Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Education Acts”

Distance learning using telecommunications technologies holds new and challenging promises for library and information science (LIS) education. Pedagogical, technological, cultural/sociopolitical issues and their impact upon the constituents involved--faculty, accrediting bodies, students, employers and educational administration--need to be systematically studied. Findings of a research project that examined one of the human agencies involved in distance learning, full-time faculty at library schools who have taught LIS courses for graduate credit to distance learners using a telecommunications technology, are reported. The primary research questions were exploratory ones that sought answers about the impact of the distance-learning educational model upon faculty. The methodology used was a mix of written survey, telephone, and direct interview techniques. Faculty perceived that their role changed in the distance-learning model from what it was in the traditional classroom-based model. "Teaching is no longer a private act; it is a public performance." Other findings are that more time is required for class preparation; patterns of interaction and communication between students and faculty are different; technical and managerial skills are needed; sociopolitical issues (such as copyright) need to be addressed; and specific knowledge about learning behaviors within this model is needed. Teaching, in this model, is a complex performance that may conflict with the prevailing organizational culture of both the institution and the academic profession. However, the "critical mass" of a library school teaching faculty (conspicuous for its small size) requires several changes if distance learning is to be pursued successfully, and these are discussed briefly. Salient, early historical points about the Board of Education for Librarianship (BEL, American Library Association), American Association of Library Schools (AALS), forerunner to the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), and the Gaylord Brothers (New York) financed American Correspondence School of Librarianship (ACSL) are included.

Thesis (doctoral)--Åbo akademi, 2009.
Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Accompanying disc includes video, forms and text of book in PDF format. Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-250). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2008.
"Department of Health Education and Recreation." Keywords: Health education associations, Professional associations, Health education, Advocacy, Communication, Elected officials, Public policy Includes bibliographical references (p.193-208). Also available online.

This work analyses national and international educational acts which define civic education. In this way the emphasis on aspects of civic education is aimed. First of all, the theoretical conception of civic education is discused. Also, the situation of civic education in neighbouring countries and countries of the EU is surveyed. Analyses of documents defining civic education of various international organizations - a member of which Lithuania is - are included. Besides, the process of the creation of Lithuanian system of civic education is analysed in the context of education reform. During all the period of education reform a conciderable attention was paid to civic education. The system was constantly being improved, new programs were being created and the content and form of upbringing changed. Finally, suggestions about the perfection of implementation of the civic education policy are presented at the end of the work.

This study investigates tasks in which international graduate students who are non-native speakers of English must use a second or foreign language (L2) in simulated conflict and stressful situations with native speakers. In particular, the study examines conflicts where the non-native speaker (NNS) must issue a directive to a native speaker (NS) in order to achieve an important outcome or avoid unwanted or even dangerous consequences. Unlike previous studies which place equal or no emphasis on the consequences of the directive under investigation, this study focuses on the perlocutionary effect that the speaker anticipates as a result of the utterance of a directive. Although this is an empirical study, it also critically examines the directive as a macro or discursive speech act colored by the relationships Power, Distance and perceived Consequences of the speaker based on the context of the situation in which it is uttered. The analysis of the data reveals that most advanced NNS have difficulty in high stakes situations based on a comparison of their directives to NS directives, supporting the hypothesis that the encoding of power in a directive is essential to the NNS as well as to the NS in attaining or avoiding some important result. The qualitative evidence further suggests that an important source of this difficulty is the constant awareness that even the advanced NNS is still a NNS and this produces a diminished sense of power relative to NSs.

Language students must learn to communicate effectively in cross-cultural settings, avoiding unwitting violations of culturally determined norms of behavior. This study compares German learners of English ( GEs) with native speakers of English ( AEs) and German (GGs), studying pragmatic transfer associated with the face-threatening speech act of refusal. Data elicitation involved a written role-play questionnaire composed of twelve refusal situations, including four refusal stimulus types (requests, invitations, offers, and suggestions) and interlocutors of higher, lower, and equal status. Response strategies were identified and classified, and the three groups were compared in terms of frequency and content of strategies chosen. Overall, the findings suggest that the AEs strove for friction-free interactions, while the German subjects tended to be candid. The AEs opted for inoffensive, routinized responses, emphasizing face-protection, and eschewing expressions of unwillingness. The AEs generally provided only vague excuses, relying extensively on positive forms aimed at preserving rapport. Social distance affected AE levels of politeness. By contrast, GG response patterns were situation-specific. Toward unjustified requests or unwelcome suggestions, the GGs exhibited directness, outspokenness with critical remarks, and willingness to risk confrontation, regardless of relative status. In more neutral situations, status and social distance influenced levels of politeness. The GEs appeared to assess situational factors in much the same way as the GGs; however, GE responses were consistently more tempered. Both groups of Germans were more open with expressions of unwillingness than the AEs. They tended to provide solid justification for refusals, while maintaining a more aloof stance. When there was no cause for irritation, the GEs recognized the need for greater tactfulness in English (probably responding according to explicit teaching). When aggravated, however, they lapsed into pragmatic patterns of their native language, following their "gut reactions." Sometimes GE efforts to exceed German native speaker levels of politeness led to "hyper-correction" (i.e., going beyond the AEs' degree of politeness).Occasionally, the GEs transferred German native speaker strategies for increasing politeness. In situations of potential conflict, the GEs might startle native speakers with unexpected candor, the shock exacerbated by cultural proximity and the GEs' near approach of native speaker norms on other levels.

This thesis examines the impact of the 1862 and 1890 Morrill Acts on Virginia’s public higher education system. While the Morrill Acts, issued by the federal government, expanded access to higher education for all Americans, they also resulted in the entrenchment of segregation in seventeen different state public higher education systems. The segregated public higher education systems in Virginia and elsewhere led to inequality in the higher education available to African Americans students, compared with the higher education available to white students within these states. This thesis will address the disparity, brought about by unequal funding of institutions based upon race, which Virginia’s state government policy exacerbated, from 1872 to 1953. It will analyze the difference between the funding and program availability at Virginia Tech, designated to educate white students, compared with Virginia State University, which was the public institution designated to educate African American students during this period.

A l'occasion de deux recherches menées autour de la question de l'éducation à l'environnement et au développement durable nous avons pu observer que ce champ était exposé à des controverses de tous ordres : scientifiques, éthiques, politiques, techniques, etc… autant que piégé par toutes sortes de représentations sociales fondées ou erronées. Le corollaire pratique de ces controverses a été le recours au débat comme moyen de mieux comprendre les enjeux en présence, de dépasser les représentations « automatiques » ou « aveugles » de la réalité afin de prendre des décisions raisonnables. Notre problématique porte sur l'identification des conditions d'efficacité du débat réglé et argumenté, et sur l'observation des mécanismes qui permettent au débat de servir de cadre pour l'apprentissage à la mise en problème, à la co construction de savoirs et à l'éducation à la citoyenneté dans et hors l'école, mais aussi dans les organisations, depuis les associations jusqu'aux entreprises. Notre thèse est qu'il existe, dans la forme même des débats et plus largement des échanges langagiers, une articulation génératrice d'apprentissages et de volonté d'agir, entre d'une part les types d'arguments élaborés et exposés par les locuteurs et d'autre part la manière dont s'effectuent les échanges. Autrement dit, il existe une relation d'ordre cognitif entre effort de rationalisation au niveau des argumentations et effort de communication au niveau des interactions langagières
On the occasion of two researches around the issue of environmental education and sustainable development we have seen that this field was exposed to all kinds of controversy: scientific, ethical, political, technical, etc. as well as trapped by all kinds of social representations based or erroneous. The practical corollary of this controversy was the use of debate as a means to better understand the issues at stake, beyond the representations of "automatic" or "blind" to reality in order to make reasonable decisions.Our problem concerns the identification of the conditions of efficiency and reasoned debate settled, and observation mechanisms that allow the debate to provide a framework for learning the setting problem, the co-construction of knowledge and citizenship education in and out of school, but also in organizations, from associations to businesses. Our work will focus on describing these conditions and lead to the development of a typology of debates according to criteria of greater or lesser efficiency in terms of problematization, co-construction of knowledge and effective action. Our thesis is that there exists, in the form of debates and more broadly language exchanges, generating a joint learning and willingness to act, on the one hand between the types of arguments developed and presented by the speakers and secondly how to perform the exchange. In other words, there is a relationship between cognitive rationalization at the level of argumentation and communication efforts at linguistic interactions

