Western Carolina University

About: Western Carolina University is a education organization based out in Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 1660 authors who have published 3192 publications receiving 69454 citations.

First-Year Teaching Experiences: Are They Different for Traditionally versus Alternatively Certified Teachers?

Abstract: The recruitment and retention of public school teachers has been an area of concern for many years. Teacher recruitment has been addressed through the development of alternative pathways to teacher certification. Teacher retention has been addressed primarily through induction programs that provide mentoring and other support resources to beginning teachers. Research has looked at the impact of alternative certification programs on teacher recruitment and teacher effectiveness. In addition, there has been extensive research on the impact of induction programs to help retain teachers in the field. This study provides information regarding how teachers who enter the field through alternative certification programs respond to these induction programs, in comparison to those who enter through more traditional programs.

Navigating the Evidence-Based Practice Maze: Resources for Teachers of Secondary Students With Disabilities

Abstract: Factors such as the standards-based education movement, mandated participation in statewide testing, and inclusion have forced an increased focus on improving outcomes for students with disabilities. There are many determinants of postschool success for students with disabilities; however, teachers primarily have control over only one, teaching practices and programs. As a result, it is important that teachers choose and implement practices that have proven successful for secondary students with disabilities. This article guides teachers through the process of navigating the evidence-based practice maze to identify evidence-based practices and programs for secondary students with disabilities. Particularly, it addresses the need to (a) follow a research-based framework (i.e., Kohler’s Taxonomy), (b) use practices with the best available research evidence to support effectiveness, and (c) use data-based decision making to guide use of evidence-based practices.

Ecological distribution of the salamanders gyrinophilus and pseudotriton in a southern appalachian watershed

Abstract: The stream-type larval forms of the hemidactyliine plethodontid salamanders Gyrinophilus porphyriticus, Pseudotriton montanus, and P. ruber show subtle interspecific variation in pigmentation and body proportions. I tested the hypothesis that morphological divergence is correlated with adaptive diversification in habitat selection by evaluating the ecological distribution and habitat affinities of larvae of these species in the Chattooga River watershed of the southern Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. Pseudotriton montanus was observed in a single habitat, a bottomland swamp in the floodplain of a third-order stream. Both G. porphyriticus and P. ruber showed an affinity for springs, although the latter had a wider distribution in higher-order streams and small ponds. In springs, larvae of G. porphyriticus showed a greater preference for rheocrenes and a proclivity for burrowing in the coarse substrates of these habitats; in contrast, larvae of P. ruber were more common in limnocrenes and helocrenes, whi...

Community Assembly in the Salamander Genus Desmognathus

Abstract: In this paper, I present a model of community assembly in the salamander genus Desmognathus based on a survey of assemblage composition throughout the range of the genus. The 21 species of Desmognathus can be sorted into three life-history categories, namely, stream, streamside, and forest, based on duration of the larval phase and a suite of other life-history and morphological traits that are correlated with habitat use of the several life-history stages. In most assemblages having all three life-history categories, stream species are larger than streamside species, and the latter species are larger than forest species. An evaluation of the literature on interspecific competition and predation (i.e., intraguild predation) in Desmognathus indicates that these processes are important in structuring assemblages of these salamanders. Thus, niche assembly, as opposed to dispersal assembly (i.e., neutral model), seems to be a valid model of community assembly in Desmognathus. Only streamside species ...