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<p> When considering closing the achievement gap, full-day kindergarten (FDK) is a viable contender. The implementation of specific teacher strategies enhances the FDK experience and elicits gains among the students. The literature clearly articulates a strong correlation between poverty and poor achievement and supports the notion that the relationship between the teacher and student is a positive factor in closing the achievement gap. However, the research is insufficient when it comes to digging deep into teacher perceptions regarding the importance of the relationship that exists between the teacher and the student. The foundation for which this study is built stems from John Bowlby&rsquo;s attachment theory and emphasizes the importance of the relationship between the child and adult. This study provides profound insight into the perceptions of FDK teachers and the strategies, or concepts they believe have the greatest influence on student achievement among students of poverty. The qualitative phenomenological study revealed intimate and personal thoughts of nine FDK teachers discovered through the coding and analysis of 18 semi-structured interview transcripts. Substantial findings exposed four themes with great clarity and obvious patterns. The themes in order of the greatest number of responses to the least, are: classroom atmosphere, instructional strategies, student management, and the relationship between the teacher and the student. </p>

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Jawed vertebrates (gnathostomes) consist of two clades with living representatives, the chondricthyans (cartilaginous fish including sharks, rays, and chimaeras) and the osteichthyans (bony fish and tetrapods), and two fossil groups, the "placoderms" and "acanthodians". These extinct forms were thought to be monophyletic, but are now considered to be paraphyletic partly due to the discovery of early chondrichthyans and osteichthyans with characters that had been previously used to define them. Among these are fin spines, large dermal structures that, when present, sit anterior to both median and/or paired fins in many extant and fossil jawed vertebrates. Making comparisons among early gnathostomes is difficult since the early chondrichthyans and "acanthodians", which have less mineralized skeleton, do not have large dermal bones on their skulls. As a result, fossil fin spines are potential sources for phylogenetic characters that could help in the study of the gnathostome evolutionary history. This thesis examines the development and internal structure of fin spines in jawed vertebrates using two-dimensional (2D) thin sections and three-dimensional (3D) synchrotron datasets. The development of the dorsal fin spine of the holocephalan, Callorhinchus milii, was described from embryos and compared to that of the neoselachian, Squalus acanthias, whose spine has been the model for studying fossil shark spines. It was found that the development of the C. milii fin presents differences from S. acanthias that suggest it might be a better candidate for studying "acanthodian" fin spines. The 3D histology of fossil fin spines was studied in Romundina stellina, a "placoderm"; Lophosteus superbus, a probable stem-osteichthyan; and sever­­al "acanthodians". The 3D vascularization reconstructed from synchrotron radiation microtomographic data reveal that "acanthodian" and Lophosteus spines grew similarly to what is observed in chondrichthyans, which differs slightly from the growth of the Romundina spine. Chondrichthyans and "acanthodians" also share similarities in their internal organization. Overall, Lophosteus and Romundina spines are more similar in terms of morphology and histology compared to chondrichthyans and "acanthodians". These results support the current hypothesis of gnathostome phylogeny, which places "acanthodians" on the chondrichthyan stem. They also emphasize the need for further study of vertebrate fin spines using 3D approaches.

