Award-winning actress, Maggie Benedict has dropped Generations. Tshepiso Makhele traces her quest for success, her challenges and the reason for her departure

Quality Teaching (QT) is a sought-after professional goal for educators and schools alike. It is easy to observe, harder to define, and hardest to understand how to achieve. This study attempted to identify QT amongst a select group (N = 6) of Boston-area award-winning high school chemistry teachers. Participants were selected based on having received at least two American Chemical Society-sponsored awards within the past ten years. Data were collected through survey, personal interview, classroom observations, post-observation debriefs, anecdotal information provided by teacher colleagues, supervisors, and past students, student success on externally administered chemistry examinations, and a capstone focus group interview with the teacher- participants. These data were then coded and cohered with two measures of exemplary teaching: The Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Educator Evaluation Rubric and the American Chemical Society Guidelines for Middle- and-High School Chemistry Teaching. Definitions for QT in general and high school chemistry teaching in particular are detailed from references in the Literature Review. Surveys and interviews were conducted via email and Zoom chats, and vii observations during COVID were conducted also by online Face-timing. Colleague, administrator, and past student anecdotes were obtained through these award-winning teachers’ award nomination letters that I had access to in my role as a member of the Northeastern Section American Chemical Society’s (NESACS) High School Awards Committee and as Chairperson for the HS Education Committee. I also had access to student results on externally administered local and national chemistry exams in my role as co-administer of the Ashdown Exam and Section Coordinator for the US National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO). The findings of this study showed that these award-winning teachers (AWTs) took varied pathways and educational backgrounds to arrive at their profession. Participants all agreed that there is no one best way to teach, but many right ways to get to award- winning teaching. These teachers all possessed “It,” that elusive, mystical, some say innate, art of teaching born of passion, charisma, and love of working with children alongside a continual drive to improve pedagogical practices. This study identified that drive as “relentless expectations,” both for themselves as constant lifelong learners and their students for whom they set high standards. Though recognized by these awards, all of these teachers expressed humility and claimed that other colleagues were equally qualified to be award-winners. Colleagues shared that this study’s participants were “teachers’ teachers” and selfless collaborators. Supervisors related that these great teachers made great schools, and past students exclaimed that these teachers transformed students’ lives and career pathways. The data suggest that award-winning status as a secondary high school chemistry teacher must incorporate a variety of factors, including a love of science learning, a mastery of the study of chemistry with an on-going interest to forward this learning, a passion for teaching and seeing teenagers succeed in learning chemistry, the ability to create a classroom of caring and trust to allow students to take academic risks, self- motivation to collaborate with colleagues through meeting, programing, and publication, self-confidence with a strong voice, and empathy. This study identified two overlooked factors that maintain award-winning teachers: relationships and reflection (the “R & R” of AWT). Other factors that contribute to AWT include supportive school and community with resources available to both teacher and student, freedom and professional trust to be able to innovate and create curriculum, and teachers’ creation and participation in collaborative venues such as collaboration time, workshops, presentations, and conferences. Participants in this study came to chemistry teaching as a second career and state that they acquired their award-winning pedagogy through a combination of most of these factors. Though each of their voices, classrooms, and school buildings looked different, these factors in total provided a common set of criteria to produce the award- winning teaching portrayed in this study.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore through a social constructivist framework the similarities and differences emerging from a set of Canadian and Chinese award-winning picture books published between 2004 and 2014. In addition to the application of Radical Change characteristics to the picture book set, responses of eight participants in Canadian and Chinese academic and teaching contexts were also explored through semi-structured interviews related to conceptualizations and use of children’s picture books. Child-image and theme were investigated through content analysis. The exploration illuminated that the most frequent child-image was child who encounters difficulties. Child-as-problem solver and playing/imaginative child were more reflected in the Canadian titles, while the Chinese titles included more child-as-narrator and moral/life model. The theme of moral/life lessons was frequently represented by the selected titles, whereas the biggest difference between the two cultural categories was imagination/fantasy, with the Chinese study set involving it far less often. The most obvious Radical Change type was changing forms and formats. The most important purpose of using picture books in both Canadian and Chinese contexts appeared to be books as teaching tools. There has been a considerable amount of imagination/fantasy or children with authentic characterization/special needs in the selected books, yet the participants believed there was a dearth of the particular theme or child-image in current picture books. This study indicates potential for further comparative studies of Canadian and Chinese award-winning picture books, and extends the knowledge of picture books, to address current gaps in the literature, particularly as available research relates to the creation, evaluation and use of picture books.

