Search

For over three decades, the planning community has explored countless methods for data-driven model acquisition. These range in sophistication (e.g., simple set operations to full-blown reformulations), methodology (e.g., logic-based vs. planing-based), and assumptions (e.g., fully vs. partially observable). With no fewer than 43 publications in the space, it can be overwhelming to understand what approach could or should be applied in a new setting. We present a holistic characterization of the action model acquisition space and further introduce a unifying framework for automated action model acquisition. We have re-implemented some of the landmark approaches in the area, and our characterization of all the techniques offers deep insight into the research opportunities that remain; i.e., those settings where no technique is capable of solving., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, KEPS Workshop Submission

The impact of the Corona, dielectric barrier discharge and low pressure radiofrequency air plasmas on the wettability of the medical grade polyvinylchloride was investigated. Corona plasma treatment exerted the most pronounced increase in the hydrophilization of polyvinylchloride. The specific energy of adhesion of the pristine and plasma treated PVC tubing is reported. The kinetics of hydrophobic recovery following the plasma treatment was explored. The time evolution of the apparent contact angle under the hydrophobic recovery is satisfactorily described by the exponential fitting. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of the chemical composition of the near-surface layers of the plasma treated catheters revealed their oxidation. The effect of the hydrophobic recovery is hardly correlated with oxidation of the polymer surface, which is irreversible., Comment: 21 pages, 4 tables, 9 figures

Over the next three years, the California State Board of Education (SBE) and the California Department of Education (CDE) will refine the college and career readiness (CCR) measures in the state's school accountability system. Determining which measures to use, given that they need to be robust, useful, equitable, and cost effective--and effectively measure a complex set of factors--has proven to be a challenging process for these state agencies to date. To inform their work, this report captures how state and county officials, high school teachers, community college instructors, CCR program administrators, high school students, and community college students view California's current CCR measures. It focuses particularly on what teachers and students think makes certain CCR programs successful, based on their experiences. The study answers two questions: (1) How do officials from the state and county offices of education view CCR programs and the state's College/Career Indicator (CCI)?; and (2) What are students', teachers', and administrators ' perspectives on CCR programs? While this qualitative study reflects only the views of a small number of stakeholders, their ideas and concerns warrant consideration by policymakers. This report finds that students, teachers and local administrators embrace California's commitment to college and career readiness (CCR), but have deep concerns about implementation. [This report received research support from Laura Tobben and Stacey Sural.]

This brief focuses on the potential role of County Offices of Education (COEs) in bridging the state's vision for college and career readiness with the implementation needs of local districts and schools. After summarizing the work of 10 COEs that are known for supporting districts in increasing college and career readiness, the brief raises questions and outlines concerns in this area for COEs across the state.

Student transfer processes from the California Community Colleges (CCC) to the California State University (CSU) have been simplified somewhat over the past few years, but they remain complex and confusing for most transfer students, according to students, administrators, and staff at several community colleges and CSU campuses. Transfer processes--from planning and course-taking at a community college to applying to and enrolling at a CSU campus--remain burdensome for students, despite the services provided by institutions and the implementation of the new associate degree for transfer (AD-T). Many transfer students, to make it through, employ strategies that were described to us as trial and error. College administrators, staff, and students said that students need more help interpreting transfer requirements. These findings are based on research by the Education Insights Center (EdInsights) examining policies and practices in California that support student transfer from the community colleges to the CSU. Previous research has documented the complexity of transfer processes in California. In 2010, the state enacted the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to streamline transfer from the community colleges to the CSU by creating a new degree, the AD-T. This research examined how students experience policies and practices related to transfer from community colleges to CSU in the context of the AD-T, which was implemented in 2012. Findings are drawn from interviews with 26 administrators and staff at six community colleges and four CSU campuses, and from focus groups at the four CSU campuses with 64 students who had successfully transferred from a community college. The following are appended: (1) Research Methodology; (2) Comparison of Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) and CSU GE-Breadth Requirements; and (3) Comparing Transfer Requirements for Business Administration Majors at Two CSU Campuses. Contains endnotes.

This brief shares the perspectives and concerns of high school teachers in two districts regarding implementing the Common Core State Standards, specifically as the Common Core pertains to preparing more students for college and well-paying careers. The brief also makes state policy recommendations for ways to support teachers in their efforts to increase students' college and career readiness, including through fostering alignment between K-12 and postsecondary and workforce partners.

The focus of this paper--and the series of which it is a part--is on improving student learning during the crucial period spanning grade 12 and the first year of college in order to build momentum for college success. In the introductory paper to this series, "Why 12th Grade Must Be Redesigned Now--and How," Jobs for the Future names this period the "transition zone" and argues that it is time for high schools and colleges to consider taking joint responsibility for the college and career readiness of students during these two years. This series suggests a "shared transition zone," in which secondary and postsecondary education systems and institutions would collaborate in key ways to bridge existing gaps and substantially increase the percentage of youth prepared for college and careers. While high schools and colleges have their own distinct roles in educating students--and are trying to make improvements in their respective systems--their shared interest in student success comes closest to converging at the end of high school and the beginning of college. The needs of young people leaving one institution and entering another are quite similar, but the leaps in academic and cultural expectations are quite large. We suggest that it is at this juncture where sharing responsibility for the same students in a shared transition zone can have a greater effect than acting apart. In this paper, the authors outline the principles of co-design, co-delivery, and co-validation that must guide the new partnerships between high school and college campuses and systems to raise college readiness and success. They describe the practices of exemplary partnerships around the country and suggest policies to promote the development of more partnerships that can spread this innovative work. [For the first paper in this series, "Why 12th Grade Must Be Redesigned Now--and How," see ED560768.]

