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As school funding levels nationwide continue to plummet amid public demands for increased student performance, an expanding body of research in the field of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is providing greater statistical validity about the relationship between environmental conditions in school facilities and student achievement. Since the 1990s, international indoor environmental quality researchers have been investigating and defining the relationships between the environmental conditions in schools and the health and academic performance outcomes of students. These researchers have quantified, through their publications, the benefits that can be obtained with improvements in the physical conditions and operation practices and reductions in invisible airborne particular matter, irritant gases and infectious microbe levels. These new research studies, substantiated by school experiences, have demonstrated significant increases in student health outcomes and academic performance. Research data compiled by the "IAQ Tools for Schools" program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show that test scores uniformly increase as a school building environmental conditions improves. (Contains 2 figures.)

The authors discuss the issue of literacy education for immigrants in Australia and the U.S. They mention the need to reform the curriculum for hard-to-reach students, the question of restoring and maintaining the students' identity, and how literacy education can provide hope.

In this article, we analyze what happens when a small, Midwestern, U.S. city intentionally acknowledges its exclusionary practices, identifies the ways in which social and systemic isolation dehumanize immigrant populations, and begins the long and serious work to become immigrant-friendly. We propose that the above three-pronged shift in the way we acknowledge, recognize, and engage with each other can disrupt victim/savior identities, blur power dynamics, and privilege ongoing reciprocal dialogue; this rejection of the dominant narrative of vulnerability surrounding forced migrant populations can become a mechanism for individuals to move into shared civic identity and "embodied belonging" (Mackenzie & Guntarik, 2015, p. 65). It can also create the necessary public and private space for individuals to engage in "acts of citizenship" (Isin, 2009; Swerts, 2017), regardless of citizenship status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background and Objective: To develop and evaluate an Informed Consent Questionnaire (ICQ) for measuring self-reported perceived understanding of informed consent in a randomized clinical trial. Methods: The study was embedded in a Department of Veterans Affairs randomized clinical trial of Gulf War veterans' illnesses (CSP#470). The trial was initiated in May 1999 at 20 hospitals and concluded in September 2001; 1,092 participants were enrolled and followed for 12 months. The reliability and validity sample included 1,086 participants evaluated at baseline, 906 at 3 months, 929 at 6 months, and 910 at 12 months. The psychometric evaluations included tests of acceptability (based on missing data, endorsement frequencies, and floor/ceiling effects), item reduction, internal consistency, and construct validity (based on Cronbach's alpha coefficients, item-total correlations, and principal components analysis). Results: The ICQ had >5% missing information on some questions at baseline, indicating poor acceptability prior to the initiation of the trial; however, the scale had good acceptability at each of the follow-up visits. Psychometric evaluation following standard item reduction techniques confirmed the reliability and validity of a four-item subscale of the ICQ (ICQ-4). Conclusions: The ICQ-4 is a simple and psychometrically sound self-report measure of perceived understanding of informed consent. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]