Updated IQ and Well-being Scores for the 50 U.S. States

At the level of the 50 U.S. states, an interconnected nexus of well-being variables exists. These variables have been shown to strongly correlate with estimates of state IQ in interesting ways. But the state IQ estimates (McDaniel 2006) are now more than 16 years old, and the state well-being estimates (Pesta et al., 2010) are over 12 years old. Updated state IQ and well-being estimates are therefore needed. I thus first created new state IQ estimates by analyzing scores from both the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competency (for adults), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (for fourth and eighth grade children) exams. I also created new global well-being scores by analyzing state variables from the following four well-being subdomains: crime, income, health, and education. When validating the nexus, several interesting correlations existed among the variables. For example, state IQ most strongly predicted FICO credit scores, alcohol consumption (directly), income inequality, and state temperature. Interestingly, state IQ derived here also correlated .58 with state IQ estimates from over 100 years ago. Global well-being likewise correlated with many old and new variables in the nexus, including a correlation of .80 with IQ. In sum, at the level of the U.S. state, a nexus of important, strongly correlated variables exists. These variables comprise well-being, and state IQ is a central node in this network.

Sharing the construction of assessment rubrics with students: A Model for collaborative rubric construction

Traditionally, rubrics were used simply as grading tools to provide marking frameworks that were transparent to students. More recently, rubrics have been promoted as educational tools to inform students of good practice with the assumption that they engage with these rubrics to guide their learning. However, some tensions arise from this approach, including the assumption that students actually engage with assessment rubrics and, most notably, whether students understand the purpose of rubrics and the language used within. In response, this paper promotes the practice of teachers involving their students in the co-construction of rubrics by presenting a Model of Collaborative Rubric Construction. This Model was informed by an extensive literature review, advice from international assessment experts, and both qualitative and quantitative data from students and teachers who worked in partnership to coconstruct and use assessment rubrics across three higher education institutions. The Model, structured as three-tiers, offers background information about rubrics and their co-construction, strategies to guide collaboration in the rubric co-construction process, and shared scholarship associated with the project (i.e., research methods, recommendations for practice, and relevant references and publications) in which the Model was developed.

What Kind of School Organizational Decisions Serve to Enhance Sustainable Personal and Social Growth?

Sustainable decisions in education are those which pursue long-term achievements for students. In many cases, the principals of the schools are those who must make these decisions. In this paper we explore some of the factors that influence the students’ long-term development by means of an analysis of the correlation between certain organizational aspects of the schools which directly depend on the principals and the scores that their students have obtained in the International Assessment PISA 2018 in mathematics, reading and science. The results point to a better long-term student achievement when the organizational decisions are designed to enhance interpersonal relationships (teacher-teacher, teacher-student and student-student), responding to the specific needs of each person and based on trust. Conversely, it seems that when the organizational decisions are merely made to control academic life, they either bear upon academic achievement in a negative way or do not significantly affect it. The results suggest that carefully attending to interpersonal relationships is the key factor behind all the educational decisions which generate sustainable socio-personal development.

Urban planning in Russia and international standard for assessing the impact on the environment of BREEAM Communities

Introduction. In order to implement the decisions of the Rio De Janeiro Conference 1992, the Russian President’s Decrees of 04.02.1994 No. 236 “On the State Strategy of the Russian Federation for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development” and from 01.04.1996 No. 440 “On the Concept of the Transition of the Russian Federation to Sustainable Development” were adopted. The Russian Urban Planning Codes of 1998 and 2005 laid the foundations for sustainable development of the territories in the field of urban planning. The 2005 Russian Urban Planning Code lacks applied provisions, which present all the requirements for urban documentation, and would set out an applied practical procedure for their preparation. This was due to numerous changes of Code. In accordance with the goals and objectives set in Russia to improve the quality and comfort of the living environment, it is necessary to use scientific and educational activities on the development of the territories and improve the specific requirements for urban planning documentation and its assessment to meet legitimate requirements, including foreign ones. Materials and methods. Comparative analysis of regulatory documents, scientific and practical review of information on the topic of urban planning regulation of sustainable development, based on the international assessment method BREEAM, which was developed in 1990 by the British state organization BRE Global. Results. The foundations of Russian and international urban planning regulation for sustainable development are outlined: overview and facts of the international assessment method BREEAM, incl. BREEAM Communities; basics of urban planning and regulation: information on the demand for urban planning, environmental, interdisciplinary technologies. BREEAM Communities certification for interested participants in urban planning activities is a kind of insurance and separation of responsibility of public authorities for approved (agreed) city planning documents. Conclusions. We believe that the method of certification known abroad as BREEAM, i.e. assessing the compliance of both planned and existing facilities and territories to certain requirements, will gain legitimacy and popularity in the Russian Federation. This is due to the adaptation of the international BREEAM assessment to the domestic regulatory framework (BREEAM RU), as well as to the educational programs for the training of BREEAM, including “BREEAM Communities”.

Lower objectively and subjectively assessed numeracy are both associated with poorer self-rated health

Objective To compare an objective with a subjective numeracy assessment for association with self-reported health status, where numeracy refers to “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to access, process, interpret, communicate, and act on numerical, quantitative, graphical, biostatistical, and probabilistic health information needed to make effective health decisions” Results We completed a secondary analysis of two population-based surveys, the Empire State Poll (n = 763) and the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC; n = 2609). The first survey assessed numeracy with a 3-item subjective instrument. The second assessed numeracy with more than 20 math problems. Both used the same measure for self-reported health status. Lower numeracy, whether subjectively or objectively assessed, was associated with worse self-reported health, even after controlling for education and other sociodemographic confounders. The odds ratios for the association were very similar (0.91 and 0.90 respectively). A lengthy objective numeracy assessment and a brief self-report assessment had similar associations with health status. A brief self-report measure of numeracy has similar properties to a lengthy objective assessment and is likely to be more feasible to use to screen patients in practice.

Assessment of Infection Control Measures at Primary Health Care Facilities in Egypt

BACKGROUND: Primary care facilities (primary health cares [PHCs]) in Egypt are public sector facilities and the issue of infection control (IC) in public sector facilities is important because public sector facilities are the only option available to most low-income groups, who constitute most of Egypt’s population. AIM: The aim of the study is to the assessment of IC measures in PHC by national and international assessment tools. STUDY DESIGN: Health system operation research, observational study. METHODOLOGY: Sample: 3 Egyptian PHCs, all health care providers (HCPs) in each facility were interviewed with a total number (55 doctors and 34 nurses). using a national assessment tool, interview questionnaire derived from the international assessment tool, and hand hygiene observation checklist. RESULTS: Although the availability of supplies, presence of administrative activities, and good infrastructure, items related to manpower practice (cleaning activities and procedures) had the lowest percent score (57.9% and 68.5%, respectively). Almost all doctors and nurses did not have a pre-employment tuberculin skin test. Hand hygiene compliance was very low among HCPs during the observation time (1.6% for doctors and 10% for nurses). CONCLUSION: The national IC assessment tool of PHC facilities in Egypt is well structured, but defective in the assessment of employee health activities related to IC. Tuberculin skin test as screening of tuberculosis for the HCPs is neither done pre-employment nor periodically. Despite the availability of supplies for hand hygiene practice and good IC knowledge, the compliance was very low during the observation time.