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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a transcript of a dialogue among literacy educators and researchers on the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the field. In the spring of 2023, a lively conversation emerged on the National Council of Research on Language and Literacy (NCRLL)'s listserv. Stephanie initiated the conversation by sharing an op-ed she wrote for "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" about the rise of ChatGPT and similar generative AI platforms, moving beyond the general public's concerns about student cheating and robot takeovers. NCRLL then convened a webinar of eight leading scholars in writing and literacies development, inspired by that listserv conversation and an organizational interest in promoting intergenerational collaboration among literacy scholars. Design/methodology/approach: As former doctoral students of two of the panel participants, webinar facilitators Grace and Victoria positioned themselves primarily as learners about this topic and gathered questions from colleagues, P-16 practitioners and those outside the field of education to assess the concerns and wonderings that ChatGPT and generative AI have raised. The following webinar conversation was recorded on two different days due to scheduling conflicts. It has been merged and edited into one dialogue for coherence and convergence. Findings: Panel participants raise a host of questions and issues that go beyond topics of ethics, morality and basic writing instruction. Furthermore, in dialogue with one another, they describe possibilities for meaningful pedagogy and critical literacy to ensure that generative AI is used for a socially just future for students. While the discussion addressed matters of pedagogy, definitions of literacy and the purpose of (literacy) education, other themes included a critique of capitalism; an interrogation of the systems of power and oppression involved in using generative AI; and the philosophical, ontological, ethical and practical life questions about being human. Originality/value: This paper provides a glimpse into one of the first panel conversations about ChatGPT and generative AI in the field of literacy. Not only are the panel members respected scholars in the field, they are also former doctoral students and advisors of one another, thus positioning all involved as both learners and teachers of this new technology.

'Remember you are all people and all people are you. Remember you are this universe and this universe is you.' --From Remember written by Joy Harjo Joy Harjo's poem 'Remember' [...]

Abstract Due to a lack of resources, rural communities often face challenges when planning catastrophic events. This project involved applying systems thinking and model-based systems engineering to develop a proof-of-concept, multi-method computer simulation and then determining whether the simulation could be used to assess the efficacy of disaster planning approaches on health outcomes in rural communities, as a function of primary healthcare. The project focus was a rural or non-urban healthcare system experiencing a natural hazard. Both system dynamics and discrete event models were incorporated to represent subsystem operations, crucial disaster responses, as well as three key response systems: public health, emergency management, and healthcare. The subsystem models included several components: policies/procedures, communications, resources, exercises/drills/training, healthcare space and staff, and the flow of affected people into and through the system. The combined simulation can serve as a first step to a more comprehensive approach to helping rural communities achieve more efficient and effective healthcare planning for disaster responses.

Eyes in low-light environments typically must balance sensitivity and spatial resolution. Vertebrate eyes with large "pixels" (e.g., retinal ganglion cells with inputs from many photoreceptors) will be sensitive but provide coarse vision. Small pixels can render finer detail, but each pixel will gather less light, and thus have poor signal relative-to-noise, leading to lower contrast sensitivity. This balance is particularly critical in oceanic species at mesopelagic depths (200-1000 m) because they experience low light and live in a medium that significantly attenuates contrast. Depending on the spatial frequency and inherent contrast of a pattern being viewed, the viewer's pupil size and temporal resolution, and the ambient light level and water clarity, a visual acuity exists that maximizes the distance at which the pattern can be discerned. We develop a model that predicts this acuity for common conditions in the open ocean, and compare it to visual acuity in marine teleost fishes and elasmobranchs found at various depths in productive and oligotrophic waters. Visual acuity in epipelagic and upper mesopelagic species aligned well with model predictions, but species at lower mesopelagic depths (> 600 m) had far higher measured acuities than predicted. This is consistent with the prediction that animals found at lower mesopelagic depths operate in a visual world consisting primarily of bioluminescent point sources, where high visual acuity helps localize targets of this kind. Overall, the results suggest that visual acuity in oceanic fish and elasmobranchs is under depth-dependent selection for detecting either extended patterns or point sources.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore Somos Escritoras, a creative space and writing workshop, for Latina adolescent girls (grades 6-8), as a program that supports not only writing and literacy development of girls, but also their college going identities. Design/methodology/approach: This is a case study focused on the experiences of five Latina girls who participated in Somos Escritoras and what they define as the important aspects of the program that supported their personal and academic development. Findings: Through girls writing, interview transcripts, and ethnographic conversations, their words illustrate how Somos Escritoras provided a safe space to examine their lives and find comunidad. Girls described the value they found in examining their lives through art and writing in ways that school did not invite them to do. Also, girls discussed the power they found in writing alongside Latinas their age and Latina mentors. Originality/value: This study offers pedagogical implications for English language arts classrooms and schools to support Latina girls' college-going identities.

