Published Article / In a diverse working environment such as the South African situation, it is imperative that issues surrounding cultural diversity, and its impact on employees should be examined. This article reflects on a study conducted in the South African security industry, as one of the few industries that utilise diverse work teams as part of their operational success. The rational for using work teams will be explained, with an emphasis on the team leaders. The model of Eales-White (1996: 26) was applied to the development of the team member questionnaire, and the subsequent results will be reported.

2 pp. / Heart Disease in Women / How consumers can eat to reduce their risk of heart disease by lowering fat and cholesterol in their diet.

Thesis advisor: Audrey A. Friedman / Despite the inherent obstacles posed by increasingly diverse student populations, school leaders worldwide are under mounting pressure to raise student achievement. This study utilizes hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to investigate the relationship between principal priorities and student achievement in reading literacy on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in sixty-four jurisdictions worldwide. Disaggregating the sixty-four systems into three performance levels, the research aims to equip principals across the global landscape with insights into current performance patterns of diverse learners and the leadership behaviors that associate with student achievement. The diverse groups of interest include boys, immigrants, language learners, socio-economically disadvantaged students, and rural pupils. Three conditions of effective leadership organize the priorities of investigation: defining a mission, managing instruction, and developing a climate (Hallinger and Murphy, 1985). The results reveal that across performance levels, diverse learners are underachieving but specific subgroups are faring better than others in some jurisdictions. Commonalities emerge from these jurisdictions and set a roadmap for interpreting the achievement of diverse learners worldwide. The leadership priorities that most frequently associate with student achievement when controlling for background factors vary across systems and across performance levels. The priorities under `defining the school mission' are most frequently statistically significantly associated to student achievement in promising systems and the priorities under `managing the instructional programming' and `developing school climate' are most frequent among high- performers. Overall, however, the associations are weak and ultimately open the possibility of a fourth condition of effective leadership: establishing a community connection. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The focus of this study was to examine perceptions of middle school teachers regarding the changing role of the secondary middle school principal and compare teachers' results with assistant principals' and principals' perceptions of their role, thus adding the voice of teachers, regarding the secondary principal's role, to existing literature. Data was collected electronically using the survey method in one urban Florida school district. Qualitative and quantitative data were captured using the Principal's Role Questionnaire (PRQ) (Goodwin, 2002). Thirty-six principal role descriptor statements on the PRQ survey requested a level of agreement from research participants regarding changes, current and future roles of the secondary principal. Four open ended comment requests allowed participants to comment on the principal's role in those areas. Role descriptor statements were categorized into four areas: strategic leadership, instructional leadership, organizational leadership and political and community leadership. Quantitative findings revealed that teacher perceptions regarding the secondary middle school principal's role were significantly significant for only 14 of the 36 role descriptors when compared to principals' scores. Teachers' mean score ratings were lower than principals' for all 36 PRQ items, however their scores were considered in agreement, as no score was lower than 2.52. Lower score ratings for all 36 PRQ items suggested somewhat of a disconnection between principals and teachers as to the principal's role. Qualitative findings from teachers varied from an understanding of the principal's role to suggestions for the principal. Further research is needed to determine secondary principal role expectations that are important and desired by secondary teachers.

