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This article highlights learning lessons and best practices from the California Campus Catalyst Fund (CCCF), a unique three-year, $14M grant and technical assistance initiative, which supports programs for undocumented students at 32 campuses within each of the public higher education segments in California (University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges). The article focuses on three essential components of substantive changes for undocumented students attending CCCF campuses: (1) access to financial aid; (2) knowledge about income generation through entrepreneurship; and (3) student leadership development. Recommendations stemming from best practices and implementation of the CCCF are provided for multiple audiences, including postsecondary educators, policymakers, and the philanthropic sector, focused on increasing access and success of undocumented students.

Research: The goal of this study is to understand the experiences of Black and Latino former high school students who dropped out, or were pushed out, of a large urban school district in Southern California. Specifically, this paper examines the barriers students faced that contributed to them leaving high school and their journey afterward. Thirty-nine former high school students who "dropped out", or were pushed out of school, 61.5% males (n = 24) and 38.5% females (n = 15), were interviewed. Findings: The findings indicate the use of punitive truancy control for dealing with health and psychological needs of students, transportation issues, personnel-student relationships, and standardized testing. Examining the experiences of students who have been pushed out of school can help educators and policy makers address some of the inequities within schools. Results: We argue that pushout prevention can be developed by changing truancy and other discipline policies in schools. Implications from this study help us understand how we can better support students before they are pushed out.

In this study, we analyze the effects of Project GRIT (Generating Resiliency and Inspiring Transformation), a six-week intervention program that worked with a group of high school "pushouts," students who were encouraged to leave school, in a school district in southern California. We interviewed thirty-nine former high school students who "dropped out," or were "pushed out" of school, 61.5% males (n=24) and 38.5% females (n=15). The mean age is 18.1 years and the sample consists of 27 Latino and 12 African American/Black youth. Findings indicate that an increase in healthy relationships with peers generates beneficial social and emotional skills, including increased communication, team-oriented thinking, projected self-actualization, trust, and development of self. We argue that storytelling is central to engaging and promoting at-promise students in the education system, providing them opportunities to overcome adversity, excel in academics, and expand their ability to build healthy relationships with others in their community.

A paradox exists between capital accumulation and corporate philanthropy: a record number of 'generous' donations and historic levels of social inequality. In education, tech companies are directing significant investments to shape public schools. Many efforts to support Latino boys are aligned with these goals, as interventions aim to prepare students for the 'new economy.' Few studies consider the experiences of high-performing Latino boys in relation to tech companies. This paper examines how the Bay Area tech industry, gentrification, and displacement impact the lives of high-performing Latino boys. We draw from an ethnographic study conducted by the first author in the Bay Area of Northern California. This paper shows the way students develop an understanding and actively protest their racialized predicament (i.e. resistance logics), while learning skills to acquire jobs in the tech economy that often appears to perpetuate this racialization (i.e. market logics).

Tabling events and pop-up museums are common informal education experiences where institutions set up temporary displays in association with a specific theme. These events typically aim to engage large audiences in a short period of time. Within these informal education settings, participation is voluntary, which implies that visitors are at least curious about the content but are unlikely to participate in a lengthy formal evaluation. As such, we conducted an evaluation of a novel instrument designed to characterize audiences when interaction times are brief. The instrument is referred to as an Audience Matrix Tool (AMT) and operates as a platform for quickly recording visitor information. The AMT was implemented at four Florida Museum of Natural History pop-up events and two Raymond Alf Museum pop-up events to assess usability and adaptability. This exploratory study does not propose the AMT as a validated instrument, but rather introduces it as a potentially versatile tool for informal education settings.

