The purpose of this qualitative document analysis research study was to explore how public high schools in California create local unexcused absence and truancy policies in similar and different ways. The study used Lipsky’s “street-level bureaucracy” and the American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force’s definition of “zero tolerance policies” in the conceptual framework. Forty-two California public high school handbooks were qualitatively coded and analyzed for the extent to which their disciplinary responses to unexcused absences were aligned with the ideals of zero tolerance. Schools were purposefully selected to maximize contrasts between specific student demographic groups and school enrollment sizes. The demographic groups included schools with: high/low minoritized enrollment, high/low ELL enrollment, and high/low enrollment of students with low socioeconomic statuses. School truancy rates were also included as a descriptor in the analysis. The findings from this study revealed that schools with higher enrollment sizes tended to employ disciplinary responses to unexcused absences that were more aligned with zero tolerance policies than schools with lower enrollment sizes. Schools with low minoritized enrollment, low ELL enrollment, and low levels of poverty also tended to rely more heavily on zero tolerance responses to unexcused absences. Truancy rates tended to decrease as zero tolerance policies increased, although there was no evidence that the policies themselves were responsible for the increase in attendance. Few examples of comprehensive truancy prevention and intervention programs were found in this study. Schools that did not rely on zero tolerance did not tend to have innovative programs to address the underlying issues of student truancy. The study ends with a discussion on the ways in which strict zero tolerance policies at schools with most students in the social majority are likely perpetuating the issue of students from marginalized backgrounds being disciplined at higher rates than other students. There is also discussion regarding the fact that harsh zero tolerance policies have the potential to put students who need the most help in a further disadvantaged position.

This paper argues that Gertler’s (2012) account of acquaintance is inadequate because it cannot perform the explanatory role that it’s supposed to perform. My argument builds from two central claims. First, I argue that our judgments about phenomenal absences have the special features that acquaintance is supposed to explain. Second, I argue that Gertler’s take on acquaintance does not allow us to be acquainted with phenomenal absences. This suggests a general methodological lesson: when developing an account of the epistemology of acquaintance, we should make sure that we are capturing all of the relevant sorts of cases. / Master of Arts

L'épilepsie idiopathique généralisée avec absences (EIGA) est une des formes les plus fréquentes d'épilepsie chez l'enfant. Elle survient chez les enfants exempts de maladie avec un pic d'incidence autour de 5 ans. Des statistiques mondiales indiquent que les crises d'absences sont contrôlées par l'Acide Valproïque (AV) chez 75 % des enfants. Pour les autres, la médication est inefficace ou elle entraîne des effets secondaires qui limitent son utilisation. Certaines études ont identifié des facteurs cliniques associés à l'épilepsie réfractaire mais elles incluent tous les types d'épilepsie et tous les traitements. De plus, un nombre croissant de recherches démontrent que la réponse aux médicaments pourrait être grandement influencée par des facteurs génétiques, plus particulièrement par les polymorphismes du cytochrome P450 (CYP). Il faudrait donc ajuster le traitement en fonction du profil génétique de chaque patient. Dans cette étude, nous avons voulu identifier des facteurs cliniques, sociodémographiques et génétiques qui pourraient influencer la réponse à l'AV chez des enfants diagnostiqués d'EIGA. Méthodes : Nous avons tout d'abord identifié des patients diagnostiqués d'EIGA qui étaient suivis au CHU Sainte-Justine de Montréal et traités à l'AV pendant au moins deux mois. Par la suite, une même personne (MLO) a réalisé la revue de tous les dossiers médicaux afm [i.e. afin] d'extraire l'information concernant la réponse à l'AV et les données cliniques et sociodémographiques qui pourraient influencer celle-ci. Une collecte d'échantillons d'ADN des patients toujours suivi à la clinique a ensuite été effectuée afm d'évaluer l'impact de polymorphismes dans deux enzymes du CYP (CYP2C9 et CYP2C19) sur la réponse à l'AV chez ces patients. L'évaluation des polymorphismes s'est faite par hybridation avec oligonucléotides spécifiques pour des allèles (ASO). Des analyses bivariées ont été effectuées afin d'identifier toutes les variables qui différaient entre les répondants (R) et les non-répondants (NR) à l'AV. Par la suite, nous avons effectué une analyse de régression logistique afm d'éliminer les variables qui cessaient d'être significatives en présence des autres. Résultats : Nous avons révisé 190 dossiers (112 R et 68 NR) pour l'analyse des facteurs cliniques et sociodémographiques. Trois variables étaient significativement différentes entre les deux groupes soit l'âge au diagnostic (R=7,55 ans vs NR=6,11 ans, p,001), la présence de crises généralisées tonico-cloniques (R=13,4 % vs NR=33,8 %, p=0,001) et fmalement [i.e. finalement] une fréquence élevée de crises avant le début du traitement (R=27,0 % vs NR=52,9 %, p<0,001). Ces trois variables continuaient d'être significatives dans le modèle de régression logistique. Pour la partie génétique du projet, un échantillon d'ADN a été prélevé sur 83 patients (46 R et 37 NR). Les NR présentaient significativement plus de polymorphismes du CYP2C19 (43,2 % vs 17,4 %, p=0,010) avec un rapport de cotes de 3,62. Lorsqu'on incluait ce polymorphisme dans le modèle de régression logistique, seuls l'âge au diagnostic et le polymorphisme du CYP2C19 demeuraient significatifs. Conclusions : Dans cette étude, nous avons pu identifier certains facteurs cliniques et génétiques qui influencent la réponse à l'AV chez les enfants diagnostiqués d'EIGA. Les résultats montrent qu'il y a un certain profil de patient plus à risque de ne pas répondre au traitement. Donc, si un patient ne semble pas répondre à l'AV et qu'il présente ces facteurs, le neurologue devrait considérer un traitement alternatif plutôt que d'augmenter la dose d'AV et ainsi risquer l'augmentation des effets secondaires dus au traitement.

Research for the past decade has examined academic performance gaps among students from the perspective of sex, race and ethnicity groups, and low socio-economic status. Across those studies school attendance has been identified as a primary correlate with academic success. I used a descriptive non-experimental design to investigate the relationship of student academic outcomes (i.e., GPA, credits earned toward graduation) among student groups (i.e., sex, race, and special education status) on attendance type of unexcused or excused absences. This study included two cohorts of 9th grade high school students (n = 2,262) from the Eugene 4J School District during the 2013 to 2016 school year. I calculated Chi-square tests, Independent t-tests, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient to examine the relationship of attendance with student academic outcomes for GPA and credits earned toward graduation and to further compare attendance type (i.e., unexcused or excused absences) among student groups. Findings indicated statistically significant differences for unexcused and excused absences and for GPA and credits earned by specific demographic subgroups – males v. females, white v. minority, special education v. not special education. There were also statistically significant correlations for GPA and credits earned based on unexcused and excused absences among demographic subgroups. In addition, there were statistically significant differences by academic and attendance variables for students who remained in comparison to students who left Eugene 4J.

The notion of absence is pervasive throughout and central to human language and thought. Such thought and talk is often taken quite seriously. Much has been done to motivate treating absences as genuine entities, things as real as the tables and chairs we encounter in everyday life. Unfortunately, not nearly as much attention has been paid to the question of what kinds of things absences could be if indeed there were such things. In this dissertation, I take up the metaphysical question involving the nature of absences, and I also carefully consider the ontological question of whether any kind of case can be made for reifying absences. Along the way, I develop a novel metaphysical account of absences, and examine various considerations from the realms of causation, perception, and truthmaking that putatively support treating absences as bona fide entities. / text

Teacher absenteeism is a problem that needs a solution. It is imperative that teachers come to work each day to prepare their students for academic achievement. If teachers are chronically absent from work, the students’ academic achievement suffers. There needs to be a way to minimize teacher absences. School districts must track data that shows teacher absences in order to get a clear picture of when and where the absences are the greatest problem. A review of the literature identified several studies conducted over the years that document the effects of teacher absenteeism. With this in mind, it is recommended that incentives be put in place to reduce the absences of the teachers. I furthered the research to include data from a school district by researching teacher perceptions of the use of teacher attendance incentives in the school district. The purpose of this study was to determine which schools within the school district have Incentive programs in place to motivate teachers to come to work. Existing attendance data was obtained to analyze the attendance of the teachers at each building. The teachers were then surveyed to identify the incentives that are in place at each building and the teachers’ perceptions of those incentives. The surveys conducted also assisted in determining if the attendance incentives that are used as motivation are effective to motivate teachers to attend work. The results of the teachers’ perceptions of the incentive program at each school will be compared with the teacher attendance data to determine which teacher attendance incentives are effective in motivating teachers to attend work as scheduled. The incentives that are the most effective will be shared with each principal in the district to utilize in maintaining better teacher attendance throughout the school district.

This study offers a Lacanian-informed analysis of the rhetorical shifts, significant absences and elisions in the Bush administration’s justificatory war rhetoric prior to, during, and after the 2003 Iraq War. Lacan’s conception of the Subject, I suggest, is indispensable for the study of how ideology succeeds and fails rhetorically to avoid traumatic kernels, inconvenient facts, unspeakable historical truths, voids, etc. This project presents an opportunity to re-examine rhetorical studies’ assumptions about the emergence of subjectivity, including the process of interpellation, in ways that allow us to theorize not only the constitution but also the failure of identity. In so doing, it revisits the question of agency and calls for an increased focus on desire in matters rhetorical. Finally, the study invites reconsideration of the relation between rhetoric and time by suggesting that a psychoanalytic understanding of temporality can enrich and expand the existing scholarship.

Orientador: Yoshie Ussami Ferrari Leite / Resumo: Essa dissertação foi produzida junto ao Programa de Pós-Graduação da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia – UNESP - Campus de Presidente Prudente e está vinculada a linha de pesquisa “Políticas Públicas, Organização Escolar e Formação de Professores”. O nosso objetivo foi identificar os motivos de faltas de professores efetivos do Ensino Fundamental I e conhecer a percepção dos mesmos sobre suas ausências e as relações com o trabalho docente. O absenteísmo de professores se refere aos afastamentos no trabalho justificados por diversos motivos. Devido ao aumento no índice de faltas registrado pelos funcionários da Secretaria de Educação no município de Presidente Prudente, tivemos a necessidade de pesquisarmos esse fenômeno sob a ótica de seus protagonistas. Esse estudo foi realizado na perspectiva da abordagem qualitativa com uso da entrevista narrativa como procedimento metodológico. A entrevista narrativa foi elaborada com base nas ideias de Jovchelovich; Bauer (2002) sobre a preparação, iniciação, narração central, fases de perguntas e fases conclusivas. Realizamos a entrevista narrativa com seis professoras efetivas do ensino fundamental I na faixa etário de 31 a 62 anos. A análise das narrativas foi feita a partir da compreensão-interpretativa apresentada por Souza (2014). Os resultados da pesquisa evidenciam que a necessidade do professor se ausentar da sala de aula não está associada ao seu descomprometimento com a educação dos alunos. Os maiores motivos de faltas dos pr... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This Mater’s thesis was written with the Graduation Program of the Faculty of Science and Technology – UNESP – Presidente Prudente Campus and it is linked to the research line named “Public Policies, School Organization and Teacher Training”. Our objective was to identify reasons why teachers are absent from work in elementary schoolsand get to know the perception of these teachers about their absences and their relations to the teaching job. Teachers’ absenteeism concerns absences at work justified by several reasons. Due to an increase in absences registered by the Secretary of Education in the municipality of Presidente Prudente, we found it necessary to research this phenomenon from the point of view of their protagonists. This study was carried out from the perspective of the qualitative approach, using the narrative interview as methodological procedure. The narrative interview was planned based on the ideas presented by Jovchelovich; Bauer (2002) about preparation, initiation, central narrative, question phase and conclusion phase. Six elementary school teachers were interviewed, aged from 31 to 62 years old. The analysis of the narratives was done starting from the interpretative understanding proposed by Souza (2014). The results of the study show that the fact that teachers need to be absent from the classroom is not associated with their lack of commitment to their students’ education. The biggest reasons why they are absent from work were registered due to health ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

