The Kids Journey is being used by school teachers, school counselors and children's therapists all over the world. The goals of the program encompass academic development, social awareness and life skills, the development of broad competencies such as problem solving, critical thinking and communicating. The work has been shown to improve and strengthen students' school performance, attendance, and emotional well-being as well as the impact it has on increasing teacher's motivation and enthusiasm in the classroom. For detailed studies reference our reports section.
The Kids Journey process is completed individually or with a group through an interactive story telling and guided visualization process. The story process allows children to find their way to a quiet space within where they may uncover memories that could be troubling, and it helps them work through these memories in a safe place, in their own way, with positive support.
For young children, ages 5-8, we recommend listening to The Healing Adventure on a CD, which is a story about a young child's self discovery process. The story is 48 minutes long and it's okay if they don't complete it in one sitting. Many parents like to play it at bedtime and often children fall asleep while listening. For older children, ages 8 — 12, they can either listen to The Journey for Kids on CD or have the story read to them as a group process. For teens we recommend a special Junior Journey program where they learn the skills and work with each other.
The school program is primarily implemented through the training of school teachers, counselors, and therapists with follow up support in the classroom from Journey Practitioners. The goal is to allow teachers that have been through basic Journey workshops to become comfortable using The Journey in their classrooms and to allow the program to grow and become self-sustaining in their school. Overall improvement in academics for children receiving a 30-45 minute Classroom Journey process once a week is 40% to 60%, including reports of fewer referrals and less absenteeism.
Research from www.schoolempwell.org shows that, compared to other professionals, teachers exhibit high levels of cynicism and exhaustion, the core dimensions of burnout. Teachers report that The Journey courses are rejuvenating and inspirational for finding the strength to continue service in their profession.
Assess how well is your school doing with Social Emotional Leaning (SEL): http://casel.org/in-schools/assessment/needs-and-outcome/.
FLINDERS HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND HEALTH RESEARCH UNIT (FHBHRU): In 2009 Dr Jill Beattie of Flinders University – in collaboration with Journey Practitioners Suzanne Dowd, Susan Leeder-Morale, Cecile George and Jan Henderson – conducted a program and research focused on the impact of Journeywork on the social and emotional wellbeing of the children. Read an extract from the report.
The program used Journeywork strategies and tools, including mindfulness, guided introspection, and imagery, to support and grow the social and emotional wellbeing of children in a primary school in metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The research included the impact of Journeywork on daily lives, emotional wellbeing, physical problems, despressed feelings, positive feelings, interpersonal relationships, prevalence of symtoms of greatest challenge and academic progress, as well as parents', teachers' and childrens' views and perceptions of the impact. The report of the study is now available.
Take me to Dr Beattie's Emotional Fitness site to LEARN MORE and find out how to get the full report.
Download a copy of the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of the report.
The Journey in the Classroom Pilot Program began with one teacher and in one school. As a teacher, Jayshree felt that the children in her class could benefit from the Journey as much as she did. She developed a method for the whole class to undergo a Journey process one on one and in a group.
This project was initiated in 2007 with Transnet Foundation's Phelophepa Health Care Train in rural South Africa. The Health Care Train is a mobile clinic providing primary health care, dental, eye, education in basic health care and mental health services along with The Journey in the Classroom for community volunteers and educators. An accredited Journey Practitioner travels with the train as part of the health care services and to implement The Journey in the Schools program.
While the train is in town community workers and educators are undergoing empowerment training in The Journey tools to empower them to take The Journey into their classrooms and communities. In 2007 & 2008 two Accredited Journey volunteers visited the communities again to support those that have undergone training to implement what they have learned and to assist in classroom Journey processes. In 2007 over 600 adults were trained and more than 16,000 children received processes. A study in 2007 completed with 4700 children showed that the number of students that passed increased from 52% to 78%.
In 2008 over 29,000 children participated in the program, and now hundreds of communities and schools in rural communities benefit from The Phelophepa Health Care Train and Journey Outreach program.
