This presentation will inform participants of the results from a year-long randomized control trial study targeting a comprehensive approach to teach grade aligned ELA via an App for middle school students with significant disabilities. Participants will learn about the embedded evidence based practices that led to significant outcomes. By the end of this session, participants will be able to: a) identify instructional strategies that lead to increases in grade aligned ELA skills. b) discuss ways to provide meaningful grade aligned access to ELA skills for students with significant disabilities from diverse backgrounds c) incorporate technology (ipad) and grade aligned adapted fictional and nonfiction novels that address complex and diverse themes into ELA instruction as a means for increasing engagement and access for students with significant disabilities.

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English/language arts (ELA) is one of the core content areas of the general curriculum. Through ELA instruction, students gain a means for accessing and understanding the various forms of text they encounter in daily life as well as skills in research and communication. The overarching goals of ELA focus on effective communication, including comprehension: a goal critical to students with significant disabilities. Typical ELA curriculum creates opportunities for students to communicate in different contexts, for different purposes through exposure to culturally diverse text (Browder & Spooner, 2014). The challenge in developing language-arts instruction for students with significant disabilities, however, is that they may have few skills to engage with text (Mims et al., 2012). Recent research has helped to bridge the gap between the incoming skill set of individuals with a significant disability and the gains in effective literacy skills, communication, writing and comprehension skills. This presentation will highlight some of the most recent research that features strategies for providing meaningful-access, grade-aligned fiction and nonfiction text depicting diverse cultural and socioeconomic themes, but adapted for greater student access. Highlighted strategies will include a discussion of how grade-aligned adapted books and systematic instruction such as response-prompting strategies, error correction, positive reinforcement, data collection and graphic organisers can promote student gains in literacy, communication, writing, student-led research and comprehension across Bloom’s Taxonomy. In addition, this presentation will discuss ways to meaningfully adapt grade-appropriate text for students who have limited-to-no reading ability, as well as provide resources for fiction and nonfiction texts that have already been adapted. Finally, this presentation will provide participants with strategies to promote personalised learning in concert with maintaining a high level of rigour for students with intellectual disability and autism. - See more at: http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/professional_learning/teachers/2016/major-events/successful-learning-conference.shtml#sthash.hTRDzYbP.dpuf

Research shows use of data based decisions for students with severe disabilities is highly beneficial, yet few teachers implement them in the classroom. This session will present the results of a study on the effects of DBD training on teacher/student outcomes. Also, participants will learn about the five most common DBDs. Learner outcomes: Provide participants with procedures and outcomes from a study conducted on training teachers of students with significant disabilities and autism from diverse backgrounds to make informed data-based decisions; and Participants will be provided a handout with a data based decision-making guide as well access to the online modules used in the study.

The purpose of the study was to question rural general education teachers’ perceptions and attitudes on the inclusion of students with significant disabilities. The investigator surveyed rural general education teachers on their perceptions of what should be occurring in terms of inclusion and on what they saw as occurring in terms of inclusion of students with significant disabilities. The results yielded mixed perceptions and were generally positive in terms of the inclusion occurring within that school district.

