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This study examined three high schools in a large urban school district in Texas that achieved an academically acceptable rating after being sanctioned to reconstitute by state agencies. Texas state accountability standards are a result of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2011 (NCLB). Texas state law requires schools to design a reconstitution plan after the second year of receiving an academically unacceptable school rating for failing to meet the required standards on state assessments, dropout rates, and graduation rates. The plan must be implemented by the third year. A mixed methods approach was used to uncover the strategies that were successful during the restructuring initiative. Data was obtained from three sources: interviews, document analysis and surveys. Interviews were conducted with district administrators, campus based administrators and teachers of the three high schools. A sample of core content teachers were surveyed using questions from the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success. Results revealed that each school chose to engage in a major form of restructuring that included the formation of a themed based magnet school. A team approach was used to devise, implement, and monitor the reconstitution plan. Common strategies unveiled in the study included the use of common assessments, collaborative planning among core teachers, professional development, continuous monitoring of student absences, extended learning times for students, and a focus on college readiness. Survey data revealed that the majority of teachers believed that collaboration positively impacted student achievement. It is recommended that schools undergoing restructuring choose a reconstitution option that allows for flexibility, use multiple resources to foster school improvement, and develop restructuring plans that serve as living documents. Further research is needed to study the principal's role in achieving an academically acceptable rating. This study could also be expanded to compare restructuring strategies of high schools across the country that has been forced by federal mandates to reconstitute.

The decision to restructure a firm is very difficult for many companies because it often has a big impact on the company financially and culturally. Restructuring is often a necessary decision for firms in financial distress, and my research seeks to determine whether the market reacts positively or negatively to restructuring charges over time. Much research has been done to determine whether restructuring creates value for the company and increases future performance, but less has been done to determine the stock market reaction that comes as a result of restructuring. Prior literature suggests that restructuring is often a positive decision for companies, which led to my hypothesis that stock price would increase more in companies that had higher levels of restructuring charges over the period measured. I measured companies’ restructuring charges as a percent of operating income over a ten-year period and compared those percentages to the change in stock price over that same period. My results suggest that companies who did not restructure, or recognized lower levels of restructuring charges, had higher positive increases in stock price than those that had higher levels of restructuring charges. Because this result is contrary to much of the prior research, investors’ reaction to restructuring should continue to be studied.

This thesis reviews restructuring efforts of the electricity market in Latin America. The work first examines the drivers that have encouraged Latin American countries to restructure their power markets, going from government-held monopolies to fully privatized systems. Then a general conceptual theory is presented to describe the main differences between restructuring and privatization, and antitrust theory. Next, five countries are selected due to their leadership role in electric reforms in the region as well as their economic weight. Then a complete description of their power generation and electricity consumption is described as well as their experiences undergone before and after electricity restructuring. A summary section is presented by benchmarking the five countries and identifying the common issues faced that will help others plan better electric systems. Then, an analysis of their internal market competition is presented, analyzing the impact of electricity costs and rates. Finally, the last portion of this thesis concludes by exploring future trends in market integration programs as well as the challenges for sustainable economic growth, environmental impacts, and cooperation. / text

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The purpose of this paper was to design a strategy for teaching stress to children with sever to profound hearing losses to progress from the simple detection of the presence or absence of a drum beat to the identification of the number of stressed syllables in spoken sentences without the aid of the drum beat. Emphasis was focused upon the simplicity of programming structure and minimum of equipment.