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As the number of English Learners (EL) increases, U.S. schools must understand and meet their unique needs. Employing qualitative methodology, the authors sought to understand the academic experience of twelve, 10th grade ELs. Three themes of academic success, perception of the student/teacher relationship, and perception of self, along with multiple subthemes emerged. Key concepts from the themes included the importance of relationship, influence teacher expectations had on participants experiencing academic success or engaging a cycle of failure, and value placed on a sense of agency related to academic experiences. Suggestions for how schools can meet ELs' unique needs are provided.

Teachers routinely report that they feel pressured to teach to standardized assessments. Narrowing the curriculum may help students succeed on standardized assessments, but it rarely leads to long-lasting academic success. Authentic, relevant, and rigorous instruction in newcomer English learner (EL) classrooms, however, can create long-term learners while assisting students in mastering standardized exams. It is critical that adolescent ELs are academically challenged because they are in a race against time to master content and assessments in order to graduate. This article provides research-based activities and ideas to facilitate learning in linguistically and culturally diverse adolescent EL classrooms.

Introduction: Comadronas attend most births in rural and urban Guatemala where the maternal mortality rate (MMR) is highest in Latin America. Information has been published regarding rural comadronas' response to obstetrical emergencies. Understanding urban comadronas' response to obstetrical emergencies is essential to addressing Guatemala's MMR. Methods: A total of 17 urban comadronas participated in one, 34-min focus group to share their knowledge, practices, and attitudes regarding obstetrical emergencies. We used the long table to analyze the content to develop a matrix of themes. Results: Five themes emerged. Urban comadronas receive consistent training, have hospital transportation, and feel confident in their knowledge, but they lack equipment and feel hospital providers disrespect them. Still, the joy of attending births outweighs the challenges they face. Discussion: Urban comadronas described a different experience of responding to obstetrical emergencies than rural comadronas. Distinct approaches are needed to provide culturally congruent support for urban and rural comadronas when responding to obstetrical emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Guatemalan lay midwives are well-respected community leaders in a country that lacks the institutional capacity to meet healthcare needs related to pregnancy, newborns, and COVID-19. Thus, Guatemalan lay midwives, who attend the majority of births in their country and who attend most births at home, are in an optimal position to offer frontline support to pregnant women and newborns regarding the global pandemic. The primary objective of this program of study was to dispel myths about COVID-19 and to provide culturally relevant educational activities to low-literacy Guatemalan lay midwives about issues related to the virus, such as signs and symptoms, risks to the mother and fetus, which patients are most vulnerable, appropriate responses, benefits and side-effects of the vaccine, timing of the vaccine, how the virus interacts with breastfeeding, and breastfeeding recommendations. Methods: In a partnership among the Guatemalan Ministry of Health, expert faculty at the University of Utah College of Nursing, and Madre y Niño, a non-profit organization from the US, evidence-based educational activities about COVID-19 were offered orally in the native language of participants. Two hundred and ten lay midwives attended educational sessions at 11 locations throughout the remote Peten department. Educational activities included repetition, storytelling, and role plays. A pretest--post-test evaluation of 10 questions with 24 correct answers was used to determine if the educational activities changed lay midwife knowledge about COVID-19. Participants were given essential birth supplies and laminated COVID Reminder Cards, which were designed to increase visual literacy, to encourage knowledge retention after the educational sessions. Results: Participants showed a significant increase in knowledge scores (possible 0-24) from prescores 7.09 (standard deviation (SD)=3.06) to 15.20 (SD=4.61), Student's t-test p<0.001. In addition, a significantly higher proportion of participants mistakenly thought COVID-19 passed through breast milk on the pretest (70.1%) compared to post-test (8.4%) (McNemar test, p<0.001). Regarding breastfeeding, 12.6% of participants knew on the pretest that women with COVID-19 who breastfeed should wear a mask and wash their hands compared to 74.3% of participants who knew these recommendations on the post-test (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p<0.001). Finally, 2% of participants knew on the pretest that pregnant women with COVID-19 should take a low-dose aspirin compared to 67% of participants on the post-test (χ² (1)=194.7, p<0.001). Conclusion: These essential primary care providers misunderstood many critical issues related to COVID-19, pregnancy, and newborns. Culturally relevant educational activities provided orally in the native language of participants dispelled myths about the virus and significantly improved lay midwife knowledge. Providing evidence-based educational activities in a culturally relevant format is critical to protecting remote, vulnerable populations, such as pregnant Guatemalan women and newborns, during a global pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an account of cooperation between Mexico and the United States around labor issues from 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) labor side agreement first made labor issues relevant to United States-Mexico foreign relations, to the present, where that cooperation has broken down substantially. I offer a panorama of the scope and content of labor cooperation between Mexico and the United States, across both formal channels of representation, such as the NAFTA institutions and bilateral meetings, as well as the informal channels, including those forged by civil society and labor unions across borders. I then provide insight into the erosion of labor cooperation in recent years, discuss the wavering commitment to labor issues across successive administrations in both Mexico and the United States, and speculate as to what impact this may have on U.S.-Mexican relations more broadly. Keywords: North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, Mexico, Labor Cooperation, North American Free Trade Agreement. Este articulo ofrece un recuento de la cooperacion entre Mexico y los Estados Unidos acerca de temas laborales desde 1994, cuando elacuerdo paralelo del Tratado de Libre Comercio de America del Norte (TLCAN) hizo relevantes por primera vez temas laborales para las relaciones exteriores de ambos paises, hasta el presente, cuando la cooperacion ha fracasado substancialmente. Ofrezco un panorama del alcance y contenido de la cooperacion laboral entre Mexico y los Estados Unidos, a traves de tanto canales formales de representacion tales como las instituciones del TLCAN y las reunionesbilaterales, como tambien de canales informales, incluyendo aquellos creados por la sociedad civil y sindicatos a traves de las fronteras. Proveo entonces una vision de la erosion de la cooperacion laboral en ahos recientes, discuto el vacilante compromiso en temas laborales a traves de las administraciones tanto en Mexico como en los Estados Unidos, y especulo sobre el impacto mas amplio que esto puede tener en las relaciones Estados Unidos-Mexico., Mexican-U.S. relations in the area of labor cooperation have become an important aspect of the binational agenda, mostly because of the effect that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) [...]

Author(s): Hayden C. Metsky [1, 2]; Christian B. Matranga [1]; Shirlee Wohl [1, 3]; Stephen F. Schaffner [1, 3, 4]; Catherine A. Freije [1, 3]; Sarah M. Winnicki [1]; Kendra [...]