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In the present study we consider whether certain pre-service teachers (PSTs) particularly benefit from high-quality student teaching experiences. To conduct these analyses, we connect student teaching and K-12 workforce data for six educator preparation programs (EPPs) and assess whether placement school and cooperating teacher characteristics predict the effectiveness of early-career teachers. Results show that high-quality student teaching placements especially benefit PSTs with lower GPAs and narrow effectiveness gaps between teachers with lower versus higher GPAs. These findings call for closer partnerships between EPPs and school districts and suggest that EPPs may wish to prioritize placements for PSTs with lower GPAs.

The "greening" (i.e., inexperience) of the U.S. teacher workforce puts a premium on districts and schools hiring effective and persistent beginning teachers. Given the limitations of characteristics currently available at the time of hiring (e.g., academic ability, preparation type), we built off previous research in economics and psychology to investigate associations between personality traits and first-year teachers' performance and retention in North Carolina public schools. Using the 5-factor model of personality, we find that conscientiousness is significantly associated with higher value-added estimates, higher evaluation ratings, and higher retention rates. Additionally, general self-efficacy, a subdomain of conscientiousness, is significantly associated with teacher value added and evaluation ratings. These conscientiousness results are consistent with a rich body of evidence connecting conscientiousness-related measures to employee performance and retention across professions, and they suggest that districts and schools should consider using personality trait measures, along with other valid indicators, as a way to improve teacher hiring decisions.

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) latency-associated transcript (LAT) blocks apoptosis and inhibits caspase-3 activation. We previously showed that serum starvation (removal of serum from tissue culture media), which takes several days to induce apoptosis, results in decreased levels of both AKT (protein kinase B) and phosphorylated AKT (pAKT) in cells not expressing LAT. In contrast in mouse neuroblastoma cells expressing LAT, AKT, and pAKT levels remained high. AKT is a serine/threonine protein kinase that promotes cell survival. To examine the effect of LAT on AKT-pAKT using a different and more rapid method of inducing apoptosis, a stable cell line expressing LAT was compared to non-LAT expressing cells as soon as 15 min following recovery from cold-shock-induced apoptosis. Expression of LAT appeared to inhibit dephosphorylation of pAKT. This protection correlated with blocking numerous pro-apoptotic events that are inhibited by pAKT. These results support the hypothesis that inhibiting dephosphorylation of pAKT may be one of the pathways by which LAT protects cells against apoptosis.

Herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM) is one of several cell surface proteins herpes simplex virus (HSV) uses for attachment/entry. HVEM regulates cellular immune responses and can also increase cell survival. Interestingly, latency-associated transcript (LAT), the only viral gene consistently expressed during neuronal latency, enhances latency and reactivation by promoting cell survival and by helping the virus evade the host immune response. However, the mechanisms of these LAT activities are not well understood. We show here for the first time that one mechanism by which LAT enhances latency and reactivation appears to be by upregulating HVEM expression. HSV-1 latency/reactivation was significantly reduced in Hvem(-/-) mice, indicating that HVEM plays a significant role in HSV-1 latency/reactivation. Furthermore, LAT upregulated HVEM expression during latency in vivo and also when expressed in vitro in the absence of other viral factors. This study suggests a mechanism whereby LAT upregulates HVEM expression potentially through binding of two LAT small noncoding RNAs to the HVEM promoter and that the increased HVEM then leads to downregulation of immune responses in the latent microenvironment and increased survival of latently infected cells. Thus, one of the mechanisms by which LAT enhances latency/reactivation appears to be through increasing expression of HVEM.

Goal setting poses a significant challenge for service providers in both clinical and educational settings. With today's call for services that contribute to meaningful changes in children, there is an increased need for goal-setting procedures that are socially valid. This article presents such a procedure and illustrates its use through a case study. Suggestions for socially valid goal setting are provided.

The article explore the major developments in animus doctrine over the past decade and predicted polarization in politics and law arising from the judicial use of animus analysis to strike down marriage laws. It mentions Supreme Court decided United States v. Windsor for animus doctrine and Supreme Court itself explicitly addressed the doctrine in two major decisions such as Trump v. Hawaii and Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California.

Because grading practices relating to mainstreamed handicapped pupils have received little attention, the paper investigates the pertinent issues and gives examples. Emphasized is the need to avoid confusion caused by arbitrary grading systems, and clearly identify graders, consumers, and messages intended by the grades. Choosing satisfactory grading formats is discussed. (Author/CL)

A review of grading issues, philosophies, and recommendations is provided with implications and specific suggestions for grading mainstreamed handicapped pupils at the secondary level. A position statement related to grading secondary mainstreamed handicapped pupils concludes the paper. The need for a fair and clear grading system for all pupils is emphasized. (Author/CL)

Current spelling assessment practices are reviewed. Six individually administered standardized tests presently available to special educators and diagnosticians are examined. Informal procedures (inventories, criterion-referenced tests, and error analysis) are analyzed in terms of advantages and disadvantages. Finally, two particularly promising procedures, microdiagnostics, and developmental spelling are reviewed. (Author/CL)

A survey of 588 North Carolina regular educators, special educators, principals, and directors of special education programs indicated that most educators grade mainstreamed handicapped students in a traditional report card format and affirmed the practice of ranking effort, attitude, level of ability, and participation higher in grading than overall performance. (CB)

The Larsen-Hammill Test of Written Spelling scores were correlated with scores received on the California Achievement Test (CAT) for 45 fourth-grade pupils. Spelling scores were moderately predictive of reading, mathematics, language, and spelling subtests on the CAT. (Author/JKS)