An exploratory study of implementing a breakthrough series collaborative in early childhood education and care centers in the United States

International journal of child care and education policy/International journal of child care and education · 2025-08-11 · 1 citations

Abstract This study evaluates a professional development (PD) initiative that used an innovative quality improvement methodology, the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC), in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings in the United States. We examined: (1) the extent to which programs engaged with the activities of the initiative, (2) whether the hypothesized mechanisms by which the initiative’s methodology achieves improved outcomes were activated, and (3) whether initial improvements in evidence-based practices and organizational functioning were reported in ECEC settings participating in the PD initiative. A mixed-methods case study design followed seven centers participating in the initiative in one community over 18 months. Data were collected with 148 staff in participating centers. Findings revealed variation in the degree of participation in the initiative’s activities among participating teams, with two centers categorized as having “robust” participation and five “moderate” participation. There was initial evidence that some dimensions of the hypothesized mechanisms for change—inter-organizational learning and an inquiry mindset—were activated within centers. As for improvements in short-term outcomes, teachers’ sense of efficacy increased over time, and participants reported structural changes to organizational functions (such as staff meetings and protected staff time) that removed barriers and allowed educators the time and space to take initiative for quality improvement activities. Finally, participants attributed positive changes in organizational climate and culture (like support for distributed leadership within the center) to the BSC process. In sum, the findings of this study suggest that the BSC is a promising PD strategy for use with center-based ECEC settings. One implication of the findings is that policies and practices should intentionally address known barriers to participation in quality improvement efforts. Further studies with larger samples are needed to determine the effectiveness of the BSC methodology within various ECEC setting types and ECEC systems.