Bakgrund: Den kommunala redovisningslagen ställer krav på att kommuner ska lämna upplysningar om väsentliga personalförhållanden i sina årsredovisningar. Lagen definierar dock inte vad som är väsentliga personalförhållanden. Istället är det upp till kommunerna att tolka och förhålla sig till kravet samt för sektorn som grupp att sätta praxis för vad som anses vara väsentliga personalförhållanden. Eftersom den kommunala sektorn är en personalintensiv bransch är personalen en av kommunens viktigaste resurser. Följaktligen medför personalintensiteten utmaningar kopplade till kompetensförsörjning samt personalfrågor, för att kunna möta dessa måste sektorn arbeta aktivt för att ses som en attraktiv arbetsgivare. Eftersom personalen är en viktig resurs för kommunerna är det inte konstigt att att lagen ställer krav på kommunerna att redovisa väsentliga personalförhållanden. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att förklara variationen i kommunernas årsredovisningar rörande upplysningar om väsentliga personalförhållanden. Med variationen avses variationen i mängd av innehåll och omfattning av upplysningar. Metod: Studien utgår från en deduktiv ansats och grundas på ett eklektiskt angreppssätt där teorierna positiv redovisningsteori samt institutionella teorin används som kompletterande teorier för att förklara studiens empiriska fenomen. En kvantitativ metod och tvärsnittsdesign har tillämpats då studiens syfte är att förklara ett fenomen vid en specifik tidpunkt. Studiens empiriska data utgörs av sekundärdata. Slutsats: De faktorer som påverkar kommunernas redovisning av väsentliga personalförhållanden är storlek, sjukfrånvaro, revisionsbyrå och samverkan. Slutsatser kan även dras att flera faktorer som testats i studien inte kan förklara variationen i kommunernas upplysningar om väsentliga personalförhållanden. Således finner studien endast svaga bevis för att kommunerna redovisar för att verka legitima eller för att undgå ytterligare regleringar. Inte heller press från intressenter, baserat på de valda faktorerna, visar sig ha någon betydande påverkan på kommunernas redovisningsval. / Background: The Municipal Accounting Act stipulates that municipalities in Sweden must provide information on significant personnel conditions in their annual reports. However, the Act does not define what significant personnel conditions are. Instead, it is up to the municipalities to interpret and relate to the requirement and for the sector as a group to set practice for what is considered to be significant personnel conditions. As the municipal sector is a personnel-intensive industry, the staff is one of the municipality's most important resources. Consequently, the personnel intensity poses challenges related to the supply of skills and personnel issues, in order to be able to meet these, the sector must work actively to be seen as an attractive employer. Since the staff is an important resource, it is no wonder that the law requires the municipalities to report significant personnel conditions. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explain the variation in the municipalities' annual reports concerning disclosures on significant personnel conditions. The variation refers to the variation in the amount of content and extent of information. Method: The study is based on a deductive approach and is founded on an eclectic approach where the theories, positive accounting theory as well as institutional theory, are used as complementary theories to explain the empirical phenomenon of the study. A quantitative method and a cross-sectional design has been applied since the aim of the study is to explain a phenomenon at a specific time. The empirical data consists of archival data. Conclusion: The factors that affect the municipalities reporting of significant personnel conditions are size, absence due to sickness, auditing firm and collaboration. Conclusions can also be drawn that several factors tested in the study cannot explain the variation in the municipalities information on significant personnel conditions. Thus, the study finds only weak evidence that the municipalities report to appear legitimate or to avoid further regulations. No pressure from stakeholders, based on the chosen factors, also proves to have any significant impact on the municipalities' accounting choices.

Throughout history, people have made or acquired vessels from which to sip their favourite beverage. In the contemporary domestic setting, households frequently accumulate multiples of the same type of object in numbers that are considerably greater than is necessary and practical for use alone. Of these many objects there are often individual pieces that have special significance for the owner or user. Some are so valued that they may even be removed and set aside because of their perceived importance. The research was initiated by a previous study of tea drinking vessels coupled with a desire, as an object maker and collector, to find out why people have special items that they designate as personally important. The aim was to identify how significance could be recognised in specific objects and whether the notion that a group of features used to gauge such objects could be conveyed into studio based work. The research outcomes are evidenced in a text-based document (which articulates the theoretical and empirical elements of the enquiry) and a body of creative studio work developed in response to aspects of the investigation. The document encompasses two components of the study. The first references material from the fields of museum and cultural studies, pivotal in focusing the enquiry. This contributed to the compilation of a general and speculative inventory of qualities that might pertain to objects deemed ???significant???. During these early investigations it became evident that a more in depth and contemporary analysis of significant drinking vessels, their owners and/or users was required. A Survey Questionnaire regarding personal use and special drinking vessels preceded a series of Interviews with a selected group of Australia curators, artists, academics and collectors who discussed and analysed their association with a personally significant drinking vessel. Subsequently, the content of these interviews became central to the focus of the research and outcomes. The research isolates a number of attributes that are commonly identified in objects that, whatever their condition, are deemed ???significant???. These describe the maker, usage, ownership, association and historical context. The perceived value or worth of the object for its owner, is recognised as a consequence of significance and declares the object as distinctive. This outcome is clearly validated by the interviews. The studio work develops from the fusion of personal narrative that has been enhanced by findings of the research. In particular, it references the cherished object, most especially those pieces that have been retained despite the ravages of time and use. The resulting work was exhibited as Trace Elements ??? Marking Time: Significance, the Vessel and the Domestic at Kudos Gallery, Paddington in April 2004.

Mass media has long been thought to have a detrimental effect on an adolescent’s values and behaviors. Many social ills including violence, misogyny and negative health behaviors, as well as egoistic cultural values have been attributed to mass media’s influence. Yet the media is not all powerful, nor are its powers unable to be combated. In this manuscript, I analyze the Educational Longitudinal Study data from 2002 to 2006 to determine the real effects mass media has on adolescents in comparison to other influences. I find that not all media is equal in influence. Television and video games have different relationships with a teenager’s values and behaviors in comparison to internet use. Additionally, I find that when parents are involved with their children as significant others, they do not negate, but can typically counteract many negative effects of media.

Bakgrund: Dagens snabbföränderliga värld och höga konkurrenstryck ställer krav på innovativa investeringar för en verksamhets fortskridning. Nytt paradigm inom IT-branschen är molntjänst, där utbjudande leverantör bör ta hänsyn till vissa faktorer för att erhålla ett gynnsamt utfall. Vanligt förekommande inom IT-branschen är att nyttja Business Case i beslutssituationer där olika faktorer noga övervägs innan investeringsbeslut fattas. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att med hjälp av Business Case identifiera och belysa avgörande faktorer och riskkällor vid investeringsbeslut. De identifierade riskkällorna ska också undersökas i syfte att söka minimera dem. Med hjälp av teoretisk och empiriskt underlag ämnar studien sammanställa ett Business Case för säkrare investeringsbeslut vid multidimensionella IT-investeringar. Metodik: Detta är en fallstudie utifrån en kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Studien är uppbyggd kring semi-strukturerade intervjuer, där tre representanter ifrån fallföretaget IST låtit svara på djupgående intervjufrågor. Slutsats: Samtliga faktorer som granskats har mer eller mindre betydande roll för beslutstagande vid multidimensionell IT-investering. De faktorer som anses ha störst betydelse vid ett investeringsbeslut är också de faktorer som utgör störst risk. Dessa är marknadsbehov IT-branschen och tekniska förutsättningar vilka besvarar kandidatuppsatsens frågeställningar. Med Business Case som utgångspunkt reduceras osäkerheter och säkrare investeringsbeslut möjliggörs. / Background: In today’s rapidly changing society, the high competitive pressures require innovative investments in order for companies to proceed. A new paradigm within the IT-industry is Cloud service, where the vendor needs to take into account certain factors to obtain a favourable outcome. Therefore, it is common to use Business Case in the IT-industry during the decision making process where different factors are carefully considered before deciding whether or not to make an investment. Purpose:  By using Business Case, the aim of this study is to identify and highlight the critical factors and sources of risk when making an investment-decision. The identified hazards should also be explored in order to seek to minimize them. With the help of theoretical and empirical data the study intends to compile a Business Case for safer investment for multidimensional IT-investments. Methodology:  In this study qualitative research has been used. The study is based on semi-structured interviews, where three representatives from IST have been asked to answer essential interview questions. Conclusion: All factors examined in this study were more or less of a significant role in the decision making process of a multidimensional IT-investment. However, the most important factors when making a decision are also the factors that constitute the greatest risk. These are the market needs in the IT industry and technological conditions, which respond to the questions asked in this particular thesis. Using the Business Case as a starting point, uncertainties are reduced and the possibilities of a safer investment decisions are improved.

Leadership education has been integral to the undergraduate curriculum since the early 1990's. Today, more than 1,000 colleges and universities in the United States offer undergraduate courses in leadership studies and many offer academic credit in the form of a bachelor's degree, academic minor, or certificate. Yet, little is known about those who teach leadership studies courses to undergraduates, the instructional strategies they employ, or the learning goals they set. The purpose of this study was to identify the instructional strategies that are most frequently used by instructors when they teach academic credit-bearing undergraduate leadership studies courses, identify signature pedagogies within the leadership discipline, and assess the learning goals instructors believe are of the greatest importance in their courses. Schulman's framework of Signature Pedagogies provided the framework for the portion of this study which identified the instructional strategies used most frequently. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to identify patterns of instructional strategies most often used. Fink's Model of Significant Learning and Integrated Course Design provided the framework for the portion of this study that assessed the learning goals instructors believe are of the greatest importance in their courses. Results of a unique web-based survey of 303 instructors that taught academic credit-bearing undergraduate leaderships studies courses between 2008 and 2010 were analyzed using quantitative methods to identify the instructional strategies used most frequently by instructors within the leadership discipline and assess the learning goals instructors believe are of the greatest importance. Participants were solicited through the membership of the International leadership Association, National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs, and NASPA Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education. Data from 303 survey participants were analyzed and results indicated that instructors teaching undergraduate leadership studies courses prefer discussion-based pedagogies (such as class discussion) and instructional strategies that prioritize conceptual understanding and personal growth far more than traditional teaching and learning strategies like quizzes, exams, and lecture or skill-building activities such as role play, simulation, or games. Findings from this study suggest that class discussion--whether in the form of true class discussion or a variation of interactive lecture and discussion--is the signature pedagogy for undergraduate leadership education. While group and individual projects and presentations, self-assessments and instruments, and reflective journaling were also used frequently, overall, discussion-based pedagogies were used most frequently. Survey results also indicated that instructors place the greatest importance on learning goals that emphasize application, integration, and the human dimensions of significant learning more so than the learning goals of promoting foundational knowledge, caring, and metacognition (learning how to learn). These findings offer attributes that a variety of leadership educators have shared as effective for teaching and learning within the discipline and may facilitate the development of new leadership programming policies, provide direction for future research, and contribute to the existing body of literature.