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This study reports findings from comparative samples of sixth-grade Chinese and U.S. students' interpretations of the equal sign. Ninety-eight percent of the Chinese sample correctly answered 4 items indicating conceptions of equality and provided conceptually accurate explanations. In contrast, only 28% of the U.S. sample performed at this level. We examine how teacher preparation materials, students' textbooks and teachers' guidebooks treat equality in each country. U.S. teacher preparation textbooks rarely interpreted the equal sign as equivalence. On the contrary, Chinese textbooks typically introduced the equal sign in a context of relationships and interpreted the sign as "balance," "sameness," or "equivalence" and only then embedded the sign with operations on numbers. (Contains 4 tables.)

This study examines the perspectives and lived experiences of 10 urban secondary mathematics teachers from two epicenters of COVID-19 in the United States regarding their transition to digital learning during the 2019–2020 academic year. We use case study methodology with phenomenological interviews to gather insights into the teachers' efforts to modify their mathematics instruction and curriculum while navigating observed digital inequities and new digital tools for mathematics teaching. We also report on the teachers' targeted attempts to bridge home and school while problematizing the threatened humanistic aspect of remote teaching and learning. These frontline experiences recognize technology-associated systemic inequities in marginalized, urban communities and the need to strategize ways to implement equity-oriented technology integration that benefits all learners, especially urban youth. By critically examining digital education in the urban context, crucial conversations can transpire that critique (and disrupt) the digital divide in mathematics education and open doors for other stakeholders to broadly discuss the logistics and implications of digital education to enhance new ways of teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers and researchers have long recognized that students tend to misunderstand the equal sign as an operator; that is, a signal for "doing something" rather than a relational symbol of equivalence or quantity sameness. Students' equal sign misconception has been researched for more than thirty years (Weaver, 1971, 1973) with little refinement in the theory. It was popularly believed that younger students were not developmentally ready to work variations of open numbers sentences, such as missing addend problems (Thompson & Babcock, 1978). In fact, misconceptions about the equal sign were identified in kindergarten students even before formal instruction (Falkner, Levi, & Carpenter, 1999). However, it is clear that with specific instructional guidance, elementary students can understand that the equal sign expresses a relation (Baroody & Ginsburg, 1983; Carpenter, Levi, & Farnsworth, 2000; Saenz-Ludlow & Walgamuth, 1998). In this article, the authors examine variables that could contribute to student's equivalence misconception and whether the equal sign misconception is still manifest in a U.S. sample and present in a Chinese sample. Findings indicate that misconceptions are still manifest in the U.S., and textbooks do little to mitigate the problem in the United States, while in China students are able to interpret the equal sign as a relational symbol of equivalence. The authors also found that the inclusion of multiple representations for equivalence in textbooks and guidebooks in China make a difference in assisting students to correctly interpret the equal sign.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) may cause long-lasting adverse consequences after acute recovery, including functional limitations and reduced work capacity. Individuals with long-lasting complications of COVID-19 are known as long-haulers. There is a knowledge gap on how COVID-19 complications affect return-to-work (RTW) efforts. We aimed to describe the challenges that long-haulers encounter when returning to work from the perspectives of rehabilitation professionals. In this study, four certified rehabilitation counselors and four rehabilitation physicians in U.S. outpatient rehabilitation centers participated in focus groups. Participants discussed challenges in working with long-haulers, including personal attributes, post–COVID-19 symptoms and complications, uncertain recovery and unpredictable outcomes, limited health care accessibility and support, and unsupportive work environments. Participants provide individualized services to meet long-haulers' diverse needs as they do for all persons with disabilities, although they expressed uncertainty due to the variable disease course and risk of infection. Modifying workplace policies, especially gradual RTW, were frequently mentioned accommodations. The findings highlight the RTW issues of long-haulers. We provide recommendations on increasing awareness of the challenges and job accommodations of long-haulers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study we explored how culture affects the learning experiences of students in a mathematics classroom. The first author, an African American male, taught a class composed solely of two Asian and 15 White students. During this two-week statistics course, students were asked to engage in a "per-formative" assessment that was intentionally linked to the teacher's culture. Findings presented in this study are based on feedback from a student survey addressing the question: How did hip-hop communicate or supplement the students' learning of statistics? The results aid in explicating the alignment between culture and mathematics by altering the learning norms and pedagogical strategies that often undergird traditional teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) project based learning (PBL) affected high-need students in the United States (U.S.) in terms of their academic achievement. Among high-need students in the U.S., we focused on two student groups: Hispanic and at-risk students. The participants included 528 students in the three STEM PBL high schools and 2688 students in non-STEM PBL schools in the same region. Approximately 71% of the participants were Hispanic, at-risk, or Hispanic and at-risk. Latent growth modeling with repeated measures was used to analyze the data. The data were mathematics tests from 2008 to 2010 of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. STEM PBL instruction positively influenced Hispanic students' achievement in mathematics, but not at-risk students. The findings of this study imply that curriculum integrating STEM PBL may help Hispanic students having language and cultural differences improve communication and collaboration skills in classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research on the significance of field experiences in evaluating the perceived level of competence of teachers in the U.S. It examines the perceived level of competence of teacher candidates (TCs) completing three different field-based experiences within the same teacher preparation program at a research intensive university. It states that there were 135 senior level elementary education majors who participated in the study. It stresses that the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) Readiness Survey was utilized to gather research data.

