2,620 research outputs found
Interventions for Ninth-Grade Middle-Achieving Students
Implementing intentionally designed interventions to improve students’ academic performance has been a focus of educational stakeholders for decades. However, the implementation of academic interventions for average-achieving students, particularly during their freshman year of high school, appears to be lacking. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to explore designed interventions implemented by high school administrators from two unified school districts in California that focused on the academic performance of middle-achieving students during their ninth-grade year. This qualitative grounded theory study focused on the perspective of a purposive sampling group of high school administrators, which included principals, assistant principals, and counselors. Seventeen administrators participated in a 5-point Likert scale survey that required them to answer 10 questions focused on the importance and use of interventions to improve the academic performance of ninth-grade average achieving students on their campus. The sample field was narrowed to six administrators who provided deeper insight regarding interventions used on their campus for forgotten middle students. Traditional coding methods such as the use of paper, pen, and labels combined with the digital technology of MAXQDA allowed for a thorough analysis of all qualitative data. Key findings from the research study indicated that it is important to implement interventions for average-achieving students early during their freshman year since motivation is critical to keeping students engaged and establishing a foundation for future success. Also, student-faculty relationships were recognized as an imperative to the success of interventions on a school campus. Administrators acknowledged the important role that the home environment serves toward the success of implementing interventions for average-achieving students. Finally, results revealed that most administrators who participated in the study confirmed average achieving students are often vi overlooked regarding needed supports to improve their academic achievement. Future studies should focus on educator awareness, stakeholder roles, the effectiveness of implemented interventions on average achieving ninth-grade student performance, and the influence of interventions on a high school campus culture
Complexity of Bradley-Manna-Sipma Lexicographic Ranking Functions
In this paper we turn the spotlight on a class of lexicographic ranking
functions introduced by Bradley, Manna and Sipma in a seminal CAV 2005 paper,
and establish for the first time the complexity of some problems involving the
inference of such functions for linear-constraint loops (without precondition).
We show that finding such a function, if one exists, can be done in polynomial
time in a way which is sound and complete when the variables range over the
rationals (or reals). We show that when variables range over the integers, the
problem is harder -- deciding the existence of a ranking function is
coNP-complete. Next, we study the problem of minimizing the number of
components in the ranking function (a.k.a. the dimension). This number is
interesting in contexts like computing iteration bounds and loop
parallelization. Surprisingly, and unlike the situation for some other classes
of lexicographic ranking functions, we find that even deciding whether a
two-component ranking function exists is harder than the unrestricted problem:
NP-complete over the rationals and -complete over the integers.Comment: Technical report for a corresponding CAV'15 pape
On Multiphase-Linear Ranking Functions
Multiphase ranking functions () were proposed as a means
to prove the termination of a loop in which the computation progresses through
a number of "phases", and the progress of each phase is described by a
different linear ranking function. Our work provides new insights regarding
such functions for loops described by a conjunction of linear constraints
(single-path loops). We provide a complete polynomial-time solution to the
problem of existence and of synthesis of of bounded depth
(number of phases), when variables range over rational or real numbers; a
complete solution for the (harder) case that variables are integer, with a
matching lower-bound proof, showing that the problem is coNP-complete; and a
new theorem which bounds the number of iterations for loops with
. Surprisingly, the bound is linear, even when the
variables involved change in non-linear way. We also consider a type of
lexicographic ranking functions, , more expressive than types
of lexicographic functions for which complete solutions have been given so far.
We prove that for the above type of loops, lexicographic functions can be
reduced to , and thus the questions of complexity of
detection and synthesis, and of resulting iteration bounds, are also answered
for this class.Comment: typos correcte
Ranking Templates for Linear Loops
We present a new method for the constraint-based synthesis of termination
arguments for linear loop programs based on linear ranking templates. Linear
ranking templates are parametrized, well-founded relations such that an
assignment to the parameters gives rise to a ranking function. This approach
generalizes existing methods and enables us to use templates for many different
ranking functions with affine-linear components. We discuss templates for
multiphase, piecewise, and lexicographic ranking functions. Because these
ranking templates require both strict and non-strict inequalities, we use
Motzkin's Transposition Theorem instead of Farkas Lemma to transform the
generated -constraint into an -constraint.Comment: TACAS 201
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