Eighty-three Texas high school football stadiums have opened since 2008. Both pro stadiums and amateur stadiums have found their way into the ire of economists, who decry such expensive projects as lavish and foolhardy. Sociologists meanwhile point to ambition and pride as contributing to the growth of professional and amateur stadiums.

This thesis examines School Generated Funding (SGF) within the Toronto District School (TDSB) to see if SGF is reinforcing a two-tier education system. Five sources of data were analyzed: The SGF Record of the TDSB from 2008-2009, The Preliminary School Budget from 2010-2011, EQAO test results from 2008 to 2009, The Learning Opportunity Index (LOI) from 2009, and three socio-economic status factors (income, education and occupation) using the Toronto Wards Profiles. Using the SGF record, twenty green schools (schools that raised the most SGF, amounting to $4,043,837) were compared, using the five sources of data against twenty red schools (schools that raised the least amount of SGF, amounting to $109,885). Two recommendations have been suggested: SGF be capped at a median amount throughout the TDSB and extra funding be put into a funding account for the TDSB to disperse to schools that need it.

This study investigates educators' experiences in choosing material for learners in the inclusive classroom setting as clearly stated in chapter one. Chapter two explored the literature on the learning and teaching support materials and the processes involved. The definition of learning and teaching support materials was explored. The kinds, importance and role of learning and teaching support, were discussed and the role is seen as a vehicle which enhances the awareness for expression and opportunities to capture evidence of learners knowledge. Guidelines to consider in the process of selecting learning and teaching support materials and the utilization thereof, as well as the funding of learning and teaching support materials received attention. This chapter further explored the inclusive classroom where inclusion is defined; the nature of inclusive classroom was discussed. The benefits and the criticism of inclusive classroom settings were also explored. In chapter three, the empirical research design used in the study is discussed. Focus group interviews in qualitative study were used to explore educators' experiences in choosing learning and teaching support material in inclusive classroom settings. Chapter four highlighted the research methods used to investigate the problems of this study. The application of the focus interview was explained in detail because the focus group was used for the collection of data which was analysed and interpreted. The data revealed that educators experience a number of difficulties in choosing learning and teaching support materials for learners in inclusive classroom settings. The last chapter concludes the study with recommendations on the way to assist educators in choosing materials for learners in the inclusive classroom setting. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.

Dieser Beitrag widmet sich ausgehend von den Erfahrungen aus dem iMooX-Projekt der ökonomischen Perspektive von MOOCs. Zunächst werden die Kosten eines MOOC anhand des iMooX-Projekts dargelegt. Folgend auf die Darstellung des Kostenmodells erfolgt eine Diskussion, welchen Umfang der reale Wert eines MOOC aufweist. Abschließend werden mögliche Finanzierungsquellen eines MOOC diskutiert.

