Explore the vast range of titles available.

In May, 2018, Children's Hospital Colorado noted an outbreak of enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) neurological disease. We aimed to characterise the clinical features of EV-A71 neurological disease during this outbreak. In this retrospective observational cohort study, children (younger than 18 years) who presented to Children's Hospital Colorado (Aurora, CO, USA) between March 1 and November 30, 2018, with neurological disease (defined by non-mutually exclusive criteria, including meningitis, encephalitis, acute flaccid myelitis, and seizures) and enterovirus detected from any biological specimen were eligible for study inclusion. The clinical characteristics of children with neurological disease associated with EV-A71 were compared with those of children with neurological disease associated with other enteroviruses during the same period. To explore the differences in clinical presentation of acute flaccid myelitis, we also used a subgroup analysis to compare clinical findings in children with EV-A71-associated acute flaccid myelitis during the study period with these findings in those with enterovirus D68 (EV-D68)-associated acute flaccid myelitis at the same hospital between 2013 and 2018. Between March 10 and Nov 10, 2018, 74 children presenting to Children's Hospital Colorado were found to have enterovirus neurological disease; EV-A71 was identified in 43 (58%) of these children. The median age of the children with EV-A71 neurological disease was 22·7 months (IQR 4·0–31·9), and most of these children were male (34 [79%] children). 40 (93%) children with EV-A71 neurological disease had findings suggestive of meningitis, 31 (72%) children showed evidence of encephalitis, and ten (23%) children met our case definition of acute flaccid myelitis. All children with EV-A71 disease had fever and 18 (42%) children had hand, foot, or mouth lesions at or before neurological onset. Children with EV-A71 disease were best differentiated from those with other enteroviruses (n=31) by the neurological findings of myoclonus, ataxia, weakness, and autonomic instability. Of the specimens collected from children with EV-A71, this enterovirus was detected in 94% of rectal, 79% of oropharyngeal, 56% of nasopharyngeal, and 20% of cerebrospinal fluid specimens. 39 (93%) of 42 children with EV-A71 neurological disease who could be followed up showed complete recovery by 1–2 months. Compared with children with EV-D68-associated acute flaccid myelitis, children with EV-A71-associated acute flaccid myelitis were younger, showed neurological onset earlier after prodromal symptom onset, had milder weakness, showed more rapid improvement, and were more likely to completely recover. This outbreak of EV-A71 neurological disease, the largest reported in the Americas, was characterised by fever, myoclonus, ataxia, weakness, autonomic instability, and full recovery in most patients. Because EV-A71 epidemiology outside of Asia remains difficult to predict, identification of future outbreaks will be aided by prompt recognition of these distinct clinical findings, testing of non-sterile and sterile site specimens, and enhanced enterovirus surveillance. None.

Prospective teachers often draw on their own experiences with writing as they envision and plan for future writing instruction. Rather than analyzing the types and topics of writing that teacher candidates engaged in as K–16 students, this study inquired into the mediational means shaping their writing processes. The teacher candidates in this study partnered with local high school students to blog about their varied in‐ and out‐of‐school experiences with writing. An analysis of these blogs revealed that three overarching mediational means—rules, time, and purpose—had either restrictive or enabling effects on participants’ writing. Findings from this study suggest that the value students attach to writing is a function of the mediational means that shape the experience. This study suggests that as literacy teachers prepare for writing instruction, they should pay particular attention to the restrictive and enabling effects of the various mediational means employed.

Monkeypox, a zoonotic infection caused by an orthopoxvirus, is endemic in parts of Africa. On August 4, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the U.S. monkeypox outbreak, which began on May 17, to be a public health emergency (1,2). After detection of the first U.S. monkeypox case), CDC and health departments implemented enhanced monkeypox case detection and reporting. Among 2,891 cases reported in the United States through July 22 by 43 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia (DC), CDC received case report forms for 1,195 (41%) cases by July 27. Among these, 99% of cases were among men; among men with available information, 94% reported male-to-male sexual or close intimate contact during the 3 weeks before symptom onset. Among the 88% of cases with available data, 41% were among non-Hispanic White (White) persons, 28% among Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) persons, and 26% among non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black) persons. Forty-two percent of persons with monkeypox with available data did not report the typical prodrome as their first symptom, and 46% reported one or more genital lesions during their illness; 41% had HIV infection. Data suggest that widespread community transmission of monkeypox has disproportionately affected gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men and racial and ethnic minority groups. Compared with historical reports of monkeypox in areas with endemic disease, currently reported outbreak-associated cases are less likely to have a prodrome and more likely to have genital involvement. CDC and other federal, state, and local agencies have implemented response efforts to expand testing, treatment, and vaccination. Public health efforts should prioritize gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, who are currently disproportionately affected, for prevention and testing, while addressing equity, minimizing stigma, and maintaining vigilance for transmission in other populations. Clinicians should test patients with rash consistent with monkeypox, regardless of whether the rash is disseminated or was preceded by prodrome. Likewise, although most cases to date have occurred among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, any patient with rash consistent with monkeypox should be considered for testing. CDC is continually evaluating new evidence and tailoring response strategies as information on changing case demographics, clinical characteristics, transmission, and vaccine effectiveness become available. .

