Essential Programs and Services Report of Findings: System Administration Component

SUMMARY This analysis of the System Administration component of Maine’s Essential Programs and Services school funding model was prepared for the Commissioner of Education as part of the ongoing review of the cost formula, as required by Maine statute. Specific elements for analysis were determined in collaboration with the Maine Department of Education

Summary Report: Essential Programs and Services Career and Technical Education Component Review

Background The Career and Technical Education (CTE) funding model was implemented in FY2019 after a lengthy period of development. The component was scheduled for a review in FY2020 and FY2021 as part of the ongoing cycle of analysis of all major components of Maine’s Essential Programs and Services (EPS) education cost model. Due to the breadth and complexity of the CTE funding model, and the fact that this is the first time it has been reviewed to see how it is being implemented in actual practice, the findings have been broken into several sections. Appendix A provides the overall plan of analyses, which were divided into two separate reports. The Part I report issued in summer 2021 included analyses related to student enrollment trends, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on program enrollments, as well as analyses related to facilities and maintenance spending. The Part II report issued in March 2022 described the remainder of the analyses, which are divided into three distinct sections based on the source data used in each task. Section I presented findings that were derived from staffing data. Section 2 described patterns from expenditure data from the most recent pre-pandemic program year. Section 3 summarized results of a questionnaire that was administered to all CTEs to gather data that are not routinely collected. The data from the questionnaire responses were needed to address a series of questions posed by the “Maine CTE Subsidy Workgroup,” which was formed by Maine Administrators of Career & Technical Education (MACTE) and the Maine School Superintendent Association (MSSA). The Maine Department of Education (MDOE) agreed to include the questions in the research plan for the EPS component review contract with MEPRI. The research topics and questions came from the Maine Department of Education, prior reports by MEPRI and MDOE, and the MACTE/MSSA CTE Subsidy Workgroup as mentioned above. Some of the information was needed for decisions to be made by MDOE during the continuing implementation of the EPS CTE model. The adequacy of sub-components was evaluated. And in some cases updated model parameters were computed. Miscellaneous topics 2 and questions presented by the MACTE/MSSA Workgroup were also addressed. Additionally, relevant findings were presented to the LD 313 work group, which was established after the MEPRI research project was well underway. The materials prepared by MEPRI for the LD 313 work group are included as Appendix D. The current summary report is a compilation of the findings of the Part I and Part II reports together with a summary of the main findings and elaboration on data and analysis methods. It begins with an overall summary of our most pertinent findings in order to aid the reader in navigating the various sections of the report. A methods section describes the data and the analysis techniques used in the review. Finally, detailed findings are presented in two parts corresponding to the Part I and Part II reports previously submitted

Backgrounding calves

"Backgrounding is the growing of steers and heifers from weaning until they enter the feedlot for finishing. It is suited to farmers who do not want to maintain a cow herd, do not want to finish cattle but do want to put added weight on calves after weaning."--First page.Homer B. Sewell (Department of Animal Sciences), Victor E. Jacobs (Department of Agricultural Economics), James R. Gerrish (Department of Agronomy)New 12/88/5

Performance assessment of low pressure nuclear thermal propulsion

A low pressure nuclear thermal propulsion (LPNTP) system, which takes advantage of hydrogen dissociation/recombination, was proposed as a means of increasing engine specific impulse (Isp). The effect of hydrogen dissociation/recombination on LPNTP Isp is examined. A two-dimensional computer model was used to show that the optimum chamber pressure is approximately 100 psia (at a chamber temperature of 3,000 K), with an Isp approximately 15 s higher than at 1,000 psia. At high chamber temperatures and low chamber pressures, the increase in Isp is due to both lower average molecular weights caused by dissociation and added kinetic energy from monatomic hydrogen recombination. Monatomic hydrogen recombination increases the Isp more then hydrogen dissociation. Variations in the mole fraction of monatomic hydrogen are similar to variations in static pressure along the axial nozzle position. Most recombination occurs close to the nozzle throat. Practical variations in nozzle geometry have minimal impact on recombination. Other models which can simulate a wider range of nozzle designs should be used in the future. The uncertainty of the hydrogen kinetic reaction rates at high temperatures (approximately 3,000 K) affects the accuracy of the analysis and should be verified with simple bench tests

Backgrounding calves part 1 : assessing the opportunity (1993)

Backgrounding is the growing of steers and heifers from weaning until they enter the feedlot for finishing. It is suited to farmers who do not want to maintain a cow herd, do not want to finish cattle, but do want to put added weight on calves after weaning

Backgrounding calves part 2 : herd health and feeding (1993)

Backgrounding calves, or taking weaned calves at about 450 pounds and feeding them up to 750 pounds or so, is becoming more popular among cattle producers. It can be a profit maker for the producer who wants an alternative to the cow/calf business, wants to use excess forage or other roughages, has extra time during parts of the year, or wants to add flexibility to his current cattle operation

Backgrounding calves. Part 2. Herd health and feeding

"In Part 1 of this Agricultural Guide (number 2095) we discussed basic backgrounding strategies and compared profitability with other cattle enterprises. In this section, we will focus on herd health requirements and feeding for successful backgrounding. There are many animal health problems to consider, especially if you will be purchasing most or all of the calves to be backgrounded."--First page.Homer B. Sewell (Department of Animal Sciences), Victor E. Jacobs (Department of Agricultural Economics), and James R. Gerrish (Department of Agronomy)New 12/88/5

Diagnosis Disclosure: The Impact of Gender and Stigma

Existing literature has indicated that there may be a relationship between diagnosis disclosure and gender as it has been asserted that men and women perceive the diagnosis of a mental health disorder differently. Specifically, men report higher levels of perceived stigma when considering a mental health diagnosis and women report a higher likelihood of disclosing a mental health diagnosis to others. The purpose of this current study was to investigate how individuals perceive an illness diagnosis disclosure via an online survey as it was hypothesized that men would be less likely than women to disclose any illness and that all participants would practice selective disclosure. Participants were randomly assigned to read about receiving a diagnosis, which was experimentally manipulated to describe either a mental or physical illness. Results indicated that although there was no significant effect on the intent to disclose their diagnosis, male and female participants responded differently to the type of diagnosis in their concern about the negative impact of the diagnosis and being stigmatized by others