Dynamic Assessment for Identifying Spanish-Speaking English Learners' Risk for Mathematics Disabilities: Does Language of Administration Matter?

We examined dynamic assessment's (DA's) added value over traditional assessments for identifying Spanish-speaking English learners' (ELs) risk for developing mathematics disabilities, as a function of the language of test administration (English vs. Spanish), type of math outcome, and EL's language dominance. At the start of first grade, ELs (N = 368) were randomly assigned to English-DA or Spanish-DA conditions, were assessed on static mathematics measures and domain-general (language, reasoning) measures in English, and completed DA in their assigned language condition. At year's end, they were assessed on calculation and word-problem solving outcomes in English. Results from multigroup path models indicated that Spanish-DA mitigates the impact of ELs' language dominance on DA performance. Moreover, ELs' language dominance moderated DA's predictive validity differentially depending on DA language and type of outcome. Spanish-DA showed higher predictive validity in Spanish-dominant ELs than English-dominant ELs when predicting calculations but not word-problem solving. English-DA was predictive for both outcomes, regardless of ELs' language dominance.

Mississippian subadults from the Middle Cumberland and Eastern regions of Tennessee: Biological indicators of population interaction.

OBJECTIVES: Human subadult skeletal remains can provide a unique perspective into biosocial aspects of Mississippian period population interactions within and between the Middle Cumberland (MCR) and Eastern Tennessee Regions (ETR). The majority of previous studies have concentrated on adult skeletal remains, leaving out a large and extremely important population segment. METHODS: Skeletal indicators of disease, growth, body proportions, and metabolic stress were collected from subadult remains from five archaeological sites over several temporal periods. Crucial to overcoming limitations associated with the osteological paradox, the biological results were placed into an archaeological context based on prior studies as well as paleoclimatological data. RESULTS: Results reveal homogeneity both within and between regions for most skeletal indicators. However, MCR individuals exhibit a higher frequency of pathology than those from ETC, while stature is significantly lower in younger subadults from the MCR. Within the ETR, there is no evidence for biological differences between Early Dallas and subsequent Late Dallas and Mouse Creek cultural phases. Despite presumed signs of increased conflict at the Dallas site, frequencies and types of skeletal pathology and growth disruptions are comparable to other regional sites. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that despite cultural differences between the ETR and MCR, there was no large-scale intrusion from an outside population into the ETR during the Late Mississippian Period, or if one occurred, it is biologically invisible. Combined with climatic and archaeobotanical data, results suggest the MCR subadults were under increased stress in their earlier years. This may have been associated with increased interpersonal violence and dependence on few food sources occurring with greater scarcity.

Babbling development as seen in canonical babbling ratios: A naturalistic evaluation of all-day recordings.

Canonical babbling (CB) is critical in forming foundations for speech. Research has shown that the emergence of CB precedes first words, predicts language outcomes, and is delayed in infants with several communicative disorders. We seek a naturalistic portrayal of CB development, using all-day home recordings to evaluate the influences of age, language, and social circumstances on infant CB production. Thus we address the nature of very early language foundations and how they can be modulated. This is the first study to evaluate possible interactions of language and social circumstance in the development of babbling. We examined the effects of age (6 and 11 months), language/culture (English and Chinese), and social circumstances (during infant-directed speech [IDS], during infant overhearing of adult-directed speech [ADS], or when infants were alone) on canonical babbling ratios (CBR = canonical syllables/total syllables). The results showed a three-way interaction of infant age by infant language/culture by social circumstance. The complexity of the results forces us to recognize that a variety of factors can interact in the development of foundations for language, and that both the infant vocal response to the language/culture environment and the language/culture environment of the infant may change across age.

Racial disparities in survival outcomes by breast tumor subtype among African American women in Memphis, Tennessee.

Racial disparities in survival among African American (AA) women in the United States have been well documented. Breast cancer mortality rates among AA women is higher in Memphis, Tennessee as compared to 49 of the largest US cities. In this study, we investigated the extent to which racial/ethnic disparities in survival outcomes among Memphis women are attributed to differences in breast tumor subtype and treatment outcomes. A total of 3527 patients diagnosed with stage I-IV breast cancer between January 2002 and April 2015 at Methodist Health hospitals and West Cancer Center in Memphis, TN were included in the analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were generated and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to compare survival outcomes among 1342 (38.0%) AA and 2185 (62.0%) non-Hispanic White breast cancer patients by race and breast tumor subtype. Over a mean follow-up time of 29.9 months, AA women displayed increased mortality risk [adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 1.65; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.35-2.03] and were more likely to be diagnosed at advanced stages of disease. AA women with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) had the highest death rate at 26.7% compared to non-Hispanic White women at 16.5%. AA women with TNBC and luminal B/HER2- breast tumors had the highest risk of mortality. Regardless of race, patients who did not have surgery had over five times higher risk of dying compared to those who had surgery. These findings provide additional evidence of the breast cancer disparity gap between AA and non-Hispanic White women and highlight the need for targeted interventions and policies to eliminate breast cancer disparities in AA populations, particularly in Memphis, TN.