Children of Mother Earth (COME) was founded in 1998 by Ravi Rai to rescue orphans in India. Most of the children he finds at the railway stations, and some come to him from other places as well. His lead operation is in Delhi, with additional operating locations in Lucknow and Gorakhpur. He contacted The Journey office independently after hearing about the work. He was looking for a way to help his children cope with and forgive their pasts and personal traumas. Most of his children are orphaned, abused, and abandoned. They vary in age from infants to teenagers.
Ravi was sponsored through The Journey practitioner's program in 2009 and has trained 5 of his staff members to do the Kids Journey with the children. Currently he has 250 children staying with him permanently at the COME orphanages, and 322 have been reunited with their families. Ravi educates, feeds, clothes, and shelters these children, and he and his staff give them Journey processes regularly. They are provided with a traditional education and/or they are taught a trade or skills so that they can contribute, gain employment and acceptance in society, and build lives for themselves.
'Apna Ghar' means 'Our Home' and is the name the children have given to the program. To learn more or to purchase a music CD specially created to support Journey programs at 'Apna Ghar' click here.
The Journey in the Classroom Kenya emerged during the 2009 Outreach tour of UK based Journey Practitioner Naraya and a team of dedicated Kenyan Training Journey Practitioners. At the specific request of local chiefs the team visited and worked with more than 20 schools located in Rachuonyo District, Nyanza Province, reaching in excess of 1200 primary and secondary school pupils aged 5-19 years plus an estimated total of around 70 teachers who also received the full Journey in the Classroom process.
Testimonials from both pupils and teachers are phenomenal and as one result of many, God Agulu Primary School which was worked with most intensely, involving all children in the school, the entire teachers team plus interested parents and community members, achieved No.1 in the exams following three weeks after the Outreach teams visit and was able to maintain that status way into the next academic year without having received any follow-up visits. Corporeal punishment, which is the norm in Kenyan schools, has been abolished by the teachers as through The Journey process they realized more appropriate ways to deal with problem behavior.
Teachers of the school also reported that only a week after the visit, there was no absenteeism any more and "the adamant pupils created for themselves an environment enticing for the teachers". Another school, Kanga Omuga Primary School, where John Odida, one of the Kenyan training Journey Practitioners, teaches and tentatively introduced the Journey to his exam class (8th Grade) jumped from it's traditional place of No.21 out of 23 in the location to number 8 – the biggest academic leap ever witnessed in this location; while nothing had changed in the school at all but that The Journey had been introduced!
In October 2011, Sandra Lindon was drawn to volunteer some time living in the local community and working at Hill Breeze Orphan Support School in South-Western Kenya. In spite of the difficulties she had faced in her life, there were many blessings for which she felt so grateful. The time had come to give something back in gratitude. Sandra's training as a Journey practitioner had given her precious insight into the awesome potential that lies inside every human being. She knew that if we can open this awareness in children, we have the best opportunity to create a healthy and supportive future world society.
Sandra's service to the school was through teaching and mentoring; she used some of the Journey tools and passed on life skills and wisdom she had acquired over the years. Knowing that most of these children are orphans she also played games, to bring fun and laughter to their day.
Sadly, Nyanza province has a high incidence of HIV/Aids, leaving many children without parents and further impoverishing the community. These children are part of a community who see no real tangible way out of their impoverished circumstances. Through Journey Outreach we hope to open their awareness to the limitless possibilities born of self-belief, self-awareness and the power of positive intention.
Sandra did process work with the Director of the school and used Journey techniques to encourage the children to be aware of their emotions, to welcome and release any negative feelings. The children used real balloons to breathe in supportive resource qualities such as love, forgiveness, courage, protection.
On Sandra's last day they had a joyful celebration, with the children singing and dancing around the compound waving their 'resource balloons'. She felt very honoured to have been a part of this small community and thankful for the opportunity to contribute towards the continued success of the school.


The 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-month Eurodollar LIBOR rates all eased on the week. On the day, the 6- and 12-month rates sank lower, while the 1- and 3-month rates moved sideways. The 3-month TED spread contracted on both the day and the week.