The purpose of this study is to investigate the complaint speech act set used by Turkish EFL learners speaking to a commiserating and contradicting teacher. For this purpose, four kinds of data sources were used: twenty native English speakers&
#8217
role-plays, twenty five Turkish native speakers&
#8217
role-plays, forty students&
#8217
role-plays and two native speakers&
#8217
judgments on the students&
#8217
production. The subjects were given two different situations. Their role-plays were audio taped and transcribed. The subjects&
#8217
complaint speech act sets were analyzed, using a coding scheme from a previous study in the literature. The baseline and the interlanguage data were compared using SPSS to see to what extent they were similar and different, and to see whether or not the Turkish EFL learners made positive and negative transfer, and whether there were any features unique to the interlanguage of the learners. The findings of the study revealed that Turkish EFL learners produced a complaint speech act set when speaking to a commiserating and contradicting teacher. The components of the complaint speech act set realized by the learners were &
#8216
complaint&
#8217
, &
#8216
justification&
#8217
, &
#8216
candidate solution: request&
#8217
, &
#8216
candidate solution: demand&
#8217
, and &
#8216
explanation of purpose&
#8217
. When speaking to the commiserating teacher, the students made positive transfer in using the components &
#8216
explanation of purpose&
#8217
, &
#8216
complaint&
#8217
, &
#8216
justification&
#8217
, and &
#8216
request&
#8217
. They made negative transfer in using &
#8216
demand&
#8217
. The students speaking to the contradicting teacher made positive transfer in their use of the components &
#8216
explanation of purpose&
#8217
, &
#8216
complaint&
#8217
and &
#8216
justification&
#8217
. The component &
#8216
demand&
#8217
was subject to negative transfer.

International teaching assistants (ITAs) are considered advanced English users with relatively high standardized language proficiency test scores. However, they may experience difficulties during their interactions with undergraduate students. Some of these difficulties may arise from affective factors such as ambiguity, stress, and adjustment and can impact language use. From an individual differences perspective, a second language user with high communication anxiety may have difficulty comprehending or producing appropriate pragmalinguistic forms. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study examined the underlying factors in ITAs communication anxiety and willingness to communicate in the US classroom and how these factors explained their pragmatic competence, which refers to the ability to use language in socially appropriate ways. A total of 289 ITAs participated in the study. To measure their judgement of appropriateness, a pragmatic appropriateness test was designed. The speech act production was elicited through a discourse completion test. Two survey instruments were designed to measure ITAs’ classroom communication anxiety and willingness to communicate. The major underlying factors from the exploratory factor analysis performed on the survey responses were ‘ease of communication,’ classroom management anxiety,’ ‘fear of warning,’ and ‘willingness to interact with students’. A six-predictor multiple regression analysis revealed that linguistic competence was the most important factor contributing to pragmatic competence. Other factors such as ease of communication and willingness to communicate positively correlated with pragmatic competence. In addition to quantitative data, qualitative data were collected in the form of classroom observations, field notes, and interviews from a group of ITAs (N = 4) who had also participated in the quantitative part of the study. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed that the situational context of instruction determined the particular communication patterns in different disciplines, specifically the impact of threat posed to the negative and positive face of the discourse participants. Additionally, in conjunction with the quantitative findings, while the ITAs seemed to be generally willing to interact with students, teacher-fronted talk in the form of delivering lectures and self-talk especially in large classes was found to be anxiety-inducing for some of them. Length of residence and opportunities for communication seemed to influence the process of adjustment and acquisition of the classroom pragmatic norms. Finally, ITAs’ perceptions and beliefs about appropriateness seemed to affect their pragmatic performance in the classroom. More specifically, ITAs’ perspectives on education and communication such as moderating the power variable in class and building rapport and interpersonal relationships with students through casual talk seemed to guide their choices of pragmalinguistic forms and politeness strategies. The study offered a number of implications for ITA research and training.

Submitted by Maria Cláudia Carmo (mcarmo9@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-02-04T01:15:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_FINAL Maria Cláudia Silva do Carmo.pdf: 2348995 bytes, checksum: ad6177daf5f36c53f544158fc9224f97 (MD5)
Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora da Silva Lopes (silopes@ufba.br) on 2014-02-11T14:31:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_FINAL Maria Cláudia Silva do Carmo.pdf: 2348995 bytes, checksum: ad6177daf5f36c53f544158fc9224f97 (MD5)
Made available in DSpace on 2014-02-11T14:31:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_FINAL Maria Cláudia Silva do Carmo.pdf: 2348995 bytes, checksum: ad6177daf5f36c53f544158fc9224f97 (MD5)
A tese intitulada “Atos de Currículo como mediação no processo de construção das politicas de sentido da Didática no contexto da formação docente”, objetiva compreender como os atos de currículo produzem mediação no processo de construção das políticas de sentido da Didática pelos estudantes dos Cursos de Licenciatura da UEFS. A pesquisa de natureza qualitativa adota como inspiração e escolha dos caminhos metodológicos a Etnopesquisa Crítica e Multirreferencial. A fim de compreender o objetivo da pesquisa optou-se pelos dispositivos: observação participante, grupo focal, entrevista aberta e análise de documentos. A tese em sua tessitura abre-se para algumas brechas e possibilidades: os atos de currículo produzem mediação nas emergências de autorização dos protagonistas da disciplina Didática, como atores curriculantes e produtores de atos de currículo, constroem e desconstroem políticas de sentido em relação à Didática; os atos de currículo como mediação empoderam os atores curriculantes a alterarem as políticas de sentido da Didática e os atos de currículo como mediação contribuem na construção de políticas de sentido de Didáticas outras. A tese conclui que as políticas de sentido de Didáticas são multirreferenciais, hibrídas e implicacionais, assim, as políticas de sentido da Didática dialógica e dialética, abrem-se para possibilidades de Etnodidáticas.
ABSTRACT The thesis entitled "Acts of Curriculum as mediation in the process of construction of Didactics sense policies in the context of teacher education", aims to understand how the acts of mediation in the process of producing curriculum construction of Didatics sense policies by the students of Degree courses at The State University of Feira de Santana (UEFS) occour. This research is of a qualitative nature and adopts the methodological ways of the Critical Ethno and Multireferrencial research. In order to understand the purpose of the survey we have chosen some of the following methods: participant observation, focus group, review of documents and open interviews. The thesis in its structure points out to some possibilities: the acts of curriculum produce mediation in the emergencies of the authorization of the protagonists of the Didactics subject matter, as curriculum actors and producers of curriculum acts, they build and destroy sense policies regarding Didactics; the acts of curriculum as mediation empowers the actors, curriculum practitioners to change the policies of the Didactics and curriculum acts as mediation contribute to the construction of Educational directions of other policies. The thesis concludes that Teaching direction policies are multirreferencial, hybríd and implicacional ones, so the sense of dialogical and dialectic Didactics policies open up to the Ethno Didactics possibilities.

