How Hailey Became Literate As Pi Beta Phi - 1447 Words

How Hailey Became Literate in Pi Beta Phi Literacy is a wide known understanding, used in all aspects of society. Anywhere you go, the stage of your literacy in given situations is tested. Literacy ranges in places like the home, at work, teams, and so much more. When asked to interview someone, and dive into the aspect of their literacy of a given community, I instantly knew what I wanted to do. I recently joined the sisterhood of Pi Beta Phi, and even more recently was given a â€Å"Big Sister†, that I will now have as a part of my life, forever. Her name is Hailey Thomsen, and she is a junior at the University of Central Florida, and was the perfect person to interview for this project. Hailey is a tall, blonde, quirky, and amazingly†¦show more content†¦When we got their, and were officially given the title of â€Å"twins†, I have never ran so fast in my life, as we did into Hailey’s arm. From that day, we have been the most inseparable family, and I cannot picture what my life was like before I had them. Swales defines a discourse community as â€Å"the increasingly common assumption that discourse operates within conventions defined as communities, by academic or social goals.† (page 217) Swales himself defined discourse community with six specific characteristics, but within the community of Pi Beta Phi, your literacy is based off of our 6 core values. Integrity, lifelong commitment, leadership, Personal and intellectual growth, Philanthropic Service to others, and Sincere friendship. Integrity is defined as the quality of being honest and hold strong morals and principles. As a Pi Phi woman, Hailey shows integrity with everything she does. Whenever a sister is faced with a tough situation, they know they can go to Hailey without judgment, and with a positive perspective. With every obstacle a sister may approach, the value of integrity holds the sisters of Pi Phi true to each other. Before joining Pi Phi Hailey sad s he hoped to gain a support system. She stated, â€Å"I came to college a recluse and gained my confidence to push myself and go outside my comfort zone to better myself.† Quickly through her time in Pi Phi, up to this point, she realized she gained much more than a

The And Toxic Marijuan Feminists Always Dominate The World...

Charming and Toxic Marijuana: Feminists Always Dominate the World â€Å"As soon as a woman gets to an age where she has opinions and she is vital and strong. She is systematically shamed into hiding under a rock†. (Brain Quotes). Speaking of genders, men are considered more advantageous than women. Dating back to ancient times, men traditionally were determined more valuable over women based on the physical strengths and the capacity of resistance of outside pressure. However, not reconciled to the situation, women were making great efforts to enhance their positions and fortify their status in the society, which were beneficial for their own developments. For instance, the first female monarch of ancient China, empress Wu, ascended the throne in AD 630. Being admired and debated sharply, her ruling of the empire for over fifty years has laid the foundation of feminism. Meanwhile, her appearance encouraged more women to challenge the public prejudices instead of being the sweet sacrifices of the patriarchal society. Not only in ancient China , also in other various cultures, women were fighting for their rights but buried throughout human history. Defined as complex and sophisticated, women now are performing indispensable roles in the family and society. Under the enormous effects of several outstanding women, the opinion of that â€Å"the greatest responsibility for women is to give birth and center the housework† vanished and gradually alternated to a brand new modern point of

Strategic Environment Of Volkswagen Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Strategic Environment Of Volkswagen. Answer: History Volkswagen was founded in 1937 in Berlin Germany by the German Labour Front, due to increased demand by the average German to own a car. The early 1930s, the automobile industry was dominated by luxury models which the average person could not afford. It was headquartered in Wolfsburg in Eastern Germany. Herbert Diess is the chairman of the board of management and in 2016 financial year led to manufacture of 6.073 million units of VW cars a significant increase from past years. However, due to challenging economic conditions and increased competition from major automobile manufactures like Toyota, Mercedes, Nissan and others the revenue shrinked to 105.651 Billion Euros for FY 2016. Net income consequently dipped to 1.869 Billion Euros in the same financial year. Although not a most memorable event, Adolf Hitler ordered that VW manufacture more vehicle to carry to adults and three children at 100km/hr as he wanted more access of cars by ordinary citizens (Polachek and Tatsiramos, n.d .). VW manufactured this vehicles and more people bought cars for their families. Although the automobile industry has been competitive in the past 50 years, strategies to be the business leader globally has led to VW repositioning itself both externally and internally for the goal. The reason for taking VW as the study corporation is because in recent times it has had several issues in technology and economic environments that has led to the so called VW Scandal which led to resignation of senior executives. Technological environment With an increase in competition, VW has been one of the companies in the automobile industry that has really benefited from an upgrade of their technology. The VW workshop or manufacturing assembly in Wolfsburg has seen tremendous change in technological upgrade to help in manufacture or more units at a lesser time. Technological processes that run in the Poznan plant of VW was designed to ensure that there is maximum care for the external environment while maximizing greater efficiency of car production. The company acquired the latest technology, utility and management system s that ensure that the environment is greatly taken care of (Samii and Karush, 2004). The technological advancement ensures that there is chemical management of substances that are applied in production of VW parts. Technology is centered on these parts namely; in reduction of carbon dioxide emission which are harmful to the biodiversity. Protection against air pollution in a bid to be environmentally friendly Waste and water management Sewage management where VW has introduced 23 measuring points that conduct constant measuring of water in the Monitoring and measurement of volatile organic substances . Economic environment This forms major part of the analysis as the environment determines the amount of profits and losses VW operates in comparative to the other companies. Increase in economic environment identifies how to understand and take advantage of some economic and social indicators. For this environment the economy reviews the issue at the macroeconomic level and then analyzes the automotive sector, which is the most important in the manufacturing industry, in terms of opportunities and threats. In relation to the global economic environment, we review what happened after the world recession . International trade and the capital market were seriously affected, the export volumes of primary products were reduced and the growth strategy was changed based on in the export of primary products by another model known as Inward Growth Policy (Schwartz, 2017). There was economic growth, however, inflation i8 was 7.35%, there was a trade deficit and devaluation i of 44.5%. In 1970 it was observed that technology and productivity was vital and that it would be the engine of growth. The economic environment affects the progress and evolution of companies. A country that has a flexible exchange rate that has it fixed or that has a tendency to high inflation that is low is different. A country that has low or high interest rates or that has a public sector of 30% of GDP or 48% of GDP is different. A country that usually shows a surplus in a current account balance is different to one that shows a deficit or has a qualified workforce that does not and, also, a country that increases its productivity significantly or does not do it is different (Worthington and Britton, 2015) For any VW manager it is important to know the economic situation that VW is going through. There must be a minimum knowledge of the economy and of the decisions that governments are expected to adopt according to a country that is in a situation of overheating of the economy or of deceleration, high growth or recession. The companies will have a better evolution in a country with a certain economic stability and a self-sustained growth, than a country with important lags in economic cycles. The economic environment of a company can be affected by internal and external factors. An internal factor that affects the business environment is the cost of labor, materials, processes and procedures. Internal factors can be improved through projects. On the other hand, external factors can also affect these environments, with the company having less control over these. The main factors that influence a company are: political, economic, social and technological (Latin America and the Caribbean in the world economy 2014, 2014) Competitive Environment Competition is something that has always existed in the business world, is something positive and that helps self-regulate the market and generate improvements. Years ago, the competition focused on getting a better or superior product for the same price. Today that competition has changed, the product is less important, now compete for the intangible of each product or service. Notice that in the current advertising, the characteristics and properties of the products are hardly praised. The announcements of car, before everything was to extol its characteristics, ABS, TDI, BSM, EPS , Until a mark was invented the ziritione. Nowadays the advertisements simply show the car, its appearance, they try to appeal to your emotions and experiences when driving it (Seth, 2015). This means nothing more than if you want to be on the crest of the wave, you have to be very competitive and be continuously improving and making proposals to the market. Some of the strategies you can carry out are: Be aware of the market. Observe trends and be able to respond to the changes you require. It is one of the pillars of the lean startup methodology. This technique implies having very short service times in the supply chain. Here forget that big companies eat girls. Today, this phrase is: "Agile companies eat slow companies." Monitor competitors regularly. This strategy will give you light in the difficult moments that you do not know where to direct your continuous improvement. With a bit of luck, if your competitors make a mistake, with this strategy you will save time and money. You already know where not to fail and what decisions do not take. Undoubtedly it will not help you to be number 1 in your sector, at most you aspire to be the second (Seth, 2015). Labor Environment The work environment must be taken care of and always monitored in order to be a successful company since it is said that "happy employees make successful companies". In reality, this factor not only makes companies successful, but also lasts for many years. How many examples can we have of companies that were born, were developed and by a bad decision that affected some work condition, they quickly collapsed and in a short time disappeared? Normally, this happens with the micro and small companies, in other cases if the companies are large, probably because of their economic power they do not disappear-, but the cost of getting back up is enormous. Sometimes as leaders we do not realize how impressive the decisions we make are towards our collaborators. What for me or my leaders may be a great idea, perhaps for associates or collaborators it is not. I do not say that everything has to be consulted with them or should be postponed if it is not an action that is going to be accepted immediately (Trevin?o and Weaver, 2003). What I mean is that you should always know the ways in which you should send all the communications to your associates. Carry out a survey about your company's work environment Motivate your collaborators; Remember, not everything should be based on money Resource Environment Another strategy to improve VWs resources within a market in many ways is to create a second brand. Creating a brand of your product is an idea not as farfetched as it seems. Especially if there is still no one working in that brand. VW label in your same market will make your main brand stand naturally as a first brand, acquiring a perception of higher quality and confidence in front of consumers. It helps not to have to fight for price, although it is a variable that should not be neglected (Hisrich and Kralik, 2016). On the other hand, if with the main brand you make a product that really has quality and extras, you are securing that superior status. With the white label you can place it just below and penetrate a segment of customers that organically would not be within reach your main brand. These are some of the tactics to be more competitive within a market. There are many more, there are even people who are only responsible for thinking and studying new innovative strategies to become more competitive (Block and MacMillan, 2003) Legal and regulatory environment For VW as an automaker, the legal and regulatory framework must be adhered to. This is in regards to safety standards, environment, taxation, social corporate responsibility and many more. Regulatory authorities have set guidelines to be followed under the motor maker act. The regulations that are followed at most are environmental so that in the course of production, the automaker does not pollute the environment. Faulty systems in the recent past have seen many of VW units being taken back as a result of lack of safety procedures. Heavy losses are uncured by the company due to civil suits instituted as class suits that are heavy on the company. If a company like VW is taken to court on numerous infringement of rights it stands to lose its reputation (Brinkman, 2014). Global Environment This is intertwined with both the economic environment and the competitive environment. If a company like VW which is a global brand depends on the global environmental outlook , it will have to work on iots global brand. The economy of the world is affected by the geo-political and social environment. Companies like Toyota which is now the leading motor maker in the world affect the units that VW will sell if the competition is right. Other like how people are fairing on economically and the taste vis a vis the competitors brand will also affect in global environment (Cherunilam, 2010). Interpretation and Analysis When defining and developing a business strategy in our company we could establish three stages. The first would consist of a strategic analysis and diagnosis, that is, an external analysis of the environment of the company in general or macro-environment, in terms of economy, technology, social structure, natural environment and an analysis of the specific environment of the company. company or sector of the geographical area in which the company operates (based on the Porter model) in which we analyze who the potential competitors are, the clients and their negotiating power, the negotiating power of our suppliers, who are the current competitors and / or the threat of substitute products.The analysis of the environment will provide us with current and future information of the external environment that surrounds the company, which allows us to make the most appropriate decisions to maintain and improve the company's competitive advantage. The internal analysis of the company will allow us to identify its strengths and weaknesses, that is, strengths and weaknesses. The strengths to take care of them and support their decisions in these strengths and weaknesses to identify the weak points in order to improve them, in relation to the competition or companies in the sector. Second, Formulation of Strategies. Based on the analysis carried out, it is about deciding how the company will achieve the set objectives, either establishing corporate-type strategies, ie, where will we compete? In what business ?, or competitive type, how are we going to compete? In this phase, we could propose scenarios and think which strategies are the most appropriate to be successful in each one of them (Brinkman, 2014) Opportunities In a highly competitive and variable environment like the current one, it is important to make strategic decisions. A strategy is the tool that makes the difference between professional companies and those with growth ambitions of those that are not. The main objective of this is "to help the company to succeed. We formulate strategies according to the possible scenario that may occur. Thus, in the event that any of the foreseen scenarios occur, the response capacity to adapt to the environment would increase. Third, Implementation of the strategy. It is about putting the designed strategy into action. It includes the decision-making and activities necessary to put it into operation. There are several tools to put it into practice, such as the creation of an Integral Scorecard, which consists of disaggregating the strategy formulated, in objectives that affect all the departments of the company (Campbell and Craig, 2016). The key for a strategy to start up correctly is that the people who are part of the organization understand it since they are the ones who have to put it into practice. Threats Managers and middle managers who establish business strategies, increase the likelihood of success of their companies and the ability to react to changes in an environment increasingly complex and constant change to which company must adapt quickly and dynamically. Being prepared and making sound decisions at the right time can help your company generate the necessary profitability. Is it really useful to prepare future plans in companies? The demographic, technological, social and regulatory changes that the world has undergone in recent years are so far-reaching that they have rendered the elaborated plans obsolete, after having dedicated important economic and human resources to them (Polachek and Tatsiramos, n.d.). This situation prompted many managers to take only tactical decisions that would allow them to survive in a difficult environment without taking strategic reflections and above all avoiding the effort to structure, define and quantify them. Maintaining this policy implies leaving the organization at the mercy of changes in the environment, without priorities or specific objectives and therefore more vulnerable to changes and new competitors. The medium term result is the progressive loss of value of the company, as well as the creation of a corporate culture exempt from accountability, where the environment has a greater responsibility over the results than the employees' own actions. Conclusion Finally, defining an adequate strategy requires having a methodology, functional experts, and incorporating in-depth knowledge of the particularities of each industry, its products, its customers and its regulation. 'A good strategy allows, in short, to guide the entire organization towards a future objective that guarantees its competitive advantage and, ultimately, the creation of value in a changing and uncertain environment (Campbell and Craig, 2016). References Block, Z. and MacMillan, I. (2003).Corporate venturing. Washington D.C.: BeardBooks. Brinkman, J. (2014).Unlocking the business environment. London: Routledge. Campbell, D. and Craig, T. (2016).Organisations and the Business Environment. New York: Routledge. Cherunilam, F. (2010).Elements of Business Environment. New Delhi: Himalaya Pub. House. Deardorff, A. and Stern, R. (2011).Comparative advantage, growth, and the gains from trade and globalization. New Jersey: World Scientific. Hisrich, R. and Kralik, D. (2016).Advanced introduction to corporate venturing. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Kantola, J., Barath, T., Nazir, S. and Andre, T. (n.d.).Advances in Human Factors, Business Management, Training and Education. Latin America and the Caribbean in the world economy 2014. (2014). Santiago, Chile: United Nations, ECLAC. Meredith, L., Isaac, R., Rebmann, D., Mann, J. and Hughes, M. (2011).Original VW Bus. Bideford, Devon: Bay View Books. Samii, M. and Karush, G. (2004).International business and IT. London: Routledge. Schwartz, M. (2017).Business Ethics. Somerset: John Wiley Sons, Incorporated. Seth, C. (2015).Swot analysis. Namur: 50minutes. Trevin?o, L. and Weaver, G. (2003).Managing ethics in business organizations. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Business Books. Worthington, I. and Britton, C. (2015).The business environment. Harlow [u.a]: Pearson.

