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LCPS accused of low-balling needs of special education students | Education

March 18, 2023 sNawaWebs.ADV

Loudoun County Public Schools is being accused of downplaying the needs of special education students to justify cutting special education staff.

In her quarterly presentation to the school board on March 14, Sharon Tropf, Special Education Advisory Committee chairwoman, said the school division was under-reporting needs of special education students and the services they are provided in Individualized Education Programs. IEPs are specially designed education plans for students with educational disabilities. In Virginia, they include assessments and annual benchmarks, according to the Virginia Department of Education.

Sharon Tropf, Loudoun County Public Schools Special Education Advisory Committee chairwoman

Photo courtesy of Sharon Tropf

2023 Summer Camps in Sarasota, Manatee – Science

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Listings with photos are in paid partnership with Observer Media Group.

MANATEE | SARASOTA | LAKEWOOD RANCH | BOTH COUNTIES

The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature Summer Science Camps

201 10th St. W. Bradenton

Details: Kids explore science and nature topics through games, crafts, experiments, investigations and more. Each week brings a different theme.
Camp dates: Weekly sessions 9:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., Elementary camps June 5-Aug. 4 (No camp July 3-7), Middle School camps June 19-23 and July 17-21
Tuition: $225 per week for members of the Discovery Society, $300 per week for others. Scholarships available.
Ages: 7-14
Contact: 941-746-4131 ext. 145; [email protected]; BishopScience.org/science-camp; Click here to register!

STEAM Kids of the Future

Braden River Middle School, Room 605, 6215 River Club Blvd., Bradenton

Details: Campers will learn about coding, 3D printing, robotics and more while working on hands-on projects. Each week will have a different

A biopharma business model for biology’s century

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STAT’s Matthew Herper struck an industry nerve when he wrote that the drug development industry is “not prepared for the next wave of biotech innovation.”

His report ends on a somewhat dismal note: the industry is long on diagnosis (clinical development is too expensive) and short on cures.

For an industry based on science and evidence, a good way to understand a complex situation like this is to test different scenarios in a simple model. Building on prior work by others in the field, we created such a model to help inform the much-needed debate that Herper’s article kickstarted.

To be sure, “All models are wrong,” as George Box once mischievously said, “but some are useful.” We believe this is one of the useful ones, and we invite readers to explore its implications with us.

Recent events and biopharma productivity

The productivity of new-drug research and development is poor

Cornell Astronomers Discover Uniquely New Galaxy

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Cornell astronomers detailed a newly-discovered galaxy with many unique traits, which make it a subject of further exploration, in a Feb. 17 paper. Published in The Astrophysics Journal Letters, the study found that the newly-uncovered galaxy likely has an efficient star formation rate, meaning that more stars are born per year relative to other galaxies.

The galaxy, known as SPT0418-SE, was discovered in James Webb Space Telescope images of a well-known galaxy, SPT0418-47. The galaxies are close enough for SPT0418-SE’s gravitational fields to disturb those of SPT0418-47, a characteristic of the system that appears to contradict earlier research. Such findings are relevant to scientists studying the beginnings of the universe and galaxy evolution.

“It’s like looking at a human,” said author Bo Peng, a doctoral student in astronomy.” Looking at the growth of an infant is much more interesting than a 30-year-old person.”

SPT0418-47 is well-documented due to its unique

Mutually Assured Survival: New Orleans groups are rethinking disaster aid from the grassroots up | The Latest | Gambit Weekly

March 17, 2023 sNawaWebs.ADV

Ed Note: This story is part of Gambit’s “Climate of Change” series on climate change and labor in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network.

In the days leading up to Hurricane Ida’s landfall at the end of August 2021 and for weeks afterward, the Mutual Aid – New Orleans Facebook group buzzed with activity.

There were people asking for help with financial assistance — for things like getting gas or renting a hotel room — and seeking advice on how to navigate federal assistance programs. Others came looking for help dealing with Entergy or a hand clearing some debris from their yard.

More often than not, what they found were just as many users freely offering whatever help they could give: ice delivery, food and supplies from out of town, fundraising for devastated communities along the coast and in the Bayou Parishes.

As the days and weeks crawled by, Mutual