Effective Practices of Feedback of Elementary School Administrators During the Post-Observation Conference

Research identifies two purposes for teacher evaluation: measurement and professional growth; however, the literature provides limited research on the impact of the post-observation conference in teacher evaluation on professional growth (Marzano, 2012). The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study is to examine the perceptions of Indiana public elementary school principals on the impact of the post-observation conference on professional growth of teachers. The study uses an Elementary Administrators’ Background Questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to gather an in-depth understanding of administrators’ perceptions. Four research questions framed this study as I examined public elementary school administrators’ perceptions of post-observation feedback within the teacher evaluation model. The first question examined the importance of the administrator-teacher relationship on the impact of the evaluation process. Data collected identified the importance of the principal and teacher relationship in the evaluation process. In addition, principals also expressed concern over the ability of the evaluation process to identify strengths of the teacher. The second research question examined how administrators prepare, conduct, and follow-up on evaluation conferences with teachers. Principals expressed a little more disagreement over their ability to provide effective feedback, resources, and professional development suggestions. The semi-structured interviews highlighted feedback focusing more on classroom management topics rather than curricular and instructional issues. The third research question asked administrators to share their experiences with the post-observation conference and how it produced improvement in teachers. Data from the questionnaire and the semi-structured interviews demonstrated a concern over the inability of the evaluation tool to differentiate teachers’ abilities. The participants in the interviews shared examples of their personal stories of assisting teachers to improve their skills through professional growth, mentoring, and coaching. The final research question explored principals’ perceptions on whether the teacher evaluation system impacted professional growth of teachers. Principals once again expressed their lack of comfort with providing effective feedback to assist teachers in professionally developing. Participants in the interviews shared they usually rely on mentoring from veteran teachers or coaching cycles from corporation instructional coaches. The final chapter examines how the study’s implications can impact educators and researchers to educate administrators and revise the evaluation system to improve the professional abilities of teachers

A Low-Cost, Miniaturized, Homogeneity-Optimized Helmholtz Cage for CubeSat Attitude Control Ground Testing

Reduced launch costs and increased interest from researchers and the public have enabled CubeSats to undergo significant evolution in the past decade, expanding their applications to include a broad range of fields such as communication, navigation, observation, education, and science demonstration. For a wide variety of nanosatellite missions ranging from Earth remote sensing to astronomy-related measurements and space debris tracking, the development of passive or active attitude control systems (PACS/AACS) is of great importance. Of the various attitude control and stabilization methods for small satellites, magnetic techniques such as magnetorquers and hysteresis rods offer modest pointing and detumbling capability while being ideal for satellites with low power budgets. Rigorously ground testing and optimizing these sub-systems in a laboratory setting requires transient 3-axis control of the magnetic field vector that reproduces the magnetic conditions of low-Earth orbit (LEO). However, doing so in a volume large enough for a CubeSat to tumble in (ex. on an air bearing) and maintaining a flight like high spatial homogeneity of the magnetic field, all while keeping costs down for accessibility to student groups in the CubeSat community, such as ours—the Princeton University TigerSats lab—presents a complex optimization challenge. In this paper, we present a miniaturized, homogeneity-optimized 3-axis Helmholtz Cage of a modified squircle shape that can reproduce transient LEO magnetic fields for 1U satellites with high homogeneity ( \u3c 1% B-field deviation) and for 2U satellites with modest homogeneity ( \u3c 3% B-field deviation). We optimize our system for magnetic homogeneity by developing a computationally inexpensive simulation to compute the magnetic field produced by the Helmholtz Cage. Additionally, we present a novel perturbation analysis to predict the effects of imperfect coil winding. The theoretical simulation is verified to show excellent agreement with the experimental magnetic field. We also present the circuitry for a closed-loop system to simulate transient magnetic fields. The entire system is highly accessible due to the low material costs, documentation of the coil design process, and scalability to accommodate larger CubeSat sizes. We emphasize the merit of presenting a ground testing system that is affordable and implementable for most student groups as comprehensive in-house qualification is a rich educational opportunity that is often under-utilized

Factoring complete graphs and hypergraphs into factors with few maximal cliques

For integers $r,t\geq2$ and $n\geq1$ let $f_r(t,n)$ be the minimum, over all factorizations of the complete $r$-uniform hypergraph of order $n$ into $t$ factors $H_1,\dots,H_t$, of $\sum_{i=1}^tc(H_i)$ where $c(H_i)$ is the number of maximal cliques in $H_i$. It is known that $f_2(2,n)=n+1$; in fact, if $G$ is a graph of order $n$, then $c(G)+c(\overline G)\geq n+1$ with equality iff $\omega(G)+\alpha(G)=n+1$ where $\omega$ is the clique number and $\alpha$ the independence number. In this paper we investigate $f_r(t,n)$ when $r>2$ or $t>2$. We also characterize graphs $G$ of order $n$ with $c(G)+c(\overline G)=n+2$.Comment: 22 page

