Most Popular Books by Jennifer Ryan

From Jennifer Ryan, the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, comes an unforgettable story inspired by the true events of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition. ‘The Great British Bake Off set in World War Two . . . an enchanting hug of a novel’ – Cathy Kelly, author of Other Women ‘A gorgeous novel about making the best of things during difficult times, whilst celebrating the importance of sisterhood and friendship’ – Jill Mansell, author of Should I Tell You? Some wars will be fought at home . . . Two years into the Second World War, and German U-boats are frequently disrupting Britain’s supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio programme called The Kitchen Front launches a new cooking contest – and the grand prize is a job as the programme’s first-ever female co-host. For young widow Audrey, winning the competition could be a chance to pay off her husband’s debts and keep a roof over her children’s heads. However, her estranged sister, Gwendoline, is equally set on success even if her own kitchen maid, Nell, is competing against her. And then there is Zelda, a London-trained chef desperate to succeed in a male-dominated profession – and harbouring a secret that will change everything . . .

Talia and Todd Turtle are excited about starting their summer with a trip to the beach, but Todd is in for an unwelcome surprise! Read this book to learn about proper skin care and protection in a fun, kid-friendly format.

Shifting away from primarily financing institutional care, Medicaid is supporting more flexible community-based long-term services and supports.

Using various approaches to identify English language learners, several Pacific Region jurisdictions are developing English language proficiency standards and assessments aligned with those standards. Others are working on content standards, including language arts, and have expressed interest in developing English language proficiency standards but lack formal assessment mechanisms. Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that all students in a school, including English language learners, take the same state academic assessments in reading/language arts, mathematics, and science beginning with school year 2007/08. This mandate is of special concern to the Regional Educational Laboratory for the Pacific Region (REL Pacific), because all jurisdictions within its service region have large numbers of English language learners or limited English proficiency students in their school systems. To determine the current status of English language proficiency standards and assessment across the Pacific Region, REL Pacific surveyed each jurisdiction, gathering information about the existence and implementation of standards and assessments and future plans for them. The results provide an opportunity to share information across jurisdictions about approaches to English language proficiency standards and assessment and provide insights into critical needs in the region that can be used to guide future program activities. The detailed research questions guiding this study focused on the methods used to identify English language learners, the status of English language proficiency standards, and the status of aligned English language proficiency assessment. The authors make several recommendations to improve the development of services and programs. These include: (1) develop clear language development policies; (2) Review content standards; (3) collect student information; (4) develop programs to address the specific needs of English language learners; (5) conduct research on ways to assess English language proficiency in large populations as well as on attributes and practices associated with successful bilingual programs; (6) provide professional development; (7) develop a Pacific assessment consortium; and (8) conduct a randomized control trial of the Pacific-CHILD professional development program. The following are appended: (1) Study questions and data collection methodology; and (2) Status of English language proficiency (ELP) standards and assessment interview questions. (Contains 2 boxes and 2 notes.) [This report was prepared for the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education by Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific administered by Pacific Resources for Education and Learning.].

Soul music''s creation in the early 1960s was the result of a stylistic innovation in which young musicians blended the sounds of the African American church with the secular themes of rhythm and blues. But as religious musicians brought gospel and preaching into popular music, they often felt a conflict between their faith and their career. Memphis, home to several major soul labels and a center for many black churches, was an important site of this transformation in African American music. While the formation of soul music can be situated in its historical moment, the underlying cultural processes at work in its development remain in use in contemporary Memphis. My ethnographic research in Memphis has revealed a persistent religious worldview among musicians, even in the nightclub or juke joint. This dissertation treats the processes by which soul musicians--both past and present--negotiate their faith in a secular context.