This study reports findings from comparative samples of sixth-grade Chinese and U.S. students' interpretations of the equal sign. Ninety-eight percent of the Chinese sample correctly answered 4 items indicating conceptions of equality and provided conceptually accurate explanations. In contrast, only 28% of the U.S. sample performed at this level. We examine how teacher preparation materials, students' textbooks and teachers' guidebooks treat equality in each country. U.S. teacher preparation textbooks rarely interpreted the equal sign as equivalence. On the contrary, Chinese textbooks typically introduced the equal sign in a context of relationships and interpreted the sign as "balance," "sameness," or "equivalence" and only then embedded the sign with operations on numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STEM education has received greater attention with increasing need of technology and engineering knowledge; therefore to improve young adults' knowledge in STEM, schools have been designated as STEM academies all over the world, especially in the US. The authors examined and compared Texas STEM (T-STEM) academies and non T-STEM schools' achievement longitudinally-2009 through 2011 to determine whether STEM schools fulfill their promises. Propensity score matching and HLM was used to determine the T-STEM and non T-STEM schools with similar backgrounds and analyze the longitudinal mathematics and science achievement of both types of schools, respectively. The results showed that from year to year for both school types, there was a statistically significant difference between students' mathematics and science scores; however, there was not a statistically significant difference between T-STEM academies' and their counterparts' academic achievement over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined students' conceptions about the equal sign in light of historical findings with an international comparison group. Textbooks for preparation of students as mathematics teachers were examined. Participants were sixth-grade students from the USA (n= 105) and China (n= 145). About 98% of the Chinese children correctly answered all items by providing conceptually accurate explanations, but only 28% of the U.S. sample did. Textbooks for education majors who would teach in the USA rarely discussed the equal sign as equivalence while the Chinese texts introduced the "equal sign" in a context of relationships and discussed it as "balance," "sameness," or "equivalence." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the utility of intramolecular covalent cross-linking to identify the structure present in the folding transition state. In mammalian ubiquitin, cysteine residues located across two β-strands are cross-linked with dichloroacetone. The kinetic effects of these covalent cross-links in ubiquitin, and engineered disulfide bonds in src SH3(Grantcharova, V. P., Riddle, D. S., and Baker, D. (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97, 7084-7089), are compared to the results of ψ-analysis where strand association is stabilized by metal ion binding to engineered bihistidine sites (Krantz, B. A., Dothager, R. S., and Sosnick, T. R. (2004) J. Mol. Biol. 337, 463-75) at the same positions. The results for the two methods agree at some of the sites. The cross-linking Φ crosslink values agree with their corresponding ψ-values when they have both have values of zero or one, which represent the absence and presence of native structure, respectively. When Φ crosslink > ψ, the apparent inconsistency is rationalized by the difference between each method's mode of stabilization; cross-linking reduces the configurational entropy of the unfolded state whereas metal binding directly stabilizes the native state. However, when the cross-linking Φ-values are smaller than their corresponding ψ-values, the apparent underestimation of structure formation is difficult to rationalize while retaining the assumption that the cross-link exclusively affects the entropy of the unfolded state. The interpretation also is problematic for data on cross-links located across strands which are not hairpins, and hence, these sites are likely to be of limited utility in folding studies. We conclude that cross-linking data for sites on hairpins generally report on the amount of structure formed within the enclosed loop while the metal binding data report on the amount structure formed at the site itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 changed the course of American history. Because of the scope and proportion of the disaster, its impact on witnesses was unprecedented both with regard to the numbers of people who were psychologically affected as well as the intensity of individual reactions. To better understand how different groups of people witnessing the events through the mass media were impacted, we conducted a qualitative study of a sample of Russian immigrants. The data illustrate the emotional and cognitive reactions of the participants and their coping with the traumatic effect of the events. Possible links between the properties of Russian immigrants as a group and their responses to this traumatic effect are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the marketing of wellness programs in health clubs (a $14 billion industry). The article describes the benefits to the industry in branching out into the wellness market, including the fact that those members who participate in wellness programs have a higher retention rate and direct contact with members facilitates success and customer loyalty. The article presents the possible challenges to the success of this expansion: limited participation and determining what wellness programs/services to offer. The results of a study that explores these factors, including targeted marketing and possible program components is presented.