A temática das ausências no desenho foi pesquisada neste estudo com a pretensão de verificar se elas o comporiam do mesmo modo que as áreas quando recebem inscrições repetitivas ou intervenções sequenciais. Investigou-se, também, em que medida a ação de apagar pode ser considerada como investimento na construção cfo trabalho. Referendada na minha produção, aprofundei as instâncias: áreas de não desenho, áreas de apagamento e áreas de desgaste de inscrições. Pelos preceitos da Poiética na abordagem de René Passeron e pelos aportes da teoria da Formatividade de Luigi Pareyson, desenvolvi a análise da fatura desses trabalhos que resultam de ações repetitivas e automatizadas, considerando-se aspectos como: manualidade, os tipos de gestos, a escolha dos materiais e a passagem do tempo. As teorias apresentadas pelos filósofos Flusser e Focillon sobre os gestos, bem como os conceitos de Gilles Deleuze sobre diferença e repetição são aprofundados na pesquisa. As lacunas, as retiradas de matéria e os borrados que acontecem nos desenhos afetam o corpo do suporte. Em relação a este tema, Jacques Derrida apresenta reflexões importantes referentes à presença do suporte em trabalhos de pintura, de desenho e na escrita. São importantes para este estudo os referenciais de Roland Barthes, quando utiliza o termo acontecimento ao analisar a relação do artista e a obra que está concebendo, como uma cena em que algo se sucede. Procurou-se, através do cruzamento dos aportes teóricos referidos, obter um instrumento de análise para pensar a ausência no desenho como uma instância possível. / This study investigates the issue of the absent in drawing. lt was intended to verify if the absence in drawing would compose it in the same way that an area that receives repetitive entries ar sequential interventions. lt investigates to which extent the acting of erasing can be considerate as an investment in the construction of a work. Referenced in my production I deepen the instances: non drawing areas, erasing areas and wear areas of inscription. From poetic's percept in René Passeron's approach and by the contribution of Formativity Theory from Luigi Pareyson, I developed an analysis of my work's production that result from repetitive and automated actions considering aspects as: manual activity the types of gestures, the choice of material and the passage of time, the material choice and the time passage. The theories presented by the philosophers Flusser and Focillon about gestures, as well as Gilles Deleuze's concepts on difference and repetition are referenced in the research. The gaps, the withdraw of matter and the blurred that happen in the drawings affect the body's support. Relating to this topic, Jacques Derrida presents important insights regarding the presence of support in painting, drawing and writing. The references to Roland Barthes are important for this study when using the term event to analyze the relationship of the artist and the work that is conceived as a scene in where something ensues. This work searches through the intersection of theoretical contributions mentioned, to obtain an analytical tool to think about the absence in the drawing as a possible instance.

A temática das ausências no desenho foi pesquisada neste estudo com a pretensão de verificar se elas o comporiam do mesmo modo que as áreas quando recebem inscrições repetitivas ou intervenções sequenciais. Investigou-se, também, em que medida a ação de apagar pode ser considerada como investimento na construção cfo trabalho. Referendada na minha produção, aprofundei as instâncias: áreas de não desenho, áreas de apagamento e áreas de desgaste de inscrições. Pelos preceitos da Poiética na abordagem de René Passeron e pelos aportes da teoria da Formatividade de Luigi Pareyson, desenvolvi a análise da fatura desses trabalhos que resultam de ações repetitivas e automatizadas, considerando-se aspectos como: manualidade, os tipos de gestos, a escolha dos materiais e a passagem do tempo. As teorias apresentadas pelos filósofos Flusser e Focillon sobre os gestos, bem como os conceitos de Gilles Deleuze sobre diferença e repetição são aprofundados na pesquisa. As lacunas, as retiradas de matéria e os borrados que acontecem nos desenhos afetam o corpo do suporte. Em relação a este tema, Jacques Derrida apresenta reflexões importantes referentes à presença do suporte em trabalhos de pintura, de desenho e na escrita. São importantes para este estudo os referenciais de Roland Barthes, quando utiliza o termo acontecimento ao analisar a relação do artista e a obra que está concebendo, como uma cena em que algo se sucede. Procurou-se, através do cruzamento dos aportes teóricos referidos, obter um instrumento de análise para pensar a ausência no desenho como uma instância possível. / This study investigates the issue of the absent in drawing. lt was intended to verify if the absence in drawing would compose it in the same way that an area that receives repetitive entries ar sequential interventions. lt investigates to which extent the acting of erasing can be considerate as an investment in the construction of a work. Referenced in my production I deepen the instances: non drawing areas, erasing areas and wear areas of inscription. From poetic's percept in René Passeron's approach and by the contribution of Formativity Theory from Luigi Pareyson, I developed an analysis of my work's production that result from repetitive and automated actions considering aspects as: manual activity the types of gestures, the choice of material and the passage of time, the material choice and the time passage. The theories presented by the philosophers Flusser and Focillon about gestures, as well as Gilles Deleuze's concepts on difference and repetition are referenced in the research. The gaps, the withdraw of matter and the blurred that happen in the drawings affect the body's support. Relating to this topic, Jacques Derrida presents important insights regarding the presence of support in painting, drawing and writing. The references to Roland Barthes are important for this study when using the term event to analyze the relationship of the artist and the work that is conceived as a scene in where something ensues. This work searches through the intersection of theoretical contributions mentioned, to obtain an analytical tool to think about the absence in the drawing as a possible instance.