Operating the renewed school estate - an empirical insight into cost and PFI

The use of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) as a procurement method for capital schools projects over the past decade has been considerable, and a controversial issue. The relevance of procurement method for the operational performance of projects and facilities is an area cited as needing more research by amongst others the National Audit Office. Recently, the relative benefits of rebuilding versus refurbishment have also become an issue, especially in the context of cancelation of the Building Schools for the Future programme, and the James Review of how to get better value from a likely decreasing total capital expenditure on schools. In attempting to fill this knowledge gap, this study presents comparative samples of normalised expenditures post-renewal on facility service costs in renewed English comprehensive secondary schools. Data is presented in elapsed time relative to year of school renewal, sampled to produce early facility life cost profiles up to a maximum of 9 elapsed years, by both procurement method (PFI and non-PFI) and type of capital works (refurbishment and rebuild). The results include that total facility services costs are higher (though not significantly) in PFI schools in six of the nine elapsed years. Total facility services costs are broadly similar over the nine elapsed years following renewal in rebuilt and refurbished schools. The influence of procurement method on expenditure on certain facility services, coupled with high correlations between procurement method and type of capital works, prevents clear conclusions on the independent impact of type of capital works on operational expenditure. [Winner of the RICS Research Best Paper Award in Construction: COBRA 2011 Conference

A proof of principle for using adaptive testing in routine Outcome Monitoring: the efficiency of the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire -Anhedonic Depression CAT

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) there is a high demand for short assessments. Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) is a promising method for efficient assessment. In this article, the efficiency of a CAT version of the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire, - Anhedonic Depression scale (MASQ-AD) for use in ROM was scrutinized in a simulation study.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The responses of a large sample of patients (<it>N </it>= 3,597) obtained through ROM were used. The psychometric evaluation showed that the items met the requirements for CAT. In the simulations, CATs with several measurement precision requirements were run on the item responses as if they had been collected adaptively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CATs employing only a small number of items gave results which, both in terms of depression measurement and criterion validity, were only marginally different from the results of a full MASQ-AD assessment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It was concluded that CAT improved the efficiency of the MASQ-AD questionnaire very much. The strengths and limitations of the application of CAT in ROM are discussed.</p