Purpose The purpose of this study is to inquire into the effectiveness of authentic writing instruction embedded in a critical service-learning project in a middle school English Language Arts curriculum. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyzes middle school students’ survey responses before and after their participation in a critical service-learning project designed to engage students in authentic writing. Specifically, the paper considers students’ perspectives of community and writing as a result of their participation in the project. Findings Participants’ perspectives fell into three categories: audience influence, empowerment or personal knowledge to act and confidence in ideas. Originality/value These perspectives suggest a deviation from common findings regarding the benefits of authentic writing instruction, as the presence of an audience in this study often hindered student confidence in their abilities as writers and community change agents. Authors draw from the findings to offer recommendations to support teachers in effectively incorporating authentic writing practices and audiences into their instruction.

Purpose Grounded in the scholarship addressing teacher self-censorship around controversial topics, this paper aims to investigate a three-part research question: How do secondary English language arts (ELA) teacher–candidates (TCs) in the penultimate semester of their undergraduate teacher education program position political texts/speeches, interpret high school teens’ political standpoints and view the prospects of discussing political texts/speeches with students? The study findings provide insights to the ways some TCs might position themselves as novice ELA teachers relative to political texts/speeches, students, colleagues and families in their future school communities. Design/methodology/approach Audio-recorded data from whole-class and small-group discussions were coded for TCs’ positioning of political texts/speeches, interpretations of teens’ political standpoints and viewpoints on discussing with students President Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union” (“A.M.P.U.”) The coded data set was further analyzed to identify themes across the TCs’ perspectives. Findings The data set tells the story of a group of TCs whose positionalities, background knowledge and practical experiences in navigating divergent perspectives would influence both their daily selection and censorship of political texts/speeches like “A.M.P.U.” and their subsequent willingness to guide equitable yet critical conversations about controversial issues in the secondary ELA classroom. Originality/value In advance of the 2018 midterm elections, this paper considers how the common core state standards’ (CCSS) recommendations to include more nonfiction documents in ELA instruction positions ELA teachers to provide interdisciplinary support in helping students think critically about political issues. It expands on the body of scholarship that, thus far, has been primarily grounded in the research on social studies instruction.

Purpose This study inquires into the ways that three preservice teachers enrolled in one English education program at a state namesake university in the Southeastern part of USA, oriented to uncertainty when interacting with one another as they discussed potentially challenging/uncomfortable topics. Design/methodology/approach The tools of conversation analysis were used to analyze the three preservice teachers’ talk as they discussed the potential for using President Obama’s (2008) A More Perfect Union speech with their own secondary students. Findings The findings from this study suggest that when discussing uncomfortable topics like race and politics, preservice teachers tend to work toward consensus, rather than valuing tension and disagreement. Specifically, the preservice teachers in this study engaged in several strategies as they worked toward consensus with one another and also to excuse themselves from having potentially divergent opinions from one another or their potential future students. Research limitations/implications Possible explanations for the tendency toward agreement, as well as recommendations for future teaching that could challenge such an inclination for agreement, are delineated. Originality/value Previous studies on the role of discussion within educational settings have focused on the possibilities of dialogue to contribute to the construction of individuals’ identities and also to encourage participants to arrive at a singular understanding of the topic being discussed. This study offers a new perspective on the role of discussion, by suggesting that attempts at consensus and the development of singular identities limits potential for dialogue, thus limiting learning and development.

This study draws on sociocultural and affect theories to understand findings from our investigation of secondary English education preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) experience with communal video analysis sessions (VAS). We organize the article by first theorizing reflection in teacher education research and its relation to video analysis. Then, we describe our qualitative case study methodology and report on our findings to the question of how (dis)comfort shapes PSTs’ communal reflections by using illustrative participant vignettes. Through analysis of a communal VAS around PSTs’ teaching practices and follow-up interviews with the PSTs, the authors found that video analysis provides a nonevaluative supportive environment that enables reflection and growth when a sense of community is preestablished. This article demonstrates the affordances of staying within “comfort zones” for PSTs as they reflect upon their teaching practice within a group VAS. Several tensions around the organization of professional learning communities for reflective video analysis with PSTs are unpacked in relation to this finding.

The ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds of students in PreK–12 US schools are becoming increasingly diverse. However, the teacher candidates (TCs) populating teacher education programs are, overall, not representative of this student diversity. To encourage the TCs enrolled in an undergraduate English education program to better understand the diverse communities in which they would teach, I developed and incorporated a Community Inquiry Project into their required coursework. As students completed the assignments associated with the project, they reflected on their experiences. An analysis of the reflections of three participants demonstrates how contact with the people and places of the community influenced their understandings of the community itself as well as of themselves as future teachers. This work draws from critical multiculturalism and contact theory to demonstrate how contact with community members during teacher education coursework can encourage TCs to name and question their own assumptions about others as they cultivate a more contextualized and diverse understanding of students.

According to this narrative, novice teachers then undertake student teaching and their subsequent careers predisposed to embrace the authoritarian values that attracted them to return to teaching for their careers in the first place. [...]the TCs we studied, and the teachers who had taught them, had a far wider range of possibilities to consider than did the more provincial teachers of Lortie's (1975) era.