There is no point in discussing what testing program best provides accountability if the tests do not actually measure any of the things we want schools to be accountable for.

Marc Tucker responds to Checker Finn's recent critique of the new international teacher quality study from NCEE and Linda Darling-Hammond, Empowered Educators.

Marc Tucker explores why and how U.S. teacher education is holding our teachers, the profession and our schools back.

Building off of his piece last week, Marc Tucker looks at how the economics of higher education and lacking state governance combine to weaken schools of education.

Matto Christ Church in Ishikawa prefecture experienced many answers to prayer since they were introduced to prayer walking by an OMer.

The extent to which young adults' laboratory-confirmed sexually transmitted disease results and self-reported sexual behaviors are consistent has not been assessed in a nationally representative sample.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether young adults' reports of recent sexual behavior (presence of penile/vaginal sex in the previous 12 months) correspond with the presence of laboratory-confirmed nonviral STDs assessed by nucleic acid amplification testing. (Read the full article)

There have been no previous large studies of congenital heart disease in very low birth weight infants.

This study characterized the frequency, mortality rate, and lesion distribution of serious congenital heart disease in very low birth weight infants by using a large international multicenter database. (Read the full article)

The current standard of care includes informing women about prenatal testing and newborn screening for cystic fibrosis and providing genetic counseling to parents whose child is referred for sweat-testing. Despite counseling, early data identified some persistent confusion about residual risk.

Prenatal discussions about carrier testing and newborn screening for cystic fibrosis are not routine. Parental anxiety about abnormal results from a screen is decreased after speaking to a genetic counselor when scheduling the sweat test. Despite counseling, residual risk continues to be poorly understood. (Read the full article)

The associations between food insecurity and child well-being have been well studied on the basis of household levels of food insecurity, as reported by heads of households.

Household measures, however, may not capture gender biases in food insecurity and morbidity. This study assessed adolescents' own experience with food insecurity and how it was associated with morbidity and the effect of gender in this process. (Read the full article)

Internet use has rapidly become a commonplace activity, especially among adolescents. Poor mental health and several somatic health problems are associated with heavy Internet use by adolescents.

Results of this study provide evidence of a U-shaped relationship between intensity of Internet use and poorer mental health of adolescents. Heavy Internet users were also confirmed to be at increased risk for somatic health problems in this nationally representative sample of adolescents. (Read the full article)

Combined auditory brainstem response/otoacoustic emission testing is used to screen for auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD), which leads to failure to develop normal auditory behavior and oral language. Prevalence estimates have been obtained for infants in NICUs.

ANSD risk in well-infant nurseries has not been examined. This study contributes ANSD prevalence estimates for infants admitted to well-infant nurseries and compares the costs of 2 different 2-technology screening protocols. (Read the full article)

Adults born at very low birth weight (VLBW) (<1.5 kg) have higher blood pressure and higher fasting insulin levels than their peers born at term. However, they show no signs of endothelial dysfunction in childhood and in adolescence.

Adults born at a VLBW showed no endothelial dysfunction compared with term adults. They had, however, a thicker intima-media layer in relation to lumen size. More rapid growth during their first weeks of life was associated with better endothelial function. (Read the full article)

Associations between short sleep duration, obesity, and metabolic dysfunction have been proposed for children but have not been explored appropriately.

The main findings included a nonlinear trend between sleep duration and body weight and the finding that children's sleep averaged 8 hours per night regardless of body weight. Lower sleep duration values were strongly associated with increased metabolic risk. (Read the full article)

For treatment of obesity in preadolescent children, approaches that focus on parents taking sole responsibility for implementing weight-management strategies may be most effective. However, the optimal content, intensity, and duration of programs for obese children remain unclear.

Targeting parents only, a 10% relative weight loss is achievable in moderately obese preadolescent children and can be maintained 2 years from baseline, which justifies an investment in treatment as a secondary obesity-prevention strategy. (Read the full article)

Lactoferrin is a glycoprotein with anti-infective activities being part of the innate defensive network. Bovine and human lactoferrin share high homology. Bovine lactoferrin can prevent late-onset sepsis in preterm very low birth weight neonates.

In preterm very low birth weight infants, bovine lactoferrin is able to prevent not only late-onset sepsis but also systemic fungal infections. This protection is achieved independently from their colonization status. (Read the full article)

Overweight has been associated with an increased risk of asthma in children, although the published literature is contradictory. How change in overweight status during childhood affects asthma risk has not been well studied.

