Teacher quality scores change depending on students, school, study finds

by Portland State University

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

School districts across the U.S. are increasingly using student test scores to rate the effectiveness of teachers, but a new Portland State University study found that the scores have less to do with individual teachers and more to do with their students and the schools.


The study looked at the value-added scores of 4,500 teachers in a large urban district as they changed schools between 2007 and 2013. The idea of value-added models is to measure the impact a teacher has on student learning by comparing new test scores to previous ones, and comparing test score gains across teachers. Supporters of the approach say looking at how much a student has progressed in a year, regardless of where they started from, captures the effectiveness of a teacher.

Dara Shifrer, the study's author and sociology professor at PSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said that if that's true, then a teacher's score should remain constant regardless of the school they work in or the type of students they teach.

Instead, when she tracked individual teachers, she found that their scores increased when they switched into high-performing (often low-poverty) schools and decreased when they switched into low-performing (often high-poverty) schools.

"If the teacher moved to a school where there were more poor students, more English language learners or generally more challenging teaching environments, then their scores dropped," Shifrer said. "The changes in individual teachers' scores over time were consistent with shifts in the economic status and race of students in their classrooms and schools."

The study focused on scores from the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS), which is used in a dozen states, including Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Shifrer said the study is more evidence that the factors beyond a teacher's control—socioeconomic background, the impact of social inequality, racial segregation—affect students' learning and whether teachers and schools are seen as effective.

"These value-added scores haven't solved the problem of how to evaluate teacher quality and they limit our ability to understand how students learn and what affects it," she said. "Policymakers need to recognize how powerfully social inequality outside of schools affects what's happening inside of schools."

Shifrer said that educational disparities will be most effectively addressed by targeting inequality in society. The study recommends that teachers who work in high-poverty schools be paid a higher salary and schools should be sufficiently funded to provide the social services that are necessary to support their students.

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A student's disability status depends on where they go to school, study finds

More information: Dara Shifrer, Contextualizing Educational Disparities and the Evaluation of Teacher Quality, Social Problems (2020). DOI: 10.1093/socpro/spaa044

Provided by Portland State University

In a warming climate, can birds take the heat?

by Lauren Quinn, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
 

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

We don't know precisely how hot things will get as climate change marches on, but there's reason to believe animals in the tropics may not fare as well as their temperate relatives. Many scientists think tropical animals, because they're accustomed to a more stable thermal environment, may be pushed beyond their limits quickly as temperatures soar. And that could lead to massive species loss.

Yet, in a first-of-its-kind study, University of Illinois researchers show both temperate and tropical birds can handle acute heat stress much better than expected.

"In terms of their thermal physiology, a lot of these birds, including tropical species, can tolerate temperatures that are a lot higher than what they experience in their daily lives. That was surprising because tropical ectotherms, such as insects, have been shown to be extremely vulnerable to climate warming," says Henry Pollock, postdoctoral researcher at Illinois and first author on the study. "We're just not seeing the same things in birds. It is somewhat encouraging."

Although they observed some promising trends, the researchers caution against celebrating too soon.

"It's not necessarily comforting news. If someone walked away from this thinking tropical birds are going to do fine because they're not going to overheat, that would be a simplistic bottom line to take away from this paper," says Jeff Brawn, professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at Illinois and co-author on the study. "Warming is likely to affect tropical birds indirectly, by impacting their resources, the structure of tropical forests. So they may not be flying around panting, suffering from heat exhaustion, but there may be more indirect effects."

To test the assumption that tropical and temperate birds differ in their ability to cope with heat stress, Pollock brought 81 species from Panama and South Carolina into field labs to test their responses to rising temperatures. Using tiny sensors, he was able to detect internal body temperatures, as well as metabolic rates, when he exposed the birds to warmer and warmer environments.

Species from both temperate and tropical zones handled the rising temperatures just fine. Birds from South Carolina had a higher heat tolerance, on average, than Panamanian birds, but both groups exceeded Pollock and Brawn's expectations. And among all the birds, doves and pigeons emerged as thermal superstars. Most birds cool down by panting, but doves and pigeons take advantage of their unique-among-birds ability to "sweat." In fact, Pollock says, they exceeded the limits of his testing equipment.

