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Let $F$ be a graph on $r$ vertices and let $G$ be a graph on $n$ vertices. Then an $F$-factor in $G$ is a subgraph of $G$ composed of $n/r$ vertex-disjoint copies of $F$, if $r$ divides $n$. In other words, an $F$-factor yields a partition of the $n$ vertices of $G$. The study of such $F$-factors in the Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi random graph dates back to Erd\H{o}s himself. Decades later, in 2008, Johansson, Kahn and Vu established the thresholds for the existence of an $F$-factor for strictly 1-balanced $F$ -- up to the leading constant. The sharp thresholds, meaning the leading constants, were obtained only recently by Riordan and Heckel, but only for complete graphs $F=K_r$ and for so-called nice graphs. Their results rely on sophisticated couplings that utilize the recent, celebrated solution of Shamir's problem by Kahn. We extend the couplings by Riordan and Heckel to any strictly 1-balanced $F$ and thereby obtain the sharp threshold for the existence of an $F$-factor. In particular, we confirm the thirty year old conjecture by Ruc\'inski that this sharp threshold indeed coincides with the sharp threshold for the disappearance of the last vertices which are not contained in a copy of $F$., Comment: 17 pages

Offloading computationally expensive algorithms to the edge or even cloud offers an attractive option to tackle limitations regarding on-board computational and energy resources of robotic systems. In cloud-native applications deployed with the container management system Kubernetes (K8s), one key problem is ensuring resilience against various types of failures. However, complex robotic systems interacting with the physical world pose a very specific set of challenges and requirements that are not yet covered by failure mitigation approaches from the cloud-native domain. In this paper, we therefore propose a novel approach for robotic system monitoring and stateful, reactive failure mitigation for distributed robotic systems deployed using Kubernetes (K8s) and the Robot Operating System (ROS2). By employing the generic substrate of Behaviour Trees, our approach can be applied to any robotic workload and supports arbitrarily complex monitoring and failure mitigation strategies. We demonstrate the effectiveness and application-agnosticism of our approach on two example applications, namely Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) navigation and robotic manipulation in a simulated environment.

Consider the random $u$-uniform hypergraph (or $u$-graph) process on $n$ vertices, where $n$ is divisible by $r>u\ge 2$. It was recently shown that with high probability, as soon as every vertex is covered by a copy of the complete $u$-graph $K_r$, it also contains a $K_r$-factor (RSA, Vol. 65 II, Sept. 2024). The hitting time result is obtained using a process coupling, which is based on the proof of the corresponding sharp threshold result (RSA, Vol. 61 IV, Dec. 2022). The latter, however, was not only derived for complete $u$-graphs, but for a broader class of so-called nice $u$-graphs. The purpose of this article is to extend the process coupling for complete $u$-graphs to the full scope of the sharp threshold result: nice $u$-graphs. As a byproduct, we obtain the extension of the hitting time result to nice $u$-graphs. Since the relevant combinatorial bounds in the proof for the $K_r$-case cannot be generalized, we introduce new arguments that do not only apply to nice u-graphs, but will be relevant for the broader class of strictly 1-balanced u-graphs. Further, we show how the remainder of the process coupling for the $K_r$-case can be utilized in a black-box manner for any u-graph. These advances pave the way for future generalizations., Comment: 11 pages

Testing and evaluation of robotics systems is a difficult and oftentimes tedious task due to the systems' complexity and a lack of tools to conduct reproducible robotics experiments. Additionally, almost all available tools are either tailored towards a specific application domain, simulator or middleware. Particularly scenario-based testing, a common practice in the domain of automated driving, is not sufficiently covered in the robotics domain. In this paper, we propose a novel backend- and middleware-agnostic approach for conducting systematic, reproducible and automatable robotics experiments called Scenario Execution for Robotics. Our approach is implemented as a Python library built on top of the generic scenario description language OpenSCENARIO 2 and Behavior Trees and is made publicly available on GitHub. In extensive experiments, we demonstrate that our approach supports multiple simulators as backend and can be used as a standalone Python-library or as part of the ROS2 ecosystem. Furthermore, we demonstrate how our approach enables testing over ranges of varying values. Finally, we show how Scenario Execution for Robotics allows to move from simulation-based to real-world experiments with minimal adaptations to the scenario description file., Comment: 6 pages

