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Many high schools in the United States are contending with modest student writing achievement and looking for ways to enhance teachers' writing instruction. This is especially the case for schools deemed to be "underperforming" and struggling to reform writing pedagogy against an accumulation of teacher and leadership turnover, limited resources, minimal teacher preparation in writing pedagogy, and a persistent gap in student literacy development. Realizing optimal learning conditions cannot be addressed by a single entity, we conducted an engaged scholarship study focused on writing reform in a high school facing these very issues. Through a school-university partnership carried out across three years' time, we witnessed the transformation of teachers as they participated in sustained professional development, collaboration, and examination of their practices. In the present study, we turned the lens on ourselves to examine the process of conducting engaged scholarship. We found enacting collective efficacy through shared research and knowledge with a literacy coach and ninth and tenth grade English teachers brought about incremental and sustained writing reform and reframed our views of researcher roles and responsibilities.

Many high schools in the United States are contending with modest student writing achievement and looking for ways to enhance teachers' writing instruction. This is especially the case for schools deemed to be "underperforming" and struggling to reform writing pedagogy against an accumulation of teacher and leadership turnover, limited resources, minimal teacher preparation in writing pedagogy, and a persistent gap in student literacy development. Realizing optimal learning conditions cannot be addressed by a single entity, we conducted an engaged scholarship study focused on writing reform in a high school facing these very issues. Through a school-university partnership carried out across three years' time, we witnessed the transformation of teachers as they participated in sustained professional development, collaboration, and examination of their practices. In the present study, we turned the lens on ourselves to examine the process of conducting engaged scholarship. We found enacting collective efficacy through shared research and knowledge with a literacy coach and ninth and tenth grade English teachers brought about incremental and sustained writing reform and reframed our views of researcher roles and responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diminished sensory gating (SG) is a robust finding in psychotic disorders, but studies of early psychosis (EP) are rare. It is unknown whether SG deficit leads to poor neurocognitive, social, and/or real-world functioning. This study aimed to explore the longitudinal relationships between SG and these variables. Methods: Seventy-nine EP patients and 88 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited at baseline. Thirty-three and 20 EP patients completed 12-month and 24-month follow-up, respectively. SG was measured using the auditory dual-click (S1 & S2) paradigm and quantified as P50 ratio (S2/S1) and difference (S1-S2). Cognition, real-life functioning, and symptoms were assessed using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, Global Functioning: Social (GFS) and Role (GFR), Multnomah Community Ability Scale (MCAS), Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT), and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square, mixed model, correlation and regression analyses were used for group comparisons and relationships among variables controlling for potential confounding variables. Results: In EP patients, P50 ratio (p < 0.05) and difference (p < 0.001) at 24-month showed significant differences compared with that at baseline. At baseline, P50 indices (ratio, S1-S2 difference, S1) were independently associated with GFR in HCs (all p < 0.05); in EP patients, S2 amplitude was independently associated with GFS (p = 0.037). At 12-month and 24-month, P50 indices (ratio, S1, S2) was independently associated with MCAS (all p < 0.05). S1-S2 difference was a trending predictor of future function (GFS or MCAS). Conclusions: SG showed progressive reduction in EP patients. P50 indices were related to real-life functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imaging studies in psychotic disorders typically examine cross-sectional relationships between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signals and diagnosis or symptoms. We sought to examine changes in network connectivity identified using resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) corresponding to divergent functional recovery trajectories and relapse in early-stage psychosis (ESP). Prior studies have linked schizophrenia to hyperconnectivity in the default mode network (DMN). Given the correlations between the DMN and behavioral impairments in psychosis, we hypothesized that dynamic changes in DMN connectivity reflect the heterogeneity of outcomes in ESP. Longitudinal data were collected from 66 ESP patients and 20 healthy controls. Longitudinal cluster analysis identified subgroups of patients with similar trajectories in terms of symptom severity and functional outcomes. DMN connectivity was measured in a subset of patients (n = 36) longitudinally over 2 scans separated by a mean of 12 months. We then compared connectivity between patients and controls, and among the different outcome trajectory subgroups. Among ESP participants, 4 subgroups were empirically identified corresponding to: "Poor," "Middle," "Catch-up," and "Good" trajectory outcomes in the complete dataset (n = 36), and an independent replication (n = 30). DMN connectivity changes differed significantly between functional subgroups (F 3,32 = 6.06, P -FDR corrected =.01); DMN connectivity increased over time in the "Poor" outcome cluster (β = +0.145) but decreased over time in the "Catch-up" cluster (β = −0.212). DMN connectivity is dynamic and correlates with a change in functional status over time in ESP. This approach identifies a brain-based marker that reflects important neurobiological processes required to sustain functional recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We characterise the rental subsidy use in units developed with construction subsidies and explore whether such concurrent subsidy use responds to needs unmet by a tenant-based programme alone. We develop a typology of households to guide our analysis focusing on voucher use in Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) units. Findings for Ohio in 2011 suggest that the use of additional rental assistance in LIHTC can be complementary in serving certain high-need populations, particularly when targeted housing services are provided. Very poor households with special housing needs constitute over 60% of the population with additional rental assistance in LIHTC, yet the extent to which additional housing services are provided to them is unclear. However, our analysis identifies a significant portion of households in LIHTC units that could seemingly be housed in the private rental market, signalling some degree of inefficiency in the current subsidy mix. While we find that very low income voucher holders are more likely to use their voucher in an LIHTC unit when facing a tighter market or a potential gain in neighbourhood quality, the effects are small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]