text:
Positive Spin
The evidence for teacher certification.
By Kate Walsh
A constellation of interest groups, including education schools, powerful foundations like Carnegie and Rockefeller, and a variety of professional associations, has been urging states to adopt stricter licensing and certification requirements for teachers. They not only share a deep-seated belief that certified teachers are better teachers; they also claim that their views are supported by a comprehensive body of research. Academics like Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond and associations like the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the National Commission on Teaching & America's Future (NCTAF) routinely refer to the "dozens" or "hundreds" of studies showing that certified teachers outperform their uncertified peers. For instance, from an NCATE newsletter published in 1999: "Over 100 studies show that qualified teachers outperform those with little or no preparation in helping students learn." And from NCTAF's 1997 report Doing What Matters Most: Investing in Quality Teaching, authored by Darling-Hammond: "More than 200 studies contradict the long-standing myths that-anyone can teach' and that-teachers are born and not made.'"
Such statements lend a patina of scientific objectivity to the rules and regulations sought by these organizations. After all, who could oppose tighter licensing requirements if they were shown to lead to higher student achievement? Moreover, the use of phrases like "hundreds of studies show" makes it seem as though the question is closed, the debate over. Who could doubt findings that have been replicated "hundreds" of times? Checking the veracity of such statements would be a painstaking task, and why doubt them when they're made by respected scholars? Thus there has been no comprehensive effort by scholars in the field to drill down through these layers of evidence to discover what, if anything, they say about the merits of certifying teachers.
One of the primary goals of the Baltimore-based Abell Foundation, where I am a senior policy analyst, is to improve the public schools that serve poor children. For years my colleagues and I have witnessed the frustration of principals who were prevented by the state department of education from hiring promising teaching candidates because they hadn't met the requirements for certification. We wondered if the training provided by schools of education was so valuable that it had to be required, as every state currently does. So we began a search for the evidence linking certification with higher student achievement.
The Maryland Department of Education got us started with 12 documents that the state believes demonstrate the value of certification. We were immediately struck by the paucity of evidence found in these 12 documents and decided to keep digging. Finding many of the studies cited by advocates proved difficult. We often had to track down the author in order to obtain studies that no longer are, or never were, available through a university library. A few unpublished studies ultimately proved impossible to find, but we eventually looked at every published study, some going as far back as the 1940s, that supporters of teacher certification cite. We also retrieved many unpublished studies, mostly doctoral dissertations. Even though these dissertations had not undergone the peer-review process that most academic fields consider a prerequisite, we were willing to consider any evidence. In the end, we closely examined the findings of well over 200 studies, literature reviews, meta-analyses, and advocacy pieces.
We focused on research that examines how the various attributes of teachers affect student achievement, counting as legitimate evidence only those studies that used this measure of teachers' effectiveness. Other measures of teachers' effectiveness, such as principals' or other supervisors' ratings of their teachers' performance, are highly unreliable and studies using such measures are often characterized by poor research design.
Certification carries a high price, both financially and in the burdens it imposes on would-be teachers. About one-third of the coursework required of a prospective teacher in college is under the purview of a school of education. Certification requirements also dictate how states will appropriate millions of tax dollars to universities and colleges, and they determine the structure of incentive programs so critical to school districts in times of teacher shortages. Access to the profession is littered with obstacles for some of the most promising candidates: middle-aged professionals who wish to switch careers and talented college graduates who didn't major in education. Even in states that appear to offer a bypass around certification, these alternative programs are structured so that retrofitting-taking education coursework while teaching-is almost always required. To justify making the path to the teaching profession so difficult, certification needs to yield significant benefits in terms of student learning. Anything less, and states ought to question whether education schools should be the predominant path to becoming a teacher, rather than just one of many.
The body of research on the effects of teacher certification is astonishingly poor. Some of the most oft-cited studies had such serious flaws that no properly trained researcher would take them seriously. Early in our project we were amazed by the extent to which research is misquoted, misinterpreted, and misrepresented. Several researchers complained that their work, though widely cited, did not appear ever to have been read, considering the conclusions that were reached.
The examples presented here illustrate the seven main ways in which the supporters of teacher certification have twisted and turned the research findings to suit their policy purposes. The entire analysis of more than 200 studies and citations to the studies listed here can be found in the full study and in the unabridged web version of this essay, at www.educationnext.org.
–Research that seems to support teacher certification is selectively cited, while research that does not is overlooked.
In the 1997 NCTAF report Doing What Matters Most, Darling-Hammond describes the findings of a study (Ferguson 1991) that examined various characteristics of teachers and their relationships to student achievement. The study demonstrated that certain attributes play an important role in raising student achievement. Darling-Hammond cites this study as proof of the paramount importance of a teacher's possessing knowledge about "teaching and learning." As a result, she urges states to invest in more formal teacher education in order to ensure that teachers obtain this knowledge. She claims that Ferguson found that "every additional dollar spent on more high-qualified teachers netted greater increases in student achievement than did less instructionally focused uses of school resources."
Yet Ferguson's study did not show that a teacher's pedagogical training had an effect on student achievement. It was teachers' verbal ability that had a very large effect. At no point did Ferguson suggest that his research argues for states investing in more formal teacher education, though he did try to figure out how money could be used to attract teachers with higher SAT scores.
To measure teacher's verbal ability, Ferguson used a literacy test that was administered in 1986 to all public school teachers in Texas. He found a surprisingly large correlation between how well teachers did on this relatively easy test (the pass rate was 97 percent) and their students' achievement on a standardized test. Ferguson distinguishes this literacy test from tests like the National Teacher Exam (NTE), because it did not test pedagogical knowledge, a distinction that Darling-Hammond ignores. He specifically notes that previous research has found "scarce and weak" evidence of a relationship between tests of pedagogical knowledge and student achievement. Darling-Hammond wrongly states that the Texas test was a licensing test (actually it was a recertification test given to already hired teachers) and "that it tested both basic skills and teaching knowledge."
Why does Darling-Hammond feel justified in claiming that the test proves the importance of teaching knowledge? In fact, the Texas test did contain a section entitled "professional knowledge." However, Ferguson (and, indeed, anyone who ever took the test) understood this section as a test of basic vocabulary. In a series of ten multiple-choice questions, teachers were asked to pick the right definition of such phrases as "standardized tests," "classroom management," and "certification." It is certainly incongruous to suggest, as Darling-Hammond does, that knowing the definitions of these basic terms provides proof that prospective teachers benefit from sitting through 30 credit hours of education coursework or that states should invest their resources in even more formal training.
Darling-Hammond cites another study (Greenwald, Hedges, and Laine 1996) in support of her contention that states need to increase their investments in teacher education. She asserts that the study found that "spending on teacher education swamped other variables as the most productive investment for schools."
Yet, after reviewing 60 studies, Greenwald, Hedges, and Laine's firmest and most significant conclusion was that verbal ability had by far the most significant effect on student achievement. In a separate e-mail, one of the authors confirmed this finding: "Teacher ability (which was generally measured as teacher's verbal ability)," Hedges wrote, "seems to show the strongest and most replicable effect on achievement." However, Darling-Hammond, as she so often does, overlooks this central finding. Her reference to spending on teacher education was based on a tangential exercise the authors engaged in, in which they speculated on how school resources could be best invested in order to improve student achievement, including what would happen if more money were invested in teacher education.