In the past, quasi coherent modes were reported for nearly all tokamaks. The general definition describes modes as quasi coherent when the magnitude squared coherence is in the range of \SIrange{0.3}{0.6}{}. Quasi coherent modes are observed in the plasma core as well as in the plasma edge and can have quite different physical origins. The one in the core are observed in plasmas with low collisionality, where the electron temperature exceeds the ion temperature in the plasma core. This is the case for electron cyclotron heating in general. The origin of these modes are electrons trapped within a magnetic mirror, as reported in the past from various fusion devices. The so-called trapped-electron modes (TEMs) belong to drift wave instabilities and can be destabilized by electron-temperature gradients in the plasma core. From the diagnostic point of view, quasi coherent modes appear as fluctuations in electron density and temperature. Therefore, the microwave reflectometer is very well suited to monitor these modes. This paper describes experiments, conducted at the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator (W7-X), which aim at detecting quasi coherent modes at low wave numbers. A Poloidal Correlation Reflectometer (PCR) installed at W7-X, is able to measure low wave numbers ($k_\perp\le 3.5$ cm$^{-1}$). For different magnetic configurations and plasma parameters, broad quasi-coherent structures are observed in the coherence spectra. From the analysis of the rotation and the poloidal structure, these quasi coherent (QC) modes show the properties of electron-temperature-gradient driven TEMs. A linear relation between the mode velocity and the rotation frequency is found. The relation is uniform and confirms the nature of QC-mode observation as TEM in tokamaks, too.

This paper addresses the deduplication of multilingual textual data using advanced NLP tools. We compare a two-step method involving translation to English followed by embedding with mpnet, and a multilingual embedding model (distiluse). The two-step approach achieved a higher F1 score (82% vs. 60%), particularly with less widely used languages, which can be increased up to 89% by leveraging expert rules based on domain knowledge. We also highlight limitations related to token length constraints and computational efficiency. Our methodology suggests improvements for future multilingual deduplication tasks., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

It is well-known that the $d$-dimensional hypercube contains a Hamilton cycle for $d\ge 2$. In this paper we address the analogous problem in the $3$-uniform cube hypergraph, a $3$-uniform analogue of the hypercube: for simple parity reasons, the $3$-uniform cube hypergraph can never admit a loose Hamilton cycle in any dimension, so we do the next best thing and consider loose Hamilton paths, and determine for which dimensions these exist., Comment: First version is Bachelor's Thesis, 2nd version is paper

In the context of the ACM KDF-SIGIR 2023 competition, we undertook an entity relation task on a dataset of financial entity relations called REFind. Our top-performing solution involved a multi-step approach. Initially, we inserted the provided entities at their corresponding locations within the text. Subsequently, we fine-tuned the transformer-based language model roberta-large for text classification by utilizing a labeled training set to predict the entity relations. Lastly, we implemented a post-processing phase to identify and handle improbable predictions generated by the model. As a result of our methodology, we achieved the 1st place ranking on the competition's public leaderboard., Comment: Stefan Pasch, Dimitrios Petridis 2023. Ahead of the Text: Leveraging Entity Preposition for Financial Relation Extraction. ACM SIGIR: The 4th Workshop on Knowledge Discovery from Unstructured Data in Financial Services (SIGIR-KDF '23)

