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In this paper we present a novel methodology, referenced as ORFEO (Ordinal classifier and Regressor Fusion for Estimating an Ordinal categorical target), to enhance the performance in ordinal classification problems for which the latent variable is observable. ORFEO is an artificial neural network model incorporating two outputs, one for ordinal classification, using the cumulative link model, and one for regression, using a linear model. Both outputs are simultaneously optimised considering a loss function that linearly combines both classification and regression losses. The main motivation behind developing the proposed approach is to enhance the performance of a standard ordinal classifier. This improvement is facilitated by considering the regression output, which allows the model to differentiate between patterns within the same category. The ORFEO model is applied to two problems in the field of marine and ocean engineering: short-term prediction of both significant wave height and flux of energy. Both problems are addressed considering four different coastal zones of the United States of America, using 13 datasets formed by buoys measurements and reanalysis data. A comprehensive comparison against 20 methodologies, including regression and nominal/ordinal classification approaches is performed, by using diverse nominal and ordinal performance metrics. Ranks achieved indicate that ORFEO outperforms all the compared methodologies in terms of all the performance measures, demonstrating the efficacy and robustness of the proposal. Finally, a statistical analysis is conducted, concluding that there are statistically significant differences across ordinal and nominal performance metrics in favour of the proposed ORFEO model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children -- Fifth Edition is the most recent update to this scale, launched originally in 2014 in the United Stated. WISC-V includes several improvements from previous versions, such as an updated factorial structure that includes more indexes, new process scores and new procedures for norming. These improvements are particularly relevant in the Chilean context, since the previous version available in the country was the WISC-IIIv.ch, whose factorial structure dates from 1991, although it was standardized for Chilean population in 2007. This article presents the standardization process for the WISC-V, which includes the translation, adaptation and norming procedures for the Chilean population. It includes evidence for reliability and validity, and also results for various special groups samples, such as intellectual disability (24), attentional deficit disorder with hyperactivity (27), autism spectrum disorder (26), specific language disorder (56) and rural population (47). The Chilean data shows excellent reliability results and an excellent adjustment to the factorial model used in the North American version. This research provides evidence for convergent validity between WISC-V and other versions of these scales, such as the WAIS-IV and the WISC-IIIv.ch. Finally, we perform a comparison between private, voucher and public schools using this scale and a comparison between male and female performance in this scale. The main finding of this research is that the Chilean standardization of the WISC-V has excellent psychometric properties that allow recommending the use of this instrument in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of literature suggests that post-secondary students experience food insecurity (FI) at greater rates than the general population. However, these rates vary dramatically across institutions and studies. FI assessment methods commonly used in studies with college students have not been scrutinized for psychometric properties, and varying protocols may influence resulting FI prevalence estimates. The objective of this study was to assess the performance of standard food security assessment protocols and to evaluate their agreement as well as the relative accuracy of these protocols in identifying student FI. A randomized sample of 4,000 undergraduate students were invited to participate in an online survey (Qualtrics, LLC, Provo, Utah, USA) that evaluated sociodemographic characteristics and FI with the 2-item food sufficiency screener and the 10-item USDA Adult Food Security Survey Module (FSSM; containing the abbreviated 6-item module). Four hundred sixty-two eligible responses were included in the final sample. The psychometric analysis revealed inconsistencies in college student response patterns on the FSSM when compared to national evaluations. Agreement between FI protocols was generally high (>90%) but was lessened when compared with a protocol that incorporated the 2-item screener. The 10-item FSSM with the 2-item screener had the best model fit (McFadden's R2 = 0.15 and Bayesian Information Criterion = -2049.72) and emerged as the tool providing the greatest relative accuracy for identifying students with FI. Though the 10-item FSSM and 2-item screener yields the most accuracy in this sample, it is unknown why students respond to FSSM items differently than the general population. Further qualitative and quantitative evaluations are needed to determine which assessment protocol is the most valid and reliable for use in accurately identifying FI in post-secondary students across the U.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White workers in the United States earn almost 30 percent more per hour on average than Black workers, and this wage gap is associated with large racial differences in occupational assignments. In this article, we theoretically and empirically examine the Black-White disparity in occupations. First, we present a model based on Antonovics and Golan (2012) that relates occupational assignments to the incentives workers face while learning about their own unknown ability. Second, we document differences between Black and White workers in both the complexity of skills required in their initial occupations and the growth rates of this complexity over time. To do this, we match panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 with the Dictionary of Occupational Titles measures of occupational characteristics and find that, compared with White workers, Black workers start in occupations requiring less-complex skills, see slower growth in job complexity over time, and are relatively more likely to transition to jobs with lower complexity. Finally, we consider the relationship between our model and our empirical findings; for example, discrimination in hiring early in the career can have long-term consequences on the ability of Black workers to learn their best occupational match and explains part of their lower wage growth. We conclude with suggestions for policy and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the opinions of the U.S. public on the 2015 Education Next poll for determining the existing stand of the children and the schools. It sates that the supporters of the Common Core State Standards are against the the new method practiced by the U.S. Congress. The government's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was rewritten for students testing in order to collect the performance data of the teachers and the school including a change in the tenure, merit pays and tax credits.

