Colonial legacies, land policies and the millennium development goals: Lessons from Cameroon and Sierra Leone

This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of the land policies of Cameroon and Sierra Leone and arrives at the following conclusions: 1] the land policies of the two countries embody the politico-administrative philosophies of their erstwhile colonial master nations; 2] despite their marked differences, the policies share some features in common; and 3] land policies are critical in efforts to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs). The analysis further shows that: 1] the land policy of Sierra appears better positioned than Cameroon’s to guarantee access to land for all as well as ensure environmental sustainability; and 2] Cameroon’s land policy appears to outperform Sierra Leone’s with respect to fulfilling the preconditions for eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by ensuring land tenure security, maintaining uniform land laws, and facilitating land markets.     

Professional development for teachers plus coaching related to school-wide suspensions for a large urban school system

Little is known about how professional development models can be used to address exclusionary disciplinary practices in response to behavior management challenges in classrooms and schools. This is of great concern given data that suggests that such practices predict negative outcomes for students, including repeat suspensions, dropout and incarceration. Instead, the professional development literature has focused largely on instructional practices in the classroom. Using secondary data, the current paper sought to address this limitation by examining the potential impact of a professional development intervention, focused on classroom management strategies through training and one-on-one coaching, on reductions in disciplinary practices. School-level suspension and behavioral incidence data were available for 70 schools participating in the intervention and 1605 schools that did not participate in the intervention during the 2011–2012 school year. First, differences in demographics between the schools receiving the professional development intervention and schools that did not receive the intervention were explored. Next, a series of hierarchical regression models were estimated in order to test the level of dosage as a predictor of change in suspensions and behavior incidents. Results reveal that intervention schools experienced significantly reduced suspensions and behavior incidents in the school year following the intervention. The number of coaching sessions also predicted significant decreases in suspensions and marginally significant decreases in behavioral incidences. These findings suggest that professional development interventions may have the potential to shift teacher behavior management practices that reduce exclusionary disciplinary practices known to be detrimental to student outcomes.     

Into the Fire: Boards and Executive Transitions

Managing the transition an organization undergoes when one chief executive leaves and another is hired is both a defining responsibility and one of the most critical jobs a governing board faces. CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, which consulted to twenty‐eight organizations going through such transitions, found that three characteristic threats to successful transitions for nonprofit boards emerged: (1) boards underestimate the risks and costs of bad hires; (2) boards are typically unprepared for the task; and (3) boards too often focuson the problems in hiring new CEOs and fail to make full use of the opportunities in CEO transitions. This article describes the development of services to help organizations in transition, gives results from the first two years of work, and offers suggestions for support to boards and for future research.     

The individualization of class: a case of working life coaching

This article employs empirical analysis on working life coaching in order to offer a complimentary perspective on debates concerning individualization and class. Instead of viewing individualization as a process which erodes or radically shapes structures of class, this article interrogates individualization as a process which individualizes the relation between capital and labour in such a way that it appears in an individualized form. Examining practices of working life coaching sheds light on the ways in which the antagonism of capital and labour is experienced, articulated in an individual form and offered solutions for, and also on the ways in which such practices actually silence and cement the antagonism they are supposed to solve.     

Girls' sexual development in the inner city: from compelled childhood sexual contact to sex-for-things exchanges

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) has been linked to a wide variety of adverse psychological and behavioral outcomes. This paper describes girls' sexual development in the inner city based on qualitative material from a long-term ethnographic (observational) study. For many inner-city girls, early and then continued experiences of being compelled to have sex were found to be part of a pathway leading to independent sexuality that often involved prostitution, teen pregnancy, early motherhood, school dropout, limited involvement with jobs, drug abuse, multiple children by different fathers and single-parent families. Quotes from respondents illustrate the mechanics of this process and how it is sustained by the deprivations of structural disadvantage, prevailing subcultural norms, violence and illicit drug use.     

