Social Stratification Essay

A. What is Social Stratification? 1. Social stratification is defined as a system by which society ranks classs of people in a hierarchy a. There are four cardinal rules of stratification: †¢ Social stratification is a characteristic of society — non merely due to single differences †¢ Social stratification persists over coevalss †¢ Yet. most societies allow some kind of societal mobility or alterations in people’s place in a system of societal stratification †¢ Social mobility may be upward. downward. or horizontal †¢ Social stratification is cosmopolitan but variable ( it changes ) †¢ Social stratification involves both inequality and beliefs 2. Social Stratification is patterned societal inequality. It is besides the unequal distribution of social resources. Stating that inequality is patterned indicates that the differences occur: a. on a wide-scale footing b. with regularity c. and along lines of certain specific. identifiable features ( race. category. and gender ) 3. Stratification is normally based on three major premises: a. Power: the ability to enforce one’s will on others b. Prestige: the regard given by othersc. Property: signifiers of wealth 4. Patterned: if we know whether a individual or group possesses or does non possess certain traits. so we will be able to foretell with sensible truth how this individual or group is likely to do in the societal hierarchy a. Social Hierarchy: A set of graded positions 5. Social Inequality: Some types of people consistently experience advantages in society while other types of people are consistently disadvantaged in our society a. Some members of our society are thought of as rich persons. and others are thought of as poor persons. B. The finding of who is socially advantaged and who is included among the ranks of the socially disadvantaged is based. in portion. on certain features these persons possess and. in portion. on how society values or devalues these features 6. Social stratification affects people’s lives and can be manifested in assorted ways in society. 7. Social Inequality is a structured and systematic phenomenon that affects people in assorted societal categories throughout their lives. a. Because of this patterned inequality. societal stratification affects people’s life opportunities: †¢ Life Opportunities: Opportunities that persons do or make no hold to prosecute in certain activities. and the chances that the y do or make non hold to carry through certain ends merely because of where they are located in the societal hierarchy ( ex. Smart kids born into wealth vs. hapless households ) B. Caste and Class Systems †¢ People are divided into different groupings and their lives are structured harmonizing to these groupings. There are certain things that some people can non make. merely because their station in life prevents them from being able to make them. †¢ Other people. in a different societal stratum. are able to make these things specifically because they occupy a more favourable place in the societal hierarchy. †¢ Depending on how much single mobility is possible ; societies may be classified as either a caste system or a category system. 1. A caste system amounts to societal stratification based on attribution a. A caste system consists of a fixed agreement of strata from the most to the least privileged. with a person’s place determined unchangeably at birth. B. The most extended modern-day illustration of a caste system is found in India. particularly in rural countries. c. Caste favoritism is officially illegal but exists however. The traditional castes of India: †¢ Brahmans: largely priests and bookmans.†¢ Kshatriyas: warriors. swayers. and big landowners†¢ Vaishyas: merchandisers. husbandmans. and skilled craftsmans.†¢ Sudras: labourers and unskilled craftsmans.†¢ Untouchables: Sometimes called â€Å"untouchables. † they are ranked so low that. technically. they are outside the caste system itself. d. Caste boundaries in India are reinforced farther by the pattern of ritual pollution or ritual turning away. e. A caste system may be determined by many cultural and cultural factors. European imperial powers in Africa imposed a caste system based on skin colour: all Whites were in a higher place or caste than any nonwhite f. Caste systems form people’s lives in four important ways: †¢ Caste system mostly determines business†¢ Caste systems mostly mandate intermarriages†¢ Powerful cultural beliefs underlie caste systems†¢ Caste systems limit out group societal contacts g. Although caste influences remains strong in India. the state of affairs is altering due to communicating. transit. industrialisation. and the growing of a in-between category. 2. In a category system. societal stratification is based on single accomplishment a. Class Systems. Peoples who can be considered equals in society because of their similar life opportunities. similar life fortunes. and similar chances. represent a societal category. †¢ In a category system societal standing is determined by factors over which people can exercise some control. and some mobility does take topographic point. B. In a category system. position incompatibility. the grade of consistence of a person’s societal standing across assorted dimensions of societal inequality. is lower than in a caste system c. Structural societal mobility: a displacement in societal place of big Numberss of people due more to alterations in society itself than single attempts ( Ex. Computer Industry ) d. Stra tification persists because it is backed up by an political orientation: cultural beliefs that straight or indirectly justify societal stratification e. Ideological support for inequality. An political orientation or form of beliefs justifies societal inequality in the Unites States. which legitimizes or justifies a peculiar social agreement. †¢ Ideological Hegemony: Refers to the control over the production of cultural symbols. †¢ One of Karl Marx’s celebrated quotation marks is: â€Å"the governing thoughts of any era are the thoughts of the opinion category because they control the mental agencies of production. †¢ Thus. the elite has many arms at their disposal in order to maintain society and the lower categories under control. Two of the chief ways are the usage of force. and the mass media. †¢ Force: utilize the constabulary. military. National Guard. FBI. etc. †¢ In the long tally. it depends on legitimacy in order to keep stratification. †¢ This is the belief that bing societal and political establishments are the best one’s for society. †¢ All opinion elect uses their pla ce at the top of society to make an political orientation. †¢ This is a complex set of beliefs. values. and norms. which rationalize and back up the elite’s power and privileges. †¢ The dominant or most of import and valued thoughts in history have been the thoughts of the opinion category. †¢ The Government or large corporations do non needfully command the mass media. but the opinion category does act upon what sort of information we get and what sort of thoughts we listen to. †¢ Anti-government and Anti-business positions are seldom expressed. and Hollywood gives us its portion of who are enemies are: both foreign and in this state. †¢ Most of the media gives the same messages of free endeavor. equality of chance. individuality. difficult work. and consumerism. †¢ This political orientation. taught through the mass media. is used by the elite to confound. distract. and split the lower categories. †¢ Marx argued that the category in power imposes its political orientation on the full society. and that false consciousness occurs when people in a category accept an political orientation that is contrary to the best involvement of that category. †¢ Marx argued that false consciousness will be until the exploited stratum develops a sense of category consciousness. at which clip the stratum will go a true societal category and get down disputing the governing category. C. The Functions of Social Stratification 1. The Davis-Moore thesis is the averment that societal stratification is a cosmopolitan form because it has good effects for the operation of society 2. This thesis implies that societies become more productive as they approach meritocracy: a system of societal stratification based on personal virtue 3. Criticisms of Davis-Moore: a. It is hard to stipulate the functional importance of a given business †¢ Some are over/under rewarded ( EX. Baseball participant. entertainer vs. instructor. refuse aggregator ) b. Davis-Moore ignores how societal stratification can forestall the development of single endowments c. The theory besides disregard how societal inequality may advance struggle and revolution ( instability ) D. Stratification and Conflict 1. Karl Max: Class and Conflict a. Marx proverb categories as defined by people’s relationship to the agencies of production †¢ Capitalists ( middle class ) are people who own mills and other productive concern †¢ The labor are people who sell their productive labour to the capitalists b. Critical rating: †¢ Marx’s theory has been tremendously influential †¢ His work has been criticized for neglecting to acknowledge that a system of unequal wagess may be necessary to actuate people to execute their societal functions efficaciously 2. Three grounds suggested why Western Capitalism has non experienced a Marxist revolution: a. The capitalist category has fragmented and grown in size. giving more people a interest in the system B. The labor has besides changed †¢ Blue-collar businesss. lower prestigiousness work affecting largely manual labour. have declined †¢ White-collar businesss. higher prestige work affecting largely mental activity. have expanded c. Workers are better organized than they were in Marx’s twenty-four hours – their brotherhoods have been able to contend for reform d. The authorities has extended assorted legal protections to workers e. Supporters of Marxist idea have responded: †¢ Wealth remains extremely concentrated †¢ White-collar occupations offer no more income. security. satisfaction than blue-collar occupations did a century ago †¢ Class struggle continues between workers and direction †¢ The Torahs still favor the rich 3. Max Weber identified three distinguishable dimensions of stratification: Class. position. and power a. Max Weber argued that societal standing consists ( Of three parts or dimensions: category. which he regarded every bit determined chiefly by economic standing or wealth ; party. which was tantamount to political power ; and position. or societal prestigiousness and award. B. Following Weber. many sociologists use the term socioeconomic position: a composite ranking based on assorted dimensions of societal inequality — instruction. business. income †¢ Socioeconomic position. Following Weber’s lead. modern-day sociologists frequently use the broader construct of socioeconomic position to mention to a person’s ranking along several societal dimensions. peculiarly instruction. occupational prestigiousness. and income †¢ Education. Education can take to income attainment. but the benefits are non every bit shared by racial and cultural minorities. or by adult females. †¢ Wealth consists of consists of the entire sum of money and valuable goods that a individual or household controls †¢ It is more unevenly distributed than income †¢ assets. such as existent estate and gems. and †¢ income consists of occupational rewards or wages and net incomes from investings †¢ Occupational Prestige: Occupation serves as a cardinal beginning of societal prestigiousness since we normally evaluate each other harmonizing to what we do †¢ Because there are so many specific businesss. sociologists frequently categorize businesss into a smaller figure: †¢ White-collar†¢ Professional. director. and decision maker†¢ Technical†¢ Clerical†¢ Blue-collar†¢ Craft. preciseness production. and fix†¢ Operative†¢ Labor ( excepting farm )†¢ Farm worker †¢ If this strategy is excessively unmanageable. sociologists frequently divide businesss into two classs: white-collar and bluecollar. †¢ The pink neckband is a class that reflects the segregation of adult females into certain businesss. such as kindergarten instructors and secretaries. †¢ High incomes normally are associated with high-prestige businesss. but there are exclusions. †¢ Sociologists sometimes use the term prestigiousness to intend the award associated with an business or other place in the societal system. and esteem to intend the award that accrues to the single make fulling the place. c. Critical rating: Weber’s positions have been widely accepted in the United States although difficult economic times may ta ke to a renewed accent on the importance of economic categories E. Inequality in the United States †¢ US society is extremely graded. but many people underestimate the extent of structured inequality in US society †¢ Power is besides unevenly distributed†¢ Schooling†¢ Ancestry. race. and gender 1. Sociologists normally conceptualize American society as dwelling either of three or nine distinguishable societal categories: a. In the three-class theoretical account. society is divided into a lower category. a in-between category. and an upper category B. In the nine-class theoretical account. each of these categories is farther divided into three subclasses: lower-lower. middle-lower. lower-middle. middle-middle. etc. 2. Measurement of category. To mensurate societal category standing. sociologists have developed three chief methods: a. the nonsubjective method ranks persons into categories on the footing of steps such as instruction. income. and occupational prestigiousness ; b. the reputational method topographic points people into assorted societal categories on the footing of repute in the community category ; and c. Self- designation allows people to put themselves in a societal category. c. The lower categories. †¢ The upper-lower category. besides called the on the job category. consists of service forces. semiskilled secret agents. and other blue-collar workers who do non gain plenty to roll up significant nest eggs. These people are vulnerable to breaks in their income. †¢ The lower-lower category is made up of people who lack instruction and unrecorded in the most bedraggled subdivisions of the community and in deficient lodging. †¢ The lower-lower category may be divided into two subgroups: †¢ The on the job hapless are lower-lower-class people who have occupations but who merely can non gain an equal income ; and †¢ The inveterate hapless are largely unemployed or work merely on occasion. 4. Class. race. and gender. These three dimensions frequently interact to bring forth a person’s topographic point in society. the mode in which people are treated. and their ego identify. F. The difference category makes a. Class and wellnessB. Class and valuesc. Class and political relationsd. Class. household. and gender G. The Myth and the Reality of Mobility in the United States †¢ Amount of mobility. Sociologists often focus on the intergenerational mobility of persons: upward and downward motions in socioeconomic position measured between the standing of kids compared to that of their parents. 1. Myth versus world a. Four general decisions†¢ Social mobility. at least among work forces. has been high†¢ The long-run tendency in societal mobility has been upward†¢ Within a individual coevals. societal mobility is normally incremental. Not dramatic†¢ The short-run tendency has been stagnancy. with some income polarisationb. Mobility varies by income degreec. Mobility besides varies by race. ethnicity. and gender1. Determinants of mobility†¢ Social Mobility: The motion of individuals and groups within the stratification system. a. Steepness of the socioeconomic pyramid: that there are non plenty high position occupations to fulfill everyone. B. Get downing place on the socioeconomic ladder: some people begin closer to the top than others. c. Structural mobility: the motion of full classs of people due to alterations in society itself. d. Types of mobility †¢ Upward and downward†¢ Intragenerational societal mobility is a alteration in societal place happening during a person’s life-time†¢ Intergenerational societal mobility is upward or downward societal mobility of kids in relation to their parents 2. Social stratification can be determined by a figure of variables. each of which can do person to be advantaged or disadvantaged compared to others in society. a. It is non needfully the impact of any one variable in U. S. society that leads to stratification – it is a alone combination of stratification-related factors that determines how one succeeds in society. B. Some of these traits are within our control. others we have small control over ( ascribed vs. achieved ) Who can state me which is which? †¢ Major ascribed societal stratifiers: race. sex. and age †¢ Major achieved societal stratifiers ( instruction. income. business. faith. etc. ) SOCIAL stratification is the chief ground for relational set of inequalities in economic. societal. political and ideological dimensions. It is a system whereby people rank and evaluate each other. On the footing of such rating. one is rewarded with more wealth. authorization. power and prestigiousness. It is loosely organised into three parts: upper category. in-between category and lower category on the footing of power and wealth. This has resulted in the creative activity of a figure of degrees within our society. Social stratification causes societal disparity and many jobs as it is an unfair system with monopoly of power and wealth in a peculiar group. It affects life opportunities. life styles and prestigiousness. It creates emotional emphasis and depression for the people belonging to take down societal stratum as they have unequal entree to wealth. power and prestigiousness. It creates a immense gulf between the people in footings of their incomes and a scope of steps associated with societal place. instruction. wellness. and psychological wellbeing. It is clearly perceived that disparity causes pandemonium in society. These are the faltering blocks in the manner to come on and development of the state.

