Park and recreation areas in thirteen cities of the metropolitan district of Boston

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1946. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Practices in applied phonics for grade one.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

PREDICTING THE RISK OF PIPELINE FAILURES AFTER HURRICANES

Over 30,000 hazardous material pipeline failures in the United States have been documented by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) since 1970. Hazardous pipeline failures, particularly failures associated with synoptic-scale extreme weather events like tropical cyclones, cause massive damage to the social, environmental, and economic landscapes. Yet even though tropical storms are broadly recognized as important drivers of pipeline failures, limited research has been conducted associating tropical storm characteristics with the likelihood of pipeline failure. This is largely due to limitations in historical records of pipeline failures, which are based on operator-generated incidence reports. As a substantial fraction of the hazardous material pipeline infrastructure is located in tropical storm/hurricane-prone regions, understanding how tropical cyclone (TC) characteristics impact pipelines is of critical importance, both now and as the intensity and frequency of tropical storms/hurricanes increase due to climate change. This analysis focuses on quantifying the relationship between tropical storm/hurricane characteristics and pipeline failure frequency. To accomplish this, PHMSA Failure Dataset and NOAA HURDAT2 Dataset are associated based on spatiotemporal concomitance to estimate the frequency of failure of pipelines in the aftermath of a tropical storm/hurricane. Over 70% of reported pipeline failures in TC active regions occur within the first year of TC exposure, and 17% occur within two months (60 days) of TC exposure. Since 1975, the annual frequency of pipeline failures within 60 days of TC exposure has more than doubled. The frequency of hazardous pipeline failures directly relates to the intensity (minimum pressure/maximum windspeed) of the tropical cyclone. Tropical storm/hurricane intensity explains 33% of inter-system variability in pipeline failure. Assuming linear continuations of strong increasing trends in mean tropical cyclone intensity, associations between storm strength and tropical cyclone intensity suggest that we may see an 5% increase in the frequency of annual hazardous pipeline failures in TC track regions per year by 2050. The results of this study can guide inspection and monitoring practices and create more responsive emergency response plans to reduce the potential contamination after a failure occurs. Limitations to the current PHMSA failure reporting data collection practices for pipeline failure cause attribution are discussed

Herbicide Evaluation in Arkansas Cotton, 1999

Herbicidal weed control is economically important for production of cotton. Field experiments are conducted annually in Arkansas to evaluate the activity of developmental and commercial herbicides for selective control of weeds in cotton. These experiments serve both industry and Arkansas agriculture by providing information on the selectivity of herbicides still in the developmental stage and by comparing the activity of these new herbicides with that of recommended herbicides

An Examination of Factors Influencing the Implementation of Student-Led IEP Meetings in Secondary Schools

Many parents/caregivers and teachers believe that students with disabilities acquire self-advocacy skills and benefit from leading their IEP meetings, yet it is unknown which teacher preparation factors have the greatest influence on implementation that will most likely increase the number of students leading their meetings. Some hypothesized teacher preparation factors affecting consistent implementation of student-led IEP meetings include; professional development, curricula and materials, administrative support, and scheduling instruction during the day. The purpose of this mixed method study was to analyze survey data from 88 special education professionals in a large Midwestern school district, and to compare differences between groups of secondary students with disabilities participating in, and/or leading, their IEP meetings and teacher preparation factors for implementing student-led IEP meetings. This study also proposed to ascertain the participants’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges associated with leading and participating in IEP meetings. The quantitative portion answered four research questions exploring significant differences between groups of students with disabilities participating in their IEP meetings and groups of students leading their IEP meetings, and teacher preparation scales for professional development, curricula and materials, administrative support, and scheduling instruction during the day. Correlations were computed among the four teacher preparation factors and the percentage of students participating in, and leading, IEP meetings. The qualitative portion of this study examined participant perceptions from open-ended and multiple-response survey questions. Findings indicated that fewer students were leading their IEP meetings than participating in their IEP meetings, and special education professionals receiving administrative support attended more IEP meetings where students were observed both leading and participating in their IEP meetings. Findings also suggest special education professionals receiving curricula and materials to accompany instruction attended more IEP meetings where students were only participating in their meetings. Open-ended survey responses offered insights into the effectiveness of professional development and curricula and materials, usefulness of administrative support, length and location of instruction, and parent perceptions of student-led IEP meetings. The findings from this study lend strong support to developing a process and procedure to increase the awareness and benefits of student-led IEP meetings with administrators, special education professionals, students, and families

Reliability generalization: lapsus linguae

This study examines the proposed Reliability Generalization (RG) method for studying reliability. RG employs the application of meta-analytic techniques similar to those used in validity generalization studies to examine reliability coefficients. This study explains why RG does not provide a proper research method for the study of reliability, including describing how reliability is not a singular metric but a family of coefficients that are not interchangeable, along with other issues, such as sample and test administration. This research used Monte Carlo simulations designed to illustrate how the same instrument, administered repeatedly, can result in different reliability coefficients and to show that variation in reliability coefficients is due to sampling error; results illustrate that the reliability of a test will vary across test administrations based on the size and composition of the sample and how the sample was selected (randomly versus non-randomly)

Stayers, Leavers, Lovers, and Dreamers: Why People Teach and Why They Stay - 2004 Barbara Biber Lecture

Marilyn Cochran-Smith delivers the Barbara Biber Lecture at Bank Street College in memorial of her legacy as a researcher, scholar, and leader in progressive education. Cochran-Smith focuses on what lies at the heart of teaching and learning on an individual level as well as what it will take to improve the current state of urban schools. Her main points address teacher retention and differences among generations of teachers