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In this paper we explore the relationship between students' residential location and participation in Milwaukee's large, widely available private school voucher program. We are interested in one overarching question: do voucher schools disproportionately draw students from better public schools and city neighborhoods, or do they draw students most in need of alternative options? We consider whether the public schools attended by students in neighborhoods contributing large numbers of students to the voucher program are more or less effective than those attended by students in neighborhoods with fewer voucher students. We also consider whether voucher students are located in city neighborhoods that directly contribute more or less to student outcomes. We find consistent evidence that neighborhoods whose students attend less effective public schools and neighborhoods with lower academic outcomes contribute disproportionately to the voucher program. This evidence is quite consistent with patterns apparent on Census-based observational measures of neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics: higher rates of voucher use are found in the least advantaged neighborhoods. We also find, however, that disadvantaged students in general are those most likely to leave the voucher program after enrolling.

We examine what factors predict why some parents enroll their children in voucher schools while other parents with similar types of children and from similar neighborhoods do not. Furthermore, we investigate how aware parents are of their educational options, where they get their information, and what school characteristics they deem the most important. To answer these questions, we analyze the school choice patterns in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Using survey data, we compare responses from a representative sample of voucher parents and a matched sample of public school parents. While public school parents have higher incomes than voucher parents do, voucher parents have more years of education on average. We find that parents in both sectors rely heavily on their social networks to gain information about school options. Finally, we conclude that religion plays an important role in explaining why some parents use vouchers while others do not.

Schools and neighborhoods are thought to be two of the most important contextual influences on student academic outcomes. Drawing on a unique data set that permits simultaneous estimation of neighborhood and school contributions to student test score gains, we analyze the distributions of these contributions to consider the relative importance of schools and neighborhoods in shaping student achievement outcomes. We also evaluate the sensitivity of estimated school and neighborhood contributions to the exclusion of an explicit measure of the other context, indicating the extent to which bias may exist in studies where either measure is unavailable. Taken together, results of these analyses provide substantial insight into the influences of two of the most important contextual settings in students' lives.

This article considers the impact of a high-stakes testing and reporting requirement on students using publicly funded vouchers to attend private schools. We describe how such a policy was implemented during the course of a previously authorized multi-year evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, which provided us with data on voucher students before and after the reform, as well as on public school students who received no new policy treatment. Our results indicate substantial growth for voucher students in the first high-stakes testing year, particularly in mathematics, and for students with higher levels of earlier academic achievement. We discuss these results in the context of both the school choice and accountability literatures.

Few school choice evaluations consider students who leave such programs, and fewer still consider the effects of leaving these programs as policy-relevant outcomes. Using a representative sample of students from the citywide voucher program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we analyze more than 1,000 students who leave the program during a 4-year period. We show that low-performing voucher students tend to move from the voucher sector into lower performing and less effective public schools than the typical public school student attends, whereas high-performing students transfer to better public schools. In general, transferring students realize substantial achievement gains after moving to the public sector; these results are robust to multiple analytical approaches. This evidence has important implications for school choice policy and research. (Contains 21 notes, 7 tables, and 1 figure.)

This article contributes to research concerning the determinants of student mobility between public and private schools. The authors analyze a unique set of data collected as part of a new evaluation of Milwaukee's citywide voucher program. The authors find several important patterns. Students who switch from the private to the public sector were performing lower than their peers on standardized tests in the prior year. African Americans were disproportionately more likely to leave the private sector, as were students in schools serving proportionally more voucher students. The authors argue that although these results indicate that a large voucher program may provide an educational home for some students, it may not provide a long-term solution to those who are among the most disadvantaged. (Contains 16 notes, 8 tables, and 3 figures.)

We used high-throughput sequencing analysis, which targeted the hypervariable V3–V4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, to investigate the microbiota in fecal material from ten wild painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) captured in southeastern Wisconsin. The most predominant bacterial phylum detected in all samples was the Firmicutes (relative abundance for all samples 96.4% to 68.3%). The next most predominant phylum was Bacteroidetes (relative abundance for all samples 23.9% to 7.8%) in eight samples. Fusobacteria (relative abundance for all samples 22.2% to 0%) was the second most predominant in the other two samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents distributional records for herpetofauna in Wisconsin as of December 2015. These include Ambystoma Laterale or blue-spotted salamander, Lithobates Palustris or Pickerel Frog, Graptemys Pseudogeographica or false map turtle, Plestiodon Fasciatus or common five-lined skink, and Diadophis Punctatus or ring-necked snake.

