Understanding the experiences of special education students who did Dissertation

Understanding the experiences of special education students who did not complete high school - Dissertation Example The purpose of this qualitative case study is to identify the common experiences of special education students who decide to drop-out of high school and the common factors that contribute to the decision to drop-out of high school. The case study will be comprised of male and female special education high school students who dropped out of school at Ridgeville High School (pseudonym for a Virginia high school) during their third and fourth years in the school years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. The sample population will consist of students between the ages of 16-20. The sampling size will be 15 although 33 students will be initially contacted. The study will be a phenomenological study and will therefore be conducted by virtue of semi-structured interviews designed to identify the common experiences of students who dropped out of school close to graduation. The results of the semi-structured interview will be compared and analysed by virtue of a qualitative data analysis. The results wil l be coded and categorized generally using a phenomenological reductionism method. Once the data are collated and sorted and commonalities are identified, all possible conclusions will be analysed so that a final conclusion can be drawn. Using information from interviews with recent dropouts from Ridgeville High School, in conjunction with findings from current literature, this study will contribute to the development of recommendations for more effective dropout prevention programs for special education students. Descriptors: Achievement gap Disability Drop-out Drop-out prevention IDEA 2004 Dropping out IEP Inclusion NCLB QDA Special Education Student Engagement ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii CHAPTER ONE 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Background 2 Problem Statement 12 Purpose of the Study 15 Research Questions 15 Scope of the Study 16 Limitations and Delimitations 17 Definition of Terms 19 Research Plan 21 CHAPTER TWO 24 LITERATURE REVIEW 2 4 Introduction 24 Overview 25 Institutional reasons for dropping out 38 School belonging and dropout rates 44 Special education services and dropout rates 47 Exit exams 49 Inclusion: Does it reduce dropout rates? 54 Teachers and inclusion 64 Dropout prevention programs 71 IEP programming 74 Transition programming 76 Programs attending to social and academic elements of student lives: Finn’s participation-identification model of school engagement-belonging 79 School belonging and engagement and special education 91 Case studies of best practice school engagement programs that have improved the retention level of special education students in high school 98 Conclusion 102 CHAPTER THREE 104 METHODOLOGY 104 Introduction 104 Research Questions 105 Design 106 Active Observation 112 Intensive Interview 113 Data Collection Procedures 116 In-depth Interviews 117 The Researcher’s Role 120 Qualitative Data Analysis 120 The Coding Process

Business Opportunities In The Leisure Goods And Activities Industry Essay - 3

Business Opportunities In The Leisure Goods And Activities Industry - Essay Example The researcher states that given that the leisure goods and activities industry encompasses such varied businesses, it becomes necessary to evaluate existing ventures across specific industrial segments to ascertain the continuity and profitability of any potential investments into such firms. Â  Besides, it is also necessary to analyze the revenue stream of a target company over a few years to determine the long-term prospects of the firm and its internal stability. Common examples of leisure-based goods or companies include Water Parks, Disneyland, Holiday Tour operators like Thomas Cook etc (Mark, 2010). The primary task of a leisure-based company is to ensure that all requirements of a person on a vacation are adequately provided for within the latter’s budget and schedule. According to Mathies, consumers are wealthier today, with higher disposable incomes, than they were 20 years ago. In fact, per-capita real income has increased by over 3 times since the 1970s while the standard of living has risen by over two-thirds during this period, especially across the developed world. Victoria says that over 45% of spending is currently categorized as ‘discretionary’ among consumers in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK). With rising incomes, families now have broader flexibility in their household spending and divert as much as 20% of their incomes on leisure activities. This estimate is similar to the proportion spent by an average American household on food and beverages. Canwell conducted an extensive survey of households in the US and determined that over 80% of consumers spent regularly on leisure-based goods and services.

