Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Leadership, 2007. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-100).

The purpose of this study was to explore the academic outcomes of African- American (AA) male students in a single-gender classrooms in hopes of providing meaningful insight and as well as recommendations for intended further research to close the prevalent achievement gap. AA males students have been disproportionately targeted as a “chronic underachievers” when compared to their female counterparts. The culture and climate of the school was closely scrutinized, interviews were administered with teachers and an instructional leader, and the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) report was analyzed to examine their performance snapshot. Fifty eight participants responded to a 4-point ordinal Likert scale survey to gauge attitudes on the effectiveness of single-gender education by students and parents. Four teachers (two seventh grade and eighth grade ELA and math) were interviewed. Data were collected over a period of three days to delve into the single-gender school environment. Classroom observations were administered to observe noticeable behaviors before and after lunch, evaluate instructional delivery (evident signs of gender-specific practices), view classroom layout, evaluate classroom activities, witness if gender of teacher has impact on student achievement, and observe teacher-student and peer interactions. Quantitative data revealed that students responded that gender of the teacher does not impact their academic achievement, teacher set high expectations, parents are involved in their educational endeavors, they did not particularly like the single-gender environment but their school provided a positive school culture. Qualitative data revealed that teachers and administrators believe in creating a strong school culture, challenging their students, the development of character and leadership, and providing a cultural-responsive yet rigorous curriculum will contribute to the academic achievement outcomes of AA males in single-gender classrooms. Results yielded from this descriptive case study provided future implications and premeditated recommendations for researchers to delve deeper into the phenomenon of the single-gender environment and its impact on AA male achievement.

abstract: This Qualitative Grounded Theory study is based upon interviews with charter school administrators, teachers and Hispanic parents to gather their perspectives on what practices encourage and elevate the participation of Hispanic parents in schools. There were three Guiding Questions utilized: 1) What culturally compatible methods are utilized in order to attract Hispanic parents to choose the particular charter school? 2) What culturally compatible methods does the charter school administration utilize to encourage Hispanic parental involvement in their child's education? 3) What are the benefits of greater Hispanic parent participation for children at these charter schools. Hypotheses were generated from the interviews base upon literature review. For Guiding Queston #1 there were five hypotheses based on a. Personal Interactions/Relationships, b. Environment, c. Language accommodations, d. Communication, e. Family Services. For Guiding Question #2, there were two hypotheses based on: a. Staff experience with Hispanic community and b. Leadership building. For Guiding Question #3, there were three hypotheses based on a. Home/School Partnerships, b. Academics, and c. Physical Presence. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2011

abstract: This dissertation focuses on entrepreneurial and business performance indicators as determinants of Arizona charter schools' quality. The study utilizes a mixed-method inquiry with focus on qualitative research, exploration, and implementation studies. It draws data from surveys with charter operators performed by Education Team Partners (ETP). All survey results are drawn from the ETP database. The study reviews the genesis and evolution of charter schools. It reviews the social agreement within the context of public policy analysis, and the public-private partnership nature within the context of entrepreneurship and business management. It attempts to develop a research-based foundation for future action research to complement the newly introduced performance management plan (PMP) measurement and evaluation system in Arizona. The research includes four group indicators for measuring charter schools' business productivity and performance. They are studied in relation to three groups of indicators for measuring charter schools' quality. The case studies include two existing and two future charter schools. Study results indicate that all participating charter operators confirm the significance of the liquidity ratio in relation to any aspect of charter school quality covered in this study. The participants indicated a strong relationship between the capacities of their schools to utilize external resources and all indicators of charter school quality. This study draws two important conclusions. First, charter schools are business organizations, despite the fact that they receive public funds. Operationally, they differ substantially from district schools and government agencies and depend on market forces. Second, charter schools cannot survive inefficient management practices, as market forces tend to drive them out of business, regardless of academic success and student achievement levels. The intended implications from this study include: first, increased awareness about the importance of understanding business indicators in relation to charter school quality; second, the need for more research associated with the business and finance components of charter schools. As the body of collective knowledge about charter schools expands, the relationship between various business indicators to measures of quality should be routinely studied within larger populations, which may allow for an improved measurement system and applications of advanced statistical methods. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Public Administration 2011

Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística / A produção de mapeamento cartográfico sofreu muitas transformações ao longo dos anos, passando da utilização extensiva de instrumentos analógicos para o meio digital. Atualmente, grande parte desse processo é realizado com o auxílio do computador, exigindo um alto investimento em sistemas computacionais. No início da década de 90 surgiu um movimento, chamado de Software Livre, que tem o objetivo de diminuir a dependência tecnológica às grandes organizações multinacionais, que dominam muitos segmentos do mercado da tecnologia da informação. Assim, foram desenvolvidos diversos programas de uso geral e que substituem de maneira satisfatória o chamados Software proprietário. Ultimamente, também tem sido desenvolvido Software Livre para a área de geoprocessamento. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar o uso desses aplicativos na produção de mapeamento cartográfico e para isso realizamos a editoração cartográfica de uma folha da Carta CIM utilizando programas distribuídos seguindo a filosofia do Software Livre. O processo de editoração cartográfica é fundamental na produção de uma carta e exige o domínio de várias técnicas, sendo uma das tarefas mais complexas da cartografia. Este trabalho apresenta uma nova forma de executar esta importante tarefa, visando aproveitar os últimos avanços na cartografia utilizando software livre e automatizando partes do processo para facilitar sua realização. A realização desta atividade de maneira satisfatória utilizando tecnologias livres comprova o estágio de amadurecimento alcançado dos programas desenvolvidos segundo essa filosofia.

abstract: School choice reforms such as charter schools, vouchers, open enrollment, and private and public school tax credit donation programs have expanded throughout the United States over the past twenty years. Arizona’s long-standing public school choice system enrolls a higher percentage of public school students in charter schools than any state besides Washington D.C. A growing number of Arizona’s charter schools are managed by for-profit and nonprofit Education Management Organizations (EMOs). Advocates of school choice argue that free-market education approaches will make public schools competitive and nimble as parents’ choices place pressures on schools to improve or close. This, then, improves all schools: public, private, and charter. Critics are concerned that education markets produce segregation along racial and social class lines and inequalities in educational opportunities, because competition favors advantaged parents and children who can access resources. Private and for-profit schools may see it in their interest to exclude students who require more support. School choice programs, then, may further marginalize students who live in poverty, who receive special education services, and English language learners. We do not fully understand how Arizona’s mature school choice system affects parents and other stakeholders in communities “on the ground.” That is, how are school policies understood and acted out? I used ethnographic methods to document and analyze the social, cultural, and political contexts and perspectives of stakeholders at one district public school and in its surrounding community, including its charter schools. I examined: (a) how stakeholders perceived and engaged with schools; (b) how stakeholders understood school policies, including school choice policies; and (c) what influenced families’ choices. Findings highlight how most stakeholders supported district public schools. At the same time, some “walked the line” between choices that were good for their individual families and those they believed were good for public schools and society. Stakeholders imagined “community” and “accountability” in a range of ways, and they did not all have equal access to policy knowledge. Pressures related to parental accountability in the education market were apparent as stakeholders struggled to make, and sometimes revisit, their choices, creating a tenuous schooling environment for their families. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2017

abstract: This study describes how the concept of “community” is framed in traditional public and charter high school guiding statements and interviews with school leaders. Guiding statements from public high schools in Arizona were analyzed and interviews were conducted with principals from traditional public schools and charter school principals. The findings suggested similarities between traditional public high schools and charter high schools in their framing of the concept of community, suggesting that schools are loosely coupled to state and federal education departments in particular, and to varying degrees at the district level: The guiding statements and high school leaders generally distinguished between the “school as community” frame inside the school and the “the local community” frame focused on the community outside of the school. Both traditional public high schools and charter schools emphasized the importance of both frames and their connections with “the local community.” Differences between traditional public schools and charter schools were observed, as schools appeared to attempt to legitimize themselves in different ways to the communities they are located in. Despite open enrollment policies leading to inter-district enrollment, traditional public schools have a mandate to primarily serve students from a specific area and were framed in the guiding statements and by school leaders as being part of and serving a geographically defined community that they have close ties to, the “school as a member of community” frame. Charter schools, on the other hand, focused on creating and serving a specific educational community characterized by shared interests, ideals, and expectations (‘school as community”) and contributing to the community that the school is located in (“school as a contributor to community”). / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Policy and Evaluation 2018

