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Producing College, Career, and Military Ready Graduates: A Study of Efficiency in Texas Public School Districts
Get PDFPublic school districts in Texas and policymakers need studies of efficiency in the production of College, Career, and Military Ready graduates to maximize resources in the House Bill 3 funding formula and improve ratings in the Texas public school accountability system. A replication of efficiency studies by Carter (2012) and Thompson (2017), the purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to determine what discretionary and non-discretionary factors influence the efficiency of Texas public school districts’ production of College, Career, and Military Ready graduates. With financial and student performance data for 1054 school districts from the 2017-2018 school year, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to measure the relative efficiency of each school district. A regression analysis found a significant positive influence on school district efficiency for total student enrollment. The percentage of non-white students and instructional expenditures per pupil did not have a significant influence on school district efficiency. This research study is useful to educators, legislators, and researchers for determining the allocation of resources for programs with the ability to produce College, Career, and Military Ready graduates
A molecular chemodosimeter to probe “closed shell” ions in kidney cells
Get PDFTwo quinidine-functionalized coumarin molecular probes have been synthesized and have been found to bind metal cations (Cd2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Fe2+, Hg2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+) with high affinity in organic–aqueous media (DMSO–HEPES). The chemodosimeters coordinate with the Zn2+ ions in a two-to-one ratio (molecular probe : Zn2+) with a log β of 10.0 M−2. Upon the addition of the closed-shell metal ions studied, a fluorescence turn-on via an excimer formation is seen at 542 nm due to the quinaldine moiety adopting a syn arrangement when coordinated to the metal Zn2+ ions. Confocal microscopy monitored free Zn2+ ions in the Human Embryonic Kidney cell line HEK293 by coordinating with the chemodosimter
Autism assessment in the schools: A review of rating scales and observation systems.
Get PDFSchool psychologists are tasked with assessing students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). While not used alone, ASD measures can help practitioners make informed decisions regarding special education eligibility. The purpose of this paper is to review the psychometric strengths and weaknesses of the following measures: Autism Diagnostic Interview, Revised (ADI-R); Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2); Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (ASRS); Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition (CARS-2); and Gilliam Autism Rating Scale, Third Edition (GARS-3)
Poetry and Praxis: Lessons From an Activist Educator
Get PDFDrawing on data from a narrative multi-case study based in Toronto, Canada, this article discusses the lived experiences of one Black activist. Utilizing critical race theory, new literacy studies and the rhetoric of cultural production as theoretical frameworks, the article foregrounds the work of Ebele, a Toronto activist whose work supported the educational trajectories and emotional well-being of Black students, many of whom reported being marginalized in school. Through his creative labor, Ebele directly addressed the sociology of anti-Black racism that deeply influences the lives of Afrodiasporic people in Canada. This article continues the conversation about what it means to be Black in Canada, providing a counter-narrative that stands against the hegemonic and often racist ways Black people and communities are imagined and educated in Canada
A Win-Win: Utilizing Human Services Students to Run a Campus Food Pantry
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Recent studies have examined the growing problem of food insecurity among college students in the United States. In recent reports, as many as 30% of all college students are food insecure (CUFBA, 2020). It is imperative that college campuses address this issue, as many students are forced to leave college without completion in order to address financial concerns (Johnson, 2009). Over the last decade, campus-based food pantries have emerged as one means of addressing growing food insecurity among students. However, colleges and universities are facing budget cutbacks and other funding restrictions, creating greater challenges for meeting the needs of financially-struggling students. This article addresses how developing campus food pantries utilizing service-learning, internships and field practicum courses in Human Services programs can assist with addressing this need. By using Human Services students, as well as partnering with local agencies, colleges and universities can address the need for labor and supplies with few to no available state resources, providing a win-win situation for students and colleges
Mexican Folklorico and the Costumes Thereof