<p> The present mixed-methods quasi-experimental study (embedding a case study and a mixed factorial within-between ANOVA test), conducted in a private English school in Limassol, Cyprus, investigated how the use of the schematic learning aids (researcher-made color-coded flash-cards and grids) influence year-2 children's ability to read, write and represent Hindu-Arabic numerals and how these number representations affect their arithmetic competency. This was achieved by comparing an intervention group (n=16) and a control group (n=17) before and after the 2-week intervention. </p><p> It is concluded that the use of the place-value learning aids facilitates numeration system conceptual understanding , reading, writing and representing numbers (in canonical and non-canonical form) by thinking in terms of "100s", "10s" and "1s" (or in terms of color-coded cards). Students visually relate the face-value of the digits (e.g. "3" and "5") of the number (e.g. "35") with the number of flash-cards to be used for the canonical representation (three orange cards and five blue cards). Children also understand how "53" differs from "35" or "503". It is further concluded that the use of the learning aids facilitates addition and subtraction performance in terms of "hundreds", "tens" and "ones" (rather than just "ones") either mentally or by constructing canonical and non-canonical representations with the use of the flash-cards and grids or by constructing abstract representations on paper. Students realize that ten cards of one color can be exchanged with one card of another color (or vice versa). Students further understand how "35-2" differs from "35-20" and how "51-32" differs from "52-31". </p><p> Quantitative data are in agreement with qualitative data, suggesting that children's arithmetic competency is enhanced when taught how to represent numbers, additions and subtractions with the use of the learning aids. The control group mean score increase from before to after intervention was 1,24 marks, compared to an increase of 11,06 marks for the intervention class. The medium to large Cohen's d effect sizes of 0,51 (comparing the intervention group score increase to the control group score increase) or 0,57 (comparing the intervention group score from before to after) indicate strong practical significance.</p>

Infants and toddlers who live in poverty are more likely to experience developmental delays or disabilities and less likely to access early intervention (EI) services. The federal initiative Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) was designed to increase access to high quality early learning programs for children at risk for developmental delays due to poverty or disability. Although IDEA, Part C programs were not specifically targeted by this initiative, policies associated with RTT-ELC may have an indirect impact on state EI programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of RTT-ELC on Part C programs by comparing states that received federal grants to states that did not. This study used a social justice framework to identify variables that inform equitable access to high quality Part C programs. Data were extracted from Part C state profiles and compared across states. Awarded states were more likely to increase enrollment of infants and toddlers in Part C Programs and were more likely to use broad eligibility criteria. These findings indicated that although differences were small they could become more pronounced over time. The need for policy change in Part C programs and federal early learning initiatives to directly target infants, toddlers and families in poverty are highlighted through the results of this study.

Closure is one of the most important putative goals for highly structured Renaissance verse. Elements of structure—for example, sophisticated prosody or the embedding of a poem within a web of intertextual relationships—determine how poets work toward closure. This project explores how verse forms and genre manifest poets’ attempts to create resolution, and, significantly, how often the challenges of the process instead become the object of focus. Developing a New Formalist approach that focuses on how literary forms are inherently responsive (both to the social conventions that inform various genres and to the expressive goals of individual authors), I examine texts in four important Renaissance poetic genres: epyllion (William Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis [1593]), satire (Joseph Hall’s Virgidemiae [1598, 1599]), religious lyric (George Herbert’s The Temple [1633]), and pastoral elegy (John Milton’s Epitaphium Damonis [1639] and Lycidas [1637, 1645]). These works illuminate some of the most significant strategies of authors who often meditate on the appeal of definitive, resolved conclusions and also on the complex ways their works become conditioned by the hope and struggle for resolution.

<p> Multiple-baseline across participants design was used to examine the effects of professional development (PD) and coaching on preschool teachers&rsquo; implementation of embedded-explicit literacy instruction to increase children&rsquo;s opportunities to engage in meaningful, intentional, and contextualized literacy behaviors, as measured by Complete Learning Trials (CLTs). Three teachers were videotaped weekly during free-play and observations were coded for CLT accuracy. After professional development, coaching was provided weekly via email. An immediate effect of PD was observed, with considerable variability once remote feedback was provided. Students&rsquo; early literacy skills were measured prior to and at the end of the study to provide a snapshot of children&rsquo;s literacy-related skills. Compared to pre-intervention scores, children&rsquo;s picture naming, rhyming, sound identification and comprehension skills had significantly increased, however, due to the research design these changes cannot be attributed to teachers&rsquo; implementation or non-implementation of explicit-embedded activities alone.</p>

