Admission Groups and Academic Performance: A Study of Marginal Entrants in the Selection to Higher Education

The purpose of this paper is to study whether Swedish admission policies successful in selecting the best-performing students. The Swedish universities select students based on two different instruments, which each form a separate admission group. A regression model is recommended to estimate the achievement differences for the marginally accepted students between the admission groups and is applied to a sample of 9024 Swedish university entrants in four different fields of education. Marginally accepted students in the group selected by school grades on average perform better than students accepted by an admission test, suggesting that a small reallocation of study positions towards the grade admission group may increase overall academic achievement. However, the achievement difference appears to vary concerning university programme selectivity. We found that increasing selection by grades in less competitive programmes would improve overall achievement, while we do not find any effect for highly competitive programmes.

A DEA MCDM Approach Applied to ESS8 Dataset for Measuring Immigration and Refugees Citizens’ Openness

The current refugees’ crisis is undermining the main government coalitions of many countries in the European Union (EU), and tolerant attitudes and open admission policies toward immigrants seem to be part of the recent past history. The dilemma is gaining a lot of media attention as the public and political debate on migration is now playing an important role in all the European elections. Thus, the aim of this paper twofold. First, an analytical tool is developed to measure two synthetic indicators: (1) the citizens’ openness towards immigration for 23 countries—18 EU Countries, plus Iceland, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, and Russia—included in the 2016 European Social Survey; and (2) the citizens’ openness towards immigrants and refugees for 22 countries (same set without Hungary). And second, the effects of political orientation of citizens over the last synthetic indicator (immigrants and refugees) are studied. The approach of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) will be adopted here, with the purpose of identifying which countries are more, or less, open to the phenomenon of immigration and refugees. The results show that the Nordic countries and leftist are those which show more openness to immigration and refugees.

THE ATTIUDES OF THE ACADEMIC STAFF IN THE DEPATMENT OF ‎APPLIED ARTS AT KADOORIE UNIVERSITY TOWARDS ADMISSION ‎POLICIES AND THEIR ROLE IN ACHIEVING THE QUALITY OF ‎OUTPUTS

This is study aimed to identify the attitudes of the academic staff in the Department of Applied ‎Arts at Kadoorie University towards admission policies and their role in achieving the quality of ‎outputs,‎the admission policies of the Department of Applied Arts at Palestine Technical University- ‎Kadoorie have adopted several criteria for accepting students based on their high school grades, in ‎addition to their passing an abilities test. Based on these policies been adopted for students’ ‎admission and the diversity of criteria; this study used to know the attitudes of the members of the ‎academic staff in the Department of Applied Arts at Palestine Technical University- Kadoorie ‎toward these policies and their role in achieving the quality of outputs. The researcher followed the ‎qualitative approach through the use of the focus group that was applied to a sample of members of ‎the academic staff in the Department of Applied Arts at Kadoorie University consisting of (8) ‎members, and the results of the study showed that the trends of the focus group varied between ‎positive and negative, with reservation on some of the procedures followed in students’ admission, ‎the response of the focus group on the relationship of admission policies with the quality of outputs ‎was positive and with the approval of the majority, and many proposals were submitted to develop ‎them and develop programs in the department, several recommendations were also made, the most ‎important of which are: That the admission policies for the Department of Applied Arts at Palestine ‎Technical University- Kadoorie should be reviewed since the results of this study showed that some ‎of the current adopted policies do not contribute in achieving the quality of outputs‎.

Investigating inclusive practice in international schooling: a case study of two schools

Although the underlying principles and the founding history of international schools supposedly advocate the notions of providing equal opportunities, catering for diversity, and promoting global citizenship, the dimensions of inclusive education might not be self-evident. Findings from this qualitative case study show that the understanding of inclusion in the context of international schools goes beyond disabilities and special education needs. Several approaches to evolving inclusive practice are highlighted. However, there are tensions between different stakeholders of international schools in defining inclusion; between the rhetoric of inclusion found in school documents and the reality, and between the original philosophy of international education and schools’ admission policies.

