How do school administrators establish an “accountability environment” to improve student achievement and learning?

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Research/Reflective Pape

Each student will develop a research/reflective paper. The purpose of this assignment is:

  • To provide students with the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of ideas that impact curriculum, curriculum formation, and the role of the schools in educating students in the 21st century
  • To provide students with the opportunity to integrate and synthesize ideas presented in the readings in a way that can be applied to the world of work
  • To provide students with the opportunity to write in a scholarly style, apply APA-style rules, and to present their thoughts in a meaningful way.

You will develop a research/reflective paper based on the fifth essential question:  How do school administrators establish an “accountability environment” to improve student achievement and learning? This assignment is designed to encourage self-sufficiency, further develop your professional competence, and expand your knowledge of scholarly research on the topic. It is also expected that your current perspective will be expanded to include ideas put forth in this class and other sources of scholarly literature/research.  While you may not always agree or find value in the views of others, such as authors, researchers, and fellow colleagues on a personal level, on a professional level, the views of others have value and have the ability when incorporated into practice, to change educational practice in a way that can have a positive impact for all involved.

Your paper should include current research on curriculum, access and equity, and student achievement. A minimum of three references and data collection points are required to complete the paper and may include journal or document analysis, in addition to your own reflection and personal knowledge. The research/reflective paper should consist of a maximum of five pages, excluding the title and reference pages.

Which principle of Universal Design for Learning do high school biology teachers engage in the most with their minority student population?

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Problem Statement
The problem is … Principles of Universal Design for Learning are traditionally utilized to create access to learning for students with disabilities, but not as a method of culturally responsive teaching.

Purpose Statement
The purpose of this ethnography study is to describe the extent to which Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principals are utilized to encourage culturally responsive learning environments in high school biology classrooms.

Research Question(s)
To what extent are high school biology teachers implementing principles of Universal Design for Learning to promote culturally responsive learning environments?
Which principle of Universal Design for Learning do high school biology teachers engage in the most with their minority student population?
Which principle of Universal Design for Learning do high school biology teachers engage in the most with their non-minority student population?

Reflect critically on those aspects of your educational issue specified in your question, showing a high level of critical awareness in the discussion.

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Building Education Issues, Impact and immersion.

COURSE ASSIGNMENT (Inclusion)

Task:

Write a formal essay in response to the following question:

Inclusion is a key priority within the education. Discuss critically the concept of the ‘inclusive school’ and its implications for the education system in general, and for you as an individual teacher in particular.

Your answer should be 3000 words in length and address the following criteria:

  1. Reflect critically on those aspects of your educational issue specified in your question, showing a high level of critical awareness in the discussion.
  1. Support and explores thinking, where appropriate, by use of references to; placement experience; issues covered in course classes; academic reading, in particular, relevant academic journals. 
  1. Write in an accurate, clear, structured and coherent manner, within the appropriate standards of academic presentation, including referencing conventions.

The assignment is marked out of 100. You have to score at least 50/100 to pass at this Level.

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT?

In order to address assessment criterion1:

You should discuss and critique some theory and demonstrate an understanding and critical overview of Inclusion.

The key discussion must relate to theory and research using academic reading. If you reference you school placement you should ensure that it is relevant, and is being used to exemplify or help explain what the research/ theory says.

In order to address assessment criteria 2 and 3:

These are identical for all assignments. You should know by now how to meet them. However, it seems necessary to stress again that:

  • You must use the APA referencing convention accurately
  • You MUST read again the guidance in the Rubric
  • What you write must be your own work

General Criteria:

  • Addresses task in a clear, structured, coherent manner
  • Demonstrates critical understanding of the concept of inclusion within education, including detailed knowledge of theoretical and political considerations and perspectives
  • Analyses the practical and professional implications of inclusion policies for the school system and for teachers, reflecting a high level of critical awareness in the discussion
  • Makes effective use of academic reading and other appropriate sources, including a wide range of research literature, to inform discussion and argument

Assessment Criteria:

For Assessment Criterion 1:

  1. You should make sure that you write about what theoreticians and researchers have to say about inclusion. You should make reference to an extensive range of reading
  2. You should show, by the way you analyze what you learned from your reading about assessment theory and research, that you know and understand the thinking behind the various theoretical perspectives that are out there
  3. You are able to make clear your critical understanding of that thinking by the way you state ideas, acknowledge where they came from, explain what you think they mean and challenge, using evidence from your reading, how valid they seem to be, especially where there is disagreement in the literature

For Assessment Criterion 2:

You’ll know your writing “supports and explores thinking, where appropriate, by use of references to; experience in your own school; issues covered in course classes; relevant material from core texts; course documentation and wider academic reading” if:

  1. You avoid making dogmatic, unsupported statements or assertions
  2. It is clear from what you write that you have used research literature, particularly academic journal articles
  3. You have acknowledged those sources that have influenced your thinking or, rarely, quoted directly from them. (Extensive quotation is not required and uses up valuable words)
  4. You have used APA conventions in your referencing

 

For Assessment Criterion 3:

You’ll know your assignment “is written in an accurate, clear, structured and coherent manner, within the appropriate standards of academic presentation, including referencing conventions” if:

  1. You organize your thinking in a logical way, perhaps using the bullet pointed assessment criteria above to provide a structure, but only if you wish to and only if it helps
  2. Your language conveys meaning clearly.
  3. Your ideas are well-linked, consistently using appropriate linkage devices
  4. You use mainly the third person.

Check basic literacy criteria such as:

  • Meaning must be clear at first reading.
  • The essay should be organized logically.
  • There should be few spelling errors.
  • There should be few errors in grammar.
  • Sentences should be punctuated accurately.
  • There should be few errors in the use of other punctuation devices, such as paragraphing, capitalization and apostrophe.

 

General notes on submission:

  1. Assignments should be word processed in 12-point font, with at least 1.5 line spacing.
  2. Please note that the word limit of 3000 words (+/- 10%) includes citation and quotations, but excludes your Reference List. State the actual word length at the end of the assignment. IF YOU DO NOT ADHERE TO THE WORD LIMIT REGULATIONS YOUR ASSIGNMENT WILL AUTOMATICALLY FAIL. You will not be entitled to feedback.

Research the six major value types identified by Psychologist Gordon Allport. Identify and discuss into what value orientation your core ethical framework values/beliefs are based.

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Construct Personal Ethical Framework

Instructions

Reflect on and construct your core ethical framework and code of ethics in terms of those values/beliefs that are patently self-evident and will not change with time, context, circumstance, or external/internal demands. Include the following:

  • From your viewpoint, explain why violating any of these ideals would be considered unethical.
  • Research the six major value types identified by Psychologist Gordon Allport. Identify and discuss into what value orientation your core ethical framework values/beliefs are based.
  • Given your core ethical framework, explain how you can expand your adaptive capacity. Support your response with additional research.

Support your framework and code with at least five scholarly resources. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including older articles, may be included.

Length: 5-7 pages, not including title and reference pages

Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.

Professional organizations expect employees to embrace ethical values such as integrity, honesty, fidelity, responsibility, and self-discipline. The best leaders exhibit these ethical values to provide inspiration to their team and build trust in the workplace, for it is through leaders modeling desired behaviors that expectations are further affirmed.

A code of ethics is broader than simply a list of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. The code of ethics should reflect your philosophy about life and draw a connection between your values and how these inform your actions and decisions. The code should also speak to one’s philosophy. As you review and reflect on this week’s materials, you should be able to develop a code of ethics that will likely guide you in dealing with both personal and professional ethical situations.

Which 4 states have temperatures that look to be the most questionable or the most unrealistic to you? Explain why you selected these 4 states. For each state, give both the name and the temperature.

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Discussion Board Forum 1/Project 2 Instructions

Standard Deviation and Outliers

Thread:

For this assignment, you will use the Project 2 Excel Spreadsheet to answer the questions below. In each question, use the spreadsheet to create the graphs as described and then answer the question.

Put all of your answers into a thread posted in Discussion Board Forum 1/Project 2.

You must use your own work for answers to Questions 1–5. If something happens that leads you to want to make a second post for any of your answers to Questions 1–5; you must get permission from your instructor.

