Iowa Department of Education Performance Report, FY2010

Agency Performance Report

Iowa Department of Education Performance Report, FY2011

Agency Performance Report

Iowa Department of Education Performance Report, FY2012

Agency Performance Report

Audit report on the Iowa Federal Family Education Loan Program Division, a Division of the Iowa College Student Aid Commission, for the year ended June 30, 2013

Audit report on the Iowa Federal Family Education Loan Program Division, a Division of the Iowa College Student Aid Commission, for the year ended June 30, 2013

Department of Education, Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services Performance Plan, FY 2004

Agency Performance Plan, Department of Education, Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services

Department of Education Iowa Public Television Performance Plan, FY 2013

Agency Performance Plan, Iowa Public Television

Iowa Department of Education Performance Plan, FY 2013

Agency Performance Plan, Iowa Department of Education

Treatment of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, a permanent challenge or a waste of resources? Prediction of outcome using a multi-organ-dysfunction score.

OBJECTIVES: in a retrospective study, attempts have been made to identify individual organ-dysfunction risk profiles influencing the outcome after surgery for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms. METHODS: out of 235 patients undergoing graft replacement for abdominal aortic aneurysms, 57 (53 men, four women, mean age 72 years [s.d. 8.8]) were treated for ruptured aneurysms in a 3-year period. Forty-eight preoperative, 13 intraoperative and 34 postoperative variables were evaluated statistically. A simple multi-organ dysfunction (MOD) score was adopted. RESULTS: the perioperative mortality was 32%. Three patients died intraoperatively, four within 48 h and 11 died later. A significant influence for pre-existing risk factors was identified only for cardiovascular diseases. Multiple linear-regression analysis indicated that a haemoglobin <90 g/l, systolic blood pressure <80 mmHg and ECG signs of ischaemia at admission were highly significant risk factors. The cause of death for patients, who died more than 48 h postoperatively, was mainly MOD. All patients with a MOD score >/=4 died (n=7). These patients required 27% of the intensive-care unit (ICU) days of all patients and 72% of the ICU days of the non-survivors. CONCLUSION: patients with ruptured aortic aneurysms from treatment should not be excluded. However, a physiological scoring system after 48 h appears justifiable in order to decide on the appropriateness of continual ICU support.

Iowa Department of Education Performance Plan, FY2014

Agency Performance Plan, Iowa Department of Education

Department of Education Iowa Public Television Performance Plan, FY2014

Agency Performance Plan, Iowa Public Television

Non-formal education, overeducation and wages

Why do overeducated workers participate in non-formal education activities? Do not they suffer from an excess of education? Using microdata from the Spanish sample of the 2007 Adult Education Survey, we have found that overeducated workers participate more than the rest in non-formal education and that they earn higher wages than overeducated workers who did not participate. This result can be interpreted as evidence that non-formal education allows overeducated workers to acquire new abilities that improve their competence at the job they perform. From this point of view, our results support the European Commission"s view on the need to reinforce lifelong learning among adult population.

The european higher education area at work: Lights and shadows defining continuous assessment

The aim of this paper is to analyse how learning assessment, particularly the Continuous Assessment system, has been defined in the Public Administration and Management Diploma Course of the University of Barcelona (Spain). This course was a pioneering experiment at this university in implementing the guidelines of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and thus represents a good case study for verifying whether one of the cornerstones of the EHEA has been accomplished with success. Using data obtained from the Teaching Plans elaborated by the lecturers of each subject, we are able to establish that the CA system has been progressively accepted to such an extent that it is now the assessment formula used by practically all of the lecturers, conforming in this way to the protocols laid down by the Faculty of Law in which this diploma course is taught. Nevertheless, we find that high dispersion exists in how Continuous Assessment is actually defined. Indeed, it seems that there is no unified view of how Continuous Assessment should be performed. This dispersion, however, seems to diminish over time and raises some questions about the advisability of agreement on criteria, considering the potential which CA has as a pedagogical tool. Moreover, we find that the Unique Assessment system, which students may also apply for, is an option chosen only by a minority, with lecturers usually defining it as merely a theoretical and/or practical test, of little innovation in relation to traditional tests.