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An educator, who compiled teachers' stories of accountability era reforms into a book, explains why teacher voice is central. The book, "Inside Our Schools: Teachers on the Failure and Future of Education Reform," is organized around the recurring buzzwords the mainstream education reform movement has used to define its policies: accountability, quality, choice, failure, and equity. The book also provides numerous examples of how we could do "reform" better.

Termites are important ecosystem engineers in many ecosystems globally. Hence, surveys of termite species composition, abundance and activity can be important for understanding ecosystem function—especially in biomes where they tend to be abundant, such as tropical savannas. However, comprehensively surveying termites can be challenging due to their cryptic nature and varied feeding and nesting habits, which strongly influence the effectiveness of different survey methods. Baiting and active searches of reduced transects are two methods commonly used to sample termites, and while these methods have been evaluated in the savannas of South Africa, this has not occurred in the extensive tropical savannas of northern Australia. Thus, this study evaluated the effectiveness of baits and reduced transects to assess termite species richness and activity across 18 × 1 ha experimental plots in a tropical savanna near Darwin, Australia. Surveys in each plot consisted of two 60 × 2 m transects and a 9 × 3 baiting grid of alternating buried wood and paper baits and surface straw baits. Baits were checked three times: at 4‐, 7‐ and 10‐week intervals following placement. Upon survey completion, the sampling effort, efficacy and costs of each method were compared. Reduced transects detected all 32 species recorded in this study, representing four feeding groups (from undecayed wood to highly decayed organic material in the soil). Baiting detected 20 species, but failed to detect some of the species that fed on decayed materials. Paper baits, checked only twice (at 4 and 10 weeks following placement), were required to detect all species sampled at both wood and paper baits. Therefore, overall baiting costs could be reduced (without data loss) by using paper baits only and reducing the number of bait checks. Compared with baiting using all three bait types, reduced transects detected the most species and had the lowest per‐species cost. Consequently, reduced transect surveys are the most effective method in these northern Australian savannas when assessing species composition. However, if the abundance of species that feed on undecayed wood or levels of termite activity are being assessed, then reduced baiting is a more appropriate method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is a powerful tool for conservation management at a landscape scale, but a rigorous evidence base is often lacking for understanding its impacts on biodiversity in different biomes. Fire‐induced changes to habitat openness have been identified as an underlying driver of responses of faunal communities, including for ants. However, most studies of the impacts of fire on ant communities consider only epigeic (foraging on the soil surface) species, which may not reflect the responses of species inhabiting other vertical strata. Here, we examine how the responses of ant communities vary among vertical strata in a highly fire‐prone biome. We use a long‐term field experiment to quantify the effects of fire on the abundance, richness, and composition of ant assemblages of four vertical strata (subterranean, leaf litter, epigeic, and arboreal) in an Australian tropical savanna. We first document the extent to which each stratum harbors distinct assemblages. We then assess how the assemblage of each stratum responds to three fire‐related predictors: fire frequency, fire activity, and vegetation cover. Each stratum harbored a distinct ant assemblage and showed different responses to fire. Leaf litter and epigeic ants were most sensitive to fire because it directly affects their microhabitats, but they showed contrasting negative and positive responses, respectively. Subterranean ants were the least sensitive because of the insulating effects of soil. Our results show that co‐occurring species of the same taxonomic group differ in the strength and direction of their response to fire depending on the stratum they inhabit. As such, effective fire management for biodiversity conservation should consider species in all vertical strata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many fires in north Australian savannas are severe enough to cause canopy scorch, tree death and removal of stags. Better fire management may increase carbon sequestration in trees, perhaps including stags. Aims: To describe and analyse dynamics of stags in tropical savannas (600–1000 mm annual rainfall) in relation to fire and better understand their role in biomass sequestration. Methods: We monitored marked populations of live and dead trees over 12 years. Statistical models describing influences on stag creation and loss are applied in stag dynamics simulations. Key results: Immediately following severe fire, stag biomass increases acutely because many more live trees are killed than stags removed. Between severe fires, stag losses exceed tree deaths, so peaks are quite short. Many 'new' stags are lost (fallen or consumed) quickly. Conclusions: Between fires, stags comprise ~7.5–8.9% of standing above-ground biomass, more under dry conditions and during recovery from severe fire or other drivers of increased tree mortality. Fire management is unlikely to increase proportions of total woody biomass in stags unless it also reduces live biomass. Implications: Reducing frequency of severe fires can increase total carbon