Cohesiveness and goals in agency networks: Explaining conflict and cooperation

This paper examines principal and agent networks. We focus on networks because business research has placed far greater emphasis on the agency problem at the individual level. Our interest is in exploring the agency relationship at the group or network level. There are many variables at the group or network level which are absent when analyzing agency relationships at the individual level. Traditional theories of finance and economics do not adequately address or explain a host of behaviors that are inherent in human interactions that constitute organizational life. We include a sociological or behavioral approach in understanding this complex relationship. Using cohesiveness and shared goals as antecedents, we develop a theoretical model that predicts a range of relationship outcomes between principals and agents, as well as their impact on organizational goals. We explain that a range of relationships – including conflict, domination, exploitation, collaboration, and cooperation – is possible when networks of principals and agents interact.We argue that the social context is a key determinant of the relationship between actors in a network, and it has an important role in impacting cohesiveness and goal mutuality. The degree of cohesiveness within and between networks, and the extent to which goals are shared or are in conflict are the principal predictor variables we examine. We posit that cohesiveness and shared goals are necessary and sufficient conditions for agency problems between networks to be alleviated. Both necessary and sufficient conditions need to be met in order to overcome the problems of agency. The relationships we examine through the model include cooperation, collaboration, domination, opportunism, exploitation, and conflict. We present a number of propositions that theorize on the nature of the agency relationship and their impact on organizational goals. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.     

Solution-focused wellness coaching: a mixed methods,longitudinal study with college students

ABSTRACT

Research indicates that college students are experiencing mental health challenges of greater severity and frequency. College students present with a variety of wellness-related challenges, resulting in increased demand on campus health resources and service limitations including extended wait lists and increased off-campus referrals. This research study examined the effectiveness of a short-term solution-focused intervention on perceptions of wellness and stress among the college student population. This study utilized a longitudinal, mixed-methods design to assess the impact of a brief (seven-week) intervention on perceived stress and wellness among 52 college students at a large Midwestern University, using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Five-Factor Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle (5 F-WEL). Repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) results indicated significant differences across time for perceived stress and wellness (p <.01). To augment quantitative data, a brief, semi-structured interview was completed with 24 study participants post-intervention, and an Applied Thematic Analysis (ATA) was conducted as a means of identifying themes. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of a solution-focused wellness (SFW) approach in changing perceptions of stress and wellness. Findings provide support for a prevention model in which college students are encouraged to proactively engage in lifestyle activities that enhance their wellness.     

Pesticide exposure and sprayer's task goals: comparison between vineyards and greenhouses

Plant protection products are used in agriculture to improve yields, but this use can cause contamination of the environment and is also likely to have adverse short and long term effects on agricultural workers. The field study took place in greenhouses and vineyards where operators are involved in high levels of pesticide spraying. The objective of this intervention was to identify factors explaining the influence of task factors on the exposure of greenhouse growers and vineyard workers. Thirteen operators were selected for detailed observations during one session of spraying. Video recordings provide counts of physical contacts between the operator and all the surrounding surfaces during the spraying operation. Both in vineyards and in greenhouses, physical and temporal constraints are the predominant factors in establishing a specific spraying procedure. Every action taken by the operator is a result of a compromise between safety, task performance and quality.     

The student-run public relations firm in an undergraduate program: Reaching learning and professional development goals through ‘real world’ experience

A student-run public relations firm can offer a variety of benefits for an undergraduate program in which there are limited resources for professional involvement by students. The article is a case study that profiles a student-run firm launched in conjunction with a capstone course in a journalism department. Specific learning and professional development goals were established for students, the department, and for clients served by the firm. The article presents a brief summary of successes, along with a discussion of opportunities and challenges. General recommendations are offered for establishing a student-run public relations firm.     

Case study of an evaluation coaching model: Exploring the role of the evaluator

This study examined the role of the external evaluator as a coach. More specifically, using an evaluative inquiry framework (Preskill and Torres, 1999a, Preskill and Torres, 1999b), it explored the types of coaching that an evaluator employed to promote individual, team and organizational learning. The study demonstrated that evaluation coaching provided a viable means for an organization with a limited budget to conduct evaluations through support of a coach. It also demonstrated how the coaching processes supported the development of evaluation capacity within the organization. By examining coaching models outside of the field of evaluation, this study identified two forms of coaching — results coaching and developmental coaching — that promoted evaluation capacity building and have not been previously discussed in the evaluation literature.