Still Where, Not If, You’re Poor: International Baccalaureate Opportunities to Learn International-Mindedness and Proximity to U.S. Cities

By matching International Baccalaureate (IB) and non-IB U.S. public schools based on state, grade span, and enrollment, we used recent public data to confirm relations among a hierarchy of school characteristics and whether schools made available any of IB’s four programs. We fortified prior claims regarding how poverty, minority concentration, and geographic locale as a function of proximity to cities relate to IB availability, a proxy for opportunity to learn international-mindedness. Our proximity approach to data from public schools and a descriptive look at data from private schools highlighted the unique importance of proximity to cities in identifying where IB opportunities do and do not exist. We conclude by specifying recommendations for decision-makers who might need resources to make IB implementation viable or to win local hearts and minds before doing so.

A Novel Unscented Kalman Filter Strategy to Enhance Navigation System Performance

The Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is the most widely estimation algorithm used for nonlinear system such as a navigation system to fuse an inertial navigation system (INS) with Global Positioning System (GPS) which its information has complementary nature to get more accurate navigation information. Unfortunately, the performance of INS/GPS fusion using EKF is degraded due to the linearization error and GPS error. Therefore, a new algorithm is developed to overcome these issues. This algorithm uses the sampling-based Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) to solve the linearization problem, and ignore the GPS reading when there is a large error in its measurements. The new algorithm is named Adaptive Loosely Coupled Unscented Kalman Filter (ALCUKF). The ALCUKFbased INS/GPS systems are presented for two different datasets. The first dataset is acquired using a high-end tactical-grade SPAN unit featuring Novatel HG1700 IMU module. The second dataset is acquired from a MEMS-based SCC1300-D04 IMU unit from VTI. The results of the new method are compared against reference ground truth trajectories and measured quantitatively using the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The ALCUKF increasedthe navigation system performancesignificantly when compared with EKF for both datasets as shown in the paper.

Teachers’ Perceptions of the Use of Blended Learning for Instructional Delivery and Student Production in K-12 Classrooms

This study seeks to determine teachers’ perceptions of the benefits of blended learning by grade span groupings: elementary, middle, and high school teachers and to examine teachers’ perceptions of their use of blended learning for instructional delivery and student production. The rapid growth of blending learning has created need for investigations into teachers’ perceptions of the benefit of blended learning. Data were gathered using quantitative research techniques with the use of a Likert scale on a three-part survey that analyzed a total of 460 public school teachers’ perceptions regarding blended learning as an instructional delivery approach in the classroom. The researchers designed the Turner & Young Technology Teacher Survey to study how teachers perceive blended learning in the classroom controlling for grade span groupings. The findings of this study indicated differences in teachers’ attitudes about the benefit of blended learning by grade span groups, particularly as it relates to instructional strategy. In addition, the results of this study indicate that as teachers recognized the benefits of blended learning, teachers also increased their use of blended learning for instructional delivery and for student production. This research adds to a small literature base examining the use of blended learning by grade span groupings.This study seeks to determine teachers’ perceptions of the benefits of blended learning by grade span groupings: elementary, middle, and high school teachers and to examine teachers’ perceptions of their use of blended learning for instructional delivery and student production. The rapid growth of blending learning has created need for investigations into teachers’ perceptions of the benefit of blended learning. Data were gathered using quantitative research techniques with the use of a Likert scale on a three-part survey that analyzed a total of 460 public school teachers’ perceptions regarding blended learning as an instructional delivery approach in the classroom. The researchers designed the Turner & Young Technology Teacher Survey to study how teachers perceive blended learning in the classroom controlling for grade

Supporting Strong Transitions for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

A principle purpose of special education is to prepare students with disabilities to flourish in adulthood. The constellation of coursework, extracurricular activities, social events, and other school activities offered across the grade span is all aimed at equipping students with the skills, knowledge, experiences, and connections they need to attain their post-school goals. The poor outcomes being experienced by young adults with ASD are not intrinsic to the disorder. With appropriate transition planning and services, individuals with ASD can also expect to achieve these desired post-school outcomes. This chapter highlights the research concerning evidence-based secondary transition practices and how they can be applied when providing services to individuals with ASD.

Moving Matters: The Causal Effect of Moving Schools on Student Performance

Policy makers and analysts often view the reduction of student mobility across schools as a way to improve academic performance. Prior work indicates that children do worse in the year of a school move, but has been largely unsuccessful in isolating the causal effects of mobility. We use longitudinal data on students in New York City public elementary and middle schools to isolate the causal effects of school moves on student performance. We account for observed and time-invariant differences between movers and non-movers using rich data on student sociodemographic and education program characteristics and student fixed effects. To address the potential endogeneity of school moves arising from unobserved, time-varying factors, we use three sets of plausibly exogenous instruments for mobility: first-grade school grade span, grade span of zoned middle school, and building sale. We find that in the medium term, students making structural moves perform significantly worse in both English language arts (ELA) and math, whereas those making nonstructural moves experience a significant increase in ELA performance. In the short term, there is an additional negative effect for structural moves in ELA. These effects are meaningful in magnitude and results are robust to a variety of alternative specifications, instruments, and samples.

Renewal in the Land of Eternal Spring

This retrospective, reflective, descriptive study involved three experienced literacy educators who travelled to Guatemala to conduct professional development workshops with preservice and in service teachers. The purpose of the research was for the educators to reflect on their own practice and to investigate the impact of this international teaching experience on their beliefs and practices about literacy education. The three separate voices of the researchers yielded new insights and emerged from their background perspectives, impressions from interactions with a range of Guatemalans involved in education, and their varied experiences in the international settings, which also included multiple school visits and teaching of Guatemalan students across the grade span.