Is Google Missing Your Site How to Tell if Youre Being Indexed Properly

by Sienna Luard A common problem faced by businesses and marketers when trying to rank in Google’s search engine is not being indexed correctly. Basically, this happens when Google’s spiders can’t crawl a site properly, which means the website content can’t be found in search results pages. Fortunately, most problems can be resolved fairly quickly, if you know what you’re looking for. Checking Your Site for Errors: The Basics The first thing to do is simply type â€Å"site:† followed by your domain URL into the Google search bar. This will give you the approximate number of pages that are being indexed by Google. If there’s a big difference between this number and the actual number of pages on your site, you know there are probably some indexing issues. Next, log into Google Webmaster Tools and check the â€Å"Google Index† tab. You’ll then see the total number of indexed pages for your site. Obviously, if this number is not consistent with your website, or it falls at some point, something is happening which will affect your visibility in search engines, which will impact traffic to your site. Crawler Errors In the Google Webmaster Tools dashboard, take a look at your Crawler Error messages. If there are any issues, they’ll show up here. The most common error message you’ll see is a 404 HTTP Status Code warning, which simply means that whatever page the link is pointing to cannot be found. You can’t prevent every 404 error, but you can fix them. Sometimes, it’s simply a URL that has been mistyped. Here are the other most common crawler errors: Robots/txt file. A text file such as â€Å"User-agent: Disallow:/† instructs search engine crawlers to ignore parts of your website Metatags. Those that say â€Å"noindex† or â€Å"nofollow† also tell crawlers to stay away .htaccess file. An invisible file that can cause multiple website issues if incorrectly configured Sitemap. A sitemap crawler error means your sitemap isn’t updating correctly. You may need to resubmit a new one Connectivity Issues. These errors will show if your website host is down for any length of time Duplicate content, unnatural links, slow page load times, and Flash-based content can also cause Google to have problems indexing your site correctly. Syntax and Structural Errors In some cases, syntax errors within the HTML markup can prevent correct indexing, although Google is fairly lenient with these kind of mistakes. You can check these errors with W3C’s HTML Validator. When it comes to site structure, you need to make sure every link leads to the correct URL. To view your site in text mode — much like a search engine crawler sees it — try using a text browser such as Lynx, Elinks, or SEO-browser. Inbound Links A lot of new websites have difficulties when it comes to being indexed. A common mistake is having no inbound links to your website. To make sure you have a few inbound links, make sure your social media profiles include a link to your website URL, or if you own another website that has related content, you could include a link back to your website on there. There are also opportunities on other platforms to get a link to your site, including guest-posting on blogs. Just make sure these sites have a decent ranking with Google, and are relevant to your website content in some way. Google Penalties Any website can find themselves receiving a Google penalty, and it’s not always clear why. While this can harm your rankings if you don’t resolve the issue, there are steps you can take to deal with penalties to get your website back on track. For detailed information about recovering from penalties, visit the Google Webmaster Tools Help section. The best way to avoid Google penalties is to steer clear of dubious SEO techniques that don’t really add any real value to your site. These include: Automatically generated content Link schemes Hidden links or text Unrelated affiliate programs Keyword stuffing Unnatural anchor text Too many ads above the fold Duplicate content Article spinning In Summary Making sure your website is seen correctly by Google and other search engines is a vital part of any business’s marketing strategy. The good news is that even if you find out you aren’t being indexed correctly, there are simple and quick methods to identify and resolve many of these indexing issues. It’s an ongoing process, but by avoiding Google penalties and ensuring your site is seen correctly by search engines will make sure your website and content gets the attention it deserves.

Big Bang and Religion Essay

Big Bang and Religion Essay Big Bang and Religion Essay Religion v. Science: The Agrarians argue that science has taken the place of religion in the minds of some people, particularly those who favor industrialism. They refer to it as the "Cult of Science" and wrote, "†¦the word science has acquired a certain sanctitude. It is out of order to quarrel with science†¦" How do you think this idea holds true today? In what ways do you think science has faithful believers in the same way that a religion does? Explain whether or not you think science has elevated itself to a status of unquestionable proof so that one cannot argue with "scientific proof" or if fair debate about " science" is possible. (One example of this idea in action is the debate between evolution and creationism.) Coming from the point of view of a Jewish female, religion is a very important aspect of my life. Science and Religion run so close together that they actually influence each other. Science does have â€Å"faithful believers† just like religion does. For example, scientist believed in the big bang theory, while people heavy in religion were against it, because they only believed in God, and there were no other ways around it. I feel like the world has come to say it is fair to debate about science because there are so many more observations done trying to prove evolution. This has been an ongoing battle since at least 1859 (Darwin), and still continues today as scientist find new things to prove that evolution in fact does exist. So instead of saying the big bang theory does or doesn’t exist, they could take aspects from both beliefs and come up with one observation like, the big bang theory did occur, but God let it happen. Arts: One of the objections the Agrarians have to industry is that, in their opinion, it discourages religion, art, and human interaction. Specifically, they say: "Religion can hardly expect to flourish in an industrial society†¦Nature industrialized, transformed into cities and artificial habitations, manufactured into commodities, is no longer nature but a highly simplified picture of nature. We receive the illusion of having power over nature, and lose the sense of nature as something mysterious and contingent. The God of nature under these conditions is merely an amiable expression, a superfluity, and

Common Grammatical Errors Should You Use i.e. or e.g.

Common Grammatical Errors Should You Use i.e. or e.g. Do you know whether to use i.e. or e.g. in a sentence? What’s the difference? Unless you have studied Latin or the intricacies of the English language, you might be surprised to learn that the abbreviations i.e. and e.g. mean different things.  Many people use them interchangeably – and they are not, in fact, interchangeable. The Meaning of i.e. and e.g. e.g. means â€Å"for example† and comes from the Latin exempli gratia; whereas i.e. means â€Å"that is† and comes from the Latin id est. Grammar Girl has some great tricks to remember these definitions, as recounted in her article, How to Remember the Difference Between I.e. and E.g. She suggests thinking of â€Å"egg† for e.g., as in â€Å"eggsample† or just remembering that it starts with an e for â€Å"example.† For i.e. she suggests thinking â€Å"in essence† or just remembering that it starts with i for â€Å"in other words.† Examples of When to Use i.e. or e.g. i.e. e.g. There are 7 colors in the rainbow, i.e., red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. (Use i.e. when you are stating a complete list that is equivalent to what comes before the i.e.) There are 7 colors in the rainbow, e.g., red, orange and yellow. (Use e.g. when you are giving examples of the thing that comes before the e.g.) Sweets are her Achilles’ heel, i.e., her weak spot. (Use i.e. when you are defining the first part of the sentence in another way.) Sweets are her Achilles’ heel, e.g., she eats a pint of ice cream if it’s in front of her. (Use e.g. when you are giving an example of the first part of the sentence.) The soldier went AWOL, i.e., Absent Without Official Leave. (Use i.e. when you are explaining the definition.) Acronyms are words where each letter stands for a word, e.g., AWOL which means â€Å"Absent Without Official Leave.† (Use e.g. when giving an example.) Should i.e. or e.g. Be Italicized? There are a few things that grammar gurus do not agree upon.  One is whether i.e. and e.g. need to be italicized, as most Latin abbreviations are.  Most agree, however, that because these abbreviations are so common there is no need to italicize them. [Note:  I am italicizing i.e. and e.g. in sentences such as this as an alternative to using quotation marks; in my examples they are not italicized.] Should i.e. or e.g. Be Capitalized? There is disagreement as well as to whether i.e. and e.g. can ever be capitalized, i.e., I.e. or E.g.  I would capitalize them if they started a sentence, but not everyone says that’s acceptable. Should There Be a Comma After the Second Period in i.e. and e.g.? Once again, there is no agreement on this point.  Most sources but not all recommend a comma; in British English a comma is less often used. Technicalities aside, I recommend that you take a moment to think the next time you write an e.g. or i.e. in a document. You’re more likely to say what you mean. Are you working on a writing project and have questions about how to use i.e. vs. e.g.?  I’m happy to answer. For more grammar tips from The Essay Expert, sign up for my Grammar Writing Tips e-list.

Healt Care Reforms & Affordable Care Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Healt Care Reforms & Affordable Care Act - Essay Example Also this paper tries to compare Canadian & US health care systems. Health Care Reforms & Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act puts in place strong consumer protections, provides new coverage options and gives you the tools you need to make informed choices about the health. This act aims at providing affordable health care to individuals & families by reducing the premium costs, capping out-of-pocket expenses and providing tax relief for businesses. Also, for those who didn’t have insurance cover earlier, would be able choose a convenient plan for them. The ‘insurance exchange ‘intends to provide buying power by offering affordable choices of private insurance plans. Also small businesses will get new tax credit to help offset the cost of covering their employees (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services) Conditions that led to the introduction of the bill In US, increasing health care costs in the last few years have has been a great economic burden on i ndividuals, organizations and also fort the government. There has been a steady increase in the proportion of individuals without a health insurance cover. The recent estimate from the Census Bureau indicates that more than 46 million were uninsured in 2008 (Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers).Increase in healthcare costs and spending on health care has been consistently increase at a higher rate than the growth in GDP. Recent projections suggest that total spending in the U.S. health care sector exceeded $2.5 trillion in 2009, representing 17.6 % of GDP. (Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers) For organizations, healthcare cost is a main component in employee total remuneration and steady incline in the health care costs has started showing its effects on their base salary. This is because organizations provide wages and benefits; such increasing health care costs tend to reduce the proportionate increases in salary. The steady growth in health care spending has placed a n increasingly heavy financial burden on individuals and families. Governments & Local authorities are also struggling with this upward movement spending on health care. Spending on the means-tested Medicaid program now the second largest category of outlays in their budgets, just behind elementary and secondary education. (Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers) Economic Effects of the bill Healthcare reforms bill has various provisions like guaranteed issue and partial community rating. These provisions would help the applicants with similar demographics to obtain the same premium from the insurers without regard to many of the pre-existing medical conditions. Under this bill, all individuals and families with incomes up to 133% of the poverty level are eligible for Medicaid facility and Low income persons and families above the Medicaid level and up to 400% of the federal poverty level will be provided with Federal subsidies. Small business that doesn’t offer health cov erage to their employees will also share the responsibility healthcare spending. Also co-sharing & deductibles are to be eliminated for select insurance benefits in the "essential benefits package" like for Level A or Level B preventive care (Wikipedia) Affordable care act provides for deduction on Medicare tax on Individual or Family income over $200- 250K and this becomes a major source of revenue for the healthcare reforms. Also insurance

1968.The Year that Rocked the World (History Essay) Essay

1968.The Year that Rocked the World (History ) - Essay Example It was a year dominated by negative news ranging from the arrests of prominent people like Dr. Benjamin Spock and other anti-war activists for violating military draft laws, the capture of an American intelligence ship (U.S.S. Pueblo and imprisonment of its crews for eleven months), and the assassination of Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King in Memphis. The benefit of hindsight can determine it was indeed a bad year such that political activist, critic, and commentator Tomas Emmet Hayden remarked â€Å"it was fitting that such a bad year would end with the election of Richard Nixon† (Kurlansky 366). His march to the presidency began in February 1968 when he entered the New Hampshire primary to declare his candidacy and eventually won only narrowly over his opponents. He promised to unite the nation but was a divisive figure and the first U.S. president in history to resign his office due to Watergate. Discussion However, there was one event which shocked everybody in America and everyone in the world. This was the My Lai Massacre in which American ground troops from the Charlie Company rampaged through a Vietnamese village in retaliation for guerrilla attacks and killed more than 500 helpless civilians (South Kingstown High School 1). This was not known for more than a year but its significance was it made America lose its moral high ground.

