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This study examined the relationship of school administrator and teacher self-ratings of instructional and behavioral management practices to student growth on statewide achievement tests (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career [PARCC]). The study included 78 teachers and 1,594 students from fourth through eighth grades in nine high-poverty charter schools. Observation scores completed by school administrator and teacher self-ratings were collected on the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS), an observational assessment that reports outcomes as discrepancy scores: differences between recommended frequency and observed frequency of specific instructional and behavior management strategies for teachers. Correlations revealed negative relations between both informants' discrepancy scores and PARCC growth scores, demonstrating that teachers with lower discrepancy scores tended to have students with greater PARCC growth scores. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed school administrator and teacher CSAS total discrepancy scores were related to student performance on PARCC mathematics, but not English Language Arts (ELA), and teachers' CSAS Total discrepancy scores explained an additional 4.8% of variance in PARCC mathematics. Implications of findings for professional development and research are offered.

The Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS) is a multi-rater, multi-method (direct observation and rating scale methodology) assessment of teachers' use of research-based instructional and behavior management strategies. The present study investigated the association between teacher self-report and school administrator ratings using the CSAS Teacher (CSAS-T) and Observer (CSAS-O) Forms in 15 high-poverty U.S. charter schools. The CSAS-T and CSAS-O were designed to be used concurrently as a valid formative assessment of teacher practice. Findings include small, but statistically significant correlations between the CSAS-T and CSAS-O. Analysis of a multi-trait--multi-method (MTMM) matrix found teachers and observers to be measuring different constructs. No mean score differences were found between teacher self-reported instruction and behavior management strategy use compared with school administrators' observed ratings. Furthermore, school administrators and teachers have similar ratings of overall effectiveness, with the majority of teachers in the sample being rated at or above effective. Overall, findings offer support for using the CSAS-O and CSAS-T for guiding professional development conversations.

This article presents the Classroom Strategies Coaching (CSC) Model, a data-driven coaching approach that uses teacher formative assessment data to drive improvements in universal practices. The classroom strategies assessment system (CSAS), a formative assessment of evidence-based instructional and behavioral management practices was used to facilitate the coaching process. Results from 32 elementary school teachers who received brief coaching after participating as waitlist controls in a randomized controlled trial are presented. Teachers' practices remained stable across baseline periods. Following coaching, teachers displayed improvements toward their behavioral management goals (e.g., ds = 0.50-0.83). Results also showed meaningful reductions in the overall need for change in instruction (d = 0.88) and in behavior management practices (d = 0.68) at postintervention. Findings illustrate the benefits of integrating teacher formative assessment in coaching to improve teaching practices. Implications for practice and future directions are outlined.

The study examines reliability and validity evidence of observational systems for evaluating teacher effectiveness and fostering professional development conversations in schools. Specifically, this study compared the Framework for Teaching's (FFT) validity evidence using the traditional scoring approach with a new composite scoring approach that averages the components nested within each domain. The study was conducted with a sample of 85 teachers and 10 school administrators from five high-poverty charter schools. Overall, the findings build on previous research, offering additional evidence for using alternative scoring methods for the classroom observational measures. The FFT composite scores are internally consistent at the domain and total levels, as well as more stable across time compared to the traditional scoring approach. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

This investigation examined whether teacher practices, as measured by the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS), were associated with students' proficiency and gain scores, as measured by the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP), in 13 high-poverty charter schools in New Jersey. Results from two-level hierarchical linear models, fitted to a sample of 2,188 Kindergarteners through eighth-grade students in 110 classrooms, revealed that instructional and behavior management strategies on the CSAS were associated with (a) MAP gains in mathematics but not in reading and (b) MAP Rasch Unit (RIT) (proficiency) scores in mathematics and reading. The relationship between CSAS scores and student achievement did not differ across grade levels. In general, students in classrooms with higher quality use of classroom strategies exhibited higher gains in mathematics and proficiency scores in mathematics and reading. Implications for research and educational practices are discussed.

We examined the degree to which assessment of teachers' instructional and behavior management practices, as measured by the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS; Reddy & Dudek, 2014), relates to gains in student achievement as measured by the Measures of Academic Progress (Northwest Evaluation Association [NWEA], 2011). Two-level hierarchical linear modeling was applied to achievement scores from 2,771 students in 130 kindergarten through 8th-grade classrooms in 13 urban schools serving students in communities with high concentrations of poverty. Results suggest that teachers' use of evidence-based instructional and behavior management strategies, as measured by the CSAS, were associated with reading and mathematics gains. In general, students in classrooms with higher quality use of evidence-based teaching strategies exhibited greater gains, whereas students in classrooms with lower quality use of effective strategies exhibited lesser gains. Implications of these findings for research and educational practice are presented.

