of the institutions participating in this initiative; and visited selected campuses.

College-educated women in the workforce are discovering a latent interest in and aptitude for computing motivated by the prevalence of computing as an integral part of jobs in many fields as well as continued headlines about the number of unfilled, highly paid computing jobs. One of these women's choices for retraining are the so-called coding boot camps that teach programming skills through intensive multi-week courses. This article reports on a qualitative research study focused on the Silicon Valley area of California. We used social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to investigate the larger context surrounding women entering computing professions through boot camp learning sites, including: the "environment" of a booming technology workforce, boot camps as "learning settings," the "characteristics" of women who attend boot camps, how retraining at a coding boot camp influence women's computing "self-efficacy" and "outcome expectations," and the "performance attainments" of women at boot camps. Interview data was collected from 14 women who had attended boot camps--first before graduating from the boot camp and again after six months in the workforce. To contextualize the computing ecosystem, we conducted single interviews with 6 boot camp organizers/curriculum developers, 7 industry hiring managers, and 14 university computer science faculty. To provide a contrast with women at boot camps, we interviewed 5 women who majored in computer science at the university and with 17 men who had attended boot camps. Structural data coding and analysis was done focused on the SCCT mechanisms of environment, person inputs, learning experiences, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and performance attainments. Findings here demonstrate that training at a boot camp can be the catalyst for college-educated women to attain computing jobs and careers, although these entry-level jobs may be a compromise to the goal of a software development job and are unlikely to lead to a job at large, well-known, established technology companies.

In this article, the author shares the story of Kristin, a low-income single mother raising her six-year-old son Max in Southern California. Taking 13 college credits, Kristin bartended nights and weekends, while raising Max on her own. The author met Kristin while studying the experiences of low-income mothers enrolled in college in the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast during her doctoral research. The themes and patterns raised in Kristin's experience exemplify the challenges faced by other participants, particularly the phases of the term, highlighting how priorities and crises shift and change. The phases are outlined, considering how they are shaped according to Kristin's current needs, challenges, and "front-burner" demands. These considerations allow higher education leaders, administrators, policymakers, and educators to develop appropriate interventions and supports, corresponding to dynamic shifts across the term. Higher education professionals have ample opportunities for interventions that can change the game in college success for single-parent students like Kristin. Reading through Kristin's timeline, provides an opportunity to think about how her college might ease her struggles to balance college, motherhood, and making ends meet.

This multi-year exploratory research examined the perceptions of connectedness of students enrolled in an online cohort-based Master's program in educational technology. The research specifically examined the level of connectedness the graduate students from low-context and high-context cultures felt towards their peers, the professors, and the program. Participants (n = 50) were surveyed on their perceptions of connectedness and what elements of the program and course design led to their level of connectedness. Fourteen participants agreed to follow-up interviews. The data were used to compare how students who identified as low-context culture differed in their perceptions of connectedness to students who identified as high-context culture. The findings suggest that no matter what cultural identification students indicated, the feelings of connectedness toward peers, the professors, and the program were strong. Participants indicated feeling most connected to program professors, primarily due to the intensity and methods of communication. Findings indicate other program and course design elements that led to student connectedness. Implications for online course and program design are discussed.

Background: Learning to program and success in computer science requires persistence in the face of challenges. This study contributes to research on the social context of learning by describing how children's peer interactions can support or hinder the pair's problem solving on the computer. Methods: Video recordings from eight pairs of middle school students programming a computer game are used to explore how working with a partner supports or hinders the pair's persistence in the face of challenges, what we call intrepid exploration (IE). Findings: IE thrives when partners are responsive to each other both verbally and non-verbally, and when they switch driver and navigator roles to share and build on each other's expertise. IE is hindered when partners engage in a power struggle that results in disengagement with each other and giving up on their goal. For pair programming to result in interactions that promote persistence, both students must be willing and able to embrace their assigned roles: the navigator supporting their shared goal, and the driver responding to their navigator. Contribution: The types of interactions described in this paper provide a tool for teachers to evaluate and support productive collaboration among novice pair programmers.

This self-study examines the intersectionality of online teaching, inclusive teaching practices, and culturally responsive teaching in an online graduate teacher education program. Inspired by student perceptions of the promotion of equity and inclusion in the online program, our critical friends group engaged in ongoing reflection and discourse about our current practice as teacher educators and as a program. At the onset of the self-study, we believed that our practices were promoting inclusivity and equity for our students. We discovered, however, that despite our intentional efforts to model and promote these, we each had room to improve our practice. As a result, we engaged in professional development to better equip ourselves to model and promote equity and inclusion in our online teacher education program. We found that there is considerable overlap in research-based effective practices for online teaching, culturally responsive teaching, and inclusive teaching. We have provided recommendations for teacher educators to consider as they design for and model the intersectionality of equity and inclusion in their practice.

Background and Context: Non-traditional training grounds such as coding boot camps that attract a higher proportion of women are important sites for understanding how to broaden participation in computing. Objective: This work aims to help us better understand the women choosing boot camps and their pathways through these camps and into the computing workforce. Method: This paper reports on a longitudinal, qualitative study investigating female boot camp attendees. Findings: Findings show that women attending boot camps are career changers that develop an interest in software development too late to major in CS, discovering a post-college enjoyment of programming undertaken to support work goals at a current job or an aspirational job. Implications: Women at boot camps illustrate a missed opportunity to diversify postsecondary CS classrooms when not recruited early, not given interdisciplinary options, not exposed to enjoyable programming tasks, and not exposed to the array and number of job prospects.

Background and Context: Pair programming is used in classrooms to promote learning and engage a more diverse group of students in computing fields, but little is known about what it looks like in middle school. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine how programming pairs were interacting and about what. Method: Video, audio, and screen capture data were collected and analyzed from 66 middle school students working in pairs to program a computer game in an after-school class. Findings: Less than half of pairs interaction time was about their game, and one third of their time was spent not interacting at all. Most behaviors were collaborative. There were few differences across demographic groups. Factors that significantly influenced interactions and behaviors included attitude toward collaboration and prior programming knowledge.Implications: We discuss how to use pair programming in the classroom, including how to pair students to promote productive interactions.

Women are less likely to choose physical Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (pSTEM) majors, partly because a lack of role models makes it hard for women to imagine themselves as successful in those fields. Possible self-interventions can help people imagine themselves having a successful future. Using social cognitive theory and expectancy-value framework, the current study explored virtual reality (VR; HTC Vive) as a space for a possible self-intervention to decrease stereotype threat and increase pSTEM motivation. Participants were 79 undergraduate women in California (46% Asian, 32% Latina, 14% white) who were randomly assigned to embody a future self either highly successful in pSTEM or highly successful in humanities. Following the virtual experience, women in the pSTEM condition differed significantly from women in the humanities condition regarding pSTEM value beliefs, anticipated stereotype threat, course motivation, and women-pSTEM implicit associations, after controlling for prior pSTEM-self implicit associations. However, this difference only occurred among women who identified with the experience. While women with high identification demonstrated an effect in the desired direction, women with low identification demonstrated reactance in the opposite direction. This speaks to the usefulness of identification as a moderator and implies that virtual reality might be a useful tool for future self-interventions among students.