Primary education Essay Example for Free

Primary education Essay The World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal approved a comprehensive vision of Education for All (EFA) to be achieved by 2015 based on the six goals. The six goals relate to the areas of early childhood care and education, universalising primary education, gender, youth and adolescents, adult education and quality of education. The main focus is on ‘reaching the unreached’ for ensuring complete coverage of education. With this background the Mid- Decade Assessment of Education for All was initiated to take stock of the progress made with respect to EFA Goals. Corresponding to this exercise, a comprehensive review of the progress made with respect to Education for All in India was conducted jointly by Government of India and the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). The present work which is a sequel to the National Report consists of a series of thematic and state review papers. There are nine thematic review papers covering all the six goals including three additional papers on three other themes, namely, Teacher and Teacher Education, Management Strategies for EFA and Financing of EFA in India. These thematic review papers are further followed by a series of analytical papers covering progress of EFA in twenty seven states of India. State reviews attempt to present a quick picture of the current level of progress in each state of India assessing the magnitude of the task involved in achieving EFA goals and projecting a realistic time frame as well as strategies needed to reach the goals. Each thematic review as well as state-specific analytical review paper has been prepared by an established expert in the respective area/state in close collaboration with national and state governments. The review papers along with the National Report present a comprehensive and disaggregated picture of the progress made towards EFA goals in the country. The papers are coming out at a very opportune time when the Parliament is engaged in debating the legislation to make education for all children a Fundamental Right. While the thematic papers highlight state of development of education with respect to different goals of EFA, the State papers present the diversity of the situation across the country. The whole series  would serve as an invaluable independent documentation on various aspects of EFA ranging from early childhood care and education to universal elementary education and adult literacy programmes using authentic data sources accompanied by a review of relevant empirical research. The whole Project involving the National Report along with the series of thematic and state analytical review papers were conceived and executed by Prof. Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment 3 Early Childhood Care and Education R. Govinda, NUEPA who led the entire exercise and would like to thank him profusely for his leadership. Dr. Mona Sedwal who as a part of the Project Team at NUEPA contributed immensely to the whole exercise also deserves appreciation. The Team immensely benefited by the advice given by the Technical Advisory Group set up under the Chairmanship of Professor A. K. Sharma for guiding the entire exercise. I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to Prof. A. K. Sharma for his invaluable guidance. Finally, I would also like to acknowledge the generous financial support provided by UNICEF and UNESCO. Ved Prakash Vice Chancellor. National University of Educational Planning and Administration 4 iv Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment Early Childhood Care and Education Editorial Note Indian Constitution directs the State to provide free and compulsory education for all children upto the age of 14. This goal has been pursued by the country for nearly six decades through successive development plans. The last two decades have witnessed significant improvements in children’s participation in schooling, accompanied by substantial increase in investments. The recent effort to raise resources for the sector through imposition of an education cess is major effort in that direction. Even though school education has traditionally remained a subject for action by State Governments, Government of India has, during the last two decades following the National Policy on Education – 1986, begun to play a leading role. This culminated in the launching of the national programme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2001. Despite all these efforts, the final goal of providing quality education for all has eluded the country. Urgency of reaching the goal has been heightened in recent years due to several national and international developments, including commitments made under the Dakar Framework for Action for providing quality Education for All by 2015, which not only covers primary education but also focus on literacy goals, gender equality and quality concerns. The Dakar Framework of Action listed the following six specific goals to be achieved by all countries. 1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. 2. Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality. 3. Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes. 4. Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literary by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults. 5. Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality. 6. Improving every aspect of the quality of education, and ensuring their excellence so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills. The National Plan of Action for Education for All (2002) in India reflects this sense of urgency felt within the country by proposing to reach the targets much ahead of the international dateline. At the national level, the Constitutional Amendment in 2002 declaring education in the age group 6-14 which corresponds to the elementary education stage of schooling a fundamental right has brought the issue of universal elementary education (UEE) to the centre stage of public discourse. The country is in the process of drawing up the legislation for effective implementation of the right for Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment 5 Early Childhood Care and Education translating the constitutional provision into reality. With the progress made in recent years the goal seems to be achievable by the international time frame of 2015. But this requires systematic assessment of the various goals the present exercise is one such effort. UNESCO has been bringing out annual review of the progress made in moving towards the goal of EFA through the Global Monitoring Report. These assessments do not reflect an encouraging picture of the Indian scene. This is an issue of serious concern for the national leadership as one sixth of the world population lives in India. With around 65% adult literacy rate, there are more around 350 million adult illiterates in the country. This should not be taken to imply that no efforts are being made to meet the challenge of EFA. Besides, the national averages do not fully reflect the diverse reality characterizing educational progress in India. In fact, it is paradoxical that while certain pockets of the country are emerging as the international hub for creating a knowledge society, certain other regions and sections of the population continue to be deprived of even basic education. It is clear that in pursuing EFA goals, not all states and regions of the country are in the same league. The variety is too wide to draw any generalization. While some states have made remarkable progress in education, practically eradicating illiteracy and achieving near universal participation of children in elementary education, several other states continue to remain far from the final goal. What is needed to progress faster in moving towards the 2015 EFA deadline in all parts of the country? This obviously demands an analytical exercise goal wise as well as statewise. It is with this objective in view that the present exercise was taken up to make an independent assessment of the progress achieved in different states and with respect to different EFA goals. The present series of papers constitute the outcome of such a comprehensive exercise carried out by independent experts, in collaboration with Central and State Governments. The main purpose of the exercise is to place before policy makers, planners and the civil society as a whole an analytical picture of the progress made towards EFA goals and the challenges ahead for reaching the goals in a realistic fashion. The exercise consisted of three parts. The first part consisted of presenting an overview of progress in the country with respect to six goals highlighted in the Dakar Declaration. This was largely based on the technical guidelines for assessment prepared by UNESCO. A national report entitled â€Å"Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment: Reaching the Unreached† has been prepared and published jointly by NUEPA and Government of India. The Second Part consists of a series of nine thematic review papers dealing with different dimensions of ‘Education for All’ keeping in view the Indian context and priorities. These include: (i) Early Childhood Care and Education; (ii) Universal Elementary Education; (iii) Adult Education; (iv) Towards Gender Equality in Education; (v) Education of Adolescents and Young Adults; (vi) Quality of Education; (vii) teacher and teacher education; (viii) Management Strategies for EFA and (ix) Financing of EFA. Each of these papers has been prepared by an expert or experts 6 vi Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment Early Childhood Care and Education in the respective area. The papers were reviewed by another independent expert and revised based on the observations. The third part consists of analytical papers covering all states of India. Each thematic review as well as state-specific analytical review was prepared by an established expert in the respective area/state in close collaboration with national and state governments. The state level reviews are prepared on lines similar to what was followed for preparing the national review. Each of them deals with comprehensively on all six goals of EFA specified in the Dakar Declaration. The present paper by Venita Kaul and Deepa Sankar examines the situation with respect to Early Childhood Care and Education comprehensively dealing with school based pre-primary education programmes as well as the more widespread ICDS programme. In fact, this is an area of critical importance as increasing empirical evidence points to the value of providing pre school experience to children not only for improving their readiness for schooling but also as part of meeting their basic growth and development needs. Providing early childhood care and education is the first goal stated in the Dakar Framework for Action, and the National Plan of Action promises to take an integrated view of early childhood care and education. This elaborate exercise of assessing the progress in EFA should be viewed in the context of repeated assertions by the UNESCO Global Monitoring Report on EFA that Indian is at the risk of not making the global targets with respect to several EFA goals. The findings of the review clearly points out that the situation across the country is very diverse. While some States have registered fast progress on all fronts, some others continue to lag behind. Also in general, access to schooling has improved every where even though much remains to be done with respect to other goals of EFA. It is hoped that the various volumes brought out through the exercise would together present a realistic analysis and a disaggregated picture of the Education for All process and achievements in the country. R. Govinda Professor and Head Department of School and Non-formal Education National University of Educational Planning and Administration Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment. vii 7 Early Childhood Care and Education Acknowledgements This comprehensive exercise of reviewing the progress of EFA has been done through active involvement and support of a large team of experts and officials from Government of India as well as various State Governments. The exercise was carried out under the constant guidance of the members of the Technical Advisory Group under the leadership of Professor A. K. Sharma. The task could not have been completed without the commitment and support of Professor Ved Prakash, Vice Chancellor, NUEPA. Special thanks are due to Smt. Anita Kaul, Joint Secretary, MHRD, Government of India who played a central role in conceiving and implementing the whole exercise. Financial support for the exercise came from UNICEF and UNESCO; in particular, thanks are due to Mr. Samphe Lhalungpa who took personal interest in ensuring that the Project is completed smoothly. We would like to record our appreciation for the technical support and cooperation given by the NUEPA Publication Unit and for printing and publishing the volumes. EFA Project Team National University of Educational Planning and Administration 8 Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment. Early Childhood Care and Education Technical Advisory Group Professor A. K. Sharma Former Director NCERT Chairperson Professor Ved Prakash Vice Chancellor NUEPA Member Joint Secretary (EE) MHRD Member Professor R. Govinda Head Department of SNFE NUEPA Member Deputy Secretary MHRD Coordinator NUEPA Project Team Professor R. Govinda Head Department of SNFE NUEPA Project Director Dr. Mona Sedwal NUEPA Project Associate Fellow Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment 9 Early Childhood Care and Education About the Authors ix Venita Kaul is Senior Education Specialist in World Bank. Prior to joining the Bank she was Professor and Head of Department of Preschool and Elementary Education at the NCERT. She has written extensively in the areas of Early Childhood Education and Early Primary education in the Indian context and has several books and papers to her credit. Deepa Sankar is an Education Economist with the South Asia Human Development Department of the World Bank. 10 Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment Management of Elementary Education Contents Preface iii Editorial Note v Acknowledgements viii Technical Advisory Group ix About the Authors x Section I Introduction 1 Section II. Early Childhood Development (ECD) – The Indian Context 2 Section III ECCE –An Equity Issue 9 Section IV Providing for the Child in India Section V Coverage of ECCE Services 25 Section VI Public Spending on Children 30 Section VII Some Significant Issues and Concerns in ECCE 36 References 11 15 43 Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment Early Childhood Care and Education SECTION I INTRODUCTION The first six to eight years of a child’s life last a lifetime!! Known as the early childhood stage, these years are considerably, and often irreversibly, reduced. This research finding places a very large percentage of children in  globally acknowledged to be the most critical years for life-long development, since the pace of development in these years is extremely rapid. Recent poverty contexts, particularly in the developing world, ‘at risk’, in terms of their life chances. â€Å"By the time poorer children in many countries reach school research in the field of neuroscience has provided convincing evidence that â€Å"experience-based brain development in the early years sets neurological and age, they are at a significant disadvantage in cognitive and social ability† (The World Bank, 2005b:132). This early childhood stage is also biological pathways that affect health,  learning and behaviour throughout life†. (Mustard, 2007:40) It is in these early years of life that critical periods are important as a foundation for inculcation of social and personal habits and values, which are known to last a lifetime. It follows logically that these located for development of several cognitive, social and psychomotor competencies, which significantly contribute to later success in life. If years are crucial and important for investing in to ensure an enabling environment for every child and thereby a sound foundation for life. This is not these critical periods are not supported by, or embedded in a stimulating and  enriching physical and psycho-social environment, the chances of the child’s only the right of every child, but will also impact in the long term, on the quality of human capital available to a country, like India, whose main asset in the brain developing to its full potential are years to come will be its ‘youth power’. Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment 1 Early Childhood Care and Education SECTION II EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD) – THE INDIAN CONTEXT Our Cultural Heritage: Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs for children in the age group of prenatal to 6 years, derive their importance from the next. This  wealth of developmentally appropriate childcare practices is gradually becoming extinct, in the humdrum of more modern this rationale, and from the changing social, economic and demographic contexts over the last few decades that have often rendered homes ill-equipped provisions for children and changing social realities. to ensure optimal childcare. A look into India’s past cultural heritage indicates that traditionally, the early childhood years (from prenatal to five years) were are more specifically associated with changes in the family structure, from joint to nuclear, so that parenting, which was earlier a shared family  considered to lay the foundation for inculcation of basic values and social skills in children. It is believed that these values are imbibed from the responsibility, is now solely the responsibility of the parents; this responsibility is again often further delegated. While children from the family as the ‘sanskaras’ and the scriptures advocate an attitude of lalayat or indulgence, as the desirable mode of child rearing at this stage, as compared higher socio-economic strata are often left with paid surrogate care givers, in the lower socio-economic communities the responsibility of childcare gets to more disciplinary approach for the  older child! Much of the early care and education of the child was informal, within the family and largely through loaded on to the older sisters, thus keeping them often out of school and robbing them of both their childhood and basic education. In addition, the grandmothers’ caring practices, stories, lullabies and traditional infant games, handed down from one generation to growing urbanization and increase in maternal employment outside the home has further affected the possibilities of 2 Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment In India, as elsewhere, these changes Early Childhood Care and Education  ensuring â€Å"quality informal early care and education’ for the young child within the home. It was this changing social context, over the years, which laid the however, the concept of early childhood care and education (integrating health, nutrition and education aspects) has been widely accepted. India has in this seeds for the introduction of the concept of organized Preschool Education /Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in the country. context, been able to put together a fairly supportive policy framework and has launched some major initiatives for children for this stage of development, ECCE-The Beginning: The earliest  formal documentation of preschool/early childhood education, as an organized which are discussed later in the paper. As a result, there has been noticeable, though not adequate, progress over the last fifty years, in both public and private initiative in India, dates back to the latter half of the nineteenth century when Gijubhai Badheka and Tarabai Modak, among others, became the pioneers of provision for young children. this movement in the country. Influenced by Madame Montessori’s visit to India, they established preschool education centers in Gujarat. In 1946 Three important principles of Child Development, substantiated by  research, have steered the evolution of programs for young children from just Madame Montessori met Mahatma Gandhi, who asked her to ‘indianize’ her method to make preschool education available to a large majority of children. ‘preschool education’ to the concept of more integrated and holistic Early Childho od Development programs. These principles assert that: (i) A child’s That was the beginning of ‘pre basic education’ in the rural parts of the country, largely through voluntary effort. Till India’s independence in 1947, early experiences and outcomes will determine the extent to which s/he will gain from subsequent interventions,  since child development is a continuous voluntary agencies and private institutions primarily fulfilled the need for ECCE, particularly in the form of preschool education. The first and cumulative process. A recent study in US demonstrated that by the age of 3 years, gaps in learning as measured by vocabulary are already large among government initiative in this area was the setting up of a Central Social Welfare Board in 1953, which started a grant–in–aid scheme for voluntary children from different social groups (The World Bank, 2005b); (ii) A child’s cognitive learning is affected by his/her socio-economic status, through the  agencies. Over this half century, child’s health (malnutrition, iron and Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment 3 Differentiating ECD, ECE and ECCE Early Childhood Care and Education micronutrient deficiency, and parasitic infections) and the quality of the home environment. Health, nutrition and education/ psycho-social development education has been one of its six components, in addition to health and nutrition. The nomenclature, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) are all synergistically inter-related, and this makes a case for addressing all needs of children through a holistic approach; and (iii) The child’s  found its due place in the policy framework in India later in 1986 when an exclusive chapter of the National Policy on Education was devoted to it. development gains will be optimized and more sustainable, if the programs address not only the child, but the child’s overall context, including the ECCE was defined, in the policy in ways similar to ECD, as an integrated and holistic concept of care and education of children between 0-6 years from socially family. Consequently, Early Childhood Development (ECD) and/or ECCE as disadvantaged groups. This provision was seen as facilitating to lay the child’s foundation for life and also a support  service for girls and working mothers. understood by Indian professionals working with young children, refers to a holistic and integrated program of nutrition, health and early childhood The policy emphasized the joyful nature of ECCE, especially for the 3-6 years olds, and discouraged any formal instruction of the 3R’s at this early stage education which caters to children from prenatal to 6/8 years and which addresses the all round development of the child from a lifecycle perspective of education. In practice, however, ECCE programs for children have assumed various nomenclatures and definitions, depending on the priority a  (See Fig 1 for an Indian Conceptual Framework). While this nomenclature of ECD is relatively recent, India has the distinction of having conceptualized and particular program serves. These include Early Childhood Education (ECE) /preschool education programs which are focused only on preschool floated perhaps the world’s largest program for children, modeled on this definition, as early as in 1975. Known as the Integrated Child Development education for 3-6 years olds (e. g. prenurseries, nurseries, kindergartens, preparatory schools, pre primary etc). These do not have any health or Services (ICDS), this program targets  children, pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls from a lifecycle perspective. Non-formal preschool nutrition component, are ‘stand –alones’ or part of primary schools and generally in the non-governmental or private sector. 4 Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment Early Childhood Care and Education Figure 2. 1: An Indian Conceptual Framework for Integrated Child Development Determinants  ¦Maternal health, nutrition adequacy and quality of care of newborn  ¦Safe delivery, family and community support for the mother and baby  ¦Environmental hygiene, safe water and sanitation Prenatal to one month Outcomes  ¦ Healthy, responsive  newborn Indicators  ¦Mother not anemic or underweight  ¦Child weighs more than 2500 grams  ¦Child moves head side to side on being stimulated Determinants One month to three years Outcomes  ¦Freedom from intermittent diseases (diarrhea acute respiratory infection)  ¦Nutritional security  ¦Curiosity, sociability  ¦Confidence selfhelp and sensory motor skills Indicators  ¦Full immunization by end of year one  ¦Completion of all prophylaxis (e. g. vitamin A) by end of 3 years  ¦Toilet trained  ¦Ability to communicate clearly and confidently  ¦ Sociability and ability to stay away from family for a few hours  ¦Appropriate height and  weight for age  ¦ Age-appropriate gross motor and auditory-visual skills Three to six years Outcomes  ¦ Interest in learning school readiness skills (language, numeracy psychosocial skills)  ¦ Activeness, selfconfidence, awareness of environment  ¦ Freedom from intermittent diseases, nutritional security  ¦ Management of any identified disability Indicators  ¦Active participation in early childhood care and education activities.  ¦ Ability to narrate experience confidently  ¦Demonstration of curiosity  ¦Age-appropriate self-help social skills  ¦Age-appropriate height weight  ¦ Regular preschool attendance  ¦Nutrition adequacy, including  exclusive breast-feeding  ¦ Responsive complementary feeding, quality of mother/caregiver-child interaction  ¦Immunization, management of diarrhea and other illnesses  ¦Health and hygiene practices  ¦Sensory motor and language stimulation and opportunities for play and exploration  ¦ Cultural attitudes and stereotypes Determinants  ¦Quality early childhood care and education.  ¦Basic healthcare services including disability screening  ¦Nutrition adequacy and incidence of intermittent diseases  ¦Literacy level of parents, educational environment at home Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment 5 Early Childhood Care and Education Determinants.  ¦ Early childhood care and education experience/ school readiness  ¦Access to schooling  ¦Nutritional adequacy  ¦Quality of school  ¦Socio-cultural factors – extent of inclusion (gender, tribe, caste, etc. )  ¦Early detection of learning disabilities  ¦Social norm, role models and supportive home environment  ¦Safe water and sanitation, incidence of infestation and infection affecting regular attendance  ¦Female teachers Six to eight years Outcomes  ¦Sociability, selfconfidence/ selfesteem  ¦Ability to read and write, with a continued interest in learning  ¦Freedom from anemia and intermittent diseases Indicators  ¦ Demonstration of  competencies for Class 2 by end of age 8  ¦Regular attendance  ¦No worm infestation or anemia Determinants  ¦Quality of school  ¦Socio-cultural factors – inclusion (gender, tribe, caste), social norm  ¦Health promoting school  ¦Early detection of learning disabilities  ¦Infestation and infection occurrence, nutritional levels, particularly in girls  ¦Supportive home environment, community Eight to twelve + years Outcomes  ¦Successful completion of primary school with appropriate literacy and numeracy skills  ¦Active learning capacity  ¦Good health, nutrition  ¦Positive self-image  ¦Coping and social skills Indicators  ¦Regular school attendance.  ¦Eagerness to learn  ¦Sociability, activeness  ¦Demonstration of competencies for Class 5 at end of age 11  ¦Motivation and confidence to continue education Source: World Bank, 2004, pp. 12. It is now being increasingly realized that the ECCE stage itself has within it more than two distinct sub-stages, each with the first sub-stage of prenatal to three years, the developmental priority is ensuring health and nutritional wellbeing its own developmental priorities (See Figure 2. 1). ECCE can thus be further classified into the sub-stages of (a) prenatal to two and a half to three years; of the mother and child, since this is the  vulnerable stage for growth faltering and is also critical for brain development. This stage requires more of home- (b) 3- 4 years and (c) 4 to 5/6 years. For targeted 6 Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment parent counseling in nutrition Early Childhood Care and Education and health education and in ‘early psychosocial stimulation’. For the 3-4 years olds, the priority shifts to early learning and all round development include the more structured school readiness elements. Within this integrated framework, this paper focuses especially on the latter two sub- through a more organized center-based ECCE program, using the play way  method. For the 4-6 years olds, this program gets further expanded to stages within Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), i. e. for the 3-6 years olds. Graph 2. 1 Child Development Index 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 CDI- 1993 CDI 1999 Kerala Gujarat HP Haryana Punjab Orissa UP MP Bihar 0 CDI 2006 Graph 2. 1 shows that although almost all states showed improvements in child development related parameters, the improvements varied. The states, which had already reached higher levels of child development, improved marginally, while states with very low base indicators improved faster – like Bihar and UP. However, Bihar, UP, Rajasthan and MP continue to be below the all India average figures. These states are the laggard states in terms of child development and need more focused approach to develop child related outcomes. For that, it is also important to address their provision needs, as well as the socio-economic barriers to improve child development. Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment 7 Early Childhood Care and Education Graph 2. 2 Comparative difference in CDIs using immunization Vs malnutrition indicators (2004-06) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10  4 indicator CDI Nagaland JK Arunachal Rajasthan Assam Manipur Bihar Uttarakhand MP Mizoram Tripura Sikkim Meghalaya Punjab All-India AP UP Orissa Delhi Chattisgarh Goa West Bengal Karnataka Gujarat Haryana Maharashtra Kerala Jharkhand TN HP 0 5 indicator CDI However, if malnutrition indicators are taken into consideration in the CDI instead of immunization, the profile in terms of absolute CDI values changes. Interestingly, this shift is more significant in the case of states which are at the higher end, for example, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala (Graph 2. 2). Possibly, with better governance, literacy levels etc, these states demonstrate higher CDI levels when education and immunization indicators are included since both and related to the quality of service delivery. However, when impact in terms of child development outcomes are included (e. g. , underweight and stunted children), the inter-state variations get narrowed down. With states like Tamil Nadu, which have a history of effective feeding programs, the deterioration in CDI values indicated in Graph 2. 2 may well raise the question â€Å"Is feeding enough to address malnutrition in children? 8 Education for All – Mid-Decade Assessment Early Childhood Care and Education SECTION III ECCE –AN EQUITY ISSUE ECCE is now emerging as a significant equity issue in the Indian context. largely an outcome of a rapid expansion of private facilities, particularly in the Despite significant expansion of the ICDS program from the eighth plan onwards, the recent NFHS-3 data shows that the status of children in the urban sector. On the other, children from the lower socio-economic strata, whose need is perhaps greater due to impoverish.

