Research Brief Research Articles

Real Time Responses: Front Line Educators’ View to the Challenges the Pandemic has Posed on Students and Faculty

After months of school closures, a variety of educators were surveyed with the goal of understanding their lived experience of teaching during a pandemic and the supports they needed to be successful during this challenge. The educators span different grade levels, school districts, and states. Their responses were illuminating for educational leaders when planning for a new school year. The purpose of this research brief was to collect real time responses from educators as they attempted to meet the varied challenges of educating during a pandemic. The questions focused on strengths needed by the educator, characteristics observed in successful students, and school supports that were helpful to gain successful outcomes. A variety of educators, spanning from kindergarten through high school, were surveyed. All participants were asked the same questions, and their responses were collected, coded, and organized around different educational leadership themes: teacher efficacy, school culture, and student resiliency. The goal of this research brief was to gain crucial information while educators were facing the pandemic and use their responses to frame a conversation for educational leaders as they plan for upcoming challenges they may face. From this research brief, characteristics of success begin to emerge. What does an educator need to focus on to be successful? What can we learn from our most successful students? What role can a school’s culture play, even when no one is there?

الفرق بين صکوک التمـويل والسـندات

يعد الاستثمار في الأوراق المالية بشکل عام والصکوک بشکل خاص من الأنشطة التي تزداد أهميتها يوما بعد يوم؛ نظرا لانتشار التعامل بها في أوساط المستثمرين؛ وأيضا لضخامة الأموال المستثمرة فيها، فأصبح بذلک نشاطا اقتصاديا أساسيا، وله تأثير واضح على الاقتصاديات المحلية والدولية التي تعتمد عليها في تمويلها وتعزيز نموها اقتصاديا. وقد تناولنا في البحث مفهوم الصکوک من حيث تعريفها، وأهميتها، ونشأتها، وخصائصها، وأنواعها. ومن ثم تناولنا مفهوم السندات من حيث تعريفها، وخصائصها، وأنواعها، ومن ثم أوجه التشابه بينها وصکوک التمويل. وخلصنا إلى إن الخلط بين الصکوک والسندات راجع إلى ما بينهما من شبه من ناحية أن کليهما يصدر بقيمة اسمية، وأن للصکوک عائدا متوقعا مرتبطا بتلک القيمة الاسمية، کما إن هيکل الإصدار يتضمن ترتيبات تقلل مخاطر التقلبات في ثمن الصک وتؤدي إلى استقرار المبلغ الذي يمکن لحامل الصک أن يسترده في نهاية مدته. ومن أهم النتائج التي توصلنا إليها وجود اختلاف بين الصکوک السندات يتمثل في الآتي:- -أن الصکوک من ناحية قيمتها الاسمية، فهي ليست مضمونة على المصدر، ومن ثم لا تکون دينا في ذمة المصدر. -إن ما يدفع على الصکوک ربح مصدره النشاط الذي استخدمت فيه أموال حملة الصکوک أو الإيراد المتولد من الأصول التي يملکونها بموجب الصکوک، وليس فائدة مرتبة على القيمة الاسمية. بينما أن السندات ديون ربوية والقروض وثائق ملکية لأصل مولد لعائد أو استثمار مدر لربح. - عند تصفية المشروع، يکون لصاحب السند الأولوية في الحصول على قيمة السند وفوائده المتفق عليها، أما مالک الصک فليس له الأولوية، وإنما تصرف له نسبته مما يتبقى من موجودات المشروع بعد سداد الديون. - من حيث الطبيعة والشکل القانوني تمثل الصکوک حصة شائعة طبقا لمبدأ المشارکة في الربح والخسارة ويعتبر من الاستثمارات المتوسطة وطويلة الأجل، بينما تعتبر السندات قرض ربوي بفوائد ثابته ويعتبر من الاستثمارات طويلة الأجل. Abstract: Investing in securities in general and instruments in particular is one of the activities whose importance increases day after day, given the prevalence of dealing in them among investors and the magnitude of funds invested in it. Hence, this became a basic economic activity having clear-cut impact on the domestic and global economies that rely on it for financing and promoting its economic growth. In this research brief, we discussed the notion of instruments including the definition, importance, origin, features and types. We also underscored the idea of bonds in terms of their definition, characteristics, and types, then similarities between bonds and financing instruments. We concluded that the confusion between instruments and bonds is due to the similarity between them whereas both are issued with a nominal value. In addition, the instruments have an expected return associated with that nominal value and the issue structure includes arrangements that reduce the risk of fluctuations taking place in the instrument price and result in the stabilization of the sum that may be regained at the end of its term by the instrument holder. The most important results reached between bonds and instruments: O Instruments regarding their nominal value are not guaranteed by the issuer, and therefore they are not debt owed by the issuer O What is paid on the instruments is a profit from the activity in which the instrument holders ’funds or the revenue generated from the assets owned are used according to the instruments. These funds are not an interest based on the nominal value, while bonds are usurious debts and loans are proprietary documents of an asset that generates a return or a profitable investment O When a project is liquidated, holder of the bond will have priority to obtain the value of the bond and its agreed benefits, while the owner of the instrument has no priority and the rate left from assets of the project is paid to the owner after paying the debts O Regarding the nature and legal form, the instruments represent a common share in accordance with the principle of sharing in profit and loss. Instruments are also considered a medium and long-term investment while the bonds are a usurious loan with fixed interest rates and a long-term investment

