Economics of oil mallees : report

Economic assessment of the profitability of oil mallees for a range of sites in Western Australia where farmers might invest on their own land

Unattended network operations technology assessment study. Technical support for defining advanced satellite systems concepts

The results are summarized of an unattended network operations technology assessment study for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). The scope of the work included: (1) identified possible enhancements due to the proposed Mars communications network; (2) identified network operations on Mars; (3) performed a technology assessment of possible supporting technologies based on current and future approaches to network operations; and (4) developed a plan for the testing and development of these technologies. The most important results obtained are as follows: (1) addition of a third Mars Relay Satellite (MRS) and MRS cross link capabilities will enhance the network's fault tolerance capabilities through improved connectivity; (2) network functions can be divided into the six basic ISO network functional groups; (3) distributed artificial intelligence technologies will augment more traditional network management technologies to form the technological infrastructure of a virtually unattended network; and (4) a great effort is required to bring the current network technology levels for manned space communications up to the level needed for an automated fault tolerance Mars communications network

Changing Farming Systems – Financial Implications for Farming Businesses

Future prosperity of farming businesses depends not only on immediate prospects, but also on the capability to adapt to changing circumstances. In looking to the future, farm managers need to assess where the current farming system is taking them, and whether changing to an alternative farming system might be more profitable. There are various techniques for assessing the profitability of alternative farming systems, but frequently the cost of transition is overlooked. The financial consequences of transition to a new farming system are assessed for two case study farms using a spreadsheet tool (STEP), developed by the authors. The tool assists farm managers in assessing the risk of transition strategies as well as comparing rotations.Farm Management,

Enhancing Teacher Quality Through Knowledge- and Skills-Based Pay

The 1989 Education Summit established the National Education Goals that spurred states to set standards and assess educational outcomes (Patton and Thompson, 1999). A decade into standards-based reform, the 1999 Education Summit identified two important policy areas that have emerged to carry out these goals: teacher quality and accountability (National Education Summit, 1999). Research supports the important relationship between teacher quality and student achievement (Darling-Hammond and Ball, 1998; Ferguson and Ladd, 1996; Sanders and Horn, 1994; Wright, Horn, and Sanders, 1997). Concerns about teacher quality led the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future to recommend that states and districts consider better ways of linking pay to the development of teacher knowledge and skills (National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 1996). Exploring better ways of using pay to enhance teacher quality is also supported, to varying degrees, by teacher unions and associations. Knowledge- and skills-based pay systems are emerging as a potentially promising way of leveraging the investment in teacher pay to improve teacher quality and to provide clearer signals to teachers about how they should focus their professional energies. This CPRE Policy Brief reports on our experiences in working with policymakers and studying knowledge- and skills-based pay systems. We provide guidance on important design issues for these systems, and recommend ways state and district policymakers can strengthen the capacity for and pursue knowledge- and skills-based pay

Small-angle neutron scattering of (Er₀.₈Ho₀.₂)Rh₄B₄

The (Er1-xHox)Rh4B4 pseudoternary alloy system has a minimum in the phase boundary between the superconducting and ferromagnetic phases near x=0.3. This minimum has been identified as due to the competing magnetic anisotropies of Er and Ho. It has also been suggested that there could be a Lifschitz point near the minimum. Using the 30-m SANS camera at the National Center for Small-Angle Scattering Research at ORNL, we have observed a peak in the SANS pattern for (Er 0.8Ho0.2)Rh4B4 at Q=0.065 Å-1. This peak appears for temperatures between Tc2, measured upon cooling, and Tm, and corresponds to a modulation of the magnetic moment with a wavelength of about 100 Å, demonstrating that the modulated moment phase exists away from the ErRh 4B4 end of the phase diagram. The wavelength of the modulation is the same as was previously observed in ErRh4B 4. The fact that the wavelength of the modulation remains finite near x=0.3 appears to rule out the possibility of Lifschitz behavior near this point

Standards-Based Teacher Evaluation as a Foundation for Knowledge- and Skill-Based Pay