Profitability of going green

Profitability of going green Green Environment Analysis Financial planning and financial analysis are some of the major aspects on which the entire capability of an organization depends upon. When it comes to organizations, then the name of net productivity and efficacy are some of the major things that stride under its capability and effectiveness. Increasing the shareholder’s net with the help of effective and timely decisions is an important aspect from the viewpoint of an organization and organizations always required to have effective economic decision on the basis of different information. Finance is a broad field which has the tendency and capability to analyze the effectiveness of the financials of an organization and the tools which used to assess the same. Financial analysis is one of those tools which is used for the same purpose in a market. The main theme of this section is the continuation of the same project which is of Waste Management and Going Green. As the company is new one, hence most of the answers are on the assumption basis. We will analyze the firm from different angles, like, profitability, market share, asset management and liquidity and all of these sections are important to cover in this particular analysis. We have considered the company of Waste Management in which we are trying to save the earth by Going Green. The name of our company is Green Environment and it is a hypothetical company. The idea of the project is new as well as effective and there are certain aspects and risks which will affect the business from different viewpoints. There are two different types of risk which is associated with our project which are systematic risk and unsystematic risk. Systematic risk is the one that could not be diversified while unsystematic risk could be diversifying accordingly. The systematic risk which we will be facing in our project is the high regulations of the government and other international governmental organizations that will use different amount of regulations on our projects and we have to comply with them accordingly and effectively at the same time. There is a need to get sufficient support from the government and central bank related to this particular stance, like government initiation to increase the financial aspect of the company would be effective for the company in future. On the other hand, there are unsystematic risks as well that associated specifically with the company which are investment concerns and high competition. The company can diversify their portfolios of products as well as investment securities by diversifying their portfolio and investing in different securities to get the desired result, while competition could be resolved by decreasing the price recognition of the company accordingly and become economically active an d prosper. Part-2 Financial Ratio Analysis There are two different parts of this particular analysis which is required in this section of the report, which is economic analysis in which different risk factors both systematic and unsystematic would have been analyzed accordingly along with the analysis of the financial capability of the company. There are number of ratios which could be used for the same purpose. Financial forecast has been done on the basis of the years from 2014 to 2018 and all of the currencies are in Arab Emirati Dirham (AED). Profitability Analysis Every organization strives hard for profitability and maximizing the net worth of an organization. It is always required to have sufficient actions and activities from which the profitability of an organization could be enhanced accordingly and effectively at the same time. With the help of profitability analysis, organizations can get apprehension over their effectiveness in particular. There are two different ratios that used to come under the same ambit with the names of Net Profit Margin (NPM) and Gross Profit Margin (GPM) and both of these ratios are essential for the sake of an organization as far as increasing their financial capability is concerned from different slants. Net Profit Margin (NPM) Net profit margin is an important measurement of financials used by the analyst of an organization. It is one of the most important and widely used tools used by the organizations to analyze that how much net profit earned by a company on the basis of its net sales. Net worth and capability of an organization would have been analyzed considerably with the help of this particular ratio. The NPM of the selected company for five forecasted years is mentioned below From this above mentioned analysis, it is found that the NPM of the selected company will lie in a remarkable range which can be analyzed from the above mentioned table and graph. The NPM of the selected company was 62.5% in the financial year (FY) 2014 which increased and then decreased with similar percentages of 4.17 for years 2015 and 2016 respectively. The NPM of Green Environment will increased for two consecutive years by 4.17% and 8.33% in the years 2017 and 2018 respectively showing the capability of the company to increase its financial belongings. The average NPM of the selected company is 66.67%, showing that the company has the ability to generate AED 66.67 from the net sales of AED 100. Gross Profit Margin (GPM) Likewise NPM, Gross Profit Margin (GPM) is yet another important ratio that comes under the ambit of profitability analysis. This particular ratio diverse that how much gross profit earned by the company on the basis of its net sales. With the help of this particular ratio, an analyst can analyze the effectiveness of managing the cost of the company accordingly. The lower the cost, the higher will be the gross profit of the company. The GPM of the selected company for the next five years is mentioned below It is clear from the above mentioned table and chart that the GPM of the selected company is quite high and effective which is an evidence that the company has the capability to increase its financial belongings accordingly and effectively at the same time. The GPM of Green Environment will be 75% of its sales in the year 2014, which increased to a level of 83.3% in the year 2015, showing an increase of 8.33% as compared to the same period of last year. An increment of 4.17% and 2.08% has been envisaged in the financial years (FY) 2017 and 2018 respectively. The average GPM of the company is 80.25% for five forecasted years, which is quite high and effective as well for the company showing that the company has the power to mitigate its direct cost and increase its financial belongings accordingly. Asset Management of Efficiency Ratio Asset Management Ratios also known as Efficiency Ratios are some of the effective ratios that used to analyze the capability and ability of an organization as far as managing its