Los Angeles Unified School District

School engagement and mental health are frequently linked, but within-person associations over time are largely unstudied. Emerging statistical techniques can better gauge how longitudinal changes in school engagement or mental health influence individual-level outcomes. Two cohorts of students (recruited in 2017 or 2018) in 5 Los Angeles high schools completed baseline surveys at the high school transition and 3 annual follow-up surveys through 11th grade. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models explored the strength and directionality of associations between school engagement (Student Engagement Instrument) and mental health (Mental Health Inventory). Among 431 participants, we observed between-person and within-person correlations between school engagement and mental health. Autoregressive effects of school engagement and mental health on future levels of these variables were identified, with more consistent effects in late high school. A single cross-lagged effect from mental health to school engagement across the high school transition was identified. Decreased school engagement may signal corresponding cross-sectional changes in mental health, presenting opportunities for monitoring and intervention. Changes in school engagement or mental health may influence later within-person changes in these constructs, but associations are likely weaker and less consistent than previously assumed based on techniques that conflate between-person and within-person effects. This study assesses bidirectional and longitudinal relationships between school engagement and mental health among rising high school students. Both school engagement and mental health impacted future levels of these variables with stronger effects observed in the later high school years. Relationships between school engagement and mental health were less frequently observed than in prior studies, with an effect of mental health on future school engagement seen only across the high school transition. Interventions that promote both school engagement and mental health may be particularly beneficial, and the high school transition may be a promising time to leverage these.

Naineris bicornis Hartman, 1951 and N. australis Hartman, 1957 are redescribed and compared with specimens from the Northeastern Pacific Ocean. A new species, Naineris elegans sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on collections from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, USA. All three species are similar in terms of the chaetal arrangement and having multiple dorsal organs, but they differ in other characters. Naineris elegans sp. nov. is distinguished by a combination of the following characters: spatulate prostomium, multiple dorsal sensory organs oval to rounded, voluminous, seven per side in most chaetigers, with a brown pigmented base; arranged in two distinct groups in the most anterior segments, then forming two subtriangular groups with apex displaced medially in the following ones, touching each other; thoracic notopodial lobes pear-shaped with blunt tips; thoracic neuropodial lobe with an upper rounded papilla; thoracic neurochaetae with 5-6 transverse, posterior rows of numerous subuluncini; a transverse, anterior row of about 20 crenulate capillaries; an inferior, anterior, oblique row of about 20 hooded uncini and an inferior, posterior, oblique row of capillaries. The new species described here increases the number of known species of Naineris to 22. An updated key of species of Naineris from the Northeastern Pacific Ocean is provided.

ABSTRACT Teachers are entering the field with a different set of teaching expectations than existing teachers were held to during their own training programs. As a result of shifts in teacher preparation practices and increasingly diverse student populations, existing teachers may not be equipped to mentor novice and student teachers, perpetuating cycles of inequity and frustration. Employing qualitative methods that examined the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, this study explores factors that inform existing teachers’ willingness and ability to mentor the next generation of teachers. Findings suggest that there needs to be more explicit guidance and coordination on the part of all stakeholders, each of whom presents unique perceptions and agendas regarding mentoring the next wave of teachers.

SummaryCoral reefs are highly productive ecosystems with distinct biogeochemistry and biology nestled within unproductive oligotrophic gyres. Coral reef islands have often been associated with a nearshore enhancement in phytoplankton, a phenomenon known as the Island Mass Effect (IME). Despite being documented more than 60 years ago, much remains unknown about the extent and drivers of IMEs. Here we utilized 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding as a biological tracer to elucidate horizontal and vertical influence of an IME around the islands of Mo′orea and Tahiti, French Polynesia. We show that those nearshore oceanic stations with elevated chlorophyll a included bacterioplankton found in high abundance in the reef environment, suggesting advection of reef water is the source of altered nearshore biogeochemistry. We also observed communities in the nearshore deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) with enhanced abundances of upper euphotic bacterioplankton that correlated with intrusions of low‐density, O2 rich water, suggesting island influence extends into the DCM.

Minoritized students experience high trauma rates which can impact academic outcomes, and experiences may differ between males and females. We investigated the relationship between traumatic stress and academic outcomes by gender among predominantly minoritized students, and whether resilience-building assets can mediate the relationship between traumatic stress and academic outcomes. School administrative data were linked to survey data from 9th graders in 2016-2018 across 37 West Coast schools. We examined the association between traumatic stress risk and academic outcomes by gender. Where significant associations were found, mixed effects regression models accounting for school-level variation were fit to assess the role of resilience-building assets as potential mediators of the relationship between traumatic stress risk and academic outcomes. Among 1,750 female and 2,036 male students, we found no significant association between traumatic stress risk and low attendance (<96% days attended). The odds of low grade point average (GPA <2.0) were significantly higher among female students with traumatic stress risk (OR = 1.46, 95% CI [1.16, 1.84]), with no association among males. In models controlling for resilience-building assets, the magnitude of the association between traumatic stress risk and GPA <2.0 among females was reduced. We identified significant mediation for 3 resilience measures: self-efficacy (21.20%; p < .05), school support (18.97%; p < .05), and total internal assets (27.84%; p < .01). Resilience-building assets may partially mediate the effect of traumatic stress on GPA among females. Resilience initiatives, especially among minoritized female students, may protect against the effect of trauma on academics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

ABSTRACT Research over the past 40 years has consistently found that teachers do not report all cases of suspected child abuse and neglect even though they see children on a regular basis. Much of the studies on under-reporting by teachers have focused on public school systems, and there is very little research regarding the impact of cultural values. To address this gap in the literature, the current study examined the determinants of decision-making when it comes to responding to child abuse among a sample of Armenian-American faculty members across several private schools, with a specific focus on cultural values. The results indicated that some cultural values may be important but so too were attitudes toward, and knowledge of, reporting laws. Implications for future research and training for private school teachers are discussed.

This participatory action research (PAR) project describes crossover students’ college and career readiness needs in a major west coast urban school district. The paper provided insights from administrator researchers, participants, facilitator, and recommendations for school counselors, educators, and organizations who are thinking of creating more counseling support and educational opportunities for crossover students. The results include the reflections and recommendations of crossover youths (e.g., encourage us, we are worth the rigor). The discussion includes strategies for supporting the academic, career, emotional, and social needs of crossover students.

The transfer of knowledge and skills to the K-12 classroom is a central objective for any teacher preparation program. This chapter highlights how the skill of developing critical conversations around diverse literature can be woven into the coursework of any teacher preparation program. Theories such as Rings of Culture, Authentic Text, and Implicit Learning anchor this chapter. This chapter provides a practical strategy for building the capacity in teacher candidates necessary to transfer the authentic application of diverse literature to promote social justice and action to the K-12 classroom. The authors articulate how the high-leverage practice of developing Curated Conversations can be used to create environments that foster student voice, student choice, and student interest in any classroom. When modeled for teacher candidates, this strategy can become internalized into their practice and promote the development of professional educators committed to social justice and action.

Highlights A clinical pharmacist using recommendations of Food and Drug Administration-cleared computerized insulin dose adjustment algorithms based on analyses of glucose readings from continuous glucose monitoring (Abbot Free Style Pro) in 13 poorly controlled insulin-requiring diabetic patients increased time in target range of 3.9 to 10.0 mmol/L from 29% to 51% and decreased time in range of >13.9 mmol/L from 43% to 23% (both P = 0.01) after 3 months. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels (±SD) fell from 102 (±15) to 67 (±10) mmol/mol (P < 10-6).