Nonprofit Educational Organization Research Articles

Good Measures: Developing a Process for Authentic Assessment Creation in Food Education.

This paper presents the process taken by a nonprofit educational organization to create authentic evaluation tools for Food Education in K-12 schools. Development was a collaborative effort between organization staff and teachers during an Evaluation Summit. The program background, development of the Summit, and plans for post-Summit work continuation are described. The Summit included 14 teacher participants (3-4 per grade band in preK-1, 2-5, 6-8, 9-12). The process of tool development was captured via direct observations and analysis of artifacts (eg, participants' brainstorming chart paper, online development documents) to identify themes in successful approaches and challenges. Additional post-Summit activities were also captured via surveys and artifacts. Outcomes of this work are outlined, including the challenges in carrying out the creation of authentic assessments that accurately reflect the classroom teaching experience, and the value of in-person community building in the Food Education space. Key findings relate to the importance of in-person collaboration amongst teachers, centering students in evaluation, and equity and accessibility in tool development. Although outlining challenges and outcomes was not an a priori goal of this work, it provides important information for others working in the education nonprofit space-especially as it pertains to new approaches to classroom evaluation.

A critical analysis of the research evidence behind CAST’s universal design for learning guidelines

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a highly influential source of educational policy. CAST, a nonprofit educational organization, created UDL guidelines that they claim have a basis in research on learning, cognitive psychology, and the brain. The purpose of the current research was to evaluate the empirical studies cited on CAST’s UDL website as support for its guidelines. This review sampled articles provided as evidence for three UDL guidelines and analyzed their relation to choice, learning, and brain function. Results indicated that the cited studies provided little evidence for claims about UDL. Most of the studies did not offer a choice to learners or measure learning. None of the studies were related to brain function. Rather than supporting CAST’s UDL guidelines about the choice of multiple means of learning, the studies mostly provided support for single, effective instructional techniques. Overall, this study suggests that the cited evidence behind CAST’s UDL guidelines is weak and both basic research and implementation research are needed to establish the framework’s validity and effectiveness.

Unlocking Educational Quality Through Enhanced Teacher Satisfaction Insights

This study examines how brand image, service quality, and promotion strategies impact teacher satisfaction in WIJABA Sidoarjo, a non-profit educational organization. Using a quantitative approach with 179 teacher respondents, the research reveals a significant positive correlation between these factors and teacher satisfaction. The findings underscore the importance for non-profits to prioritize brand image, service excellence, and effective promotions to enhance teacher satisfaction and overall educational quality. These insights offer actionable guidance for improving educational services and cultivating a positive learning atmosphere. Highlight: Positive link: brand, quality, promotion, teacher satisfaction. Non-profits: focus on brand, service for better education. Improve teacher satisfaction, create positive learning environment. Keywoard: Teacher Satisfaction,Brand Image, Service Quality,Promotion Strategies, Non-profit Education

Значение институтов Конфуция в развитии обучения китайскому языку (на примере Института Конфуция Гуманитарного института НГУ)

With the increase of Sino-Russian cooperation in various fields, interest in Chinese is growing in Russia, which highlights the role of Confucius Institute to meet demand. Confucius Institute is a non-profit educational organization jointly established by China and other countries. Each of the 22 Confucius Institutes and classrooms in Russia present its distinctive feature and work hard in helping the Russian people learn Chinese, understand Chinese culture and enhance the humanist exchange between China and Russia. Chinese education is the most important task of the institutes. Using Confucius Institute of Novosibirsk State University as an example, this paper introduces works done by the institute from three aspects. Firstly, it contributes to Chinese education in the university. Secondly, it meets local residents’ needs to learn Chinese. Thirdly, it broadens the scope of regional cooperation and trains local Chinese teachers. With the support of Xinjiang University in China, the Confucius Institute at Novosibirsk State University has cooperated with many higher and secondary education institutions in Russia to expand international cooperation in Chinese education. The effective work of Confucius Institute at Novosibirsk State University has proved that it has played an active role in Chinese education. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, all Confucius Institutes and classrooms in Russia have continued operating by taking advantage of online teaching and learning and explored the route of development characterized with “Internet + Chinese”. The authors believe that Confucius Institutes will keep on contributing to the Chinese education in Russia with the joint efforts of both parties.

