"From Their Own Voices: The Lived Experiences of African American Registered Nurses"
Journal of Transcultural Nursing April 2007
"Within this century, the United States will experience drastic demographic and cultural changes in the population. The majority of the people living in this country will belong to groups now considered minorities. Because nurses will be caring for an increasingly diverse patient populations, the workforce must include more registered nurses who share similar backgrounds as the patients. Of the 2.7 million registered nurses in the United States (Bureau of Health Professionals, 2000), only 13.4% are minorities." (from the article)
The article by Deborah W. Wilson of Howard University describes a study of the lived experience of African American nurses providing nursing care in the south. She concludes with recommendations to address the immediate needs concerning diversity in the nursing profession. The article is available in the Goodwin Library
Source: Journal of Transcultural Nursing April 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Simplify FAFSA
This report outlines a plan for simplifying the financial aid application process by letting financial aid applicants ask the IRS to automatically answer many of the most difficult and important questions on the FAFSA. In addition to dramatically simplifying the process for students and families, this reform would cut down on costly verification paperwork for colleges and universities and improve accuracy and data security. (Don't hold your breath.)
Going to the Source: A Practical Way to Simplify the FAFSA
Source: The Institute for College Access & Success
+ Executive Summary
+ Full Report
Going to the Source: A Practical Way to Simplify the FAFSA
Source: The Institute for College Access & Success
+ Executive Summary
+ Full Report
Congressional Hearing and No Child Left Behind
Experts Tell Congress About Alternative Methods for Measuring Student Progress Under No Child Left Behind
At a House Education and Labor Committee hearing today, education experts offered specific ideas for changing the way states and schools measure schools’ progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Under the law, states are required to set benchmarks each year for the share of students who can read and do math at grade level. If the percentage of a school’s students who are proficient does not meet these annual benchmarks, then the school does not make adequate yearly progress. The experts at today’s hearing all testified that there may be more accurate and fair methods that to help schools measure their progress.
Source: U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor committee
At a House Education and Labor Committee hearing today, education experts offered specific ideas for changing the way states and schools measure schools’ progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Under the law, states are required to set benchmarks each year for the share of students who can read and do math at grade level. If the percentage of a school’s students who are proficient does not meet these annual benchmarks, then the school does not make adequate yearly progress. The experts at today’s hearing all testified that there may be more accurate and fair methods that to help schools measure their progress.
Source: U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor committee
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Spring has Sprung
On March 20, 2007, at precisely 8:07 P.M. EDT (March 21, 00:07 Universal Time), the Sun crossed directly over the Earth's equator. This moment is the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. For the Southern Hemisphere, this is the moment of the autumnal equinox.
Translated literally,equinox means "equal night." Because the sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes. A second equinox occurs each year on September 22 or 23; in 2007, it will be on September 23 at 5:51 A.M. EDT (09:51 UT). This date will mark the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the vernal equinox in the Southern (vernal denotes "spring"). I do remember something from fifth grade and that was a long time ago.
Translated literally,equinox means "equal night." Because the sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes. A second equinox occurs each year on September 22 or 23; in 2007, it will be on September 23 at 5:51 A.M. EDT (09:51 UT). This date will mark the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the vernal equinox in the Southern (vernal denotes "spring"). I do remember something from fifth grade and that was a long time ago.
Autism Video
Mary Ellen Bates says that BoingBoing pointed her to "this amazing YouTube video by a woman with autism, along with a translation of her language. The first part, she says, is in my 'native language," and then the second part provides a translation, or at least an explanation. "
Source: Mary Ellen Bates
Source: Mary Ellen Bates
Recommended book: Girls of Tender Age
Sandra Ward, Janet Jefford, and I strongly recommend Girls of Tender Age by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith. Smith's book is far and away the most in demand book on the Goodwin campus and generally across the greater Hartford area. Smith tells her story of growing up in low-income housing in Hartford just after WW II--a riveting family memoir like no other.
Call the library now--today. The Goodwin book club will meet to discuss this book in April.
Call the library now--today. The Goodwin book club will meet to discuss this book in April.
Wikipedia's Growth
(The following is excerpted and condensed from an op-ed in the Washington Post earlier this year.)
"In the past year, Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that "anyone can edit," has been cited four times as often as the Encyclopedia Britannica in judicial opinions, and the number is rapidly growing. In just two years, YouTube has become a household word and one of the world's most successful Web sites. Such astounding growth and success demonstrate society's unstoppable movement toward shared production of information, as diverse groups of people in multiple fields pool their knowledge and draw from each other's resources." (College students are generally discouraged from using Wikipedia as an authoritative source in research papers.)