As access to technology increases, educators must continue to study how to best integrate these resources to help close the writing achievement gap and prepare students for college and careers. This survey explores the levels of technology use in English classrooms at diverse, low-income high schools in Texas where 70 percent or more students are identified as economically disadvantaged. This study examines how teachers' levels of implementation relate to teachers' age, years of teaching experience, highest degree earned, and the type of school. Teachers completed an online survey indicating their curriculum and instructional practices, their personal computer use, and their implementation of writing in the classroom. Based on these results, follow-up interviews were conducted with teachers who volunteered to be interviewed. Quantitative statistical analysis of the research evidence using chi square tests indicates a relationship between teachers' level of technology implementation and their age and years of experience teaching. However, the type of school where teachers teach (suburban, urban, or rural) and the highest degree earned by the teacher does not relate to teachers' implementation level, according to the statistical analysis. Thus, this dissertation is about high school English teachers' perspectives on levels of technology implementation in schools serving diverse learners. Using qualitative analysis, the study also found that technology is used on a limited basis by the teachers who provided comments in the survey and those who were interviewed due to lack of access to computers in classrooms. Most teachers indicated they use the teacher computer in their classrooms for clerical tasks and/or presentations to students. Student use of computers was limited to scheduling time in labs that must be shared among the other teachers and students on campus. In addition, the teachers commented that additional professional development is needed to help them implement available technology resources for teaching and learning. To address these challenges, administrators need to study what technology resources best support the teaching of writing, particularly in ways that help close the achievement gap and prepare students for college and careers. Administrators should provide for teachers and students more accessibility to technology resources beyond the school-wide computer lab. Finally, administrators need to offer their teachers varied, ongoing, and collaborative professional development focused on both writing instruction and technology resources to improve teachers' proficiencies and confidence in these areas.

This study examined the relationships between consumer demographic/VR service variables and employment outcomes/weekly earnings/level of education for 25,218 individuals ranging from 15 to 18 years old with learning disabilities from the Rehabilitation Services Administration data in 2012. To explore predictors of employment outcomes and the level of education, the participants were randomly split for cross-validation purposes into Sample 1 and Sample 2. A separate logistic regression was run for each sample, and variables (e.g. African American, job placement, college training, and occupational training) were statistically significant in predicting successful employment outcomes. In addition, service variables including African American status, college training, and occupational training were found to be statistically significantly to predict the level of education for transition-aged youth with learning disabilities. Weekly earnings for White males and females combined were statistically higher than African American males and females combined. Suggested hypotheses and implications for practice and future research are provided. / text

This dissertation contributes to existing scholarship on contemporary multiculturalism. It does so by exploring how multicultural agendas are operationalised in Northern Ireland – a society divided along sectarian lines. As the political violence of the conflict has receded, Northern Ireland has witnessed unprecedented levels of in-migration. This dissertation seeks to understand how, as Northern Irish society is increasingly being conceived of as culturally diverse, emerging multicultural agendas interact with embedded sectarianism. The empirical research focuses on the political institutions and policies pertaining to Northern Ireland as a whole, and the specific activities and social practices of various ethnically-identified minorities, voluntary organisations and anti-racist movements in selected areas of Belfast. The research involved interviews with civil servants, policy makers, ethnically-identified minorities, voluntary groups and anti-racist activists. This dissertation argues that a government concern for managing cultural diversity can be understood as part of a process of ‘normalising’ Northern Ireland after the conflict. However, a persistent sectarianism complicates, and often impedes, the advancement of multicultural, and particularly anti-racist, agendas. This argument is developed through an exploration of policy and institutional structures, anti-racist campaigns and responses to racialised violence, as well as initiatives that seek to recognise and celebrate cultural diversity. This dissertation shows that the relationship between sectarianism and multiculturalism in post-Agreement Northern Ireland is not unidirectional. Instead, the two processes are deeply imbricated with each other: multicultural initiatives are shaped by sectarianism, and sectarianism persists in emergent multicultural imaginaries. This said, the dissertation suggests that multiculturalism is also capable of disrupting sectarian constructions of space and identity in Northern Ireland. Based on these findings, this dissertation argues that cultural diversity provides an opportunity to denaturalise the social structures and narratives which reproduce sectarianism. It is argued that this process could play an important role in advancing the construction of a socially cohesive and multicultural Northern Ireland.