Do methods of hospital pre-alerts influence the on-scene times for acute pre-hospital stroke patients? A retrospective observational study

Introduction: Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. The ambulance service is often the first medical service to reach an acute stroke patient, and due to the time-critical nature of stroke, a time-critical assessment and rapid transport to a hyper acute stroke unit are essential. As stroke services have been centralised, different hospitals have implemented different pre-alert admission policies that may affect the on-scene time of the attending ambulance crew. The aim of this study is to investigate if the different pre-alert admission policies affect time on scene.Method: The current study is a retrospective quantitative observational study using data routinely collected by North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. The time on scene was divided into two variables; group one was a telephone pre-alert in which a telephone discussion with the receiving hospital is required before they accept admission of the patient. Group two was a radio-style pre-alert in which the attending clinician makes an autonomous decision on the receiving hospital and alerts them via a short radio message of the incoming patient. These times were then compared to identify if there was any difference between them.Results: Data on 927 patients over a three-month period, from October to December 2019, who had received the full stroke bundle of care, were within the thrombolysis window and recorded as a stroke by the attending clinician, were split into the variable groups and reported on. The mean time on scene for a telephone call pre-alert was 33 minutes and 19 seconds, with a standard deviation of 13 minutes and 8 seconds. The mean on-scene time for a radio pre-alert was 28 minutes and 24 seconds, with a standard deviation of 11 minutes and 51 seconds.Conclusion: A pre-alert given via radio instead of via telephone is shown to have a mean time saving of 4 minutes and 55 seconds, representing an important decrease in time which could be beneficial to patients.

Part 2 Asylum, 8 The Concept of Asylum

This chapter focuses on the concept of asylum. The meaning of the word ‘asylum’ tends to be assumed by those who use it, but its content is rarely explained. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights refers to ‘asylum from persecution’, the UN General Assembly urges the grant of asylum and observance of the principle of asylum, and many States’ constitutions and laws offer the promise of asylum, yet nowhere is this act of States defined. A distinction may be made between the clear, discretionary, sovereign right of States to grant asylum without it being considered a hostile act, which other States are bound to respect; and the individual right to asylum, which thus far has only been explicitly recognized in some regional human rights instruments and national constitutions, but not in any treaty applying universally. While individuals may not be able to claim a right to be granted asylum, States have a duty under international law not to obstruct the individual’s right to seek asylum. This includes the obligation to provide access to an asylum procedure (refugee status determination), which necessarily calls into question the legality of non-arrival and non-admission policies increasingly employed by States as tools of migration control.

The Time All San Francisco Fought Over School Fairness and Equality

Asian Americans have become a major factor in the debate over affirmative action and college/school admission policies. Yet most often their role is relegated to one side or the other of the argument - either grouped with other oppressed minorities, or else grouped with privileged white students. However, Asian Americans have their own agency and self-determination that requires attention. Beginning in the 1990s, San Francisco’s Asian American community resisted mainstream hegemony and charted their own course forward. This study uses a comparative approach towards these early Asian American activists, comparing and contrasting their motivations and actions with Black activists of the time, and also with a respected federal judge, scion of one of San Francisco’s wealthiest and traditional legal dynasties. News articles, notes and newsletters of Chinese American activist groups, internal school district reports, and 24 interviews are used to express how early generations of Asian Americans stood up to fight when they felt their version of the American dream was under attack, and how they focused on present-day tactical actions instead of future-looking strategies or past historical experiences. This study also reveals practical principles that these specifically Chinese American activists employed which may have applications for all groups resisting domination and/or assimilation. The methods and tactics employed by these second-generation Asian Americans that grew up in a community remade by the 1965 Immigration Act, helps us understand how the Asian American community has developed since then, and how it is continuing to move forward.