Feeding the City, Pandemic and Beyond

Feeding the City, Pandemic and Beyond

Lunch Interrupted! COVID-19 and Japan’s School Meals

On April 22,2020 a crowd gathered at the Fujikata Racetrack in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, Japan With the anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic swirling about them, citizens ventured from their homes donning facemasks Once at the racetrack they formed a "socially distant" line and waited for the gates to open Residents were not waiting to see a race Rather, they had come to do their grocery shopping While nearby city markets and green grocers were still open for business, these citizens had come in hopes of snagging a bargain and also supporting their community This was not your typical farmers' market the produce was gathered from unfulfilled school lunch orders With schoolyards shuttered due to the pandemic, the fresh ingredients ordered months ago had nowhere to go, and rather than let the food go to waste, the community and local government intervened Even with the schools closed, school lunch helped to unite a community

Flipped Learning During a Global Pandemic: Empowering Students with Choice

The purpose of this paper is to provide a research brief on current studies related to utilizing a flipped learning model. The flipped model entails students engaging with a recorded lecture prior to live class time, allowing for more student engagement with content, classmates, and the instructor during class time. A flipped model empowers students with more choice and control over their learning, can improve student achievement, and can reduce student anxiety. During a global pandemic when nearly all higher education institutions have rapidly transitioned to online learning platforms, a flipped model can provide a blended, balanced approach to student learning.

“The thing about animals is they are not judgemental”: Stories and images from formerly incarcerated women about their relationships with companion animals

INTRODUCTION: The data presented in this research brief are drawn from a project which asked 12 former prisoners what they thought outsiders should know about imprisonment and release. One of the themes arising from the data suggested that, rather than participating in a mandated programme or professionally delivered intervention, the reasons for successfully staying out of prison were based on relationships and connections. Sometimes these relationships were with family, community, a specific worker or group and, for six of the women, with companion animals. It was a combination of these relationships which helped the participants find their own pathways to staying in the community and, eventually, out of the criminal justice system.APPROACH: Data were created using Photovoice, an arts-based, qualitative, participatory action research method where participants take photographs and then use those images to help tell their story. Participants were invited to talk about anything they saw as important for outsiders to know about their experiences of imprisonment and release. Unexpectedly, six of the women chose to speak about the importance of their relationship with companion animals.FINDINGS: The data presented here show the value that women in this project placed on their relationships with companion animals. More broadly, their data point to the importance of having non-judgemental relationships and the benefits of being able to ‘give back’.CONCLUSION: The unexpected findings presented in this research brief suggest that social workers must take into consideration all relationships criminalised women have, not just those with other humans.

An evaluation of telehealth expansion in U.S. nursing homes.

This research brief contains results from a national survey about telehealth use reported in a random sample of U.S. nursing homes. The sample includes nursing homes (N = 664) that completed surveys about information technology maturity, including telehealth use, beginning January 1, 2019, and ending August 4, 2020. A pre/post design was employed to examine differences in nursing home telehealth use for nursing homes completing surveys prior to and after telehealth expansion, on March 6, 2020. We calculated a cumulative telehealth score using survey data from 6 questions about extent of nursing home telehealth use (score range 0-42). We calculated proportions of nursing homes using telehealth and used logistic regression to look for differences in nursing homes based on organizational characteristics and odds ratios. Significant relationships were found between nursing home characteristics and telehealth use, and specifically, larger metropolitan homes reported greater telehealth use. Ownership had little effect on telehealth use. Nursing homes postexpansion used telehealth applications for resident evaluation 11.24 times more (P < .01) thandid nursing homes pre-expansion. Administrators completing our survey reported a wide range of telehealth use, including approximately 16% having no telehealth use and 5% having the maximum amount of telehealth use. Mean telehealth use scores reported by the majority of these nursing homes is on the lower end of the range. One solution for the current pandemic is to encourage the proliferation of telehealth with continued relaxed regulations, which can reduce isolation and preserve limited resources (eg, personal protective equipment) while maintaining proper distancing parameters.

