Millersville University

Teachers enter increasingly linguistically diverse classrooms, and report being ill-prepared to support the learning of multilingual learners of English (MLEs) in the early grades. This study explored the potential of a dual-pathway approach where paired in-service mentors and pre-service mentees are provided with aligned and synchronized professional development (PD) content on effective practice for MLEs. The efficacy of this approach was explored with 14 pre-service teachers and 14 matched in-service mentor teachers at four schools and contrasted with eight in-service teachers at four demographically matched schools not receiving PD and their 680 students. Results showed statistically significant growth and differences on evidence-based language and literacy strategies for teachers receiving the PD compared to teachers not receiving the PD as well as statistically significant growth in student performance for classrooms with PD receiving teachers. The current study provides promise for the potential of this approach and promotes porousness in university–school partnerships.

Abstract Purpose This research aims to investigate how TikTok influencers make an impact on tourism and shape the public image of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, through a cross-cultural comparison with Washington D.C., in the United States. Riyadh and Washington D.C. were selected because of their significance as tourist destinations in their respective countries. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methods approach has been employed to analyze the contributions of social media influencers to the tourism industry and to evaluate user perceptions of video effectiveness and city image. Qualitative content analysis was conducted to examine video content, comments, and congruence. Following this, a survey was administered to further investigate the influence of demographic factors on audience attitudes, travel intentions, and city image perceptions. Findings Analysis of the TikTok videos revealed similar communication patterns among influencers from Saudi Arabia and the United States in creating appealing experiences for tourists. In comparison, influencers in Saudi Arabia tended to emphasize adventure-based and culture-focused content, while those in the U.S. featured more event-based and lifestyle-focused content in their videos. Engagement rates and strategies differed between the two groups. Survey results revealed that while both groups emphasized transparency and credibility, U.S. respondents exhibited higher levels of media skepticism and expressed broader concerns, including issues of representation, over-tourism, and hidden costs. Saudi participants highlighted cultural sensitivity and favored authentic local narratives. Practical implications Analyzing the impact of social media influencers on TikTok offers valuable insights into how influencers promote tourism, engage audiences, and shape the image of cities. It provides practical value by uncovering differences in influencer strategies and audience engagements. This comparison also enables new perspectives on how city images can be more effectively constructed and communicated through social media platforms. Social implications The qualitative and quantitative research findings are significant for audiences in a global context, including both local and international tourists. They provide a deeper understanding of how social media content influences perceptions of the city and travel behaviors. Originality/value This research adds new knowledge to the field of social media studies by offering a cross-cultural comparison with a focus on TikTok influencers.

Abstract Date Presented 04/04/2025 Self-determination among students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is associated with positive postsecondary outcomes. Researchers measured the self-determination of students with IDD enrolled in inclusive postsecondary education settings over a 3-year period. Primary Author and Speaker: Meghan Blaskowitz Additional Authors and Speakers: Emma Tierney, McKenna Killion Contributing Authors: Andrea Parente, Sally A. Gould-Taylor

Over the past decade, universities have seen an increase in autistic student enrollment; however, many of these universities are not supporting autistic students to have a quality college experience. Although more autistic young adults are pursuing college, many do not persist to graduation due to a lack of individualized accommodations, siloed provision of support from universities, and overall hesitancy among faculty, staff, and administration to include autistic students in all campus spaces. In addition, autistic students struggle to build self-advocacy, self-determination, and functional life skills upon transition from high school. This Perspectives article was written by a team of inclusive postsecondary education professionals who have seen firsthand the challenges that autistic students experience in college. These authors advocate for increased coordination and collaboration among university units to promote greater inclusion and targeted support for autistic students on their campuses. These recommendations include employing a student-centered approach to understanding and supporting autistic students, training faculty on autism and Universal Design Learning practices, and intentionally embedding opportunities for autistic students to enhance their social-emotional learning and on-campus relationships. Our direct experiences in trialing these systems of support have cultivated more accepting and positive environments for autistic students. Neurodivergent students deserve the same access and opportunity to seek higher education as their neurotypical peers. This article presents actionable steps for how this can happen on college campuses.

We study the complexity of a restricted version of the universality problem: testing equivalence to { 0 , 1 } ⁎ for languages that are either { 0 , 1 } ⁎ or { 0 , 1 } ⁎ − { w } where w ∈ { 0 , 1 } ⁎ . We show that this restricted problem for multi-pattern languages (MPL) is NP-hard, and for multi-pattern languages with regular substitutions (MPL REG ) is not recursively enumerable. Moreover, this undecidability result holds for any class of languages that effectively contains { w # w | w ∈ { 0 , 1 } ⁎ } , and is effectively closed under union, and concatenation with regular sets. Consequently, it has broad applicability and extends to many generalizations of regular languages. Sufficient conditions are then presented for a language predicate to be as hard as the restricted universality problem. By applying these conditions, we develop a uniform method for showing undecidability and complexity results simultaneously via highly efficient many-one reductions. In addition, the properties of this restricted universality problem can be used to investigate the descriptional complexity of multi-patterns. We show that the trade-off between multi-patterns and regular expressions is not exponential-size bounded. Non-recursive trade-offs between multi-patterns (or multi-patterns with regular substitutions) and numerous classes of language descriptors are also established.