But Darling-Hammond never acknowledges a key failing of this exercise. The authors stated that they were unable to come up with particular ways in which school districts could spend money to improve the average verbal ability of their teachers (though other researchers such as Ferguson and Manski have suggested that higher teacher salaries might do so), so they left out possible ways that money might be spent to raise verbal ability. Teacher education was only able to "swamp" all other spending variables because the authors couldn't figure out how to improve the most important teacher attribute.
–Analyses are padded with imprecise measures in order to conceal the lack of evidence in support of certification.
Darling-Hammond, in Teaching and Knowledge: Policy Issues Posed by Alternative Certification for Teachers (1992), asserts that there are "consistently positive relationships between student achievement in science and the teacher's background in both education courses and science courses," and she cites four studies in support of this statement. In fact, not one of the four studies looked at education coursework as an independent variable. Of course, if a researcher only reports that the combination of education coursework and science coursework improves student achievement, it is impossible for the reader to discern if both or only one of the variables were responsible for the effect.
Davis (1964) studied the effect of teachers' science coursework and their participation in National Science Foundation summer institutes. It did not study the effect of teachers' coursework in education.
Taylor (1957) found an effect only when education coursework was combined with science coursework. No effect from education coursework was found when the variable was isolated.
Druva and Anderson (1983) found that science coursework improved student achievement significantly, but that education coursework had no effect when the variable was isolated.
Perkes (1967) can be considered a stand-off at best. Students of teachers with more education coursework under their belts scored higher on a test of higher-order thinking, but lower on a science achievement test.
Another example: in Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: A Review of State Policy Evidence (1999), Darling-Hammond reviews what the research says about the relationship between student achievement and many different teacher variables, including teacher's general academic ability, intelligence, subject-matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, experience, and certification status. Her intention is to systematically prove her central thesis, that "measures of teacher preparation and certification are by far the strongest correlates of student achievement." While conceding that teachers' knowledge of their subject is important, she claims that the findings relating subject-matter knowledge to teacher effectiveness "are not as strong and consistent as one might suppose." She states that five studies have found "no consistent relationship between the subject-matter tests of the National Teachers' Exam and teacher performance as measured by student outcomes or supervisory ratings."
This is misleading. Not one of the five studies found a negative relationship between the NTE subject-matter tests and student outcomes. First it is important to understand the distinction between the Core Battery portion of the NTE and the subject-matter portion of the NTE, both of which have been replaced by the Praxis exams. The Core Battery was a test of teachers' basic skills and knowledge of pedagogy. The subject-matter portion was a test of a teacher's knowledge of the subject area that he or she was going to teach.
Andrews, Blackmon, and Mackey (1980) found a positive relationship between teachers' scores on the NTE English and elementary subject-matter tests and supervisors' ratings. The only negative relationship the authors found was between teachers' scores on the NTE physical education and special-education tests and supervisors' ratings of their performance.
Ayers and Qualls (1979) examined the relationship between teachers' scores on the NTE and how their students rated their performance. But students' ratings are extremely unreliable; students may rate a teacher who gives them no homework higher than a teacher who challenges them.
Quirk, Witten, and Weinberg (1973), a literature review on the effect of the NTE, found only one study that looked at the relationship between the NTE and student achievement, and it was written in 1947. Though too old to be considered very relevant, it reported a positive relationship between the teachers' scores on the NTE and student achievement.
Haney, Madaus, and Kreitzer (1987) is another literature review, recycling the same findings found in Ayers and Qualls and in Quirk, Witten, and Weinberg. (One of the authors, George Madaus, told us that he was not aware of any research showing a negative correlation between the NTE subject-matter test and student achievement.)
Summers and Wolfe (1977) was the only study of the five to explore the relationship between teachers' performance on NTE subject-matter tests and student achievement. They found a largely positive effect. (The negative effect to which Darling-Hammond refers was probably what Summers and Wolfe noted as the "perversely" negative relationship between 6th grade teachers' scores on the NTE Core Battery, a test of pedagogy and basic skills, and their students' achievement.)
–Researchers focus on variables that are poor measures of the qualities they are interested in, sometimes ignoring variables that are better measures.
In a 1985 literature review that is still extensively cited, Evertson, Hawley, and Zlotnik argued that the concern with whether teachers know their subject matter is overblown. They cited three studies that supposedly found that there is "no or [a] negative relationship between teacher knowledge (as measured by GPA and standardized tests) and student achievement."
One of these three studies is a 1977 dissertation by Eisenberg. It's true that Eisenberg failed to find a correlation between teachers' GPAs and their students' achievement, but GPA is considered a fairly crude measure of a teacher's subject-matter knowledge; teachers presumably take courses in college other than those in their subject area, courses that might drag their GPAs down. Evertson, Hawley, and Zlotnik neglect to report that Eisenberg found a significantly positive effect from a better measure of teachers' knowledge of mathematics: their knowledge of algebraic concepts and postgraduate coursework in calculus. The other two studies that Evertson, Hawley, and Zlotnik cited-both unpublished-were similarly misreported.
Instead of using standardized measures of student achievement, advocates sometimes design their own assessments in order to prove certification's value. Ashton and Crocker (1983) cited Copley's 1975 dissertation as evidence that beginning teachers are better prepared by virtue of having taken coursework in pedagogy and educational methods. The assessment Copley used was a survey designed by doctoral students in education. It asked principals to rate their new teachers on factors that are unrelated to student achievement, such as how often they participated in professional meetings, if they have a good disposition, and if they have a sense of humor.
Sometimes, when a study doesn't use measures of student achievement, advocates simply say it does. Denton and Lacina's 1984 study is cited repeatedly by advocates of certification because it was supposed to have found a positive relationship between formal teacher preparation and student achievement (Evertson, Hawley, and Zlotnik 1985; Darling-Hammond 1999). Yet Denton and Lacina never even looked at student achievement; their study measured only the morale of student teachers and the ratings of student teachers by their supervisors.
–Research is cited that is old and often irretrievable.
The fact that research is relatively old does not automatically make it irrelevant. Yet older studies should be regarded skeptically. There are a number of reasons: 1) student achievement probably wasn't used as the measure of teacher effectiveness; 2) before the advent of the modern computer, in the mid-1960s, some of the more sophisticated analyses were not feasible; 3) the structure and makeup of schools change, making the findings less applicable to the current situation; 4) most important, older studies may not control for critical variables, such as students' backgrounds or past achievement.
In Reforming Teacher Preparation and Licensing: Debating the Evidence (2000), Darling-Hammond cites numerous studies to support the statement: "Knowledge about teaching and learning shows even stronger relationships to teaching effectiveness than subject-matter knowledge." However, only four of the studies were published after 1980; the remaining 12 were published between 1950 and 1979.
–Research that has not been subjected to peer review is treated without skepticism, and there is a particularly heavy reliance on unpublished dissertations.
