ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Darwin versus Intelligent Design in US Courts: Does Teaching Intelligent Design in Biology Classes Violate the US Constitution?
Author: Bradt, Patricia T.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Biology,Science Instruction,Evolution,Creationism,Social Influences,Constitutional Law,Civil Rights,State Church Separation,Controversial Issues (Course Content),Public Schools,Legal Responsibility,Court Litigation,Biblical Literature,High Schools,Secondary School Science,Citizenship

Darwinian evolution is accepted by the great majority of scientists as the method by which the diversity of earth's organisms, including humans, evolved. Current research continues to expand our knowledge of evolutionary mechanisms. However, certain religious groups, supporting teaching the creation of earth's species as outlined in Genesis (&quot;Creationism&quot;), challenge in US courts teaching only Darwinian evolution in biology classes. The Courts must decide whether teaching creationism violates the Constitution's First Amendment prohibiting government &quot;establishment of religion&quot;. In a 2005 challenge (US District Court, Pennsylvania), a local school board mandated a disclaimer be read to biology classes stating there were gaps in Darwin's theory and that &quot;Intelligent Design&quot; (ID), propounded as science, provided a different explanation of life's origins. ID proposes that many living structures exhibit &quot;irreducible complexity&quot;, could not have evolved via natural selection and, therefore, exhibit evidence of an intelligent designer. After expert testimony, the judge ruled (12/05) that ID was a form of religion, a modernized concept of creationism, and should not be taught in biology classes because it violated US and Pennsylvania Constitutions. Similar challenges to teaching Darwinian evolution are occurring in at least nine other US states.
A Critical Analysis of the Child and Adolescent Wellness Scale (CAWS)
Author: Weller-Clarke, Alandra
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Wellness,Children,Adolescents,Child Health,Individual Characteristics,Personality Traits,Surveys,Psychological Characteristics,Psychological Testing,Psychology,Mental Health,Resilience (Psychology),Prevention,Intervention,Emotional Response,Self Control,Empathy,Interpersonal Relationship,Metacognition

Current practice for assessing children and adolescents rely on objectively scored deficit-based models and/or informal assessments to determine how maladaptive behaviors affect performance. Social-emotional assessment instruments are used in schools and typically provide information related to behavioral and emotional deficits, but provide little information related to a child's adaptive qualities. The Child and Adolescent Wellness Survey (CAWS) fills a gap in the psychological assessment literature. The CAWS was designed to assess strengths and competencies in school-aged children across multiple domains, each uniquely associated with healthy child outcomes. These domains include: adaptability, connectedness, conscientiousness, emotional self-regulation, empathy, initiative, mindfulness, optimism, self-efficacy, and social competence. Based upon a set of theoretical foundations including positive psychology, resilience research, and prevention science, the CAWS poses potential as a valuable assessment resource for psychologists and educators who strive to foster resilience and social-emotional competence in children.
The Acoustic Properties of Vowels: A Tool for Improving Articulation and Comprehension of English
Author: McCombs, Candalene J.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Acoustics,Vowels,Articulation (Speech),Reading Comprehension,English,Pronunciation,Pronunciation Instruction,English Language Learners,Second Language Learning,Listening Comprehension,Spanish Speaking,Interference (Language),Phonological Awareness,Contrastive Linguistics,Sociolinguistics,Phonetics,Language Proficiency,College Students,Pilot Projects

Correct pronunciation is often a later step in the process of teaching English as a second language. However, a focus on the correct articulation of vowels can significantly improve listening and comprehension skills as well as articulatory skills. Vowels and consonants differ in their acoustic properties. Unlike consonants, vowel sounds are produced with very little obstruction of airflow, resulting in a difference in the way they sound. Vowels are more sonorous, or acoustically powerful, than consonants, thus we perceive them as both longer lasting and louder than consonants. The greater sonority of vowels also permits them to form the basis of syllables. Introducing the phonetic properties of vowels is relatively easy. Second language teachers can train students to listen for vowel distinctions and teach the articulatory properties of vowels, strengthening students' listening and articulatory skills. Vowels form the nuclei of syllables, thus clarity in vowel sounds helps native speakers better understand foreign speakers. The focus on vowel sounds also supports instruction in the stress patterns of English, allowing students to more easily recognize individual words within sentences. This approach works particularly well with adult speakers who need to be clearly understood in professional settings.
The Dutch Dilemma &amp; American Divide: The Challenge of Exclusivist Religions to Pluralistic States, and Contemporary Education
Author: Parr, Christopher
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Peace,Religious Factors,Prosocial Behavior,World Views,Religious Cultural Groups,Democratic Values,Social Change,Religious Education,Cultural Awareness,Cultural Pluralism,Muslims,Christianity,Islam