This study compares teacher candidates' initial and changed beliefs, dispositions, and uses of technology in two credential program models: a one-to-one laptop program with ubiquitous technology use and a traditional credential program in which students are expected to have specific technology experiences and requirements in each course (a model most frequently used in teacher education). Survey analysis found that pretest candidates who self-selected to be involved in the laptop program had lower ratings on beliefs about technology use than candidates who did not, and there was no difference in expertise or use. At posttest, laptop candidates showed development in all three areas, whereas nonlaptop candidates showed no change over time. Findings of this study point to the fact that programs in which technology use is ubiquitous better prepare candidates for technology-rich classrooms than do programs that take a more traditional approach to meeting credentialing requirements for technology use. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study examines initial faculty concerns during implementation of a one-to-one laptop teacher education pilot program. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model of Change provides the theoretical framework and guides the methodology. In fall 2007, 29 teacher candidates began a one-year multiple-subject (elementary) credential program with an added emphasis on teaching and learning in a one-to-one laptop environment. Circumstances of faculty involvement in the pilot program were varied and not controlled. Eight instructional faculty and three field supervision faculty participated in this study. Results indicate that, as a group, faculty participants had high-level awareness, management, and impact concerns, yet highest concerns for individual faculty varied. Data pointed to three major implications regarding technology-rich teacher education and faculty issues to be addressed for program success: faculty readiness, faculty preparation, and faculty differences. Implications of this study extend to colleges of education implementing one-to-one initiatives or other technology innovations into their programs. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

The autism spectrum disorder phenotype varies by social and communication ability and co-occurring developmental, behavioral, and medical conditions. Etiology is also diverse, with myriad potential genetic origins and environmental risk factors. Examining the influence of parental broader autism phenotype--a set of sub-clinical characteristics of autism spectrum disorder--on child autism spectrum disorder phenotypes may help reduce heterogeneity in potential genetic predisposition for autism spectrum disorder. We assessed the associations between parental broader autism phenotype and child phenotype among children of age 30-68 months enrolled in the Study to Explore Early Development (N = 707). Child autism spectrum disorder phenotype was defined by a replication of latent classes derived from multiple developmental and behavioral measures: "Mild Language Delay with Cognitive Rigidity," "Mild Language and Motor Delay with Dysregulation" (e.g. anxiety/depression), "General Developmental Delay," and "Significant Developmental Delay with Repetitive Motor Behaviors." Scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale-Adult measured parent broader autism phenotype. Broader autism phenotype in at least one parent was associated with a child having increased odds of being classified as mild language and motor delay with dysregulation compared to significant developmental delay with repetitive motor behaviors (odds ratio: 2.44; 95% confidence interval: 1.16, 5.09). Children of parents with broader autism phenotype were more likely to have a phenotype qualitatively similar to broader autism phenotype presentation; this may have implications for etiologic research.

The study sought to determine factors that affect faculty decisions regarding their involvement in teaching online distance education courses. A survey was administered to online distance education faculty across the United States to determine those factors that encourage or discourage them from continuing to teach online courses. The factors were examined and reported from the standpoint of each of four faculty groups: (1) tenured, (2) tenure-track, (3) full-time non-tenured/fixed term, and (4) part-time/adjunct. From the survey responses (N = 135), a list of retention strategies that university administrators may use for retention of online distance education faculty are offered.

Many families today have access to computers that help them with their daily living activities, such as finding employment and helping children with schoolwork. Minority families residing in the United States though often do not own home computers. With a greater number of immigrant families arriving to the United States, questions are raised whether parents unfamiliar with the new culture view computers as important teaching tools for themselves and their children. An exploratory study was conducted looking at Korean parents whose children were enrolled in a Southern California elementary school, since this minority group consistently falls within the top ten immigrant sending countries. The study's purpose was to examine parent perceptions on the importance placed on computer usage for themselves and their children. Findings suggest that Korean parents place a high value on computer usage and see it as vital to job success and academic achievement.

Recent advances in science have underscored how critical children's first five years of life are to their later success in school and life. It has also been recently recognized that early childhood interventions, particularly those that combine child-focused educational activities with parent-child relationship building, can positively influence children's readiness for school, particularly for those at-risk for poor developmental outcomes. Though early childhood services have traditionally received fewer resources than those for school-aged children or adults, many states have tried to address this inequity by sponsoring early childhood initiatives aimed at providing comprehensive health and social services to children ages 0 to 5 and their families. The current article presents an overview of one such initiative--California's "First 5"--and provides three Southern California case studies of how it is being implemented at the county level. Implications for policy makers, school psychologists, and other educational stakeholders are discussed. (Contains 2 figures and 2 footnotes.)