Incorporating white clover (Trifolium repens L.) into perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) swards receiving varying levels of nitrogen fertilizer: Effects on milk and herbage production

peer-reviewedWhite clover (Trifolium repens L.; clover) can offer a superior nutritional feed compared with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.; PRG) and offers an additional or alternative source (or both) of N for herbage production. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of including clover into PRG swards receiving 150 (Cl150) or 250 kg of N/ha (Cl250) compared with a PRG-only sward receiving 250 kg of N/ha (Gr250) on herbage production, milk production, and herbage dry matter intake (DMI) in an intensive grass-based spring calving milk production system over 2 full lactations. A farm systems experiment was established in February 2013, and conducted over 2 grazing seasons [2013 (yr 1) and 2014 (yr 2)]. In February 2013 (yr 1), 42 Holstein-Friesian spring-calving dairy cows, and in February 2014 (yr 2), 57 Holstein-Friesian spring-calving dairy cows were allocated to graze the Cl150, Cl250, and Gr250 swards (n = 14 in yr 1 and n = 19 in yr 2) from February to November, at a stocking rate of 2.74 cows/ha. Herbage DMI was estimated twice in yr 1 (May and September) and 3 times in yr 2 (May, July, and September). Treatment did not have a significant effect on annual herbage production. Sward clover content was greater on the Cl150 treatment than the Cl250 treatment. The cows grazing both clover treatments (Cl250 and Cl150) produced more milk than the cows grazing Gr250 from June until the end of the grazing season. A significant treatment by measurement period interaction was observed on total DMI. In May, the cows on the Cl250 treatment had the greatest DMI. In July, the cows on the clover treatments had greater DMI than those on the Gr250 treatment, whereas in September, the cows on the Cl150 treatment had the lowest DMI. In conclusion, including clover in a PRG sward grazed by spring-calving dairy cows can result in increased animal performance, particularly in the second half of lactation. Reducing N fertilizer application to 150 kg of N/ha on grass-clover swards did not reduce herbage production compared with grass-only swards receiving 250 kg of N/ha. White clover can play an integral role in intensive grazing systems in terms of animal performance and herbage production

It’s Not Easy Going Green: Obstacles to Tree-Planting Programs in East Baltimore

In 2006, government officials in Baltimore announced plans to double the city’s tree canopy over the next thirty years. While the effort has already produced positive results, many parts of the city still lack trees. In this paper we consider whether two neighborhoods in East Baltimore – Berea and Madison-Eastend – are suitable locations for tree planting. We begin by calculating how much plantable space exists in each neighborhood. We then use interview data to cast light on how residents value the urban forest and whether or not they would support efforts to increase tree canopy in East Baltimore. The selection of East Baltimore as a study area is significant because it was here that the city’s Division of Forestry encountered resistance to tree planting in the 1960s. A secondary goal of our research is to determine whether a shift in the ethnic profile of this section of the city over the past fifty years has changed the way residents perceive and value the urban forest. Our results show that while there is enough plantable space in these two neighborhoods to increase tree canopy, from approximately six percent to over 16 percent, residents are not yet ready to fully embrace an aggressive tree planting program

Culture, Change and the Management of London's Taxi Drivers

This research has been based on my experiences of London taxi drivers, both before I entered the London Taxi Industry, whilst studying to be a London taxi driver and during the thirty years I spent within the industry in a number of roles. My research has been undertaken in an inductive, broadly ideographic style. The study has been developed through initially narrating my experiences and observations in the industry and then analysing this account reflexively. The material that formed the basis of my narrative account was collected in an ethnographic style. In addition to my narrative account I also referenced the small amount of published material concerning the London taxi industry and interviewed a number of taxi drivers. A significant constraint was the lack of peer reviewed literature concerning taxi drivers and the taxi industry. Once I had developed my narrative account I then interpreted it in order to better understand the experiences and observations, the institutions and the people within the industry to understand and relate how they react and behave within their environment. The analysis involved deconstruction and interpretation against a framework of relevant literature to facilitate my understanding and assist sense making. I also interpreted the interactions with those outside of the taxi drivers’ environment and analysed the persona that journalists and others have constructed that is meant to represent the London Taxi Driver. I considered the identity and characteristics implied by journalists with the prevailing culture and the identity that taxi drivers and the industry sought to portray. The qualification to become a taxi driver is known as the Knowledge of London. The Knowledge, as it is known in the industry, is recognised as an onerous task and has developed according to many in the industry into a rite of passage. I found that this process, with its rituals and arcane practices, which are accepted consensually by the industry, had a significant effect on the taxi drivers’ identity and their status amongst non-taxi driver peers. Taxi driving is considered in working class circles to be at the upper end of a hierarchy of professional driving roles largely due to the achievement of passing the Knowledge of London together with the earning opportunity, perceived job security and flexibility afforded by being one’s own boss. Knowledge of London students and taxi drivers appear to demonstrate common behavioural traits which I have explored in my research. London’s taxi drivers appear to fear an assimilation of their role with other lower status driving roles and this fear has a significant effect on any attempts at change within the industry or within its institutions. The institutions within the industry provided much material for me to consider in the context of their alignment or clash with the culture of the industry. Changes in business processes and some of the institutions’ relationships with their taxi driver stakeholders and the challenges to the industry’s culture are considered as case studies within my reflexive account. The contribution to original knowledge is the insight into the culture and identity of London’s Taxi Drivers, the behaviours and relationships within the industry both between drivers and the institutions that regulate, represent and benefit from the industry. Taxi drivers’ responses to organisational and business process change. Further contributions to original knowledge are provided from the realisation that much of the structure developed within conventional organisations by management has developed organically without management intervention in the taxi industry. Many of the traits of life in offices and factories are likewise present in the London Taxi Industry despite the disparate and virtual nature of the industry and its reliance on consensual adoption of rules and practice rather than managerial influence and formal processes and procedures