Markets vs. Monopolies in Education: A Global Review of the Evidence

Would large-scale, free-market reforms improve educational outcomes for American children? That question cannot be answered by looking at domestic evidence alone. Though innumerable "school choice" programs have been implemented around the United States, none has created a truly free and competitive education marketplace. Existing programs are too small, too restriction laden, or both. To understand how genuine market forces affect school performance, we must cast a wider net, surveying education systems from all over the globe. The present paper undertakes such a review, assessing the results of 25 years of international research comparing market and government provision of education, and explaining why these international experiences are relevant to the United States. In more than one hundred statistical comparisons covering eight different educational outcomes, the private sector outperforms the public sector in the overwhelming majority of cases. Moreover, that margin of superiority is greatest when the freest and most market-like private schools are compared to the least open and least competitive government systems (i.e., those resembling a typical U.S. public school system). Given the breadth, consistency, relevance, and decisiveness of this body of evidence, the implications for U.S. education policy are profound

The Fiscal Impact of a Large-Scale Education Tax Credit Program

In this paper we estimate the budgetary impact of the Cato Institute's Public Education Tax Credit model legislation on five states and present a generalized spreadsheet tool ("the Fiscal Impact Calculator") that can estimate the program's effect on any other state for which the necessary input data are supplied. It is estimated that, in its first 10 years of operation, savings from the PETC program would range from $1.1 billion for South Carolina to$15.9 billion for Texas. Illinois, Wisconsin, and New York are estimated to enjoy 10-year savings within that range. Public Education Tax Credits reduce the state and local taxes owed by anyone who pays for the private schooling of an eligible child. Parents can claim credits for their own children's educational costs, and other taxpayers (including businesses) can claim credits when they pay for the education of someone else's child, either directly or by donating to a nonprofit scholarship-granting organization

Human Life, Human Organizations and Education

The social structures within which we live and work have a profound effect on the success of our pursuits. These effects are too often poorly understood by those who shape public policy, leading to organizations that are antagonistic to the very goals they are meant to achieve. Unfortunately, this has been the case with public education in the United States. Data are presented that illustrate the way in which the incentive structure of our public school system leads the goals of its employees to diverge from those of the families it is intended to serve. Arguments in support of government-run schooling are discussed and refuted. An alternative system of mutually beneficial cooperation within a competitive market is proposed, based on its proven success in the more liberal parts of our economy. It is demonstrated that such a market system would unite the goals of educators and families, encourage innovation, and discourage many of the inefficient and educationally irrelevant practices engendered by the public school system

Improving confidence in hands-on scientific skills post-pandemic

BACKGROUND AND AIMS For undergraduate science classes, practical activities serve to reinforce theory; familiarise students with a scientific laboratory; promote laboratory techniques and technical dexterity; and facilitate peer-to-peer learning and interaction (Kemm & Dantas, 2007; Rice et al., 2009). In comparison to other disciplines, practical classes and hands-on skills are an essential part of face-to-face teaching (Anderton et al., 2021). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is now obvious in science-based disciplines with some students having studied two thirds of their degree online. The consequence of not providing opportunities to use equipment, handle instruments, and physically see reactions and specimens while learning online, has increased anxiety and knocked confidence of students returning to face-to-face study.  Academics are having to teach basic hands-on skills that students were not able to practice early in their programs. This project, funded by the Australian Council of Deans of Science, aimed to identify the key core competencies for scientific skills across disciplines from a student and academic perspective; co-create appropriate resources to supplement and support learning of hands-on skills for these competencies; and improve student confidence in developing their hands-on skills. DESIGN AND METHODS Core scientific skills and preference of learning style during the pandemic were identified by surveying academics and students in science-based disciplines. This information was used to inform a co-creation workshop where academics and students worked together to blueprint resources to support learning of key hands-on skills. Researchers of this project supported the development of resources in their scientific discipline with expertise from professional staff. The effectiveness of resources, in supporting learning of core hands-on scientific skills to improve student confidence, will be reviewed in a focus group where students will trial the resources while completing scientific tasks. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Students and academics ranked lab safety, calculations, keeping a lab book and data analysis as the most required hands-on scientific skills. The most favoured resources to support them were instructional videos produced by staff or peers, hands-on practice sessions outside of structured class time and quizzes. Students also found text resources and regular Zoom meetings important to their online learning. Interestingly, the required hands-on skills did not explicitly need to be taught face-to-face for students to master the skill. In addition, academics also used data sets, photos and computer simulations to teach hands-on skills online with an overall 50% engagement from students. Students were most impacted by not being able to handle equipment (45.5%) which caused a lack of confidence (44%) in their hands-on skills. Both academics and students believed this could be supported by authentic videos and practice sessions where there is no time limit or assessment pressure to learn a skill. This may improve student engagement in scientific courses and reduce the skills gap for those students who studied during the pandemic. REFERENCES Anderton, R. S., Vitali, J., Blackmore, C., W. & Bakeberg, M.C. (2021). Flexible Teaching and Learning Modalities in Undergraduate Science amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Frontiers in Education, 5:609703. Kemm R. E., & Dantas, A. M. (2007). Research-led learning in biological science practical activities: supported by student-centered e-learning. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. 21, A220–A220. Rice, J. W., Thomas, S. M., O’Toole, P., & Pannizon, D. (2009). Tertiary Science Education in the 21st Century (pp. 136). Melbourne, Australia: Australian Learning and Teaching Council

