Research in Educational Leadership-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Broadly Organize your paper into the four main stages for Planning Change as Identified by Hodges and Gill. Answer: Introduction The maintenance of the efficient school or educational leadership is the key to attain the sustainable reformation of the educational process. The principals are equipped to handle a rapidly changing and complex environment in order to improve the educational system and lead the students towards acquiring the secure future (DuFour Mattos, 2013). The presence of the instructional leaders determines the sustainable innovation in the educational field. However there are several instances where the leadership within the educational institutions goes wrong. According to Arafeh (2014) bringing chance into educational institutions are not easy. There are explicit power situation due to the position of the individual which may be not adequate for catalyzing the change into the organization. Previous educational researches show that different school administration variables do not have much impact on the learning process, considering separately, however collectively the variables may have a huge impact on reaching the students and creating a warm environment for the students. Few years ago, the concept of school leadership was evidently lacking from most of the middle schools and there was a serious lack in the leadership as most of the school management did not see school leadership and the responsibility of the school principle as a significant matter of interest (Fullan, 2013). However, gradually more researches in this field have contributed to this field which made the school leadership to be a major issue for the school environment and student learning. This study will focus on the change management in leadership of the ABC Middle School which has faced a severe situation due to faulty leadership and turnover of staffs on a regular basis. The study will consider planning the change management as it has been identified by Hodges and Gill (2015). Accountability of Principle in educational institutions While reforming the schools, the school leadership comes first in the priority list for most of the major school reformations. As stated by Guskey (2014) an improved principle leadership among different other issues that are faced by the middle schools. However the quality of the teachers in the educational institution is the most significant factor in the improvement of the educational institutions, but the school leadership is as important as the other issues. The educational researches in this field indicate that the principle of the middle school resemble to the manager of the business organizations (Santamara, 2014). Within the changing arena of the education there are several reformations based on the quality standards and the accountability, therefore a remarkable conception that has emerged which draws lessons from the contemporary business organizations (Hallinger, 2014). Furthermore it suggests that leadership is the primary factor that should be put in the focus with a gre ater clarity in the middle school management. The principles in middle schools have huge accountability for carrying out the rules and regulations avoiding any kind of mistake. The major responsibilities of the principle in a middle school include, shaping the mission and vision of the educational success for the students in school based on the higher standards of the academic field, creating a hospitable and safe atmosphere for the students that entails a cooperative and fruitful spirit, cultivating the sense of leadership within other teachers so that they can realize the vision of the educational institution at the same time, improving the instructions to other teachers so that they can give their best to the students, therefore enhancing the learning process along with a careful management of people, guardians and processing the data so that the improvement of the school can be fostered (Parkay, Anctil Hass, 2014). These key responsibilities may turn difficult for the principle , yet these are required to be carried out for enhancing the educational success of the students. Background of the Problem In Canada, middle schools basically act as the transition period between the secondary schools and primary schools. ABC Middle school realizes that it is necessary to understand for the middle school management that the years students spend in the school are the most crucial stage of their lives. Within this period the student may lose interest in their academics or they can be more and more interested in their academic career. The school has around five hundred students coming from various backgrounds and different ethnicity. The school does not encourage any kind of racial discrimination within the school premises. Recently the school had faced a severe issue with the principle of the school. After the retirement of the previous principle, a new principle has been appointed who initially seemed to be over qualified for the position having more than ten years of experience in the educational field. However the situation in the school had changed soon after the joining of the new pri nciple, Mr. Jones. He has implemented new rules for the teachers such as specific dress codes and added extra classes to their routines that they are not experts at. He has also implemented a new schedule for exams which initially seemed to be overburden for the children. In the school meetings the teachers had opposed to such implementations as they knew that the students might not accept these sudden changes and they may react in a different way. However Mr. Jones acted in an autocratic way and did not listen to any suggestions coming from the teachers and the other management personnel. The teaching staffs also did not take the new rule implementation on a positive note as for any minor failure from the new rules; they had been encountered with monetary disadvantages. Therefore soon few senior teachers had left the school due to such unnecessary strict rules. The students had also felt issues with the new principle as they had faced racial discrimination while encountering the pr inciple. Mr. Jones has also employed few teaching staffs who were not much experienced and were harsh on the students. Soon the entire situation in the school has turned into a miscellany of confusion. Linear Change Model by Hodges and Gill The organisational change depends on the implementation of the sequential plan. Once the performance gap is recognized, it is essential to understand the course of action that will be helpful for an organisation to manage the performance and implement the change. It is to be indicated that the organisational change or changes brought to the leadership style require the structural planning (Burke, 2014). After implementing change, it is necessary to monitor the effectiveness for few months. If the outcome of the changes seems positive, the management of the school should provide the