Evaluation of Disability Employment Policy Demonstration Programs

[Excerpt] Since 2001, the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has awarded more than $65 million in grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Of this, more than$38 million has been awarded to projects under the ODEP Demonstration Program, with about 2 percent directed toward an independent evaluation. The ODEP Demonstration Program consists of a variety of initiatives targeted at both adults and youth with disabilities. All demonstration projects funded under these initiatives are expected to implement and evaluate methods for building the capacity of the workforce development system to better serve people with disabilities. ODEP contracted with Westat, a private research company, to conduct an independent evaluation of its demonstration program. The purpose of the independent evaluation is to provide ODEP with data and information about system change that can be used to assist policy development, decisions, and recommendations, as well as track progress in meeting ODEP’s goals under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The independent evaluation has three objectives: 1. To provide ODEP with reliable and valid indicators of program effectiveness; 2. To determine the extent to which each program priority area is effective in building workforce development system capacity; and 3. To document local, regional, and/or state systems change that supports program effectiveness. This paper summarizes the issues and accomplishments identified by the evaluation to date in the context of these three objectives

Employer Involvement in Office of Disability Employment (ODEP) Demonstration Programs

[Excerpt] As part of the independent evaluation of ODEP’s demonstration program being conducted by Westat, the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) asked Westat to provide in-depth analysis of three issues that were identified at site visits and in Quarterly Reports during Phase II of the evaluation. This report provides in-depth analysis on the first issue—employer involvement in adult demonstration programs

Outsourcing labour to the cloud

Various forms of open sourcing to the online population are establishing themselves as cheap, effective methods of getting work done. These have revolutionised the traditional methods for innovation and have contributed to the enrichment of the concept of 'open innovation'. To date, the literature concerning this emerging topic has been spread across a diverse number of media, disciplines and academic journals. This paper attempts for the first time to survey the emerging phenomenon of open outsourcing of work to the internet using 'cloud computing'. The paper describes the volunteer origins and recent commercialisation of this business service. It then surveys the current platforms, applications and academic literature. Based on this, a generic classification for crowdsourcing tasks and a number of performance metrics are proposed. After discussing strengths and limitations, the paper concludes with an agenda for academic research in this new area

Meaning and Impact of Board and Staff Diversity in the Philanthropic Field: Findings from a National Study

The report's premise is that the staffs and boards of philanthropic institutions have not kept pace with the general population in terms of diversity, and that if responsiveness and diversity are linked, then foundations must attend to their internal diversity if they wish to offer a more credible outreach to diverse communities. It seeks to find answers to the following questions: What is the empirical reality that grounds these conjectures? Can we quantify the changes in foundation staffing? How well represented are different identity groups within the field, and how do members of these diverse groups fare in their career advancement? How do different types of foundations address inclusiveness, and what are examples of practices that lead to successful implementation of staff and board diversity? The report is the result of a multi-stage research project that combined surveys, interviews, and focus groups to reach more than 600 grantmakers nationwide

Online learning: Examining instructional design strategies in leisure curriculum

An assessment of the park and recreation-related educational programs and departments within the United States indicates an increasing presence of web-based distance learning (WBDL) environments. According to a voluntary listing posted on NRPA’s official website, over 35 courses are offered within a WBDL environment with almost 20 U.S. colleges and universities participating. In addition, some programs currently offer a 100% WBDL baccalaureate and/or master degree. These numbers are also somewhat conservative as additional programs offered by universities continue to emerge as evident by the dialogue and postings on the online discussion forum of the Society of Park and Recreation Educators (SPREnet). With this increase in instructional technologies there has been a growing concern in the educational community regarding the effectiveness of these tools to meet the needs of the learners (Lukow & Ross, 2003; Van Dusen & Worthen, 1995). Despite this concern, many of the issues surrounding the effective implementation of WBDL programs have not been explored sufficiently. Grounded within social cognitive theory, this study examined the instructional design of a WBDL about pay-for-performance systems in parks and recreation. The effects of two instructional methods, online discussion groups and multiple formats, are assessed on cognitive outcomes. The moderating role of experience with technology, technology selfefficacy, and several individual characteristic variables were also examined