Although the study provided the first-ever heat tolerance data for many bird species, the results take on more meaning when put into the context of warming projections.

"Both temperate and tropical birds were able to tolerate temperatures into the 40s [in degrees Celsius], but they only experience maximum temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius in their everyday environments, so they have a substantial buffer," Pollock says.

In other words, even if maximum air temperatures rise 3 to 4 degrees Celsius, as projected by some scientists, that's well within the thermal safety margins of all the birds Pollock measured.

It's important to note the experiment, which measured acute heat stress, doesn't exactly replicate what's projected to happen during much more gradual climate warming. But few studies have examined the effects of chronic heat stress in birds, and having this baseline knowledge of their acute physiological limits is a good start.

"This is the first geographic comparison ever for birds. We need more data from more sites and studies of chronic heat stress over longer periods of time. But I think at the very least, what we can say is that they're able to tolerate higher temperatures than I think anybody expected," Pollock says.

Brawn adds, "We're just starting to scratch the surface of what we need to do to really understand how climate change is going to affect birds. But this is an important first step."


Explore further Hummingbirds show up when tropical trees fall down
More information: Henry S. Pollock et al, Heat tolerances of temperate and tropical birds and their implications for susceptibility to climate warming, Functional Ecology (2020). 

DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13693 

Provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 

Dogs are sensitive to their owners' choice despite their own preference

by Eötvös Loránd University
Inspired by work on infants, researchers at the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) investigated whether dogs' behaviors are guided by human displays of preference or by the animals' own choices. Credit: Bence Járdány

Inspired by work on infants, researchers at the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE ) investigated whether dogs' behaviors are guided by human displays of preference or by the animals' own choices. They found that dogs' looking times, but not fetching behavior, were influenced by the owner's expression of preference. Although the studies did not demonstrate that dogs override their own preferences for an object, the results suggested that the owners' expressed preference was perceived by the dogs and guided their perceptual focus.

Studies on animal cognition deepen our understanding of the human mind's evolution and help inform policy makers in the production of legislation around animal keeping. Whether dogs have any idea that their humans have thoughts and emotions of their own, is one of the hot topics in dog research. The answer could have interesting implications, but it has been challenging to find a decisive way to test it so far.

"There is no shortage of attempts to unveil the putative mind-reading abilities of dogs" says Dr. Ádám Miklósi, head of the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, "but no single study has been convincing enough on its own, so over the years we have broken down the big question into smaller, more tangible goals."

One of these goals has been to investigate how dogs respond to expressions signaling the preferences of humans. A new study published in Frontiers in Psychology follows up on previous efforts in this direction. "We knew that dogs respond to humans signaling their preference, but in previous studies, the dogs' own priorities were not accounted for. In particular, we did not know how conflicting preferences between the dogs and the owner influence the behavior of dogs." says Eniko Kubinyi, leading author of the study, senior researcher at Eötvös Loránd University. "18-month-old children recognize that their own preference might differ from that of others and they understand how desire can be inferred from emotional expressions, but 14-month-olds do not. We wanted to test where dogs are on this scale."
(

A) Object preference test, (B) demonstration by the owner, (C) object hiding in Study 2, (D) looking at the objects in Study 2, (E) test objects for all dogs: bracelet (left), toy (right), both 9 cm in diameter. The persons identifiable in the images provided written consent for the publication. Credit: E. Kubinyi

The researchers first tested a subset of dogs on their spontaneous preference for either a dog toy or a bracelet. The toy was without exception the more desirable object. Next, owners displayed happy expressions towards the bracelet and made disgusted faces towards the toy. Then the owner asked the dog to fetch, without providing additional guiding cues. All dogs fetched the toy, indicating that their own choice was not overcome by the emotional expressions of the owner. "Thus dogs either are not able to distinguish between their own and the owners' preference or they failed to inhibit the "wrong" response" explains Flóra Szánthó, co-author.


The researchers decided to dig deeper. "Fetching was clearly not a good choice to measure dogs' sensitivity to others' preferences for several reasons" notes Kubinyi, "since their own favorite object was in reach, the dogs had little incentive to factor in the owner's choice in their responses. We assumed that if the same objects were out of reach, they would stimulate what appears to be "showing" behavior in the dogs and they would direct more attention towards their owners' pick, thereby also weakening the affordance provided by their preferred object." To test this hypothesis, the researchers decided to put the objects up on the laboratory's windowsill where the dogs could not reach them.

"What is certain, is that this study is the first to show that dogs are sensitive to their owners' choice even though they prefer to fetch their favorite toy when it is in reach." Credit: Bence Járdány

Fifty-one dogs were assigned to one of two experimental groups: a matching/congruent condition where owners displayed happy expressions towards the toy and made disgusted faces towards the bracelet, and a non-matching/incongruent condition, where owners showed happiness toward the bracelet and disgust toward the toy. After the emotion display, the toy and the bracelet were placed out of reach and the researchers now measured how much time the dogs looked at each object. "In this case", says Ivaylo Iotchev, postdoc at Eötvös Loránd University, and co-author, "the dogs looked at the favored toy when their owner had previously responded to it with a happy face. In the other group they looked the same amount of time at the bracelet and the toy."

The demonstration of the owners' preference affected the dogs' behavior. "It is not certain that this influence is the result of inferred and shared representations" warns Kubinyi. "We have not found conclusive evidence that dogs, similarly to one and a half.year-old toddlers, understand the subjectivity of the desire, i.e., that different people can have different attitudes toward the same object. If they indeed infer the owner's preference, they might not understand fetching as an act of offering an object to a human, or response inhibition, an important aspect of cognitive control, was not sufficiently strong to overwrite the animals' own preference." What is certain, is that this study is the first to show that dogs are sensitive to their owners' choice even though they prefer to fetch their favorite toy when it is in reach."


Explore further

First rehoming of laboratory dogs in Finland successful but required a great deal of work

More information: Enikő Kubinyi et al, Human Expressions of Object Preference Affect Dogs' Perceptual Focus, but Not Their Action Choices, Frontiers in Psychology (2020). 

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.588916

Journal information: Frontiers in Psychology

US Disaster database cements itself as go-to hub for natural hazard information

by University of Texas at Austin

A large van crushed by earthquake debris in a Seattle parking lot in 2001. 

Credit: Kevin Galvin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

In Seattle, "the big one"—a massive earthquake that could devastate the region—represents an ominous threat. So widespread are the concerns that city leaders there created standards to fortify new skyscrapers using data from studies forecasting the impact of a big earthquake in the region.

The Seattle mega-quake scenario is one of hundreds of data sets published on DesignSafe, a database for natural disaster information created by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin that has changed how planners, builders, policymakers and engineers prepare for and respond to hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and more. The data repository gives researchers the ability to formally publish data sets related to natural disaster studies in the same way research papers are published in journals, giving them an accessible digital home.

"We've watched the path from research to data to the real world, where information on the platform is informing how people do things like design structures," said Ellen Rathje, a professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering's Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, who is the lead researcher for DesignSafe. "Our data repository is helping paint a more complete picture of natural hazards and helping the world understand their impacts."

The 5-year-old project, funded by the National Science Foundation, has been renewed with a $15.5 million grant for another five years. DesignSafe is a collaboration between the Cockrell School and UT's Texas Advanced Computing Center and includes faculty members from Rice University, the University of California at Los Angeles and the Florida Institute of Technology.

DesignSafe has more than 5,000 users, and it currently features 293 published data sets, representing more than 34TB of publicly available information. Hundreds more data sets are stored privately, and many of them will ultimately be made public. Researchers have uploaded data documenting the damage from more than 50 major disasters.

Rathje, who specializes in earthquake research, said the landscape around natural disaster analysis has changed significantly since DesignSafe launched five years ago. In the past, visual data for damage was often restricted to photos taken by researchers in the field. Now, geotagged photos, street-view imaging and drones able to capture 3-D videos have led to a massive increase in the amount of data available to researchers.

All this extra data gives greater insight into how buildings can be strengthened to withstand natural disasters. Legislators get a clearer picture of where response is lacking and how they can improve it. And engineers can better quantify damage as they create models to aid in planning and preparation for future disasters.