Over 70,000 DNA lesions occur in the cell every day, and the inability to properly repair them can lead to mutations and destabilize the genome, resulting in carcinogenesis. The base excision repair (BER) pathway is critical for maintaining genomic integrity by repairing small base lesions, abasic sites and single‐stranded breaks. Monofunctional and bifunctional glycosylases initiate the first step of BER by recognizing and excising specific base lesions, followed by DNA end processing, gap filling, and finally nick sealing. The Nei‐like 2 (NEIL2) enzyme is a critical bifunctional DNA glycosylase in BER that preferentially excises cytosine oxidation products and abasic sites from single‐stranded, double‐stranded, and bubble‐structured DNA. NEIL2 has been implicated to have important roles in several cellular functions, including genome maintenance, participation in active demethylation, and modulation of the immune response. Several germline and somatic variants of NEIL2 with altered expression and enzymatic activity have been reported in the literature linking them to cancers. In this review, we provide an overview of NEIL2 cellular functions and summarize current findings on NEIL2 variants and their relationship to cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important findings to emerge from recent reading comprehension research is that there are large differences between tests in what they assess--specifically, the extent to which performance depends on word recognition versus listening comprehension skills. Because this research used ordinary least squares regression, it is not clear that the findings apply similarly to poor and good readers. The current study uses quantile regression to assess whether there might be differences within tests in the relative contributions of component skills as a function of performance level. There were 834 individuals (ages 8-18) who took 5 reading comprehension tests. Quantile regression showed that, for 3 of 5 tests, the contributions of word recognition and listening comprehension vary as a function of reading comprehension skill. These quantile differences hold across both younger and older readers. Our findings show that what skills a test assesses vary not only with the specific test used but also with how well the person performs.

Comprehension tests often compare accuracy on inferential versus literal questions and find inferential harder than literal, and poor comprehenders performing worse than controls. Difficulties in integration are assumed to be the reason. This research explores another reason--differences in memory for the passage information underlying the questions. Thirty-nine poor comprehenders and 39 controls were given multiple-paragraph passages, which they retold before answering questions. Retellings permitted assessing question accuracy as a function of memory for the text underlying each question. Inferential accuracy was poorer than literal, and the expected group effect was obtained. However, when text memory was perfect, group differences disappeared, indicating that poor comprehenders can generate inferences as well as controls, if they have the relevant information in memory. These findings show that text memory is crucial in distinguishing poor comprehension.

Abstract This article examines the relationship between homing desire, cultural citizenship and diaspora communities. I begin by examining how citizenship is a deeply gendered concept. From there, I will explore [...]

Dans le but de faire le pont entre la theorie et la fiction, cet article commence avec un recit autobiographique de ses voyages en tant qu'une (ex) refugiee et (ex) [...]

It is noon. The sun blares a dry unbearable heat. Everyone takes naps between twelve and two. Grandma's house in Bac-Lieu is cooler than the one Lila is used to [...]