High-$\langle \beta \rangle$ operations require a fast and robust inference of plasma parameters with a self-consistent MHD equilibrium. Precalculated MHD equilibria are usually employed at W7-X due to the high computational cost. To address this, we couple a physics-regularized NN model that approximates the ideal-MHD equilibrium with the Bayesian modeling framework Minerva. We show the fast and robust inference of plasma profiles (electron temperature and density) with a self-consistent MHD equilibrium approximated by the NN model. We investigate the robustness of the inference across diverse synthetic W7-X plasma scenarios. The inferred plasma parameters and their uncertainties are compatible with the parameters inferred using the VMEC, and the inference time is reduced by more than two orders of magnitude. This work suggests that MHD self-consistent inferences of plasma parameters can be performed between shots., Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures

In a recent paper, Kahn gave the strongest possible, affirmative, answer to Shamir's problem, which had been open since the late 1970s: Let $r \ge 3 $ and let $n$ be divisible by $r$. Then, in the random $r$-uniform hypergraph process on $n$ vertices, as soon as the last isolated vertex disappears, a perfect matching emerges. In the present work, we transfer this hitting time result to the setting of clique factors in the random graph process: At the time that the last vertex joins a copy of the complete graph $K_r$, the random graph process contains a $K_r$-factor. Our proof draws on a novel sequence of couplings, extending techniques of Riordan and the first author. An analogous result is proved for clique factors in the $s$-uniform hypergraph process ($s \ge 3$).

This paper introduces transformer-based language models to the literature measuring corporate culture from text documents. We compile a unique data set of employee reviews that were labeled by human evaluators with respect to the information the reviews reveal about the firms' corporate culture. Using this data set, we fine-tune state-of-the-art transformer-based language models to perform the same classification task. In out-of-sample predictions, our language models classify 17 to 30 percentage points more of employee reviews in line with human evaluators than traditional approaches of text classification. We make our models publicly available., Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures

In reactor-relevant plasmas, neoclassical transport drives an outward particle flux in the core of large stellarators and predicts strongly hollow density profiles. However, this theoretical prediction is contradicted by experiments. In particular, in Wendelstein 7-X, the first large optimized stellarator, flat or weakly peaked density profiles are generally measured, indicating that neoclassical theory is not sufficient and that an inward contribution to the particle flux is missing in the core. In this Research Letter, it is shown that the turbulent contribution to the particle flux can explain the difference between experimental measurements and neoclassical predictions. The results of this Research Letter also prove that theoretical and numerical tools are approaching the level of maturity needed for the prediction of equilibrium density profiles in stellarator plasmas, which is a fundamental requirement for the design of operation scenarios of present devices and future reactors., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, updated the title and incorporated the appendix into the main letter

There is a vast body of recent literature on the reliability of communication through noisy channels, the recovery of community structures in the stochastic block model, the limiting behavior of the free entropy in spin glasses and the solution space structure of constraint satisfaction problems. At first glance, these topics ranging across several disciplines might seem unrelated. However, taking a closer look, structural similarities can be easily identified. Factor graphs exploit these similarities to model the aforementioned objects and concepts in a unified manner. In this contribution we discuss the asymptotic average case behavior of several quantities, where the average is taken over sparse Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi type (hyper-) graphs with positive weights, under certain assumptions. For one, we establish the limit of the mutual information, which is used in coding theory to measure the reliability of communication. We also determine the limit of the relative entropy, which can be used to decide if weak recovery is possible in the stochastic block model. Further, we prove the conjectured limit of the quenched free entropy over the planted ensemble, which we use to obtain the preceding limits. Finally, we describe the asymptotic behavior of the quenched free entropy (over the null model) in terms of the limiting relative entropy., Comment: 95 pages

To answer this question, we fine-tune transformer-based language models, including BERT, on different sources of company-related text data for a classification task to predict the one-year stock price performance. We use three different types of text data: News articles, blogs, and annual reports. This allows us to analyze to what extent the performance of language models is dependent on the type of the underlying document. StonkBERT, our transformer-based stock performance classifier, shows substantial improvement in predictive accuracy compared to traditional language models. The highest performance was achieved with news articles as text source. Performance simulations indicate that these improvements in classification accuracy also translate into above-average stock market returns.