In another use case, the Houston Ship Channel is home to thousands of above-ground storage tanks that are important for petrochemical storage. These valuable storage tanks are at risk of damage and spills during hurricanes, but organizations such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not consider these factors in planning for major coastal protection infrastructure projects.

That has changed due to data published on DesignSafe. Engineers from UT Austin, Rice University and Oregon State University published data showing the risk of damage to petrochemical storage tanks in the Houston area due to hurricanes. They shared it with the Army Corps of Engineers, and the organization has since implemented the data into its planning process for major infrastructure projects.

"Accounting for damage to these storage tanks is critical in coastal industrial regions, like the Houston-Galveston area, where the risk is high, and cascading consequences are significant," said Jamie Padgett, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice.

To learn more about DesignSafe and explore its library of published data sets, visit designsafe-ci.org

Explore further Preventing natural hazards from becoming societal disasters
Provided by University of Texas at Austin

Sustainable tourism—or a selfie? 

Ecotourism's fans may be in it for the 'gram

by University of Georgia

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Ecotourism offers a specific travel experience: It focuses on nature, education and sustainability. Often, these destinations highlight endangered or threatened species and engage visitors in making socially responsible choices.

But a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia suggests ecotourism's altruistic attractions may be overshadowed by another benefit: photos for social media. Recently published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism, the research could help guide tourism operators as they weigh the costs and benefits of attracting visitors who care most for natural beauty only when it can be captured on their phone.

"It's been traditionally presumed that people are pursuing ecotourism because they are interested in making an environmentally or socially responsible choice—and this understanding is important for a host of reasons, including management and market segmentation," said Justin Beall, the study's lead author. "But our study throws a wrench in that a bit by showing that not only is it environmental values that are influencing people to participate in ecotourism, but people are also engaging in ecotourism so they can get good photographs to post online and present to their friends and loved ones."

Beall, a recent graduate of the UGA Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, wrote the paper as part of his master's thesis. Co-authors included Warnell faculty members Bynum Boley and Kyle Woosnam, as well as UGA alumnus Adam Landon, now with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Social status over sustainability

Say, for example, someone visits an ecotourism destination and shares photos and descriptions on social media. They are conveying an image of someone who cares about sustainability, the local community and education—all components of ecotourism. But, Beall said, travelers surveyed for the study revealed that how these photos look may be even more important than their own environmental values.

"People have a tendency to do something that elevates their status—I think we all kind of do it. This idea is not new," added Boley. "It used to be a Porsche or a wristwatch or jewelry, but now it's a little more subtle, and channeled through travel experiences.

"So, our big debate is, do people choose ecotourism because they have strong environmental values, or is it a new way to show off to your peers that you're cool?"

Earlier research has suggested that ecotourists have motivations beyond environmental and social values. But with the rise of smartphones and social media, factors such as self-development, relaxation or escape are taking a back seat to the potential for likes and clicks. Boley has underscored this in more recent studies, showing how social media is changing how we view and experience travel.

Now, with this latest study, it appears the influence of social media has also reached ecotourism.

Overcrowding

While the travel industry is reeling from COVID-19, visitors to remote, natural-focused destinations are up in the U.S. On the one hand, this research presents an opportunity for the ecotourism industry to market itself by highlighting scenic opportunities to potential travelers.

But then there are problems of overcrowding to consider. Too many tourists can also be a bad thing—especially when they're visiting sensitive natural areas. The problem is compounded for ecotourism destinations, where a small staff typically manages a larger and more fragile area. For example, visitors may stray off the established trail for their own set of photos, wandering into sensitive areas.

For years, ecotourists were categorized as a highly desirable segment of the tourism market. They have money to spend, they're environmentally conscious and they are concerned about their effects on their destination. But perhaps that's no longer true.

"What if all of a sudden you realize most of the people who showed up to your site aren't ecotourists that care about your site, but just want to get the picture?" Beall asked. "With ecotourism done well, you can have this sort of low-volume, high-value tourism. But if you have all these other people that are getting in on it, and they're not concerned about their environmental impacts, where their money goes or what they do, then it could threaten the destination's sustainability."