Prosecutors\u27 Peremptory Challenges - A Response and Reply

Three federal trial attorneys disagree with Professor Richard Friedman\u27s proposal to eliminate the prosecution\u27s peremptories, while Friedman defends his view

Phosphorus Improves Leaf Nutrient Concentrations in Wheat, Oat, and Cereal Rye

Core Ideas: Increased P availability increases leaf P and Mg in wheat, oat, and rye. The grass tetany ratio is improved with greater P availability in these species. Unlike cereal rye and oat, wheat increases shoot growth with high P levels. Winter annual species grown for forage are prone to mineral imbalances that could result in animal nutritional disorders, such as grass tetany. Adequate soil P has been found to be critical for the growth and adequate nutrient content of Mg, Ca, and K in other forages for grazing animals. This study examined the effect of P availability on growth and leaf nutrients in annual cereal grains commonly grown for winter forage. Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), oat (Avena sativa L.), and cereal rye (Secale cereal L.) were grown hydroponically in greenhouse conditions in complete nutrient solutions with P treatments of 0, 200, 400, and 800 µmol L−1 P. After 32 d, plants were harvested and analyzed for P, Mg, Ca, and K content. Shoot growth of all three species increased from 0 to 200 µmol L−1 P; however, only wheat shoots increased incrementally with the other P treatment concentrations. Leaf P also responded incrementally to increased P treatments in all three species. Wheat and cereal rye exhibited increases in leaf Mg and improved grass tetany ratio from 200 to 400 µmol L−1 P, whereas oat showed these improvements from 0 to 200 µmol L−1 P treatments. This study suggests increased P availability could improve the grass tetany ratio, with or without increased shoot growth, in winter annual forage production on low P soils

Evolution of the bulk properties, structure, magnetic order, and superconductivity with Ni doping in CaFe2-xNixAs2

Magnetization, susceptibility, specific heat, resistivity, neutron and x-ray diffraction have been used to characterize the properties of single crystalline CaFe2-xNixAs2 as a function of Ni doping for x varying from 0 to 0.1. The combined first-order structural and magnetic phase transitions occur together in the undoped system at 172 K, with a small decrease in the area of the a-b plane along with an abrupt increase in the length of the c-axis in the orthorhombic phase. With increasing x the ordered moment and transition temperature decrease, but the transition remains sharp at modest doping while the area of the a-b plane quickly decreases and then saturates. Warming and cooling data in the resistivity and neutron diffraction indicate hysteresis of ~2 K. At larger doping the transition is more rounded, and decreases to zero for x=0.06. The susceptibility is anisotropic for all values of x. Electrical resistivity for x = 0.053 and 0.06 shows a superconducting transition with an onset of nearly 15 K which is further corroborated by substantial diamagnetic susceptibility. For the fully superconducting sample there is no long range magnetic order and the structure remains tetragonal at all temperature, but there is an anomalous increase in the area of the a-b plane in going to low T. Heat capacity data show that the density of states at the Fermi level increases for x > 0.053 as inferred from the value of Sommerfeld coefficient. The regime of superconductivity is quite restrictive, with a maximum TC of 15 K and an upper critical field Hc2=14 T. Superconductivity disappears in the overdoped region.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Indiana STEM Education Conference: Resourcing STEM Education

The Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Indiana STEM Education Conference are edited by the Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM (CATALYST, https://www.education.purdue.edu/catalyst/) at Purdue University. The theme for the 2024 conference is Resourcing STEM Education. This year’s Indiana STEM Education Conference provides opportunities to learn about effective STEM education strategies, curriculum, and resources to engage students in integrated STEM learning opportunities and address the recently updated Indiana Academic Standards for Science and Computer Science, Indiana Academic Standards for Mathematics, and Indiana Academic Standards for Integrated STEM (https://www.in.gov/doe/students/indiana-academic-standards/)