Snapshot of KIPP Leadership Practices through 2010 -- 2011

As part of the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) grant, the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) Foundation commissioned Mathematica to document leadership practices at KIPP schools. This issue brief summarizes notable findings from the study, which focused on identifying leadership practices across diverse areas: leadership structure and transitions, and the selection, development, and evaluation of leaders. Among other notable findings, KIPP combines a tiered sequence of leadership roles at the local level with national staff development programs to generate a pipeline of school leaders. The study also found that KIPP's Leadership Competency Model defines the skills school leaders need and guides development and evaluation

Cover Crops and Corn Residue Removal: Impacts on Soil Hydraulic Properties and Their Relationships with Carbon

Large-scale crop residue removal may negatively affect soil water dynamics. Integrating cover crop (CC) with crop residue management can be a strategy to offset potential adverse effects of residue removal. We studied: (i) the impact of corn (Zea mays L.) residue removal (56%) with and without the use of winter rye (Secale cereale L.) CC on soil hydraulic properties, (ii) whether CC would ameliorate residue removal effects on hydraulic properties, and (iii) relationships of hydraulic properties with soil organic C (SOC) and other properties under irrigated no-till continuous corn on a silt loam in south central Nebraska after 5 and 6 yr of management. Cover crops did not affect soil hydraulic properties. However, residue removal reduced cumulative water infiltration by about 45% in one year. Across years, residue removal reduced plant available water (PAW) by 32% and mean weight diameter of water-stable aggregates (MWD) by 23% for the upper 5-cm soil depth. Under no CC, residue removal reduced SOC concentration by 25% in the 0- to 5-cm and by 11% in the 5- to 10-cm depths. Under residue removal, CC increased SOC concentration by 18% in the 0- to 5-cm and by 8% in the 5 to 10-cm depths. Cover crop did not completely offset the residue removal-induced decrease in SOC concentration in the upper 5-cm depth. Plant available water decreased as SOC concentration and MWD decreased. After 6 yr, corn residue removal adversely affected soil hydraulic properties and SOC concentration, but CC was unable to fully offset such adverse impacts

Work Study Students at VCU: Quality versus Quantity

VCU Libraries’ student full-time equivalents and budget are lower than its peer institutions in the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, resulting in a significant lack of funding for student workers. The initial project goals were 1) to identify which steps the VCU Libraries could take to resolve this problem and 2) to investigate if this problem were university-wide in scope. Shortly following this determination, the president’s office VCU Update #10 proposed a “substantial increase in funding for student financial aid” and a university-wide survey on work-study was initiated by the VCU Career Center and distributed by the provost to university employers. The team goals were adjusted to 1) investigate the student’s perspective in obtaining work and the employment experience at VCU and 2) query both students and employers on how to improve the hiring process. Using a questionnaire to survey work-study employers along with experienced and prospective work-study students, the team collected both quantitative and qualitative data to be used by the university

Organizing the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST): National Institutes of Health, Health Care Financing Administration, and industry funding

The Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST) is a prospective, randomized, multicenter clinical trial of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) versus carotid artery stenting (CAS) as prevention for stroke in patients with symptomatic stenosis greater than or equal to 50%. CREST is sponsored by the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), with additional support by a device manufacturer, and will provide data to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for evaluation of a stent device. Because of budget constraints for CREST, Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) reimbursement for hospital costs incurred by CREST patients will be essential. The involvement of academic scientists, industry, and three separate government agencies (NIH, FDA, HCFA) has presented many challenges in conducting the trial. A review of the pathways followed to meet these challenges may be helpful to others seeking to facilitate sharing of the costs and burdens of conducting innovative clinical research

The Iowa Homemaker vol.15, no.5

She’s Been a Campus Personality By Prof. Blair Converse No Race Prejudice in Barbados By Rosemae Johnson Ideas Centuries Old By Sally Tragedy in One Act By Isabella Palmer Journalists Like Their Fun By Virginia Berry Watch the Cyclone Ends By Winn Heyer “We Thought it Would be That Easy” By Bess Ferguson Lastest Fashions for a Fall Breakfast by Katherine Hoffma

Analyzing Advanced Placement (AP): Making the Nation\u27s Most Prominent College Preparatory Program More Equitable

This report from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) explores research related to Advanced Placement (AP) courses through an equity lens. It answers five questions: 1) What are AP classes? 2) Who enrolls and succeeds in AP classes? 3) Why do disparities in AP matter? 4) What factors contribute to disparities in AP participation and performance? 5) What policies and practices help to address disparities in AP access, enrollment, and performance? The report comes from the MERC Equitable Access and Support for Advanced Coursework study