"Wikipedia is merely one of many experiments in aggregating knowledge and creativity, that have been made possible by new technology. The track record of the new collaborations suggests that they have immense potential. In just a few years, Wikipedia has become the most influential encyclopedia in the world, consulted by judges as well as those who cannot afford to buy books. If the past is prologue, we're seeing the tip of a very large iceberg."
"In the past year, Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that "anyone can edit," has been cited four times as often as the Encyclopedia Britannica in judicial opinions, and the number is rapidly growing. In just two years, YouTube has become a household word and one of the world's most successful Web sites. Such astounding growth and success demonstrate society's unstoppable movement toward shared production of information, as diverse groups of people in multiple fields pool their knowledge and draw from each other's resources." (College students are generally discouraged from using Wikipedia as an authoritative source in research papers.)
"Wikipedia is merely one of many experiments in aggregating knowledge and creativity, that have been made possible by new technology. The track record of the new collaborations suggests that they have immense potential. In just a few years, Wikipedia has become the most influential encyclopedia in the world, consulted by judges as well as those who cannot afford to buy books. If the past is prologue, we're seeing the tip of a very large iceberg."
Working Moms Find Time for Children
A new study finds that somehow, working mothers are spending the same amount of time with their children as stay-at-home moms did in the 1970s. They're giving up sleep, housework and time with the spouse. Listen to the broadcast online.
Source: National Public Radio Morning Edition March 21
Source: National Public Radio Morning Edition March 21
For Sociology and Life Span Students
Here is a valuable site to find data for research in sociology and life span classes. The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), begun in 1968, studies a representative sample of U.S. individuals and their family units. The study emphasizes the dynamic aspects of economic and demographic behavior, but also includes other sociological and psychological measures.
The sample size has grown to more than 7,000 families. The PSID has collected information about more than 65,000 individuals spanning as much as 36 years of their lives. The study is conducted at the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. The study includes a Child Development supplement.
The site includes tutorials that could be used in the classroom, a user guide, related sites of studies around the world, and updates. The PSID 2005 family, individual and family history files have been released recently been released.
Source: http://psidonline.isr.umich.edu/
Changing the Student-aid Application
"Congressional Democrats introduced legislation on Tuesday that would cut the basic federal student-aid application form in half by using financial information from income-tax returns.
College-access advocates and members of both political parties have long said that the complicated and slow process of applying for financial aid discourages thousands of low-income students from going to college or from receiving grants and loans. Cutting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, would be a move toward simplifying the process."
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education March 21
College-access advocates and members of both political parties have long said that the complicated and slow process of applying for financial aid discourages thousands of low-income students from going to college or from receiving grants and loans. Cutting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, would be a move toward simplifying the process."
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education March 21
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Is the No Child Left Behind Act Working?
“President Bush says it is, pointing to student-achievement results from a single subsection of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and tentative Reading First data. But the evidence available to support his claim is questionable.
The data Mr. Bush cited at that event are from just the “long-term trend” NAEP in reading and math, researchers say. All available data, they add, show modest improvements that can’t be attributed to the 5-year-old law. Instead, progress in achievement is more likely a continuation of trends that predate the law.
“There’s not any evidence that shows anything has changed,” said Daniel M. Koretz, a professor of education at Harvard University’s graduate school of education.”
Source: Education Week March 9, 2007
The data Mr. Bush cited at that event are from just the “long-term trend” NAEP in reading and math, researchers say. All available data, they add, show modest improvements that can’t be attributed to the 5-year-old law. Instead, progress in achievement is more likely a continuation of trends that predate the law.
“There’s not any evidence that shows anything has changed,” said Daniel M. Koretz, a professor of education at Harvard University’s graduate school of education.”
Source: Education Week March 9, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
This Week in the Chronicle's Brown Bag:
Are Accreditors the Education Department's Police Force
?
Eaton, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, will take your questions about the changing role of accreditors, what the Bush administration wants accreditors to do, the fight against diploma mills, and other issues.
SEE http://chronicle.com/live/
?Thursday, March 15, at 12 noon, U.S. Eastern Time
Live web chat with Judith S. Eaton
Even before the federal Commission on the Future of Higher Education delivered its final report last September, the secretary of education, Margaret Spellings, seems to have been leaning on accreditors to carry out some of the report's key recommendations on making colleges more accountable. She wants them to put more emphasis on "outputs," like graduation and employment rates, and on gauges of what students have learned. Join the Chronicle of Higher Education discussion on Thursday for a live Web chat at noon.
