Search results

This paper describes a case study of a developmental program evaluation on the Autism Community Toolkit, a collaborative skills training program for parents and school professionals. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the training on participants’ knowledge, competence and perceived collaboration; and potential improvements to the training program.

The program included multiple training sessions for families and school professionals, designed to educate participants on autism, evidence-based interventions and to increase home-school communication and collaboration. Data collection methods included pre- and post-measures and feedback forms.

Results indicated that the training program was beneficial for participants overall. Pre- and posttest measures indicated growth in knowledge and competency in autism interventions. While there were no statistically significant differences in the quantitative measure of collaboration, qualitative results suggest that participants reported increased collaboration posttraining.

Overall, the training program was effective, and the ongoing implementation assessment was conducive to continuous improvement. The authors also discuss difficulties with implementation and recommendations for future intervention implementation.

This case study provides practical information about creating, evaluating and improving a unique intervention designed to support school–home collaboration.

To introduce the concepts of interval funds and tender offer funds and compare them to other pooled investment vehicles.

This article provides an overview of the interval fund and tender offer fund structures, including the law, regulations and market practices regarding redemptions, liquidity, fees and expenses and other key terms.

Interval funds and tender offer funds should be considered by alternative investment managers seeking to expand into public markets or traditional fund managers that seek additional portfolio flexibility.

In addition to a plain English analysis of the rules and regulations applicable to interval funds and tender offer funds, the article analyzes market practices regarding redemption frequency and amount.

To summarize the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s 2017 Compliance Advisory for brokers, dealers and municipal securities dealers.

Summarizes several Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) rules that the Compliance Advisory highlights as presenting key compliance risks for brokers, dealers and municipal securities dealers. Discusses the factors included in the Compliance Advisory that dealers should consider when evaluating compliance procedures and controls.

By highlighting some key compliance risks and providing considerations tailored to those risks, the Compliance Advisory can be used as a tool to aid dealers in developing and assessing effective compliance programs.

Dealers should consider reviewing their firm’s existing compliance policies and procedures in light of the considerations discussed in the Compliance Advisory.

Practical guidance from experienced securities and financial services regulatory lawyers.

To alert lenders, broker-dealers and municipal advisors to a joint regulatory notice from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) regarding direct purchase or “bank loan” transactions.

Explains the MSRB and FINRA notice, why the notice was issued, what lenders should know about the notice, what broker-dealers and municipal advisors should know about the notice, and what MSRB rules could apply to bank loans.

Firms should determine whether state and local government obligations acquired through bank loan transactions constitute municipal securities for federal securities law purposes.

Review of a recently issued regulatory notice by experienced municipal securities lawyers.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss integrative environmental assessments applicable to estuarine sediments, including the advantages and limitations of different lines of evidence that could form part of such assessments and their application to ecosystem services.

Weight of evident framework integrating multiple lines of evidence for sediment quality assessment.

Integrative environmental assessments are required to fully address the risks to resident fauna of anthropogenic contaminants deposited in estuarine sediments.

The paper presents an updated discussion of the methodologies for environmental assessments of contaminated estuarine sediments.

Based on theories of media richness and procedural justice, the authors aim to examine the influence of videoconferencing (VC) technology on applicant reactions and interviewer judgments in the employment interview, the most commonly used employee selection device.

MBA students participated in simulated VC and face-to-face (FTF) interviews. Applicant perceptions of procedural justice and interviewer characteristics were collected. Interviewers provided ratings of affect toward the applicant, perceived applicant competence, overall interview performance, as well as an overall hiring recommendation.

Applicants perceived VC interviews as offering less of a chance to perform and as yielding less selection information. They also viewed VC interviews as less job-related than FTF interviews and had significantly less favorable evaluations of their interviewer (on personableness, trustworthiness, competence, and physical appearance) in VC interviews. Finally, applicants in VC interviews received lower ratings of affect (likeability) and lower interview scores, and were less likely to be recommended for the position.

The authors' findings suggest that VC technology can adversely affect both applicant reactions and interviewer judgments. They propose several precautionary steps to help minimize the risks associated with conducting VC interviews.

The authors extend prior research concerning the use of VC interviews by directly assessing applicant perceptions of both procedural justice and of interviewer characteristics associated with the probability that job offers will be accepted. They also add to the literature in showing that VC interviews tend to result in less favorable evaluations of applicants than FTF interviews.

Due to the more pressing need, the majority of material in this book has dealt with mitigation; interventions to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (IPCC, 2001) away from a scenario of ‘business as usual’. An early academic review on climate change mitigation and transport appeared in 2007 (Chapman, 2007), a year before the United Kingdom committed itself to the highly ambitious Climate Change Act 2008. The final act sought an ambitious 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Although criticised in this book as being unrealistic, this is the level of intervention required if ‘dangerous’ climate change is to be avoided (defined as greater than 2°C rise in global temperatures). As Chapter 8 (a policy perspective) explains, such targets, however unrealistic, are informed by considerable input from expert opinion (e.g. Delphi studies) and require a detailed knowledge of current emissions as well as accurate predictions/scenarios of future emissions. For this reason, scenarios and the control of uncertainty were discussed in Chapter 2 towards the start of this book. Indeed, the commonly quoted ‘business as usual’ scenario is in itself too simplistic and highly improbable, not only due to mitigation measures imposed by governments, but also because of the future scarcity of oil which will force change in the medium term regardless. Backcasting is the key tool used to model the continuum of socio-economic scenarios which exist between ‘business as usual’ and the equally unlikely case of all targets being met. However, the science is inherently difficult and the end result is a wide range of permutations and storylines, largely dependent on mitigation. Early progress towards the 80% target has not been promising, but the decarbonisation of the transport sector is still seen as key in meeting the demands of the Climate Change Act 2008. There is a need to tackle the three primary culprits of greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector: aviation, freight and car ownership (Chapman, 2007). This book has examined in detail how this could be achieved in all these sectors using a range of aspects relating to technological and behavioural change.

This chapter examines the historical relationship between Honduran Lenca worldview and how ecological resources are managed through ritual practice. The way in which the Lenca conceive of the biophysical environment is an active process of meaning-making that takes place through their interaction with the environment. The Lenca codify this relationship in the compostura, a complex set of ceremonial performances linked to economic practices that mediate human needs and desires with those of the ancestors who animate the landscapes surrounding households and communities. Through an examination of contemporary, historical, and archeological cases in western Honduras, this chapter explores how ritual economy shapes, and is shaped by, environmental worldview.

While school leaders have commonly functioned as school managers, the urgency for improving learning outcomes highlights the need for school leaders to function more as instructional leaders. However, a number of barriers exist in exercising instructional leadership in the developing country context. School leaders often lack capacity for instructional leadership and operate under significant constraints, such as chronic shortage of materials, operating funds, and staff development resources. Knowledge about cultural and organizational factors influencing school leadership behaviors can inform conditions for strengthening instructional leadership. This discussion essay provides a framework for expanding comparative and international inquiry into the challenges of instructional leadership in terms of the principal–agent problem, school leader sense of self-efficacy, and the integration of teacher incentives.