This water safety study was both descriptive and exploratory in nature. The purpose was for middle school students to assess their own water safety experiences and to help school decision-makers determine the extent of drowning/water accidents. In July 2009, a water safety survey was administered to 122 students participating in the local Summer Connection Program for seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students, which included children of migrant families as well as economically and educationally disadvantaged students. Chi-square analyses found that Hispanics were less likely than either Whites or Others to have worn personal flotation device (p less than or equal to 0.001), low ability swimmers were less likely to wear a personal flotation device, Hispanics were less likely to swim in ponds, health problems were a barrier to swimming for all ethnicities except Whites, more ninth graders had friends who enjoyed swimming, and more females felt their nearest pool was in good condition (p less than or equal to 0.05). Schools and other community resources need to work together and educate more children ages 1-14 to improve water safety awareness. Drowning rates are higher among minorities, which may be related to a lack of water safety education and awareness. Future research should continue to examine causes of drowning for K-12 students. (Contains 3 tables.)

Cervical cancer is a major health concern for Latinas, who are also less likely to undergo a Pap smear exam than the general population. This study identifies alterable determinants of Pap smear screening for Latino women living in a rural area of California. It involved the design and pilot testing of a culturally appropriate instrument and the development of semi-structured interviews with 51 Latinas. Qualitative data were analyzed using NUD*IST. Results from this study indicate that the main factors identified by participants as hindering their decision to seek Pap smear exams were long waiting periods, a lack of continuity of care, a perceived lack of quality of care, language differences, and a lack of knowledge regarding how to access the health system. This article provides health educators working in health care settings with an analysis of the cultural and logistic factors influencing health-related decisions in immigrant and rural Latino populations. It also presents some of the lessons that health educators can learn to enhance their professional practice when working with disadvantaged populations.

Using affiliation network data collected at a large high school, this study examined differences between who encourages Latina/o and White students to enroll in advanced courses. Previous research has shown a positive association between emotional support and academic achievement, and thus, this study shifts the focus from who informs students to who encourages them. This study revealed that on average, Latina/o and White students have different networks of encouragement.

Natural language contains disfluencies and errors. Do listeners simply discard information that was clearly produced in error, or can erroneous material persist to affect subsequent processing? Two experiments explored this question using a structural priming paradigm. Speakers described dative-eliciting pictures after hearing prime sentences that either were disfluent but with a consistent dative structure or were sentences that began as datives but were corrected to transitives (e.g., "The mechanic is giving the new part… uh… is recognizing the new part"). If an erroneous and corrected sentence fragment is discarded, then the original form of an ultimately transitive utterance should not influence future production. However, if the syntactic parse of an error is not discarded, then it should influence speakers' subsequent choice of syntactic structure. In both experiments, structural priming was significantly reduced when primes were corrected to a non-dative structure (relative to disfluent but ultimately dative primes). However, target descriptions did show an influence from corrected errors when the prime and target shared the same verb. Thus, a parse mapping a verb to a specific argument structure can persist despite being explicitly marked as an error, reflecting the incremental and predictive nature of comprehension.

Four experiments investigate the influence of topic status and givenness on how speakers and writers structure sentences. The results of these experiments show that when a referent is previously given, it is more likely to be produced early in both sentences and word lists, confirming prior work showing that givenness increases the accessibility of given referents. When a referent is previously given and assigned topic status, it is even more likely to be produced early in a sentence, but not in a word list. Thus, there appears to be an early mention advantage for topics that is present in both written and spoken modalities but is specific to sentence production. These results suggest that information-structure constructs, like topic, exert an influence that is not based only on increased accessibility but also reflects mapping to syntactic structure during sentence production. (Contains 2 figures, 5 tables, and 3 footnotes.)

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in youth in a low-income, urban community. Study design: Data from a retrospective chart review of 701 subjects from the Bayview Child Health Center in San Francisco are presented. Medical chart documentation of ACEs as defined in previous studies were coded and each ACE criterion endorsed by a traumatic event received a score of 1 (range = 0-9). This study reports on the prevalence of various ACE categories in this population, as well as the association between ACE score and two pediatric problems: learning/behavior problems and body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 85% (i.e., overweight or obese). Results: The majority of subjects (67.2%, N = 471) had experienced 1 or more categories of adverse childhood experiences (ACE greater than or equal to 1) and 12.0% (N = 84) had experienced 4 or more ACEs (ACE greater than or equal to 4). Increased ACE scores correlated with increased risk of learning/behavior problems and obesity. Conclusions: There was a significant prevalence of endorsed ACE categories in this urban population. Exposure to 4 or greater ACE categories was associated with increased risk for learning/behavior problems, as well as obesity. Practice implications: Results from this study demonstrate the need both for screening of ACEs among youth in urban areas and for developing effective primary prevention and intervention models. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

Previous evidence suggests that when speakers produce sentences from memory or as picture descriptions, their choices of sentence structure are influenced by how easy it is to retrieve sentence material (accessibility). Three experiments assessed whether this pattern holds in naturalistic, interactive dialogue. Pairs of speakers took turns asking each other questions, the responses to which allowed mention of an optional "that" before either repeated (accessible) or unrepeated (inaccessible) material. Speakers' "that" mention was not sensitive to the repetition (accessibility) manipulation. Instead, "that" mention was sensitive to social factors: speakers said "that" more when adopting another's perspective rather than one's own, and tended to say "that" more when attributing emotions to oneself rather than another. A fourth experiment confirmed that in a memory task, the original pattern is observed. These results suggest that "that" mention is sensitive to the cognitive forces that operate within a production task; in dialogue settings, social factors were especially influential. (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.)

In December, President-elect Barack Obama selected Chicago's Dodge Renaissance Academy, a 400-student pre-K8 school, as the backdrop for choosing Arne Duncan, the Chicago Public Schools' CEO, as the nation's new secretary of education. Touted as a "turnaround school," Dodge represented the idea that if change could come to a high-poverty, failing school with low test scores and most students on free or reduced-price lunches, then there was hope for all schools. A school turnaround is a dramatic and comprehensive intervention in a low-performing school that produces significant gains in student achievement within two academic years. The turnaround model is a careful approach in which either the existing district or an outside partner provides step-by-step strategic oversight and tight operational support. In his speech at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Conference last June, Duncan suggested four basic turnaround models: (1) Students stay and adults leave; (2) Replace the staff and turn the school over to a charter or management organization; (3) Keep the staff but drastically change the school culture; and (4) Everyone goes. Duncan also noted other accomplishments of Chicago schools that had undergone turnarounds: Dodge and Williams Elementary Schools have more than tripled the percentage of students meeting state standards in science, reading and math in the past five years. This article discusses how the new president and secretary of education bring a new urgency to the task of turning around failing schools nationwide.

This article focuses on understanding successful Latina/o college student retention at 4-year institutions. Deficit models fail to consider how Latina/o students use different forms of capital (i.e., social, cultural, economic, and human) in earning a degree. Using data from the UCLA's Cooperative Institutional Research Program, factors associated with Latina/o degree attainment within 6 years were investigated. This article will be of interest to educators and policy makers committed to increasing college access and retention for Latina/o students. (Contains 1 table, 3 figures, and 1 note.)

This article reports the characteristics of Latino day laborers who have sex with female commercial sex workers (CSWs). A sample of 450 day laborers in Los Angeles was used. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the association of independent variables with the likelihood of having sex with a CSW. Overall, 26% of the 450 day laborers reported having had sex with a CSW in the previous 12 months. A lower likelihood of having sex with a CSW was found for those with more than 6 years of education and for those who were married and living with their spouses. A higher likelihood of having sex with a CSW was found for those who met the criteria for harmful drinking or drug dependence. Commercial sex work has been associated with sexually transmitted infections and other problems among clients of CSWs and warrants further attention by providers working with day laborers. (Contains 2 tables.)