This study identified the common characteristics of the adviser, the journalism program, and the newspaper of the high schools consistently winning awards. The purposes of this study were to identify the award-winning newspapers, to examine and describe the characteristics and elements (those rated by ILPC) of the newspapers, the attitudes and opinions of the principals, the qualifications, the attitudes, and the opinions of the advisers. Based on the results, there was no pattern that indicates a given high school newspaper will receive awards.

The study investigated the nature of the portrayal of aged characters in children's novels which won Children's Book Council of Australia's awards in the period from 1946 to 1985. By means of content analysis, the demographic, personal and behavioural characteristics of aged characters were identified on a thirty-four item checklist. From these characteristics a portrayal score was derived to represent the extent of variation in the depiction of aged characters in the novels examined. Analysis of variance tests indicated that the level of variation in portrayal scores was significantly related to the position of importance of aged characters in novels. The portrayal of aged characters did not vary according either to the approach to story adopted in Australian award-winning novels, or to the period in which the award was granted. It seems that although aged characters taken as a whole in the novels studied display the variety of characteristics attributed to aged people in the literature of gerontology, individually many of these aged characters are depicted in a somewhat limited way. There is evidence to suggest that aged characters in Australian award-winning children's novels do not adequately reflect the demographic characteristics of aged people in the Australian population. In terms of range of social settings in which they are depicted is restricted. So too, is the range of behaviours in which they engage. This rather limited depiction of aged characters means that readers of Australian award-winning children's novels are presented with a restricted and unrealistic view of the aged and of the condition of being aged. If children's novels serve as one of the socialisation agents for young people, then the limited portrayal of aged characters presented in those novels may be a cause for concern, especially as there are few indications that the depiction of aged characters generally in more recent award-winning novels has become more varied and realistic.

Reforms in teacher evaluation are enacted to increase student achievement. Although there is research on teacher evaluation and teacher quality, there is little that addresses effective teaching as conceptualized in Danielson's Framework for Teaching, a commonly used evaluation tool. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine which of the 4 domains and 76 elements of Danielson's framework are viewed by award-winning teachers as having the greatest impact on effective teaching and learning. Constructivism formed the theoretical basis for this study. The research questions examined to what extent state and national teachers of the year perceive differences in the importance to effective teaching and learning across each of Danielson's 4 domains and across the elements within those domains. A quantitative single-factor within-subject design was utilized. Framework for Teaching Survey importance ratings obtained from state teachers of the year for the past 6 years (N = 350) were compared using repeated measure one-way analysis of variances). Significant F values were followed by the Fisher Least Significant Difference Test to determine the domains or elements that significantly differ from one another. Significant differences in the importance ratings were obtained across each of the 4 domains. The instruction domain was rated most important followed by classroom environment, planning and preparation, and professional responsibilities. Findings may facilitate positive social change by enabling schools, districts, and states to more accurately evaluate teachers and devote limited professional development resources to domains and elements with the greatest potential for improving teacher quality.

Esta dissertação traz uma abordagem crítica e objetiva da viabilidade da implantação, por meio da edição de um Decreto Estadual regulamentador, do Programa de Proteção a Vítimas e Testemunhas ameaçadas no Estado do Tocantins (PROVITA-TO), tendo em vista a confecção da Lei Estadual nº 1.379/2003, bem como a Lei Federal nº 9.807/1999, sendo que esta última que designou regras para a organização e a manutenção de programas especiais de proteção a vítimas e testemunhas ameaçadas, criou o Programa Federal de Assistência a Vítimas e Testemunhas Ameaçadas e dispôs sobre a proteção de acusados ou condenados que tenham, voluntariamente, prestado uma efetiva colaboração à investigação policial e ao processo criminal. As leis em estudo nasceram para satisfazer uma antiga pendência social, qual seja, o de efetivar uma possível garantia de proteção do Estado às vítimas e testemunhas que, de alguma forma, venham a fornecer dados fundamentais para a solução de crimes graves e, consequentemente, à penalização de seus autores. Mais ainda, oportunizou ao Estado que este pudesse transacionar com os réus colaboradores (em determinados casos), tendo sempre em mente a desarticulação ou o desmantelamento de facções criminosas, o resgate de eventuais quantias monetárias roubadas e, principalmente, a conservação da integridade física e psíquica, bem como a vida das vítimas. Deste modo, reforçou-se o enfrentamento às facções criminosas, sobretudo pelos dispositivos estipulados para a defesa e proteção das testemunhas e vítimas, cuja implementação no território brasileiro, em especial no Estado do Tocantins, depende, exclusivamente, da boa vontade do Poder Executivo Estadual, que ainda não baixou o Decreto que regulamentará esta importante política pública de direitos humanos e segurança pública. O presente tema é perturbador e importante, especialmente pelo crescimento dos índices de violência em nosso país, com o nascimento de intrincadas facções criminosas nacionais e transnacionais (muitas com ramificações nas diversas esferas de poder), bem como pela deficiência das políticas públicas como um todo, cuja paralisia transpassa os limites do aceitável e alcança um temeroso quadro de insegurança pública. / Establish a critical and objective review of the feasibility of the implementation, through the publication of a State Regulatory Decree, of the Program for the Protection of Victims and Witnesses of Airplanes in the State of Tocantins (PROVITA-TO), with a view to the preparation of State Law No. 1,379 / 2003, as well as Federal Law No. 9,807 / 1999, which establishes rules for the organization and maintenance of special protection programs for victims and witnesses of threats, created the Federal Assistance Program for Victims and Witnesses Endangered and on the protection of accused or convicted persons who have voluntarily provided effective collaboration in police investigation and criminal prosecution. As laws under study were born to satisfy an old social pendency, quality, operational effectiveness of protection of the State to the victims and witnesses that, in some way, come to data fundamental for the solution of serious crimes and, consequently, the penalization of its authors. At all times, we offer the State that it could transact with the collaborating defendants (in certain cases), always having in mind a dismantling or the dismantling of criminal factions, the rescue of eventual monetary amounts stolen and, mainly, a conservation of the integrity physical and psychic, as well as a life of the victims. In this way, the confrontation with the criminal factions was strengthened, above all by the provisions stipulated for a defense and protection of witnesses and victims, whose implementation is not Brazilian territory, especially in the State of Tocantins, depends exclusively on the goodwill of the Executive Branch State, which has not yet lowered the Decree regulating this important public policy on human rights and public safety. The present has an important problem, especially the control of rates of violence in our country, with the birth of intricate criminal and transnational factions, as well as the deficiency of public policies as a whole paralysis transcends the limits of the acceptable and reaches a fearful framework of public insecurity.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:24:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Manoela Andrade Cacho.pdf: 1109408 bytes, checksum: 2ea665fdfef64837512926cb46af36cd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-18 / The procedure of the award-winning collaboration was regulated by the new Criminal Organization law (Lei n. 12.850/2013), from when has been considerably debated among society and been absorbed by our legal culture. Therefore, it is necessary to correct some controversial topics of the law to avoid the disrespect of the fundamental rights of the defendant in criminal proceedings. The rules of award-winning collaboration has to respect the constitucional principles of the criminal proceedings and the principles in the criminal procedure code. The most important one is the principle of mandatory prosecution, which concerns to the Public Ministry work, and have not been observed by the Law n. 12.850/2013, what has been criticized by some authors. They present many diferente solutions for the problem, wich will be analyzed to find the best way to avoid the disrespect of the law and the Constitution. Therebay, the goal is to prioritize the solutions that honors the Democratic Rule of Law and the Dignity of the Human Person, wich are those ones that respect the limits of the judge, of the district attorney, of the police chief and of the lawyer, as well as the rights of the defendant in criminal proceedings, even the one who makes the deal of award-winning collaboration or the one who is charged based on this deal / A colaboração premiada teve o seu procedimento regulamentado pela nova Lei de Organização Criminosa (Lei n. 12.850/2013) e, desde então, tem sido amplamente debatida no mundo jurídico e fora dele, sendo cada vez mais absorvida pela nossa cultura jurídica. Por isso, faz-se necessária a pacificação dos pontos controversos da referida lei, a fim de evitar a sua realização de forma irregular e o desrespeito aos direitos e às garantias fundamentais dos acusados na persecução penal. É imperioso, portanto, que o estudo das regras relativas à colaboração premiada seja realizado em conformidade com os princípios constitucionais de processo penal, bem como com aqueles constantes do código de processo penal. Nessa ordem de ideias, destaca-se o Princípio da Ação Penal Pública da Obrigatoriedade, o qual orienta a atuação do Ministério Público e foi inobservado em algumas disposições da Lei n. 12.850/2013 que geraram críticas por parte de alguns autores. Estes apresentam diferentes caminhos para a melhor adequação aos princípios do processo penal brasileiro, os quais serão analisados com a finalidade de se construir a melhor leitura e evitar inconstitucionalidades e ilegalidades. Pretende-se, assim, priorizar as constatações e soluções que melhor se coadunem com as normas principiológicas postas que prestigiem os fins do Estado Democrático de Direito e da proteção da dignidade da pessoa humana, que entendemos ser aquelas que respeitam tanto os limites de atuação do juiz, do órgão acusatório, do delegado de polícia e do defensor quanto os direitos do acusado no processo penal brasileiro, seja o colaborador ou aqueles apontados por ele