  1. A. Create a set of 5 points that are very close together and record the standard deviation. Next, add a sixth point that is far away from the original 5 and record the new standard deviation.

What is the impact of the new point on the standard deviation? Do not just give a numerical value for the change. Explain in sentence form what happened to the standard deviation.

  1. Create a data set with 8 points in it that has a mean of approximately 10 and a standard deviation of approximately 1. Use the second chart to create a second data set with 8 points that has a mean of approximately 10 and a standard deviation of approximately 4. What did you do differently to create the data set with the larger standard deviation?

 

  1. Go back to the spreadsheet and clear the data values from Question 1 from the data column and then put values matching the following data set into the data column for the first graph.

50, 50, 50, 50, 50.

Notice that the standard deviation is 0. Explain why the standard deviation for this one is zero. Do not show the calculation. Explain in words why the standard deviation is zero when all of the points are the same. If you don’t know why, try doing the calculation by hand to see what is happening. If that does not make it clear, try doing a little research on standard deviation and see what it is measuring and then look again at the data set for this question.

 

  1. Go back to the spreadsheet one last time and put each of the following three data sets into one of the graphs. Record what the standard deviation is for each data set and answer the questions below.

Data set 1:       0, 0, 0, 100, 100, 100

Data set 2:       0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100

Data set 3:       0, 40, 45, 55, 60, 100

Note that all three data sets have a median of 50. Notice how spread out the points are in each data set and compare this to the standard deviations for the data sets. Describe the relationship you see between the amount of spread and the size of the standard deviation and explain why this connection exists. Do not give your calculations in your answer—explain in sentence form.

For the last 2 questions, use the Project 1 Data Set.

  1. Explain what an outlier is. Then, if there are any outliers in the Project 1 Data Set, what are they? If there are no outliers, say no outliers.
  2. Which 4 states have temperatures that look to be the most questionable or the most unrealistic to you? Explain why you selected these 4 states. For each state, give both the name and the temperature.

 

 

Explain how the design of the TA can inform the levels or types of supports and challenge the learner might need for subsequent instruction.

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1. Create 1 task analysis from the following skill selections: Functional Academic Skill, Communication Skill, Interpersonal or Self-help Skill, based on measurable IEP Goals. Thus, a complex skill can be taught by using chaining.

2.Design a detailed task analysis (TA) that includes at least the following components:
Is aligned with the learning goal for which graduate candidate creates; making sure performance is measurable. For those candidates who have their own classroom, you may use a target student and use goals from his/her IEP.
Allows for specific feedback from the teacher to the learner
Measures the degree to which the learning goal has been achieved
Provides sufficient information upon which to design subsequent, appropriate instruction
Explain how the TA enables the learner to monitor his/her own learning progress.
Explain how the design of the TA can inform the levels or types of supports and challenge the learner might need for subsequent instruction.

3.List the instructional strategies and learning tasks you will use for each day of instruction (You should create a chart designed to reflect the skill being taught) chart should include: Graduate Candidate/Teacher name, Student learner name, goal/skill acquisition target, materials needed, recording Key, Criterion, Teaching Methods (Independently, Verbal/Physical Prompts, Physical Prompt (to be faded), hand-over-hand)

4.Written Analysis:
Explain how these strategies and learning tasks are sequenced to:
(a) Move your learner toward achievement of the learning goal you previously identified
(b) Build connections between your focus learner’s prior learning and experiences and what he/she will learn
(c) Provide appropriate levels of challenge and support associated with your focus learner’s strengths, needs and interests
(d) Move the focus learner toward generalized, maintained, and/or self-directed use of the knowledge or skills he/she will acquire.
Explain the way in which research from the textbook (theory and/or evidence-based strategies) informed your selection of the strategies and learning tasks you decided to use in creating your task analysis and how this TA will benefit your student learner.

USE THIS RESOURCE BOOK:Instruction of Students with Severe Disabilities (9th Edition)
Authors Fredda Brown, John McDonnel, Martha E. Snell

Evaluate how successful the learning was, with reference to relevant scholarship and theory. What changes would you make next time?

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Demonstrate understanding of the complexities and diversity required in teaching and assessment of/for learning.

