Friday, December 27, 2019

Happy Stakeholders in Special Education

Stakeholders in special education are the people who have something at stake. First, there are the parents and the child, who have much more than success on standardized tests at stake. Parents are concerned about their children gaining the skills they need to reach independence. Students are the ones in school. Their stake includes both the things they are currently aware of, like Am I happy? and things which will only be evident when they reach maturity: Will I have the skills to go to college or find a job? The Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL 42-142) established rights for children with handicaps. Because of the failure of public institutions to provide adequate services for children with handicaps, they gained new rights to these services. Now educational institutions, states, communities, and general education teachers have stakes in the successful delivery of services to children with disabilities. We as special educators find ourselves in the middle. Students First, of course, are the students. Keeping them happy in the present moment may make our lives easy, but denies them the challenges they need to do their best and acquire the skills they need to live independently. For a special educator the Rigor that we need to create is to align our instruction as much as possible to the standards: in most states today they are the Common Core State Standards. By following standards, we guarantee that we are laying down a foundation for future success in the curriculum, even though we may only be approximating the general education curriculum. Parents Next, of course, are parents. Parents have delegated the responsibility to act in the best interest of their children, though in some cases legal guardians or agencies may act on the childs behalf. If they believe that the Individual Education Plan (IEP) does not meet their childs needs, they have legal remedies, from asking for a due process hearing to taking the school district to court. Special educators who make the mistake of ignoring or discounting parents may be in for a rude awakening. Some parents are difficult (see Difficult Parents,) but even they usually are concerned about their childrens success. On the very, very rare occasion you will get a parent who suffers from Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, but mostly parents seeking to get the right kind of help for their children dont know how to go about it, or they have been treated so dismissively that they will never trust a special educator. Keeping communication open with parents is the best way to have them as allies when you and their child face a really big behavioral challenge together. General Educators When the Education for All Handicapped Children was written, it established a couple of legal standards against which all programs are measured: FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education) and LRE (Least Restrictive Environment.) The law was based on the outcome of the PARC Vs. Pennsylvania lawsuit, which, when settled in the interest of the plaintiffs by the U.S. Supreme Court, established them as rights on the basis of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Initially, children were included in the General Education program under a concept called mainstreaming which basically placed children with disabilities in general education classes and they had to sink or swim. When that proved to be unsuccessful, the inclusion model was developed. In it, a general educator will either work with the special educator in a co-teaching model, or the special educator will come into the classroom a couple times a week and provide the differentiation the students with disabilities need. When done well, it benefits both special education and general education students. When done badly it makes all stakeholders unhappy. Working with general educators in inclusive settings is generally very challenging and requires developing relationships of trust and collaboration. (see General Educators.) Administrators Generally, there are two levels of supervision. The first is the special education facilitator, coordinator, or whatever you district calls the person in this chair. Usually, they are just teachers on special assignment, and they have no real authority of the special educator. That doesnt mean they cant make your life miserable, especially if the principal is dependent on that person to see that documents are completed properly and the program is in compliance. The second level is the supervising principal. Sometimes this responsibility is delegated, but in most cases, the assistant principal defers on important matters to the principal. Either the special education coordinator or the supervising principal should serve as the LEA (Legal Education Authority) at students IEP meetings. Your principals responsibility is broader than just being sure that IEPs are written and programs are compliant. With the NCLB emphasis on testing and progress, special education students may first be viewed as a demographic rather than individuals with challenges. Your challenge is to help your students while at the same time convincing your administrator that you are making a contribution to the success of the whole school. Your Community Often we miss the fact that our final stakeholder is the community in which we live. The success of children impacts our whole community. Often the cost of educating students, especially in smaller communities like those in New England, a few children with significant disabilities can create huge expense which can challenge fragile budgets. Private residential programs can be extraordinarily expensive, and when a district so fails a child that he or she ends up in a program that can cost a quarter million dollars a year, it has a serious negative impact on a community. On the other hand, when you as an educator succeed in helping a student become independent, develop communication or in any way become more independent, you are potentially saving your community millions of dollars.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Coca Cola, The Biggest Supplier And Producer Of Carbonated...