Systematic reviews - appraisal and synthesis of all primary research - are increasingly being used to inform policy and practice in health care. Therefore, it is important to understand how the key questions in systematic reviews are identified and prioritised and whether they are relevant to policy makers, practitioners and members of the public. Research priority setting (RPS) is usually defined as any interpersonal activity that leads to the selection of topics and/or choices of key questions to investigate . Diverse approaches to setting research priorities are used in different countries, regions and organisations. There is no consensus in the literature on the most effective processes with which to set these priorities. However, these decisions define the quality and implications of the evidence, and syntheses of it, available to patients, public and policy makers to help them make informed decisions. My initial scoping work, was to design and conduct a survey across an influential international systematic review organisation (Cochrane Collaboration ) on how they set priorities for their reviews. We identified 13 structured approaches to setting priorities. As part of the project, we developed an evaluation framework that demonstrated whether the priority setting processes meet the values and principles of the Cochrane Collaboration. Subsequently, we developed an equity lens for research priority setting exercises to inform the design of research priority setting processes to ensure that they consider the priorities of disadvantaged groups along with advantaged groups. We used the equity lens to do a second evaluation on the priority setting processes in the Cochrane Collaboration. Both evaluation frameworks demonstrated that the Cochrane Collaboration requires better designed priority setting approaches and must be more transparent in reporting those processes. The evaluation of research priority setting exercises in the Cochrane Collaboration, along with the wider literature, demonstrates that research priority setting exercises cannot be evaluated in isolation from organisational cultures, values and context. Therefore, the next step of the project focused on a specific stakeholder group (major research funders) with significant influence on research, including support for systematic reviews. We selected 11 national research agencies in the UK, Netherlands, France, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Australia, Canada, and the USA. We devised and used a checklist based on Chalmers and Glasziou’s “avoidable research waste” framework (and evaluated the processes and policies of these agencies using this checklist). As previous evaluations had demonstrated, this second evaluation found a lack of transparency in the process of setting priorities for research and other related organisational and policy issues. Increased funding is needed for methodological research to evaluate research practices and to monitor how funding research projects is done and reported. My evaluation of funding agencies and the Cochrane Collaboration found a similar lack of transparency and accountability in the context of conflicting values among stakeholders that decreases accountability and scrutiny of researchers and their institutions. However, the projects have led to organisational and policy changes in the two key stakeholder groups (the Cochrane Collaboration and selected funding agencies). Officials of national health research funding agencies have approached me to collaborate with them to address the issues raised by my work on reducing research waste. This led to the establishment of Funders Forum - the Ensuring Value in Research (EViR) Funders’ Collaboration and Development Forum - to enable agencies in various countries to exchange their experience in addressing issues and creating work groups to address them. The Forum is chaired by individuals from three major research funders: NIHR (UK), ZonMW (Netherlands) and Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI; USA). The Forum organises several meetings to establish common principles, standards and work plans to achieve the common objective around reducing research waste and adding value for research for a national research funder.

Crowdfunding is a relatively new addition to the entrepreneurial range of funding options. It has been considered a “game changer’ and an “equalizer” for entrepreneurs seeking to finance new ventures. However, it shares several attributes with traditional funding methods as well as many of the same investor concerns. Since research is still scant on both crowdfunding as whole and on its fast-developing sub-categories this study endeavored to analyze two related topics in this area. Understanding how close this new paradigm is to the old is a focus of new research. In the case of this study perceived self-confidence of the crowdfunding project founder to the successful outcomes is examined. Additionally, to see if gender bias plays a part in this new era it is included as a control to determine if women need to project greater confidence than men to overcome these and achieve the same goals. Kickstarter.com is one of the oldest and most successful rewards based crowdfunding sites in the world. A sample of 9050 completed campaigns from here were used for this analysis. In the methodology qualitative coding was used to identify the linguistic symbols of confidence. To empirically investigate the research questions statistical analysis was carried out to seek the relationships between confidence signaling and successful crowdfunding performance as well as if gender bias has a moderating effect. The two hypotheses were not supported by the results of this study. Self-confidence was not a predictor of crowdfunding success and gender did not have a significant influence on the outcomes.

abstract: ABSTRACT Early childhood education (ECE) teacher professional development refers to the various modalities of providing new and or additional content knowledge to the teachers who work with children birth to five. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an Arizona United Way-administered intervention project designed to provide focused professional development activities to 15 ECE teachers at seven high-need, center-based early care and education settings. Specifically, this study determined if these interventions influenced the teachers to undertake formative career path changes such as college coursework. In addition, the study also sought to understand the views, beliefs, and attitudes of these ECE teachers and if/how their perspectives influenced their educational career paths. Data were gathered through the triangulated use of participants' responses to a survey, face-to-face interviews, and a focus group. Findings demonstrate that the teachers understand that professional development, such as college coursework, can increase a person's knowledge on a given topic or field of study, but that they feel qualified to be a teacher for children birth to five even though 12 of the 15 teachers do not hold an AA/AAS or BA/BS degree in any area of study. Further, the teachers suggested that if they were to earn a degree it would most likely be in another field of study beside education. These responses provide another reason professional development efforts to encourage ECE teachers to seek degrees in the field of education may be failing. If ECE teachers wanted to invest time, energy and funds they would acquire a degree, which provided more financial reward and professional respect.  / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2011