The process of peer review, having researchers' fellow experts review a study before it is deemed worthy of publication, is practiced in all fields of serious scientific study. Yet many assertions about the benefits of teacher certification are largely, if not exclusively, dependent on the evidence provided in unpublished dissertations, papers delivered at conferences but never published, or articles published in the many education journals, like Phi Delta Kappan, that are not "refereed" (they don't have a system of blind peer review).
For instance, Ashton and Crocker (1987) cite numerous studies on teacher preparation to support their conclusion that coursework in education makes teachers more effective than coursework in their subject matter does. They claim that 9 of the 14 studies they found showed that subject-matter coursework made no difference. It took a careful read of the footnotes to discover that all but two of these nine studies were dissertations, unpublished and unavailable to scrutinize because they ranged from 25 to 45 years old. The two published studies were equally problematic. Rothman, Welch, and Walberg (1969) studied only 35 teachers who were accepted into an elite project developed by the Harvard Physics Project. Generalizing the findings to the greater population of teachers is inappropriate. The other study (Perkes 1967) produced mixed results: students whose teachers took more subject-matter coursework reported higher scores on an achievement test, but lower scores on the STEP, a test of higher-order thinking. Another example: Druva and Anderson (1983) reported a largely positive link between education coursework and "successful teaching," but 54 of the 65 studies reviewed were dissertations or unpublished articles, all written between 1966 and 1975.
The difficulty of tracking down some of these studies is worth noting. We tried to find one frequently cited unpublished paper, delivered at a 1990 American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in Boston, which was written by Gomez and Grobe. It was not available from the archives of the AERA and could not be located through the services of a university library. Even the authors no longer had a copy of the paper, and none of the researchers who cited the study was able or willing to produce the report after numerous requests. The authors' recall of their findings did not correspond to Darling-Hammond's presentation of their findings.
-Studies that support teacher certification routinely violate basic principles of sound statistical analysis that other academic disciplines take for granted; methodological errors go unchallenged.
First, studies often do not control for variables that are critical to understanding student performance. For example, Darling-Hammond, in NCTAF's 1997 report Doing What Matters Most, asserts, "Students will achieve at higher levels and are less likely to drop out when taught by certified teachers." She supports this claim with three studies, none of which controlled for students' family backgrounds. Studies of teachers' influence on student achievement need to include controls for students' socioeconomic background, as this variable appears more important than any other variable in determining student achievement. (When citing these studies a second time in the 1999 report Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: A Review of State Policy Evidence, Darling- Hammond acknowledged this fact. It would have been more appropriate not to mention these studies at all.)
Second, conclusions are sometimes based on sample groups that do not mirror the general population. The work of Edward Begle, a respected mathematician, is one of eight studies cited by Evertson, Hawley, and Zlotnik (1985) as showing that little evidence exists to support increasing teachers' knowledge of their subjects beyond what is typically required for certification. It's true that Begle (1972) found that the number of mathematics courses taken by a teacher stopped making much of a difference at a certain point. But he points out a critical limitation of these findings that others disregard, including Evertson, Hawley, and Zlotnik: the teachers in the study were an elite group of science teachers who had been accepted by the National Science Foundation Summer Institute. They also felt comfortable enough with their knowledge of mathematics to volunteer to take the math test used for the study. It should come as no surprise that variation in the number of math courses taken by teachers in this group would not lead to different outcomes in student achievement. Differences in the number of math courses taken by teachers in the larger population of science teachers could still lead to variation in student achievement.
Third, conclusions are sometimes based on samples that are simply too small to produce results that are reliable or that can be generalized to the larger population. The findings from a study that included only a few teachers cannot yield reliable findings that apply to a larger population. Here is a sampling of studies on certification and the number of teachers that were involved: Bullough, Knowles, and Crow, 3 teachers; Davis, 29 teachers; Eisenberg, 28 teachers; Grossman, 3 teachers; Hall, 38 teachers; Hice, 40 teachers; Howe, 51 teachers; Hurst, 55 teachers; Lins, 27 teachers; Perkes, 32 teachers; McNeil, 38 teachers; Rothman, Welch, and Walberg, 35 teachers; Thoman, 29 teachers.
Fourth, some studies suffer from serious statistical errors known as aggregation bias that can lead to misinterpretations. For instance, in 1999, Darling-Hammond published a widely publicized study of the relationship between student performance on the 4th and 8th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the certification status of each state's teachers. She found that states with higher student achievement also employed a greater percentage of certified teachers. The problem is the inability to match students with their teachers when using data that are aggregated at the state level. States differ in ways that make drawing conclusions about causation quite troublesome. For instance, states with higher percentages of certified teachers may also have strong accountability systems that focus their schools on student achievement. Or the families in states with higher percentages of certified teachers may place more emphasis on education, thereby raising student achievement. In short, many variables besides teacher certification might explain why scores were higher in some states than in others, but Darling-Hammond was able to control for very few of them.
In the study, Darling-Hammond acknowledges the likely distortions in her analysis: "Aggregating data to the state level produces different results than one would find if one looked at similar kinds of data at the individual student, teacher, school, or district level." However, even the concession that the findings probably aren't accurate doesn't stop her from maintaining that the data are still useful "for the purposes of assessing broad policy influences at the state level." In effect she is stating that the data, accurate or not, should be sufficient for making public policy.
Independent Confirmation
The Abell Foundation study is not the first to uncover the lack of rigorous and legitimate evidence on teacher certification. Charged by the U.S. Department of Education with combing the existing research on teacher preparation and subjecting it to scientific standards used in other fields, scholars with the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy at the University of Washington (Wilson, Floden, and Ferrini-Mundy 2001) eliminated all but 57 studies written in the past 20 years. However, most of these 57 studies were "interpretive" case studies involving only a few teachers. The actual number of longitudinal or quasi-longitudinal studies that controlled for students' backgrounds and used student achievement as the measure of whether teacher preparation made a difference was far fewer. Under the scholars' own standard, only six studies containing any evidence that teacher certification is effective were left standing, a fact that was omitted in Wilson, Floden, and Ferrini-Mundy's text.
Supporters of certification attribute the low student achievement in the nation's poorest school districts at least partially to the high number of uncertified teachers working in these districts. However, this view remains unsupported by sound research. Moreover, the even lower number of certified teachers employed by the nation's inner-city parochial schools and elite private schools would appear to discount this theory. If certification were crucial, certainly these schools would privilege certified teachers in order to satisfy their tuition-paying families. The theory that teacher certification leads to high-quality teaching is based more on what we think ought to be true (shouldn't coursework in pedagogy and educational methods create better teachers? Shouldn't teachers have to go through education school, just as lawyers go to law school and doctors go to medical school?) than on controlled experimentation. It is a leap of faith taken without the benefit of supporting evidence. The evidence, it turns out, is astonishingly deficient.
Reduced to their essence, the existing routes to teacher certification consist of little more than counting course titles on the college transcripts of prospective teachers. The process is incapable of providing any insight into an individual's ability, intellectual curiosity, creativity, affinity for children, and instructional skills. Acting as a very crude proxy for teacher quality, the process is incapable of identifying significant, justifiable reasons for denying uncertified candidates access to the profession. A highly able candidate who does not take a required course is no more allowed to teach than the candidate who is poorly educated and unable to pass the teacher's examination.
