Saturday, April 20

Tag: better

Build Back Better Could Help End Subminimum Wages For People With Disabilities
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WORK

Build Back Better Could Help End Subminimum Wages For People With Disabilities

Many people with disabilities are paid just pennies. Build Back Better could help end that. For almost a century, it has been completely legal for companies to pay workers with disabilities mere cents on the hour. Employees have reported receiving pennies in their paychecks, with no limit on how little they can be paid. This practice of paying “subminimum wage,” which the U.S. Department of Labor allows under the auspices of maintaining employment opportunities for people with disabilities, has also led to some workers being sequestered in workshops away from the regular workforce, where they have little opportunity to advance into other jobs. About 1,500 of those workshops remain nationwide, employing more than an estimated 100,000 people with disabilities at companies including Goodwil...
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On Critical Thinking Aaron Rodgers Dropped The Ball – You Can Do Better With A Little Practice
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TECHNOLOGY

On Critical Thinking Aaron Rodgers Dropped The Ball – You Can Do Better With A Little Practice

Joe Árvai, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences It was hard to miss the news about Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers testing positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 3. Like the vast majority of people currently catching – and dying from – the coronavirus, he was unvaccinated. A few days after his diagnosis, Rodgers took to the airwaves to offer a smorgasbord of pandemic misinformation and conspiracy theories in defense of his decision to skip the COVID-19 vaccine. Having listened to many an interview with Rodgers, I found it totally predictable that he began his comments by asserting, “I’m not, you know, some sort of anti-vax, flat-earther.” But as someone who does research on how people think and decide, it’s what Rodgers said next that caused me to lean in: “I am someb...
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Colleges Strive To Better Support Trans Students – Common Applications Will Now Allow Students To Choose Their Gender Identity
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LGBTQ

Colleges Strive To Better Support Trans Students – Common Applications Will Now Allow Students To Choose Their Gender Identity

Genny Beemyn, University of Massachusetts Amherst Since its inception in 1975, the Common Application, the undergraduate admissions application used by more than 900 colleges, has required students to provide their “sex,” with only “male” and “female” as choices. But starting in August 2021, the Common App is also asking students their gender identities and the names and pronouns they go by. As a researcher who specializes in studying the experiences of transgender college students, I believe these changes represent a much-needed opportunity for colleges and universities that use the Common App to acknowledge and respect the gender identities of their trans students. The changes mean that some colleges will have information about their trans students for the first time. Other institutio...
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To Build Better Understanding Of Science Here Are 5 Ways To Use Hip-Hop In The Classroom
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EDUCATION, VIDEO REELS

To Build Better Understanding Of Science Here Are 5 Ways To Use Hip-Hop In The Classroom

Back when I attended M.S. 101 in the Bronx, I tuned out the science teacher because I didn’t think science was for me. I viewed the subject as something distant and inaccessible. I never saw myself becoming a scientist. Things changed, however, when my physics teacher at Marie Curie High School used hip-hop to make connections with science. We learned about the physics of pendulums by using hip-hop artists’ chains as examples and participated in call-and-responses to remember science information. Once I’d found an approach that finally appealed to me, hip-hop set me on a course to become a science teacher myself. But not just any kind of science teacher. Instead, I became a hip-hop science educator. My mission in life is to educate teachers on how to use hip-hop to get more students to ...
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South Central LA Teachers With Personal Ties To The Neighborhood Made Better Connections With Students
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EDUCATION

South Central LA Teachers With Personal Ties To The Neighborhood Made Better Connections With Students

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea One way to examine a teacher’s personal connection to their students’ community is to ask them to create a hand-drawn map, based on memory, of the neighborhood where they teach. My study found that teachers whose maps represented personal ties to the community, including local businesses or cultural spaces, were observed to be more skilled at making connections to the everyday experiences of their students. This supports previous research that shows the more connected teachers are to their students’ neighborhoods, the more authentically they can incorporate local resources, history and concerns into their classroom teaching. For example, they might incorporate interviews with students’ families into an Englis...
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Data Shows, Kids With A Desk And A Quiet Place To Study Do Better In School
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EDUCATION