operational assets accordingly. The higher the asset management ratio’s amount, the higher will be the chance for the company to have high inclination towards the analysis. There are two different ratios which could be used for the same purpose, with the name of Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE). Return on Assets (ROA) Analysis Return on Assets (ROA) is a measurement or financial tool used to assess the capability of an organization as far as managing its operational assets are concerned. It is one of the most important ratios that used to assess the profitability of an organization in terms of utilizing its assets accordingly. The computed ROA of the company is mentioned below The above analysis is showing clearly that tendency and ability of the company as far as utilizing its operational assets effectively. From the analysis, it is clear that the ROA of the selected company in the year 2014 will be 31.25% and it increased by 16.37% in the year 2015. The ROA of the company has the capability to increase accordingly each year with regular and effective percentages, like it increased by 8.14% and 13.95% respectively for years (FYs) 2017 and 2018 respectively. The average ROA of the selected company is 44.21%, which is quite high and effective and the company should grow accordingly on the basis of these high amount of ROA in particular. Return on Equity Analysis An analytical tool which is used to analyze how much effective and organization in terms of utilizing its net equity is known as Return on Equity (ROE). It is one of the most important tools that come under the ambit of financial analysis used by the analyst to increase their investment return. The computed ROE of Green Environment is mentioned below Table and graph mentioned above is showing the tendency of the company in terms of utilizing its equity accordingly. The ROE of the selected company was 25% in the year 2014 which increased by 8.33% in the year 2015 and then decreased by 208 basis points in the year 2016. The ROE of Green Environment increased for two consecutive years by 7.97% and 3.64% for years (FYs) 2017 and 2018 respectively which is quite high. The average ROE of the company is 34.33%, showing that the company is able to generate 34.33 AED from its net Equity amounting to 100 AED. Liquidity Ratio Analysis Liquidity Ratio Analysis (LRA) is one of the most important ratios that come under the ambit of Liquidity Analysis and the ratio which is used for the same purpose is Current Ratio (CR). Current Ratio Analysis Current Ratio is an important ratio that comes under the ambit of Liquidity Analysis. It is a ratio that used to assess the capability of an organization as far as meeting with the financial obligation is concerned. A CR of higher than 1, is an indemnity that the company has enough capability to meet with its financial obligations and promises in particular. High amount of CR is always be effective from the viewpoint of an organization. The analysis is clearly showing that the Current Ratio (CR) of the selected organization lies in a good and sophisticated range which could be found from the above mentioned analysis. The CR of the company will be 1:33 in the year 2014 which decreased by 8, 5 and 12 basis points in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively, but still manages to keep it on the level of 1. The average CR of Green Environment is 1:20, showing that the company has the ability and stance to meet with its current financial obligations in particular and able to meet with its short term financial promises as well. It is an important ratio that used for different purposes in an organization and usually banks would used this particular ratio to analyze the paying back stance of a company. Solvency Ratio The ratio which used to analyze that how much active an organization as far as meeting with its long term financial obligations in particular. This particular aspect is known as Solvency Ratio. The ratio that comes under the ambit for the same analysis is Debt to Equity (D/E) ratio and it is an important ratio used for the purpose of analysis. Debt to Equity Ratio Analysis A ratio that is used to assess the proportion of debt in equity of a company is known as debt to equity ratio. It is one of the most important ratios used for the long term liability is concerned and it is particularly known as Solvency Ratio in particular. The provision of the same ratio is quite high and it is equally beneficial for Green Environment as well. From this particular analysis, it is found that the total debt to equity of the company is perfect that les in an effective environment. The debt to equity of the company lies in the range from 0.80 to 1.02, which is quite effective in particular. This particular aspect is effective from the viewpoint of the company. The proportion of debt in the equity of the company on average is quite low which 25% is only while rest of the equity has been financed with equity which is quite high and effective. This particular aspect is showing that the level of solvency of the selected company is quite high and effective and it is one of the most important sign for the company as far as their future economic consequences is concerned and Green Environment should prolong the same. Market Value Ratio Investment is an important aspect from the viewpoint of an organization and no organization could be in the sake of economic prosperity and expansion without having high amount of investment associated with it. There are number of ratios that could be used for the same analysis and among them, the name of Earnings per Share (EPS) is one of them which have its own importance and recognition lies in a broad nutshell. Earnings per Share (EPS) According to International Accounting Standards (IAS-13), every organization is required to show the share analysis on the basis of its income statement. High EPS is always be effective from the viewpoint of an organization. The earnings per share of the selected company are effective and high and it is showing that the company has the ability to increase their economic belongings with the help of effective and timely strategies in particular. The average EPS of Green Environment is 1.18 AED which is showing that the company is economically prosper and active and it would remain in the same jurisdiction for a long span of time. The market value and market tendency of the company is strong and high which leads to increase the financial and strategic prosperity of the company for a long span of time. Conclusion â€Å"Green Environment† is a non-profit organization which wants to improve the standards of waste management in Emirates. This is a newly born company and therefore it needs the support of government and other organizations. The company is a hypothetical one, which is trying to make such

