The Needs Analysis of Training for Elementary School Teachers (Prior Analysis to the Research of Professional and Pedagogical Competencies Development in Civics Education)

ABSTRACT Purpose–Research on teacher training needs analysis in order to study the development of pedagogical and professional elementary school teachers competencies in Civic education aims to describe the level of pedagogical and professional’ elementary school teachers competencies gap and to describe the elementary teacher training needs in order to develop pedagogical and professional deficit. Method–This study is a descriptive research. The study sites spread across the elementary school teachers in 8 subdistricts which are Suruh, Bancak, Bringin, Pabelan, Tengaran, Kaliwungu, Getasan and Ambarawa. The sample consists of 72 teachers, taken by purposive clusters sampling. Data collection technique is using self-evaluation in the form of questionnaire that has been tested for the validity and reliability. Analysis showed that the corrected item-total correlation is 0,794 for the highest and 0,221 for the lowest. Reliability test results showed that the alpha reliability coefficient is 0.945. Moreover, the techniques of data analysis are using descriptive statistical analysis and gap analysis. Findings –The result of the analysis shows that there are1) the gap of teachers’ pedagogic competency is 23.07 %, 2) the gap of teachers professional competency is 30 % , dan 3) the gap of pedagogic and professional competencies includes;(a) developing the curriculum which is related to Civics Education, (b) conducting assesment and evaluation of the process and result of learning process, (c) using the result of assesment and evaluation for the sake of teaching and learning, (d) Doing refective action (Class Action Research) to enhance teaching and learning process, (e) mastering the concept and principle of protection and development of Human Rights and also fair and proper law enforcement, (f) developing the material of civics education creatively, (g) developing sustainable profesionalism through reflective action, (h) using information technology and communication for self developing action. Significance–This research discusses about the gap of elementary school teachers’ competencies, spesifically civics education. Gap occurs when there is discrepancy between ideal competencies and empirical competencies of teachers’ performance. The results of this research are useful for designing training in teachers’ competence

Strategic Human Resource Management: Three-Stage Process and Influencing Organisational Factors

A three-stage model for the process of strategic human resource management is developed in this paper. The three stages cover strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. The inter-linkages in this dynamic model have been explored. The organisational factors that have enabling or deterring influence on the success of each of these three stages have been discussed. The paper highlights the key role played by HR professionals in these three stages.

The Skills Shortage and the Payoff to Vocational Education

[Excerpt] Skill demands also appear to be rising within occupations. Increasing numbers of manufacturing workers are working in production cells in which every member of the team is expected to learn every job. Production workers are being given responsibilities--quality checking, statistical process control (SPC) record keeping, resetting machines shown by SPC to be straying from target dimensions, redesigning the layout of the machines in the production cell--that used to be the sole province of supervisors, specialized technicians and industrial engineers. What implications do these changes in skill demands have for the payoff to high school vocational education? Are workers who develop the technical skills taught in trade and technical programs, in fact, more productive when they get a job in the field? Are the skills taught in these programs still valued by the labor market? Has the payoff to high school vocational training increased along with the payoff to other skills? What changes in the way vocational education is delivered are implied by the tight labor markets for highly skilled workers? This paper attempts to answer these questions by examining four different kinds of evidence on the economic payoffs to occupationally specific training in high school

An exploration of hospitality management competencies in Turkey through content analysis of the job ads

This paper reports on the hospitality management competencies required to be assigned to a management position in Turkey. The study found out a number of competencies with top priority ranging from 82.1 to 21.4 percent extracted from job ads on the most browsed career websites in Turkey by employing a content analysis as the research method. These core competencies were delineated in the five domains of Sandwith’s Competency Domain Model in order to discover how they pertained to the theory. The in-depth analysis rendered the whole range of domains particularly leadership, technical and interpersonal, partly conceptual/creative and administrative. The study concluded that recruiters mainly look for managers with leadership, technical and interpersonal competencies in Turkey

Policy Barriers to School Improvement: What's Real and What's Imagined?

Some of the most promising reforms are happening where school leaders are thinking differently about how to get the strongest student outcomes from the limited resources available. But even principals who use their autonomy to aggressively reallocate resources say that persistent district, state, and federal barriers prohibit them from doing more.What are these barriers? What do they block principals from doing? Is there a way around them?CRPE researchers probed these questions with principals in three states (NH, CT, MD). These principals cited numerous district, state, and federal barriers standing in the way of school improvement. The barriers, 128 in all, fell into three categories: 1) barriers to instructional innovations, 2) barriers to allocating resources differently, and 3) barriers to improving teacher quality.Upon investigation, researchers found that principals have far more authority than they think. Only 31% of the barriers cited were "real" -- immovable statutes, policies, or managerial directives that bring the threat of real consequences if broken.The report recommends educating principals on the authority they already possess, to help them find workarounds to onerous rules. The report also outlines a number of specific state and district policy changes to grant schools the autonomy they need to improve student outcomes