Frequency regulation (FR) is the electric grid service responsible for maintaining the system frequency at its nominal value of 60 Hz in the United States — an indicator of energy balance on the grid. In cases of mismatch between power supply and demand, FR resources either on the generation or the demand side, responding rapidly to restore system frequency to its nominal value. Due to the limited responsiveness of generators, fast and accurate demand side resources (DSR) have recently been encouraged to participate in FR. However, the tested DSRs typically require high initial equipment investment (e.g., flywheels and batteries). Large commercial buildings can provide effective load shaping with little impact to occupants’ comfort and have significant amount of available capacity for FR participation. In addition, commercial buildings are characterized by numerous interdependent HVAC subsystems and control systems. Therefore, a high-level supervisory control strategy is needed that directs the interdependent HVAC systems for FR with strengthened interactions and depressed counteractions. Simulation results suggest that large commercial buildings can provide significant FR capacity and high performance scores. Dynamic building-to-grid integration automatically and continuously provides solutions maintaining energy balance on the gird. The benefit to the power system reliability would be significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of alternate fuels and raw materials in the cement manufacturing process has evolved substantially over the last two to three decades, along with approaches to acquire regulatory approval. Most recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published new regulations as an overlay to what has been in place, having the potential to significantly impact this practice. Instead of dealing with the state agencies that usually have permitting authority, the new rules add another layer of regulatory hurdles by EPA. The new regulations also force a more significant overlap of the air permitting and solid waste rules. As a result, implementing an alternate material program and seeking approval has the potential to be considerably more challenging for the regulated community, in addition to adding complexity for the state agency permitting staff. This paper provides an update on the latest solid waste and air regulations applicable to alternative material use in cement plants, and potential implications for the U.S. industry. Early experiences will be explored, in addition to contemplating potential permitting and/or approval pathways expected to be encountered with the newest regulations in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Termites are structurally destructive pests that can infest a consumer's most important investment, their home. The evolution of termite control is complex, involving people's understanding of termite biology and behavior, building construction, the use of soil termiticides, baits, wood treatments, and physical barriers, as well as regulations from different industries (pest control and building construction). Soil termiticides have been the standard method of treatment for decades, but the concern for human and environmental health has driven the development of alternatives. This article discusses the evolution of termite control methods that were alternatives to the standard of the time and the regulatory structure that provides a level of consumer protection for some products. The global economic impact of termites is estimated to be approximately USD 40 billion annually, and subterranean termites are responsible for about 80% of the total impact. Twenty-eight species of termites have been described as invasive, and these termites are spreading, partially due to global trade, making effective control methods essential. Termite control is complex, as is the biology and behavior of this social insect group. In the U.S., termite prevention and control (with claims of structural protection) is regulated by more than one industry (pest control and building construction), and at the federal and state levels. Termite prevention has historically relied on building construction practices that do not create conducive conditions for termite infestations, but as soil termiticides developed, heavy reliance on pesticides became the standard for termite control. The concern for human and environmental health has driven the development of termite control alternatives and regulation for products claiming structural protection. Product development has also provided unprecedented opportunities to study the biology and behavior of cryptobiotic termites. Technological advances have allowed for the re-examination of questions about termite behavior. Advances in communications via social media provide unrestricted access to information, creating a conundrum for consumers and science educators alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the enforcement of government regulations in America as of June 2013, focusing on a new source review enforcement initiative by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Professors Kristin E. Hickman and Claire A. Hill are addressed, along with various categories of regulatees such as maximal compliers, flouters, and minimal compliers. Deterrence and assistance are examined in relation to compliance with environmental regulations.

