Kappa Delta Research Articles

Educational belief systems among American parents: Exploring the relationship between integration, testing, and enhanced academics

Current research typically uses surveys to study parental preferences but examines the responses in isolation from each other. A key insight from the sociology of culture and political psychology, however, is that the meaning of responses in opinion data comes from their relationships with one another. To make progress in understanding the meaning of parental preferences, it is necessary to study their educational belief systems - the structural configuration of their attitudes related to schools. Using data from Phi Delta Kappa’s annual survey on education, I employ correlational class analysis to identify three subsets of parents whose members configure their beliefs about integration, standardized testing, and enhanced academics in distinct ways. These three groups of parents are convergents, who see testing and integration as being aligned; integration divergents, who see standardized testing and integration as being in opposition; and academic divergents, who see standardized testing and enhanced academics as being in opposition. Compared to the full sample, these subgroups display more structure in the associations among their preferences. I also examine if the relationships between preferences and sociodemographic characteristics vary across subgroups and if political ideology predicts belief systems. I conclude with a discussion of implications for policy and future work.

Pdk Connection: Heritage News

Ronald Laugen of The Woodlands, Texas, who celebrated 50 years as a Phi Delta Kappa member, looks back on his education career. PDK spotlights Educators Rising student officer Keiren Minter, scholarship winner Caprice Damon, and Educators Rising Champion Debra McDonald.

Emergence of Delta Plus (AY.1) and Kappa (B.1.617.1) Variants of SARS-CoV-2 in Second Wave of India: A Case Series from Eastern Uttar Pradesh

Emergence of Delta Plus (AY.1) and Kappa (B.1.617.1) Variants of SARS-CoV-2 in Second Wave of India: A Case Series from Eastern Uttar Pradesh

Allen R. Sullivan, PhD: 9th District

Allen R. Sullivan, PhD:9th District Judson L. Jeffries Allen R. Sullivan, PhD, a 2009 inductee into the African American Educators Hall of Fame, is a distinguished educator as well as administrator, having won many awards and honors over a long career. During his lifetime, Brother Sullivan racked up many honors, merits, commendations, and badges. In addition to being a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., for nearly 60 years, he is a member of Phi Delta Kappa and Psi Chi, two prestigious national honor societies for education and psychology, respectively. It should also be noted that Brother Sullivan has the distinction of being a former student-athlete. As a track athlete, Sullivan won many important races. In addition to his athletic exploits, Brother Sullivan excelled as a Boy Scout, earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Retired since 2005, Brother Sullivan spent more than 30 years in the Dallas Independent School district in Dallas, Texas, ending his career as the Assistant Superintendent for Student Support and Advocacy Services. Brother Sullivan's impact on the lives of young people has been felt far and wide. Brother Sullivan has served as a public-school teacher, track and cross-country coach, as well as college professor. In fact, his work in the area of special education is widely documented in the form of reports, newspaper articles, books, and scholarly journal articles. As a doctoral student, during his days in Western New York, Dr. Sullivan was instrumental in reviving the Kappa chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., which included securing a fraternity house that sat alongside other fraternity houses on the school's largely White fraternity row. Given the chilly reception that many African American students and faculty members encountered in the overwhelmingly White city of Syracuse, the acquisition of a house located on fraternity row is quite an accomplishment. As a former resident of Binghamton, NY, this writer is, in more ways than one, all too familiar with the frigid environs of Upstate New York. Winter comes early in that region of the Empire State and wears out its welcome long after spring makes an appearance in other tristate cities. Below is [End Page 347] material derived from several conversations between this writer and Dr. Sullivan in the spring of 2021. Judson L. Jeffries: Brother Sullivan, I want to thank you for taking the time to talk to me and agreeing to participate in this important project. Allen R. Sullivan: Oh, no problem—my pleasure. JLJ: How's everything going? AS: I'm not fussing too much, how's everything going with you? JLJ: I can't complain none Brother Sullivan, can't complain one bit. AS: Alright, that's good to hear. JLJ: Ok, I understand you earned your doctorate at Syracuse, but where did you go to college? AS: I went to Northeastern University in Boston. JLJ: Are you an East Coast guy? AS: If by East Coast guy, you mean did I grow up there—the answer is yes. I grew up in Cambridge. JLJ: Oh, I see, I see! I lived in Cambridge for about a year and a half, off and on. AS: Oh, is that right? JLJ: Sure did. One year I lived on Garden Street, another time I lived on Channing Drive or something like that. AS: What were you doing there? JLJ: One year I had a fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, another year I held a fellowship at Tufts University. AS: Ok, I didn't live far from Harvard's campus. I could look out of my window and see the tower on Harvard's campus. JLJ: Because I'm fairly familiar with Cambridge, let's talk a little bit about that area. AS: Ok. JLJ: What high school did you attend? AS: I attended Rindge Technical High School. JLJ: Ok, you got me there. I don't know anything about that school. Never heard of it. AS: It was founded in 1888. At Rindge, students were afforded the opportunity to learn a trade as well as take the kinds of courses one would normally take in order to prepare for college. I should...