Right now, the yield on the 3-month U.S. Treasury Bill is 0.12%. Therefore, the 3-month TED spread is currently 0.16563 percentage point; it was 0.17063 percentage point yesterday, 0.17594 last Friday and 4.60875 on October 10, 2008 at the peak of the global banking crisis.


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russia's President Vladimir Putin Wednesday in the Russian resort town of Sochi to discuss how Iran's "accelerated" presence in Syria threatens the Jewish state and the Middle East.
Netanyahu was joined in Sochi by Yossi Cohen, director of the Mossad intelligence agency, and Meir Ben-Shabbat, the recently appointed leader of Israel's National Security Council.
Netanyahu also noted that the Islamic Republic is "well on its way" to controlling not only Syria, but other countries in the Middle East, including Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.
"Beyond making the argument that Iran's growing sphere of influence threatens Israel, I hope Netanyahu pointed out to Putin in their private meeting that Moscow's short-term benefits from working with Tehran pale in comparison with the long-term dangers," Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum think tank, told JNS.org.
"When strong enough, the mullahs inevitably will turn their aggressive ideological attentions on an increasingly Muslim Russia," he said.
During the portion of the leaders' meeting that was open to the public, Putin did not respond to Netanyahu's comments regarding Iran's role in Syria.
In the closed-door part of the meeting, the Mossad's Cohen reportedly presented the Russian leader with "sensitive, credible and very disturbing detailed intelligence" of Iran's expanding military presence in Syria.
Citing a senior Israeli official, Haaretz reported in July that Israel is aware of Iranian plans to build up its forces in Syria through the establishment of permanent air and naval bases.
"Israel must put pressure on the Russians" to protect its security interests in Syria, Prof. Eyal Zisser, a senior research fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and the vice rector of Tel Aviv University, told JNS.org.
Yet Israel has "relatively little leverage" over the Russians, said Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.
Netanyahu's visit to Russia comes after a high-level Israeli security delegation met with senior U.S. defense officials last week in Washington, D.C. The Israeli officials were dismayed over a failure to secure a commitment from the U.S. for an inclusion of a clause demanding the full withdrawal of Iranian forces from Syria in the event of a peace deal to end that country's civil war.
Since becoming actively involved in the Syrian Civil War in 2015, Russia has worked closely with Iran in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Israel, meanwhile, has allegedly conducted several missile strikes targeting Iranian-sponsored weapons convoys heading to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.
Netanyahu said in July that a cease-fire agreement in southern Syria, brokered by the U.S. and Russia at the G20 Summit in Germany, perpetuates the presence of Iranian forces near Israel. America and Russia responded to Netanyahu's criticism by saying Israel's interests would be taken into account in the war-torn state.
Putin and Netanyahu have held five other bilateral meetings during the past two years to discuss regional issues, and to help maintain a protocol that prevents friction between their militaries in Syria. The leaders last met in Moscow in March.


text:
Blindspot 1x02 "A Stray Howl" (Good Can Come Out Of It) [Contributor: Maddie]
3:53 PM blindspot review, contributor: maddie, s01.02 No comments
"A Stray Howl"
Original Airdate: September 28, 2015
So Jen, perfect human being and regular reviewer of Blindspot, had to add being sick to the multitude of things she juggles, so I'm going to review this episode to help pick up the slack for Her Loveliness. I did not watch the pilot, but I'm just going to dive right into episode two, "A Stray Howl" and see what happens. As a rule, I always give a show three episodes before determining if it is worth any emotional investment or DVR space. The second episode of a television series is incredibly important. The pilot gets a bigger budget and significantly more time to create a quality entertaining product, but it is the following episode that shows the audience what they are getting into if they stick around to see this story unfold. With "A Stray Howl," Blindspot shows the audience that there is plenty of mystery to unfurl within this series and the journey will be compelling, action-packed, and filled with intrigue.
I was already a big fan of Jaime Alexander from the MCU, but she really is wonderful in this show. Aside from being insanely gorgeous, her face and eyes are so incredibly expressive. Even though Jane as a character doesn't have a lot of dialogue at this point, the audience is able to see the vast array of nuanced emotions play across her face. Jane's duality and internal conflict are apparent because of Jaime's performance. And Jane herself maintains a compelling balance between fragility, fear, and confusion as well as stone-cold capable warrior queen.