The electron density and temperature profiles measured with Thomson scattering at the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X show features which seem to be unphysical, but so far could not be associated with any source of error considered in the data processing. A detailed Bayesian analysis reveals that errors in the spectral calibration cannot explain the features observed in the profiles. Rather, it seems that small fluctuations in the laser position are sufficient to affect the profile substantially. The impact of these fluctuations depends on the laser position itself, which, in turn, provides a method to find the optimum laser alignment in the future.

A recent characterization of core turbulence carried out with a Doppler reflectometer in the optimized stellarator Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) found that discharges achieving high ion temperatures at the core featured an ITG-like suppression of density fluctuations driven by a reduction of the gradient ratio $\eta_i = L_n/L_{T_i}$ [D. Carralero et al., Nucl. Fusion, 2021]. In order to confirm the role of ITG turbulence in this process, we set out to establish experimentally the relation between core density fluctuations, turbulent heat flux and global confinement. With this aim, we consider the scenarios found in the previous work and carry out power balance analysis for a number of representative ones, including some featuring high ion temperature. As well, we evaluate the global energy confinement time and discuss it in the context of the ISS04 inter-stellarator scaling. We find that, when turbulence is suppressed as a result of a reduction of $\eta_i$, there is a reduction of ion turbulent transport, and global performance is improved as a result. This is consistent with ITG turbulence limiting the ion temperature at the core of W7-X. In contrast, when turbulence is reduced following a decrease in collisionality, no changes are observed in transport or confinement. This could be explained by ITG modes being combined with TEM turbulence when the later is destabilized at low collisionalities., Comment: Submitted to PPCF, 47th EPS special issue

First results from the optimized helias Wendelstein 7-X stellarator (W7-X) have shown that core transport is no longer mostly neoclassical, as is the case in previous kinds of stellarators. Instead, turbulent transport poses a serious limitation to the global performance of the machine. Several studies have found this particularly relevant for ion transport, with core ion temperatures becoming clamped at relatively low values of $T_{i} \simeq 1.7$ keV, except in the few scenarios in which turbulence can be suppressed. In order to understand turbulent mechanisms at play, it is important to have a clear understanding of the parametric dependencies of turbulent fluctuations, and the relation between them and turbulent transport. In this work we use Doppler reflectometry measurements carried out during a number of relevant operational scenarios to provide a systematic characterization of ion-scale ($k_\perp\rho_i\simeq 1$) density fluctuations in the core of W7-X. Then, we study the relation between fluctuation amplitude and plasma profiles and show how distinct regimes can be defined for the former, depending on normalized gradients $a/L_{ne}$ and $a/L_{Ti}$. Furthermore, we discuss the importance of other potentially relevant parameters such as $T_e/T_i$, $E_r$ or collisionality. Comparing the different regimes, we find that turbulence amplitude depends generally on the gradient ratio $\eta_i=L_{ne}/L_{Ti}$, as would be expected for ITG modes, with the exception of a range of discharges, for which turbulence suppression may be better explained by an ITG to TEM transition triggered by a drop in collisionality. Finally, we show a number of scenarios under which $T_{i,core} > 1.7$ keV is achieved and how core fluctuations are suppressed in all of them, thus providing experimental evidence of microturbulence being the main responsible for the limited ion confinement in W7-X., Comment: Manuscript submitted to Nuclear Fusion in May 2021

In the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic confinement experiment, a reduction of turbulent density fluctuations as well as anomalous impurity diffusion is associated with a peaking of the plasma density profile. These effects correlate with improved confinement and appear largely due to a reduction of anomalous transport as the change in neoclassical transport is small. The observed decrease of turbulent heat flux with increased density gradients is in agreement with nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations, and has been attributed to the unique geometry of W7-X that limits the severity of trapped electron modes.

