Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, there remain large gaps in academic achievement between children of color and White students (Darling-Hammond, 2007). It is estimated that by 2050, the population of the United States will increase by 50%; 90% of which will be accounted for by minorities (Vanneman, Hamilton, Anderson, & Rahman, 2009). In less than 50 years, our citizenry will be comprised of "groups that are over represented among low achievers, and under represented among high achievers" (Ferguson, 2005, p. 4). Nationwide, districts are addressing the issue of the achievement gap through implementing formal equity professional development opportunities at their school sites. While formal equity training leaves participants transformed, they leave with little to no support in how to change their practice in order to teach more equitably. Therefore, based on Bridges' and Hallinger's (1995) problem based learning approach, the handbook, Keeping Equity in Mind, was developed, field tested and revised using Borg and Gall's (2003) research and development cycle. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the usefulness of the handbook, Keeping Equity in Mind, in supporting teacher leaders in continued equity work in their classrooms once formal equity training had ended at their school sites. Participants implemented the strategies presented in the handbook in order to determine its usefulness in supporting teacher leaders in continued equity work in their classrooms. The findings of this study determined Keeping Equity in Mind is a useful tool for teachers attempting to close the achievement gap in their classrooms and the administrators who support them.

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are groups of educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning for educators (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2006). Researchers and practitioners agree that PLCs are critical to the overall success of schools. The problem is that implementing PLCs with fidelity to an inquiry process is a real challenge. Most school districts do not have a systematic or comprehensive approach to guide their PLC process. School leaders are in need of quality tools and resources to assist them in implementing PLCs. As a possible solution to this problem, a design team of four Estacada School District principals and one vice principal was convened to create, field-test and refine a handbook for PLC leadership. The handbook was field-tested in four schools and evaluated to determine its usefulness. The study's primary research questions were: (a) Is the PLC handbook a useful resource for school leaders? and (b) What are the handbook's strengths and weaknesses? Secondary research questions focused on specific topics and sections of the handbook: (a) How do school leaders organize and support a PLC framework? (b) How can PLCs support school change initiatives? (c) How can PLCs gather and analyze student data? (d) How can PLCs plan for future action? and (e) How can PLCs troubleshoot challenges? The design team relied on a problem-based learning approach (Bridges & Hallinger, 1995) and the use of a research and development process (Borg & Gall, 1989) to design an educational product ready for operational use in their schools. The design team met weekly for regularly scheduled meetings. They used the Critical Friends Consultancy Protocol (Harmony Education Center, 2013) as a systematic way to problem solve and collect qualitative data. The data collected from these sessions were transcribed, coded for themes, and analyzed. Other data sources that were used included the review of institutional documentation, structured interviews with teacher leaders, and survey results. The design team then refined its PLC handbook through the first seven steps of the research and development process: (a) Research and information collecting; (b) Planning objectives, learning activities, and small scale testing; (c) Developing a preliminary form of the product; (d) Preliminary field-testing; (e) Main product revision; (f) Main field-testing; and (g) Operational product revision. The design team determined that the handbook was in fact a useful resource for school leaders, and it helped move PLC work forward in each of the four schools. The team found that the handbook had a number of strengths, including the clarification of key terminology and the establishment of a common language for PLCs. Another noted strength was that the activities included in the handbook were user-friendly. A noted opportunity was that the field-tested handbook did not create viable ways to involve parents, families, and community members in PLC work alongside educators. This opportunity is being addressed by the design team in future handbook revisions. The handbook helped school leaders organize and support a PLC framework. The design team confirmed that the handbook assisted PLCs in completing the work required of major school change initiatives, including Differentiated Instruction/Sheltered Instruction, Response to Intervention/Positive Behavioral Intervention Support, Common Core State Standards, and Proficiency-Based Learning. The design team also found the PLC handbook to be useful as an orientation tool for new staff members, as well as a valuable review tool for PLC veterans, particularly regarding how to collect and analyze student assessment data. The handbook also helped PLCs plan future action relative to providing intervention and enrichment opportunities for students. Finally, the handbook provided tools to help educators troubleshoot challenges that surfaced during their PLC work. The design team will continue to refine its handbook and provide support for the Estacada School District and community as mutually-beneficial PLC-related activities, grants, and projects are pursued. The optimal next step for future use of the handbook would be for several schools and districts throughout Oregon, particularly from small, rural areas, to pilot the handbook. The piloting schools and districts could then share the roadblocks and success stories pertinent to their use of the handbook, which would in turn support the design team in making a quality final product revision.

Criminology / M. Tech. (Policing)

Criminology and Security Science / M. Tech. (Policing)

The author has designed a guidebook to accompany the State of California Department of Education's Coordinated Compliance Review Manual. The purpose of the guidebook is to provide English language learners' (ELL) coordinators the information needed to facilitate and achieve compliance with the State of California's rules, regulations and policies that will insure that ELL students' needs are being addressed and met. The design and method of the project are discussed.

This project was designed to help instructors at Camp Highland Outdoor Science School in Cherry Valley, California. The camp is drsinged for fifth and sixth grade students. The manual would be a useful tool for instructors to reference information to assist in lession planning and activities. It would familiarize them with the local natual history in the area including geology, climate, plants and Native Americans.