Determining who is qualified to teach is a task fraught with ambiguity and nuance, far more difficult than the mechanical process of counting a teacher's coursework suggests. Given the faulty principles on which certification is based, it is not surprising that its value cannot be proven. Regulatory policy cannot supplant the need for human judgment.
-Kate Walsh is a senior policy analyst at the Baltimore-based Abell Foundation.


Strip malls are the essence of vitriol, rising at the back of my throat. Who do people need several Starbucks or Walgreen's within blocks of each other? The driver of the truck that was pushing us through this distracting mess of concrete read my mind.
If I blurred my vision against the skyline, between the squat McDonald's and Taco Bells, I could see twisted crowns here and there. Letting myself imagine we were in fact cruising through a Oregon white oak forest instead of what had replaced it, my heart rate slowed a bit. I'd driven this road half a dozen times with Simone, my friend, contributor to wingtrip, and pertinent at the time, a Falconer.
Rounding a corner, I looked at a corner lot that used to be full of mature Oregon white oak, now full of tasteless condominiums. They were built right up to the edge of the parcel of land that was our destination. Looping through the cemetery, we parked and geared up.
I'm always embarrassed by how much fussing I typically need to do when embarking on a photographic endeavor. But Simone had me matched, not with gadgets, but with animals to curtail. Otis, the diminutive beagle-jack Russell cross was quivering with excitement. He got a shock collar slipped over his head, not because he's a bad dog but because we'd be close to a road and he's prone to disobedience when on the scent of rabbits. Simone had to don her vest, a glove for holding her bird, grab a bloody container of miscellaneous animal bits, and grabbed an ax handle for beating brush. Finally, the man of the hour, Chase the red-tailed hawk, needed to be taken out of his box. All this was done in the parking lot of the funeral home, where, judging by the number of cars, a service was taking place. Simone's been coming here since she first started as an apprentice and no one has ever said a thing to her about parking here. Then again, would you reprimand a woman holding a hawk?
We started out through the scotch broom and blackberries that are slowly being hacked back by the nearby community college. This is good for the potential of restoring a small bit of native Western Washington prairie but no necessarily great for Simone's ability to go hawking. We were headed straight for the imposing mass of Himalayan blackberries.
You almost always look regal when carrying a bird of prey on your gloved arm. With Otis bounding behind her, Simone walked partway down the field before removing Chase's hood. Releasing his jesses, he flew off with a jingle of bells, heading straight for his hunting perch, an adjacent telephone pole.
Falconry is not a hobby, it's a way of life and something that you dedicate your life to. That's one of many reasons why I've never delved into it myself, despite knowing that if I was interested, I'd have a teacher and support. When it's hawking season in Washington, Simone is fully committed to flying her birds. She spends her time plowing through trashy lots of blackberries in Western Washington and agricultural fields East of the mountains with Chase, cruising random ponds for her Cooper's Hawk Hula, and training her other two imprint falcons in between. This is a full time job, not a half-hearted hobby.
One day a few months ago, Simone, our visiting friend Danner, and I were headed up to go birding in the Skagit Flats. Danner and I met at her house around 9AM on a cold December morning, a lazy hour for birders, and apparently even more so for falconers. Moments later Simone burst through the door, soaking wet, holding her Cooper's Hawk. She was beaming and informed us that Hula had gone for a drake mallard in the middle of a pond. Being at most a third of the weight of a mallard but possesing the notorious tenacity of an Accipiter, she wasn't going to let go of her quarry. Simone had to crash into the pond, filling her pockets with water (containing her iPhone amongst other items) to keep Hula from drowning herself. This was all recounted joyously, while Danner and I stood and listened incredulously.
I stood by the edge of a blackberries as Simone crashed through, disregarding the brambles clawing at her. Otis, following suit, wiggled beneath the hooped vines and quickly began to whine in excitement. Chase watched from above, calling occasionally, waiting for his partners on the ground to flush prey.
Early on Chase made a dive and narrowly missed a rabbit dashing through an opening. While my intention was to stand back and watch, I quickly got caught up in the hunt. Cars zipped by a few hundred feet away, but easily forgotten as we were all focused, watching to see if Chase spied anything from his perch.
Chase started calling more frequently and soon we heard the scream of another red-tailed hawk. A pair of them circled in, unhappy that Chase was here, probably quite near their nest. They were a distracting element, always on the periphery, taunting and threatening this interloper with bells and loops on his feet. However, despite outnumbering him, they never got close enough to lay a talon on Chase.
Plummeting down and pounding into the ground, Chase was impressive. There were many near misses. I held my breath and I watched him try to find an opening on a rabbit that was frozen mere feet from me. All the while Otis was baying with excitement sounding like he was being killed, not following the trail of a rabbit.
The bloodlust I felt during this hunt is abnormal. I didn't necessarily wish any of the rabbits we were chasing harm, but my presence inherently meant I did. Intellectually I enjoy the idea of hunting for my own meat and I've taken the lives of other animals in order to eat them but this rabbit was going to go to Chase. There's an ethical cascade of issues that can arise hunting with a bird of prey, especially a bird that was once in the wild, like Chase. But I'm not one to start a debate on the subject of Falconry. I will say this: every Falconer I've met is beyond doting of the birds they partner with and respectful of the lives they take. If you find fault with this practice, I suggest you spend some time out in the field with the practitioners before you truly judge.
Our jaunt ended without rabbit blood but we'd had a good ramble though the patch. Simone lured Chase back with tasty cut up quail bits and we wandered back through the oaks, imagining we were in expansive prairie and not a remnant grove. Even with his hood on, he looked regal with beautiful coloration and an inherent power that had been demonstrated all afternoon. Red-tailed hawks may be common in numbers, but their grace in the air is breathtaking and you can't help but admire every bird seen after hunting.
Yet, I still don't completely get the dedication. Simone and Otis were covered in scratches, Otis had blood streaks across his face. I remembered that this favorite hunting spot was spitting distance from a cemetery, an wrecking yard, and a housing development. Did I mention that Simone is vegetarian?
What a great story! You should publish this elsewhere.


text:
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You are at:Home » Entertainment » Nicole Kidman, Andrew Garfield, Lady Gaga, and Others Talk About Their Early Award Season Nominations
Nicole Kidman, Andrew Garfield, Lady Gaga, and Others Talk About Their Early Award Season Nominations
By SAMANTHA Lee on January 15, 2022 Entertainment
Nicole Kidman, Andrew Garfield, Lady Gaga, and Others Talk About Their Early Award Nominations
Following the announcement of the Golden Globes winners and Screen Actors Guild Award nominees this week, Hollywood is buzzing with praise for some of the year's best performances.
Nicole Kidman, who portrays Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos, Will Smith, who plays Venus and Serena Williams' headstrong father in King Richard, Andrew Garfield, who showcases unexpected musical talent as Rent mastermind Jonathan Larson in tick, tick…Boom!, and Kristen Stewart, who channels Diana, Princess of Wales in the twisty, psychological Spencer are among the biopic frontrunners for 2022.