Random factor graphs provide a powerful framework for the study of inference problems such as decoding problems or the stochastic block model. Information-theoretically the key quantity of interest is the mutual information between the observed factor graph and the underlying ground truth around which the factor graph was created; in the stochastic block model, this would be the planted partition. The mutual information gauges whether and how well the ground truth can be inferred from the observable data. For a very general model of random factor graphs we verify a formula for the mutual information predicted by physics techniques. As an application we prove a conjecture about low-density generator matrix codes from [Montanari: IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 2005]. Further applications include phase transitions of the stochastic block model and the mixed $k$-spin model from physics.

In this work we present the first measurements obtained by the V-band Doppler reflectometer during the second operation phase of Wendelstein 7-X to discuss the influence in the velocity shear layer and the radial electric field, E$_r$, of several plasma parameters such as magnetic configuration, rotational transform or degree of detachment. In the first place, we carry out a systematic characterization of the turbulence rotation velocity profile in order to describe the influence of density and heating power on E$_r$ under the four most frequent magnetic configurations. The $|$E$_r|$ value in the edge is found to increase with configurations featuring higher $\iota$, although this does not apply for the high mirror configuration, KJM. As well, the E$_r$ value in the SOL and the velocity shear near the separatrix are found to display a clear dependence on heating power and density for all configurations. For a number of relevant cases, these results are assessed by comparing them to neoclassical predictions obtained from the codes DKES and KNOSOS, finding generally good agreement with experimental results. Finally, the evolution of E$_r$ at the edge is evaluated throughout the island-divertor detachment regime achieved for the first time in the 2018 campaign. After detachment, $|$E$_r|$ is reduced both at the SOL and edge, and the plasma column shrinks, with the shear layer seemingly moving radially inwards from the separatrix., Comment: Sent for publication to Nuclear Fusion

The Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic was upgraded to transiently achieve kilohertz sampling rates combined with adjustable measuring times. The existing Nd:YAG lasers are employed to repetitively emit "bursts", i.e. multiple laser pulses in a short time interval. Appropriately timing burst in the three available lasers, up to twelve evenly spaced consecutive measurements per burst are possible. The pulse-to-pulse increment within a burst can be tuned from 2 ms to 33.3 ms (500 kHz - 30 Hz). Additionally, an event trigger system was developed to synchronize the burst Thomson scattering measurements to plasma events. Exemplary, a case of fast electron density and temperature evolution after cryogenic H2 pellet injection is presented in order to demonstrate the capabilities of the method., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, To be published as proceeding to the 3rd European Conference on Plasma Diagnostics 2019 in Lisbon in the Proceedings Section of the Journal of Instrumentation (JINST)

In the last two decades the study of random instances of constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) has flourished across several disciplines, including computer science, mathematics and physics. The diversity of the developed methods, on the rigorous and non-rigorous side, has led to major advances regarding both the theoretical as well as the applied viewpoints. Based on a ceteris paribus approach in terms of the density evolution equations known from statistical physics, we focus on a specific prominent class of regular CSPs, the so-called occupation problems. The regular $r$-in-$k$ occupation problems resemble a basis of this class. By now, out of these CSPs only the satisfiability threshold - the largest degree for which the problem admits asymptotically a solution - for the $1$-in-$k$ occupation problem has been rigorously established. Here we determine the satisfiability threshold of the $2$-in-$k$ occupation problem for all $k$. In the proof we exploit the connection of an associated optimization problem regarding the overlap of satisfying assignements to a fixed point problem inspired by belief propagation, a message passing algorithm developed for solving such CSPs., Comment: 40 pages, 3 figures, major updated: threshold established for all arities