Parenting Self-Efficacy, Parent Depression, and Healthy Childhood Behaviors in a Low-Income Minority Population: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Objectives Childhood obesity prevention and treatment depends, in part, on parents acting as agents of change for their children. Our objective was to measure the associations between parenting self-efficacy, parent depressive symptoms, and preschool child behaviors that support healthy growth. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a randomized controlled trial. Parenting self-efficacy was measured using a 5-item version of the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC-5) scale (α= 0.8). Parent depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CESD) scale. Child outcomes included diet (24 h diet recall), physical activity (accelerometry), sleep (parent-report), and media use during meals (parent-report). We performed separate multiple linear regressions for each outcome controlling for other covariates. Results The sample consisted of 601 parent-child pairs. Median child age was 4.3 (IQR 3.6-5.1) years; median child body mass index (BMI) percentile was 79.1% (IQR 66.8-88.5%); 90% of children were Hispanic/Latino, and 6% of children were non-Hispanic Black. Median parent age was 31.5 (IQR 27.6-36.0) years; 22% of parents met criteria for depression. Parenting self-efficacy (median PSOC-5 25; IQR 24-28) was negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (ρ = -0.16; p < 0.001). In adjusted models, higher parenting self-efficacy was associated with duration of child's sleep and fewer meals eaten in front of a TV (p < 0.001). There was a significant interaction of parenting self-efficacy and parental depressive symptoms on child sleep duration (p < 0.001). Parenting self-efficacy and depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with child physical activity or child diet. Conclusions In this minority population, higher parenting self-efficacy was associated with longer child sleep and fewer meals in front the TV, but parent depressive symptoms mitigated that protective effect for child sleep duration.

Parenting perceptions of low-income mothers.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to gain understanding of perceptions of low-income pregnant women and mothers about parenting. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants were 65 low-income, primarily African American, women in their 20s and 30s who were recruited from a faith-based social service center in Memphis, Tennessee. Interviews were conducted by nursing, social work, and psychology students. The existential phenomenological method was used to analyze verbatim responses of participants to vignettes depicting parenting behaviors of hypothetical mothers. RESULTS: Five global themes were identified: (a) Focus on baby's development: "Because I'm the Mother, I'm the First Teacher"; (b) Focus on baby's safety/security: "The Baby Could Be Hurt"; (c) Focus on conveying love: "She Just Wants the Baby to Feel Her Love"; (d) Focus on learning the rules of good childcare: "It's Important to Know the Do's and Don'ts"; and (e) Focus on doing it differently (better) than parents did: "When You Know Better, You Do Better." CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Findings suggest that these mothers care deeply about providing a better life for their children than the life they have had. They desire to learn about being the best parents they can be. As nurses, we can help to provide educational opportunities for mothers through a variety of evidence-based interventions delivered across the childbearing years.

Risk factors associated with antihypertensive medication nonadherence in a statewide Medicaid population.

BACKGROUND: This study seeks to determine the most important patient factors and health care exposures available through administrative databases associated with antihypertensive nonadherence. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional analysis of Medicaid hypertensive patients of Tennessee enrolled for 3 to 7 years from 1994 to 2000. Demographic characteristics, comorbidity and health care utilization were assessed during a 2-year period. The primary outcome was antihypertensive medication refill nonadherence. Subjects were categorized as adherent or nonadherent using an 80% cutoff criteria. Associations with nonadherence were assessed using logistic regression modeling. RESULTS: Of 49,479 subjects, 60.6% (n = 29,970) were classified as nonadherent and 39.4% (n = 19,509) as adherent. Significant predictors of nonadherence in multivariate analysis (P < 0.05) included male sex (odds ratio [OR] 1.12), black race (OR 1.67), urban residence (OR 1.12), obesity (OR 1.10), mental illness (OR 1.08) and substance abuse (OR 1.43). Significant protective factors included age (OR 0.97), disability (OR 0.62), diabetes (OR 0.76), hypercholesterolemia (OR 0.72) and Charlson index (OR 0.97). When health care utilization was considered, increased outpatient visits were associated with decreased nonadherence. Emergency department visits (OR 1.07) and hospital visits (OR 1.12) were associated with increased nonadherence. CONCLUSIONS: This cross-sectional study suggests that substance abuse, black race, emergency department visits and hospitalizations are risk factors associated with nonadherence. Outpatient visits are associated with a small decrease in nonadherence. Further studies are needed to determine the characteristics of outpatient visits that most improve adherence.