The early years of the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in California were complicated by the Great Recession as well as by a significant devolution of finance and programmatic control to the local level through the Local Control Funding Formula. The state charted a steady course and took a systematic approach to CCSS implementation, making policy changes in such areas as assessment and accountability to create a framework that supported the standards. Postsecondary systems also made policy shifts to align with the CCSS. This research outlines policymakers' and educators' hopes for how the CCSS can support improvements in students' college and career readiness, and it provides early evidence about both similarities and disconnects between those expectations and implementation activities in high schools and districts. Policymakers and educators are optimistic about the potential of the CCSS to improve college and career readiness, yet there is initiative fatigue, confusion about how to integrate the many college and career readiness-focused reform efforts underway in California, and a lack of clear guidance about how to implement the CCSS. Interviewed high school educators expressed a desire for more clarity about such issues as: (1) the expectations of the state's postsecondary systems for their various degree and certificate programs; (2) how to connect those expectations to teaching and learning in high schools; and (3) instructional strategies that will support the intent of the CCSS with regard to college and career readiness. The report outlines key findings regarding state education leaders' expectations compared with educators' experiences with CCSS implementation. The report also offers a series of policy recommendations, intended to serve as a bridge between where the state is today and all of the interconnected activities that will likely be needed to substantially improve students' college and career readiness through the CCSS. The recommendations acknowledge that the state is in a new era of local control and that policymakers are still determining which policy levers are effective and appropriate in that environment. A detailed description of the research study is appended.

As education reforms increasingly focus on the needs of students as they cross education systems and enter the workforce, regional partnerships, or consortia, are developing across the country to meet a wide range of students' needs. While regional partnerships have existed in different forms for decades to serve community needs, current partnerships are focusing on connecting education systems to prevent students--particularly traditionally underserved students--from falling through the cracks. Specific efforts can include: aligning curricular expectations across high school and college to reduce the need for remedial coursework; working with business partners to develop curricular pathways, degree programs, and certificate programs that will help students find meaningful employment and help regions meet workforce needs; and improving student support services to increase high school and college graduation rates. There is a great deal of experimentation with different kinds of regional partnerships across California. This report is aimed at encouraging new and existing partnerships to learn from the growth and development of current partnerships. It highlights issues that support or impede consortia processes, their work to support student success, and their sustainability. The information used in this report came from 37 interviews with stakeholders from 19 regional consortia located throughout California. The audiences for this report are three-fold: (1) education, community, and business leaders engaged with regional partnerships; (2) state agency staff who could provide an enabling environment for regional partnerships to thrive; and (3) philanthropic organizations that support cross-sector collaboration. While it is too early to draw conclusions about effective strategies, there are some clear implications that arose from this research. For example, representatives of all the consortia noted that building trusting relationships is one of the largest challenges faced by these consortia in the early stages, and constant attention and time must be devoted to maintaining them for the long run. Having a base of trusting relationships makes it easier to develop and maintain a common agenda to serve the larger community. The job of facilitating trust-building conversations and activities falls to the lead organization, which must be viewed as the appropriate entity for that work by all of the participating entities from the start. This report describes the following strategies suggested by representatives of the studied partnerships: (1) Start with a coalition of the willing; (2) Focus on a few main goals; (3) Foster involvement of key leaders; (4) Leverage existing networks; (5) Create opportunities for cross-system communication and collaboration; (6) Embed activities in existing organizations; and (7) Use data to motivate action and inform activities. The report concludes with suggestions to help state policy and philanthropic communities better support regional partnerships. [To access the policy brief "Regional Cross-System Education Partnerships and the Need for Supportive State Policies. Policy Brief," see ED574460.]

The processing of energetic photons on bare silicate grains was simulated experimentally on silicate films submitted to soft X-rays of energies up to 1.25 keV. The silicate material was prepared by means of a microwave assisted solgel technique. Its chemical composition reflects the Mg2SiO4 stoichiometry with residual impurities due to the synthesis method. The experiments were performed using the spherical grating monochromator beamline at the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center in Taiwan. We found that soft X-ray irradiation induces structural changes that can be interpreted as an amorphization of the processed silicate material. The present results may have relevant implications in the evolution of silicate materials in X-ray irradiated protoplanetary disks., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures

We study the widths of shape resonances for the semiclassical multi-dimensional Schr\"odinger operator, in the case where the frequency remains close to some value strictly larger than the bottom of the well. Under a condition on the behavior of the resonant state inside the well, we obtain an optimal lower bound for the widths.

Across focus groups consisting of current and former community college students in four states (Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas), a consistent message resounded: Students want to be more connected to their colleges, from the moment they enter until the day they complete their studies. They want to feel more connected to faculty, staff, and peers. They want to be more engaged by their classes and to feel more supported by services they receive. And they want to see colleges be more deliberate in ensuring those connections. "Connection by Design" is the second of two reports based on student focus group discussions conducted in spring 2012 by staff from WestEd and Public Agenda. It supports the findings from the first report, Student Voices on the Higher Education Pathway (Public Agenda & WestEd, 2012), about college students' desire to receive transparent, accessible, accurate, and timely information leading up to and during their college experiences. In addition, it analyzes students' ideas about their community college experiences as they related to several strategies for increasing college completion rates. The focus groups discussed information delivery methods and student supports, including orientation, student success courses, advising, and alert systems; instructional services, including developmental education and entry into a program of study; and career preparation and exploration. Overall, students understand the pros and cons of choosing educational goals and entering into a program of study soon after starting college versus exploring a variety of options for one or more years. Most wish that their college had provided them with more structured opportunities to explore their options. (Contains 3 footnotes.)