Teaching vacancies are increasing nationally and the task of placing an experienced, subject-certified teacher in the classroom is getting more difficult for school districts. About 23% of all secondary teachers do not have a minor in their main teaching field. This is true for more than 30% of mathematics teachers and the proportion of such teachers is much greater in high-poverty schools and lower-level classes. In schools with the highest minority enrollments, students have less than a 50% chance of getting a science or mathematics teacher who holds a license and a degree in the field which he or she teaches. While placement of probationary teachers may help to relieve the shortages of licensed teachers, school districts should consider the consequences of placing these teachers in the classroom. One solution school districts have looked to is the use of technology. The Integrated Learning System (ILS) is a virtual classroom which may offer a solution for school districts not able to fill teaching vacancies with a fully prepared teacher. The focus of this study was on the impact of the ILS and teachers' mathematics preparation on 8th grade student achievement. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze existing data. The participants included 1223 students in 76 classes taught by 30 teachers. The results indicated that 8th grade student achievement in ILS classes was significantly higher compared to classes not using the ILS. When teachers' preparation in mathematics was added in to the model, the impact of the ILS was reduced. Results from this study suggested that the ILS may be beneficial for MJ-3 students and that the ILS may offer school districts an alternative technique in raising student mathematics achievement, specifically with low-income or minority students. In addition, the ILS may be a practical solution for school districts when dealing with teacher vacancies in mathematics classrooms. In regard to teacher preparation, the results from this study confirm the importance for school districts to hire mathematics teachers with knowledge of mathematics content and pedagogy; support the belief that alternative certification programs should emphasize pedagogy; challenge state licensing boards' option of certifying teachers without documentation of completed subject area courses; and support NCTM's vision of a well-prepared mathematics teacher.

Sustainable development is increasingly being integrated within local government planning across United States. Many communities are attempting to translate this general principle into specific and measurable terms. The urban sustainability planning literature has mostly focused on descriptive case studies of pioneering cities that have been characterized as true innovators in their sustainability efforts. Noticeably absent from the literature, however, has been an examination of the sustainable development claims made by local governments undergoing 'green' certifications. This study evaluates the commitment and efforts of municipalities and counties of Florida within the framework of Florida Green Building Coalition's 'Green Local Government' standard through a web-based content analysis and a mailed survey. The findings indicate that local governments that have adopted this standard demonstrate a fairly high level of commitment to sustainable development. However, the adoption of specific local initiatives towards achieving this designation was found to be ad hoc and piecemeal. The findings also indicate that although some local governments have created novel incentive programs to promote green buildings, administrative, monetary and other barriers are preventing the growth of green building practice. Finally, the societal and economic aspects of sustainability were found to be insufficiently addressed in the local government initiatives as well as in the certification requirements.

Teaching in Australia is acknowledged as a profession. The public, however, generally perceives teaching as a poorly paid occupation whose practitioners exert little control over their own standards of practice. Consequently, the professional status of teachers is low, and very few of the most capable school leavers and high ability university graduates are attracted to teaching as a career. Furthermore, teachers' perceptions that the public does not appreciate their work have led to low morale, high rates of resignations, and early retirements among experienced practitioners. These factors will contribute to serious shortages of teachers in the new millennium. In the past Australian employers in both government and non-government school sectors have attempted to circumvent teacher shortages by reducing qualifications required for teaching. This anti-professional practice has contributed to the belief that teaching is something that anyone can do. It is argued in this thesis that the status of the teaching profession in Australia must be enhanced if teaching is to attract capable new recruits and retain knowledgeable, experienced practitioners. This could be achieved by giving teachers greater responsibility for their profession's standards through a system of statutory regulatory boards, comprised largely of practising teachers. The boards would be responsible for establishing and enforcing standards for registration of teachers, accreditation of teacher education, and provision of advanced certification. Furthermore, such regulation of the profession should be on a national basis to ensure that all children in all schools in Australia have access to competent, professionally qualified teachers, and to overcome the problems of interstate mobility of teachers. The thesis concludes by calling on all stakeholders to acknowledge teaching as a full profession. This could be achieved by accepting that teachers should regulate their professional standards in the same way that other professions do. A model to achieve that end is presented. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>The purpose of this thesis was to examine the interest for a sustainable certification when arranging events. The thesis is based on a quantitative method, where the authors did fifty telephone interviews with companies included in the event business. Theories that has been the basis of this examination is; sustainable development, event management, altruism and competition strategies. The material in the empiric chapter consists of crosstabs and graphs, formed by the statistical data from the survey. The authors have tried to connect the theories with the empirical result in the final analyze.</p><p>Furthermore, the outcome of the survey has been discussed in the chapters for analyze and results. The authors have seen an interest from the interview objects to apply a sustainable certification when arranging events, even though it does not exist. The examination has also been discussed in another point of view, is the interest based on a moral or an economic perspective? The authors think that companies interested in a sustainable certification, are interested even if it leads to higher costs for the business. Companies that are not interested in the certification, thinks that costs are the primary reason for this.</p>