Among children whose weight has normalized, high BMI during the first 4 years of life does not increase the risk of asthma at school age. Current high BMI is associated with increased risk of asthma and sensitization to inhalant allergens. (Read the full article)

Human rhinovirus infections are common in children. Although historically associated with upper respiratory tract illness, rhinoviruses are increasingly recognized for their role in the exacerbation of asthma. Their role in bronchiolitis and severe lung disease in premature infants is unclear.

The authors of this study prospectively explore the role of rhinoviruses in premature infants using molecular techniques and identify these agents as the most frequent cause of hospitalization in this population. (Read the full article)

Eating disorders are characterized by preoccupation with weight and shape, which is manifested by a refusal to maintain a normal weight. An exact determination of expected body weight (EBW) is critical for diagnosis and clinical management of these disorders.

The McLaren and Moore methods present with several limitations when calculating EBW for adolescents with eating disorders. A commonly agreed upon method for EBW calculation such as the BMI percentile method is recommended for clinical and research purposes. (Read the full article)

Several studies have focused on birth weight heritability, reporting results that range between 40% and 80%. Few studies have focused on the process of weight gain and were mainly based on heterogeneous samples of infants.

The present work looks at a uniform set of healthy preterm newborn twins. The resulting high heritability estimate could suggest using the inclusion criteria to identify genes that regulate postnatal weight gain or failure. (Read the full article)

Chronic wet cough is a common symptom well recognized by pediatricians. Protracted bacterial bronchitis is defined as more than 4 weeks of wet cough that responds to antibiotic treatment. Diagnosis of protracted bacterial bronchitis is not readily accepted by pediatricians

Children with chronic wet cough often have bronchitis, which is evident during bronchoscopy. Purulent bronchial secretions suggest the presence of bacterial infection. Children with chronic wet cough frequently have a bacterial infection of the lower airway. (Read the full article)

Pulmonary hypertension is associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia in extremely low birth weight infants and contributes to morbidity and mortality.

Pulmonary hypertension affects at least 1 in 6 extremely low birth weight infants and persists to discharge in most survivors. Routine screening of these infants with echocardiography at 4 weeks of age identifies only one-third of those affected. (Read the full article)

Clinic-based weight control treatments for youth have largely been designed for preadolescent children and their families by using family-based care, a strategy that may be less appealing to adolescents as they become increasingly motivated by peer acceptance rather than parental influence.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the efficacy of a primary care–based, multicomponent lifestyle intervention specifically tailored for overweight adolescent females and demonstrating a sustained effect (at 12 months) extending beyond the active 5-month intervention. (Read the full article)

Adolescence is a time of risk taking, with poor inner-city youth at greater risk than the general population for drug use, school failure, adjudication, and teen parenthood. Little is known regarding these youths’ perceptions and intentions in early childhood.

Poor inner-city children were surprisingly idealistic regarding their future. Despite this, by late adolescence most experienced 1 or more trajectory-altering events. Early childhood experiences, exposure to violence and poor home environment, were factors most strongly associated with these outcomes. (Read the full article)

There is evidence of an impaired respiratory regulation in SIDS, in which serotonergic and noradrenergic neurons are involved. Monoamine oxidase A is the enzyme that degrades both neurotransmitters, and genetic variation of this gene might contribute to SIDS.

Alleles with weak effect on the monoamine oxidase A gene activity (*2/*3) appear to be associated with sudden infant death syndrome in boys. This association is strongest in infants who died at the age with the highest SIDS prevalence. (Read the full article)

The demographics of trials that use antenatal consent may not be representative of the populations that they are intended to study.

This study analyzes the difference in clinical outcomes between the enrolled and eligible but not enrolled populations of a trial that required antenatal consent. (Read the full article)

Approximately 1.1% to 5.9% of febrile infants aged <90 days have bacteremia, but the incidence of bacteremia in this age is unknown. Escherichia coli, group B Streptococcus, and Staphylococcus aureus are the leading causes of bacteremia.

Bacteremia occurs in 2.2% of infants who have a blood culture drawn. The incidence rate of true bacteremia was 0.57 in 1000 full-term births. The most common pathogens were Escherichia coli (56%), group B Streptococcus (21%), and Staphylococcus aureus (8%). (Read the full article)

Very preterm children are at risk for developmental problems and, therefore, a systematic follow-up is important. However, the relevance of early follow-up of cognitive development has been questioned because of the divergent data on the prognostic value of early measures.

Good stability of cognitive development was found between the ages of 2 and 5 years. Well-conducted assessment of cognitive development in infancy is both reliable to anticipate later development and clinically valuable to identify those children who need developmental support. (Read the full article)

Preterm infants are at increased risk of behavioral problems, which has been associated with maternal distress. Paternal psychological well-being is less studied. Parents’ concerns may affect their perceptions or attitudes and have negative effects on the behavior of the child.

Parents report more behavior problems in VLBW children at age 3 if they themselves have had symptoms of depression, parenting stress, or weak sense of coherence. Also, the paternal psychological well-being contributes to the behavioral development of a preterm child. (Read the full article)

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of infections in infants. Staphylococcal colonization is a known risk factor for infection, but whether maternal colonization plays a role in subsequent colonization in the infant is unclear.

This prospective study found that infants born to women colonized with S aureus either during their third trimester of pregnancy or at the time of delivery are more likely to harbor S aureus than are those born to noncolonized women. (Read the full article)

Although all residents progressively assume responsibility for clinical skills under the teaching and supervision of attending physicians, senior residents also assume responsibility for teaching and supervising. This leads to a dynamic negotiation of responsibilities, particularly on clinical work rounds.

A better understanding of how attending physicians and senior residents negotiate shared responsibilities for teaching and supervising, and the context in which this negotiation occurs, may clarify assumptions and set expectations for resident training. (Read the full article)

High or low lymphocyte counts at birth have been reported as a marker for subsequent intraventricular hemorrhage, retinopathy of prematurity, and periventricular leukomalacia. However, this conclusion is questionable because reference ranges for lymphocyte counts have not been constructed by using large numbers of neonates.

This study provides reference ranges for lymphocytes of neonates. A high count at birth is associated with early onset sepsis and IVH and a low count with early onset sepsis, IVH, and retinopathy of prematurity. Among neonates with birth asphyxia, a low count identifies a high risk for death. (Read the full article)

Rural Alaska children have high rates of hospitalization with lower respiratory tract infections from a variety of pathogens. Past studies of risk factors for respiratory syncytial virus infection associated medically high-risk status, household crowding, and infant feeding practices with hospitalization.

This study reveals the importance of medically high-risk status and infant feeding practices as important factors in respiratory hospitalization. In addition, we identified woodstove use and the absence of 2 or more sinks in household as risk factors for hospitalization. (Read the full article)

Although morbidity-free survival for preterm infants has remained constant in US NICUs when assessed collectively, morbidity-free survival differs among centers. Center-specific practices before, at, or after delivery might affect outcomes of the most premature infants.

Our findings suggest that the approach taken to infants at the limits of viability is associated with outcomes of more-mature infants. Identifying centers with higher survival and lower morbidity might lead to identification of key practices to improve morbidity-free survival. (Read the full article)

Previous cohorts of extremely low birth weight adolescents have assessed their health status similar to that of normal birth weight controls.

Extremely low birth weight adolescents born in the 1990s assess their health similar to controls but report less risk taking. Extremely low and normal birth weight children rate their health to be poorer at 8 than at 14 years. (Read the full article)

Early speech and language delays are risk factors for later developmental and social difficulties. It is easier to identify them retrospectively than prospectively. Population characteristics and prevalence rates make screening problematic.

Using data from a birth cohort, this study identifies predictors of language performance at 5 years and 4 patterns of change between 3 and 5 years, comparing those who change with those whose profile remains low across time points. (Read the full article)

Male circumcision reduces risk of HIV acquisition in men by 60% and is associated with other health benefits. Compared with adult circumcision, infant male circumcision is safer, less expensive, and represents a cost-saving intervention for HIV prevention in many settings.

IMC is little known in East Africa and is not routinely practiced. This is the first study to assess acceptability and uptake of IMC in East Africa among parents who were actually offered the procedure. (Read the full article)

Literature about polymorphic expression of an apparent life-threatening event (ALTE), particularly that concerning discrimination between ALTE with evident cause and idiopathic ALTE, is scarce. Relationships between SIDS and ALTEs have been supposed but data are still controversial and no genetic data are available.

Genetic analysis (5HTT and MAOA) on ALTEs and idiopathic ALTEs discriminated the 2 syndromes and found a link between the idiopathic form and SIDS. Consequently, we hypothesized that the 2 latter syndromes could be different phenotype expressions of a common genetic base. (Read the full article)

Prevalence estimates for neurologic and neurodevelopmental disorders in children vary widely, and there is uncertainty as to what extent the individual disorders overlap. Most previous prevalence studies have been based on survey data and not on specialist-confirmed diagnoses.

This study used nationwide register data to determine the proportions of Norwegian children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy and to study how the disorders overlap. All diagnoses were specialist-confirmed. (Read the full article)

There is no literature on the concentrations of vitamin B₆ vitamers in cerebrospinal fluid of preterm and term newborn infants. This knowledge, however, is highly important, because vitamin B₆ plays a pivotal role in brain development and functioning.