Executive Summary Introduction Coca-Cola is the biggest supplier and producer of carbonated soft drink which are heavily known and sold all over the world. The Coca-Cola Company claims that the drink is sold in more than 200 countries worldwide. Coca-Cola are the biggest drink manufacturer in the world and because of its soaring popularity it is the most popular beverage in the world. Forbes ranks Coca-Cola as #4 on the world’s most popular brand with a brand value of $56billion as of 2015. Coca-Cola is recognised all over the world with the word ‘Coca-Cola’ being ranked the 2nd most recognised word in the world. The reason for this being Coca-Cola are an absolutely colossus organisation which operates globally selling and promoting†¦show more content†¦But again these are only some of the negative attributes acquitted to Coca-Cola. Their brand image on the other hand has a huge impact on how they represent themselves to consumers such as images associated with Coca-Cola include freedo m, youth, refreshment, fun, innovation etc. These are just some of the assumptions which come to mind when thinking of Coca-Cola’s image. On the other hand we could look at how Coca-Cola compares to its competitors both direct and indirectly through the use of a perceptual map (See Appendix 1). It is clear that Coca-Cola leads the competition in terms of quality and popularity with competition from both direct and indirect companies such as Pepsi who are their main competitors but indirect companies include Tropicana Innocent smoothies. As these are its indirect companies competing against them in the opposite and more healthy market which means Coca-Cola brand image is being damaged as it’s indirect company competition is showing them up in terms of healthy imagery as they promote to consumers healthy living whereas on the other hand Coca-Cola is known to cause the opposite of what innocent smoothies do for its consumers. Many marketing strategists often argue not to look at competition too narrowly. Research on non-comparable organisation

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Death in Leamington and Devonshire Street Essay Example For Students

Death in Leamington and Devonshire Street Essay Do you agree with this assessment in the light of your reading of Death in Leamington and Devonshire Street, W.1.?  Betjemans lexis in the poem Death in Leamington exemplifies only dark and decaying imagery, expressing death itself through powerful metaphors and thus exhibiting a sombre mood which is significant in its reflection of the death of the woman. Indeed, through his diction, Betjeman is able to conjure a world himself, which is put across quite carefully to the reader in its specific detail. The poem Devonshire Street, W.1. is equally a construction of a world by carefully chosen detail. It is itself ridden with symbolism and literary contrast what with the building being personified as lofty, thus an impersonal mood is brought about, which is symbolic of the age itself and portrays a world of apparent negativity.  The death of the woman in Death in Leamington is ironic in its presence to the Nurse. As she comes to wake the woman up, she realises that she is in fact dead: a crude and lonely happening, which provides greater emphasis to the evning that the poem takes place in. Indeed, the statement the light of the evning star is an antithesis in itself, with the very dichotomy between light and dark being portrayed here, thus adding to the sense of confusion that exists in Leamington Spa. The stucco is peeling in stanza six, implying through such symbolism that there is a sense of decay, a symbolic death of both the woman and of an era, with this ambiguity only strengthening the pessimism throughout. Furthermore, as the gas in the hall is turned down, greater symbolism is created, as this has connotations of a turning down of life of a grey decay.  The very satire that exists in Chintzy, chintzy cheeriness is dark in its deeper meaning. The fact that a woman has died is anything but humorous and yet Betjeman includes such satire, perhaps to reflect upon a world in which we do not understand death for what it is a passing of life but something altogether lighter. This would indeed give meaning as to why the nurse carries on with her business-like manner as she tiptoe gently away from the scene of death, with Betjeman providing greater meaning to our obliviousness as man and woman, and the way in which we do not appreciate perhaps all that we should, thus this womans life (who is alone in the frame of such eight quatrains), is dismissed without any attention being paid to her stop of the heart . Through Betjemans purposeful diction, a reflective world in itself is hence created, which is careful in its detail. The poem Devonshire Street, W.1. uses language by Betjeman to construct a world in itself of carefully chosen detail. The door is heavy with a wrought-iron screen, which is in fact symbolic of a divide in life: a division of compassion and of emotionlessness, which cannot be reunited as this metaphorical divide is one of wrought-iron. The narrator repeats No hope, with this repetition providing emphasis to the negativity which seemingly permeates both Death in Leamington and Devonshire Street, W.1. Indeed, the adjectives merciless, cold, silly, timidly and iron all also contribute to the creation of a world that exists in the heart of London which is, again, oblivious of the needs and sorrows of others, thus a world by carefully chosen detail is in fact created by Betjeman as his lexis is greatly infused with symbolism of deeper meaning.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

