The value-added of primary schools: what is it really measuring?

This paper compares the official value-added scores in 2005 for all primary schools in three adjacent LEAs in England with the raw-score Key Stage 2 results for the same schools. The correlation coefficient for the raw- and value-added scores of these 457 schools is around +0.75. Scatterplots show that there are no low attaining schools with average or higher value-added, and no high attaining schools with below average value-added. At least some of the remaining scatter is explained by the small size of some schools. Although some relationship between these measures is to be expected – so that schools adding considerable value would tend to have high examination outcome scores – the relationship shown is too strong for this explanation to be considered sufficient. Value-added analysis is intended to remove the link between a schools’ intake scores and their raw-score outcomes at KS2. It should lead to an estimate of the differential progress made by pupils, assessed between schools. In fact, however, the relationship between value-added and raw scores is of the same size as the original relationship between intake scores and raw-scores that the value-added is intended to overcome. Therefore, however appealing the calculation of value-added figures is, their development is still at the stage where they are not ready to move from being a research tool to an instrument of judgement on schools. Such figures may mislead parents, governors and teachers and, even more importantly, they are being used in England by OFSTED to pre-determine the results of school inspections

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of oxide formation on 8150 aluminium foils

It is known that an enrichment of metallic elements in the oxide layer of aluminium foils may significantly affect their surface properties. Elemental compositions at various depths of the newly developed 8150 aluminium foil were determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for selected heat treatment conditions. © Institute of Materials Engineering Australasia Ltd

Developing the evidence base for adult social care practice: The NIHR School for Social Care Research

In a foreword to 'Shaping the Future of Care Together', Prime Minister Gordon Brown says that a care and support system reflecting the needs of our times and meeting our rising aspirations is achievable, but 'only if we are prepared to rise to the challenge of radical reform'. A number of initiatives will be needed to meet the challenge of improving social care for the growing older population. Before the unveiling of the green paper, The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) announced that it has provided 15m pounds over a five-year period to establish the NIHR School for Social Care Research. The School's primary aim is to conduct or commission research that will help to improve adult social care practice in England. The School is seeking ideas for research topics, outline proposals for new studies and expert advice in developing research methods

Measuring practice leadership in supported accommodation services for people with intellectual disability: Comparing staff-rated and observational measures

Background Studies incorporating staff-rated or observational measures of practice leadership have shown that where practice leadership is stronger, active support is better implemented. The study aim was to compare measures of practice leadership used in previous research to determine the extent of their correspondence. Method A subset of data from a longitudinal study regarding 29 front-line managers working across 36 supported accommodation services in Australia was used. An observed measure of practice leadership, based on an interview and observation of a front-line manager, was compared with ratings of practice leadership completed by staff. The quality of active support was rated after a 2-hour structured observation. Results Correlations between staff-rated and observed measures were non-significant. Only the observed measure was correlated with the quality of active support. Conclusions This study provides evidence to support using an observational measure of practice leadership rather than reliance on staff ratings

Disentangling surface and bulk transport in topological-insulator pp-nn junctions

By combining $n$-type $\mathrm{Bi_2Te_3}$ and $p$-type $\mathrm{Sb_2Te_3}$ topological insulators, vertically stacked $p$-$n$ junctions can be formed, allowing to position the Fermi level into the bulk band gap and also tune between $n$- and $p$-type surface carriers. Here we use low-temperature magnetotransport measurements to probe the surface and bulk transport modes in a range of vertical $\mathrm{Bi_2Te_3/Sb_2Te_3}$ heterostructures with varying relative thicknesses of the top and bottom layers. With increasing thickness of the $\mathrm{Sb_2Te_3}$ layer we observe a change from $n$- to $p$-type behavior via a specific thickness where the Hall signal is immeasurable. Assuming that the the bulk and surface states contribute in parallel, we can calculate and reproduce the dependence of the Hall and longitudinal components of resistivity on the film thickness. This highlights the role played by the bulk conduction channels which, importantly, cannot be probed using surface sensitive spectroscopic techniques. Our calculations are then buttressed by a semi-classical Boltzmann transport theory which rigorously shows the vanishing of the Hall signal. Our results provide crucial experimental and theoretical insights into the relative roles of the surface and bulk in the vertical topological $p$-$n$ junctions.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Canadian Competitiveness for Infrastructure Investment

