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Improving Schools Through Teacher Development: Case Studies of the Aga Khan Foundation Projects in East Africa (Contexts Of Learning Ser.)
by Stephen E. AndersonThis book presents a story of school improvement activity in East Africa from 1985 to 2000, which focused on sustained teacher development. The core of the book consists of six evaluations of school-and district-wide school improvement projects (SIPs) supported by the Aga Khan Foundation in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. The case studies present an evolving body of knowledge about the successes and challenges of a comprehensive approach to school improvement grounded in a common set of strategic principles. The strategic principles embody the belief that the chances for quality improvement in teaching and learning are greater when change efforts *are school-based, *involve whole schools as the unit of change, *emphasize the ongoing professional development of teachers, *attend to school management and organizational conditions affecting the capacity of teachers to implement change, * prepare for the institutionalization of organizational structures and processes that enable continuous school development, and *evolve through partnerships among relevant education stakeholders.The book concludes with commentaries by international experts in school improvement and teacher development on the SIP project designs, implementation and outcomes, and on lessons that can be drawn from the projects and their evaluations for school improvement policy, practice and theory in developing and developed countries around the world.
Improving Schools and Educational Systems: International Perspectives (Contexts Of Learning Ser.)
by Alma Harris Janet H. ChrispeelsSchool improvement has become a dominant feature of educational reform in many countries. The pressure upon schools to improve performance has resulted in a wide-range of improvement programmes and initiatives which can provide both inspiration and advice to everyone involved in school improvement. This book draws together the most effective school improvement projects from around the world in one comprehensive text, including detailed comparative analysis of a wide variety of initiatives. Drawing on examples from the UK, the USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia this book gives both an international snapshot and a coherent synthesis of initiatives that have given achievable results.
Improving Schools and Educational Systems: International Perspectives (Contexts of Learning #Vol. 17)
by Alma Harris Janet H. ChrispeelsSchool improvement has become a dominant feature of educational reform in many countries. The pressure upon schools to improve performance has resulted in a wide-range of improvement programmes and initiatives which can provide both inspiration and advice to everyone involved in school improvement. This book draws together the most effective school improvement projects from around the world in one comprehensive text, including detailed comparative analysis of a wide variety of initiatives. Drawing on examples from the UK, the USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia this book gives both an international snapshot and a coherent synthesis of initiatives that have given achievable results.
Improving Service Quality in the Global Economy: Achieving High Performance in Public and Private Sectors, Second Edition
by Michael Milakovich Harvey W. BlanchWithin American service sector organizations there exists a gap between understanding customer service quality improvement (QI) theories and applying them. Improving Service Quality in the Global Economy: Achieving High Performance in Public and Private Sectors, Second Edition fills that gap by presenting theory, application models, and cases of su
Improving State Voter Registration Databases: Final Report
by National Research Council of the National AcademiesImproving State Voter Registration Databases outlines several actions that are needed to help make voter registration databases capable of sharing information within state agencies and across state lines. These include short-term changes to improve education, dissemination of information, and administrative processes, and long-term changes to make improvements in data collection and entry, matching procedures, and ensure privacy and security.
Improving Student Achievement: What State NAEP Test Scores Tell Us
by Tom Latourrette Stephanie Williamson Ann Flanagan Jennifer H. Kawata David W. GrissmerWhy do students have different achievement levels across states? Is math achievement improving across states? Differences in average achievement levels across states are mainly traceable to differing family characteristics. However, students from similar families also score differently across states. These differences are related to differences in resource levels and in how resources are spent. States with high spending per pupil, lower pupil-teacher ratios, higher participation in public prekindergarten and higher reported teacher resources have higher achievement. Disadvantaged children are the most sensitive to low resource, and additional resources could substantially their scores. Between-state, rather than within-state, differences in resources appear to be the main reason for inequitable resource levels for students of lower socioeconomic status. The conclusion is that significant math gains are occurring across most states that cannot be traced to resource changes, that the rate of gain varies significantly by state, and that reform efforts are the likely cause of these gains. The results certainly challenge the traditional view of public education as unreformable.