sequestration in dry tropical savannas. Prediction uncertainties and management risks around sequestration present daunting challenges for policy-makers and fire management practitioners. Fire creates stags by killing trees and also removes them. Proportions of stags lost usually exceed per capita mortality rates except after severe fire, when tree deaths greatly outnumber stag losses. Fire management is unlikely to increase the proportion of biomass in stags unless live biomass declines. This article belongs to the Collection Savanna Burning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Indigenous people influenced fire in Australia's deserts for millennia, until colonisation interrupted traditional fire practices. Many groups are reinvigorating those practices to achieve inter-linked biodiversity, cultural, and social benefits. Contemporary fire management integrates modern planning and delivery approaches with cultural process. However, deserts have changed since colonisation (e.g. invasive species, biodiversity loss, climate change) and fire-management outcomes for Country are less certain. Some Indigenous groups are integrating scientific methods into their programs, to examine biodiversity outcomes and refine management. Aims. Karajarri and Ngurrara Traditional Owners wanted to understand how fire affects Kuwi (mammals, reptiles) on their Country, to guide fire management. Karajarri and Ngurrara Rangers worked together on this project, exchanging skills and knowledge with each other, and with scientists. Methods. We established 32 monitoring sites at four locations on Karajarri and Ngurrara Country. We undertook 11 survey trips from 2018 to 2022, gathering data from 81 site visits. Using Landsat satellite imagery we described fire patterns around each site, focussing on seral stage (as defined by Traditional Owners), patch size, and seral diversity at small (500 m), medium (1 km), and large (5 km) spatial scales. Results. There were 378 mammal captures (11 species) and 3392 reptile captures (66 species). Mammal species richness and captures were lowest in Wuntara (recently burnt) and highest in Nyirrinyanu (mature) spinifex. Mammal species richness increased with seral diversity within 1 km around the trapping site. Reptile species richness and captures were unaffected by seral stage. However, many species were caught significantly more often in specific seral stages. Neither reptile richness nor capture rate were related to patch size or seral diversity. Conclusions. Retaining a mix of seral stages can maintain diverse reptile and mammal assemblages. The management challenge will be increasing the extent of mature/long-unburnt spinifex, currently the rarest seral stage. Ranger fire management has already reduced mean fire size by 40–52%, and further reductions are possible. Implications. Our work improves the understanding of fire effects on northern desert fauna, guides management, provides important ecological information from a little-studied region of Australia's deserts, and increases the recognition of Indigenous conservation management of Country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a corrigendum for an article titled "Unravelling predator-prey interactions in response to planned fire: a case study from the Tanami Desert" published in Wildlife Research. The corrigendum addresses the omission of the Indigenous translation of the short summary in the published version. The translation, provided by Annette Patrick from the Warlpiri community of Lajamanu in the Tanami Desert, is included in the corrigendum. The article itself investigates the impact of fire on bilby-predator interactions, specifically focusing on the threat posed by cats and foxes. The study found that broad-scale fire is likely to have negative consequences for bilby populations due to an increase in fox predation pressure. [Extracted from the article]

Context: Introduced predators pose a significant threat to biodiversity. Understanding how predators interact with other threats such as fire is crucial to developing effective conservation strategies. Aims: We investigated interactions between the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) and two introduced predators, the European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and feral cat (Felis catus), in response to fire management in a remote part of the Tanami Desert, Australia. Methods: We used motion-sensor cameras and non-invasive genetic sampling to monitor bilbies and predators. We compared activity profiles to determine the level of temporal overlap among species, and used generalised linear modelling to assess the correlation between activity and average normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI; as a proxy for fire-associated environmental change). Finally, we used spatially explicit capture–recapture modelling to estimate cat and bilby densities before and after fire. Key results: Cat and bilby activity declined following fire, whereas fox activity increased (despite only a small proportion of the study area being burnt). Bilbies and foxes showed the greatest overlap in temporal activity (76%), followed by bilbies and cats (71%) and cats and foxes (68%). Bilbies and cats were more likely to be captured in areas with a lower NDVI, whereas foxes were more likely to be captured in areas with a higher NDVI. Bilby density declined significantly following fire, whereas cat density remained constant through time. Conclusions: Declines in bilby activity and density following fire may be attributed to emigration from the study area and/or increases in fox activity. Post-burn emigration could be due to wide scale destruction of important food resources. However, given much of the study area where bilbies were detected remained unburnt, it is more likely that observed declines