Income, Earnings, and Poverty Data From the 2007 American Community Survey,

This report presents data on income, earnings, and poverty by detailed socioeconomic characteristics for the United States, states, and lower levels of geography based on information collected in the 2006 and 2007 American Community Surveys (ACS). A description of the ACS is provided in the text box “What Is the American Community Survey?” The U.S. Census Bureau also reports income, earnings, and poverty data based on the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC). Following the standard specified by the Offi ce of Management and Budget (OMB) in Statistical Policy Directive 14, the Census Bureau computes offi cial national poverty rates using the CPS ASEC and reports the 2007 data in the publication Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007. The 2007 ACS is the second year of the survey’s implementation including both housing units and group quarters in its sample.2 The ACS is designed to provide detailed estimates of housing, demographic, social, and economic characteristics for the states, counties, places, and other localities. This report makes state-level comparisons over the 2006 to 2007 time period. Such comparisons should be interpreted with caution because of overlapping income reference periods

Assessing Gender Mainstreaming to Ensure Gender Equity and Equality in Education, Social and Economic Sectors. The Case of Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess the implementation of gender mainstreaming as a fundamental strategy in insuring gender equity and equality in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. To conduct the study, six regional bureaus and seven corresponding worreda offi ces were selected by standing committee members of the Council of Amhara Region. Data was collected from Heads or Vice Heads of the Regional Bureaus and Worreda Offi ces and Gender focal persons and twenty employees from each Regional and Worreda Offices. Various data collection instruments, such as, questionnaire, interview, FGD and document analysis were employed. Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques were used. The results of the analysis revealed that though there are adequate legal frameworks to implement gender mainstreaming in the education, other social and economic sectors in Amhara Region, when the achievements are measured in terms of gender mainstreaming dimensions, they fell short of the standards in all criteria set for gender mainstreaming. Based on the fi ndings recommendations are forwarded. That is, the implementation is entangled with inadequacy of gender mainstreaming specifi c policies, adequate budget, networking, gender responsive human resource planning and implementation, monitoring and evaluation systems, etc

Assessing Gender Mainstreaming to Ensure Gender Equity and Equality in Education, Social and Economic Sectors : The Case of Amhara Region, Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to assess the implementation of gender mainstreaming as a fundamental strategy in insuring gender equity and equality in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. To conduct the study, six regional bureaus and seven corresponding worreda offices were selected by standing committee members of the Council of Amhara Region. Data was collected from Heads or Vice Heads of the Regional Bureaus and Worreda Offices and Gender focal persons and twenty employees from each Regional and Worreda Offices. Various data collection instruments, such as, questionnaire, interview, FGD and document analysis were employed. Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques were used. The results of the analysis revealed that though there are adequate legal frameworks to implement gender mainstreaming in the education, other social and economic sectors in Amhara Region, when the achievements are measured in terms of gender mainstreaming dimensions, they fell short of the standards in all criteria set for gender mainstreaming. Based on the findings recommendations are forwarded. That is, the implementation is entangled with inadequacy of gender mainstreaming specific policies, adequate budget, networking, gender responsive human resource planning and implementation, monitoring and evaluation systems, etc

Variability in Ethiopian Durum Wheat under Rainfed Environment Subjected to Drought at Anthesis