Need to demonstrate awareness of how children learn, basic philosophical principles underlying educational theory and teaching practice.

Critically analyze how you have used a range of assessment strategies (formative and summative) to effectively track pupil progress over a sequence of lessons, for example, a half term or a module. Evaluate how successful the learning was, with reference to relevant scholarship and theory. What changes would you make next time?

Explain how you decided on the program that is appropriate for the student, including information on how the program should be implemented. Provide an implementation timeline and determine any needed materials.

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After reviewing this week’s resources and researching the programs provided in this week’s introduction, select a program of study that can be utilized with a student with a non-English language background. Base your decision on learner characteristics, current levels of primary language proficiency, and assessment information. Prepare a report for the multidisciplinary team to review in which you include detailed service delivery information including who will be responsible for each service needed. Be sure to address the following:

Explain how L1 and L2 development will be addressed and how results will be evaluated.

Explain how you decided on the program that is appropriate for the student, including information on how the program should be implemented. Provide an implementation timeline and determine any needed materials.

Provide directions on how to obtain information on the specific program.

Recommend next steps based on the results of the evaluation of student progress.
Support your assignment with at least three scholarly resources. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including seminal articles, may be included.

For design templates and other resources see:
Center for Applied Linguistics. (n.d.). Sheltered instruction observation protocol. http://www.cal.org/siop

Length: 5-7 pages, not including title and reference pages

Your assignment should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.

Briefly explain the key strategy and industry  of your company –using Porter’s forces. You can use PESTLE analysis as alternative framework too.

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Coursework Task: PART 2

The coursework is an ongoing project where you will receive instructions each week. The final objective is to use all the financial analysis tools and write a professional debt and equity report on a company of your choice.

PART 2: Weeks 2-3 (introduction section in final report).

AIM : get to know your industry and peers.

  • Introduce your company – points to consider: products, markets, countries, peers, management team, key events to name a few
  • Briefly explain the key strategy and industry  of your company –using Porter’s forces. You can use PESTLE analysis as alternative framework too.

FAQs

  1. You can choose any framework to describe your industry and competitive forces
  2. The peers do not have to be from the same country.

Coursework Tasks PART 3

AIM: Get to know the accounting policies 

PART 3: Weeks 3-5

  • Familiarize yourself with the annual reports and identify main (3-5 as a guideline) accounting policies of your company.
  • Flag up any potential problems/red flags in the accounting practices.
  • Think about how these policies may impact ratios and subsequent financial analysis .

PART 4: Financial Analysis: Weeks 4 -6

Aim: Get to know the financials

  • Comment on the performance of your company using ratio and cash flow analysis.
  • Calculate and comment on the overall profitability and sustainable growth rate of your firm.

FAQs.

  • Students may choose to compare performance of their company with previous years (time series), with a suitable competitor (cross-sectional), industry as a whole or a benchmark they may deem suitable.
  • The emphasis of the report should be on analyzing ratios and linking them to company strategy and relevant news (NOT on calculating ratios).
  • You can calculate your own ratios or use ratios from Bloomberg or Thomson Reuters (must indicate source in your reports and show any own calculations). +++
  • Remember to select ratios which are most relevant to your company and link them to your strategy and accounting analysis (copying and pasting all the ratios will not fetch you marks).
  • Tables and graphs DO NOT count towards word count.
  • Spend time, effort and thought into creating your own peer set using qualitative and quantitative criteria.

PART 5: Weeks 5-8 (Credit analysis)

  • Comment on the capital structure (proportion of debt and equity) and type of debt financing of your firm.
  • Propose a suitable debt rating for your firm based on your earlier industry, accounting and financial analysis.

NOTE

  • You may refer to Moody’s or S&P debt ratings for their firm (if it exists). However, you need to calculate your own debt rating and comment on it.

PART 6 : Prospective analysis (final part)

AIM: RATE THE EQUITY

Forecasting

  • Based on your strategy, accounting and financial analysis -forecast sales and earnings for your company for the next two years.

Valuation

  • Value your firm using comparable multiples. (Not DCF)

Recommendation

  • Based on your valuation and financial analysis issue a recommendation for the firm (Sell/Hold/Buy). You could use the current share price as a benchmark.

