The cost of health care services is rising and the number of patients requesting overseas treatment from the Kuwait Government continues to increase; this is becoming an unsustainable financial burden. A telemedicine system has the potential to support the Kuwaiti health system to provide medical consultations from global medical centres, and thereby reduce the number of Kuwaiti patients being sent abroad for treatment, and so reduce costs. This research investigates the readiness of the key stakeholders in regard to adoption of telemedicine systems in the Kuwaiti healthcare system. This is achieved by assessing the readiness of individuals (physicians and patients), the organisation (policy makers) and the technical infrastructure (IT managers). Moreover, the lack of research on this topic, particularly in the Arabian Gulf Region, was the reason behind carrying out this study. An in-depth study was conducted by using a quantitative and qualitative approach. A questionnaire was used to explore the attitudes of specialised physicians and patients by obtaining their opinions based on specific criteria. Next, semi-structured interviews were conducted: (1) with IT managers to assess the technical infrastructure of the health system; and (2) with policy makers to assess the organisation in regard to its readiness towards telemedicine adoption. The study shows that the overseas referral patients are ready to use telemedicine systems, as a consequence of their need to receive medical consultations from global experts. However, they expressed some concerns, such as privacy and confidentiality of their data. The specialised physicians also showed readiness towards adoption of telemedicine in the Kuwaiti health system, and their responses indicated that they are willing to use such systems. However, the findings of the interviews reveal that the current technical infrastructure for ICT in the Kuwaiti healthcare system is not ready for telemedicine adoption and there are needs to be change in the way management is organized in order to improve and enhance trust among departments. The qualitative approach identified factors that would inhibit and hinder the adoption of telemedicine in Kuwait, as well as the supportive factors in the organisation. Using the results, a strategy was developed to demonstrate how the Kuwaiti health system could be made ready to receive a telemedicine system, together with policies for the use of telemedicine systems by overseas referral patients. A comparison with Jordan and Syria shows that the Kuwaiti healthcare system is more ready to adopt a telemedicine system with respect to the individuals, technical infrastructure and governmental support. Finally, an economic analysis was performed in order to investigate the cost effectiveness of the proposed system.

The purposes of this study were to identify public school districts that currently offer, or are planning to offer, transitional first-grade programs, to describe existing transitional programs, to describe the genesis of transitional first-grade classes in the North Texas area, and to assist in the establishment of a networking system for schools in the North Central Texas area that currently have, or are planning to have, transitional first-grade classes. The 158 school districts in Regions 10 and 11 were surveyed. The findings of the study indicate that about one-third of the districts offered transitional first-grade programs during the 1988-89 school year, and two-thirds of the districts saw a need for transitional first-grade classes. These transitional programs were implemented to meet the needs of children who had completed kindergarten but were not ready for regular first grade. Transitional first-grade programs focus primarily on language arts and math skills for kindergarten and early first grade. While curriculum materials vary from district to district, language arts is likely to be based on a whole-language approach, and math is likely to focus on manipulatives.. Kindergarten teacher observation is used in the screening procedures in the majority of the districts. A number of instruments are used in the transitional screening process. The Gesell School Readiness Inventory, used in 24% of the districts, is most popular. About one-half of the districts use an informal method of evaluating the transitional program. A pretest-posttest method is used in 32% of the districts, and a longitudinal student tracking method is used in 20% of the districts. Of the 158 districts surveyed, 122, or 77%, of the districts are interested in being included in a networking system to exchange information about transitional first-grade programs.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a transitional first grade program. A comparison of reading and math achievement and school attitude was the focus of the study. The study utilized a pretest/posttest design. The group of regular first grade students who qualified for the transitional program but attended regular first grade was the control group. The group of transitional first grade students was the experimental group. The regular first grade students received formal instruction in all academic areas. The experimental group received no formal instruction. All students were pretested and posttested using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Minnesota School Attitude Survey. Testing was administered to small groups of five or less by the researcher. Scoring was done also by the researcher. An analysis of covariance was used to determine if a significant difference existed between the groups. The analysis of covariance did not produce a significant F at the .05 level when applied to the Iowa Test of Basic Skills except for reading for boys in both groups. The numbers in each cell were low and no further comparisons were made. Due to a testing date that was approved late in the year, the Minnesota School Attitude Survey was determined to be invalid. Scores are reported for the reader's perusal only.