are related to increases in fox activity and associated increases in predation pressure. Improved understanding may be gained by experimentally manipulating both fire and predator densities. Implications: Increases in fox activity following fire are likely to have devastating consequences for the local bilby population. It is thus vital that appropriate management activities are put in place to protect bilbies from foxes. This may be achieved through a combination of lethal control and indirect methods. Cats and foxes are a significant threat to bilbies, with their impacts likely to be worsened by fire. We used camera-traps and genetic sampling to investigate whether bilby–predator interactions changed in response to planned fire. We found a high level of overlap in activity among the three species, and a general decline in bilby and cat activity, and an increase in fox activity following fire. Our study indicated that broad-scale fire is likely to have negative consequences for bilby populations, most likely owing to an increase in fox predation pressure. Warlpiri : Minija manu pujumalu kalu-jana ngarni walpajirri kuja ka warlu-jangkalku karrimi (ngunjalparla/winingka). Ngulajangka yartiwajirli ka palka-mani kuna-wartirlki panu. Ngulajangka kanarlu-jana nyanyi kuyu-patu marnkurrpa minija, pujuma manu walpajirri yartiwajirla, wita-karri-karrirlki kalu nyinami walpajirri-watiji manu minija-watiji manu nganayiji pujumaju kalu panu nyinami nyampurla walyangkaju (ngurungkaju). Wiri-jarlu warluju ngulaju maju walpajirri-kiji. Pujumaju panu, punku walpajirri-kiji. The translation of this short summary from English to Warlpiri language was provided by Annette Patrick from the community of Lajamanu in the northern Tanami Desert. Warlpiri language is spoken by ~3000 of the Warlpiri people from the Tanami Desert, north-west of Alice Springs in central Australia. Photograph supplied by H.M. Geyle. This article belongs to the collection Indigenous and cross-cultural wildlife research in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Native mammals continue to suffer widespread and severe declines across northern Australia's tropical savannas. There is an increasing body of evidence that the primary driver of these declines is predation by feral cats (Felis catus) and that this is exacerbated by high-severity disturbance regimes (frequent high-intensity fires, and grazing and trampling by exotic megaherbivores) that simplify habitat, thereby increasing hunting efficiency. The large islands off the northern Australian coast – where some threats are either reduced or absent – provide a means of testing the conceptual model's predictions. Aims: To compare the trajectory and distribution of native mammal populations on two large, adjacent islands with markedly different disturbance regimes. Methods: In 2020 and 2021, we resurveyed 111 historical sites across the two largest of the Tiwi Islands, Bathurst Island (42 sites) and Melville Island (69 sites) that were previously surveyed between 2000 and 2002. The Melville Island sites had also been resurveyed in 2015. We used the same live trapping method used in 2000–2002, supplemented with camera trapping. Key results: On Bathurst Island, feral cats are rare, and we found no significant decrease in native mammal trap success or species richness, and the threatened brush-tailed rabbit-rat (Conilurus penicillatus melibius) appears stable. Conversely, cats occurred at relatively high abundance on Melville Island, and there was a 52% decline in trap success, a 47% reduction in species richness, and a 93% decline in trap success for the brush-tailed rabbit-rat over the 20-year period. The highest decreases in native mammal abundance and richness were in areas that were frequently burnt and had higher activity of feral cats. In contrast, in the absence of cats on Bathurst Island, native mammal abundance increased in frequently burnt areas. Conclusions: While Bathurst Island remains one of Australia's most important refuges for native mammals, neighbouring Melville Island is experiencing severe and ongoing mammal decline. We contend that this pattern primarily reflects the high abundance of cats on Melville Island compared to Bathurst Island. Implications: Native mammal decline in northern Australian savannas is associated with abundant feral cats, but the relative contribution of disturbances in driving cat abundance remains less clear. An improved understanding of the constraints to feral cat populations in tropical savannas could enhance conservation management. Two of northern Australia's largest islands, Melville and Bathurst, were used to explore the drivers of native mammal decline in this region's tropical savannas. By comparing both islands' mammal population trajectories over two decades, Bathurst Island's national significance as a refuge is highlighted, and insights are provided into the link between disturbance regimes, feral cats, and their contributions to mammal declines. This study also provides one of the first examples of a stable native mammal assemblage, a unique and important finding. Photograph by Georgina Neave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers are vigorously debating whether psychopathic personality includes seemingly adaptive traits, especially social and physical boldness. In a large sample (N = 1,565) of adult offenders, we examined the incremental validity of 2 operationalizations of boldness (Fearless Dominance traits in the Psychopathy Personality Inventory [Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996]; Boldness traits in the triarchic model of psychopathy [Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009]), above and beyond other characteristics of psychopathy, in statistically predicting scores on 4 psychopathy-related measures, including the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The incremental validity added by boldness traits in predicting the PCL-R's representation of psychopathy was especially pronounced for interpersonal traits (e.g., superficial charm, deceitfulness). Our analyses, however, revealed unexpected sex differences in the relevance of these traits to psychopathy, with boldness traits exhibiting reduced importance for psychopathy in women. We discuss the implications of these findings for measurement models of psychopathy. (PsycINFO Database Record