Pleinement en phase avec le contexte de crise financière internationale d'une part, et avec les discussions autour de la réforme de la réglementation bancaire (Bâle III) d'autre part, cette thèse met l'accent sur la notion de la discipline de marché dans le secteur bancaire, l'un des piliers du dispositif bâlois. La thèse cherche, particulièrement, à répondre à la problématique suivante : les actionnaires de la banque peuvent-ils être considérés comme acteurs de la discipline de marché ou, au contraire, comme des acteurs contrariant les objectifs des autorités réglementaires ? Par le biais de deux études empiriques menées sur un échantillon de 247 banques européennes, sur une période allant de 2004 à 2006, cette recherche a étudié les déterminants de la probabilité de défaillance des banques (en tant que mesure de risque) et le rôle disciplinaire de l'actionnaire (à travers l'impact de la charter value sur la prise de risque des banques). Les résultats de ces études montrent : (1) que le ratio de solvabilité (ratio de Bâle I et II) n'est pas un indicateur robuste de la défaillance bancaire; (2) que d'autres critères (autres que l'adéquation des fonds propres), telles que la qualité des actifs, la profitabilité ou encore la liquidité, peuvent jouer un rôle important dans la détermination de la probabilité de défaillance des banques ; (3) que la charter value permet de discipliner la prise de risque des banques, ce qui est en faveur de l'hypothèse du rôle actif des actionnaires dans la discipline de marché ; (4) que la discipline par la charter value est totalement inefficace pour les grandes banques systémiques (too big to fail). Ces résultats vont globalement dans le sens de la réforme de Bâle III qui vise, notamment, à réviser la composition des fonds propres réglementaires et à appliquer un traitement particulier aux banques systémiques. Ce travail doctoral donne lieu à une contribution théorique qui permet d'éclairer le concept de discipline de marché dans le secteur bancaire, ainsi qu'à des contributions opérationnelles sous forme de recommandations aux régulateurs et superviseurs de l'activité bancaire. / Fully in line with the international financial crisis on the one hand, and with the discussions on the reform of banking regulations issued by Basel III on the other, this thesis focuses on the concept of market discipline in the banking sector, one of the pillars of Basel accords. The thesis seeks, in particular, to answer the following question: can bank shareholders be considered as potential source of market discipline or, conversely, as actors frustrating the objectives of regulators? Using two empirical studies conducted on a sample of 247 European banks over a period from 2004 to 2006, this study investigated the determinants of banks failure probability (as a measure of bank risk) and the shareholder disciplinary role (through the effect of charter value on banks risk-taking). Results highlight that: (1) the solvency ratio (Basel I and II ratio) is not a robust indicator of bank failure, (2) other criteria (others than capital adequacy), such as the asset quality, the profitability or the liquidity, can play an important role in the determination of bank failure probability (3) the charter value constrain the risk-taking of banks which confirms the effectiveness of shareholders discipline (4) that the charter value discipline is totally ineffective for large systemic banks (TBTF). These results converge globally with the Basel III reform which aims, in particular, to revise the composition of regulatory capital and apply special treatment on systemic banks. This doctoral work brings theoretical contributions which add to bank market discipline literature as well as operational contributions in the form of recommendations for regulators and supervisors of banking system.

Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística / A produção de mapeamento cartográfico sofreu muitas transformações ao longo dos anos, passando da utilização extensiva de instrumentos analógicos para o meio digital. Atualmente, grande parte desse processo é realizado com o auxílio do computador, exigindo um alto investimento em sistemas computacionais. No início da década de 90 surgiu um movimento, chamado de Software Livre, que tem o objetivo de diminuir a dependência tecnológica às grandes organizações multinacionais, que dominam muitos segmentos do mercado da tecnologia da informação. Assim, foram desenvolvidos diversos programas de uso geral e que substituem de maneira satisfatória o chamados Software proprietário. Ultimamente, também tem sido desenvolvido Software Livre para a área de geoprocessamento. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar o uso desses aplicativos na produção de mapeamento cartográfico e para isso realizamos a editoração cartográfica de uma folha da Carta CIM utilizando programas distribuídos seguindo a filosofia do Software Livre. O processo de editoração cartográfica é fundamental na produção de uma carta e exige o domínio de várias técnicas, sendo uma das tarefas mais complexas da cartografia. Este trabalho apresenta uma nova forma de executar esta importante tarefa, visando aproveitar os últimos avanços na cartografia utilizando software livre e automatizando partes do processo para facilitar sua realização. A realização desta atividade de maneira satisfatória utilizando tecnologias livres comprova o estágio de amadurecimento alcançado dos programas desenvolvidos segundo essa filosofia.

Context. Colossal systems that are evolving are primarily system of systems (SOS). The system of systems are characteristic of functionally independent subsystems. These subsystems exhibit heterogeneity in terms of software or hardware. Each subsystem may reflect heterogeneity in dimensions such as the system complexity, system configuration, programming language and platforms, etc. Exploratory testing (ET) is perceived to be the best for testing such systems. An enhancement to exploratory testing is the session-based test management (SBTM) where several activities form a part of each session. These activities are mainly dependent on tester and the test charter of that session. There is lack of information in existing literature regarding a standard framework to design test charters for exploratory testing which forms the main area of focus of this thesis research. Objectives. Firstly, to investigate the design of test charters in general. Secondly, to find out the factors influencing the design of test charters. Lastly, to develop a framework to design effective test charters in SOS context. Methods. A mixed method approach that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative research methods is used. This research includes the quantitative leg of the online survey along with the interviews and literature review that are qualitative in nature. Literature review has been chosen to investigate the test charter design in general. Besides, interviews and online surveys  have been used to research regarding the factors and test charter framework.  Snowball sampling method and convenience sampling method have been used to sample the research data. Moreover, thematic analysis method is used for analyzing the qualitative data while descriptive statistics is used for quantitative data analysis. Results. The design aspects of test charter are documented, the factors influencing test charter design and the framework for effective test charter design for exploratory testing are presented. Conclusions. The thesis objectives are fulfilled. The findings on how the test charters are generally designed have helped in gaining insight on the primary elements that constitute a test charter design. Further, investigating the factors influencing the test charter design has helped in knowing the main elements affecting the test charter design. Finally, the main contribution of this thesis, the developed flexible test charter framework for exploratory testing encapsulates variables that should be considered, controlled or varied systematically during the course of testing. It is deemed to act as a guideline for practitioners for effective test charter design.