Moreover, this episode allows the audience to further learn who Jane is as she does. Jane is a currently a blank slate with nothing but instincts defining her, so we get to examine who Jane is right at her core. Her internal struggle is palpable. Some of her memories are resurfacing and they don't paint the best picture of who she is (i.e. shooting someone in the back of the head in a church in order to steal a mysterious flash drive). These flashbacks are haunting her, which is exacerbated as the chase for the tattoos' answers brings about more casualties allowing Jane to have an identity crisis of who she is and whether she is good. And she gets multiple answers from different people. Borden, her therapist tells her that we are defined by our pasts, which troubles her. Agent Zapata insists that things are black and white: "Terrible people do terrible things, and good people stop them." This only seems to add to her self-loathing spiral.
It isn't until conveying her fears about her past with Kurt, that she receives any solace. To Kurt, the past is moot. Regardless of whatever memories are resurfacing, she currently is not who she was. He tells her:
"Your first instinct is to help people. You don't hesitate. You act. You do the right thing."
I'm still waffling between whether Kurt and Jane should be a romantic pairing or more familial and platonic, but this is the kind of exchange OTPs are made out of. Now that they have worked together and he's seen her in action, he genuinely believes she is an inherently good person. He saw her help the battered wife from the pilot and give a tourniquet to Agent Reed after one of the drone strikes even though Reed doesn't even like Jane. There may be a lot of mystery around Jane, but Kurt knows her goodness and he believes in her abilities, and that cements a strong partnership as we head deeper into this series. Throughout the episode, Kurt gives her the quiet assurances Jane needs. When he reassures Jane that none of what was happening was her fault, it was exactly what she needed to hear. He acknowledges the struggle she is going through in trying to piece together what happened to her and who she is, but he also recognizes that while what happened was horrible, good can still come out of it. When they are able to reunite the kidnapped girl with her father, Jane congratulates him letting him know that he did it -- he brought her home. However, Kurt corrects her statement declaring they both got the job done. In their short partnership, they've become an effective team, and Kurt knows that. They are bonding and becoming partners, and I look forward to seeing that partnership grow.
Backstory time! The details are vague but when Kurt was around ten years old, he had a friend who disappeared and he blames himself for it. Cue manly brooding. This is also why he is brooding even more than usual since the case-of-the-week involves a missing girl. His dad was accused of kidnapping and killing her, which caused his mom to leave their family. Okay, the brooding is a bit earned. Here we got the twist: that girl, Taylor Shaw, has the same scar on her neck and same eyes as Jane. Kurt has come to the conclusion that Jane is Taylor Shaw and she was sent back to him. Is Jane Doe actually Taylor Shaw? Who was Taylor to Kurt? We shall see. It's an interesting mystery, and it gives more depth to Kurt than just "broody rough-around-the-edges leading man." Knowing this lets the audience get to know Kurt better, and gives more emotional payoff during scenes like when Kurt's both protective and gentle as he helps Jane out of the car wreck.
In other intrigues, the man who trained Jane as a Navy Seal, whom I have dubbed Mysterious Flashback Man (or MFM), showed up at one of the crime scenes but then disappeared. We later see him in Jane's apartment at the end of the episode as he sneaks from behind, grabs her, his hand over her mouth, and quietly threatens her before the episode faded to black. What does MFM want with Jane? I guess we will have to see next week. Overall, this was very promising for a second episode of the series. Jane and Kurt are interesting characters and I'm curious about the greater mysteries beyond the procedural formula. Consider me in.
Stray thoughts:
The opening shot of this episode is GORGEOUS!
I love Patterson, the blonde computer analyst. I guess I just have a thing for adorable nerds. She brought a bit of spunk and levity to the show while still remaining super-competent and generally great. (Sound familiar, folks?) Seriously, her bits of dialogue were great. I especially loved the lace of huffiness in her voice when Weller asked if she was able to find a suspect's address. I want more of her onscreen. She works. Also, the actress looked familiar and it started to bug me, so I went down the IMDb rabbit hole for y'all. Patterson, played by Ashley Johnson, was the waitress Captain America saved in The Avengers and the teenage daughter from What Women Want.
This exchange is great -- Jane: "Couldn't I just kick the door down? It didn't look that heavy. Kurt: "No, you can't, Jane. That's not how it works."
There's occasionally really stereotypical moments that just scream "FBI procedural" but I get that is kind of par for the course.
I'm already over the agent who doesn't like Jane.
What did you all think of this week's episode of Blindspot? Are you going to stick with the series? Let us know in the comments below!
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/content/rand/blog/jcr:content/par/bloglist .topic.postsecondary-education
Lois M. Davis @LoisMDavis, Michelle C. Tolbert
The News & Observer
To avoid the all-too-common fate of ending up back in prison, incarcerated adults need skills and credentials they typically don't have. Helping them overcome the challenges of reentry and make it in the community is a net gain for them and for the communities to which they return.
How Community Colleges Can Establish Better Partnerships with Employers
Rita Karam
Career and technical education programs give students a chance to engage in learning relevant to their chosen fields and apply immediately for jobs. A strategic vision of collaboration between industry and community colleges can benefit all parties.
College-Bound Students
Dual Enrollment for High Schoolers Can Expand Access to College—with Some Caveats
Fatih Unlu @fatih_unlu_R, Julie Edmunds
Targeted federal investments in high school and college dual enrollment programs can boost postsecondary access for students currently underrepresented in postsecondary education. But thoughtful implementation could be key to ensuring those students are successful in college.
Federal Policy Might Encourage Innovation to Cut the Cost of College
Charles A. Goldman
A big factor in the rise of college costs is the traditional seat-time model requiring undergraduate students to spend a specified amount of time in classrooms, frequently with doctorally qualified faculty. But there are alternative models that could enable colleges and universities to offer degrees more efficiently and affordably.
Income Share Agreements: What's Risky, What's Promising, and What We Still Need to Know
Melanie A. Zaber, Kathryn Edwards
While policymakers debate options to address college affordability and the nation's mounting student loan debt, an alternative education financing model has been gaining ground in a handful of schools and state legislatures: the income share agreement. While terms vary from institution to institution, they are all based on the same premise: The more income a graduate makes, the more they will pay back.
Addressing the College Completion Problem
Lindsay Daugherty
More than half of students who enter college end up dropping out without ever completing a degree or certificate. Time and money are wasted without the benefits of a degree. While colleges are experimenting with novel techniques to boost completion rates, strategic support from the federal government could further these efforts.
Pardee RAND Reimagines the Future of Public Policy Problem Solving
Susan L. Marquis @susanlmarquis
The Pardee RAND Graduate School is taking a new approach to public policy education. Three new streams of study and action will better align with today's policy needs. Faculty and students will shift the focus from coming up with solutions to actually implementing them.
The Case for Corequisites: What Are the Ingredients of Success?
Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness
More than two-thirds of community college students and 40 percent of four-year college students take at least one developmental education course. States and colleges across the United States are experimenting with innovative approaches to developmental education to improve graduation rates for struggling students.
Bridging the Growing College Divide Among Young Americans
Diana Gehlhaus Carew
Over the last decade, more Americans age 25 to 34 earned four-year college and graduate degrees, but the number of those without college degrees also increased. New ways of communicating educational options and outcomes to young people are needed.
Ready, Set, College
With the nation investing at least $1 billion a year in developmental education, states and colleges are rethinking their approaches to reform. Are states moving too fast to mandate developmental education policy? It depends on the policy.
Here's How a National Database Could Help Colleges Fight Sexual Assault
Coreen Farris, Kristie Gore
At a moment of heightened awareness around sexual violence, America's colleges and universities have an opportunity to lead by example, through a commitment to full transparency about campus sexual assaults and openness to learning from each other's failures and successes.
National Database Could Help Students Pick College—and Income
RealClearEducation
A bill introduced in May would create a searchable database of students' college majors and earnings after graduation. The data could help U.S. students make informed decisions and could also be used to better allocate resources that benefit students.