Post-Reformation societies and states that thought they had put religious wars behind them have been caught unawares by the vehemence of religious dissent that has exploded in their midst, sometimes literally, since the 1970s. I maintain that key Enlightenment propositions that established the means for peaceful religious co-existence seriously misconstrue and underestimate the social potency of religious impulses. My paper begins by sketching two distinct current impasses. The Dutch face the dilemma of a largely secularized society willing to be highly tolerant of difference--but as the brazen 2004 murder of provocateur-filmmaker Theo van Gogh has revealed, such tolerance is hard-pressed to accommodate those whose religious culture is not permitted to tolerate perceived intolerance directed at them. The United States presents an equally puzzling conundrum: a much more religious culture predicated on religious liberty, now challenged by versions of monotheism whose symbolic worldview convinces them they are persecuted, and must demand cultural supremacy. Highly dualistic, exclusivist and triumphalist versions of monotheism present militant challenges to the democratic state's ideals of tolerance. Taking these recent examples as symptomatic, I argue we must reconfigure civil post-secular societies' engagements with religious adherents, not least through actively educating all citizens about religions.
Adult Second Language Reading in the USA: The Effects of Readers' Gender and Test Method
Author: Brantmeier, Cindy
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Second Language Learning,Reading Research,Gender Differences,Test Format,Reading Fluency,Language Proficiency,Individual Differences,Second Language Instruction,Text Structure,Generalization,Reading Comprehension,Recall (Psychology),Multiple Choice Tests,Questionnaires,Familiarity,Performance Factors,Error of Measurement,Adult Learning,Foreign Countries

Bernhardt (2003) claims that half of the variance in second language (L2) reading is accounted for by first language literacy (20%) and second language knowledge (30%), and that one of the central goals of current L2 reading research should be to investigate the 50% of variance that remains unexplained. Part of this variance takes consists of passage content or background knowledge, and as the reader develops, proficiency presides over passage content. In an attempt to further examine factors involved in the remaining variance, Brantmeier (2002; 2003a, 2003b, 2003c, 2003d; 2004a) conducted a series of studies that include readers' gender as an interacting variable. Results add additional meaning to Bernhardt's (1991) conclusion that background knowledge by itself does not predict comprehension. As proficiency increases, the influence of both background knowledge and readers' gender decrease, or disappear completely. Brantmeier's findings reveal that the interaction of readers' gender and passage content does play a role at the intermediate levels of Spanish language instruction, but not at the advanced stages. The series of studies identifies gender as a moderator of both conceptual and practical importance for the intermediate levels of L2 language instruction at the university. In the present study, reanalysis of data from prior studies was conducted, and findings indicate gender differences in comprehension may be a function of the type of assessment used at the intermediate level. In four studies that utilized the same set of texts across levels of language instruction, the multiple choice test method was inconsistent by gender, and the written recall was consistent by gender with females outperforming males at the intermediate levels of instruction. In addition, findings may indicate a tendency toward readers' gender presiding over topic familiarity on written recall, and topic familiarity presiding over readers' gender on multiple choice at the intermediate levels.
The Interface of Global Migrations, Local English Language Learning, and Identity Transmutations of the Immigrant Academician
Author: Hutchison, Charles B.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Immigrants,Language Usage,Personality Traits,Social Influences,Sociolinguistics,Cultural Influences,Teacher Competencies,Foreign Countries,Dialects,Likert Scales

As global migrations of both teachers and students have increased, so has the need to re-learn English in response to local parlances. Thus, the use of formal and informal language styles, the masking of accents, and the understanding of the differential use of certain specific words, expressions, and the like become critical for teachers and students. For international, cross-cultural educators who also face pedagogical culture shock, issues related to the differences in teaching and learning styles, curriculum, and assessment must also be addressed. Concomitantly, therefore, the identities of international educators become reconstituted into academic cosmopolites. Using data collected from 55 student evaluations as supporting evidence, this paper contends that international educators undergo personality differentiation in response to local forces, including socio-linguistic pressures. The hybridization of migrant academicians' native states with cross-cultural forces precipitates new permutations of international, transmuted identities, brewed in the crucible of educational cross-culturalisms.
The Impact of IDEA 04 and NCLB on Speech and Language Related Services: How Do We Meet the Challenges
Author: Means, Jennifer
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Federal Legislation,Educational Legislation,Equal Education,Disabilities,Elementary Secondary Education,Special Education,Speech Language Pathology,Speech Therapy,Special Needs Students,Delivery Systems,Allied Health Personnel,Accountability,Language Impairments,Speech Impairments,Human Factors Engineering,Models,Administrator Role

