Meaning-Making, Negotiation, and Change in School Accountability, Or What Sociology Can Offer Policy Studies

In school systems around the world, countless reform strategies have focused on school and teacher accountability—the process of evaluating schools’ performance on the basis of student measures. Policy and education research has been dominated by debates on its effectiveness, where advocates highlight the positive effects on achievement while critics emphasize the negative consequences on pressure, morale, and autonomy. Yet the question is not so much whether to have accountability, but what form it should take. To answer this, sociologists contribute through their study of accountability’s organizational and ecological dynamics—key facets that are sidelined when researchers only focus on quantitative program evaluation. An organizational perspective highlights the meaning-making school actors and the general public have of the policy, viewing it through technical-rationalist and institutional-performative lenses. An ecological perspective highlights how the form of accountability is a negotiated outcome of larger macrosocial forces, and how accountability is itself contributive to larger social changes. This review suggests a broader conceptualization of accountability regimes, and the unique contribution of critical, organizational, and sociological perspectives to the study of public policies

Equity, engagement, and health: school organisational issues and priorities during COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has disrupted and posed great challenges for kindergarten-grade12 education systems. Initial studies on education and COVID-19 often focus on technology use, student learning, and school reopening plans. However, debates on the form of instruction become futile when stakeholders are unclear about what the competing values, issues, and priorities are. Using exploratory data analysis of a representative sample of US teachers and school leaders, this paper highlights key organisational issues and priorities in terms of addressing academic achievement gaps, students’ online engagement, and teachers’ and students’ health. More fundamentally, deeper issues are uncovered like equity for those doubly disadvantaged by the pandemic, student engagement in the face of more pressing concerns, and health both physical and mental. More theoretically, the research contributes to understanding schools’ responses to societal crises and the need to clarify competing values during decision-making in the face of such crises

Evaluation of workplace risk at Zagreb holding Ltd.

Procjena rizika radnog mjesta obavlja se identifikacijom opasnosti i štetnosti na radnom mjestu s ciljem prepoznavanja njihovog mogućeg utjecaja na radno mjesto. Procjena rizika radnog mjesta definira mjere za prevenciju profesionalnih bolesti i ozljeda na radu, ali i djeluje na zaštitu zdravlja i smanjivanje troškova. Cilj ovog istraživačkog rada bio je prepoznavanje odnosa između uvjeta rada na radnim mjestima komunalni redar, smetlar i vrtlar u Zagrebačkom holdingu d.o.o. i mogućih ishoda za zdravlje zaposlenih u svrhu procjene rizika i poboljšanja njihova zdravlja. U istraživanje se uključilo 137 ispitanika (116 muškaraca i 21 žena), prosječnog radnog staža 16 godina, koji na sadašnjim poslovima rade u prosjeku 12 godina. Ispitivanje je provedeno anonimnim upitnikom načinjenim za ovo istraživanje. Najčešće nepovoljne značajke rada koje opisuju ispitanici su obavljanje pretežno fizičkog posla, rada na otvorenom, rada u prisilnom položaju koji uključuje klečanje, čučanje, pognut položaj, rad s otpadom i rad sa strankama. U 122 ili 89,0 % ispitanika utvrđene su kronične bolesti koje su najčešće u vezi s bolestima mišićno-koštanog sustava (45 ili 32,8 %). Kroničnu bolest 40 ili 35,7 % ispitanika povezuje sa sadašnjim radnim mjestom. Istraživanje je potvrdilo najčešću zastupljenost bolesti mišićno–koštanog sustava čija se pojavnost podudara s vremenom zapošljavanja na radnim mjestima komunalni redar, smetlar i vrtlar. To ukazuje na potrebu osmišljavanja preventivnih, tehničkih i organizacijskih mjera za smanjenje rizika na radu, poglavito za bolesti mišićno–koštanog sustava uz poticanje pozitivnog, odgovornog, ponašanja radnika u brizi za vlastito zdravlje.Evaluation of workplace risk is performed by identifying risks and hazards in the workplace and recognising their potential impact on the workplace. Workplace risk evaluation proposes measures for prevention of occupational diseases and accidents at work, but it also improves health protection and cost reduction. The main objective of the research is to recognise the relationship between the working conditions of a municipal policeman, garbage man and gardener at Zagreb Holding Ltd. and the possible health outcomes related to these three workplaces, with the aim of assessing risk and improving health. A total of 137 subjects (116 men and 21 women), with an average working experience of 16 years, of which 12 at their current jobs, were included in the research. The survey was conducted using anonymous questionnaires which were custom-made for this study. The most common adverse work characteristics described by the subjects were: performing predominantly physical work, working outside, working in unnatural body positions such as kneeling, squatting or stooping, working with garbage and working with people. A total of 122 examinees (89.0%) developed chronic diseases, often associated with diseases of the musculoskeletal system (45, or 32.8%). Forty participants (35.7%) associated their chronic disease with their present working position. The study confirmed that the most common diseases are those that affect the musculoskeletal system and that their incidence coincides with the beginning of employment as municipal policeman, garbage man and gardener

Riesgo de estrés post traumático según ocupación y otros factores durante la pandemia por COVID-19 en el Perú

