New Pathways: evaluating the implementation of a major work- related programme in Northern England

The evaluative research upon which this paper is based is focussed on the implementation of a three-year programme “Pathways to Success” (usually shortened to “Pathways”) in South Yorkshire, England. It is part of a much larger regional regeneration project funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) from 2001-2004. The Pathways programme is concerned with developing innovative curricula for the 14-19 age range in four Local Education Authorities (LEAs)1 and is taking place in 76 secondary (high) schools. A team from Sheffield Hallam University was responsible for evaluating the success of the Pathways programme and our findings reported here refer to the first year of implementation.</p

Evaluating teachers' and trainers' development in a large scale curriculum development project in South Yorkshire

The evaluative research upon which the paper is based focuses on the first three years of a six-year project “Pathways to Success” (PW) currently taking place in South Yorkshire and funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) as part of the Objective 1 programme from 2001-2007. Matched funding has been provided by schools, colleges and LEAs. The PW project is concerned with developing innovative curricula to raise achievement and improve youngsters' employability skills. The project is set in the context of regional regeneration in an area where unemployment is higher than the European (and national) average, due to the decline of traditional steel and coal industries and where the gross domestic product is less than 75% of the European average. South Yorkshire is also an area where overall achievement in schools at all stages is lower than the national average and participation in post-16 education and higher education is persistently below national figures. Although employment is slowly rising due to reorientation from manufacturing towards a service and knowledge-based economy, pockets of severe unemployment and deprivation remain and are among the ten worst in the country.</p

Evaluation of valued youth: a national peer-tutoring programme to increase self confidence and motivation

Established first in the USA, Valued Youth has operated in the UK since 1996, and is currently implemented in about 50 schools in 8 regions. The programme is intended to help secondary school students who are at risk of disengaging with school or underperforming for a variety of reasons. These students are selected as tutors, given training on how to work with younger children and placed in a local primary school where they support pupils' learning. Valued Youth can be seen as one of many initiatives in secondary schools on re-engagement in learning and contributes to the UK government strategy of extending opportunities and providing flexible learning experiences to meet individual learners' needs and aptitudes. Evidence from the USA has shown the value of the programme in reducing drop-out, strengthening youngsters' perceptions of self and school, and reducing disciplinary referrals and absenteeism. The evaluation discussed in this paper considers the effect of the programme in a UK context, not only in terms of young people's attendance, attainment and confidence, but also in terms of what sort of youngsters seem to benefit and the effects of financial rewards, if any, on the outcomes. The paper reports on the first year of a two-year evaluation. Data were obtained from a pre- and post-questionnaire survey among tutors, a workshop with coordinators and visits to selected case study schools in several regions. Almost all tutors enjoyed the programme and would recommend the experience to others. There was a relatively low dropout and the programme was warmly appreciated by participating primary schools. We have evidence that Valued Youth markedly raises confidence, improves communication skills and keeps some at risk youngsters on track in school. Many types of youngsters benefit from the experience; those who lack confidence and have poor communication skills seem to make the most progress. Successful tutors tend to be those who are committed to the programme, willing to learn, are flexible and cooperative, and have some ability to interact with others, particularly children and primary teachers.</p

Pathways to "opportunity and excellence": collaborative curriculum innovation in South Yorkshire

This paper reports on two aspects of a large-scale curriculum project currently taking place in four LEAs in South Yorkshire. The first of these is concerned with the positive and negative influences on effective curriculum innovation and is addressed from the perspective of the LEA project managers who are managing the delivery of the project in the region's schools. The second aspect considers what the pupils (Year 10, age 14-15) think about the new learning opportunities. The project is set in the context of regional regeneration. The paper concludes that the extremely positive responses from the sample of pupils in all three strands of the programme indicate that the greater emphasis on vocational work and work experience in schools is having a strong motivational effect on pupils who are responding with improved attendance, behaviour and achievement.</p

Developing enterprise culture in a northern educational authority in the UK: involving trainee teachers in learning-orientated evaluation

In this paper we discuss our use of innovative methods - at least in the context of regeneration evaluation - to help evaluate an enterprise project in northern England, paying particular attention to the involvement of trainee teachers. We discuss the methods used and critically appraise the methods and methodology, present some emerging findings from the trainee teachers strand and conclude by discussing the place of what might be termed 'learning-orientated evaluation' in relation to the currently dominant output-focussed evaluation paradigm.</p