This thesis presents an argument for the use of dialogic halaqah to develop the personal autonomy of young Muslims in twenty-first century Britain. It begins by developing a theoretical grounding for Islamic conceptualisations of personal autonomy and dialogic pedagogy. In doing so, it aims to generate dialogue between Islamic and ‘western’ educational traditions, and to clarify the theoretical foundation of halaqah, a traditional Islamic oral pedagogy, that has been adapted to meet the educational needs of Muslim children in contemporary Britain. Dialogic halaqah is daily practice in two independent British Muslim faith-schools, providing a safe space for young Muslims to cumulatively explore challenging issues, in order to facilitate the development of selfhood, hybrid identity and personal autonomy, theorised as shakhsiyah Islamiyah. This thesis examines the relationship between thought, language, and the development of personal autonomy in neo-Ghazalian, Vygotskian and Bakhtinian traditions, and suggests the possibility of understanding shakhsiyah Islamiyah as a dialogical Muslim-self. This theoretical work underpins an empirical study of data generated through dialogic halaqah held with groups of schoolchildren and young people. Using established analytic schemes, data from these sessions are subjected to both thematic and dialogue analyses. Emergent themes relating to autonomy and choice, independent and critical thinking, navigating authority, peer pressure, and choosing to be Muslim are explored. Themes related to halaqah as dialogic pedagogy, whether and how it supports the development of agency, resilience and independent thinking, and teacher and learner roles in halaqah, are examined. Moreover, findings from dialogue analysis, which evaluates the quality of educational dialogue generated within halaqah, that is, participants’ capacity to engage in dialogue with each other, as well as with an imagined secular other, are presented. The quality of the dialogic interactions is evaluated, as is evidence of individual participant’s autonomy in their communicative actions.