Investigating the Preparation and Properties of Dies :: Dyeing Investigations Dye Essays

Investigating the Preparation and Properties of Dies Aim: To investigate the preparation and properties of dies. Introduction - Dyeing is a process of colouring materials, such as textile fibres, so that the colouring matter becomes an integral part of the fibre. Dyes, or ‘dyestuffs’, are soluble compounds that can be either absorbed and retained by the fibre or chemically combined with it. Dyes are generally fast, that is, they retain their colour in the fibre throughout the textile-making process and under exposure to normal wear, including sunlight, water, and detergent washing. (Textile dying) - Dyes can be classified as either natural or synthetic. The only natural dye still used on a large scale is logwood, which imbues silk, wool, cellulose acetate, and nylon with a deep black colour. With the exception of a few inorganic materials used in special processes, all dyestuffs used in textile applications are synthetic organic chemicals.  · Information taken from Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2003 Preliminary Work About this topic, an experiment to evaluate how quickly a dye can spread in water and the reactions between the dye and bases and acids, called Chromatography has been carried out. When beetroots were mixed with hot water, the dye spread out quicker and was brighter than with cold water, due to the fastness of moving molecules in the hot water. No real conclusion was established however, for the experiment was done to give a fair idea of how dyes ‘work’. Prediction My prediction is that if the amount of water in the die is reduced, the die will be stronger, and if it is increased, the die will become weaker. I also think that with salt as a mordant, the cloth will become dyed more quickly than with sugar or with no mordant at all. As my variable is the type of mordant, I predict that the dye colour will be stronger with salt and weaker with no mordant. Equipment List The apparatus used will be:  · Coffee, Red Cabbage and Red wine (to carry out experiment)  · Board Cleaning Cloth (to place dye in)  · Salt and sugar (as fixatives, to grip dye to fabric)  · Measuring cylinder (to measure amount of water, dyes and mordant)  · Old pot (to dye fabrics in)  · Gloves (So that hands do not interfere with the experiment, and not to stain them)  · Beaker (To grind dye sources in)  · Thermometer (to measure the temperature of water)  · Scale (To measure the mass of the dyes and fixatives)  · Stopwatch (To count the simmering time) Carrying out the Investigation  · Material (dye source) is broken into small pieces in the beaker (or

Business Management of Owning a Construction Company Essay

Owning a construction company requires good planning whereby the management puts several measures in place to ensure that a company performs well to generate enough money that aids it run its operations. Availability of surplus raw materials is one of the important factors to consider while managing a construction company. A construction firm should have enough laborers who offer services to customers and who work at the production stage. Running a construction company requires that the management come up with a good marketing strategy that allows the company to attract as many clients as possible to allow the organization generate enough income to carry out its activities effectively. Keeping records in an organized manner makes it easy for a construction company to make references and also to avoid loss of data. Managers who plan their activities wisely and accordingly in a construction company are in a better position of elevating the profit that the company generates and to impro ve the quality of goods and services that the firm offers. Definition of Important Concepts Management is a common term that this paper uses and it means to adopt effective measures as a leader that help to run an organization in an effective manner. The term construction is also common in this analysis and it means to come up with projects such as buildings, bridges and roads using qualified personnel. Counterarguments Even though raw materials are essential in the running of a construction company, some companies lack them due to poor management which in most cases leads to the fall of a business. Other construction companies lack enough laborers and this makes the available workers to strain with their work which in most cases lowers the outcome of construction companies. Lack of effective marketing strategy and lack of proper ways of record keeping also in many instances lead to the downfall of many construction companies because they are not able to generate sufficient income from different customers and they experience confusion respectively.This report makes use of an imaginary company by the name of Davis Construction firm to expound on the management of owning a construction company. As part of its activities, this construction firm produces building bricks from clay soil, produces celling boards that builders fit inside houses, and also hires professional masons and other construction desi gners to people or organizations that want to come up with buildings. To attain its goals, the management of Davis Construction firm must take into account several measure that will help it run its activities. Availability of Raw Materials First of all, the manager of this organization must ensure that there is a continuous flow of raw materials to enable the firm continue with its production. In this case, the essential raw materials that Davis Construction firm needs are clay soil to manufacture bricks, wood chips to manufacture celling board, and sufficient water to carry out the mixing process. Other raw materials that this organization needs to produce its goods include chemicals that it uses to carry out its production. A good manager will carry out a research on the best places to acquire the raw materials so that the firms does not experience delays in its production process. To ensure a steady supply of raw materials in a construction firm, managers should have more than one source of suppliers who deliver raw materials to the company. Having more than one source of supplier who supply the same product is important because this allows a company to carry out its activities continuously not to inconvenience customers. In many instances, unreliable suppliers make business managers to consider alternative ways getting raw materials to carry out an organization’s activities (Alonso, 2007, p. 3). Another way in which the manager of this company and any other construction company can ensure constant availability of raw materials is by establishing nearby sites that generate enough raw materials to run the activities of an organization. For example, to have a constant supply of water, the manager can hire professionals to come and dig boreholes that will provide surplus water to the firm at a much cheaper cost. Availability of Workers Effective management of a construction company calls for hiring enough laborers who help in running the organization’s activities. A wise manager will therefore, put measures to ensure that the laborers share work equally and that they do not strain while carrying out their activities. The laborers in a construction firm should fall into several sections where each worker partakes in the activity of his specialization. By each worker taking part in the activities of his specialization, a construction firm will attain accuracy in all the goods it produces and all the services it offers. To get laborers of sufficient knowledge to carry out their activities, the management of Davis Construction Firm should carry out a test while recruiting laborers after ascertaining their credentials. Even though it is a common occurrence in many countries that construction activities attract workers with low educational level (ILO, 2001, p. 12), it is important for managers to hire workers with high qualification to do their job perfectly so as to come up with products and services that satisfy customers’ needs. The management should ensure that workers get sufficient training to enable them carry out their duties with preciseness. As a way of improving the technical skills of their workers, managers should organize educative seminars where other professionals offer theoretical and practical knowledge to the workers. Good managers take the initiative of helping technicians who show great ability in their duties attain further training and also to serve as motivation to the co ntractors. Managers in a construction company should also take their workers to tour different construction firms because if they fail to do this, it will be impossible to compete favorably with other construction firms. Marketing Strategies A construction company should adopt effective marketing strategies that allows it to reach customers from different geographical regions. After intense research about marketing strategies, managers in construction companies such as Davies Construction Firm should come up with a suitable way of marketing the goods and services that the firm offers. To effectively reach customers from different regions, managers who run construction firms should adopt reliable channels such as the internet and publications because these two are able to carry so much information about a company and are also able to transmit information within a very short time. Enhanced technology has improved communication and marketing which has positive effect on inter-organizational relationship and communication (Avlonitis & Karayanni, 2000, p. 442). Managers in a construction firms should appoint certain people with the right qualification to manage the company’s website and to attend to customers’ n eeds. In a business organization, it is important for managers to create a customers’ department wing to improve the quality of services and to build a long-term relationship with the customers (Rust, Moorman, & Bhalla, 2010, p. 5). Record Keeping Managers who run construction companies should adopt better ways of storing vital information. Good forms of record keeping enable construction companies to make necessary reference whenever conflicts or discrepancies occur. For example, Davis Construction Firm can adopt better ways of record keeping by using computers that are able to store large amount of data for a very long time. People in charge of electronically storing data must be very keen in their activities to ensure that the information stays for a long time without getting lost (Trace, 2002, p. 138). Managers in a construction firm should also adopt a way of keeping records that is easy to retrieve information. Some of the advisable ways of keeping records in a manner that is easy to retrieve include using alphabetical orders, storing records according to the subject and keeping records in accordance to urgency. Conclusion Managers who run construction firms should take the initiative of helping the company attain its goals. As part of their management duties, managers should be able to come up with ways that ensures a constant and sufficient supply of raw materials to enable the firm carry out production of goods and services continuously. A manager should also be able to ensure that a construction firm has enough workers who help in carrying out the activities of a company in accordance to their area of specialty. Coming up with an effective marketing strategy helps to reach customers from different regions and therefore, be able to generate enough money for the construction firm. Above all, a manager in a construction firm needs to device effective methods of storing vital information about past and current operations of a construction firm. References Alonso, E., et al. (2007). Material availability and the supply chain: Risks, effects, and responses. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Avlonitis, G., & Karayanni, D. (2000). The impact of internet use on business-to-business marketing: Examples from American and European companies. Industrial marketing management 29(4) 441-459. International Labor Organization, ILO. (2001). The construction industry in the twenty-first century: Its image, employment prospects and skill requirements. Geneva. Rust, R., Moorman, C., & Bhalla, G. (2010). Rethinking marketing. Harvard Business Review. Trace, B., C. (2002). What is recorded is never simply ‘what happened’: Record keeping in Modern organizational culture. Archival Science 2(7), 137-159.at is Recorded is Never Simply ‘What Happened’: Record Keeping in Modern Organizational Culture Source document

