Georgia End of Pathway Assessments

Georgia End of Pathway Assessments (EOPAs) are given to students by every Career, Technical, and Agriculture Education (CTAE) teacher across the state yearly. CTAE programs are awarded federal funding based on the results of the EOPAs. EOPA’s are designed to provide students with an assessment after they complete a CTAE pathway and provide the student with an industry certification. This qualitative study was designed to determine if the current EOPA’s for Georgia Agriculture Education pathways are in alignment with the current state standards for those courses. Six high school agriculture teachers from across the state of Georgia participated in this study by completing a semi-structured interview via Zoom. The teachers that participated covered over ten different pathways in Agriculture Education. Three of the teachers utilized Precision EOPA’s while the other three utilized NOCTI (National Organizations Career and Technical Instruction) EOPA’s. The research investigated the participants’ viewpoint of the EOPA’s and how they prepare their students for the EOPA. The three themes that emerged during the research are that were the current EOPA’s are not aligned with the current courses covered on that pathway, teachers’ viewpoints of the EOPA are different than that of the state, and teachers must spend class time reviewing for the EOPA. Since the EOPA’s are not in line with the current course standards and are not providing students with industry certifications, it is recommended that the State Board of Education investigate the validity of the exam or identify different EOPA indicators for Agriculture Education pathway students to show competence

Canada-U.K. free trade: balancing progressive trade policies and economic benefits

One of the major factors that motivated a majority of Britons to vote in favour of leaving the EU was their disenchantment with Europe’s current approach to trade. There is solid evidence of a link between the vote for Brexit and the feelings of dissatisfied voters who see themselves being left behind in the current economy. However, the economic cost that Britain faces in departing the EU will be significant, and one key way to mitigate it will be by quickly replacing the loss of access to the EU’s common market and all of the EU’s trade agreements with new U.K. trade agreements. Canada appears to be one of the most eager to sign an early deal with the U.K. However, if it is to be a successful free trade agreement, it should aim to address and alleviate the same concerns about trade that led so many British voters to turn against their deal with the EU. Otherwise, it could result in stoking the same anger and dissatisfaction that has fuelled recent political trouble in Britain. This appears to be an ideal opportunity for the Canadian government to advance the “progressive” trade agenda it has advocated for in recent agreements it has signed with the U.S., Europe and members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Free trade agreements can be controversial and politicized issues. In signing a deal with Canada, Britain will have an interest in signalling through a progressive trade agenda that its desire to take control of rules and regulations previously ceded to the EU does not mean it plans to roll back social, health, safety or environmental protections. In addition, including strong standards for labour and the environment would make clear the U.K.’s commitment to fostering co-operation between countries, despite its decision to leave the EU. It would also benefit businesses if standards between the U.K. and Canada were as closely aligned as possible, to allow easier compliance with one set of regulations, rather than having to meet two different standards. While Canada has had some success with recent agreements in expanding their focus to include entire chapters on the environment and labour, which had more commonly been relegated to side agreements in earlier trade deals, there is the opportunity in a CanadaU.K. deal to take things yet further. A regulatory co-operation mechanism would be a useful innovation to promote mutual recognition of one another’s regulatory standards, and an independent body to enforce environmental and labour targets, or at least including explicit targets for each party, would provide a more meaningful commitment to the progressive agenda. However, the most expedient route to a deal is clearly to replicate much of what already exists in the progressive Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. It is most likely that a future Canada-U.K. deal will be modelled closely after that

Accounting for food availability reveals contaminant-induced breeding impairment, food-modulated contaminant effects, and endpoint-specificity of exposure indicators in free ranging avian populations

It remains unclear how sub-lethal effects of contaminants play out in relation to other stressors encountered by free-ranging populations. Effects may be masked or influenced by interactions with field stressors such as food availability. We predicted that (1) including food availability, and particularly its interaction with Hg, would reveal or enhance associations between Hg and breeding endpoints. We further predicted that (2) breeding impairment associated with Hg would be higher under food stress conditions. We monitored Hg and nest success of great egrets (Ardea alba) in eight breeding colonies in the Florida Everglades over 11 years. We characterized variation in local food availability among colonies and years using fish biomass and recession range -a proxy to fish vulnerability. We used two Hg exposure indicators (egg albumen Hg and nestling feather Hg) and six breeding endpoints (clutch-size, brood-size, fledged-size, hatching success, post-hatching success and fledglings per egg) to assess whether variation in food availability influenced associations between Hg and these endpoints. Accounting for interactions between Hg and food availability, we identified statistically significant associations in all 12 indicator-endpoint combinations, while only three were detectable without food. Further, 10 combinations showed interactions between Hg and components of food availability. Our results also indicated an endpoint-specific affinity, with albumen [Hg] explaining more variation in hatching success while nestling feather [Hg] explained more variation in post-hatching survival. Both Hg indicators accounted for relevant (6-10%) amounts of variation in fledglings produced per egg laid, an integrative endpoint. Increased Hg exposure resulted in overall reduced reproductive success when food availability was low, but our models predicted low or no effects of increasing Hg exposure when food availability was high. Our results indicate that Hg induced impairment is strongly driven by food availability, providing a framework that accommodates previously contradictory results in the literature.This work was supported by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Cooperative Agreement W912HZ-12-02-0007) and by grants of equipment from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Egret monitoring was performed under University of Florida IACUC permit 201708650. Fish samplingwas supported by Cooperative Agreements W912HZ-11-2-0048 and W912HZ-16-2-0008 between Florida International University (FIU) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Contract 4600001083 between FIU and the South Florida Water Management District. Fish monitoring was performed under FIU IACUC permits including IACUC-08-004, -09-029, -10-026, 12-020, -13-060, and -16-033

