Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

M. S.

M.S.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

M.A. (Afrikaans) / Language is the heartbeat of broadcasting, and is regarded primarily as a means of communication that is used for different purposes in different situations. The register of broadcasting language embodies and perpetuates standard language, and fits the specific situation or circumstance in terms of formal, informal and stylistically neutral language. It could be said that the various forms of Afrikaans cannot be regarded as right or wrong, but should be measured against the norms for the situation in which, and the purpose for which, it is used. All the varieties of Afrikaans are of equal value and each register has its rightful place, measured against the standards of functionality with regard to situation and purpose. The Komitee vir Taaladvies (KTA), as the official normative body for the Afrikaans of the SABC, does not act as a competitive linguistic standardiser, but is definitely in an authoritative position in the speech community when it comes to pronouncements on the standardisation of language. The KTA's approach to the usage corpus is that each item should provoke the least resistance from viewers and listeners. The KTA's objective is to promote communication by applying standardisation of language and using standard Afrikaans as the model. The KTA, the Language Bureau and the staff of the Language Bureau apply the generally recognised norms for standardising the formal broadcasting register of Afrikaans that promotes communication in Afrikaans. A lay phonetic system was developed for SAUKT and received favourably by the Language Bureau and the KTA. The system is easily understood since it is modelled on written Afrikaans.

School districts face tremendous budget challenges and, as a result, professional development has been "trimmed" from many school budgets. (Habegger & Hodanbosi, 2011). School administrators responsible for planning professional development face a daunting task and often focus on PowerPoints, district mandated training, one-shot presentations, and workshops that are delivered by expensive experts. These types of activities lack teacher collaboration, time for sharing of ideas and opportunity for reflection and analysis (Torff & Byrnes, 2011, Coggins, Zuckerman & Mckelvey, 2010). The problem addressed in this study is that teacher professional development is usually planned by school administrators who are provided little support or training. This study used the problem-based learning approach designed by Bridges and Hallinger (1995) to determine the usefulness of a handbook for principals to utilize as they plan professional development. The handbook was developed, field tested and revised using Borg and Gall's (2003) research and development cycle. This qualitative study included surveys, observations, interviews and workshops to determine the usefulness of the handbook. The study consisted of preliminary field testing and product revision followed by the main field testing. The main field test was a workshop for K-12 school and district level administrators on how to use the handbook in planning meaningful, ongoing teacher professional development. The data collected in this study determined that the handbook,Teachers Teaching Teachers: Designing Successful Teacher Professional Development on a Shoestring Budget, is a useful tool for school administrators responsible for planning teacher professional development.

Continuing education advances society. For every student, our educational system should provide a seamless transition from one level to the next until a degree or certificate is earned that reflects a mastery of skills needed to secure employment. This helps prepare each individual for a successful life after exiting the educational system and greatly benefit our society. Today, however, many students graduating from high schools are not ready for a postsecondary education. Transitioning students from high school to college is a complex process that requires many different approaches. Students making this transition are finding it more difficult to enter and succeed at a higher level of education because of the complexity of this process. Preparing students for postsecondary options is critical for every student. Students from low-income families and some ethnic and racial minority groups are most dependent on the ability of their high school to prepare them properly for college success (Conley, 2010). In what ways can schools better prepare students for postsecondary success? This study focuses on the creation of a Postsecondary Readiness Guidebook (PRG) which provides a comprehensive approach to help educational leaders prepare students for postsecondary success. The guidebook uses a problem-based learning design and follows the research and development process. The guidebook was field tested by educational leaders in a K-12 public school though a workshop using a qualitative methodology. During the field-testing of the guidebook, data were collected through assessments, interviews with educators, and questionnaires completed by educational leaders at the school. Data were analyzed using inductive coding, facesheet coding, enumeration, and typology. The findings of the study reveal that using a guidebook with a comprehensive approach to postsecondary preparedness can help school leaders prepare students for postsecondary success. Educational leaders in the school collectively focused on best practices and programs aimed at preparing students for postsecondary options through the use and interaction of the PRG. The guidebook gave them a compass for which to navigate the complex process of preparing students for postsecondary success.

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable assessment instrument. This instrument is to be used by school administrators to assess the organizational structure and administrative effectiveness of state high school interscholastic activities associations. This study proceeded through four phases. The first phase was for developing criteria items and included a review of the literature. The second phase was for the purpose of item validation and consisted of submitting a questionnaire to an advisory panel of five persons. The third phase of the study was for the purpose of validation by content validity. The questionnaire was submitted to a randomly selected group of state interscholastic activities associations' directors and presidents of the state superintendents associations and the state high school principals associations. In the fourth phase of the study the reliability of the instrument was established through a questionnaire survey using a similar population as the validity survey.

When the polls close and the ballots are counted, the best sound is the roar of ecstatic cheering from delighted but exhausted campaign committee members. A bond campaign takes an inordinate amount of work, but the results are worth the effort when the campaign is managed in a systematic way. Districts can be successful bond recipients when they effectively market their schools to gain the support of their constituents. Public schools across the U.S. are in dire need of major repairs, remodeling, and rebuilding to meet the educational needs of students. Unfortunately, passing a school bond election is entrusted to school superintendents and other district leaders, who are often inexperienced and ill-prepared and have neither the time nor inclination to focus on tasks that take them far from their primary purpose of teaching and learning. Attaining voter support in a school bond election requires a thorough understanding of school and community issues. The literature review focuses on communication theory and research to garner support of school district's internal and external stakeholders. Communication is instrumental in passage of a construction bond election. This dissertation is theoretically grounded in problem-based learning and the research and development process. The tested product is a handbook for superintendents or other district-level administrators on strategies and practices that assist in passing a construction bond election. In the Preliminary and Main field tests, superintendents and other district leaders used the handbook in a workshop. Survey results provided summative data to assess the efficacy of the handbook and the workshop. Formative results also provided rich information to improve and revise the handbook and workshop.

This thesis explores and discusses the current practice of English as a Second Language (ESL) evaluation primarily in terms of validity, authenticity, and experiential groundedness. The researcher endeavours to apply theories of ESL evaluation to actual practice, analyzing the differences or harmonization between with regard to validity, authenticity, experiential groundedness and some other factors identified as being important in evaluation in language acquisition situations, particularly CRTs, NRTs, foramtive and summative evaluations. Ethnographic inquiry is used for obtaining data. A program case study, a technique of qualitative research, is used for this study. The purpose is to gather some genuine data from the interviewees which are real and revealing, thus enabling the researcher to gain particular insights relative to the aims of his study. The analysis aspires to give voice to interviewee's on ESL evaluation in terms of validity, authenticity, and experiential groundedness, along with other factors noted above. This report sets out to determine how or if validity, authenticity, and experiential groundedness, along with some other factors identified above, are integrated elements of an efficient and effective ESL evaluation. Such was found to ve the case and it was also found that these can be reinforced by guaranteeing that an evaluation targets its population closely, adopting real-life approaches and, establishing linkages between evaluation and prior knowledge and skills. / xi, 156 leaves ; 28 cm.