As school accountability intensifies, school districts strive not only to prepare their students to meet the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates, but also to prepare students for college and careers after high school. Understanding the necessary reading rigor to ensure academic success is key for educators. Although Texas opted not to adopt the Common Core Curriculum Standards and the accompanying Stretch Lexile measures for reading that require higher reading levels at each grade, Texas educators must still prepare students for academic success. This study determined how the use of more rigorous Lexile standards found in other states and associated with the Common Core Curriculum Standards would affect passing scores on Texas reading assessments in grades 6-8. The population for this study included three middle schools during the 2010 school year within one large suburban school district. State reading assessment data collected from these three schools included students' scores from grades 6, 7, and 8. A Chi-square Test for Independence determined that there was statistical significance for some groups of students in the accountability system: all students, Hispanic students, and economically disadvantaged students. Each of these groups was found to pass at a significantly lower rate when using the Stretch Lexile standard. Results were also examined in terms of political, economical, educational, and social policy implications. The policy implications discussed in this study are far-reaching for Texas educators and students, especially economically disadvantaged and Hispanic students. The higher standards can potentially trigger the school improvement process for campuses and districts failing to make NCLB's required adequate yearly progress. Additional expenses related to supplemental educational services, school choice, and professional development drain district Title I budgets due to mandatory set-aside amounts, disallowing funds for other student-centered programs. Implications for practitioners include clearly establishing intervention systems, adhering to a multi-tiered intervention system, and providing a screening tool for teachers so that progress monitoring can be accomplished for students as they move toward more rigorous reading expectations that will result in college and career preparedness.

The purpose of this study was to determine the self-reported level of integration of instructional tasks related to the creating and responding standards in the wind band curriculum and factors negatively or positively related to their integration. The researcher collected data via an online questionnaire pertaining to the integration of Standards and possible correlated factors suggested by the relevant literature. The factors examined in this study included personal demographics, school demographics, state attributes, valuing, competing populations, and three channels of influence (curriculum, teacher development, and assessment and accountability) suggested by the National Research Council in their publication Investigating the Influence of Standards (2002).Results indicated that Standards 6 and 7 are integrated at the highest level and Standards 3 and 4 at the lowest level while Standards 8 and 9 occupy a middle tier. The researcher utilized a phi co relational test for all factors in association to high and low integration of each of the six Standards under review. Chapter 4 reported 138 significant relationships from the following categories of responses.Personal Demographics 1School Demographics7Valuing31Competing Populations16Framework (83 18CurriculumTeacher Development25Assessment/Accountability40Total: 138 / School of Music

Studies of diagnostic accuracy often report paired tests for sensitivity and specificity that can be pooled separately to produce summary estimates in a meta-analysis. This was done recently for a systematic review of radiographers' reporting accuracy of plain radiographs. The problem with pooling sensitivities and specificities separately is that it does not acknowledge any possible (negative) correlation between these two measures. A possible cause of this negative correlation is that different thresholds are used in studies to define abnormal and normal radiographs because of implicit variations in thresholds that occur when radiographers' report plain radiographs. A method that allows for the correlation that can exist between pairs of sensitivity and specificity within a study using a random effects approach is the bivariate model. When estimates of accuracy as a fixed-effects model were pooled separately, radiographers' reported plain radiographs in clinical practice at 93% (95% confidence interval (CI) 92-93%) sensitivity and 98% (95% CI 98-98%) specificity. The bivariate model produced the same summary estimates of sensitivity and specificity but with wider confidence intervals (93% (95% CI 91-95%) and 98% (95% CI 96-98%), respectively) that take into account the heterogeneity beyond chance between studies. This method also allowed us to calculate a 95% confidence ellipse around the mean values of sensitivity and specificity and a 95% prediction ellipse for individual values of sensitivity and specificity. The bivariate model is an improvement on pooling sensitivity and specificity separately when there is a threshold effect, and it is the preferred method of choice.

Nürtingen, FH, Diplomarb., 2003. / Betreuer: Gerrit Leopoldsberger.

Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2008.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Technikon, 2003. / This research report is based on a case study. It follows up on the research of a previous study by Muregerera (1996). His thesis was compiled in order to develop a model for a world-class manufacturing organization. For his case study, he chose Omnigraphics. Although his focus was on world class manufacturing principles, he did address Omnigraphics prior to the organization receiving ISO 9000 certification through the SASS. This research report therefore looks at the transformation that Omnigraphics went through, from an organization without a formal quality management system, to one with a functional quality management system. Chapter one defines quality management systems and the benefits of a formal quality management system. Current research is discussed in chapter two together with the benefits and requirements of the ISO system. Chapter three addresses the challenges, which Omnigraphics faced prior to ISO 9000 implementation and the changes that occurred once this organization was certified to ISO 9001. A comprehensive survey was done to identify the actual benefits that suppliers and customers see in dealing with an ISO 9000 listed organization. Chapter four looks at the participants of the survey as well as the questions posed. Chapter five gives the results of the survey in a graphical format as well as an interpretation of the results. The research report also focuses on the new revision of the ISO 9000 series and this is addressed in chapter six. The report closes by reviewing the research and looking at the future of the ISO 9000 series.

M.Comm. (Accounting) / In January 2010, the Department of Accountancy at the University of Johannesburg changed their teaching and learning strategy. This new strategy moved away from a teacher-centered classroom experience to a student-centered approach. Several interventions were employed to accomplish this. Examples include: pre-reading in preparation of the next lecture, self-assessment tests of the main objectives of the topic under discussion, tutorials, assignments and consultation with peers and/or lecturers. Accounting education at the Department is based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS is seen as principle-based standards. Many educators of accounting will have to adapt their teaching strategies and approaches when they deal with principle-based standards. They need to move away from teaching the rules to facilitating the understanding of principles, so that it can be applied to various scenarios. The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of academic trainees on a new teaching and learning strategy in the Department. This is done through a review of pedagogical approaches and strategies as suggested in the literature and then by gaining insight from academic trainees, through in-depth interviews, of the detailed working of the new teaching and learning strategy and the impact that the new teaching and learning strategy had on their learning of IFRS. The study found that the academic trainees perceived the new teaching and learning strategy to be successful and a good model to follow. It provides students with opportunities to learn in different ways, it encourages deep learning patterns and it places the responsibility for learning with the students so that they will become life-long learners. The teaching and learning strategy is not infallible and can be improved by providing more areas where students can debate multiple solutions, by incorporating more group work to enhance interpersonal skills and by explaining the workings and the purpose of the teaching and learning strategy more effectively.

U.S. GAAP and the software industry in particular, are on the verge of a major alteration in revenue-recognition accounting standards. The IASB-FASB joint revenue-recognition project is due to be finalized over the next year with the result being a shift from a rules-based set of accounting standards to a principles-based standard. The purpose of this research is to examine financial statement preparers' software revenue-recognition decisions under a principles-based accounting standard compared to a rules-based accounting standard both with and without a personal incentive to maximize revenue. The 2 X 2 between-subjects experiment examines the revenue-recognition judgments and decisions of financial statement preparers involved in applying rules-based standards (U.S. GAAP) and a principles-based standard (IASB-FASB Exposure Draft: Revenue from Contracts with Customers) with and without a personal incentive to maximize revenue. The study included 127 experienced financial statement preparers with an average of 20 years of experience and 82% at a manager/director level or above. The results indicate financial statement preparers applying rules-based standards in a revenue-recognition scenario provide less accurate revenue decisions than when applying a principles-based standard. Moreover, the results did not show that a personal incentive influenced the financial statement preparers in their revenue-recognition decisions. Surprisingly, in the rules-based and principles-based scenarios where a personal incentive was not present, the arithmetic mean recommended revenue amounts were higher. In providing the amount of judgment required to determine the revenue to be recognized, there was not a statistically significant difference in the amount of judgment required between subjects applying rules-based standards and subjects applying principles-based standards. The arithmetic means for rules-based subjects and principles-based indicated some judgment however not significant judgment was required. This is interesting to note as so few subjects correctly answered the revenue amount and neglected to fully apply the guidance.

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The research study investigated the history of the curriculum standards movement in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the context of the national standards movement in order to explain how and why the Commonwealth of Virginia arrived at the decision not to adopt the Common Core State Standards based on descriptive evidence. The study utilized a qualitative methodology with a two-phase data collection process. First, documents from the Virginia Board of Education and the Virginia Department of Education were collected and analyzed using the constant comparative method (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994). Second, data were collected from major figures in the history of Virginia public education over the last 20 years, including former Superintendents of Public Instruction, through in-person interviews. Data from the interviews were analyzed using the constant comparative method (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994). An interview protocol was developed, tested for content validity, and piloted prior to conducting the interviews. Categories that emerged from the data analysis for both research questions were identified and descriptive evidence was presented related to both research questions. Three major conclusions from the study were identified and discussed that appeared to influence Virginia's decision not to participate in the Common Core State Standards: the Virginia Standards of Learning are an institutionalized system; the Virginia Standards of Learning had bipartisan political support; and confidence in the Standards of Learning outweighed confidence in the Common Core State Standards. / Ed. D.