አህፅሮትምርምሩ በ2016 64 የሰብሌ ዘመን በደብረዘይት አካባቢ በሚገኝ አሸዋማ አፈር ሊይ የተደረገ ሲሆን በጥናቱም የተሇያዩ የዘረመሌ ምንጭ ያሊቸው 64 የዱረም ስንዴ ዝርያዎች ሲምፕሌሊቲስ በሚባሌ የጥናት ዘዴ በሁሇት ድግግሞሽ ሙከራ ተካሂዶባቸዋሌ፡፡ የጥናቱ ዋና ዓሊማ ያተኮረው 15 የሚያህለ ማሳያዎችን በመጠቀም በእድገት ዑደት ማጠናቂቂያ ወቅት ከሚያጋጥም ድርቅ ሳቢያ በዱረም ስንዴ ዝርያ ዘረመሌ ባህርያት ሊይ ሉታዩ የሚችለ ባህርያትን ሇመሇየት ነው፡፡በጥናቱም የተሻሇ ምስሌ ሇማግኘት ሲባሌ በባህርያቸው የተሇያየ ባህርይ ባሊቸው በዘረመሌ ዓይነቶች ሊይ ጥናት ተደርጓሌ፡፡ ውጤቱም እንደተመሊከተው ከተጠኑት 15 ማሳያዎች መካከሌ በ8ቱ ሊይ የባህርይ ሌዩነት ታይባቸዋሌ፡፡ በሰብለ ዕድገት መጨረሻ ሊይ የሚፈጠር የዝናብ እጥረት በአበቃቀሌ ሽፋን፣ በአፈዳ ዕድገት በፍሬ ሙሊት እና በምርታማነት ሊይ ከፍተኛ ተጽዕኖ እንደሚፈጥር በየፕልቱ ከተደረገው ጥናት መመሌከት ተችሎሌ፡፡ በምርታማነት እና የገሇባ መጠን በ ፌኖታይፒክ ሌዩነት እና ጄኔቲክ አድቫንስ ከፍተኛ ሌዩነት ማሳየቱ እንደተጠበቀ ሆኖ ምርቱ ሇስብሰባ በመድረስ ሊይ በአንጻሩ አነስተኛ ተጽዕኖ ተመዝግቧሌ፡፡ በዝርያዎች መካከሌ በባህርይ መወራረስ ረገድ የተደረገው ጥናት እንዳመሇከተውም በምርት ግኝት ሊይ የታየው ተጽዕኖ አነስተኛ ሲሆን በፍሬ ሙላት ፍጥነት እና በፍሬ ዝግጅት ማጠናቀቅ ፍጥነት( 91%) ሊይ የታየው ተጽዕኖ በአንጻሩ ከፍተኛ ሆኖ ተመዝግቧሌ ፡፡ ማንኛቸውም ዓይነት በጥናት የተዳሰሱት ባህርያት ከፍተኛ GCV መጠን አሇማሳየታቸው ድርቅ የዝርያ ባህርይን በመቀየር ረገድ ከፍተኛ ተጽዕኖ እንደሚፈጥር ያሰያሌ ፡፡ የሙላት የፍጥነት ጊዜ እና የፍሬ ሙላት ከዝቅተኛ የጄኔቲክ አድቫንስ 5.15 እና 3.01 እንደተመሇከተው የታየው ሌዩነት ከጂን አክሽን ጋር የተያያዘ አይደሇም፡፡ አምስቱ መሰረታዊ አካሊት ከ eigenevalue ከ 1.1 እስከ 3.75 ሲተነተን በተደራራቢ ድምር 78.6% የሚሆነውን የፌኖታይፒክ ሌዩነት መታየቱ በዱረም ስንዴ ዝርያዎች መካከሌ የድርቁ ተጽዕኖ ከፍተኛ መሆኑን ያሳያሌ፡፡ በክሊሊስተር ትንታኔም የ 64ቱ ዱረም ስንዴዎች ዝርያዎቹ በአምስት ግሩፕ ከፍሏቸዋሌ፡፡ በዚህም መሰረት አምስቱን ዓይነቶች ከ 5 እስከ 15 ዝርያዎቹ መመሌከት በውጤቱ ተስተውሎሌ፡፡ በተሇያዩ ክፍልች እንደተጠኑት ዝርያዎቹ (ዘረመልቹ) በተሇያ የስብጥር እና ሁኔታ ሲባዙ የተሇያየ ድርቅን የመቋቋም ባህርይ ማሳታቸው ተስተውሎሌ፡፡ በዚህም መሰረት የዱረም ስንዴ ዘረመልች የዕድገት ዑደት ማጠናቀቂያ ሊይ የሚከሰት ድርቅን የመቋቋም ባህርያቸው በየዘረመሌ ዓይነት የሚሇያይ መሆኑን በጥናቱ ማረጋገጥ ተችሎሌ፡፡AbstractSixty-four durum wheat genotypes comprised of different sources of origin were field evaluated in a simple lattice design with two replications at Debre-Zeit sandy soil environment during the 2016 main season. The objective was to assess the extent of genetic variability for durum wheat genotypes under rain-fed terminal moisture stress using fifteen agronomic and yield related traits. There were wide ranges of variation for some of traits studied. Analysis of variance also revealed that there were significant variations among durum wheat genotypes for eight out of 15 traits studied, suggesting the possibility of improving durum wheat for these traits. The terminal drought had a highly significant effect on grain yield per plot, aboveground biomass, spike length, days to heading and grain filling. Grain yield per plot and straw yield showed the highest phenotypic coefficients of variations and genetic advance, whereas days to maturity and harvest index had the lowest values, respectively. Across traits, the broad sense heritability was lowest (12 %) for harvest index and highest for days to heading (91%) followed by grain filling period (73%). None of the traits had high GCV values indicating that the effect of drought was severe for trait expressions. The existence of high heritability for days to heading and grain filling period along with low genetic advance of 5.15 and 3.01 suggested that the variation observed may not indicate the expression of additive gene action. Five principal components (PCs) with eigenvalue between 1.1 and 3.73 explained a cumulative of about 78.6% of the total phenotypic variability observed among the durum wheat genotypes. Cluster analysis also classified the 64 durum wheat genotypes into five groups. The genotypes found into five clusters ranged from seven to 15. The genotypes maintained under different groups had specific characters and it may give desirable genetic recombinants in developing drought tolerant varieties. Overall, the present study revealed that there is sufficient variability existed in durum wheat genotypes tested under terminal drought environment

