Preparing the Future Workforce: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Policy in K12 Education in Wisconsin

Last December, the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition - a national organization of more than 600 groups representing knowledge workers, educators, scientists, engineers, and technicians wrote to President-elect Obama urging him to "not lose sight of the critical role that STEM education plays in enabling the United States to remain the economic and technological leader of the 21st century global marketplace." While that imperative appears to have resonated in Washington, has it and should it resonate in Madison? This report attempts to answer that question by examining the extent to which STEM skills are a necessity for tomorrow's Wisconsin workforce, whether our schools are preparing students to be STEM-savvy workers, and where STEM falls in the state's list of educational priorities

Council of Michigan Foundations 2021 Annual Report: Together on the Journey

CMF's 2021 Annual Report: Together on the Journey illustrates the innovative leadership of our members in the areas of Equity, People, Practice and Policy and how CMF is championing the work of Michigan philanthropy as we continue to live into our Equity at the Center strategic framework.As you will see in this edition, 2021 was a year of reimagination and deepened commitment for CMF and our community of philanthropy. Together, we:Created spaces to advance personal and organizational equity journeys.Supported the next generation of philanthropy leaders and emerging leaders through youth philanthropy programming and resources, a revamped mentoring program and member-sponsored fellowships.Convened ad hoc working groups, bringing together deep expertise, research and new partners to address our most pressing issues.Piloted new efforts to inform long-term strategies to move the needle on systemic change.Deepened connections with local and state policymakers to partner in navigating incoming federal COVID relief dollars to shape equitable investments.Commissioned research to provide data to the field to inform data-driven conversations.We are deeply grateful for all in our community of philanthropy who engage and support these efforts, in service to the communities we serve, our state and our field

Women And Men In Rural Microfinance: The Case Of Uganda

Uganda, where 85 % of the population live in rural areas, has experienced a rapid rise of rural and microfinance over the last ten years. There is a pronounced gender awareness in public policities and programs. Best practices have been mastered by institutions in the formal and the NGO sector. In the latter, women dominate as borrowers. Yet, as the vast majority still have no access to deposit and credit services, expansion of outreach remains as the biggest challenge. Rapid expansion of sustainable financial services to women is best achieved in Uganda not through women-only programs, but by a broad range of financial institutions with unbiased services to both women and men, the poor and the near-poor. NGO-supported microfinance institutions (MFIs), through group lending up to a ceiling, have provided start-up finance, particularly for women; but this has added borrower transaction costs and restricted growth. In Centenary Rural Development Bank and some MFIs, voluntary savings and individual lending to enterprising men and women have fostered sustainable farm and nonfarm business growth beyond the poverty line, creating at the same time employment opportunities for the very poor. Under the prevailing conditions of a conducive policy environment, diversified agricultural and microenterprise opportunities, good practices in agriculture and microfinance, and effective agency coordination, the most effective means of donor assistance are equity investments in rural banks to extend their branch network and staff; equity investments in MFIs to transform into regulated deposit-taking institutions; support to banks and MFIs for staff selection and training; the facilitation of linkages between MFIs and banks; and the development of gender-sensitive strategies in different culture areas of Uganda based on the differential analysis of customer information in each institution?s management information system. --

Incomplete: Evaluating Current Complete Streets Practice and Presenting a Toolkit for Practitioners

Incomplete: Evaluating Current Complete Streets Practice and Presenting a Toolkit for Practitioner

Construction management and lean thinking in highways maintenance

To realize the benefits of BIM in construction management using (4D and 5D applications), it has to be implemented first. There are various BIM implementation plans to select from; with BIM features and guides, companies better understand BIM concepts and can easily choose a plan to apply in their operations. A literature review was conducted and 15 different definitions of BIM were encountered. Twelve different BIM implementation plans were found in publications by academics, software vendors and Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry professionals. Those implementation plans were compared using a matrix which covers the complete building lifecycle. This research concludes that out of the 12 implementations plans, three were equipped with additional guides attached to their plans, simplifying project data collection; namely those by Autodesk, Penn State University and Indiana University. One implementation plan that scored very highly (based on 16 key issues identified from the three categories of stakeholders specified in this project) was the implementation plan proposed by a major software vendor. BIM is poised to solve many of the shortcomings reported in the construction industry. However, before realizing the full potential of BIM in construction management, it needs to be systematically implemented

