The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of high school social studies teachers who had English Language Learners (ELL) mainstreamed in their social studies classes. In the school district in which the study took place, approximately 70% (n=240) of the high school social studies teachers had ELL students in their classrooms. For the quantitative portion of the survey, 344 surveys were given to each social studies department chairperson in the county to be completed by all the teachers who currently had ELL students in their social studies classroom. For the qualitative portion of the study, eight high school social studies teachers were interviewed as to their attitudes towards mainstreaming ELL students. Both the survey and interview instruments were developed by Reeves (2002) when she measured teacher attitudes towards mainstreaming ELL students. While a majority of teachers appreciated the cultural diversity which ELL students brought to the classroom, more than three-fourths of the teachers reported that they would prefer ELL students not being in their social studies classrooms until they have reached a minimum level of English proficiency. While a broad spectrum of attitudes were reported towards support teachers received, many survey and interview participants did not feel that the training offered in university coursework or from the school district was particularly beneficial in preparing them to teach ELL students. A clear majority of teachers reported time for both planning and instructional delivery as major obstacles when ELL students are mainstreamed in content area classes. Finally, a majority of teachers (66%) supported making English the official language in the United States. Recommendations for future research and for future policy makers were reported in the final section of the study.

This study examines the correlation between the self-perceptions of junior high school students in Kaohsiung city and their academic performance in each major subject area taught under Kaohsiung city¡¦s nine-year compulsory education system. Key research objectives include: Examine the influences of personal variables on junior high school student self-perception and academic performance within the 9-year compulsory education system; and determine correlations between the self-perception and academic performance; and offer practical suggestions can better assist junior high school students to cultivate self-perceptions that are both active and positive. The authors used the ¡§Self-Attitudes Questionnaire¡¨, revised by Mr. Wei-fan Kuo, as a primary data-gathering tool. The subjects of this research were junior high school students (grades 7 through 9). After categorizing schools as ¡§large¡¨, ¡§medium¡¨ or ¡§small¡¨ (based on student population), the authors chose target schools by randomly selecting three (3) from each category. Finally, a computer was used to select at random one class from each of the nine selected schools. Data collected for this study included completed self-attitude questionnaires and students¡¦ semester grade reports. The authors employed one-way ANOVA, Pearson product-moment correlation, gradual multiple regression, and T-Test analysis methodologies to test hypotheses. Research Findings: At present, the overall rating for self-perception among junior high school students studying in Kaohsiung Municipality is higher than the national average. The sex of respondents was found to affect self-perception significantly in all categories and at each level of academic performance. Differing social / economic backgrounds of families had a significant impact on self-perception in all categories and at each level of academic performance, and Study results indicate that level of self-perception is a regressive predictor of academic performance. Based on the above findings, the authors offer the following practical suggestions: I.The academic curriculum should foster the development of a positive and active sense of self-perception in students; II.Effectively managing the factors that influence students¡¦ self-perception can effectively assist in the prevention / rectification of self-perception problems. III.Students coming from families in lower social or economic strata should be afforded special attention and support. IV.Educators should note and attend to the differing needs of individual students in the classroom.

The reauthorized No Child Left Behind requirement for annual state-mandated student examinations led some teachers to believe that they must teach solely for test preparation. This case study explored teachers' perceptions of preparing students for the state-mandated tests at an economically disadvantaged high school in the southeastern United States. Ten teachers were interviewed to understand their perceptions of 'teaching to the test,' feelings of pressure and stress, motivation to teach, and recommendations for integration of creative teaching strategies. The researcher collected demographic data, such as gender, grades taught, and subjects taught, and manually calculated frequencies and percentages. With an electronic software program for qualitative data management, the researcher analyzed the data manually by iterative review of the interview transcripts for codes and themes. Teachers' perceptions of standardized test preparation were both positive and negative. Preparation fostered discipline and content mastery but inhibited teacher creativity and stressed students. Teachers experienced pressure and stress with unhealthy physical reactions, lack of competence, and responsibility to students. Teachers' motivations were both positive and negative. Some experienced increased self-efficacy, and other experienced decreased motivation; commitment to students; and inadequate institutional support. Teachers recommended incorporation of creative teaching strategies and professional development (PD) programs. Findings led to a PD for addressing the problems and creative strategies (e.g., reciprocal teaching, graphic organizers). Findings may help teachers reduce negative feelings toward standardized test preparation and use innovative strategies for students' more effective learning.

