Effect of Low Income School on Parent Involvement Article

Effect of Low Income School on Parent Involvement Article (Smith 2006, p. 43) in her article has tried to measure the impact of strategies undertaken to involve parent in child education at a low income school using qualitative research methods. Aims of Article The main aims of this article are to: Define how a low-income school defines intentional parental involvement strategies Define effects of those strategies The Methodology The above article is done as a qualitative research. Qualitative research is done to gain a deep understanding of a specific event, rather than a description of a large sample of a population. It is also called ethnomethodology or field research. It helps create information about human groups in social settings. Qualitative research aims to provide a better understanding of a phenomenon through experience, correct reporting, and quotations of actual conversations. It aims to provide an understanding about how participants tend to interpret their surroundings, and how their interpretations influence their behaviors. The main methodology for conducting this research was conducting a study at a low income school whose new structure was replacing an outdated structure in 2002. During the planning stage of the school community members, parents and agency professionals were involved in development of the new school structure to cater for the needs of low income families and of programs to involve parents in students education at the school. The efforts were then measured using qualitative data collection methods such as participant observation, interviews and document reviews. Participant observation is a period of intensive social interaction between the researcher and the subjects, in the latter's environment. It becomes the full-time occupation of the researcher. Participant observers are trained in techniques of observation, which distinguishes them from regular participants. Interviewing is one of the most commonly used methods for gathering data in qualitative research. Qualitative interviewing is usually different from quantitative interviewing in a number of ways. Interviewing tends to be much less structured in qualitative research. In quantitative research, interviews are usually kept much more structured in order to provide a valid measurement of key concepts that can answer some specific research questions. In qualitative interviewing, deviating is encouraged to give insight into what the interviewee sees as important. This is however discouraged in quantitative research. In qualitative interviewing, interviewers can significantly change the schedule and guide of the interview. In qualitative interviewing, The questions of interview get detailed answers; in quantitative research the interview generates answers that can be processed and statistically analyzed quickly. Researchers supplement qualitative research methods such as interviewing and observation with gathering and analyzing documents produced specifically for the research at hand . As such, the review of documents is an unobtrusive method, rich in portraying the values and beliefs of participants in the setting. Sampling was done using snowball sampling technique. A snowball sample is anon-probability sampling techniquethat is appropriate to use in research when the members of a population are difficult to locate. A snowball sample is a sample in which the researcher collects data from the few members of the target population they can find, then they ask those members from whom the data is collected to provide information on the location of other members of that population whom they know. Snowball sampling hardly leads to a representative sample, but sometimes it may be the best option available. For instance, if you are studying people smoking cannabis, you are not likely to find a list of all the people smoking cannabis in your city. However, if you identify one or two people smoking cannabis that are willing to participate in your study, it is likely that they know other cannabis smoking people in their area. However snowball sampling can be avoided if data about something is readily available. Source: http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/static/images/schoolimages/ar_images/cetl/gilldavisondiagram1.jpg The Setting The setting for this research was Clark Elementary School which was situated beside a city park in a small community surrounded by large industrial complexes. Most of the residents in neighborhood were low income. During the 2003-2004 school year, 5% of the students were American Indian, 3% of the students were Asian, 7% were Black, 19% were Hispanic, and 67% were White. According to the Clark Elementary School website, as of October 1, 2003, the languages spoken were 79% English, 11% Spanish, 6% Russian, 3% Ukrainian, 1% Vietnamese, and 2% other. In 1998 the district began to build a new school in order to replace the old one. A advisory group was formed consisting of members from community organizations, government agencies, the local church, the neighborhood association, the Clark Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), educators from Elementary School, and school district personnel to provide input for development of new school. The school was finally completed in 2002. Data Collection This research was qualitative in nature. Data was collected from the participants in three ways: Observation Interviews Document Reviews Observation:The author acted like a participant observer for before and after school programs, Read and play programs and awards assembly to which all families had been invited. Interviews: Semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with educators, family workers, and parents from Clark Elementary School. 4 administrators were interviewed including the principal, the district consultant, The family Liaison coordinator and the Family Services coordinator. 