attention towards maintaining the consistency. It is essential to monitor the reaction of the associated staffs towards the change. The implications provided by Hodges and Gill regarding the change management process include four different step. In this section of the study, these four stages will be discussed to ensure the implementation of the change management initiatives in ABC Middle school. The four stages of the change management model are discussed further: Stage 1: Defining the need for change and developing the vision The organizational change management requires the identification of the problem that creates the gap in the performance. As per the scenario discussed in this study, the ABC Middle School has been facing the significant and recognizable issues with the ineffective leadership management. The Autocracy maintained by the principles is increasing the staff turnover rate. Moreover, the extensive outspread of the racial discrimination is the major issues. Many children from the outside countries take admission in this school. However, the racial discrimination faced by the international students is creating huge dissatisfaction. It generally creates the dissatisfaction among the students, their guardians, and the associated teachers. Hence, it is essential to eliminate such behaviour and maintain the anti-discriminative laws within the organisation. In addition to this, the recruitment process is also below the expectation level (Conner, 1992). The hired staffs are not fully educated to me et the educational parameter. It generally creates the obligation in terms of the improvements determined to the educational field. Hence, it is essential to change the leadership techniques to maintain the stability and long term sustainability. Moreover, the change is also required for minimizing the turnover rate and influencing the staffs to develop the educational skill. However, it is notable that the organisation needs to pay attention towards the recruitment process as well. In order to mitigate the performance gap, the organisation has decided to change the leadership structure. At the initial stage the autocratic leadership style was followed by the principal of ABC Middle School. However, following such leadership style was quite insignificant since it increased the staff turnover rate. The recruitment of the qualified teachers and the staffs would be necessary for the school to improve the educational process. In fact, the vision should be based on the development of anti-discriminative law or regulations to eliminate the discriminative behaviour with the international students or staffs. It is essential because it reduces the chances of dissatisfaction and improves the education quality. Stage 2: Initiating the Change Initiating change signifies the stage where the change initiatives are defined properly. The leaders need to identify the appropriate solutions to improve the organisational situations by implementing the effective changes (Santamara, 2014). For instance, since ABC Middle School has been facing the issues with the leadership autocracy, it can be inferred that the institute can adopt the transformational leadership style. In the transformational leadership style, the staffs receive the opportunity to communicate directly with the leader. In fact, in terms of bringing any changes to the school functionalities, the staffs can actively participate in the decision-making process. Moreover, they can even develop their performance and professional skills since they have the scope to deal directly with the leader (Thomson, 2014). On the other hand, understanding the needs and demands of the schools in terms of qualification of the staffs is necessary to bring the future improvements in the e ducation level. Therefore, the recruitment process requires more changes and developed. In fact, it is essential to mitigate the issues with the discriminatory behaviour within the schools (Hallinger, 2014). The international students face the significant challenges in communicating due to the cultural barriers and the discriminative behaviour. The implementation of the anti-discriminative law would be much preferable in such cases to mitigate the issue. Stage 3: Implementing the Change Before implementation of the change, it needs to be communicated properly with the associated staffs. For example, during the decision-making process within the school, the principal needs to communicate with other teachers and the staffs to make them aware of the requirements. In fact, the human resource management needs to derive the ideas about the organisational expectations while recruiting the qualified teachers. These expectations are even needed to be conveyed to the teachers while selecting them for the school (DuFour Mattos 2013). It is essential to eliminate such behaviour and maintain the anti-discriminative laws within the organisation. In addition to this, the recruitment process is also below the expectation level. The hired staffs are not fully educated to meet the educational parameter. Accordingly, imposing the rules and regulations for the non-discriminatory behaviour within the school would be effective enough in establishing the positive environment. Both the st affs and the students would get the sense of reliability if the discriminative attitudes are eliminated. The changes in the policies and the leadership styles would be implemented. After implementing change, it is necessary to monitor the effectiveness for few months. If the outcome of the changes seems positive, the management of the school should provide the attention towards maintaining the consistency (Arafeh, 2014). It is essential to monitor the reaction of the associated staffs towards the change. it is essential to eliminate such behaviour and maintain the anti-discriminative laws within the organisation. In addition to this, the recruitment process is also below the expectation level. The hired staffs are not fully educated to meet the educational parameter. The influences created by the change will be reflected in the organisational environment and the behaviour of the staffs. Hence, continuous review and monitoring is essential for a change process. Stage 4: Institutionalizing the Change The institutionalizing of the change is determined when the change undertaken within an organisation becomes the norm. The maintenance of the consistency in the change management is necessary to bring the continuous improvement within the organisation. Similarly, ABC Middle School needs to concentrate on the developmental factors of the change. In order to achieve the vision of the organisation, it is essential to practice these changes by following the implemented policies. The human resource management even needs to pay attention towards the maintenance of these norms for the future improvements (Parkay, Anctil Hass, 2014). It is essential to eliminate such behaviour and maintain the anti-discriminative laws within the organisation. In addition to this, the recruitment process is also below the expectation level. The hired staffs are not fully educated to meet the educational parameter. The teaching staffs also did not take the new rule implementation on a positive note as for any minor failure from the new rules; they had been encountered with monetary disadvantages. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention towards such necessities to retain the staffs and reduce the staff turnover rate. The concept of school leadership was evidently lacking from most of the middle schools and there was a serious lack in the leadership as most of the school management did not see school leadership and the responsibility of the school principle as a significant matter of interest (Fullan, 2013). Currently, the organisations have been considering the educational leadership as an integral part. Therefore, maintaining the change management initiatives is essential for bringing more improvements. The improvements brought to education quality are necessary for retaining the reputation of the organisation. It is essential to understand the course of action that will be helpful for an organisation to manage the performance and implement the change. It is to be indicated that the organisational change or changes brought to the leadership style require the structural planning. The proper staff motivation and enhancements of the educational quality is the key driver for the sustainable development of the school. In addition to this, the successive approaches to the change management scenario ensure the reliability among the students and staffs. The role of the human resource management is also much remarkable. Conclusion In conclusion it can be said that the entire situation in ABC Middle School required an immediate change of the leadership. The students and staffs were manipulated and they had to adhere to the autocratic rules of the new principle. This report had proposed a detailed change management procedure with the help of Hodges and Gill Change Management model and defined the requirement and developing vision along with the procedures and methods of initiating, implementing and institutionalizing. As a leader of the educational institution, the principles job is to motivate students and to balance his leadership traits aligned with the expertise of his faculty. The change management model shows the shaping of leadership within the educational institution and how it can be influential for the students future. References Arafeh, S. (2014). Educational Technology Leadership for Educational Leaders.Educational Leadership: Perspectives on Preparation and Practice, 253. Burke, W. (2014). A Brief History of Organization Change. In Organization Change: Theory and Practice (4th edition). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. pp. 28-51 Conner, D. (1992). The Roles of Change. In Managing at the Speed of Change. New York: Villard Books. pp. 107-125 DuFour, R., Mattos, M. (2013). Improve Schools?.Educational Leadership,70(7), 34-39. Fullan, M. (2013).The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership. John Wiley Sons. Guskey, T. R. (2014). Planning professional learning.Educational Leadership. Hallinger, P. (2014). Reviewing reviews of research in educational leadership: An empirical assessment.Educational Administration Quarterly,50(4), 539-576. Ingersoll, R., Merrill, L., May, H. (2016). Do Accountability Policies Push Teachers Out?.Educational Leadership,73(8), 44-49. Parkay, F. W., Anctil, E. J., Hass, G. (2014).Curriculum leadership: Readings for developing quality educational programs. Prentice Hall. Santamara, L. J. (2014). Critical Change for the Greater Good Multicultural Perceptions in Educational Leadership Toward Social Justice and Equity.Educational Administration Quarterly,50(3), 347-391. Thomson, B. (2014). Coping with and Introducing Change. In Understanding Yourself and Others. London: Sheldon Press. pp.112-123

Mind Over Body free essay sample

At the sound of the whistle I ran with all my might to pass my opponents. Panting helplessly, I tried to concentrate on my breathing; that seems to be my only dilemma. I felt my legs getting heavier each time my foot comes in contact with the rocky terrain. Running up the asphalted hill resulted in my rhythmic breathing getting irregular. My nose starts to perspire then my forehead, and alas my back; the signs of hard work being put forth. I feel like I have been running for longer than I have been but I insist to keep going. My mind suddenly begins to repeat what my mother often told me as a child, â€Å"The body achieves what the mind believes†. I try to steady my heart rate but nothing seems to work. I look back and no one is behind me, no one is in front of me either. We will write a custom essay sample on Mind Over Body or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Am I last? My mind begins to drift to focus on my goal. I feel like this is a race against my endurance. Before trying cross country, I always believed it was a sport full of athletes and competitors that could run several miles with ease. Therefore, the sport was not cut out for me; I had some difficulty passing the mile run for gym during sophomore year. It wasn’t until junior year my perspective about cross country changed. The coach was recruiting team members, and that year I wanted to get some physical exercise. This wouldn’t be the first time I would be trying a sport for the first time. In middle school I never thought I would ever play lacrosse and after our first game, I feel in love with the sport. The practices made me feel like I was a contestant on The Biggest Loser, but at the end of the day it paid off. It’s kind of like baking; going to the store and gathering all the ingredients might not be so enjoyable, but when you take that first bite into your creation you will truly value the time spent. I had never pushed myself as mentally and physically l ike I have done in cross country. I overcame my greatest challenge. As I finally reached the end of the race with less than a mile to go, I pass a few girls from the arrival team; I am no longer last. I am so focused on passing that finish mark I don’t focus on anyone expect myself. I see my friends up ahead circled around my coach and along with them is my mother cheering me on. As I approached the finish line, I hear their voices get louder and louder. Concentrating on the sounds of their cheers gave me that extra push of confidence and motivation I needed. Within the last few feet from the finish mark, I ran faster than ever. I was ecstatic to have my teammates and family for support. I finished in 39th place out of 46 runners. I certainly did not place first but in my mind I was a champion. I completed my greatest challenge and I felt good about it. Cross country molded me into the person I am today. I am hard working, passionate, and driven about everything I do. I had a few setbacks but doubting yourself never gets you anywhere. It is imperative to never limit yourself to what we can do. If you’re good at one sport you can be good at many others.