Race to the Top is resulting in the widespread adoption of value-added models to measure teacher performance. There are concerns about the reliability and validity of these methods and about the wisdom of the Federal government mandating how to conduct non-federal employees' performance reviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental movement of the 20th century has evolved into a large, diverse and well-financed global community that is increasingly required to prove its worth. Though the environmental sector collects and uses data to determine the status of ecological and social systems, the effectiveness of the programs and policies it uses to affect this status remains largely untested. As governments and donor institutions insist on greater transparency, accountability and evidence of what works and what does not, much is being learned from other fields (e.g. health services, education, international development) and increasingly sophisticated approaches are emerging to manage effectiveness. For example, program evaluation, adaptive management, and systematic review provide frameworks and methods to collect and use information to measure and improve performance. However, the critical data and collaborations necessary for an effectiveness revolution are marginalized by technical, cultural and political obstacles. Learning from other fields, the environmental sector must exploit key leverage points, such as flows of information and self-organization, to overcome impediments and create incentives to initiate and realize an era of effectiveness in environmental management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses the Model Business Corporation Act (MBCA) in the U.S., including its governing rules and standards. It notes that legal rules and standards are significantly different in approach despite the fact that they share the same social goal. It adds that the relative merits of rules versus standards in lawmaking have been largely ignored with reference to corporation law due to its reliance almost exclusively on general standards in expressing legal obligations and rights. The concept on the representation of an important new model for corporate legislation by the MBCA is also highlighted.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 encouraged public transit authorities to reassess the way they serve aging populations and physically-handicapped individuals requiring door-to-door services. As the demand for paratransit services rose dramatically the last few years due to a growing number of aging baby-boomers and injured Iraq-Afghanistan War veterans, many public transit authorities have been faced with the dilemma of meeting the growing demand while controlling costs in times of ongoing budget crises. To help public transit authorities better cope with such a dilemma, this paper evaluates the comparative operating efficiency of 75 selected paratransit agencies in the United States using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and then identifies the best-practice paratransit systems. Lagging paratransit agencies can use such systems as benchmark reference points to evaluate their performance against other systems. Finally this paper develops a profile of both efficient and inefficient paratransit agencies to discern a host of factors influencing the operating efficiency of paratransit systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1990s, most US states adopted new forms of performance-based accountability, e.g., performance-based budgeting, funding, or reporting. This study analyzed changes in institutional performance following the adoption of these new accountability standards. We measured institutional performance by representative education and research indicators—graduation rates and levels of federal research funding. We collected data from 1997 to 2007 and used a hierarchical linear modeling growth curve analysis. The main finding was that states which adopted performance-based accountability did not see a noticeable increase in institutional performance. In addition, we highlighted a critical policy issue—whether state and institutional factors contribute most to institutional performance in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Ambassadors in Education awards for middle school and high school teachers. The awards were created in 2003 by the National Civic League and MetLife Foundation to recognize teachers who create successful relationships between their students, those students' families, and the communities in which the schools are located. The qualifications for the awards,which center on partnerships with community organizations and businesses which foster both academic excellence and civic engagement by students, are given. A list is presented of the 2009 winners of the award, and descriptions of the programs and activities for which they were cited are given.

The article discusses automated performance management tools which were developed by the United States Army Security Assistance Command and which connect directly to the command's legacy management systems to automatically update and populate its performance measures. The features of the systems include the Defense Security Assistance Management System and the Centralized Integrated System-International Logistics System, are discussed.