Explore further 

Ecotourism, natural resource conservation proposed as allies to protect natural landscapes
More information: Justin M. Beall et al, What drives ecotourism: environmental values or symbolic conspicuous consumption?, Journal of Sustainable Tourism (2020). DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1825458

Provided by University of Georgia

Applying environmental genomics to coral conservation

by Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

A coral reef in New Caledonia. Credit: Oliver Selmoni, EPFL

Oceans are a bellwether for the planet's health, absorbing over 90% of the sun's energy. They demonstrate the extent to which rising temperatures are threatening coral reefs and other vital ecosystems that support biodiversity. In 2016 and 2017, an abrupt rise in surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean caused mass bleaching on an unprecedented scale. Australia's Great Barrier Reef was especially hard-hit.

Bleaching occurs when heat stress disrupts the symbiotic relationship between corals and the tiny algae that live inside them, providing a source of nutrients for coral and giving them their color. Persistent bleaching can lead to coral death. In the past two decades, abnormal heatwaves caused entire sections of reef off the coast of Australia—measuring several kilometers in length—to turn white.

Scientists have already found that some reefs are better equipped to cope with recurring heat stress than others. For his thesis research, Oliver Selmoni, a doctoral assistant at EPFL's Laboratory of Geographic Information Systems (LASIG), applied the principles of environmental genomics to characterize this ability to adapt. Selmoni cross-referenced the results of genetic analyses of coral samples with ocean temperature data captured by satellites to determine what made some corals better able to withstand rising temperatures.

Building a study from the ground up

Having applied his method to pre-existing data on a coral species in Japan, Selmoni traveled to New Caledonia to build a new study from the ground up. He collected his own coral samples with the help of the IRD scientists based in Nouméa. The findings were published in Nature Scientific Reports on 12 November. "New Caledonia is home to the world's second-longest coral reef, expanding to over 1,000 km," says Selmoni. "This relatively compact ecosystem is exposed to dramatic contrasts in environmental conditions, which makes it an ideal candidate for studying climate adaptation."

The study aimed to test two hypotheses. The first is that coral populations learn to adapt to warmer seas after experiencing prolonged heat stress over many years. "The longer higher temperatures persist, the more likely it is that climate-resilient traits will develop and be passed down from generation to generation," explains Selmoni. The second hypothesis relates to connectivity: corals reproduce by releasing larvae into the water, which are then carried in ocean currents. "Corals rely on nearby populations for survival. When a reef is destroyed by environmental stressors or human activity, larvae from elsewhere are needed to kick-start repopulation," he adds.

Establishing marine protected areas

Selmoni's first task was to assess the composition of the marine environment in New Caledonia, using satellite data stretching back 30 years. After selecting 20 sites with the greatest temperature contrasts, he headed into the field to collect samples. "We focused on three flagship Pacific coral species that are susceptible to bleaching and relatively easy to find," he recalls. "It was a huge undertaking: 3,000 km by road and another 1,000 km by boat!" Selmoni shared details of his experience on the EPFL Out There blog.

Using environmental genomics methods at LASIG, he found that the field observations supported his connectivity and adaptation hypotheses. "As expected, we observed a correlation between likelihood of adaptation and prolonged exposure to high heat stress. Conversely, corals in locations that had never experienced heat stress showed no climate-adaptive traits," explains Selmoni.

Looking ahead, the maps developed in the study could be used to establish new marine protected areas (MPAs) - zones where fishing, tourism, industry and other human activities are restricted—in places where, through connectivity, heat-resistant coral strains could populate reefs around the archipelago. Another option could be to select and grow climate-adaptive corals, then transplant them into nearby reefs that are less able to withstand rising temperatures, thereby accelerating the process of natural selection. "Over time, these hardier strains can help rebuild damaged reefs or make existing coral populations more resilient to bleaching," adds Selmoni.


Explore further A new tool for identifying climate-adaptive coral reefs
More information: Oliver Selmoni et al, Coral cover surveys corroborate predictions on reef adaptive potential to thermal stress, Scientific Reports (2020).