Symptoms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Medical history has been filled with an array of diseases and illnesses, ranging from the common cold to deadly killers. Some are easily treatable and others can be terminal, but some of the worst are those that still remain without a cure; one such disease is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a degenerative disease affecting the human nervous system. It is a deadly disease that cripples and kills its victims due to a breakdown in the body's motor neurons. Motor neurons are nerve cells in the brainstem and spinal cord that control muscle contractions. In ALS, these neurons deteriorate to a point that all movement, including breathing, halts. Muscle weakness first develops in the muscles of body parts distant from the brain, such as the hands, and subsequently spreads through other muscle groups closer to the brain. Such early symptoms as this, however, can hardly be noticed. Early symptoms of ALS are very slight and often overlooked. They begin as simple things, such as tripping or dropping things. Twitching or cramping of muscles and abnormal fatigue of the arms and legs may soon follow, causing difficulty in daily activities, such as walking or dressing. In more advanced stages, however, shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing and swallowing ensue, until the body is completely taken over by the disease. Intellect, eye motion, bladder function, and sensation are the only abilities spared. Where and how this deadly disease originated is unknown, but it was first identified in 1869, by the noted French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. ALS is not contagious, but research is still vague on the cause of the disease. Today, there are three recognized forms of ALS: genetic, sporadic, and Guamanian. The genetic form of ALS appears to be inherited or passed down within a family, and about ten percent of ALS patients have a family history of the disease. An abnormal gene has been located in about half these families, but the cause of the remaining half is still unknown. The next, most common form, is sporadic ALS. These patients have no family history of disease, and the cause of their coming down with ALS is a mystery. Finally, is Guamanian ALS, called this because a high percentage of cases occur in the Pacific Islands near Guam. One major reason ALS is such a frightening disease is because no cure has been established. Although no effective treatment has been developed, a number of drug trials have been conducted, and there are some devices designed to help ALS patients maintain independence as well as safety as the disease progresses. These devices include ankle or foot braces, cervical collars, and reclining chairs. Since there is no cure, however, the primary treatment is for management of symptoms. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is also a difficult disease to diagnose, primarily because no one test can definitely establish if the disease is present. A diagnosis includes most, if not all, of the following procedures: electrodiagnostic tests, blood and urinary study, thyroid and parathyroid hormone levels, spinal tap and imaging, and muscular or nerve biopsy. Most who develop ALS are between the ages of forty and seventy years of age, although cases have been reported of victims in their twenties and thirties. It was once thought to be a rare disease, but studies have shown that about 5,000 people in the United States are newly-diagnosed with ALS each year–about 13 new cases a day! It isn estimated that about 100,000 people who are apparently well in the country today will die with ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is also popularly known as Lou Gehrig disease. Lou Gehrig was a famous baseball player in the 1930's for the New York Yankees. Once known as baseball's â€Å"Ironman†, Lou Gehrig was truly a sports legend. His promising career came to a screeching halt, however, when he was diagnosed with ALS. The disease not only took away his career in baseball, but his life; Lou Gehrig died at the young age of thirty-eight. In conclusion, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a deadly and frightening disease; its victims cannot be saved. Someday, hopefully, a cure will be developed, and the suffering this disease is causing will be stopped.