This paper provides a broad overview of the infrastructure investment landscape in Canada and our reputation as a competitive destination for such investment. We compare the Canadian infrastructure investment environment and recent outcomes with those of a set of peer nations (G7 countries plus Australia). Canada has serious reputational issues relative to our peer group when it comes to attracting investment in infrastructure, and these issues correspond to declining rates of foreign direct investment inflows. Federal government spending on infrastructure is also declining, implying an overall lack of investment in infrastructure. This lack of investment is, in turn, manifesting as an increase in Canada’s infrastructure deficit and an overall decline in the reputation of the quality of existing infrastructure. Estimates of Canada’s infrastructure deficit range up to $600 billion, and the investment shortfalls contributing to this deficit are particularly apparent in transportation and trade infrastructure. Canada has fallen sharply to last place relative to the G7 and Australia in terms of infrastructure and logistics quality. The most prominent issues driving Canada’s declining reputation as a destination for investment include a sharp slide in the ease of doing business, which, in turn, is caused by perceived regulatory and bureaucratic delays (including the time required for construction permits). An inconsistency in federal infrastructure funding programs and policies (tied to federal election cycles) is similarly problematic. While most of Canada’s public infrastructure investment is made by provincial and municipal governments, their smaller and more variable shares of tax revenues do not ensure stable and sufficient levels of infrastructure investment in many regions. This pattern also serves to promote regional inequality, since regions suffering from poor infrastructure may not have the resources required to overcome local infrastructure deficits. Reliance on PPPs (public-private partnerships) to bolster infrastructure investment may well prove fruitless given the negative experiences Canada’s peers have had with PPPs and the already evident frustrations with Canada’s existing pursuits in this area. Falling tax rates have failed to attract foreign direct investment flows into Canada, suggesting that tax competitiveness is not a sufficient incentive to overcome the reputational issues associated with inconsistent federal investment policies and growing regulatory and bureaucratic delays. Addressing these issues will require a stable and long-term strategy (one not subject to Canada’s federal electoral cycles) and a serious look at the timeframes and delays for regulatory and bureaucratic processes. We suggest the federal government place a higher priority on infrastructure investments in critical areas such as trade and transportation infrastructure. These types of infrastructure play an outsized role in supporting national productivity and income. Further, attracting significant levels of private investment will likely benefit from a consistent and predictable trade and transportation infrastructure strategy. Canada requires an integrated and strategic national approach to infrastructure policy and investment. This approach must be based around a long-term focus and will require coordination among federal, provincial, municipal and First Nations governments and the private sector (including coordination with Canada’s large pension funds, which represent a significant untapped source of financial capital). Provincial governments have already expressed an interest and willingness to collaborate on a national infrastructure strategy based on the corridor concept, and the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce has similarly acknowledged the potential merits of applying the corridor concept. Given these endorsements and the evidence presented above, it is incumbent on the federal and other governments to act on formulating a stable, long-term and strategic national infrastructure strategy that pairs government investment and policies to attract private sector investment in all kinds of infrastructure, but most notably in transportation, warehousing and logistics infrastructure. As part of this, it is critical that Canada address its serious issue of regulatory and policy uncertainty, delays and burdens as these appear to be the most critical aspects of our declining reputation and the most pernicious impediments to achieving infrastructure investment goals and priorities

Public-Interest Benefit Evaluation of Partial- Upgrading Technology

Approximately 60 per cent of Alberta’s oil sands production is non-upgraded bitumen which, after being mixed with a diluting agent (diluent) to allow transport, is exported. A popular view within Alberta — and particularly among Albertan politicians — is that a much larger share of oil sands bitumen should be upgraded in the province. However, without public subsidies or government underwriting, it is uneconomic to build and operate new facilities in Alberta to fully upgrade the bitumen into synthetic crude oil. But there are new partial upgrading technologies being developed that, subject to successful testing at a larger (commercial) pilot scale, can prove to be not only economic in Alberta, but also generate large social and economic benefits for the province. The advantages include a much smaller capital investment, a significant increase in the value of the product and market for the product and, even more importantly, a dramatic reduction in the need for large amounts of expensive diluent to transport the product to market. Indeed, the only diluent required will be that to move the bitumen from the production site to the partial upgrader and this can be continually recycled. The market for the synthetic crude oil produced by full upgrading is only getting tougher. Any Alberta bitumen fully upgraded here would compete closely with the rapidly expanding supply of light U.S. unconventional oil. Partial upgrading does not upgrade bitumen to a light crude, but to something resembling more of a medium or heavy crude, and at a lower cost per barrel than full upgrading. Unlike in the increasingly crowded light-crude market, the Alberta Royalty Review Advisory Panel recognized that currently there are gaps in several North American refineries that could be filled by this partially upgraded Alberta oil. A partial upgrader serving that less-competitive market not only appears to hold the potential for investors to make attractive returns in the long term, it would also provide important benefits to Alberta from a social perspective. Since partially upgraded crude can be shipped via pipeline without diluent (as bitumen requires), producing it in Alberta would free up pipeline capacity otherwise tied up by current volumes of diluted bitumen or dilbit (diluent typically represents about one-third of each barrel of dilbit). It also reduces the cost to shippers of paying tolls for diluent exported in the dilbit and recovering diluent at the U.S. pipeline terminal, where it is less valuable than if it were recovered in Alberta at the partial upgrader. The value of each barrel produced would also be higher, benefitting oil sands producers. Partial upgrading also seems to promise a lower emissions-intensity profile compared to other bitumen-processing technologies. Based on the model of a single 100,000-barrel-a-day partial upgrader, the value uplift could be $10 to$15 per bitumen barrel. Meanwhile, there could be an average annual increase to Alberta’s GDP of $505 million, and as many as 179,000 person-years of employment created (assuming a 40.5-year operating period). The increase in taxable earnings would increase provincial revenues by an average of$60 million a year, not including additional federal tax revenues. If successful, there would be many such partial upgraders with corresponding multiplication of these benefits. But there remains the critical task of proving partial upgrading technology at a higher scale than current testing. This might also depend on the province helping sustain investors through the “death-valley” between successful research and initial testing and demonstration of full commercial viability. The province has stepped into help technologies cross that “death valley” before. The promise of partial upgrading may well justify, as manager and steward of Alberta’s resources, helping bridge that valley again

