<p> This study is focused on exploring decision-making and leadership in two urban principalships. The study is focused on reflections from a former principalship in Baltimore City and the influences from the former experience that influence leadership and decision-making in the present context within a District of Columbia Public School. In his work studying school culture Bryk (2010) supports the idea that leadership is the driver of change in successful school improvement efforts. The study uses Bryk&rsquo;s framework as a foundation for the reflections on challenges related to Bryk&rsquo;s five essential supports for school improvement. The goal of this study is to seek a greater understanding of decision-making and leadership actions within an urban school principalship in order to inform current practice. Leadership as the driver of change as an essential component of school success has piqued my interest in reflecting on and understanding my leadership practices. Study of reflections on my leadership as a tool for further developing skill and practice could be a valuable resource for other school leaders within the field.</p><p>

<p> Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects communication, socialization, and restricted/repetitive behaviors. In 2012, one out of every 55 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) have been diagnosed with ASD in the United States. Only 30&ndash;40% of ASD has a known etiology (e.g., genetic predisposition) and the other 60&ndash;70% is unknown. Prior to this study, there was no known literature on age and gender differences related to neuro-developmental functioning of ASD. The purpose of this study was to examine how the differences in age and gender of people with ASD were related to total and domain scores, as measured by the <i>Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition</i> (ADOS-2). This quantitative research study included a sample size of 80 and 2 independent variables: age groupings (ages 1&ndash;4, 5&ndash;8, 9&ndash;17, and 18-older), and gender (male and female). The 4 dependent variables were the total and domain scores measured by the ADOS-2. The statistical analyses included a multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) and a 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to examine age and gender differences in the ADOS-2 domain and total scores. There was a statistically signi?cant difference for age on the domain dependent variables, <i>F</i>(9, 171) = 2.64, <i> p</i> = .007; Wilks&rsquo; Lambda = .73; partial &eta;² = .10. However, there were no statistically significant differences for gender on domain scores and there were no statistically significant differences for age and gender on the overall scores. Those with ASD between ages 5&ndash;8 were more severely impaired for socialization when compared to other age groups and other domains. This research can be used for the improvement of intervention strategies for the diverse ASD population, and to improve the understanding of the neurodevelopmental functioning of individuals with ASD based on age and gender.</p><p>

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

<p> Alcoholism and alcohol use disorders are a major problem worldwide. Excessive alcohol consumption has been associated with cognitive impairment not only in drinkers but also in their offspring. Previous clinical reports have suggested that inherited drug use behavior in individuals, including the overall amount of alcohol consumed, originates from parents who engage in the consumption of alcohol both during and prior to conception. For example, mothers exposed to alcohol during pregnancy have been shown to produce offspring with neurodevelopmental, physiological, and behavioral deficits, in rodents. Additionally, several studies now support the idea that fathers exposed to alcohol prior to mating produce male offspring with developmental, physiological, and cognitive deficits as well. With this said, alcohol exposed fathers appear to pass different phenotypes to their sons than they do their daughters. To date, little research has been dedicated to examining cognitive deficits associated with paternal alcohol exposure or the volume of alcohol intake in daughters of male alcoholics. The purpose of this set of experiments is to explore possible changes in cognitive function and alcohol acceptance in both male and female offspring of alcohol-exposed fathers. Adult male rats were exposed to a repeated binge dose of alcohol and later mated with non-manipulated females. Offspring of exposed fathers were assessed for levels of alcohol consumption via Intraoral Cannulation, followed by a series of cognitive function tests via T-maze task performance. Accuracy percentage within the T- maze and volume of alcohol accepted were compared and analyzed using an ANOVA. Our findings suggest that paternal binge doses of ethanol exposure prior to breeding results in offspring that consume significantly more ethanol than controls, exhibit greater latency time to reach criterion in a T-maze, and having significantly fewer percent correct responses in T-maze task performance when including all trials. The results presented here add to the growing body of literature aimed at understanding the consequences of paternal pre-conception ethanol exposure and the effects on subsequent generations.</p><p>