Deprescribing Guidelines: Value of an Interactive Mobile Application.

We developed a new channel on a mobile app as a continuing education tool to augment the use of deprescribing guideline content in clinical practice. In this research brief, we describe the reach and adoption of channel content, as well as user feedback. Using Google Analytics, we counted page views of the website (deprescribing.org) where the app was promoted. We calculated total app downloads, monthly active users, and guideline-specific page views. Users were invited to complete the embedded Information Assessment Method (IAM) Questionnaire to obtain feedback on the value of information presented on the Deprescribing Channel. Between March 2, 2019 and November 30, 2019, we documented 9,454 page views of the promotional web page across 40 countries. The Deprescribing Channel was downloaded 3,256 times with an average of 464 monthly users. In total, the guidelines on this channel were accessed 14,377 times with 49,721 views across all guideline pages. Thirty-seven IAM questionnaires were completed. Thirty-two responses indicated this deprescribing information was relevant for at least one of their patients. Regarding educational outcomes, 22 responses were of learning something new and/or being motivated to learn more. We documented international interest in a mobile app providing continuing education on deprescribing. App users generated sustained page views over the study period. Feedback from a small number of users was positive with the majority finding the content relevant, educational, and applicable to patient care. Further work is needed to improve the usability of the embedded feedback questionnaire and to evaluate its value in supporting learning.

Handouts for Low-Potassium Diets Disproportionately Restrict Fruits and Vegetables

Several recent publications, including an expert summary on hyperkalemia management, have encouraged plant-based foods for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and highlighted the impact of potassium additives on total potassium intake. The aim of this research brief was to investigate if and/or how current recommendations for low-potassium diet may incorporate these new recommendations. Using a geographical approach, each province's and territory's government health and renal program (where applicable) website was reviewed for resources on dietary potassium restriction. All handouts/booklets/printable webpages were obtained and reviewed. Eighteen resources from 6 provincial health agencies in Canada were included. Six additional resources from national agencies were also included, 4 from Canada and 2 from the United States. The 5 most commonly restricted foods were bananas, potatoes, oranges, cantaloupe, and avocados. All resources recommended restriction of fruits and vegetables, 67% recommended restriction of dairy products, 57% recommended restriction of whole grain products, 62% recommended restrictions of plant-based proteins, and 67% mentioned restriction of other foods (such as coffee, tea, and chocolate), 28% mentioned restriction of potassium additives in ultraprocessed foods. Low-potassium diets primarily restrict fruits and vegetables while the least common restriction is ultraprocessed food. Several recent publics have recommended a greater focus on ultraprocessed versus unprocessed food for hyperkalemia management. These new recommendations differ from current teaching materials that predominately restrict plant-based foods to manage hyperkalemia in CKD. Updates will likely be needed to current resources to reflect new recommendations.

Harvest of the Month for Early Childhood Education: Parent Perspectives

The purpose of this research brief is to report on the impact of Harvest of the Month (HOM) for Early Care and Education (ECE) at home to better understand parent perspectives and influences on children’s nutrition behavior. Harvest of the Month (HOM) is a farm to school programming strategy that features a locally grown food in at least one nutrition and agriculture lesson, taste test activity, and a snack or meal recipe each month. This exploratory study used a survey research design to gather parent perspectives during pilot implementation of HOM for ECE during the 2017 – 2018 school year. The survey was delivered electronically. Twenty-one parents from a campus-based preschool program in the northwest United States reported procurement and consumption of HOM foods at home. Findings suggest that a variety of HOM foods are being served and consumed at home. Parents in this study placed more importance on knowing where food comes from rather than serving local foods. Further, parents’ knowledge of farm to ECE, reported food purchasing at farmer’s markets, and participation in community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs were limited, suggesting a need for continued targeted parent education that could have a positive effect of families’ healthy eating.

Typical Rates of Regression After Exiting Supplemental Interventions in Reading

Once students meet exit criteria and Tier 2 reading supports are removed, many do not maintain their current progress and fail to meet future performance benchmarks. Although estimates of average growth during intervention exist, typical rates of growth after supports are removed are relatively unknown. In this research brief, we used segmented regression to quantify differences between students’ reading fluency progress during intervention and postintervention. Participants were second and third grade students, from 16 schools, who were receiving Tier 2 reading interventions targeting oral reading fluency. Once students met exit criteria, their progress was monitored weekly for the rest of the school year. The average rate of improvement was 3.50 words read correct in 1 minute (WRCM) per week (SD = 1.65) during the intervention and 0.09 WRCM (SD = 1.63) after exiting the intervention. Students who met exit criteria during the fall semester (i.e., fast responders) displayed significantly (p < .001) higher growth during the intervention (M = 4.32) compared to students who exited during the spring semester (i.e., slow responders; M = 2.69). Moreover, the average rate of postintervention growth was significantly (p < .001) higher for fast responders (M = 0.54) compared to slow responders (M = −0.35 WRCM improvement per week).