The purposes of this study were to determine if a kindergartener's developmental stage correlates with subsequent scholastic achievement, to determine whether developmentally younger children who repeat kindergarten attain higher academic achievement than developmental 1y younger children who do not repeat kindergarten, and to investigate the relationship between head circumference, developmental age, and achievement. Ninety-seven kindergartners of various ethnicity and socio-economic status were administered the Gesell School Readiness Screening Test to determine developmental age and were followed academically for three years. Head circumference was noted periodically to measure brain growth. The hypotheses predicted significant positive correlations between developmental age in kindergarten and scores on later achievement tests. Further, it was predicted that children below 5.3 years in developmental age who delayed entrance to first grade would score significantly higher on first grade achievement tests than match-paired promoted students. It was hypothesized that there would be significant correlations between head circumference growth and (a) gains in achievement test scores and (b) developmental age at kindergarten. The first hypothesis, tested by Pearson Product Moment Correlations, established the existence of significant correlations between developmental ages of test subjects and their scores on four academic achievement tests. The results indicated that developmental age was a better predictor of achievement test scores than chronological age. Since only five children in this study were retained in kindergarten, hypothesis 2 was analyzed descriptively. Mean scores on first grade achievement tests were higher for the retainees than for the "at risk" non-retainees. Hypothesis 3 was tested by stepwise multiple regression. At the first step, the linear trend between the independent variable, CTBS score, and the dependent variable, I TBS score, was calculated and found to be significant at the .001 level. The addition of head circumference growth to the equation did not add significantly to the prediction of I TBS scores from CTBS scores. There was a significant negative correlation between developmental age in kindergarten and head growth.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if traditional indicators of college readiness were better predictors of students’ first semester college GPA and persistence to the second year of coursework compared to non-traditional indicators of college readiness. Specifically, this study analyzed the predictive validity of high school class rank and ACT/SAT scores compared to that of the psychosocial skills measured by the ACT Engage on students’ first semester college GPA and their likelihood of enrollment in the second year of college coursework. Methodology: Linear and logistic regression models were used to examine the effect of gender, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, high school rank, Texas Success Initiative college readiness scores, SAT or ACT scores, and the ten themes of the ACT Engage Inventory (dependent variables), on students’ first semester college GPA and rate of persistence to the second year (independent variables). A sample of 4,379 first semester college freshmen participated in this study. Findings: Results indicated that high school rank, ACT/SAT scores and psychosocial skills measured by the ACT Engage theme academic discipline were accurate predictors of college performance. Results regarding the predictive power of traditional academic and non-traditional psychosocial predictors of persistence were less definitive. Students qualifying for federal financial assistance and female students showed the greatest likelihood of not returning for the second year of college. Research Limitations: One limitation of this study occurred because separate ethnicities were not evaluated as independent variables. Additionally, further research should occur regarding the relationship between the independent variables of gender and socioeconomic status and the dependent variable persistence. Practical Implications: Due to the predictive power of high school class rank, college entrance exam scores, and the psychosocial skill of academic discipline, educators and policy makers should design targeted preparation and support initiatives around improving students’ skills in these areas. Recommendations for such initiatives were provided. Value of Paper: This paper is valuable to educators at the secondary school and university levels because results can be used to design preparation and support programs in order to improve students’ performance and persistence at the college level.

Executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) skills develop rapidly during the preschool years and have been found to directly and indirectly contribute to school readiness. Evidence indicates that EF may influence ToM development, though this relation may not be consistent across children from different backgrounds. Additionally, socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to affect preschoolers’ EF, while the literature is mixed regarding the effects – if any – that SES may have on ToM development. Though the relation between EF and ToM appears robust across the literature, the possible effects of SES on this relation have yet to be fully explored. As children from low-SES homes are more likely to fall behind at the start of school, and this achievement gap is likely to widen through the school years, it is important to understand how the cognitive components that contribute to school readiness develop and are affected by SES so that we may work toward improving preschool education for children across all socioeconomic backgrounds. The primary purpose of the current study was to determine whether SES affected the relation between EF and ToM among urban preschool children (ages 3-5 years) from various SES backgrounds. In addition to examining the EF-ToM relation, relations among SES, general cognitive skills, EF, and ToM, as well as relations among age, EF, and ToM, were examined. Results from correlational and regression analyses indicated that SES was related to EF but not ToM, and that EF was not related to ToM after controlling for age. Inconsistent with the majority of previous findings, the results did not support the hypothesized link between EF and ToM. However, the findings from this study do add support to the large body of literature pertaining to the positive relation between SES and EF, and provide evidence that ToM may be relatively protected from the negative effects of low-SES among preschoolers. Results also support previous reports of large age-related changes in EF and ToM that occur during the preschool years. The implications for preschool development and education are discussed.

Development of new Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) for the aerospace industry is critical to enhance the manufacture and assembly of aerospace products. These novel AMTs require high development cost, specialist resource capabilities, have long development periods, high technological risks and lengthy payback durations. This forms an industry reluctance to fund the initial AMT development stages, impacting on their success within an ever increasingly competitive environment. Selection of suitable AMTs for development is typically performed by managers who make little reference to estimating the non-recurring development effort in resources and hardware cost. In addition, the performance at the conceptual stage is predicted using expert opinion, consisting of subjective and inaccurate outputs. AMTs selected are then submerged into development research and heavily invested in, with incorrect selections having a detrimental impact on the business. A detailed study of the UK aerospace manufacturing industry corroborated these findings and revealed a requirement for a new process map to resolve the problem of managing AMT developments at the conceptual stages. This process map defined the final research protocol, forming the requirement for a Cost-Benefit Forecasting Framework. The framework improves the decision making process to select the most suitable AMTs for development, from concept to full scale demonstration. Cost is the first element and is capable of estimating the AMT development effort in person-hours and cost of hardware using two parametric cost models. Benefit is the second element and forecasts the AMT tangible and intangible performance. The framework plots these quantified cost-benefit parameters and is capable of presenting development value advice for a diverse range of AMTs with varied applications. A detailed case study is presented evaluating a total of 23 novel aerospace AMTs verifying the capability and high accuracy of the framework within a large aerospace manufacturing organisation. Further validation is provided by quantifying the responses from 10 AMT development experts, after utilising the methodology within an industrial setting. The results show that quantifying the cost-benefit parameters provides manufacturing research and technology with the ability to select AMTs that provide the best value to a business.

This study was undertaken to investigate the predictive value of certain tests in relationship to first grade reading success. The following predictor tests were administered to seventy first grade students during the first two weeks of school: Metropolitan Readiness Test, Naming Letters Test, Light Response Test and Matching Symbol Test. The Teacher's Reading Readiness Rating Scale was filled out by each of the seven teachers at the end of the sixth week. The Wechsler Intelignce Scale for Children was administered to each child during the fall. The seventh predictor test was computed by finding the difference in individual scores of the Light Response Test and the Matching Symbol Test.

This diploma thesis deals with the relationship of the secondary schools of pedagogy students to the subject of biology and its particular areas. The diploma thesis is divided into a theoretical and practical section. The theoretical section surveys the teaching of biology at the secondary schools of teaching based on the Framework educational program for the specialization in preschool and extracurricular pedagogy and pedagogical lyceum and based on the scholastic educational programs of the schools involved in the research. Further, this section also deals with the teaching of biology based on the Framework educational program for preschool education and based on the scholastic educational programs of kindergarten, afterschools and extracurricular facilities. The practical sections deals with the relationship of the secondary schools of pedagogy students to the subject of biology. This is done by using a questionnaire in which the students evaluate their relationship and readiness within their specialization for the practice with respect to biology as a whole on one hand and with respect to its particular areas on the other hand. Key words: students, curriculum, popularity of biology, readiness for practice

The role of school culture in facilitating underrepresented students' access to and success in college is examined in this ethnographic study. The purpose of this study is to examine an urban, public high school's culture in the southeast region of the United States with a high population of African Americans and students living in poverty. The college-­ going culture theory proposed by McClafferty, McDonough and Nunez (2002) and later refined by McDonough (2006) is used as a framework for this study and an ethnographic research design is employed using interviews, observations, open-­ended surveys, and document review as data collection methods. The objective of the study is to describe the culture of an urban high school by examining its artifacts, values and beliefs and underlying assumptions, specifically as it relates to preparation of students for postsecondary education. Findings from this study will help inform strategies on reforming school culture to support college access and success for urban high school students, and will support the use of the college-­going culture theory as a useful lens through which to understand college access issues. Additionally, this study helps to describe some of the common characteristics of urban education in the heart of education reform and describes the core challenges associated with developing college-­going culture in urban communities with high poverty and low college attendance rates.