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The purpose of this thesis was to examine the interest for a sustainable certification when arranging events. The thesis is based on a quantitative method, where the authors did fifty telephone interviews with companies included in the event business. Theories that has been the basis of this examination is; sustainable development, event management, altruism and competition strategies. The material in the empiric chapter consists of crosstabs and graphs, formed by the statistical data from the survey. The authors have tried to connect the theories with the empirical result in the final analyze. Furthermore, the outcome of the survey has been discussed in the chapters for analyze and results. The authors have seen an interest from the interview objects to apply a sustainable certification when arranging events, even though it does not exist. The examination has also been discussed in another point of view, is the interest based on a moral or an economic perspective? The authors think that companies interested in a sustainable certification, are interested even if it leads to higher costs for the business. Companies that are not interested in the certification, thinks that costs are the primary reason for this.

Le but de cette thèse fut de comprendre l’apprentissage de formateurs d’entraîneurs et d’entraîneurs dans le Programme national de certification des entraîneurs. Deux études furent réalisées. La première porte sur l’apprentissage de cinq formateurs au moment d’être formé et en présentant des ateliers à des entraîneurs. La deuxième examine l’apprentissage de onze entraîneurs dans des ateliers. Les données furent collectées à partir de séances d’observation non participante et d’entretiens semi-structurés multiples. Elles furent analysées à partir de la théorie de l’apprentissage humain (Jarvis, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) et la théorie de Moon (2001) sur l’apprentissage dans les ateliers de courte durée. Les résultats révélèrent qu’apprendre peut être un processus cognitif, émotif et/ou pratique. Les formateurs apprirent autant en présentant les ateliers à des entraîneurs qu’au moment d’être formé. Les entraîneurs validèrent leur pratique, la modifièrent ou éprouvèrent de l’inconfort à la modifier. Des suggestions furent proposées aux responsables du programme.

This dissertation examines changes that companies made in order to obtain Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, and the role that provincial governments have played in the implementation of this emerging market-based form of governance. It analyzes the indirect roles that governments have played in either encouraging or inhibiting the adoption of certification through their policies, as well as the direct roles played in response to particular certification attempts that occurred on public land. Through the use of case studies of individual operations in each province, the interaction between state and non-state authority is explored, as well as the role that forest tenure played in each operation’s ability to obtain certification. The results reveal that the changes required to obtain certification were substantial but associated with only a small subset of the FSC’s Principles and Criteria, heavily weighted towards environmental issues. While corrective action requests are issued to the company pursuing certification, the results show that non-exclusive tenure limits a company’s ability to respond to these requests without the cooperation of the provincial government and resource users with overlapping tenure rights. However, limited duration of forest tenure does not preclude certification, and for the most part, provincial governments are found to play important facilitative roles in certification, both through their policies and regulations, and as providers of information and technical support. Further, the majority of the corrective actions were not required to be implemented prior to certification being awarded, but within the five year term of the certificate. This appears to have acted as a flexibility mechanism, allowing the certification system to secure the participation of companies in the short term, with the hope of leveraging greater change in the long term from the company, the government in question, and other resource users with overlapping tenure rights.

The recent focus on transition from school to working life has created a growing concern in Oregon about teachers with elementary certification as their initial certification who earn a special education certificate and teach students with disabilities in secondary settings. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among initial certifications (elementary, secondary, and K-12), where Oregon high school special education teachers received the major part of their transition skills training, and their self-perceived needs for further transition skills training. The population for the study consisted of 213 secondary special education teachers of students with mild disabilities from throughout Oregon. The instrument was a survey-type questionnaire that included 14 transition skill competencies for teachers. Subjects were first asked where they received the major part of their training in each of the transition competency skills. Next, they were asked to rate their self-perceived needs for further training in each of the transition skills. The instrument design was validated through a Delphi procedure. Data were collected during the spring of 1987 and the fall of 1988. No significant statistical relationships were found between initial certification and where teachers received the major part of their transition skills training, or their self-perceived needs for further training. However, three major implications became apparent from the data. First, decisions regarding coursework could be examined at the preservice level. Next, opportunities for preservice teachers to participate in team decision-making activities should be examined. Lastly, personnel inservice preparation programs at the district level should be examined to ensure that transition skill competencies for teachers are included. Recommendations included follow-up studies to find out if the size of school, type and level of endorsement, major and minor fields of study and years of teaching may have an effect on transition skills training of secondary teachers. / Graduation date: 1992

