Leadership education for English language learners as transformative pedagogy

This qualitative case study investigates the transformative power of a leadership course designed for immigrant secondary school students learning English as an additional language with a social justice orientation. Course projects allowed the students to get involved in tutoring, present at a conference on intercultural education, deliver equity presentations and role model presentation skills for their peers by discussing topics such as Canadian culture, showcase their talents from their L1 cultures and give advice on how to integrate into the school and to lead activities to create school spirit by sharing music from their culture, running a ‘thank your teacher’ campaign, or taking the lead with an international humanitarian cause. The teacher’s plans and notes, course assignments, video footage of students presenting a conference workshop and monthly feedback forms were the data that allowed us to understand how transformative pedagogy was enacted by the teacher and experienced by the students in one Canadian secondary school with a very diverse student population.     

An age–period–cohort analysis of cancer incidence among the oldest old,Utah 1973–2002

We used age–period–cohort (APC) analyses to describe the simultaneous effects of age, period, and cohort on cancer incidence rates in an attempt to understand the population dynamics underlying their patterns among those aged 85+. Data from the Utah Cancer Registry (UCR), the US Census, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) programme were used to generate age-specific estimates of cancer incidence at ages 65–99 from 1973 to 2002 for Utah. Our results showed increasing cancer incidence rates up to the 85–89 age group followed by declines at ages 90–99 when not confounded by the separate influences of period and cohort effects. We found significant period and cohort effects, suggesting the role of environmental mechanisms in cancer incidence trends between the ages of 85 and 100.     

Examining the Psychometric Properties of the Identify as a Professional Social Worker Subscale

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Identify as a Professional Social Worker Subscale, which assessed the Council on Social Work Education–prescribed competency identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly. The results of confirmatory factory analysis indicated that the items on the measure assessed the underlying latent construct of identification as a professional social worker. The item response theory analysis indicated that the measure could be shortened to a four-item measure, and the item “demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and communication” was the highest discriminating item, whereas “advocate for client access to the services of social work” was the lowest discriminating item. Implications for research, measurement development, and the 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards are discussed.     

IT Governance Characteristics,Electronic Medical Records Sophistication,and Financial Performance in U.S. Hospitals: An Empirical Investigation

As a result of a recent federal government mandate, an increasing number of hospitals have decided to adopt electronic medical record (EMR) systems. This initiative is expected to lead toward more efficient and higher quality health care; however, little is known about governance characteristics and organizational performance for EMR adopters. Our goal is to inform theory and practice by examining hospitals with a sophisticated EMR and comparing those hospitals to similar hospitals (with a less sophisticated EMR) to understand the association between information technology (IT) governance characteristics and the implications on financial performance. Leveraging elements of the upper echelon theory, we posit that hospitals in which the chief information officer (CIO) reports to the chief executive officer, CIO turnover is low, and an IT steering committee is present are more likely to have a sophisticated EMR. We argue that EMR sophistication leads to improved financial performance. Our results underscore the importance of continuity in the CIO position on successful EMR implementations. Results also show that hospital size and financial performance are strongly associated with EMR sophistication. In addition, we find that a sophisticated EMR appears to be a fundamental element in improving hospitals’ revenue cycle management. Moreover, we find that hospitals with a sophisticated EMR appear to be more profitable. Finally, we observe that total payroll expense adjusted by total discharges drops among the sophisticated hospitals, potentially due to an increase in employee productivity. These insights can serve as a basis for tempering expectations relative to the financial impact of EMR adoption.     

Research Learning Attributes of Graduate Students in Social Work,Psychology, and Business

Although research teaching literature suggests that social work students may have different research learning attributes than students in other disciplines, minimal data exist to support this view. This study compared the self-reported research anxiety, computer anxiety, and research orientations of 149 full-time graduate social work, psychology, and business students at a research university. Social work students reported more research and computer anxiety and generally believed that research was less important to their profession than students in the comparison groups. Implications for teaching research to social work graduate students are discussed.     

House-lot gardens in Santarém,Pará, Brazil: Linking rural with urban

The division between rural and urban sectors of the landscape in many parts of the world is increasingly blurred. House-lot or homegardens offer a perspective on understanding rural-urban linkages since they are frequently a landscape feature in both settings and the exchanges of their products link the two. House-lot gardens are an under-researched component of the agricultural repertoires of smallholders in many parts of the world. Urban house-lot gardens in particular, have until recently not received much attention despite their critical importance to urban livelihoods. This paper presents findings from research on house-lot gardens in rural and urban zones of Santarém, Pará, Brazil, one of Amazonia's largest municipalities. The research demonstrates that garden products are important for household subsistence, but even more importantly product exchanges between rural and urban kin households help sustain critical social networks that subsidize urban life. Gardens are a link between urban and rural settings as products, germplasm, and household members move between the two. People are urban and rural at the same time which demonstrates that households can be multi-local.     

Crime and perceptions after a decade of democracy

Crime has become central to any discussion about the consolidation of democracy in South Africa. Concerns about crime intensified in the years after 1994, as the country attempted to grapple with the apparent ‘crime wave’ that accompanied the transition. A decade later crime is still a priority for government and a concern among citizens, but the clamour that characterised both state and civil society responses in the early years of democracy has receded (See the article by the author in Social Indicators Research 41: 137–168, 1997). This may relate to the decrease in crime levels as reflected by various statistical sources. It is also possible that those whose voices were heard most loudly on the issue – the middle classes – have taken all available measures to protect their property and lives from crime. In all likelihood, South Africans have become accustomed to living in a violent society, and one in which other equally serious problems now require attention. Although the national obsession with crime has waned, the available data nevertheless indicate that the problem still affects many thousands of lives. The impact of crime – in terms of the costs of victimisation, negative perceptions and fear, and the cost of responding to crime – remains high for South African society. This paper considers how crime levels and perceptions about crime and safety have changed over the past decade, and what these trends tell us about the country 10 years into our democracy.