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How to Navigate Public-Private Partnerships in Higher Ed
Rita Karam, Charles A. Goldman
Universities are partnering with private companies that have the resources to help them compete in the online learning market and maximize student enrollment. Do their different missions—providing high-quality education and making a profit—dilute the quality of the courses?
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Rafiq Dossani
Inside Sources
Many American students struggle with the soaring cost of higher education. And for many college students, debt can have severe negative implications. But on balance, the benefits of a college degree appear to outweigh the costs.
Professional Expectations, Families and Brexit Shape Future for UK International Researchers
Susan Guthrie, Catherine A. Lichten
Mobility has become an even higher priority for researchers since the results of the UK's EU referendum, Brexit. To continue to attract and keep top talent, the UK needs to understand how and why researchers move between countries.
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The Urgent Need for an Education Plan in Mosul
Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson
In addition to restoring Mosul's damaged infrastructure, efforts to stabilize the city must include a plan to rebuild education. Students need to make up years of missed K-12 and university education, and ISIS indoctrination needs to be undone.
Community Colleges Can Be 'First Responders' in Retraining Displaced Workers
Many of the occupations with the most opportunities require two-year degrees or certificates. Community colleges play a key role in training students for these jobs and offer a supportive environment for displaced and dissatisfied workers.
Focusing on Tallying the Number of Campus Sexual Assaults Can Make the Problem Worse
Radha Iyengar Plumb
Accurate reporting of sexual violence is important. But counting and reporting assaults shouldn't be confused with polices that focus on making sure universities have the resources and support systems they need to help victims.
The Pendulum Swings Back: Support for Postsecondary Education in Prison
Correctional educational programs can reduce incarceration costs and recidivism. But it's critical that former inmates can connect with reentry services in the community to complete their education.
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Before We Measure Teaching Quality, We Should Know What It Is
Lucy Strang
Research Fortnight
The lack of an evidence base on teaching quality and its impact in higher education points to a need for more research, made more pressing by the imminent roll-out of the Teaching Excellence Framework, which intends to assess and monitor teaching quality at UK higher education institutions.
Election 2016: The Domestic Issues
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What Does the Stern Review Mean for the Research Excellence Framework?
Molly Morgan Jones, Susan Guthrie
The Stern Review's release at the end of July raised two pertinent questions about the Research Education Framework. What purposes does the REF serve? And does it offer good value for money for the UK's higher education institutions?
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College Education No Panacea for Worker Inequality Woes
Carter C. Price @CarterCPrice
The earnings gap between high school and college graduates has grown with each generation, but even a college degree does not ensure a good income. Just as the nature of jobs for high school graduates has been changing due to consolidation, trade, and technology, the quality of employment for college graduates is beginning to shift.
The High Cost of Free College
Trey Miller
Tuition subsidies may encourage institutions to raise tuition, since the government would foot the bill. One possible solution: develop and implement policies that encourage greater productivity from higher education institutions.
Making the 'Gap Year' More Inclusive and Purposeful
Louay Constant
High schools and universities should work together, with the support of policymakers, to develop programs that would provide a wider spectrum of U.S. students with the opportunity to take a purposeful gap year—and enter college with some real-world adult experience behind them.
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European Universities Are Pessimistic About Their Room to Innovate
Cecile Hoareau McGrath, Emma Harte
Science|Business
Higher education is changing worldwide and European institutions recognise the need to keep up. Are traditional European universities innovating enough to remain competitive?
Reframing the 'Free College' Debate
Framing the future of college as a debate about whether it should be free is a lost opportunity to discuss what's really wrong with higher education in America—and a missed chance to help young Americans regain lost competitiveness in the workforce.
Analysing 'High Performance' Research Units in Higher Education
Catriona Manville @CMManville
Open Forum Events
The characteristics that are central to high performance are people—as in recruiting and retaining the best—and the culture and values within the department, coupled with the leadership displayed.
The Shared Savings Model: An Innovative Way to Attack Rapidly Rising College Costs
Trey Miller, Van L. Davis
The challenge facing policymakers is how to lessen the college cost pressure felt by families while incentivizing institutions to innovate to reduce cost and improve quality. What if cost savings from increased productivity were quantified and a portion returned to institutions?
