Research on performance pay for teachers

This report falls into three main sections, in accordance with the project brief. The first provides an overview of current pay arrangements and collective enterprise bargaining agreements for teachers in Australian schools. Within these arrangements, the report gives particular attention to provisions for performance-based pay schemes and to identifying potential impediments to the introduction of performance-based pay for teachers. The second part of the brief called for an overview of recent Australian and international research on the attitudes of stakeholders to performance-based pay schemes for teachers and the impact of these schemes on, for example, teacher retention, improved teaching standards, improved student outcomes and recognition of accomplished teachers. The third part of the brief asked for gaps in the Australian and international evidence base on performance pay to be identified and for suggestions about further research that would be valuable in assessing the value and/or acceptance of performance-based pay for teachers in the Australian context

Health service accreditation stimulating change in clinical care and human resource management processes : a study of 311 Australian hospitals

Objective This study aimed to establish whether longitudinal participation in an accreditation program is translated into improvement in continuity of quality patient care and human resource management (HRM) processes outcomes. Materials and methods This was a secondary data analysis of accreditation panel data from acute hospitals participating in the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards’ Evaluation and Quality Improvement Program (EQuIP). EQuIP criteria data from 311 hospitals were collected by external surveyors across 2003–2006 (Time 1) and 2007–2010 (Time 2). Mandatory accreditation criteria ratings at Time 1 were used to determine hospital performance group membership (1 = below moderate, 2 = moderate, 3 = above moderate). Analysis was undertaken of ratings across continuity of quality patient care and HRM process criteria, at Time 1 and 2. Results Continuity of quality patient care and HRM processes improved across time in the three performance groups. Lower performing hospitals improved at a greater rate than moderate and higher performing hospitals. The groupings and performance order did not change over time. Conclusions An accreditation program is an external driver that facilitates continual and systemic quality improvement changes to sub-systems with an organisation

LRFD for Engineered Wood Structures - Connection Behavioral Equations

A new design specification for engineered wood structures has been proposed in load and resistance factor design (LRFD) format. This paper provides an overview of the proposed LRFD connections design criteria. The connections design provisions are, in part, calibrated from allowable stress design provisions. Major changes from historic practice, however, result from a change in behavioral equations to a theoretical base for predicting the lateral strength of connections using bolts, screws, and nails. New provisions for axial withdrawal of driven and turned fasteners, as well as combined axial and lateral loading criteria are also proposed. Safety levels were calibrated to historic practice, but some change in design capacity is expected due to format change, conversion to new behavioral equations. and the selection of a calibration point. The LRFD document contains substantial improvement in code clarity. simplification. and structure over the historic allowable stress specification. A clear mechanism for including design with new wood-based engineering materials is provided

Complement dependent synaptic reorganisation during critical periods of brain development and risk for psychiatric disorder

We now know that the immune system plays a major role in the complex processes underlying brain development throughout the lifespan, carrying out a number of important homeostatic functions under physiological conditions in the absence of pathological inflammation or infection. In particular, complement-mediated synaptic pruning during critical periods of early life may play a key role in shaping brain development and subsequent risk for psychopathology, including neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. However, these disorders vary greatly in their onset, disease course, and prevalence amongst sexes suggesting complex interactions between the immune system, sex and the unique developmental trajectories of circuitries underlying different brain functions which are yet to be fully understood. Perturbations of homeostatic neuroimmune interactions during different critical periods in which regional circuits mature may have a plethora of long-term consequences for psychiatric phenotypes, but at present there is a gap in our understanding of how these mechanisms may impact on the structural and functional changes occurring in the brain at different developmental stages. In this article we will consider the latest developments in the field of complement mediated synaptic pruning where our understanding is beginning to move beyond the visual system where this process was first described, to brain areas and developmental periods of potential relevance to psychiatric disorders

Gene-flow between populations of cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is highly variable between years

Both large and small scale migrations of Helicoverpa armigera Hübner in Australia were investigated using AMOVA analysis and genetic assignment tests. Five microsatellite loci were screened across 3142 individuals from 16 localities in eight major cotton and grain growing regions within Australia, over a 38-month period (November 1999 to January 2003). From November 1999 to March 2001 relatively low levels of migration were characterized between growing regions. Substantially higher than average gene-flow rates and limited differentiation between cropping regions characterized the period from April 2001 to March 2002. A reduced migration rate in the year from April 2002 to March 2003 resulted in significant genetic structuring between cropping regions. This differentiation was established within two or three generations. Genetic drift alone is unlikely to drive genetic differentiation over such a small number of generations, unless it is accompanied by extreme bottlenecks and/or selection. Helicoverpa armigera in Australia demonstrated isolation by distance, so immigration into cropping regions is more likely to come from nearby regions than from afar. This effect was most pronounced in years with limited migration. However, there is evidence of long distance dispersal events in periods of high migration (April 2001–March 2002). The implications of highly variable migration patterns for resistance management are considered.K.D. Scott, K.S. Wilkinson, N. Lawrence, C.L. Lange, L.J. Scott, M.A. Merritt, A.J. Lowe and G.C Graha

Searching Out the Headwaters: Change and Rediscovery in Western Water Policy

This digital resource contains only an abstract, cover image and table of contents information from the published book. Print copy of book is available in the University of Colorado’s Wise Law Library: http://lawpac.colorado.edu/record=b139018~S0 Contents: The West\u27s Gordian Knot -- Water in a changing West -- Voices -- The West today -- River basin stories -- Losing sight of the headwaters -- The journey to rediscovery -- Change and rediscovery in western water -- History need not repeat itself -- Appendix : The language of waterhttps://scholar.law.colorado.edu/books_reports_studies/1139/thumbnail.jp

Searching Out the Headwaters: Change and Rediscovery in Western Water Policy

This digital resource contains only an abstract, cover image and table of contents information from the published book. Print copy of book is available in the University of Colorado’s Wise Law Library: http://lawpac.colorado.edu/record=b139018~S0 Contents: The West\u27s Gordian Knot -- Water in a changing West -- Voices -- The West today -- River basin stories -- Losing sight of the headwaters -- The journey to rediscovery -- Change and rediscovery in western water -- History need not repeat itself -- Appendix : The language of waterhttps://scholar.law.colorado.edu/books_reports_studies/1139/thumbnail.jp

CACNA1C: Association with pychiatric disorders, behavior, and neurogenesis

Large-scale genome-wide association studies have consistently shown that genetic variation in CACNA1C, a gene that encodes calcium voltage-gated channel subunit alpha1C, increases risk for psychiatric disorders. CACNA1C encodes the Cav1.2 subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels, which themselves have been functionally implicated in a broad spectrum of neuropsychiatric syndromes. Research has concentrated on uncovering the underlying biological mechanisms that could be responsible for this increased risk. This review presents an overview of recent findings regarding Cacna1c variation in animal models, particularly focusing on behavioral phenotypes associated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as cognition, anxiety and depressive phenotypes, and fear conditioning. The impact of reduced gene dosage of Cacna1c on adult hippocampal neurogenesis is also assessed, including new data from a novel Cacna1c+/− rat model