Stand-downs, suspensions and exclusions : a dilemma for primary school principals : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration, Department of Social and Policy Studies in Education, College of Education, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The purpose of this study was to investigate how a selection of primary school principals managed and viewed the process of stand-downs, suspensions and exclusions. The researcher saw the need for such research because of the recent legislation that has changed the procedures for principals to follow, the growing public concern over the national statistics for disciplinary exclusions and the lack of research on disciplinary exclusions of primary age pupils or for principals' perspectives of the disciplinary exclusion process. The research involved two main research methods (survey and case-study) which included a postal questionnaire distributed to all primary school principals in a localised area, a review of their Education Review Office Reports, structured interviews of five primary school principals and a review of their Behaviour Management Plans. These data were analysed with the aid of computer software packages: MICROSOFT EXCEL for the quantitative data and QSR NU*DIST for the qualitative data; and techniques of thematic induction and dilemma analysis were used. The characteristics and behaviours of the primary age pupils receiving disciplinary exclusions in this study are an accentuated version of the trends of gender and ethnicity factors already identified for all New Zealand school pupils in the national database. This study also isolated other characteristics - the final year of school (either at primary or intermediate) and the transference of these pupils at-risk of disciplinary exclusions from school to school. Disciplinary exclusions can be attributed to many interacting complex factors related to individuals, families, schools and the direct impact of changing economic and educational government policies and legislation. It was evident that principals worked hard at maintaining and providing an education for extremely difficult pupils but these pupils presented a dilemma for principals. On the one hand, principals' comments showed that caring principals and hardworking teaching staff went out of their way to support and educate these seriously misbehaving pupils in their schools, but, on the other hand, principals perceived that they had no other choice but to use the disciplinary exclusion process. The concept of'dilemma' was developed further in this study with implications for principals' future practice and professional development and further research

Analysis and Summary of Feasible Marketplace Business Models Covering All Trials

This report analyses the market for cloud services of the type that POSTMARK is pioneering including type, scale, readiness and barriers to adoption. The POSTMARK trials are reviewed in terms of the business benefits that the services offer, the validation of these by those involved in the trials, and the further work needed to move from trials to a fully commercial and production setting. Business benefits were wide ranging and included lowering costs, better meeting of deadlines, increase in volume of business, and improved customer service. Response from the trials was positive in all cases. This was echoed by the two public demonstration events hosted by the project in 2012 where the attendees (around 100 in total from the film and post communities) were positive about the services that POSTMARK is offering. The main barriers encountered were security, the need for high levels of availability and trust, the need for complete out-of-the box solutions, and of course concerns over cost. These mirror findings in industry surveys and analyst reports. These barriers are not insurmountable but do require further investment to address. The key question is whether the market as a whole is sufficiently aware of, and ready to adopt, new services of the type developed by POSTMARK.Indications are good, but large scale adoption would be necessary to give sufficient return on the investmentneeded to provide fully operational POSTMARK services on a supported and commercial basis

Gender Symmetry in the Reform of European Welfare States

welfare state; gender policy; economic policy

Audiovisual preservation strategies, data models and value-chains

This is a report on preservation strategies, models and value-chains for digital file-based audiovisual content. The report includes: (a)current and emerging value-chains and business-models for audiovisual preservation;(b) a comparison of preservation strategies for audiovisual content including their strengths and weaknesses, and(c) a review of current preservation metadata models, and requirements for extension to support audiovisual files

Improving High School Graduation Rates Among Males of Color

Young males of color constitute a disproportionately high percentage of our nation's non-high school graduate population. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey show that in 2012, 7% of all U.S. 16- to 24-year-olds were not enrolled in school and had not earned a high school diploma or equivalency credential. That same year, for the same age group, this rate (called the status dropout rate) was 10.9% for Black males, 15.0% for Hispanic males, and 14.8% for American Indian/ Alaska Native males. For each of these ethnicities, the status dropout rate for females was significantly lower (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2014, Table 219.80). The U.S. Census Bureau data also show a positive correlation between the incidence of young dropouts and levels of family poverty

Tools for modelling and simulating migration-based preservation

This report describes two tools for modelling and simulating the costs and risks of using IT storage systems for the long-term archiving of file-based AV assets. The tools include a model of storage costs, the ingest and access of files, the possibility of data corruption and loss from a range of mechanisms, and the impact of having limited resources with which to fulfill access requests and preservation actions. Applications include archive planning, development of a technology strategy, cost estimation for business planning, operational decision support, staff training and generally promoting awareness of the issues and challenges archives face in digital preservation

AI management an exploratory survey of the influence of GDPR and FAT principles

As organisations increasingly adopt AI technologies, a number of ethical issues arise. Much research focuses on algorithmic bias, but there are other important concerns arising from the new uses of data and the introduction of technologies which may impact individuals. This paper examines the interplay between AI, Data Protection and FAT (Fairness, Accountability and Transparency) principles. We review the potential impact of the GDPR and consider the importance of the management of AI adoption. A survey of data protection experts is presented, the initial analysis of which provides some early insights into the praxis of AI in operational contexts. The findings indicate that organisations are not fully compliant with the GDPR, and that there is limited understanding of the relevance of FAT principles as AI is introduced. Those organisations which demonstrate greater GDPR compliance are likely to take a more cautious, risk-based approach to the introduction of AI