El propósito de investigar y experimentar en los procesos de comprensión/interpretación y producción de textos argumentativos surge del problema detectado: la falta de hábitos de razonamiento lógico y discursivo del estudiantado y su repercusión en la adquisición de nuevos conocimientos. La determinación de objetivos ha ido encaminada, por tanto, a demostrar las hipótesis planteadas. El objetivo general que nos hemos propuesto en esta tesis es detectar las dificultades de razonamiento conceptual y referencial en producciones escritas por estudiantes de primer curso universitario, de tema jurídico y tipología examen, relativas a la comprensión y recepción de los discursos argumentativos, con el fin de orientar propuestas de intervención educativa que puedan mejorar la formación receptora de los aprendices. Y los objetivos específicos que conducen a la confirmación de las diferentes fases de realización de la tesis son: 1) delimitación de las categorías de análisis; 2) análisis cualitativo de algunos procedimientos argumentativos utilizados en los textos-exámenes, con ayuda del programa informático de análisis de datos Atlas.ti., como herramienta y modelo teórico de innovación didáctica; 3) valoración crítica de los resultados obtenidos; 4) ejemplificación de estrategias metatextuales y metacognitivas, y 5) descripción de experiencias de intervención didáctica en el ámbito literario. Se trata de una tesis surgida en el campo de la investigación educativa, concretamente de la enseñanza en didáctica de la lengua y la literatura, con características multifuncionales: cualitativa, comprensiva, de análisis textual y con matices etnográficos, derivada de la línea de investigación estudios lingüísticos con fines específicos. Se ha seguido un enfoque de innovación educativa y transposición didáctica, orientada hacia la comprensión, el descubrimiento y la interpretación de la realidad, que propugna la interacción social entre participantes y que tiene en cuenta factores de la teoría crítica. Cabe destacar algunos presupuestos teóricos de la documentación analizada: 1) carácter dialógico y comunicativo de la argumentación: forma de discurso, oral o escrito, en que los interlocutores, de manera dialéctica, confrontan argumentos y contraargumentos para llegar a una conclusión; 2) ponderación de la pragmática como disciplina que estudia usos y acciones del lenguaje, primordialmente los actos de habla, con los que convergen lingüistas y filósofos; 3) atención expresa al lenguaje jurídico, un tipo de texto que presenta marcas lingüísticas y discursivas específicas; 4) estudio de los implícitos e inferencias del discurso argumentativo, así como de los mecanismos lingüísticos de conexión textual y de expresión modal causantes de la mayor o menor fuerza argumentativa de las secuencias argumentativas (premisas-conclusiones); 5) consideración de los textos-examen analizados como un macroacto argumentativo, donde se muestran las intenciones del emisor/a-estudiante para evidenciar sus conocimientos y provocar una reacción positiva ante el receptor/a-profesor/a, como demostración de interrelación comunicativa. En cuanto a los resultados obtenidos del análisis, principalmente sobre la competencia argumentativa adquirida, de acuerdo con modelos elaborados previamente y una vez realizadas las operaciones textuales de reducción de datos –segmentación, codificación y agrupación en categorías–, se ha conseguido acotar las secuencias argumentativas y el proceso seguido por cada estudiante, en función de la comprensión realizada. De todo el material analizado, se han detectado aciertos y carencias: precisiones e imprecisiones, tanto en inferencias, explícitas e implícitas, como en las conclusiones de las premisas, en las que los indicadores de fuerza juegan un papel relevante. Además, se han realizado comentarios que han permitido extraer conclusiones y valoraciones cualitativas. Se ha introducido también un factor de evaluación, en términos numéricos, como indicador cuantitativo. El resultado numérico obtenido evidencia un bajo nivel competencial, referido únicamente a la capacidad argumentativa de la pregunta, sin tener en cuenta la parte teórica del examen: una valoración global de las dos partes de la prueba hubiera mejorado notablemente la evaluación. Ello confirma que reproducir y describir conocimientos temáticos es mucho más fácil que relacionar conceptos, en los que deben plantearse argumentaciones inferenciales y llegar a conclusiones plausibles construyendo pensamiento nuevo. Se ha querido también singularizar la importancia de los nuevos paradigmas de la argumentación que se alejan de la lógica formal y reintroducen la retórica, en el sentido clásico; a la vez que se han incorporado principios de correlación social e histórica entre épocas, corrientes y contextos, en los que las distintas teorías se han desarrollado. Asimismo, se han descrito estudios, experiencias y ejemplos suficientes sobre la adquisición de la competencia argumentativa, mostrando procedimientos argumentativos y estrategias metatextuales y metacognitivas, tanto de lectura inferencial como de producción escrita, que llevan a integrar los conocimientos enciclopédicos y las nuevas informaciones de forma significativa. Se ha señalado también la necesidad de considerar el componente social y crítico de la lectura en la formación de los receptores, atendiendo a las necesidades de cada colectivo, en cuanto a temáticas, niveles de madurez lectora y exigencias de las propias disciplinas académicas.
El propòsit d’investigar i experimentar en els processos de comprensió/interpretació i producció de textos argumentatius sorgeix del problema detectat: la manca d’hàbits de raonament lògic i discursiu de l’estudiantat i la seva repercussió en l’adquisició de nous coneixements. La determinació d’objectius ha anat encaminada, per tant, a demostrar les hipòtesis plantejades. L’objectiu general que ens hem proposat en aquesta tesi és detectar les dificultats de raonament conceptual i referencial en produccions escrites per estudiants de primer curs universitari, de tema jurídic i tipologia examen, relatives a la comprensió i recepció dels discursos argumentatius, per tal d’orientar propostes d’intervenció educativa que puguin millorar la formació receptora dels aprenents. I els objectius específics que condueixen a la confirmació de les diferents fases de realització de la tesi són: 1) delimitació de les categories d’anàlisi; 2) anàlisi qualitativa d’alguns procediments argumentatius utilitzats en els textos-exàmens, amb ajuda del programa informàtic d’anàlisi de dades Atlas.ti., com a eina i model teòric d’innovació didàctica; 3) valoració crítica dels resultats obtinguts; 4) exemplificació d’estratègies metatextuals i metacognitives, i 5) descripció d’experiències d’intervenció didàctica en l’àmbit literari. Es tracta d’una tesi sorgida en el camp de la recerca educativa, concretament de l’ensenyament en didàctica de la llengua i la literatura, amb característiques multifuncionals: qualitativa, comprensiva, d’anàlisi textual i amb matisos etnogràfics, derivada de la línia de recerca d’estudis lingüístics amb fins específics. S’ha seguit un enfocament d’innovació educativa i transposició didàctica, orientada cap a la comprensió, el descobriment i la interpretació de la realitat, que propugna la interacció social entre participants i que té en compte factors de la teoria crítica. Cal destacar alguns pressupòsits teòrics de la documentació analitzada: 1) caràcter dialògic i comunicatiu de l’argumentació: forma de discurs, oral o escrit, en què els interlocutors, de manera dialèctica, confronten arguments i contraarguments per arribar a una conclusió; 2) ponderació de la pragmàtica com a disciplina que estudia usos i accions del llenguatge, primordialment els actes de parla, amb els quals convergeixen lingüistes i filòsofs; 3) atenció expressa al llenguatge jurídic, un tipus de text que presenta marques lingüístiques i discursives específiques; 4) estudi dels implícits i inferències del discurs argumentatiu, així com dels mecanismes lingüístics de connexió textual i d’expressió modal causants de la major o menor força argumentativa de les seqüències argumentatives (premisses-conclusions); 5) consideració dels textos-examen analitzats com un macroacte argumentatiu, on es mostren les intencions de l’emissor/a-estudiant per evidenciar els seus coneixements i provocar una reacció positiva davant el receptor/a-professor/a, com a demostració d’interrelació comunicativa. Pel que fa als resultats obtinguts de l’anàlisi, principalment sobre la competència argumentativa adquirida, d’acord amb models elaborats prèviament i una vegada realitzades les operacions textuals de reducció de dades -segmentació, codificació i agrupació en categories-, s’ha aconseguit delimitar les seqüències argumentatives i el procés seguit per cada estudiant, en funció de la comprensió realitzada. De tot el material analitzat, s’han detectat encerts i mancances: precisions i imprecisions, tant en inferències, explícites i implícites, com en les conclusions de les premisses, en què els indicadors de força juguen un paper rellevant. A més, s’han realitzat comentaris que han permès extreure conclusions i valoracions qualitatives. S’ha introduït també un factor d’avaluació, en termes numèrics, com a indicador quantitatiu. El resultat numèric obtingut evidencia un baix nivell competencial, referit únicament a la capacitat argumentativa de la pregunta, sense tenir en compte la part teòrica de l’examen: una valoració global de les dues parts de la prova hauria millorat notablement l’avaluació. Això confirma que reproduir i descriure coneixements temàtics és molt més fàcil que relacionar conceptes, en els quals s’han de plantejar argumentacions inferencials i arribar a conclusions plausibles construint pensament nou. S’ha volgut també singularitzar la importància dels nous paradigmes de l’argumentació que s’allunyen de la lògica formal i reintrodueixen la retòrica, en el sentit clàssic; alhora que s’han incorporat principis de correlació social i històrica entre èpoques, corrents i contextos, en què les diferents teories s’han desenvolupat. Així mateix, s’han descrit estudis, experiències i exemples suficients sobre l’adquisició de la competència argumentativa, mostrant procediments argumentatius i estratègies metatextuals i metacognitives, tant de lectura inferencial com de producció escrita, que porten a integrar els coneixements enciclopèdics i les noves informacions de forma significativa. S’ha assenyalat també la necessitat de considerar el component social i crític de la lectura en la formació dels receptors, atenent a les necessitats de cada col·lectiu, quant a temàtiques, nivells de maduresa lectora i exigències de les pròpies disciplines acadèmiques.
The purpose of investigating and experimenting in the processes of comprehension / interpretation and production of argumentative texts arises from the problem detected: the lack of logical and discursive reasoning habits of students and their repercussion on the acquisition of new knowledge. The determination of objectives has been aimed, therefore, at demonstrating the hypotheses put forward. The general objective that we have proposed in this thesis is to detect the difficulties of conceptual and referential reasoning in written productions by first year university students, of legal subject and exams typology, related to the comprehension and reception of argumentative discourses, in order to guide educational intervention proposals that can improve the receptive training of the trainees. And the specific objectives that lead to the confirmation of the different phases of the thesis are: 1) delimitation of the categories of analysis; 2) qualitative analysis about some argumentative procedures used in the texts-exams, with the help of the data analysis software Atlas.ti., as a tool and theoretical model of didactic innovation; 3) critical evaluation of the results obtained; 4) exemplification of metatextual and metacognitive strategies, and 5) description of experiences of didactic intervention in the literary field. This is a thesis that arose in the field of educational research, specifically in the teaching of language and literature didactics, with multifunctional characteristics: qualitative, comprehensive, textual analysis and ethnographic nuances, derived from the research line of linguistic studies for specific purposes. It has followed an approach of educational innovation and didactic transposition, oriented towards understanding, discovery and interpretation of reality, which advocates social interaction among participants and takes into account factors of critical theory. It should be noted some theoretical assumptions of the analyzed documentation: 1) dialogic and communicative nature of argumentation: form of discourse, oral or written, in which the interlocutors, in a dialectical manner, confront arguments and counterarguments to reach a conclusion; 2) weighting of pragmatics as a discipline that studies uses and actions of language, primarily speech acts, with which linguists and philosophers converge; 3) express attention to legal language, a type of text that presents specific linguistic and discursive marks; 4) study of the implicit and inferences of argumentative discourse, as well as of the linguistic mechanisms of textual connection and modal expression that cause the greater or lesser argumentative force of the argumentative sequences (premises-conclusions); 5) consideration of the texts-exams analyzed as an argumentative macroact, where the intentions of the sender/student are shown in order to demonstrate his/her knowledge and provoke a positive reaction before the receiver/professor, as a demonstration of communicative interrelation. As for the results obtained from the analysis, mainly on the acquired argumentative competence, according to previously elaborated models and once the textual operations of data reduction -segmentation, codification and grouping into categories- have been carried out, the argumentative sequences and the process followed by each student have been demarcated, according to the comprehension achieved. From all the material analyzed, we have detected successes and shortcomings: accuracies and inaccuracies, both in explicit and implicit inferences, and in the conclusions of the premises, in which strength indicators play a relevant role. In addition, comments have been made that have allowed drawing qualitative conclusions and assessments. An evaluation factor has also been introduced, in numerical terms, as a quantitative indicator. The numerical result obtained shows a low level of competence, referring only to the argumentative capacity of the question, without taking into account the theoretical part of the exam: an overall assessment of the two parts of the test would have improved the evaluation considerably. This confirms that reproducing and describing thematic knowledge is much easier than relating concepts, in which inferential arguments must be made and plausible conclusions are to be reached by constructing new thinking. We have also sought to highlight the importance of the new paradigms of argumentation that move away from formal logic and reintroduce rhetoric, in the classical sense, while incorporating principles of social and historical correlation between periods, currents and contexts in which the different theories have been developed. Likewise, sufficient studies, experiences and examples have been described on the acquisition of argumentative competence, showing argumentative procedures and metatextual and metacognitive strategies, both in inferential reading and written production, which lead to the integration of encyclopedic knowledge and new information in a meaningful way. It has also been pointed out the need to consider the social and critical component of reading in the training of receivers, attending to the needs of each group, in terms of topics, levels of reading maturity and demands of the academic disciplines themselves.