What Is a Good Salesperson

A good salesperson is someone that can think on its feet (respond quickly with satisfying answers) and has the skills to deliver a message that is just right (not too elaborate and not too shallow). Basically, a good salesperson should be able to baffle someone with information; it should be able to knock someone of its feet leaving that person to wonder about his current ways. In the extent of what has been proposed by Dixon and Toman (2012) good salespeople should be able to create instability in the customers mind, removing it from its comfort zone and creating a state of confusion.If a sales person can create a state of confusion and provide the tools to alleviate this mind state of the consumer, it becomes quite possible for the salesperson to convince the consumer into buying the product offered by the sales rep. Therefore a good sales rep is able to contrive consciousness about prospective problems and with that lead the customer to an epiphany about how to solve these problem s on mutually beneficial grounds.In order to achieve these things it is a prerequisite for a sales rep to have a set amount of skills amongst which for example: sagacity (acumen), distinctness, relationship management and needs assessment. However, there are three (not two) skills in particular that are most essential for salespeople to succeed in any sales environment: Uniqueness in perspective, debate and tangibilization.Uniqueness in perspective: Salespeople should be able to offer new perspectives that were unexpected which makes it far more difficult for the customer to debate on the subject and far easier for the sales rep to radiate expertise. Furthermore, these new perspectives help in destabilizing the customer’s position making him subjective to education for new solutions. Debate: Debate entails the ability to fine tune your argumentation rather than to overpower someone with arguments. In other words, debate is about challenging the consumer rather than overruling it.As soon as the customer is destabilized it is necessary for the sales rep to create awareness and conviction which means that the sales rep should try to instigate the customer to really believe that he has a problem and the salesperson’s product is the only solution. It is important that the consumer is not overpowered by arguments but naturally finds its way to the proposed solution. Therefore the sales rep does not tell the consumer what to do it just pushes it in the right direction so that it will eventually make its wn decision. Tangibilization: Salespeople often subject themselves to ill-designed efforts to communicate the intangible benefits of their service offerings, making the service benefits less rather than more apparent. A good sales rep should have the ability to make any concept understandable and â€Å"tangible† without using any tangible props, this is the key in educating the customer. In the end all these traits have one thing in common: the ab ility to read and anticipate the customer and its point of view. .

Social Divide between the Rich and the Poor in GustaveFlauberts Madame Bovary essays

Social Divide between the Rich and the Poor in GustaveFlaubert's Madame Bovary essays Throughout history, literature has become an effective medium that reflects and illustrates social events and experiences of a particular period. Furthermore, literary works provide a subjective interpretation of experiences that the author/writer has that are also significant in studying the kind of society and people that lived in a particular period. Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" provides these functions in a literary piece; his depiction of life of Western society during the 19th century mirrors the rigidly conservative and intolerant nature of the people against individuals who are perceived to be outcasts' or non-conformists among people who follow strict norms within their society. In the novel, Flaubert centers on Madame Bovary, who, after witnessing the elegance and high status of the rich and elite class of the society, aspired for a life similar to theirs. In the process, Madame Bovary wasted her life committing mistakes, like committing adultery, just so she would have the wealth she have always dreamed of. Throughout the novel, Flaubert focused on illustrating to his audience the highly critical society that the Bovary couple lived in; why, in the course of the novel, they became victims of the illusion that wealth will come their way eventually (especially Madame Bovary). This paper discusses, through a character analysis of Charles and Emma Bovary and a study of their life as a couple, how the great social divide between the rich and the poor has led to the tragic end of Emma Bovary's life. The analysis and discussion centers on Part I of the novel, where Flaubert shows the transition of Emma Bovary's character from being a simple village girl to being a desperate social climber' and eventually, Chapter 1 of the novel gives the audience background information about Charles Bovary's childhood and the blatant discrimination that he ex...

Review Writing Lessons

Review Writing Lessons Review Writing Lessons Review Writing Lessons By Sharon When I was trying to build up a store of online writing clips, I found myself doing a lot of reviews. They were short pieces of writing, but they packed a lot of information into a couple of paragraphs. I also learned a lot about what readers are looking for and how to write to get their attention. Here are some tips for writing reviews. As with most pieces of online writing, your first chance to grab your reader is with the title. Sometimes this is descriptive, such as the one Ive used for this post; at other times it offers a hint of what is to come, with a bit of a teaser to get readers interested. One of my most successful posts on another (now defunct) blog was titled How I Put My Site On Steroids. The next most important part is the intro or lead, which gives you a chance to expand on the title. Keep it short, though, because when youre done youll need to describe the product or service. This is similar to the 6Ws of news writing. Readers want to know what the product is in detail. After all, this is going to help them with a buying decision. When writing reviews, the description is usually followed by the users experience with the product. This gives readers practical information that they can use and answers the whats in it for me? question. All readers want to know this. Not only are you telling them about the subject that they are reading about, but youre also telling them why they should ever read anything youve written again. Finally, theres the summary. Usually this is a couple of sentences giving your overall impression of the product. Writing reviews is similar to the well known advice: Tell them; tell them what youve told them; tell them again. It also works well for many types of writing intended for an online audience. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Types of RhymeOn Behalf Of vs. In Behalf OfUsing "zeitgeist" Coherently

Redgate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Redgate - Essay Example While one cannot rule the application of authoritarian style of leadership, there is evidence suggesting democracy as main approach in the company. Thus, the issues to be discussed include the rapid increase of the workforce and the company’s lack of debt despite being such a big firm. In this paper, the focus will be on this company where certain areas will be scrutinised. First, every company utilises certain leadership styles on its day-to-day operations, and in this case, the paper will analyse how Redgate applies this theory. In addition, the organisational structure and design for the company will be analysed as well. The objective of this report is to investigate if the company’s success is primarily a result of the leadership style and the use of the organisation structure and design. Often, there arise debates as to whether these two theories contribute significantly to the success of businesses. By conducting this research with Redgate being the case study, this paper will give a comprehensive and empirical report on the facts about the theories. Upon providing these facts, which will be both accurate and unbiased, the research will offer businesspersons the much-needed opportunity to apply or disregard the theories accordingly. Besides, this report will achieve another important objective: providing upcoming businesspersons with crucial information on the effectiveness or lack of the same of the said theories. Redgate Company was little known especially after its inception in 1999, but that is no longer the case today. Then, the company started it like any other, and there were no indications that after twelve years the company’s success would be evident to everyone. The number of employees was as little as 20, but the figure later rose to 80. Today, Redgate offers employment close to 300 employees. The first issue that was noticed at the company was the

Psychological theories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Psychological theories - Research Paper Example People need to feel loved and appreciated in order for them to change from bad habits (Schur,  2001). Therefore, the society should treat people in a better way instead of labeling them. This way, persons will not feel stigmatized despite their past actions. Instead, they will even desire to change in and become better persons. Therefore, indeed labeling theory has a significant effect on the psychology of an individual. Background Most of the crimes in the world are usually owed to poverty or lack. Although it is true that individuals may commit some crimes such as theft due to lacking some materials possessions, other crimes such as murder cannot be owed to lack or insufficiency of wealth. Serial killers are mostly defined as individuals who kill more than three people within a very period. For instance, records kept of serial killers show that they killed upto three victims per day. Serial killers do not just murder their victims. Most of them rape or sodomize their victims befo re putting them to death. There have also been cases of killers who mutilate the bodies after the victims have died. It is for these reasons that serial killers are thought to be psychopaths who have no conscience at all. Scholars assert that serial killers mainly murder out of psychological reasons such as labeling by the society (Cote,  2002). ... In addition, they are also not individuals who will have regrets after committing their crimes. Instead, scholars assert that these individuals derive fun and pleasure from these inhuman acts. The Labeling Theory and Crime The labeling theory states that people can create an individual’s bad character when they stigmatize them (Bryant, 2012). For instance, when an individual has been charged with criminal activities, people in the society are likely to label him or her as a criminal. The labeling theory asserts that; when an individual has been labeled in a certain way in the society, they tend to start acting according to their label (Cote,  2002). In addition, when people feel they are being treated like criminals they become frustrated and filled with anger. Therefore, the only way to vent this anger is by murder, as a way of taking revenge on humans. The theory also asserts that persons that have been labeled do not have peace inside themselves. Therefore, in order to en sure that other persons are also not peaceful too, the individuals prefer to take their lives by killing them. Therefore, the key causal factor arising from labeling theory is frustration. Individuals become frustrated due to stigmatization in the society. The labeling theory asserts that when an individual has been labeled, a number of factors in him become affected and thus, he starts engaging in criminal activities. This is because; labeling significantly affects the psychology of an individual. Labeling theory and the Social Psychology of an individual The social psychology of an individual refers to his social attributes. While some individuals are born while antisocial naturally, labeling affects the