Investigating the Dynamics of Elk Population Size and Body Mass in a Seasonal Environment Using a Mechanistic Integral Projection Model

Environmentally mediated changes in body size often underlie population responses to environmental change, yet this is not a universal phenomenon. Understanding when phenotypic change underlies population responses to environmental change is important for obtaining insights and robust predictions of population dynamics in a changing world. We develop a dynamic integral projection model that mechanistically links environmental conditions to demographic rates and phenotypic traits (body size) via changes in resource availability and individual energetics. We apply the model to the northern Yellowstone elk population and explore population responses to changing patterns of seasonality, incorporating the interdependence of growth, demography, and density-dependent processes operating through population feedback on available resources. We found that small changes in body size distributions can have large impacts on population dynamics but need not cause population responses to environmental change. Environmental changes that altered demographic rates directly, via increasing or decreasing resource availability, led to large population impacts in the absence of substantial changes to body size distributions. In contrast, environmentally driven shifts in body size distributions could occur with little consequence for population dynamics when the effect of environmental change on resource availability was small and seasonally restricted and when strong density-dependent processes counteracted expected population responses. These findings highlight that a robust understanding of how associations between body size and demography influence population responses to environmental change will require knowledge of the shape of the relationship between phenotypic distributions and vital rates, the population status with regard to its carrying capacity, and importantly the nature of the environmentally driven change in body size and carrying capacity

Developmentally regulated expression, alternative splicing and distinct sub-groupings in members of the Schistosoma mansoni venom allergen-like (SmVAL) gene family

BACKGROUND: The Sperm-coating protein/Tpx-1/Ag5/PR-1/Sc7 (SCP/TAPS) domain is found across phyla and is a major structural feature of insect allergens, mammalian sperm proteins and parasitic nematode secreted molecules. Proteins containing this domain are implicated in diverse biological activities and may be important for chronic host/parasite interactions. RESULTS: We report the first description of an SCP/TAPS gene family (Schistosoma mansoni venom allergen-like (SmVALs)) in the medically important Platyhelminthes (class Trematoda) and describe individual members' phylogenetic relationships, genomic organization and life cycle expression profiles. Twenty-eight SmVALs with complete SCP/TAPS domains were identified and comparison of their predicted protein features and gene structures indicated the presence of two distinct sub-families (group 1 & group 2). Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that this group 1/group 2 split is zoologically widespread as it exists across the metazoan sub-kingdom. Chromosomal localisation and PCR analysis, coupled to inspection of the current S. mansoni genomic assembly, revealed that many of the SmVAL genes are spatially linked throughout the genome. Quantitative lifecycle expression profiling demonstrated distinct SmVAL expression patterns, including transcripts specifically associated with lifestages involved in definitive host invasion, transcripts restricted to lifestages involved in the invasion of the intermediate host and transcripts ubiquitously expressed. Analysis of SmVAL6 transcript diversity demonstrated statistically significant, developmentally regulated, alternative splicing. CONCLUSION: Our results highlight the existence of two distinct SCP/TAPS protein types within the Platyhelminthes and across taxa. The extensive lifecycle expression analysis indicates several SmVAL transcripts are upregulated in infective stages of the parasite, suggesting that these particular protein products may be linked to the establishment of chronic host/parasite interactions

Are we developing career-readiness skills in science graduates?