A língua portuguesa se encontra em processo de expansão (NÓBREGA, 2011); com o acelerado crescimento da procura e oferecimento de cursos de português como língua estrangeira no Brasil e no mundo, é preciso que mais pesquisa seja feita, e que os professores atualizem suas práticas diante das teorias mais recentes. Em nosso cenário atual, onde a comunicação intercultural é uma constante, o tema do ensino intercultural no ensino de português para falantes de outras línguas (PFOL) torna-se fundamental para o desenvolvimento da área. Nosso objetivo com essa pesquisa é mostrar a importância de se atualizar a prática do ensino de PFOL de acordo com as teorias mais recentes sobre educação intercultural crítica e com as ideias da era pós-método no ensino de línguas. Com base na discussão teórica e na descrição de atividades presentes em dois livros didáticos, argumentamos como as teorias sobre linguagem e cultura afetam o ensino de línguas. Utilizamos a teoria dos atos de fala como base de nossa discussão, mostrando como a visão de ato de fala como função social promoveu um tipo de ensino intercultural e argumentando como a visão performativa da linguagem proposta por essa mesma teoria pode promover um ensino intercultural crítico. Entendemos que o aprofundamento teórico é necessário para que se criem condições adequadas para a intervenção na realidade. Por essa razão, ao final da pesquisa, apresentamos algumas sugestões de atividades, elaboradas a partir de nosso próprio contexto e levando em consideração nosso percurso teórico, como formas de possíveis intervenções na realidade. As atividades apresentadas resumem como buscamos usar na prática a construção teórica produzida por esta pesquisa. Esta pesquisa, na verdade, representa nosso próprio percurso teórico e prático como professores e pesquisadores de PFOL. No desenvolvimento, procuramos demonstrar como respondemos à pergunta proposta no início do nosso trabalho: Como a teoria dos atos de fala pode ajudar a promover um ensino intercultural crítico?
There is a growth in the demand and offer of Portuguese courses to speakers of other languages in Brazil and in the world, so the Portuguese language is going through an expansion process (NÓBREGA, 2011). Being so, there is the need of more research in the Portuguese teaching area, so that the teachers can update their practice according to the most recent theories. Besides, in a world where the intercultural communication is everywhere, the topic of intercultural education becomes fundamental to the development of the area. In this research, our aim is to show the importance of teaching Portuguese according to the critical intercultural education and to the ideas of the post-method era in the language teaching. Based on the theoretical discussion and on the description of activities present in two textbooks, we discuss how the theories about language and culture affect the language teaching. In this research, the speech acts theory is the basis of the discussion, as we argue that the view of speech act as a social function promoted a kind of intercultural teaching and that the performative view of language proposed by this same theory can promote a critical intercultural education. The theoretical study is necessary in order to create appropriate conditions for intervention in reality. For this reason, we also present some suggestions of activities, created for our own context and taking into account our theoretical route as possible forms of intervention in reality. The activities presented summarize how we seek to use in practice the theoretical construction produced by this research. This research is, in fact, our own theoretical and practical path as teachers and researchers of Portuguese to speakers of other languages

Submitted by Adriana Naomi Fukushima da Silva null (dricanaomi@gmail.com) on 2017-01-10T17:48:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertaçãocom ficha_ posdefesa.pdf: 3018378 bytes, checksum: ecc202293a914a9b24fbeff73d72395c (MD5)
Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2017-01-13T17:09:41Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_anf_me_mar.pdf: 3018378 bytes, checksum: ecc202293a914a9b24fbeff73d72395c (MD5)
Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-13T17:09:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_anf_me_mar.pdf: 3018378 bytes, checksum: ecc202293a914a9b24fbeff73d72395c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-09
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)
Este trabalho relata pesquisa que teve por objetivo geral analisar os processos de ensino dos atos de leitura por professores dos três anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental, por meio do Programa Ler e Escrever, implantado pela Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo. Os objetivos específicos são: compreender as representações, metodologias utilizadas para ensinar a leitura e as práticas de ensino de atos de leitura dos professores, quando eles usam o material do Programa Ler e Escrever, especificamente nos três primeiros anos do ensino fundamental de uma escola estadual da cidade de Marília; desvelar processos de leitura em seus aspectos, e como os sujeitos se relacionam por meio de sua história e de suas experiências com essa prática cultural; e, por fim, provocar, entre os professores, a reflexão sobre suas práticas e avaliações, uma vez que essas práticas estão diretamente ligadas à formação do aluno leitor. Para isto, à luz do referencial teórico bakhtiano e através de uma pesquisa de tipo etnográfico, os dados foram levantados em duas etapas. A primeira foi o levantamento bibliográfico para orientar as observações da pesquisadora e fornecer elementos teóricos para a análise dos dados. A segunda etapa foi caracterizada pela geração de dados por meio de observações, entrevistas e análise documental com o intuito de encontrar informações mais detalhadas e subjetivas a respeito das atividades praticadas no ensino do ato de ler e compreender essas atividades no contexto da instituição de ensino e das práticas das professoras com a utilização do material do Programa Ler e Escrever. Os dados foram gerados em uma escola estadual da cidade de Marília, com três professoras das turmas do primeiro ano ao terceiro ano do ensino fundamental, nos meses de maio a setembro de 2015. Os dados foram transcritos e analisados com base em cinco núcleos temáticos: Os atos de leitura na sala de aula: entre concepções e ações, Gêneros discursivos na sala de aula, Os registros de uma forma já superada de escrita no contexto atual da sala de aula, Transmissão vocal ou vocalização de histórias, e Tarefas e avaliações de leitura na sala de aula. A análise permitiu verificar que entre as concepções de leitura disponíveis na sala de aula a predominante no ensino dos atos de leitura realizada pelas professoras é a concepção de leitura ligada à área fonológica. O material do Ler e Escrever, ainda que defenda o ensino da leitura como atribuição de sentidos, também apresenta propostas que valorizam o valor sonoro das palavras. Nessas condições, as propostas ligadas à área fonológica são as utilizadas pelos professores. Nas demais, as professoras adaptam as atividades de acordo com suas crenças e concepções. De modo geral, é possível concluir que as práticas de ensino, quando envolviam a utilização do Ler e Escrever, não seguiam as concepções defendidas nesse material, mas a do professor.
This paper describes research that aimed to analyze the educational processes of the acts of reading by teachers of the first three years of elementary school through the Read and Write Program, implemented by the São Paulo State Education. The specific objectives are: understand representations, methods used to teach reading and practices acts of reading of teachers, when they use the material Program Read and Write, specifically the first three years of elementary school a state school in the city of Marília; reveal reading processes in their aspects, and how subjects are related through their history and their experiences with this cultural practice; and, finally, induce, between teachers, reflection and reviews on their practices, as these practices are directly related to the formation of the reader student. For this, the light of Bakhtin theoretical framework and through an ethnographic research, data were collected in two stages. The first was the literature to guide the observations of the researcher and provide theoretical elements for data analysis. The second stage was characterized by the collection and generation of data through observations, interviews and document analysis in order to find more detailed and subjective information about the activities practiced in teaching reading and understand these activities in the context of the educational institution and practices of teachers using the material Read and Write Program. Data were collected at a state school in the city of Marilia/ SP, with three teachers of the classes of the first year to third year of elementary school in the months of May to September 2015. Data were transcribed and analyzed based on five themes: The acts of reading in the classroom: between ideas and actions, Discursive Genres in the classroom, The records in a way already overcome written in the current context of the classroom, Voice transmission or vocalization stories and Tasks and reading assessments in the classroom. The analysis shows that between concepts of reading available in the classroom, the prevailing teaching of the acts of reading done by the teachers is reading conception linked to phonological area. The material of Read and Write, even to defend the teaching of reading as an attribution of meaning, also makes proposals that value the sound value of words. Under these conditions, the proposals related to phonological area are used by teachers. In the other, the teachers adapt activities according to their beliefs and conceptions. Overall, we conclude that the teaching practices when involving the use of Read and Write, did not follow the ideas defended in this material, but the teacher’s.
CNPq: 131036/2015-7

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1993.
Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Craig Richards. Dissertation Committee: Jonathan Hughes. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-118).

In 2004, Alabama abolished its previous teacher tenure law that allowed for teachers to appeal adverse board decisions to a seven member Alabama State Tenure Commission. In its place, the Alabama legislature provided a process for teachers to appeal terminations, transfers, and major/minor suspensions to a hearing officer. The hearing officer was either selected from a panel of arbitrators through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services’ Office of Arbitration Services (FMCS) or could be mutually agreed upon by the parties. Unlike the previous tenure law, the hearing officer was not required to given any deference or consideration to the board’s decision below. Not long after its adoption and implementation, the 2004 Alabama Teacher Tenure Act came under fire for not fulfilling its intended goals of providing for an expedited and less-costly method of review for adverse employment actions. By 2011, Alabama’s (as well as most other states’) political landscape had changed significantly and the 2004 Alabama Teacher Tenure Act was repealed and replaced with the Students First Act. This qualitative research project analyzes the issues and application of arbitration-type hearings in 106 Alabama K-12 tenured certified personnel adverse employment actions. Specifically, the research addresses the issues regarding Alabama’s 2004 Teacher Tenure Act, including how hearing officers trained as employment law arbitrators decided for or against board decisions in adverse employment actions, what trends emerged from their decisions, and what legal principles remain applicable for school administrators.

The transition from an industrial to a global knowledge-based economy has put universities in the spotlight of public policies as the new drivers of innovation and sustained economic growth. Consequently, societal expectations towards the academic community have changed and so has, under the influence of neo-liberal ideas, the public governance of higher education. This is particularly true in federalist systems, such as Germany, Australia and the European Union, where the roles of each government level in governing the higher education sector had to be renegotiated and clarified. In Canada, however, despite repeated recommendations by policymakers, scholars and international organisations, the respective responsibilities have not yet been clarified and, to date, there are still no mechanisms to coordinate the post-secondary education policies of the federal and provincial governments. This paper inquires into the reasons for this exception. In the academic literature, this has generally been explained in terms of Canada’s uniqueness with respect to its federalist system and the decentralized higher education sector. We attempt to go beyond this traditional federalism, state-centered approach, which is predominant in the Canadian higher education literature. Instead, based on interviews and official documents and inspired by the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), we shall be looking at the belief systems of the major actors in the policy process and the degree of coordination among them. Our analysis comes to the conclusion that, on the one hand, proponents of a pan-Canadian approach are divided over their fundamental beliefs regarding the compatibility of inclusiveness and excellence. Some argue that the federal government must legislate common standards to ensure equal opportunities for all Canadians. Others propose a New Governance-inspired approach to create a differentiated and competitive university sector that meets the demands of the global knowledge-based economy more efficiently. On the other hand, even though the provinces differ in their beliefs regarding the equal opportunity versus economic efficiency debate, they share the same strong belief with respect to the role of the federal government. According to this view, post-secondary education is exclusively a provincial responsibility and the role of the federal government is solely to help them ‘fix the problems’. Moreover, contrary to the proponents of more intergovernmental collaboration, the provinces have successfully strengthened the coordination among themselves to block further perceived federal intrusions into provincial jurisdiction. We come to the conclusion that the absence of intergovernmental mechanisms to govern post-secondary education is a consequence of the diverging belief systems and the establishment of formal coordination structures among the provinces to block – as they perceive - further federal intrusions. Also, there is less of a sense of urgency to act compared to, say, health care. Finally, remembering the near-separation of Quebec in 1995, there is very little appetite to reopen the constitutional debates. Therefore, based on our analysis, we argue that contrary to suggestions by some higher education scholars, the establishment of intergovernmental coordinating mechanisms appears unlikely in the near future.

Master of Science
Food Science Institute
Fadi M. Aramouni
Since the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law in 2011, the government has taken huge strides toward making the food safety system preventive rather than reactive. Specifically, the Preventive Controls for Human Food (PCHF) final rule has required collaboration from government officials, educational institutions, industry professionals, and stakeholders to assist in the rulemaking, education, and implementation of the new rule. The rulemaking process for the PCHF final rule took 4 years to finalize. The Food and Drug Administration funded a grant to the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute for Food Safety and Health (IIT IFSH) to help create an educational program about food safety risk-based preventive controls. Since then, the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) has been coordinating training programs to certify food professionals as Preventive Controls Qualified Individuals (PCQI). After gathering minor statistical evidence through course evaluations for 10 FSPCA facilitated education programs, extension personnel of the Food Science Institute at Kansas State University found that the educational materials are a big help to those in industry and in regulatory agencies.

A majority of the research on student-athletes occurs at the Division I level, acid less is known about Division III student-athletes. The scant research addressing the experiences of Division III students-athletes focused on academics, campus involvement, development, and athletic identity (Griffith & Johnson, 2002; Heuser & Gray, 2009; Richards & Aries, 1993; Schroeder, 2000; Umbach, Palmer, Kuh, & Hannah, 2006). What remains unknown is how they manage life roles as Division III student-athletes.;This case study sought to address the time demands and life roles (e.g. athletics, family, friendship, religion, academic, and romantic interests) of student-athletes. Two private, Division Ill institutions in the Midwest were selected. A total of 21 student-athletes from both men and women's basketball teams were interviewed. The findings suggest student-athletes are strained by time demands, yet have developed strategies to better manage their time. Family serves as a foundation and the most important life role for a majority of student-athletes. Teammates, coaches, and athletic involvement offer additional support as student-athletes transition through college. The life roles of religion and romantic relationships, however, were not seen as important for student-athletes. This research concluded that Division III student-athletes juggle multiple roles but their priorities change over time. of note, participant's integrated roles over time and particular transition phases existed for students. Moreover, instead of border keepers vying to reinforce borders between roles, this study concluded that border bridgers existed instead that sought to aid students in blurring boundaries between their various roles. Male athletes were less able to describe how they managed time, whereas female athletes readily identified organizational strategies and stronger team bonds.

