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Scholars have called for promoting coherence in teacher education programs. Such coherence is often depicted as a state to be achieved. This article reconceptualizes coherence as a dynamic process affected by the simultaneous organizational realities of unity, conflict, and fragmentation; it also aims to clarify factors that can facilitate or challenge the work of enhancing teacher education program coherence. Drawing on a case study of program-wide redesign, we show that promoting coherence requires more than just maximizing unity (instructors' agreement on means and ends). It also requires addressing conflict and recognizing fragmentation in ways that support what we term "pathway flexibility." By highlighting the interplay of unity, conflict, and fragmentation, we offer a set of conceptual tools to understand and support the development of program coherence in teacher education.

Political history lends itself to traditional patterns of teaching and learning in social studies such as students memorizing facts presented in lectures or textbooks. This article presents a recurring activity structure for teaching U.S. political history--Consensus Circle Presidential Rating (CCPR)--which requires students to read across different sources, form and defend a judgment of a presidency's impact, and engage in persuasion and consensus-seeking with peers. I juxtapose CCPR with traditional patterns of teaching and learning to suggest how CCPR can shift teachers' and students' roles during social studies instruction to promote critical thinking, perspective taking, and civil discussion and disagreement. Teaching political history in general--and this activity in particular--could reinforce the marginalization of women and people of color; conversely, CCPR could compliment history teaching that foregrounds the experience of diverse Americans while conveying the important roles government and social movements play in shaping American society. The article provides a student-friendly assignment sheet, a graphic organizer for note-taking, and examples of sources to help teachers consider how they might adapt this activity to their own context.

Young children today are gaining access to a dizzying array of apps, games, and videos. With all of this digital media at their fingertips, two urgent questions have emerged in preschools and elementary schools: Could technology interfere with the way children learn to read? Or could it help? While questions continue to arise about the challenges of the digital age, more investment in early childhood must be coupled with a strategy that recognizes the challenges and opportunities of the digital age. An area of concern for parents with preschooler's is better identification of products for particular ages. Often apps are described as being for "young children," not recognizing that there is a large difference between the needs of a 3-year-old and the needs of a 6-year-old. Several interviewed educators desired more time to try out new tools, critique apps and e-books, and adapt them to the needs of their particular classrooms. The children and families of the 21st century will grow up with screens and digital media everywhere. Educators and parents will need new models for how to use these tools to promote learning. So, instead of pushing screens away, put them into the hands of adults and children to use together to learn and grow.

BackgroundProspective cohort studies of circulating sex steroid hormones and prostate cancer risk have not provided a consistent association, despite evidence from animal and clinical studies. However, studies using male pattern baldness as a proxy of early-life or cumulative androgen exposure have reported significant associations with aggressive and fatal prostate cancer risk. Given that androgens underlie the development of patterned hair loss and chest hair, we assessed whether these two dermatological characteristics were associated with circulating and intraprostatic concentrations of sex steroid hormones among men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer.MethodsWe included 248 prostate cancer patients from the NCI Prostate Tissue Study, who answered surveys and provided a pre-treatment blood sample as well as fresh frozen adjacent normal prostate tissue. Male pattern baldness and chest hair density were assessed by trained nurses before surgery. General linear models estimated geometric means and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) of each hormone variable by dermatological phenotype with adjustment for potential confounding variables. Subgroup analyses were performed by Gleason score (

Frozen peas and carrots are commonly available in grocery stores in the United States. The carrots are cut into cubes roughly 8 mm on a side, while the peas are roughly spherical with a diameter of about 6 mm. They are prepared together in water that is brought to a boil. The peas and carrots, which are initially mixed together, separate as the water is heated. By counting the number of border vs. non-border vegetables before and after boiling, the decrease of the number of vegetables on the border demonstrates separation rather than chance rearrangement with the highly significant value p < 0.00001. The demonstration is a kitchen physics example of pattern formation in nonequilibrium systems.