Improving Teacher Quality
by Ellen Behrstock-Sherratt Molly Lasagna Sabrina W. LaineTechniques for the difficult task of improving teacher qualityNo one stakeholder group can realize lasting change on their own; nor can any reform initiative focusing on just one type of strategy create the workplace conditions needed to truly build capacity within the education profession. Rather, stakeholders must focus on collaborating, reaching common understanding, and prioritizing for ultimate impact on the quality of teachers and teaching. This book discusses research and concrete examples of practice tied to teacher quality intended to improve eight key interrelated factors: Preparation; Recruitment; Hiring; Induction; Professional Development; Compensation and Incentives; Working Conditions; and Performance Management. Offers a framework and strategies for understanding the issues that make up the teacher quality question Written for educational leaders, superintendents, district administrators, teacher leaders, and principals, as well as policy-makers and other stakeholdersFilled with illustrative examples teacher qualityThe author addresses the most important factor that affects student achievement-the quality of the teacher.
Improving Testing: Process Tools and Techniques to Assure Quality
by Cheryl L. Wild Rohit RamaswamyThe primary purpose of this book is to demonstrate how proven quality assurance tools and methods that have been applied successfully in the manufacturing and service industries for the past 20 years can be applied in the testing industry. It defines what is meant by the term "quality" in testing and reviews how three business process concepts – standards, process planning and design, and continuous improvement – can be used to improve the way in which tests are designed, administered, scored and reported so that errors can be eliminated.
Improving Use of Medicines and Medical Tests in Primary Care
by Lynn Maria WeekesThis book is about optimizing the use of medicines and medical tests in primary care. It provides a comprehensive resource for students, researchers, health practitioners and administrators seeking information on how to design, implement, scale-up and build capability for interventions and programs that result in changes in prescribing and medical/diagnostic test ordering by health professionals. Drawing on work from Australia, Canada and the United States of America, the book begins with the evidence-base and theoretical frameworks that underpin successful behaviour change programs. It provides details on particular interventions such as clinical audit, academic detailing, choosing wisely and supports for consumers. Real world examples explore the process of designing, implementing and evaluating interventions and the factors that can help and hinder this process. This is a practical text that will be useful to the beginner and more experience program implementation professionals alike.
Improving a Country’s Education: PISA 2018 Results in 10 Countries
by Nuno CratoThis open access book compares and contrasts the results of international student assessments in ten countries. The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) released the results of its 2018 assessment in December 2019. This book reflects the debates that typically follow the release of these results and focuses on the causes of differences between countries. Such causes include continuous decline in one country, improvement combined with increasing internal inequalities in another country, or rapid improvement in spite of an outdated curriculum in yet another.In addition, the book discusses a number of general questions: Is knowledge outdated? Are computers taking over and replacing teachers? Are schools killing creativity? Are we adequately preparing the next generation? Are schools failing to educate our kids? The book starts out with a summary of PISA’s evolution and PISA results, and an explanation of the major factors that play a role in changes in countries’ results. The next ten chapters are devoted to ten specific countries, offering a summary of data and an explanation of the major drives for changes in education results for each one. Each chapter includes a short description of the country’s educational system as well as the impact of PISA and other ILSA studies on the country’s educational policies. The chapters also include a timeline of policy measures and main hallmarks of the country’s educational evolution, discussing the impact of these measures on its PISA results. A final reference chapter explains what PISA is, what it measures and how. While highlighting the 2018 results, the book also takes into consideration previous results, as well as long-term initiatives.This book gathers the contribution of well-known and respected experts in the field. Specialists such as Eric Hanushek, for the US, Tim Oates, for England, Montse Gomendio, for Spain, Gunda Tire, for Estonia, and all other contributors draw on their vast experience and statistical analysis expertise to draw a set of rich country lessons and recommendations that are invaluable for all of those who care about improving a country’s education system.
Improving the Energy Performance of Buildings
by Charles P. Ries Oliver Wise Joseph JenkinsThis study examines how policies to increase energy efficiency in buildings in the European Union and Australia have worked and draws implications for the design of similar public policies for the United States. It appears that effective policies to promote energy efficiency can be devised using information disclosure, building codes, financial incentives, and benchmarking. Insights are presented to help designers of analogous U.S. policies.
Improving the Odds for America's Children: Future Directions in Policy and Practice
by Marian Wright Edelman George Miller Kathleen Mccartney Hirokazu Yoshikawa Laurie B. ForcierThis landmark volume commemorates the fortieth anniversary of the Children’s Defense Fund, which has been an uncompromising champion of American youth for all of those years. Yet the book looks not to the past but at our current circumstances—and at the challenges we must meet now and in the future on behalf of our young people. The book examines critical issues—prenatal and infant health and development, early child care and education, school reform, the achievement gap, vulnerable children, juvenile justice, and child poverty—and highlights crucial practical and policy measures we need to consider and undertake if we are to better serve American children. An invaluable survey of the conditions facing American youth—and a call to action at the local, state, and national levels—Improving the Odds for America’s Children is an urgent, informative, and inspired volume that addresses shortcomings and challenges we cannot afford to ignore. Contributors include Sara Rosenbaum, Partow Zomorrodian, Jack P. Shonkoff, Joan Lombardi, Deborah Jewell- Sherman, Jal Mehta, Robert B. Schwartz, Jerry D. Weast, Greg J. Duncan, Richard J. Murnane, Michael S. Wald, Jane Waldfogel, Robert G. Schwartz, Laurence Steinberg, Arloc Sherman, Robert Greenstein, Sharon Parrott, and Eric Dearing.
