Grading Teacher Education: Examining How Undergraduate Teacher Education Programs Are Preparing Pre-Service Teachers to Enter Standards-Based Grading

279 leavesThis dissertation study delved into how three undergraduate teacher education programs were preparing pre-service teachers with the skills necessary to implement standards-based grading in PK–12 educational environments. As educational assessment has evolved toward systems that emphasize mastery, equity, and transparency, it became critical for teacher education programs to align their training approaches to these new standards, moving away from traditional grading systems that prioritized competition and memorization. Employing a qualitative multiple-case study research methodology, this study explored the integration of standards-based grading within the curricula of three private undergraduate colleges in one Midwestern state. Data were gathered through a series of semi-structured interviews with educational faculty, relevant curriculum documents, and the researcher’s use of analytical memoing. This methodological approach facilitated a comprehensive exploration of both the content delivered within these programs and the pedagogical attitudes toward standards-based grading. The findings indicated a varied landscape in the implementation and integration of the main tenets of standards-based grading across the three undergraduate teacher education programs examined. Some teacher education programs had integrated standards-based grading principles, showcasing progressive training methods that included practical simulations and real-life teaching scenarios. This integration enabled pre-service teachers to practice and refine their grading strategies in line with standards-based grading. Conversely, other programs showed significant gaps in standards-based grading training, offering limited exposure to its foundational principles and practical applications, which may hinder future teachers’ abilities to implement these practices effectively. Highlighting both successful implementations and areas needing improvement, this multiple-case study contributed to the broader discourse on how teacher education programs can more effectively prepare educators for a shift toward more equitable and transparent grading practices. The findings suggested that a unified approach to grading reform was necessary, emphasizing the need for ongoing professional development and institutional support to facilitate the successful adoption of standards-based grading across educational systems

State of Iowa vs. Morgan Sluff, Brief for the Appellee

Legal Brief. 55 pages2024 Supreme Court Competition Problem: Morgan Sluff is a firebrand labor activist with large followings on social media. She was the social media director for Iowa's largest union. The State charged her with extortion. The minutes of testimony (which Sluff has received) say that the State expects to present testimony from Peter Pastures, a member of that union's executive board. The State expects Pastures to testify that Sluff threatened that she would expose his extramarital affair unless he voted to approve her salary increase. Almost immediately upon receiving the minutes of testimony, Sluff began posting about Pastures on social media. Her posts claimed that Pastures was "going to lie" in court, just like he "lied to his wife in his wedding vows." She insinuated that he had more than one extramarital affair. She also referred to him as "Perjury Petey." Sluff also made posts about the prosecutor, a county attorney by the name of John Doe. Sluff declared that the county had a "rat problem," and she announced that she was running for county attorney to replace Doe because "Dallas County deserves . . . [s]omeone who can say NO to a political hit job and someone who a jury can BELIEVE." She added that "[d]angerous criminals keep getting away with MURDER because every juror knows they can't believe a word from JOHN D'OH!" Sluff mentioned Pastures, Doe, or both in more than 2,000 posts over 49 days. The State moved for an order to restrain Sluff from making public statements about Pastures or Doe during the pendency of this prosecution. Sluff resisted. The district court applied the three-part test from the DC Circuit's decision in United States v. Trump. As to Sluff's statements pertaining to each person, the district court considered: (1) whether a gag order would be justified by a sufficiently serious risk of prejudice to an ongoing judicial proceeding; (2) whether there were any less restrictive alternatives that would adequately address that risk; and (3) whether the gag order that it contemplated was narrowly tailored to address that prejudice without burdening more speech than necessary to do so. Ultimately, the district court granted the State's request (mostly). It issued an order that prohibited Sluff from making any public posts about Pastures during the pendency of this prosecution. Its order also prohibited Sluff from making public statements about Doe that referenced this ongoing criminal proceeding (she could still make statements about Doe that did not contain any reference to this prosecution). Sluff appeals from that order. Her advocacy emphasizes the primacy of her First Amendment right to free speech, especially when it concerns matters of public concern. The State counters with its interest (and the judiciary's interest) in a fair trial, which often requires courts to act to protect witnesses and potential jurors from being influenced by extrajudicial pressures and contaminants. Resolving these challenges will require trade-offs, and none of them are completely satisfying. The Iowa Supreme Court will have to chart its own course through these choppy waters, with whatever navigational assistance they can get from our intrepid student advocate

The Use of Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate Small and Medium Sized Business Customer Journey Development

11 pagesIn this case study, we explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist small and medium sized businesses in more fully automating their customer journey process. More fully detailed is how an American medium-sized business used AI to comb through their various marketing data, shift their target marketing strategy, and help create a more structured funnel to help the firm identify opportunities and close gaps in their customer relationship process. This process led to immediate gains and greater, more fruitful interactions with customers as they proceeded from product identification all the way to sales closure and support after the sale

Book Review: Level Five Coaching System: How Sales Leaders Are Developing Preeminent Sales Teams