 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76604-2

Journal information: Scientific Reports

Provided by Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

Green Deal: Good for a climate-neutral Europe, bad for the planet

by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

By high imports of agricultural products, the EU is outsourcing environmental damage, the researchers of KIT say. Credit: Markus Breig, KIT

Europe is to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050—this goal of the Green Deal was announced by the EU in late 2019. Carbon emissions shall be reduced, while forestation, agriculture, environmentally friendly transport, recycling, and renewable energies shall be pushed. In Nature, scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) now show that this "Green Deal" might be a bad deal for the planet, as the EU will outsource environmental damage through high imports of agricultural products. The researchers recommend actions for the deal to push global sustainability.

The Green Deal adopted by the European Commission is to change European agriculture significantly in the next years and to contribute to making Europe the first climate-neutral continent. By 2030, about a quarter of all agricultural areas shall be farmed organically. Use of fertilizers and pesticides shall be reduced by 20 and 50 percent, respectively. In addition, the EU plans to plant 3 billion trees, to restore 25,000 km of rivers, and to reverse the decrease in populations of pollinators, such as bees or wasps.

 "These measures are important and reasonable," says Richard Fuchs from the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research—Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), KIT's Campus Alpine in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. "But it will be also necessary to specify foreign trade goals. Otherwise, we will only outsource the problem and continue to damage our planet." The research team compared sustainability conditions abroad with those in Europe and recommended actions for a standardized procedure.

Sustainability standards must be defined and harmonized

According to the study, the European Union annually imports millions of tons of agricultural products. In 2019, one fifth of crops were imported from abroad, as were many meat and dairy products. However, the imports come from countries, whose environmental legislations are far less stringent than those in Europe. For instance, genetically modified organisms have been subject to strong limitations in EU agriculture since 1999. Still, Europe imports genetically modified soy beans and corn from Brazil, Argentina, the U.S., and Canada, the study reveals.

"On the average, Europe's trading partners use more than twice as much fertilizers than we. Use of pesticides has also increased in most of these countries," Fuchs says. In his opinion, the problem is that each nation defines sustainability in a different way. Things forbidden in Europe might be permitted elsewhere. "By importing goods from these countries, the EU just outsources environmental damage to other regions and earns the laurels for its green policy at home," the climate researcher points out.

The scientists of KIT recommend to urgently harmonize sustainability standards, to strongly reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides and avoid deforestation. "The EU cannot impose its standards in other countries, but it can demand that goods entering the European market meet EU requirements," Richard Fuchs says.

Evaluation of CO2 footprint worldwide and reduction of meat consumption

The researcher points out that Europe's CO2 footprint has to be evaluated worldwide and improved afterwards. Carbon balancing according to the Paris Agreement only covers emissions caused by domestic production, but not emissions due to the production of these goods abroad.

Moreover, the scientists promote reduction of consumption of meat and dairy products. This would reduce the import of agricultural products. Domestic production in accordance with adequate standards should be strengthened. For this purpose, areas with a low diversity of species or not used for agriculture so far could be converted. This would reduce deforestation in the tropics, which is mainly caused by the creation of new framing areas. Harvest yields might be increased by the CRISPR gene editing technology, the team says. This technology improves the edible mass, height, and pest resistance of plants without using genes of another species.

"Not all measures are easy to implement. Reorientation of agricultural production, however, would contribute to protecting Europe's food crops against global market fluctuations, disturbances of the supply chain, and some impactsd of climate change," Fuchs says. "Only then will the "Green Deal" be a good deal not only for a climate-neutral Europe, but also for our entire planet."

Explore further Study on climate protection: More forest, less meat
More information: Richard Fuchs et al. Europe's Green Deal offshores environmental damage to other nations, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/d41586-020-02991-1

Provided by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Study finds success in Charlotte-Mecklenburg's efforts to end homelessness

by University of North Carolina at Charlotte

The Moore Place permanent supportive housing facility in Charlotte, NC. 

Credit: Moore Place

A new comprehensive study from UNC Charlotte's Urban Institute, College of Health and Human Services and School of Social Work shows an effective approach to ending chronic homelessness that helps those in need and benefits communities.

The Housing First Charlotte-Mecklenburg initiative, an innovative multi-sector collaboration that's been working to end chronic homelessness in Charlotte for five years, has placed more than 1,000 people in the Charlotte community in stable housing. This is the largest and most comprehensive local effort to address chronic homelessness. Nationwide, on any given night, more than 550,000 Americans are experiencing homelessness, and this research could offer guidance to cities around the U.S. struggling with this issue.