Counseling male rape victims Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Counseling male rape victims - Research Paper Example The victims are also required to process the rape and the possible experiences they may face after the ordeal with their formal and informal providers of support. Second, observations made from evaluating therapeutic techniques show that cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) can work quite well in the reduction of the short term post rape anxiety and fear symptoms. Though, feminist therapies focus on the long term issues in dealing with self blame and guilt, they are known to work at times for the short term issues. Finally It is common for the mental health practitioners who deal with the male rape victims to also experience disturbing feelings that are similar to those experienced by the rape victim. These symptoms are referred to as Secondary Traumatic stress usually experienced by practitioners who deal with a high number of sexually assaulted victims, thus, the need for the application of self-care strategies for these therapists. Introduction The term rape/sexual assault are usu ally defined in many different ways, but, it is explained that rape is the unwanted sexual acts that range from touching to penetration. Usually it is assumed that phrase ‘victims of sexual abuse’ or ‘rape victims’ usually refer to women, but contrary to that, men and boys are also victims of the vice and research shows that in America 10% of the rape victims are men and boys. According to the mental health practitioners who dealt with them, men and boys suffer post-traumatic stress similar to those experienced by women, but are not willing to accept that they are rape victims and need assistance. For some time now practitioners, researchers have tried to find out how sexual assault on males impacts the individuals health psychologically and to create therapies that efficient in enhancing the recovery of these male victims. This essay seeks to explain the research results on three major issues for the practitioners who deal with the male rape victims. These issues are: one, the experiences of the male rape victims and the issues they may put forward in therapy, two, the therapeutic techniques and methods that have yielded success in enhancing recovery of the victims, lastly, the effects of dealing with the male rape victims on the health practitioner dealing with them. The experiences of the male rape victims and the issues they may put forward in therapy Currently, research focuses mainly on putting down and explaining the post traumatic impacts ion the male rape victim’s way of life. The research findings show that the victims struggle with the effects of the assault directly and the effects of the assault on the people who are close to them, that is family and friends. Thus, these results shows that the male rape survivors may share a variety of concerns in therapy and the therapists must be informed of the various negative impacts of sexual assault (Odem & Warner, 1998). Sexual assault/ rape are devastating and normally it wrecks the survivor’s ability to maintain a consistent illusion of safety at the personal level, their invulnerability, and threatens some of the beliefs and assumptions the victims identify with and the larger community that surrounds them. The victims are likely to display extreme levels of psychological distress, guilt, fear, shame, tension, anxiety, anger among others. These different psychological symptoms are usually viewed as an exhibition of the

