IGGy: An interactive environment for surface grid generation

A graphically interactive derivative of the EAGLE boundary code is presented. This code allows the user to interactively build and execute commands and immediately see the results. Strong ties with a batch oriented script language are maintained. A generalized treatment of grid definition parameters allows a more generic definition of the grid generation process and allows the generation of command scripts which can be applied to topologically similar configurations. The use of the graphical user interface is outlined and example applications are presented

Social and Emotional Support for Children and their Caregivers Post-Disasters

The purpose of this paper is to share Save the Children’s responses to Hurricane Harvey in Texas, Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and Hurricane Irma in Florida in 2017. Save the Children’s response and recovery efforts in the aftermath of these disasters consisted of a wide range of services for the affected children and their caregivers, including assistance to childcare centers and organizations, and providing child-focused services, such as psychosocial support. This paper will particularly focus on the psychosocial support element of the responses

A Chickasaw Homecoming

Since its inception, the Chickasaw Inkana Foundation’s mission: To preserve, protect and interpret the culture and history of the Chickasaw people in the historic Chickasaw Homeland, has been personified through historical, cultural and preservation education and programing, public relations, historic site preservation and encouragement of original research in Chickasaw archaeology, culture and history. The foundation, in partnership with the Chickasaw Nation, hosts annual celebrations of Chickasaw culture and history throughout the historic Homeland, and also acquires and preserves endangered cultural and sacred sites important to the Chickasaw people. Additionally, the CIF, in partnership with the Chickasaw Nation, State of Mississippi, The United States Department of the Interior and the City of Tupelo, is tasked with the fundraising, development, construction and operation of a fully state-of-the-art Chickasaw Heritage Center (CHC) to be located in Tupelo, Mississippi, the heart of the historic Chickasaw Homeland

Education and social equality in Kenya

This paper develops the premise that schools are simultaneously involved in defining and justifying both systems of stratification and ideals and practices of egalitarianism. It argues that this apparent paradox is resolved in the notion of meritocratic selection and then draws on varied Kenyan data to assess the extent to which the notion is both a practical reality and an article of national policy

Leader Behavior Factor Structures: A Function of Leader Behavior, Implicit Leadership Theories or Both?

This study attempted to resolve the controversy in implicit leadership research concerning whether factor structures commonly found in leadership questionnaires are a function of the actual factor structures of leader behaviors, of the preconceived structures of leader behavior imposed by raters, or both. This study replicated and extended the Weiss and Adler (1981) study on implicit leadership theory. 250 subjects were asked to describe an imaginary supervisor using the Survey of Organizations and the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire Form XII leadership scales. The subjects also completed a measure of the differentiation aspect of cognitive complexity. High- and low-differentiation subgroups, formed by a median split, were then compared on perceptions of leader behavior covariation. The results were mixed. With the Survey of Organizations items, the high-differentiation subgroup had a lower mean inter-item correlation and a more differentiated factor structure than the low-differentiation subgroup. The correlation between differentiation scores and within-subject across-item variances also indicated that high-differentiation raters showed greater variability in scores for each ratee across dimensions than the low-differentiation raters using the Survey of Organizations items. However, the items from the LBDQ XII did not find any substantial differences between the differentiation subgroups. The analysis of a total of 44 items chosen from the two leadership questionnaires based on their high standard deviations also failed to find a substantial difference between the two subgroups. The controversy in implicity leadership research was therefore not resolved. Further investigation with alternative methods is warranted

Hidden Heroes in Tolkien\u27s Lord of the Rings

Joseph Campbell in his seminal book The Hero with a Thousand Faces says in the final chapter, The Hero Today, that unlike the classical hero, the modern hero faces a world that does not embrace a single mythology. Then all meaning was in the group, in the great anonymous forms, none in the self-expressive individual; today no meaning is in the group -- none in the world: all is in the individual (334). That does not mean, however, that there are no heroes in the modern world or that the modern world requires no heroic figure -- quite the contrary. The modern world\u27s need is greater now than in years ago because the modern world does not see or even acknowledge its need of a hero. Into this modern heroic J.R.R. Tolkien provides in his Lord of the Rings trilogy, not one, but several heroic figures that demonstrate the surviving appeal of the classical hero in the modern age. The proposed paper will examine the characters of two minor, but nevertheless heroic, characters -- Sam and Gimli -- as they relate to the heroic journey as described by Campbell

Readiness to Lead: Novice School Leaders\u27 Perceptions of the IMPACT Arkansas Fellowship Experience on Their Preparedness to Assume School Leadership Roles

Research provides increasing evidence that school leadership correlates with school performance (Herman et al., 2016). The leadership skills of K-12 school administrators are linked with student achievement. Evidence indicates that school leaders’ roles continue to evolve as accountability measures change (Grissom et al., 2021). Historically, principal preparation programs emphasized developing management skills. According to research, this is insufficient to prepare instructional leaders for the complex social context of contemporary education (Hernandez et al., 2012; Kerston, 2010; Levine, 2005; Lynch, 2012; Miller, 2013; Zubnzycki, 2013). Unfortunately, most principal preparation programs (PPPs) have not kept pace with the expanding role of principals to meet the evolving demands of modern school administrators (Bacon, 2016; Kersten et al., 2010; Mitgang 2012). Insufficient research has been conducted to evaluate if emerging PPPs develop instructional leaders who are more prepared than graduates of standard academic programs. This study might provide information on the efficacy of such initiatives. The IMPACT Arkansas Fellowship is an innovative alternative to a conventional educational leadership program. It is designed to provide individualized experiences and support to better equip aspiring school leaders for formal leadership positions in Arkansas high-poverty schools. This qualitative study aims to examine how recent graduates perceive the IMPACT Arkansas Fellowship program to have prepared them for the complexities of school leadership, as well as their levels of self-efficacy associated with the effective application of leadership knowledge and skills. More specifically, the study intends to illuminate the relationship between IMPACT PPP components and self-efficacy through an analysis of graduates\u27 perceptions of their leadership preparation experiences

Readiness to Lead: Novice School Leaders\u27 Perceptions of the IMPACT Arkansas Fellowship Experience on Their Preparedness to Assume School Leadership Roles

Research provides increasing evidence that school leadership correlates with school performance (Herman et al., 2016). The leadership skills of K-12 school administrators are linked with student achievement. Evidence indicates that school leaders’ roles continue to evolve as accountability measures change (Grissom et al., 2021). Historically, principal preparation programs emphasized developing management skills. According to research, this is insufficient to prepare instructional leaders for the complex social context of contemporary education (Hernandez et al., 2012; Kerston, 2010; Levine, 2005; Lynch, 2012; Miller, 2013; Zubnzycki, 2013). Unfortunately, most principal preparation programs (PPPs) have not kept pace with the expanding role of principals to meet the evolving demands of modern school administrators (Bacon, 2016; Kersten et al., 2010; Mitgang 2012). Insufficient research has been conducted to evaluate if emerging PPPs develop instructional leaders who are more prepared than graduates of standard academic programs. This study might provide information on the efficacy of such initiatives. The IMPACT Arkansas Fellowship is an innovative alternative to a conventional educational leadership program. It is designed to provide individualized experiences and support to better equip aspiring school leaders for formal leadership positions in Arkansas high-poverty schools. This qualitative study aims to examine how recent graduates perceive the IMPACT Arkansas Fellowship program to have prepared them for the complexities of school leadership, as well as their levels of self-efficacy associated with the effective application of leadership knowledge and skills. More specifically, the study intends to illuminate the relationship between IMPACT PPP components and self-efficacy through an analysis of graduates\u27 perceptions of their leadership preparation experiences