A study of a collaborative framework arrangement for highways renewals schemes

In 2001, the Highways Agency (HA) published a procurement strategy in response to a succession of studies during the 1990s, including Sir Michael Latham’s “Constructing the Team” report, Sir John Egan’s “Rethinking Construction” report, and the National Audit Office report “Modernising Construction”. The strategy covers the full range of the HA’s activities, with a focus on its delivery of services to road users as the operator of England’s motorway and trunk road network, valued at £60 billion. In this respect, the HA’s work is broadly divided into categories based on cost, namely maintenance contracts, regional projects and major projects. Within the regional projects category for works valued between £500k and £5 million, works are packaged together and procured through frameworks, allowing longterm relationships with delivery teams as a means of providing best value. To further promote this, the HA has embarked on a new initiative in Areas 9 and 10 of entering into direct contractual arrangements with specialist trade contractors and suppliers to form the Construction Management Framework (CMF). The contract commenced in July 2002 for a four year term, with an option, year on year, to extend to seven years, and covers the delivery of road renewals, structures renewals and improvement schemes. In addition, lean thinking has been identified as a means of providing improvement, and a lean construction trial has been planned on a road renewals project in Area 9, with the opportunity for developing lean as best practice within the CMF. The research aims to assess the performance of the CMF in highways renewals schemes. There are two objectives of the research: to assess the delivery of best value in highways renewals and improvements schemes using construction management, in particular through the establishment of a framework community; and to demonstrate how lean thinking can be used to provide continuous improvement within the framework community arrangement. The research methods used have included: questionnaires; surveys; longitudinal and crossAbstract iii sectional data comparison; and case studies. The main outputs of the research are: the development of a measurement agenda to address the value definitions defined in the research; the development of a lean procedure to be used in the CMF based on the outcomes of the lean trial; and recommendations for improving the CMF. The research has contributed to knowledge by providing a practical application of a collaborative framework arrangement, and identifying its strengths and weaknesses as a working model in the highways renewals and maintenance sector. It contributes to theory by providing a practical framework for initiatives, including lean thinking; for industry, it identifies implementation of those initiatives, and suggests improvements to overcome barriers to establishing and operating collaborative frameworks

Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation (AMS) Case Studies of Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) Implementations Specific to the South Central Region

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) offer potentially transformative and far-reaching impacts to the transportation system. However, realized benefits will be directly tied to how well agencies prepare for these technologies. This report documents efforts that support CAV preparatory actions in Louisiana and includes: (1) conducting a stakeholder survey to inform engagement activities to develop strategic partnerships in CAV deployment and (2) conducting crash analyses for deployment scenarios of CAV-based queue warning systems (QWSs). An electronic survey was developed and disseminated to 273 Louisiana organizations. The purpose of the survey was to engage these organizations under the context of CAV planning and gauge their awareness, perception, and viewed importance of planning for CAV technologies. Survey results were clustered in three main groups: Group A—those uninformed of CAV technologies and do not believe they will impact their organization, Group B—those more informed but also do not believe their organization will be impacted, and Group C—those aware, positively perceive, and believe it is important to prepare. Results indicate a strong correlation between the level of awareness and perception of CAV technologies. Low awareness and perception by economic development, freight, and transit groups indicate areas of concern. Survey results were further analyzed utilizing a CAV-specific capability maturity framework, and recommendations were developed to engage stakeholders in planning efforts. A crash analysis was conducted at four proposed locations across Louisiana to determine QWS suitability. The analysis utilized five-year historical crash data and focused on crash rate, severity level, manner of collision, and level of service of safety. Due to overrepresented rear-end crashes, QWSs may be suitable at the Jefferson Parish and West Baton Rouge Parish locations. Each effort was prepared to be general and beneficial to transportation agencies involved in similar CAV activities

Updating the Crash Modification Factors and Calibrating the IHSDM for Indiana

The Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM) is a tool for assessing the safety impact of project-level design decisions by implementing the HSM crash prediction methodology. Safety Performance Functions (SPFs), Crash Modification Factors/Functions (CMFs), calibration factors, and crash proportions are utilized in predicting the number, severity, and type of crashes occurring on various types of roadway facilities. This study updated and expanded the set of CMFs applicable to Indiana conditions for various geometric, traffic, pavement, and other road characteristics. CMFs for 80 various road and control improvements for urban and rural segments, intersections, and interchanges. This report also presents the methodology of calibrating the IHSDM’s predictive components based on local data and past research. This method jointly estimates the SPFs and CMFs to preserve the crash prediction consistency. SPFs, CMFs, and crash proportions were calibrated for Indiana rural two-lane segments, rural divided multilane segments, and urban/suburban arterial segments. Example calculations showed that some results were only slightly affected while others vary considerably. This finding confirms the need for calibrating the parameters in the IHSDM to local conditions

Research Synthesis for the California Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force

This research synthesis consists of a set of white papers that jointly provide a review of research on the current practicefor setting speed limits and future opportunities to improve roadway safety. This synthesis was developed to inform thework of the Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force, which was formed in 2019 by the California State Transportation Agencyin response to California Assembly Bill 2363 (Friedman). The statutory goal of the Task Force is to develop a structured,coordinated process for early engagement of all parties to develop policies to reduce traffic fatalities to zero. Thisreport addresses the following critical issues related to the work of the Task Force: (i) the relationship between trafficspeed and safety; (ii) lack of empirical justification for continuing to use the 85th percentile rule; (iii) why we need toreconsider current speed limit setting practices; (iv) promising alternatives to current methods of setting speed limits;and (v) improving road designs to increase road user safety