The case study analyses the art education content of selected teachers through the school year in context of actual curriculum. The lesson plans are going to be compared with the actual realizations of students, with respect to the expected (art) competencies of themselves. How do the teachers deal with the curriculum and content in art education? The thesis explores that question per interviews with the teachers, document analyses and gathered reflections. It examines the way of dealing with pedagogical content, its transformation into concrete tasks, teacher's reflection and appreciation of the student works. Inspirational resources of the particular teachers are going to be also covered in this study. The contemporary researches of Art education with emphasis on the pedagogical content are going to be the theoretical basis of processing the case study. KEYWORDS Art education, case study, curriculum, lesson planning, pedagogical content, specific subject area, teaching and learning

This research explores sex and discipline-area differences in empathy across theInterpersonal Reactivity Index developed by Davis. A descriptive cross-sectionalstudy was performed with the participation of 680 university students, divided into351 women and 329 men belonging to Physics-Mathematics, Social-Humanisticand Biological-Chemistry areas. The results show sex differences in threedimensions of the inventory with higher scores for women. No differences inrelation to the subject area of the students were observed. There is interactionbetween sex and discipline in the mathematical-physicist women who obtainedhigher scores in Personal Distress than other participants. / Esta investigación explora diferencias por sexo y área disciplinar en Empatíamedidas a través del Interpersonal Reactivity Index desarrollado por Davis. Serealiza un estudio descriptivo-transversal con la participación de 680 estudiantesuniversitarios, distribuidos en 351 mujeres y hombres, pertenecientes a las áreasde física y matemáticas, social y humanista, química y biológica. Los resultadosmuestran diferencias de sexo en tres dimensiones del inventario con puntajesmayores para las mujeres. No se observaron diferencias en relación con el áreadisciplinar del estudiantado. Existe interacción entre sexo y área disciplinar en lasmujeres físico-matemáticas, quienes obtuvieron puntajes superiores en PersonalDistress, respecto de los demás participantes. / Esta pesquisa explora as diferenças de gênero nas medidas de empatia e dedisciplina em todo o Índice de Reatividade Interpessoal desenvolvidos pela área deDavis. Um estudo descritivo transversal foi realizado com a participação de 680estudantes universitários divididos em 351 mulheres e 329 homens pertencentesà Física e Matemática, ciências sociais e humanas, e Química Biológica. Osresultados mostram diferenças em três dimensões do inventário com escoresmais elevados para as mulheres. Não foram observadas diferenças em relação àárea disciplinar dos alunos. Há uma interação entre sexo e disciplina no físicomatemático, as mulheres que obtiveram escores mais altos em angústia pessoal ,respeitar a área de outros participantes.

高階主管在面臨日益艱難的經濟情勢與經營環境〈主要是來自消費者(Customers)、競爭(Competition)及變動(Change)等3C的壓力）時，依賴傳統組織架構及報告系統來獲取決策資訊的作法，其有效性正受到強烈的質疑。高階主管資訊系統(Executive　Information Systems,EIS)可說是九○年代電腦資訊系統應用的新領域，它以易學易用的圖形使用者介面、多維分析及往下展開的特性，使高階主管能迅速存取各種攸關其企業成敗的關鍵性資訊。由於其親切易用，近年來EIS的應用更沿組織階層向下發展，成為Everyone Information Systems。在企業發展EIS日趨普遍的情況下，一套系統化的分析設計方法更形重要。 　　然而，在相關的文獻中對EIS的發展方法並沒有提出具體的執行步驟，只有概念性的描述，不易引導開發人員及高階主管將其策略理念轉換為資訊需求，而許多發展EIS失敗的例子，正是由於系統資訊需求不正確、時間與成本超出預算、操之過急及政治因素等所造成。因此實務界人士據其顧問經驗提出一個EIS快速發展方法，強調雛型系統的快速建立以爭取高階主管的持續支持及系統的後續發展。但因仍缺乏系統化的需求分析方法，系統發展者往往需經多次歷練才能領悟其中訣竅，也不易將個人經驗傳授於他人。因此雖然企業組織眾人已感受到EIS的重要性，相關的軟硬體工具也可親易用，而EIS的成功推展卻仍受到相當限制。 　　有鑑於此，本論文以符合文獻中對EIS發展方法之概念性描述的「資訊導向」觀念為基礎，並參考快速雛型系統發展方式，運用「中間擴散」(Middle-Out)方向，整合策略分析及資訊系統規劃的具體作法，發展一套結構化的EIS發展方法，稱為EISAD，含目標分析、關鍵成功要素分析、主要績效指標分析、資料分析、資料庫設計、輸出設計、轉換設計、程序及控制設計等步驟。並以金融業為例：說明此方法論的實際運用過程。以期在理論上對EIS發展方法論，及實務上對金融資訊系統應用層次之提昇有所貢獻。 / Due to the rapid changes of business environment and the increasing customer demands and competition pressure, it is getting important to have Executive Information Systems(EIS) to help executives access to high-level strategic information. Recently, EIS has even evolved down the organization hierarchy to become "Everyone Information Systems". The increasing EIS demand endues the needs for EIS development methodology. However, the literature contains only a few academic studies of EIS development methods which are broad and vague. The EIS development has not been researched in a rigorous and systematic manner. Many practitioners adopt a rapid prototyping approach to attract the executives for further support. Due to the lack of a systematic approach to help extracting the user requirements, it is usually up to the developer's experience to informally address the executives' information needs and this experience is hard to be transferred to others. In this thesis, we propose an EIS development methodology, called EISAD, based on the information-oriented concepts and middle-out system development direction. EISAD integrates related tools in strategic analysis and information systems planning as a structurized EIS development methodology. The step by step explanation of the EISAD is illustrated using a banking example.