The Canadian Northern Corridor Roundtable Program: Results and Lessons Learned

Key Messsages: Canada needs a long-term strategic and integrated infrastructure vision for mid- and northern Canada that focuses on long-term policy priorities of communities. Infrastructure policy development for mid- and northern Canada must focus on collaborative approaches that foster cooperation and coordination rather than competition between community rights- and stakeholders. Streamlining of regulatory frameworks is required to improve efficiency, integration and coordination in the planning and approval of hard and soft infrastructure development. Decision-makers are encouraged to adopt a holistic infrastructure approach which includes not only physical infrastructure assets but also digital and soft infrastructure supporting social goals and outcomes, such as education and healthcare. A focus on local community capacity-building should be incorporated into any type of northern infrastructure development strategy to help support communities to address their own challenges and to foster cooperation between both public and private rights- and stakeholders. While federal support is important, any national infrastructure vision for mid- and northern Canada must incorporate the priorities of local Indigenous and municipal rights- and stakeholders. This approach avoids a top-down infrastructure approach and recognizes the role these communities have in in addressing the challenges related to climate change and supply chain constraints that we are facing today. A majority of communities in mid- and northern Canada consist of Indigenous populations, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit. A connective infrastructure approach can be a tool of reconciliation but only if it supports Indigenous self-governance, participation, inclusion and facilitates Indigenous-owned initiatives. While infrastructure needs vary across mid- and northern Canada, the digital divide across Canada is a common challenge. To sustain prosperity and mitigating challenges, communities need reliable and affordable high-speed internet access. Recent disruptions in global and Canadian supply chains underlines the need for strategic and targeted infrastructure optionality, ensuring reliable transportation and access to goods and services. Infrastructure development, focused on transportation and access to services such as healthcare, is essential to safeguard the high living standards we are enjoying today for future generations. For all Canadians to benefit, infrastructure development must adhere to the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility

Patient Feedback on Pharmacist Prescribing for Minor Ailments in a Canadian Province

Background: Pharmacists have been given authority in many Canadian provinces to go beyond simply recommending over-the-counter medicines to patients with minor ailments. In Saskatchewan, they can prescribe medicines normally under the sole control of physicians for 17 conditions. An evaluation program is underway to assess the value of the program. Methods: Adults were recruited over a one-year period and were eligible for inclusion if prescribed an agent for an applicable condition. Pharmacists from 40 pharmacies participated in identifying people who received the service. Of patients agreeing to participate, a link to an online survey was provided. The survey included items on clinical improvement, care options, and patient confidence in knowing when to seek a physician for a minor ailment. Results: Forty-eight people were involved in prescribing encounters, with the majority seeking help for themselves. All but one saw their symptoms improve subsequent to pharmacist assistance, most often to a significant extent. Satisfaction with the service was high. Convenience and trust in pharmacists were primary reasons for choosing the service over medical care (rather than an issue potentially more worrisome such as not having a family physician). Had this service not been in place, 30.6% of those asking for help would have gone to a medical clinic or emergency room. Seventy-five percent were (at least) very confident in knowing when to seek a physician (rather than a pharmacist) for such conditions. Conclusion: Information on the clinical outcomes of pharmacist-led minor ailment care is starting to accrue in Saskatchewan. While the numbers are extremely low to date, what has become available suggests the service is of value to the citizens of the province, it is chosen for appropriate reasons, and is of an acceptable standard of care. Conflict of Interest We declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the authors or members of their immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received), employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties. However, the authors are pharmacists licensed within the province and bring this perspective to this evaluation of a pharmacy-based program.   Type: Original Researc

The role of practice leadership in active support: impact of practice leaders’ presence in supported accommodation services

Objectives: Research shows practice leadership to be a factor in the successful implementation of active support. The aim of the study was to explore differences in staff practice, associated with the presence of a practice leader in a shared supported accommodation service. Methods: Quality of support and engagement for 189 service users with intellectual disability from 58 services were collected during a 2 h observation using the EMAC-R and ASM. The practice leader was present in 19 services (n = 59) and absent in 39 (n = 111). An Observed Measure of Practice Leadership was administered during a second visit to each service. Results: When the practice leader was present, levels of engagement and active support were statistically higher (p < 0.01). Although measured at a different time, observed practice leadership was also higher in services where the practice leader was present during the first observation. Conclusion: The level of observed practice leadership and presence of the practice leader appear to be associated with better quality of support. This finding provides further evidence of the importance of systems for supporting, monitoring, modelling, and improving staff practice for effective implementation of active support