School strategies for the professional development and support of early career teachers

This paper focuses on school strategies for professional development and support (PDS) in the first three years of teaching, and early career teachers’ responses to those strategies. Survey and case study data from the longitudinal NQTQIS research programme is used to map the changing types of PDS provided to teachers over their first three years of teaching; and to discuss the ways in which school context influences early career teacher learning

Real exchange rate response to capital inflows: A dynamic analysis for Ghana

One of the most challenging problems in developing countries such as Ghana is exchange rate management, that is, 'getting the exchange rate right' especially in the context of exchange rate misalignment. The major research and policy question is what constitutes the equilibrium real exchange rate (ERER) and how can it be measured? Acknowledging the importance of fundamentals in determining the equilibrium real exchange rate, the paper concentrates on the effects of capital inflows (by decomposing capital inflows into official inflows, 'permanent' inflows and 'non-permanent' inflows). Vector Autoregressive (VAR) techniques are used to model the long-run equilibrium real exchange rate in Ghana, and based on a multivariate orthogonal decomposition technique, the equilibrium steady state path is identified which is used in estimating misalignments. As predicted by the Dutch Disease theory, results indicate that capital inflows tend to appreciate the real exchange rate in the long-run. Capital inflows is the only variable generating real appreciation in the long-run; technology change, trade (exports) and terms of trade all tend to depreciate the real exchange rate. The only variable that has a significant (depreciating) effect on the real exchange rate in the short-run is trade, implying that changes in exports are the major driver of exchange rate misalignment. It is also shown that the real exchange rate is slow to adjust back to equilibrium, implying policy ineffectiveness or inflexibility

RETAIN early career teacher retention programme: evaluating the role of research informed continuing professional development for a high quality, sustainable 21st century teaching profession

Teacher recruitment and retention is an international challenge. In England the government have reported that more teachers leave before retirement age than five years ago, 30% within five years and schools are finding it difficult to fill posts with quality teachers. This paper evaluates the contribution of the research-informed RETAIN Early Career Teacher (ECT) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programme for developing and retaining quality teachers. RETAIN was a yearlong CPD pilot for Early Career Teachers (ECTs) in primary schools in Cornwall, UK (a region with high levels of socio-economic disadvantage). The programme design was informed by research and based on factors shown to support the retention of ECTs. It was contextualised using the precept that teachers should be active researchers, influencing curriculum development as ‘reflective practitioners’, focussed with a Professional Learning Community lens and theorised within a social constructivist frame. In addition, RETAIN utilised robust evidence-informed practice approaches to support teacher development in schools with persistently disadvantaged pupils. The programme was independently evaluated using multiple-methods over the course of the programme to generate data. The theory-based evaluation suggests that the contribution of this intervention to the field is the specific combination of development; taught workshops, coaching and collaborative professional learning, which improved the self-efficacy, confidence and quality of teaching of ECTs in differing but complementary ways. All ECTs who completed the programme have been retained in teaching and all have achieved a leadership role in their school. We argue that these outcomes are of international significance and the promise of the programme can be utilised for developing and retaining high quality teachers in other countrie

Modeling and experimental analysis of acoustic cavitation bubbles for Burst Wave Lithotripsy

Cavitation bubbles initiated by focused ultrasound waves are investigated through experiments and modeling. Pulses of focused ultrasound with a frequency of 335 kHz and a peak negative pressure of 8 MPa is generated in a water tank by a piezoelectric transducer to initiate cavitation. The pressure field is modeled by solving the Euler equations and used to simulate single bubble oscillation. The characteristics of cavitation bubbles observed by highspeed photography qualitatively agree with the simulation results. Finally, bubble clouds are captured using acoustic B-mode imaging that works synchronized with high-speed photography