Microbiology, Pharmacology, and Immunology for Pre-Clinical Students

Virginia Tech Publishing eBooks · 2025-04-15

<br><i><b>Microbiology, Pharmacology, and Immunology for Pre-Clinical Students</i></b> is a peer-reviewed open textbook designed to fill a gap in undergraduate medical education (UME) and support medical school pre-clerkship education. It covers the areas of immunology, microbiology, systems-based infections, and global mechanisms of treatment. It is aligned to USMLE® (United States Medical Licensing Examination) and modified from OpenStax Microbiology. The organization of this resource is driven by curricular structure to enhance integrated, multidisciplinary content delivery. This specific resource is intended to be used in various ways, mainly as a student quick-reference guide. The sections are not intended to be all-inclusive, but are primers for applied content delivery. The resource is organized into small chapters that can be used to support student preparation in any arrangement. Similarly, clinical context is only briefly discussed (or purposefully omitted) in order to allow the user to apply the basic content presented here in the clinical context used by their specific curricular structure. As cases and clinical correlates change regularly, it is beneficial to have flexible, short resources that can be applied to many scenarios. <b>Are you reviewing or adopting this book for a course?</b> <br>Please help us understand your use by filling out <b><a href="https://bit.ly/interest-preclinical">this form</a></b>. <b>How to access the book</b> <br>The main landing page for this book is <a href="https://doi.org/10.21061/micropharmimmuno">https://doi.org/10.21061/micropharmimmuno</a>. <br>The PDF and EPUB versions are available to download on the left-hand side of the screen. <br>An online, accessible version of the book is available in <b><a href="https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/micropharmimmuno/">Pressbooks</a></b>. <br>A paperback print version (in color) is <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1962841022">available for order here</a></b>. <b>ISBNs</b> <br>ISBN (PDF): 978-1-962841-04-7 <br>ISBN (<a href="https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/micropharmimmuno/">Pressbooks</a>): 978-1-962841-05-4 <br>ISBN (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1962841022">Print</a>): 978-1-962841-02-3 <br>ISBN (EPUB): 978-1-962841-03-0 <b>Table of contents</b> 1. Host Defenses, Immunodeficiencies, and Autoimmune Disorders 2. Basic Microbiology 3. Systemic Infections of the Skin 4. Systemic Infections of the Oral Cavity and GI 5. Systemic Infections of the Respiratory Tract 6. Systemic Infections of the Circulatory and Lymphatic Systems 7. Systemic Infections of the Urinary System 8. Systemic Infections of the Nervous System 9. Foundations of Disease Management <b>Find, adapt, and share resources</b> <br>If you wish to share resources you build from this book or find those shared by other adopters of this book, please join the <b><a href="https://oercommons.org/groups/pre-clinical-resources/10133/">instructor portal</a></b>. <b>Attribution</b> <br>The base of the book is from OpenStax <a href="https://openstax.org/details/books/microbiology"><i>Microbiology</i></a> by Nina Parker et al, which is licensed with a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license</a>, much of which was reworded and reorganized. <b>About the adapters</b> <br><b>Jennifer L. Cleveland</b> is an assistant professor in the Department of Basic Science at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She received a PharmD and MBA degree from Shenandoah University and has practiced in a variety of settings including hospitals, home healthcare, and independent pharmacy. She began her journey in clinical education at Jefferson College of Health Sciences, where she was instructor of clinical pharmacotherapeutics for physician assistant students for nine years. In 2017, she transitioned to Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine where her role includes teaching pharmacology to first- and second-year medical students, codirecting the problem-based learning curriculum, integrating pharmacology within clinical science, and facilitating small group sessions in the Health Systems Science and Interprofessional Practice program. With her background in clinical pharmacy and board-certification as a pharmacotherapy specialist, she brings a unique blend of expertise in her role as a medical educator. <b>Andrew P. Binks</b> is a cardiopulmonary physiologist who gained his BSc (Hons) in Physiological Sciences at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and a MSc in Human and Applied Physiology from King’s College, London. He returned to Newcastle to complete his PhD and study the underlying physiological mechanisms of dyspnea, the cardinal symptom of cardiopulmonary disease. He continued investigating dyspnea at Harvard School of Public Health as a postdoctoral fellow and then as a research scientist. After seven years at Harvard, Andrew took his first faculty position at the University of New England where he taught cardiovascular and pulmonary physiology to health professionals and medical students. He continued to teach heart and lung physiology after moving to the University of South Carolina’s Medical School in Greenville where he also directed the school’s heart and lung pathophysiology courses. Andrew currently teaches heart and lung physiology and pathophysiology at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, directs the heart and lung pathophysiology course, and has previously served as the departmental director of faculty development. <b>Renée J. LeClair</b> is an Associate Professor in the Department of Basic Science Education at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Her role is to engage activities that support the departmental mission of developing an integrated medical experience using evidence-based delivery grounded in the science of learning. She received a PhD at Rice University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute in vascular biology. She became involved in medical education, curricular renovation, and implementation of innovative teaching methods during her first faculty appointment, at the University of New England, College of Osteopathic Medicine. In 2013, she moved to University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Greenville. The opportunities afforded by joining a new program and serving as the Chair of the Curriculum committee provided a blank slate for creative curricular development and close involvement with the accreditation process. During her tenure she developed and directed a team-taught, student-centered undergraduate medical course that integrated the scientific and clinical sciences to assess the six-core competencies of medical education. <b>Suggested citation</b> <br>Cleveland, Jennifer L., Binks, Andrew P., and LeClair, Renée J. (2025). <i>Microbiology, Pharmacology, and Immunology for Pre-Clinical Students</i>. Roanoke: Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. <a href="https://doi.org/10.21061/micropharmimmuno">https://doi.org/10.21061/micropharmimmuno</a>. Licensed with <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>. <b><a href="https://bit.ly/feedback-preclinical">Report an error</a></b> | <b><a href="https://bit.ly/errata_micropharmimmuno">View errata</a></b> <b>Funding and project support</b> <br>This publication was made possible in part through funding and publishing support provided by the <a href="https://guides.lib.vt.edu/oer">Open Education Initiative</a> of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech. <b>Accessibility statement</b> <br>Virginia Tech is committed to making its publications accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The text, images, and links in the PDF version of this text are tagged structurally and include alternative text, which allows for machine readability. We are continuously working to improve accessibility and welcome any feedback from readers. <b>Disclaimer</b> <br>This work may contain components (e.g., illustrations, or quotations) not covered by the license. Every effort has been made to clearly identify these components but ultimately it is your responsibility to independently evaluate the copyright status of any work or component part of a work you use, in light of your intended use. Please check the references at the end of each chapter or consult the source material from OpenStax before redistributing.

Families’ and Early Educators’ Experiences With the Early Care and Education System in Minnesota

2024-09-30

Methods and Measures for Understanding Children’s Experiences in Parent Aware Rated Programs

2024-08-27

An integrated pre-clerkship curriculum to build cognitive medical schema: It’s not just about the content

Frontiers in Physiology · 2023 · 4 citations

• Computer Science
• Computer Science
• Psychology

Both physiology and pathophysiology are essential disciplines in health professional education however, clinicians do not use this knowledge in isolation. Instead, physicians use inter-disciplinary concepts embedded within integrated cognitive schema (illness scripts) established through experience/knowledge that manifest as expert-level thinking. Our goal was to develop a pre-clerkship curriculum devoid of disciplinary boundaries (akin to the physician's illness script) and enhance learners' clerkship and early clinical performance. As well as developing curricular content, the model considered non-content design elements such as learner characteristics and values, faculty and resources and the impact of curricular and pedagogical changes. The goals of the trans-disciplinary integration were to develop deep learning behaviors through, 1) developing of integrated, cognitive schema to support the transition to expert-level thinking, 2) authentic, contextualization to promote knowledge transfer to the clinical realm 3) allowing autonomous, independent learning, and 4) harnessing the benefits of social learning. The final curricular model was a case-based approach with independent learning of basic concepts, differential diagnosis and illness scripting writing, and concept mapping. Small-group classroom sessions were team-taught with basic scientists and physicians facilitating learners' self-reflection and development of clinical reasoning. Specifications grading was used to assess the products (written illness scripts and concept maps) as well as process (group dynamics) while allowing a greater degree of learner autonomy. Although the model we adopted could be transferred to other program settings, we suggest it is critical to consider both content and non-content elements that are specific to the environment and learner.

Considerations for School Psychology University Faculty: Developing and Implementing Services for Students with ASD

2022-01-01

Considerations for Organizing Longitudinal Delivery of Pharmacology: the Impact of Content Delivery in Context

Medical Science Educator · 2021-11-12 · 2 citations

An Interactive Process for Delivering Pharmacologic Interventions for Migraine Headache to First-Year Medical Students

MedEdPORTAL · 2020 · 6 citations

• Computer Science
• Medicine
• Medical education

Introduction: This interactive didactic session is designed for first-year medical students to explore the common clinical symptom of headache and its various management strategies. The session provides an opportunity to cover a variety of drugs, mechanisms of action, drug-drug interactions, and routes of administration in a single 50-minute time frame. Methods: Using a modified case-based approach, we designed an interactive session for 41 first-year medical students. Students prepared for the session using basic learning objectives and a table of drugs that treat headache pain. In class, we distributed a patient scenario and a series of discussion questions to explore headache management. We assessed student performance using questions purchased from the National Board of Medical Examiners and student perceptions using both qualitative and quantitative data collected from faculty and end-of-block evaluations. Results: = .0052). Student perceptions of the overall quality of the faculty, content presentation, and material were positive (4.4 out of 5.0). Two themes emerged in the end-of-block evaluations: Students commented positively on the prereading materials, and students commented on the need to address underlying physiology associated with the discussed pharmacology. Discussion: This flexible activity can be delivered in a short time (50 minutes) by a single faculty member in a variety of curricular structures. Our data demonstrate strong student performance and suggest that incorporating additional content would enhance delivery.

Culture of Continuous Learning Project: A Breakthrough Series Collaborative for Improving Child Care and Head Start Quality

OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) · 2017-01-06

Child Trends and its partners at the University of Massachusetts Boston, JRA Consulting Ltd., and the Center for the Study of Social Policy were awarded a contract in September 2016 to conduct a study about quality improvement efforts in child care and Head Start settings. The project is funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of the Culture of Continuous Learning Project (CCL) is to assess the feasibility of implementing continuous quality improvement methods in early care and education programs to support the use and sustainability of evidence-based practices. Early care and education program participants in the feasibility study will participate in a Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC), a specific model designed to support learning and improvement among practitioners at all levels of an organization. The BSC methodology has not been tested rigorously in early care and education programs but has been studied in health care and other fields.

Transmission of blood-borne pathogens in US dental health care settings

The Journal of the American Dental Association · 2016-05-25 · 147 citations