Story Ideas for Media 8/23/10

News

$6 million federal grant will help early childhood education in Ohio. Ohio State University has received a $6 million federal grant to help determine if professional development for preschool teachers in Ohio will translate into better-prepared kindergarten students.
The grant from the U.S Department of Education will allow researchers to study 900 early childhood teachers in the state who complete specially designed professional development courses developed by the Ohio Department of Education and the Early Childhood Quality Network (ecQ-net), located at Ohio State. The goal is to see if these courses can affect teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and practices.
At the same time, 4,800 of these teachers’ students will be monitored during preschool and then again in kindergarten to see if training for teachers leads to improved foundational skills for reading.
“We want to find out the extent to which professional development for preschool teachers actually impacts children’s gains in the classroom,” said Shayne Piasta, leader of the new project, and the assistant director of Ohio State’s Children’s Learning Research Collaborative. CONTACT: Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu. SEE: http://www.osu.edu/news/newsitem2859

Research

Warning system inadequate to prevent swimmers from getting sick at inland lakes. New research shows a clear link between increasing levels of E. coli bacteria in an inland Ohio lake and a greater risk that swimmers in the water will suffer a gastrointestinal illness. Timothy Buckley, associate professor and chair of environmental health sciences at Ohio State and senior author of the study, says there is a hitch: The current testing method that measures E. coli levels at beaches takes at least 18 hours, so any swimming advisory based on that information is posted at least a day too late. CONTACT: Timothy Buckley, (614) 293-7161; tbuckley@cph.osu.edu or Jason Marion, marion.25@osu.edu SEE: