Inclusion Needs a Different School Culture

Teachers' beliefs and values are affecting the emerging organizational paradigm called inclusive education. A social constructivist perspective on teachers' beliefs acknowledges that teachers have their ideals and this knowledge influences their actions in the implementation of inclusive schooling. This happens within a social and cultural context of the school and the community. This paper addresses a critical aspect of the changes needed for the development of inclusive schooling and the associated professional development for teachers

Leadership in Private Christian Schools: Perceptions of Administrators

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to discover the perceptions of private Christian school administrators about leadership characteristics, roles, and teacher professional development. The co-researchers first conducted a demographic survey and focus group interviews with six administrators from K-12 or secondary private Christian schools in Oregon and Washington. Themes that surfaced from the data were who we are as leaders, success and celebration, and what we do as leaders. Results showed that administrators of private Christian schools tended to focus on the importance of the vision and mission of their schools, keeping in mind their influence as spiritual leaders and the importance of problem solving and decision making. Servant leadership was identified as well. However, little information was shared about how they supported teacher professional development or student academic achievement

Autumn’s Fragrant Afterthought

This creative nonfiction essay is an excerpt from a book length study that I have recently completed on the seasons. My manuscript was inspired by the Medieval Book of Hours, particularly its Labours of the Months calendar. This essay is a portrait of November. My setting is northeastern Nova Scotia, where the Medieval model of agrarian labour is still remarkably preserved. The essay is also a reflection on time: the rhythmic, seasonal flow that counters the accelerated pace of modern, urbanized life

Top Ten Google Apps Tool Tips

There\u27s at least ten Google Drive, Docs, Forms, and Sheets items I couldn\u27t live without and not one of them is an Add-on. While this isn\u27t a hands-on workshop, you may follow along on your own laptop as I demonstrate uses for Quick Sum, Explore, Pivot Tables, Conditional formatting, Style Sheets, Table of Contents, Preview mode, Search & Organize Drive, Short URL, and Priority Inbox. Sharing your own Google Apps go-to list is welcome

Search for new physics in semileptonic B-decays

Semileptonic decays provide an excellent environment for testing the Standard Model (SM). Violation of lepton universality would be a smoking gun for physics beyond the SM. Using semi-tauonic $B$ decays, LHCb finds a value of $\mathcal{R}(D^*) = \mathcal{B}(\bar{B}^0 \to D^{*+} \tau^{-} \bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}^0 \to D^{*+} \mu^{-} \bar{\nu}_{\mu}) = 0.336 \pm 0.027 \rm{(stat)} \pm 0.030 \rm{(syst)}$, which is 2.1 standard deviations larger than the value expected from the SM. Moreover, the measurement of the $CP$ asymmetry in mixing of $B_s^0$ mesons is highly sensitive to physics beyond the SM. This article presents the latest result on semileptonic asymmetries; using the full Run 1 dataset, it is found that $a_{\rm{sl}}^s = (0.39 \pm 0.26 \rm{(stat)} \pm 0.20 \rm{(syst)})\%$, which is consistent with the Standard Model.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, Contribution to the Proceedings of the 38th International Conference on High Energy Physics, ICHEP 2016, Chicago, IL, US