Despite it being the second decade of the 21st century, there still exists a range of definitions of what a 21st century learning environment is. This can be troublesome for teacher educators as we strive to prepare teachers for environments we can't clearly describe. In order to describe a 21st century learning environment, we developed an IC Map based on the Concerns-Based Adoption Model of Change (CBAM). Results indicate that 21st century skills can be manifested in the learning environment through content-based and project-based approaches, but of equal importance is having a 21st Century Ecology. Implications of this study extend to teachers, teacher educators, and school administration.

Few after-school programs target alcohol and other drug (AOD) use because it is difficult to encourage a diverse group of youth to voluntarily attend. The current study describes CHOICE, a voluntary after-school program which targeted AOD use among middle school students. Over 4,000 students across eight schools completed surveys and 15% participated in CHOICE. Analyses indicated that there were some differences between CHOICE participants and nonparticipants. For example, African American and multiethnic students were more likely to attend. Past month alcohol users were more likely to initially attend, and marijuana users were more likely to continue attendance. Thus, CHOICE reached students of different racial and ethnic groups and attracted higher risk youth who may not typically obtain prevention services. (Contains 4 tables.)

The current study used an online survey to explore the anticipated impact of legalized marriage on partners in same-sex couples living in California. These data were gathered prior to the California Supreme Court decision in May 2008 legalizing same-sex marriage, which held sway for 5 months before California Proposition 8 eliminating same-sex marriage was passed by a voter referendum. In addition to administering three quantitative measures (Gay and Lesbian Acceptance & Social Support Index, Anticipated Impact of Marriage Scale, and The Couple Satisfaction Index), a qualitative approach to inquiry was used to derive themes in the reported experiences of the study participants. The principal theme emerging from participants' responses involved a ubiquitous sense of security in all areas of their life, including increased permanence in their couple relationship as well as feeling protected as a unit by the larger society. (Contains 1 note and 1 table.)

Objective: Childhood abuse has been linked to negative sequelae for women later in life including drug and alcohol use and violence as victim or perpetrator and may also affect the development of women's social networks. Childhood abuse is prevalent among at-risk populations of women (such as the homeless) and thus may have a stronger impact on their social networks. We conducted a study to: (a) develop a typology of sheltered homeless women's social networks; (b) determine whether childhood abuse was associated with the social networks of sheltered homeless women; and (c) determine whether those associations remained after accounting for past-year substance abuse and recent intimate partner abuse. Methods: A probability sample of 428 homeless women from temporary shelter settings in Los Angeles County completed a personal network survey that provided respondent information as well as information about their network members' demographics and level of interaction with each other. Cluster analyses identified groups of women who shared specific social network characteristics. Multinomial logistic regressions revealed variables associated with group membership. Results: We identified three groups of women with differing social network characteristics: low-risk networks, densely connected risky networks (dense, risky), and sparsely connected risky networks (sparse, risky). Multinomial logistic regressions indicated that membership in the sparse, risky network group, when compared to the low-risk group, was associated with history of childhood physical abuse (but not sexual or emotional abuse). Recent drug abuse was associated with membership in both risky network groups; however, the association of childhood physical abuse with sparse, risky network group membership remained. Conclusions: Although these findings support theories proposing that the experience of childhood abuse can shape women's social networks, they suggest that it may be childhood physical abuse that has the most impact among homeless women. Practical implications: The effects of childhood physical abuse should be more actively investigated in clinical settings, especially those frequented by homeless women, particularly with respect to the formation of social networks in social contexts that may expose these women to greater risks. (Contains 3 tables.)

This article examines participants' responses to receiving their results in a study of household exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds and other pollutants. The authors study how the "exposure experience"--the embodied, personal experience and understanding of chronic exposure to environmental pollutants--is shaped by community context and the report-back process itself. In addition, the authors investigate an activist, collective form of exposure experience. The authors analyze themes of expectations and learning, trust, and action. The findings reveal that while participants interpret scientific results to affirm lay knowledge of urban industrial toxics, they also absorb new information regarding other pollutant sources. By linking the public understanding of science literature to the illness and exposure experience concepts, this study unravels the complex relationship between lay experience and lay understanding of science. It also shows that to support policy development and/or social change, community-based participatory research efforts must attend to participants' understanding of science. (Contains 2 tables.)