UV‐chromophores contained in human skin may act as endogenous sensitizers of photooxidative stress and can be employed therapeutically for the photodynamic elimination of malignant cells. Here, we report that 6‐formylindolo[3,2‐b]carbazole (FICZ), a tryptophan‐derived photoproduct and endogenous aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonist, displays activity as a nanomolar sensitizer of photooxidative stress, causing the photodynamic elimination of human melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. FICZ is an efficient UVA/Visible photosensitizer having absorbance maximum at 390 nm (ε = 9180 L mol−1 cm−1), and fluorescence and singlet oxygen quantum yields of 0.15 and 0.5, respectively, in methanol. In a panel of cultured human squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma skin cancer cells (SCC‐25, HaCaT‐ras II‐4, A375, G361, LOX), photodynamic induction of cell death was elicited by the combined action of solar simulated UVA (6.6 J cm−2) and FICZ (≥10 nm), preceded by the induction of oxidative stress as substantiated by MitoSOX Red fluorescence microscopy, comet detection of Fpg‐sensitive oxidative genomic lesions and upregulated stress response gene expression (HMOX1, HSPA1A, HSPA6). In SKH1 "high‐risk" mouse skin, an experimental FICZ/UVA photodynamic treatment regimen blocked the progression of UV‐induced tumorigenesis suggesting feasibility of harnessing FICZ for the photooxidative elimination of malignant cells in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UVA-driven photooxidative stress in human skin may originate from excitation of specific endogenous chromophores acting as photosensitizers. Previously, we have demonstrated that 3-hydroxypyridine-derived chromophores including B6-vitamers (pyridoxine, pyridoxamine and pyridoxal) are endogenous photosensitizers that enhance UVA-induced photooxidative stress in human skin cells. Here, we report that the B6-vitamer pyridoxal is a sensitizer of genotoxic stress in human adult primary keratinocytes ( HEKa) and reconstructed epidermis. Comparative array analysis indicated that exposure to the combined action of pyridoxal and UVA caused upregulation of heat shock ( HSPA6, HSPA1A, HSPA1L, HSPA2), redox ( GSTM3, EGR1, MT2A, HMOX1, SOD1) and genotoxic ( GADD45A, DDIT3, CDKN1A) stress response gene expression. Together with potentiation of UVA-induced photooxidative stress and glutathione depletion, induction of HEKa cell death occurred only in response to the combined action of pyridoxal and UVA. In addition to activational phosphorylation indicative of genotoxic stress [p53 (Ser15) and γ-H2 AX (Ser139)], comet analysis indicated the formation of Fpg-sensitive oxidative DNA lesions, observable only after combined exposure to pyridoxal and UVA. In human reconstructed epidermis, pyridoxal preincubation followed by UVA exposure caused genomic oxidative base damage, procaspase 3 cleavage and TUNEL positivity, consistent with UVA-driven photooxidative damage that may be relevant to human skin exposed to high concentrations of B6-vitamers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Systemic administration of deuterium oxide ('heavy water') has shown promise in suppressing tumor growth and metastasis in mammalian cancer models, but no detailed molecular studies have revealed specific molecular pathways mediating cancer-cell-directed activities. Here, for the first time, transcriptomic analysis complemented by in vivo efficacy experiments have addressed this unresolved topic. There are two stable isotopes of hydrogen, protium (1H) and deuterium (2H; D). Cellular stress response dysregulation in cancer represents both a major pathological driving force and a promising therapeutic target, but the molecular consequences and potential therapeutic impact of deuterium (2H)-stress on cancer cells remain largely unexplored. We have examined the anti-proliferative and apoptogenic effects of deuterium oxide (D2O; 'heavy water') together with stress response gene expression profiling in panels of malignant melanoma (A375V600E, A375NRAS, G361, LOX-IMVI), and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PANC-1, Capan-2, or MIA PaCa-2) cells with inclusion of human diploid Hs27 skin fibroblasts. Moreover, we have examined the efficacy of D2O-based pharmacological intervention in murine models of human melanoma tumor growth and metastasis. D2O-induction of apoptosis was substantiated by AV-PI flow cytometry, immunodetection of PARP-1, and pro-caspase 3 cleavage, and rescue by pan-caspase inhibition. Differential array analysis revealed early modulation of stress response gene expression in both A375 melanoma and PANC-1 adenocarcinoma cells elicited by D2O (90%; ≤6 h) (upregulated: CDKN1A, DDIT3, EGR1, GADD45A, HMOX1, NFKBIA, or SOD2 (up to 9-fold; p < 0.01)) confirmed by independent RT-qPCR analysis. Immunoblot analysis revealed rapid onset of D2O-induced stress response phospho-protein activation (p-ERK, p-JNK, p-eIF2α, or p-H2AX) or attenuation (p-AKT). Feasibility of D2O-based chemotherapeutic intervention (drinking water (30% w/w)) was demonstrated in a severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mouse melanoma metastasis model using luciferase-expressing A375-Luc2 cells. Lung tumor burden (visualized by bioluminescence imaging) was attenuated by D2O, and inhibition of invasiveness was also confirmed in an in vitro Matrigel transwell invasion assay. D2O supplementation also suppressed tumor growth in a murine xenograft model of human melanoma, and median survival was significantly increased without causing adverse effects. These data demonstrate for the first time that systemic D2O administration impairs growth and metastasis of malignant melanoma through the pharmacological induction of deuterium (2H)-stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines how Afro-Caribbean Canadian writer Dionne Brand reflects on the cultural memory of slavery in her novel "At the Full and Change of the Moon Brand" where she explores the psychic and material aftermath effects of slavery. It cites an ethical question posed by the history of slavery on how to memorialize slavery with dead witnesses and how to move from individual to collective voices. It notes the present existence of slavery as a cultural trauma or collective memory.

UVA-driven photooxidative stress in human skin may originate from excitation of specific endogenous chromophores acting as photosensitizers. Previously, we have demonstrated that 3-hydroxypyridine-derived chromophores including B 6 -vitamers (pyridoxine, pyridoxamine and pyridoxal) are endogenous photosensitizers that enhance UVA-induced photooxidative stress in human skin cells. Here, we report that the B 6 -vitamer pyridoxal is a sensitizer of genotoxic stress in human adult primary keratinocytes (HEKa) and reconstructed epidermis. Comparative array analysis indicated that exposure to the combined action of pyridoxal and UVA caused upregulation of heat shock (HSPA6, HSPA1A, HSPA1L, HSPA2), redox (GSTM3, EGR1, MT2A, HMOX1, SOD1) and genotoxic (GADD45A, DDIT3, CDKN1A) stress response gene expression. Together with potentiation of UVA-induced photooxidative stress and glutathione depletion, induction of HEKa cell death occurred only in response to the combined action of pyridoxal and UVA. In addition to activational phosphorylation indicative of genotoxic stress [p53 (Ser15) and γ-H2AX (Ser139)], comet analysis indicated the formation of Fpg-sensitive oxidative DNA lesions, observable only after combined exposure to pyridoxal and UVA. In human reconstructed epidermis, pyridoxal preincubation followed by UVA exposure caused genomic oxidative base damage, procaspase 3 cleavage and TUNEL positivity, consistent with UVA-driven photooxidative damage that may be relevant to human skin exposed to high concentrations of B 6 -vitamers., (© 2017 The American Society of Photobiology.)