Purpose of the Study: To elicit the thought process or mental model that community pharmacists use when making recommendations on over-the-counter (OTC) medications to older adults and to elicit the current practices of community pharmacists in providing information, advice, and counseling to older adults about potentially inappropriate OTC medications. Design and Methods: Three separate focus groups with pharmacists were conducted with 5 to 8 pharmacists per group. A vignette about an elderly woman seeking an OTC sleep aid was used to elicit information that pharmacists seek to establish when making a recommendation. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed for themes using the initial and focused coding methods of grounded theory. Results: Community pharmacists’ mental models were characterized by 2 similarities: a similarity in what community pharmacists seek to establish about patients and a similarity in when community pharmacists seek to establish it—the sequence in which they try to learn key details about patients. It was identified that pharmacists gather specific information about the patient’s medication profile, health conditions, characteristics of the problem, and past treatments in order to make a recommendation. Community pharmacists recommended behavioral modifications and seeing their physician prior to recommending an OTC sleep aid, primarily due to medication safety concerns. Implications: Pharmacists can play a key role in assisting older adults to select and use OTC medications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article considers the introduction of a performance measurement reform for private schools serving students who receive state-provided vouchers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Drawing on unique panel data collected both before and after the reform, we show that private sector performance increased significantly w hen outcomes were publicly reported. We frame these results in the context of third-party provision of public services and argue that our evidence suggests that market-based competition alone may not drive nongovernmental providers to perform at optimal levels. Instead, such vendors may require performance-monitoring schemes similar to those faced by their governmental counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Patient activation, an individual's knowledge, skills, and confidence for managing their own health and health care, can play an important role in the management of chronic conditions. However, few studies have examined patient activation in underserved rural communities. The purpose of this study was to describe patient activation and examine how patient activation is associated with adherence to asthma maintenance medication and disease control in a low-income rural population with asthma. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey with 98 adults. Patient activation was assessed with the Patient Activation Measure. Adherence to long-term controller (LTC) medications and asthma control were examined using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) and Asthma Control Test (ACT). Multivariate regression analyses were used to assess the associations between patient activation and: (1) adherence to LTC medications and (2) asthma control. Findings The majority of participants (50%) were classified in the highest level of patient activation. The least activated participants had lower mean MMAS and ACT scores in comparison to participants who were classified in higher patient activation levels. Multivariate analyses found significant positive associations between patient activation and adherence and asthma control. Conclusions Patient activation may be instrumental in low-income rural patients' use of asthma medication and disease control. Study results inform interventions to help patients use asthma medications appropriately and achieve better asthma control. In addition to increasing access to health care services in rural communities, health care professionals also may develop and implement strategies to positively impact rural patients' involvement in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research that investigates the impact of invasive plants on reptiles, particularly snakes, is sparse. Butler's Gartersnake (Thamnophis butleri) is a rare snake, endemic to the upper midwestern United States. Little research has focused on the habitat selection of this snake, which is often sympatric with the Common Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis). The highly invasive wetland grass Phalaris arundinacea (reed canarygrass [RCG]) has become established or dominant throughout much of the geographic distributions of these snakes. The impacts of this invasive grass on the habitat selection of T. butleri and T. sirtalis have not previously been examined. During 2 yr of drift fence surveys at three survey sites and five habitats sampled in southeastern Wisconsin, we captured 243 adult T. butleri and 311 adult T. sirtalis. Thamnophis sirtalis was found more often in RCG than T. butleri, which appeared to have more specific habitat needs and most often occurred in upland habitats, particularly grassland, rather than wetlands. These findings have important regulatory and conservation implications for the globally rare T. butleri. For example, our data support the importance of upland habitat protection as part of conservation strategies for T. butleri. In addition, management of wetland habitat for this species must consider the impact of RCG and direct habitat restoration strategies accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we examine educational attainment levels for students in Milwaukee's citywide voucher program and a comparable group of public school students. Using unique data collected as part of a state-mandated evaluation of the program, we consider high school graduation and enrollment in postsecondary institutions for students initially exposed to voucher schools and those in public schools at the same time. We show that exposure to voucher schools was related to graduation and, in particular, to enrollment and persistence in a 4-year college. These differences are apparent despite controls for student neighborhoods, demographics, early-career test scores and-for a subsample of survey respondents-controls for parental education, income, religious behavior, and marital status. We conclude by stressing the implications for future scholarship and policy, including the importance of attainment outcomes in educational research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) have been the subject of few rigorous scientific investigations despite suspected declines. Because relatively little ecological information exists for this species, sound conservation or management decisions regarding them are difficult to make. This is particularly true in the upper Midwest, which represents the northern periphery of the snake's geographic range. Using radio-telemetry, we studied aspects of the ecology of Bullsnakes (15 males, 12 females) in Sauk County, Wisconsin, which included determining habitat preferences and movement patterns. Male and female Bullsnakes exhibited a preference for open bluff sides over habitats traditionally reported as favored by this species (i.e., sand prairies or grasslands), and avoided areas of agriculture and closed canopy bluff side forest. Nested ANOVA analysis of home ranges measured as 100% minimum convex polygons (23 ha females, 41 ha males) and 95% kernels (53 ha females, 83 ha males) were larger in males than females. Average daily movement rates were larger in males (31.7 m females, 36.7 m males). Evidence of site fidelity was also found. Based on these results, the conservation of this snake can be substantially influenced by preservation and maintenance of large sites containing open bluffs and oak savannas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of snake populations are reportedly difficult to quantify and such information exists for relatively few species, including Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi). A Bullsnake population in southwestern Wisconsin was surveyed for three seasons (2003-05). All snakes encountered were (1) implanted with Passive Integrated Transponders for mark-recapture analyses of population size, (2) aged by size, and (3) sexed via probing and released. A subset of individuals was also implanted with radio transmitters to determine, in part, mortality rates and sources. Although recapture rates over the three years of surveying were low, an unbiased Lincoln-Petersen estimation was possible. This estimation revealed a small adult population size (N = 28.8) that was similar to the total number of adults encountered throughout the study (N = 30). Chi-squared analysis revealed that adult sex ratios were similar to 50 : 50 in all years. Mortality rates were high, particularly in females (44%), and sources of mortality were identified as predators and anthropogenic causes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]