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The purpose of this study was to obtain data on United States K-5 elementary school teachers' self-reported instructional practices with graphical representations. Via an electronic survey, 388 elementary teachers, from throughout the US, reported about their teaching of the interpretation and the production of graphics within science. The main findings indicate that: (1) pointing to or referring to graphical representations in books (92% of respondents) was the most frequently used instructional practice across the disciplines and grade levels; (2) five of nine graphical representations (over 90%) were more frequently used in science instruction than in other content areas, and (3) students' graphical productions involving drawings, labeling, and oral and written explanations were very infrequent. The findings indicate that while teachers may tacitly use graphics within science instruction, they may not be explicitly teaching about this visual form of communication.

Political memes are argumentative visual texts commonly encountered on social media. Through the strategic combination of imagery and captions, a political meme presents information as fact about a topic, an individual, or a specific group. The power of political memes can be attributed to their viral nature and their effects on public discourse and perceptions. To critically read a political meme, students must be equipped with critical media literacy skills. This article describes how action researchers engaged 56 middle school students in the rhetorical analysis of political memes with the goal of supporting critical media literacy skills through practical application. The two-week study took place in the Southeastern United States at a rural school. Students determined that the political memes created false binaries, appealed to group identities, drew on macro and micro sociopolitical contexts, and used strategic visual arrangements to form an argument. Critical media literacy is imperative given the prevalent and viral nature of media and its effects on people and public policy.

This experimental study examined how the presence of visual diagrams in 2 science texts affected the independent reading comprehension of 213 fourth-grade students in the southeastern United States. In addition, the relative impact of 3 diagram designs and layout (representational, interpretational, or integrated) was compared with a control. Prior knowledge was measured and statistically controlled for each text. Comprehension measures were a term-selection posttest and a reading comprehension posttest. Overall, on both texts, visual diagrams provide minimal or no added value to students’ comprehension above the text-only conditions. Findings also indicated that the integrated diagram may create a condition of cognitive overload for some students. Implications for instructional material design are discussed.

This paper describes the visuals second grade students included in their own information book compositions during a science unit on weather during which multimodal science trade books on the topic of weather were read aloud. First, the multimodal nature of the information books used in the unit are described. Second, the teacher's talk about visual representations during read alouds of books on weather is presented. And third, the children's own information books about weather topics are examined for inclusion of labeled pictorial illustrations with accompanying captions and graphical representations. These analyses reveal that 1) information book authors vary in their use of visual information, 2) some graphics may be more salient for children, and 3) children's use of pictorial illustrations and graphical representations in their own compositions seems to be impacted by both teacher attention to particular types of visual representations and immersion in information book graphics.

PurposeStandards and policy changes in K-12 education have created the unintended consequence of reducing instructional time spent on social studies content. This limited time devoted to social studies presumably has led to more integrated social studies and literacy instruction. The purpose of this paper is to document the types of high-quality social studies children’s books found in classroom libraries across five states.Design/methodology/approachIn the present mixed methods study, the researchers utilized a database of 60 classroom libraries across five states to identify which high-quality trade books, defined by the National Council for the Social Studies, were present. The researchers document trends in both frequencies of books and social studies content across decades, classrooms, grade levels and states from 1972 to 2015.FindingsThe findings indicate that National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Notable Trade Books for Young People texts are largely missing from the elementary classroom libraries the researchers sampled. Of the 5,544 unique titles included on the NCSS lists from 1972 to 2015, 453 were located in the US classroom libraries database, representing 8.17 percent of books found on the notable lists.Originality/valueBefore teachers can take steps toward integrating social studies and literacy, they need easy access to high-quality social studies texts. Many high-quality trade books are recommended each year for exposing students to social studies content; however, the researchers found limited numbers of these books in classroom libraries. The researchers recommend the lists be circulated to a wider audience to inform more teachers about these texts.

An investigation of very young children’s perceptions of a natural disaster, a tornado, used a stratified random sample of 40 children, aged 4-5 years, from a population of 108 in ten classes. The study also investigated a research protocol for ascertaining prior knowledge through children’s responses: physical representation, drawing responses, and retelling of personal stories through dictating captions for drawings. Two data sets were taken soon after the tornado. The children physically represented what happens in a tornado and how one takes shelter. Drawings increased in complexity by the second data set. Children’s stories included personal experiences: houses lost or damaged, being scared, friends missing, and wanting a significant other. Researchers can use a variety of methods to investigate very young children’s prior knowledge. An implication is that disaster education has a role in early social studies education promoting meaningful understanding by children of dangers posed, protecting oneself, and coping with the aftermath. Such a role is increasingly important as recent major U.S. disasters have impacted large numbers of citizens including our very young students. Further research especially with very young children in the area of disaster and hazards education is warranted in the field of social studies education.

