Lurking and learning: Making learning visible in a Virtual Design Studio

This paper explores certain types of student behaviour in design courses presented through an online distance learning environment and using a virtual design studio. It demonstrates that types of behaviour often considered to be passive, and therefore negative or less valuable than obviously active behaviours, can be significant evidence of student learning. Specifically, viewing other students’ work is demonstrated to be a stronger (or equal) correlation of student success compared to any other behaviour measured in the virtual design studios studied. It is hypothesised that this activity is part of a larger set of social learning behaviours that contribute to a general social press or ‘ecology’ of studio learning. This finding has important implications for the design and implementation of virtual studios (technically and in learning design) and these are reported specifically for the interest and use of learning designers

Raising the Social Security Payroll Tax Cap: How Many Workers Would Pay More?

On January 1, the maximum amount of annual earnings subject to the Social Security tax -- a.k.a. the payroll tax cap -- increased to $113,700. Every year, this cap is adjusted to keep up with inflation. Many Americans are not aware that income above the cap is not taxed by Social Security. In other words, workers who make$113,700 or less per year pay a higher Social Security payroll tax rate than those who make more. To help alleviate Social Security's long-term budget shortfall, raising -- or even eliminating -- the cap has gotten some attention from policy makers. This paper finds that just 1 in 20 workers -- the wealthiest -- would be affected if the cap were eliminated entirely, and only 1 in 75 would be affected if the cap were applied to earnings over $250,000. In addition, the share of workers who would pay more varies greatly according to gender, race, state and age

Who's Above the Social Security Payroll Tax Cap?

When most workers look at their pay stubs, they can see that the Social Security payroll tax rate is 12.4 percent -- with the employee and employer each paying 6.2 percent. But many workers do not know that any annual wages above $106,800 are not taxed by Social Security. In other words, a worker who makes twice the Social Security wage cap --$213,600 per year -- pays Social Security tax on only half of his or her earnings, and one who makes just over a million dollars per year pays the tax on only about a tenth.Raising the Social Security cap -- which would make some or all earnings above $106,800 subject to the Social Security tax -- has gotten some attention as a way to help alleviate Social Security's long-term budget shortfall. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders plans to introduce legislation to keep the current cap at$106,800, but to also apply the Social Security payroll tax to earnings over $250,000. It is similar to previous bills and echoes a proposal by then-Senator Obama on the campaign trail in 2008.While this would leave those making between the current cap of$106,800 and the proposed cap of $250,000 paying the lowest rates, it would help secure the solvency of the program and avoid an increase in taxes on the middle class. To help inform this policy debate, this paper examines Census Bureau data from the most recently available American Community Survey to determine how raising the cap would affect workers based on gender, race or ethnicity, age, and state of residence

Scrapping the Social Security Payroll Tax Cap: Who Would Pay More?

There is currently $2.7 trillion in the Social Security Trust Fund, held in Treasury bonds. Since the program is currently taking in more revenues (taxes on payroll and benefits as well as interest on the bonds) than it is paying out, the Trust Fund will continue to grow to about$2.9 trillion.The Trust Fund was set up to help pre-fund the retirement of the baby boomer generation. In about 2033, these funds will be drawn down, so after that point, if no changes are made, beneficiaries would receive about 75 percent of scheduled benefits. This gap between what the program would be able to pay and scheduled benefits is equivalent to about one percent of Gross Domestic Product over the next 75 years.To help avoid a reduction in payments and alleviate the program's budget shortfall, one option is raising -- or even abolishing -- the cap on the maximum amount of earnings that are subject to the Social Security payroll tax. In 2014, that cap is set at $117,000 per year (it is adjusted annually to keep up with inflation). This issue brief analyzes Census Bureau data from the most recently available American Community Survey to ascertain how many workers would be affected if the Social Security payroll tax cap were raised or phased out

Engaging Qualities: factors affecting learner attention in online design studios

This study looks at the qualities of learner-generated online content, as rated by experts, and how these relate to learners’ engagement through comments and conversations around this content. The work uploaded to an Online Design Studio by students across a Design and Innovation Qualification was rated and analysed quantitatively using the Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT). Correlations of qualities to comments made on this content were considered and a qualitative analysis of the comments was carried out. It was observed that design students do not necessarily pay attention to the same qualities in learner-generated content that experts rate highly, except for a particular quality at the first level of study. The content that students do engage with also changes with increasing levels of study. These findings have implications for the learning design of online design courses and qualifications as well as for design institutions seeking to supplement proximate design studios with Online Social Network Services

Who's (Still) Above the Social Security Payroll Tax Cap?

The Social Security payroll tax cap is the earnings level above which no further Social Security taxes are collected. The cap is currently at $110,100, though legislation has been introduced in Congress to apply the Social Security payroll tax to earnings above$250,000 (but not between the current cap and this level). This issue brief updates earlier work, finding that 5.8 percent of workers would be affected if the Social Security cap were eliminated entirely and 1.4 percent would be affected if the current tax were applied to earnings over $250,000. It breaks down these numbers further by gender, race or ethnicity, age, and state of residence

Analysis of African American and White American cognitive profiles for language and cultural influences

Abstract One of the most concerning aspects of special education is the overrepresentation of African American minority youth receiving special education services. Samuel Ortiz and colleagues considered the issue of the representation of the Latino, English Language Learner (ELL) population in special education services based on cognitive performance in relation to the mainstream population. To target this concern they determined an estimated level of expected cognitive performance of ELL’s and impact of language and cultural differences to help eligibility teams more appropriately interpret and place students with the aid of the Culture-Language Interpretive Matrix (C-LIM) model they developed. The current study seeks to analyze the cognitive performance and/or the culture-language impact among African American students referred for special education services, compared to their Euro American counterparts, using the C-LIM model developed by Ortiz and colleagues. Conclusions from this study may help professionals in the field of school psychology understand the degree to which language and cultural differences may or may not impact the cognitive performance of African American students in terms of normative expectations

Teachers\u27 Perceptions of Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Analysis of the Relationship Among Teachers\u27 Knowledge, Exposure, and Attitudes

This study explored teachers’ knowledge of the causes, characteristics, assessment, and treatments of autism spectrum disorder. This study also examined teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the causality of the disorder. Research questions included whether special-education teachers possessed more accurate knowledge of the disorder and if experience (professional and/or personal) with autism led to more internal causes of autism spectrum disorder. One hundred seventy-two educators who self-identified as a general educator, special educator, paraprofessional, or academic specialist completed a 24-question survey pertaining to the topic. Results showed that, although special educators scored significantly higher on their knowledge questions as compared to the other three roles, general scores were low in terms of the participants’ knowledge about the disorder. In terms of causality, no relationship was found between experience, training level, and perception of causality of autism spectrum disorder. School psychologists and other related service providers should consider collaborating to create a professional development and training for staff in their schools to address the lack of knowledge and help aid in the understanding of characteristics and interventions