Strength in diversity: enhancing learning in vocationally-orientated, master's level courses

Postgraduate education in geography, especially at the Master’s level, is undergoing significant changes in the developed world. There is an expansion of vocationally-oriented degree programmes, increasing recruitment of international students, integration of work place skills, and the engagement of non-traditional postgraduate students as departments respond to policies for a more ‘inclusive’ higher education. This paper sets the context by outlining some programmatic changes in selected countries (Australia, the UK, and the USA). We briefly reflect on how postgraduate ‘bars’ or ‘levels’ are defined and explore in detail what ‘diversity’ or ‘heterogeneity’ means in these new postgraduate settings. The paper then explores some examples of practice drawn from our own experiences, whilst recognising that relevance will vary in other contexts. Finally we consider how diversity can be harnessed as a strength that has potential to enhance taught elements of contemporary postgraduate education in and beyond the discipline

An Analysis of the Nonprofit and Volunteer Capacity-Building Industries in Central Texas

Based on a Collaboration of The LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin & The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M UniversityRecent research has identified explosive growth in the nonprofit sector and an increased interest in evaluating and improving nonprofit performance through organizational capacity building. The growing emphasis on capacity-building services for nonprofits nationwide has resulted in the need for better information about support services for the sector. Considering the burgeoning role of capacity building in nonprofit operations, it is important to understand more about the industry that provides support and resources to nonprofits, including in the growing communities located in Central Texas. This report represents the first comprehensive study of nonprofit and volunteer capacity-building activities in Central Texas. The result of a unique collaboration between graduate students at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, this study was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Angela Bies at the Bush School and Dr. Sarah Jane Rehnborg at the LBJ School. Twenty-three graduate students in both programs conducted the research and analysis for this report from September 2005 through April 2006. The Bush School and the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the LBJ School provided funding for the study. The project also partnered on a pro bono basis with two client organizations, the United Way Capital Area and the Texas Nonprofit Management Assistance Network. The primary research objective was to replicate two recent studies. The first was Millesen and Bies 2004 report for the Forbes Funds, An Analysis of the Pittsburgh Region s Capacity- Building Industry. The second was an examination of volunteer management capacity modeled on a nationwide volunteer management study (Hager, 2004) conducted by the Urban Institute in collaboration with the Corporation for National and Community Service. Because our research took place in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, we also explored nonprofit capacity issues related to emergency interventions, particularly how crises affect organizations needs for and uses of capacity building.United Way Capital Area; Texas Nonprofit Management Assistance Networ

Authenticity and Racism: Young boys in three inner city primary schools in Dublin

This paper examines the role of authenticity as a moral orientation and social evaluation in practices of racism. It will argue that discursive conceptions of authenticity disguise and legitimise racism within micro encounters. Using evidence from a qualitative study of minority children in Ireland, this paper explores how perceptions of ‘authenticity’ are bound within racist and gendered conceptions of whom can be said to legitimately embody nationally and locally authorised dispositions and identity markers. The specific context of how this played out through the locality of north Dublin and constructed notions of Irishness is examined. The wider implications of a discourse of authenticity are discussed in relation to assumptions of similarity, adaptation and integration. This paper contributes two unique insights, firstly, that the passive body (one’s appearance) has a central role in perceptions of authenticity and, secondly, that similarity in one’s active body (dispositions and tastes) does not necessarily act as a bridge to bring racialised groups together or facilitate integration

Incisional hernia following colorectal cancer surgery according to suture technique: Hughes Abdominal Repair Randomized Trial (HART).

BACKGROUND: Incisional hernias cause morbidity and may require further surgery. HART (Hughes Abdominal Repair Trial) assessed the effect of an alternative suture method on the incidence of incisional hernia following colorectal cancer surgery. METHODS: A pragmatic multicentre single-blind RCT allocated patients undergoing midline incision for colorectal cancer to either Hughes closure (double far-near-near-far sutures of 1 nylon suture at 2-cm intervals along the fascia combined with conventional mass closure) or the surgeon's standard closure. The primary outcome was the incidence of incisional hernia at 1 year assessed by clinical examination. An intention-to-treat analysis was performed. RESULTS: Between August 2014 and February 2018, 802 patients were randomized to either Hughes closure (401) or the standard mass closure group (401). At 1 year after surgery, 672 patients (83.7 per cent) were included in the primary outcome analysis; 50 of 339 patients (14.8 per cent) in the Hughes group and 57 of 333 (17.1 per cent) in the standard closure group had incisional hernia (OR 0.84, 95 per cent c.i. 0.55 to 1.27; P = 0.402). At 2 years, 78 patients (28.7 per cent) in the Hughes repair group and 84 (31.8 per cent) in the standard closure group had incisional hernia (OR 0.86, 0.59 to 1.25; P = 0.429). Adverse events were similar in the two groups, apart from the rate of surgical-site infection, which was higher in the Hughes group (13.2 versus 7.7 per cent; OR 1.82, 1.14 to 2.91; P = 0.011). CONCLUSION: The incidence of incisional hernia after colorectal cancer surgery is high. There was no statistical difference in incidence between Hughes closure and mass closure at 1 or 2 years. REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN25616490 (http://www.controlled-trials.com)