Note

Clearly indicate the assumptions underlying your forecasts.

It’s the logic of the forecasts not the accuracy of numbers that will get you marks.

All your calculations for forecasted sales and earnings must be attached as an appendix.

The emphasis should be on deriving your own forecast based on the news and historical share price that you have been following and analysis in weeks 1-9. *

All calculations for comparable multiple valuation must be attached as an appendix. – Clearly stating the comparable firms, the price multiple for the comparables and the method by which you calculated the share value for your firm.

A large proportion of your analysis will have been for fiscal year ending 2018 as 2019 annual reports may not be publicly available yet. You can do your financial analysis till 2018 and then based on semi-annual or quarterly reports, unaudited reports,  share price performance of the company and current events in 2019-202 you should aim to forecast figures for the next two fiscal years (2020, 2021). Therefore, in some/most cases 2019 is a ‘missing’ year.

*The marks will be based on the strength of your assumptions. Bloomberg and other data providers provide their forecasts – there are no marks for copying and pasting Bloomberg forecasts.

Remember that earthquakes occur along plate boundaries. Is there evidence for this on your map?

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  • PHY 2251 – Lab 9 – SP17
    Earthquake Investigation
    Objective: To visualize the randomness of earthquakes and to use earthquake occurrences to map a fault boundary.
    Background: An earthquake is the violent shaking of the Earth caused by the movement of tectonic plates, large pieces of Earth’s crust. When these plates move suddenly there is a large release of energy all at once, causing the Earth to shake. Earthquakes occur at a place called the focus, a spot underground where the plates move past one another. On the surface, the place directly above the focus is known as the epicenter.
    Earthquakes are measured using the Richter scale. The Richter scale is a logarithmic scale that measures the energy released by an earthquake. Because it is a logarithmic scale, an earthquake that measures 5.0 on the Richter scale is 10 times stronger than one that measures a 4.0. Likewise, a 6.0 is 100 times stronger than a 4.0.
    Procedure: In Part 1 of this experiment you will find information and create a graph that shows earthquakes occurring over time in a particular region. In Part 2, you will plot the epicenter of these earthquakes on a map.
    Part 1: Choose a region from the list given below or another region prone to earthquake activity. No two groups should be using the same region.
    California Japan Chile New Zealand
    India China Romania Peru Turkey
    After you have chosen a region for your group, investigate the earthquakes that have occurred in that region over the past 65 years (since 1950). Use any credible resources available. Use this information to fill in Table 1. For all earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater, record the date, location (latitude and longitude) of the epicenter and the magnitude of the earthquake. Remember that some places are more active than others, so some groups may have more data than others, however you should have between 25 and 30 data points.
    When you are finished, input this data into Excel and create a graph of Earthquake magnitude versus time. Be sure to title your graph, label the axes with name and units, and also mark any earthquakes that were greater than an 8.0. (Do this in Excel, do not just write it on the graph).
    Include the graph in your lab report and answer the following questions in your conclusion:
    1) Are all of the earthquakes of similar magnitude in one region, or do they change often? Remember that because the Richter scale is logarithmic, an 8.0 is much different from a 7.5. 2) Do you see any pattern in the occurrence of earthquakes? Do they occur at particular dates? Do they always occur in the same location? Look for patterns and discuss any you might find.
    Part 2: Construct a map of the earthquakes’ location using Google Maps. This can be done by using the Google maps tool available at http://www.darrinward.com/lat-long/ or any other mapping tool that you can find. Input the latitude and longitude of each earthquake in your region. Pay attention to the directions. Always input latitude first (North is positive, south is negative) and then longitude (East is positive, West is negative) separated by a comma.
    Print or save the map and include it in your lab report. Also, answer the following questions in your conclusion
    1) When you look at the earthquakes on the map, what do you see?

    2) Remember that earthquakes occur along plate boundaries. Is there evidence for this on your map?

    3) Investigate the plates nearby your region to determine the source of the seismic activity. Which plates are moving against which plates? What type of boundary (boundaries) are near your region?

    4) Is there any other type of activity (volcanoes, large mountains) that occurs near your region that may also be attributed to plate movement?