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The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions,)[ elementary school principals of teacher evaluation practices in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Specifically, the current study was guided by the following research questions: 1) What are the perceptions of elementary public school principals regarding the effectiveness of teacher evaluation in public elementary schools? and 2) To what extent do elementary school principals' perceptions of the effectiveness of teacher evaluation vary by selected demographic variables (e.g. socio-economic status (SES), Academic Performance Index (API) score, student ethnicity makeup, and size of school)? The collective bargaining agreement for the school district was reviewed and the perceptions of the different principals regarding teacher evaluation practices as well as their specific evaluation procedures at the site level were compared. Results revealed that the collective bargaining agreement did not place serious limitations on evaluation practices. Results of this study also demonstrated that elementary school principals indicated overwhelmingly that teacher evaluation needed to be improved to be more comprehensive, including more informal observations and feedback to be taken into account during the evaluation!on process. In addition, concerns were present regarding the consistency of how the teacher evaluations were conducted and the meaningfulness of the teacher evaluation process. In addition, concerns were present regarding the consistency of how the teacher evaluations were conducted and the meaningfulness of the teacher evaluation process. Results further indicated that time constraints and other factors limited the ability of principals to provide meaningful feedback to teachers. The results of this survey reflect a desire on the part of elementary school principals to see the teacher evaluation process changed to become more effective. This change in the teacher evaluation process will help principals make a difference for everyone- principals, teachers, and students alike.

This exploratory descriptive study looks at the characteristics of immigrant children in the greater metropolitan Los Angeles area who participate in organizations associated with their parents' country of origin. By drawing on the 2004 Immigration and Intergenerational Mobility in Metropolitan Los Angeles (IIMMLA) survey dataset, I bring together aspects of the participation and assimilation literatures in order to better understand who participates in ethnic organizations. Results provide evidence that ethnic organization participants differ from the full sample and from respondents who participate in community organizations; they exhibit more ethnic resource characteristics. Significant determinants of participation in ethnic organizations include having a larger numbers of close relatives in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, literacy in their parents' native language, higher education levels, and being married. These findings indicate that ethnic resources are more important to immigrant children who participate in ethnic organizations than attaining dominant characteristics or straight-line assimilation in society.

This study examines the state of off-street parking in the Cornfield Arroyo Seco Specific Plan (CASP) area of the City of Los Angeles. The focus is on discovering relevant strategies to strengthen the plans ability to reduce parking supply and demand. Research has shown a causal relationship between planning policies and the oversupply of parking. An auto-centric approach to land use and urban form creates societal problems such as traffic congestion, air pollution, inflated development costs, and hostile pedestrian landscapes. Further issues that are directly associated with parking include: poor water quality, neighborhood livability, and ambient temperature. Additionally, an overabundance of parking supports increased vehicle miles traveled which is a major source of greenhouse gases. The imbalance between parking supply and demand in the City of Los Angeles has resulted in large tracts of land that are paved over by parking lots instead of more valuable land uses. A thorough assessment of the opportunities to improve the state of parking in the Los Angeles CASP area is needed. The (qualitative) research consisted of a review of secondary data such as the Los Angeles General Plan, the Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC), the best practices of Pasadena, Santa Monica and an exposé of scholarly parking theory. The primary (quantitative) data collection methods in this study comprised an aerial survey and a field survey. The results show that half of the major land uses in the area never reach optimal occupancy. A careful evaluation of the CASP revealed that it does institute several progressive parking policies that are more stringent than the LAMC, namely being the first plan in the city that does not include parking requirements. However there are a number of relevant parking management strategies which could serve to further strengthen the CASP. The Specific Plan does not mandate employers to provide transit passes or parking cash-outs. Providing Eco Passes can yield benefits for developers, property owners, employers, commuters, transit agencies, and cities. Another way to reduce parking demand and parking requirements is to offer commuters the option to “cash out” their employer-paid parking. Both transit passes and parking cash-out are cost effective because it is much cheaper to pay for a transit ride to and from work than to pay for a free parking space at work. These two strategies have potential to add another dimension to demand management, civic viability and contribute to the paradigm shift that is needed to mitigate our environmental impact.

Human interference with the Earth’s climate, through the release of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), is estimated to have already increased average statewide temperatures in California by 1.7° Fahrenheit (F), with a further 2.7°F of warming expected by mid-century. The negative impacts of increased temperatures may be especially acute in mid-latitude cities that currently enjoy a mild climate, such as Los Angeles (LA), which are projected to warm to a point that will significantly affect human health and well being. The built environment increases urban temperatures through building materials that readily absorb heat from the sun, a lack of vegetation, a lack of pervious surface area, and anthropogenic heat. Local governments can take action to help their cities adapt to future temperatures through changes to building materials, urban design and infrastructure. This study evaluates six urban design strategies for reducing temperatures and therefore adapting to increased heat in LA: cool roofs, cool pavements, solar panels, tree planting, structural shading and green roofs. The methods used in this analysis include a cost-effectiveness analysis, key stakeholder interviews, and case studies from other cities in the US. Findings indicate that cool roofs are the most cost-effective strategy for urban heat island mitigation, with cool pavements and tree planting also cost-effective. Findings from stakeholder interviews indicate that political feasibility is high for all strategies except structural shading, which was thought to be costly and difficult to implement. However, significant political barriers were also identified for tree planting and green roofs. Findings from four case studies indicate that climate adaptation policies should emphasize co-benefits, include flexible design standards, and provide financial or performance-based incentives for property owners or developers. Specific recommendations for implementing climate adaptation measures are provided for urban planners, policy makers, urban designers and architects in Los Angeles.

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Identifying family factors that influence parental choice of discipline has been a continuing topic of interest to researchers. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that predict child rearing strategies in a survey population of 330 mothers enrolled in the federal Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program in rural Montana and urban Los Angeles, and to answer the following questions: (1) What are the descriptive characteristics of the population under study? (2) What are the descriptive characteristics of the reported child rearing strategies? (3) Which combinations of individual parental characteristics best predict each self-reported child rearing strategy? (4) Which blocks of parental characteristics (i.e., demographic, psychological, Situational) as adapted from Belsky’s Multiple Determinants of Parenting Model, best predict reported use of each child rearing strategy? To answer the first two questions, means analysis and cross-tabulation analysis were used. The third question was answered by stepwise multiple regression analysis, and the fourth question by hierarchical multiple regression analysis. The Parenting Project survey questionnaire used in the research consisted of five self-reporting instruments: Demographic Information, sections of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory, Parental Satisfaction Scale, Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire, and Maternal Reactions to a Child’s Deviant Behavior Scale (MRCDB). There was a series of dependent variables for reported child rearing strategies from the MRCDB scale (i.e., spank, praise, reason, allow, and consequences). Independent variables were mother’s age, educational attainment, race-ethnicity, level of parent satisfaction, level of parental acceptance, level of flexibility in child behavior expectations, level of personal adjustment, marital status, occupational prestige, and region of residence. Analysis revealed that race-ethnicity, educational attainment, level of acceptance, level of flexibility, and region of residence were consistent predictors of child rearing strategies. Predictors came from all three blocks, which confirmed Belsky’s Model of Multiple Determinants of Parenting, and extended it to apply to child rearing strategies. No one block was identified as a stronger predictor than the others. / Ed. D.