Launching Literacy in After-School Programs: Early Lessons from the CORAL Initiative

The James Irvine Foundation launched the Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative in 1999 with the goal of improving the academic achievement of children in the lowest-performing schools in five California cities. In 2004, CORAL adopted a more targeted approach toward reaching this goal by integrating a regular schedule of literacy instruction into its after-school programs. This interim report, based on research conducted between Fall 2004 and Summer 2005, documents CORALs progress toward implementing high-quality and consistent literacy programming. The report presents early results in terms of youths positive reading gains and describes the program components that appear to have contributed to these gains. It also identifies challenges CORAL sites faced and successful strategies for addressing those challenges

Making Every Day Count: Boys & Girls Clubs' Role in Promoting Positive Outcomes for Teens Executive Summary

This executive summary highlights the main findings from P/PV's three-year study of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve. Drawing on several sources of data -- surveys of a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of approximately 320 youth (starting when they were seventh and eighth graders and following them into the ninth and tenth grades), Club attendance records over a 30-month period, and in-depth interviews with a sample of ninth graders -- we investigated the relationship between participation and three outcome areas identified by Boys & Girls Clubs of America as central to its mission: good character and citizenship, academic success and healthy lifestyles

Making Every Day Count: Boys & Girls Clubs' Role in Promoting Positive Outcomes for Teens

The third in a series of reports from P/PV's three-year study of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve, Making Every Day Count examines how Club participation is related to youth's positive and healthy development in three outcome areas identified by Boys & Girls Clubs of America as central to its mission: good character and citizenship, academic success and healthy lifestyles.The report draws on several sources of data -- surveys of a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of approximately 320 youth (starting when they were seventh and eighth graders and following them into the ninth and tenth grades), Club attendance records over a 30-month period, and in-depth interviews with a sample of ninth graders -- to investigate the relationship between participation and outcomes. The findings show that teens who had higher levels of participation in the Clubs experienced greater positive change on 15 of 31 outcomes examined, including increases in integrity (knowing right from wrong) and academic confidence, decreases in incidents of skipping school, and a lower likelihood of starting to carry a weapon or use marijuana or alcohol.Qualitative data bolster these findings, providing insights from youth and staff about the practices and strategies that support the influence of the Club, as a whole, on youth's lives. The data suggest that there is a confluence of things the Clubs are doing right to serve teens and sustain their connection to the Club as they transition from middle school to high school. Interviewed staff and the teens spoke about the overall Club environment, the safe place it provides and the role of interactions with supportive adults and peers as crucial -- and, in their view, more important than specific programming -- in helping promote teens' positive development.The findings from the evaluation offer a promising picture of the role Clubs can play in the lives of teens; they also point to valuable lessons for the larger out-of-school-time field, where there is increasing interest in the question of how to effectively engage teens -- a population that has been critically underserved in many low-income communities

The Relevance of the Biopic Krotoa (2017): A Mis-Representation of History?

This dissertation examines the representation the Khoi woman Krotoa in the film of the same name directed by Roberta Durrant (2017). It draws on scholarship by Pamela Scully (2005) and Julia C. Wells (1997), who argue that Krotoa adapted well to her circumstances, following the arrival of Jan Van Riebeeck at the Cape in 1652. Krotoa used her gender to influence Van Riebeeck's decision-making, regarding trade relations with the Khoi people. This thesis shows these views to be complicated and contested, especially considering evidence of victimisation and sexual assault of indigenous women by colonial authorities – as Pamela Scully (2005) has noted. Yvette Abrahams (1996) also wrote that Krotoa's alcoholism indicated some form of trauma. Simultaneously, indigenous people were also stereotyped based on race. They were deemed immoral and generally inferior to Europeans. These ideologies were perpetuated by European writings on encounters with indigenous people, as scholars like Nicholas Hudson (2004) write. Additionally, indigenous women such as Sarah Baartman, were perceived by Europeans as sexually deviant and hyper-sexual – as written by Zine Magubane (2001). It is for this reason therefore, that issues of identity, sexuality and gender are significant to this study on, Krotoa (2017). Furthermore, in bringing together the narratives of Sarah Baartman and Krotoa, it emphasizes how indigenous women have been marginalised and abused within a colonial society. Critical analysis of the film indicates that history has been distorted by the way Krotoa is represented. This was largely due to the perception that the film is told from the perspective of a ‘white' man, as Rusana Philander (2017) discusses. Moreover, due to the extent to which Durrant's film has been influenced by the past, I argue that Krotoa is mis-represented – both in history and in her representation on-screen