Richard E. Jackson, JD: 5th District

Richard E. Jackson, JD:5th District Judson L. Jeffries Richard E. Jackson, a son of Nashville, has made a lasting imprint on higher education administration, the legal community, and a number of grassroots efforts. For the past seven years Jackson has served as the executive vice president for Administration, Finance, and Legal Affairs at American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee, where he has oversight of all the college's non-academic operations. Prior to that, he was special assistant to the president at Middle Tennessee State University where he oversaw issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion. For eight years, Jackson was Austin Peay State University's vice president for legal affairs and strategic planning and before that its senior advisor to the president for Diversity, Affirmative Action and Legal Affairs. One would be remiss if I did not call attention to Jackson's major contribution to one of the nation's most prestigious medical schools—serving as the vice president for Policy Management and Legal Affairs as well as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at historically Black Meharry Medical College during David Satcher, MD's, presidency (former US Surgeon General). As general counsel Jackson coordinated the negotiations with the city of Nashville, resulting in the historic consolidation of the city's acute care hospital services into renovated facilities on the campus of Meharry. Finally, Brother Jackson is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, one of the nation's oldest honor societies for leadership. Below is an interview that spanned over the course of a week in mid-April of 2021. Judson L. Jeffries: Good Evening Brother Jackson, I appreciate your willingness to be a part of this project. Richard Jackson: Thank you very much for including me, I'm humbled, I really am. JLJ: Let's get right to it if you don't mind. RJ: I don't mind at all. JLJ: You're a graduate of Vanderbilt University, aka the Harvard of the South [laughter]. What was your major Brother Jackson? RJ: Political science. [End Page 309] JLJ: You must have had really good grades to have been accepted into Vanderbilt. RJ: Yes, I did, I graduated as my school's valedictorian. JLJ: Whaaat? You were your school's valedictorian Brother Jackson? RJ: In fact, I was the first African American ever to graduate number 1 in his class at an integrated high school in Nashville. JLJ: What high school was that Brother Jackson? RJ: Nashville Maplewood High School. JLJ: With those kinds of credentials, you could have gotten into darn near any college in the country. RJ: I'd like to think so. JLJ: So, what year do you enroll in Vanderbilt? RJ: 1968. JLJ: And graduated four years later? RJ: Right, graduated in 1972. JLJ: What was it like going to a lily-white southern school like Vanderbilt University? Now, we all know that Vanderbilt is located in the city of Nashville, but it certainly didn't and still doesn't reflect the city's racial composition. RJ: No, it didn't, not even close. JLJ: What was it like being a student at Vanderbilt during the late 1960s and early 1970s? RJ: It wasn't easy, that's for sure. At any one time there probably were no more than 60 Black students during a given year and may have been as few as 25 during a given year. One year, and I'm positive about this, there were fewer than 20 Black men in the student body. JLJ: Talk a little bit about the climate, Brother Jackson, if you would please. RJ: Not a comfortable environment Brother Jeffries, not a comfortable environment at all. But let me just say this—I had attended a summer program at Vanderbilt, so I knew something about Vanderbilt, the school wasn't a total surprise to me. I had made up my mind that Vanderbilt was not going to affirm my self-worth. JLJ: What did you do in order to mitigate the kind of impact that a school like Vanderbilt could have had on your psyche? RJ: I decided that I wasn't going to live on campus, I wasn't going to be a resident student...

3D-printed Handheld Models Do Not Improve Recognition of Specific Characteristics and Patterns of Three-part and Four-part Proximal Humerus Fractures.