The Art of Japanese Management free essay sample

The art of Japanese management talks about the differences of the Eastern and Western management, and clarifies this differences by citing transnational companies and the ways they did or do solve social and cultural problems that the main management has nowadays. The book starts by sitting on the history of great western organizations like government, military and the church. Its divided in 8 chapters, but its mainly divided in 3 subjects: The 7 S framework, the japanese reflection and The American way. The first leadership concept that shows is the line of command. Contrasting with China and Japan, the occidental society evolves separately with separate influence spheres: The church was always taking care of the faith and the spiritual life of the men meanwhile the government and the commercial institutions had the role of providing the to the human beings to take care of the existence. The corporation started to growth acting as a dominant organization inside a society in this century. We will write a custom essay sample on The Art of Japanese Management or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The western world was starting to leader the rest of the world, there was no surprise that we all know as modern management was a western invention. The new professionals have the same challenges as before in time: How to efficiently administrate the organization, how to delegate responsibilities, and how to gratify and motivate the employees. The main difference between Western and Eastern organizations is that the last ones use the organizational structure and formal systems to attack these issues. In general, comparing with Western organizations, Eastern organization pays more attention on social and spiritual subjects. The ideology takes persons to achieve organizational goals, but mainly and invariably, these are based on sanctions. Today, the most important tasks like the significance of punctuality, sense of belonging, sanctions against thievery, the importance of performance at work, and the ways to solve conflicts and issues are taking by society before their members take part of a company’s task force. Most of the times eastern societies are representatively big, and most of the time matters like public, private and spiritual are so integrated that the companies take control of these type of tasks as a whole in human being. Company takes another role rater to just being transactions between work and capital. The book gives us the advice to take the best practices of the Japanese administration and to adopt it to our environment, questioning some western â€Å"truths† and some management abilities. To explain the 7 S Framework, the book describes the actions of Konosuke Matsushita, founder of Panasonic, over the management of National and other companies. To start describing the Strategy, Matsushita broke all the existing rules about convention of company names, by naming his company National instead of Matsushita. He changed the way of product commercialization by selling it directly to the stores, without intermediaries, lowering costs. Matsushita gave importance to market shares, high volumes of production generates saving on production cost allowing the company to transmit this reduced prices to their customers. The third element of the strategy was the followership, in which Matsushita didn’t create or invent products, instead, the company’s research and development imitates it but the big difference was that the company offered the same product with an attractive improvement. His best concept of research and development was to take the product, imitate it to the maximum detail and to find a better and more attractive way to offer it to the competitor. Describing organizational structure, he fixed the goal of maintain the thing small and entrepreneurial. To start growing, he organized the company into divisions. When he saw that the manager’s skill were improving, he figured out that they were preparing to be general administrators of a growing company, but the issue were that all the managers were making this progress in their abilities independent and separately. For this, he centralizes the controllership’s functions, the personnel functions, he institutionalize a central bank and the centralized all the training. Regarding Systems, Matsushita was the pioneer of the effective financial systems, and he copied the planning system from Phillips, the Dutch electronics manufacturer. The planning system consisted on that every 6 months, the managers of each division had to deliver 3 plans: The first one was a plan to 5 years, in which he stipulates all the changes that the organization or division will suffer regarding on alterations of new technologies and the environment. The second plan was a plan of to 2 years, in which stipulates how the division will translate the long term strategy in the new plant’s capacity and the new products. The third plan was the â€Å"Program for the Next Sixth Months operation period†. In this plan, the division explained month to month the sales projections, productions, incomes, inventories, accounts receivable, personnel requirements, quality control targets and capital investments. In questions of style, Matsushita was distinguee for his â€Å"hands on† approach. Matsushita understands that a manager has to effectively communicate to people down the line, telling them what he cares about. His key success has been the ability to get to the employees seven levels down and motivate him to energically pursue the organization’s objective. Another future of Matsushita‘s style was the pragmatic approach to a conflict. As in real life, there will be adjustments and its means to pull together rather to push apart. About spiritual values, Matsushita philosophy provided a basis of meaning beyond production. Matsushita was the first company in Japan to have a song and a code of values. This song was singed every day at 8:00 am al across Japan. For Matsushita, It was unthinkable that work, which occupies at least