Many families today have access to computers that help them with their daily living activities, such as finding employment and helping children with schoolwork. With more families owning personal computers, questions arise as to the role they play in these households. An exploratory study was conducted looking at parents whose children were enrolled in a Southern California elementary school. The study's purpose was to examine parent perceptions of the importance placed on computer usage for themselves and their children. A total of 596 surveys were returned from parents. Findings suggest that parents place a high value on computer usage and see it as vital to job success and academic achievement. (Contains 5 tables.)

The present study investigated how maternal HIV and mediating family processes are associated with adolescent distress, substance use, and risky sexual behavior. Mother-adolescent (ages 12-21) dyads (N = 264) were recruited from neighborhoods where the HIV-affected families resided (161 had mothers with HIV). Mediating family processes were youth aggressive conflict style, maternal bonding, maternal role reversal expectations, and overall family functioning. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that youth aggressive conflict resolution style was strongly associated with adolescent distress, substance use, and risky sexual behavior. In HIV-affected families, youth less frequently reported using an aggressive conflict resolution style and more frequently reported positive maternal bonds; their mothers reported less positive family functioning than control families. Finally, maternal distress indirectly affected adolescent distress and risk behavior via youth aggressive conflict resolution style. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The use of multimedia graphic organizer software and how it influenced the prewriting process for primary school children were evaluated. An analysis of writing samples generated by second-grade students with diverse writing abilities was carried out. Students were given two opportunities to participate in prewriting activities--one without and one with the use of multimedia graphic organizer software. The results indicated that the use of multimedia graphic organizer software can provide some benefits to writing for elementary school children.

Legal issues have increasingly come to the forefront in academic libraries in recent years. Most of these issues involve The Rehabilitation Act, Section 504 (1973) or Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), complaints related to discriminatory practices with regard to accommodations or assistive technologies. This article provides a brief synopsis of the particular clauses within the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) (ADA) pertaining to academic libraries and explains these clauses in clear lay terms. Office of Civil Rights complaints and court cases to illustrate the legal ramifications of the ADA for libraries are discussed. This article focuses on some of the cases that are most pertinent to issues related to providing appropriate accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Problem resolution strategies for resolving 504 and ADA complaints are suggested.

In 2003 foster youth employed by a foster youth advocacy organization suggested that an evaluation of group home services to foster youth be conducted in Alameda County, California. This report presents the development and conduct of this evaluation study; how funding was obtained; and how foster youth were hired, trained, and employed to produce a timely and informative evaluation of the performance of 32 group homes where some of the foster youth formerly resided. The results of the study are described in another paper. This report contributes to evaluation practice in the newly emerging field of youth-led evaluations. The achievements of this project in utilizing group home clients to evaluate services with which they were familiar may stimulate other evaluators to develop similar projects, thereby enriching the development of our youth and promoting more informative evaluation findings.

This study investigates the role of school connectedness in mediating the relation between students' sense of hope and life satisfaction for three groups: Bullied Victims, Peer Victims, and Nonvictims. Students in grades 5 to 12 (N = 866) completed the California Bully/Victim Scale, School Connectedness Scale, Children's Hope Scale, and Students' Life Satisfaction Scale. Multigroup latent mean analysis revealed significant group mean differences in hope, school connectedness, and life satisfaction, supporting our bullying classification. Multigroup structural model analysis showed differential patterns between hope, school connectedness, and life satisfaction. Specifically, school connectedness partially mediated the relation between hope and life satisfaction for the Nonvictims only. The effect of hope on school connectedness was stronger for the Bullied Victims than the Nonvictims, and the effect of hope on life satisfaction was stronger for the Peer Victims and Bullied Victims than the Nonvictims group. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

