Georges Vernez

RAND supported the Kurdistan Regional Government in its aims to restructure its Ministry of Education, develop a plan for a school quality assurance system, review effectiveness of monitoring and support of private schools, and assess the quality of in-service teacher training. RAND researchers conducted interviews, reviewed literature, examined case studies in other countries, provided analysis, and developed implementation guidelines.

The Kurdistan Region Iraq (KRI) is enjoying rapid economic growth, creating many new jobs that require a solid education and technical skills. The Kurdistan Regional Government has expanded opportunities for post-secondary technical and university education, secondary-level vocational education has lagged. Even though the region is establishing new vocational education centers, more work is needed to address current shortcomings and future needs."

RAND provided strategic priorities and recommendations for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq s in-process reform of its K 12 system. The priorities are to expand capacity to meet the growing demand for education, improve instruction quality, and strengthen stakeholder accountability and incentives. Recommendations include build new schools and classrooms, improve teacher training for both practicing and new teachers, and increase instructional time."

Studies suggest that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001's goal of 100 percent of U.S. students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014 will not be met. The authors recommend more-uniform state academic standards and teacher requirements and broader measures of student learning, including more subjects and tests of higher-thinking and problem-solving skills.

To help fulfill a congressional mandate that cost estimates for major defense acquisition programs be performed by properly qualified members of the armed forces or full-time employees of the Department of Defense, RAND researchers conducted a census of the cost-estimating staff in the Air Force's four product centers and three logistics centers. They also held focus groups with a sample of cost estimators. This report presents the results.

To improve the progression of students through the educational system and to improve education quality, California needs a robust data system that can track an individual student's progress from kindergarten to college and beyond. The authors review California's multiple existing student data systems and identify steps that could be taken toward building and maintaining an integrated student data system for the state.

The Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) develops, acquires, and maintains most Air Force systems and is tailoring its workforce to adapt to changes in technology, weapons, and battlefield requirements. This volume is a practical guide to the main steps in analytical workforce planning and development: determining workforce demand, describing workforce supply, comparing the demand with the supply, and implementing solutions.

Can the Army effectively implement clinical treatment guidelines in its military treatment facilities to achieve consistent and high-quality practices throughout its health system? This is a 450-character abstract. In partnership with the Army Medical Department, RAND worked to implement clinical practice guidelines. This report evaluates the asthma guideline demonstration. It documents the actions, assesses effects, and measures the quality and limitations of data for monitoring outcomes. The authors found that the implementation scored successes but resource limitations and organizational barriers curbed progress. They conclude that flexibility, monitoring, and training are the keys to implementing the guidelines. They also found that patient education needed improvement.

Can the Army effectively implement clinical treatment guidelines in its military treatment facilities to achieve consistent and high-quality practices throughout its health system? In partnership with the Army Medical Department (AMEDD), RAND has been working to implement clinical practice guidelines. This report evaluates the diabetes guideline demonstration. It documents the intended actions, assesses effects, and measures the quality and limitations of data for monitoring outcomes. The authors found that the implementation scored successes but resource limitations and organizational barriers curbed progress. They conclude that flexibility, adequate resources, and experience are the keys to implementing guidelines throughout AMEDD.

This report presents the final results of the evaluation that RAND conducted for the Army Medical Department as part of the demonstration for the low back pain practice guideline, which was conducted in 1999 and 2000. This first demonstration to field test methods for implementation of clinical practice guidelines (regarding low back pain) yielded rich insights. The performance of the demonstration and control Army health facilities on the six chosen indicators for acute low back pain care varied significantly at baseline (the six month period before the facilities started working with the guideline). Introducing the guideline had few measurable effects on those measures. However, the demonstration made a considerable contribution to improvements in methods for subsequent guideline demonstrations, and ultimately, for implementation of the low back pain guideline in all Army health facilities as of January 2000.