This paper shares the stories of Latina mothers and daughters as they participarted in Somos Escritoras, a creative space, that invites them to write and perform stories from their lived experiences. At workshops, girls and their mothers crafted writing and created artwork that examines and critiques the many ways to express and define themselves. Findings highlight the ways that mothers and daughters engaged in "literacies of convivencia," [communalism], through the crafting and sharing of intergenerational stories, knowledges, and histories to cultivate a community of writers authoring their lives as mujeres/chicas on their own terms.

Abstract Demographic histories are frequently a product of the environment, as populations expand or contract in response to major environmental changes, often driven by changes in climate. Meso‐ and bathy‐pelagic fishes inhabit some of the most temporally and spatially stable habitats on the planet. The stability of the deep‐pelagic could make deep‐pelagic fishes resistant to the demographic instability commonly reported in fish species inhabiting other marine habitats, however the demographic histories of deep‐pelagic fishes are unknown. We reconstructed the historical demography of 11 species of deep‐pelagic fishes using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. We uncovered widespread evidence of population expansions in our study species, a counterintuitive result based on the nature of deep‐pelagic ecosystems. Frequency‐based methods detected potential demographic changes in nine species of fishes, while extended Bayesian skyline plots identified population expansions in four species. These results suggest that despite the relatively stable nature of the deep‐pelagic environment, the fishes that reside here have likely been impacted by past changes in climate. Further investigation is necessary to better understand how deep‐pelagic fishes, by far Earth's most abundant vertebrates, will respond to future climatic changes.

Abstract Coral reefs are iconic ecosystems that support diverse, productive communities in both shallow and deep waters. However, our incomplete knowledge of cold-water coral (CWC) niche space limits our understanding of their distribution and precludes a complete accounting of the ecosystem services they provide. Here, we present the results of recent surveys of the CWC mound province on the Blake Plateau off the U.S. east coast, an area of intense human activity including fisheries and naval operations, and potentially energy and mineral extraction. At one site, CWC mounds are arranged in lines that total over 150 km in length, making this one of the largest reef complexes discovered in the deep ocean. This site experiences rapid and extreme shifts in temperature between 4.3 and 10.7 °C, and currents approaching 1 m s−1. Carbon is transported to depth by mesopelagic micronekton and nutrient cycling on the reef results in some of the highest nitrate concentrations recorded in the region. Predictive models reveal expanded areas of highly suitable habitat that currently remain unexplored. Multidisciplinary exploration of this new site has expanded understanding of the cold-water coral niche, improved our accounting of the ecosystem services of the reef habitat, and emphasizes the importance of properly managing these systems.

