1951 survey of consumer finances: part IV. distribution of consumer saving in 1950

Consumer surveys ; Consumer behavior ; Consumer credit

Health and Wellness: The Shift From Managing Illness to Promoting Health

Examines the rise in health plan initiatives to promote wellness as a way for employers to manage costs and to engage employees in their own healthcare decisions through wellness activities, behavior modification programs, and health risk assessments

General Hospitals, Specialty Hospitals and Financially Vulnerable Patients

Examines whether specialty hospitals draw well-insured patients away from general and safety-net hospitals, reducing their ability to cross-subsidize less profitable services and uncompensated care, in three cities. Notes challenges and implications

Consistency counts- or does it?

All stake holders in competency based teacher training systems share an interest in the consistency of assessment outcomes and practice. Assessment data from more than 200 trainees participating in Initial Teacher Training/Education (ITT/E) programmes and partnerships at a Higher Education (HE) provider in the Northwest of England were analysed during the academic year 2014-15. At four formal review points the overall teaching grades received by trainees were compared across five ITT/E programmes leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Several statistical approaches were employed and compared. All the methods indicated consistency of outcomes across the programmes for the final summative assessment. Two statistical methods were used to investigate the strength of correlations between grades awarded for individual teaching standards and the trainees’ overall teaching grades. Both demonstrated that all individual standards were positively correlated with overall teaching grades. The second and qualitative phase of the study is ongoing and uses Q-Analysis to illuminate these initial findings by seeking to identify clusters of subjectivity amongst mentors and tutors when prioritising statements about assessment. It is too early to report any results from this phase

The journey from reflection on practice to research informed practice: the contribution of MA practitioner research

This paper examines how one higher education institute (HEI) in the Northwest of England has devised and developed an innovative Master of Arts (MA) in Education practice with a curriculum designed to meet the needs of newly and recently qualified teachers. The research considers that in the early stages of initial teacher education (ITE), learning to teach may involve an apprenticeship model where the teacher educator must model learning, teaching and assessment strategies and inspire their mentees to find out those that will work for them through models of reflection and policy in practice. Later, successful teachers must be able to choose and critically evaluate strategies and pedagogies for themselves, a defining factor in the design of the programme and curriculum. Emerging from a course review, we consider evidence based practice and practitioner research through a progression route (MA) from ITE. Furthermore we determine that the research focus of early career teachers in this context enables research at a personal level for professional development of emerging and focused targets for context dependent research. This paper concludes that the current programme does indeed meet serving teachers’ needs, and represents the move from reflection on practice to research informed practice evident through a consideration of the contemporary issues facing beginning teachers and their foci of study. This research also informs how we develop our recruitment strategy and next steps for the future to encourage a more sustained approach to research as teachers. It highlights clear steps for taking this research further and tracking beginning teachers’ research journey over time

Working towards evidence based practice in science teaching and learning

High performing international education systems integrate evidence based practice into their initial teacher education programmes (BERA-RSA 2014). It is the authors’ experience that the usefulness of education research to education practitioners is not always easy to judge and this leads to justifiable caution towards evidence based practice amongst trainee science teachers and their mentors in schools. A subject knowledge module was taught separately to 22 undergraduate students in their final year of a Primary/Secondary Education Honours degree with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and to 50 students following Graduate Diploma Subject Knowledge Enhancement courses in Chemistry and Physics preparing to take up places on Science Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses. An example of informal practitioner research is described and discussed. This involved using a science in society or socio-scientific approach to deliver a science subject knowledge module with two different cohorts of intending science teachers. The aim was to demonstrate strategies for facilitating the development of critical thinking and scientific literacy in school science lessons. The use of anonymous voting devices during sessions indicated a polarisation of opinions amongst participants rather than a more considered or critical response to the scientific questions. This discussion seeks to illustrate the value and drawbacks of informal practitioner research and how this evidence based approach might be beneficial to teaching and learning in science

Subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses for creating new chemistry and physics teachers: do they work?

During extended subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses, graduates without chemistry or physics bachelor degrees prepared to enter a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programme to become chemistry or physics teachers. Data were gathered from the exit survey returned by Liverpool John Moores University SKE students about to start their science PGCE course. Lesson analysis and final report forms from the PGCE course and an early survey of first destinations were also analysed. Findings suggest that the 2011–12 SKE students valued their course highly. Many issues encourage caution when interpreting PGCE assessment information but, on summative assessment of subject knowledge and overall teaching, there was no statistically significant difference between the frequency of grades awarded to 2011–12 PGCE trainees who had followed a SKE route and those who entered the science PGCE directly. Early indications were that their employment rates in teaching were also similar

Subject knowledge enhancement courses for creating new chemistry and physics teachers: the students’ perceptions

Subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses are one option open to graduates with a science background whose first degree content is judged to be insufficient to train to become chemistry or physics teachers. Previous articles in School Science Review have discussed the structure of one type of extended SKE course offered at Liverpool John Moores University, and its impact on outcomes for students. This article focuses on the qualitative responses collected from the anonymous exit questionnaire surveys returned chemistry and physics SKE students about to continue on to their science Post Graduate Certificate in Education course. The main positive course characteristic cited was student support. The main positive outcomes perceived were improved subject knowledge and skills and increased confidence

Effectiveness of aerobic exercise for adults living with HIV: systematic review and meta-analysis using the Cochrane Collaboration protocol

Background: People with HIV are living longer with the health-related consequences of HIV, multi-morbidity, and aging. Exercise is a key strategy that may improve or sustain health for people living with HIV. Our aim was to examine the safety and effectiveness of aerobic exercise interventions on immunological, virological, cardiorespiratory, strength, weight, body composition, and psychological outcomes in adults living with HIV. Methods: We conducted a systematic review using the Cochrane Collaboration protocol. We searched databases up to April 2013. We included randomized controlled trials comparing aerobic exercise with no exercise or another intervention performed at least three times per week for at least four weeks among adults living with HIV. Two reviewers independently determined study eligibility. Data were extracted from studies that met inclusion criteria using standardized forms. We assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias. Outcomes were analyzed as continuous and meta-analyses conducted using random effects models with Review Manager (RevMan) computer software. Results: Twenty-four studies met inclusion criteria (n = 936 participants at study completion); the majority of participants were men (73 %) and the majority were taking antiretroviral therapy (19/24 included studies). The exercise intervention included aerobic exercise alone (11 studies) or a combination of aerobic and resistive exercise (13 studies) ranging from 5 to 52 weeks. Fifty-eight meta-analyses were performed. Main results indicated statistically significant improvements in selected outcomes of cardiorespiratory status (maximum oxygen consumption, exercise time), strength (chest press, knee flexion), body composition (lean body mass, percent body fat, leg muscle area), depression symptoms, and quality of life (SF-36 questionnaire) among exercisers compared with non-exercisers. No significant differences in change in CD4 count and viral load were found. Conclusions: Performing aerobic exercise or a combination of aerobic and resistive exercise at least three times per week for at least five weeks is safe and can lead to improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, strength, body composition and quality of life for adults with HIV. Aerobic exercise is safe and beneficial for adults living with HIV who are medically stable