As most special educators endure the periodic legal changes in education and special education, related service providers face the same challenges. These challenges include Inclusion, IDEA 04 regulations, NCLB and curricular related services. This paper presents these challenges and discusses a variety of solutions providing the most appropriate and feasible delivery methods for speech and language services for children with special needs. A brief overview of the evolution of speech and language services is presented in order to set the stage for discussing the impact of recent legal changes. IDEA 04 and NCLB are discussed with respect to utilization of the academic and social curriculum. Various service delivery models are examined with specific implementation methods to meet curricular standards. Sample goals are presented with suggestions for incorporating related services in special education IEPs without duplication of services. The need for a transdisciplinary model for IEP implementation emphasized.
Reflections on the Current Status of Women in American Higher Education
Author: Robbins, Lillian
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Females,Womens Education,Access to Education,Higher Education,Postsecondary Education,Equal Education,Employment Level,Women Faculty,Tenure,Family Work Relationship,Teacher Salaries,Gender Bias

Since World War II, American women have gained much greater access to higher education, with women now 56% of undergraduates, and approximately half of medical and law school students, as well as attaining 49% of PhD's. Despite their greater representation, women pursuing professional careers still experience considerable stress. At the institutional level, career opportunities remain unequal, with men still earning better pay at all ranks and having greater access to resources, as well as continuing to predominate as senior faculty. Fewer women gain tenured positions and promotions than in the 1970's, as the enforcement of Affirmative Action policies has slackened, and increasing numbers of courses are taught by contingent faculty. At the personal level, many women feel ambivalent about working when they have young children, and there are many potential conflicts if dual careers are involved, especially if there are heavy training-incurred debts, and if jobs entail difficult commutes or no work for one partner. We will review data on faculty rank and salary over the years, and discuss the implications of shifts in the academic environment as they interact with changing aspects of personal relationships and social expectations.
Perspective Taking in Language Learning and Teaching
Author: Hall, Allison H.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Perspective Taking,Language Acquisition,Native Language Instruction,Second Language Instruction,Language Skills,Learning Strategies,Educational Benefits,Learning Activities,Educational Games,Language Usage,Skill Development,Children,Communication Skills,Decision Making Skills

Language is a means by which different minds communicate ideas to one another. It is also a means our minds use to understand ourselves, other people, the world around us, and the relationships among them. In language acquisition, we are basically developing a code that we will use to understand, formulate and communicate ideas. The acquisition of a child's native language is necessary for normal social functioning and is, for the most part, inevitable. The acquisition of a second language, however, may be neither necessary nor inevitable. Those for whom a second language may be necessary or highly desired for normal social functioning may benefit from practicing the strategies and skills developed by children learning their native language. One of these skills that children develop that coincides with the development of their language skills is the skill of perspective taking. How exactly these two skills relate is currently a matter of debate among researchers. However, the fact that there is a strong relationship between language acquisition and perspective taking is not in doubt. Examining this research and applying the knowledge gained to second language learning and teaching may help learners to gain a deeper linguistic and cultural understanding that will lead to higher social functioning skills in the target language.
Islamic Schools in America: Islam's Vehicle to the Future?
Author: Timani, Hussam S.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Muslims,Religious Education,Private Schools,Religious Cultural Groups,Identification (Psychology),Immigrants,Islamic Culture,Islam,Social Influences,Cultural Influences,Cultural Awareness,Christianity,Cultural Maintenance

This paper explores the role of American Muslim schools in shaping and constructing the identity of Muslim children in the U.S., and shows how Muslim organizations and educators are using these schools to (re)Islamize Muslim children. America's Muslim immigrants believe that without teaching their children the Islamic culture and religion, they will be brought up as anything but Islamic. This paper argues that Islamic organizations and Muslim educators have capitalized on the ills of public schools to put pressure on Muslims to build Islamic schools, where (re)Islamizing Muslim children would be the goal. But, in the process, many of these children may end up alienated and isolated from the rest of the society, and, in some cases, exposed to anti-American, anti-secular, and anti- Western propaganda. This paper also argues that for Islam to prosper and flourish as a minority religion in a predominantly Western, Christian, and secular society, Islamic education must be geared towards Islamizing Muslim children without de-Americanizing them.
Knowledge of and Attitudes toward Evolution in a Population of Community College Students
Author: Flower, Patricia
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Evolution,Knowledge Level,Student Attitudes,Two Year College Students,Community Colleges,Student Surveys,Majors (Students),Nonmajors,Biology,Science Instruction