The scale of the Deepwater Horizon disaster was and is unprecedented: geographic extent, pollutant amount, countermeasure scope, and of most relevance to this Research Topic issue, range of ecotypes affected. These ecotypes include coastal/nearshore, continental shelf, deep benthic, and open-ocean domains, the last of which is the subject of this synthesis. The open-ocean ecotype comprises ~90% of the volume of the Gulf of Mexico. The exact percentage of this ecotype contaminated with toxins is unknown due to its three-dimensional nature and dynamics, but estimates suggest that the footprint encompassed most of its eastern half. Further, interactions between the water column and the deep benthos may be persistent, making this synthesis one of time (a decade) rather than event conclusion. Here we examine key elements of the open-ocean ecosystem, with emphasis on vulnerability and resilience. Of paramount importance relative to the Gulf nearshore and shelf ecotypes, pre-disaster baseline data were lacking for most of the fauna. In such cases, inferences were drawn from post-disaster assessments. Both phytoplankton and mesozooplankton vulnerabilities were quite high, but resilience appeared equally so. The phytoplankton situation was a bit more complex in that toxin-imposed reductions may have been offset by nutrient injection via high freshwater discharge in 2010. Intermediate trophic levels exhibited population-level depressions, ostensibly due to high vulnerability and low resilience. Apex predator impacts were variable. Certain large epipelagic fishes may have avoided the highest concentrations of hydrocarbons/dispersant, and thus larval abundances returned to pre-disaster levels of variability and abundance within a few years after a steep initial decline. Oceanic cetaceans, particularly shallow-diving stenellid dolphins, did not appear to avoid oiled waters and exhibited strong declines in the northern Gulf. Given that population declines of many open-ocean taxa appear to be ongoing a decade later, we conclude that this largest of Gulf ecosystem components, like its deep-benthic counterpart, is as fragile as it is voluminous. This is particularly concerning given the rapid, and likely irreversible, shift to deeper waters by the US and Mexican oil industries in concert with the higher likelihood of accidents with increasing platform depth.

Phosphorylation of select amino acid residues is one of the most common biological mechanisms for regulating protein structures and functions. While computational modeling can be used to explore the detailed structural changes associated with phosphorylation, most molecular mechanics force fields developed for the simulation of phosphoproteins have been noted to be inconsistent with experimental data. In this work, we parameterize force fields for the phosphorylated forms of the amino acids serine, threonine, and tyrosine using the ForceBalance software package with the goal of improving agreement with experiments for these residues. Our optimized force field, denoted as FB18, is parameterized using high-quality ab initio potential energy scans and is designed to be fully compatible with the AMBER-FB15 protein force field. When utilized in MD simulations together with the TIP3P-FB water model, we find that FB18 consistently enhances the prediction of experimental quantities such as 3J NMR couplings and intramolecular hydrogen-bonding propensities in comparison to previously published models. As was reported with AMBER-FB15, we also see improved agreement with the reference QM calculations in regions at and away from local minima. We thus believe that the FB18 parameter set provides a promising route for the further investigation of the varied effects of protein phosphorylation.

As we, Tracey and Katie, write this column on normalizing struggle in teaching and learning, we struggle with finding the right words to put on the page to describe all [...]

Changes in macrophage phenotype in injured muscle profoundly influence regeneration. In particular, the shift of macrophages from a proinflammatory (M1 biased) phenotype to a proregenerative (M2 biased) phenotype characterized by expression of CD206 and CD163 is essential for normal repair. According to the current canonical mechanism regulating for M1/M2 phenotype transition, signaling through PPARδ is necessary for obtaining the M2-biased phenotype. Our findings confirm that the murine myeloid cell-targeted deletion of Ppard reduces expression in vitro of genes that are activated in M2-biased macrophages; however, the mutation in mice in vivo increased numbers of CD206+ M2-biased macrophages and did not reduce the expression of phenotypic markers of M2-biased macrophages in regenerating muscle. Nevertheless, the mutation impaired CCL2-mediated chemotaxis of macrophages and slowed revascularization of injured muscle. In contrast, null mutation of IL-10 diminished M2-biased macrophages but produced no defects in muscle revascularization. Our results provide two significant findings. First, they illustrate that mechanisms that regulate macrophage phenotype transitions in vitro are not always predictive of mechanisms that are most important in vivo. Second, they show that mechanisms that regulate macrophage phenotype transitions differ in different in vivo environments.