Relatively little is known about how commitment manifests in couples' everyday lives in a way that orients couples toward their future together. Building on the Investment Model of Commitment, we propose that, in everyday life, individuals with high levels of commitment are more likely to (a) assure their partners about the future of the relationship and (b) behaviorally invest in that future by spending more time in the partner's presence. Results from a sample of individuals (N = 100) suggest that relationship commitment is associated with greater time investment in the relationship (i.e., time spent with the partner in daily life); results from a second sample of couple members (N = 269) replicate this effect and suggest that relationship commitment is associated with the use of daily assurances, which mediate the relationship between commitment and time spent co-present with the partner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The introduction of the cat (Felis catus) to Australia has been a key driver of the decline and extinction of the continent’s endemic mammals. Currently, there is no clear long-term solution to controlling feral populations of cats at a landscape scale. As such, understanding how environmental conditions and habitat attributes can mediate the coexistence between introduced predators and native mammals can improve management outcomes for threatened species. Aim. We sought to compare the differences in habitat use by feral cats and a remnant population of the endangered northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) to understand what environmental variables allow these two mesopredators to coexist in tropical savanna of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Methods. We deployed grids of motion-activated cameras three times per year over a 3-year period, across Eucalyptus tetrodonta-dominated plateaux known to be inhabited by feral cats and northern quolls. We modelled the spatial variation in the frequencies of detection of feral cats and northern quolls (referred to as ‘habitat use’), as a function of biotic and abiotic environmental variables by using a generalised linear model for consistent variables and a generalised linear mixed-effect model for fluctuating variables. Key results. Habitat use by feral cats was most frequent in areas with high fire frequencies and low tree basal area, whereas habitat use by northern quolls was most frequent in areas of high basal area of E. tetrodonta (a commonly used den tree species), topographic ruggedness, and long-unburnt savanna. Conclusions. Frequent fires in tropical savanna promote habitat use by feral cats and can result in a reduction of critical habitat for northern quolls. Implications. We postulate that remnant populations of northern quolls on Cape York Peninsula occur in less frequently burnt refugia, primarily on top of plateaux that support high-biomass tropical savanna dominated by E. tetrodonta. Our findings highlighted that threatened mammals can persist alongside introduced predators in tropical savanna but are dependent on the maintenance of structurally complex habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The bourgeoning carbon economy is creating novel ways to incentivise conservation management activities that have the co-benefits of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and social inequality. Aim. To estimate the monetary value of carbon credits that landowners could generate by reducing ecologically destructive feral populations of the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in northern Australia. Methods. First, we estimated buffalo enteric emissions based on the population structure of feral buffalo in northern Australia, and discounted the reduction of fire emissions due to the consumption of grassy fuel by feral buffalo. We then predicted the change in buffalo population size across the South Alligator River region of Kakadu National Park under four buffalo management scenarios: (1) no buffalo control; (2) low-intensity buffalo control; (3) moderate-intensity buffalo control; and (4) high-intensity buffalo control. We quantified the reduction of GHG emissions under the three buffalo control scenarios, relative to the scenario of no buffalo control, while discounting the GHG emissions that directly result from buffalo control actions (e.g. helicopter emissions). Key results. All three buffalo control scenarios substantially reduced the estimated GHG emissions that would otherwise have been produced. The low-intensity buffalo control scenario was predicted to abate 790 513 t CO2-e over the 20-year simulation, worth USD15 076 085 (or USD753 804 year-1). Our high-intensity buffalo control scenario had the greatest reduction in GHG emissions, with a total net abatement of 913 231 t CO2-e, worth USD17 176 437 (or USD858 822 year-1). Conclusions. The potential value of carbon credits generated by controlling feral buffalo populations in northern Australian savannas far exceeds the management costs. Implications. The management of feral ruminants could be incentivised by the generation of carbon credits. Such management could simultaneously avoid GHG emissions, generate income for landowners and offer significant ecological benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]