Run by others: school autonomy in Shanghai’s entrustment management reform

ABSTRACT The promotion of school-to-school collaboration and school autonomy has popularized in the global trends of school system reform over the past few decades. This article examines the Shanghai experience by specifically taking the entrustment management reform as an illustrative example. Since 2007, the government has contracted ‘good’ schools in urban districts and private non-profit educational organizations to manage a group of relatively ‘weak’ schools in rural districts. Three ‘weak’ schools and their entrusted bodies were investigated in this study to elaborate the nature and structure of school autonomy in the new hierarchical management system. This article argues that rather than leading to substantial redistribution of the autonomy between the government and the school as stated, the reform has reconstructed the school leadership. A kind of ‘one-side-collaboration’ has emerged in ‘weak’ schools’ decision-making processes, which has in effect decreased their autonomy. Nevertheless, the reform has generally proceeded smoothly. This can be articulated through understanding Confucian moral and interrelated autonomy, in contrast to the Western autonomy premised on egoism and rationality and emphasizing the self-other tension, and in China’s political and bureaucratic contexts.

Malaysian Learners’ Preferences-Based Profile Model Towards Adaptive Massive Open Online Courses

Massive open online courses’ technology is becoming the most recent innovations in online education and academia. Recently, it has been widely adopted in educational sectors and gained popularity among both students and instructors. Massive open online courses have rapidly become a trend in the field of higher education and received much recognition from scholars and non-profit educational organizations. Therefore, there has been a growing interest in investigating its limitations, challenges, and impact on education. Some issues and problems have been reported in the research and practice, such as problems related to massive open online course learners’ motivation and engagement during the courses, and course contents’ presentations have a significant impact on learner’s motivation. However, there have been few contributions to the literature in discerning the varying motivational drivers for choosing to consume the different presentation styles of massive open online courses. Therefore, the main goal of this work is to propose an innovative framework for adaptive massive open online course based on learners’ preferences. As such, the courses’ presentations are adapted to the preferred learning style of each learner. In this regard, this paper was conducted based on quantitative research methods.

CORPORATE UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT

Introduction. Corporate University is an educational entity which helps to advance organizational and individual knowledge. It has been widely discussed and adopted by many organizations. We investigate the development of corporate learning within the context of corporate universities. We determine that the corporate university meets business needs in training and manager performance. A corporate university can help regulate behaviours with strategic company goals and result in employee responsibility, promote corporate values and organizational culture. Purpose. The article aims to analyse the development of corporate universities. Method (methodology). The article is based on methods such as method of synthesis (to define the essential characteristics of corporate universities), method of structural and comparative analysis (to determine the place of corporate universities in the system of employees training). Results. The paper explores whether a corporate university is providing actual value to the organization from the perspective of employees training. The article argues that if corporate universities do not use pedagogical preferences aspects into their practice in e-learning, this will devalue the training system. The task of the corporate university is identified as training and development of employees, their knowledge evaluation, the common corporate standards establishment. We investigate how e-learning is received, managed and whether there is an influence on learner performance. The article introduces that corporate university can be a non-profit educational organization that has a more central role in training, retraining, and performance of employees than ever before. It is a company which is controlled by parent company but has a separate legal entity or a corporation department.

Queer Quantitative Query: Sexual Orientation in Higher Education Surveys

Queer Quantitative Query:Sexual Orientation in Higher Education Surveys Jason C. Garvey (bio) The dearth of quantitative research on sexual orientation in higher education is highly problematic yet not entirely surprising, particularly considering the historical exclusion of sexual orientation in national higher education data sets (Garvey, 2014). The lack of inclusive quantitative research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) students perpetuates hetero-normative and dominant methodological assumptions, which has great impact on policy and practice (re)formation. To promote inclusivity in quantitative research about LGBQ students, scholars must first understand how sexual orientat ion data are collected in higher education survey research (Garvey, 2014; Rankin & Garvey, 2015). There is one research question that guides this study: How is sexual orientation demographic information operationalized and collected in prevalent higher education quantitative surveys? The intended audience is survey developers, both researchers and assessment practitioners, who occupy a critical position for influencing sexual orientation survey data, which has lasting consequences for data analyses. [End Page 495] Because of the widespread use of the term sexual orientation within surveys, I chose to maintain this term within my manuscript, although I also advocate for more inclusive and dynamic terms in surveys (e.g., sexuality, sexual identity, sexual behavior, sexual attraction). Although there is a necessary entanglement of sexual orientation with gender identity, gender expression, and biological sex, I chose to foreground sexual orientation to recognize its distinct and separate context in survey data. For a critical examination the operationalization and collection of gender and sex data in higher education surveys, see Garvey, Hart, Metcalfe, and Fellabaum-Toston (in press). METHOD The purpose of this study was to examine how demographic information on sexual orientation is operationalized and collected in widely used quantitative surveys in higher education. Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) noted the importance of national surveys in higher education research: "A number of national [US] data sets, which produce a substantial portion of the evidence on the impact of college on students, have become targets of opportunity for large numbers of social scientists" (p. 15). Higher education survey instruments are "systems of knowledge" (Renn, 2010, p. 138), with great influence and importance, that require closer examination, particularly those overrepresented in highly regarded and widely circulated journals. To address the research question, I utilized Garvey's (2014) catalog of higher education survey instruments used three or more times within tier–1 higher education journals from 2010 through 2012. The focus on these particular journals is supported by Bray and Major's (2011) assertion that they are identified by higher education program faculty as influential and prestigious, as evidenced by their frequency of knowledge use, authorship, readership, and citations. Because sexual orientation is understudied in higher education quantitative scholarship (Garvey, 2014), focusing on tier–1 journals highlights systemic issues of inclusivity within a small set of prestigious and highly influential publications. One third (124 of 373) ofall the quantitative studies published in tier–1 higher education journals from 2010 to 2012 used data from 19 widely used survey instruments, demonstrating the high influence of these surveys. Of the 19 instruments, 6 were U.S. federal government surveys, and 13 were administered by nonprofit educational organizations. I chose not to include 3 of the nonprofit educational organization survey instruments in the analysis. First, the Cooperative Institutional Research Program College Students' Beliefs and Values Survey is connected to the Freshman Survey, which is already included in the analysis. Second, I did not include the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs survey because it assessed program information and did not include student-level variables. Third, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center does not publish and did not make available the National Student Clearinghouse survey for this study. Using Garvey's (2014) survey catalog, I acquired copies of the most widely used higher education survey instruments by either contacting survey distributors or downloading the instruments online. After collecting all the instruments, I conducted a detailed, directed assessment of the surveys (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005), concentrating on the prevalence and operationalization of sexual orientation in demographic questions. My analysis focused on (a) whether the survey included a question/ item about sexual orientation, and, if so, (a) how the question...

Performance Management Dynamics of Short-Term Employees in A Non-Profit Educational Organization: A Study of Indonesia Teaches Movement

Departing from their roots in private-sector organizations, studies on performance management have extended to non-profit sector. However, most research comes from Western and/ or developed countries with more emphasis on permanent employees. This study outlined the performance management system in Indonesia Teaches Movement (ITM), a non-profit educational organization in Indonesia. It explored how performance management was implemented to “young teachers”, graduates from highly ranked universities who were recruited to work as teachers in remote and impoverished areas in Indonesia for one year. Data were collected through performance management-related archival data and semi-structured interviews with six “young teachers” and three ITM officers. Thematic analysis indicated that performance management cycle had been adopted by the organization despite a short tenure of the job. Results also revealed the roles of organizational vision and culture in harnessing performance and the strength of outcome mapping as strategic tools closely aligned with performance management. Ultimately, this study confirms that Performance Management is a dynamic and adaptive system that can be applied to non-profit organizations, particularly to non-permanent jobs with unconventional work arrangements.

Психоактивные эффекты и токсические реакции, связанные с употреблением мефедрона и метилона (обзор литературы)

one of the most common classes among new psychoactive substances are substituted cathinones. The most popular substances among consumers, representatives of this class, are mephedrone and methylone. In this review, the accumulated scientific data on clinical effects, side effects, mechanisms of action associated with the use of methylone and mephedrone are systematized. When writing the review, two representative databases were used to find the scientific sources of PubMed and Google Scholar. The authors also used data from the site Erowid Center (non-profit educational organization in the United States, which provides information on psychoactive plants and chemicals). The literature search was conducted between 2005 and 2015.

The Synthetic Cannabinoids Phenomenon.

« Spice » is generally used to describe the diverse types of herbal blends that encompass synthetic cannabinoids on the market. The emergence of smokable herbal products containing synthetic cannabinoids, which mimic the effects of cannabis, appears to become increasingly popular, in the new psychoactive substances landscape. In 2014, the existence of 134 different types of synthetic cannabinoids were reported by the European Union Early Warning System. These drugs are mainly sold online as an alternative to controlled and regulated psychoactive substances. They appear to have a life cycle of about 1-2 years before being replaced by a next wave of products. Legislation controlling these designer drugs has been introduced in many countries with the objective to limit the spread of existing drugs and control potential new analogs. The majority of the synthetic cannabinoids are full agonists at the CB1 receptor and do not contain tobacco or cannabis. They are becoming increasingly popular in adolescents, students and clubbers as an abused substance. Relatively high incidence of adverse effects associated with synthetic cannabinoids use has been documented in the literature. Numerous fatalities linked with their use and abuse have been reported. In this paper, we will review the available data regarding the use and effects of synthetic cannabinoids in humans in order to highlight their impact on public health. To reach this objective, a literature search was performed on two representative databases (Pubmed, Google Scholar), the Erowid Center website (a US non-profit educational organization that provides information about psychoactive plants and chemicals), and various governmental websites. The terms used for the database search were: "synthetic cannabinoids", "spice", "new psychoactive substances", and/or "substance use disorder", and/or "adverse effects", and/or "fatalities". The search was limited to years 2005 to 2016 due to emerging scientific literature at this period Health professionals should take into account that limited scientific evidence is available regarding the effect of synthetic cannabinoids use in humans. It thus urges to launch more systematic epidemiological studies, to develop and validate screening procedures, and to investigate the neurobiological and psychological correlates and risk factors associated to synthetic cannabinoids use and misuse.

The Jews of Iran: The History, Religion, and Culture of a Community in the Islamic World

The Jews of Iran: The History, Religion, and Culture of a Community in the Islamic World

The Jews of Iran: The History, Religion, and Culture of a Community in the Islamic World

The Jews of Iran: The History, Religion, and Culture of a Community in the Islamic World

The effects and risks associated to mephedrone and methylone in humans: A review of the preliminary evidences.

New psychoactive substances have drastically modified the world drug scene. An increasingly popular class comprises synthetic or substituted cathinones (legal highs, research chemicals, bath salts). Among the most common psychoactive constituents of bath salts are mephedrone and methylone. Recent reports on the abuse of novel synthetic cathinone derivatives call attention to the serious physical and psychological risks resulting from their consumption, thereby emphasizing the growing use of these drugs might constitute an important public health issue. In this paper, we will review the available data regarding the use and effects of mephedrone and methylone in humans in order to highlight their impact on public health. To reach this objective, a literature search was performed on two representative databases (Pubmed, Google Scholar), the Erowid Center website (a US non-profit educational organization that provides information about psychoactive plants and chemicals), and various governmental websites. The terms used for the database search were "mephedrone", "methylone", "new psychoactive substances", "synthetic cathinones", "substituted cathinones", "substance abuse", "substance use disorder", "adverse effects", "fatalities". The literature search was limited to years 2005-2015 and led to the identification of 71 potentially relevant articles. To date, the actual prevalence rates of their use remains difficult to estimate. Important health-related issues have emerged in relation to the somatic, psychiatric, and addictive consequences of their use. The potential chronic health effects of their prolonged use remain to date unknown (e.g., reproductive toxicity, genotoxicity and carcinogenic potential). Treatment for patients with prolonged exposure to synthetic cathinones should ideally include a drug management plan coupled with psychotherapy taking place in a structured program of care.

Halting Beerrs March to Monopoly: The Likely Anticompetitive Effects of Anheuser-Busch InBevvs Proposed Acquisition of Grupo Modelo

Halting Beerrs March to Monopoly: The Likely Anticompetitive Effects of Anheuser-Busch InBevvs Proposed Acquisition of Grupo Modelo

Science Outreach at the BTC Institute - Aerospace Outreach Program & Special Initiatives Program

The BioPharmaceutical Technology Center Institute (BTC Institute) is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1993; located in Fitchburg, WI. During the summers of 2013 and 2014, the BTC Institute offered teacher training in biotechnology through two graduate education courses, Biotechnology: The Basics (2013 & 2014) and Biotechnology: Beyond the Basics (2013). Teachers of a wide variety of subjects with varied levels of teaching experience were active participants in this lab-based learning that provided teachers with training, background and curriculum materials including information about NASA and biotechnology. In addition to the teacher courses, the BTC Institute in partnership with the African American Ethnic Academy, Inc. (AAEA), a Madison non- profit organization, also offered "A Celebration of Life!, a science program for upper elementary and middle school students. The focus of the 2013 program was Energy and the focus of the 2014 program was Flight.

Hands-On Professional Development: Middle School teachers' Experiences with a Curriculum Intervention Research Project

This study explores the benefits of a university-school partnership that impacted 26 middle school teachers in four urban schools.A typical development (PD) session may look something like this: teachers straggle into the media center for a two-hour session on some aspect of instruction. The speaker describes a of strategies, and a few teachers may take notes, with the sincere plan on using these things in the next few days. Some teachers may take out their electronic devices to check e-mail while others have papers on their lap that need correcting. The two hours are up, and everyone shuffles back to their classrooms where they close their doors and plan for the next day or head home to make dinner. No one follows up on how teachers implemented what was learned at the PD session. Some teachers try one or two activities that were suggested, but soon teachers revert back to their pre-PD ways.The importance of development is clearly understood; however, the common scenario described above does not lead to the expansion of capacity, increased discernment, escalating enthusiasm, or more complex wisdom. Coleman and Goldenberg (2011) asserted that professional development cannot be of the one-shot workshop variety and must be embedded in the work lives of teachers and the routines of teaching (p. 161). In our experience as researchers in middle schools, we have noticed that most teachers confirm what research says about the effectiveness of sustained, contextually embedded PD, stressing the importance of the classroom as the context of the development. Nevertheless, little is known about how the most effective PD influences teachers' learning and how teachers perceive PD that goes beyond the typical two-hour session. In this article, we present the response of a group of middle school teachers to a university-led, eight-week curriculum intervention study that served as a form of PD for the teachers. Understanding teachers' perspectives on their own development as part of a university-school partnership can further extend knowledge about successful development for middle grades teachers.In the current study, researchers from a university and a non-profit educational research organization conducted a vocabulary intervention study at four middle schools in New England. Part of a federally funded intervention study, this initiative focused on the academic vocabulary learning of Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs). The teachers were first presented the curriculum during a 12-hour training session and were coached for eight weeks throughout the implementation of the curriculum in their classrooms. The original intent of the intervention training and coaching was to promote fidelity of implementation of the curriculum, not to research the effects of the intervention training as development for teachers. However, as the intervention progressed, the teachers often expressed to researchers and coaches that they were learning new aspects of vocabulary development and instruction. Therefore, during final interviews conducted following the completion of the intervention, teachers were asked to talk about their perceptions of the intervention as a PD opportunity. The findings reported in this article are based on these final teacher interviews.The findings presented here suggest that using university-school partnerships through curricular interventions can serve as valuable opportunities to provide effective PD, because these types of interventions allow for both content/instructional learning as well as sustained support.We begin with a summary of what is known about effective development, continues with a description of the intervention, and concludes with a focus on the teachers' experiences in working collaboratively with the researchers as a form of development.The importance of developmentWhile some researchers contend that development should focus primarily on and student learning (Guskey, 2000), others suggest that PD is also about deepening content knowledge for teachers (Antoniou & Kyriakides, 2011; Barber & Mourshed, 2007). …

Evidence for Upgrading the Ratings for Transcendental Meditation: Response to AHA Scientific Statement on Alternative Methods and BP

HomeHypertensionVol. 62, No. 6Evidence for Upgrading the Ratings for Transcendental Meditation: Response to AHA Scientific Statement on Alternative Methods and BP Free AccessLetterPDF/EPUBAboutView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessLetterPDF/EPUBEvidence for Upgrading the Ratings for Transcendental Meditation: Response to AHA Scientific Statement on Alternative Methods and BP Robert H. Schneider Robert H. SchneiderRobert H. Schneider Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, IA Search for more papers by this author Originally published14 Oct 2013https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.113.02115Hypertension. 2013;62:e42Other version(s) of this articleYou are viewing the most recent version of this article. Previous versions: January 1, 2013: Previous Version 1 To the Editor:The AHA Statement on alternative approaches to lowering blood pressure (BP) is a groundbreaking effort to inform physicians and public of their options.1 As principal investigator on several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique and other alternative interventions for BP and cardiovascular disease, I suggest 5 points for consideration.First, an alert reader notices a discrepancy between the level of evidence (LOE) of B for research on TM and the published evidence. The Statement defines LOE B as “Data derived from a single randomized controlled trial or nonrandomized studies.” However, the Statement surveys 11 RCTs with >1200 subjects and 2 well-conducted meta-analyses on TM and BP.2–5 Moreover, there are multiple hard event outcome trials on TM that are not available for other nonpharmacologic approaches.5,6Most of the RCTs published in the past 20 years have been competitively reviewed and externally funded, rigorously conducted in collaboration with leading academic medical centers, blinded, independently monitored, published in peer-reviewed journals, and replicated.4 The 2012 cardiovascular disease event trial was analyzed independently.5 BP effects of TM have been confirmed by numerous investigators, in multiple populations and with ambulatory monitoring.2,3,6Second, on page 18, it was suggested that TM is less practical, and on page 19, TM was omitted from the conclusion although it received a IIb recommendation (classification of recommendation [COR]), the same or higher than other methods in the list. Practicality has not been an issue in RCTs on TM conducted at 10 clinical sites with diverse sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, and geographic populations.2,3,6 Subjects generally report the practice is easy, relaxing, enjoyable, and convenient. Certified TM instructors are available widely. In the trials, the standard TM course of 1.5 hours/d over 5 or 6 days was implemented.2–6My impression is that both the LOE B and the COR IIb ratings were based only partially on objective evidence and that additional, nonprespecified judgments were applied. Ideally, the Statement would be transparent about subjective input and systematically apply prespecified criteria.Third, page 6 reads: “As a result of the paucity of data, we are unable to recommend a specific method of practice when TM is used for the treatment of high BP.” This implies there is >1 method of TM, but there is only 1. As with other behavioral therapies, there is consideration of individual patient characteristics. However, instruction is protocolized and standardized.2–6Fourth, the summary states that TM "modestly lowers BP"; however, the effect is the same order of magnitude as aerobic exercise and other nonpharmacologic methods recommended by the Statement.1Fifth, Table I indicates that COR is based on size of treatment effect, whereas the text suggests that LOE and clinical practicality are also considered. Given that the magnitude of treatment effect is similar to other recommended methods, that LOE meets criteria for level A, and the TM techniques demonstrated practicality and generalizability, it seems that COR of IIa should be considered as a more appropriate clinical rating.Overall, the AHA Statement is to be commended. We think that these clarifications will further enhance its veracity and clinical use.Robert H. SchneiderInstitute for Natural Medicine and PreventionMaharishi University of ManagementFairfield, IADisclosuresDr Schneider is a consultant to Maharishi Foundation USA, a nonprofit educational organization.

Abstract LB-47: The Prostate Net: We Inform To Fight

Abstract The Prostate Net (TPN) is a non-profit patient education and advocacy organization dedicated to serving Prostate Cancer patients and their caregivers. Using the experience gained as a marketing professional and as a 16-year Prostate cancer survivor, TPN founder and president Virgil Simons has built an international organization that uses websites, 800 numbers, email and personal team counselors, newsletters and public forums to address disease risk awareness and early intervention. TPN's core objectives are to (1) Educate consumers most at-risk for a diagnosis of prostate cancer; (2) Inform the community on co-morbid diseases and conditions of negative impact; (3) Motivate consumers to make informed choices about healthcare and lifestyle management; (4) Lay the foundation for on-going healthcare information dissemination and interaction between the community and medical centers; and (5) Create an interactive network to maximize broad scale, mass communications of actionable health messages. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-47. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-LB-47

Designing Research-Based Professional Development for Elementary School Science and Mathematics

A partnership including 11 school districts, a university, service agency, and private nonprofit education organization formed a collaborative partnership to improve teaching and learning in elementary school science and mathematics. The partnership designed research-based professional development for 150 teachers of grades 3–5. The professional development resulted in statistically significant increases for those elementary school teachers on math and science competency tests over a two-year period. The professional development was the vehicle for providing teachers with professional development so that they could (a) increase their content background in science and mathematics and (b) apply newly learned inquiry practices in their math and science instruction.