Improving the Odds for America's Children: Future Directions in Policy and Practice
by Marian Wright EdelmanThis landmark volume commemorates the fortieth anniversary of the Children&’s Defense Fund, which has been an uncompromising champion of American youth for all of those years. Yet the book looks not to the past but at our current circumstances—and at the challenges we must meet now and in the future on behalf of our young people. The book examines critical issues—prenatal and infant health and development, early child care and education, school reform, the achievement gap, vulnerable children, juvenile justice, and child poverty—and highlights crucial practical and policy measures we need to consider and undertake if we are to better serve American children. An invaluable survey of the conditions facing American youth—and a call to action at the local, state, and national levels—Improving the Odds for America&’s Children is an urgent, informative, and inspired volume that addresses shortcomings and challenges we cannot afford to ignore. Contributors include Sara Rosenbaum, Partow Zomorrodian, Jack P. Shonkoff, Joan Lombardi, Deborah Jewell- Sherman, Jal Mehta, Robert B. Schwartz, Jerry D. Weast, Greg J. Duncan, Richard J. Murnane, Michael S. Wald, Jane Waldfogel, Robert G. Schwartz, Laurence Steinberg, Arloc Sherman, Robert Greenstein, Sharon Parrott, and Eric Dearing.
Improving the Performance of Government Employees: A Manager's Guide
by Stewart LiffWith public scrutiny intensifying every day, optimizing the performance of government employees and departments is more critical than ever before. And just as in the private sector, the key for managers is to understand how different management systems perform individually and interact with one another. This book examines the roles and challenges of structural and technical systems, information and decision-making processes, rewards systems, and human capital management, and shows managers how to: deliver clear and consistent messages to all employees; position employees and units to provide the best possible service to the public; hold them accountable through clear expectations and measurable goals; work with a strong leadership team to maintain, adjust, and improve all procedures. Liff devotes a chapter to each system and discusses its impact on overall performance as well as how to work proactively and innovatively to implement changes that will make a big difference. Including real-world government case studies demonstrating dramatic change, the book is both an inspiration and a blueprint for substantial improvement within every facet of government work.
Improving the Social Security Disability Decision Process: Interim Report
by Institute of Medicine of the National AcademiesThe National Academies Press (NAP)--publisher for the National Academies--publishes more than 200 books a year offering the most authoritative views, definitive information, and groundbreaking recommendations on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and health. Our books are unique in that they are authored by the nation's leading experts in every scientific field.
Improving the Sustainable Development Goals: Strategies and the Governance Challenge (Routledge Focus on Environment and Sustainability)
by Lars NiklassonImproving the Sustainable Development Goals evaluates the Global Goals (Agenda 2030) by looking at their design and how they relate to theories of economic development. Adopted unanimously by the member states of the United Nations (UN) in 2015, the goals are remarkable for the global commitment on a set of targets to reach by 2030, but also for the lack of a strategy of implementation. The choice of appropriate action is handed over to individual governments, some of which are limited by their lack of resources. This book explores how implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) can be developed, especially in developing countries. The content, strengths and weaknesses of the SDGs are critically examined, alongside their relationship to ongoing academic research. The authors also investigate the actions of governments over the past three years by looking at the national strategies they have presented at annual meetings of the UN High-Level Political Forum. Improving the Sustainable Development Goals takes a critical but constructive approach, pointing out risks as well as possible remedies. The SDGs are seen as an opportunity for a global conversation on what works in solving some fundamental problems relating to poverty and environmental degradation. With the inclusion of a chapter by Tobias Ogweno, former member of the Kenya’s UN mission, this book will appeal to all those who are interested in policy analysis with a focus on development issues.