This thesis focuses on the Summa Angelica de casibus conscientie written by Angelo da Chivasso (d. 1495), first printed in 1486. Angelo belonged to the Observantine branch of the Franciscan Order and was its vicar general four times. Having documented Angelo's life and career, the thesis centres on the construction and purpose of his Summa. It assesses its originality within the tradition of confession manuals and the reasons for its popularity. It argues that the structure is very clear because Angelo intended it for the use of simplices confessores, by which he probably meant priests who did not have a university degree. He arranged his material alphabetically and in the longer sections, paragraphs were numbered, making cross-referencing easy. He included a list of authorities and explained the manner of quoting from them. Not all these features were original, but together they helped to make the Summa popular. There are several noteworthy features of Angelo's Summa. The procedures described had been laid down in earlier manuals, including the need for more rigorous questions - ad status – relating to the profession of each penitent and where this might lead to sin. Angelo however diverged from some earlier authorities by warning about excessive rigour. Circumstances were to be taken into account, and where possible penitents to be given the benefit of the doubt. The number of copies of Angelo's Summa printed throughout Western Christendom during his lifetime and following his death are a tribute to its importance. The period of fame however, was short. Martin Luther was a particularly virulent critic of the Summa, and the Catholic Church changed the method of hearing confessions, making much of it redundant, though it survived for some centuries more as a work of reference for confessors.

The focus of the research reported on in this dissertation is an evaluation of the Language in Learning and Teaching project (LILT), in terms of its ability to facilitate English language development in schools where both educators and learners are second language speakers and where the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) is English. The research involved two main phases. During the first phase I established evaluation criteria from the literature review, from another project the English Language Education Trust, (ELET) and from my own experience and feedback from the end-users (Le. teachers) and the observation of workshops. In the second phase I evaluated the LILT materials against the criteria developed in the literature review, analysed the feedback from end-users in the form of a questionnaire and made recommendations. In this dissertation the following terms will be used interchangeably: teacher, educator, facilitator and tutor because in the quoted passages, the term teacher is largely used. However, in Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) the terms educator, facilitator and tutor are used. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

O imageamento por tensor de difusão (DTI) por ressonância magnética (RM) é um método de aquisição recente e de utilização bastante reduzida nos serviços que possuem equipamentos os softwares paro DTI. A partir desta situação notou-se a necessidade de um guia para os profissionais envolvidos RM; que servisse como fonte de consulta para auxiliar na aquisição do DTI. Para criação deste guia um referencial fez necessário e foi obtido apenas como norteador por meio de um questionário aplicado a profissionais que trabalham com RM, de uma clínica de Curitiba. Através do questionário foi possível levantar que conceitos e parâmetros o guia poderia explanar, notoriamente precisando dar ênfase aos parâmetros básicos da técnica, as formas de reconstrução dos dados e as formas de visualização. O guia foi montado explicando o processo de aquisição do DTI, os principais parâmetros envolvidos e os termos comuns aos exames desta natureza. Também foram elaboradas 15 perguntas frequentes sobre o DTI, com tabelas de consulta rápida. O resultado final é um guia de fácil manuseio e entendimento que visa auxiliar os profissionais da área a pesquisarem, apreenderem e utilizarem a técnica de imageamento por tensor de difusão. Apesar de pronto, existe ainda a necessidade de introduzir o guia e coletar sugestões e ainda aprimorar os questionamentos iniciais aos profissionais da área de modo a enriquecer o guia. / Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) by magnetic resonance (MR) is a recent method of acquisition whose utilization has been fairly reduced in services that use equipment with DTI software. From this situation, one observed the need to develop a guide for professionals involved in MR, which would serve as a reference source to assist in the acquisition of DTI. In order to make this guide, a reference was necessary to be given a steer and it was obtained through a questionnaire administered to professionals who work with MRI in a clinic in Curitiba. Through the questionnaire, it was possible to raise the concepts and parameters the guide could explain, especially emphasizing technique basic parameters, forms of data reconstruction and visualization forms. The guide was made explaining the acquisition of DTI, the main parameters involved and the common terms for these kinds of tests. In addition, 15 commonly asked questions about the DTI were prepared with quick reference tables. The final result is an easy-to-understand guide which aims to help the area professionals to search, apprehend and use the diffusion tensor imaging technique. Although it is ready, there is the need to introduce the guide and collect suggestions, and still, improve the professionals’ early questions to enhance the guide.

The diploma thesis deals with inspiration sources of the Alois Landfras garden in Jindřichův Hradec and the possibilities of his inspiration. The first chapters of thesis deal with formation and development of landscape garden and romantick park in England, France, Germany and Czcech. Author approaches the inspiration sources two points of view. First she interested in inspiration based on Alois Landfras experience of landscape architecture. She deals with castles park in Chotoviny and Teplice, gardens near Jindřichův Hradec and in South Bohemia. After that she observes important garden in Germany and Vienna. She names the second significant inspiration source as garden literature in the form of semple books, magazines and handbooks. In conclusion she presents concrete works taht could provide Alois Landfras inspiration.