What do parents really want? Parents’ perceptions of their children’s schooling

International evidence confirms that parental involvement has substantial benefits for families and schools, as well as longterm economic benefits for developed and developing countries. To implement sound parental involvement two-way communication between home and school is essential. Schools worldwide tend to focus on communication from the school to the home, and afford parents fewer opportunities to express their perceptions of the quality of schooling. However, researcher-based, national and international surveys of parent opinion indicate that school endeavours to improve learner outcomes depend to a large extent on the data provided by parents. This article examines parents’ perceptions of their child’s schooling, gathered by means of an annual questionnaire administered in a public primary school in Gauteng, South Africa. A researcher-designed questionnaire administered annually over two consecutive years (2012 and 2013) was used to gauge parents’ opinions of school culture, home-school communication, classroom instruction and classroom organisation. The results indicate that parents were generally satisfied with all four areas. However, parents indicated concerns about reporting on an individual learner’s progress, academic achievement, and social and emotional wellbeing, as well as academic enrichment opportunities, and ways for parents to assist learning at home. In terms of classroom instruction and organisation, variations in parent responses emerged according to grade levels, and over the two-year reporting period. Recommendations were made, which could benefit other schools wishing to improve two-way communication with families through parent questionnaires.Keywords: classroom organisation; classroom teaching; family-school partnership; home-school communication; learner progress; parent surveys; quality of schoolin

Foreign language policy and the development of Mandarin Chinese in the United States

This paper discusses the development offoreign language policy in higher educationin the United States (US) and indicates gaps in the study of foreign languages in highereducation in that country. A discussion of current policy, provision, programmes andfunding of foreign languages in higher education are presented, focusing on Title VI:The provision of the National Defense Education Act associated with foreign languagestudy. The most recent policy for the teaching of modern foreign languages in highereducation and the motivation behind such policy-making in the US are exploredin detail. The extension of the teaching of Mandarin inspired by rapid economicdevelopment in China and strengthened by the demands of the language ‘market’ andthe national strategy of the US is investigated. Concrete recommendations for thepolicy and provision of Mandarin instruction in higher education are proposed. Finally,the status of Mandarin in the study of foreign languages in the US is indicated: theteaching of Mandarin lags behind some European languages and is generally taught atelementary level.Keywords: Language policy and provision, Mandarin Chinese, higher educatio

Home-school communication in South African primary schools

Home-school communication is one of the most traditional and vital forms of parent involvement but it is often poorly implemented. According to Epstein's model of parent involvement, home-school communication should be two-way communication and reflect a co-equal partnership between families and schools. In this article we examine school practices of home-school communication in South African primary schools using quantitative data derived from a survey of primary schools and qualitative data derived from interviews held with a small sample of primary school principals who also participated in the survey. The aims in this research endeavour were twofold: to explore the nature, frequency and effectiveness of home-school communication practices, and to make recommendations how home-school communication can be improved to facilitate better home-school partnerships. South African Journal of Education Vol.24(3) 2004: 183-18

Redefining home-school-community partnerships in South Africa in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic

Estimates suggest that approximately 12% of South Africans are HIV positive. As a result of the rapid increase of infections in the mid-1990s and th e con comitant increase in HIV/AIDS-related deaths, it is estimated that 13% of children have lost on e o r both parents due to AIDS . In this study data were obtained by open-ended written accounts by teachers and in-depth interviews with teache rs and school principals in a small sample of selected sch ools in KwaZulu-Natal. Findings indicated that in severely affected communities, teachers were often compelled to assume roles traditionally filled by parents. AIDS awareness programmes formed part of the sch ools’ cu rriculum . However, m any schools did not consider inv olv ing grandparents, othe r care-giv ers and community mem bers in the physical, emotional and cognitive support needed by learners because teachers lacked training and schools lacked a policy of parent and community involvemen t in education of learners

The experience of and need for training of school governors in rural schools in South Africa

The concept of decentralisation originates from the belief that the state cannot alone control schools, but should share its power with other stakeholders, particularly those closer to the school, on a partnership basis. The South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996) mandates the establishment of school governing bodies that allow stakeholders — such as the state, parents, educators and learners (in secondary schools) — to play an active role in taking decisions on behalf of the school. However, this can only happen if participants in school governance are trained to decide on matters affecting their schools. With this in mind, qualitative research was undertaken to determine what training school governing bodies had received in selected rural schools in the Free State and to what extent this had assisted them in fulfilling their tasks. Findings indicated perceptions of training and its effectiveness. Based on the findings, detailed recommendations for the improvement of practice are made. South African Journal of Education Vol. 28 (3) 2008: pp. 385-40

Umbilical Hernia Incarceration: A Complication of Medical Therapy of Ascites

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73352/1/j.1572-0241.1983.tb01875.x.pd

KKbar molecules with momentum-dependent interactions

It is shown that the momentum-dependent kaon-antikaon interactions generated via vector meson exchange from the standard SU_V(3) x SU_A(3) interaction Lagrangian lead to a non-local potential in coordinate space that can be incorporated without approximation into a non-relativistic version of the Bethe-Salpeter wave equation containing a radial-dependent effective kaon mass appearing in a fully symmetrized kinetic energy operator, in addition to a local potential. Estimates of the mass and decay widths of f_0(980) and a_0(980), considered as KKbar molecules of isospin 0 and 1, as well as for K^+K^- atomic bound states (kaonium) are presented, and compared with previous studies of a similar nature. It is argued that without a better knowledge of hadronic form factors it is not possible to distinguish between the molecular versus elementary particle models for the structure of the light scalar mesons.Comment: 14 pages, 2 tables, 5 figures. Added subsection on s-channel exchange, additional remarks on the possible effect of gluon exchange, and 1 additional figur

Defects of the Broad Ligament of the Uterus

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74780/1/j.1572-0241.1986.tb01505.x.pd

Ground State Energy of the One-Component Charged Bose Gas

The model considered here is the `jellium' model in which there is a uniform, fixed background with charge density $-e\rho$ in a large volume $V$ and in which $N=\rho V$ particles of electric charge $+e$ and mass $m$ move --- the whole system being neutral. In 1961 Foldy used Bogolubov's 1947 method to investigate the ground state energy of this system for bosonic particles in the large $\rho$ limit. He found that the energy per particle is $-0.402 r_s^{-3/4} {me^4}/{\hbar^2}$ in this limit, where $r_s=(3/4\pi \rho)^{1/3}e^2m/\hbar^2$. Here we prove that this formula is correct, thereby validating, for the first time, at least one aspect of Bogolubov's pairing theory of the Bose gasComment: 38 pages latex. Typos corrected.Lemma 6.2 change

Development of an Annular Helicon Source for Electric Propulsion Applications

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76441/1/AIAA-2006-4841-172.pd