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the Elementary Section Steering Committee is pleased to announce Dr. Detra Price-Dennis as the recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Education in [...]

Trait-based approaches that complement taxonomy-based studies have increased in popularity among the scientific community over the last decades. The collection of biological and ecological characteristics of species (i.e., traits) provides insight into species and ecosystem vulnerability to environmental and anthropogenic changes, as well as ecosystem functioning. Here, we present the FUN Azores trait database, describe our approach, evaluate its scope, compare it to other marine trait databases, and explore the spatial distribution of its traits with “functional maps.” While most of the available trait databases to date contain essential information to understand the functional diversity of a taxonomic or functional group, our ecosystem-based approach provides a comprehensive assessment of diverse fauna (i.e., meio-, macro-, and megafauna) from benthic and pelagic environments in the Azores Marine Park; including ridges, seamounts, hydrothermal vents, and the overlying water column. We used a collaborative approach involving 30 researchers with different expertise to develop the FUN Azores database, which contains compiled data on 14 traits representing morphological, behavioral, and life history characteristics for 1,210 species across 10 phyla. The “functional maps” show a distinct distribution of the two most common size classes, suggesting different communities with different functionalities. The following traits had the best scoring coverage (i.e., >95% of the species scored): maximum body size, body form, skeleton material, feeding structure, motility, environmental position, substratum affinity, distribution, and depth range; while traits related to species behavior (e.g., sociability or aggregation tendencies) and life history (e.g., developmental mechanism) had lower scoring coverage, highlighting the need for further research to fill these knowledge gaps. We found a larger number of species in the benthic compared to the pelagic environment and differing species composition between areas within the Azores Marine Park resulting from varying biodiversity, ecosystem types, sampling effort, and methodologies used. The FUN Azores database will foster and facilitate trait-based approaches in the area, develop a framework for expansion of cross-ecosystem and cross-taxa trait databases elsewhere, and improve our ecological understanding of the Azores Marine Park and its conservation requirements.

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) was the largest and perhaps most consequential accidental marine oil spill in global history. This paper provides an overview of a Research Topic consisting of four additional papers that: (1) assemble time series data for ecosystem components in regions impacted by the spill, and (2) interpret temporal changes related to the vulnerability of species and ecosystems to DWH and the ensuing resilience to perturbation. Time series abundance data for many taxa pre-date DWH, often by decades, thus allowing an assessment of population- and community-level impacts. We divided the north central GoM into four interconnected “eco-types”: the coastal/nearshore, continental shelf, open-ocean pelagic and deep benthic. Key taxa in each eco-type were evaluated for their vulnerability to the circumstances of the DWH spill based on population overlap with oil, susceptibility to oil contamination, and other factors, as well their imputed resilience to population-level impacts, based on life history metrics, ecology and post-spill trajectories. Each taxon was scored as low, medium, or high for 13 vulnerability attributes and 11 resilience attributes to produce overall vulnerability and resilience scores, which themselves were also categorical (i.e., low, medium, or high). The resulting taxon-specific V-R scores provide important guidance on key species to consider and monitor in the event of future spills similar to DWH. Similar analyses may also guide resource allocation to collect baseline data on highly vulnerable taxa or those with low resilience potential in other ecosystems. For some species, even a decade of observation has been insufficient to document recovery given chronic, long-term exposure to DWH oil remaining in all eco-types and because of impacts to the reproductive output of long-lived species. Due to the ongoing threats of deep-water blowouts, continued surveillance of populations affected by DWH is warranted to document long-term recovery or change in system state. The level of population monitoring in the open-ocean and deep benthic eco-types has historically been low and is inconsistent with the continued migration of the oil industry to the ultra-deep (≥1,500 m) where the majority of leasing, exploration, and production now occurs.