Nearly all US schools are now connected to the Internet. However, slow connectivity is creating bottlenecks in schools, frustrating students and leaving them disarmed in the battle to stay competitive in the 21st century. Slow connectivity is imperiling the quality of U.S. K-12 education, while the rest of the world sets the pace technologically. In this article, the author discusses the issues surrounding high-speed Internet and broadband access in US schools. In the second section of this article, the author presents an interview with Deb Bonanno and Jayaram Balachander, senior Vice President of Product Design and chief technology officer (CTO), respectively, for Pearson School Technology, a division of Pearson Education (www.pearsoned.com). Their comments on some of the more compelling issues facing the educational community as it attempts to improve its Internet connectivity are presented.

Instructors have many tools to consider when offering online courses: chat rooms, discussion boards, and interactive Web environments, to name a few. The selection of applications for instructional purposes can be a complicated task as the number available grows. Not only must the application work, but it also must have a pedagogical purpose or serve an instructional requirement. The investigation reported in this article looked at synchronous online application selection in the e-conferencing environment. The authors studied 23 instructors who used e-conferencing in their courses for two semesters. The instructors were surveyed to determine which tools proved effective in accomplishing specific instructional tasks. Results from this study indicate that using e-conferencing tools for synchronous online instruction is effective. Results also point to the development of common techniques for using specific practices and e-conferencing tools to reinforce good instructional principles. Further exploration of this powerful tool set is necessary, and targeted research into the effective use of specific e-conferencing tools may lead to major improvements in the delivery of synchronous online education. By studying the combination of online tools provided by this software, specifically as it relates to specific learning/teaching objectives, researchers can improve the instructional value of its implementation. (Contains 5 figures, 1 table, and 11 endnotes.)

The term "student swirl" was coined by Alfredo de los Santos and Irene Wright in 1990, along with the term "double-dipping" (concurrent enrollment at two institutions), to characterize the back-and-forth, multi-institutional attendance pattern common among students attending community colleges. However, traditional "linear-matriculation" image of the college student still influences policy formulation and educational practice at all levels, despite the fact that most 18- to 24-year-olds do not experience a college education in a linear fashion. When many efforts to improve cost effectiveness, expand access, leverage technology, and enhance convenience for students are likely to promote swirl, it is unrealistic for faculty and administrators to continue to ignore its implications for curriculum development and delivery. To better accommodate the phenomenon of swirl, institutions should record it for statistical purposes and take advantage of it to enhance students?educational aspirations. California's ASSIST system, Arizona's Course Applicability System, and Florida's Statewide Course Numbering are examples of a growing number of Web-based systems that allow students to determine how they can obtain a degree through attendance at multiple institutions. College student transfer is one of the most important current issues for state policy, and efforts to accommodate its various forms can lead to regional and national collaborations and conversations that have real benefits for faculty members and their institutions.

A Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was observed killing a California butterfly ray (Gymnura marmorata) with a morphological abnormality off coastal California. Even though this heron species has previously been reported actively hunting batoids, this observation is the first documenting of an attack by a bird (or any other predator) on a butterfly ray. The behavior observed in this event adds butterfly rays as potential prey items of A. herodias and provides further insights on both this bird's ecology as a nearshore predator and that of ray species like G. marmorata as important prey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the North Coast Rural Challenge Network (NCRCN), a collaborative of four rural school districts in Northern California that works with businesses and communities to create project-based learning experiences for students. Discusses the use of technology including videoconferencing, Internet connections, Web sites, and e-mail, and gives examples of NCRCN projects. (LRW)