A View of Strategic Hrm in a New Zealand Corporate

| Strategic HRM It’s More Than Just a Policy| A view of Strategic HRM in a New Zealand Corporate| | Glenn Duncan – 0705186| 11/8/2011| | *NB: Something, Something Else, Something Else 2, Outside, Thingy, Doublecheck and Hirethem are all pseudonyms. Executive Summary: In this paper I aim to highlight the importance of ensuring that all aspects of the Strategic HRM policy of an organisation are functioning. This will enable the organisation to gain the maximum benefit from its investment in HRM and the resulting motivated and engaged employees. Job satisfaction is related to goal efficacy, management support, performance appraisal review, rewards, organisatioanl facilitation and clarity of goals; (Lee C, 1991). To be effective in any Strategic HRM policy an organisation not only has to â€Å"Talk the Talk’ they have to ensure they â€Å"Walk the Walk† right down to the perceived lowest levels of the corporate ladder. The corporate I was employed at generally had a very good Strategic HRM system; unfortunately there were issues with its execution in some parts of the business. I will highlight three areas in my experience as a line manager where the division I was in was less than adequate at â€Å"Walking the Walk†, and the effect I felt this had on my team’s performance in the key areas of goal setting, performance management and personal development. Poor planning, ineffective goal setting, a dysfunctional reporting system and lack of cohesion in line management and HR and impersonal development are major roadblocks to the success in achieving the HRM goals of an organisation. My findings were that to ensure a HRM plan is effective an organisation has to ensure that it has sufficient suitably skilled and resourced HR experts and line managers, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and timely (SMART) goals, supported by a reporting system that is both robust and accurate. Just having a Strategic HRM policy in place doesn’t give you the strategic advantage an organisation needs to compete in today’s markets, ensuring that it is effective from the boardroom down to the lowest rung on the corporate ladder does. Introduction: Something * is a fully owned subsidiary of the Something Else* under Something Else 2*, the consumer brands arm of the corporate, based in Melbourne Australia. Something* is a strong market leader and operates in the competitive Thingy* market in New Zealand. The department within Something* this paper will focus on is the Field Sales Team in the Outside *department. The Other* department markets nothing products to any retail or foodservice outlet that is not a supermarket. Other* channel contributes 20% of the volume, but over 50% of the gross margin. Something Else* as a corporate organisation operates what would be considered a world leading Strategic Human Resource Management policies and practices. This is evidenced by the inclusion of a board sub- committee whom assist the Board in fulfilling its corporate governance responsibilities in relation to the recruitment, retention, remuneration policies and to promote a safe and healthy working environment. Something Else* overall corporate strategy is developed by the Executive Committee, an eight member team from various disciplines lead by the CEO. The executive committee includes the Group Director Human Resources whose role includes responsibility for Something else*16,800 (Full Time Equivalent) staff worldwide with a focus on recruitment, reward strategy, capability management, organisational development, health and safety, training and employee relations. Fonterra seeks feedback from its employees through regular engagement surveys and forming various committees to ensure employee considerations are taken into account on numerous different levels. Something Else* factory workers in generally under collective agreements. Something Else’s* salaried staff are on individual employment contracts, and are performance managed using an HR framework known as Doublecheck*. This framework drives performance, development, succession, talent management and recruitment processes. It incorporates Something Else’s* performance objectives and values and links through to remuneration. The outcomes of Doublecheck*are designed to create opportunities for Something Else’s* people to develop both as individuals and in their careers. Something Else* outsources some of its HR functions including recruitment of salaried staff to organisations such as Hirethem*. The performance management quarterly reviews are focused on Key Performance Indicators (goals) and a range of competencies based on the organisations values: * Co-operative Spirit * Do What’s Right * Challenge Boundaries * Make it happen Something *employs the same HR format as its parent company. The GM of Human Resources is a valued member of the Senior Leadership Team which takes input from Something Else* corporate and various departments to decide the both the financial and strategic goals of the company. The HR team consists of a General Manger, HR Manager, and two HR Advisors. Payroll and Recruitment search are outsourced. Something*uses Something Elses’s* Doublecheck framework to performance manage and develop its salaried employees. Figure 1 – Reporting Structure – something* Ltd – Outside – Field Sales TeamFigure 2 – Something* Ltd – Strategic HRM System Whilst the intentions of the Something* HRM system are robust, the execution of some key elements of the HRM process are dysfunctional and fail to add value to the process. I will focus on three important factors of the HRM process: * Goal setting (KPI’s – Key Performance Indicators) * Performance Management (KPI progress at quarterly reviews) * Employee Personal Development I will present my argument using the HRM Performance casual chain, Source: Adapted from Purcell, J & Hutchinson S (2007). ‘Frontline managers as agents in the HRM Performance casual chain: theory, analysis and evidence† Human Resource Management Journal 17(1), p. 7. Which I feel shows the consequences of failing to execute HRM strategy logically. Figure 3 – HRM Performance Casual Chain: Source: Adapted from Purcell, J & Hutchinson S (2007). ‘Frontline managers as agents in the HRM Performance casual chain: theory, analysis and evidence† Human Resource Management Journal 17(1), p. 7. Goal Setting: Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) At Something* Key Performance Indicators are set by senior managers using financial data and strategic initiatives from the annual business plan, passed down through the line managers for their respective department. These Key performance indicators will usually include core goals such sales volume / value, speed to market of new product launches, customer count. HR Practice Theory; Something* through the Doublecheck* framework was to set five to six SMART KPI’s and measure an employee’s participation in company activities against a set of competencies based on the Something Else* values. Progress against these were to be reviewed and feedback given / received at quarterly intervals. HR Practice Reality; Frequently the planning of the company was not complete in time for the start of the financial year, company goals were often to be achieved in a 10 month period rather than a 12 month period. This delay also had impact on other areas of planning which leads to a further delay in arrival of the tools the team required to achieve their goals. Goals were also derived from corporate strategy and had little relation to do with the Outside* market. Often in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies the majority of the strategic focus goes on sales through the high volume supermarket (Key Account) or the Foodservice channel, there often was a lack of in depth understanding of any other channel. Whilst a good deal of this was outside of the overall HRM control, it greatly affected the results the team could achieve against their KPI’s and hence morale and the reputation of senior management. Employee Perception; Employees feel a disconnect from the setting of goals and become increasingly frustrated when poor management decisions and failing to meet timeframes impacts on their ability to meet KPI’s. At reviews employees often questioned the leadership team’s knowledge of the â€Å"out of Home† market the team operated in. â€Å"Knowing you are being judged on your performance but having to either chase unrealistic goals or mark time and wait can be sole destroying† Something*employee. Employee Motivation / Organisation Performance; Employees do their best to strive for goals however a sense of confusion over priorities and clarity results in a lack of motivation, end result is very rarely do KPI’s get achieved, performance reviews are filled with reasons why targets were not met (covering the backside). Performance Management: The Doublecheck* framework for a quarterly review consisted of an employee self-assessment of performance against KPI’s and competencies; this was sent to the line manager prior to the planned appointment. The line manager would compare the employees perceived performance figures against company top line figures. During the meeting the performance against KPI’s and competencies of the employee would be discussed and encouragement given or plans put in place to improve performance. HR Practice Theory; It is the intention of the company to provide accurate data around the employee’s performance relative to the actual market performance. This would lead to a positive conversation about achieving KPI’s and how to ensure this continues or alternatively a conversation about how to lift the employee’s performance to make up any short falls and obtain the goals set for the year. HR Practice Reality; Due to internal database issues quite often only top line data could be used, drilling down into data resulted in more questions than answers. The combination of inaccurate data and lack of clarity in the KPI’s resulted in a great deal of time spent at performance reviews comparing and or justifying data between what the company believed to be accurate and what the employee believed to be accurate. This caused unnecessary angst between both parties. . Employee Perception; Employees felt there was a double standard in the outputs of the company; employees were expected to strive for excellence in their output, as measured in the competencies, whereas the company was permitted to produce less than satisfactory reporting. Employees considered this to go against Fonterra’s value of â€Å"Make it Happen† which focuses on a climate for success, exceptional results, stepping up, take accountability, plan thoroughly, perseverance and celebrate success. The team expressed that they felt let down by the company in the pursuit of their personal and company’s goals. Employee Motivation / Organisation Performance; For the majority performance reviews become conversations over missed opportunities, time delays and excuses. Quite often segments are cut and paste from previous reviews. The process fails to motivate even the high performers. Employee Personal Development: Central to Something Else* HRM strategy is a desire is to attract, retain and develop people of the highest caliber, by believing that learning is an integral part of each employee’s role, learning and development especially when done on the job, dealing with real issues and challenges. It is stated that identification and accelerated development of key talent is critical to Something Elses*success. HR Policy Theory; The Doublecheck*system has a segment where an employee discusses their career aspirations with the line manager with input from HR and agree a realistic career goal. Line managers then work with the employee and the HR team to map out a pathway of development allowing the employee to reach these goals over time. This pathway was to include training, coaching and mentoring. HR practice Reality; Something*under direction from Something Esle2* purchased a generic set of sales courses intended over time to develop a high performance sales team. Unfortunately this generic course was very â€Å"key Account â€Å"focused and again had little relation to the Outside* market. This action took out of play the HR department’s allocated budget intended for personal development towards career goals for each team member. Employee Perception; Members of the team generally felt that they were being disadvantaged by being sent of generic courses they felt did not improve their skill base, knowledge or chance of advancement in Fonterra as a whole. They felt they were being treated as a herd instead of individuals. Training was catering for the lowest common denominator and did not challenge the high performers. Employee Motivation / Organisation Performance; If employees, especially the high performers (who can be high maintenance due to their driven nature), perceive they are not being rewarded by development / progression they ask why should my performance be better than another employee if there is nothing in it for me. Overall result is a decline in motivation across the board. The Role of the Line Managers: Line Managers are tasked with the role of executing a great deal of the HRM policies for Something*, yet generally speaking, the amount of training given to line managers on the intricacies of HRM is minimal. Employees are greatly influenced by the HRM practices they experience of line managers, these can be both positive and negative, a good manager can make poor HR policies work whereas good HR practices can be negated by poor line manager people management or leadership skills. (Hutchinson, 2007) The relationship between employees and Line Management is important in in? encing the employees’ views of the support received or available from the organisation as a whole, both at the functional transactional level and in the corporate climate, this often determines the attitude towards organisational commitment and outlook towards the job. (Hutchinson, 2007) Conclusion: It is considered that SomethingElses* overall HR strategy is very robust and the corporate intention is to run a world class Strategic HRM system. At Something* I believe that the overall strategy is not achieving its goals. This was generally caused by a lack of cohesion between various departments which in turn lead to delays in the planning processes. The delays in the planning process ultimately affected the ability of all employees to meet their KPI’s causing stress and friction between competing employees. At times, it appeared that some senior managers were primarily focused on obtaining their own KPI’s, often to the detriment of the overall company goals. At Something* the HR personnel ratio to employees of approximately 100/1 (excluding the GM HR who was generally focused on strategy) caused issues. HR team members were not able to spend sufficient time with the line managers in discussions / planning around employees. When time was spent with the HR team it was generally pressured and not of great quality. There was also a lack of a cohesive approach by HR and line managers to the review and performance management process, each Line Manager generally went about the process the best way they knew how, hoping they were following the correct procedure and delivering the same message. It is argued that perhaps line managers should not be heavily involved in the HRM process as studies have shown in the undertaking of performance appraisals, management implementation was usually irregular within organisations and that the actual practice was also subject to significant variations of quality (McGovern P) and to further evidence to this argument were the findings: also to be taken into account is the short-term nature of managerial activity which leads to a tendency to put a greater priority on the achievement of the budget numbers, rather than the achievement of objectives through the team. McGovern P). My argument is who better than to review an employee’s performance than the Line Manager who on a daily basis has to work closely with the employee, a HR person jumping in from time to time unaware of the daily challenges would not gain the same insight as a Line Manager does. When discussing the issues around requiring accurate data for reporting on KPIâ€℠¢s and the angst this would cause with HR, a Line Manager would get the distinct impression that the HR advisor did not completely understand the numbers or jargon being used. (Brown, 2001) writes: Ann Boswall, vice-president of human resources and one of six members of top management team at Imperial Tobacco in Montreal, adds, â€Å"It is absolutely essential for HR to do a better job of learning about the business outside of their own department†. With regards to personal development, sending experienced sales teams on generic courses is a tick box exercise; according to the verbal feedback I received, if a post course survey was carried out the over whelming response would have been that no real learning experience has taken place. (T Short, 2010) writes: The failure to evaluate learning events and show positive business results was clearly linked to an undervaluing of training and development investment among senior managers. Recommendations: Ensure the corporate planning process has sufficient time allowed to achieve its goal of presenting a business plan that is able to be executed for the full twelve months of the financial year. This would take a great deal of pressure off the business as a whole. Setting SMART goals that give clarity of direction to the wider team and are specific to each departments channel not generic companywide goals. Even in a company with a goal-setting procedure that had been in use for over ten years, content-related problems with goals (such as lacking goal clarity or conflicting goals) were key predictors of goal commitment and job satisfaction. (Bipp, 2011) The HR department has to be resourced such to permit the Strategic HRM plan to be implemented from the top down. Not having the resources to penetrate and spend time where it counts most left the HR team performing mainly transactional duties such as recruitment and disciplinary activities. Green, 2002) writes: For over a decade, HR leaders have been striving to become business partners. They want to have a strategic impact on their organizations; however, many are struggling to make this transition. The primary reason for lack of progress in this endeavor is that HR analysts, the staff who carry out this mission, are still trained and reinforced in the traditional, transactional mindset. In order for the entire HR department to be consi dered strategic in nature, the HR analyst must learn critical consultative skills. p. 111) To counter this a 2004 Cranet survey indicated that people responsible for HRM activities have a growing proportion of members educated in business related studies, 43% in New Zealand from a business studies background. (E Rasmussen, 2010). Training of both the HR team to understand requirements of each department they deal with and equally training Line Managers in people management skills would help with alignment of HR Personnel and line managers in their duties within the HRM framework. This activity would go a long way to improving the overall performance of the HRM framework and the job satisfaction of employees within Something*. (Hutchinson, 2007) writes: It is often observed that there is a gap between what is formally required in HR policy and what is actually delivered by FLMs. The way FLMs undertake their HR duties of selecting, appraising, developing, communicating, involving, etc. , is inextricably linked to a wider set of what are increasingly called leadership behaviours, which aim to in? ence employee attitudes and behaviour and give direction. These two aspects of FLMs’ roles can be brought together in the term ‘people management. Implementing the above as a bare minimum would greatly improve the overall performance and moral of the Outside* sales team at Something*. Literature Sources: 1) http://www. SomethingElse*. com 2) http://www. something*. co. nz 3) http://scholar. google. co. nz. ezproxy. aut. ac. nz/ 4) http://search. proquest. c om. ezproxy. aut. ac. nz 5) http://web. ebscohost. om. ezproxy. aut. ac. nz References: Bipp, T. (2011). Goal-Setting in practice. Personell review, 40(3), 318. Brown, D. (2001). HR's role in business strategy: still a lot of work to be done. Canadian HR Reporter, 14 (9), 20. E Rasmussen, T. A. , N Hawort. (2010). Has the Strategic Role and Professional Status of Human Resource Management peaked in New Zealand. Journal of industrial relations, 52, 103 -118. Green, M. E. (2002). Internal human resources consulting: Why doesn't your staff get it? Public Personnel Management, 31(1), 111-119. Hutchinson, P. a. ( 2007). Front-line managers as agents in the HRM performance causal chain: . Human Resource Management Journa, 17(1), 3-20. Lee C, B. P. , Earley C, Lock E A. (1991). An Empirical Analysis of a Goal Setting Questionnaire. Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 12( No. 6), pp. 467-482. McGovern P, H. -H. V. , Stiles P. Human resources management on the line? Human Resource Management Journal, 7(4). T Short, R. H. (2010). Challenges in aligning workplace learning with business goal. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 50(2), 381.