Both in the United States and abroad, newspapers tend to portray people with mental illness negatively, making them vulnerable to social rejection, discrimination, and forced treatment. This portrayal also makes them hesitant to seek treatment for fear of being stigmatized. To help determine how reporting on mental illness can be improved, I interviewed in this study 11 U.S.-based print journalists who had won awards for stories on mental illness about how they covered their stories. The interviews, which were semi-structured, were conducted between October 2010 and February 2011 and were analyzed using a grounded-theory approach. Eight themes were identified in the interview transcripts: determining story idea, evaluating newsworthiness, identifying and obtaining information from interview sources, identifying and obtaining information from non-interview sources, ensuring accuracy, building rapport with sources, writing the story, and factors facilitating reporting. Overall, respondents prepared their stories in accordance with journalistic conventions. What helped them produce quality stories was a mixture of the following organizational and personal factors: editorial support, considerable journalism experience, personal exposure to mental illness, and empathy. Also noteworthy were respondents' opinions on suggestions in reporting guides about imitation or copy-cat suicides, sensitive language, and positive mental illness news. Whereas some agreed that reporting suicide details could lead to imitation suicides, others disagreed, explaining, for example, that the details were important to the story. Similarly, respondents expressed diverse views about the importance of using sensitive language to describe individuals with mental illness. Finally, respondents indicated that instead of calling for positive stories on mental illness, media guidelines should encourage thoughtful and balanced reporting on various aspects of mental illness. In conclusion, the results suggest that it would be valuable to investigate in more detail how journalists' personal attitudes toward mental illness influence their reporting. Also, guidelines for mental-health reporting should be created with the collaboration of journalists and mental-health professionals. Further, there is a need to make journalists aware of the copy-cat suicide phenomenon. Finally, lessons gleaned from respondents' experiences in reporting their award-winning stories can be used to inform mental-health media guides.

The diploma thesis deals with the topic of analysis of the highest and best use (abbreviated as HABU). In the theoretical research, this method is described, and defines the solution process using 4 basic steps, namely legal admissibility, physical possibilities, financial justification, and maximum profitability. Subsequently, this method is applied to a specific plot in Zlín-Jižní svahy area. The solution proposes 9 variants of utilization of this land. Using the HABU method we are looking for the best use, which in turn brings the investor the highest profit. The aim of the thesis is also a clear description and practical demonstration of the application of this method, which has not been represented in the Czech Republic so far. It can thus help to understand and use it in property valuation.