The State of the U.S. Workforce System: A Time for Incremental Realignment or Serious Reform?

A report from the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development aims to start a dialogue about the U.S. workforce system, and what it would look like if it were built for today's economy and by using today's tools and processes. The report seeks to spark conversations that can lead to a re-imagination and redesign of a system that can adapt to fundamentally changed economic, demographic and political circumstances and environments

Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact

Effective backbone support is a critical condition for collective impact. In fact, it is the number one reason that collective impact initiatives fail. In this publication, we provide communities and organizations engaged in collective impact with guidance on the role of the backbone and how to understand and support its effectiveness.In the Greater Cincinnati region, collective impact has become the "new normal," and The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) has made a commitment to support the infrastructure of collective impact - the backbone organization itself - in an effort to sustain and scale long-term systemic change and impact in the community. However, the role of the backbone organization in collective impact is complex and can be difficult to explain.In early 2012, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation and FSG began a partnership to define the value of backbone organizations and better understand back-bone effectiveness by working with six local backbone organizations and collective impact initiatives

Rethinking Disability in the Private Sector: Report from the Panel on Labour Market Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities

In July 2012, the Government of Canada appointed a panel to consult with private sector employers, as well as other organizations and individuals, on the labour market participation of people with disabilities. The panel members were asked to identify successes and best practices in the employment of people with disabilities, as well as the barriers faced by employers, and to report on their findings. In-person and telephone consultations were conducted with almost 70 employers, and feedback was received from approximately 130 online submissions. Responses came from organizations of all sizes across the country and in a broad range of industry sectors. Findings were shared anonymously with a number of national non-profit organizations and business associations to determine if they resonated with other stakeholders. While the consultations were the main focus of the panel’s efforts, research was also conducted into the business case associated with hiring people with disabilities in Canada and other jurisdictions. This report is directed at Canadian private sector employers, and offers the following findings: Many companies are doing great things, but more education and training are needed (see “Employers speak”). While most of the companies we heard from showed a genuine desire to hire people with disabilities, education and training are required to overcome barriers, dispel myths and put theory into practice. As the examples of forward-thinking Canadian companies and their best practices testify, there is significant experience available on which to build. Hiring people with disabilities is good for business. (see “Understanding the business case”). We heard this from senior and experienced business leaders who recognize the value of an inclusive work environment. Although mainly intuitive, their beliefs are supported by the performance of corporate diversity leaders on the capital markets, as well as data on employee retention and productivity. It is noteworthy that in 57 percent of cases, no workplace accommodation is required for people with disabilities. In the 37 percent of cases reporting a one-time cost to accommodate an employee with a disability, the average amount spent is $500. The keys to success are leadership and effective community partnerships (see “Making it work for you”). To increase employment among people with disabilities and access the related benefits, tone from the top and the actions of leaders are imperative. Also critical is identifying community partners who fully understand the business’s talent needs and are committed to customer service. To help organizations begin the process of engaging and employing talented people with disabilities, this section also includes a list of initiatives called “Getting started.

Pulling It All Together: Developing an Assessment Toolkit

This presentation discusses topics such as good assessment practices, assessment tools, data analysis and presentation, and assessment promotion

Using signal detection theory to model changes in serial learning of radiological image interpretation

Signal detection theory (SDT) parameters can describe a learner's ability to discriminate (d') normal from abnormal and the learner's criterion (λ) to under or overcall abnormalities. To examine the serial changes in SDT parameters with serial exposure to radiological cases. 46 participants were recruited for this study: 20 medical students (MED), 6 residents (RES), 12 fellows (FEL), 5 staff pediatric emergency physicians (PEM), and 3 staff radiologists (RAD). Each participant was presented with 234 randomly assigned ankle radiographs using a web-based application. Participants were given a clinical scenario and considered 3 views of the ankle. They classified each case as normal or abnormal. For abnormal cases, they specified the location of the abnormality. Immediate feedback included highlighting on the images and the official radiologist's report. The low experience group (MED, RES, FEL) showed steady improvement in discrimination ability with each case, while the high experience group (PEM, RAD) had higher and stable discrimination ability throughout the exercise. There was also a difference in the way the high and low experience groups balanced sensitivity and specificity (λ) with the low experience group tending to make more errors calling positive radiographs negative. This tendency was progressively less evident with each increase in expertise level. SDT metrics provide valuable insight on changes associated with learning radiograph interpretation, and may be used to design more effective instructional strategies for a given learner group

Assessing water filtration and safe storage in households with young children of HIV-positive mothers: a randomized, controlled trial in Zambia.

BACKGROUND: Unsafe drinking water presents a particular threat to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) due to the increased risk of opportunistic infections, diarrhea-associated malabsorption of essential nutrients, and increased exposure to untreated water for children of HIV-positive mothers who use replacement feeding to reduce the risk of HIV transmission. This population may particularly benefit from an intervention to improve water quality in the home. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a 12-month randomized, controlled field trial in Zambia among 120 households with children <2 years (100 with HIV-positive mothers and 20 with HIV-negative mothers to reduce stigma of participation) to assess a high-performance water filter and jerry cans for safe storage. Households were followed up monthly to assess use, drinking water quality (thermotolerant coliforms (TTC), an indicator of fecal contamination) and reported diarrhea (7-day recall) among children <2 years and all members of the household. Because previous attempts to blind the filter have been unsuccessful, we also assessed weight-for-age Z-scores (WAZ) as an objective measure of diarrhea impact. Filter use was high, with 96% (596/620) of household visits meeting the criteria for users. The quality of water stored in intervention households was significantly better than in control households (3 vs. 181 TTC/100 mL, respectively, p<0.001). The intervention was associated with reductions in the longitudinal prevalence of reported diarrhea of 53% among children <2 years (LPR=0.47, 95% CI: 0.30-0.73, p=0.001) and 54% among all household members (LPR=0.46, 95% CI: 0.30-0.70, p<0.001). While reduced WAZ was associated with reported diarrhea (-0.26; 95% CI: -0.37 to -0.14, p<0.001), there was no difference in WAZ between intervention and control groups. CONCLUSION: In this population living with HIV/AIDS, a water filter combined with safe storage was used correctly and consistently, was highly effective in improving drinking water quality, and was protective against diarrhea. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01116908

WOODPECKER CAVITY‐TREE SELECTION IN THE ECUADOREAN AMAZON REGION

Abstract ∙ Tree cavities are important as sites for nesting and roosting, but their availability or use has been little studied in the Neotropics. We studied woodpecker (Picidae) cavity‐tree selection in disturbed and undisturbed landscapes in the Amazonian region. We found that woodpeckers excavated predominantly in large dead trees (mean diameter 44 cm). We highlight the importance of dead trees as substrates for cavities in the Ecuadorean Amazon region. We propose that woodpeckers in our study region are potentially important cavity formation agents for other cavity‐nesters, especially in disturbed landscapes.Resumen ∙ Selección de árboles para excavar cavidades por pájaros carpinteros en la región Amazónica Ecuatoriana Las cavidades en árboles son importantes para animales como sitios para anidar y dormir, pero su disponibilidad o uso han sido poco estudiados en el Neotrópico. Estudiamos la selección de árboles como sustratos para cavidades hechos por pájaros carpinteros (Picidae) en paisajes perturbados y no perturbados. Encontramos que los pájaros carpinteros excavaban predominantemente en árboles muertos grandes (diámetro medio de 44 cm). Destacamos la importancia de los árboles muertos como sustratos para las cavidades en la región amazónica ecuatoriana. Proponemos que los pájaros carpinteros son potencialmente importantes para la formación de cavidades para otras aves en la región de estudio