The California Youth Connection obtained funding from two foundations to evaluate the performance of group homes serving foster youth in Alameda County, California, in order to inform state policy-making. The evaluation team initially included 14 foster youth that personally experienced group home living. Three inter-related aspects of service were studied: structure, process, and client outcomes, specifically residents' increase in developmental assets leading to the ability to transition successfully to independent living by the age of 18 years. Data were collected at 32 group homes from 127 residents and 72 staff members using three questionnaires. Both structural and process aspects of services influenced residents' satisfaction with services. However, only the process of care predicted changes in residents' developmental assets. State-level regulatory agencies learned from these results that auditing only structural aspects of services was not sufficient to promote effective services. Further, one structure item and two process items were identified as less consistently occurring in the group homes: timely distribution of clothing allowances, healthy communication between staff and youth, and staff support of regular exercise for the residents. Focusing on these aspects of service first should promote more change in outcomes and satisfaction for foster youth residing in group homes. (Contains 4 tables.)

Searching for ways to help students feel more connected to one another and to the school community as a whole, a junior high school implemented the social house approach. Social houses divide students into multiple social units, rather than into separate academic entities. Each unit has its own identity and theme.The different groups mix during the day in regular classrooms but divide into their four houses during social and academic competitions, community service activities, and schoolwide leadership meetings. The houses reflect the diversity of the school; students of varying races, ethnicities, ages, and academic abilities interact. Teachers and staff members are assigned to the houses to encourage stronger relationships between adults and students. As a result of the program, the schools' suspension and bullying rates have significantly decreased. Student achievement also improved, as measured by a rise in the school's Academic Performance Indicator test scores.

Expansion of newborn screening (NBS) has been driven primarily by a combination of advances in technology and medical treatment, and the sustained advocacy efforts of consumers and voluntary health organizations. The longstanding leadership of the March of Dimes has been credited by many as a critical factor in the expansion and improvement of state NBS programs. From the historic vantage point of four decades of March of Dimes involvement with newborn screening, this report reviews the unique origin of the first newborn screening test, and identifies from this point of origin several of the elements which still define the evolution of advocacy for NBS today. It also documents activities at the federal level and in seven states that have lead to expanded screening for newborns. Advances in NBS technology and medical treatment have informed policy development. Mobilization of volunteers and focused advocacy activities have brought about expansion of screening opportunities for newborns across the United States. But more work is needed. Continued application of the effective strategies identified in this report will help assure that all families have the best possible chance of assuring that their newborns do not have to suffer the complications of conditions that we know can be treated effectively. (Contains 2 figures.)

Disaster preparedness is an important issue in library management today. This article presents a general overview of the theoretical aspects of disaster planning in libraries. The stages of disaster planning are a circular process of planning, prevention, response, recovery, preparedness, and training.

The cultural disparity between teachers and students has been a concern among educators for quite some time. While the student body grows more ethnically heterogeneous, non-Hispanic Whites, especially women, continue to dominate the teaching profession. Ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic status (SES) all play a critical role in the education of our students. Starting in 1994, California has required teachers who provide instruction for English language development to have the Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development or Bilingual Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development certificate. The purpose of this study was to compare beginning teachers from these two certification programs regarding their cultural backgrounds and initial employment placements. More specifically, the study investigated the linguistic, ethnic, and SES makeup of schools where they found initial employment. Secondly, this study investigated whether the two programs differentially attracted candidates by gender, age, linguistic background, SES, and cultural backgrounds. Results indicate that teachers often teach students with characteristics and backgrounds similar to their own. Teachers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds taught more students from diverse backgrounds. Moreover, teachers who came from culturally, linguistically, and economically disadvantaged (low-SES) backgrounds appeared to be more attracted to a certificate program that allowed them to gain the skills and abilities to work with students from similar backgrounds.

An ethnographic study in two California school districts examines how court cases, federal and state legislation, local and state school board decisions, election results, and national reports interacted to constrain students' confidence to function at a particular level in English and the learning opportunities that a bilingual teacher could provide to linguistically diverse students. (Contains 23 references.) (TD)