"... To keep her in the station in which she was raised": spatial and social connections between class and companionate matrimony in the slave South.

Courtship choices and matrimonial partners remained highly limited and well defined in the late antebellum South but two categories encompassed the bulk of objectionable variables: community ("spatial") and class ("social"). As a general rule, white antebellum southerners seldom married anyone residing outside their own space and rarely married anyone identified outside their own social place. This article examines these socio-spatial boundaries in the rural plantation regions of western Tennessee. Based on a detailed database of 122 new marriages in Madison County (1851-1855), the conclusions of this article reinforce the strength of these geocultural borders. Nine of ten white southerners married within their own class. However, a few notable exceptions complicate efforts to craft a monolithic interpretation, and exceptions are always illuminating. This article encourages reexamination of the subtle interplay between space and place in the slave South -- as evidenced in the universal pursuit of matrimony.

How does your kindergarten classroom affect your earnings? Evidence from Project Star.

In Project STAR, 11,571 students in Tennessee and their teachers were randomly assigned to classrooms within their schools from kindergarten to third grade. This article evaluates the long-term impacts of STAR by linking the experimental data to administrative records. We first demonstrate that kindergarten test scores are highly correlated with outcomes such as earnings at age 27, college attendance, home ownership, and retirement savings. We then document four sets of experimental impacts. First, students in small classes are significantly more likely to attend college and exhibit improvements on other outcomes. Class size does not have a significant effect on earnings at age 27, but this effect is imprecisely estimated. Second, students who had a more experienced teacher in kindergarten have higher earnings. Third, an analysis of variance reveals significant classroom effects on earnings. Students who were randomly assigned to higher quality classrooms in grades K­3­as measured by classmates' end-of-class test scores­have higher earnings, college attendance rates, and other outcomes. Finally, the effects of class quality fade out on test scores in later grades, but gains in noncognitive measures persist.

Metal exposures in an inner-city neonatal population.

OBJECTIVES: We measured concentrations of lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), and copper (Cu) in umbilical cord whole blood and examined sources of environmental Pb exposures in a predominantly African-American population. METHODS: Between April and July 2006, we collected reproductive histories, questionnaires, and blood samples from 102 women, aged 16-45 years, who delivered at a Memphis, TN hospital. RESULTS: The prevalence of preeclampsia and low birth weight infancy in the study population was 11% and 10%, respectively. Twenty-eight percent of mothers reported living near a potential Pb-contaminated area, while 43% lived in a residence built before 1978. Geometric mean (GM) concentrations for umbilical cord blood in the study population were 1.3, 3.5, 9.0, and 52.0 microg/dL for Pb, Mn, Cr, and Cu, respectively. Six neonates had cord blood Pb (CBL) concentrations above 10 microg/dL, while 20 had CBL concentrations > or =2 microg/dL. GM umbilical CBL levels were higher in neonates born to women living near a potential Pb-contaminated area (2.2 vs. 1.1 microg/dL) and those with friends, family or household members exposed to lead products (1.6 vs. 1.1 microg/dL). Some evidence of an exposure-response relationship was also detected between all four metal concentrations and an increasing number of maternal lead exposures. After adjustment for confounding, proximity to a Pb-contaminated area was the strongest environmental determinant of CBL levels among neonates with CBL concentrations of > or =2 microg/dL (odds ratio=5.1; 95% CI=1.6, 16.7). CONCLUSIONS: Metal concentrations were elevated in this population, and CBL levels were associated with proximity to Pb-contaminated areas.

Factor analysis of finger ridge-counts in Blacks and Whites.

Finger ridge-counts of an American White, American Black and an African Black sample were subjected to factor analysis. The analysis was carried out using correlation matrices computed from 10-ridge counts, each finger being represented by its largest count, and from 20 ridge-counts, using both radial and ulnar counts for each finger. The 20 count analysis was much more informative, demonstrating the relative independence of the radial and ulnar sides of the fingers. Moreover, the radial and ulnar counts themselves generally resulted in two factors reflecting counts on the ulnar digits and the median digits. The independence of the thumb was also demonstrated. There was considerable intersample consistency, although some evidence of sex and race variation was observed.