<p> This study explores a feminine system of power conceived of as a tripartite system of relatedness, comprised of three power centers: sourced through a generative relationship with ourselves, Life, and others. This theoretical dissertation describes feminine power&rsquo;s roots as developed for and with women over the past decade. </p><p> I begin by situating the research within our present moment: the paradoxical situation of the rise of women, and decline in female happiness. I then examine various forms of power before describing the feminine power course. Next, I examine the feminine and relatedness (especially relational selves), followed by an exploration of disconnection, what holds us back culturally&mdash;individualism and the Western mind, cosmological lack, and shame (toxic anxiety) at the personal level. </p><p> I then describe the theoretical foundations of feminine power, by first focusing on the experiences and scholarship that directly informed my work including Self-Relations psychotherapy, Swimme and Spretnak&rsquo;s ecological postmodernism course, the GDOC process, and collective intelligence. And finally I focus on transformative learning theory to explore the parallels between feminine power principles and methodologies and ways in which feminine power is informed by transformative learning, and can inform transformative learning. </p><p> This study endeavours to explicate the importance of relatedness as power and the transformative benefits of envisioning power in this way, especially as it relates to women who are seeking to self-actualize and participate in social transformation. Results will benefit women who want to realize these higher possibilities and also higher human potential in general. As well it will be of interest to educators and participants in the field of transformative learning and change as well as others who seek to understand and embrace the power of relatedness.</p><p>

<p>Research has shown that there is a complex association between emotion regulation difficulties and increased substance use. This study investigated men?s gender role conflict (GRC) as a possible moderator of this relationship. A sample of 144 adult males from the United States completed measures of alcohol use (MAST), non-alcohol substance use (DAST-20), emotion regulation difficulties (DERS), and men?s GRC (GRCS). GRCS was found to significantly correlate with DERS, MAST, and DAST-20. DERS emerged as a significant predictor for alcohol use severity and GRCS as a significant predictor for the non-alcohol substance use severity. In the regression models that included covariates, the age of first use emerged as a significant predictor of substance use severity and only DERS continued to significantly predict alcohol use severity. Men?s GRC was not found to significantly moderate the relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and substance use severity in this sample. A trend was observed where the association between emotion regulation difficulties and alcohol use severity appeared to be stronger at higher levels of men?s GRC. These findings support previous research that has found an association between men?s gender role conflict and substance use severity; however, further research is needed to clarify the nature of this association.

<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of Saudi teachers towards teaching PE for girls at public schools in Jeddah city and to explore the factors that may affect these attitudes. The researcher explored the reasons behind the PE ban for girls in these schools. The number of participants was Four hundred and sixty-two teachers who completed the survey (N = 462). T-Test and One-Way ANNOVA were the two methods to analyze the data collected. </p><p> The results indicated that about 95.1% of them agreed that regular practice of physical education can affect positively the appearance and the psychological condition of girls. Almost 89% of participants agreed that Islamic instructions imply that both males and females have the right to participate in physical activities and 66% of participants believed that the ban of women to practice sport is a part of discrimination against women. In addition, about 90% of participants agreed that PE classes should be performed for girls in public schools and throughout all educational levels (elementary, middle, and high). Participants believed that the reasons behind the PE ban for girls are the lack of knowledge about the importance of PE 75.1%, the government policy 70.4%, and the social traditions 75.1%. </p><p> Statistically, male educators scored a significant larger mean on the measure of attitudes towards teaching PE for girls than female educators. Teachers from middle schools and high schools had a statistically significant larger means for the attitude towards teaching PE for girls than teachers from elementary schools, while there was no statistically significant difference between teachers from middle and high school levels.</p><p>

<p> Researchers and theorists have generally included drag queens and transgender (trans*) populations together in their scholarship, and have paid little attention to how these populations may differ. Such sampling practices may lead to a variety of misleading assumptions about both drag and transgender populations. For one thing, researchers have pointed to higher rates of gender dysphoria and depression among trans* individuals, but the same may not be the case among drag queens. In order to add greater clarity to similarities and differences between these populations, a gender dysphoria questionnaire, depression inventory, and work involvement inventory were administered to a sample of gay and bisexual, cisgender male drag queens. Descriptive statistics from these measures represent the first step toward establishing rates of depression and gender dysphoria among drag queens. Mean comparisons of rates of depression and gender dysphoria between gay/bisexual male cisgender drag queens and male-to-female transgender persons indicate significant differences between these populations. When level of involvement in drag was considered, a small positive correlation was found with depression while a small negative correlation was found with gender dysphoria. Results indicate that drag queens are less depressed and experience considerably less gender dysphoria than transgender individuals. Furthermore, gender dysphoria may decrease as involvement in drag performance increases. This data may add clarity to research on gender diversity, support efforts to de-pathologize drag performance, and reduce stigma associated with drag in general. Implications for future research and for mental health treatment are discussed.</p><p>