6 teachers were interviewed, 6 parents were interviewed. For interviews snowball sampling was used. Source:http://www.featurepics.com/FI/Thumb300/20090704/Interview-1236952.jpg Document Reviews: Documents reviewed pertained mostly to the development process for the new school. All materials collected during the design process were examined and all references to the school in the local paper were reviewed. In addition, the school website and monthly newsletters were reviewed. source:http://blogs.adobe.com/acrolaw/files/2011/01/00_quick_review_illustration.png Findings A Foundation of Understanding: Since the school architecture and its programs were developed keeping the opinions of the communities, parents and members of community associations. After the school opened teachers and staff were made to understand the life circumstances of school families. This helped teachers understand parents more and reduced the probability of teachers blaming parents when their children faced academic difficulties and instead has increased the desire for teachers to assist the children. A Broad Definition: A definition of parental involvement emerged at the school which recognized a wide array of behaviors of involvement such as receipt of social services or picking up food or clothing at Family Resource centre. These behaviors also included the learning activities families engaged in while at home. Creating Intentional Parental Involvement Strategies: The intentional parental involvement strategies were designed in two distinct ways: Strategies to Provide Services: During initial meetings after considering the needs of neighborhood families it was decided to make the school in a community center style so as to provide services for low income families. The family resource center in the school helped connect parents with the various activities in school and also provide them with many facilities including computers, free food and clothing provided by government agencies. Strategies to Enhance Parental Involvement: The Clark Committee had designed parental involvement plans based on broad definition of parent involvement and on foundation of understanding. These strategies included inviting parents to school conferences, family nights and access resources offered by Family Resource Centers. All these services were found to have a positive impact of parent involvement and hence positively impacted Clark Elementary School. Benefits of Parental Involvement: Interviewers described better parent involvement leading to academic success. Teachers found that students were more motivated and had better self confidence as a result of parent involvement. Parents also were found to have other benefits of involvement other than academic ones and they could feel themselves part of a community. Recommendations Following things are recommended in this study: In order to develop strategies for parent involvement in low income schools it would be better to input the advice of neighbors and interested agency representatives in order to understand the lives of people the school shall serve. If we can get a clear understanding of the lives of their school families, we ought to encourage definition of parental involvement which would acknowledge a wide list of parental behaviors that lead to academic success. Educators serving low-income populations must consider offering services to the families of their students, thereby bringing parents into the school buildings. Full-service schools can provide services based on the understanding of the needs of the neighborhood, intended to meet the needs of low-income school families. Educators should invite the input and participation of community agencies, businesses, and faith-based groups in any efforts to meet the needs of school families. Offering the opportunity to provide input can encourage them to own the process and make them have a long term participation in the process Educators need to accept that parents may not choose to be involved in education in commonly accepted ways. Conclusion The main point of the article is that a better understanding of the community needs is a must for forming a better definition of parent involvement for the community. Hence, Educators working in low-income communities need a willingness to learn about their student populations and a high degree of commitment to school families in order to better formulate parent involvement strategies in schools. The author has used qualitative research methods to show a relationship between better understanding of the community by the school for introducing steps to increase parent involvement at the college. However, the main problem lies here in the sampling for interviews. Here snowball sampling is being used. This should have been avoided as snowball samples are hardly representatives of target populations and are just used for exploratory purposes. Since data for teachers and parents could have been made available by the school I this case, Using that data could have lead to a better sample cou ld have been prepared that would have been more representative of the population at hand. As it stands the study can be considered a good starting point of research for introducing steps for parent involvement in low income schools. Bibliography Smith, J. G. (2006). Parental Involvement in Education Among Low-Income Families: A Case Study. School Community Journal , 43.

History of Architecture from Ancient world