Answering the Calls of "What's Next" and "Library Workers Cannot Live by Love Alone" through Certification and Salary Research

Members and staff of the American Library Association (ALA) worked diligently over more than a decade to develop a certification program for public library managers. Spurred by a long-standing trend in many other terminal-degree professions that have post-degree, voluntary certifications, the Certified Public Library Administrator Program was born. Legal authority recommended the establishment of a service organization, a 501(c)(6) to manage the program, which has become one of several programs that will be offered to library employees under the imprimatur of ALA. After the American Library Association???Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) was instituted, advocacy for salary improvement initiatives was appended to the mission. One means of salary advocacy was to improve available data by expanding the scope and usefulness of the ALA Survey of Librarian Salaries, which resulted in the ALA-APA Salary Survey: Non-MLS???Public and Academic, conducted in 2006 and 2007 to collect salary data from more than sixty positions in the field that do not require a master's degree in Library Science. The experience of establishing two certification programs, the Certified Public Library Administrator Program (CPLA??) and the Library Support Staff Certification Program, has been a study in creating new national models of professional development. This article will also discuss the insights that have emerged from fulfilling elements of ALA strategic plans concerning the needs of support staff through certification and the salary survey.published or submitted for publicatio

Interface-tuned epoxy/clay nanocomposites

Though interface has been known for a critical role in determining the properties of conventional composites, its role in polymer nanocomposites is still fragmented and in its infancy. This study synthesized a series of epoxy/clay nanocomposites with different interface strength by using three types of modifiers: ethanolamine (denoted ETH), Jeffamine� M2070 (M27) and Jeffamine� XTJ502 (XTJ). XTJ created a strong interface between clay layers and matrix because it bridged the layers with matrix by a chemical reaction as proved by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; M27 produced an interme-diate interface strength due to the molecular entanglement between grafted M27 chains and matrix molecules; the interface made by ETH was weak because neither chemical bridging nor molecular entanglement was involved. The studies of mechanical and thermal properties and morphology at a wide range of magnification show that the strong interface promoted the highest level of exfoliation and dispersion of clay layers, and achieved the most increment in Young’s modulus, fracture toughness and glass transition temperature (Tg) of matrix. With w1.3 wt% clay, the critical strain energy release rate G1c of neat epoxy improved from 179.0 to 384.7 J/m, 115% improvement and Tg enhanced from 93.7 to 99.

To cannulate or not to cannulate? Variation, appropriateness and potential for reduction in cannulation rates by ambulance staff

Background: Peripheral intravenous (IV) cannulation is a key intervention in the prehospital setting, but inappropriate use may cause unnecessary pain, distress or risk of infection. The aim of this study was to examine the rate and appropriateness of prehospital cannulation and the relative importance of factors associated with increased likelihood of cannulation. Design and setting: Cross-sectional survey of patients transported in Lincolnshire, East Midlands Ambulance Service. Methods: Retrospective non-identifiable data for September 2006 were extracted. Clinical conditions were classified according to whether they warranted, did not warrant or were uncertain as to the need for cannulation. Other potential indications for cannulation including IV drug administration, reduced consciousness, systolic hypotension, respiratory depression and haemorrhage were combined to determine whether cannulation was indicated. Other variables were investigated as predictors of cannulation. The method of analysis was agreed at the outset. Results: Paramedics cannulated 14.6% (1295/8866) of patients. IV drug administration, clinical indication, reduced conscious level, respiratory depression and hypotension were associated with greater likelihood of cannulation (p,0.001). Cannulation was more likely in older patients but was not associated with gender, haemorrhage or hypoglycaemia. Multivariate logistic regression showed IV drug administration as the strongest predictor of cannulation. Cannulation rates varied threefold by ambulance station (mean 13.4%, 5.8% to 19.0%). It was estimated that 202 (15.6%) of the cannulations performed could potentially have been avoided. Conclusion: Rates of cannulation were higher than previous studies with wide variations between ambulance stations. 15.6% of cannulations performed could have been avoided, thus reducing pain, distress and other potential complications such as thrombophlebitis, extravasation and infection. The generalisability of this study was limited by use of a single site, short duration and dependence on accurate retrospective data. The data demonstrating wide variations suggest that there may be scope for consideration of interventions to reduce cannulation rates

Equality in Health: An Annotated Bibliography With Resources on Health Disparities and Cultural and Linguistic Competency

Provides citations for articles, reports, books, and online resources on racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care, strategies to reduce them, assessment tools for cultural and linguistic competency, training and education, and other issues