LSA: A Political Scientist's View

In my career with state libraries, I begin to feel rather like James B. Conant in his empyrean reviews of education in the United States. I would imagine that Conant is one of the most disliked men in America. He is constantly speaking on matters to which other people have given their entire lives but to which he has devoted a few years of study. I am probably the second most disliked person in the United States since after a few months of experience with state libraries and public libraries I have begun to speak as an authority on matters to which other people have devoted a lifetime of endeavor. The reason for my being here, as you people know very well, is that I am currently the director of a study of library services in state government, sponsored by the American Library Association and financed by the Carnegie Corporation. Even before I started on this project, I began reporting on its progress. I fear that in all too many cases I have been repeating my reports to some of you patiently seated here. The consequence is that before my data are in I am gratuitously giving conclusions, which, as a conscientious social scientist, I should reserve until I have had a change to complete the study.published or submitted for publicatio

Social health maintenance organizations' service use and costs, 1985-89.

Presented in this article are aggregate utilization and financial data from the four social health maintenance organization (S/HMO) demonstrations that were collected and analyzed as a part of the national evaluation of the S/HMO demonstration project conducted for the Health Care Financing Administration. The S/HMOs, in offering a $6,500 to$12,000 chronic care benefit in addition to the basic HMO benefit package, had higher start up costs and financial losses over the first 5 years than expected, and controlling costs continues to be a challenge to the sites and their sponsors

When They Sing: the performance of songs in 18th-century English lodges

British research libraries are full of eighteenth-century masonic materials that contain song texts, but the exact use to which these songs were put has remained elusive. Drawing upon a close reading of the sources and contemporary comment Andrew Pink proposes a model for organising this material, as well as a model for its performance

Poverty: Major Themes in Past Debates and Current Proposals

[Excerpt] Poverty in the United States—and initiatives to address poverty—is a current topic of discussion among policy makers and researchers. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty, launched in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson. The rate of poverty has declined since then, yet poverty persists. The number of people officially counted as poor in 2013 was 45.3 million and the official poverty rate was 14.5%. Numerous research articles, editorials, statements by Members of Congress, and congressional hearings have marked the 50th anniversary, revealing different viewpoints on the effectiveness of past and current policies, and offering new initiatives for consideration. The topic of poverty is much broader than a single program or set of programs. In public policy discussions, the terms “poverty” and “welfare” are often intertwined, with “welfare” generally thought of as cash assistance for the poor. However, more universal social insurance programs— such as Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment Insurance—may be the nation’s most important antipoverty programs. Looking more broadly, poverty is affected by many aspects of public policy, ranging from macroeconomic policies to antidiscrimination laws to a national commitment for universal public education. Reducing or ameliorating poverty has not been widely articulated as the explicit goal of major policy debates in many years, although the impact of policy decisions might directly affect the incidence or characteristics of poverty. For example, the decades-long discussion that resulted in the 1996 welfare reform law focused on moving recipients of cash assistance off the rolls and into jobs, along with related policies designed to “make work pay” better than welfare receipt. The debate preceding enactment of health reform in 2010 focused on expanding access to health insurance for uncovered populations and making coverage more secure for those who had it, among other things. Both of these initiatives were implicitly related to poverty, but neither was promoted explicitly for antipoverty purposes. Most recently, some Members of Congress have introduced legislation, or announced elements of potential proposals, framed in the broad context of addressing poverty. These proposals would touch upon numerous existing federal programs. While the specifics differ—and in some cases are still being developed, these proposals reflect certain common themes that have characterized discussions of antipoverty policy for many years. Likewise, policies advocated by the Obama Administration also can be examined in the context of these overarching historic themes

The Comprehensive Longitudinal Evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Summary of Baseline Reports

Provides an overview of the MPCP and summarizes topical baseline reports on its fiscal impact in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, on participating schools, on annual test scores, and on the voucher schools' effects on participating students and parents

Building Open Educational Resources from the Ground Up: South Africa's Free High School Science Texts

This paper presents a case study of the development of the South African project Free High School Science Texts (FHSST), an initiative to develop a free high school science text for all teachers and learners in South Africa. The goals of the case study were two-fold: to examine and analyze the practices associated with the successes and challenges encountered by FHSST; and to encourage a participatory, analytical process that will assist other open education projects in thinking about and sharing their practices, processes, and strategies. Beyond its implications for South African education, the FHSST project can serve as a model for peer production of open content, offering insights into planning and decision making around 1) recruiting volunteers; 2) sustaining their participation; 3) using technology to create effective workflow; 4) conducting hackathons; and 5) facilitating teacher trials. Findings from this study offers insights into overall approaches and goals that may prove instrumental across open education projects, serving as a reference for development of assessment tools and resources that may assist open education projects in tracking, sharing, and advancing their learnings and success

State Implications of Health Reform in Georgia

How will the health reform law affect health care and health insurance for Georgians? Federal agencies responsible for implementing the law still have to determine how the law will be interpreted. Yet, Georgia policymakers can prepare for an effective implementation by understanding the provisions of the law as it is currently written, how those provisions might alter current practices in Georgia, and what choices Georgia policymakers can make to shape the system. This brief is the second in a series on health reform. Upcoming communications will include: Community Implications and the Provider Impact

The Impact of the Louisiana Scholarship Program on Racial Segregation in Louisiana Schools

The question of how school choice programs affect the racial stratification of schools is highly salient in the field of education policy. We use a student-level panel data set to analyze the impacts of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) on racial segregation in public and private schools. This targeted school voucher program provides funding for low-income, mostly minority students in the lowest-graded public schools to enroll in participating private schools. Our analysis indicates that the vast majority (82%) of LSP transfers have reduced racial segregation in the voucher students’ former public schools. LSP transfers have marginally increased segregation in the participating private schools, however, where just 45% of transfers reduce racial segregation. In those school districts under federal desegregation orders, voucher transfers result in a large reduction in traditional public schools’ racial segregation levels and have no discernible impact on private schools. The results of this analysis provide reliable empirical evidence that parental choice actually has aided desegregation efforts in Louisiana