Patterns of Failure in Texas Urban Improvement Required Schools: An Equity Audit Expansion

The achievement gap is a concept that has long been explored in education; students of color, low socioeconomic status, those who speak languages other than English, and students labeled as special education perform lower on student achievement tests and often receive less in terms of funding and resources (Harris & Hopson, 2008). Brown (2010) stated, As a result, these students, without realizing it, often fall into a predetermined mold designed for school failure and social inequity (p. 2)

Have You Paid Your Rent? Servant Leadership in Correctional Education

This article makes the case for servant leadership as a model and as a philosophy to guide correctional educationalists on how to interact with their students. This article begins with an introduction to identify the gap in the literature with regards to the relationship between servant leadership and adult and correctional education. It continues with a summary of the 10 characteristics of servant leadership that parallel some of the characteristics that educators exhibit in the prison classroom, and explores how those characteristics impact the student population. We conclude by providing a framework by which further research should explore the link between servant leadership and correctional education in order to enhance classroom practices

Analytical designs of a space-borne magnetically-focused klystron amplifier Final report

Design analysis for magnetically focused klystron of satellite television transmission syste

Supernova Resonance-Scattering Profiles in the Presence of External Illumination

We discuss a simple model for the formation of a supernova spectral line by resonance scattering in the presence of external illumination of the line-forming region by light from circumstellar interaction (toplighting). The simple model provides a clear understanding of the most conspicuous toplighting effect: a rescaling or, as we prefer, a ``muting'' of the line profile relative to the continuum. This effect would be present in more realistic models, but would be harder to isolate. An analytic expression for a muting factor for a P-Cygni line is derived that depends on the ratio E of the toplighting specific intensity to the specific intensity from the supernova photosphere. If E<1, the line profile is reduced in scale or ``muted''. If E=1, the line profile vanishes altogether. If E>1, the line profile flips vertically: then having an absorption component near the observer-frame line center wavelength and a blueshifted emission component.Comment: accepted for publication in PAS

Standardised library instruction assessment: an institution-specific approach

Introduction We explore the use of a psychometric model for locally-relevant, information literacy assessment, using an online tool for standardised assessment of student learning during discipline-based library instruction sessions. Method A quantitative approach to data collection and analysis was used, employing standardised multiple-choice survey questions followed by individual, cognitive interviews with undergraduate students. The assessment tool was administered to five general education psychology classes during library instruction sessions. AnalysisDescriptive statistics were generated by the assessment tool. Results. The assessment tool proved a feasible means of measuring student learning. While student scores improved on every survey question, there was uneven improvement from pre-test to post-test for different questions. Conclusion Student scores showed more improvement for some learning outcomes over others, thus, spending time on fewer concepts during instruction sessions would enable more reliable evaluation of student learning. We recommend using digital learning objects that address basic research skills to enhance library instruction programmes. Future studies will explore different applications of the assessment tool, provide more detailed statistical analysis of the data and shed additional light on the significance of overall scores

Head in the Clouds: Will a Next-Generation Library Management System Bring Clear Vision?

Multiple systems, disconnected workflows, and siloed information have plagued libraries for years. Librarians are tired of wrestling with inefficiencies and are seeking ways to unify their environment. Fortunately, they have discovered an effective tool to combat inefficiencies. Next generation library management systems are a new technology that brings many benefits. With these cloud-based systems a network of remote servers are hosted on the Internet that store, manage and process data rather than on a local server. They can transform the way services are delivered bringing streamlined workflows and enabling increased visibility and accessibility of all resources to the user community. In 2011, Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries decided to look at cloud-based library management systems to replace the legacy system they had for ten years. They were looking for ways to simplify workflows, unify job functions, and improve staff success. After researching a number of systems and finding an attractive prospect, the VCU Libraries was invited to become an Alma “Early Adopter” and successfully implemented Ex Libris’s Alma. As an adopter of the cloud for four years, they are examining their decision. This paper will summarize the Libraries’s journey from “Go Live” in 2012 up until the four year anniversary on October 24, 2016 and share successes, challenges, and downright failures. Readers will learn if the cloud really brought simplified workflows, a connected environment, and staff success

Adolescence invites rebellion: Investigating the aesthetics of American culture in Dutch theatre for adolescents

Answering how the aesthetics of American pop culture seem to have had such an impact on Dutch theatre for adolescents, this study reviews several perspectives on the history of adolescence and the Americanization of Europe which combined to play a crucial role in forming that aesthetic. A general political history begins this thesis by first answering why theatre for youth is popularly practiced in the Netherlands and not in the U.S. This section demonstrates how political structures and economics condition the possibility of national growth in theatre practice through highlighting the relationship of Dutch social arts funding to the growth of certain kinds of theatre that have proven difficult for the commercial U.S. market to develop. Several histories of youth culture are then reviewed looking at the particular social practices in America that seem to have had a universal and simultaneous development in the Netherlands and Europe. Looking at how youth culture has developed transnationally leads up to an examination of the transnational impact on the local development of theatre art in the Netherlands, and furthermore explains how specifically American mass-cultural products have been able to play such a significant role in Dutch theatre arts

The ecology of Patella

The present thesis is aimed principally at the population dynamics and biological interactions of Patella species. Most of the work is based on all eleven of the South African species, although volume of work necessitated the omission of the less common species from parts of the work. The research has been centred around the juveniles and adults, although it is realised that larval biology is logically the next field which needs to be explored. The thesis is presented as a series of separate papers, the first in published form and the remainder in manuscript, and is concluded by a resume. A single supporting paper is also included. The entire thesis is based on original work by the candidate, except where acknowledged in the text. The more important conclusions are summarised at the end of each section

The ecology of Patella

The present thesis is aimed principally at the population dynamics and biological interactions of Patella species. Most of the work is based on all eleven of the South African species, although volume of work necessitated the omission of the less common species from parts of the work. The research has been centred around the juveniles and adults, although it is realised that larval biology is logically the next field which needs to be explored. The thesis is presented as a series of separate papers, the first in published form and the remainder in manuscript, and is concluded by a resume. A single supporting paper is also included. The entire thesis is based on original work by the candidate, except where acknowledged in the text. The more important conclusions are summarised at the end of each section