This thesis takes its departure in 15-year-old students’ learning about the human body. During a semester I followed most of the sciences taught in one class of grade 9 students. I have chosen to illustrate lessons and analyse using the influence of feminists perspectives different situated actions in this science classroom practice, thereby raising a number of didactic questions focusing on the limits and possibilities of school science teaching. With the help of different analytic tools I have made close readings of transcribed situations presented in four studies. The results show ways in which science content becomes relevant to students’ experiences, but also how students’ unique voices may shift focus from the expected science content. Overall, the results show how some discursive performances that are often taken for granted in science education are filled with explicit and implicit norms about how things should be for example in relation to femininity and masculinity. These performances may affect how students come to regard themselves and the world around them. However, the results also point out opportunities for changing these discursive performances. One way of doing this, which emerges from my results, is to create possibilities for acts in situations of equal subject positions, where different kinds of positions are welcomed. This is an approach where the content of science education involves and transforms the experiences of students’ social lives, where students’ actions in encounters with the differences are regarded as an important part of meaning making. Therefore, I suggest that ongoing negotiations in teaching should be taken into account, be regarded as a significant part of the learning processes and, through this, open up new possibilities of widening what kind of meaning making becomes available for the students. This, in turn, may create a space with unimagined ethical opportunities by paying attention to disparities, i.e. to others who may act from a different logic than we are used to, in other words: welcoming and involving differences.
At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Papers 2, 3 and 4: Manuscripts.

This study interprets the results of research into how one college met the challenge of change brought about by the Education Reform Act 1988, with reference to appropriate social research methodologies and a wide ranging review of relevant literature. The aim was to investigate how one college, well established in a traditional pattern, would respond to educational change stemming from a political culture which relocated emphases upon financial considerations, market forces and quality controls devolving from a business-like reorientation. A review of the college's aims and intentions, with an examination of the methods managers might adopt and options they might select in moving towards a business organisation, moved the research into a detailed investigation of sub-organisational micro-politicking. The research led naturally to an in-depth examination of the nature of management and management skills training within an educational institution, raising questions about the cross-discipline transferability of educational/business skills. Interview and established techniques of participant observation have exposed the lacunae between rhetoric, supposed practice and what has become the reality of change within the organisation. The research focuses upon the myth of 'professionalism' which, in the uncertainty of change, supports the new managerialism brought about by the Education Reform Act. An alternative strategy for educational change within the institution is suggested. The conclusion is a critique of educational management training within the organisation and locates both micro- and macro-educational management preparation within some commercial systems with which it might seek to identify.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and identify possible relationships between academic achievement, as measured by high school graduation rate and ACT composite scores of individual school districts within the state of Tennessee, and the per-pupil expenditure of each district. Research was conducted to determine whether a significant difference existed in academic achievement measures (high school graduation rate, ACT composite score) among school districts in the state of Tennessee that were classified as above average, average, and below average in relation to their per-pupil expenditure (PPE) in the 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-16 school years. Ex post facto data were collected from the Tennessee Department of Education website. All pertinent school district information reported appeared on the Tennessee State Report Card website. This publicly reported and available data were collected by accessing the Tennessee State Report Card website. The researcher recorded data related to each school district that reported data in all three of the following categories: per-pupil expenditure, graduation rates, and ACT composite scores. This study examined the relationship of graduation rates to per-pupil expenditure in the 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016 school years. The results indicated that the high school graduation rates during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school year were not significantly affected by per-pupil expenditure. However, significance was found regarding high school graduation rates in the 2015-2016 school year (p =.016). There was a significant difference in the means between the bottom-third (93.537%) and the top-third (90.422%) of per-pupil expenditure levels during the 2015-2016 school year, with the top-third having significantly higher graduation rates. This study also examined the relationship of ACT composite score to per-pupil expenditures in the 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016 school years. The results for all of the research questions indicated that the ACT composite score during all years was not significantly affected by per-pupil expenditure.

This paper examines Public Law 93-638, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, from its origins to the present. Subsequent laws which have had an impact on the original statute are viewed through their legislative history, legal implications, and effect. Contract schools under the legislation are discussed in regards to their number, location, and structure. A critical look at Indian education is provided along with general comments on contracting under PL 93-638.

In the Preface, the focus is on the word 'standards' itself: the ineradicable human element in marking and the degree to which all marks and grades, particularly in the subject of English, are dependent upon a subjective evaluation of the quality of response - an essential component in the establishment and maintenance of standards. The various implications of the word 'standards' and the ease with with resultant ambiguities can lead the unwary commentator into wholly misleading statements are considered, and a definition is offered to serve as a touchstone for the thesis as a whole. The main body of the thesis is divided into two sections and a conclusion. Section One (containing Chapters 1-3) is largely based upon published writings about education: books, reports and papers issued by Government-appointed Committees and Councils, and officially ratified educational statistics; illustrated where appropriate by my own experience and research into the unpublished archives of Examination Boards. Section Two (containing Chapters 4-6) deals specifically with the development of GCE '0' and 'A' level examinations in English, and is very largely dependent upon my interpretation of evidence derived from examination papers, marking schemes, examiners' reports and candidates' scripts ... The Conclusion is an attempt to provide an answer to the obvious question as to why, if evidence of a widely-alleged decline in standards is as difficult to establish as the previous six chapters suggest, the charge is so widely accepted as proved. To do this it is necessary to see the matter of standards from a broader perspective than a factual focus on examination papers, candidates' scripts, examiners' reports, comparability studies and educational statistics. From the inception of the concept of a state education system there has inevitably been a political dimension to any discussion of standards, and political dimensions equally inevitably tend toward expediency and subjective reaction rather than objective assessment of perceived shortcomings. This is certainly true of the last two decades during which the political dimension has become more overt than ever before, and the gulf between political interpretation of educational achievements and that of the professionals involved has never been wider. It is the contention of the Conclusion that a key to this disparity lies in the history of the development of the National Curriculum, the nature of the political interventions therein, and the indications that these are based upon a consistent philosophy – which elevates knowledge above understanding, 'pencil-and-paper' testing above carefully weighted assessments, results above performance, and which supposes that the reintroduction of selective schools would be an automatic panacea. The Conclusion therefore looks forward beyond the stated 1988 terminal point of the study to examine the developments of the 1990s, and backward beyond the stated starting point of the 1944 Act to examine the reality of grammar school achievement. It is the final contention of this thesis that it is the fallacy and self-deception of the nostalgia for the grammar school tradition which underlies and accounts for the falsity of the claims, about declining standards.

The study was concentrated on the period following the first democratic elections for a new government in South Africa, that is, post -1994 up to the year 2000. The change from a system based on fixed apartheid ideology to a more open and democratic one meant that the political scene became more characterized by fierce competition and volatility. The aim of the research was to understand the nature of the contestation as it manifests itself in both the development and implementation of school governance policy at national, provincial and local levels in a climate of political change and turbulence.

From a philosophical and historical analysis of education in Australia since World War II and consideration of the research into school effectiveness and community expectations of education, a concept of "excellence" was derived: "Excellence in education" in its various institutionalised forms describes a state where there is a community perception that worthwhile goals have been formulated, attempts are made to achieve those goals using appropriately defined processes and that those goals are being achieved to the satisfaction of community members. It was also asserted that because of the diversity introduced into Australian society by sociocultural, economic and political developments since World War II, "excellence in education" may take many forms. This demands diversity in schooling so that these different forms of excellence may be achieved. This "excellence" was seen to be a relative concept rather than an absolute one. Information was collected from six primary schools from both the government and non-govenunent sectors of the ACT, using swey instruments, interviews and document analysis. This information related to the perceptions of the family, staff and student sectors of these schools about the importance and achievement of various factors in the areas of goals and philosophy, curriculum, teaching and learning practices, general organisation and school atmosphere. The study found that, while these schools, all being concerned with the education of primary school children in the same local and national context, exhibited certain common elements, they also demonstrated a variety of other features in a variety of combinations, giving each school a distinctive profile. Moreover, these school communities each judged their particular school being "Excellent" and "meeting expectations", and yet were accepting of some discrepancy between what they considered ideal and what was actually achieved. Thus it was shown that excellence in education is a relative concept in the ACT, if not in contemporary Australian society as a whole.