BACKGROUND: Research on subthreshold compliance with positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy in sleep apnea patients may inform clinical sleep medicine practice. We retrospectively assessed compliant and subthreshold compliant sleep apnea subjects to test whether regular but fewer hours of PAP use would demonstrate clinically meaningful improvements and correlate with outcomes. METHODS: A chart review was conducted of 113 consecutive sleep apnea subjects, naive to treatment, who completed a titration study and filled a PAP therapy prescription. Objective data categorized subjects into 3 groups: compliant, subthreshold compliant, and minimal use. Outcome measures assessed changes in insomnia, sleepiness, and nocturia on average 7 months from PAP initiation. Correlation coefficients analyzed dose-response relationships between hours of use and changes in outcomes. RESULTS: Among 113 PAP attempters, 104 (92%) were current users. Among 93 users with objective data, regular (consistent) PAP users included 59 compliant and 21 subthreshold compliant, and 13 subjects were minimal users. Compliant users averaging 6.6 ± 1.3 h/night and 42.0 ± 12.1 h/week showed the largest outcome improvements (all P < .05) with moderate to large effects for insomnia (d = 0.94), sleepiness (d = 0.58), and nocturia (d = 0.56). Subthreshold users averaging 4.1 ± 0.7 h/night but only 18.0 ± 5.6 h/week showed a large effect for insomnia (d = 0.76, P = .03) and nonsignificant, small effects for sleepiness (d = 0.38) and nocturia (d = 0.22). Correlation coefficients showed a trend for decrease in insomnia (P = .08; r = .20) and a significant decrease in nocturia (P = .034; r = 0.25), each in association with hours of PAP use. CONCLUSIONS: In a clinical sample, 86% of sleep apnea subjects regularly used PAP, but adherence was 63%. Regular users showed clinical treatment effects and potential dose-response relationships, suggesting that the term use offers advantages over the term adherence. Currently, subthreshold compliance may not merit insurance coverage in many countries, an issue affecting many sleep apnea patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on the effectiveness of a formalin-killed Streptococcus (S.) iniae bacterin (WT K288) and isogenic live attenuated mutant S. iniae strains for prevention of S. iniae infection in hybrid striped bass (HSB) at the Kent SeaTech aquaculture facility in Mecca, California. The genomic DNA of S. iniae colonies was identified by a Colony Fast-Screen Kit. Also detailed is the preparation of the bacterin and live vaccines. Immersion vaccination was used in HSB. There were no recorded post-vaccination mortalities.

Serpentinitic landscapes are characterized by unusual plant species composition and vegetation patchiness. We hypothesized that soil extractable Ca content is correlated with vegetation Ca concentration and may contribute to the unusual vegetation characteristics. Eleven pedons from California were sampled within soil survey mapping polygons containing the modal location for a classic "serpentine soil." Soil NH4OAc-extractable Ca/Mg ratio varied from 0.1 to 1.5 and total elemental Ca/Mg ratio varied from <0.01 to 1.9. Soil extractable Ca content was influenced by parent material mineralogy: soils with a Ca/Mg ratio of 0.2 or less were derived from serpentinite parent materials with only trace Ca-bearing minerals; soils with a Ca/Mg ratio >1.0 were derived from non-serpentinite parent materials, and soils with a Ca/Mg ratio from 0.2 to 1.0 were derived from serpentinite parent material that had minor amounts of accessory Ca-bearing minerals. Based on greenhouse studies, the Ca concentration of the leaf of the grass Vulpia microstachys (Nutt.) Monro correlated better with soil-extractable Ca (r2 = 0.69, P < 0.01) than with total elemental analysis Ca (r2 = 0.40, P> 0.05). The shallow soil depths of the pedons, together with the generally high coarse fragment content, limit the soil volume available to roots. Pedons with the highest extractable Ca/Mg (1.34 and 1.89) also had the greatest extractable Ca pool, 1169 and 394 g m-12, respectively. Among the 11 pedons, extractable Ca/Mg ratio, extractable-Ca pool, and the distribution of the Ca pool within the pedon all varied, and these variables were important determinants of plant performance, as determined by leaf Ca content. Of these variables, soil extractable-Ca content was the best determinant of plant performance as indicated by leaf Ca concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines the behavior of the herbicide clomazone in the soil environment using model rice and forest soils in California. It highlights the greater absorption of clomazole to the major organic matter fraction of soil, humic acid, than to whole soils. It further asserts the significant role of clomazone in the increased isotherm linearity found in the humic acid. The study concludes that clomatozole absorbs in humic acid more appreciably than in sandy or clay soils.