Technological innovation in the semiconductor industry

A comprehensive list of innovations in the semiconductor industry during 1970 to 1980 was derived. The patterns of innovation across eight organizations showed consistency between the stages of initiation, adoption and implementation. Smaller organizations compared to large implemented a lower percentage of the innovations they initiated. The value of organization net sales and the dollar amount of the R&D budget, but not the number of organization of R&D personnel were significantly related to the number of innovations.     

A differential survey of the problems of privileged and underprivileged adolescents

The problems of adjustment during the midadolescent years were examined in 1298 privileged and underprivileged adolescents from the Sydney Metropolitan Area, Australia. Girls reported more problems than boys in all areas of adjustment and underprivileged adolescents more problems than the privileged group; however, a significant interaction effect was also found. Whether high-income or low-income group, the overwhelming number of problems were associated with educational adjustment and were interpreted as the reaction to pressures to achieve imposed on adolescents of this age.Received her M.A. (Hons.) and Ph.D. from Macquarie University. Member of Australian Psychological Society. Principal research interests are child psychopathology and psychology of adolescence.Received his M.A.(Hons.) and Ph.D. from Sydney University. Fellow of Australian Psychological Society. Principal research interest is psychology of adolescence.     

Detection of drugs using XAD-2 resin. III:A routine screening procedure for bile

The ability of bile to concentrate drugs and metabolites coupled with its general availability make it suitable for analysis and often the fluid of choice in postmorten cases requiring drug screening. Bile (5 to 10 ml) was diluted with water, sulfuric acid was added, and the mixture was autoclaved. The precipitated bile salts were easily removed by filtration and the filtrate (pH adjusted to 8.0 to 8.5) extracted with XAD-2 resin. Drugs were eluted with a mixture of ethyl acetate/1,2-dichloroethane and analyzed with thin-layer chromatography. Varying the dilution of bile improved the recovery of morphine, codeine, methadone, amobarbital, and phenobarbital. Excessive dilution, however, caused a washing phenomenon and reduced recovery of some drugs, as shown with morphine and codeine. The procedure described is useful for the rapid screening of bile specimens for drugs.     

Regulating motor vehicle safety maintenance: can we make it cost-effective?

Our analysis suggests that a properly designed and implemented safety inspection program for motor vehicles would probably produce benefits in excess of costs, whereas most existing state programs probably produce costs well in excess of benefits. That these findings are somewhat inconclusive is both regrettable and unnecessary: the data required to carry out a satisfactory evaluation of alternative safety inspection program designs are obtainable. Unfortunately, serious policy-relevant empirical research is costly; for that reason, more conclusive findings may never be available.     

Assessing faculty research productivity in graduate public policy programs

This study assesses the faculty research productivity of 23 graduate public policy programs, and is based upon data from the Social Sciences Citations Index. The results clearly show that a handful of policy programs have outstanding research records: UC Berkeley, Princeton, Michigan, Chicago, Duke, Carnegie-Mellon, Rand, Syracuse, and, of course, Harvard. Most of the rest also have quite commendable records by this criterion.Inquiries regarding this study should be addressed to Professor Fred Thompson, Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, where Michael Farber is currently a second-year student. Patricia Powers graduated in 1983 and is currently employed by ICF in Washington, D.C.     

Tribal Gaming and Educational Outcomes in the Next Generation

Following a series of federal policy changes and court rulings in the late 1980s, over 400 casinos owned by Native American tribes were opened throughout the United States, and expanded tribal gaming has transformed the economic development trajectories of many American Indian tribes. While most existing evaluations of tribal gaming's impacts focus on contemporaneous effects, the present paper evaluates whether the advent of tribal casinos affected educational outcomes in the subsequent generation of American Indian children. I assemble data on the adult educational outcomes of 11,647 American Indians across 36 counties who were children when a local casino was opened. I use these data to compare individuals who were relatively young at the time of a casino opening, and therefore had greater exposure to post‐gaming socioeconomic conditions, and individuals who were from the same county but were relatively old at the time of a casino opening, while also exploiting differences in the relative sizes of tribal gaming operations. Using this approach, I estimate that exposure to an average‐sized gaming operation during childhood increased adult educational attainment by .328 years and increased the probability of high school graduation and post‐secondary degree completion by 5 to 14 percent. No substantive improvements in adult educational outcomes are observed among white children from the same counties. The magnitudes of the estimates imply a relationship between family income during childhood and educational achievement that is similar to previous research within other low‐income populations.     

The Effects of Changing Test‐Based Policies for Reclassifying English Learners

When students labeled English Learners (ELs) are reclassified as Fluent English Proficient, changes often occur in services and settings (e.g., changes in teachers, peers, and ancillary services). Policymakers play an important role in the reclassification process because they establish test‐based criteria that an EL must attain in order to become reclassified. If the criteria established by policymakers are incongruent with the instructional changes that result from reclassification, then services and settings may be denied to students who would otherwise benefit from them. In response to teachers’ and administrators’ concerns that some ELs who were reclassified were not succeeding without additional supports, California policymakers in 2006 to 2007 changed the reclassification criteria. In this paper, we examine the effects of changing these criteria using data on Latino/a students from the Los Angeles Unified School District, the U.S. district serving the largest number of ELs. Using “difference‐in‐regression‐discontinuities” approaches, we find consistent evidence that this policy change, which increased the difficulty of attaining the test‐based criteria for EL reclassification eligibility, had significant effects on high‐school students’ subsequent English language arts achievement (0.18 SDs) and graduation outcomes (11 percentage points). Specifically, when the criteria for reclassification were lower, students experienced negative effects of reclassification; but when the criteria were raised, students no longer experienced these negative effects. Highlighting the complex interplay between assessments, instruction, and policy, these findings demonstrate the important role policymakers play in the academic success of ELs and speak to policymaker considerations when implementing assessment and accountability systems.     

Obstacles to NGOs’ accountability to intended beneficiaries: the case of ActionAid

While NGO accountability is widely discussed in the literature, there has been little work done on how accountability systems operate in practice. This article aims to address this gap by using qualitative empirical data to provide a case study of one NGO’s initiative in this area. ActionAid has made substantial, high-profile efforts to improve its downward accountability since 2000. Using data from fieldwork conducted in Uganda and internationally, the article reveals the operational obstacles which have hindered ActionAid in its attempts to strengthen its accountability to intended beneficiaries at the community level, and reviews ActionAid’s ongoing commitment to this goal.     

Healing Families: Outcomes from a Family Drug Treatment Court

Family drug treatment courts (FDTC) have been acknowledged as a promising intervention for substance‐abusing parents involved in the child welfare system. Over the past decade, the number of FDTC programs has grown substantially, yet questions remain regarding the efficacy of these courts. This study examines the ability of the Snohomish County (WA) FDTC to address the three main goals of the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Utilizing propensity score matching, this study found that participants were more likely to have their children returned, experienced stronger treatment completion rates, and had less use of foster care. Implications for replication and further analysis are discussed.