Merit Pay in Arkansas: An Evaluation of the Cobra Pride Incentive Program in the Fountain Lake School District

Starting in the 2010-11, administrators at the Fountain Lake School District implemented the Cobra Pride Incentive Program (CPIP), a merit pay program designed to financially reward all school employees with year-end bonuses primarily for significant improvements in student achievement. At the conclusion of the 2010-11 school year, over $800,000 in bonuses were distributed to school personnel. Because of the substantial investment in this program, it was important to determine how the CPIP impacted the school counselors, teachers, and students of Fountain Lake, to see if any of the potential benefits of a merit pay program were realized. The results from this evaluation provided little evidence that this program had a positive impact at Fountain Lake. Based on interview responses, school counselors noted that they now had less time with students because of the CPIP, and were mixed in their opinions about whether or not this program was beneficial for students. Teachers responded to surveys at two different time periods--before and after they received their year-end bonuses and performance ratings--and noted that they did not support the use of merit pay in general or the CPIP specifically. The teachers also did not think the program impacted their approach to teaching, their interactions with their peers, or that the CPIP had a positive impact on students. Further, after they received their bonuses, the attitudes of teachers did not change. While Fountain Lake students did show significant growth on a national assessment, this growth could not be directly attributed to the adoption of the CPIP. However, on the Arkansas assessments, Fountain Lake students showed growth equal to or less than a demographically and academically matched comparison group. Thus, a reasonable conclusion from this evaluation is that the CPIP did not have a positive impact on student achievement, and it did not appear to have a positive impact on the counselors and teachers at Fountain Lake

Currency School versus Banking School: an ongoing confrontation

The Chicago Plan and Laina’s full-reserve banking proposal are themselves extensions of Ricardo’s earlier proposal for separating money creation from bank intermediation, as incorporated in the 1844 Bank Act. This was the key Currency School position, which was opposed then and subsequently by the Banking School. In this Commentary we outline the criticisms which Banking School supporters have made over the centuries of the Currency School, and indicate what alternative principles the Banking School has proposed

Water Runs Downhill: The Realities of Brain Drain in Eastern Kentucky

Similar to national calls for increases in post-secondary educational attainment, the Commonwealth of Kentucky\u27s educational policy currently focuses on doubling the numbers of citizens with baccalaureate degrees. Where do college degrees take Eastern Kentucky graduates? Using analysis of a longitudinal data base that marries person-centered educational and workforce data, this paper examines the realities of Appalachian Kentucky\u27s brain drain. The study tracks the 2005-2006 graduates of all of public and independent college from Kentucky\u27s Appalachian counties for five years after graduation into employment to identify what types of students remain in the region, what types remain, and how home and destination counties, economic opportunities, and individual characteristics factor into the high out-migration rates for college graduates from the region. These data are compared with results from a qualitative study of two Eastern Kentucky high school groups eight years after graduation. Both studies are discussed relative to recent scholarship on rural educational attainment and conceptual understandings of push and pull factors of out-migration. The problem of out-migration of college graduates from the Appalachian region is not new; however, deeper understanding of the real mobilities of educated Appalachians is needed to understand what is, in essence, a public subsidy of a private good. What opportunities exist in these realities

A Laser Downlink for Small Satellites using an Optically Modulating Retroreflector

This paper presents an earthsatellite-earth laser downlink system which is compact, simple, and low-power enough to be considered for use on very small satellites. Presented here is the design, feasibility study, and results from preliminary proof of concept testing of the critical components

The Digital Signature Scheme MQQ-SIG

This document contains the Intellectual Property Statement and the technical description of the MQQ-SIG - a new public key digital signature scheme. The complete scientific publication covering the design rationale and the security analysis will be given in a separate publication. MQQ-SIG consists of $n - \frac{n}{4}$ quadratic polynomials with $n$ Boolean variables where n=160, 196, 224 or 256