This report describes the background, nature of, and results from a survey of the 1997 Pine Valley High School (Michigan) graduating class. Pine Valley is a name used for purposes of the report. The questionnaire, administered in June 1997, was designed to: (1) identify the curriculum areas students wished they had studied or studied in greater depth; (2) identify the elements in the high school that students believed prepared them well or not well to meet later challenges; and (3) learn from the perspectives of the student whether Pine Valley is making the organizational, curricular, instructional, and behavioral changes that are associated with academic and occupational success in the increasingly skill-based society. Of the 168 graduates, 87 (51%) completed surveys. Of these 87, almost all had been active in school activities such as athletics, speech, drama, music, and vocational clubs. As a result, this cohort included a large number of students who had made a substantial investment in their school and schooling. The respondents urged the school to demand more effort from students, to emphasize basic academic subjects and to offer more courses that prepared students for a job. Respondents generally agreed that the school provided a safe and disciplined environment and helped students get along with others from different racial, cultural, and other backgrounds. When these suggestions were related to ideas of various educational reform movements, room for improvement was noted in relating school lessons to real life, providing an interdisciplinary curriculum, and teamwork for both students and teachers. Other ideas for improvement include more active student participation, small group work, activities for problem solving, computer activities, and oral presentations. (Author/SLD)

Described in this paper is a project utilizing the linkage concept in the implementation of a diffused team planning process in six elementary schools undergoing desegregation. Strategies employed in designing the project are reviewed. These reviews include a retrospective analysis of the first two years of the project, a review of the minutes of the team planning sessions, and a review of literature on diffusion. The implementation of the Linkage Model is described in terms of the following: (1) the role of the diffusion manager or "linking agent" in helping the participating schools develop systematic problem solving processes within the planning teams and to help link the teams to existing resources within the school system; (2) the concept of the mini-project for dealing with a specific classroom need; (3) a training system for helping each planning team develop, implement, and evaluate a mini-project; and (4) the role of the diffusion task force in solving immediate problems, especially the resources to be allocated to the project. A conclusion summarizes the impact the project had on such factors as student achievement, the sharing of ideas among faculty, personal teaching satisfaction, responses to student attitude, conflict in the school, school morale, and resources or interference from the central office. An argument is made for the potential impact such a project might have if carried out over an extended period of time. (EB)

Research indicating that couples' social support skills predict marital outcomes two years later, above and beyond conflict-management skills, is reported. Successful prevention and treatment programs may need to incorporate support-skills training as well as conflict-management training. Specific techniques are recommended for teaching social-support skills. (Author/EMK)

This paper defines field-based teacher education and offers some generalizations concerning field-based teacher education programs. Field-based teacher education is defined as an on-site teacher education center in a school or group of schools that may be used for observing, practicing methodology, and learning and practicing methods on-site the entire year. The following generalizations are made concerning field-based teacher education programs. One, teacher education centers should be governed under a principle of "shared sovereignity." Two, joint planning and goal setting by the college of education and participating schools must precede all field-based activities. Three, there must be an on-going means of reporting and evaluating. Four, undergraduates in the college of education should have an extensive field-based experience. Five, students should experience a variety of ethnic and socioeconomic environments. Six, there is a need to review present faculty expectations regarding teaching load and responsibilities. Seven, in-service education must be an inherent component of any field-based program. Eight, the college of education must organize more effectively to meet in-service needs in areas such as instruction, curriculum, and program evaluation and research. The author concludes by asking if the effort of such programs are worthwhile and practical. An 8-item bibliography is included. (PD)

Presents results from a two-year study that evaluated an instruction staff development project in the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Public Schools. Findings are presented from classroom observations, teacher interviews, and student tests. The study reveals teacher improvement in their instructional decision making resulting in positive changes in student achievement. (GLR)