6 pagesThis book review assesses John Hoskins' Level Five Coaching System: How Sales Leaders Are Developing Preeminent Sales Teams. Targeting sales leaders, the book provides a concise yet comprehensive framework for developing successful sales teams, emphasizing consultative selling. Hoskins guides readers through five progressive levels of selling, emphasizing the mindset's pivotal role in sales success. The book stands out for its unique framework, offering a clear and consistent approach to implementing and measuring sales coaching. While not introductory, the book benefits new sales leaders, addressing a literature gap in sales coaching processes. Despite being released pre-pandemic, the book's content remains relevant, aligning with the urgency of developing seller capabilities in an evolving buyer landscape. It advocates for upskilling, resonating with McKinsey's research on salesforce development. Beyond professional applications, the Level Five Coaching System is also useful in higher education, offering practical application, real-world relevance, skill development, adaptability, and improved learning outcomes. Its versatility makes it a valuable resource for both practical and academic contexts

The Impact of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour on County Retail Sales

13 pagesTaylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” had a large economic influence of United States cities, with football stadiums selling out to tens of thousands of Swifties. This paper analyzes the effects of The Eras Tour on monthly county retail sales. Using data on retail sales from 2021 – 2023 from five different states in which the tour stopped, regressions were run examining how presence of an Eras Tours concert in a county predicted retail sales. The results indicate that counties that hosted Eras Tour concerts had increased retail sales in the month that they hosted concerts

Securing the City: Essential Practices for SCADA System Management

14 pagesSupervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are critical for managing essential city services like water treatment, waste management, and electricity generation. However, implementing and maintaining these systems presents significant challenges for IT leaders. This study, conducted in collaboration with the City of Spokane's Public Works IT Team, examines the application and maintenance of SCADA systems within the city. Through interviews with the IT Team, the study identifies seven key lessons for IT leaders seeking to enhance SCADA system efficiency. These lessons address common issues, including the importance of understanding system requirements and costs, regulating updates, establishing a non-production practice environment, implementing a change management process, prioritizing safety, fostering open communication channels, and investing in staff training. The study also outlines four prevalent SCADA-related problems with recommended solutions, aimed at optimizing organizational performance and system reliability. This research offers valuable insights for IT leaders working with SCADA systems in mid-sized cities and beyond, contributing to the growing body of knowledge on effective SCADA management practices

Developing Tomorrow’s Introverted Leader: Exploring Discrimination, Leadership Aptitude, and Strategic Development

17 pagesWhen it comes to leadership opportunities, introverts are commonly dismissed due to qualities that seem ill-fitting when compared to extroverted candidates. In truth, introverts possess many leadership-suited traits, but these are often unnoticed in the workplace because many organizational practices, standards, and selection measures are designed with extroverts in mind. By shaping development, success, and advancement around extroversion, introverted employees – including those from cultures that value introverted traits – are systemically disserviced, creating disparate impact. To further understand these issues, an extensive literature review was conducted to explore the relationship between leadership and introversion from multiple cultural and industry perspectives. The takeaways from this research affirmed that introverted leaders can be powerful but that employers tend not to see this potential. More interestingly, the study revealed the serious issue of discrimination that introverts face, as well as the roots of such treatment. This revelation, in turn, confirmed that organizational practices have created unfair leadership roadblocks for introverts. On the bright side, the literature review confirmed that successful leadership development methods for introverts exist but have generally been unutilized because they have not been strategically wielded together. To begin rectifying this oversight, those development methods were summarized into a basic developmental framework of best practices for effectively identifying and developing introverted leaders

Minimum Wages and Employment: Effects of Rising Minimum Wages on Employment of Young Workers in Washington State

13 pagesThis paper studies the effects of minimum wage on employment using data from two neighboring US states, Washington, which has increased its minimum wage over time, and Idaho, which has kept it constant. This study attempts to use conventional regressions with recent CPS data over a longer time period to provide additional insights into the effects of minimum wage on young worker employment, looking specifically at workers between the ages of 14 to 30. Using the data from Washington and Idaho, this study finds that recent minimum wage increases in Washington have produced a statistically significant negative effect on employment

Supreme Court Passes on Important Opportunity to Add Clarity to ADA Public Accommodation Requirements

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Jack of All Trades vs Master of Some: Searching Ideal Knowledge Portfolio for Tech Start-Ups

17 pagesSenior leadership is indisputably central to firm performance. Numerous studies have delved into various attributes of firm leadership as predictors of performance, primarily focusing on educational background and prior tenure in other organizations. Surprisingly, the role of technical skills within firm leaders remains an under-researched area. Given that these leaders often serve as chief decision-makers in technology-centric firms, managing numerous engineers, their technical skills likely play a crucial role in ensuring seamless operations and fostering productive teams. This study addresses this gap by examining the influence of leaders' technical skills, specifically evaluating the diversity of these skills, and their depth and breadth within each technical domain on firm performance. Using data from Angel.co and LinkedIn, we constructed technical profiles for 100 firms based on the technical skills of their founders. Our analysis focused on the relationship between the Euclidean distance of technical profiles, their breadth and depth, and firm performance was measured in terms of the capital raised. Our findings suggest that the diversity and depth of technical profiles affect firm performance. We further discuss the broader implications of our results for both research and practical application