This thesis has as its origins a desire by the Ministerial Advisory Council on Adult and Community Education in the Australian Capital Territory to learn more about the sector with whom they interact. There was a clear perception that, due to its diversity, a strong reliance on volunteers and an underlying mistrust of beaurocracy, the sector was quite poorly delineated. If this was in fact the case, then the capacity of the Council to support the sector - for example through the grants scheme - was being greatly handicapped. In the case of grants, it was known that requests commonly outnumbered available grant funds by three or four to one. What was not known was the extent of other worthwhile ACE activity that was either electing not to apply for funding or was simply unaware that the facility even existed. The research, based on the results of a broad ranging questionnaire distributed to all known ACE providers in the ACT, has furthered the level of understanding of the sector. The research approach was modeled on the South Australian Pathfinder Project (1996). Key findings include that: ? the ACE sector is extremely diverse and active in the ACT; ? it is client focussed in that it develops its programs in response to the identified needs of its target group(s); ? in the twelve months covered by the survey there were over 190 000 attendees in ACE programs; ? a range of programs are available to most community groups; ? there is a strong reliance on volunteers; ? the sector generally feels that there is a demand for even more programs than are currently offered; ? many individual providers do not see themselves as part of the overall ACE sector. While there are some marked similarities between the ACT ACE sector and the South Australian findings, there also some clear differences. For example, many of the factors that restrict access to ACE in other parts of Australia are less relevant to the ACT. An example of this is that travel distances/times for participants to access programs are generally less of a problem in the ACT than in some other jurisdictions due to the small area and the concentration of population in the ACT.

The problem of this study was to determine if, in selected counties in Tennessee, differences in the noncompletion rate, the positive termination rate, and the job retention rate existed in categories of participants in the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). This study followed the ex-post-facto design. A personal data form was developed for the purpose of gathering data relative to the personal characteristics of participants enrolled in the JTPA on-the-job training program between July 1, 1984 and June 30, 1985. The findings reflect data gathered on all 1,005 participants in the program. The chi-square test was applied to all 27 of the hypotheses. The statistical analysis was intended to determine significant differences in the participants categorized by sex, age, education, public assistance, unemployment compensation, hours trained, and type of training, in Service Delivery Area 2 in Tennessee. The differences showing significance in the study warranted the following conclusions: (1) The age of the participants significantly affected the positive termination rate of participants in selected age categories, and it was determined that the 18-21 age category had more positive termination participants than expected. (2) A comparison of the positive termination rate and the job retention rate by age indicated a difference existed in that there were significantly more job retention rate participants than positive termination rate participants in all four age categories. (3) A significant difference was found in the job retention rate of participants enrolled in the JTPA on-the-job training program. There were significantly more job retention participants who received unemployment compensation than expected and significantly fewer participants who did not receive unemployment compensation than expected. (4) The type of training received does significantly affect the positive termination rate of participants in selected training categories. The manufacturing/factory assembly line category had significantly fewer participants than were expected. However, the sales/service category had significantly more participants observed than were expected.

During 2010 and 2011, major earthquakes caused widespread damage and the deaths of 185 people in the city of Christchurch. Damaged school buildings resulted in state intervention which required amendment of the Education Act of 1989, and the development of ‘site sharing agreements’ in undamaged schools to cater for the needs of students whose schools had closed. An effective plan was also developed for student assessment through establishing an earthquake impaired derived grade process. Previous research into traditional explanations of educational inequalities in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and New Zealand were reviewed through various processes within three educational inputs: the student, the school and the state. Research into the impacts of urban natural disasters on education and education inequalities found literature on post disaster education systems but nothing could be found that included performance data. The impacts of the Canterbury earthquakes on educational inequalities and achievement were analysed over 2009-2012. The baseline year was 2009, the year before the first earthquake, while 2012 is seen as the recovery year as no schools closed due to seismic events and there was no state intervention into the education of the region. National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) results levels 1-3 from thirty-four secondary schools in the greater Christchurch region were graphed and analysed. Regression analysis indicates; in 2009, educational inequalities existed with a strong positive relationship between a school’s decile rating and NCEA achievement. When schools were grouped into decile rankings (1-10) and their 2010 NCEA levels 1-3 results were compared with the previous year, the percentage of change indicates an overall lower NCEA achievement in 2010 across all deciles, but particularly in lower decile schools. By contrast, when 2011 NCEA results were compared with those of 2009, as a percentage of change, lower decile schools fared better. Non site sharing schools also achieved higher results than site sharing schools. State interventions, had however contributed towards student’s achieving national examinations and entry to university in 2011. When NCEA results for 2012 were compared to 2009 educational inequalities still exist, however in 2012 the positive relationship between decile rating and achievement is marginally weaker than in 2009. Human ethics approval was required to survey one Christchurch secondary school community of students (aged between 12 and 18), teachers and staff, parents and caregivers during October 2011. Participation was voluntary and without incentives, 154 completed questionnaires were received. The Canterbury earthquakes and aftershocks changed the lives of the research participants. This school community was displaced to another school due to the Christchurch earthquake on 22 February 2011. Research results are grouped under four geographical perspectives; spatial impacts, socio-economic impacts, displacement, and health and wellbeing. Further research possibilities include researching the lag effects from the Canterbury earthquakes on school age children.

The purpose of this study was to determine if students scored significantly higher on the ACT after taking precalculus than they had scored on the ACT prior to taking precalculus. The researcher investigated whether there is an increase, not only in ACT composite scores, but also in ACT math subtest scores after high school students completed a precalculus course. The researcher also investigated differences regarding gender, socio-economic status, and race. Five Tennessee high schools from four counties and five different districts were used in this study. The study involved 208 participants and covered a span of three years. The findings indicated a significant difference in mean ACT composite and mathematics subtest scores for students after completing precalculus. The data were also compared by gender, race, and socioeconomic status for students who completed precalculus. The data indicated a significant difference in ACT composite scores for students completing a precalculus course regardless of gender or socioeconomic status.

With the final passage of the Focus on College and University Success (FOCUS) Act which was signed into law on April 19, 2016, state universities within Tennessee are heading for major transitions in governance structure and autonomy. With changes moving at a speed atypical of higher education, these six soon-to-be former Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) universities must determine the best way to proceed from the current governance structure to a localized governing board while considering the future direction of the institution. Drawing on historical precedents and current policy changes, recommendations are made to the six universities for future governance structure, appointment of the board, and proposed future directions and policy discussions for the institutions

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate educator factors that have an impact on student achievement and overall school performance as indicated in the American College Test (ACT) scores from the district and the individual schools. Educators from a moderate-sized public school district participated in an anonymous online survey. According to the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) Report Card, the district ACT composite is a 20.1 (TDOE, 2018e). Two of the district’s schools’ results are higher than the district composite, while the other five are consistent with or below the district composite. Participants of this study shared their number of years of experience, amount of professional development, and education level obtained, as well as their perceptions of these factors. All data were collected through an online survey distributed to 9th-12th teachers by email from school principals. The analysis of data was based on the responses of 67 teachers from this school district. For this study, non-experimental quantitative research was used with a comparative and correlational design. As indicated in the findings of this study, teacher experience, teacher professional development hours, teacher education level, and teachers’ perceptions of these factors did not play a significant role on student performance on nationally standardized tests, specifically the ACT.