This study represents a qualitative inquiry into how people are informing, understanding and practising alternative mentoring models as well as what a living contemporary mentoring model for school administrators can look like in a school district organization. This project seeks to provide insight into promising contemporary mentoring practice in order to improve the quality of school administrator mentoring programmes. Multiple forms and levels of data were collected for this project including provincial, school-district level and individualized interviews and observation. Much of the data comes from interviews with twelve school administrators (mentees) as well as the programme developer, current programme coordinator and current mentors. Through use of case study and social cartography methods this report uses multiple data sources to identify and categorize a ‘hybrid mentoring’ model that blends a strong bond with a personal formal mentor within a network of informal situational and transformation mentoring relationships. Compilation of mentee network diagrams portrays a theoretical mentoring network incorporating dynamic and diverse mentoring relationships. This case study also identifies that contemporary programmes can be designed to address and minimize inappropriate power and organizational aspects of the classic model criticized from feminist and organizational theory perspectives. Furthermore examples in this case study suggest the organizational climate, in particular leadership discontinuity, is a factor to consider in pre-programme development assessment activities. / Graduate

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Sharon Angella Hayden, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Education, presented on July, 25th, 2011, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: ENABLING CURRICULA: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TEACHING OBSERVATION PROTOCOL TO ADDRESS STUDENTS' DIVERSE LEARNINNG NEEDS MAJOR PROFESSORS: Dr. Grant R. Miller and Dr. D. John McIntyre Diverse learning needs are students' learning needs in areas such as language, learning styles, background, disabilities, technology skills, motivation, engagement, and access. Teacher candidates must be aware of and plan to meet these needs. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides guidelines that can increase the level of student engagement and variety in materials and activities incorporated in a lesson, and will improve the extent to which teacher candidates meet students' diverse learning needs. This research incorporated design research and systematic observation methodologies and was informed by data from lesson observations collected with the proposed observation protocol. It also relied on data from a focus group discussion with cooperating teachers, email feedback from university supervisors, and document analysis of lesson plans and materials. Analysis of this data showed that teacher candidates' perceptions about diverse learning needs were informed by the school's curriculum, the subject area they taught, their experiences, and theories such as multiple intelligences. Their perceptions were modified during the study which also resulted in changes in the way they planned and taught their lessons. Participants found the proposed observation protocol to be both clear and useful. It is proposed that teacher candidates, cooperating teachers, and university supervisors should be informed about the Universal Design for Learning. It is expected that the observation protocol will be incorporated into methodology courses, as well as in teacher candidate conferences with university supervisors. It is also expected that future research will incorporate university supervisors and cooperating teachers in the implementation of the observation protocol. Future research is also expected to explore the possibility of developing a subject-specific observation protocol for use at the secondary level.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF LAWRENCE KOFI AMETEPEE, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION, presented on OCTOBER 19, 2015, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale TITLE: A CASE STUDY: EXPLORING THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION DECISIONS TEACHER EDUCATORS MAKE AND EXAMINING HOW PREPARED PRESERVICE TEACHERS FEEL TO TEACH DIVERSE STUDENTS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. D. John McIntyre The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to explore the decisions teacher educators make while training preservice general education teachers for inclusive classrooms; (b) to examine the preparedness of the preservice general education teachers to teach all students, including students with disabilities in general education settings; (c) and to find out how the decisions teacher educators make may influence the preparedness of the preservice general education teachers to teach all students, including students with disabilities in general education settings. In this concurrent mixed methods study, 14 faculty members completed interview protocol, and 62 preservice general education teachers provided background information and completed Likert scale questionnaire. I also gathered data from teacher education program (TEP) documents. I used content analysis approach to analyze qualitative data and I analyzed quantitative data as Likert scale data. Results show that whereas the TEP offers a significant percentage of content knowledge courses more than methods and inclusive education courses, only three out of the 14 faculty members indicated specifically that content knowledge was more important than the other components of inclusive education. Results further show that 11 (78.57%) of the seniors who completed student teaching stated they felt confident, 18 (54.55%) of seniors who were on campus indicated they felt somewhat confident, and 11 (73.33%) of the juniors stated they felt somewhat confident teaching diverse students in general education classrooms. Furthermore, all the seniors who completed student teaching (14, 100%), twenty-seven out of the 33 (81.82%) of the seniors who were on campus, and eight (53.33%) of the juniors stated they thought they would be fully prepared to teach diverse students in their classrooms at the end of their programs. The results have implications for teacher education programs in regard to the competencies teacher education programs should emphasize and the professional development to faculty members. I also discussed recommendations that could place teacher education programs in a better position to effectively prepare preservice general education teachers.