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Quality teachers have an impact on improving student learning and performance, but teacher shortages remain a significant problem for urban schools. This article examines the impact of traditional approaches in teacher recruitment through university-based certification programs as well as alternative certification routes. Each approach may have particular merit, but each also faces particular obstacles, such as overcoming preconceptions held by preservice teachers or demonstrating consistent quality in its trainees. These approaches are primarily concerned with aspects of recruitment and largely ignore the way systematically poor retention measures also contribute to staffing needs. The article argues that traditional and alternative certification efforts are by themselves limited in their potential to address the problem of teacher shortages in urban schools and that an organizational view of schools that looks beyond individual teachers as the lone indicators of instructional performance and educational equity might be a better guide to future research and policy formation endeavors.

Multiculturalism as an ideology to manage culturally diverse societies argues that when cultural group distinctiveness is valued and promoted, positive intergroup relations would ensue (e.g. Modood, 2007; Parekh, 2001). Social psychological research has mainly looked at multiculturalism in terms of its endorsement by majority and minority group members and its implications for intergroup relations and acculturation processes. However, multiculturalism is not only about the maintenance of ethnic identities and cultures but also about the full participation of all ethno-cultural groups in society. This means that (i) individuals have to make sense of how their collective identities (e.g. ethnic, religious, national) come together and (ii) politically, multicultural societies are about equitable participation and hence inclusion, decision-making and power. The dissertation attempted to contribute to the social psychological literature on multiculturalism by looking at intergroup evaluations and also examine multiple identifications and the evaluations of (group) decision-making. The social identity approach provided the main theoretical framework from which to derive predictions. The studies were carried out in an under-researched social context of the nation as a 'fruit salad' (i.e. Mauritius) where multiculturalism is the predominant ideology. Mauritius is often considered as a successful polyethnic society (Eriksen, 2004). Survey data was collected among adolescent participants (age range 11 years to 19 years) of the three main ethnic groups, i.e. Hindus (n = 844), Muslims (n = 630) and Creoles (n = 310). Although the socio-historical context of Mauritius is specific, it provided a real-life equivalence to the theoretical understanding of multiculturalism. The results are thus revealing of the forms that intergroup relations can take when multiculturalism is relatively uncontested. It was found that majority and minority adolescents' attitudes and views on the different measures were functionally similar: ...

Background: Concerns regarding personal, professional, administrative, and institutional implications of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) are of particular interest to palliative and hospice care providers (PHCPs), who may encounter additional moral distress and professional challenges in providing end-of-life (EOL) care in the new legislative and cultural era. Objective: To explore PHCPs' encountered challenges and resource recommendations for caring for patients considering MAiD. Design: Qualitative thematic analysis of audio-recorded semistructured interviews with PHCPs. Setting/Subjects: Multidisciplinary PHCPs in acute, community, residential, and hospice care in Vancouver, Canada, with experience supporting patients who have made MAiD inquiries or requests. Measurements: Interviews were deidentified, transcribed verbatim, and coded by four researchers using a common coding scheme. Key themes were analyzed. Results: Twenty-six PHCP participants included physicians (n = 7), nurses (n = 12), social workers (n = 5), and spiritual health practitioners (n = 2). Average interview length was 52 minutes (range 35-90). Analysis revealed four broad challenges associated with providing EOL care after MAiD legalization: (1) moral ambiguity and provider distress, (2) family distress, (3) interprofessional team conflict, and (4) impact on palliative care. Participants also recommended three types of resources to support clinicians in delivering quality EOL care to patients contemplating MAiD: (1) education and training, (2) pre- and debriefing for team members, and (3) tailored bereavement support. Conclusions: PHCPs encountered multilevel MAiD-related challenges, but noted improvement in organizational policies and coordination. Resources to enhance training, pre- and debriefing, and tailored bereavement may further support PHCPs in providing high-quality EOL care as they navigate the legislative and cultural shifts. © Copyright 2021, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