Discus the early development of urban architecture in the ancient Near East, with specific reference to one or two cities in the ‘Fertile Crescent. ‘ The history of civilization has been one of the most significant fields of study for a very long time. After the agriculture revolution the number of population grow rapidly, civilizations were formed and cities were being built to accommodate the growing populations of the ancient civilization. Architecture has always been a vital part of the civilizations throughout the history of mankind.As Nations become powerful and prosperous their Architecture becomes more dominant by building rater cities, public splendor and religious monuments. From the birth of civilizations until now many civilizations have appeared and disappeared from the face of the earth for various reasons. The ones that have survived and claim their existence have carried out their identity, culture and Architecture from their ancestors. Those civilizations that have vanished due to foreign invasions or other unknown reasons have left us their ancient cities and Architecture that need to be discovered.A great example that we can refer to is the Ancient Near East, where one f the earliest human civilizations were living in. It is told that the Sumerians were the first civilization that once lived in Mesopotamia which is in Ancient near east and worlds first cities also developed in here which includes Summer (Our) and Babylon (Wildfowl & Matthews, n. D. ) In this Essay I will be focusing on the urban development and Architecture of the Ancient civilizations which includes the Sumerians and the Babylonians that were based in Mesopotamia the lands of Fertile Crescent.The Ancient Near East which is now known as the Middle East was the birth place of he civilization, It was here in Mesopotamia where the world's first civilization (Sumerians) claimed their existence (Wildfowl & Matthews, n. D. ) The Sumerians lived in Mesopotamia (a fertile land between the Tigris River and Euphrates River in the Ancient Near East). These two rivers were very important for the Sumerian Civilization because of agriculture and trade, since it was one of the main routs of their economy.The Sumerians were the first civilizations that farmed in large scale â€Å"It was here that the first farmers learned to cultivate grain, growing what they needed ether than gathering wild varieties†(Wildfowl & Matthews, n. D. ) Following the agriculture revelation and a great increase in population led to the multiplication of large communal centers of an urban character (Lamp, n. D. , BC. 8) As it is still apparent that when a nation becomes powerful and prosperous their architecture becomes more prominent and there cities become more complex.Following the agriculture revelation the Sumerian economy grow rapidly and at the same time cities were taking shape and also public splendor and religious monuments were merging from the middle of the citie s. â€Å"For the people of Ancient near east there cities meant more than Just a city for them, it was a complex that only a god could have created it and according to the ideal concept of the people in the ancient near east, cities did not develop in slow growth, to paraphrase the cosmogony: there was time when the city had not been made†¦ And then the city was made† (Lamp, n. D. , p. ) The Sumerians built their cities around a huge monumental religious building with a tower that can be seen from up to km away. They built the high tower (Gujarat) n the middle of the city that the farmers far away could still see their house of God and for the Sumerians the Gujarat was a connection between their city and the havens. The city was enclosed by a wall that was surrounded by farms and villages. It is very important to understand the history of Architecture and planning before we could make any comment about the relationship between modern Architecture and ancient Architecture .The western Architecture that can be mentioned as a â€Å"modern Architecture† derived from the Architecture of the very first civilizations in Mesopotamia (Watkins, 2005, p. ) The city of Our is one of the most famous Ancient Cities of the Sumerians therefore it can be mentioned as a typical Sumerian Urban Architecture example. Similar to the other Sumerian cities the city of Our also had a Gujarat (a huge religious monumental building) in the middle of the main city, it is estimated that it took at least 1500 men 5 years Just to build its base.The main city of Our that was an enclosed area of 89 hectares with estimated population 34,000 people was surrounded by a huge mud-brick retaining wall that had another wall at the top which was built out of burnt-bricks. The size and population of the Our city including the towns and near suburbs that was situated outside the wall of the city was huge. As the author George R. Collins mentioned in his book (Cities and planning in the Ancient Near East) â€Å"Greater Our with its suburbs, merchant quarters and dependencies might have been a City of a quarter million people. (Lamp, n. D. , p. 15) The Architecture of the houses behind the city wall was very similar to each other; they were built out of mud-brick and they all had low doors and a few air vents in order to keep the interior cool in the summer. None of the houses was aligned with heir neighbors â€Å"the orientation of the buildings is non uniformed, with some designed to face the circular roadways and others positioned in what appears to be a more ad hoc fashion†(Asana & Herrmann, 2010, p. 6) Considering the layout, design and materials of the Mesopotamia cities and houses it becomes clear that the people of Mesopotamia were moderately conservative in terms of their approach to planning their cities and buildings(Lamp, n. D. , p. 17) Babylon the capital of Babylonian situated on the old Euphrates in Mesopotamia which is a part of modern day I raq is one of the ancient cities that stands equally with Athens and Rome as a culture ancestor of the western civilization.It was one of the large cities of its time that had a population of around half a million people including the suburbs and towns outside the city wall (Sags, 2000, p. 26) The city and its temples were destroyed many times by foreign invaders and were frequently rebuilt because of its religious importance. The city of Babylon too like other cities in the ancient Near East had its own Architecture and planning identity, it was here that brick was widely used for religious and monumental buildings. Excavation in Iraq as revealed the city grid plan with its double walls, towers and canal connecting it to the river, as well as the foundations of brick built Temples, Palaces, fortifications and the famous Gujarat†(Watkins, 2005, up. 18-20) The city had a rectangular shape with an area of 404. 