Supporting a Culture of Evidence-Based Practice and Continuous Program Improvement: A Staged Approach to Implementing and Studying International Early Childhood Development Programs

This concept paper proposes a four-stage approach to in-country/region ECD program development, selection, and inquiry designed to build the evidence base required to guide program and policy decisions. The foundation of the approach is a strengths-based continuous program improvement framework. Feedback loops would be tied to indicators of program fidelity, family participation, and outcomes. This approach includes developing a partnership between stakeholders and researchers at each stage (a community of learners). The proposed staged approach builds on the medical model of clinical research on innovative treatments and drug therapies as well as design options for evaluating program enhancements to the federal Head Start program in the United States (Ross et al., 2005).

Dépression du spectacle de la sur-nature : réflexions autour du travail de Diane Thater

La vidéographie intéressée par la question du spectacle pose la question de l’histoire du développement technologique et de son rôle dans la constitution du sujet moderne. Les installations vidéo de Diana Thater doivent être perçues comme une pratique de dépression de la relation (post)moderne entre subjectivité et technologie. L’objectif du présent article est double. D’abord, cerner les possibilités actuelles de mise en scène critique du spectacle. Ensuite, voir en quoi les stratégies esthétiques de dépression de l’image électronique se rapportent aux mutations de la subjectivité contemporaine en cours depuis les années 60.When video art speculates on the question of the spectacle, it questions the history of technological development and its role in the constitution of modern subject. Diana Thater’s video installations must be seen as a practice which depresses the (post)modern relationship between subjectivity and technology. Two main objectives underlie the present In this article we propose to shed light upon certain modalities at work in the “ théâtre de l’image ”, in an attempt to understand how this theatre, creator of multi-dimensional images, is altering drastically the spectators’ viewing process and their traditional relationship with the performance. To do so, we will draw upon examples from Vinci, a play emblematic of the work of author, director, filmmaker and actor, Robert Lepage, well-known in Quebec as a veritable “ faiseur d’images ”. Our choice is based on the fact that this is a work by a prolific and versatile artist that is not only representative of the new poetics that seem to spring from the computer age and the media culture, but that provides as well a fertile site for an evaluation of the epistemological consequences of an intersection of media in contemporary cultural production and of the way in which the “ théâtre de l’image ” participates in a renewal of the process of writing and of thinking

The Suspension of History in Contemporary Media Arts

This article examines the temporal turn which has supported the development of media arts since the late 1980s: the exploration of and amplified preoccupation with the passage of time. Focusing on a specific case study (the installation work of French artist Melik Ohanian), it shows that the turn involves a range of perceptual strategies through which the temporal premises of classical modernity—history as progress and succession, what philosopher Yuval Dolev designates as “the becoming present of future events and then their becoming past”—are suspended, problematized and transformed in this very suspension. My claim is that the work of Ohanian, which evolves around the practice of simultaneity, is a key to this elaboration of alternative forms of historical narratives, in which futurity plays a renewed pivotal role.Cet article examine le tournant temporel qui soutient le développement des arts médiatiques depuis la fin des années 1980 : l’exploration du temps comme passage. S’appuyant sur une étude de cas (les installations médias de l’artiste français Melik Ohanian), l’article démontre que ce tournant implique un éventail de stratégies perceptuelles par lesquelles les prémisses temporelles de la modernité classique — l’histoire comme progrès et succession, ce que le philosophe Yuval Dolev désigne comme le « devenir présent d’événements futurs et puis leur devenir passé » — sont suspendues, problématisées et transformées à même cette suspension. Le travail d’Ohanian, ancré dans une pratique de simultanéité, est central à cette élaboration de formes alternatives de récits historiques, où le futur se voit accorder un rôle charnière renouvelé

New Media’s Presentness and the Question of History: Craigie Horsfield’s Broadway Installation

In the last three decades, media art (in both its analogue and digital forms) has been consistently defended in its alleged ability to, in the words of art critic Jean-Christophe Royoux, to “give concrete form to what, as a rule, vanishes from cinematographic time: the present.” Questions emerge, however, as to what exactly constitutes the present and, more importantly—in works that privilege presentness—how can the past and the future can still be productive categories of time? Indeed, such a privileging might be more problematic than initially thought. This, at least, is what comes out from a study by historian François Hartog who maintains that the prevailing regime of historicity today is not liberating access to the present but presentism: the turning of the present into an absolute value, whose absoluteness means a real disconnection from the past and the future. In such a regime, it is the possibility of history which is threatened with disappearance. This article seeks to examine the apparent incompatibility between new media art’s presentist inclination and the sense of history. To investigate this tension, it is imperative to look at artworks that address one of the main challenges of a culture obsessed with the present—the setting of the conditions of the possibility of history. I propose that Craigie Horsfield’s work is an original contribution to this line of investigation. Special attention is given here to the three main aesthetic strategies constitutive of the video installation Broadway (2006): the solicitation of attention, the temporalization of the horizon line and the convergence of two viewing positions—those of the spectator and the witness.Depuis les trois ou quatre dernières décennies, les arts médiatiques (autant dans leur forme analogique que numérique) ont été systématiquement défendus pour leur supposée capacité, selon les mots du critique d’art Jean-Christophe Royoux, à « donner corps à ce qui, par principe, disparaît du temps cinématographique : le temps présent ». Il importe toutefois de se questionner sur la nature du présent ainsi produit et, plus encore, sur la capacité du passé et du futur à demeurer des catégories temporelles significatives, tout particulièrement dans les oeuvres qui privilégient le présent. En effet, privilégier le présent peut s’avérer plus problématique qu’il n’apparaît de prime abord. C’est à tout le moins ce qui ressort de l’étude de l’historien François Hartog, qui maintient que le régime d’historicité qui prévaut aujourd’hui ne constitue pas un accès libérateur au présent, mais incarne plutôt une forme de présentisme, qui se manifeste par la transformation du présent en une valeur absolue, ce qui implique une véritable déconnexion entre le passé et le futur. Dans un tel régime, c’est vraisemblablement la possibilité même de l’Histoire qui est menacée de disparaître. Le présent article examine l’incompatibilité apparente entre l’inclination présentiste des arts médiatiques et le sens de l’Histoire. Pour étudier cette tension, il apparaît impératif de se pencher sur les oeuvres qui explorent un des principaux défis d’une culture obsédée par le présent : la mise en place de conditions de possibilité de l’Histoire. L’auteure maintient ici que le travail de Craigie Horsfield représente une contribution originale à cette problématique. Une attention particulière est accordée aux trois principales stratégies esthétiques à l’oeuvre dans l’installation vidéo Broadway (2006) : la sollicitation de l’attention, la temporalisation de la ligne d’horizon et la convergence de deux points de vue — celui du spectateur et celui du témoin

Spreading Academic Pay over Nine or Twelve Months: Economists Are Supposed to Know Better, but Do They Act Better?

Our paper empirically considers two general hypotheses related to the literature of behavioral economics. First, we test the null hypothesis that individuals behave, on average, in a manner more consistent with the rational expectations hypothesis than with the idea of self-control in the face of hyperbolic discounting in their saving decisions. Second, along a variety of dimensions, we examine whether individuals exhibit Herbert Simon’s notion that the goal formation of individuals will differ depending upon their relative levels of experience and knowledge. Perhaps there are significant differences among groups in their saving decisions that depend upon their apparent levels of intelligence, education, and knowledge. Finally, using a variety of individual-specific control variables, we test for robustness of the results.Consumer Economics, Empirical Analysis, Life Cycle Models and Saving

Spreading Academic Pay over Nine or Twelve Months: Economists Are Supposed to Know Better, but Do They Act Better?

Our paper empirically considers two general hypotheses related to the literature of behavioral economics. First, we test the null hypothesis that individuals behave, on average, in a manner more consistent with the rational expectations hypothesis than with the idea of self-control in the face of hyperbolic discounting in their saving decisions. Second, along a variety of dimensions, we examine whether individuals exhibit Herbert Simon’s notion that the goal formation of individuals will differ depending upon their relative levels of experience and knowledge. Perhaps there are significant differences among groups in their saving decisions that depend upon their apparent levels of intelligence, education, and knowledge. Finally, using a variety of individual-specific control variables, we test for robustness of the results.Consumer Economics, Empirical Analysis, Life Cycle Models and Saving

Chronic illness care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: final report

This project engage a range of stakeholders across different levels of the primary health care system, including service providers, management, policy-makers and researchers and capture their knowledge on the barriers and enablers to addressing the identified priority-evidence practice gaps and their suggestions on strategies for improvement. Overview The purpose of this project is to engage key stakeholders in the use of aggregate continuous quality improvement (CQI) data to identify and address system-wide evidence-practice gaps in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chronic illness care. We aimed to engage a range of stakeholders across different levels of the primary health care (PHC) system, including service providers, management, policy-makers and researchers and capture their knowledge on the barriers and enablers to addressing the identified priority-evidence practice gaps and their suggestions on strategies for improvement. Our research has highlighted the wide variation in performance between different aspects of care and between health centres. While many aspects of care are being done well in many health centres, there are important gaps between evidence and practice in some aspects of PHC. System-wide gaps are likely to be due to deficiencies in the broader (PHC) system, indicating that system-level action is required to improve performance. Such system-level action should be developed with a deep understanding of the holistic nature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander wellbeing beyond just physical health (including healthy connections to culture, community and country), of the impact of Australian colonist history on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and of how social systems – including the health system - should be shaped to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This project aims to build on the collective strengths within PHC services in order to continue improving the quality of care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

Pathways to Friendship - Building Friendships One Person at a Time: An innovative two-year project to expand and improve the inclusion of people with IDD

For people with Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD), making friends and participating in the community can be a challenge. Pathways to Friendship (Pathways), is a collaboration between The Arc of Massachusetts (The Arc) and the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS) with an evaluation component provided by The Center for Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Research (CDDER). Pathways includes training and consultation to disability service organizations on approaches to improve community inclusion and establish friendships between people with and without IDD

Pathways to Friendship - Building Friendships One Person at a Time: An innovative two-year project to expand and improve the inclusion of people with IDD

For people with Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD), making friends and participating in the community can be a challenge. Pathways to Friendship (Pathways), is a collaboration between The Arc of Massachusetts (The Arc) and the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS) with an evaluation component provided by The Center for Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Research (CDDER). Pathways includes training and consultation to disability service organizations on approaches to improve community inclusion and establish friendships between people with and without IDD