Some of this year's ceremonies have been postponed due to COVID precautions — keep track of all your awards season schedules with ET's handy guide — but from here, it's a straight shot to the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, where Hollywood's highest honors will be celebrated with that coveted golden statuette.
Many of the 2022 frontrunners were honored at this year's Palm Springs International Film Awards, and ET had exclusive access to them.
Read on to find out how the stars feel about their critically acclaimed performances and the numerous awards nominations they'll be receiving this season.
Nicole Kidman received the Career Achievement Award from this year's Palm Springs International Film Awards, and marveled at the honor while insisting she's nowhere near slowing down. Nicole Kidman is the likely frontrunner for Best Actress this season, following her win at the Golden Globes.
"I still have incredible passion for what I do," said the actress, who portrays Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos.
"I'm still completely enthralled by the project."
That is all there is to it."
Kidman began her acting career as a teenager in Australia before breaking through on the international stage in the late 1980s, and she is as gracious as ever when reflecting on her nearly four-decade career.
"It's been a slow build since I was 14," she explained, "and it's had its ups and downs."
"I've worked with some of the world's best directors, actors, and writers."
As any actor will tell you, we're only as good as the people we surround ourselves with… but there's one thing I've always been committed to.
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Trooper Demny from Hart post receives outstanding achievement award.
Trooper Demny
HART — Trooper Matt Demny, a graduate of the 122nd Trooper Recruit School assigned to the Michigan State Police (MSP) Hart Post, has received the Community Policing Outstanding Achievement Award.
Demny received the award "for his outstanding efforts to make a positive impact in the lives of people in his community," states an MSP press release. Col. Joe Gasper, director of the MSP, recently recognized his efforts during a virtual ceremony.
"Trooper Demny is looked to as a true leader in his community where he has worked tirelessly to build solid relationships with first responders, businesses, organizations, and community members alike. He also has a noticeable presence in the Mason County school system through programs he participates in including "Read with a Hero" and a charity dodgeball game called "Kids versus Cops."
Recognizing a financial need within the Pere Marquette Fire Department, Trooper Demny took it upon himself to coordinate a community grant between Walmart and the fire department, which hosts a detachment of the Hart Post, that resulted in a $1,000 grant for facility upgrades. In December, Trooper Demny spearheaded an effort to purchase a swing set for the children of Grant Township firefighter Michael Buitendorp, who had tragically died on duty the month before.
During the holidays, when Trooper Demny became aware of leftover meals at a local church, he enlisted the assistance of the Mason County Sheriff's Office, and together they coordinated a meal drop-off to an unemployed Army veteran and his disabled child, whom he had previously met while on patrol.


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Sullivan, Daines
Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment, with a further amendment, to the vehicle for the CR (H.R. 1892)
Senator Sullivan: (2:41 p.m)
Spoke in tribute to the Alaskan of the Week.
"Now, many in the military know it's not easy to serve but what's often forgotten is that service and the sacrifice of service, particularly military service, often hits the families the hardest. And when that service results in the loss of life, the ultimate sacrifice, it's devastating for the families and friends and loved ones all across communities, all across Alaska, really all across the country. When one of our own loses their life in the fight for freedom, we all grieve. We all grieve. So, Mr. President, today I want to introduce a very special Alaskan, Kirk Alkier, who has devoted countless hours to make sure that those we have lost in battle will never be forgotten and that the families of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice receive a fitting tribute to their sacrifice."
Senator Daines: (3:33 p.m)
Spoke on government funding legislation.
"Washington, D.C has a spending problem. Controlling government spending is a big challenge, but it's one that we have to rise to to meet. We must rise to the occasion, not retreat to trillion-dollar deficits. Now, funding our national defense is a fundamental requirement laid out in our constitution. The men and women of our military, including our veterans, absolutely crucial. Funding for our community health centers, something I have been fighting hard for, important for our states. And, in fact, earlier today, I supported a reasonable proposal to address both of these concerns without going rogue on spending. The question is at what point is congress going to look in the mirror and see that the real long-term certainty, the long-term sustainability of these programs that we all support is directly tied to fiscal responsibility?"


What are some of the historical and social influences on the way society has treated and views individuals with mental illness?
What are some advantages and disadvantages of classifying clients into a category of mental disorder?
determine what impact if any innovation had on the healthcare organization. do the current healthcare organizations that you are familiar with in Saudi Arabia encourage innovation?
Explain the significance of MRP in Supply Chain Management.
Prepare a report of your presentation and use Harvard Reference Style for your references.


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About Gôdô-Ryū Karate
Gôdô-Ryū Karate is a traditional Karate style combining power and strength together with speed and mobility to form an effective and efficient Karate style. Gôdô-Ryū Karate incorporates aspects of other Martial Arts in its syllabus, such as Aikido and Ju-Jitsu. Karate encourages a positive mental attitude in all aspects of life, being based on respect for self and others. Gôdô-Ryū Karate respect the disciplines found in traditional Karate styles, and understand the importance of maintaining our traditional values, but also recognise the importance of evolving as a modern and effective Martial Art.
The Gôdô-Ryū Karate Association promotes a safe Dojo for all practitioners and actively encourages equality and diversity, welcoming male and female students of all ages and abilities. The Gôdô-Ryū Karate Association ensures the safety and protection of all children involved within the Association through adherence to the child protection guidelines adopted by the NSPCC.
History of Gôdô-Ryū Karate
The Gôdô-Ryū Karate Association was formed in 1995 by Hanshi Paul Smith (8th Dan, Hachidan) and Shihan Bob Rowe (7th Dan, Shichidan), who each have over forty five years experience, both at National and International level representing England and Great Britian. Gôdô-Ryū Karate is a traditional Karate style combining power and strength together with speed and mobility to form an effective and efficient Karate style. The literal meaning of Gôdô-Ryū Karate translates to 'combined style school of empty hand'. Since its inception the Gôdô-Ryū Karate Association has grown from strength to strength and now has clubs all across the South-West of England in Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.
Hanshi Paul Smith
Founder and Chief Instructor of the Gôdô-Ryū Karate Association, Hanshi Paul Smith has led the Association for over twenty years, starting his Karate training in 1973. He was awarded his 8th Dan (Hachidan) in 2013 by the Federation of English Karate Organisations. Hanshi Paul Smith displayed exceptional Karate prowess representing England in National and International competition, achieving remarkable championship success. Hanshi Paul Smith has trained closely with world class Karate exponents such as Hirokazu Kanazawa, Tori Takamizawa and Ticky Donovan. Through his guidance, the Gôdô-Ryū Karate Association continues to develop and refine traditional Karate to form an effective and efficient Karate style.
info@godoryukarate.co.uk
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First responders are seen outside Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, U.S. November 8, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON:A gunman who barged in and opened fire in a crowded southern California music bar and dance hall late on Wednesday killing several people is dead, the sheriff's office said.Ventura County Sheriff's Office Sgt Eric Buchow told the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles that there were "multiple fatalities" in the shooting and the gunman was dead inside the crowded venue in the upscale residential suburb of Thousand Oaks.US synagogue shooting suspect pleads not guiltyThe venue was hosting an event for college students and possibly several hundred young people were inside, said Captain Garo Kuredjian of the Ventura County Sheriff's office.He said around 0915 GMT that the shooter was still confined inside the premises, adding he did not know if the shooter had been subdued or shot.Police who responded to reports of a shooting rushed to the scene and engaged the gunman, said Kuredjian.A deputy sheriff is among the 11 people shot.The incident happened at the Borderline Bar and Grill in the town of Thousand Oaks, a quiet, upscale residential suburb of Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times quoted a law enforcement official as saying at least 30 shots had been fired.Multiple deaths in US warehouse complex shootingAn unnamed witness told the newspaper that someone ran into the bar around 11:30 pm and started shooting what looked to be a black pistol."He shot a lot, at least 30 times. I could still hear gunshots after everyone left," the Times quoted the man as saying.