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe clay till of Sarnia and fractured bedrock of Smithvilie, Ontario provide wellcharacterized groundwater systems in which to examine the diffusive transport and crustal degassing of helium. Although poorly defined in the literature, the application of effective diffusion coefficients accurately describes the transport of 4He in geologic media and is examined at both sites. In addition, the sites provide an opportunity to determine the crustal degassing flux in shallow groundwater systems for comparison to large sedimentary basins. The effective diffusion coefficients of 4He in clay till and fractured shale are examined by numerical simulation of measured groundwater 4He concentrations at both sites. Effective diffusion coefficients of 6.3 x 10"6 cm2/s and 1.48 x 10'7 cm2/s were determined for the clay till and the Rochester Shale, respectively. A mass balance of methane substantiates that diffusion is the primary means of mass transport through the shale and define a CH4 effective diffusion coefficient of 3.7 x 1CT8 cm2/s. The model results emphasize the importance of applying an effective diffusion coefficient to describe the transport of helium through geologic media. The internal release rates and degassing fluxes are determined for both sites. The He degassing fluxes out of the clay till (2.7 x 108 atoms4He/m2/s) and Rochester Shale (1.22 -1.70 x 108 atoms4He/m2/s) are similar to the crustal degassing fluxes reported in the literature. The results of this study suggest the importance of the release of stored helium to the crustal degassing flux. Furthermore, the results indicate that a significant percentage of ancient stored helium is released to the atmosphere during erosional processes that cause grain size reduction and are not measurable in groundwater. A new dissolved gas sampling method was developed to permit sample collection from small diameter peizometers and/or low permeability units. The results of field and laboratory analysis indicate that the samplers equilibrate in -8 hours in advection-dominated systems, and within two weeks in a controlled diffusion-dominated system. The samplers allow for high quality dissolved gas samples with minimal effort, time, and expense. The samplers eliminate sample loss and contamination common to other methods of obtaining dissolved gas samples

Randomized Trial of a Health Coaching Intervention to Enhance Retention in Care: California Collaborative Treatment Group 594.

Poor linkage, engagement and retention remain significant barriers in achieving HIV treatment goals in the US. HIV-infected persons entering or re-entering care across three Southern California academic HIV clinics, were randomized (1:1) to an Active, Linkage, Engagement, Retention and Treatment (ALERT) specialist for outreach and health coaching, or standard of care (SOC). The primary outcome of time to loss to follow up (LTFU) was compared using Cox proportional hazards regression modeling. No differences in the median time to LTFU (81.7 for ALERT versus 93.6 weeks for SOC; HR 1.27; p = 0.40), or time to ART initiation was observed (N = 116). Although, ALERT participants demonstrated worsening depressive symptomatology from baseline to week 48 compared to SOC (p = 0.02). The ALERT intervention did not improve engagement and retention in HIV care over SOC. Further studies are needed to determine how best to apply resources to improve retention and engagement

Political strategies of external support for democratization

Political strategies of external support to democratization are contrasted and critically examined in respect of the United States and European Union. The analysis begins by defining its terms of reference and addresses the question of what it means to have a strategy. The account briefly notes the goals lying behind democratization support and their relationship with the wider foreign policy process, before considering what a successful strategy would look like and how that relates to the selection of candidates. The literature's attempts to identify strategy and its recommendations for better strategies are compared and assessed. Overall, the article argues that the question of political strategies of external support for democratization raises several distinct but related issues including the who?, what?, why?, and how? On one level, strategic choices can be expected to echo the comparative advantage of the "supporter." On a different level, the strategies cannot be divorced from the larger foreign policy framework. While it is correct to say that any sound strategy for support should be grounded in a theoretical understanding of democratization, the literature on strategies reveals something even more fundamental: divergent views about the nature of politics itself. The recommendations there certainly pinpoint weaknesses in the actual strategies of the United States and Europe but they have their own limitations too. In particular, in a world of increasing multi-level governance strategies for supporting democratization should go beyond preoccupation with just an "outside-in" approach