A description and analysis of an academic enrichment program at Bennett College

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze an Academic Enrichment Program (AEP) implemented at Bennett College in 1981 and continuing for three years, and to evaluate the program's impact on students' (a) study habits, (b) academic performance, and (c) persistence at the college. Eighty-five black female students were the subjects, and their combined scores on the verbal and mathematical portions of the SAT ranged between 400 - 580. Data was obtained from a questionnaire constructed by the researcher based on a five-point Likert Scale, and from transcripts, attrition records, academic probation lists, and course outlines. The findings revealed that the program was successful in helping students adjust, academically, their freshman year with at least over fifty percent of the students returning for their sophomore year. At this level there was a decline in students' academic performance, and the attrition rate was high. Based on the results obtained from the questionnaire, students ranked "support given by the AEP faculty" as the most important aspect of the program in helping them adjust to the college

Emotional eloquence : the argument from pathos in deliberation

The argument from pathos is one of the three normative modes of persuasion in deliberation. The argument from pathos in deliberation serves six functions. It serves as a perceptual capacity; it is a constituent element of deliberative judgment: it communicates importance: it is a powerful motivator: it serves several aesthetic functions, and it is expressive. An examination of the cognitive structure of the emotions reveals the epistemic potential of the emotions. The success conditions necessary for an emotion to grasp its object yields three epistemic results. The apprehension of particular object of an emotion confers salience: the formal object names a quality that conceptually relates the emotion to a normative principle, and the propositional object provides the connection to semantic matters. The semantic properties of emotional language help structure and determine the sophistication of one’s emotional responses

Building trust: the key to principal transitions

Principals transitioning to a new school often struggle to build or sustain a positive school climate in the first 100 days, which can impede school progress and achievement. (Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins, 2008; MacNeil, Prater, & Busch, 2009). School systems and principals must prioritize successful transitions if they wish to prevent negative impacts to the school community. Using the dissertation in practice model, this paper details and analyzes an improvement initiative designed to enhance the principal transition process; an initiative focused on building trust between teachers and principals who are new to their school. The process was implemented and analyzed using the 90-day Cycle improvement research strategy (Park and Takahashi, 2013). This disquisition employed a case study design examining an induction program focused on building trust through the principal’s attention to, and expression of, openness, benevolence, and competency (Tschannen-Moran and Gerias, 2015). Specific activities and the implementation process for these three domains are shared. The findings suggest that the induction program may have contributed positively to the teachers’ feelings of trust for the new principal, as demonstrated by the teachers’ reported perception of the principal as open, benevolent, and competent

Challenging Normative Representations Of Women’s Sexual Agency In American Television

Real-life scenarios frequently inspire art and media. As the frequency of television shows that are labeled as “feminist” increases, it is important to acknowledge the ways in which these shows may depict women’s sexual agency and how what messages the depictions send may impact the real lives of viewers. This paper examines how “feminist” television depictions of women’s sexual agency differ from or adhere to normative constructions of women’s sexualities, as well as the potential implications depictions may have for viewers’ understandings of women’s sexual agency. While television depictions may be labeled as “feminist,” and generally seem to incorporate feminist constructions of women’s sexualities in their depictions, they still frequently rely on normative and traditional constructions

A performance edition of Five works by William Grant Still (1895-1978): brass quintet arrangements of Memphis man, Bayou home, Mississippi, Elegy, and All that I am

William Grant Still (1895-1978) was one of the most prolific African-American composers of the 20th Century. In fact during his career, Still composed over 150 musical works. He was the first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, hear his own Symphony performed by a leading orchestra, have his opera produced by a major opera company, and view his opera broadcast on a national television network. As a result of these and many other musical accomplishments, Still has been titled, "Dean of African-American Composers." Still spent the majority of his life composing and arranging compositions that featured his unique style of incorporating Western harmonies with African-American blues. Although known primarily for his orchestral works, Still's vocal works have been integrated into the core repertoire of many college, university, and professional ensembles. The purpose of this study was to arrange five works by Still for brass quintet including Memphis Man (1923), Bayou Home (1944), Mississippi (1948), Elegy (1963), and All That I Am (1965). A secondary purpose was to present a biographical sketch of Still. A descriptive analysis about each of the arrangements for brass quintet was included along with the actual settings. Included in the document are performance editions of the five works. The vocal works, Memphis Man, Bayou Home, and Mississippi were created from versions of songs in William Grant Still, An Art Song Collection compiled by Celeste Anne Headlee with lyrics by Verna Arvey. Elegy was taken from William Grant Still: An Organ Collection and is the only work in the collection written for organ. All That I Am was transcribed from an edition for solo voice and piano edited by Celeste Anne Headlee. The spirituals included in this study that date from several different periods of his career are representative of many of his other compositions because they do not include extensive ornamentation or embellishment found in works by other composers. Still created passionate melodic lines and straightforward harmonies to communicate inherent emotion and powerful impact to the audience. In these settings, the melodies have been left unaltered

Perceptions and Enactment of Instructional Coaching in North Carolina

The instructional coaching role has become a source of support for teacher professional development in districts across the United States, yet there is little agreement among researchers regarding the particular structure of this role. I conducted this portraiture study in three districts in North Carolina and used interviews, observations, and document review to determine how coaches, teachers, and principals understand the role of the instructional coach. The research questions used to guide this study were (a) how do instructional coaches understand their roles, (b) how do other education professionals understand the instructional coaching role, and (c) how does context impact understanding of the instructional coaching role. Major findings from the study suggest that contextual factors influence role enactment for an instructional coach. Results of the study imply that principals should bring clarity to the purpose of the instructional coach within a school setting. For a coach to feel successful, the coach needs a role description that is both focused and flexible. Results stop short of articulating a coaching role description; therefore, more research is needed to support how to describe the role in order to achieve both focus and flexibility

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente