Constitutional Law—Due Process—Psychologically Coerced Confession

Constitutional Law—Due Process—Psychologically Coerced Confession (Fikes v. Alabama, U.S. 1957

Civil Procedure—Original Jurisdiction of the Montana Supreme Court—Declaratory Judgments

Civil Procedure—Original Jurisdiction of the Montana Supreme Court—Declaratory Judgments (State ex rel. Morgan v. Board of Examiners, Mont. 1957

Principal Efficacy: An Investigation of School Principals\u27 Sense of Efficacy and Indicators of School Effectiveness

At the individual school level, the responsibility for demonstrating school effectiveness lies on the shoulders of the building administrator. In fact, it is widely accepted that good principals are the cornerstones of good schools and that, without a principal\u27s leadership efforts to raise student achievement, schools cannot succeed (Tschannen-Moran & Gareis, 2004, p. 573). However, federal, state, and local mandates have increased the pressure on school administrators to demonstrate effectiveness. As a result, the work of school administrators has changed. Furthermore, Fullan (2003) identifies a trend that demonstrates a dramatic decrease in the principal\u27s perceptions of effectiveness, authority, trust, and involvement. Additionally, Bandura (2000) stated that when faced with obstacles, setbacks, and failures, those who doubt their capabilities slacken their efforts, give up, or settle for mediocre solutions. Therefore, the efficacy beliefs of the principal are vital to meeting the challenging expectations facing school administrators (Paglis & Green, 2002). The primary purpose of this study was to determine if there is a statistically significant relationship between principal\u27s sense of efficacy beliefs and indicators of school effectiveness. The participants for this study included 387 school administrators from the state of Georgia. The researcher utilized the Principal Sense of Efficacy Scale (PSES) developed by Tschannen-Moran and Gareis (2004) and a demographic survey to collect data. Data was collected by using an online survey site. A response rate of 24% was obtained. In regard to statistical findings, six hypotheses related to principal efficacy and school effectiveness were tested. Statistical significance was obtained in regard to principals\u27 years of experience and in regard to whether or not principal worked in a school that meet Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) or not. Additional findings suggested that there is not a strong link between principal efficacy beliefs and indicators of school effectiveness as demonstrated by this research. However, there were some interesting findings that justify the continued exploration of principal efficacy beliefs and factors associated with school effectiveness. Specifically, future research should examine the relationships between principals\u27 sense of efficacy for instructional leadership and principals\u27 sense of efficacy for management and indicators of school effectiveness at the middle and high school levels

The Honorable Russell E. Smith

The Honorable Russell E. Smit

Specificity of Salt Marsh Diazotrophs for Vegetation Zones and Plant Hosts: Results from a North American marsh

Salt marshes located on the east coast of temperate North America are highly productive, typically nitrogen-limited, and support diverse assemblages of free-living nitrogen fixing (diazotrophic) bacteria. This article reviews and analyzes data from North Inlet estuary (SC, USA), addressing diazotroph assemblage structure and the influence of plant host and environmental conditions on the assemblage. The North Inlet estuary is a salt marsh ecosystem in which anthropogenic influences are minimal and the distributions of diazotrophs are governed by the natural biota and dynamics of the system. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting and phylogenetic analyses of recovered sequences demonstrated that the distributions of some diazotrophs reflect plant host specificity and that diazotroph assemblages distributed across marsh gradients are also heavily influenced by edaphic conditions. Broadly distributed diazotrophs that are capable of maintaining populations under all environmental conditions spanning such gradients are also present in these assemblages. Statistical analyses indicate that the structures of diazotroph assemblages in different vegetation zones are significantly (p < 0.01) different. New data presented here demonstrate the heterogeneity of salt marsh rhizosphere microenvironments, and corroborate previous findings from different plant hosts growing at several locations within this estuary. The data from these collected works support the hypothesis that the biogeography of microorganisms is non-random and these biogeographic patterns are predictable

A Forced-Choice Rating Scale for College Instructors

The purpose of this study was to construct a forced-choice rating scale for evaluating students\u27 opinions of college instructors. The scale constructed consists of 20 tetrads, or groups of 4 statements descriptive of instructors. These statements were chosen so that a pair of favorable items, both appearing to be equally favorable, and a pair of unfavorable items, both appearing to be equally unfavorable, make up each tetrad. From each tetrad the rater must choose the item most characteristic and the item least characteristic of the ratee. The reason for choosing items in this manner can be seen in Sisson\u27s statement of the basic assumptions underlying the forced-choice method, which was used in rating Army officers