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Existing research in the area of educational disadvantage in the Irish context is located either within the historiography of policy in the area or in contemporary macro analysis of dominant trends. The existing canon of research tells us that prolonged periods of unemployment and poorer health outcomes are features of early school leavers, that the educational experience of young people are reflected in their future life trajectories, and that inter-generational transmission is common. While broader macro analysis is fundamental in informing policy, context-specific research is also critical in shaping the policy trajectory and policy implementation. This article provides for the first time in Irish post-primary education an in-depth examination of the experience of existing policy in six case study schools, as articulated through the voices of school leaders, teachers, parents and pupils. The focus here is on the adequacy or otherwise of the resources provided under the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) programme in light of the particular challenges those school communities face. Clear evidence emerges that not only are the resources inadequate but that mechanisms are in place in the state's funding of post-primary schools to ensure the perpetuation of educational disadvantage.

The year 2022, one hundred years since the foundation of the State, provides an opportunity to reflect on the development of policy in relation to educational equality over the course of the last century, including promises made and opportunities lost. This article looks back at one hundred years of education policy through an equality lens, asking whether or not the state has delivered on promises made and whether or not commitments to fostering equality espoused at key junctures have been realised. It concludes that despite the incremental and sophisticated evolution of policy, achieving equality has not been to the forefront of policymaking in Irish education since the State was founded, with the exception of a brief period during the 1960s.

2022 marks one hundred years since the foundation of the Irish State, and thus an appropriate time in which to reflect on how educational policy has shaped the nation over the course of a century. This article examines one hundred years of education policy through an equality lens, asking how the concept of educational equality has been understood, fostered and mediated. Framing policy implementation across three defined periods, 1922–1959, 1960–1980 and 1981–2022, it argues that with the exception of a brief window which occurred during the 1960s, education policy has not been underpinned by rigorous policy formation based on considerations of social justice.1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004, a new form of inspection was introduced to post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. It represented a complete change from the previous light touch pattern and reflected the New Public Management approach to policymaking and implementation then becoming fashionable in the jurisdiction. Around the same time, a new policy for tackling educational disadvantage was adopted. Recent case-study research into the effectiveness of this policy elicited views from six school communities on a wide range of issues. One was the experiences of teachers and school leaders in dealing with the impact of the new inspection regime over the last fifteen years. The picture that emerged is a cause of serious concern.

In 1831, the British Government decided to become directly involved in the provision of elementary education in Ireland, a country over which it then had jurisdiction. By European standards of the time this was a highly unusual step. A number of scholars have interrogated the factors that led to this outcome as well as the role played by various individuals. Daniel O'Connell's activities, at this time, have been described as relatively limited, which appears incongruous given that he is considered the most powerful Irish politician of this era and was then at the height of his powers. It is the central contention of this article that O'Connell was, in fact, intimately involved in bringing about a national system of elementary education. Of more lasting significance is the manner in which he defined the role of the politician vis-à-vis the Church authorities in educational policy-making. In this regard he established a pattern that remained unchanged for over a century and indeed, it could be argued, largely persists to this day.

A decade of transformation that emerged following a period of inertia and insularity in Irish education, the 1960s is widely regarded by scholars as representing a paradigm shift in education policy. Marked by a more interventionist, strategic policy approach, this period resulted in significant democratisation of education, particularly at post-primary level. Based on an analysis of key primary sources, many of which are here examined for the first time, this article argues that this step change in policy, the impact of which should not be underestimated, would not have been possible without the deep-seated commitment of a number of politicians and policy advisers committed to the democratisation of post-primary education.

The last several years have seen an escalation in calls for an adequate response at governmental level to the reality of a teacher supply crisis in Ireland. This article traces the evolution of the crisis, providing important socio-historical context and analysis. It argues that while the issue of a steady supply of teachers has been a feature of the evolving complexion of the Irish educational landscape for decades, the problem has become more pronounced in recent years. Despite this accentuation, there has been a reluctance at a policy level to engage with meaningful dialogue and action which risks irrevocably damaging the profession and ultimately the education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of an optimal portfolio is normally handled by classic mean variance quadratic programming. This analysis forms the basis of ‘asset only’ investing, and can be converted simply for tracking error investing (relevant to fully invested asset managers). The problem requires generalisation to include liabilities. Once this is done, we find not only the residual of asset-only investing, but also additional terms representing the influence of the liabilities. The optimal portfolios are thus different from classic mean variance optimisation, and moreover, the nature of the portfolios changes depending on the funding status of the ALM problem. Thus, ‘asset only’ mean variance optimisers produce inferior portfolios, and inappropriate recommendations for the ALM problem. Further, while we recognise the historical status awarded to volatility as the risk measure, we note the ability of the formalism to handle non-standard risk statements, such as the new financial assessment framework (FTK), recently proposed in the Netherlands. The results can be summarised as a new form of capital efficient frontier, not in return-volatility space, but asset return-shock space and a new tool that characterises the trade-off between competing volatility and shock constraints.Journal of Asset Management (2007) 7, 325–334. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jam.2250045 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses several issues related to the homeowner associations in the United States. The homeowner associations manage more than half of all housing for sale in the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. The homeowner associations play a formative role in shaping the civic and social character of their members' lives.

One of the key features of wavelet analysis is its ability to decompose non-stationary signals according to time and scale. In this work, we use discrete wavelets to analyze the influence of detrending techniques on the time-scale information structure of daily financial data. We examine the use of log returns, a linear trend and the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter. Quantitative measurements of information distortion are given using the mean-squared error (MSE) and correlation of the wavelet coefficients between the detrended and original data. We find that log returns and linear detrending are most distortional. We also conclude that the HP-filter is most effective, depending on appropriate selection of the filter parameter, λ, which is ...(10[sup 11]) for the given data set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]