Walden University

With funding from MetLife Foundation, the League for Innovation in the Community College engaged in a yearlong study in 2009 of the nature of innovation in the community college. Using recipients of the League's Innovation of the Year Award at 19 community colleges during the period from 1999 through 2008 as a data set, the authors used document analysis, focus groups, surveys, and interviews to study the kinds of innovations awarded, the characteristics of a community college culture that support and encourage innovation, and the perspectives of the award winners regarding the impact of innovation and the impact of the award itself on the winners. This article focuses on the findings regarding the professional and personal impact of the innovation and the award on the award-winners, as well as the impact of the innovation and the award on various populations and the institution itself. Findings support that (a) innovations are acknowledged by college leaders as valuable and have changed the behavior of individuals for whom they were created; (b) award recipients were highly satisfied with the recognition they received from the League and from their colleagues, and were motivated to champion the innovation and to create more innovations; and (c) innovations in this study are evidence of highly creative use of resources and effective and efficient implementation practices, including, where warranted, improved student learning.

Grounded in transformational leadership models, this multiple case study explored how elementary and middle school principals perceived the problem of the decline in gifted learners' academic performance in the transition from elementary to middle school. Overwhelmingly, the elementary and middle school principals attributed the pattern of decline in gifted learners' academic performance in the transition to middle school to limited teacher capacity to differentiate instruction. Elementary principals were found to adopt a hands-on approach with individualized support, goal setting, and high expectations, compared to middle school principals who delegated more responsibility and enabled others to lead. Interview data and a document analysis of campus improvement plans indicated that the leadership practices have yet to reverse gifted underachievement during the elementary to middle school transition. The findings offer direction for further exploration as gifted education practitioners and stakeholders advocate for gifted learners during the pivotal transition from elementary to middle school.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and intensified longstanding racial health inequities in the USA, disproportionately affecting African American communities with high burdens of chronic disease. This study examines how African American clergy in Houston, Texas, interpreted and responded to the convergence of COVID-19 and obesity-related vulnerability within their congregations, and how these conditions reshaped theological meaning, pastoral identity, and health-related leadership within Black church contexts. Using a hermeneutic interpretive phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with ten Protestant clergy engaged in health-related ministry during the pandemic. Findings indicated that clergy experienced COVID-19 not only as a public health crisis but as a theological disruption that reshaped pastoral priorities. Four interrelated patterns emerged: Obesity was reframed from a lifestyle issue to a matter of survival and collective vulnerability; clergy became more aware of embodied vulnerability; health engagement accelerated in response to congregational loss; and clergy expanded their role as trusted interpreters of public health information amid medical mistrust. Chronic disease prevention shifted from a secondary activity to a core dimension of pastoral identity. Although behavioral concepts such as decision-making and confidence were evident, they were shaped by theological meaning, moral responsibility, and commitment to the congregation. These findings suggest that crisis conditions can transform how health is understood and addressed within Black churches. Efforts to reduce chronic disease disparities and advance health equity should engage faith institutions not only as partners in outreach but as central contributors to how health meaning is formed within communities shaped by structural inequity.

Mineral dust absorbs and scatters solar and infrared radiation, thereby affecting the radiance spectrum at the surface and top-of-atmosphere and the atmospheric heating rate. While half of the outgoing thermal radiation is emitted in the far infrared (FIR, 15–100 µm), knowledge of the optical properties and thermal radiative effects of dust is currently limited to the mid-infrared region (MIR, 3–15 µm). In this study we performed pellet spectroscopy measurements to evaluate the MIR and FIR contribution to dust absorbance and explore the variability and spectral diversity of the dust signature within the 2.5–25 µm range. Thirteen dust samples re-suspended from parent soils with contrasting mineralogy were investigated, including low and mid latitude dust (LMLD) sources in Africa, America, Asia, and Middle East, and high latitude dust (HLD) from Iceland. Results show that the absorbance of dust in the FIR up to 25 µm is comparable in intensity to that in the MIR. Also, spectrally different absorption (position and shape of the peaks) is observed for Icelandic dust compared to LMLD, due to differences in mineralogical composition. Corroborated with the few available literature data on absorption properties of natural dust and single minerals up to 100 µm wavelength, these data suggest the relevance of MIR and FIR interactions to the dust radiative effect for low to high latitude sources. Furthermore, the dust spectral signatures in the MIR and FIR could potentially be used to characterise the mineralogy and differentiate the origin of airborne particles based on infrared remote sensing observations.