Reliably recognizing the overall pattern and specific characteristics of proximal humerus fractures may aid in surgical decision-making. With conventional onscreen imaging modalities, there is considerable and undesired interobserver variability, even when observers receive training in the application of the classification systems used. It is unclear whether three-dimensional (3D) models, which now can be fabricated with desktop printers at relatively little cost, can decrease interobserver variability in fracture classification. Do 3D-printed handheld models of proximal humerus fractures improve agreement among residents and attending surgeons regarding (1) specific fracture characteristics and (2) patterns according to the Neer and Hertel classification systems? Plain radiographs, as well as two-dimensional (2D) and 3D CT images, were collected from 20 patients (aged 18 years or older) who sustained a three-part or four-part proximal humerus fracture treated at a Level I trauma center between 2015 and 2019. The included images were chosen to comprise images from patients whose fractures were considered as difficult-to-classify, displaced fractures. Consequently, the images were assessed for eight fracture characteristics and categorized according to the Neer and Hertel classifications by four orthopaedic residents and four attending orthopaedic surgeons during two separate sessions. In the first session, the assessment was performed with conventional onscreen imaging (radiographs and 2D and 3D CT images). In the second session, 3D-printed handheld models were used for assessment, while onscreen imaging was also available. Although proximal humerus classifications such as the Neer classification have, in the past, been shown to have low interobserver reliability, we theorized that by receiving direct tactile and visual feedback from 3D-printed handheld fracture models, clinicians would be able to recognize the complex 3D aspects of classification systems reliably. Interobserver agreement was determined with the multirater Fleiss kappa and scored according to the categorical rating by Landis and Koch. To determine whether there was a difference between the two sessions, we calculated the delta (difference in the) kappa value with 95% confidence intervals and a two-tailed p value. Post hoc power analysis revealed that with the current sample size, a delta kappa value of 0.40 could be detected with 80% power at alpha = 0.05. Using 3D-printed models in addition to conventional imaging did not improve interobserver agreement of the following fracture characteristics: more than 2 mm medial hinge displacement, more than 8 mm metaphyseal extension, surgical neck fracture, anatomic neck fracture, displacement of the humeral head, more than 10 mm lesser tuberosity displacement, and more than 10 mm greater tuberosity displacement. Agreement regarding the presence of a humeral head-splitting fracture was improved but only to a level that was insufficient for clinical or scientific use (fair to substantial, delta kappa = 0.33 [95% CI 0.02 to 0.64]). Assessing 3D-printed handheld models adjunct to onscreen conventional imaging did not improve the interobserver agreement for pattern recognition according to Neer (delta kappa = 0.02 [95% CI -0.11 to 0.07]) and Hertel (delta kappa = 0.01 [95% CI -0.11 to 0.08]). There were no differences between residents and attending surgeons in terms of whether 3D models helped them classify the fractures, but there were few differences to identify fracture characteristics. However, none of the identified differences improved to almost perfect agreement (kappa value above 0.80), so even those few differences are unlikely to be clinically useful. Using 3D-printed handheld fracture models in addition to conventional onscreen imaging of three-part and four-part proximal humerus fractures does not improve agreement among residents and attending surgeons on specific fracture characteristics and patterns. Therefore, we do not recommend that clinicians expend the time and costs needed to create these models if the goal is to classify or describe patients' fracture characteristics or pattern, since doing so is unlikely to improve clinicians' abilities to select treatment or estimate prognosis. Level III, diagnostic study.

Allen R. Sullivan, PhD: 9th District

Allen R. Sullivan, PhD:9th District Judson L. Jeffries Allen R. Sullivan, PhD, a 2009 inductee into the African American Educators Hall of Fame, is a distinguished educator as well as administrator, having won many awards and honors over a long career. During his lifetime, Brother Sullivan racked up many honors, merits, commendations, and badges. In addition to being a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., for nearly 60 years, he is a member of Phi Delta Kappa and Psi Chi, two prestigious national honor societies for education and psychology, respectively. It should also be noted that Brother Sullivan has the distinction of being a former student-athlete. As a track athlete, Sullivan won many important races. In addition to his athletic exploits, Brother Sullivan excelled as a Boy Scout, earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Retired since 2005, Brother Sullivan spent more than 30 years in the Dallas Independent School district in Dallas, Texas, ending his career as the Assistant Superintendent for Student Support and Advocacy Services. Brother Sullivan's impact on the lives of young people has been felt far and wide. Brother Sullivan has served as a public-school teacher, track and cross-country coach, as well as college professor. In fact, his work in the area of special education is widely documented in the form of reports, newspaper articles, books, and scholarly journal articles. As a doctoral student, during his days in Western New York, Dr. Sullivan was instrumental in reviving the Kappa chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., which included securing a fraternity house that sat alongside other fraternity houses on the school's largely White fraternity row. Given the chilly reception that many African American students and faculty members encountered in the overwhelmingly White city of Syracuse, the acquisition of a house located on fraternity row is quite an accomplishment. As a former resident of Binghamton, NY, this writer is, in more ways than one, all too familiar with the frigid environs of Upstate New York. Winter comes early in that region of the Empire State and wears out its welcome long after spring makes an appearance in other tristate cities. Below is [End Page 347] material derived from several conversations between this writer and Dr. Sullivan in the spring of 2021. Judson L. Jeffries: Brother Sullivan, I want to thank you for taking the time to talk to me and agreeing to participate in this important project. Allen R. Sullivan: Oh, no problem—my pleasure. JLJ: How's everything going? AS: I'm not fussing too much, how's everything going with you? JLJ: I can't complain none Brother Sullivan, can't complain one bit. AS: Alright, that's good to hear. JLJ: Ok, I understand you earned your doctorate at Syracuse, but where did you go to college? AS: I went to Northeastern University in Boston. JLJ: Are you an East Coast guy? AS: If by East Coast guy, you mean did I grow up there—the answer is yes. I grew up in Cambridge. JLJ: Oh, I see, I see! I lived in Cambridge for about a year and a half, off and on. AS: Oh, is that right? JLJ: Sure did. One year I lived on Garden Street, another time I lived on Channing Drive or something like that. AS: What were you doing there? JLJ: One year I had a fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, another year I held a fellowship at Tufts University. AS: Ok, I didn't live far from Harvard's campus. I could look out of my window and see the tower on Harvard's campus. JLJ: Because I'm fairly familiar with Cambridge, let's talk a little bit about that area. AS: Ok. JLJ: What high school did you attend? AS: I attended Rindge Technical High School. JLJ: Ok, you got me there. I don't know anything about that school. Never heard of it. AS: It was founded in 1888. At Rindge, students were afforded the opportunity to learn a trade as well as take the kinds of courses one would normally take in order to prepare for college. I should...