Get PDFFolk dance appears around the world and much of the time what these performers wear becomes the most famous image of a nation or country. Mexico folklorico spans throughout the nation. Its regions are home to a variety of iconic looks that vary even more so within each subculture. The image of the many folk dresses of Mexico is unmistakable and rooted in both the indigenous cultures and the colonial Spanish ties of the nation, both of which can still be visually traced back today in modern folklorico. In no way are the following examples a comprehensive list of the types of folklorico. This will simply be the highlights of some of the most iconic and easily identifiable clothing that one may encounter when learning about Mexican folk dance
Tuneless Song: A Poetic Form Proposal
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I recently asked some of my fellow poets what the purpose of poetry is to them. The consensus? Sharing experience and meaning with the reader. But what is the point of sharing these ideas if there is no one with whom to share? Poetry readers are dwindling in numbers for two main reasons: the first being that most people believe poetry to be elitist because they have only read poetry from the periods where this was true; the second reason is that “poetry” is widely available to the common person in the form of music. The form I propose addresses both of these reasons and attempts to resolve them by giving poetry a new voice that is perhaps a singing one
Restoration through reassembly: evaluating the role of native plants in combatting Chinese tallow
Get PDFNon-native, invasive species disrupt ecological processes and functions, posing a serious threat to natural ecosystems. By examining the growth metrics of the non-native, invasive tree, Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera [L.] Roxb.), hereafter tallow, across different flooding and light regimes, I investigated how restructuring native communities with valuable native species will prevent the reestablishment of tallow. I studied the changes in morphological and physiological traits of tallow when growing with water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica L.), sugarberry (Celtis occidentalis L.), and green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall). I found that in the non-flooded and high irradiance treatments, tallow\u27s growth metrics were highest when growing with sugarberry and water tupelo, but decreased when competing with green ash. I concluded that tallow may be less competitive with certain native species and underplanting may be a possible opportunity for improving the success rates of native trees species establishment in areas prone to tallow invasion.
I also investigated the interactive effect of light, flooding, and community types on the growth, dominance, and competitive ability of tallow and water tupelo, sugarberry, green ash, and baldcypress (Taxodium distichum[L.] Rich). I found that mixed community depressed the dominance of tallow in the flooded and low irradiance treatment, however, leaf area and leaf biomass of tallow increased in the mixed community in the non-flooded and high irradiance treatment. I concluded that establishing an appropriate native community in flooded and low irradiance environments may reduce future dominance of tallow.
I additionally tested the competitive ability of tallow, water tupelo, sugarberry, green ash, and baldcypress using the relative interaction index, taking into account the competition of native taxa growing with tallow (effect of natives as competitors) and competition of tallow growing with native taxa (effect of competition on natives). I concluded that with the exception of water tupelo, tallow had no significant impact on the biomass of the native species studied.
Finally, I investigated the growth and survival of water tupelo, baldcypress, water oak (Quercus nigra L.), and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) across the Green Bayou Wetland Mitigation Bank (GBWMB) in Harris County, TX. I found that baldcypress had the highest survival rates that baldcypress and water tupelo had greater tree heights than loblolly pine, and that only loblolly pine and water tupelo had significant increases in tree heights between establishment and final measurements. I concluded that baldcypress is better adapted to the microenvironmental conditions across GBWMB. Overall, the results show that restructuring a native community by planting valuable native hardwood species can be a potential means of reducing future dominance of tallow
Fish Community Assembly At Multiple Spatial Scales In East Texas Streams
Get PDFStream communities are structured by environmental processes that vary in strength across different spatiotemporal scales. Therefore, revealing how stream fish communities are influenced by environmental gradients may clarify how communities respond to disturbance associated with anthropogenic change. I investigated the relative role environmental variables play in the processes that structure the taxonomic and functional diversity of stream fish communities, as well as historical trends in occurrence and local habitat associated with a species of greatest conservation need within east Texas. The results of this study indicate that stream sites with more habitat complexity and stability support a more taxonomically and functionally diverse fish assemblage, while alterations in local habitat may be limiting the occurrence of rare minnow species within edges of its native Texas range. My research highlights the importance of environmental variables in the stream fish assembly process, and increases the ability to predict species distributional responses associated with environmental change