The primary goal of this study was to investigate the role of the mathematics coach at Tabaka Middle School during the school's implementation of the Georgia Performance Standards through the utilization of Connected Mathematics Project materials. The study explores the coach's emergent understanding of her role as she provided teachers support through professional development, observation, and feedback in dealing with new content, adapting to new methods of teaching, working in collaborative groups, adapting to new ways of assessing students, and learning how to use new curriculum materials. The study suggests that in regards to teacher beliefs and practices, teachers benefit from a site-based long-term professional development program that targets content and pedagogical knowledge. The study underscores the importance of teamwork, collaboration, and having a mathematics coach on site in bringing to reality a new vision of a school's mathematics program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supervisory BOPEC ratings were assigned to bank holding companies (BHCs) during the years 1987 to 2004 as a summary of their overall performance and level of supervisory concern. In this article, we examine the stability of the BOPEC ratings assigned over that period. We model supervisory ratings using balance sheet variables, and our analysis suggests that BOPEC rating standards varied over time. Supervisors seem to have applied more stringent rating standards from 1989 to 1992, a period marked by a recession and a large degree of distress in the banking sector. Rating standards then eased during the economic recovery from 1993 to 1998, before showing increasing signs of toughness again from 1999 through 2004. Based on our estimated model parameters, we find that, in some cases, up to 25 percent of the BHCs that were assigned a BOPEC rating in a "tough" year would have been given a better rating in an "easy" year. The reasons for the observed variation in supervisory standards could be changes in supervisory behavior, but they are also surely related to the substantial changes that occurred within the U.S. banking system over this 17-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although much of the systematic, over-time research on the presidency has focused on presidential approval and how it varies in response to economic conditions and world events, there is growing interest in the impact that the public's character evaluations of the president can have on presidential approval. In an age when “image is everything,” it is important to understand how these character evaluations of the president vary over time and to assess their impact on presidential approval. Here, I develop a measure of the favorability of the president and show its utility for studying the personal dimension of the public's assessment of the president and its impact on the president's job performance rating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article outlines the significance of the Award for Excellence in Human Research Protection in the U.S. It was launched in 2001 with the aim of encouraging, recognizing and rewarding excellence and innovation in human research protection on individual investigators, institutions and research sponsors. The recognition is also intended to facilitate improvements and openness in human research. INSET: Blueprint for Excellence.

The article announces the 2008/2009 Freshman Undergraduate Scholarship program of the American Meteorological Society (AMS). The scholarship program is designed to encourage study in the atmospheric and related sciences. It aims to help students at a critical time in their educational lives and to attract them to fulfilling and useful career. It is open to all high school seniors entering their freshman year of study in the atmospheric, oceanic or hydrologic sciences. Its scholarships will be awarded based on academic excellence. Its scholarship stipend for the freshman year is $2,500 and $2,500 for the sophomore year.

The article announces the application for the 2008/2009 American Meteorological Society (AMS)/ Industry Minority Scholarships offered by the Society in cooperation with industry. This program encourages minority students who have been traditionally underrepresented in sciences to pursue careers in the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences. AMS will be awarding a total of seven scholarships to students entering their freshman year of college. The awards offer $6,000 stipends, $3,000 for the freshman year, and an additional $3,000 for the sophomore year. It is noted that three of its scholarships have been funded through generous donations from AMS members.

The article announces the application for the 2008/2009 American Meteorological Society (AMS)/Industry/Government Graduate Fellowship offered by the Society in cooperation with industry and four federal agencies. This program aims to attract promising young scientists to prepare for careers in the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic fields. It awards recipients with $22,000 stipends for a nine-month period for this academic year. Qualified students are those who are entering their first year of graduate study in the fall of 2008. Moreover, the number of actual fellowships to be awarded depends on AMS funding.

The article offers information on the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement or the Consortium and its approach to measure development in the U.S. It states that the Consortium is composed of more than 100 representatives from national medical societies, state medical associations, and medical specialty boards. Moreover, the Consortium aims to develop measures that are beneficial for physicians at the point of care and in practice-wide analysis. Its approach to measure development includes such steps as identifying opportunities for improvement, involving representatives from all medical specialties in the process, and testing measures.