Reference monitor inlining is a technique for enforcing security policies by injecting security checks into the untrusted software in a style similar to aspect-oriented programming. The intention is that the injected code enforces compliance with the policy (security), without adding behavior (conservativity) or affecting existing policy compliant behavior (transparency). This thesis consists of four papers which covers a range of topics including formalization of monitor inlining correctness properties, certification of inlined monitors, limitations in multithreaded settings and extensions using data-flow monitoring. The first paper addresses the problem of having a potentially complex program rewriter as part of the trusted computing base. By means of proof-carrying code we show how the inliner can be replaced by a relatively simple proof-checker. This technique also enables the use of monitor inlining for quality assurance at development time, while minimizing the need for post-shipping code rewrites. The second paper focuses on the issues associated with monitor inlining in a concurrent setting. Specifically, it discusses the problem of maintaining transparency when introducing locks for synchronizing monitor state reads and updates. Due to Java's relaxed memory model, it turns out to be impossible for a monitor to be entirely transparent without sacrificing the security property. To accommodate for this, the paper proposes a set of new correctness properties shown to be realistic and realizable. The third paper also focuses on problems due to concurrency and identifies a class of race-free policies that precisely characterizes the set of inlineable policies. This is done by showing that inlining of a policy outside this class is either not secure or not transparent, and by exhibiting a concrete algorithm for inlining of policies inside the class which is secure, conservative, and transparent. The paper also discusses how certification in the style of proof-carrying code could be supported in multithreaded Java programs. The fourth paper formalizes a new type of data centric runtime monitoring which combines monitor inlining with taint tracking. As opposed to ordinary techniques which focus on monitoring linear flows of events, the approach presented here relies on tree shaped traces. The paper describes how the approach can be efficiently implemented and presents a denotational semantics for a simple ``while'' language illustrating how the theoretical foundations is to be used in a practical setting. Each paper is concluded by a practical evaluation of the theoretical results, based on a prototype implementation and case studies on real-world applications and policies. / Referensmonitorinvävning, eller monitorinvävning, är en teknik som används för att se till att en given säkerhetspolicy efterföljs under exekvering av potentiellt skadlig kod. Tekniken går ut på att bädda in en uppsättning säkerhetskontroller (en säkerhetsmonitor) i koden på ett sätt som kan jämföras med aspektorienterad programmering. Syftet med den invävda monitorn är att garantera att policyn efterföljs (säkerhet) utan att påverka ursprungsprogrammets beteende, såvida det följer policyn (transparans och konservativitet). Denna avhandling innefattar fyra artiklar som tillsammans täcker in en rad ämnen rörande monitorinvävning. Bland annat diskuteras formalisering av korrekthetsegenskaper hos invävda monitorer, certifiering av invävda monitorer, begränsningar i multitrådade program och utökningar för hantering av dataflödesmonitorering. Den första artikeln behandlar problemen associerade med att ha en potentiellt komplex programmodifierare som del i den säkerhetskritiska komponenten av ett datorsystem. Genom så kallad bevisbärande kod visar vi hur en monitorinvävare kan ersättas av en relativt enkel beviskontrollerare. Denna teknik möjliggör även användandet av monitorinvävning som hjälpmedel för programutvecklare och eliminerar behovet av programmodifikationer efter att programmet distribuerats. Den andra artikeln fokuserar på problemen kring invävning av monitorer i multitrådade program. Artikeln diskuterar problemen kring att upprätthålla transparans trots införandet av lås för synkronisering av läsningar av och skrivningar till säkerhetstillståndet. På grund av Javas minnesmodell visar det sig dock omöjligt att bädda in en säkerhetsmonitor på ett säkert och transparent sätt. För att ackommodera för detta föreslås en ny uppsättning korrekthetsegenskaper som visas vara realistiska och realiserbara. Den tredje artikeln fokuserar även den på problemen kring flertrådad exekvering och karaktäriserar en egenskap för en policy som är tillräcklig och nödvändig för att både säkerhet och transparens ska uppnås. Detta görs genom att visa att en policy utan egenskapen inte kan upprätthållas på ett säkert och transparent sätt, och genom att beskriva en implementation av en monitorinvävare som är säker och transparent för en policy som har egenskapen. Artikeln diskuterar också hur certifiering av säkerhetsmonitorer i flertrådade program kan realiseras genom bevisbärande kod. Den fjärde artikeln beskriver en ny typ av datacentrisk säkerhetsmonitorering som kombinerar monitorinvävning med dataflödesanalys. Till skillnad mot existerande tekniker som fokuserar på linjära sekvenser av säkerhetskritiska händelser förlitar sig tekniken som presenteras här på trädformade händelsesekvenser. Artikeln beskriver hur tekniken kan implementeras på ett effektivt sätt med hjälp av abstraktion. Varje artikel avslutas med en praktisk evaluering av de teoretiska resultaten baserat på en prototypimplementation och fallstudier av verkliga program och säkerhetsegenskaper. / <p>QC 20130220</p>