Background Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are endocrine-disrupting chemicals used in commercial and consumer products. Objective We evaluated PFAS exposure in relation to incidence and growth of uterine leiomyomata (UL), hormone-dependent neoplasms that are associated with severe gynecologic morbidity. Methods We studied 1158 participants in the Study of Environment, Lifestyle, and Fibroids, a Detroit-based prospective cohort study of Black females aged 23–35 years at enrollment (2010–2012). At enrollment and four subsequent visits during 10 years of follow-up, participants attended in-person clinic visits, completed questionnaires, provided non-fasting blood samples, and underwent ultrasound for UL detection. We quantified 7 PFAS in baseline plasma samples using mass spectrometry. We used Cox regression and probit Bayesian kernel machine regression to estimate individual and joint effects of PFAS on UL incidence. We fit linear mixed models to estimate effects of individual PFAS on UL growth. We stratified by parity, an important route of PFAS elimination and determinant of UL. Results In individual PFAS analyses, we observed inverse associations for perfluorodecanoate (PFDA; ≥0.3 vs. <0.2 ng/ml: hazard ratio [HR] = 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54–1.00) and perfluoroundecanoate (detected vs. non-detected: HR = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.61–1.01) and a weak positive association for perfluorohexane sulfonate (≥1 vs. <0.6 ng/ml: HR = 1.17; 95% CI: 0.85–1.61), while perfluorooctane sulfonate, perfluorooctanoate, perfluorononanoate (PFNA), and 2-N-methyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido acetate (MeFOSAA) showed little association with UL incidence. The PFAS mixture was inversely associated with UL incidence, a finding driven by MeFOSAA and PFDA; however, PFNA was positively associated with UL incidence. The inverse association for PFDA and positive association for PFNA were stronger among nulliparous participants. Most PFAS showed slight inverse associations with UL growth. Impact statement In this prospective ultrasound study of 1158 Black females aged 23–35 years at enrollment, we conducted a mixtures analysis to account for co-pollutant confounding and interaction. MeFOSAA and PFDA concentrations were inversely associated with UL incidence, while PFNA concentrations were positively associated with UL incidence. Concentrations of most PFAS were associated with decreased UL growth. This study contributes data to the sparse literature on PFAS exposure and UL development.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmentally persistent synthetic chemicals found in consumer products, fire-fighting foam, and contaminated food and water. Routes of exposure include ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption. Several PFAS have long biological half-lives and can bioaccumulate in living organisms. Although the prevalence of commonly manufactured PFAS in the US has decreased since 2000 following phase-outs and chemical substitutions, their detection in humans remains high. Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), an established biomarker of ovarian reserve, can be accurately measured from a single blood sample at any time during the menstrual cycle because AMH shows little within-cycle variation. AMH concentrations generally decline across the reproductive life span and are considered useful in predicting the liming of menopause. Two prospective cohort studies of PFAS and AMH concentrations among adults reported null associations, however, sample sizes were small (range: 55-99). To build on prior literature, we evaluated the association between PFAS and AMH among 357 noncontracepting individuals residing in diverse geographic areas with wider exposure variability and greater sample size.

Background Quality assurance plays an important role in research by assuring data integrity, and thus, valid study results. We aim to describe and share the results of the quality assurance process used to guide the data collection process in a multi-site childhood obesity prevalence study and intervention trial across the US Affiliated Pacific Region. Methods Quality assurance assessments following a standardized protocol were conducted by one assessor in every participating site. Results were summarized to examine and align the implementation of protocol procedures across diverse settings. Results Data collection protocols focused on food and physical activity were adhered to closely; however, protocols for handling completed forms and ensuring data security showed more variability. Conclusions Quality assurance protocols are common in the clinical literature but are limited in multi-site community-based studies, especially in underserved populations. The reduction in the number of QA problems found in the second as compared to the first data collection periods for the intervention study attest to the value of this assessment. This paper can serve as a reference for similar studies wishing to implement quality assurance protocols of the data collection process to preserve data integrity and enhance the validity of study findings. Trial registration : NIH clinical trial #NCT01881373