The objective of the work presented here is to quantify the effects of purge gas temperature, pressure, and mass flow rate on Hydrazine (Hz) decontamination rates of the Ares I Roll Control System and Reaction Control System. A survey of experts in this field revealed the absence of any decontamination rate prediction models. Three basic decontamination methods were identified for analysis and modeling. These include low pressure eduction, high flow rate purge, and pulse purge. For each method, an approach to predict the Hz mass transfer rate, as a function of system pressure, temperature, and purge gas mass flow rate, is developed based on the applicable physics. The models show that low pressure eduction is two orders of magnitude more effective than the high velocity purge, which in turn is two orders of magnitude more effective than the pure diffusion component of pulse purging of deadheads. Eduction subjects the system to low pressure conditions that promote the extraction of Hz vapors. At 120 F, Hz is saturated at approximately 1 psia. At lower pressures and 120 F, Hz will boil, which is an extremely efficient means to remove liquid Hz. The Hz boiling rate is predicted by equating the rate at which energy is added to the saturated liquid Hz through heaters at the tube outer wall with the energy removed from the liquid through evaporation. Boil-off fluxes were predicted by iterating through the range of local pressures with limits set by the minimum allowed pressure of 0.2 psia and maximum allowed wall temperature of 120 F established by the heaters, which gives a saturation pressure of approximately 1.0 psia. Figure 1 shows the resulting boil-off fluxes as a function of local eduction pressure. As depicted in figure 1, the flux is a strong inverse function of eduction pressure, and that minimizing the eduction pressure maximizes the boil-off flux. Also, higher outer wall temperatures lead to higher boil-off fluxes and allow for boil-off over a greater range of eduction pressures.

The revised edition of "The New Model Me" is an affective curriculum based on Ojemann's "Causal Approach to Behavior" that assists youngsters to understand how needs and personal resources interact within a particular immediate physical setting to produce behavior. In addition, the curriculum attempts to teach key concepts and principles and to improve students' reading efficiency and comprehension. After 18 weeks of curriculum exposure (during January to June, 1982) 422 students from 11 classrooms in several states, representing grades 8-12, were assessed on curriculum specific and general social science content, attitudes toward self and significant others, and reading comprehension and efficiency, to determine the effectiveness of the curriculum. Revised forms of the first edition's knowledge examination and the Personal Attitude Survey (PAS) were used. Reading comprehension and efficiency were assessed by corresponding subtests of the Iowa Silent Reading Tests (ISRT). Analysis of the results showed that the curriculum was highly effective in all areas, except in attitudes and reading efficiency. Reading comprehension showed significant improvement for already strong readers but no improvement for low readers. A site-by-site analysis of results found that significant results were more likey to occur in classrooms taught by teachers who had prior experience with the program. (Author/BL)

To meet the need for trained personnel in the agriculture building industry, an agricultural building serviceman program was developed to prepare graduates for entry-level positions in this expanding field. The purpose of the study was to evaluate and improve the curriculum by determining the specific job skills required. Employers and former students were surveyed via a mailed questionnaire or personal interview. In addition to more general questions, each questionnaire included a list of over 50 skills required to build a pole-type structure, and respondents were asked to check the frequency of use of each skill in the work situation. Results of the survey are presented in both narrative and tabular form. Both employers and graduates felt that the present curriculum was adequate for entry-level employment. The four skills listed within the highest rank order by both employers and graduates were: locating corners of buildings, leveling corner poles, locating building lines, and testing corners for squareness. Students felt that the greatest weaknesses of the program were the number of students in the class and the length of the course. The appendix includes the survey cover letter and questionnaires. (RG)

This paper describes an evaluation study of the use of paraprofessional personnel in school districts in general, and at Parma (Ohio) Schaaf Junior High School in particular. The members of the evaluation team included representative teachers from the school system led by a university coordinator. They describe problems and promising practices in regard to how paraprofessionals are used in the classroom. This information was gathered from documents and references available through the ERIC retrieval system. In addition, the evaluators discuss what Parma educators believe are the advantages and disadvantages of the extensive use of university students as instructional aides. The major purpose of the paper is to relate the findings of an evaluation study implemented at the high school during spring 1976. The study focused on how university students were trained to be competent instructional aides. The study, based on the Stufflebeam and Guba "CIPP" model of evaluation, concludes with a series of recommendations to improve the training system that assists paraprofessionals and the faculty persons who supervise them. (Author/MLF)