State accountability systems and the federal No Child Left Behind Act have put additional demands on schools and teachers to improve teacher quality and improve student achievement. Many researchers (e.g., Cohen, 1996; Corcoran & Goertz, 1995; Floden, 1997; Newman, King, & Rigdon, 1997) have argued that such improvements will require a substantial increase in the instructional capacity of schools and teachers. One strategy for capacity building is to provide teachers with incentives to improve their performance, knowledge, or skills. The incentive strategy requires the design and implementation of alternative teacher compensation systems that depart from the single salary schedule (Odden, 2000; Odden & Kelley, 2002). Though slow to take hold, the incentive strategy is currently being pursued by several states (Peterson, 2006). Most of these new or proposed plans link pay to combinations of assessments of teacher performance, acquisition of new knowledge and skills, and student test score gains. Denver\u27s widely followed Pro Comp plan also contains these components. The Teacher Compensation Group of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) has been studying the design and effectiveness of such systems for nearly a decade. We initially focused on school-based performance award programs, in which each teacher in a school receives a bonus for meeting or exceeding schoolwide student achievement goals (Heneman, 1998; Heneman & Milanowski, 1999; Kelley, Heneman, & Milanowski, 2002; Kelly, Odden, Milanowski, & Heneman, 2000). We then shifted our attention to knowledge- and skill-based pay (KSBP) plans, an approach that provides teachers with base pay increases for the acquisition and demonstration of specific knowledge and skills thought to be necessary for improving student achievement. Our initial research described a variety of experiments with KSBP plans (see Odden, Kelley, Heneman, & Milanowski, 2001). We found plans that were rewarding numerous knowledge and skills, including (a) additional licensure or certification, (b) participation in specific professional development activities, (c) National Board Certification, (d) mastery of specific skill blocks such as technology or authentic assessment, (e) leadership activities, and (f) teacher performance as measured by a standards-based teacher evaluation system. We also found districts experimenting with standards-based teacher evaluation without an intended pay link. As described below, in standards-based teacher evaluation systems, teachers\u27 performance is evaluated against a set of standards that define a competency model of effective teaching. Such systems replace the traditional teacher evaluation system and seek to provide a more thorough description and accurate assessment of teacher performance. Findings from our research on some of these systems are the focus of this issue of CPRE Policy Briefs

The Motivational Effects of School-Based Performance Awards

From 1995-1998, CPRE teacher compensation researchers conducted extensive interviews and survey questionnaires of teachers and principals in three sites to measure the motivational effects of school-based performance award (SBPA) programs. When a school met preset educational objectives, usually related to increases in student achievement, the SBPA programs in Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) and Kentucky provided salary bonuses to all the teachers in the school and the SBPA program in Maryland provided a monetary award to the school for school improvements. CPRE researchers found that the SBPA programs in two of the three sites helped teachers focus on student performance goals. However, the motivational power of the programs varied due to differences in teachers’ beliefs. For instance, it mattered whether teachers believed their individual effort would lead to increases in schoolwide student performance, the SBPA system was fair and the award amount was worth the extra effort and stress, and that they would be given the award if they could produce the improved performance results. The relationship between teachers who were motivated by school-based performance awards or sanctions and improvements in school performance also varied and may have been attributable to differences in the actual programs as well as the local context

Magnetism and Superconductivity in (Er₀.₁₆Ho₀.₈₄)Rh₄B₄

The superconducting and ferromagnetic phase boundaries in the (Er1-xHox)Rh4B4 mixed ternary alloy system meet in a multicritical point at xcr ≈ 0.9. For xcr, the compounds first become superconducting as the temperature is lowered, and then lose superconductivity in a transition to ferromagnetism. The coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism for alloys near the erbium-rich end of the phase diagram is well established. It has also been suggested that ferromagnetism and superconductivity coexist in alloys with x just below xcr. We have carried out neutron-diffraction, ac magnetic susceptibility, and heat-capacity measurements on a sample of (Er0.16Ho0.84)Rh4B4 to investigate the possibility of coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity for x ≈ xcr. We find that there are minor discrepancies in the superconducting and magnetic transition temperatures reported for different samples of (Er0.16Ho0.84)Rh4B4, but that ferromagnetism and superconductivity do occur simultaneously over a narrow temperature range in this sample. We suggest that an inhomogeneous state occurs, consisting of separate ferromagnetic and superconducting regions, rather than microscopic coexistence

Time-dependent Magnetic Structures of the Superconducting Mixed Ternary System Ho(Rh₁₋ₓIrₓ)₄B₄

Magnetic structures have been determined by netron diffraction for several compositions in the superconducting mixed ternary system Ho(Rh1-xIrx)4B4. Two features previously reported to occur in the heat capacity for some compositions are shown to correspond to successive magnetic transitions. For x=0.30 and 0.45, neutron diffraction peaks for the lowest temperature structure develop over a timescale of many hours. The results are discussed in terms of magnetic frustration