Background: Sex hormones have been implicated in prostate carcinogenesis, yet epidemiologic studies have not provided substantiating evidence. We tested the hypothesis that circulating concentrations of sex steroid hormones reflect intraprostatic concentrations using serum and adjacent microscopically verified benign prostate tissue from prostate cancer cases.Methods: Incident localized prostate cancer cases scheduled for surgery were invited to participate. Consented participants completed surveys, and provided resected tissues and blood. Histologic assessment of the ends of fresh frozen tissue confirmed adjacent microscopically verified benign pathology. Sex steroid hormones in sera and tissues were extracted, chromatographically separated, and then quantitated by radioimmunoassays. Linear regression was used to account for variations in intraprostatic hormone concentrations by age, body mass index, race, and study site, and subsequently to assess relationships with serum hormone concentrations. Gleason score (from adjacent tumor tissue), race, and age were assessed as potential effect modifiers.Results: Circulating sex steroid hormone concentrations had low-to-moderate correlations with, and explained small proportions of variations in, intraprostatic sex steroid hormone concentrations. Androstane-3α,17β-diol glucuronide (3α-diol G) explained the highest variance of tissue concentrations of 3α-diol G (linear regression r2 = 0.21), followed by serum testosterone and tissue dihydrotestosterone (r2 = 0.10), and then serum estrone and tissue estrone (r2 = 0.09). There was no effect modification by Gleason score, race, or age.Conclusions: Circulating concentrations of sex steroid hormones are poor surrogate measures of the intraprostatic hormonal milieu.Impact: The high exposure misclassification provided by circulating sex steroid hormone concentrations for intraprostatic levels may partly explain the lack of any consistent association of circulating hormones with prostate cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(11); 1660-6. ©2017 AACR.

Deceased donor kidney allocation was reorganized in the United States to address several problems, including the highly sensitized patients disadvantaged with large, diverse repertoires of antibodies. Here, five transplant surgeons review their center's experience with the new allocation changes: highlighting areas of accomplishment, opportunities for improvement and, in some cases, stark differences in practice. Across these five centers the highly sensitized patients (CPRA ⩾98%) range from 5.5 to 9.2% of the 12,364 candidates on their collective waitlist. All centers reported greater rates of kidney transplantations in highly sensitized patients (12.4-27%). Three of the programs (Emory, UCSF, UW) relied upon the virtual crossmatch prior to organ acceptance in a majority of cases (70-86%)-the mere presence of antibody on HLA antibody screen was sufficient to exclude the donor in most cases at Emory and UCSF. Penn and UAB relied upon the physical flow crossmatch in almost all cases prior to proceeding with transplantation. Current or historical donor-specific antibody was occasionally crossed in certain cases at UW and UAB necessitating IVIG/plasmapheresis and/or B cell depletion perioperatively. Some authors raised concerns for cost efficiency given the increased need for organ/specimen transportation, and extensive use of hospital resources and ancillary services. In general, we found that the new allocation system has successfully achieved one of its primary goals-increased kidney transplantation in the disadvantaged, highly sensitized patients; the long-term outcomes in all patients and the cost ramifications of these changes will require continued reassessment and clarification.

Research supports the contention that professional learning communities (PLCs) are a "path to change in the classroom" (DuFour, 1997). Teachers treading this path, however, can encounter obstacles or plateau as a result of five common challenges: incoherence, insularity, unequal participation, congeniality, and privacy. Fortunately, teachers and the administrators who support them can overcome these obstacles with self-reflection and intentionality. In this article, the author describes how these five challenges play out in schools. The article includes a tool that provides discussion questions to help PLC members and facilitators reflect on these challenges and address them in their own work.

Background: During the COVID‐19 pandemic, dental institutions were challenged to rapidly adapt to the inability of teaching in‐person lectures and pre‐clinical simulations. Strategies had to be quickly developed to guarantee the safety of faculty and students, while also adhering to national guidelines to ensure that educational standards were met and students' graduations and entrance into residency programs were not delayed. This literature review assesses the novel strategies that dental schools created and implemented to teach in a distance‐learning platform and evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of these strategies. In addition, this review talks about the lessons learned during the pandemic and the incorporation of successful strategies after the pandemic ended. Methods: This review evaluated the literature using PubMed and ScienceDirect with the following keywords: "teaching strategies," "dental education," and "COVID‐19." The search strategy yielded 15 articles that assessed relevant teaching strategies that were implemented during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Results: The literature described the swift response of dental institutions in implementing teaching strategies in response to the inability of continuing in‐person teaching. An overwhelming majority of institutions moved their didactic lectures to online platforms. Several institutions implemented online simulations with virtual reality models, videos and discussion boards, standardized patient actors, and case‐based discussions. Conclusion: Many of the teaching strategies that were implemented as a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic were highly effective. Dental schools were able to satisfy Commission on Dental Accreditation standards and meet students' requirements for graduation during the pandemic despite the rapid and unplanned shift away from in‐person instruction and simulation secondary to the COVID‐19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher educators need tools to help them think about teacher learning, to design activities and programs that foster it, and to assess the results of their work with preservice and in-service teachers. In this article, in order to improve the conceptual tools available for the design and study of teacher education, the author teases apart distinctions among several popular notions of teacher community, clarifying how each can make a distinct contribution to the research and practice of teacher development. The author also suggests how activity theory in general, and writing about third spaces in specific, might compliment the contributions and limitations of various notions of teacher community. (Contains 3 tables.)

How should district and school leaders improve education for students traditionally underserved by public education: by increasing control over teaching and curriculum, or by empowering groups of teachers to have more collective autonomy, responsibility, and opportunities for professional learning? The second approach--promoting multiple trajectories of learning among groups of teachers--has advantages, as well as some challenges, as a means of closing various achievement gaps. Sociocultural theory informed our research, as it helped us envision how people who work together create opportunities for the adaptation and learning of new practices while increasing the likelihood that individuals internalize new skills and ways of thinking. Through the analysis of a conversation among teachers about Vickie, an English Language Learner, we examine the larger context of a school's reforms. This analysis illustrates both the possibility and desirability of helping teachers engage in multiple and evolving types of teacher learning in order to succeed with students like Vickie. Closing the achievement gap likely will require more than just choosing the right intervention and implementing it with fidelity. Conceptualizing the work of closing the achievement gap as requiring multiple, ongoing trajectories of teacher learning suggests what teachers, administrators, and district leaders can do to: foster and influence trajectories of teacher learning, promote internalization of new approaches, and sustain teachers' efforts to close the achievement gap in an "exhausting and exhilarating process that never feels finished" (Ellen, English teacher, Mountain High School, report to faculty meeting, August 21, 2003). (Contains 2 figures.)

RationaleBiologic pathways with significant genetic conservation across human populations have been implicated in the pathogenesis of primary graft dysfunction (PGD). The evaluation of the role of recipient genetic variation in PGD has thus far been limited to single, candidate gene analyses.ObjectivesWe sought to identify genetic variants in lung transplant recipients that are responsible for increased risk of PGD using a two-phase large-scale genotyping approach.MethodsPhase 1 was a large-scale candidate gene association study of the multicenter, prospective Lung Transplant Outcomes Group cohort. Phase 2 included functional evaluation of selected variants and a bioinformatics screening of variants identified in phase 1.Measurements and main resultsAfter genetic data quality control, 680 lung transplant recipients were included in the analysis. In phase 1, a total of 17 variants were significantly associated with PGD, four of which were in the prostaglandin E2 family of genes. Among these were a coding variant in the gene encoding prostaglandin E2 synthase (PTGES2; P = 9.3 × 10(-5)) resulting in an arginine to histidine substitution at amino acid position 298, and three variants in a block containing the 5' promoter and first intron of the PTGER4 gene (encoding prostaglandin E2 receptor subtype 4; all P < 5 × 10(-5)). Functional evaluation in regulatory T cells identified that rs4434423A in the PTGER4 gene was associated with differential suppressive function of regulatory T cells.ConclusionsFurther research aimed at replication and additional functional insight into the role played by genetic variation in prostaglandin E2 synthetic and signaling pathways in PGD is warranted.

Recent research has provided evidence that the information provided before a story--a spoiler--may increase the enjoyment of that story, perhaps by increasing the processing fluency experienced during reading. In one experiment, we tested the reliability of these findings by closely replicating existing methods and the generality of these findings by using different stories. We also examined the role of processing fluency in the effect of spoilers by measuring reading time. Finally, we examined the influence of spoilers presented mid-story, after a reader has had a chance to get invested in the story. We found that spoilers presented before a story reduced enjoyment, whereas those presented mid-story had no discernable effect. The difference between our findings and those in the literature are discussed with respect to types of spoilers as well as potentially critical methodological factors.

An attempt to calibrate a conventional oven led to making a measurement of a thermophysical property of water using items found in the author's home. Specifically, the ratio of the energy required to heat water from the melting point to boiling to the energy required to completely boil away the water is found to be 5.7. This may be compared to the standard value of 5.5. The close agreement is not representative of the actual uncertainties in this simple experiment (Fig. 1). Heating water in a microwave oven can let a student apply the techniques of quantitative science based on questions generated by his or her scientific curiosity.

Negated words take longer to recognize than non-negated words following sentences with negation, suggesting that negated concepts are less active. The present experiments tested the possibility that this reduced activation would not persist beyond immediate testing. Experiment 1 used a probe task and materials similar to those used in previous research but manipulated the timing of the probe. The negation effect was present at 0 ms, replicating previous studies, but not at 500 ms or 1,000 ms, suggesting that unlicensed negated concepts are initially reduced in activation but then reactivated by presuppositional processing. Experiment 2 produced similar results when activation was measured during ongoing comprehension and reading time was controlled, and Experiment 3 demonstrated that these effects occur when negation is unlicensed but not when it is licensed. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the reduced activation seen from unlicensed negation is short-lived.

Research about emerging best practices in the learning sciences points to the potential of deploying digital games as one possible solution to the twin challenges of weak student engagement and the need for more robust achievement in literacy, science, technology, and math. This chapter reviews key cross-cutting themes in this special volume, drawing perspective from the context of the current United States program and policy reform. The authors conclude that digital games have some unique potential to address pressing educational challenges, but that new mechanisms for advancing purposeful research and development must be adopted by both policymakers and industry leaders.

Museums have great potential to help secondary students develop a deep understanding of the past; however, we know little about what history teachers actually do or want to accomplish when they utilize museums. In this study, the authors draw on questionnaire and interview data from 94 secondary history teachers in Connecticut in an effort to understand teachers' objectives, practices, and dilemmas in using museums. The results indicate that while teachers value museums for their potential to promote historical understanding, a number of factors limit the quantity and quality of museum trips, including cost, logistics, and teachers' level of knowledge and skill related to museums. Many teachers view museums as authoritative and do not ask students to evaluate the way museums present the past, thus neglecting the potential of museums to promote historical thinking. In addition, teachers implement practices to prepare students for museum visits; few, however, use follow-up activities or tap museums' virtual and human resources to promote history learning in the classroom. Better professional preparation and ongoing professional development could position teachers to realize the promise of museums to promote deep--and lifelong--learning of history. (Contains 8 tables and 4 notes.)

This article explores whether features associated with effective professional communities among K-12 teachers are relevant and sufficient for improving the practice of supervisors in teacher education programs. Interview and observational data from nineteen supervisors in one teacher education program illuminate what supervisors want in order to improve their professional practices and how their needs could be met through ongoing collaboration. The article proposes five features of professional communities that can help supervisors improve their work: norms promoting collaboration; trust and familiarity; activities deprivatizing practices; access to logistical information and shared expectations about the role of supervisors; and time for collaboration.

Scholars and reformers in the United States have called for converting large high schools into smaller units to provide a more effective, personal, and culturally responsive education for all students. Current literature argues that such "conversion high schools" should break into fully autonomous small schools rather than more interdependent smaller learning communities (SLCs). In contrast to existing recommendations, this comparative case study identifies four potential advantages of interdependent SLCs. A longitudinal study of teacher collaboration and teaching practices conducted over two years at two conversion high schools suggests that retaining a degree of interdependence among sub-units in conversion high schools may: support teaching and learning of specific academic subjects; promote more learning from other subunits on the campus of the high school; reduce the stress and chaos that accompany high school conversion; and offer more support for new teachers. (Contains 1 note, 1 table, and 1 figure.)

Scholars have proposed that "the path to change in the classroom lies within and through" more collaborative professional communities among teachers (McLaughlin and Talbert, 1993: 18). How do different approaches to developing collaborative professional communities impact experienced teachers and their ability to change? This article identifies differences between "teacher professional communities" and "professional learning communities". It then presents two case studies to explore the implications of these differences for experienced teachers engaged in school reform. Interview and observational data from two sites suggest that schools which nurture collaborative "teacher professional communities" over time can create resources that help experienced teachers to change aspects of their work. Such resources include: norms promoting innovation; widely shared objectives; trust; continuity with the past; respect for experienced teachers; and traditions promoting morale. Schools that rapidly engineer a "professional learning community" may lack such resources, reducing experienced teachers' willingness and ability to change. (Contains 1 table and 2 notes.)

This article presents an approach that teachers can use to strengthen students' ability to make sense of the past at museums. Specifically, we propose a photography exercise to help students to learn from museums and to view museums critically, weighing both the objective realities and subjective interpretations offered by museums. To get the most from a lifetime of museum-going and history learning, students should learn to view museums as reflecting the kinds of perspectives, decision-making, and challenges that accompany any effort to make sense of the past. (Contains 3 figures and 2 notes.)