Once considered managers of school buildings, principals have moved into the role of instructional leaders, charged with putting student learning first in their realm of daily responsibilities. The concept of transformational leadership helps foster the development of a school culture that includes student-centered interactions, an underlying sense of social stability, and student learning at its core. Principals lead their staffs in a multitude of ways. The extent of principal effectiveness as it relates to retaining teachers in school buildings is in need of exploration. Four issues related to principal effectiveness are addressed as supported by the literature: (a) educational leadership theory, (b) organizational culture in schools, (c) teacher mobility, and (d) effects of teacher mobility on school culture. Teacher retention at the local school builds stronger communities simply by fostering relationships that enable problem solving among colleagues, students, and parents. This dissertation looks at the role of the principal in developing a healthy school culture in order to provide descriptions of leadership practices, so their value can be assessed and debated. Data collection consisted of sixteen semi-structured interviews that constitute the source of this instrumental case study. By interviewing system leaders in two distinctly different districts and examining the perceptions of teachers in those districts, the researcher was able to understand the effects of the Georgia Vision Project and teacher retention at the local school level. Data analysis resulted in the central categories: respect, support, relationships, recognition, open door policy, and encouragement as ways in which principals can influence retention.

Effective leadership is a critical component to student learning and engaging parents of English Language Learners (ELL). The primary purpose of this instrumental multiple comparison case study was to determine the degree in which the Georgia Vision Project's recommendation, to be responsive to the cultural make-up of the communities they serve, has impacted two different high implementation school districts. The secondary focus of the research examined the influence of leadership practices on parental involvement in schools with high ELL populations. Awareness of viable cultural approaches for engaging ELL students and parents can be acquired by teachers during the pre-service or in-service training. However, this may be impossible if administrators lack cultural understanding themselves. Family members of English Language Learners often struggle to remain involved in their children’s academic activities due to their limited English proficiency and fear communicating with the staff. Consequently, administrators play a key role in creating effective professional development for teachers and welcoming school environments for ELL families. Interviews of district and school leaders, parent instructional coordinators, and parents were conducted. Supporting documents were also gathered. Dedoose was used to assist with the analysis and coding of the data collected using a general inductive approach. The data collected revealed the impact of the Vision Project implementation within each district. Also, several themes emerged from the findings 1) stable school district leadership, 2) consistent mission and vision implementation, 3) clearly outlined strategic goals and priorities, 4) frequent communication with internal and external stakeholders, 5) leadership development academies for succession planning, 6) specific organizational structure for central office and schools, 7) alignment of Vision Project educational components to the district initiatives, and 8) a commitment to restoring confidence in public education. The study contributes to the development of educational leaders in schools with diverse student populations. The findings reveal the necessity for school leaders to assess parents’ perceptions of their child’s school, given the impact parents can have on children’s attitudes about school, and the importance of supporting parental engagement. The success of students will require leaders to acknowledge the power of parents and community as important resources.

The purpose of this case study was to determine to what degree the Vision Project’s implementation impacted school climate and student achievement in high implementation districts. Specifically, this study examined what principals do that impacts or determines the climate of a school, in an effort to establish action steps for school principals to follow to create a positive school climate. The purpose was to describe and interpret the actions of principals from their own view and the perspective of those around them. This research looked at two schools in two different school districts to determine principal and teacher perceptions in regards to what a leader does to develop and maintain a positive school climate. That is, how is a positive learning environment created where teachers feel confident in their work? A general inductive approach was chosen to focus on the realities of the participants within the school districts in order to understand their perceptions of what the principal does to impact the climate in a school. An instrumental study design allowed for an in-depth look at the Vision Project’s overall impact on a school implementing the recommendations with fidelity with a specific focus on school culture, school climate, and the role of the principal.

The Hispanic population is growing rapidly nationwide, and school districts across the country are faced with the challenge of guiding these learners to high levels of success. The primary focus of this dissertation addresses the implementation in the state of Georgia of the Vision Project, which is titled A Vision for Public Education, Equity and Excellence. This project is designed to build trust and support for public education across the state, to ensure meaningful engagement within communities, and to provide rewarding educational experiences for all Georgia’s students. A secondary focus for this dissertation assesses perceptions of school leadership practices in high poverty, high “English Language Learner (ELL)” school districts. The literature review includes perceived practices that have informed (a) types of leadership teams, (b) parent involvement, (c) professional development of leaders and teachers and (d) instructional practices for high ELL schools. An instrumental case study was used to examine how specific school districts are implementing the Vision Project’s recommendations to improve public education. Moreover, there is a secondary focus on leaders in high poverty, high English Language Learner schools. The emphasis is on their perceptions of practices that have informed student learning. Two “Tier 1” districts were selected by utilizing the Vision Project Executive Director as an informant with regard to which districts were implementing the project with fidelity in the 2014-15 school year. A constructivist view to general inductive approach and thematic analysis guided the process used to identify themes in this study. From the qualitative data, four themes emerged. The themes identified within the data include: (a) the ways formal leadership teams are organized (b) professional development of teachers and leaders, (c) instructional strategies utilized to teach ELL students effectively, and (d) leaders’ perception of the impact and challenge of parental involvement in high poverty schools. Additionally, connections to areas of the GA Vision Project were noted in both School District A and School District B. This study contributes to the field of education by giving educational leaders in high poverty, high ELL schools support for planning, developing, and implementing instructional vision in their workplace and communities.

Background: Risk factors for acquired multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) are well described but risk factors of primary MDR TB is understudied. We aimed to 1) assess risk factors for primary MDR TB, including diabetes, and 2) determine if diabetes reduced the rate of sputum culture conversion in patients with primary MDR TB. Methods: From 2011-2014 we conducted a prospective cohort study at the National Center for TB and Lung Disease in Tbilisi, Georgia. Adult (≥35 years) patients with primary TB were eligible. MDR TB was defined as resistance to at least rifampicin and isoniazid. Patients with HbA1c ≥6.5% were defined to have diabetes. Polytomous regression was used to estimate the association of patient characteristics with drug resistance. Cox regression was used to compare the hazard rate of sputum culture conversion in patients with and without diabetes. Results: Among 318 patients, 268 had drug susceptibility test results. Among patients with DST results, 19.4% was primary MDR TB and 13.4% had diabetes. In adjusted analyses, diabetes (aOR 2.51 95%CI 1.00 – 6.31) and lower socioeconomic status (aOR 3.51 95%CI 1.56 – 8.20) were associated with primary MDR TB. Among patients with primary MDR TB, 44 (84.6%) converted sputum cultures to negative. The hazard rate of sputum culture conversion was lower among patients with diabetes (aHR 0.34 95%CI 0.13 – 0.87) and among smokers (aHR 0.16 95%CI 0.04 – 0.61). Conclusions: We found diabetes to be associated with an increased risk of primary MDR TB; both diabetes and smoking were associated with a decreased rate of sputum culture conversion.

We examined tree rings from cross-sections of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) timbers extracted from a house in Forsyth County, Georgia, that was reportedly built in the mid-19th Century during the Antebellum Period (pre-1860). Our goals were to (1) determine the probable construction year for the house to help assess its possible historical significance, and (2) create a new long-term reference chronology for the northern Georgia area where such chronologies are lacking. Sections of shortleaf pine were removed from the structure during a renovation project in 2001. Sixteen sections were used to build a floating tree-ring chronology 217 years in length from series that crossdated conclusively with other series both graphically via skeleton plots and statistically via COFECHA. We then statistically evaluated the probable absolute temporal placement of this chronology using several regional tree-ring chronologies from the southeastern U.S. A statistically significant (p , 0.0001) correlation between our chronology and a shortleaf pine chronology from Clemson, South Carolina, anchors our chronology between 1652–1868. Two missing rings are probable in the early portion of our chronology, but we currently do not have a sufficient number of samples to conclusively identify their exact placement. No cluster of outermost rings was found to support the reported construction date of 1851, although the outermost rings on 13 of 16 samples dated before 1851. This new chronology could aid further dating of wood from archaeological sites and historical structures, and establish an initial data set that could eventually provide important new insights about the climate of northern Georgia during the 17th–19th Centuries.

No description available.

