Teacher performance evaluation: A stressful experience from a private secondary school

The study examines aspects of centralized and school-based supervision (SBS) as carried out at a private secondary school. Data were gathered from administrators, teachers and students through interviews, critical incidents and pertinent documentation. The study points out that a combination of the two supervision systems offers benefits that a single, stand-alone system cannot, while highlighting the problems and the dilemma teachers find themselves in when faced with two systems of a summative nature. The study concludes that centralized and SBS can co-exist. They, however, must complement each other, not duplicate functions

Opportunities and obligations in dealing with the disabled staff and customers in hospitality industry

Travel and Tourism is a high-growth industry, which is forecast to increase its total economic activity by 4.2% per annum worldwide in real terms over the next ten years (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2006). Travel and Tourism, when taking into account transportation, accommodations, food services, recreational facilities and the related services forms one of the world's most important and wide spread employers. Almost 9% of world employment is comprised of Travel and Tourism and is growing at a current rate of 1 in 11.5 new jobs. There are governmental policies, legal aspects, laws, procedures and moral obligations that relate to the treatment of the disabled staff and disabled customers. Moreover, there are even broader opportunities that can be derived from an understanding of this subject since disability is one of the factors that may cause social exclusion and poverty. In 21st century, people with disabilities are still underestimated as employees, consumers and active participants in society. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a basic introduction to the Equal Employment Opportunities requirements for the Disabled and the Human Rights of Disabled Guests in the Hospitality Industry. © 2008 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved

Adding a course to the curriculum? dilemmas and problems

The "knee-jerk" implementation of curriculum without study, understanding, proper implementation, and follow-up monitor cannot assure a purposeful addition to educational programs. This research was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a new course (Co-Op Management Applications, or CMA) added to the curriculum at a higher-education level. Course effectiveness was assessed from all stakeholders' perspectives; students, sector representatives, school administration, and instructors. Data were collected through questionnaires and interview schedules and subjected to quantitative (descriptive) and qualitative (content) analysis. The findings show that a representative "needs assessment, facility analysis, and force field analysis" was not conducted during the course development and implementation. Further, the proper monitor of student assessment was not being conducted. It is apparent that a meaningful work experience was being imparted to the students. Early monitor and evaluation could have potentially assured that the students benefited and achieved the course intentions before going forward. Copyright © by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved

Human resources: A hidden advantage?

Purpose - This study seeks to identify the general characteristics of the profile of staff at five-star hotels, and methods of recruitment, and makes suggestions for improvement in this sector. It is hoped that it will lead hotels to a greater competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach - Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect and analyze the data. Comparisons were made with existing data in order to determine trends and characteristics of hotel staff. Findings - The results show that there is room for staff improvement and improvement in recruitment methods, even within five-star hotels. All hotels, regardless of their rating, should understand their human resources make-up and what needs to be implemented to retain staff. Practical implications - With these improvements one might better compete for the first time guests and repeat clientele. Other studies should be undertaken on an international basis in order to widen the database. Originality/value - There are few studies that address these particular issues, yet there is still additional room to expand the study and comparisons that need to be performed. It would be advantageous include hotels of a lesser rating in future studies. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Suppression factors in diffractive photoproduction of dijets

After new publications of H1 data for the diffractive photoproduction of dijets, which overlap with the earlier published H1 data and the recently published data of the ZEUS collaboration, have appeared, we have recalculated the cross sections for this process in next-to-leading order (NLO) of perturbative QCD to see whether they can be interpreted consistently. The results of these calculations are compared to the data of both collaborations. We find that the NLO cross sections disagree with the data, showing that factorization breaking occurs at that order. If direct and resolved contributions are both suppressed by the same amount, the global suppression factor depends on the transverse-energy cut. However, by suppressing only the resolved contribution, also reasonably good agreement with all the data is found with a suppression factor independent of the transverse-energy cut.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, 3 table

Space-time dependent couplings in N=1 SUSY gauge theories: Anomalies and Central Functions

We consider N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories in which the couplings are allowed to be space-time dependent functions. Both the gauge and the superpotential couplings become chiral superfields. As has recently been shown, a new topological anomaly appears in models with space-time dependent gauge coupling. Here we show how this anomaly may be used to derive the NSVZ beta function in a particular, well-determined renormalisation scheme, both without and with chiral matter. Moreover we extend the topological anomaly analysis to theories coupled to a classical curved superspace background, and use it to derive an all-order expression for the central charge c, the coefficient of the Weyl tensor squared contribution to the conformal anomaly. We also comment on the implications of our results for the central charge a expected to be of relevance for a four-dimensional C-theorem.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX, no figure

Exponential-Potential Scalar Field Universes I: The Bianchi I Models

We obtain a general exact solution of the Einstein field equations for the anisotropic Bianchi type I universes filled with an exponential-potential scalar field and study their dynamics. It is shown, in agreement with previous studies, that for a wide range of initial conditions the late-time behaviour of the models is that of a power-law inflating FRW universe. This property, does not hold, in contrast, when some degree of inhomogeneity is introduced, as discussed in our following paper II.Comment: 16 pages, Plain LaTeX, 1 Figure to be sent on request, to appear in Phys. Rev.