Data Shows, Kids With A Desk And A Quiet Place To Study Do Better In School

Ask what students need to learn at home, and the answer often involves access to Wi-Fi or a digital device. For example, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 sets aside US$7.1 billion to support access to high-speed internet for schools and libraries. What often gets overlooked is whether kids have a desk at home or a quiet place to study. As researchers who focus on education policy and how students perform on standardized tests, we decided to take a closer look – on a global scale – at the degree to which students have desks at home and whether that’s linked to how well they do in school. To do this we turned to the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study, also known as TIMSS, an international assessment administered every four years by the International Association for the Evaluation ...
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Some Types Are Better Than Others – But Too Much Sitting Is Bad For You
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Some Types Are Better Than Others – But Too Much Sitting Is Bad For You

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a number of new behaviours into daily routines, like physical distancing, mask-wearing and hand sanitizing. Meanwhile, many old behaviours such as attending events, eating out and seeing friends have been put on hold. However, one old behaviour that has persisted, and has arguably been amplified due to COVID-19, is sitting — and it is not surprising to see why. Whether sitting during transportation, work, screen time or even meals, everyday environments and activities are tailored nearly exclusively to prolonged sitting. As such, sedentary behaviours, like sitting, make up the vast majority of our waking day. Pre-COVID-19 estimates place the average Canadian adult’s sedentary behaviour at around 9.5 hours per day. Current daily sedentary time is likel...
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The Headlines Ignores Millions Of Unemployed People – Here’s A Better Way To Tell How Many Need A Job
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BUSINESS

The Headlines Ignores Millions Of Unemployed People – Here’s A Better Way To Tell How Many Need A Job

Many economists would agree that the official U.S. unemployment rate is an inadequate measure of actual labor market conditions. Although this is one of the most cited pieces of data on the economy as a whole, not many people understand how this indicator is calculated and who is and – more importantly – who isn’t included in it.   CC BY-NC-ND As a labor economist, I believe it’s important for more Americans to take a closer look under the hood to get a more accurate view of U.S. unemployment. What’s the unemployment rate? Unemployment is usually described in newspaper or television reports as a percentage or a rate. An article might declare, for example, that the U.S. unemployment rate fell from 6.7% in December to 6.3% in January, according to the latest jobs report released Feb....
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In The COVID-19 Era, Older Adults See Time Differently And Are Doing Better Than Younger People
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

In The COVID-19 Era, Older Adults See Time Differently And Are Doing Better Than Younger People

Time in the era of COVID-19 has taken on new meaning. “Blursday” is the new time word of the year – where every day seems the same when staying home and restricting socializing and work. As a public health and aging expert and founding director of the Texas A&M Center of Population Health and Aging, I have been studying the impacts of COVID-19 with an interest in debunking myths and identifying unexpected positive consequences for our aging population. It is common to view older adults as especially vulnerable. Public health statistics reinforce the picture of older adults infected with SARS-CoV-2 as more likely to have serious complications, to be hospitalized and to die. But what do we know about how older adults themselves are responding to social distancing restrictions in place...
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Any Map Is Better Than No Map – Workers Are Looking For Direction From Management
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BUSINESS

Any Map Is Better Than No Map – Workers Are Looking For Direction From Management

Over eight months ago, with haste and necessity, workers and organizations across the globe were thrown into “the great remote work experiment.” What was arguably an adequate short-term solution is now showing signs of wear and tear: Remote workers are burning out, organizational cultures are under threat, and leaders are fretting about the loss of creativity and collaboration. While some companies are beginning to forge ahead with longer-term plans – like proclaiming that remote work will go on indefinitely or bringing at least some employees back to the office in a COVID-19-safe way – most organizations remain in a holding pattern: intent on returning to the physical office in some capacity, but repeatedly kicking the can down the road. This is understandable, given the amount of unce...
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