A look at relationships with Maus essays

A look at relationships with Maus essays It doesnt require a psychiatrist to identify in Maus I that Vladek possesses many of the qualities which could be typically used to portray a survivor. Most of which are qualities emblematic not necessarily only of a survivor of the holocaust but a survivor of any great life or death struggle. His words and actions toward Art and especially Mala tacitly reveal a man still deeply impacted by tragic experiences decades later. Through his life story we are able to ascribe Vladeks various tendencies indirectly to his sufferings and survival instinct which he attained during the holocaust. With integrity he carries on with the rest of his life even with the heavy burden of his experiences in Poland and the suicide of his wife. This burden which has made him cognizant of a human experience incomprehensible to others also has left him with certain ineffaceable characteristics abrasive in appearance to the untrained eye. However, it is this unwavering buoyancy that allows him to speak with such candidness with Art about these issues. His relationship with Mala appears to be one set starkly against the background of who appears to be his true love, Anja. Not only does he seem to draw some distinction between the two in the context of money but he also keeps more pictures of Anja on his desk than his current wife and seemingly idealizes his relationship with her in comparison to his marriage to Mala (Spiegelman, 104). Somewhat peculiar because Mala went through the camps as well, he does not seem able to communicate well with her at all, possibly somewhat because his memory of Anja draws a wedge between the two of them. This is evidenced by his admittance to Vladek that he questions why he ever remarried to begin with (127). Perhaps since he went through the most harrowing experiences with Anja and with her experienced the greatest personal losses both of loved ones and property, he is more attuned to considering her to b...

Best SAT Math Prep Books (2019) Expert Reviews

Best SAT Math Prep Books (2019) Expert Reviews SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips While there are many differentSAT prep books, they all have one thing in common: they allclaim to be the best. How canyou figure outwhich one will actually helpyou succeed on the SAT? This guide will give you myrecommendations for the best prep books for theMath section of the SAT.Some of these books are best for strategies and thinking through the problems, while others are best for practice problems. A few are geared toward top scorers, while somewill help you improve a low score fast. Before delving into the list, I have to make one disclaimer: Disclaimer Everyone's learning styles and motivation levels are unique. Thus, I don't believe there's a one-size-fits-all book out there that will help everyone equally. While these recommendations should help a lot of students, they can't necessarily account for everyone's individual differences. That's why I'm a huge proponent of PrepScholar's online method of test prep. It diagnoses your strengths and weaknesses and customizes the test prep for you and your schedule. Because of this high level of personalization, it's very effective forhelping students study efficiently and make big leaps in their SAT scores. That being said, prep books can be very helpful in reviewing material and giving you practice with hundreds of sample SAT questions. It's great that you're already starting to break your test prep down by section by focusing specifically on math. Since the best representation of SAT questions come from the test makers themselves, I'll start this list with College Board's The Official SAT Study Guide. There are some pros and cons to this book, but perhaps the biggest con is that you can find these same eight practice tests for free online!Read on to decide whether or not this book would be helpful to you. The College Board's Official SAT Study Guide Price:About $19 Pros When it comes to the SAT, the best sample questions come directly from the test makers themselves.College Board's The Official SAT Study Guideincludes eight real practice tests with official answer explanations. Since College Board makes and administers the SAT, thisbook contains the best representation of the real test. However, and this is an important point, College Board has also released PDFs of every chapter and practice test in the book on its website!As part of its efforts toward greater transparency and equalizing access to test prep, College Board has published its practice tests and offered free resources via Khan Academy. The College Boardbook's main strength is its official SAT questions, since they are the very best practice material. Beyond the practice tests, the book's greatest strengths are its review of the overall test structure and format, its presentation of math concepts, and its description of the new essay. Since the SAT is a written test, it's a good idea to have hard copies of practice tests to gain practice in the most authentic way.Whether this means buying this book or printing out the free tests yourself is up to you. College Board's real questions will get you familiar with how questions are worded, how they're arranged, and other patterns of the SAT. You'll gain practice with the new structure, which gives you a 65-minute Reading section, 35-minute Writing section, and two math sections. The eight full-length practice tests add upto 24 hours of prep or 32 hours if you include the essay section. Cons While College Board's official questions are helpful and effective practice, their answer explanations are not as detailed as they could be. They explain the answer choices but don't give you much information about how to approach and think through the question. Since there are a limited number of officialpractice tests, you might choose to stagger each one throughout your prep as a way to measure your progress