INTRODUCTION: The impact of marijuana use has become a national topic with the increase in state’s legalizing or decriminalizing the use of the drug. To understand the impact this new trend may have on the population, it is necessary to characterize the interaction between marijuana use and health outcomes. Previous research has focused on the acute effects of marijuana on mental health and longitudinal impacts of marijuana use in the adolescent population. However there are no previously published studies on the impact of early onset marijuana use on adult mental health. AIM: This study aims to determine the prevalence of early onset marijuana use and if there is a statically significant association between early onset marijuana use (<14 years old) and increased prevalence of adverse mental health outcomes in adult life. METHODS: This study was conducted using data from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The study population included 41, 285 participants 18 or older at the time of the cross-sectional survey. Adult mental health outcomes were modeled for both early onset marijuana users and non-early onset marijuana users using a multiple logistic regression model to calculate both adjusted and unadjusted odds ratios (AOR’s, OR’s) with 95% confidence intervals. Statistical analysis was performed to examine the association between early onset marijuana use and negative adult mental health outcomes including serious mental illness, any mental illness and lifetime depressive episodes. RESULTS: This study found that in adults aged 18 and older the prevalence of early onset marijuana use was 8.3%. The prevalence of early onset marijuana use varies by gender, with a prevalence of 5.1(95% CI 4.7-5.2) for males and 3.3(95% CI 3.1-3.5) for females. Early onset marijuana use had a statistically significant association with all three indicators of poor adult mental health. The AOR for early onset marijuana use and serious mental illness was 2.3(95% CI 1.972-2.758). The association between early onset marijuana use and adult depressive episode had an AOR of 2.1(95% CI1.906-2.389). DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that early onset marijuana use is a risk factor for adverse mental health outcomes in adulthood. Consistent with findings from other nationally representative surveys, the prevalence of early onset marijuana use is higher in males than females. Early onset marijuana use is associated with increased odds of past year serious mental illness and past year any mental illness. This suggests that legislature considering marijuana legalization must also consider policies addressing under age use of the drug. Further longitudinal research is needed to father assess the association between early onset marijuana use and adult mental health.

Early years provision, which combines childcare and preschool education, has been considered vital for child development by theorists and practitioners. Within early years provision pedagogy is assumed to be both an enabling and constraining factor which can shape a particular experience of childhood and, possibly, prepare children for a particular adulthood. This thesis explores pedagogical processes and practices vis-à-vis children’s experiences in three different pedagogical contexts: a corporation nursery, a private nursery and an ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) Anganwadi centre in Chennai in Tamil Nadu (India). It explores the findings of a one year ethnographic study that involved observation/informal conversation with children and semi-structured interviews with teachers, care worker(s) and parents. The ethnographic study used methodological approaches from childhood research, adopted ethical positions from childhood studies and valued children as competent individuals that should be treated with respect throughout the research processes. The analysis of the empirical data uses the intersections of three concepts in the works of Foucault (subject), Butler (identity), Bourdieu (cultural capital) to illuminate and analyse the pedagogical processes and practices. The thesis characterises the different pedagogical contexts encountered in the study as: ‘activity centred’, ‘task centred’, and ‘care centred’. It explains that this context emerged in an on-going active process of negotiation, deliberation, reflection through ‘subjection’ and ‘resistance’. It demonstrates that children construct their embodied self-identity through everyday pedagogical/curriculum performativity and the teacher-children identities work within as well as outside pedagogical contexts. The empirical analysis identifies shame and distinction as key factors for pedagogical/curriculum performativity and argues that the embodied identities of children are fluid and contextual and that they are formed through the interaction of learning materials, academic ability/mastery, and bodily differences in the pedagogical contexts. It is argued that children employ cultural capital when (re)establishing home-nursery connections in different pedagogical contexts and that parents similarly use their cultural capital with a sense of ‘practical logic’ for decision making on matters related to early years provision, e.g. when recognising the transformative potential of children. The thesis findings suggest that there is an element of fluidity in pedagogical contexts and that the local cultural practices of teachers/care worker are reflectively integrated with minority world ideas when normative pedagogies are constructed. The thesis contributes to the development of childhood theory, by demonstrating that childhood is a complex phenomenon. At the policy level, the thesis makes recommendations for practitioners and administrators on how they can value local cultural knowledge, acknowledge reflexive practices of teachers/care workers, and equity issues in early years provision.