8 Hectares that was surrounded by a double fortification wall approxi mately mm in width with a mm cavity area in between that were reinforced by strong towers and a moat.The city had 8 main gates that lead to major streets behind the city walls and the main streets that leads to the city are paved â€Å"the main approach to the city was from a wide paved road now known as the processional way' (Watkins, 2005) The hanging gardens that were arranged around five enormous courtyards and the massive walls of Babylon were once counted amongst the 7 wonders of the ancient world (Watkins, 2005, p. 12) Monumental and Residential buildings of the Ancient Near East As I mentioned above that most of the ancient cities were quite similar to each other in terms planning, the residential housing planning was not very different too.A typical city in the Ancient Near East would have had a monumental building in the middle of the itty with residential buildings surrounding it. According to the excavators there was a planning idea that was followed when building durin g the fourth millennium B. C. â€Å"The plan shows that there has been great concern for balance and symmetry in the layout of the single buildings and their fades, but there is little regard for the alignment of the temples or their relationship to one another. (Lamp, n. D. , p. 19) This reinforces the idea that the overall compositional principal was undermined as long as the individual buildings were planned considering symmetry, axes and balance. Their concern for formal planning, symmetry and axial approach is never consistently carried trough but is only applied to parts of the building† (Movement, AFAIK, & Woodlouse, 2003) Letter the Babylonians adopted the same fundamentals of the Mesopotamia planning without bringing any minor changes to it.The residential planning on the other hand was very basic, a town or a suburb was growing from a single house, and even the cities were developing in the same manner. The conclusion is that there was no difference between grown ci ties and planned cities. At the same time there is one principle that has always remained throughout the story of ancient planning which is the orientation of the buildings. Most of the buildings in the Ancient Near East face North West where the most pleasant wind comes from.Following the agriculture revelation for the first time in the ancient Near East, the number of population grow in the region and trade was becoming more common through the Tigris River and Euphrates River. Ancient Near East was home to the world's first civilization and it was here that city planning and monumental buildings first appeared. Some of the architecture in the ancient Near East was counted amongst the 7 wonders of the ancient world which includes the hanging gardens in the Assyrian city and the massive walls of the Babylon city.

The Handmaids Tale - 1234 Words

Deisy Monterrozo English 101 S26487 Fall 2017 September 20, 2017 The Handmaids Tale Margaret Atwood s novel, The Handmaid s Tale, is a future version of the United States. Atwood introduces Offred as a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. Handmaids are assigned to bear children for couples who have trouble conceiving. Offred serves the commander and his wife, Serena Joy. Offred s freedom is completely restricted. She can only leave the house on shopping trips, the door of her room cannot be completely shut, and the Eyes, Gilead s secret police force, watch her every public move. Offred tells the story of her daily life, frequently slipping to flashbacks that are portions of her life from before and during the start of the†¦show more content†¦Serena Joy, she used to be a powerful woman, but Galilea s government seems without freedom or choice. She worked as a gospel singer and anti-feminist activist and crusader for traditional values in Pre-Gilead times. After that, she used to give speeches as a television personality who promoted an ant i-feminist about the sanctity of the home she was advocating the women return to the home and submission to their husbands. Now, she s the commander s wife. Atwood makes it obvious how unhappy she is in the current domestic situation, acting as a wife, she is broken inside. This unhappiness derives from the restrictive and male-dominated society. Gilead s society cannot bring happiness even to its most powerful women. Only men have the freedom of reading, and while he is in the room he opens the Bible and reads a verse that Serena Joy is identified with, Give me children, or else I die. Am I in God s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? Behold my maid Bilhah. She shall bear fruit upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. (88) This verse in the bible is talking about how she wants to bear children. In Gilead, they make their people believe that if they cannot have children, then they should die. If Serena could not bear children, she will be sent to th e colonies to die. Atwood shows us that Offred has not freedom of choice and sheShow MoreRelatedHandmaids tale1446 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Marlyn Barroso ETS 192 October 3rd, 2013 Hierarchy in The HandMaid s Tale Margaret Atwood s The Handmaid s Tale is a interesting novel that will have you confused but also have you bitting your nails with intrigue. So many questions might go in your head, at the same time; Atwood wrote this novel so her readers can have curiosity, even after reading the last word of the last paragraph of the last page of the book. One of the main topics of this novel is the effect on society when aRead MoreThe Handmaids Tale1450 Words   |  6 PagesJames Fils-Aime The Handmaid s Tale Fact or Fiction The Handmaid s Tale is a dystopian novel in which Atwood creates a world which seems absurd and near impossible. Women being kept in slavery only to create babies, cult like religious control over the population, and the deportation of an entire race, these things all seem like fiction. However Atwood s novel is closer to fact than fiction; all the events which take place in the story haveRead MoreThe Handmaids Tale1256 Words   |  6 PagesDeisy Monterrozo English 101 S26487 Fall 2017 September 20, 2017 The handmaids Tale Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, is about a future version of the United States. Atwood