On Leadership: Can we keep SEL on course?

A longtime advocate for social and emotional learning, Phi Delta Kappa’s CEO, Joshua Starr, shares his concerns about the current state of the SEL movement, particularly the fuzziness of its terminology, the simplistic ways in which it is often commercialized and implemented, and its uncertain implications for racial and economic equity. He closes with a number of suggestions for school and district leaders.

Leadership

Phi Delta Kappa’s CEO, Joshua Starr, points out that while school boards may tell their newly hired superintendents to be bold, visionary leaders, the job tends to include built-in incentives — such as a pension system that rewards longevity — to play it safe. If district leaders aim to challenge longstanding patterns of inequity in their local schools, they must be willing to take a stand against those who benefit from the status quo, even if that eventually costs them their job. Of course, not everybody can afford to do so.

Critical Thinking Education for Enhancing the Effectiveness of Education in Vietnam

Critical Thinking Education for Enhancing the Effectiveness of Education in Vietnam

Walling, D. R.: Designing Learning for Tablet Classrooms: Innovations in Instruction

Donovan R. Walling has had a long career in the classroom and as a writer of practical guides for school policy reform and public education. His background includes past Director of Publications for Phi Delta Kappa International and Curriculum Administrator in public school districts in Wisconsin and Indiana. His practical knowledge of what it means to be a classroom teacher is based on his lengthy career as an educator in Wisconsin and for the US Department of Defense in Germany. Walling’s list of publications includes being the author or editor of 16 books and the AECT quarterly newsletter, iTECHDIGEST. He continues to be a keynote speaker and presenter at international, national, regional, and state education conferences in the United States, Canada, and Germany.

PDK Connection

News and information about the Phi Delta Kappa International family of associations. The PDK Educational Foundation awarded Innovation and Impact Grants to Jill Gonzalez-Bravo, Betty Hunt, and Isabel Morales. PDK Emerging Leader Danielle Dennis and George Sirrakos weigh in on teaching students how to become 21st century citizens.

“Under These Classic Shades Together”:

cross American colleges and universities during the late antebellum period, young men associated outside the classroom in literary, social, and fraternal clubs, all-male spaces highly conducive to the formation of strong friendships. Strong male relationships developed in which such terms as “intimacy,” “fraternal love,” and the “after life” were fundamental tenets of a shared experience. Unlike the collective world found in the public sphere of adult men, the antebellum college setting differed precisely because the young men quite frequently lived and dined together in dormitories, boarding and rooming houses, and fraternities, often secretly organized, in the towns and cities in which their colleges were located. Their lives were marked by dynamic uncertainty: not yet fully independent adults, but no longer completely dependent for support on their families. Since at least the 1970s, historians have debated the possibilities of same-sex intimacy among women, the terms of which have often centered on their timing and their prevalence in early American society. Only recently, however, have men as gendered subjects A