Two of the main drivers of speciation among aquatic vertebrates are physical isolation (e.g., lakes and streams) and micro-niche availability (e.g., tropical reefs). In both regards, the mesopelagic domain of the open ocean, Earth’s second largest cumulative ecosystem (behind only the bathypelagic domain), would seem retardant. Ocean circulation makes isolation rare on both contemporary and geological time/space scales, and the lack of substrate precludes stable micro-niches. Paradoxically, some pelagic taxa demonstrate much higher-than-expected species richness on regional scales. A prime example is the dragonfish family Stomiidae, the most speciose family of mesopelagic fishes, owing largely to the subfamily Melanostomiinae (scaleless black dragonfishes), which contributes 222 of the 320 described species. Within genera, species are differentiated almost solely by form of the jugular-positioned, bioluminescent barbel, a structure putatively linked to feeding (via prey luring). The relationship between diversity (both systematic and morphological) and diet within the Melanostomiinae has not been previously examined, primarily due to sample size limitation. Herein, the diet and morphology of 16 species of melanostomiine dragonfishes from the Gulf of Mexico were examined to ascertain whether the diversification in this fish clade is based on prey specialization, as is the case with many other speciose fish families (e.g., Cichlidae). Gut content analysis revealed a rather small spectrum of prey taxa across a wide spectrum of predators, with most species exhibiting piscivory centered on the most regionally abundant lanternfishes (Myctophidae). Lesser numbers of species preyed upon bristlemouths (Gonostomatidae), oceanic basslets (Howellidae), bigscales (Melamphaidae), and other dragonfishes, while three species selected for cephalopod prey. No dragonfish species consumed macrocrustaceans (e.g., decapod shrimps), despite their numerical prevalence as potential prey. Regarding functional morphology, dissimilarity was driven mostly by barbel length, vertical oral gape, and horizontal maxillary oral gape. There were no robust morphological-dietary relationships amongst melanostomiines, with dietary diversity much lower than morphological diversity. These results suggest that other factors, perhaps conspecific recognition and/or sexual selection related to spawning, may be primary drivers of hyperspeciation in the micro-habitat-poor pelagic environment.

The author explores the words and writing of Rocky, Reyna, Blanca, and Elizabeth (grades 6-12) through their participation in Somos Escritoras/We Are Writers, a creative space for Latina girls and their parents. For 6 weeks, alongside their parents, girls used drawing and personal writing to dialogue about their experiences and bring into language the issues most important in their lives and worlds. Alongside one another, their writing served as a tool to define themselves and supported them in developing visions for the future. Their voices illuminate the urgency of connecting our writing classrooms and community spaces to the lives of youth to make writing relevant and meaningful in order to move our words into action.

Humanizing family engagement practices seek to foster the community cultural wealth and funds of knowledge to working with and for immigrant families and communities. In this manuscript we explore asset-based theories for working alongside families and communities in our schools, with a focus on classroom examples for involving parents and families in school learning. We share the ways that teachers and schools can build curriculum and engagement opportunities that are welcoming and expansive.