"The Housing First Charlotte-Mecklenburg effort led to major housing wins during a time of increasing housing scarcity, and the vast majority of those who were able to access housing through the effort did not return to emergency shelters," said Lori Thomas, associate professor at UNC Charlotte's School of Social Work and Director of Research and Faculty Engagement at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute.

Thomas has completed an evaluation of the first phase of the program, the most rigorous and in-depth study to date in Charlotte and one of the few reports in the country that examines a community's overall response to chronic homelessness. Findings highlighted in Thomas' research may have a significant impact throughout the country in other cities working to expand Housing First programs such as Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Key findings from the first phase of the Housing First program include:

Housing First works. Almost three-quarters of study participants housed through the Housing First program either retained their housing or moved into other housing during the study period. That means a large majority of people who get housed, stay housed.

Housing First impacts participants. Clients who gained housing showed reductions in trauma, mental illness and substance use. Additionally, housed participants scored significantly higher on standardized overall quality of life indicators.

Housing First impacts the community. People who were housed were less likely to be arrested or visit the emergency department. Additionally, the average number of visits to the Mecklenburg County Health Departments and the average number of nights spent in emergency shelters all decreased.

Costs of housing are partially offset through other community services. Based on the changes in service utilization, there is a $2.54 reduction in community services for every $10 invested in housing first permanent supportive housing. This savings reduces the average annual cost of housing first permanent supportive housing from $17,256 to $12,688.

There were also lessons learned that can improve the initiative. Among those:

Housing First participants experienced persistent and worsening food insecurity. 

Rates of food insecurity remained high for clients who gained housing. Research suggests people might have more difficulty accessing food once they gain housing, perhaps because they do not have transportation to free resources where they previously got food, or because they now live in a "food desert."

Housing First participants continued to report poor perceptions of physical health. The impact of years without housing and access to preventative care, as well as the fact that the majority of study participants have two or more disabilities, may account for this finding.

Housing First and the focus on homelessness highlighted the need for better coordination, representation and communication among stakeholders across various sectors (government, nonprofit, academic and business). Additionally, the initiative drove home the need to connect homelessness to the community-wide affordable housing challenges facing Charlotte and Mecklenburg.

"With the release of the Housing First Evaluation report, we are able to share information with the community about the results and impact of a public-private, community initiative to end chronic homelessness," said Stacy Lowry, director of community support services for Mecklenburg County. "In addition to outcomes, this report also provides an in-depth analysis of the initiative, itself. By looking at the relationship between outcomes and process, Charlotte-Mecklenburg can use this report to expand and strengthen existing efforts to prevent and end homelessness as well as inform new, systemic solutions to address complex problems comprehensively and effectively."

Housing First proves cost effective especially for the most-vulnerable homeless group

Provided by University of North Carolina at Charlotte

The strategic stockpile failed—experts propose new approach to emergency preparedness

by North Carolina State University

Credit: Alex Mecl

A new analysis of the United States government's response to COVID-19 highlights myriad problems with an approach that relied, in large part, on international supply chains and the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). A panel of academic and military experts is instead calling for a more dynamic, flexible approach to emergency preparedness at the national level.

"When COVID-19 hit, the U.S. was unable to provide adequate testing supplies and equipment, unable to provide adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), and didn't have a functioning plan," says Rob Handfield, first author of the study and Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University.

"The SNS hadn't replenished some of its supplies since the H1N1 pandemic in 2009-10. Many of its supplies were expired. And there was no clear leadership. Federal authorities punted problems to the states, leaving states to fight each other for limited resources. And the result was chaos.

"We need to be talking about this now, because the nation needs to be better prepared next time. And there is always a next time."

To that end, Handfield and collaborators from NC State, Arizona State University, the Naval Postgraduate School and the Air Force's Contracting Career Field Management Team came together to outline the components that are necessary to ensure that there is an adequate federal response to future health crises. They determined that an effective federal program needs to address five criteria:

1. More Flexibility: In order to respond to unanticipated threats, any government system needs to have sufficient market intelligence to insure that it has lots of options, relationships and suppliers across the private sector for securing basic needs.

