Teacher victimization,turnover, and contextual factors promoting resilience

Teacher victimization is a relatively understudied phenomenon that may contribute to teacher turnover. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between teacher reports of victimization and teachers leaving their school and the profession. Using nationally representative data (n = 104,840) from the Schools and Staffing Survey, we examine the extent to which being threatened or attacked by students predicts higher rates of teacher turnover and whether this relationship differs due to factors that may promote teacher resilience. We utilize conditional multinomial logistic regression, implicitly controlling for school-by-year fixed effects. Findings suggest that perceived victimization predicts an increased probability of leaving the school and profession. School-level promoters of resilience are found to lessen this relationship. We discuss ways schools can mitigate the impact of victimization. This work contributes to a nascent body of literature on teacher victimization and informs a policy lever by which turnover may be reduced.     

Evidence in support of self-declaration as a sampling method for the formation of sub-population DNA databases

Well constructed sub-population databases are fundamental to the application of DNA-based forensic statistics. The size of such databases can affect the ability to examine adequately statistical or population genetic features, and the integrity of both the DNA profile and associated ethnicity information is also of importance. Use of short tandem repeat (STR) DNA profiling technology and the thoughtful construction of the governing legislation has seen large databases of DNA profiles collated for the four major sub-populations of New Zealand. Examination of the data illustrates the suitability of self-declaration as a means of categorizing samples on the basis of ethnicity.     

The random presence of glass and paint on the clothing and footwear of members of the general population: A US baseline survey at various seasons

This study assists the interpretation of glass and paint evidence by filling an existing gap in the background occurrence that reflects the socioeconomic and demographic circumstances in the United States. The collection was performed in a college US city (Morgantown, West Virginia) to determine the effect of the type of clothing worn at different seasons on the presence of glass and paint. Tape lifts and sole scrapings (1038) were collected from 210 participants and up to six clothing and footwear areas per individual. Glass fragments were analyzed via polarized light microscopy (PLM), refractive index (RI), micro-X-Ray fluorescence (μXRF), and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), while paint specimens were examined by light microscopy and infrared spectroscopy (μFTIR). Higher occurrences of glass and paint were found in the winter season. The winter collection yielded 10 glass fragments and 68 paint particles, whereas the summer collection resulted in one glass fragment and 23 paint particles. The percentage of individuals with traces varied between seasons; 7% of individuals in the winter and 0.9% in the summer had glass, whereas 36% of individuals in the winter and 19% in the summer bore paint. Lastly, when considering the overall garment and footwear areas, glass was detected in 1.4% of the winter set, compared to 0.2% in the summer collection; paint was found in 9.2% of the winter collection, whereas only 4.2% was found in the summer set. There were no instances where both glass and paint were detected on the clothing and footwear of the same individual.     

The Greening of the Grey: National Competition Policy and the Environment

Concern for environmental degradation is now widespread, and has penetrated key policy institutions such as the National Competition Council (NCC) - the body overseeing National Competition Policy. While the NCC's primary focus is on promoting competition, it acknowledges the importance of environmental considerations. Such a body thus represents the contemporary Ecological Modernsiation approach to environmental policy-making. Ecological Modernisation posits that there can be a reconciliation and synthesis between economic and ecological goals. This paper investigates this claim by exploring the relationship between competition and the environment in the three areas of electricity, regulatory review and rural water.     

The Effect of Time and Temperature on the Persistence and Quality of Latent Fingerprints Recovered from 60-Watt Incandescent Light Bulbs

To understand how time and temperature could affect latent fingerprints, wooden pallets were used to construct five units that each housed ten 60-watt incandescent light bulbs. Fingerprints were deposited on the top, middle, and base of the globes. The bulbs were powered on (except the control bulb in each unit) for 18, 48, 72, 120, 168, 336, 504, and 672 h. Fingerprints recovered from the bulbs by tape lift after black powder processing were given a quality score. A thermal imaging camera determined temperatures on three areas of the bulbs. Fingerprints on the top of the globe (156.3°C) had the lowest quality score, and fingerprints on the middle of the globe (112.6°C) had the highest quality score. The mean quality scores of the three temperature classes were within one standard deviation of one another, meaning there is no way to estimate fingerprint age based on its quality after heat exposure.     

Evaluating the statistical significance of single band profiles in VNTR analyses

VNTR profiles may present either a single band or two bands. If two bands are present then the individual is a heterozygote for these two bands. However, if only one band is present there is ambiguity as to the true genotype of the individual. This person may be a homozygote in that he has two copies of the same allele, or he may be a heterozygote for two very close bands that cannot be separated on the gel. The second NRC report proposed the use of the '2p' rule, or Formula 4.10a in the sub-structure case, as a conservative upper bound in the statistical interpretation. However, further examination suggests that these formulae are not necessarily conservative. In this paper we examine this phenomenon by deriving a formula that contains both the corrections for null alleles and for subpopulation effects.     

A Tale of Two Pulp Mills: Realising Ecologically Sustainable Development in Australia

Pulp mills can be fraught projects. This has certainly been the case in Tasmania with its two major attempts at building pulp mills generating much discord. The first project, Wesley Vale, was officially abandoned in 1989 after much conflict and conditionally controversy. The current project, Tamar Valley, has proved equally contentious and, although approved, remains problematic. Despite striking similarities between the two projects, the emergence of a new environmental policy regime in the intervening 20 years has engendered considerable differences as well. Yet the new regime's capacity to ensure smooth passage has shown itself to be limited. This article uses the opportunity presented by the two pulp mills to reflect on the merits of Australia's sustainability regime.     

An expert-generated tool for assessing policy capacity

“Policy capacity” describes the ability of policy-making systems to do quality work. Better-quality policy work leads to more successful policies. There have been limited attempts to operationalize theoretical understanding of policy capacity, resulting in a lack of shared understanding and assessment metrics. In this Delphi study, health policy experts validated an existing multidimensional conceptual framework for policy capacity. Factors that contribute to policy success were identified and rated to represent aspects of policy capacity, and arranged within the conceptual framework, as were factor indicators. The resulting tool provides expert-generated items for transparently and systematically assessing policy capacity.     

Assessing uncertainty in DNA evidence caused by sampling effects.

Sampling error estimation in forensic DNA testimony was discussed. Is an estimate necessary and how should it be made? The authors find that all modern methods have areas of strength and weakness. The assessment of which is the 'best' is subjective and depends on the performance of the method, the type of problem (criminal work or paternity), the database size and availability of computing software and support. The authors preferred the highest posterior density approach for performance, however the other methods all have areas where their performance is adequate. For single-contributor stains normal approximation methods are suitable, also the bootstrap and the highest posterior density method. For multiple-contributor stains or other complex situations the match probability expressions become quite complex and it may not be possible to derive the necessary variance expressions. The highest posterior density or the bootstrap provide a better general method, with non-zero theta. The size-bias correction and the factor of 10 approaches may be considered acceptable by many forensic scientists as long as their limitations are understood.