This report describes an analysis of the effects that current employment rights protections for Reserve Component members and related support programs can have on employers, given increased mobilization of the National Guard and Reserve, and makes recommendations stemming from that analysis.
Susan M. Gates; Laura S. Hamilton; Paco Martorell; Susan Burkhauser; Paul Heaton; Ashley Pierson; Matthew Baird; Mirka Vuollo; Jennifer J. Li; Diana Catherine Lavery; Melody Harvey; Kun Gu
New Leaders is a nonprofit organization that partners with school districts to prepare and support principals. This report describes how the New Leaders program was implemented in partner districts, and it provides evidence of the effect that New Leaders has on student achievement.
One of the most prominent currents felt in the arena of qualitative research methods is the impulse toward reflexivity and self-analysis: researchers considering their own place in the research act. The goals of this book are to describe various researcher experiences and give novice researchers some insight to better choose research settings, deal with their own personal issues in the research act, and to report their research accurately. The first part of the book will consider various populations and settings for qualitative research with a special emphasis on health care-related settings. Part Two will discuss how one processes the researcher experience - both in terms of tools that can be used (networking, focused discussions, qualitative writing, etc.) as well as issues pertaining to processing (cross-cultural and gender issues, etc.) It then offers some insight into ways of processing the researcher experience in teams. Finally, in part three, the author turn to ways of reporting the researcher experience, both in terms of possible setting (journal articles, chapters, the Internet) as well as modes and issues (first-person narratives, ethical considerations).
Fantasy conjures up images of witches, fairies, dark woods, magic wands and spells, time travel, ghosts, and dragons. Each of us defines fantasy in a personal way, based on our life stories, experiences, hopes, dreams, and fears. Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults, helps teachers and students of literature to develop their own understandings of this broad genre in order to evaluate and promote the joy of fantasy in their classrooms. An excellent teaching tool, the discussions are organized around three categories of fantasy literature, including fairy/folktale; mixed fantasy (which includes journey, transformation, talking animal, and magic); and heroic-ethical; and they are supported by well-chosen examples of representative authors, critics, and theorists. With the assumption that the reader has no special knowledge of fantasy literature but has some previous exposure to the study of literature for children and young adults, this book focuses on reviewing texts that illustrate particular types of fantasy literature. The authors have an extensive knowledge of both classic and contemporary children's and YA titles, and they offer many insightful observations and details that make a book a particularly good classroom choice. Literature allows us to discuss controversial issues without making judgments; it allows us the opportunity to "experience" another time and space by providing a new lens through which to view; and it offers us a multitude of ways to come to appreciate and embrace the world of fantasy. Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults will help teachers and other readers to deepen their knowledge, appreciation, and pedagogical understandings of fantasy literature.
New medical technologies are a leading driver of U.S. health care spending. This report identifies promising policy options to change which medical technologies are created, with two related policy goals: (1) Reduce total health care spending with the smallest possible loss of health benefits, and (2) ensure that new medical products that increase spending are accompanied by health benefits that are worth the spending increases.
The first comprehensive analysis of child-care costs across the military services The military child-care system, the largest system of employer-sponsored child care in the country, has received high marks for providing quality, accessible care for children of military employees. In an effort to control expenses, the Department of Defense (DoD) has considered a number of different approaches to delivering this care. This book presents estimates of the cost of providing care in DoD-operated Child Development Centers (CDCs), Family Child Care (FCC) homes, and centers operated by outside providers under contract to the DoD. The authors conclude that child care is a costly employee benefit and the costs are particular high for infants and toddlers. Their survey of CDCs revealed dramatic differences across installations in the cost of care per child, with significantly lower per-child costs in larger centers. FCC costs are considerably lower than those for CDC care because cost is not so closely tied to a child's age in FCC homes. Costs for contractor-operated centers fall within the range observed for DoD-run centers.There is no evidence that contractor-run centers are 10-percent cheaper to operate than DoD-run centers, the cost differential that is a DoD requirement for outsourcing.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) provides finance and accounting services to customers within the Department of Defense. The authors examine the DFAS pricing structure and its impact on customer demand, the agency's workload, and equity in pricing. The authors found that the DFAS's uniform pricing for finance outputs creates cross-customer subsidization, suggesting a need for nonlinear, customer-specific pricing. The authors also examine whether any negative effects arose from the October 1999 switch from unit billing to hourly billing for DFAS accounting work and found no significant evidence that they had.
The evidence presented in this paper raises concerns that the current U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) system of in-kind subsidies for child care is not meeting DoD recruitment, readiness, and retention goals or service member needs in an optimal way. The authors explore how civilian employers approach the issue of child care benefits for employees and suggest how child care resources might be more effectively directed to support DoD goals.In support of recruitment, readiness, and retention goals, this paper suggests that the U.S. Department of Defense may wish to expand its child care benefits to cover more military families and a broader set of child care needs.
The defense acquisition workforce includes both military and civilian personnel who provide a range of acquisition, technology, and logistics support (products and services). This report examines data from Defense Manpower Data Center files and draws from previous related RAND analyses to address questions about factors that affect personnel retention and career advancement in the civilian acquisition workforce.
Defense acquisition is one of the most urgent issues that the Department of Defense faces today. In an effort to provide the department and the nation with guidance on defense acquisition challenges, the authors present detailed proposals to improve defense acquisition through initiatives focused on competition, novel systems, risk management, organizational factors, prototyping, and the acquisition workforce.
Undertaken for the Department of Defense1s Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development, this report outlines an approach for describing and evaluating external governance in a multi-organizational system of education, training, and professional development, which should be of interest to those charged with oversight of such systems. The approach consists of two main tasks: a structural analysis, which maps governance arrangements, and an implementation audit, which assesses effectiveness. (MF)
Undertaken for the Department of Defense1s Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development, this report addresses the need of organizations to exert influence in situations where they lack the hierarchical authority that would make such influence straightforward. It does so by presenting a three-stage framework that will help such organizations recognize and capitalize on the power-and-influence options available to them.
Looks at how Department of Defense (DoD) education, training, and development institutions are affected by the consolidation of DoD facilities and changes in governance structure. The Department of Defense (DoD) often improves its efficiency by consolidating facilities (mainly through base realignment and closure, or BRAC) and changing its governance structure. These shifts significantly affect the education, training, and development (ET&D) institutions that support DoD personnel, with such impact as relocation. With an eye toward the 2005 BRAC, RAND researchers look at four case studies of the 1990s and from them make recommendations for ET&D institutions that may be affected by future shifts in defense infrastructure. (PW)
