Ready Educators Quality Improvement Pilot: Linking Program Improvement to Child Outcomes

This report is an evaluation of the first year of the Ready Educators Quality Improvement Pilot (REQIP), part of Thrive in 5's city-wide Ready Educators strategy. The pilot provided technical assistance and support to early education and care programs in centers and family child care homes that serve children from birth to age five. The REQIP theory of change posits that, to meet the goal of improved child outcomes, programs need to build "sustainable independent capacity to operationalize a continuous quality improvement process (CQI)." As the Pilot was envisioned, CQI involved the development of a Program Improvement Plan (PIP) through an assessment based on child-level and program data and with support from a Quality Improvement Partner (QIP). The PIP would then serve as the basis for technical assistance to meet the goals of the PIP, followed by a re-assessment using program and childlevel data. This CQI process would be sustained over time, in an ongoing continuous loop. In July 2013, after a competitive RFP process and with funding from the Barr Foundation, Thrive in 5 selected Wellesley Centers for Women to serve as the QIP

Bringing New Life to Old Pages

Bringing new life to old pages. Law School graduate Richard E. Spatz, \u2750, has found a new career - prolonging the life of books by reducing the effects of the acid that makes ink cling to their pages. Spatz is the chairman and chief executive officer of Preservation Technologies Inc. (PTI), based in Cranberry Township near Pittsburgh. The Library of Congress and the Law Library are among his clients

The Use Of Sessional Teachers In Universities: Faculty Of The Built Environment, University Of New South Wales Australia

This paper discusses the issues and realities presented by the casualisation of higher education teaching staff. It uses a case study from the University of New South Wales [UNSW] in Sydney Australia. The research presents and analyses perspectives from two key stakeholders in a university [students and academic management] on the use of sessional [also called casual or part-time] teachers in a professional faculty – the Built Environment. The strength of this paper lies in the presentation of the student voice and the reflections of an Associate Dean of Education who is ultimately responsible for ensuring quality learning and teaching in a faculty. Both of these are perspectives that are rarely heard in the current literature on this issue. Although this paper uses an Australian case study, the discussion of the issues and challenges of the casualisation of higher education teaching staff has transcending value to universities and colleges around the world. Questions posed throughout the paper challenge traditional ideas of engaging part-time teachers in universities and thus, by default, set a framework for further study on this contentious practice

Trends In The Selection, Evaluation, And Compensation Of University Presidents In The Florida State University System

Recent literature suggested that while the discussion of presidential selection, evaluation, and compensation was common to both private and public institutions, special attention was paid to public university presidents. They and their presidencies were subject to intense public debate and scrutiny. Florida\u27s public university presidents have contended with the same issues as their counterparts in other states. However, the 2001 changes in the state\u27s higher education governance created distinct challenges and opportunities for the 11 presidents in the Florida State University System. The purpose of this study was to analyze the trends in the selection, evaluation, and compensation of the 11 university presidents in the Florida State University System (SUS) from 1996-2006, the period five years before and five years after the changes in governance. Interviews with university presidents, members of boards of trustees, and members of the Florida Board of Governors, members of the Florida Legislature, and salary histories from seven of the 11 Florida institutions were used to analyze the trends in light of the shift in perceptions of the presidents\u27 roles and the changes in higher education governance. Since 2001, and the establishment of boards of trustees and by Florida statute, presidents were seen as the chief executive officer of their institutions, a change from an academic to a business model. Trustees, who primarily came from a business background, viewed them as CEOs and chose to compensate presidents at a higher level than they had previously been paid. The Board of Governors, a majority of whose members also had corporate backgrounds, implied the need for a CEO-type leadership style and more corporate-style accountability. In 2003, the Florida Legislature responded to the salary surge at the chief executive level and placed a $225,000 salary cap from appropriated funds on the university presidents\u27 salaries. The legislation did not place any restrictions on university foundations or other sources for supplementing the compensation package

Simulation Innovation in Cyberspace: A Collaborative Approach to Teaching and Learning in Child and Youth Care Education

Leveraging digital technology for practice innovation is a compelling challenge. Limited education and training prevent human service practitioners from incorporating technology into practice. Progress in this area will be achieved when significant changes to pedagogy support technology integration with teaching/learning partnerships in higher education. With the recent attention to relational Child and Youth Care (CYC) practice in cyberspace (Martin & Stuart, 2011), this paper aims to highlight student/teacher explorations in this emerging area of clinical practice using student-driven simulated online counselling sessions supervised by the course instructor. Beyond critical learning within the roleplay activities, students engaged in solving disruptions to simulations, which can enhance their future agility in real practice situations (Rooney, Hopwood, Boud, & Kelly, 2015). Foundations in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), experiential learning theory (ELT), and learner-led (LED) approaches guided student engagement with technology and reflexive practice in this graduate level classroom

Lightning Presentation: If It’s Canceled, Do They Find It? Library Users’ Responses to Canceled Interlibrary Loan Requests

When an interlibrary loan request is canceled, how do users respond? Do they ultimately obtain the item the wanted? Find out the results of a study using both quantitative data and patron interviews to answer these questions and help inform library policies and procedures

eLearning for edLeaders at Emporia State University

The building level leadership practicum at Emporia State University in Emporia, KS, has moved from a face-to-face experience to a totally online experience. Students participate in 56 total learning activities which are reported online for the two semester course. The program provides flexibility to students and still allows quality interaction via structured discussions. In addition, students select a practicum research project which allows them to gain hands on experiences by following the project from start to completion. The shift in program has garnered positive student response and support. This program utilizes elearning to prepare graduate building level leadership students for a 21st century leadership role in schools (SERC, 2017)