Judith S. Eaton, who represents the accreditors, has long championed a cooperative approach, even as she expresses accreditors' concerns that the Education Department has imposed new and arbitrary interpretations of the rules under which they operate. Ms. Eaton will take your questions about those and other issues, including new efforts in the fight against diploma mills.
Even before the federal Commission on the Future of Higher Education delivered its final report last September, the secretary of education, Margaret Spellings, seems to have been leaning on accreditors to carry out some of the report's key recommendations on making colleges more accountable. She wants them to put more emphasis on "outputs," like graduation and employment rates, and on gauges of what students have learned. Join the Chronicle of Higher Education discussion on Thursday for a live Web chat at noon.
Judith S. Eaton, who represents the accreditors, has long championed a cooperative approach, even as she expresses accreditors' concerns that the Education Department has imposed new and arbitrary interpretations of the rules under which they operate. Ms. Eaton will take your questions about those and other issues, including new efforts in the fight against diploma mills.
Eaton, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, will take your questions about the changing role of accreditors, what the Bush administration wants accreditors to do, the fight against diploma mills, and other issues.
SEE http://chronicle.com/live/
Homeland Security: National Security Agencies
American military and intelligence agencies have increasingly been turning to anthropologists and other social scientists for "cultural knowledge" about actual and potential adversaries. But many anthropologists are deeply anxious about offering such assistance, fearing, among other things, that their insights might be used simply to help torture and kill people more effectively.
At a panel discussion that was Webcast from Brown University on Monday afternoon, several members of a temporary committee of the American Anthropological Association discussed how and where the discipline should draw ethical lines when anthropologists engage with national-security agencies. (An archive of the Webcast should be available later this week.)
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education
At a panel discussion that was Webcast from Brown University on Monday afternoon, several members of a temporary committee of the American Anthropological Association discussed how and where the discipline should draw ethical lines when anthropologists engage with national-security agencies. (An archive of the Webcast should be available later this week.)
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education
Friday, March 09, 2007
Histology Learning System Database
Histology learning System is for all histology students! It has been recommended by Zoe Durkin.
Success in a histology course depends on the student's understanding of the course objectives. These are:
To learn microscopic anatomy of the tissues and organs of the human body.
To learn histological terms and concepts for the purpose of identification and precise communication.
To develop a systematic thinking process as a means to identify histological preparations correctly.
To understand the relationship between microscopic structure and function.
To understand the preparative procedures used in histology and how they affect the visual image.
By methodically reviewing images in this database you will learn to identify cells, tissues, organs, and parts of organs correctly. You learn to do this, not by memorizing the images, rather, by learning how morphological features relate to function and by understanding which features are most diagnostic of organ systems and organs of the systems. In medicine, as in histology, this intellectual process involves art as well as science. The art lies in knowing which questions to ask, and in what order, in your systematic process of elimination!
http://www.bu.edu/histology/m/index.htm
Success in a histology course depends on the student's understanding of the course objectives. These are:
To learn microscopic anatomy of the tissues and organs of the human body.
To learn histological terms and concepts for the purpose of identification and precise communication.
To develop a systematic thinking process as a means to identify histological preparations correctly.
To understand the relationship between microscopic structure and function.
To understand the preparative procedures used in histology and how they affect the visual image.
By methodically reviewing images in this database you will learn to identify cells, tissues, organs, and parts of organs correctly. You learn to do this, not by memorizing the images, rather, by learning how morphological features relate to function and by understanding which features are most diagnostic of organ systems and organs of the systems. In medicine, as in histology, this intellectual process involves art as well as science. The art lies in knowing which questions to ask, and in what order, in your systematic process of elimination!
http://www.bu.edu/histology/m/index.htm
Monday, March 05, 2007
Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations
We have a new book in the library, Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations: Policies and Practices by Zietlow, Hankin, and Seidner. Written in the light of increased scrutiny and accountability of nonprofits, this book weaves legal and ethical considerations into a comprehensive treatment of nonprofit strategy and finance, furnishing financial officers with a firm knowledge of ethical business management--indispensable for all types and sizes of organizations.
Is College Worth It? What do you Think?