Objetivo: Determinar el riesgo según la ocupación y otros factores asociados para el estrés post traumático (EPT) durante la pandemia por COVID-19 en el Perú. Material y Métodos: Estudio de cohorte retrospectiva, en 953 encuestados de una decena de ocupaciones. En ellos se midió el EPT y el EPT grave (que tenía el componente de ideación suicida). Resultados: Hubo un menor riesgo de EPT grave entre los de alimentación, los de transporte y los que trabajaban para el estado; todos los hombres (ambos valores p<0,04; para el EPT y el EPT grave), los que tenían a algún familiar que enfermó por COVID-19 y los que tenían mayor puntaje de ansiedad tuvieron menor riesgo, en cambio, a mayores puntajes de estrés, de depresión y los que habían tenido a un familiar que falleció por COVID-19 tuvieron mayor riesgo de EPT grave

Seroprevalence and Clinico-Epidemiological Correlates of Hepatitis B Infection in Pregnancy at a Booking Antenatal Clinic, Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa

Background: Hepatitis B virus infection is considered a major worldwide public health problem. While adults that acquire acute infection usually recover, the chronic type is ultimately fatal both to them and their foetuses. In endemic areas, individuals are infected by vertical transmission or infection in early childhood. The seroprevalence rates of Hepatitis B in pregnancy vary according to the endemicity of a given area with very high prevalence rates mostly reported among developing nations in Asia and Africa. Objective: To determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen in pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic, identify the clinical and epidemiological correlates for hepatitis B in pregnancy and to make evidence based recommendations on screening protocols for our obstetric population at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa. Methodology: This is a descriptive cross sectional study. Two hundred and twenty (220) consecutive healthy pregnant women attending the antenatal booking clinic of the hospital who met the inclusion criteria were recruited into this study after pretest counselling and obtaining consent from them. This was tested for HBsAg with commercially available in vitro diagnostic kits (one step test strips). Data was collected via a structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS (statistical package for social sciences) 22 statistical package (SPSS Inc., Illinois, U.S.A). P value less than 0.05 was European Scientific Journal February 2018 edition Vol.14, No.6 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 280 taken as being significant. Results: The mean age of the pregnant women studied was 28.8 years ± 5.2 while the mean parity was 1.20 ± 1.16. 220 pregnant women who came for antenatal booking were recruited into this study. Of these, 4.6% (n=10) were seropositive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Multiple sexual partners and Female circumcision were the significant risk factors for HBsAg seropositivity (p&lt;0.05). There was no significant association with respect to a history of jaundice or contact with a jaundiced patient, previous blood transfusion, intravenous drug abuse or sharing of sharps, previous surgery, episiotomies or dilatation and curettage (p&gt;0.05). Conclusion: The intermediate endemicity of Hepatitis B virus infection in this study according to WHO classification, justifies the need for routine screening in pregnancy to identify and treat the infection accordingly as this will reduce the mother to child transmission. Multiple sexual partners and female circumcision are significant risk factors associated with Hepatitis B virus infection in this environment. Active and passive immunization to infants of HBsAg seropositive mothers is advocated

Balancing the Pedagogical and Practical Concerns in Remote Higher Education: A Cyberethnography

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about physical school closures and quick transitions online, with universities making decisions for this new mode of instruction. Such decisions, however, were open to discussion and debates, particularly as students and instructors held varying concerns, experiences, and expectations for remote learning. We investigate what these debates are using a cyberethnography of a Facebook group for students and faculty, and an anonymous Freedom Wall page for students in the same university. The concerns centered on workload that balanced academic rigor and practical exigencies; learning modalities that balanced accountability and flexibility; and assessments that balanced academic integrity and viable accommodations. Taken altogether, these suggest that faculty and students’ concerns are not merely about discrete curricular choices but are, at their root, about balancing pedagogical excellence and practical adaptability. We thus suggest that universities couch their policies not through discrete options but through the balancing of values

3D Additive Manufacturing Symposium & Workshop

The IMI /3M BIC 3D Additive Manufacturing Symposium and Workshop was hosted by 3M Buckley Innovation Centre on March 17th 2015. The event was attended by the major players in precision engineering, 3D additive design and manufacturing: Representatives from EOS, Renishaw, HK 3D Printing IMI Plc Senior Management team, design engineers, programmers and academics from the University of Huddersfield School of Art Design & Architecture, 3M Buckley centre 3D printing management and designers shared their experiences and latest solutions to expand the potential of innovation and professional enterprise for design, prototyping and manufacturing. This publication showcases the keynote innovation presentations given at the IMI/3M BIC 3D Additive Manufacturing symposium. The main themes included focus on research, design, concept actualisation, prototyping, and engineering solutions. This is a unique visual documentary of the evolutions in additive manufacturing and provides a snaphsot of latest 3D technology solutions in 2015

Structure of trophic and mutualistic networks across broad environmental gradients

Citation: Welti, E. A. R., & Joern, A. (2015). Structure of trophic and mutualistic networks across broad environmental gradients. Ecology and Evolution, 5(2), 326-334. doi:10.1002/ece3.1371This study aims to understand how inherent ecological network structures of nestedness and modularity vary over large geographic scales with implications for community stability. Bipartite networks from previous research from 68 locations globally were analyzed. Using a meta-analysis approach, we examine relationships between the structure of 22 trophic and 46 mutualistic bipartite networks in response to extensive gradients of temperature and precipitation. Network structures varied significantly across temperature gradients. Trophic networks showed decreasing modularity with increasing variation in temperature within years. Nestedness of mutualistic networks decreased with increasing temperature variability between years. Mean annual precipitation and variability of precipitation were not found to have significant influence on the structure of either trophic or mutualistic networks. By examining changes in ecological networks across large-scale abiotic gradients, this study identifies temperature variability as a potential environmental mediator of community stability. Understanding these relationships contributes to our ability to predict responses of biodiversity to climate change at the community level