Political Scientists and the Military
Paula G. Thornhill, Rachel Whitlark
For civilian academics interested in bridging the political science–military gap, five recommendations to acquire basic information about the military could encourage improved interaction, better policy-relevant scholarship, and an enhanced policy process.
What's Next for REF?
In 2014, the research of 154 UK universities was evaluated, accounting for the efforts of 52,061 academic staff members. For the first time, the impact that the research had on wider society was part of the assessment. As we approach the next assessment period, there is opportunity for discussion to tweak and refine future measures of impact.
Three Cheers for Research Users Engaging in REF 2014
PolicyWonkers
In the UK, research outputs from universities are assessed every five years to determine future funding allocations from government. In 2014, for the first time, the Research Excellence Framework included an assessment of research impact. Research users played key roles throughout the process.
REF 2014 Shows That Research Impact Can Be Assessed
Higher Education Funding Council for England Blog
For the first time anywhere, the UK has allocated funding to universities according to an assessment of research impact. An evaluation of the Research Excellence Framework 2014 process reveals that it worked, allowing different types of impacts drawn from a wide range of disciplines to be compared and scored.
REF 2014 Impact Submissions: Part of a Cultural Shift?
Catriona Manville @CMManville, Jonathan Grant
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) has incentivized universities to be more focused on their contribution to society beyond academia. The inclusion of impact as a component of the REF is leading to a cultural shift in the academic sector.
State of the Union 2015: Clarion Calls on Terrorism, Cyber, Education, and More
The agenda President Barack Obama outlined in his State of the Union address can perhaps best be characterized as broad, mirroring the range of diverse and emerging issues facing the U.S. in 2015.
America's College Promise: Meeting the Higher Education Challenge
Trey Miller, Holly Kosiewicz
President Obama's proposal to cover the costs of two years of community college offers hope to many American students, but two key challenges should be addressed: meeting the needs of underprepared students and devising a system to smooth the transfer of credits from one institution to another.
Cost of College in the United States
Marlon Graf
EduTech Magazine
For middle- to lower-income families in the U.S., in particular, the costs associated with attending a four-year university are becoming nearly impossible to bear. More and more students are ending up with significant debt after graduating from college, putting financial pressure on them at the outset of their professional careers.
College Ratings and Affordable Education
There are reasons to believe American students from the middle- and lower-income tiers aren't making affordable college choices. Can a new ratings system help them make better, more affordable decisions?
Measuring Impact: How Australia and the UK Are Tackling Research Assessment
The UK is the first country to attempt to allocate funding based on the wider societal impact of research, and in 2012, a subset of higher education institutions in Australia ran a small-scale pilot exercise to assess impact and understand the potential challenges of the process. What can be learned by comparing the UK and Australian approaches?
Pardee RAND Promotes Diversity in Public Policy Through Summer Faculty Workshop
The Pardee RAND summer faculty workshop aims to help scholars who teach at historically black colleges and universities strengthen their approach to research and bring new analytic thinking, tools, and practices back to their students, inspiring them to pursue graduate education and careers in public policy.
Military Education and Training
Mending the Marriage Between Colleges and the Military
Paula G. Thornhill
Without a concerted effort to change military executive education, military services will continue a misguided effort to buy academic credibility, and some elite universities will continue selling their names. Most importantly, the Untied States will miss an opportunity to hone the critical thinking of its next generation of military leaders.
Four Approaches to Improve Higher Education in India Through Policies
Trey Miller, Megan Clifford
In India, university enrolment has grown from 10 to 23 million from 2000 to 2013, and so has interest in improving access and quality. A review of research on higher-education policies on affirmative action, financial aid, private education, and vocational education identifies gaps in research on improving access and quality.
Four Issues That RUSA's Plans for Research Universities Ought To Address
The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan, or National Higher Education Mission, is the key implementing initiative of the Indian government's 12th Five Year Plan for higher education. It promotes three policy priorities in higher education — equity, expansion, and excellence.
India Embraces MOOCs, but What if It Is a 'Lousy Product'?