"You can't stockpile supplies for every possible contingency," Handfield says.

2. Inventory Visibility: The government would need to know what supplies it has, where those supplies are, and when those supplies expire. Ideally, it would also know which supplies are available in what amounts in the private sector, as well as how quickly it could purchase those supplies.

"The same is true on the demand side," Handfield says. "What do people need? Where? When?"

3. Responsiveness: The governmental institution overseeing emergency preparation needs to have leadership that can review information as it becomes available and work with experts to secure and distribute supplies efficiently. This would be an ongoing process, rather than a system that is put in place only in the event of crises.

4. Global Independence: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fact that the U.S. has outsourced manufacturing of critical biomedical materiel, because it was cheaper. Authorities need to consider investing in domestic manufacturing of PPE, testing supplies and equipment, pharmaceutical chemicals, syringes, and other biomedical supplies.

"The past year has really driven home the consequences of being dependent on other nations to meet basic needs during a pandemic," Handfield says. "Relying largely on the least expensive suppliers for a given product has consequences."

5. Equitable: The government needs to ensure that supplies get to where they are most needed in order to reduce the infighting and hoarding that we've seen in the COVID-19 pandemic.

"A first step here is to settle on a way of determining how to prioritize needs and how we would define an equitable allocation and distribution of supplies," Handfield says.

The last ingredient is bureaucratic: Coordinating all five of these components should be done by a permanent team that is focused solely on national preparation and ensuring that the relevant federal agencies are all on the same page.

"This is a fundamental shift away from the static approach of the SNS," Handfield says. "We need to begin exploring each of these components in more detail—and defining what a governing structure would look like. We don't know how long we'll have until we face another crisis."

The paper, "A Commons for a Supply Chain in the Post-COVID-19 Era: The Case for a Reformed Strategic National Stockpile," is published open access in The Milbank Quarterly.


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More information: ROBERT HANDFIELD et al. A Commons for a Supply Chain in the Post‐COVID‐19 Era: The Case for a Reformed Strategic National Stockpile, The Milbank Quarterly (2020). DOI: 10.1111/1468-0009.12485

Journal information: Milbank Quarterly

Provided by North Carolina State University

THIRD WORLD USA

Some US states hit harder by COVID-19 food insecurity

by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Foodbank volunteers work to serve neighbors facing hunger at mobile pantries. 

Credit: Feeding America

Food insecurity in America is reaching an all-time high during the COVID-19 pandemic. But large regional differences exist in the severity of the impact.

Experts project over 50 million Americans will be food insecure in 2020, including about 17 million children, says Craig Gundersen, ACES distinguished professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois.

Gundersen estimated food insecurity using Map the Meal Gap, an interactive model he developed for Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks in the U.S. For the current report, he combined MMG data with projected unemployment numbers.

"One of the key things about COVID-19 is how there's differential impacts across the country and by demographic groups. People with college education generally have not seen much of an impact on either unemployment rates or incomes. However, people in lower-wage jobs tend to be impacted a lot more," Gundersen states. "We would expect greater impact of COVID-19 in areas with a high concentration of service industry jobs."

The report finds the hardest hit states are the same as before the pandemic—Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, and New Mexico—but with higher rates. Jefferson County, Mississippi, has the highest food insecurity rate, 30.4%, in the country.

However, the pandemic disproportionately affected other states. For example, Nevada jumped from 20th to eighth highest food insecurity rate by state.

"Areas like Nevada, which has a strong emphasis on the service industry and tourism, will have substantially higher rates of increase in food insecurity than areas with fewer service sector workers," Gundersen says.

These findings can help direct relief efforts, he notes.

"Resources should continue to be directed towards those areas with greater needs before, during, and after COVID-19. But we also have to recognize that during the pandemic situation there are areas of the country, such as Nevada, which may need more emergency assistance in the near term," Gundersen says.

"Furthermore, some of these jobs may not come back; tourism may be permanently down in the United States. So these impacts could also have longer term ramifications," he concludes.

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More information: Craig Gundersen et al, Food Insecurity during COVID ‐19, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy (2020). DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13100

Provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign