Parental Participation and School Based Management in Nicaragua: An SES Analysis of Differentiated Parent Participation in School Councils by Income, Education, and Community Crime Rates

In Latin America, School-Based Management and decentralization more broadly have emerged as an important tool of educational policy. The presumed benefits of School-Based Management designs depend, in large part, on broad parental participation in the programs that governments create to devolve decision-making related to schooling. However, few studies examine the circumstances under which parents actually participate in newly established decentralized education programs. This article sheds partial light on these conditions by employing a Socio-Economic Status (SES) perspective to examine school-based management reform in Nicaragua. Using data derived from five newly autonomous schools, the study compares parents’ self-reported levels of income, education, and community crime rates with their propensity to participate in newly formed school councils. Results give partial support to an SES hypothesis by revealing that parents who live in communities where violence is endemic participate less in the school councils. Findings support the argument that for decentralized education programs to be successful on equity issues, policy planners must attend to these socio-structural circumstances by providing commensurate support mechanisms that encourage marginal households and communities to participate in the new program

EMPLOYER SIZE, HUMAN CAPITAL, AND RURAL WAGES: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOUTHERN RURAL DEVELOPMENT

A recent trend in rural development policy emphasizes small business development in place of industrial recruitment. To analyze some of the likely effects of expanding the proportion of small firms in local economies, an empirical wage rate model incorporating employer size was developed, and parameters were estimated using household date from rural Putnam County, Georgia. The estimates indicated that large employers offered higher wages than small employers and that the wage premium they offered was greater for blacks than for whites. These results support Thomas Till's argument that southern rural counties with relatively large black populations should not abandon efforts to attract large employers. Other factors associated with higher wages included level of education, previous labor force experience, and employment in certain occupations and industries.Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital,

Innovations from the Margins: Creating Inclusive and Equitable Academic-Community Research Collaborations

How does one build a Request for Proposals (RFP) process that allows for bottom-up participation while simultaneously being pragmatic and adept enough to manoeuvre the complexities of a multi-stakeholder environment defined by differing interests, objectives, mandates, and power dynamics? This article showcases the findings from participatory work with stakeholder groups working in the area of food security in Southern Ontario’s Halton Region. It demonstrates a process designed with the specific intent of increasing the engagement of beneficiaries and service providers in the RFP process. Finally, the article seeks to shed additional light on theory and practice of “participatory approaches” in the context of philanthropy. It is important to be realistic in not reifying participation itself in this context. In both theory and practice, this means adopting lenses and models that openly consider the complex realities, political obstacles, and trade-offs that occur when negotiating participation in this environment

Innovations from the Margins: The Community Ideas Factory community collaboration

This paper explores the importance of building more inclusive, equitable, and mutually-beneficial partnerships in academic-community research collaborations for social innovation. The Community Ideas Factory is a research project that examines food security, affordable housing, employment equity and wrap-around services in the Region of Halton in Ontario, Canada. The project is a unique and dynamic collaboration between researchers from Sheridan College and the Oakville Community Foundation. In recognizing the limitations of traditional, paternalistic, subjective academic-community research collaborations this paper discusses how Participatory Rural Appraisal tools and other community-based problem-solving activities can be used to help communities define and prioritize their own problems, identify resources, and develop practical solutions to the problems they experience. We seek to demonstrate the potential of a new role for the ‘researcher’; one in which she/he assumes a more active and dynamic, yet facilitative, role in community project-building. Drawing examples from our research into food security this examination aims to provide insights, directions, and considerations for scholars, community stakeholders, and granting agencies alike who share an interest in the prospects and possibilities of academic-community collaborations for social innovation research

Brief Note: Characterization of Hydrophobic Stream Bacteria Based on Adhesion to n-Octane

Author Institution: Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State UniversityThe purpose of this study was to characterize stream bacterial communities based on cell surface hydrophobicity. Because hydrophobicity is related to adhesion we hypothesized that more hydrophobic bacteria would be found on solid surfaces than in water. Water, rock, and sediment from two northeastern Ohio streams were sampled and bacteria were plated on modified nutrient agar. Hydrophobicity was determined by measuring adherence to n-octane. No difference was found in the proportion of hydrophobic bacteria among habitats. Two hydrophobic isolates were identified as Sphingomonas paucimobilis and Chryseomonas luteola. A large proportion of hydrophobic bacteria were gram positive and urease positive; none were gelatinase positive. More hydrophobic than hydrophilic bacteria were able to grow using manatose or malatose as the only carbon source. These physiological differences indicate that hydrophobic bacteria may be able to utilize resources not available to hydrophilic bacteria

Managing for change: March 6, 1989

Bi-weekly newsletter of University Hospital's Change Project, provided to managers at the hospital

Modeling Ellipsometry Measurements of Molecular Thin-Film Contamination on Genesis Array Samples

The discovery of a molecular thin-film contamination on Genesis flown array samples changed the course of preliminary assessment strategies. Analytical techniques developed to measure solar wind elemental abundances must now compensate for a thin-film contamination. Currently, this is done either by experimental cleaning before analyses or by depth-profiling techniques that bypass the surface contamination. Inside Johnson Space Center s Genesis dedicated ISO Class 4 (Class 10) cleanroom laboratory, the selection of collector array fragments allocated for solar wind analyses are based on the documentation of overall surface quality, visible surface particle contamination greater than 1 m, and the amount of thin film contamination measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry. Documenting the exact thickness, surface topography, and chemical composition of these contaminates is also critical for developing accurate cleaning methods. However, the first step in characterization of the molecular film is to develop accurate ellipsometry models that will determine an accurate thickness measurement of the contamination film