DOES IT PAY TO GET AN A? SCHOOL RESOURCE ALLOCATIONS IN RESPONSE TO ACCOUNTABILITY RATINGS

This paper examines whether school districts, and individual schools, respond to ratings from the accountability system by reallocating resources across or within schools. Our empirical work follows three identification strategies, a regression discontinuity for schools on the rating boundaries, a “rating shock” analysis for schools that face a change in rating when the state changed its accountability system, and a school fixed effects strategy. We find that school districts provided incentives for their schools to achieve higher ratings under the early accountability system, but under the later system they appear to have abandoned this strategy. In addition, the rating shock results suggest that some effort was directed towards assisting lower performing schools under the new regime. Finally, we find that in the early period incremental funds were used as much for ancillary purposes as instruction.

Utilizing Parallelism in the Conjugate Gradient Algorithm

This paper develops the original conjugate gradient method and the idea of preconditioning a system. I also propose a unique type of additive-Schwarz preconditioner that can be solved in parallel, which creates a speed increase for large systems. To show this, I developed a C++11 linear algebra library used in conjunction with the OpenMP parallel computing library to empirically show a speed increase

A GIS analysis of Paleoindian site structure at the Clary Ranch site

GIS analysis of spatial patterning at the Late Paleoindian Clary Ranch site has provided new insights into the spatial organization at a secondary processing location for bison carcasses adjacent to a mass kill-butchery site. Recognizing such spatial patterning is largely visual, with the use of spatial autocorrelation to evaluate the statistical significance of visually recognized patterns. The patterning suggests at least two processing areas at the Clary Ranch site, identified by dense concentrations of debitage and longbone flakes. Associated with these concentrations are chipped stone tools and percussion artifacts. The presence of hearths suggests that multiple activities occurred at these locations. Adjacent to processing locations are discard areas, consisting primarily of longbone articular ends and very few chipped stone items. The segregation of processing activities areas at the site is consistent with observations made at other Paleoindian processing sites. However, the diversity of activities at the Clary Ranch site is limited when compared to other sites, including Allen, Stewart\u27s Cattle Guard, and Jurgens. This may be the result of excavation methodology at Clary Ranch or perhaps site duration. Ethnographic observations of special purpose sites and kill-butchery locations suggest that site organization is based around the activity and not so much around sleeping, eating, or discard activities. This type of site structure often produces a palimpsest of activities at one location, similar to what has been observed at Clary Ranch (e.g., processing, cooking, and stone tool manufacture). At this time, it is unknown if the Clary Ranch site functioned as a short-term camp in addition to a secondary bison processing location. The presence of areas between processing locations, more or less void of archaeological patterning, suggest that Paleoindians anticipated the amount of time needed to accomplish processing tasks and planned accordingly by designating areas for short-term habitation. Alternatively, a residential camp may have been situated locally in Ash Hollow Draw, from which the organization of the kill and processing events were planned and executed

Narratives by Six Year Old and Nine Year Old Boys: Brute: Institutional, and Non-Institutional Mental Facts

Brute facts, institutional facts, and non-institutional mental facts were studied. The philosophy of constructionism and the theory of intent provided a framework for this research. Intentionality provided the basis for social facts. Brute, institutional, and noninstitutional mental facts were operationally defined. This study analyzed the use of these facts in the narratives of 6-year-old boys and 9-year-old boys. There were a total of 19 participants in this research. This research established brute, institutional, and non-institutional mental facts as appropriate operational categories for studying children\u27s narratives. The 6-year-old boys produced more brute facts than the 9-year-old boys. The 9-year-old boys produced significantly more institutional facts in spontaneous narratives than the 6-year-old boys. The production of non-institutional mental facts was not significantly different between the two groups. The discussion pertained to the ramifications of these results as related to spontaneous language samples, appropriate language sampling size, and the syntagmaticparadigmatic shift

Correlation Between Time to Peak Torque and Peak Torque to Vertical Jump in College Age Athletes

The vertical jump is an essential part of athletics to gain an advantage over the opponent. Isokinetic testing provides quantitative data to determine power and how fast power or peak torque is achieved. In this study, after 20 NCAA Div. II athletes were measured for three trials of maximal vertical jump, they completed an isokinetic test of knee extension at speeds of 60, 180, and 300°/sec. The results showed a significant correlation (p\u3c0.05) between peak torque at a speed of 300°/sec and vertical jump p\u3c=0.019. As a result of this study it was found that the vertical jump test is a test of muscle power generated by the quadriceps muscle group, and relates to peak torque values documented by isokinetic testing at 300°/sec of knee extension

Classroom-Based, Teacher-Led Action Research as a Process for Enhancing Teaching and Learning

This paper examines the nature of classroom-based, teacher-led action research in schools. The process of action research is described, along with its potential applications and benefits—including, but not limited to, the empowerment of teachers and staff, and the support structure for a program of customizable professional development for educators. One school’s venture into school wide action research is presented and discussed, largely from the perspective of the building administrator. Both challenges and the successes are openly discussed. Finally, the authors make a case for the widespread and large-scale benefits associated with the implementation of an action research initiative in schools and districts