What are Banks Doing to Address the Impacts of COVID-19 on LMI Communities? Early Approaches to Addressing the Crisis

Banks play a key role in helping to alleviate the economic impacts of COVID-19 and have been encouraged to leverage Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) activities in their response. This research brief presents findings from interviews with community development officers across CRA-motivated financial institutions in the Twelfth Federal Reserve District and summarizes their early response actions. Interviewers asked about changes to lending, services, and investments; whether the recent CRA guidance had spurred any changes to the ways banks were operating; how banks were prioritizing growing need; and ways banks were being responsive to evolving community conditions.

The Limitations of Using Wasted Food to “Feed Hungry People”

ABSTRACT In this research brief, we report on findings from research on organizations that distribute recovered food in Metro Vancouver, Canada in the context of widespread food waste. Our findings suggest that there are challenges and costs associated with the redistribution of recovered food, and that there can be a stigma associated with using wasted food in food programming. We recommend further study of the large-scale diversion of uneaten food to food security programs, and we argue that food donation should be viewed as a limited, short-term and partial response to food waste crises, rather than a systemic fix.

Out-migration from and return migration to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria: evidence from the consumer credit panel

In this research brief, we contribute to a much-needed, initial, and growing inventory of data on Puerto Rican migration after Hurricane Maria. Using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York/Equifax Consumer Credit Panel, we provide a detailed account of out-migration from and return migration to Puerto Rico in the quarters and years after Hurricane Maria. We show that out-migration from Puerto Rico was and remains elevated after Hurricane Maria, particularly for more vulnerable places with respect to water area and especially substandard housing. We also show that return migration to Puerto Rico by the second quarter of 2019 is low, 12–13%, with those emigrating from relatively more vulnerable places returning to the island at comparably higher levels than those from less vulnerable places. Taken together, our results help to round out a small, but growing body of research on migration after Hurricane Maria and other extreme weather events.

Research for Practitioners: Cognitive Bias

Research has shown multiple cognitive biases that affect compensation related decisions. This research brief lists and describes several, including the bias held by most of us that we are too intellignet to fall prey to biases. Implications for HR and compensation practitioners conclude this research brief.

A vision for the next phase of JRST

A vision for the next phase of JRST

Quality of patient, family, caregiver and public engagement in decision-making in healthcare systems: a scoping review protocol

IntroductionTo advance person- and family-centred healthcare, government initiatives have supported the engagement of patients and family caregivers in decision-making in healthcare systems. There is, however, no consensus on how to...

If You Ignore Manipulation Errors in Your Experiments You Might Be P-Hacking Without Knowing.

This research brief is a cautionary note on the dangers of using p-values as empirical evidence for crossover effects in consumer research. If you rely on experimental manipulation to produce between-subjects variation on a moderator construct, and then test for interaction effects on the manipulation (rather than the moderator construct), your evidence of a crossover effect might be based on spurious statistical significance. The main purpose here is to alert experimenters about ignoring manipulation errors, rather than proposing specific solutions (even though I briefly review the literature proposing methods to ameliorate the situation).

Terrorist assassinations and societal unrest in Africa: a research brief

ABSTRACTThis exploratory research brief examines social unrest in Africa in the aftermath of terrorist assassinations. Assassination is a tactic of violence in modern terrorist campaigns and assassinations are interwoven across the African continent with social conflict events such as demonstrations and riots. Utilizing survival analysis, this article finds variation in the likelihood of social unrest across five African subregions and tests for the type of event most likely to occur after a terrorist assassination. Analyses of data on thirty-seven African states drawn from the Global Terrorism Database and Social Conflict Analysis Database from 1990–2015 suggest that demonstrations may be more likely than riots in the aftermath of a terrorist assassination in Africa and that these events are more likely to be spontaneous, rather than organized, in nature.

The Farmers Market Metrics Project: A Research Brief on Scalable Data Collection in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro

Maintaining funding for local and regional food system initiatives requires reliable data to demon­strate their impacts. Data that are specific to farm­ers markets in a localized context are not readily available. The Farmers Market Metrics Project is a three-way partnership between farmers markets, local government, and a university to elevate the capacity of the markets in the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metro region through regionally collected metrics to quantify their presence in the regional food system. In this research brief, we introduce the FM360 data collection method being developed by the project, which is scalable across geographic areas. Scalability is critical to making the data collection process adaptable and effective in cases involving multiple data sources and when flexibility is needed in defining the food system parameters to satisfy partners and prospective funders. See the press release for this article.