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No enjoyment like 'Pride and Prejudice'
Alexandra Lowery | Thursday, April 14, 2016
Lindsey Meyers
It's a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen will always be relevant. Two whole centuries after its initial publication in 1813, "Pride and Prejudice" endures as one of the greatest love stories ever written. In recent years, the classic novel can claim itself as the basis on which many love/hate rom-coms are built, the inspiration for a multitude of fanfictions (even of the zombie apocalypse persuasion) and the foundation on which an array of modern-day adaptations have mounted their successes. It seems that the "janeites" of our generation aren't prepared to give up on the ideals that early 19th century romance has to offer, and neither is Notre Dame's Department of Film, Television and Theatre.
The department's latest main stage production of "Pride and Prejudice" adapted by Jon Jory and directed by Anton Juan transports the audience to the world of Elizabeth Bennet in which a woman's only ambitions in life were marriage and finding the perfect empire dress.
As to be expected when witnessing a Juan production, the stylistic choices of the staging of the play are some of the more memorable aspects for audience members. Upon entering the theatre, the riverrun country dance band, dressed in traditional 19th century garb and composed of fiddle and mandolin players, performs what will be the soundtrack for Austen's love story. This, combined with the stunningly well-designed set by Marcus Stephens, establishes the tone for a night spent in Longbourn, England, during the 1800s. The costumes, beautifully created by Richard E. Donnelly, only add to this level of immersion, appearing not only historically accurate and functional but colorfully pleasing as well.
Juan's highly choreographed stylishness is evident throughout the show, specifically the large ballroom scenes in the first act, each a complex orchestration of dialogue, blocking and dance. While these are very well-executed by the director and his cast, they are the only times during the show where the audience may feel a bit uninterested after having witnessed several very similar dance sequences in a row. However, for the most part Juan keeps the energy of the play up, his creative use of the multi-level stage suited to Jory's adaptation, which utilizes quite a bit of narration and exposition in the form of letters.
As for the play's performances, Emily Dauer as Elizabeth Bennet stands out as an embodiment of one of the most famous, complex female characters ever written. Exhibiting a multi-layered display of Lizzie's charms, as well as faults, Dauer will not disappoint even the strictest of Austen loyalists and has the audience rooting for her happily ever after.
Miss Bennet's antagonist turned lover, Mr. Darcy, is played by Clayton Conroy, who offers an austere interpretation of this definitive romantic hero. Smiling in perhaps only one scene during his entire performance, Conroy is the exact Darcy that Austen created: proud, prejudiced but ultimately too generous and dreamy to resist.
Stephanie Konrady and Keenan Kelley are "aww"-worthy departures from the drama of Darcy and Elizabeth as Jane and Mr. Bingley, respectively, two parts of the sweet secondary couple of the show.
Róisín Goebelbecker plays a perfect Lydia Bennet, energetic and attention-seeking but reluctantly lovable in all her silliness. Cameron Hart deserves accolades for tripling as Sir William Lucas, Mr. Collins and Mr. Gardiner, effectively annoying his on-stage acquaintances and transforming for the audience time and time again.
The production all in all is extremely well-executed and offers a classically entertaining interpretation of the famous novel that audience members of all familiarities will adore. "Pride and Prejudice" closes the 2015-2016 theatre season with zeal, romance and a whole lot of mutton chops that you don't want to miss.
"Pride and Prejudice" runs April 13 through 17 at Debartolo Performing Arts Center. Tickets are on sale online at ftt.nd.edu.
Tags: DPAC, FTT, jane austen, pride and prejudice, Theatre
About Alexandra Lowery
I am sophomore in the Mendoza College of Business and the department of Film, Television and Theatre. I enjoy long, drawn out feminist rants, playing guitar and worshipping Beyoncé.
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HomeCaring for Those Without Health Insurance: Practical Implications of the Affordable Care Act
Caring for Those Without Health Insurance: Practical Implications of the Affordable Care Act
Published: Jun 11, 2014 By: David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D. Category: University of Florida Academic Health Center
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Obama, was forged from a molten set of political compromises and passed by Congress along strictly partisan lines, and remains a highly charged subject whenever it is discussed. While the debate continues, implementation of the ACA will potentially impact not only the uninsured Americans who were at the heart of the law's major provisions, but also virtually everyone else in the nation, directly or indirectly.
I prepared some material on this subject for a retired faculty group last week. As you might imagine, a lively discussion ensued! In light of the response, I concluded that this information would be of interest to the broad UF Health community. My goal in this newsletter is to provide a brief synopsis of the background leading to the law and then to focus my comments on its main objective: providing access to health insurance for the 48 million Americans who were uninsured. I will try to address the question of how successful ACA has been in reaching this objective and what problems have arisen in the process. My goal is to be factual, not political.
The United States does not fare well in international comparisons of cost and outcomes. In fact, we are an outlier (Figure 1). You can count 26 countries that exceed our life expectancy, and among those countries, the median health care expenditures per capita is about half of that in the United States.
Figure 1: International comparison of health status – Life expectancy in years
Source: OECD Health Statistics, 2013; World Bank for non-OECD countries
For twice the per-capita expenditure on health care, we don't do much better on a number of other outcome measures: for example, we rank 31st out of 34 developed countries in infant mortality (where the No. 1 rank is the best), 27th out of 28 in hospital admission rates for unmanaged asthma, 16th out of 19 in surgical complication rates and 12th out of 32 in heart attack fatalities.
How can this be? Much of the answer lies in our unique system of paying for health care costs: as shown in Figure 2, over two-thirds of expenditures are through a patchwork of employer and government health insurance. What these expenditures have in common is that they are mostly made through a fee-for-service system in which the fees facing consumers are only a small fraction of the actual fees. As a consequence, the U.S. has become an international leader in utilization per capita, whether measured in terms of office visits, surgical procedures, imaging studies, lab tests or pharmaceuticals. Moreover, because insured patients are responsible for only a small co-pay, while the actual price is buried in the insurance premium paid primarily by employers and government, actual prices for all categories of medical care have also risen to be the highest in the world. Since total expenditure equals price times quantity, our national expenditures have increased accordingly.
