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BackgroundMultimodal recruitment strategies are a novel way to increase diversity in research populations. However, these methods have not been previously applied to understanding the prevalence of menstrual disorders such as polycystic ovary syndrome. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of recruiting a diverse cohort to complete a web-based survey on ovulation and menstruation health. MethodsWe conducted the Ovulation and Menstruation Health Pilot Study using a REDCap web-based survey platform. We recruited 200 women from a clinical population, a community fair, and the internet. ResultsWe recruited 438 women over 29 weeks between September 2017 and March 2018. After consent and eligibility determination, 345 enrolled, 278 started (clinic: n=43; community fair: n=61; internet: n=174), and 247 completed (clinic: n=28; community fair: n=60; internet: n=159) the survey. Among all participants, the median age was 25.0 (SD 6.0) years, mean BMI was 26.1 kg/m2 (SD 6.6), 79.7% (216/271) had a college degree or higher, and 14.6% (37/254) reported a physician diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome. Race and ethnicity distributions were 64.7% (176/272) White, 11.8% (32/272) Black/African American, 7.7% (21/272) Latina/Hispanic, and 5.9% (16/272) Asian individuals; 9.9% (27/272) reported more than one race or ethnicity. The highest enrollment of Black/African American individuals was in clinic (17/42, 40.5%) compared to 1.6% (1/61) in the community fair and 8.3% (14/169) using the internet. Survey completion rates were highest among those who were recruited from the internet (159/174, 91.4%) and community fairs (60/61, 98.4%) compared to those recruited in clinic (28/43, 65.1%). ConclusionsMultimodal recruitment achieved target recruitment in a short time period and established a racially diverse cohort to study ovulation and menstruation health. There were greater enrollment and completion rates among those recruited via the internet and community fair.

Suitable execution of moderation policy is challenging but crucial for the trustworthiness and credibility of internal high-stakes assessment systems. In formal education, policies are rarely implemented as intended. Instead, they are "enacted" in ways influenced by mediating factors including the internal and external contexts of organisations. Ball, Maguire and Braun's (2012) contextual-dimensions heuristic provides a conceptualisation of organisation-specific contexts, which is useful when the organisation is the unit of analysis. However, comprehensive analysis of policy enactment--including that relating to moderation--warrants consideration of contexts narrower in scope than whole organisations and wider in scope than individual organisations. In this article, we modify Ball and colleagues' heuristic, incorporating Biggs' (1993) application of systems theory, to develop a new contextual framework for moderation that is applicable on multiple scales and enables such analysis. This framework is applied to a selection of contemporary moderation studies with scopes that vary from one course, to jurisdiction-wide, to illustrate its utility. Our framework captures the hierarchy of embedded, interacting systems within which moderation is enacted and makes contextual relationships visible, allowing consideration of perspectives between units of analysis. Our framework provides a nuanced conceptualisation of context that distinguishes between "material" and "human" factors, and "intrinsic" and "extrinsic" contexts. We present potential uses of the framework for education organisations, central agencies and researchers including as a tool for identifying contextual factors involved in executing moderation initiatives and identifying possible pressures, tensions and enablers.

Youth of Color in the United States are often leaders in movements for social justice. Evidence suggests that organizing has a positive macro-therapeutic effect on the mental health of young organizers; however, they can also experience strain and become targets of the very systems they are trying to change. In a community-based participatory action research study, three organizations that train youth of Color in organizing in Brooklyn, New York City held focus groups with youth and adult staff. The focus groups examined the strains experienced by youth organizers and the strategies adult partners use to prepare organizers to maintain hope and well-being. Findings suggest four key emergent strategies: (a) provide an emotional homespace to process the rub between worlds, (b) actively shape the long view on systems change, (c) increase self-care skills and emotional preparation for organizing, and (d) promote healing by building leader(full) communities.