The article discusses the link between reporting and accountability that is essential to understanding the U.S. Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) position that measures of performance should appear in the financial statements of state and local governments. The GASB has been the setter of accounting and financial reporting standards for state and local governments since 1984.

My life journey started with Brown and has culminated with the celebration and legacy of The Journal of Negro Education using, only six degrees of separation. Six degrees of separation is a theory that anyone can be connected to another person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances or events that has no more than five intermediaries. During these past 52 years, 1 see my life as a planned chain of events that have connected me with my historical past to ensure the continuance of educational excellence of future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study is an investigation of the relationship between effective leadership behavior and successful strategy implementation in the Nevada casino industry. The study's findings mostly agree with earlier research on the concept of strategy implementation and reaffirm the role that strategic consensus plays in the strategy implementation process. The study also reinforces findings that frequent communication up and down the organization structure enhances strategic consensus through the fostering of shared attitudes and values. In addition, it reaffirms the concept that an organization which ties rewards to the success of the strategy employed is rewarded with higher levels of organizational performance and concludes that strategy implementation plans must be clearly developed, indicating particular tasks for individuals, with clear-cut time frames, and identifying the people responsible for task completion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a recent survey of establishments in the United States, the authors examine how nonprofit, public, and for-profit establishments vary in the use of high-performance work organization (HPWO) practices that offer opportunities for participation in decision making (via self-directed teams and offline committees), enhance the capacity for participation (via multiskilling practices such as job rotation), and provide incentives for participation (via compensation practices). Nonprofit and public organizations are less likely to use performance incentives (gain sharing and bonuses) and some multiskilling practices than are for-profit organizations but more likely to use both self-directed work teams and offline committees. Sectoral differences in the prevalence of incentive compensation and self-directed teams persist after correlates of sector that predict HPWO prevalence—including establishment size, industry, computational requirements, and unionization—are controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The federal government in late 1999 sued thirty-six electric power facilities to enforce several of the Clean Air Act's New Source Review (NSR) and New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) provisions. As these cases have slowly churned through the courts, the government has simultaneously tinkered with these rules through various rulemaking initiatives. Taken together, these actions have clouded the meaning of critical NSR and NSPS provisions, and generated many additional civil and legislative battles. This Article focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court's review of one such civil battle--the Fourth Circuit's decision in United States v. Duke Energy Corp.--and EPA's subsequent rulemaking response. The Article first dissects the Fourth Circuit's opinion, argues that it was wrongly decided, and urges the US. Supreme Court to reach a different conclusion. Then, the Article outlines EPA's proposed regulatory solution to the Fourth Circuit's decision and proposes two vastly different regulatory responses. Unlike EPA's proposal, this Article's proposals unify the NSR and NSPS provisions and provide greater regulatory flexibility without significantly weakening the NSR program. Regardless of what the U.S. Supreme Court decides, this Article takes the position that Congress or EPA should adopt one of its proposals because the proposals ease industry burdens, provide greater environmental protection, and simplify the entire NSR and NSPS process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In New York v. Environmental Protection Agency, the D.C. Circuit upheld most of EPA's changes to the Clean Air Act's New Source Review program. Despite widespread public criticism that the new rule would make it easier for existing sources to avoid installing pollution control technology when they make modifications, the D.C. Circuit deterred to EPA's judgment that the new rule would have compensating environmental benefits. However the court did vacate the rule's Clean Units and Pollution Control Projects provisions, and remanded to the agency to provide a more reasoned explanation of how less stringent reporting requirements would not undermine EPA enforcement practices. The court also deferred two potentially critical questions as unripe: whether EPA can compel states to adopt the new rules and whether EPA's approval of state implementation plans containing the new rules would violate the Clean Air Act's anti-backsliding provisions. After examining the court's entire decision, this Note will focus on these two deferrals and argue that they were prudent given the very detailed factual records necessary to decide these claims. By leaving these claims unsettled, the decision allows for further analysis of the new rule's environmental and health effects-analysis that might improve the rule's clarity, practicability, and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing an incentives-based budget system at a large public research university significantly redirected internal funds while producing notable organizational and financial surprises. For example, units did not increase their "hoarding" of students, contrary to some expectations. The findings point to several issues for further analysis and research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article provides information pertaining to pay-for-performance (P4P) in medical practice setting in the United States. Pay-for-performance refers to financial incentive programs that pay bonuses to participants, physicians, physician groups, health plans, or hospitals, that make progress, or attain specific benchmarks, in quality and efficiency. Alternatively, P4P programs may create different tiers of providers based on quality standards, and then give patients financial incentives, such as lower co-payments, to use one tier instead of another. This latter mechanism is currently the subject of an argument between the Barnes Jewish health system in St. Louis and United Healthcare.