CHALLENGES WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ADMISSION POLICY FOR GRADES R AND 1 IN THE MOTHEO DISTRICT IN THE FREE STATE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AFRICA

At the beginning of every year thousands of learners report for Grade R and Grade 1 across schools in South Africa. Unfortunately, many learners are refused admission to these grades when parents apply. The national policy that guides and governs admission of learners to public schools is the South African Schools Act (SASA) 84 of 1996. This policy stipulates that the admission age of a learner to a public or independent school for Grade R is age four, turning five by 30 June in the year of admission. For a learner to be admitted to Grade 1, the learner has to be five, turning six by 30 June in the year of admission (SASA 1996 Section 5a-6; Ramadiro and Vally 2005:1). But SASA (1996: Section 3(1) also states that attendance is compulsory in the year in which a learner turns seven. According to the National Education Policy Act (NEPA) 27 of 1996 and SASA (1996: Section 5) the Admission Policy of a public school is determined by the School Governing Body (SGB). However, according to the findings of the research there is no uniformity and consistency in schools as far as admission to Grades R and 1 is concerned. In addition, the study reveals that many parents are unaware of the age requirements for Grades R and 1. Although SASA does stipulate the admission age to Grade R and Grade 1, it also states that schools, in the form of the SGB, can determine their own Admission Policy. Hence some schools admit learners according to SASA, while others ignore the requirements stipulated in SASA and determine their own Admission Policies. The study aims to determine what the challenges are with the implementation of the policy. A qualitative research method in the form of interviews was conducted to collect data from teachers, parents, SGBs, school principals and departmental officials. Based on the findings recommendations were made, one of which is that there should be uniformity amongst schools as far as policy implementation is concerned. The theoretical framework that guides this study is document phenomenology.

Model Strategi Pemasaran Jasa Pendidikan Islam pada SD Nasima Semarang

Educational services marketing strategies are becoming increasingly crucial in line with the role of educational institutions. However, only a few educational institutions have implemented strategies in marketing their educational services to the public. This study examines the marketing strategy of educational services at Nasima Elementary School Semarang. This research uses a qualitative case study approach. Data related to marketing management of educational services obtained from interviews, observation, and documentation, then tested by triangulation and then analyzed. The results of this study indicate two marketing strategies by SD Nasima Semarang, namely: internal marketing and external marketing. In internal marketing, the strategy implemented is to provide direct admission policies for TK Nasima alumni, giving discounts, parenting classes, and optimizing the roles of homeroom teachers, teachers, and guardians of students. As for external marketing, the strategy is to establish partnerships with kindergartens in the Nasima market area, distribute brochures, load information about Nasima schools, install banners, strategic billboards, hold educational exhibitions, free trial classes, and open houses. The Nasima Elementary School Education Model has quite a significant opportunity because many middle-class people are aware that religion needs good quality Islamic education. On the other hand, the challenge is the provision of good quality and innovative education. In this case, SD Nasima is the first education in Semarang to hold a full-day school.

On the Cluster Admission Problem for Cloud Computing

Cloud computing providers face the problem of matching heterogeneous customer workloads to resources that will serve them. This is particularly challenging if customers, who are already running a job on a cluster, scale their resource usage up and down over time. The provider therefore has to continuously decide whether she can add additional workloads to a given cluster or if doing so would impact existing workloads’ ability to scale. Currently, this is often done using simple threshold policies to reserve large parts of each cluster, which leads to low efficiency (i.e., low average utilization of the cluster). We propose more sophisticated policies for controlling admission to a cluster and demonstrate that they significantly increase cluster utilization. We first introduce the cluster admission problem and formalize it as a constrained Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP). As it is infeasible to solve the POMDP optimally, we then systematically design admission policies that estimate moments of each workload’s distribution of future resource usage. Via extensive simulations grounded in a trace from Microsoft Azure, we show that our admission policies lead to a substantial improvement over the simple threshold policy. We then show that substantial further gains are possible if high-quality information is available about arriving workloads. Based on this, we propose an information elicitation approach to incentivize users to provide this information and simulate its effects.