Sustain Arts/SE Michigan: A Portrait of the Cultural Ecosystem

This report discusses the potential use of data in arts organizations for strategic purposes. Data currently available on the cultural sector can lead to useful insights about the increasing proliferation of small arts organizations; the almost monolithic focus of private foundations on supporting a highly select group of large, well-established arts organizations; and the fact that established arts organizations are poorly positioned to satisfy emerging consumer preferences for cultural experiences. Such insights should provoke frank discussion and galvanize field leaders to advocate appropriate actions, both in response to existing disconnects and proactively, in anticipation of coming change. The data that are now available to the field are not perfect. In fact, that's part of the story that needs to be told about the cultural sector. Systematic data collection on artists, cultural organizations, and audiences receives only a token amount of government funding. Instead, it is left largely up to private organizations to document trends in both the nonprofit and for-profit cultural arenas. This leads to multiple non-overlapping data collection strategies, making it difficult to construct a coherent picture of the field. There are gaping holes in the puzzle, and the tales we tell with existing data must be told with caution

Inequality Unexplained: An Experimental Test of Differential Treatment in School Discipline Decision-Making

Research consistently shows a high level of racial disparity in public school discipline whereby white students receive fewer and less severe disciplinary actions than their black classmates, even for the same offense (Losen and Gillespie 2012; Fabelo et al. 2011; Fenning and Rose 2007). This study employs a survey experiment to test whether this disparity is driven by differential treatment. U.S. public school educators were presented with hypothetical student misbehavior vignettes and asked their disciplinary recommendation. I control for student behavior while varying student race and gender in order to determine whether educators recommend differential discipline across student race and gender categories. Multivariate analyses of the survey experiment responses fail to provide evidence for the differential treatment hypothesis. I discuss these findings in the context of the current literature, offering four possible explanations for the study’s null results.Master of Art

Legacy pollutants are declining in Great Skuas (Stercorarius skua) but remain higher in Faroe Islands than in Scotland

To monitor environmental pollutants in Faroese biota, samples from a top predator were analysed and put into a spatial and temporal context. Analysis of 20 Great Skua eggs sampled in 2012 from the Faroe Islands showed >70 % lower concentrations of legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) than in samples analysed in 1977. The 2012 Faroese eggs showed higher concentrations than for eggs in Shetland from about the same period (2008). Eggshells were analysed for sub-lethal effects but there were no detectable effects of legacy POP levels on eggshell colour or thickness. A temporal decline in legacy POPs would indicate a reduction in the general pollutant levels present in the environment as has been shown in other areas of the North Atlantic, but there are significant geographic differences in POPs levels likely due to differences in diet resulting in significantly different exposures on a relatively limited spatial scale

Use of Consultants by U.S. Foundations: Results of a Foundation Center Survey

This article presents the results of a survey launched in January 2014 by Foundation Center, in collaboration with the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers, examining use of consultants by community, corporate, and independent foundations whose annual giving totals at least $100,000. The survey asked funders to report whether they used consultants in the past two years and, if so, how frequently and for what purposes; they were also asked to report their level of satisfaction with consultants’ work. Funders that did not engage consultants in the last two years were asked why not. The survey also sought open-ended responses about working with consultants. The survey found widespread use of consultants among foundations. While the results of this study tend to emphasize the benefits – taking advantage of external expertise, allowing staff to stay focused on what they do best, bringing fresh or neutral perspectives to the work – respondents were also clear that working with consultants has its challenges

Residential school placements for children and young people with intellectual disabilities: their use and implications for adult social care

Out of area residential placements are associated with a range of poor outcomes for adults with intellectual disabilities and behaviours that challenge. In recent years there has been an increased drive to reduce such placements at as early a stage as possible. In this context the current review collates research and policy regarding use of residential schools for children and young people with intellectual disabilities and transition from these settings to adult services. The review highlights that relatively little is known about both use of, and transition from, residential schooling for children and young people with intellectual disabilities in the UK. Thirteen articles are identified: 7 examining the child or families’ experiences before placement, 4 examining outcomes during the placement, and 4 examining the process of transitioning from the placement and longer term outcomes. The methodological quality of articles was often limited. A lack of control groups, independent samples, or adequate sample sizes was particularly notable. Results are discussed in relation to factors that lead to a child’s placement in a residential school, children and families’ experiences of the placement, and outcomes following placement, including the transition process. A number of research priorities are highlighted based on gaps in the literature. Examples of alternative forms of support from clinical practice are provided, with recognition that a multi-element model is likely to be needed to provide high quality support to this group of young people

Cost Effectiveness Analysis Evaluating Real-Time Characterization of Diminutive Colorectal Polyp Histology using Narrow Band Imaging (NBI)

Background: Endoscopists and new computer-aided programs can achieve performance benchmarks for real-time diagnosis of colorectal polyps using Narrow-Band Imaging (NBI), though do not perform as well as endoscopists with expertise in advanced imaging. Previous cost-effectiveness studies on optical diagnosis have focused on expert performance, potentially over-estimating its benefits. Aim: Determine cost-effectiveness of an NBI ‘characterize, resect and discard (CRD)’ strategy using updated assumptions based on non-expert performance. Methods: Markov model was constructed to compare cost-effectiveness of the CRD strategy, where diminutive polyps characterized as non-adenomas with high confidence are not resected and adenomas are resected and discarded, versus standard of care (SOC) in which all polyps are resected with histologic analysis. Rates related to NBI performance, missed polyps, polyp progression, malignancy, and complications, as well as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were derived from the literature. Costs were age and insurer-specific. Mean QALYs and costs were calculated using first order Monte Carlo simulation. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted. Results: The mean QALY estimates were similar for the CRD (8.563, 95% CI: 8.557-8.571) and SOC strategy (8.563, 8.557-8.571), but costs were reduced ($2,693.06 vs.$2,800.27, mean incremental cost savings: $107.21/person). Accounting for colonoscopy rates, the CRD strategy would save$708 million to $1.06 billion annually. The model was sensitive to the incidence of tubular adenomas; the results were otherwise robust in all other one-way and probabilistic analyses. Conclusions: An NBI CRD strategy is cost-effective when compared to the SOC, even when employed by non-experts. The appreciated benefit is primarily due to cost savings of the CRD strategy

Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy 2015: Data to Drive Decisions

Jointly produced by Foundation Center and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy 2015: Data to Drive Decisions analyzes funding trends for disasters and humanitarian crises in 2013. In addition to examining U.S. foundation funding, this second annual report integrates other disaster-related funding data, including bilateral and multilateral aid, corporate giving, and online giving, to paint a more detailed picture of how institutional philanthropy is situated within the broader disaster funding landscape. Collectively, this report, along with the dashboard and mapping platform, provides donors, practitioners, and other stakeholders with in-depth information on funding flows for disasters and humanitarian crises. Explore more at disasterphilanthropy.org

Consumers\u27 Misunderstanding of Health Insurance.

We report results from two surveys of representative samples of Americans with private health insurance. The first examines how well Americans understand, and believe they understand, traditional health insurance coverage. The second examines whether those insured under a simplified all-copay insurance plan will be more likely to engage in cost-reducing behaviors relative to those insured under a traditional plan with deductibles and coinsurance, and measures consumer preferences between the two plans. The surveys provide strong evidence that consumers do not understand traditional plans and would better understand a simplified plan, but weaker evidence that a simplified plan would have strong appeal to consumers or change their healthcare choices