Property Tax Relief Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Property Tax Relief - Coursework Example If the income of the owner is more than $27,100 and equal or less than $40,650, then the section of the property taxes on the residence that goes beyond 5% of the income of the owner can be deferred (Guilford County Tax Department, 2009). Other additional mechanisms of property tax relief used by the state of North Carolina include Homestead Exclusion for the Elderly and Disabled and Disabled Veteran Exclusion. The most effective mechanism is the Disabled Veteran Exclusion program. The program omits up to the first $45,000 of the evaluated or assessed value of the permanent residence of veteran who has been discharged honourably and is totally and permanently disabled and gets benefits for specially adapted housing; the disability ought to be service connected. The program lacks income or age limitation. The benefit is also available for unmarried surviving spouses of a disabled veteran honourably discharged (Guilford County Tax Department,

Cultural Awareness, Understanding, and Acceptance Research Paper - 1

Cultural Awareness, Understanding, and Acceptance - Research Paper Example (Robert, 2003) Key words Idaho- A State in the US where the researcher lives Tribes- this is a group of people in a country with the same race, customs, language, and religion. (Hornby, 2010) Nimi'ipuu, and Shoshoni- Some of the examples of Native tribes found in Idaho. Mappings: (Digital Atlas of Idaho: Idaho's natural history on line, n.d Native tribes of Idaho The above tribes as indicated in the map, migrated into Idaho as one tribe, which its main economic activity was hunting and gathering. They later dispersed and went to different destinations as they looked for more food and natural resources that could complement their lifestyles. This led them to adopt different cultures according to how nature influenced their lives. There are three main cultures found in Idaho which include the Plateau culture, the Great Basin culture and the Great Plains culture. (Digital Atlas of Idaho: Idaho's natural history on line, n.d). Culture areas in Idaho Description of the tribes found in Ida ho The shoshoni: This tribe is believed to have migrated from their motherland into the US in the early years of 8,000 years ago. They have lived in New Mexico (as it is known today), and Arizona. Due to harsh climatic conditions which made life unbearable, they migrated in different directions. Others landed in the interior of Mexico. Another handful population moved to settle around Lake Mohave and survived mainly on hunting and gathering. This particular group did not settle in this region for long because of minimal resources, which could not satisfy the population. About 4,000years ago, the Shoshoni people stared to move into Idaho and by 1700s; there was a small but reasonable number of people who had settled in Idaho State. (Robert, 2003) The Shoshoni people occupied the Great Plains and their culture is known as the Great Plains culture. (Digital Atlas of Idaho: Idaho's natural history on line, n.d) Characteristics of the Shoshoni The Shoshoni people never embraced the eleme nt of politics in their life style. They mainly lived in extended families, which were built from intermarriages. They vastly depended on the resources found on the great basin region for a livelihood, mainly for food. They were nomads who would live in the valleys in the winter season, and their summer was sent in the mountains. They carried out their activities together e.g. they did their pinion nuts harvesting together, hunted together, even though they lived distantly from each other. With the way they lived, this could only mean that a peculiar strong bond existed amongst them. Their main economic activity revolved around hunting and women involved themselves in gathering. Fruit was an indispensable part of their diet. The Nimi'ipuu: Unlike the Shoshoni people who spent the better part of their early lives living in the desert, Nimi'ipuu occupied the river region. The rivers found here were Salmon and Snake which had clear and fresh water. The mountainous region in southern Id aho provided a suitable hunting space where they would find desired game meat. They also migrated from time to time for the sake of looking for food like the Shoshoni. It is vital to note that the Nimi’ipuu had a vast share of resources and this encouraged some of them to settle therefore, forming small villages. They had water in plenty compared to

Strategy discourse and strategy's role in social responsibility Essay

Strategy discourse and strategy's role in social responsibility and sustainability - Essay Example The plan consists of sustainable procurement, reducing environmental impact stemming from the company’s business model, reducing waste, recycling and curbing over-consumption of energy; as well as reduction of the firm’s carbon footprint. Having defined the Sustainable Living Plan by Unilever, Polman did an excellent job of using discourse, this being narrative and storytelling, to ensure successful implementation of these objectives. Polman opened discourse with influential members of the Consumer Goods Forum to agree to abide by practices related to sustainable palm oil production, an issue that had deforested many regions. The company is also trying to change behaviours of millions of consumers worldwide, getting them to abide by being more proactive in water consumption by taking shorter showers. The Sustainable Living Plan will not be effective without contributions by vendors, competitors and even consumer markets, something that requires discourse and narrative to achieve effectively. Storytelling is an excellent forum for sharing norms and values that have been built from an organisation’s past experiences and also describe a desirable future. It is through this discourse that leadership is developed and provides opportunities to provide a compelling vision (Buckler and Zien 1996). It is through shared stories and narratives that understanding and organisational dedication is created, familiarising individuals with dominant and compelling narratives and anecdotes that assist in gaining commitment by others to adopt the norms and values described in such stories. Storytelling is also recognised as being a predictor of trust development in relationships. Such discourse provides opportunities for the storyteller to indicate his or her competencies and level of commitment toward a particular value or objective. The process of revealing personal narratives and

Homework 5 Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Homework 5 - Speech or Presentation Example 2) Historically, the average amount of time to assemble an electronic component on a production line has been 14 minutes. The supervisor of this production line is interested in determining whether this is no longer true. Assume that assembly time is normally distributed with a known population standard deviation of 3.4 minutes. The supervisor times the assembly of 25 randomly chosen components, and finds that the average time to assemble is 12.6 minutes. Is there sufficient evidence to suggest that the population mean assembly time is not 14 minutes at the 1% level of significance? What is the p-value? 3) The manufacturer of a new chewing gum asserts that at least 80% of dentists prefer their type of gum. An independent consumer research firm decides to test their claim. The findings of a sample of 200 dentists indicate that 76% of respondents actually prefer the manufacturers gum. At the 5% level, is there sufficient evidence to suggest that the population proportion of dentists who prefer the manufacturers gum is less than 80%? What is the p-value? 4) A college professor is interested in determining the relationship between the number of hours a student sleeps prior to an exam and a students exam grade. The joint distribution is assumed bivariate normal. The professor draws a random sample of four students and records each students exam grade and hours of sleep preceding the exam. These data are found in the table below. The professor runs a simple regression, but has misplaced her regression output. Recognizing that Exam Grade is the dependent variable and Hours of Sleep is the sole independent variable, she asks you to perform the

Marketing Plan for Ellens Stardust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Marketing Plan for Ellens Stardust - Essay Example Other aspects of the marketing mix have been discussed in details in this section. This coupled with the offering of traditional American delicacies and retro music is likely to boost performance of the business. The section covering action budget plans has shown that nearly $5 million can be spent by the business as marketing expenses. The detailed break-up of the components has also been provided. The section on the contingencies plan discussed the additional measures that can be adopted if the original planning is not realized. Finally, the section on evaluation and monitoring elaborates on various steps that can be adopted by Ellen’s Stardust Diner so as to monitor the marketing plan. Few techniques that has been pointed out includes return on investment, market share analysis, customer attitude tracking, market expense to sales ratio and last but not the least, analysis of sales figures. Ellen’s Stardust Diner is among one of the best themed dining restaurants based in New York City, which appeals to customers of all age groups. The business has come a long way since being established 27 years ago (Ellen’s Stardust Diner, 2013). The analysis of macro environment of the business has revealed that healthy eating habits promoted by the UK government and commitment towards reduction of waste products of the industry might entail greater operational costs. UK is slowly recovering from the recession; and as fast food restaurants perform better during sluggish economic performance, the business gets to experience greater opportunities. London West End has a similar cultural taste to that of New York and this improves the scope of opportunities for the restaurant (Petusevsky and Whole Foods, Inc, 2010). As the population in this place has a tendency of eating outside, the diner can afford to capitalize on it. London West End houses health

Application of the Scientific Method Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Application of the Scientific Method - Assignment Example Which is the best detergent to use when cleaning dirty clothes? Many detergents exist all for the purpose of cleaning. Some have the best advertisements and are thus popular; others have the chemicals that clean clothes without much effort, while others have negative effects on the user’s skin when frequently used. Some detergents are also used not only because of the effectiveness in cleaning but because they have fair prices and are cheaply available to many. Liquid detergent cleans clothes faster and more thorough than powder detergent. To prove this hypothesis, both types of detergents have to be used on the same type of cloth containing an equal amount of dirt or stains and under the same environmental conditions in terms of temperature of water used and also the type of the water itself, whether soft or hard. Such conditions ensure that the detergents are tested on fairgrounds and that the results obtained can be reliable when it comes to making conclusions on the best detergent. Testing this hypothesis is important in making comprehensive conclusions. To test the hypothesis, a piece of clothing of a reasonable size, say one square meter, could be dirtied with mud, oil, food spills and colored fluids. These should be evenly distributed on the piece of clothing to ensure that every part gets an equal share of dirt. The clothing could then be cut into two pieces, each of equal size. Water from the same source should be put in two different buckets. The powder detergent could be dissolved in one bucket and the liquid detergent in the other. The two dirty pieces of cloth should be soaked into the two buckets for the same amount of time. The amount of dirt removed from the pieces of cloth by soaking should be compared. The pieces of cloth could then be hand washed in the detergent and the amount of time and effort taken to clean each noted.

Sales Presentation Report Speech or Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sales Report - Speech or Presentation Example From then on marketing has also been introduced to the academe and has since evolved to become the driving force companies usually rely on today. With the advent of the information age, marketing have drastically increased its contribution to the growth of the company. Thus, sales presentations have seen various improvements and different styles of prospecting, presentation and closing have been mixed up to provide a strong selling proposition. Aside from the technological improvements that revolutionized communication, marketers are now more informed since clients themselves have found the very potent use of websites for their products. Thus, sales representatives nowadays are more informed when they meet up with clients. However, it is important for them to note that their competitors likewise have basically the same preparation. Thus, it is important for the sales representatives to be able to clearly grasp the selling techniques that they will be using. As illustrated in the case , being SMART about the objective of the sales call is also key to making a successful sales presentation. Product: Major Oil, Inc Heating Oil: Supply and Service Prospecting Method: Cold Calling Prospect Company Description and Sales Call: The sales presentation will be a follow-up for a previous phone call that initially introduced the product, company and has set a meeting for formally presenting the products and services of Major Oil Inc and probably closing the deal. Thomas Automotive is a vehicle service and repair shop that has been in existence for about two and a half decades already. The business is owned by Mr. Ed Thomas and is a sole proprietorship. Initially, the business was known as Torringford Automotive and had an initial business address at 1795 East Main Street, Torrington and was there until the mid 90’s. After which, the business moved out of Torrington area to Main Street and likewise changed their business name to adeptly present the change as they are no longer in the area. Thomas Automotive stayed there for a little less than a decade and subsequently moved on to their current address. Being a sole proprietorship, Thomas Automotive do not advertise much but relies on customer feedbacks to spread the word of the quality of their work. Likewise, the business puts in a little extra by giving customers a ride to and from the shop and even picks up their vehicles for repairs so that those that are working need not worry about bringing their vehicles to the shop for repairs. Furthermore, Thomas Automotive ensures that the work they do substantiate their claim of quality through the retest they provide. Likewise, their business is also certified for emission repairs by the State of Connecticut. We pride ourselves on doing the little extras for our customers. We do very little actual advertising but have a large customer base due to all the word-of-mouth advertising by our other satisfied customers. We take our customers home within a t en-mile radius, pick them up also. We even pick up the vehicle at your place of business so we can repair it while you are at work. We are certified by the State of Connecticut for Emission Repairs. When we complete the required repairs we take it back for retest for our customers. Customer Profile: Business Name: Thomas Automotive â€Å"Service and Repair at a Price that’s Fair† Address: 54 Brook St. Torrington, CT 06790 Website: www.thomasautomotive.com Contact Person: Mr. Jason Odell, Sr. Buyer The

Television Essay Example for Free

Television Essay Disadvantages of television: 1. Television is a sort of time-consuming thing Instead of spending time on meaningful activities, many people tend to watch TV all day long. They waste time in watching their favorite programs on TV. This habit distracts them from their work, study, relationships and so on. 2. Television is a health hazard to people, especially to children Spending too much time on watching television can cause many diseases such as refractive error of the eyes (especially nearsightedness), obesity, heart attack, spine disease, mental disorder, etc. According to a report of Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia, which was published on Circle magazine, people who watch TV for more than 4 hour a day have a higher risk (80%) of dying from heart disease compared with those who watch less than two hours. In addition, sitting in front of TV for a long time without doing any exercise, and eating unhealthy food (snack, pizza, chip, etc) leads to obesity easily. Furthermore, radiation, X-rays, electronic beam, and other rays generated from TV have bad influence on users’ health, especially their eyes. 3. Television also broadcasts some inappropriate programs Even though many programs provide useful things for people, there are still some which have bad influence on their psychology, especially children and teenagers. More and more violent and â€Å"hot† scenes have appeared on TV. Children and teenagers, who have not completely developed awareness and psychology yet, tend to imitate characters’ behaviors on TV. So, that is not a good idea to let children and teenagers watch these things. 4. Television helps spread false advertisements Not all advertisements appearing on TV are reliable. Many companies are willing to pay a large amount of money to have their products been be popular on TV, even low-quality products. As you can see, the people in ads are always attractive: women are always very beautiful and sexy; men are always handsome and manly; and they always love a particular product which seems very good. Therefore, customers (usually housewives) will be attracted by these ads and desire to own it; they are likely to spend money on those products. disadvantage of television** The television has a lot of advantages, but like all scientific inventions, while it provides a lot of entertainment and knowledge to us it also has some disadvantages. The main disadvantage of television is that by providing indoor entertainment to people it has decreased the level of social interaction between people. It has especially adversely affected family ties, because while in earlier years when there was no television, children and parents spent more quality time together, now they are just glued in front of the television and dont give a lot of time to each other. It can also influence kids in a bad way if they watch the programs full of violence and crime, but then that can be monitored by the parents and they can see to it that they do not watch anything that influences them negatively. As I see it, the major disadvantage of television is that it has weakened family bonds. *** It can cause you to gain weight Its pretty intuitive that spending the evening parked in front of the T.V. doesnt burn a lot deal of calories. In fact, sitting quietly in front of the television set burns a paltry 68 calories per hour. Not exactly a formula for good health and fitness. Combine that with the high calorie snacks most people consume while watching that suspenseful television sit-com and you can see how watching T.V. can quickly pack on the pounds. One smart move not many people make is to exercise while they watch television. If more people parked an exercise bike in front of the T.V. instead of a recliner, the world would be a healthier place. ***It wastes time Television watchers should keep a log of the hours they choose to sit in front of the boob tube. After they experience the shock of realizing how much time theyve wasted, they could then make a list of ways to use that time more productively. Some suggestions might be: spend time with family, friends, and pets; start a part-time business; meditate or pray; play a sport; or pick up a hobby. They just might discover theres more to life than whats happening on the latest reality show. You can bet when people come to the end of their life they dont regret not having watched more T.V. 5.Watching TV has become bad habbits of human being. We require some kind of etiquate to educate the human beings for watching TV execessively without getting the advantages of the same. We have lost all our old heritage to socialise the environment. Watching TV does not involve the person participation actively. In sub-conscious mind we just go on watching the subject without involving our active mind. We are also loosing the social activities as well as outdoor activities which gives boosting effect on human mind. We should generate awareness among the people about the disadvantage of watching the TV. Although this great invention of science has played major role in human life to give more comfort as well as information human requires for his developement but in my view disadvantages has also played vital role to destroy of old age heritage which in fact scientifically proven that outdoor as social activities gives metal and physical satisfaction. As we are well our that our encestors have develope sense of visualising the events happening at far distant places. This has happend because human has practiced his body in such a that they can see adn visualise the thing before the events take place. But TV may not give this opportunity to develope the human mind. Watching TV has become habbit and some time we do not prefer to visit relatives and friends house and also do not prefer to be visited by them. We would like to generate the awareness in the human being to visulaise this drawback in order to avoid untoward incident to happen in futre and repent on this activity at later date. We must develope and generate a group who can devote the time to make people aware about the outcome of this activity. *..* It Can Cause You To Gain Weight It’s pretty intuitive that spending the evening parked in front of the T.V. doesn’t burn a lot deal of calories. In fact, sitting quietly in front of the television set burns a paltry 68 calories per hour. Not exactly a formula for good health and fitness. Combine that with the high calorie snacks most people consume while watching that suspenseful television sit-com and you can see how watching T.V. can quickly pack on the pounds. One smart move not many people make is to exercise while they watch television. If more people parked an exercise bike in front of the T.V. instead of a recliner, the world would be a healthier place. *..* It Wastes Time Television watchers should keep a log of the hours they choose to sit in front of the â€Å"boob tube†. After they experience the shock of realizing how much time they’ve wasted, they could then make a list of ways to use that time more productively. Some suggestions might be: spend time with family, friends, and pets; start a part-time business; meditate or pray; play a sport; or pick up a hobby. They just might discover there’s more to life than what’s happening on the latest reality show. You can bet when people come to the end of their life they don’t regret not having watched more T.V. *..* It Makes You Dumber To be assured of this, all you have to do is tune in to some of the popular reality shows to witness the dumbing down of America. A study conducted in 2005 and published in the Archives of Adolescent and Pediatric Medicine showed that kids who had their own television set scored lower on mathematics tests. Several other studies have supported this premise. It’s important to set a good example for the kids of today by encouraging them to read and engage in the arts rather than park themselves in front of the television set. *..* It Promotes Passivity Television allows its audiences to live vicariously through the situations and lives of fictional characters. It’s far easier for a television viewer to experience the thrill of a television character’s success than it is to go out and create success on their own terms. This is particularly detrimental to children and teenagers who need to develop a strong sense of self and a purpose in life. Television encourages passivity. There’s no doubt that television view does have its benefits if carefully selected programs are viewed. It’s a way to stay informed about what’s happening in the world. Plus, there are variety of channels that offer educational programming where you learn new skills ranging from cooking to crafts. The trick is to not let television overtake your life or the life of your family to the exclusion of other more important activities. Let television be a treat rather than a daily ritual. CHILDREN from disadvantaged families watch more television than children from higher socio-economic backgrounds, research has found. The joint study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the University of New England also found that a third of Australian children aged over two are spending more than the recommended two hours a day watching TV. AIFS researcher Dr Ben Edwards said while childrens television watching was low in the first year, by two to three years of age, television occupied a significant portion of a childs time, particularly for those from lower socio-economic families. At critical ages for child development, when children are under three years old, the more disadvantaged the childs background, the more likely it was that they would watch television for more than two hours, he said.By the time children were aged between four and five, the proportion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds watching more than three hours of television a day was more than double that of children from advantaged backgrounds. The research also found that children from higher socio-economic backgrounds spent more time reading. Among the most disadvantaged families, 41-47 per cent of children were not read to at all, compared with only 15-22 per cent of children in the most advantaged families. Dr Edwards said the findings could help explain the means through which social advantage is transmitted across generations because, he argues, longer TV viewing can encroach on other learning and developmental opportunities such as reading and imaginative play. Four years ago, Carmel and Jesper Nielsen, from Prahran, began restricting their childrens TV viewing to weekends only. Their children now watch about six hours of TV a week. Computer games are limited to two hours a week. Basically, we felt it was displacing that creative and imaginative play as well as physical activity and, just as importantly, when they were watching TV there was very little family interaction, Ms Nielsen said. She said while it was initially difficult to reduce their childrens TV viewing, they are now just as happy to play with their toys or play sport outside.

The character of Curleys Wife Essay Example for Free

The character of Curleys Wife Essay Steinbeck demonstrates Curley’s Wife as ‘unwanted’ when it comes to relationships. Curley’s Wife shares an unenthusiastic and loveless relationship with her husband. †You seen that glove on his left hand? Well, that gloves fulla Vaseline, Curley says hes keepin that hand soft for his wife† is a primary example of this. This quote personifies the fact that Curley only wants a sexual relationship with his wife, and uses her for intimate means only. Additionally, Curley’s Wife is not highly admired among the ranch workers. ‘Tart’ and ‘Jailbait’ are just two of the many words used by the ranch workers to describe Curley’s Wife. This means that they perceive her as trouble and they try to keep away from her. One of the most important relations anybody has is one with their own mother. Curley’s wife shares quite an unpleasant relationship with her mother. This words â€Å"I always thought my ol’ lady stole it†, are a vivid example of how Curley’s Wife had her dream to become an actress, overseen by her mother. The relationship between Curley’s Wife and George is quite similar to Curley’s Wife’s relationship with the other ranch workers. As soon as George sees Curley’s Wife for the first time, he straight away turns to Lennie and coldly says Jesus, what a tramp. These words concisely and efficiently explain the initial thoughts felt by George upon first look at Curley’s Wife. When George tells Lennie off for calling her â€Å"purty† he also illustrates his thoughts in a more influential way with the words; â€Å"Dont you even take a look at that bitch. I dont care what she says and what she does. I seen em poison before. † The words â€Å"bitch† and â€Å"poison†, clarify that George despises Curley’s Wife, probably more than anyone else on the ranch. Curley’s Wife and Crooks are two dissimilar yet comparable characters. They are comparable because both are isolated from other people, albeit for different reasons. Crooks is left isolated from fellow ranch workers due to racial differences, same for Curley’s Wife but because she is s woman. However, the portrayal of Crooks shows that he is an understanding and composed person, completely different to Curley’s Wife. The differences between these characters prove to be greater than first expected when Curley’s Wife tells Crooks â€Å"Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung upon a tree so easy it ain’t even funny. † These words indicate that Curley’s Wife is also in favour of using Crooks’ skin colour against him. Like the relationships shared by Curley’s Wife, with other ranch members, her relationship with Candy is not an appealing one. Having said this, both of these characters can once again relate to each other, through a sense of lonesomeness. Curley’s Wife and Candy definitely despise each other and this is visible through words such as â€Å"that bitch† and â€Å"you god damn tramp†, used by Candy, when talking about Curley’s Wife. John Steinbeck shows a key connection in the relationship between Curley’s Wife and Lennie. Curleys wife is a lot like Lennie in numerous ways; both are alone, controlled by those around them, not trusted because of what they are like and have dreams that they really wants to come true. We feel sorry for them because we can see that they desperately want to try and break free from the life they are caught up in, but George keeps Lennie behind, and Curley keeps his wife behind. They end up confiding in each other as the novel comes to an end. â€Å"Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I oughten to † When Curley’s Wife’s she says these words to Lennie in the barn, the reader realises that this is the first time Curley’s Wife has opened up to anyone. This results in the reader thinking that Curley’s Wife trusts Lennie. In conclusion, my opinion is that Curley’s Wife does seek attention; however this is only because she has been dispossessed of attention throughout her life. Her unwilling marriage to Curley, the fact that she could not accomplish her dream and her having a lack of friends and reverence made me feel regretful about my first impression of her. Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife in an apathetic way which robustly influences the reader’s image of her. Nevertheless, as the novel reaches its end this negative feeling received by the reader soon changes into that of commiseration. Steinbeck has created a character for us to feel sympathetic towards. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section.

Erik Eriksons Eight Psychosocial Stages

Erik Eriksons Eight Psychosocial Stages This paper explores the developmental attributes physically, cognitively and socially of two children, one male and one female, ages five and ten, respectively. This writer will identify the socio-economic status (SEC), age, gender, ethnic background, and family demographics of each of these children. The two children this writer has chosen come from similar living situations (i.e. they both live with single mothers), but have vast differences in their physical, cognitive, and social development. This paper will examine Erik Eriksons Eight Psychosocial Stages as explained by Dacey, Fiore, Travers (2009) in an effort to explain the noticeable differences in the two children that this writer has chosen to observe. These two children were chosen because they are both being raised in a single parent household, which is something that this writer can relate to, as this writer is a single mother. This writer will also explore the Cognitive Development Approach theories of Jean Piaget and A lbert Banduras Social Cognitive Learning in an attempt to further explain the significant differences in these two children. Childhood Observation Theories on Human Development Many psychologists have different perspectives when it comes to analyzing theories on human development. For the purposes of these observations, this writer has chosen to take a closer look at the views of three well known psychologists. The psychological theories of development that this paper will explore are the theories of Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, and Albert Bandura. First, this writer will discuss Erik Erikson and his Psychosocial Theory of Development. It is a widely accepted belief that, Erik Erikson was the chief proponent of a psychosocial theory of development (2009). This writer believes that Erikson had a great understanding of the human life process. Erik Erikson is best known for his ideas on Stages of Psychosocial Development and Identity Crisis. Erikson broke down the progression of human life into a series of eight stages, each of these stages being marked by a crisis that must be resolved so that the individual can move on to the next stage. It makes perfect sense that everyone should overcome a crisis in order to successfully move on to the next stage in their life. In a seminal work, Erikson used the term crisis as a developmental term that is a time of increased vulnerability and heightened potential (Erikson, 1968). Erikson also contributed to our understanding of personality as it developed and shaped over the course of the li fespan. While we must combine the theories of many psychologists in order to understand the development of humans through the lifespan, Erik Eriksons views on development seem to be the ones with which most people can closely relate. Now, we will move our attention to Jean Piaget, a man who was well ahead of his time. It has been said that, Jean Piaget was among the first researchers to study normal intellectual development (2009). Jean Piaget is credited as being one of the most significant psychologists of the twentieth century. Piaget focused his attention on the roles that cognitive mechanisms play in development. Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development consist of four stages: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational, and Formal operational. Piagets first stage is the Sensorimotor stage, which lasts from birth to about two years of age. During the Sensorimotor stage, the infant uses senses and motor abilities to understand the world, beginning with reflexes and ending with complex combinations of Sensorimotor skills (http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html). Piagets second stage of Cognitive Development is the Preoperational stage, which lasts from two to seven years of age. It is during this st age that children are able to make use of symbols and rapid growth of language occurs. The third stage of Piagets Cognitive Development is the Concrete operational stage, which lasts from seven to eleven years of age. In this stage, the child can reason about physical objects. The final stage of Piagets Cognitive Development is the Formal operational stage, which occurs from eleven years of age and up. During the Cognitive Development stage, Piaget believed that abstract thinking leads to reasoning with more complex symbols. In this stage we become increasingly competent of adult-style thinking (http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html). Lastly, the writer would like to discuss Albert Bandura and Social Cognitive Learning. Banduras Social Cognitive Learning theory suggests that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. For instance, The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation (http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html). As Bandura and Walters (1963) noted, children often do not do what adults tell them to do but rather what they see adults do, hence learning by observation. There is much to be gained in the area of Social Cognitive Learning by observing others. That is, By observing others, children may acquire new responses, including socially appropriate behaviors (2009). Banduras term for observational learning is modeling. In order for effective modeling to take place, there are four conditions that must be present; these conditions include attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. That is, Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences (http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html). Discussion This writer will begin by describing the subjects of her observations. For this exercise, the researcher used her son, Aidan, and, Samantha, the daughter of her friend, both of which she has known since birth. Aidan is a 5-year-old, white male with no siblings. He is raised in a single parent household and has no contact with his father. Aidan and his mother live in a very large house with the subjects grandfather on several acres of farm land. Aidan has extensive contact with his grandfather, aunts, uncles, cousins, and close family friends that are considered family. Up until recently, Aidan also had extremely close contact and a wonderfully close relationship with his grandmother and great-grandfather, both of whom have passed away within the last two years. In classifying the socio-economic status from which Aidan comes, this writer would describe it as a middle class socio-economic status. Aidan also attends private school with a very small class size. Thus he is privy to more o ne-on-one contact with his teacher, which is something that may not be available to children attending public schools. The second subject that the writer observed is, Samantha, who is a 10-year-old girl, with one male sibling (age 4). She is being raised by her single mother and has never had any contact with her father. Samantha lives in a lower-middle class neighborhood with her mother and younger brother. Before moving into her current home, Samantha grew up in an income based housing complex. Samanthas mother works full time in order to support her two children. Because of her mothers busy work schedule, Samantha spends most of her time with her maternal grandparents. Samantha is of a lower socio-economic status than the other subject of this paper, attends public school and seems to have a hard time socializing with her classmates and teachers. She also appears to struggle with anger issues and has a rather severe lack of self-confidence. Given the observations on the subjects above, the writer will now explore the developmental theories of Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, and Albert Bandura, respectively. First we will begin with Erik Erikson and his Psychosocial Theories of Development. Aidan, the researchers first subject, appears to be on track with all of Eriksons Psychosocial Stages, within his age range. For instance, In Ericksons first stage, which is by far the most important, infants should develop a sense of basic trust (2009). In Aidans case, this stage was successfully completed due to him being on a set schedule and being surrounded by warmth, care, consistency, and discipline. Though he faced a multitude of health problems during this phase of his development, the love and warmth that was bestowed upon him enabled him to successfully complete Erik Eriksons first stage. Eriksons second Psychosocial stage, Autonomy versus shame and doubt, takes place during early childhood and is focused on children developing a greater sense of personal control (http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial.htm). Important events associated with this stage of Psychosocial Development include gaining more control over food choices, children wanting to dress themselves and choose their own clothing, toilet training, and control of ones body functions. Aidan was very insistent about doing these things during this phase of his development. Interestingly enough, he displayed some of these behaviors during Ericksons first stage of Psychosocial Development. For example, Aidan was potty trained by the time he was 18 months old, chose his own clothes, and began trying to dress himself. This brings us to Eriksons third stage of Psychosocial Development, Initiative versus Guilt. This phase takes place during the preschool/nursery school years and is marked by children beginning to assert their power and control over the world by directing play and other social interaction (http://psychology.abo ut.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial_2.htm). Manipulation of surroundings are prevalent in this stage of a childs development, as they are building on the ability to control themselves, children now acquire some influence over others in the family (2009). This is the phase of development that Aidan is in currently, and he is definitely an assertive little boy who likes to direct play and be in charge. Aidan can be manipulative in certain situations, such as, if mommy says no, he will immediately go ask his granddaddy. Overall, this researcher feels that Aidan has successfully completed all of Erik Eriksons Psychosocial stages thus far. Now, we will discuss the researchers second subject, Samantha. Upon the researchers observations, Samantha was unsuccessful in completing the Basic trust versus mistrust phase. This writer believes that this may be due to caregivers who were inconsistent, emotionally unavailable, or rejecting. The afore mentioned variables could very well have contributed to feelings of mistrust in Samantha as an infant. With that stated, Failure to develop trust will result in fear and a belief that the world is inconsistent and unpredictable (http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial.htm). Samanthas mother had her at a very young age and may have been ready to deal with the complete change of life that comes with bringing a child into the world. Because of the unsuccessful completion of this first and most important stage in Samanthas development, she exhibited signs of inadequacy and self-doubt during the Autonomy versus Shame, Doubt phase, thus meaning that she was unsucc essful in completing the second stage as well. When Samantha reached the third stage of Eriksons Psychosocial Theory of Development, there seemed to be a marked improvement in her behavior, however she still displayed characteristics of a child who was very hard to deal with. It was at this time that she was enrolled in a stable preschool where she remained until it was time for her to start kindergarten. This researcher believes that this was probably the stability that Samantha was longing for and so desperately needed. Before being enrolled in preschool, it was not uncommon for her to be subjected to her mothers various relationships, which often were unsuccessful. Since Samantha has never had a father, she always became easily attached to these various men. This leads this researcher to believe that this may be an underlying reason for Samanthas lack of trust and inability to fit in with others. At this point, Samantha has now moved into Eriksons fourth stage of Psychosocial The ory of Development, Industry Inferiority. For instance, Children expand their horizons beyond the family and begin to explore the neighborhood (2009). In Samanthas case, she can best be described as a recluse. From the moment she gets home from school, she doesnt emerge from her room until it is dinnertime. This researcher feels that this is certainly not a healthy environment, as there is no communication between mother and daughter. At times, Samantha seems to be very resentful of her mother. In this researchers opinion, Samantha has not successfully completed any of Erik Eriksons Psychosocial Stages of Development thus far. The writer will now explore Jean Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development. As stated earlier, Jean Piaget believed that cognitive development means that we form more sophisticated cognitive structures as we pass through four stages: the Sensorimotor, the Preoperational, the Concrete operational, and the Formal operational (2009). The Sensorimotor stage, which begins at birth and goes to about 2 years of age, is marked by an infants ability to use their bodies to form cognitive structures. The researchers first subject, Aidan, had various complications that required physical and occupational therapy, as well as neck surgery all before two years of age. Due to these complications, he was somewhat delayed in moving from the Sensorimotor stage to the Preoperational stage. Once he got all of the physical and occupational therapies and neck surgery behind him, he rapidly moved into the Preoperational stage. During this stage, children ages 2 to 7 years, are able to make use of symbols and t here is a rapid growth in language. Aidan, being the researchers son, was taught sign language from three months of age until he was about 2 years old. The reasoning for this was so that he would be able to communicate with others before he was able to talk, but when the time for rapid growth in language came, Aidan preferred to use sign language over verbalization. After a few talks and much encouragement, Aidan soon began to chatter away. Samantha, the writers second subject, flourished throughout the Sensorimotor stage and Preoperational stage. She was a very active little girl with a great imagination and amazing verbal skills. It is the Concrete operational stage that Samantha struggles with. It is during this stage that accommodation occurs. Accommodation is Piagets term to describe the manner by which cognitive structures change (2009). Samantha seems to be unable to make rational judgments, which in turn causes her to be very manipulative. This researcher believes that this goes back to a very lax parenting style in which Samantha is treated as more of a burden than the gift that she is. The final theory to be discussed is Albert Banduras Social Cognitive Learning Theory. Simply stated, Bandura believed that we obtain information from observing other people, things, and events (2009). Bandura stresses the importance of modeling in observational learning. In Aidans case, he has been surrounded by the positive influence of modeling. He is a polite, however sometimes rambunctious little boy who knows how to use his manners. Children are like sponges, always observing and soaking up everything around them. This can sometimes lead to bad behaviors or socially appropriate behaviors. In Samanthas case, she is a product of her surroundings. This researcher believes that due to her stressful home life, Samantha only knows to act out in order to get attention. The unfortunate things about this is that the attention she gains from acting out is never the attention she desperately needs.

Mildred Pierce Summary, Character Analysis, and Opinion :: essays research papers

Summary: Mildred Pierce, by James M. Cain, begins in pre-Depression California, and ends during World War II times, also in California. The main character, Mildred Pierce, is a very attractive housewife of 29, raising two daughters, Ray and Veda. Although Mildred loves both her daughters, Veda is a particular obsession with Mildred. She constantly slaves away throughout the novel to do whatever she can to make Veda happy, despite the constant abuse and deception Veda inflicts upon Mildred. After a divorce from her first husband, Bert, in the opening pages of the novel, Mildred is forced to sacrifice her pride and become a waitress in order to support her family. If Veda were ever to find out, she would be appalled; a constantly recurring theme throughout this story is Veda’s pride and arrogance, and her condemnation of jobs she deems to be menial. Mildred’s main goal is to nurture Veda’s musical talents, and manages to pay for expensive music lessons from her meager salar ies as a waitress and pie baker. However, Mildred’s luck is soon to change, as she takes up with an attorney and former partner of Bert, Wally. Mildred is able to use Wally’s business and real estate savvy to build a restaurant out of a deserted model home, and from there create a thriving chain of three food businesses. After becoming bored with Wally, however, Mildred craves a relationship with another man, a prestigious local man named Monty. Veda highly approves of her mother’s choice, as this makes her feel as if she too were more prestigious and affluent, despite having misgivings about her mother still being so low as to have an average, pedestrian job. All seems to be going well; even through Veda’s constant demands and tantrums, she still gets everything she wants, and Mildred and Monty are happy. Monty, however, falls on hard times with the coming of the Great Depression, and he constantly mooches off of Mildred’s affluence, making it a s truggle for Mildred to cater to Veda’s every whim. Mildred soon dumps Monty to focus on making Veda a musical prodigy; this fails, however, when Veda is told that her piano is not up to par from a local famous music teacher. After Veda recovers from this shock, she explores the opportunities offered by an acting career, and begins to spin more webs of deception and selfishness. After Veda forces money out of a local rich family, lying and claiming their son got her pregnant, Mildred and Veda have a major argument, and Veda disowns her mother.

White Mountain National Forest :: Essays Papers

White Mountain National Forest Legend has it that the White Mountains received their name from early sailing visitors to New England who saw the distant snow capped peaks in the distance as the sailed south along the coast. The White Mountain National Forest was established to protect these mountains in 1911. This followed the passage of the Weeks Act, due in large part to public outcry, which allowed the federal government to purchase private land East of the Mississippi River to create parks for public use. Prior to the establishment of the White Mountain Forest the area had been utterly ravaged by unrestricted and uncontrolled logging, which spawned massive fires that ripped across the barren landscape. From the original purchase of 7,000 acres in Benton, New Hampshire, the Forest has grown over the years, and now encompasses 800,000 acres. Of this, 112,000 acres (@ 15%) have been designated as wilderness. The remaining area is conserved for activities and uses including recreation, wildlife habitat, water, wilderness and timber. Today, tree harvesting occurs on only about 0.5% of the forest at any given time. Approximately 29 million board-feet of timber are taken annually from the forest (1 million board-feet builds about 100 two-thousand square foot homes). Harvesting is selected and carried out carefully to improve recreational facilities, create trails and vistas, improve wildlife habitat and provide wood products. The White Mountain National Forest is also one of the most heavily visited forests in the national system, with over 6 million visitors each year. Visitors enjoy backpacking, swimming, camping, snowmobiling, scenic driving, skiing and dogsledding. The forest is also the home of the state’s tallest peak, the 6,280’ Mount Washington. Mount Washington is the tallest peak in New England and is home to some of the worlds most dangerous weather. Washington, and the rest of the Whites, are cared for by the Appalachian Mountain Club. Founded in 1876, the AMC is the oldest conservation and recreation association in the U.S.. Today the organization has over 87,000 members worldwide. The AMC promotes â€Å"the protection, enjoyment, and the wise use of the mountains, rivers, and trails of the North-east.

The Teaching Profession Essays -- Teacher Education

I am a teacher, an educator of our youth. I am amongst the thousands of educators that facilitate the learning process to children ages five to eighteen. Along with my peers, I guide, mentor, inform, inspire, encourage, and provide many opportunities that allow our youth to learn for themselves. We do not just read from books or give exams, we interact with each student, building a relationship so we may help create well-rounded learners so they may be able to reach their full potential and surpass their goals. As a teacher, we know how to intervene, provide positive reinforcement, and allow students to make mistakes so they may try for themselves and build confidence within themselves and reap the fruits of achievement. When a student achieves, we all achieve. A true educator teaches as a way of life rather than teach to live. Teachers are always learning and wanting to gain more knowledge to pass along to their students. As a teacher, I must have a belief system that guides my actions as an educator. 1. I believe than education is the most single important aspect in a person’s life. As a teacher, we are the life source of discovery and knowledge. It is our duty to nurture each individual student by allowing him or her to excel not only intellectually but also developmentally, emotionally, physically and socially. 2. I believe that all students should be treated equal regardless of any special needs. 3. I believe my classroom will be an accessible and safe environment that fosters respect, trust, dignity and participation that allows students to learn. 4. I believe that my curriculum should and will be adjusted, so that all of my students may be able to compete on an equal level. 5. I believe that if I demonstrate a pos... ...es Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/cornerstones/ny.pdf Douglas Davis. (2007). A Quality Education? Journal of Philosophy and History of Education, 57, 18-25. Office of Educational Management - NYSED: Contracts for Excellence: Model Programs. (2010). Ed Management Services. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from http://www.p12.nysed.gov/mgtserv/C4E/htm/ModelPrgmsforLEP-ELLs8-08.html Taylor, J., Stecher, B., O'Day, J., Naftal, S., & Carlson Le Floch, K. (2010). State and Local Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (No. Volume IX) (pp. 1-294). U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/disadv/nclb-accountability/nclb-accountability-final.doc