The cover story for U.S. News and World Report (March 12) is titled "The Measure of Learning." Can we test what colleges teach? Academics are appalled that the government wants to try but the government is going to demand an accounting by assessing college learning with one or a number of standardized tests. "We're the best in the wolrd, give us money and leave us alone, " says Charles Miller, the chairman of the Commission on Higher Education. "The higher-ed community needs to fess up to the public's concerns."
What should a student learn in college? And whatever that is, which colleges teach it most effectively? With the average cost of private college soaring, it's a question being asked more and more. There are currently two major tools used to measure student learning. The Collegiate Learning Assessment measures critical thinking and analytical reasoning. Many school use it, but they keep the results confidential. Hundreds of schools also administer the National Survey of Student Engagement, which tracks how much time students spend on education and other activities.
In a few weeks, colleges will hear how U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings intends to move forward. Colleges, meanwhile, according to this article, "continue to search for that elusive value-added measure that can lead to better teaching."It is important that we read this.
Source: U.S. News and World Report article by Alex Kingsbury (available in the library)
What should a student learn in college? And whatever that is, which colleges teach it most effectively? With the average cost of private college soaring, it's a question being asked more and more. There are currently two major tools used to measure student learning. The Collegiate Learning Assessment measures critical thinking and analytical reasoning. Many school use it, but they keep the results confidential. Hundreds of schools also administer the National Survey of Student Engagement, which tracks how much time students spend on education and other activities.
In a few weeks, colleges will hear how U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings intends to move forward. Colleges, meanwhile, according to this article, "continue to search for that elusive value-added measure that can lead to better teaching."It is important that we read this.
Source: U.S. News and World Report article by Alex Kingsbury (available in the library)
ICONN Statistics
Since its inception, users, including members of the Goodwin Community, have conducted 65 million searchs in ICONN. In FY 206 alone, Connecticut residents and students searched 33.5 million times, 75% increase over the previous year. In addition, reQuest was searched 2.1 million times, a 22 % increase over last year. Over 200 libraries successfully lent more than 91,000 items through reQuest interlibrary loan, a 23% increase over the previous year. Holdings in reQuest increased to 21.2 million items. Three resources were recently added: Academic OneFile, LegalTrac, and WorldCat.org.
Under consideration for the coming fiscal year:
Career & testing resources
Science resources
Historical Hartford Courant
Online Encyclpedias
Literature resources
Current Issues resources
Source: The ICONN Times
Under consideration for the coming fiscal year:
Career & testing resources
Science resources
Historical Hartford Courant
Online Encyclpedias
Literature resources
Current Issues resources
Source: The ICONN Times
Past, Present and Future of Food
Here is a webcast on the past, present, and future of food from the co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey. He then discusses these issues with Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma." Whole Foods Market is the largest organic and natural retailer in the world.
View the Webcast (Real Player. The program runs 124 minutes. )
Source: Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley
View the Webcast (Real Player. The program runs 124 minutes. )
Source: Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley
Health Science: Management of Chronic Disease
“Our study showed that participating in a collaborative improved the processes of care related to prevention and screening and disease monitoring and treatment for diabetes and asthma, but participating in a collaborative did not improve these processes for hypertension. The study did not show improvements in intermediate outcomes of care. Whether these differences in diseases and outcomes are related to the nature of each targeted condition, aspects of the participating organizations, ease of patient adherence, or the specific collaborative under study is not known. Finally, improvements over time were seen in both intervention and control centers for almost every individual measure. Whether this broad improvement reflects general secular trends or the general quality-improvement environment at community health centers is not known.”
Source: New England Journal of Medicine
Source: New England Journal of Medicine
Early Child Education: Language Skills
Very Early Processing Skills as Predictors of Later Language Disorders
“First concerns that a child is not developing language as expected typically arise when a child is 2-3 years old, and children up to 4 constitute a substantial proportion of first referrals to speech and language therapy services. Long-term outcome for these children is a critical issue for all concerned: are they simply ‘late bloomers’, or will they have persisting problems with language and communication? This project aimed to identify predictors of outcome in 2- to 3-year-olds referred with concerns about language.”
+ Full Report (PDF; 2.1 MB)
Source: Economic & Social Research Council
“First concerns that a child is not developing language as expected typically arise when a child is 2-3 years old, and children up to 4 constitute a substantial proportion of first referrals to speech and language therapy services. Long-term outcome for these children is a critical issue for all concerned: are they simply ‘late bloomers’, or will they have persisting problems with language and communication? This project aimed to identify predictors of outcome in 2- to 3-year-olds referred with concerns about language.”
+ Full Report (PDF; 2.1 MB)
Source: Economic & Social Research Council
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