Popular media and the bombardment of evolution misconceptions.

Background: Many students enter science classrooms with misconceptions about scientific principles. One of the most perceived controversial scientific principle for students is evolution. Students struggle to learn and accept evolution due to the many misconceptions students have interacted with before they enter a biology class. Evolution misconceptions come from many sources, such as religious beliefs, textbooks, and even unprepared educators. However, with students spending on average over seven hours a day viewing popular media, it is crucial to investigate further the accuracy of the portrayals of evolution in popular media. Results: We gathered data on the sources students saw evolution portrayed in popular media and determined what misconceptions were present in these popular media references. We found that 96% of the popular media references mentioned by students in our study inaccurately depicted evolution. The two most common misconceptions we observed in popular media were that evolution was depicted as a linear process and that individual organisms evolve instead of populations. Conclusion: Popular media does a poor job depicting evolution, which may be why many students are hesitant to learn evolution and overcome misconceptions. We suggest that these incorrect portrayals of evolution may provide an engaging way to teach correct evolutionary principles in the classroom.

Long-Term Outcomes of Ross Procedure versus Mechanical Aortic Valve Replacement: Meta-Analysis of Reconstructed Time-To-Event Data.

In the era of lifetime management of aortic valve disease, the Ross procedure emerged as an alternative to prosthetic heart valves for young adults; however, more long-term data are warranted. We performed a meta-analysis of reconstructed time-to-event data to compare long-term outcomes between the Ross procedure and mechanical aortic valve replacement (mAVR) in young adults. PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and GoogleScholar were searched for studies comparing Ross procedure with mAVR that reported mortality/survival rates and/or reoperation rates accompanied by at least one Kaplan-Meier curve for any of the outcomes. Six observational studies (5 with propensity score matching) including 5024 patients (Ross: 1737; mAVR: 3287) met our inclusion criteria. Patients who underwent Ross had a significantly lower risk of mortality in the overall population (HR 0.38, 95%CI 0.30-0.49, P<0.001; median follow-up of 7.2 years) and in the propensity score matched cohorts (HR 0.55, 95%CI 0.42-0.73, P<0.001; median follow-up of 10.2 years); however, the incidence function for the cumulative risk of reoperation was higher for the Ross procedure (HR 1.91, 95%CI 1.36-2.70, P<0.001; median follow-up of 9.3 years). Data from observational studies suggest that the Ross procedure is associated with lower all-cause mortality compared with mAVR; however, there is a higher risk of reoperation. Besides serving as basis to inform patients about benefits and risks involved in this choice, these results call for further randomized clinical trials to determine whether the Ross procedure can achieve its potential benefits in young patients in need of AVR.

Evaluating the Structure of Early English Literacy Skills in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children.

Better understanding the mechanisms underlying developing literacy has promoted the development of more effective reading interventions for typically developing children. Such knowledge may facilitate effective instruction of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. Hence, the current study examined the multivariate associations among phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge, word reading, and vocabulary skills in DHH children who have auditory access to speech. One hundred and sixty-seven DHH children (M age = 60.43 months) were assessed with a battery of early literacy measures. Forty-six percent used at least 1 cochlear implant; 54% were fitted with hearing aids. About a fourth of the sample was acquiring both spoken English and sign. Scores on standardized tests of phonological awareness and vocabulary averaged at least 1 standard deviation (SD) below the mean of the hearing norming sample. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that DHH children's early literacy skills were best characterized by a complex 3-factor model in which phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge, and vocabulary formed 3 separate, but highly correlated constructs, with letter-sound knowledge and word reading skills relating to both phonological awareness and alphabetic knowledge. This supports the hypothesis that early reading of DHH children with functional hearing is qualitatively similar to that of hearing children.

Depressive symptoms in third-grade teachers: relations to classroom quality and student achievement.

This study investigated associations among third-grade teachers' (N = 27) symptoms of depression, quality of the classroom-learning environment (CLE), and students' (N = 523, Mage  = 8.6 years) math and literacy performance. teachers' depressive symptoms in the winter negatively predicted students' spring mathematics achievement. This depended on students' fall mathematics scores; students who began the year with weaker math skills and were in classrooms where teachers reported more depressive symptoms achieved smaller gains than did peers whose teachers reported fewer symptoms. teachers' depressive symptoms were negatively associated with quality of CLE, and quality of CLE mediated the association between depressive symptoms and student achievement. The findings point to the importance of teachers' mental health, with implications for policy and practice.

Changing nonmainstream American English use and early reading achievement from kindergarten to first grade.

PURPOSE: This study had 2 principal aims: (a) to examine whether children who spoke Nonmainstream American English (NMAE) frequently in school at the end of kindergarten increased their production of Mainstream American English (MAE) forms by the end of first grade, and (b) to examine concurrent and predictive relations between children's NMAE use and reading skills. METHOD: A longitudinal design was implemented with 49 children who varied in their spoken NMAE production in kindergarten. Word reading, phonological awareness, and receptive vocabulary skills were measured at both time points. RESULTS: Analyses indicated that most children significantly increased their production of MAE forms between the 2 time points; however, this change was not associated with change in letter-word reading and phonological awareness skills. Regression analyses showed that NMAE use in kindergarten contributed significantly and independently to the variance in word reading in first grade, even after accounting for phonological awareness (although word reading in kindergarten was the best predictor of word reading in first grade). CONCLUSIONS: The findings extend previous reports of a significant relation between NMAE use and reading among young children. Theoretical, research, and educational implications of the findings are discussed.