One hundred engineering colleges around India will rely heavily on virtual instruction under a new program. Given the amount India is investing, it is important to make the best possible use of the complex and evolving Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) model.
Comparing Higher Education Entrance Qualifications Across Europe
Cecile Hoareau McGrath
Given the opportunities for mobility of students and graduates across Europe, there is a need to understand how each country's higher education admission requirements compare, and to consider the long-term effects of those requirements on the skills, innovativeness, and resilience of Europe's workforce.
Making Colleges More Affordable
President Obama has released a plan to make colleges more affordable for the middle class. The plan calls for linking federal student aid to college performance, capping student loans at 10% of income, and incentivizing innovative instructional approaches to cut costs and improve quality.
The Cost of Higher Education: The Big Picture
According to Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan, tuition is becoming less affordable because institutions are not performance-oriented and thus do not use their funding wisely. But would a more efficient system really bring measurable reductions in tuition costs?
Increase Funds for Quality
In India, perhaps if the funds that are needed are put in with the help of philanthropists like Shiv Nadar, Azim Premji or Rajendra Pawar, it may be possible to build world class universities, writes Rafiq Dossani.
Making Europe a Home Fit for the Next Einstein
Erik J. Frinking, Titus Galama
Published commentary by RAND staff: Making Europe a Home Fit for the Next Einstein, in the Financial Times.


Verisign has revealed that around 11 million domain names were registered during the last quarter of 2009 pushing the total number of domain name registrations to 192 million, 25 years after dotcom domain names were released.
The details were published as part of the Domain Name Industry Brief that the internet infrastructure service provider publishes every quarter. Globally, dotcom and dotnet domain names are till the most popular accounting for more than half of the total number of domain names registered worldwide.
The renewal rate of domain names reached 71 percent in the fourth quarter, a timid increase of half a percent. This means that nearly 30 percent of all domain names registered are allowed to expire.
The most popular Top level domains after dotcom are China, Germany and UK respectively. Dotuk domains have enjoyed a surprising surge last year with their rate of growth hitting 11 percent compared to the previous year.
Amongst other data released by Verisign is the fact that 37 percent of domains (that's almost two out of every five domain names) either point to a single page (the homepage) or point to nothing at all.
Furthermore, the DNS (Domain Name System) structure apparently receives roughly 52 million requests every day, that's roughly 2.1 million requests every hour and is more than twice the volume in 2008.
On average, around 120,000 domain names are still registered every day, which translates into around 5000 every hour of the day. Domain name registration is still, big, very big money. Not surprisingly though, dotbiz and dotinfo domain names haven't picked up.


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Hastings, Minnesota is perfectly situated to be a hub for birding opportunity, and was recently recognized as the first official Bird City Minnesota!
The City Parks & Recreation Department manages 33 sites where people can get outside and enjoy watching birds. It is our desire to describe some of the best city parks and other "hot spots" for birding opportunity in and around Hastings and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.
Several of the parks are included in one of four Audubon sanctioned Important Bird Areas (IBAs) that radiate out from Hastings. Two are partially in the city limits and the others are close by. In addition, five state Scientific & Natural Areas (SNAs) can be found in or around the city. Bird watchers know that it is the all important habitat which provides food, water and shelter for migrating and resident birds. The protection of these areas has helped to provide place for birds to abound. This is the key to finding new and interesting species. Within these many areas, birders can find plenty of natural lands holding the treasured birds they hope will fill their lists.
Nearly half of North America's bird species, and about 40 percent of its waterfowl, spend at least part of their lives in the Mississippi Flyway. That is why Audubon Minnesota has pointed to the Hastings area as essential for bird populations. Many birds can be found in the Hastings Important Bird Areas. IBAs provide essential habitat for one or more breeding, wintering, and/or migrating bird species. The IBA Program is designed to be proactive, voluntary, participatory, science-based and works to identify, monitor and conserve the most essential habitats for birds.
The City of Hastings would like to thank Kevin D. Smith and Jennifer Vieth for the compilation of information and writing of this informational guide. Both are members of Hastings Environmental Protectors (HEP).