The status of the school public relations practitioner: A statewide exploration

A study was conducted which focuses on public relations practitioners in school districts in South Carolina. The study utilized survey research to investigate several questions relating to public relations role enactment, hierarchical level of the public relations function, salary, job satisfaction and encroachment into public relations. The research found that school public relations practitioners fulfill both the manager and technician roles equally, although it is responsibilities relating to the management function that provide the most satisfaction. Women tend to be less active in the manager role. The public relations function reports directly to the school superintendent. There is a relationship between sex and salary in school district public relations and, with women, experience is negatively correlated with salary. Finally, there is a high level of encroachment by educators into the public relations function in school districts.     

Challenging the one-size-fits-all myth: findings and solutions from a statewide focus group of rural social workers

Of America's counties, 76% are rural, comprising 83% of U.S. land and 25% of the American population. Yet most child welfare programs are designed to fit the needs of urban and suburban families. This article reviews the unique needs and assets of rural children and families in Texas. It presents recommendations from a focus group for overcoming the inappropriate transfer of urban models to rural communities.     

A statewide introduction of trauma-informed care in a child welfare system

Most children in the care of the child welfare system have been exposed to multiple traumas in addition to the stressor of being removed from their home. Because the risk for mental health problems following exposure to trauma is high, a critical need exists to introduce trauma-informed practices into the child welfare system. The purpose of this study is to evaluate initial stages of a trauma-informed training program for the Arkansas Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS). In Phase 1, 102 (75%) of DCFS area directors and supervisors participated in 10 regional, two-day workshops modeled after the National Child and Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) trauma-informed training for child welfare. Pre- and post-training evaluations demonstrated significant improvements in participants' knowledge of trauma-informed practices. A three-month follow-up with directors and supervisors indicated that use of trauma-informed practices increased significantly and that such changes were correlated with pre- versus post-training improvement in knowledge. Most participants were able to partially implement action steps established at the time of training; however, a number of barriers were cited as preventing full implementation, including time constraints, heavy caseloads, lack of staff, and limited resources. Results are discussed in light of plans under way for Phase II training for all DCFS front-line staff.     

Relationship of risk assessment to placement characteristics in a statewide child welfare population

Risk assessments allow child and youth services to identify children who are at risk for maltreatment (e.g., abuse, neglect) and help determine the restrictiveness of placements or need for services among youth entering a child welfare system. Despite the use of instruments by many agencies within the U.S. to determine the appropriate placements for youth, research has shown that placement decisions are often influenced by factors such as gender, age, and severity of social–emotional and behavior problems. This study examined ratings of risk across multiple domains using a structured assessment tool used by caseworkers in the Rhode Island child welfare system. The relationship between ratings of risk and placement restrictiveness was also examined. Risk levels varied across placement settings. Multivariate analyses revealed that lower caseworker ratings of parent risk and higher ratings of youth risk were associated with more restrictive placements for youth. Implications for the child welfare system are discussed.     

Pathways of influences leading to adoption of the Faith,Activity and Nutrition (FAN) program in a statewide initiative

RE-AIM (Reach, effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) and CFIR (Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research) are complementary frameworks guiding research on dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions and factors influencing this process. Faith, Activity, and Nutrition (FAN) is an evidence-based program that increased physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake in faith-based settings. The aims of this adoption study were to quantify state-wide church level adoption rates and congregant reach of FAN in accordance with RE-AIM guidelines, and to explore the association of CFIR-derived constructs of the church inner setting and pastor characteristics with FAN adoption. Church recruitment was documented, and data were collected via telephone-administered surveys from 93 pastors in adopting churches and 60 pastors in non-adopting churches. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) identified combinations of CFIR-derived church and pastor characteristics sufficient for FAN adoption. As defined by RE-AIM, church-level FAN adoption was 11.7 % and congregant-level reach was 20.0 %. Fourteen pathways to adoption were identified; seven of these featured the presence of a culture of concern for congregant health along with openness to new ideas. Results suggest early assessment of these two CFIR-derived inner setting constructs may help identify faith-based organizations predisposed to undertake a comprehensive, environmental intervention to promote congregant health.     

高等职业教育“文工融合”办学特色的实现机制

人文教育与技能教育相互交织、相互渗透、相互融合是新时期高等职业教育的重要理念,应从办学定位、人才培养目标、人才培养过程、学校发展战略全面贯彻人文教育与科学教育融合的思想,具体落实到确立文工融合的教育理念、构建文工融合的教学体系、建立文工融合的师资队伍、营造文工融合的校园氛围、推进文工融合的改革试点。形成"文工融合"办学特色是高等职业教育提升人才培养质量与核心竞争力的必由之路。     

Investigating the Implementation of Charitable Choice

Abstract

This paper reports on a project to investigate the implementation of charitable choice in TANF-funded job services in Indiana, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. A number of issues needed to be addressed in the course of the research project. State-level government responses to charitable choice were found to vary widely, making comparisons across states difficult. In Indiana, job training providers and clients were also interviewed. For providers, a major research issue was the assessment of the degree to which they were faith-based and the impact of this. To measure the impact of provider faith orientation on clients, a pre-and post-service study was designed. Providers were to administer the tests, but in many cases failed to do so correctly, thereby limiting the utility of the results. Finally, during the last year of the study, the state changed its funding priorities, thereby altering the provider system. A number of the providers changed their programs or stopped providing services, thereby dropping out of the delivery system. The paper considers the impact of these difficulties on the ability of research to make contributions to the discussion of charitable choice.     

Assessing results of the Alameda project

This note assesses the Alameda Project, a successful experiment conducted in California and designed to restore foster children to their home or to provide alternative continuous care. The study is examined critically against research which indicates that the majority of foster children come from economically disadvantaged homes and that restoration to homes in which the environmental conditions are not adequately improved often results in the recurrence of problems or the development of new problems.     

Core strategies,social processes,and contextual influences of early phases of implementation and statewide scale-up of group prenatal care in South Carolina

This mixed-methods process evaluation examined a state-wide, interagency collaborative in South Carolina that expanded CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care from two to five additional healthcare practices from 2012 to 2015. The evaluation focused on delineating core processes, strategies, and external contextual elements of group prenatal care implementation and scale-up. Success of this scale-up was enhanced by the effective use and creation of windows of opportunity, which allowed stakeholders to pursue actions consistent with their own values, at both state and organizational levels. Most importantly, strong political advocacy and state-level financial commitment for group prenatal care made it possible for clinics throughout South Carolina to begin providing CenteringPregnancy to their patients. Improved understanding of the processes involved in scaling-up pilot interventions may enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of future expansion efforts.     

认识误区·制度瓶颈·突破口--关于实施素质教育的几点思考

素质教育是我国当前教育改革的重要组成部分,是在对传统应试教育的消极效应进行反思的基础上提出的教育发展战略构想.素质教育具有丰富的内涵,是知识教育、能力教育和思想政治教育等教育方式的整合,体现了整体教育和终身教育的"大"教育理念.     

论高职学生职业素养的内涵及其实现

职业素养对高职学生的职业生涯发展具有重要价值。当前高职学生职业素养不高的现状主要是由高职院校职业素养教育的低效造成的。这就需要对高职院校职业素养教育进行系统变革,主要是通过界定职业素养的内涵并建构理论模型,在此基础上为高职院校破解职业素养教育低效的难题提供有效的实施路径。     

Making Implementation More Democratic through Action Implementation Research

Public administration scholars often associate increased publicparticipation in policy implementation with the advancementof democratic values. Likewise, scholars engaged in the variousforms of action research (AR) promote their efforts as a meansto democratizing the research process or contributing to improvedsocial outcomes. Despite these common interests in participationand democracy, there have been few attempts to apply AR methodsto policy implementation problems. Drawing on Matland's conflict-ambiguitymatrix, we develop a framework for matching particular AR methodsto specific policy implementation contexts.     

Anonymous implementation of the Lindahl correspondence: possibility and impossibility results

This paper deals with the existence of anonymous mechanisms to realize the Lindahl correspondence. We consider, in turn, constant and decreasing returns to scale technologies for producing public goods. In each case, we provide a continuous (but not smooth) and weakly balanced mechanism, which meets the two conditions. We then remark that they satisfy a property (see property NC), which is related to, but in fact stronger than anonymity. Finally, we prove that if a mechanism has this property, if it is weakly balanced and implements the Lindahl correspondence, then it cannot be differentiable around Nash equilibria.     

等待到结婚:美国贞洁教育的内涵、实施与成效

美国的贞洁教育是不同于传统的安全性教育的一种新的性教育．其典型特色在于鼓励青少年等待到结婚才经历性行为。迫于性革命带来的严重后果以及安全性教育的失败，美国逐渐将贞洁教育作为正式的青少争性教育并付诸实施。贞洁教育的实施收到了良好的效果，这是人类性教育史及人类发展史上的一大进步。