half of the day, should deny its powerful role. The firm has a inescapable responsibilities to help their employee’s themselves. The basic business principles were: â€Å"To recognize our responsibilities as industrialists, to foster progress, to promote general welfare of society, and to devote ourselves to the further development of world culture† The employee’s creed was: â€Å"Progress and development can be realized only through the combined effort and cooperation of each member of Our Company. Each of us, therefore, shall keep this idea constantly in mind as we devote ourselves to the c continuous improvement of our company†. The seven â€Å"spiritual† values were: 1. National Service Through Industry 2. Fairness 3. Harmony and Cooperation 4. Struggle for Betterment 5. Courtesy and Humility 6. Adjustment and assimilation 7. Gratitude. This values foster consistent expectations among employees in a work force continent to continent spread. Regarding Staff, Matsushita experience started with the basics of business. Every employee, whether they were engineers, accountants, or salesman, began with spending 6 months selling or working directly in a retail outlet. Also, each spends time performing routine tasks on a assembly line. The distinctiveness of the firm is that everyone that stays come to be a part of a culture with common understandings and shared values that helped to facilitate the business needs. Employees weren’t view as participating in management, but their opinions are sought. About skills, it is difficult in a Japanese organization to separate the people from the company. The most salient skills of the founder were the versatility; sometimes he was intensely hands on and sometimes distant. Matsushita seems to combine the gifts of many men. The firm’s skills emerged from the consistent ways in which the parts of the organization all join together. Its organizational structure is reinforced by its system; these gain significant support from the Matsushita style, spiritual values, and staffing policies. Human values were promoted with efficiency. Following this and through extraordinary inter consistency between strategy and skills, it is able to replicate the Matsushita model. The American way is reflected in a chapter that resembles all the managerial methods of Harold S. Geneen, which was president of International Telephone and Telegraph for over two decades. At first sight, the managerial methods implemented are good, but they were created to work only in an environment with the same variables. The comparison between Matsushita and ITT wasn’t perfect but gives us a clear perspective of how things can be done perfectly as Japans in our cultural way. Geneen’s behavior and tension he created produced and intense competitive pressures which drove the executives persistently. His method of management was traditional. There were important and interrelated elements in Geneen’s management approach where he played a central role in his management design. The unshakeable facts, which are something hard and indisputable; at minimum it is the firsthand opinion of an expert, based on the most current information. The second part revolved around a design of checks and balances using staff as parallel and independent source of information from the line and permitting overlapping delegations of authority among and between line and staff functions. The third part of Geneen’s approach was the use of large structured meetings as the focal point of his decision-making process. The fourth part was to impose of a variety of rewards and pressures to ensure his total command. Geneen created tensions between line and staff. In contrast with Matsushita, division managers were seen to lead a challenging and precarious existence, while line staff half of the time exaggerated problems to make they look good under the boss eyes. One product manager traced the source of the problem between line and staff to the bonus system, because it represented 30% or more of the salary. The problem was that putting staff on individual performance bonuses resulted in the justification of their existence. They were always trying to prove what they had done in order to look good in the reports. This created an adversary relationship with people on the line. The reward system drove that kind of behavior. Geneen meetings were interrogatory, even adversarial,. The general manager’s report had already been written and everyone assumed to have studied it, but the meetings were held to identify new problems. Part of what made Geneen’s system to work was the fear. Fear of being caught uninformed and being humiliated in meetings and of being punished. It it’s often said that positive motivations are more powerful than negative ones. Geneens personal style can also be described as attentive, committed, determined, pragmatic, and forceful and disciplined. His managerial approach had powerful effects on others, and the labels they used to characterize these patterns in his behaviors, and thus his values and beliefs, were often charged with emotion. Seven elements were used to understand better both Matsushita and ITT. Strategy belongs to a firm’s plan of action that causes it to allocate it scarce resources over time to get from where it it’s to where it wants to go. Structure refers to the way a firm is organized, whether it’s decentralized or centralized, whether it emphasizes line or staff. Structure refers on how boxes are arranged. System refers to how information moves around within the organization. Staff belongs not to staff in the line/staff senses, but to demographic characteristics of the people who live in an organization. Skills are those things which the organization and its key personnel do particularly well. Style refers to the patterns of behavior of the top executive and senior management team. Super ordinate Goals or shared values include spiritual and significant meanings and shared values of the people within an organization and refers to the overarching purposes to which an organization and its members dedicate themselves.