Cry the Beloved Country :: Cry the Beloved Country Essays

Cry the Beloved Country Cry the beloved country, by Alan Paton, is a book which tells the story of how James Jarvis, a wealthy estate owner who, because of his own busy life, had to learn of the social degradation in south Africa through the death of his only son. If Arthur Jarvis had never been killed, James Jarvis would never have been educated by his sons writings, and Stephen Kumalo. When we first meet james jarvis, he knows little of his sons life. He doesn't know his son "was on a kind of a mission"(p. 140), And this is why when harrison says,"...we're scared stiff at the moment in johannesburg."( p. 140) James is sort of surprised and says,"of crime?"(p. 140). Talking to harrison taught stephen about the crime in the city, and the next morning he learns about his son. One of the first things that james learns of his son, and his views, he learns in arthurs' room. In reading his writings, james finds that arthur would have risked anything to help other people, and ended up doing just that. James finds that his son was well researched on the problems of their society, and was interested in helping the development of the social structure in south africa. From the pictures of jesus and lincoln on his wall, james discovered the admiration arthur had for these two men. These were men of action, who showed love for their friends, and at the same time, their enemies. These two men suffered and died for their beliefs, as did arthur in a way, this is showing arthurs' father what a great man his son was by comparison, and similarity to others. This revelation shows arthurs concern for humanity. After the discovery of his sons views through all of his writings, james begins to realize the problem, and starts to think of the problems of others before his own. In this aspect, james begins to remind the reader of oscar shindler. This is so because shindler was one who at one time hated jews, but as he began to understand them, he thuoght of their troubles and how his wealth could save them. Much like shindler, jarvis helps the minority. Following his sons death and the acquaintance of stephen, james donates 1000 pounds to the african boys club. Jarvis is not just giving gifts in memory of his son, or just to give, but giving those who need help ways to help themselves.

Mahatma Gandhi Essay

One of India’s most important men in history was Mahatma Gandhi. In this interpretation I wish to discuss Mahatma Gandhi’s writing’s on India’s Independence. As discussed in â€Å"Indian Home Rule† written in 1909. Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi but known as Mahatma Gandhi lived from the year 1869 to the year 1948. He was the primary leader for India’s independence and one of the most successful users of civil disobedience in history. He was a spiritual and political leader in India, and he used his position and voice to make his country better. Mahatma Gandhi believed in satyagraha or † resistance through mass non-violent civil disobedience. Satyagraha remains one of the most potent philosophies in freedom struggles throughout the world today,† (bio.com) . Gandhi spent most of his life fighting for Indian Liberation from outside influences and he was assassinated trying to stop a Hindu-Muslim conflict by a Hindu fanatic on Janua ry 30, 1948. His death was unfortunate but he is remember by the world as one of the most successful spiritual leaders. Gandhi’s most fundamental criticism of British rule in India lies in the fact modernization that has been incorporated into their society by the British has caused India to turn away from their founding principles and religion. Mahatma Gandhi mentions that his people â€Å"should set limit to worldly ambition..’ and ‘make religious ambition be illimitable,† (Strayer, p. 920). This thought reflected his belief that the British concern was merely worldly ambition and that was not what his country should have set their sights upon. In his work, Gandhi defines civilization in his country’s sense and the British’s definition of civilization both of which differed dramatically. Gandhi’s concept of civilization center around a simple lifestyle not dependent on modernization and industrial characteristics. He believed civilization was their past lifestyle before railroads and British imperialism where his people lived in huts and plowed their o wn land the same way as their previous fathers did. His definition of British civilization was highly diluted and biased when he lists their idea of what it is. His definition of their civilization mentions â€Å"women who should be queens of households, wandering in the streets or slaving away in factories’, men being ‘enslaved by temptations of money and the luxuries that it buys’, and ‘that their business is not to teach religion† (Strayer,  p. 920). He goes on to say that their civilization will eventually be self destroyed whereas India’s will just keep continuing. Gandhi reconciles with the idea of India as a single nation even though the obvious religion division between Hindus and Muslims because he is speaking merely on India versus outsiders, not in any way distinguishing India as having separate divisions within itself. Gandhi seeks a future where India is that of its native culture handed down to them. Not in anyway seeking the advice of outsiders, yet instead living as they did in the past and sticking instead to elevate others moral being. With Gandhi’s ideas, he probably met cri ticisms from India’s increasing nationalist politicians who did not want to go back to the old way of life and who loved the power they gained from the British. Mahatma Gandhi said that the tendency of Western civilization is to propagate immorality. I think he says that because the history of Western Colonization is that of spreading their culture and way of life wherever they travel, and he feel that their culture is immoral and corrupted. I think it is impossible for colonialism to be moral because more times than not the outsiders were intruding upon the natives and causing a severe disruption to their lifestyles that probably resulted in their demise or downfall. The history of colonialism does not lend itself to being a moral topic. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 04:39, Jul 27, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898.

Alarm over Dramatic Weakening of Gulf Stream Essay

Gulf Stream and the extension it has on Europe is said to be a powerful Atlantic current that has its origin in Gulf of Mexico all the way to Africa across the Atlantic Ocean. It is the one that influences the climate in the North American coast as well as the coast in Europe. It is also used as a source of renewable energy for the generation of power. Gulf Stream is a strong current that usually meets with other ocean currents and rain is formed. It also transports water in the form of waves and also helps the rivers that drain in the Atlantic Ocean. It forms rain as the current is able to cool the water that is draining in the Atlantic Ocean thus evaporation takes place and falls in form of rain. Since the current is the one that is controlling the climate in the region that it passes scientists have warned that there is evidence of its weakening. This means that there are areas that the current will cool thus preventing human activities from taking place. According to George et al 1995, this will lead to reduction of global warming in the future until 2015. This is evident as the warm water that comes from tropical Atlantic is cold when it gets to the north of Atlantic. This is not to say that the climate will change badly as it might be thought. According to the same source the Gulf Stream is said to have weakened in the past decades and this has been caused by global warming. The strength that the current has, when measured it has been found to slow by 30%. This has made the circulation to slow down and if it remains so the temperatures in some countries are likely to drop like in Britain. It is also not clear whether the weakening is long term or short term. The reason why temperatures are likely to change is because the current transports heat from regions that are equatorial to the circle of the Arctic. This makes the water in the surface to warm as the current releases the heat as it goes to the north where it is cold. Global warming affects the current by slowing it down. This is because global warming has caused melting of the water in the mountainous regions to melt and makes the water less saline thus cooling cannot take place. In Paris â€Å"Little Ice Age† that started in Europe is as a result of the weakening of the Gulf Stream. This is because there is warm water that enters River Thames and cannot allow it to cool to how it was in the past. This has also changed the weather in the region. The weakening has been explained in the British journal Nature. The Gulf Stream has been blamed because the warm water that it takes from the tropical regions to the coastline in Europe has cause severe weather changes in the regions that it passes through. There is also evidence in the sediment cores from where the Gulf Stream enters. There are planktons that are evident in these cores and this depends on the isotope that is present in oxygen. The isotope is dependant on the salinity of the water. This is what shows the density of the water in the sea. According to scientists there is evidence that there are changes that are taking place in the Gulf Stream. They say that if the Gulf Stream did not have any influence Britain and Siberia could have the same latitude. In the past Greenland Sea had dense water sinking but since today it meets the Gulf steam currents it warms up and the result is that the water becomes warm. This has caused the water to become warm and affect the animals that are present in the water. Chimneys are the dense water that used to sink and this has reduced and thus weakening the Gulf Stream current. The ice in the sea is said to be getting thinner and thinner. Other scientists from Cambridge University have confirmed the weakening of the Gulf Stream and that Europe is likely to be cold than in the past. This is because of the fact that the strength at which the current is flowing is slower than in the past. They have also said that the chimneys that were present in the Greenland Sea are no longer there. It is because of these chimneys that the world is experiencing the climatic changes that are taking place. They have also predicted that the waters are going to remain as they are and that temperature in Britain is going to drop in the next decade. (Taylor, et al, 1992 p. 920) The weakening of these temperatures is going to cause no melting of the snow that falls in countries like Finland and France. This will cause glaciations to begin because there will be an increase in the reflectivity of the planet. The Gulf currents is also said to affect the other currents that it meets as it travels. There are also some climatic changes that are likely to occur in the future but they are not known. It is also projected that the currents will continue to slow down in the future. Work Cited George, D. G. and A. H. Taylor, UK lake plankton and the Gulf Stream. Nature, 1995, 378, 139 Taylor, A. H. , Colebrook, J. M. , Stephens, J. A. and N. G. Baker, Latitudinal displacements of the Gulf Stream and the abundance of plankton in the north-east Atlantic. J. of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 1992, 72, 919-921.