and evaluate your approach. The tests could be best used as measuring posts; College Board's official material won't help you as much as some other options in terms of learning and test-taking strategies. Overall, you should familiarize yourself with the material in this book, since it contains the most accurate practice questions compared to any other source. Whether you choose to do so with a hard copy of the book or via College Board's website (for free) is a matter of personal preference. Now that you know where and how to locate official College Board practice problems, let's discuss the best math prep books, starting with the best book for content instruction. Best SAT Math Prep Book for Instruction Steve Warner's SAT MathSeries Price:About $30 Pros Steve Warner offers several SAT math books. The best one for content instruction isNew SAT Math Problems, but you can also find workbooks geared towards students in certain scoring levels. New SAT Math Problems is one of the best books out there for content review and instruction. He discusses the new areas emphasized on the test:Problem Solving and Data Analysis, Heart of Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry, and Passport to Advanced Math. The book arranges concepts and their corresponding practice problems in level of difficulty, from Level 1 up to Level 4. This organizationby level, rather than problem type, is useful, as it allows you to integrate skills and ensure you don't leave out any important concepts. It also lets students focus on the difficulty level that will help them most improve their scores, with students scoring around a 600 advised to focus on Levels 2 through 4 and students aiming for 700+ directed to the Level 4 and 5 problems. The lessons are carefully crafted and paired with practice problems to test your understanding. The questions are realistic and come with detailed explanations, which often go overa few different approaches (unlike College Board's single approach explanations). These explanations allow you to carefullyunderstand your mistakes while learning how to approach a similar question the next time. Cons One major con to this book is simply its restricted length. Compared to Steve Warner's multiple-issue series on the math section of the old SAT, his currentbooks don'trepresent the same scope of material that was so useful to students at all different scoring levels. Not only will future additions be helpful, but they will ideally break down the concepts into even smaller components. This book is a good start, but students who want to review concepts would be best served with a detailed and specific breakdown of each and every one. If you're using this book, you may want to consult other resources to ensure that you've filled in every gapin knowledge for the SAT. Finally, the New SAT Math Problemsbook may not contain a sufficient number of practice problems for your prep. Its strength lies in content instruction and review with practice problems interspersed by concept and difficulty level. If you're looking for a large set of practice problems to test your knowledge, then the next book on this list would be a better resource. Best SAT Math Books for Practice Questions Dr. Jang's SAT 800 Math Workbook for the New SAT Price:About $25 Pros If you're looking for math practice problems, you'll find over 1,500 in Dr. Jang's Math Workbook for the New SAT. This book discusses math topics and concepts, but its real strength lies in the sheer number of practice problems. Since timing yourself, answering questions, and analyzing your mistakes is a key part of your preparation, this book could be a very effective study tool. The practice problems throughout the book are arranged by difficulty level, so if you've got a certain question type mastered then you can challenge yourself with harder ones. Additionally, Dr. Jang's Math Workbook has a diagnostic test at the beginning and 10 sample tests that you can take under test-like conditions. Not only are the practice questions abundant, but they are realistic. You'll find the addition of trigonometry, and the questions will be marked as non-calculator and calculator. This book is well customized to the concepts, format, and rules of the SAT. Cons As mentioned above, this book is most useful for its abundance of practice problems. It's less ideal for students looking for thorough content review. It also is not the best source of test-taking strategies, like time management. Furthermore, its answer explanations are not all that varied, so you won't gain a ton of insight into different approaches you could use to solve a problem. Dr. Jang's Math Workbook is useful for students at all levels, but you'd probably want to supplement it with a book that provided more in-depth instruction, strategies, and explanations. While the above books cater to students at various scoring levels, the two books below are best for strong math students aiming for top scores. Barron's Math Workbook Price:About $12 Pros Barron's Math Workbook has hundreds of practice SAT math questions, all with detailed answer explanations. The questions are divided by content area and concept, so you can learn about a specific skill and then drill with relevant problems. In addition to all of the practice questions, there are two full-length practice tests at the end of the book. You'll also get some test-taking tips, but the real strength of the book lies in its abundance of practice questions. Cons Students have noted some typos and spelling errors in Barron's, as if the company rushed to get the book to print without thorough copyediting first. It doesn't seem to have substantial mistakes, but these little typos can be distracting, especially as you're going through the detail-oriented work of SAT prep. As a traditional SAT book, it's written in astraightforward style that can get a bit dry and boring. If you're looking for a more engaging, personable, or funny writing style, you won't find it in