Pre-service teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning and their teaching approach preference: Secondary teacher education in focus

The purpose of this study was to explore student-teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning & teaching approach preference when they join teacher education programs. Descriptive survey method was employed. Conceptions of Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (CTLQ) and Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI) were used for data collection. Two hundred ninety three (293) randomly selected pre-service secondary student-teachers admitted to Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching (PGDT) program in Bahir Dar and Haramaya University were participated in the study. It was found that the student-teachers have joined teacher education program with traditional conceptions of teaching & learning viewing learning as recalling and absorbing as much information as possible and teaching as simply telling, presenting or explaining the subject matter. Their teaching approach preference was also found to be consistent with their conceptions of teaching and learning. Finally, a teacher education program emphasizing conceptual change was suggested

Factors Affecting Female Students' Academic Achievement at Bahir Dar University <Special Issue : Study results of the Africa-Asia university dialogue for educational development network second phase>

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the on-campus and offcampus factors responsible for female students' low academic performance and consequently high attrition. Based on review of the related literature, basic research questions were formulated. For data gathering, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed. The quantitative data were obtained through questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted to validate the instrument using 30 second year university students and was followed by the main study. The final version of the questionnaire was administered for 600 undergraduate students at Bahir Dar University. The qualitative instrument constituted of document analysis, student records, and interview. The SPSS 13.0 was used for data analysis. Statistical techniques such as Percentage, Cross Tabulation, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, t-test and Regression Analysis have been used for data analysis. Though the rate of attrition decreases, the number of female students' attrition has increased. The problems female students encountered constitute personal, university related factors, academic factors and economic factors. Previous academic background (high school) is one of the major factors for their low academic performance. The off-campus factors that affect female students' academic performance include family background, Disco and traditional Music Houses and economic problems. In conclusion, the majority of problems female students encounter and those factors that affect female students' academic performance are personal and the other problems are caused by the university environment

The place of society and societal issues in the education and training policy of Ethiopia: A content analysis

Using the Social Reconstructionist educational philosophy as a theoretical framework, this study attempts to understand the place of society and major societal issues in the current Education and Training Policy of Ethiopia. To achieve this purpose, an analysis was made both on the manifest and latent contents of the whole policy document. The analysis revealed that in the present Education and Training Policy of Ethiopia, words, concepts, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that reflect basic ideas of the Social Reconstructionist educational philosophy were not satisfactorily incorporated. Besides, though some society-related concepts were explored, contents dealing with sensitive social, economic, and political problems were not adequately included. Based on the above findings, therefore, it is concluded that the Education and Training Policy of Ethiopia has not satisfactorily echoed society and major societal issues, particularly those that are given much emphasis in the Social Reconstructionist educational philosophy. Hence, towards the end of the article areas of intervention that could possibly ameliorate this problem are highlighted

Preparing competent citizens through appropriate instructional approach: How do instructors in three Ethiopian universities conceptualize and practice 21st century pedagogical skills?