Phi Delta Kappa International News and Upcoming Events

Phi Delta Kappa International News and Upcoming Events

Phi Delta Kappa International News and Upcoming Events

Phi Delta Kappa International News and Upcoming Events

Phi Delta Kappa International News and Upcoming Events

Phi Delta Kappa International News and Upcoming Events

Phi Delta Kappa International News and Upcoming Events

Phi Delta Kappa International News and Upcoming Events

Phi Delta Kappa International News and Upcoming Events

Phi Delta Kappa International News and Upcoming Events

What Makes a Great Teacher?

his office, Thomas Guskey has a poster of a photo from 1989. the photo, one student is standing in front of four tanks in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Guskey, the photo symbolizes courage--the same courage that educators need to call upon. Guskey, the keynote speaker at the 2008 Phi Delta Kappa Summit on High-Performing Educators, urged attendees to become good leaders so they can lead the changes in education. But he warned that forging this path would take courage, similar to the courage displayed by the student in the photo as he stood before the tanks. Can you imagine the courage it took to do that? Guskey asked. That's the kind of stand you have to take. When you do that, it will instill courage in others. Although educators may feel isolated when they try to create change in their organizations, they should remember that they have the knowledge base of the profession behind them, and they know what works and what doesn't, he said. can't be satisfied with managing change; we have to lead change in our classrooms, schools, and districts, said Guskey, Distinguished Service Professor at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky. should use our knowledge base in good and positive ways to help kids learn in new and positive ways. The keynote address was part of last November's PDK summit in San Antonio, Texas, and began with a panel discussion about what makes a great teacher. Panelist Barnett Berry, president of the Center for Teaching Quality, argued that great teachers do more than just advance student learning--to be great, they must also spread their own expertise. not one, it's not the other, he said. both. Mary Clement, a panelist and associate professor of teacher education at Berry College in Georgia, said her list of what makes a great teacher has five elements: education, teacher preparation, hiring, quality induction, and ongoing support in a quality workplace. Who makes these things happen? she asked. do. The people in this room. As one of my former professors always said, 'If not you, who? If not now, when?' We are professional educators. It's through our work, through our writing, our professionalism, and even our activism. This is how we can help to create and support the steps on my list that will make great teachers. For panelist Sherie Williams, an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the definition of a great teacher is a teacher who creates a balance between curricular knowledge and the ability to build relationships with students. Research shows that students learn better when they have a relationship with the teacher. To make a wonderful, exemplary we have to help people learn skills to build relationships in the classroom, she said. But great teachers are not all alike, Guskey said. He asked audience members to think of a great teacher in their lives. About half of the audience selected a teacher who was harsh, demanding, and authoritative, while the other half selected a teacher who was nurturing, warm, and endearing. In all of our research on effective teachers, it's been very difficult for us to come up with any set of personality characteristics that defines a highly effective teacher, he said. further complicate the issue, Guskey said, research in Tennessee has shown that a great teacher in one setting may be a poor teacher in another setting. …

Improving inter-observer variability in the evaluation of ultrasonographic features of polycystic ovaries

BackgroundWe recently reported poor inter-observer agreement in identifying and quantifying individual ultrasonographic features of polycystic ovaries. Our objective was to determine the effect of a training workshop on reducing inter-observer variation in the ultrasonographic evaluation of polycystic ovaries.MethodsTransvaginal ultrasound recordings from thirty women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) were evaluated by three radiologists and three reproductive endocrinologists both before and after an ultrasound workshop. The following endpoints were assessed: 1) follicle number per ovary (FNPO), 2) follicle number per single cross-section (FNPS), 3) largest follicle diameter, 4) ovarian volume, 5) follicle distribution pattern and 6) presence of a corpus luteum (CL). Lin's concordance correlation coefficients (rho) and kappa statistics for multiple raters (kappa) were used to assess level of inter-observer agreement (>0.80 good, 0.60 – 0.80 moderate/fair, <0.60 poor).ResultsFollowing the workshop, inter-observer agreement improved for the evaluation of FNPS (rho = 0.70, delta rho = +0.11), largest follicle diameter (rho = 0.77, delta rho = +0.10), ovarian volume (rho = 0.84, delta rho = +0.12), follicle distribution pattern (kappa = 0.80, delta kappa = +0.21) and presence of a CL (kappa = 0.87, delta kappa = +0.05). No improvement was evident for FNPO (rho = 0.54, delta rho = -0.01). Both radiologists and reproductive endocrinologists demonstrated improvement in scores (p < 0.001).ConclusionReliability in evaluating ultrasonographic features of polycystic ovaries can be significantly improved following participation in a training workshop. If ultrasonographic evidence of polycystic ovaries is to be used as an objective measure in the diagnosis of PCOS, then standardized training modules should be implemented to unify the approach to evaluating polycystic ovarian morphology.