Trait-based approaches that complement taxonomy-based studies have increased in popularity among the scientific community over the last decades. The collection of biological and ecological characteristics of species (i.e., traits) provides insight into species and ecosystem vulnerability to environmental and anthropogenic changes, as well as ecosystem functioning. Here, we present the FUN Azores trait database, describe our approach, evaluate its scope, compare it to other marine trait databases, and explore the spatial distribution of its traits with "functional maps." While most of the available trait databases to date contain essential information to understand the functional diversity of a taxonomic or functional group, our ecosystem-based approach provides a comprehensive assessment of diverse fauna (i.e., meio-, macro-, and megafauna) from benthic and pelagic environments in the Azores Marine Park; including ridges, seamounts, hydrothermal vents, and the overlying water column. We used a collaborative approach involving 30 researchers with different expertise to develop the FUN Azores database, which contains compiled data on 14 traits representing morphological, behavioral, and life history characteristics for 1,210 species across 10 phyla. The "functional maps" show a distinct distribution of the two most common size classes, suggesting different communities with different functionalities. The following traits had the best scoring coverage (i.e., >95% of the species scored): maximum body size, body form, skeleton material, feeding structure, motility, environmental position, substratum affinity, distribution, and depth range; while traits related to species behavior (e.g., sociability or aggregation tendencies) and life history (e.g., developmental mechanism) had lower scoring coverage, highlighting the need for further research to fill these knowledge gaps. We found a larger number of species in the benthic compared to the pelagic environment and differing species composition between areas within the Azores Marine Park resulting from varying biodiversity, ecosystem types, sampling effort, and methodologies used. The FUN Azores database will foster and facilitate trait-based approaches in the area, develop a framework for expansion of crossecosystem and cross-taxa trait databases elsewhere, and improve our ecological understanding of the Azores Marine Park and its conservation requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we share findings from three qualitative studies, illustrating how children of color and their families make meaning of the racial, linguistic, cultural, and gendered worlds in which they develop. The first study examines how White adoptive Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer (LGBTQ) parents engage in race conscious child-rearing of their young African American son and the dialogism of racial identity formation and racial literacies; the second study examines the family literacy learning and teaching practices of one adult English to Speakers of Other Languages student; the third study examines how Latinx parents engage intergenerational sharing of stories as tools of resistance. Utilizing critical race theory, LatCrit theory, and sociocultural perspectives on literacy and intergenerational learning as analytical lenses, this article illuminates the consequential nature of intergenerational learning that occurs through the lived and embodied literacy practices of children and families of color and the implications for literacy researchers and practitioners.

Reading teachers and teacher educators are the latest to blame in public discourse for reading failure in the United States. In March 2019, Pearson Education released the draft of the Science of Teaching Reading Examination Framework for Texas, and the state's teachers and teacher educators were called on to revise courses and programs in alignment. In this article, the authors provide an overview of the narratives drawn on to position teachers and teacher educators as struggling and the partiality of these narratives from our perspective as both professionally responsible and anti-racist educators. The authors present three counterstories that exhibit how teachers and teacher educators are exceeding the expectations of the framework by foregrounding more complex, social justice-focused perspectives on readers and reading. The authors argue for the inclusion of professionals using anti-oppressive and contextualized professional knowledge and practices to move the field forward.

This interview explores the teaching and scholarly journey of Dr. Gholnecsar 'Gholdy' Muhammad, recipient of NCTE's 2021 Outstanding Elementary Educator in the English Language Arts Award. The National Council of [...]

A poet, America knows, belongs everywhere. --Luis J. Rodriguez, America Is Her Name Luis Rodriguez's 1998 picturebook America Is Her Name tells the story of nine-year-old America Soliz, who has [...]

This review of literacy education scholarship examines the ways that children's literature is used as a resource within literacy methods courses in the preparation of preservice teachers (PTs) as transformative intellectuals. The research indicates that the use of children's literature in literacy methods courses has served two distinct purposes: (a) to engage PTs in learning literacy instructional practices and (b) to engage PTs in building sociocultural knowledge and learning transformative (e.g., culturally relevant) pedagogies. This review is framed by Giroux's call for educators to disrupt technocratic approaches to instruction. The findings emphasize the importance of using children's literature with PTs to broaden PTs' understandings of their future student's lives, so they might engage in transformative pedagogies as future K-12 literacy educators.

In this article, we describe the campus visit we organized for Latina girls (grades 6-12) that participated in Somos Escritoras/We Are Writers. Somos Escritoras is a creative space that invites Latina girls to explore their lives and examine their worlds through art, writing, and theater. We focus on the writing marathon we designed for our visit and share the ways this activity invited girls to read and write the campus, while re-imagining their stories and authoring their futures. Drawing on figured words, we discuss how a campus visit can support Latina girls in constructing identities as future college students and graduates.

Yo soy un hombre sincero De donde crece la palma, Y antes de morirme quiero Echar mis versos del alma --Jose Marti, as cited in Otheguy, 2017, n.p. Emma Otheguy's [...]