introduces Offred as a handmaid in the republic of Gilead. Handmaids are assigned to bear children for couples that have trouble conceiving. Offred serves the commander and his wife, Serena Joy. Offred’s freedom is complete restricted. She can only leave the house only on shopping trips, the door of her room cannotRead MoreThe Handmaids Tale1246 Words   |  5 PagesThe handmaids Tale Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, is about a future version of the United States. Atwood introduces Offred as a handmaid in the republic of Gilead. Handmaids are assigned to bear children for couples that have trouble conceiving. Offred serves the commander and his wife, Serena Joy. Offred’s freedom is complete restricted. She can only leave the house only on shopping trips, the door of her room cannot be completely shut, and the Eyes, Gilead’s secret police forceRead MoreSymbolism In The Handmaids Tale1025 Words   |  5 PagesThe Handmaid’s Tale The Handmaid’s Tale is a story told in the voice of Offred, who is the character of the â€Å"handmaid†, which is described best by women who are being forced and used for reproduction because they can make babies. In the Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood uses symbolism, which is the use of symbols to represent ideas, to show the reader the handmaid’s role in society of Gilead. 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This is a quote which states that religion controls the human mind because God can see everything at all times, all-seeing, and unlike the police or the government nothing can be hidden from God. This is the technique of control that is used in Gilead. The punishments given from the government and from religious societies are different. The government gives punishments as time in prison or fines which canRead MoreEssay on Handmaids Tale3088 Words   |  13 Pages Many of the principles of Gilead are based on Old Testament beliefs. Discuss Atwoods use of biblical allusions and their political significance in the novel. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; ‘The Handmaids Tale’ is a book full of biblical allusions, before Atwood begins the text an epigraph gives us an extract from Genesis 30: 1-3 â€Å"And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 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Most dystopian novels contain themes of corruption and oppression, therefore in both ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ language is obviously used as a form of the states control, enabling dystopian leaders to remain in power by manipulating language to restrict free thought. Orwell and Atwood have utilized language as a key tool of oppression throughout their novels. The use of language is

Teaching Notes Al Ain Dairy - 881 Words

Teaching Notes: Al Ain Dairy Prepared by Dr. Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan This case can be used to teach marketing strategy, retail management, branding, customer value, competitive analysis, and even international business strategy. A better understanding of the demographics and geography of UAE is required. The following websites are good places for students to get on overall understanding of the context. Information on UAE and its Strategic Priorities xan be found at the following websites: http://www.uaeinteract.com/; http://www.ameinfo.com/; http://www.uae-embassy.org/business-trade/trade-export; information on logistics: read Basit, A. (2010), â€Å"UAE Top Logistics Hub in the Gulf†, Khaleej Times, dated 16 January, Available:†¦show more content†¦Students can develop a new product and the marketing mix for the same. Q2. Recommend a branding strategy for Al Ain Dairy. Students can develop a brand strategy and help organize existing and future portfolio of products by creating a systematic brand architecture. Country of Origin and Brand of Origin are two new emerging research areas. Students can research these areas and suggest ways Al Ain Dairy can use this to their advantage in entering into the GCC region and expanding beyond. Q. 3. Prioritize goals into long-term and short-term goals. Strategically students can prioritize goals into short-term goals (next six months) and long term goals (over the next 3-4 years). You can give them certain constraints – production, trade barriers (import and exports), and look at seasonalities – Ramadan and Eid are big religious seasons here. You can explore the meaning of â€Å"Halal Foods† to understand the impact in international and local markets. Q 4. If Al Ain Dairy was to expand operations into neighboring countries, looking at both forward and backward integration what options would you suggest? If Al Ain Dairy is looking at exporters and wants to ensure its quality what options are available? What quality control mechanisms need to be put in place? What products would you recommend? Here students are recommended to download a map of the UAE and neighboring GCC areas and consider logistics options keeping in mind restrictions like expiry datesShow MoreRelatedUAE Consumer Lifestyle Analysis42818 Words   |  172 Pagespopular amongst health-conscious UAE consumers, including dance classes and â€Å"boot camps† that allow individuals to get fit fast. Health-conscious consumers in the UAE have also sparked increased demand for organic foods. Kuwait-based food manufacturer Al Yasra Food is investing US$50million and US$100million over the next five to 10 years to expand its organic division in the UAE, and it’s expected others will eventually do the same. At the same time, health-conscious UAE consumers are concerned thatRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Whetten, David A. (David Allred) Developing management skills /David A. Whetten, Kim S. Cameron.—8th ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-13-612100-8 1. Management—-Study and teaching. 2. Management—Problems, exercises, etc. Kim S. II. Title. HD30.4.W46 2011 658.40071 173—dc22 I. Cameron, 2009040522 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 ISBN 10: 0-13-612100-4 ISBN 13: 978-0-13-612100-8 B R I E F TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Preface