An ecologic comparison study of the impact of economic disadvantage on Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills performance, graduation rates, and readiness for higher education for students attending public and charter schools in Texas from 2004 to 2006

Purpose. No Child Left Behind aimed to "improve the academic achievement of the disadvantaged." The primary research question considered how academic achievement of those from economic disadvantage compared to those not from disadvantage? ^ Economically disadvantaged students can potentially have added academic disadvantage. Research shows low academic achievement can potentially result in drug abuse, youth violence, and teen pregnancy. ^ Methods. To compare the student populations, measures included TAKS results and academic indicator data collected by the Texas Education Agency. ^ Results. T-test analyses showed a significant difference between the economically and non-economically disadvantaged student populations in meeting the TAKS passing standard, graduation, and preparation for higher education.^ Conclusions. The achievement gap between students remained as indicated by the Texas testing program. More research and time are needed to observe if the desired impact on those from economic disadvantage will be reflected by academic achievement data.^

Organization of the inferotemporal cortex in the macaque monkey: Connections of areas PITv and CITvp

Visual cortex of macaque monkeys consists of a large number of cortical areas that span the occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal lobes and occupy more than half of cortical surface. Although considerable progress has been made in understanding the contributions of many occipital areas to visual perceptual processing, much less is known concerning the specific functional contributions of higher areas in the temporal and frontal lobes. Previous behavioral and electrophysiological investigations have demonstrated that the inferotemporal cortex (IT) is essential to the animal's ability to recognize and remember visual objects. While it is generally recognized that IT consists of a number of anatomically and functionally distinct visual-processing areas, there remains considerable controversy concerning the precise number, size, and location of these areas. Therefore, the precise delineation of the cortical subdivisions of inferotemporal cortex is critical for any significant progress in the understanding of the specific contributions of inferotemporal areas to visual processing. In this study, anterograde and/or retrograde neuroanatomical tracers were injected into two visual areas in the ventral posterior and central portions of IT (areas PITv and CITvp) to elucidate the corticocortical connections of these areas with well known areas of occipital cortex and with less well understood regions of inferotemporal cortex. The locations of injection sites and the delineation of the borders of many occipital areas were aided by the pattern of interhemispheric connections, revealed following callosal transection and subsequent labeling with HRP. The resultant patterns of connections were represented on two-dimensional computational (CARET) and manual cortical maps and the laminar characteristics and density of the projection fields were quantified. The laminar and density features of these corticocortical connections demonstrate thirteen anatomically distinct subdivisions or areas distributed within the superior temporal sulcus and across the inferotemporal gyrus. These results serve to refine previous descriptions of inferotemporal areas, validate recently identified areas, and provide a new description of the hierarchical relationships among occipitotemporal cortical areas in macaques. ^