BACKGROUND As students transition from university education to employment, they require a range of skills and competencies to ensure future career readiness, including technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, effective communication, social network building, cultural awareness, resilience, and adaptability (Jackson, 2018; Roberts, 2016; Tomlinson, 2017). A number of these attributes are captured within the Threshold Learning Outcomes for Science graduates (Jones et al., 2011). The fluidity of careers also requires a greater emphasis on the development of metacognitive and reflective abilities so that graduates will have the capability, capacity, and confidence to use their personal resources appropriately and flexibly, regardless of environment. However, recent research has suggested that generic skill development is lacking in undergraduate science curricula (Sarkar et al., 2020). The work presented here aimed to understand more about the employability skills viewed as important by academics, students, graduates, and industry whilst also gauging perceived levels of attainment and confidence in those skills. DESIGN AND METHODS The confidence and capability of academics to prepare Science students to be career ready was explored by conducting surveys and community-of-practice style workshops. The perspectives of industry employers, students, and graduates was sought via surveys and focus groups. This information was then used in a co-creation workshop to identify effective ways of providing career pathways and industry connections to students as well as to develop employability skills. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Survey results identified four key employability skills that were deemed important by all groups, but which industry felt were underdeveloped in graduates, and in which students were not confident. These were: working in a team and acknowledging other viewpoints, effective time management, communication to various audiences and making confident decisions. Discussions held in the academic-specific workshop identified key roadblocks to the effective implementation of employability skill development. These were: lack of opportunity/time to integrate skills into existing curricula, engaging students to participate, and assessment of the skills. The co-creation workshop then captured industry and academic insights facilitating the development of potential methodologies to overcome these roadblocks to help in teaching the key skills identified. Outcomes will be used to develop national best-practice guidelines for the integration of employability skill development. This may facilitate changes to the Science curriculum to ensure graduates are career ready. REFERENCES Jackson, D. (2018). Developing graduate career readiness in Australia: Shifting from extra-curricular internships to work-integrated learning. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 19, 23-35. Jones, S., Yates, B., & Kelder, J. (2011). Science Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Statement. Australian Learning & Teaching Council, Sydney. Roberts, S. (2016). Capital limits: Social class, motivations for term-time job searching and the consequences of joblessness among UK university students. Journal of Youth Studies, 20, 1–18. Sarkar, M., Overton, T., Thompson, C. D., & Rayner, G. (2020). Academics’ perspectives of the teaching and development of generic employability skills in science curricula. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(2), 346–361. Tomlinson, M. (2017). Forms of graduate capital and their relationship to graduate employability. Education + Training, 59, 338-352

Future-proofing career readiness in science graduates: where, when and how?