This paper presents an analysis of the impacts of extended duration overtime on construction labor productivity. The results show a decrease in productivity as the number of hours worked per week increase and/or as project duration increases. The research focuses on labor intensive trades such as the electrical and mechanical trades. Overtime in this research is defined as the hours worked beyond the typical 40 h scheduled per week. The paper begins by presenting the effects of overtime and the need for an updated overtime productivity model. Data for the quantitative analysis was collected from 88 projects located across the United States by means of a questionnaire. Various statistical analysis techniques were performed to develop quantitative relationship curves, including multiple regression, P-value tests, and analysis of variance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the performance-based regulation (PBR) in the electricity sector in the U.S. Overview on the development of PBR; Number of electric utility companies operating under the PBR; Utilization of incentive plans in the electric utility industries with PBR.

In order to develop successful marketing and management strategies, service marketers need to understand how consumers evaluate the quality of their services. However, customer evaluations of service quality are an elusive concept to measure with a single method. The existing literature suggests that triangulation, or the use of multiple methodologies and data sources, would produce more valid and reliable data. This study demonstrates how triangulation can actually be used in measuring transportation service quality. Data are collected from the general public as well as from transportation officials through surveys, critical incident techniques, and focus group interviews. The results identify the areas of transportation activities with which the respondents are currently satisfied or dissatisfied, and determine the relative importance and funding priorities of various transportation services. The consistencies as well as the inconsistencies of the results from the two groups of respondents and from two different methodologies are examined and discussed from a managerial point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the quality of higher education among graduate institutions in the U.S. as of December 1976. Despite the substantial commitment to formal learning in this country, very little is known about what represents excellence in education. At the graduate level, particularly for doctoral programs, rather fine distinctions among departments and institutions are commonly made. In pursuing the determinants of quality, one of the first problems to be resolved is whether to focus on individual graduate departments or the larger institution itself. Using a limited number of variables the perceived quality of graduate faculty among U.S. institutions of higher education may be closely predicted. Of primary importance is the existence of extensive library holdings, although this is of less consequence when the natural sciences and engineering are considered separately. Although economic resources do not have quite as much independent impact as was expected, it may be that a particular financial plateau must be attained before good schools can become great universities. Faculty-student ratio is also influential in achieving excellence, although faculty salaries apparently matter little as a separate contributing factor.

In current methods of profile monitoring, standards of acceptability (cut-offs) are set either by consulting panels of experts, or by selecting an arbitrary point (e.g., the 75th percentile) on the profile (statistical distribution). However, experts have only vague ideas of what outcome rates ought to be, while profile statistics stem from samples for which unknown percentages of cases have received acceptable care. Poorly chosen standards could cause profile monitoring to be ineffective, inefficient, or unnecessarily disruptive. A new method proposes to set standards by using statistics for which the percentage of adequate care has been predetermined by examining the process of care. Plans to circumvent the pitfalls involved are described, as are two approaches to estimating the degree of process adequacy from routinely produced outcome rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the developments of Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) program, which was based on the successful Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT) in the U.S. It highlights the goal of the TPA consortium which will develop a nationally available instrument in assessing the performance of teachers. The significance of TPA towards the standardization of the quality of teaching beneficial to students is also emphasized.

