Stuck Improving

An incisive case study of changemaking in action, Stuck Improving analyzes the complex process of racial equity reform within K–12 schools. Scholar Decoteau J. Irby emphasizes that racial equity is dynamic, shifting as our emerging racial consciousness evolves and as racism asserts itself anew. Those who accept the challenge of reform find themselves “stuck improving,” caught in a perpetual dilemma of both making progress and finding ever more progress to be made. Rather than dismissing stuckness as failure, Irby embraces it as an inextricable part of the improvement process. Irby brings readers into a large suburban high school as school leaders strive to redress racial inequities among the school’s increasingly diverse student population. Over a five-year period, he witnesses both progress and setbacks in the leaders’ attempts to provide an educational environment that is intellectually, socioemotionally, and culturally affirming. Looking beyond this single school, Irby pinpoints the factors that are essential to the work of equity reform in education. He argues that lasting transformation relies most urgently on the cultivation of organizational conditions that render structural racism impossible to preserve. Irby emphasizes how schools must strengthen and leverage personal, relational, and organizational capacities in order to sustain meaningful change. Stuck Improving offers a clear-eyed accounting of school-improvement practices, including data-driven instructional approaches, teacher cultural competency, and inquiry-based leadership strategies. This timely work contributes both to the practical efforts of equity-minded school leaders and to a deeper understanding of what the work of racial equity improvement truly entails.

Promoting equity and improvement science has seen increased attention over the last several years as educators seek to expand the experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for marginalized students. This book shows school and district leaders how to create the conditions needed to use improvement science—with its robust collection of tools, resources, and processes—to achieve equity. Readers will find information about equity, continuous improvement, and the psychology of change that can be used to productively and respectfully engage all stakeholders. Chapters include the rationale for employing improvement science to pursue equity; advice for developing the dispositions of an equity-focused leader who thinks differently about power, possibility, and measurement; and guidance for facilitating conversations in the service of equitable improvement. Equitable School Improvement is important reading for teachers, coaches, principals, central office leaders, and any educator who wants to be part of creating a more socially just educational system for our children. Book Features: Elaborates on the habits and practices that need to be developed if educators are to overcome the significant barriers to talk about transformation in the service of equity. Focuses on the human side of change, including honoring people and their stories and dismantling power structures that interfere with change. Provides guidance to leaders at all levels for creating the conditions for equity-focused improvement work. Moves beyond deficit perspectives and outmoded tropes, such as goals have agency, teachers are resistant, and race causes low achievement. Makes the tools contained in improvement science more accessible to today’s equity leaders.

This volume presents the contributions of the fifth International Conference on Advancements of Medicine and Health Care through Technology (Meditech 2016), held in in Cluj-Napoka, Romania. The papers of this Proceedings volume present new developments in - Health Care Technology, - Medical Devices, Measurement and Instrumentation, - Medical Imaging, Image and Signal Processing, - Modeling and Simulation, - Molecular Bioengineering, - Biomechanics.

The culmination of more than 25 years of clinical work and research, this is the authoritative presentation of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Written by the treatment's developers, the book includes session-by-session guidelines for implementation, complete with extensive sample dialogues and 40 reproducible client handouts. It explains the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of CPT and discusses how to adapt the approach for specific populations, such as combat veterans, sexual assault survivors, and culturally diverse clients. The large-size format facilitates photocopying and day-to-day use. Purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials. CPT is endorsed by the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, and the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a best practice for the treatment of PTSD.

An incisive case study of changemaking in action, Stuck Improving analyzes the complex process of racial equity reform within K-12 schools. Scholar Decoteau J. Irby emphasizes that racial equity is dynamic, shifting both as our emerging racial consciousness evolves and as racism asserts itself anew. Those who accept the challenge of reform find themselves "stuck improving," caught in a perpetual dilemma of both making progress and finding ever more progress to be made. Rather than dismissing stuckness as failure, Irby embraces it as an inextricable part of the improvement process. Irby brings readers into a large suburban high school as school leaders strive to redress racial inequities among the school's increasingly diverse student population. Over a five-year period, he witnesses both progress and setbacks in the leaders' attempts to provide an educational environment that is intellectually, socio-emotionally, and culturally affirming. Looking beyond this single school, Irby pinpoints the factors that are essential to the work of equity reform in education. He argues that lasting transformation relies most urgently on the cultivation of organizational conditions that render structural racism impossible to preserve. Irby emphasizes how schools must strengthen and leverage personal, relational, and organizational capacities in order to sustain meaningful change. Stuck Improving offers a clear-eyed accounting of school-improvement practices, including data-driven instructional approaches, teacher cultural competency, and inquiry-based leadership strategies. This timely work contributes both to the practical efforts of equity-minded school leaders and to a deeper understanding of what the work of racial equity improvement truly entails.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 17th International Symposium on VLSI Design and Test, VDAT 2013, held in Jaipur, India, in July 2013. The 44 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 162 submissions. The papers discuss the frontiers of design and test of VLSI components, circuits and systems. They are organized in topical sections on VLSI design, testing and verification, embedded systems, emerging technology.

People can become stuck in many ways and for a wide variety of reasons, explains the author of Fatal Pauses, that rare book that both clinicians and general readers can benefit from and enjoy. Novelistic in its depictions of composite patients but clear-eyed in its analysis, the book offers a "3-D method" of addressing "stuck"-ness, which is defined as "not stopping something that is bad for us" or "not starting and staying with something that is good for us." The process of discovering why one is stuck, deciding to become unstuck, and then asserting the discipline required to do so is brought to vivid life by one of the most respected psychiatrists of our day. The book's structure is logical and engaging: The Am I Stuck? Scale can be self-administered by general readers or administered by clinicians to their patients. This first chapter sets the stage for what follows. The 3-D method of getting unstuck is presented in a systematic, easy-to-comprehend manner that begins with a brief overview and proceeds to more detailed instructions and insights. Riveting case examples make up the heart of the book. They are not mere summaries but consist of thorough and detailed clinical descriptions that provide context, in addition to extensive dialogue and analysis. Several of these cases are divided into multiple chapters, providing a comprehensive clinical picture to help both mental health professionals and lay readers increase their understanding of being "stuck." A range of categories or "stuck"-ness is addressed, including being trapped by career choices, limited by obesity, paralyzed by an unsatisfying marriage, incapacitated by addiction, and imprisoned by the need to please. Of special note is the case example of a young man whose interpersonal relationships have gradually, but progressively, become reduced to computer-based encounters. The author's examination of this individual's fixation on video games and virtual realities and his escape from this cyberprison through treatment is both timely and compelling. Finally, the author provides an evolutionary and neurobiological overview of how we become "stuck," which helps the reader grasp the underpinnings of this behavior and learn how to become "unstuck." Written in a warm and disarming style, Fatal Pauses will find a home in clinicians' libraries,waiting rooms, and on family room bookshelves.