This study aimed to investigate how instructors at three Ethiopian universities conceptualize and practice 21st century skills in classrooms. To achieve this purpose, a qualitative case study design was employed. Using a purposive sampling method, three universities in the Amhara national regional state of Ethiopia were selected. From these universities, ten participants were selected purposively. Semi-structured interviews and observation were used to collect data essential for the study. The data collected through these methods were thematically analyzed. The results revealed that participants had a limited understanding of 21st century skills. To be specific, their conceptions reflected the conventional pedagogical approach rather than the pedagogy of the 21st century. On the other hand, participants believe that 21st century skills are important for both instructors and their students. However, they had difficulties to practice these skills in the teaching-learning process. Finally, the implications of these findings for future research and policy initiatives are presented

Women's Independent Household Decision Making Power and its influence on their Autonomy in relation to Child Vaccinations: a mixed-method study among Women of Reproductive Age in Northwest Ethiopia

AbstractBackground: The importance of women’s empowerment in influencing health outcomes has received attention globally, but there is limited information in Ethiopia on the relationship between women's household decision making power and the autonomy of decision making in relation to child vaccinations.Aim: The study aimed to assess the role of women's household decision making power on their autonomy in relation to child vaccinations.Methods: A community based mixed method study design was conducted among women who had 12–23-month-old children in Wogera district, Ethiopia. The sample size was determined using a single population proportion formula for the quantitative aspect of the study and the data collection for the qualitative study continued until saturation. The quantitative data was collected using a piloted questionnaire. SPSS software was used for quantitative data analyses. X2-square test was conducted to explore the association between women's household decision making power and their autonomy in relation to decision making around child vaccinations. Framework analysis was employed to analyse qualitative data using open code software.Results: A total of 584 women participated in the quantitative study and 13 In-depth interviews (IDI) with 13 key informants (KII)were conducted for the qualitative study. Majority, 88.2% (95% CI: 85.7, 90.6) of the respondents have autonomy to vaccinate children. This study showed that nearly two-thirds, 61.6% of the women had household decision making power. Respondents of the qualitative study noted that women had low household decision making power. Women's household decision making power is associated with women's autonomy to vaccinate children (x2=92.775a, df=1, P&lt;0.001).Conclusions: The overall level of women’s household decision making power was relatively low compared to EDHS reports whereas women's autonomy to chid vaccination was high. There was a strong relationship between women’s household decision making power and their autonomy in relation to child vaccinations. It is therefore important to implement activities, for example, provision of behavioural change communication (BCC) in the community, that can improve women’s household decision making power which in turn will influence child vaccination coverage. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2021; 35(SI-3):86-97]Key words: Women, Household decision making power, Women's autonomy, Vaccinatio

Full immunization coverage and its determinants among children aged 12-23 months in Wogera district, Northwest Ethiopia

AbstractBackground: Immunization is considered one of the most affordable health initiatives for children. Though there is good progress in Ethiopia, the amount of fully vaccinated children, is still below the target. Possible challenges include women having home visits and men’s’ involvement in vaccination uptake. Therefore, this study aimed to determine full immunization coverage and its determinants among children aged 12- 23 months in Wogera districts, Northwest Ethiopia.Aim: This study aimed to determine the full immunization coverage and its determinants among children aged 12-23 months, and to assess the level of immunization coverage and its determinants in Wogera districts, Northwest Ethiopia.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Wogera district from May 28-June 25/2020. Cluster sampling method was used to recruit 598 study participants. Interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data. A bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with full immunization. Odds ratios with 95% Confidence intervals were used to determine significant variables.Results: A total of 584 mothers who had children aged 12-23 months participated in this study. The full immunization coverage was 76.5% (95%CI 73.2-79.8). Mother age &gt;40 years (AOR=7.37, 95% CI: 1.65, 32); mothers who initiate vaccine uptake(woman empowerment) (AOR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.13-2.39); mothers who had 1-3 ANC visit (AOR=2.51, 95% CI:1.14, 5.52), and 4+ ANC follow up (AOR=2.73,95% CI: 1.26, 5.91); r health extension worker's home visit during the first weeks of postpartum period (AOR=1.76,95% CI:1.10, 2.84), and males involved in child immunization (AOR=3.27, 95% CI:1.84, 5.81) was positively associated with being fully vaccinated , however, birth order of 6 and above (AOR=0.35, 95% CI: 0.14, 0.86) was negatively associated with being fully vaccinated.Conclusion: In this study, the full immunization coverage is found to be suboptimal, and it is far from the expected national target coverage. Maternal health care uptake; women empowerment; home visits by HEW during the first week of the postpartum period and male involvement in child immunization were found to be predictors of being fully vaccinated. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2021; 35(SI-3):16-27]Keywords: Full immunization, Children12-23 months, Northwest Ethiopia, Male involvemen