In cerebrospinal fluid of newborn infants, B₆ vitamer concentrations are strongly dependent on postmenstrual age, indicating that vitamin B₆ homeostasis in brain differs between preterm and term newborns. This has implications for the evaluation of epilepsy and vitamin B₆ deficiency. (Read the full article)

Preterm infants from 33 gestational weeks can detect specific shape features (prism and cylinder) by touch (without visual control), and remember them; however, nothing is known about such abilities earlier in development.

The preterm infant, even when very immature (from 28 gestational weeks), is endowed with tactile sensory abilities: the exploration and memorization of an object by touch, the discrimination of a novel object, and the recognition of a familiar object after interference. (Read the full article)

Comprehensive lifestyle interventions for adolescent weight management, including diet, physical activity, and behavioral intervention, have been found to demonstrate modest, short-term success. However, very little is known about the long-term effectiveness of adolescent behavioral weight management trials.

This randomized controlled trial demonstrates that two 16-week group-based behavioral weight loss programs, when combined with either aerobic exercise or peer-based adventure therapy, produced sustained improvements in BMI among overweight/obese adolescents through 24 months. (Read the full article)

Among adolescents, weight status has been inversely associated with sports participation but not active commuting or physical education. Studies of each form of physical activity have not included adequate adjustments for other physical activities, previous body weight, or diet quality.

Estimates indicate overweight/obesity and obesity prevalence would decrease by 11% and 26%, respectively, if adolescents played on at least 2 sports teams per year; obesity prevalence would decrease by 22% if adolescents walked/biked to school 4–5 days per week. (Read the full article)

Percentile charts for birth weight are used to assess the somatic development of neonates (small, appropriate, or large for gestational age).

A systematic error was identified in the majority of birth weight percentile charts. As a consequence, small for gestational age rates are overestimated and large for gestational age rates are underestimated; ~5% of neonates are misclassified. (Read the full article)

Policies that govern nutrition standards of foods and beverages sold outside of federal meal programs ("competitive foods") have been associated with adolescent weight status in a small number of cross-sectional studies and pre-post analyses in individual states.

This longitudinal analysis of 6300 students in 40 states provides evidence that state competitive food laws are associated with lower within-student BMI change if laws contain strong language with specific standards and are consistent across grade levels. (Read the full article)

Materialism and life satisfaction are known to be associated with each other. Research among adults has shown that materialism and life satisfaction negatively affect each other, leading to a downward spiral.

In contrast to research conducted among adults, no longitudinal effect of materialism on life satisfaction was found for 8- to 11-year-olds. However, life satisfaction did negatively affect materialism, but only for children who were frequently exposed to advertising. (Read the full article)

Childhood obesity is a public health concern. Although determinants of childhood overweight have been identified and their effect sizes have been calculated, prevention as well as treatment have had limited success.

We have calculated the population-based relevance of determinants of childhood overweight by using attributable risks, which can be interpreted as maximum success rates of preventive measures. New concepts were applied to estimate the relative contribution of each risk factor. (Read the full article)

Approximately 80% of all preterm children are born moderately preterm (32–36 weeks’ gestation). Moderately preterm children are at increased risk for developmental delays, but the specific neuropsychological functions that may underlie these delays are unknown.

Moderately preterm birth is associated with poorer performance in intelligence, attention, visuospatial reasoning, and executive functioning. Using gender-specific norms, our data suggest that preterm boys catch up, whereas preterm girls lag behind their peers at 7 years of age. (Read the full article)

The relationship between energy intake and obesity in children has yielded inconsistent results. Efforts to improve dietary intake as a means of improving weight status have largely yielded disappointing results.

Self-reported energy intake for younger, but not older, overweight/obese children is higher than healthy-weight peers. In early childhood, higher (or excessive) energy intake may lead to onset of obesity, but other mechanisms may be important to maintain obesity through adolescence. (Read the full article)

Mortality of very low birth weight infants varies widely between regions and countries; however, the variation in morbidities after adjusting for confounders has not been adequately studied.

Composite outcome of mortality or short-term morbidity for very low birth weight infants was lower in Japan than in Canada. However, marked variations in mortality and individual morbidity exist, revealing areas for improvement in each country. (Read the full article)

Overweight children are at risk for becoming obese adults, especially if they have an obese parent. Family-based behavioral interventions, largely implemented in specialized settings, have shown efficacy in weight control in youth aged ≥8 years.

This study demonstrates the efficacy of a family-based behavioral weight control program translated to be implemented in the primary care setting. The work underscores the importance of pediatricians intervening early and shifting their focus from the child to the family. (Read the full article)