The article offers news briefs related to American National Standards (ANSI Standards) in area of acoustics. It reports on the new standards for the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS). It announces the national and international meetings, including 158th Acoustical Society of America (ASA) meeting, the ISO/TC 43, and the IEC TC 29. It also reports on the revision and redesignation of ANSI/SCTE 24-17-2007 standards for the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers.

The article presents an overview of the National League of Nursing's (NLN) Center of Excellence (COE) designation in the U.S. It states that the process of obtaining COE designation is described relative to the Hallmarks of Excellence in Nursing Education and offers a palette of primary characteristics that represents a level of outstanding performance or service that leads excellence. In addition, the NLN's Excellence in Nursing Education Model provides a visual map of the road to excellence and reflects eight core elements.

The sub-prime credit crisis in the United States was fueled by Pay-for-Performance schemes that rewarded high volume loan-making over credit worthy lending and good judgment. As a result, many thousands of individuals now are facing financial ruin through foreclosures. Should Pay-for-Performance arrangements be used in schools as incentives to raise test scores? Is this a sound idea for motivating teachers and administrators? This article discusses Pay-for-Performance and considers the appropriateness of such mechanisms in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on performance metrics for biopharmaceutical companies that work with clinical research organizations (CROs) in conducting studies in the U.S. According to the study by Health Industry Insights and sponsored by Paraxel, the metrics help project accurate finishing times and assist in keeping within a budget. The study found that CROs are developing stronger relationships with their outsourcing partners to provide expertise on a global scale.

The article focuses on a study launched by the European Commission's Directorate General for Research in 2000. The study discusses the structural similarities and differences between European and the U.S. biotech research centers, their performances, and

For over 80 per cent of a national sample of local health agencies in the United States, minimum program standards are specified by the state, by law, regulation, or some other policy method. The performance standards that are used are a mix of state and local standards, with one-third of the agencies reporting that the Model Standards were used in developing their own standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author discusses initiatives by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) that balances the individual needs of various research institutes, on a limited budget, without weakening support for academic research. An overview of the impact of reductions in federal funding on the ability of NSF to support research across a broad range of disciplines and three initiatives implemented by NSF director Subra Suresh that are designed to maintain excellence within a limited budget, including the Career-Life Balance Initiative, the Science Across Virtual Institutes (SAVI), and Innovation Corps (I-Corps) initiative, is presented.

The authors offers criticism of the U.S. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. He comments that it and the test-based accountability (TBA) system need to be revised. He notes that TBA test scores tend to be inflated to earn performance-based incentives. Also discussed are the so-called proficiency threshold and the proficient performance standard with criticism aimed at the NCLB reward system that focuses attention on a single performance statistic. The author also refers to a shortage of sound evidence on the benefits of the NCLB law and he discusses changes that are needed in implementing the NCLB Act.

The article discusses factors in maintaining a good performance level for hospitals in the U.S. It says that proper management within hospitals includes sufficient facilities, accessible services for emergency patients, and breakthrough training for employees to commit best and appropriate practices. It also mentions that establishing proper organizational structure for performance monitoring, patient safety, and physician credentialing would help to organize the hospital's management orderly.

The article reports on the impact of the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to the health-care reform in the U.S. It states that NICE has been regarded as a world leader in comparative-effectiveness studies. Moreover, the best-practice guidelines of NICE from early testing for breast cancer to child nutrition is welcomed by most medical professionals. The author emphasizes that several Americans are dying with cancer and losing their homes due to their inability to afford treatments that are not covered by a health insurance plan.

The article discusses what is being done to strengthen the U.S. environmental public health infrastructure and improve the practice of environmental health. The focus of the article is an overview of the 2006 U.S. National Center of Environmental Health (NCEH) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) development of the Environmental Public Health Performance Standards (EnvPHPS). The EnvPHPS is a companion to the National Public Health Performance Standards (NPHPS). Topics include how the two standards can be applied to environmental health and protection programs and examples of what they can accomplish, such as the ability to assess the capacity of a state, tribal, or local government to perform environmental health services essential to a population.