Figure 2: US Health Expenditures, by Payer, 2011
Source: CMS, Office of the Actuary, National Health Expenditures, 2013 release via California Healthcare Foundation
This explains the high total cost. But what about the poor outcomes? The answer to this part of the story lies in the recognition that the pie chart shown in Figure 2 applies to the people with health insurance (and to the small percentage who pay for their care fully out of pocket). Health outcomes for these individuals approximate that of other developed countries. As noted, however, 48 million Americans had no health insurance in 2012, and the health outcomes for these individuals are much worse. Therefore, when the insured and uninsured populations are combined, the observed outcomes for life expectancy and the other conditions listed above are seen.
Who are the uninsured? They tend to be poor, working at jobs in which health insurance is not provided, and they often lack adequate income to purchase health insurance in the individual, private market. About 80 percent of families without health insurance have a family member who is employed, but about 40 percent are below the Federal Poverty Line (FPL), and another 40 percent are between the FPL and 2.5 times the FPL. Due to variations in Medicaid eligibility rules and in economic conditions, there is significant variability in uninsured rates among states. In 2012, about 4 million people in Florida did not have health insurance.
At UF Health Shands in Gainesville, about 8 percent of patients admitted to our hospital have no health insurance. At UF Health Jacksonville, the figure is 16 percent. Moreover, the percent uninsured is much higher for patients seen in our emergency rooms for medical care but not requiring admission. Overall, the actual cost to UF Health for providing this care to the uninsured is about $170 million per year.
The Affordable Care Act: Insuring the Uninsured
Although ACA has many other provisions, its main focus is to provide access to insurance among the uninsured. It does this by using the existing public and private insurance system shown in Figure 2 and creating mechanisms for individuals to gain coverage in two ways: either through Medicaid expansion (if they are below the FPL) or through subsidized health insurance premiums for new private insurance products sold in web-based health care marketplaces or "exchanges." In the case of the exchanges, the subsidy goes down as income rises.
Overall, of the 48 million who were uninsured in 2012, it was estimated that two-thirds, or 32 million, would gain access through these two mechanisms: about 16 million through Medicaid expansion and about 16 million though the private exchanges. In addition, it was estimated that another 5 million of the uninsured between 18 and 26 years of age would gain access through their parents' policy, another provision of ACA.
After ACA was passed by Congress, its constitutionality was challenged. On June 28, 2012, the constitutionality of the main provisions of the law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court found that individual states could decide whether to expand Medicaid to their poorest residents. The federal government would pay 100 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion for the first three years. At that point, the state would begin to contribute a small percentage, which would top out at 10 percent by the sixth year and thereafter. In Florida, although Governor Scott supported Medicaid expansion for at least the first three years, and although the Florida Senate supported a variant of Medicaid expansion that would take advantage of the federal funding, the House Speaker opposed any form of Medicaid expansion, and therefore this part of ACA has not been implemented in Florida.
Florida is not alone. As shown in the map below (Figure 3), 24 states have not participated in Medicaid expansion. From a national perspective, of the 16 million people who were projected to be covered by Medicaid expansion, about 5 million have been covered thus far.
Figure 3: Medicaid Expansion, by State, March 2014
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
What about coverage for the uninsured whose incomes were too high to qualify for Medicaid expansion? To cover those with incomes between 133 and 400 percent of the FPL (or between 100 and 400 percent of the FPL for states that did not expand Medicaid), ACA created health insurance marketplaces, or "exchanges," where private insurers would offer health insurance plans from which individuals could choose. Under ACA, such plans could not exclude people with preexisting medical conditions or discriminate in other ways, and had to cover 10 essential health benefits. The rollout of the website for the exchanges was famously botched, and there were numerous other problems in the initial months of the program. Nonetheless, by the time that open enrollment for the exchanges ended, 8 million people nationally were enrolled in the exchanges — about half of the ultimate goal. Of these, about 440,000 are Floridians.
How does this work for someone who enrolls in an exchange? Let's use the example of a 40-year-old individual in Florida whose income is 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Line ($28,725). On average across the state, based on data from the Congressional Research Service, the premium payment for the most popular plan ("silver") is $317 per month or $3,804 per year. The deductible would be, on average, $5,000. This individual would be eligible for a subsidy of $123/month or $1,476 per year on the insurance premium and federal cost sharing of $500 that would reduce the deductible to $4,500. For a family of four with two 40-year-old parents and two children, the premium would be $948 per month ($11,376 per year) with a subsidy of $553/month ($6,636/year).
Evolving Issues in ACA Implementation
It is likely that, across time, more and more uninsured people will participate in either Medicaid expansion or the exchanges, depending on their eligibility. Because the ACA was grafted onto the existing patchwork of public and private health insurance, however, with specific provisions that were the product of political compromise, several evolving issues will complicate the prospects for smooth adoption. A few examples are:
In some communities, like Gainesville, only one insurer came forward to offer an exchange product. In general, premium prices and deductibles will be higher when there is only one (or a small handful) of insurers.
To keep premiums low, insurers contract with a "narrow network" of physicians and hospitals. An enrollee may have seen the same doctor for many years, but that doctor may not be part of the network created by the insurer under the exchange.
It's easier — and more certain — for individuals to pay for health insurance through payroll deduction than by writing a check each month. Preliminary results from health insurance plans indicate that only 80 percent of people who enroll and pay for the first month's premiums pay for the second month.
In states like Florida that did not adopt Medicaid expansion, the most needy individuals (below 100 percent of the FPL) are not eligible for the exchanges and will remain uninsured. This is an unfortunate and ironic consequence of the Supreme Court ruling.
Young individuals without a history of health problems may choose not to purchase health insurance, but rather add a penalty to their taxes. This may lead to adverse selection of members in the plan who are less healthy than the general population, which in turn would lead to increased premiums.
Continued political debate will occur at every step.
What Can We Do as an Academic Health Center?
UF Health is both an educational institution and a health care provider. We can play important roles on both fronts. As the new open enrollment period begins next fall, we will engage in community-wide educational programs to provide information on eligibility for exchange products and how to enroll if eligible. As patients are seen in our faculty offices and hospitals, we will communicate to them individually about their options for exchange products if they are eligible. And as providers, we will do our best, as always, to provide excellent medical care for these newly insured individuals, who may bring longstanding medical problems that hadn't been previously addressed because of limited access. Providing such care, as well as timely follow-up, will hopefully prevent ER visits and hospital admissions in the future for these individuals who otherwise would not see us until their condition was more advanced and acute.
Forward Together,
David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, UF
President, UF Health
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It appears that many local authorities remain unaware of or unwilling to accept the regulations governing who has the final say in pay and grading of support staff. For community and voluntary-aided (VC) schools, this is clearly the governing body.
School support staff who work in community and VC schools are employed by the local authority (LA). At the present time their pay and conditions of service are covered by the 'Green Book', which is the NJC collective pay and conditions of service agreement. Unlike the 'Burgundy Book', which is teacher specific, the Green Book covers a wide range of occupations.
The Green Book requires LAs to develop a local pay structure on the basis of the national pay spine. For this purpose, LAs have in place local negotiating and consultative arrangements with their recognised trade unions.
As a result, school support staff pay is in principle attributable to the local pay structure.
Upon receiving a recommendation from the governing body, the LA may make representations in respect of the grade or remuneration within seven days. However the staffing guidance says that the LA should use this provision only where it believes a recommendation is inconsistent with its obligations under the equal pay legislation.