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This thesis is the written result of a practice-based PhD. The thesis presents a 'located' model of curatorial practice that aims to actively benefit the cultural landscape of host regions. It challenges existing definitions of 'the curatorial', taking a multidisciplinary understanding of curatorial practice and evaluating curatorial methods in light of recent geo-political developments. Concerned with the effects of changes in European cultural policy, and the geopolitical position of the Mediterranean basin, this thesis evaluates contemporary curatorial practices in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership context and, through practice-based interventions, suggests ways to develop situated curatorial processes, appropriate to their geographical context. Specifically, I argue that the temporary, large-scale exhibition formats financially supported by EU policies, such as the European Regional Development Fund, are not necessarily the most appropriate or beneficial to the cultural development of their host regions. I therefore propose an alternative set of methods, tools and considerations for a self-reflexive model of curatorial practice. This proposal takes the form of a curatorial initiative 'Vessel'; a long-term practice-based research project that seeks models of practice that effectively enable local engagement in cultural production, allowing culture to flourish independently of larger hegemonies. Several of Vessel's experimental initiatives are presented here, and appraised in order to build a theoretical understanding of 'located' curatorial practices that can inform alternative approaches. This research is developed through case studies of Manifesta, Liminal Spaces, Matadero and Intermediae; all of them testing grounds for 'Vessel', a curatorial initiative based in Puglia, Italy. Puglia has been chosen as a site for this research because of its central role in the current Mediterranean situation. This thesis illustrates the theoretical, geographical and historical context of this investigative project, and documents the evolution and outcomes of the curatorial initiative attempted. This thesis represents the first practice-based study of contemporary curatorial practices in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED) context, which seeks primarily to develop situated curatorial processes appropriate to their geographical context. The thesis discusses aspects of human geography, cultural studies, social science and European studies, all filtered through practical implementation and reflective examination of the main discipline of interest: curatorial studies. This research acknowledges the role of the curator as a mediator between cultural producers and the political and bureaucratic conditions for cultural production. This role offers the opportunity to develop an awareness of the potential influence of those conditions on the artists, their work and their audiences. In other words, the curator is in a unique position to have an overview of the practices, interests and concerns of cultural producers, as well as those of policy makers and administrative bodies, and any potential conflicts of interest that may arise. Thus, curators are in a privileged position to operate as proactive agents, particularly when they observe that cultural policies are not achieving the aim of fostering cultural development. This thesis, therefore, invites curators to consider their responsibility to critically assess the long-term effects of their practice on cultural and epistemological development in Europe. The thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 presents the research questions, clarifying their terminology and broadly discussing their rationale, context and theoretical focus. The chapter questions current EU cultural and economic strategies and suggests that they may be misguided. In Chapter 2, the level of analysis shifts from the geo-political context to a more specific situation: the position of art practitioners involved in the above situation, and the outcomes produced. Since the exhibition format is popular and has been envisioned by the EU cultural agenda as one of the most effective instruments for creating a dialogue between different geographical areas, Chapter 2 challenges this understanding of the format and the ways of production embedded in it. Chapter 3 presents a series of alternative curatorial approaches coming from the South and related to the four theoretical pillars of the self-reflexive approach: geography, time, process and epistemology. Starting with the methods used to investigate the case studies, the chapter traces connections between theory and practice. The chapter moves through close readings of the alternative case studies and comparative analysis, to the use of self- reflexive practice. Chapter 4 is at the heart of the thesis: it presents the methodologies underpinning both the approach to case study analysis and the practical research. This involves the curatorial proposal put forward and practised through Vessel. Vessel is therefore presented, in Chapter 4, as a self-reflexive model of located curatorial practice that is appropriate for located curatorial engagement. The conclusion addresses the capacity of curatorial practices to cultivate local epistemologies. I propose the outcome of the Vessel research project, and associated case studies as a set of curatorial methods and considerations for a 'located' model of curatorial practice.

Thesis on the topic Satisfaction of health and social workers with financial rewards deals with the the subjective perception of satisfaction with the possibilities of financial compensation. The aim of of this paper is to describe the health and social care services by extension the South Bohemian Region and to map out the possibilities funding these services and not least theoretically identify the main motivational factors at work and care for employees. For processing the research part of the thesis was used quantitative research strategy, data capture been performed via interviewing methods, through a standardized questionnaire Job Satisfaction Survey, which was translated into the Czech language as a Průzkum spokojenosti se zaměstnáním M. Fraňkem. The research showed that both professions are dissatisfied with their financial rewards, but the overall rate of job satisfaction was in the range of ambivalence.