Barron's. Of course, since the book is more of a workbook full of practice questions, you should look elsewhere for in-depth lessons and content review. Best SAT Math Books for High Scorers PWN the SAT Math Guide Price:About $29 Pros PWN the SAT is geared towards highly achieving, motivated students aiming for a top score in SAT Math. The book is written in an engaging, irreverent style,which helps students stay engaged with the material. It's divided into five categories: Techniques, Heart of Algebra, Passport to Advanced Math, Problem Solving and Data Analysis, and Additional Topics in Math. The book breaks down each SAT Math category into its component concepts. It has realistic practice problems that are designated as either "Calculator" or "No calculator" to help you get ready for both question types. Each chapter also provides a list of official questions of a certain type to help you drill specific skills. Finally, you can register on the PWN SAT website to get bonus material, as well as watch video answer explanations that walk you through practice problems, step by step. Cons The main con of PWN the SAT Math Guide is that its target audience is limited. It will help top scorers with strong math skills, but it won't be as accessible to students who struggle with math. If you're looking for foundational knowledge, then PWN the SAT isn't the book for you. It won't be the best resource to raise low math scores. Rather, it's better to bring already strong scores into the top percentiles. Dr. John Chung's SAT Math: 60 Perfect Tips and 15 Complete Tests Price:About $39 Pros As compared to College Board's four practice tests, 15 is certainly an improvement! Dr. Chung's SAT Math book is one of the most comprehensive currently out there in terms of content and practice questions in one place. This book is best for strong math students and top scorers. It doesn't go over the fundamentals and assumes its readers have a stable foundation in math concepts. It advertises itself as "designed for students to get a perfect score" and provides useful examples and practice questions to this end. The 60 "perfect tips" are brief descriptions of concepts, like linear function, exponents, transformations, and average speeds, paired with a few examples and practice problems to reinforce your understanding. Cons First, because there aren't a lot of copes available anymore, this book can be quite expensive. Additionally, Dr. Chung does not give you much in the way of review, lessons, or concept reinforcement. The book mostly assumes you have a strong foundation in math.It's a "no-frills" kind of book that essentially looks like a list of practice problems; you won't find much in the way of introduction or narrative. It's not a book you can fully rely on for your test prep, and it's probably not the best one to start out with, either. Some students have also noted some typos in Dr. Chung'svarious editions, as if the books wererushed to publication without proofreading for all the errors. While it's great that this bookhas so many practice questions, it seems like there may besome careless mistakes throughout the material. Finally, this book is not particularly descriptive of the changes to the SAT. It contains relevant practice problems, but it doesn't go into detail about new skills and question types or even the new structure. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the changes, like the addition of trigonometry and non-calculator questions, outside of this book. The 150 Hardest SAT Math Problems Reincarnated for the New SAT Price:About $10 Pros The 150 Hardest SAT Math Problems Reincarnated for the New SATwas designed for the "A+ student who wants to go from 700 to a perfect score" and doesn't want to waste her time on "fodder problems." This book collected the trickiest questions that most students missed over the last ten years of SAT administrations. According to the author, he "reincarnated" these questions in the format of the new SAT. These questions are useful for top scorers who want to make sure they understand fundamental concepts of algebra, geometry, and numbers and how to apply them to the most challenging question types. At the same time, this book has some major weaknesses that you should understand before purchasing a copy. Cons The author maintains that his problems have been "reincarnated" to fit the redesigned test, but he doesn't seem to have changed much beyond reducing the answer choices from five to four. He does include some non-calculator questions, but other than that the author downplays the major changes that were madeto the SAT in early 2016. For instance, he includes numbers, algebra, and geometry, but no trigonometry. He also provides little explanation of the new SAT's focus on real-world word problems and scenarios. Since the math section is the one that changed the least on the SAT, these recycled problems from SATs past will still help you prepare. At the same time, make sure you're aware of the changes that are being made and supplement these questions with ones more specific to the redesigned SAT. Finally, these next two books are useful for the average math student who wants to shore up her foundation in the fundamentals or can only dedicate a limited amount of time to studying. Best SAT Math Books for Low Scorers If you're planning to devote only a few hours to studying for the math SAT, these books should give you a general overview and introduction to the concepts you need to know. However, if you are taking a more active approach to your test prep, then these are the books you should probably avoid. They're not so helpful for trulyin-depth understanding and preparation. Kaplan Price:About $12 Pros Kaplan's SAT Math Prep Bookis a traditional prep book that reviews concepts and provides corresponding practice sets. It includes new concepts, like trigonometry, and has 16 practice sets and over 250 practice problems. Kaplan's book also breaks down the new format and