Culturally Competent Practices and Implications for Special Education Leaders

The over-identification of minorities in special education in the Unites States continues to exist. Such over-representation separates these students from their general education peers to the degree that they may not have access to challenging academic standards and effective instruction. Factors impacting these students include a systemic lack of understanding of cultural frames of reference and curriculum and leadership issues that influence the referral and placement processes in special education. This chapter will address the five culturally competent practices with regard to inclusion and special education. Implications for educational leaders will be discussed.

Study of Instructional Management and Institutional Effectiveness in Relation to Age and Experience of School Principals

The present investigation intends to assess instructional management and institutional effectiveness concerning the age and experience of school principals. The sample comprised twenty schools of Jalandhar and Kapurthala. The researchers used Hallinger’s Instructional Management Rating Scale and a self-prepared Institutional Effectiveness Rating Scale for the investigation. The result of the study reveals that in schools with younger principals, teachers exhibit better behaviour on coordinating the curriculum, protecting instruction time and developing academic standards of instructional management than teachers in schools with older principals. In schools with more experienced principals, teachers exhibit better behaviour concerning instructional management on co-ordinating the curriculum, protecting instruction time, providing incentives for teachers, protecting professional development, developing academic standards, and providing instructions for learning than the teachers in schools with less experience. In schools with older and more experienced principals, teachers exhibit better behaviour on supervising and evaluating instruction dimension of instructional leadership than the teachers in schools with older and less experience, younger and more experienced and younger and less experienced principals. There is no significant difference in the institutional effectiveness of schools with young and old aged principals. There is no significant difference in institutional effectiveness of schools with more and less experienced principals.

Counter-narratives of achievement at South Africa's first apartheid-era black medical school, 1950s to the early 1990s

This article examines the construction and dissemination of two particular achievement narratives - one focused on high academic standards, the other on a Black Consciousness-inspired "Black pride" - that were produced by academic staff and students at the University of Natal's Medical School, South Africa's first apartheid-era black medical school in the highly racialised context of the 1950s to early 1990s. While quite different in terms of their producers and periods of origin, the article argues that both these narratives developed with a similar purpose: as counter-narratives, which intended to critique or challenge the pervasive and disparaging apartheid-era discourse that portrayed black South Africans as inferior. Indeed, both these narratives sought, in their own respective ways, to enable those producing them to reframe the dominant apartheid discourse, to offer alternatives, including more positive views about black South Africans, and to take an oppositional stance. Yet, while both developed as counter-narratives, they did so with different emphases and stances taken to challenge apartheid, highlighting the complexity of these narratives. In addition, this article examines how both these narratives could sometimes, in particular historical moments, overlap in time and even amalgamate, leading to the construction of hybridised narratives.

Undergraduate Thesis and Plagiarism coping Strategies

Bachelor's degree is a final step before graduating first four years of studying at the university. The students show off their knowledge and research skills acquired by the University that are based on their original vision and scientific information. Writing a bachelor's thesis is a responsible, interesting and at the same time stressful job. It requires formal characteristics of its performance, which determine the content, form and style of the paper.The researcher of the undergraduate thesis raises the problem, analyzes, substantiates and suggests the solutions, evaluates the research results and concludes. During the working process new knowledge is activated which is based on analytical skills and critical reasoning.Maintaining academic standards in the paper makes it more fruitful because it gives the reader a sense that the author of the paper depends on reliable academic sources to support his or her own reasoning and position.The completed paper will be checked for plagiarism. There are numerous programs which reveal the originality of the work. After all, there is a big temptation of plagiarism in the papers.Preventing plagiarism offers to protect someone else’s intellectual property and make the student aware that he or she has to respect the rights of intellectual property and distance himself or herself from plagiarism. Avoiding Plagiarism in the paper is possible if the student has been clearly informed about the mechanisms or responses that plagiarism may cause in his or her work. Awareness is largely responsible for preventing plagiarism, however, only the moral part of the problem is not enough. We need to pay more attention to proper implementation of the academic techniques in the academic environment.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT FOR THE SUCCESSFUL OF TEENAGERS’ IN EDUCATION: AN OVERVIEW

This study examined the dynamic relationship between the time management skills and the that impact on teenagers’ academic achievement. Time management is the key valuable factor and it may actually affect individual’s overall performance and achievements. However, all of these are related by how individuals manage their time to suit their daily living or to make it flow steadily with their routines. Encouraging settings and environment will surely promote positive outcomes to teenager, besides having good lectures. Nevertheless, good time management is vital for teenagers to shine, however, some of the teens do not have good time management skills that have negatively affected their lives and their academics. The usage of time by teenagers in higher education institutions is related to their daily routines and activities. Their time management can also affect stress levels as they need to cope with their tasks and their personal achievements. In this regard, the hypothesis was analysed that how effectively, they are managing their time for achieving their academic standards. Meanwhile, there were significant factor in behaviour and attitude impact in time management into positively related to academic achievement of teenager although the relationship is weak. Time planning is the most significant correlated predictor.

Free College and the Problem of College Readiness

Free college for all will lower academic standards, increase the need for remedial education, and decrease student achievement overall.