Techniques and procedures used to evaluate the outcomes of the student development program, and to use the evaluation results, are presented. Specific evaluation questions are posed that address overall outcomes, not individual student outcomes, and quantitative measures are suggested to accompany the questions. The measures include statistical data from student records and phone survey results. Data analysis and interpretation procedures are suggested for both types of quantitative measures. Observations are made about recent program outcomes, based on these factors: substantially more students are now served; rate of dismissal in the program has doubled in recent years; probability of student success in completing at least one course is 70 percent; program students do accumulate credit hours in other university units; attrition rate is 60 to 70 percent; students have been generally satisfied with the program, especially the reading and writing portions; and dissatisfied students felt they had been incorrectly placed. Accompanying data support recommendations that an internal review of the math program take place, diagnostic testing be reviewed for effectiveness, insights into student performance be shared with interested parties, this study be done biennially, and accuracy of records be improved. The student interview form, student record form, and summaries of interview responses from 1975-76 and 1979-80 are appended. (MSE)

An evaluation study of the Child Development Center (CDC) for kindergarten children in Ypsilanti, Michigan, was authorized by the school board for the 1983-84 school year. All kindergarten and first grade teachers were interviewed in their schools. One hundred parents of kindergarten children and 100 parents of first grade students also were interviewed. Care was taken to reassure teachers that their judgments concerning the CDC would be communicated in the final report and that they would remain anonymous. Interview forms for teachers and parents were developed. Teachers and parents were asked to evaluate both the concept of placing all kindergarten classes in a single building and the implementation of the concept at the CDC in Perry School. Additionally, a search of the educational literature was made to ascertain whether educators from school districts other than Ypsilanti had reported on efforts and activities to place all kindergarten classes within a single school building. No cases comparable to the Ypsilanti CDC were found. Copies of the evaluation plan, interview instruments, and summaries of the teachers' and parents' responses are provided. Findings suggest that the CDC concept as implemented in the Ypsilanti School District should be retained. (RH)

Social values, educational philosophy, politics, and decision-making are examined in a case study of political influence involving the National Diffusion Network (funded by the Department of Education), which supports the dissemination of exemplary curriculum programs meeting high priority needs. In 1982, 87 directors of ongoing programs were asked to submit projects for review so a decision could be reached about their renewal. Of these, 83 reached the third stage of completion. Donald Senese, the department's assistant secretary for educational research and improvement (appointed by President Reagan), had recently called for "order and discipline" in the schools; now he terminated support for 13 projects, 4 of whose directors brought a suit, charging First Amendment violations. Senese's deposition offers insights into the philosophical orientation of an educator working in a political decision-making capacity. Apparently he had relied not upon the "goal based" assessment approach, but, rather, had utilized a set of sociopolitical principles to develop a list of termination candidates. Project Environment, for example, focused too strongly on environmental problems, while World Religions interfered with individual belief. Educational policy thus shifts with the political process; this document should provide a basis for future study of that process. (KS)

A study examined the characteristics and attitudes of tutors and students involved in Project LEARN, an adult literacy program affiliated with the Interchurch Council of Greater Cleveland, Ohio. Data for the study were obtained from several sources, including a mail questionnaire administered to all 183 tutors involved in the project, a longer questionnaire administered to 148 of the tutors, pretests completed by all 181 students participating in the program, posttests completed by students after receiving 50 hours of tutoring, telephone interviews conducted with 100 students, and monthly calendars kept by students. Although unsure about the future prospects of their students becoming independent readers, the tutors seemed confident of their teaching ability. Most tutors believed that students' limited ability or learning handicaps are serious impediments to reading improvement and requested additional diagnostic information on students, more supplementary materials, and ongoing training as well as more preliminary training. Students called for more interesting and advanced materials, more convenient meeting times and places, and additional counseling assistance. Both students and tutors were highly satisfied with their experiences in Project LEARN and generally agreed that the longer students participate in the program, the greater its impact on them. (MN)