structure of the SAT Math section, while many other books do not. It's a useful tool for learning about the new SAT, reviewing 16 key concepts, and trying out practice problems. Cons Kaplan's practice questions tend not to be the best written. They're not always realistic or phrased in the same way that the SAT is.In the beginning of this guide, I emphasized the importance of taking official College Board tests, since they're the best representation of the questions you'll get on test day. Kaplan's questions usually represent the other end of this spectrum, because they don't always resemble actual SAT questions. Doingwell on the SAT math is not just about understanding the concepts, but also about understanding the SAT and being able to apply those concepts to the SAT's uniquely worded questions. Without this practice, you won't be asprepared as you could be for the SAT's unique phrasing and tricks. Doing well is also about strategy.Kaplan has some strategies, but they're not that helpful for breaking away from a score of around 600. Kaplan gives a basic overview, but it's not the most helpful resources for students looking to make a large score improvements or understand the material in depth. A second book for students who are not planning to do all that muchSAT prep is Bob Miller's SAT Math for the Clueless. Bob Miller's SAT Math for the Clueless: The Easiest and Quickest Way to Prepare for the New SAT Math Section Price:About $6 Pros While I'm not a big fan of the title, Bob Miller's SAT Math for the Cluelessbook delivers what it says it will - an easy and quick way to prepare for the SAT. It provides a mix of material for the current SAT and theredesigned SAT. While Dr. Chung's Math Workbook is spare, Bob Miller's book has funny and accessible introductions. If you find it hard to focus on math without some humor, you might find this book more engaging (a useful characteristic when you're self-studying with books). Cons Bob Miller's SAT Math focuses more on strategies, techniques, and introductory review than on practice questions. It also lacks an in-depth description of changes being made to the SAT, and it doesn't incorporate the more advanced math problems. This book is really just for the self-described "clueless" math students who want a brief, accessible review. Perhaps it will spark your motivation to move onto better study guides with more comprehensive SAT preparation. So there you have it, my recommendations for instruction, practice problems, high scorers, and low scorers. There are pros and cons of each, and hopefully there will be books of ever higher quality published over the next few months. One challenge that all the above booksshare is the self-discipline that required tostudyfrom them.You'll have to set your own schedule, score your own tests, and learn via reading and writing, rather than incorporating visual or auditory approaches. With these considerations in mind, is solely studying for the SAT from books the best option for you as a learner? Is Studying From Books the Best Option for You? While books used to be the main test prep method for the SAT, now there are lots of other approaches. This gives you a lot more choice in finding a method that fits best with your math level, study style, and goals, not to mention how much money you're able and willing to spend on SAT prep. Books can be affordable, but as you can see from the pros and cons mentioned above, you probably want to use more than one book to truly prepare. This can add up to hundreds of dollars. As more and more test prep companies focus their attention online, you might have to go online to find answers, answer explanations, and other supplementary materials. This could divide your attention while still leaving it up to you to spend a long time scoring your own tests. Books can be very comprehensive and informative, but you'll only access all theinformation you need with the self-discipline to take time to study and learn from your mistakes. PrepScholar's method of online test prepfor the new SAT attempts to address and make up for these weaknesses in a number of ways. One, it's an all-in-one program that incorporates the best practices from all these books, while also customizing the test prep based on what you already know and what you need to study further. It addresses the accountability and self-discipline issue by planning our your study schedule for you in the way that's been proven to be most effective. It also takes away the time-waster of self scoring, since it will give you instant feedback on your performance.On a similar note, you can visually see your progress, how far you've gone in the material and how much you have to left to conquer. By incorporating the "pros" of every test prep book - high-quality questions, comprehensive explanations, diagnostic tests, and expert test-taking strategies - and making up for the cons with personalized motivators and progress reports, PrepScholar is an affordable, accessible, and highly effective method of convenient online prep for the new SAT. Just as you should diagnose your strengths and weaknesses to best prepare for the SAT, you'd be smart to reflect on your learning style and what method of test prep, whether through books or online, will best meet your needs and allow you to excel on all sections of the SAT. What's Next? Are you aiming for perfection? This perfect SAT scorer describes all the strategies and techniques he used to achieve a full score on the SAT, and what exactly you need to do to reach that perfect score. Besides studying, planning exactly when you're going to take the SAT is also a key consideration for maximizing your performance. Read all about when you should take the SAT as you design your schedule. Perhaps you've noticed that theSAT is looking a lot like the ACT these days. If you're deciding which test to take, check out our detailed comparison of the SAT and the ACT. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today!