"Keeping Pace" has several goals. First, it strives to add to the body of knowledge about online education policy and practice and make recommendations for advances. Second, it serves as a reference source for information about programs and policies across the country, both for policymakers and practitioners who are new to online education and for those who have extensive experience in the field. Third, because there has been so much online education activity in the past year, the report attempts to capture new activity. A Definitions section immediately precedes the body of text. Because there are many terms in online learning without commonly understood definitions, this section defines the key terms used in this report. The National snapshot and the year in review captures a picture of the state of online learning in 2009 and provides a short summary of some key developments over the past year. Key issues in online learning presents a more in-depth summary of the information and data within the state policy profiles and the online program profiles. This section contains most of the analysis within the report; it provides more depth than the national snapshot without the raw data in the profiles sections. For Notes from the field the authors invited researchers and practitioners to contribute short articles on specific subjects that in most cases were not major areas of focus for "Keeping Pace". The resulting articles raise several key issues that are not discussed in depth elsewhere in the report. The Outlook and conclusion looks to the future and explores the role of online learning within the context of educational reform and other changes that are occurring across public schools. Following the sections listed above are two sections that provide much of the data on which the summaries and conclusions are based. The Program profiles describe a subset of the programs that responded to the "Keeping Pace" program survey, divided by program type. For each program type common attributes are discussed, and exceptions to the common attributes are noted. The State policy profiles contain online learning profiles of all fifty states, divided into four geographic regions. Most state profiles include footnotes that reference state laws, state policies, and websites of programs. However, in some cases, the information is general and was gathered through numerous website reviews and phone interviews with state agencies; in these cases footnotes are not included. The primary purpose of footnotes is to provide the source documents that will be most valuable to readers. Methodology is appended. (Contains 6 figures, 6 tables, and 265 footnotes.) For "Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning: A Review of State-Level Policy and Practice, 2008," see ED535908.].

We consider a dual channel supply chain in which a manufacturer sells a single product to end-users through both a traditional retail channel and a manufacturer-owned direct online channel. We adopt a commonly used linear demand substitution model in which the mean demand in each channel is a function of the prices in each channel. We model each channel as a newsvendor problem, with price and order quantity as decision variables. In addition, the manufacturer must choose the wholesale price to charge to the independent retailer. We analyze the optimal decisions for each channel and prove the existence of a unique equilibrium for the system. We compare this equilibrium solution to the solution for an integrated system, in which the manufacturer owns both the online store and the retailer. To enable supply chain coordination, we then propose two contract schemes: a modified revenue sharing contract and gain/loss sharing contract. We show that such contracts enable the manufacturer to maintain price discrimination, selling the products in different channels at different prices. Finally, we perform a comprehensive numerical study to consider the impact of the model parameters on the equilibrium and to demonstrate the performance of the proposed coordination contracts. We conclude that coordination is most critical for products which are highly price sensitive and for systems in which the online and traditional retail channels are not viewed as close substitutes.

This technical brief describes the large-scale assessment measures and practices used in the jurisdictions served by the Pacific Regional Educational Laboratory. The need for effective large-scale assessment was identified as a major priority for improving student achievement in the Pacific Region jurisdictions: American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap), the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of Palau (National Education Association 2007; Pacific Regional Advisory Committee 2005; South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment 2008). These needs assessment efforts made it clear that educators want information related to the adoption, development, and revision of large-scale assessments for use with the culturally and linguistically diverse students in the Pacific Region jurisdictions. To provide timely information about large-scale assessment across the Pacific Region, the study identifies for each jurisdiction: (1) currently used large-scale assessment measures; (2) whether the measures are norm- or criterion-referenced; (3) content areas assessed; (4) languages used in the assessments; (5) grade levels at which tests are administered; (6) frequency of test administration; and (7) when the tests are administered during the school year. Analyses indicate that all the jurisdictions implement large-scale assessments, using a variety of assessment measures and practices. The majority of the large-scale assessments are specific to the jurisdiction in which they are implemented, criterion-referenced, in English, and administered annually. (Contains 10 tables and 1 note.) [This REL Technical Brief was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) by Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific administered by Pacific Resources for Education and Learning.].

The laws governing public and government-subsidized education in the province of Quebec, Canada, make for a unique situation in which few parents have the luxury – or the burden, as the case may be – of choosing the language of instruction that their child will receive. The decision-making process is often fraught with concerns over which system – French or English – will better serve the child as he or she prepares for a future in the province. The following thesis reports on how parents experience deciding which system best suits their children and the parents’ perspectives on the outcomes of their decision.