Improving the U.S. Military's Understanding of Unstable Environments Vulnerable to Violent Extremist Groups: Insights from Social Science
by David E. Thaler Gabriella C. Gonzalez Parisa Roshan Ryan Andrew Brown Blake W. MobleyFor over a decade, operations associated with irregular warfare have placed large demands on U. S. ground forces and have led to development of new Army and Joint doctrine. This report helps analysts identify and assess twelve key factors that create and perpetuate environments susceptible to insurgency, terrorism, and other extremist violence and instability to inform military decisions on allocation of analytic and security assistance resources.
Improvisation and Emergency Management: Policy Responses to Covid-19 in Italy
by Stefania RavazziThis book examines the role of improvisation in emergency response policies. Focusing on the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy, it demonstrates how improvisation can play a positive and productive role in emergency management. As well as offering one of the first systematic studies of policy responses to the pandemic in Italy - which was affected more than any other European country during the first wave of infection - it also throws light on the emotional, cognitive and behavioural strategies of the actors involved in emergency responses. These findings have important implications for emergency management around the world, including crises such as natural disasters, energy blackouts and nuclear accidents. The book will appeal to all those interested in public policy, public administration, emergency management and behavioural science.
Imprudent King
by Geoffrey ParkerPhilip II is not only the most famous king in Spanish history, but one of the most famous monarchs in English history: the man who married Mary Tudor and later launched the Spanish Armada against her sister Elizabeth I. This compelling biography of the most powerful European monarch of his day begins with his conception (1526) and ends with his ascent to Paradise (1603), two occurrences surprisingly well documented by contemporaries. Eminent historian Geoffrey Parker draws on four decades of research on Philip as well as a recent, extraordinary archival discovery#151;a trove of 3,000 documents in the vaults of the Hispanic Society of America in New York City, unread since crossing Philip’s own desk more than four centuries ago. Many of them change significantly what we know about the king. The book examines Philip’s long apprenticeship; his three principal interests (work, play, and religion); and the major political, military, and personal challenges he faced during his long reign. Parker offers fresh insights into the causes of Philip’s leadership failures: was his empire simply too big to manage, or would a monarch with different talents and temperament have fared better?
Imprudent King: A New Life of Philip II
by Geoffrey ParkerPhilip II is not only the most famous king in Spanish history, but one of the most famous monarchs in English history: the man who married Mary Tudor and later launched the Spanish Armada against her sister Elizabeth I. This compelling biography of the most powerful European monarch of his day begins with his conception (1526) and ends with his ascent to Paradise (1603), two occurrences surprisingly well documented by contemporaries. Eminent historian Geoffrey Parker draws on four decades of research on Philip as well as a recent, extraordinary archival discovery--a trove of 3,000 documents in the vaults of the Hispanic Society of America in New York City, unread since crossing Philip's own desk more than four centuries ago. Many of them change significantly what we know about the king. Â The book examines Philip's long apprenticeship; his three principal interests (work, play, and religion); and the major political, military, and personal challenges he faced during his long reign. Parker offers fresh insights into the causes of Philip's leadership failures: was his empire simply too big to manage, or would a monarch with different talents and temperament have fared better?
Impulse to Act: A New Anthropology of Resistance and Social Justice
by Othon AlexandrakisWhat drives people to take to the streets in protest? What is their connection to other activists and how does that change over time? How do seemingly spontaneous activist movements emerge, endure, and evolve, especially when they lack a leader and concrete agenda? How does one analyze a changing political movement immersed in contingency? Impulse to Act addresses these questions incisively, examining a wide range of activist movements from the December 2008 protests in Greece to the recent chto delat in Russia. Contributors in the first section of this volume highlight the affective dimensions of political movements, charting the various ways in which participants coalesce around and belong to collectives of resistance. The potent agency of movements is highlighted in the second section, where scholars show how the emerging actions and critiques of protesters help disrupt authoritative political structures. Responding to the demands of the field today, the novel approaches to protest movements in Impulse to Act offer new ways to reengage with the traditional cornerstones of political anthropology.
Impulsgeber zwischen Wissenschaft, Politik und Publizistik: Eine Werkbiographie
by Ludger KühnhardtLudger Kühnhardt, weltweit tätiger Politikwissenschaftler, Berater und Publizist, gibt lebhafte und persönliche Einblicke in die Menschen und Quellen seiner Prägung, in die Denkwege, denen er gefolgt ist, und in die Impulse, die sein Wirken in Forschung und Lehre über Jahrzehnte hinweg ausgelöst hat. Ein biografischer Werkstattbericht von hoher Authentizität, der zusammenführt, was inmitten des beruflichen Alltags oft unverbunden erscheint. Immer wieder aus anderer Perspektive werden Einsichten beleuchtet, die ihrer Zeit voraus waren, und Befunde erinnert, die zeitlos aktuell geblieben sind. Eine lebendig geschriebene Werkbiographie über die inneren Antriebskräfte und äußeren Zusammenhänge eines kosmopolitischen public intellectual als aufklärerischer und beratender Impulsgeber im Wechselspiel von Wissenschaft, Politik und Publizistik. Das Buch spiegelt deutsche, europäische und globale Zeitgeschichte von der Mitte des 20.Jahrhunderts bis ins dritte Jahrzehnt des 21.Jahrhunderts in einem wissenschaftlichen Werk und seiner Einordnung als Zeugnis politischer Kultur.