The politics of mass consumption in postwar America by Lizabeth Cohen, Essay

The politics of mass consumption in postwar America by Lizabeth Cohen, - Essay Example Explain how the consumer economy, society, and culture during the World War II era affected women and African Americans and how consumerism in the wartime years provided opportunities for both of these groups to claim greater social and political power as â€Å"citizen consumers. Soon after the World War II, the American administration had adopted an effectuate strategy to reconstruct their economy by promoting and expanding mass consumption. Those who were at the helm of affairs took prosperity of Americans, as a central point of their plan. In their thoughts, the demand driven economy not only provide an opportunity for effective recovery but rekindled hopes in Americans for becoming part of an egalitarian society and to raise their heads being a true democratic nation. The idea of mass consumption provided American citizens to live in an ideal situation than before with equal footings with the neighbors (Cohen, 64). The above move was not accidental. It co relates with the histor ical era of 60s and 70s. At that time, the diversified segments of society comprised of African American origin, women, adults and the old citizens began to assess themselves within the ambit of identity politics. Here, the people’s affiliation with specific community defined their cultural awareness and motivation for a consolidated action. If we look back to the era of 60s, we find that those market managers, who failed to respond to the market demands in terms of innovative products, soon disappeared. Mr. Haley, Vice President and corporate researcher very rightly pointed out "it is easier to take advantage of market segments in vogue than to attempt to create new ones" (Cohen. 68) With the advent of new innovative deals and the ending of World War II, sizeable American Consumers got to know their rights as an individual consumer which was instrumental in promoting the generalized goods. In his book Cohen introduced mass consumption philosophy into four parts. In Part I, s he elaborately discussed the "Origins of the Postwar Consumers' Republic,† concerning 30s and 40s era, when a concept of citizen consumer was coined that emanates from women and African-Americans. The said categories accept it a way of life. They consider it  to be  a safer and equitable market place. In the second part namely "The Birth of a Consumers' Republic," wherein she specifically discussed the role of Consumers? She hailed the patriotism of American nation since they fulfilled their obligations by promoting consumerism as a safe passage to economic equality and the political independence. Cohen identifies how consumer related policies helped the consumers to underwrite in terms of GI Bill and the tax code, which benefited the white middle class males segment greatly at the cost of discriminating other stakeholders with particular reference to women and the African Americans origin (Cohen, 85). She also discussed in her book the existing gap between the promise and the reality with regard to the rights of Consumer, instrumental to ignite civil rights movement. The increasing demand of blacks for public accommodation, stores, theaters and restaurants against the backdrop of black access to house themselves in public accommodation e.g. downtown stores, movie theaters, and restaurants can not be ignored. Above mentioned sites of consumption, overshadowed by the privatized new commercial avenues that comes to surface in suburban America. In part III entitled "The Landscape of Mass Consumption," Cohen apprised its readers that how the suburban America queued racial and income lines in accordance with the study of New Jersey State. For him suburban shopping malls not inclined to adopt the model of urban downtowns. In the last part of discussion that drives out from â€Å"The Political Culture of Mass Consumption," shows how the market trend and the national politics could effectively be dealt with the issues of reinforcement and simplification to cope with after war trends.

T.G.I. Fridays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

T.G.I. Fridays - Essay Example The inner decor of the restaurant gives it a feel of a theatrical stage, the ambience, the service, the product along with the package make the visit memorable for the customers. The study deals with evaluating the service technologies used and assessing the image created by it in the minds of the people and the media. Moreover, the success attained by the T.G.I. Friday’s social media campaign will also be evaluated. Discussion The T.G.I Friday’s provides mass customisation service to the customers to maintain the standard and make them feel valued. The service technologies used the restaurant include the Point of Sale (POS) to rationalise its front and back office procedures to make the guests enjoy the service and experience the quality of offerings. T.G.I Friday’s has used the customisation technology to provide personalised menu to the customers satisfying their request through menu permutation. The restaurant uses the computer technology to monitor the timel y service delivery of foods by the employees with standardised behaviour. The approach of the management is to provide distinguished and standard quality by implementing hard and soft elements in the service. The hard element is the used is the parking facility which helps in attracting more customers.

American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American History - Essay Example atural resources to initiate industrial revolution, the entire process did not receive much success mainly due to problems of transportation, in the second half, diversification among laborers, their respective demands, socio-cultural factors of their existence and presence of abundant population, willing to give labor, did not provide sufficient scope to labor movements and evolve of socialism in the American context. Stanley L. Engerman and Robert E. Gallman while genealogically discussing the history of industrialization in the United States has attempted to reflect upon the reasons that prevented industrial revolution from taking a flourish in the early 19th century: â€Å"The future of the American economy in the years of the revolutionary war and the achievement of independence was †¦ uncertain †¦.There was some reasonable degree of prosperity in most states, and if transportation problems could be overcome †¦ the economy had possibilities for growth and development. The economy of 1800 was †¦ primarily agricultural, dependent upon the British economy for many manufactured goods, and affected negatively by the British Navigation Act† (Engerman and Gallman 127). This observation becomes important in the context of the discussion because within this scope it discusses the constraints of commencing industrial revolution and the aspiration to initiate the same in an organized way so that dependence on the British can be reduced, consequently leading to strengthening the American economy. However, till 1860, despite certain shifts from the agricultural dependency to industrialization, no radical changes were observed in the total labor force of the nation and by 1960 only one-sixth of the entire U.S labor force opted for industrialization (Engerman and Gallman 127-28). Since 1860 onwards, the situation gradually started undergoing a transformation as it was becoming evident that individualize measured output in the manufacturing and service sector is