This study examined the perceptions of stakeholders in the Georgia Mountains Manufacturing (GMM) region in terms of how the education providers, high schools, and technical colleges worked together to address pathways, skills-gap training, and increase human capital for the benefit of both industry and the communities in the region. The GMM initiative was funded in 2010 with a two-year grant through the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development (GOWD) under former Governor Sonny Purdue. The purpose was to address graduation rates, employment readiness, and specific training needs of manufacturing industries in the region. That initiative was designed to create a Georgia Work Ready Region that provided targeted training for advanced manufacturing jobs within one state sector. This dissertation research examined the public-private partnerships to provide a better understanding of the education and economic development factors in the region. The researcher used semi-structured interviews to examine stakeholder perceptions of the relationships found between business and industry, government and local education providers in the six-county area. Twelve members participated in semi-structured interviews about the delivery of career and technical education (CTE) programs in the designated work-ready region. The researcher identified the employability traits that educators and employers desire for success in middle-skill manufacturing jobs. Although education and economic development partnerships were stimulated by the demonstration project they could not sustain long term viability in the region. Additionally, the CTE delivery system lacked the flexibility to design new school-to-work transitions for the sector.

This thesis analyzed Georgia's pre and post embargo consumption of gasoline and residential electricity from 1960 to 1982 to determine: 1) if the structure of gasoline demand was stable; 2) to investigate the arguments for conservation; and 3) to ascertain that the pricing mechanism is indeed able to adjust consumption to levels of supply. Elasticities were computed and they were used to address simple tax issues. The study was significant for several reasons: 1) it is the first ever known study of its kind done on Georgia; 2) Georgia has a ninety five percent dependence rate on other states and foreign countries (indirectly) for her supply of energy resources; 3) the impact of the oil embargo on consumption, prices and the economy at large is necessary both as a post moterm and for future policy decisions. The results overwhelmingly favored stability in the structure of these demands. As such, the restricted model was valid for any projections and conclusions. The short-term price and income elasticities for gasoline were .30 and .06 and the long-term coefficients were 1.5 and .20 respectively. For electricity, the short-term price and income elasticities were .22 and .37 and the long-term estimates were .81 and 1.33 respectively. The weather variables were very inelastic. All coefficients were significant by the usual criteria. With inelastic demands for these energy resources, taxation seemed a welcome proposition for controlling prices and consumption and for generating revenue. However, it is only to the extent that other monetary, fiscal and economic objectives of the government are not jeopardized. Thus, the arguments for conservation holds to a good degree. A hybrid of a comprehensive tax-pricing policy and conservation efforts is necessary for stability in the energy sector.

Abstract Urban/Rural Inequalities in Suicide Rates in Georgia, 2008-2013: A county-level analysis By Garrett Mahon December 9, 2016 Abstract: INTRODUCTION: Suicide is a significant public health issue. There have been copious amounts of research completed worldwide attempting to understand the reasons behind suicide, including those revolving around urban and rural disparities. However, research has yet to find a consensus on the issue. The state of Georgia, in particular, has a variety of county-level characteristics that could help understand the dissimilarity between urban/rural populations and direct future research to improve prevention strategies. OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to assess disparities in suicide rates across urban-rural populations, adjusting for rurality, ethnicity, and a county-level dissimilarity index, in the State of Georgia from 2008 to 2013. METHODS: Suicide mortality data by ethnicity, age, and county of residence were obtained from Georgia’s violent death incident report and death certificate database for 2008 to 2013. A series of Poisson Models were used to evaluate the rates of suicides between urban and rural populations. RESULTS: The analysis was conducted on 5833 suicides across the 159 counties of Georgia with Urban and Rural counties classified as both a binary and fourfold modify variable. There was sufficient evidence to suggest that rural counties in Georgia have a significantly high rate of suicide than those of its urban counterpart, (IRR=1.43, IRR=1.37), even after adjusting for ethnicity and a county level dissimilarity index. CONCLUSION: Georgia’s suicide rates are relatively higher among those living in rural counties when compared to urban settings. These results both confirm and conflict with findings from previous research. The diversity in findings denotes that future research should explore the variations across urban/rural classification systems, spatial remoteness of the area, and additional regional level characteristics.