Planning changes to health library services on the basis of impact assessment

Background: Various methods of impact assessment for health library services exist, including a toolkit developed for the UK. The Knowledge, Resource and Information service (KRIS) for health promotion, health service commissioning and public health (Bristol area, UK) commissioned an independent team at Aberystwyth University to provide an impact assessment and evaluation of their services and to provide evidence for future planning. Objective: The review aimed to provide an action plan for KRIS through assessing the impact of the current service, extent of satisfaction with existing services and views on desirable improvements. Methods: Existing impact toolkit guidance was used, with an adapted impact questionnaire, which was distributed by the KRIS staff to 244 users (response rate 62.3%) in early 2009. The independent team analysed the questionnaire data and presented the findings. Results: Users valued the service (93% considered that relevant information was obtained). The most frequent impacts on work were advice to patients, clients or carers, and advice to colleagues. Literature searching and current awareness services saved staff time. Many users were seeking health promotion materials. Conclusion: The adapted questionnaire worked well in demonstrating the service impacts achieved by KRIS, as well as indicating desirable improvements in service delivery.     

Students with autism in regular classes: a long-term follow-up study of a satellite class transition model

Students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are increasingly being educated within mainstream schools. While there is often an assumption that students with ASD who are academically capable will succeed in an inclusive educational placement, previous research has indicated that this is not always the case. Indeed, it seems that students with ASDs are often not equipped to cope with the social and communication demands of a mainstream classroom. Autism Spectrum Australia's (Aspect) satellite class programme aims to address this gap by blending specialised intervention with strategies to prepare students and receiving schools for transition to more inclusive educational placements. A long-term follow-up study comprising a parent survey of satellite class graduates and four detailed case studies was undertaken to determine whether these classes led to successful placement of students with ASD in more inclusive educational settings. Results indicated that a majority of graduates remained placed in more inclusive educational settings. Overall, parents were satisfied with the programme. Attendance at a satellite class was just one of a number of factors associated with positive outcomes in late adolescence. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for teachers and school staff planning for and supporting students with ASDs in their transition to inclusive educational settings.     

Bridging the Gap Between Degree Programme Curricula and Employability Through Implementation of Work-related Learning

This article investigates the gap between employers' requirements of graduates and the skills which graduates are furnished with through degree programmes in the higher education (HE) sector in the UK. A survey of 88 subject review reports prepared by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for environmentally related units in the UK showed little emphasis on employability issues. Surveys of first destination statistics of a cohort of graduates from two biological degrees and from national data showed that a significant proportion of graduates were in non-science-based activities. The non-knowledge-based learning outcomes from one degree were investigated, and showed that employability aspects were partially covered in the programme, but were not always associated with secure assessments. The concept of work-related learning is defined and a conceptual framework for HE practitioners is presented that could be used when designing curricula to better map programme learning outcomes onto graduate employment.     

Managing change in the primary school: What we have learnt about the role of external support

Criteria for placement of pupils into bands and the subsequent effect of banding on educational and post‐educational careers were investigated in a longitudinal study of two cohorts of comprehensive school pupils. The abiding influence of social class and measured ability in early assignment of pupils to bands was observed, and a disjunction demonstrated between a banding system with the potential for flexibility and the reality of the situation where it was marked by ossification and early tracking of pupils to differential educational destinations. The notion of the school as an enduring conservative force is investigated, the banding system being both an outcome and a determinant of this conservatism. The data is used to raise methodological questions involved in investigating complex issues, and implications are drawn for teacher behaviour in banded comprehensive schools.     

The Early Development Instrument as an Evaluation and Improvement Tool for School-Based,Integrated Services for Young Children and Parents: The Toronto First Duty Project

Research Findings: Integrated services for young children and families are part of the new policy landscape in early childhood, but there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of these programs and how they develop on the ground. This study examined the use of the Early Development Instrument (EDI) as both a summative program evaluation tool and as a formative program improvement tool supporting practitioners in Toronto First Duty, an integrated services demonstration project that combined kindergarten, child care, and parenting supports in public schools. Pre-post comparisons at community demonstration sites and comparisons with matched community sites using the EDI suggested that the demonstration program was associated with modest improvements in emotional and social domains of children's development. Mixed methods and multiple measures were used to contextualize summative findings in case studies across demonstration sites. The case studies explored how integration was implemented at different sites and how dimensions of enacted integration might contribute to positive outcomes for children and families. A case study of one site showed how an integrated staff team used EDI school-level profiles, along with formative feedback on program quality, to target and improve programming. Over the course of implementation, the integrated program environment quality ratings and EDI scores improved in relevant areas assessing quality of interaction and social–emotional development. Practice or Policy: Findings are discussed in terms of the role of the EDI in program evaluation and in improvement of practice. The potential value of integrated early childhood services and the challenges of evaluating complex community initiatives are also discussed.     

Embodied inter-referencing: encounters with and among “Asian” students in the Australian classroom

ABSTRACT

This essay examines the pedagogical practice of referencing my experiences as a transnational Korean American woman in the classroom and considers how it opens up space for domestic and international students of East, Southeast, and South Asian backgrounds to reflect on their different identities, histories, and cultures. In particular, it focuses on how this practice enables Asian students to share their experiences of and insights about racial difference, racism, and whiteness in Australia and other parts of the world. Building on the concept of Asian “inter-referencing” from Chua Beng Huat (2015), I coin the term “embodied inter-referencing” to describe the strategic ways I use autobiographical narrative to create an inclusive, interactive, and mutually respectful learning space. I centre here on how some Asian students respond to this strategy by telling their own stories and in the process, create transnational, diasporic, and inter-Asian affective communities inside and outside the classroom.     

Creating a flexible fund structure to meet the needs and goals of the library and its users

This paper describes the Texas A&M University (TAMU) Libraries' new and innovative approach to monograph collection development using a re-engineered internal funding structure and a process that reflects the needs and goals of the library and its users. The paper discusses the goals of the new fund structure, the experience of implementing it, and the results after one year in use.