A North Central Association Self-Evaluation Visitation and Implementation Process

This field study was written and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Specialist in Education at the Graduate School of Eastern Illinois University. The study was based on a single unique experience. The purpose of this paper was to show a complete overview of a North Central Association Evaluation. This was accomplished by applying the process utilized by the Villa Grove High School in its North Central Evaluation. Each North Central Association Evaluation is divided into three phases. These phases are the self-evaluation phase, the visitation team phase and the implementation of recommendations of the visitation team phase. The author has used these phases as chapter headings for the first three chapters of the paper. Chapter one deals with the self-evaluation phase. It describes what Villa Grove did before writing their self-evaluation report, the problems encountered during the self-evaluation, and what would be done differently if another evaluation were to occur. A copy of the self-evaluation report is included in the appendix of the paper. The second chapter deals with problems encountered in the selection of a North Central Evaluation Visitation Team and a visitation team chairman. There is also a description of the work done by the visitation team while at Villa Grove. A copy of the North Central Association Visitation Team Report and a copy of all North Central Evaluation expenses incurred by the Villa Grove School District are included in the appendix of the paper. The third chapter of the paper includes those recommendations of the visitation team that can be implemented by the Villa Grove School District in the next two years. A statement of implementation is included with each recommendation. The final chapter deals with conclusions drawn by the author during the North Central Evaluation. The author also relates some of the unique circumstances surrounding the Villa Grove School District at the time of the North Central Evaluation that could determine the implementation of recommendations made by the visitation team

A North Central Association Self-Evaluation Visitation and Implementation Process

This field study was written and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Specialist in Education at the Graduate School of Eastern Illinois University. The study was based on a single unique experience. The purpose of this paper was to show a complete overview of a North Central Association Evaluation. This was accomplished by applying the process utilized by the Villa Grove High School in its North Central Evaluation. Each North Central Association Evaluation is divided into three phases. These phases are the self-evaluation phase, the visitation team phase and the implementation of recommendations of the visitation team phase. The author has used these phases as chapter headings for the first three chapters of the paper. Chapter one deals with the self-evaluation phase. It describes what Villa Grove did before writing their self-evaluation report, the problems encountered during the self-evaluation, and what would be done differently if another evaluation were to occur. A copy of the self-evaluation report is included in the appendix of the paper. The second chapter deals with problems encountered in the selection of a North Central Evaluation Visitation Team and a visitation team chairman. There is also a description of the work done by the visitation team while at Villa Grove. A copy of the North Central Association Visitation Team Report and a copy of all North Central Evaluation expenses incurred by the Villa Grove School District are included in the appendix of the paper. The third chapter of the paper includes those recommendations of the visitation team that can be implemented by the Villa Grove School District in the next two years. A statement of implementation is included with each recommendation. The final chapter deals with conclusions drawn by the author during the North Central Evaluation. The author also relates some of the unique circumstances surrounding the Villa Grove School District at the time of the North Central Evaluation that could determine the implementation of recommendations made by the visitation team

Let\u27s Clean Up Fashion 2009- The State of Pay Behind the UK High Street

The report provides detailed information on brands and retailers in the UK market, looking at the wages paid to garment workers that support the fashion industry. It also discusses the Asia Floor Wage Proposal and its predicted effect on the global market and garment workers everywhere

Crafting Next Generation Eco-Label Policy

Eco-labels present a promising policy tool in the effort to achieve sustainable consumption. Many questions remain, however, about the extent to which eco-labels can contribute to sustainability efforts and how to maximize their effectiveness. This Article deploys research from evolutionary psychology, behavioral law and economics, and norm theory to offer specific insights for the design and implementation of eco-labels to enhance their influence on sustainable consumer choice. Notably, this research suggests possibilities for eco-labels to shape or expand consumer preferences for green goods, and thereby enhance eco-label influence on consumer behavior by extending it beyond eco-minded consumers. We suggest that public exposure of the label (so that people see it) and the exposure of the purchasing behavior (so that other people can see that you have bought the product) are key elements to the success of eco-labels--the social context around product purchasing may be as important as the eco-label itself. We recommend that behavioral insights be used to improve eco-labeling as traditionally understood by incorporating knowledge about behavioral tendencies into label design so as to allow for more accurate matching of consumers\u27 preexisting environmental preferences to eco-labeled goods, and develop next-generation eco-labeling policy with the potential to significantly expand the market for eco-labeled goods. Specifically, 1) Eco-labels could be purposefully designed and implemented to attract consumers motivated by social norms; 2) Eco-labels could appeal to a wider range of abstract norm alternate more broadly or locally accepted and strong abstract that are stronger and/or more broadly accepted or locally-salient; and 3) Eco-labels could highlight private, near and near-term benefits

High performance low-energy buildings

The era of legislation and creditable methods towards producing sustainable buildings is upon us. Yet, a major barrier to achieving environmental responsive design is in the lack of available information at the programming or pre-design phases of a project. The review and evaluation of climate as well as energy-efficient strategies could be difficult to consider at these preliminary stages. Until recently, introducing energy simulation tools at the design stage has been difficult and perhaps next to impossible at a pre-design or programming stage. However, analysis of this sort is essential to &lsquo;green building rating&rsquo; or performance assessment schemes such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environment Assessment Method). This paper discusses the implementation of a particular tool, ENERGY-10, where &lsquo;basecase&rsquo; building defaults are compared to a low-energy case which has applied multiple energy-efficient strategies automatically. An annual hour-by-hour simulation provides a daylighting calculation with a subsequent thermal evaluation. Calculation results provide energy consumption, peak load equipment sizing, a RANK feature of the energy-efficient strategies, reporting of CO2, SO2 and NOx reduction, optimum glazing type as well as excellent graphic output. Consideration is given as to the approach of how such information can be introduced into the building project brief enforcing a low-energyperformance target.<br /

State-of-the-Art in Parallel Computing with R

R is a mature open-source programming language for statistical computing and graphics. Many areas of statistical research are experiencing rapid growth in the size of data sets. Methodological advances drive increased use of simulations. A common approach is to use parallel computing. This paper presents an overview of techniques for parallel computing with R on computer clusters, on multi-core systems, and in grid computing. It reviews sixteen different packages, comparing them on their state of development, the parallel technology used, as well as on usability, acceptance, and performance. Two packages (snow, Rmpi) stand out as particularly useful for general use on computer clusters. Packages for grid computing are still in development, with only one package currently available to the end user. For multi-core systems four different packages exist, but a number of issues pose challenges to early adopters. The paper concludes with ideas for further developments in high performance computing with R. Example code is available in the appendix

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse