Effects of Interactive Read-Aloud and Literature Discussion on Reading Comprehension for First-Grade Students With Language Impairments in a Title 1 School. Elizabeth Vultaggio Salah, 2014: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler School of Education. Language Impaired, First-Grade, Title 1 Schools, Reading Comprehension, Interactive Read-Aloud, Literature Discussion, Fountas and Pinnell. This applied dissertation was designed to determine the effects of the interactive read-aloud and literature discussion on reading comprehension for first-grade students with language impairments in a Title 1 School. This study was conducted as an embedded case study design using a quantitative method for data collection and analysis. The de-identified data was collected and analyzed from two consecutive school years (i.e., 2012-2013, 2013-2014). Data on the students' overtime (i.e., from kindergarten to first-grade) was collected and analyzed based upon a multiple case study design. Data points were collected using the A-B design, a two phase, basic signal-subject design. The A in the A-B design was the individual student's baseline data point; whereas B, was the data point after the intervention. The researcher observed and measured individual student data from the kindergarten school year (A). The researcher administered the read-aloud intervention, and observed and measured multiple data points after the intervention (B). The students' scores were determined using ongoing data collection. Since the overall design was to measure improvement in the four students overtime, no comparison groups were used. An analysis of the de-identified data revealed how individual language impaired students responded to the intervention. The researcher concluded that interactive read-aloud coupled with literature discussions improved reading comprehension of first-grade language impaired students based on results of the Oral Language Assessment and the Comprehension Conversation Assessment of the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark System 1. Recommendations were made for future research.

Children from low-income families often begin kindergarten at an academic disadvantage. This research consisted of a causal comparative study of the short-term and longer term academic effects of voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) participation with a population of students who qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in a large southern public school district. Reading and math achievement of low-income students who attended VPK in 2008-09 were compared with a matched sample of students who did not attend. Incremental changes following the 2008-09 prekindergarten year to the cohort’s and matched sample’s 2012-13 third-grade academic performance were compared via archived kindergarten, first-, second-, and third-grade test scores, ratings, and promotion status at the end of third grade. Additional analyses were made to test for any differences between program length for the VPK and non-VPK attenders. Analyses were also conducted to see if the effects of VPK persisted through the early school years as measured by school type (Title I or non-Title I). Short-term and longer term effects in favor of VPK participation were found for kindergarten, first, and third graders who attended summer or full-year programs and a Title I school for 1 to 3 years of their academic career during the 4-year period examined. However, those students who attended VPK but who did not attend any Title I school from kindergarten to third grade did not perform better statistically than matched students who did not attend VPK. It is recommended that full-year prekindergarten programs be considered for students likely to attend high-poverty schools. Reading readiness and achievement were significantly higher for the students attending high-poverty schools if they previously attended full-year prekindergarten programs.

(v anglickém jazyce) The Master's Thesis "Proving the title to value added tax deduction" is focused on the explanation of rules and characteristics of a specific area of proving in the administration of taxes, which is undoubtedly represented by proving the title to value added tax (VAT) deduction, this Thesis is also focused on identification and solution of disputed issues related to this area. First of all, VAT and its deductions are dealt with in general, namely in the scope necessary for the issues under analysis. The Thesis then analyzes in detail the conditions necessary to the title to VAT deduction as adherence to these conditions is mainly being ascertained within the process of proving. Having the necessary starting points been thus defined, the title to deduction is comprehensively and critically analyzed wherein the biggest attention in this regard is paid to the distribution of the burden of proof between the taxable entity and the tax administrator as well as to the content and scope of this burden of proof. In this context, many problems are also pointed out which are faced by the decision-making practice, including their possible methods of solution. One of them is related to proving the supplier of the taxable supply and a fully independent part is focused on this issue as the...

This study describes and compares the reading habits and attitudes of students and parents in Title I and Non-Title I schools. The study was conducted because reading is an important basic skill that all children must acquire. The information gathered can be used to help parents provide beneficial experiences for their children in reading. The literature review addresses literature and research related to factors identified as impacting readiness for school and reading achievement in elementary-age students. Research indicates that family structure, amount of time children spend watching television, availability of learning tools, and home literacy activities may be related to school readiness and academic success. The population consisted of third, fourth, and fifth grade students and their parents in three school systems in northeast Tennessee. Title I schools included those with a 75% or higher free or reduced lunch rate. Two survey instruments were used û a parent questionnaire and a student questionnaire. Data collection consisted of letters to directors of school systems requesting permission for schools to participate in the study, and letters to principals, including the purpose of the study and asking permission to administer surveys. After securing permissions, materials were sent to teachers, who helped coordinate the study at the school level. The data were analyzed, using frequencies and percentages, with tables, charts, and figures. The questions on the surveys were analyzed to answer the four research questions. This study found that, when compared to students and parents in Non-Title I schools, students and parents in Title I schools were less likely to read at home for enjoyment, use the public library, or read magazines and newspapers. Results demonstrate that students and parents in Title I schools, overall, read less than students and parents in Non-Title I schools, reported having fewer books at home of their own, reported having fewer educational materials at home, and students were found to read to their parents less often. Both students in Title I and Non-Title I schools reported watching television every day, although the amount of time they watch varied.

The characteristics of servant leaders as perceived by teachers who evaluated the leadership excellence of principals were the focus of this study. The essential ingredient of a leader was examined in all participating schools; the role of the principal was crucial to a school's effectiveness and was widely acknowledged. Ten characteristics were discussed in the literature review. This dissertation was a quantitative study of teachers' perceptions, as well as principals' self-perceptions, of principals in rural Title I Schools located in southwest Virginia. The exploratory question that originated from this study was: Was there a significant difference between the mean score on the Metcalfe Leadership Questionnaire for teachers and their school principals for each of the 10 survey variables (listening, empathy, awareness, healing, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community) for schools 1 through 17? In an attempt to answer this question, a Likert 5 scale survey was given to each principal regardless of years experience and teachers with at least 3 years of experience. This group of teachers was selected with the assumption that experienced teachers could better identify influential relationship that described true patterns in Title I schools. A one sample t-test was used to determine if differences existed between teachers' means and their principal's self-ratings. The results showed a significant difference in the teachers' perceptions of their principal and the self-analysis by the principal in the servant-leadership characteristics as defined by Robert Greenleaf (1977). The null hypotheses relating to healing and persuasion were retained in more schools than rejected. The remaining 8 null hypotheses were rejected in more schools than retained. In most cases principals' self-ratings were higher than the means of teachers rating them. In at least two schools principals generally rated themselves lower than their teachers.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) brought high-stakes testing to the forefront of American public education. With its call for teachers and schools to be accountable for academic performance, NCLB has focused the spotlight on yearly progress, as measured by students' test scores. Issues associated with this charge include the questionable reliability of tests, the variation evident in state standards, and the consequences an emphasis on high-stakes testing may have on teaching and learning in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate the consequences of high-stakes testing on teaching and learning in public elementary schools in Utah from the vantage point of school principals. Although policymakers assume a direct correlation between increased test scores and academic achievement, this study went beyond test scores. Analysis of semi-structured interviews with 12 principals, selected through purposive sampling from both Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools, revealed both positive and negative themes. Principals appreciated the focus and collaboration that NCLB testing encourages among teachers, but they disliked the impact of poor test scores on faculty morale. Unlike respondents in previous studies, principals did not feel that NCLB diminished creativity in the classroom; they did worry, however, about the validity of scores as a measure of student learning, particularly in the case of a one-time, year-end test.

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The federal government has taken an increasingly active role in its involvement in public education since the turn of the twentieth century. Prior to World War II, federal intervention in public education was a result of war initiatives. Following World War II, the United States experienced a number of social and economic conditions that had implications for public education. Among these were a rapid increase in student enrollments resulting from the post World War II baby boom, continuing racial segregation, and chronic inferior education for African Americans and economically disadvantaged students of all races and ethnic groups. To combat the economic, social, and political implications associated with these conditions, the federal government worked with states and local departments of education to formulate plans for educational reform. During the 1960s, federal aid to public schools grew from half a billion dollars in 1960 to 3.5 billion in 1970 (Kantor & Lowe, 1995). Federal aid was increased to provide support for educational facilities and to provide compensatory educational programs for economically disadvantaged students through Head Start of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Educators were encouraged to develop programs to meet the needs of the minority, disadvantaged, and special education populations through the provisions of these acts and subsequent appropriations. This is the report of a historical study of the federal response to the needs of the identified students as implemented through Roanoke County Public Schools. The purpose of this study is to provide a historical account of the development of Head Start and Title I programs in Roanoke County Public Schools within the national context of Head Start and Title I programs. The potential impact of this study includes a greater understanding of the influences that led to the development of Head Start and Title I at the national level and the subsequent educational services implemented through Head Start and Title I programs in Roanoke County Public Schools. / Ph. D.

Yes / In the last 10 years the University of Bradford Library Acquisitions Department has shrunk from 13 members of staff to 5. This has led to us embracing new technology to help streamline workflows within the department. As well as utilising EDI functionality, changing processing workflows and using shelf-ready books, we have devised innovative ways of dealing with everyday tasks. Topics included cover: PDA deduplication; spine labelling on a large scale; the weeding of discarded books; using saved global updates on incoming MARC records and using load profiles innovatively.

The Grandview Woodland local area of Vancouver, British Columbia, is an area in transition. Retail, demographic, residential occupancy, and changes to built structures indicate that gentrification has escalated in the past seven years. Long standing impediments to gentrification, including industrial manufacturing, social housing, and crime, are not deterring change in this area to the extent they once did. This thesis examines how public policy has affected these changes in Grandview Woodland. Public policies embodied in laws and regulations have the capacity to either encourage or dissuade gentrification; however, other variables also influence gentrification making it difficult to determine the importance and influence of public policy in the process. This thesis uses semi-structured interviews and a document review in a case study of Grandview Woodland, to gain a better understanding of how public policies can influence gentrification in a local area where gentrification was previously impeded. The findings from this study suggest that public policies can have a substantial, but not autonomous, effect on gentrification in such an area. In Grandview Woodland, policy makers facilitate gentrification through city-wide and province-wide policies, including zoning changes, the Strata Title Act, and the Residential Tenancy Act. While these public policies have streamlined the advance of gentrification in Grandview Woodland, the catalysts for gentrification are the wider national trend of increased popularity of inner-city living, and the middle class moving eastwards in search of affordable homes in response to the massive property value increases in Vancouver’s West Side. / Graduate / 0617 / 0615 / 0999 / p.b.kasman@gmail.com