Much attention has been given to the opposition toward the teaching of evolution at the K-12 level and the movement to include alternative theories, such as Intelligent Design (ID), in the science curriculum. However, very little is known regarding the attitudes of community college students toward the study of evolution and the inclusion of ID in biology courses. This lack of information and faculty reports of increased student resistance to and concern over learning this topic led to a departmental pilot study, in which 342 students were surveyed. The majority of students (272) were enrolled in Principles of Biology, a non major biology course at Miramar College in San Diego, California. The survey was also administered to 70 science majors enrolled in Introduction to Biological Sciences I and II, which are core courses for transfer to university programs. The purpose of this project was to better understand our audience and the knowledge and attitudes students bring with them as they enter general biology courses. As a result of the study's findings several strategies were developed to assist faculty in providing students with a firm understanding of evolution as the main organizing principle of biology, but at the same time alleviate some of the anxiety students may experience when learning about the origin and evolution of life on earth.
From the Trenches: Secondary Content Teachers and IEP, Inclusion Students
Author: Ginger, Jan
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Disabilities,Inclusion,Mainstreaming,Secondary School Teachers,Regular and Special Education Relationship,Barriers,Teacher Qualifications,Teacher Attitudes,Persistence,Inservice Teacher Education,Cooperative Planning,Evidence Based Practice,Elementary Secondary Education,Educational Legislation,Federal Legislation,Equal Education,Educational Quality

Secondary content teachers want to accommodate their special education students. They know that their classrooms provide the &quot;least restrictive environment&quot; specified by Public Law 94-142. They understand that inclusion is federally mandated and, even more importantly, often seen as necessary for teens to reach their full potential as students and as successful adults. But these teachers face many obstacles, frequently with little or no assistance. Among those obstacles: normal loads of 160 to 180 students; lack of notification of students with IEPs or 504 plans; shortage of inclusion teachers; only a single, broad introductory course in exceptional children. In addition, the bottom line, made clear by the administration, is that they must adhere to pacing guides and prepare students to pass the end-of-course exams to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements. Inclusion must be more than a physical reassignment of students from one classroom to another; to succeed it must include a school-wide philosophical commitment, and it must provide assistance to the secondary content teachers in the trenches. Following a review of literature, this article describes four criteria for successful inclusion (full commitment, in-service training, collaborative planning and teaching, and implementation of research-based, challenging practices) and three impediments to program success.
Theology for Citizenship: How a Catholic College in the Augustinian Tradition Prepares Citizens to Transform Society
Author: Kelley, Joseph T.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Catholics,Private Colleges,Religious Education,Church Related Colleges,Citizenship Education,Social Influences,Institutional Mission,Social Responsibility,Religion,Documentation,College Role,Freedom,Civil Rights

This article uses Vatican and papal documents to reflect on the distinctive mission of Catholic colleges and universities in light of their responsibility to prepare students for virtuous citizenship in a religiously and ethnically pluralistic society. It also shows how one Catholic college understands its academic community in light of such a mission.
Stay Smart: Lost Weight--Childhood Obesity and Health Education
Author: Kosa-Postl, Linda
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Obesity,Body Weight,Child Health,Health Education,Eating Habits,Self Concept,Food,Nutrition,Standardized Tests,Public Health

Prevention is the key strategy for controlling the current epidemic levels of childhood obesity. Current statistics show that obesity has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years. It is generally recognized that nutrition education for the general population needs to be improved. What else is apparent is that citizens are the responsible ones for curing and preventing obesity. Lifestyle behaviors, weight loss programs, and strategies to curb malnutrition have offered little impact on the growing increase of the obesity epidemic. Studies provide strong evidence that nutrition programs in public schools have increased intelligence level and cognitive ability. Countless articles have been written identifying malnutrition exhibition of behavior disorders and aggressive behavior leading to at risk adolescents. Environmental conditions--social, economic, and political--have lead to a lack of effective and coordinated preventive public policies. While the government has set standards for graduation requirements in elementary/secondary education, the identical approach to develop obligatory health interventions could be a powerful weapon against obesity. Herein lays the essence of a clear definition and recommendation of a policy that serves the purpose of curtailing the epidemic of obesity and constructing future learning capabilities of youth. The major findings of the report encompass a creative concept in which the government specifically monitors the health of each child in a public school system to assure participants are meeting the criteria for a healthy lifestyle.