Cost-effectiveness of psychological interventions for children and young people with post-traumatic stress disorder

Background: PTSD in youth may lead to long‐lasting psychological implications, educational difficulties and increased healthcare costs. Psychological interventions have been shown to be effective in its management. The objective of this study was to assess the cost‐effectiveness of a range of psychological interventions for children and young people with PTSD. / Methods: A decision‐analytic model was constructed to compare costs and quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs) of 10 psychological interventions and no treatment for children and young people with PTSD, from the perspective of the National Health Service and personal social services in England. Effectiveness data were derived from a systematic review and network meta‐analysis. Other model input parameters were based on published sources, supplemented by expert opinion. / Results: Cognitive therapy for PTSD, a form of individual trauma‐focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF‐CBT), appeared to be the most cost‐effective intervention for children and young people with PTSD (with a probability of .78 amongst the 11 evaluated options at a cost‐effectiveness threshold of £20,000/QALY), followed by narrative exposure (another form of individual TF‐CBT), play therapy, and other forms of individual TF‐CBT. After excluding cognitive therapy from the analysis, narrative exposure appeared to be the most cost‐effective option with a .40 probability of being cost‐effective amongst the remaining 10 options. EMDR, parent training and group TF‐CBT occupied middle cost‐effectiveness rankings. Family therapy and supportive counselling were less cost‐effective than other active interventions. There was limited evidence for some interventions, in particular cognitive therapy for PTSD and parent training. / Conclusions: Individual forms of TF‐CBT and, to a lesser degree, play therapy appear to be cost‐effective in the treatment of children and young people with PTSD. Family therapy and supportive counselling are unlikely to be cost‐effective relative to other interventions. There is a need for well‐conducted studies that examine the long‐term clinical and cost‐effectiveness of a range of psychological treatments for children and young people with PTSD

Concert recording 2022-04-02a

[Track 1]. Boris Kerner / Caroline Shaw (arr. Dylan Matheny) -- [Track 2]. Limestone & felt / Caroline Shaw (arr. Dylan Matheny) -- [Track 3]. Snapshots. I. Frantic, hyperventilating ; II. Chain ; III. Nervous ; IV. Early bird special / Takuma Itah -- [Track 4]. Different trains. III. After the war / Steve Reich (arr. Dylan Matheny) -- [Track 5]. Stubborn as hell / Stacy Garrop -- [Track 6]. Twitter birds blog / Takashi Yoshimatsu (arr. Dylan Matheny)

Concert recording 2022-04-02a

[Track 1]. Boris Kerner / Caroline Shaw (arr. Dylan Matheny) -- [Track 2]. Limestone & felt / Caroline Shaw (arr. Dylan Matheny) -- [Track 3]. Snapshots. I. Frantic, hyperventilating ; II. Chain ; III. Nervous ; IV. Early bird special / Takuma Itah -- [Track 4]. Different trains. III. After the war / Steve Reich (arr. Dylan Matheny) -- [Track 5]. Stubborn as hell / Stacy Garrop -- [Track 6]. Twitter birds blog / Takashi Yoshimatsu (arr. Dylan Matheny)

Unconventional quantum Hall effect and Berry’s phase 2pi in bilayer graphene.

There are known two distinct types of the integer quantum Hall effect. One is the conventional quantum Hall effect, characteristic of two-dimensional semiconductor systems, and the other is its relativistic counterpart recently observed in graphene, where charge carriers mimic Dirac fermions characterized by Berry’s phase pi, which results in a shifted positions of Hall plateaus. Here we report a third type of the integer quantum Hall effect. Charge carriers in bilayer graphene have a parabolic energy spectrum but are chiral and exhibit Berry’s phase 2pi affecting their quantum dynamics. The Landau quantization of these fermions results in plateaus in Hall conductivity at standard integer positions but the last (zero-level) plateau is missing. The zero-level anomaly is accompanied by metallic conductivity in the limit of low concentrations and high magnetic fields, in stark contrast to the conventional, insulating behavior in this regime. The revealed chiral fermions have no known analogues and present an intriguing case for quantum-mechanical studies