The governing body must take the LA's representations into account, but if the governing body concludes that its recommendation should stand, the LA must appoint on the terms recommended by the governing body.
The regulations for support staff working in community and VC schools are in contrast to foundation and voluntary-aided (VA) schools.
The position is much more clear cut for in foundation and VA schools, where staff are employed by the individual school, are not usually covered by the NJC agreement and do not fall under the Green Book.


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Shaun Bailey: Rent controls will make a bad situation worse. It's time to build.
Bob Seely: Scrap the automatic Right to Buy. And nine other ideas to make housing sustainable.
Andrew Carter: An urban manifesto for the next Prime Minister
As her Brexit speech last week reminded us, Theresa May is a tortoise politician, not a hare politician. Her modus operandi is inching forwards – covering her pro-Brexit wing by dangling a right to diverge, in this case; satisfying her anti-Brexit one by declaring an intention to align (in most instances). As with Brexit, so with housing. And her constituency experience has made her even more cautious about it than she might otherwise have been.
Her majority in Maidenhead is now over 26,000. But the seat was fairly recently viewed as – believe it or not – a marginal. In 2001, May was re-elected there with a majority of just over 3000. Remember the Liberal Democrat "decapitation strategy"? She saw the yellow challenge off in 2005, but not without hard work – and a bit of a scare. Housing and planning were sensitive issues in the constituency, as in most of the greater South-East. May brushed aside the old convention that, since MPs have no responsibility for planning, they shouldn't get involved in it. She was anxious to keep her constituents onside by reflecting their reflexive suspicion of new development.
This instinct was carried over into Government and eventually into Downing Street. Ministers say that she has been known to ask why new housing can't be concentrated outside the home counties – a view with which some of our readers will sympathise. It was thus startling to hear her declare, in her speech to the Conservative Conference last October, that she "will dedicate my premiership to fixing this problem". The reason for the shift in emphasis was obvious. If you don't have a stake in capital yourself, you're less likely to vote fo a capitalist party. The collapse of home ownership among younger voters was mirrored last summer by a drop in Tory voting among them. The figures for 24s-35s are almost as bad as those for 18s-24s.
Her speech on housing tomorrow will contain at least three main components – new carrots and further sticks for local councils on housebuilding numbers; making it easier to build upwards, and news of at least two new garden cities. Ministers are out and about rolling the pitch in today's papers. Sajid Javid is interviewed in the Sunday Times. Dominic Raab writes in the Mail on Sunday. There remains the question of land banking. Oliver Letwin is reviewing whether and how use-it-or-lose-it measures might work – and other ideas – but his task force doesn't report until the autumn, so don't expect announcements that pre-empt him tomorrow.
Some Ministers say that May has moved slowly on local councils and housebuilding numbers. There is no sign yet that Downing Street has engaged with Nick Boles's ideas on compulsory purchase and public sector land. Since HCLG doesn't expect to hit its target of building 300,000 houses a year, it follows that such measures, or others on a similar scale, are needed if that is to change. Significantly, Boles, Mark Prisk – a former Housing Minister – and John Penrose joined together recently to press for more building upwards.
May once poked fun at George Osborne's image-conscious ploy of touring building sites in a hard hat. But the former Chancellor knew what he was doing. He was presenting himself as being on the side of hard work and social progress. The Prime Minister will need to throw a chunk of her caution to the winds if housebuilding is to speed up. She must also find ways of dramaticising her commitment to housing growth if she is to dedicate her premiership in the way she promised: no easy task, given the dominating presence of Brexit.
DHCLG Dominic Raab MP George Osborne MP home ownership Housing John Penrose MP Liberal Democrats Maidenhead Mark Prisk MP Nick Boles MP Oliver Letwin MP Sajid Javid MP South East Theresa May MP
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TP ICAP increased its revenue by 3% to £601m in the four months to 30 April, consistent with its full year guidance in March.
Trading was marked by improved conditions in rates products and an uptick in equity volatility, offset by ongoing weaknesses in power and poor credit markets.
Global Broking delivered an increase in revenues of 5% to £442m. This was primarily driven by a good performance in the Rates business, which was up 8%, and the Equities business, up 22% following a strong performance in the Americas.
The Energy & Commodities division saw a 4% decline in revenues to £111m, with power and commodities markets still struggling, although the PVM oil business continues to perform well.
Institutional Services revenue is down 7% to £10m, and Data & Analytics revenue is up 4% to £36m. Both business divisions are going through a period of restructuring.
John Phizackerley, TP ICAP chief executive, said: "The integration of TP ICAP remains our number one priority and we remain firmly on track to deliver our target of £100m of synergies. Post the successful delivery of readiness for MIFID II we are now moving in to large IT system migration, as well as increasing our workforce in Belfast. New combined offices are shortly scheduled to open in London and New York.
"In markets the global rates environment continues to be increasingly constructive and bouts of volatility seem likely to continue. We also continue to progress our plans for growth in Data & Analytics, Institutional Services and Energy & Commodities."
Intermediaries trading group TP ICAP booked a 69% drop in annual profit after it wrote down the value of its assets.
Inter-dealer broker TP ICAP has criticised a credit rating downgrade of the company by Moody's Investors Service.
Broking group TP ICAP said it had appointed Richard Berliand as its new chairman to succeed Rupert Robson.
RBC Capital Markets today reaffirms its top pick investment rating on TP Icap Plc (LON:TCAP) and cut its price target to 500p (from 550p).
Broking house TP ICAP said its revenue for the four months through October had risen by 1% amid 'mixed' market conditions.


you'll find me in edmonton, canada (via christchurch, new zealand). you might find me behind the music at a wedding or corporate event. maybe i've got my fingers in a fantastic lady's hair, shaping it into something retro and awesome. or maybe i'm hunched over my laptop, playing with words.
i am a dj (you can check us out here).
i style hair (peruse my portfolio here).
at all times, i'm an adventure live-er, a word-lover, a hang-er out-er, a lyric quoter, a feeler-before-thinker, a jesus-follower, an advocate of pop music, an adorer of all things 1950s, an inspiration seeker, a work in progress and a very proud auntie.
what can you expect from this blog? it's my adventure in experiencing and cultivating 'delight' in life. i write about, music, travel, gratitude, and living life out of the ordinary. i'll be pointing you to feel-good music in my 'sweet sounds' posts, taking you with me when i 'get lost' in new places, and reminding you that life is an adventure to be lived, in way that is all your own. those posts are tagged 'death to boredom' - because life should be anything but boring!
what makes you come alive? if you had no restrictions whatsoever, what would you do tomorrow? and most importantly, what song gets you on the dance floor, EVERY time?


I thought I'd make you aware of a message we've received from West Yorkshire (via Martin Hughes from Newlay Conservation Society) about fraudsters operating in our area.
• Always check the email address is exactly the same as previous correspondence with the genuine contact.
• For any request of payment via email verify the validity of the request with a phone call to the person who carried out the work.
• Check the email for spelling and grammar as these signs can indicate that the email is not genuine.
• Payments via bank transfer offer no financial protection; consider using alternative methods such as a credit card or PayPal which offer protection and an avenue for recompense.


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