Impyrium (Impyrium Ser. #1)
by Henry H. Neff"A rare jewel. A new classic in the fantasy genre." -- Eoin Colfer, author of the bestselling Artemis Fowl series"A magnificent, rich, exhilarating book. I say this with all honesty: I haven't read about a world so deep, so purely magical, so well-developed, since Harry Potter." -- James Dashner, author of the bestselling Maze Runner seriesIn the first book of Henry H. Neff's new high-stakes middle grade fantasy series, two unlikely allies confront a conspiracy that will shake the world of Impyrium to its core.For over three thousand years, the Faeregine dynasty has ruled Impyrium. But the family's magic has been fading, and with it their power over the empire. Whether it's treachery from a rival house, the demon Lirlanders, or rebel forces, many believe the Faeregines are ripe to fall.Hazel, the youngest member of the royal family, is happy to leave ruling to her sisters so that she can study her magic. But the empress has other plans for her granddaughter, dark and dangerous plans to exploit Hazel's talents and rekindle the Faeregine mystique. Hob, a commoner from the remote provinces, has been sent to the city to serve the Faeregines--and to spy on them.One wants to protect the dynasty. The other wants to destroy it. But when Hazel and Hob form an improbable friendship, their bond may save the realm as they know it...or end it for good.
In Afghanistan: Two Hundred Years of British, Russian and American Occupation
by David LoynAfghanistan has been a strategic prize for foreign empires for more than 200 years. The British, Russians, and Americans have all fought across its beautiful and inhospitable terrain, in conflicts variously ruthless, misguided and bloody. This violent history is the subject of David Loyn's magisterial book. It is a history littered with misunderstandings and broken promises, in which the British, the Russians, and later the Americans, constantly underestimated the ability of the Afghans. In Afghanistan brilliantly brings to life the personalities involved in Afghanistan's relationship with the world, chronicling the misunderstandings and missed opportunities that have so often led to war. With 30 years experience as a foreign correspondent, David Loyn has had a front-row seat during Afghanistan's recent history. In Afghanistan draws on David Loyn's unrivalled knowledge of the Taliban and the forces that prevail in Afghanistan, to provide the definitive analysis of the lessons these conflicts have for the present day.
In All Fairness: Equality, Liberty, and the Quest for Human Dignity
by Chris J. Coyne; Michael C. Munger; Robert M. WhaplesHas growing concern about inequality led to proposals to remake American society according to ill-conceived and coercive "egalitarian" measures that are fundamentally unjust and harmful?This unique book reveals the modern romance with equality of outcomes as destructive folly. Those elites and bureaucrats who advocate such notions claim that they champion the poor—but more often than not the nostrums of this managerial class undermine, rather than advance, economic and civil liberties, mass prosperity and human well-being. The authors of In All Fairness challenge all of the prevailing "egalitarian ideas," including the claim that market-based societies are riven by the social injustice of inequity in the first place. After all, an economy thrives with a division of labor that allows individuals who are unequal in interests and talents to pursue their own unique goals. Looked at in this way, equality is far more widespread than misplaced rhetoric might lead one to expect—as factual data show. But it is an equality of a particularly valuable type—one arrived at, not by top-down, oilgarchic attempts to impose economic uniformity, but by our respecting inviolable rules of fair play and the dignity of each person, a dignity that requires everyone to respect the voluntary transactions of others. This approach holds equity, liberty, diversity, and prosperity together. Would we want it any other way in America and anywhere around the world? The authors draw on economics, philosophy, religion, law, political science, and history to provide answers to a perennial question that especially agitates the American public today: Can the coercive powers of the state be used to achieve a kind of arithmetic equality? The authors, each in their own way, make a strong case that such powers should never be used in this fashion. Love inequality or loathe it, In All Fairness is full of key insights about the connections among fairness, liberty, equality and the quest for human dignity. You won&’t think about wealth and poverty, equality and inequality, in the same way ever again.