Importance of Monitoring Assessment Record keeping and Reporting

Importance of Monitoring Assessment Record keeping and Reporting Over the course of the previous 30 years assessment has been a major focus of educational discussion and research. It is generally accepted that assessment is a vital part of a teachers role which needs to be carefully considered. According to Kellough and Kellough (1999, p. 417), Teaching and learning are reciprocal processes that depend on and affect one another. Thus, the assessment component deals with how well the students are learning and how well the teacher is teaching. Haydn (2009 cited in Capel et al 2009 page 329) defines assessment as all those activities which are undertaken by teachers, and others, to measure the effectiveness of teaching and learning. Although this is a fairly broad definition, it does allude to the wider importance of assessment. Assessment is used to measure teaching and learning and to inform future practice by individuals on various levels related to education: Pupils to identify current achievement, attainment and areas for progression. Parents / carers can identify and aid student progression; additionally understanding individual and school performance compared to national standards. Teachers to identify areas of strength and weakness in their pupils skills and knowledge, thus informing planning, providing work of an appropriate challenge, covering the national curriculum and ensuring progression. Senior Leaders / Governors to identify schools areas of strength and areas of development with regard to national standards and additionally to local issues and demographics thus informing the school development plan. Government can use a variety assessment data and statistical testing to measure school performance, identifying good / best practice or areas which may need closer monitoring and support. The assessment process clearly provides an extensive range of uses for many people associated with education and schools. It is important to break the assessment process down into two widely accepted strands, assessment of learning (AOL) and assessment for learning (AFL). AOL is characterised by the use of tests, targets and exams whereby pupils receive a fixed mark, grade or exam result (e.g. the end result of a GCSE exam) (ONeill Ockmore, 2006). In comparison, AFL is concerned more with the process of collecting information from pupils so that both they and the teacher can identify the current stage of learning taking place and therefore highlight what needs to be done next for learning to continue (Assessment Reform Group, 1999; 2002). The purpose of AOL is to report on the achievement and attainment of pupils at a given time or stage within their learning (Harlen 2007), the term summative assessment is commonly used. Summative assessment refers to measuring the total sum of learning at a given point in time. It uses end of topic, end of key stage or end of qualification assessments to provide data which can be used to assess learning or to compare performance to national standards. These comparisons can be in different areas such as comparison to peers (normative assessment), pupils past achievements (ipsative) or set criteria (criterion referenced e.g. National Curriculum level descriptors) (Riding and Butterfield 1990). Clearly, assessing achievement encompasses ipsative assessment, assessing pupils progression form previous grades and assessments to their most recent activity. This can be done at the student, school and LA level. Students can record end of unit grades to understand and identify their own progression made (this can be linked to AFL); the school and Local Authority (LA) can use the assessment as performance indicators i.e. has the child made appropriate 3 levels of progress, is the school adding value to the child. Adding value can be an important factor; even though a child may not compare well to national averages, the child may have made significant progress in particular areas showing great ipsative improvements. For a school in a deprived area with fourth generation unemployment (such as my second school) this can show teachers, students and LA that progression and improvements are being made, even if these improvements are not reflected in the schools exam results or league tab les. Normative assessment is the assessment of a student compared to their peers (Browning 1997). Normative assessment is used frequently by many in education: by schools to place students in pathways / sets, by teachers to differentiate work and provide challenge and by LA / Government to compare schools and groups of students. Normative assessment does require students to be taking the same assessment. Potential problems arise via alternative / vocational qualifications or teacher judgement and discretion of which tests students in their class may sit if the assessment is not a school-wide focus or policy. Criterion referenced assessment is a common feature of most summative / AOL tasks now employed. Students are marked and ranked against a given criteria, a set benchmark; this may be a mark scheme for a GCSE or National Curriculum level descriptors correlated to specific year group for key stage 3 (National Curriculum testing). Criterion referenced assessments are believed to be much fairer and more objective than normative assessment (Dunn et al 2002) as all students are measured against the criterion given. This however provides some positive and negative features for those involved; teachers will become familiar with content to cover allowing adaption of teaching and experimentation to find best practice and hopefully improve learning. Students should be aware of standards and expectations that they must meet (linking with AFL) allowing for focus and attention to be paid to particular areas. Both teachers and students can familiarise with grade boundaries and nature of questions as ked. Finally at a LA or Government level an objective comparison can be made from school to school, town to town or demographic to demographic. Unfortunately the positives can have a negative aspect. Teachers and students may teach and learn to the test resulting in a poor understanding of the subject but excellent grades being attained by coached pupils. This can lead to inaccurate or insignificant comparisons being made by LA or Government and incorrect inferences being made. Coaching or teaching to the test is somewhat of a topical issue within keys stage 2 and 3 education; with many schools choosing not to entre students into Standard Assessment Tests (SATS) at the end of key stage 2 and 3 because of aforementioned issues. As mentioned coaching for a test can provide weakness in subject knowledge resulting in overinflated expectations of a pupils ability causing problems for teachers and senior leaders. Firstly teachers will have to retest or find true baseline information allowing for effective provision and challenge of work; later difficulties can be created due to students having over estimated predicted grades or potential. This is an obvious concern for senior leadership as school results may be affected by a child not achieving potential, a potential which may be unrealistic before intervention and provision. For senior leaders at key stage 2 and 4 the figures could produce a rather insignificant league table of results affecting reputation and i ntake. Such problems are trying to be resolved with alternative forms of testing. The Middle Years Information System (MidYis) test is now commonly used. Midyis tests are sat with no prior preparation and are designed to test ability and aptitude for learning rather than achievement (http://www.cemcentre.org/midyis). The tests are available for students at the end of key stage 2 and 3 and have good correlations with attainment. The test measures a whole host of skills including reading, writing, maths, perception and skills such as visualisation, block counting and spatial awareness. As no prior preparation is involved, teaching to the test is removed. Many schools now deploy assessment points throughout the year to monitor progression of pupils. There are many ways of collecting this data to monitor progression. Some schools may use the discretion of the teacher to produce a level based on their professional judgement; this can be done for academic ability / achievements and also personal qualities such as effort level. Additionally data can be produced from blanket assessments across faculties for particular year groups; or again with discretion of teachers to provide an assessment for their particular classes. Both rationales have merits and drawbacks to be considered before advancing with a particular methodology. Indeed at key stage 4, summative assessments are mainly produced by or with reference to qualifications being studied by pupils. Qualification boards provide the criteria to judge students objectively within cohorts studying the same qualification; however differences in qualification expectations are vast. There is great provision set aside for young people in an attempt to ensure every child can achieve, make a positive contribution and ultimately develop and become employed. Depending on demographics and catchment the provision made by the school will vary greatly. A more affluent catchment area consisting of employed families with a higher regard for education is more likely to encourage academic achievement and qualifications, such as triple award science and GCSE qualifications; providing a more academic qualification base instead of a more skills, practical base. From limited experience these differences have been apparent; with a more affluent lead school offering a wider ran ge of academic qualifications and GCSEs compared to a more deprived second school which provided a whole host of alternative qualifications such as BTEC, OCR National or applied GCSEs. Indeed this reflects engagement and choice from students but also shows the judgments which must be made by schools to match students to appropriate qualifications and assessments. Due to the nature of KS4 assessment teaching to the test is not an option. Skills based, practical qualifications often involve students producing evidence of meeting benchmark standards or gaining experience. The more academic qualifications ask questions in a variety of ways, including open questions, forcing students to understand their subjects. There is some discrepancy and controversy in data being produced at the end of key stage 4 due to GCSE equivalent qualifications. Schools currently use equivalents as a part of the data produced for Key stage 4 A-C grades; with many arguing that equivalents do not have the same rigour as GCSEs, an issue currently being reviewed at Government level by Professor Alison Wolf on behalf of the Department of Education. The data being produced at the end of key stage 4 via summative assessment plays a vital role in school performance. RAISEonline provides analysis of school and pupil performance data with aims of allowing school to better self evaluate, provide common data analysis for schools, LA, inspectors and school improvement partners and better support teaching and learning; it will enable schools to examine context, attainment and value added data explore hypotheses about pupil performance and moderate pupil targets (https://www.raiseonline.org/About.asp). The subjects mainly covered by RAISEonline are English, Maths and Science with some information on all GCSE subjects at the end of Key Stage 4. The document can provide a comparative of the school relative to national standards not only on attainment but also context and demographics. It is possible to see percentage of pupils on free school meals indicating deprivation, looked after children, percentage of pupils from ethnic backgrounds or that has Special Educational Needs status; all of which bring about varied challenges for schools. This allows schools to be put into to context in terms of pupils, catchment and demographics. Additionally prior attainment can be considered. Those schools with a higher than average number of pupils achieving a level 4 (on average) and a lower than average achieving a level 5 at the end of Key Stage 3 will find it more difficult to achieve a higher percentage of A-C grades (as with second school experience). This may result in more intervention being made for a larger number of students on C/D borderline to help increase attainment levels. RAISEonline uses an average point score (each level given an equivalent number to allow for statistical testing) to provide a picture of the attainment of pupils of all abilities. This can be used as mentioned above or it can be used to identify groups which may need more assistance e.g. a high score for GCSE points but low A-C points would suggest many students received qualifications for GCSE or equivalents but only managed 4 or less and not 5. This may suggest that middle ability students need to be extended further to achieve a C or that equal opportunities could be better promoted as other schools on average attain more C grades. At the lead school, average point score for English, Maths and Science is consistent with the national average however A*-C score is higher, this may suggest that middle ability students are focused on more for the core subjects with optional subjects being better resourced and focused to achieving higher grades. The final piece of RAISEonline data I will consider is the Contextual Vale Added (CVA) score. CVA is a prediction of attainment that accounts for pupil background, prior attainment, demographical or situational difficulties (as mentioned). If a school has a high CVA score (as with second school) it would suggest that the school is making very good progress with students, this may not be reflected in the average point score for A-C grades; but catchment area of pupils will limit that potential. If a school is very high in CVA it would suggest that the pupils are making more progress than predicted compared to national average. If this is not the case, further investigation can be complete to determine areas which need more attention and support to raise attainment, thus affecting the school development plan; an area which should continually evolve with the use of RAISEonline data. Over the next few months and years RAISEonline itself is likely to be adapted and evolved as current gove rnment reviews will change how schools and education is measured. The aforementioned Wolf Review will focus on vocational qualifications to determine which are sufficiently rigorous and useful to students and economic society. The recently released White Paper The Importance of Teaching is set to change how schools are measured; with an inclusion of Science to English and Maths as a floor target. The paper also outlines the importance of GCSEs and the movement away from vocational qualifications; rendering such vocational or alternative qualifications as obsolete and ineffectual. Within the exploration of summative assessment, there have been improvements in my knowledge of the range of assessments (Q12 appendix 2), which have incorporated the assessment requirements for those who I need to teach and their qualifications (Q11 appendix 1). The range is vast and importance must be placed on suiting the student to the qualification, considering rigour of qualification, strengths of the student and their aspirations. This is particularly important for student attainment and achievement and also school performance. Due too much of the data generated in summative assessment being used to provide data for statistical analysis (Q13 appendix 3); its importance must not be undervalued. Having accurate information on student ability, school context and issues can only serve as a benefit for teachers, a benefit which should be maximised. The information can be used coherently as part of the teaching and learning process, raising standards and levels of attainment. The second strand of assessment, Assessment For Learning (AFL), is very different to AOL. AFL is more concerned with the process of collecting information from pupils so that both they and the teacher can identify the current stage of learning taking place and therefore highlight what needs to be done next for learning to continue, rather than assess the learning taken place Assessment Reform Group, 1999; 2002). The term formative assessment is commonly used in place of AFL being described by Bell and Cowie (2001) as assessment which is intended to enhance teaching and learning. An analogy of making soup describes the difference most clearly; when a soup is being prepared, the cook tastes the soup, adjusting amounts of ingredients and determining what needs to be added, this is formative assessment. When the soup is served and tasted by customer that is summative assessment (Guskey 2000, cited in Lund and Tannehill 2010 p86). AFL is usually an informal process, entrenched in all facets of teaching and learning (Black et al 2003). As figure 1 illustrates, formative assessment can be best described as an ongoing process that interlinks with other elements such as planning, teaching and learning (Casbon and Spackman, 2005) Figure 1. The plan-teach-learn-assess cycle (cited Bailey, 2001 p141) The cycle illustrated reflects the relentless approach needed by teachers to meet best practice. Assessment must be used in order for the teacher to glean understanding of ability and set appropriately challenging work. This clearly links to planning to organise such work, allowing effective teaching and progressive learning. As teachers glean this knowledge of the group, they often require baseline data to assist their own judgments. Diagnostic Assessment (DA) is often used; it involves teachers assessing pupils progress against a given criteria (a potentially summative task), allowing them to become informed about their next steps in planning for effective learning (a largely formative task). There is debate over DA forming a part of formative assessment, summative assessment or being an individual, separate entity. In my opinion, due to its very nature of ascertaining previous knowledge, strengths, weaknesses and skills to inform planning, it is a part of the assessment for learni ng process. Indeed the DA may be an overlapping area of the 2 strands of assessment; completed in a more summative or formative way, largely depending on teaching style and preference. Upon completion of DA, the continual cycle mentioned above will become an inherent focus for the teacher. As emphasised by ONeill Ockmore (2006), assessment should not be viewed as a separate entity, but rather an imbedded principle as the other elements are dependent on this to develop and progress effectively. Using the levels ascertained in summative or diagnostic assessment, the teacher can then enhance learning and future attainment. An influential paper by Black and Wiliam (1998) Inside The Black Box; raising standards through classroom assessment showed formative assessment to have a pivotal role in raising standards, particularly when students are actively involved in the assessment process; and the results of assessments are used to inform planning. This information is invaluable to teachers. As mentioned via the learning cycle assessment is vital to inform planning and thus facilitating effective teaching and learning. By incorporating students into the process, focusing o n quality of learning and feedback, educational and learning standards can be raised. Additionally, Black and Wiliam (1998) explored developmental areas for improvement; providing some indication of evidence to support particular improvements of formative assessment methodology; indicating that the process requires further developments. The Assessment Reform Group (ARG) attempted to provide such developments; as a follow up to Inside The Black Box, the ARG produced Assessment For Learning: Beyond The Black Box (1999) identifying five key factors in effective AFL: providing effective feedback to pupils; actively involving pupils in their own learning; adjusting teaching to take account of assessment results; recognise the influence of assessment on pupil motivation and self-esteem, both vital to learning considering the need for pupils to be able to assess themselves and to understand how to improve. In practice, for educators, the factors clearly allude to facilitating understanding of what good learning or work is to students; they can therefore identify their stage of learning, areas to develop and how to improve. The ARG (1999) also provided risk factors with regard to assessment, factors which undermine the AFL process and should be avoided, these include; having an emphasis on quantity and presentation rather than valuing quality of learning; lowering confidence / self-esteem by concentrating on judgements and thus not providing advice for improvement; providing feedback to serve managerial / social purposes rather than helping pupils learn more effectively; working without a sufficient understanding of pupil learning needs. Building on the ARGs work and their own work in developing formative assessment Black and Wiliam et al (2002) produced Working Inside The Black Box; Assessment For Learning In The Classroom; hoping to pick up where they had left off and further develop AFL pedagogy under four main headings: Questioning To develop educators questioning skills, asking pertinent questions, allowing thought and response time for students, having follow up activities that are meaningful, and finally, only asking questions for which the teacher requires information or that the students need to think about. These are fairly simple points and a concept which can be considered and introduced to teaching practice quickly and efficiently; improving teaching and learning with a fairly immediate effect. Peer and Self Assessment Criteria for evaluating learning must be shared with and be clear to pupils; thus facilitating a clear overview of the aims of the work and what it means to be completed successfully. Pupils should be taught the habits and skills of self and peer assessment so that students can keep in mind the aims of the work and assess progress as they proceed. This will hopefully allow pupils to develop learning in a unique way which cannot be achieved in any other way. Practically this means sharing learning objectives and outcomes of lessons and activities and making self and peer assessment a common process. Revisiting aims of learning and assessing success can then be used to guide learning both for the teacher and by the student, promoting independence. Feedback Through Marking Written tasks should encourage pupils to develop and show understanding of key features of the subject studied. Written feedback should identify areas of strength, improvement and how to make that improvement; additionally providing opportunity for the improvements to be made. And finally to be effective, feedback should stimulate thinking to take place. In an area often rushed, it is clearly invaluable for teachers to consider their comments. Providing effective feedback empowers the student and allows for independent improvement; indeed, opportunities for learners to make the improvements are vital. The effective feedback concept is one which can be closely linked to peer and self evaluation. Having a consistent approach with clear criteria, making assessment and feedback a habitual process, will assist all feedback to be thought about and considered by the learner. Formative Use Of Summative Tests Summative tests should be seen to be a positive part of the learning process. Pupils should be engaged in a reflective way of the work they have done to revise effectively. This may and should involve students setting and marking questions within given criteria, to help them understand how the assessment process works and ways to improve. This can be linked closely to peer and self assessment and effective feedback once again promoting self ownership to students. It is imperative that teachers consider the formative assessment process and apply principles effectively and frequently. Teaching and learning goes hand in hand emphatically underlying the need for an open, clear process, which involves the student to think and consider at every possible opportunity. At the lead school many different activities have been engaged as part of the formative assessment process; many of which reflect the aforementioned principles and features of AFL. There is however a clear scope for improvement; especially in providing a transparent criteria for students to understand in completing their work. This does not reflect coaching to the test as mentioned in summative assessment, more of an understanding of what is expected to classify excellent work and how expectations can be met. To improve practice it is important to habitually employ the features of good AFL technique; this will assist students in becoming very aware of the learning process and their own learning needs whilst allowing teachers to facilitate the learning to maximal effect and efficiency. Within my exploration of AFL there have been vast improvements to my pedagogy and practice of assessment. The formative assessment process has immense importance to ensure effective teaching and learning (Q12 appendix 2). The AFL process can encapsulate all other forms of assessment to make the purpose more beneficial to the student; enhancing the learning cycle and thus teaching and learning. Statistical data and national information (Q13 appendix 3) can be used to inform the AFL process; likewise AFL can be used to enhance the summative process. In my opinion, AFL is one the most important aspect of classroom practice. It will allow further knowledge of students and ability, both by the student themselves and the teacher; leading to better planning, teaching and learning. This can only better serve the student and facilitate improvements in attainment. An area for development at the lead and second school was the recording of AFL. Formative assessment can provide a far more holistic picture of a child, the learning journey and performance comparatively to summative assessment. It removes individualised responses to the test condition and pressure felt at the time. Additionally, recording the formative assessment process enables teacher reflections of the learning taken place; ensuring all range and content is covered whilst facilitating better planning and enhancing the active learning cycle. This is an area which has little focus but could play a vital part in best practice for teaching and learning. A particularly important area for me is to ensure improved links between the formative and summative process. The summative process must be used in a more engaged, learning centred way stimulating thought and encompassing more AFL ideology. Thus making the learning journey more meaningful and enjoyable for students; hopefully promoting confident, motivated, independent, life long learners; of which all reach their full potential. In conclusion, all forms of assessment have merits and advantages. It is however the skill and knowledge of the teacher, in selecting the best suited assessment for the task, student ability and aims of learning which is most vital. The assessment process for the student must be transparent and informed allowing for though and reflection thus facilitating higher standards and superior learning. Appendices Appendix 1 Q11 Know the assessment requirements and arrangements for the subjects/curriculum areas in the age ranges they are trained to teach, including those relating to public examinations and qualifications. Appendix 2 Q12 Know a range of approaches to assessment, including the importance of formative assessment. Appendix 3 Q13 Know how to use local and national statistical information to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching, to monitor the progress of those they teach and to raise levels of attainment.