BACKGROUND To ensure future career readiness, students must develop a range of skills and capacities including technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, effective communication, social and professional network building, interpersonal and cultural awareness, resilience, and adaptability (Jackson, 2018; Roberts, 2016; Tomlinson, 2017) as well as develop a well-grounded self-identity (Jackson, 2017). Given that careers are continuously evolving and perpetually fluid (Starr-Glass, 2019), graduates also need to critically perceive, engage, and reflect on their own identity and self-efficacy (Sarkar et al., 2016). However, recent research has shown that there is a lack of generic skill development in undergraduate science curricula (Sarkar et al., 2020) and academics have expressed concerns about their ability to provide reflective practice opportunities for students. This project, funded by the Australian Council of Deans of Science, aims to enhance the confidence and capability of academics to enhance their students career readiness; promote collaborative curriculum development between industry partners, graduates, and students; and develop national best practice guidelines for the enhancement of science graduate employability skills. THE WORKSHOP You are invited to join us for a collaborative and interactive workshop to explore where, when, and how employability skills could be implemented within the Sciences curriculum. We have used insights from students, graduates, industry employers and academics to propose possible best practice guidelines. This workshop will specifically road-test the co-created guidelines while also providing an opportunity for participants to further explore the following aspects: development of generic skills identified as more difficult to teach (such as metacognitive and reflective abilities, resilience and adaptability) enhancing the knowledge of career pathways and connecting with employers scaffolding and integration of work integrated learning activities into the curriculum (both in the workplace and in the classroom). REFERENCES Jackson, D. (2017). Developing pre-professional identity in undergraduates through work-integrated learning. Higher Education, 74, 833–853. Jackson, D. (2018) Developing graduate career readiness in Australia: Shifting from extra-curricular internships to work-integrated learning. International J Work-Integrated Learning, 19, 23-35. Roberts, S. (2016). Capital limits: Social class, motivations for term-time job searching and the consequences of joblessness among UK university students. Journal of Youth Studies, 20, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2016.1260697 Sarkar, M., Overton, T., Thompson, C. D., & Rayner, G.  (2016) Graduate employability: View of recent science graduates and employers. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 24(3), 31-48. Sarkar, M., Overton, T., Thompson, C. D., & Rayner, G. (2020). Academics’ perspectives of the teaching and development of generic employability skills in science curricula. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(2), 346–361. Starr-Glass D (2019) Doing and being: future graduates, careers and Industry 4.0. On the Horizon, 27, 145–152. Tomlinson M (2017) Forms of graduate capital and their relationship to graduate employability. Education + Training, 59, 338-352

Microbial responses to warming enhance soil carbon loss following translocation across a tropical forest elevation gradient

Tropical soils contain huge carbon stocks, which climate warming is projected to reduce by stimulating organic matter decomposition, creating a positive feedback that will promote further warming. Models predict that the loss of carbon from warming soils will be mediated by microbial physiology, but no empirical data are available on the response of soil carbon and microbial physiology to warming in tropical forests, which dominate the terrestrial carbon cycle. Here we show that warming caused a considerable loss of soil carbon that was enhanced by associated changes in microbial physiology. By translocating soils across a 3000 m elevation gradient in tropical forest, equivalent to a temperature change of ± 15 °C, we found that soil carbon declined over 5 years by 4% in response to each 1 °C increase in temperature. The total loss of carbon was related to its original quantity and lability, and was enhanced by changes in microbial physiology including increased microbial carbon‐use‐efficiency, shifts in community composition towards microbial taxa associated with warmer temperatures, and increased activity of hydrolytic enzymes. These findings suggest that microbial feedbacks will cause considerable loss of carbon from tropical forest soils in response to predicted climatic warming this century

Loss of BAP1 expression is associated with an immunosuppressive microenvironment in uveal melanoma, with implications for immunotherapy development.

Immunotherapy using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) induces durable responses in many metastatic cancers. Metastatic uveal melanoma (mUM), typically occurring in the liver, is one of the most refractory tumours to ICIs and has dismal outcomes. Monosomy 3 (M3), polysomy 8q and BAP1 loss in primary uveal melanoma (pUM) are associated with poor prognoses. The presence of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) within pUM and surrounding mUM - and some evidence of clinical responses to adoptive TIL transfer - strongly suggest that UM are indeed immunogenic despite their low mutational burden. The mechanisms that suppress TILs in pUM and mUM are unknown. We show that BAP1 loss is correlated with upregulation of several genes associated with suppressive immune responses, some of which build an immune suppressive axis, including HLA-DR, CD38, and CD74. Further, single-cell analysis of pUM by mass cytometry confirmed the expression of these and other markers revealing important functions of infiltrating immune cells in UM, most being a regulatory CD8+ T lymphocytes and tumour associated macrophages (TAMs). Transcriptomic analysis of hepatic mUM revealed similar immune profiles to pUM with BAP1 loss, including the expression of IDO1. At the protein level, we observed TAMs and TILs entrapped within peritumoral fibrotic areas surrounding mUM, with increased expression of IDO1, PD-L1 and β-catenin (CTNNB1), suggesting tumour-driven immune exclusion and hence the immunotherapy resistance. These findings aid the understanding of how the immune response is organised in BAP1- mUM, which will further enable functional validation of detected biomarkers and the development of focused immunotherapeutic approaches. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved