Divided We Fail: Improving Completions and Closing Racial Gaps in California's Community Colleges

Analyzes outcomes for California community college students over six years, including credits, certificates, associate degrees, transfers, and racial/ethnic disparities. Suggests using data to improve completion rates and bridging practices and policies

The Grades Are in 2008: Is California Higher Education Measuring Up?

Analyzes California's scores in the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education's report card of higher education as well as affordability, participation, completion, and other issues by region and race/ethnicity. Makes policy recommendations

Performance Incentives to Improve Community College Completion: Learning from Washington State's Student Achievement Initiative

In 2007, Washington State launched an innovative performance incentive policy for community colleges, called the Student Achievement Initiative (SAI). The SAI is uses data and performance funding to motivate colleges to implement systemic changes that will improve student outcomes. The SAI’s model seeks to address some of the shortcomings of previous state higher education performance incentive policies, and has attracted interest from policymakers and funders nationally. This brief draws on early observations from our ongoing evaluation of the SAI, and research on performance funding policies in other states, to inform states about using state policy levers to meet ambitious state and national goals for college attainment. The brief calls particular attention to a number of policy choices that the Washington community and technical college system faced as it designed and began to implement the SAI across its 34 colleges. These are choices that policymakers and college leaders will have to confront should they design and enact performance incentive policies in their own states

Knowledge Transfer and Teaching Public Administration: the Academy Model

Since the beginnings of Public Administration in the US and its accompanying education in other parts of the world, government and policy have become more complex. The education in Public Administration created a professional pathway to public service. The addition of education to Public Administration came out of the Progressive Movement in the United States to make knowledge in Public Administration more important in the face of corruption brought on by patronage appointments. When nonprofits became part the US public sector as elsewhere along with nonprofit healthcare, the complexity expanded enormously, requiring professionals to know more in what has become a multidisciplinary field of study. Given the diversity and complexity of the public sector and the need for Public Administration to embrace more knowledge from many disciplines, it stands to reason that an earlier start on the education portion of Public Administration or a pathway would be beneficial. A model of early Public Administration knowledge transfer is described and illustrated below. The Academy described is based on the US career pathways and high school academies as part of the school to work educational movement. The success of the combination of these two areas will also be pointed out in the academy described. Translation of lessons learned from the Acdemy to Europe and Asia are also considered

Washington State Student Achievement Initiative Policy Study: Final Report

In 2007, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) launched a performance reporting and funding policy called the Student Achievement Initiative (SAI) both to improve public accountability by more accurately describing what students achieve from enrolling in community colleges and to provide incentives to colleges through financial rewards for increasing student success. This report presents findings from a three-year evaluation of the initiative that was designed to assess how and to what extent the SAI model of performance funding encourages colleges to track trends in student achievement and improve student outcomes. The quantitative component of the evaluation was an analysis of “achievement point” accumulation by colleges over the period 2007 to 2011. The qualitative component was based on a synthesis of approximately 250 interviews with faculty, staff, and administrators at 20 of Washington State’s 34 community and technical colleges that took place in spring 2012

Leadership and Strategic Management: keys to institutional priorities and planning *

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75630/1/j.1465-3435.2008.00363.x.pd

Improving HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis persistence among adolescent girls and young women: Insights from a mixed-methods evaluation of community, hybrid, and facility service delivery models in Namibia

IntroductionDespite the potential for community-based approaches to increase access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), there is limited evidence of whether and how they improve PrEP persistence. We compared PrEP persistence among AGYW receiving services through community and hybrid models in Namibia to facility-based services. We subsequently identify potential mechanisms to explain how and why community and hybrid models achieved (or not) improved persistence to inform further service delivery innovation.MethodsData were collected from PrEP service delivery to AGYW over two-years in Namibia's Khomas Region. We used Kaplan-Meier analysis to estimate survival curves for PrEP persistence beyond three-months after initiation and report the cumulative probability of persistence at one- and three-months. Persistence was defined as any PrEP use within three months after initiation followed by a PrEP refill or previously prescribed supply of at least 30 days at the three-month visit. Interviews were conducted with 28 AGYW and 19 providers and analyzed using a deductive-inductive thematic approach.ResultsFrom October 2017 through September 2019, 372 (18.7%) AGYW received services through a facility model, 302 (15.1%) through a community model, and 1,320 (66.2%) through a hybrid model. PrEP persistence at one- and three-months was 41.2% and 34.9% in the community model and 6.2% and 4.8% in the hybrid model compared to 36.8% and 26.7% in the facility model. Within the community and hybrid models, we identified three potential mechanisms related to PrEP persistence. Individualized service delivery offered convenience and simplicity which enabled AGYW to overcome barriers to obtaining refills but did not work as well for highly mobile AGYW. Consistent interactions and shared experiences fostered social connectedness with providers and with peers, building social networks and support systems for PrEP use. PrEP and HIV-related stigma, however, was widely experienced outside of these networks. Community-to-facility referral for PrEP refill triggered apprehension towards unfamiliar PrEP services and providers in AGYW, which discouraged persistence.ConclusionService delivery approaches that offer convenience and simplicity and foster social connectedness may reduce access barriers and increase social support enabling AGYW to self-manage their PrEP use and achieve improved PrEP persistence

Re-visiting Meltsner: Policy Advice Systems and the Multi-Dimensional Nature of Professional Policy Analysis

10.2139/ssrn.15462511-2

Policy-makers’ perspectives on optimizing HIV-infected adolescents’ transition from pediatric to adult care in Kenya

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2020Background: The transition from pediatric to adult care has emerged as a potential contributor to poor clinical outcomes and challenges to retention in care among adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV). While structured processes and tools that bridge the gap between pediatric and adult care can help ensure HIV-infected adolescents and young adults are retained in care and supported through this developmental transition, additional context-specific data are needed to improve the transition process. This study elicited perspectives of policy-makers regarding barriers and facilitators to successful transition outcomes among ALHIV in Kenya. Methods: We conducted 20 individual in-depth interviews (IDIs) with a diverse group of policy-makers in Kenya. IDIs were conducted using a semi-structured guide, designed to elicit policy-maker perspectives on current policies, tools and practices for transitioning adolescents from pediatric to adult care. IDIs were conducted in English, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were coded using ATLAS.ti, and the socio-ecological model was used to characterize themes related to multilevel optimization of the transition process for ALHIV. Results: Policy-makers identified multilevel and interrelated factors impacting HIV-infected adolescents’ transition from pediatric to adult care. At the interpersonal level, the influence of adolescents’ primary caregivers was paramount and contributed to adherence and retention in care throughout the transition trajectory. At the institutional level, key themes related to successful transition included the need for gradual, structured, and inclusive preparation of adolescents, and the pivotal role of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the development of a comprehensive care relationship between HCWs, caregivers and adolescents. Key themes at the structural level were the need for expanded transition guidelines and improved HCW training. Conclusions: There is an urgent need for expanded transition tools and guidelines focused on strategies to improve caregiver involvement, engage adolescents in illness management, and provide commensurate support and guidance for HCWs. As relatively little research on adolescents’ transition from pediatric to adult care has been conducted in SSA, additional context-specific studies are needed to fill this gap and inform regional policy development