Provides information on the corporate background of the Greater Southwest Development Corp. (GSDC), a nonprofit community development corporation in Chicago, Illinois. Impetus to the establishment of GSDC; Outcome of the corporation's neighborhood development program; Overview of the community development model used by GSDC.

Discusses the call by the American Psychological Association for researchers to use effect size and confidence interval reporting in conjunction with null hypothesis statistical significance testing (NHST). Role of statistical significance reporting in research; Definitions of effect size reporting and confidence interval reporting; Implications for research in mathematics education.

Objectives: To determine the ability of children and adolescents with acute asthma exacerbations to adhere to national guidelines for proper metered-dose inhaler (MDI) and peak flow meter (PFM) technique and to define characteristics associated with improper use. Design: A prospective study in which the patients were instructed to use a placebo MDI or a PFM in the emergency department exactly as at home. Technique was graded on the basis of performance of specific steps recommended by national guidelines. Setting and Participants: Children and adolescents (aged 2-18 years) with acute asthma exacerbations in the emergency department of an urban children's hospital with acute asthma. Results: Thirty-three (45.2%) of 73 patients using an MDI (MDI group) demonstrated multiple steps improperly compared with 60 (44.4%) of 135 using an MDI with a holding chamber (MDI-HC group; P = .92). In the MDI group, young ages of the patients (P<.008) and the parents (P<.003) were associated with improper use. In the MDI-HC group, factors independently and significantly associated with improper use were no hospitalizations within the past year, parent assistance of the patient with MDI-HC use, and nondaily use of the MDI-HC. Also, 165 (82.9%) of 199 children who, per national guidelines, should be using a PFM at home, did not. Eighty-two (73.9%) of 111 patients demonstrated perfect performance of all PFM steps. Conclusions: Among children with acute asthma, we found high rates of improper MDI use and PFM underuse. A greater emphasis must be placed on teaching methods to optimize drug delivery and to instruct patients about the importance of self-monitoring of disease severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]