Background: Concerns regarding personal, professional, administrative, and institutional implications of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) are of particular interest to palliative and hospice care providers (PHCPs), who may encounter additional moral distress and professional challenges in providing end-of-life (EOL) care in the new legislative and cultural era. Objective: To explore PHCPs' encountered challenges and resource recommendations for caring for patients considering MAiD. Design: Qualitative thematic analysis of audio-recorded semistructured interviews with PHCPs. Setting/Subjects: Multidisciplinary PHCPs in acute, community, residential, and hospice care in Vancouver, Canada, with experience supporting patients who have made MAiD inquiries or requests. Measurements: Interviews were deidentified, transcribed verbatim, and coded by four researchers using a common coding scheme. Key themes were analyzed. Results: Twenty-six PHCP participants included physicians (n = 7), nurses (n = 12), social workers (n = 5), and spiritual health practitioners (n = 2). Average interview length was 52 minutes (range 35-90). Analysis revealed four broad challenges associated with providing EOL care after MAiD legalization: (1) moral ambiguity and provider distress, (2) family distress, (3) interprofessional team conflict, and (4) impact on palliative care. Participants also recommended three types of resources to support clinicians in delivering quality EOL care to patients contemplating MAiD: (1) education and training, (2) pre- and debriefing for team members, and (3) tailored bereavement support. Conclusions: PHCPs encountered multilevel MAiD-related challenges, but noted improvement in organizational policies and coordination. Resources to enhance training, pre- and debriefing, and tailored bereavement may further support PHCPs in providing high-quality EOL care as they navigate the legislative and cultural shifts. © Copyright 2021, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

It is widely known that the assembly line balancing problem (ALBP) is an NP-hard optimization problem. Although different meta-heuristics have been proposed for solving this problem so far, there is no convincing support that what type of algorithms can perform more efficiently than the others. Thus, using some statistical measures, the landscape of the simple ALBP is studied for the first time in the literature. The results indicate a flat landscape for the problem where the local optima are uniformly scattered over the search space. Accordingly, the efficiency of population-based algorithms in addressing the considered problem is statistically validated. ; CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Edited by Peter Butala, Edvard Govekar, Rok Vrabič This study is supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 723711 through the MANUWORK project. ; This study is supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 723711 through the MANUWORK project

This article investigates the professional service provider's role in the customer resource integration process for value creation, by drawing on research in the areas of resource integration, service experience, and role theory. Roles are flexible, in that behaviors associated with a role may vary according to the situation, expectations, and learned behaviors of the actors involved. In the context of professional service providers who support a customer's resource integration, these role variations accordingly can be termed resource integration styles. Grounded in managerial practice, the current study relies on in-depth interviews to determine the styles that professional service providers use to support customer resource integration in a financial planning setting. The proposed typology of five styles (delegate, mentor, partner, coach, and validator), termed professional service providers' resource integration styles (PRO-RIS), can be described by eight resource integration activity dimensions: participation ratio, frequency of interaction, deliberation, decision-making, updating, educating, connecting, and motivating. This research thus provides rich qualitative insights into how professional service providers can support customers' resource integration processes, through the provision of appropriate resources. Notably, professional service providers can offer distinct benefits by varying the combination of resources provided to facilitate value creation. No single, best style exists; professional service providers should leverage the various styles described by PRO-RIS and adapt the eight resource integration activities as needed to support their customers.

Background: Osteoporosis has significant impact on healthcare costs and quality of life. Amongst the models for collaborative disease state management services published internationally, there is sparse evidence regarding the role of community pharmacists in the provision of osteoporosis care. Hence, the aim of our study was to explore community pharmacists' opinions (including the barriers and facilitators) and scope of osteoporosis disease state management services by community pharmacists in Malaysia, informing a vision for developing these services. Methods: Semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups discussions were conducted with community pharmacists from October 2013 to July 2014. Three trained researchers interviewed the participants. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed thematically using an interpretative description approach. Results: Nineteen community pharmacists with 1-23 years of experience were recruited (in depth interviews: n = 9; focus group discussions: n = 10). These participants reflected on their experience with osteoporosis-related enquiries, which included medication counseling, bone density screening and referral of at-risk patients. Key barriers were the lack of numerous factors: public awareness of osteoporosis, accurate osteoporosis screening tools for community pharmacists, pharmacists' knowledge on osteoporosis disease and medications, time to counsel patients about bone health, collaboration between pharmacists and doctors, and support from the government and professional body. The pharmacists wanted more continuing education on osteoporosis, osteoporosis awareness campaigns, a simple, unbiased osteoporosis education material, and inter-professional collaboration practices with doctors, and pharmacists' reimbursement for osteoporosis care. Conclusions: The involvement of community pharmacists in the provision of osteoporosis disease state management was minimal. Only ad-hoc counseling on osteoporosis prevention was performed by community pharmacists. Development and trial of collaborative osteoporosis disease state management services in community pharmacy could be facilitated by training, support and remuneration.