Research countering the student-teacher ratio effect Essay Example for Free

Research countering the student-teacher ratio effect Essay Graddy and Steven (2005) examines several studies of secondary school performances throughout the U. K. and concluded that there is little to no effect of the student-teacher ratio on the achievement of students. Borland, Howsen Trawick (2005) also found no noticeable connection between student achievement and either reduced or enlarged class sizes. The Congressional Budget Office presented results and analysis of 1986 SAT scores. Analysis revealed a relationship between student performance and student-teacher ratios. Lower student-teacher ratios were consistent with lower SAT scores (as cited in Hanushek, 2000). School size, which is another important consideration that also affects the student-teacher ratio, does not demonstrate an effect on student performance either, according to Lamdin (1995). There is also very little long-term effect of student-teacher ratio on student performance and lifelong achievement. Though Vignoles (1998) found a slight correlation between student-teacher ratio and student performance on O Levels exams in the United Kingdom, the observed effect was so small as to be insignificant. In fact he argues that true effect on student achievement is actually non-existent. This conclusion is based on the finding that the effect of a lower student-teacher ratio was not reflected in later years on the job market and in terms of earnings 17 years later. True achievement, he argues, is measured not by the standard of achievement tests, but by later success in life. He safely concludes therefore that there is no true effect of class size on student accomplishments. Schweitzer (1991) suggests that moves by institutions to decrease the pupil-teacher ratio are counterproductive and will only result in additional government spending with little effect on student performance. He believes that the old-fashioned method of â€Å"hard work on the part of the student, good teaching by the faculty, and strong motivation by both† (Schweitzer, 1991, p. 297) are the key ingredients to improved student achievement. Thus, as Gursky (1998) surmises, there is very little magic to class size or student-teacher ratio. Some researchers have proposed that the optimal size for any classroom is between 15 and 17 students. What the research is confirming is that there is presently very little in the way of consensus on the issue of whether or not reduced student-teacher ratios result in improved student performance. In the comprehensive review conducted by Hanushek (2000), 14% of the researches showed that there was a positive relationship between increased student-teacher ratio and a similar 14% found the opposite association. The remaining 72% found the relationship to be too insignificant to matter (p. 5). It is fallacious to suppose that all factors that may impact student performance can be isolated and controlled in order to discover a causal relationship between the variables of lower or higher student-teacher ratios and higher student performance. As researchers such as Hanushek (2000) and Preece (1987) would argue, there are a myriad of home-environmental and societal factors over which the state or school have very little control but which may impact student performance in either direction regardless of existing student-teacher ratios. Without a doubt the family background from which the students come plays a significant role in impacting achievement. Dustmann et al. (2003) proposes that the financial resources of the family, the quality time parents spend with children, the size of the family, a child’s birth order and the interest the parent shows in the child’s performance are important in analyzing factors that influence success in school. The socioeconomic context and location in which the child resides could also be a constraining factor. Preece (1987) adds that another factor, the heterogeneous nature of the classroom could be a significant key in understanding student achievement. He proposes that more homogeneous classrooms foster a better learning environment for students, regardless of class size or student-teacher ratios. Research has not proven either side of the debate but has demonstrated the possible merits of both. Educators seem determined, despite the lack of evidence to support the claim, to reduce the student-teacher ratios in an effort to impact student achievement. These educators are not completely misguided in their position however. It is a combination of factors too complicated to isolate that determines the how well each student achieves individually. Reduced class sizes have not proven to be harmful to any significant extent and thus existing policies to continue to reduce the student-teacher ratios cannot possibly do any notable amount of harm. ferences Alspaugh, J. W. (1994, Summer). The relationship between school size, student teacher ratio and school efficiency. Education, 114(4), 593-601. Borland, M. V., Howsen, R. M. Trawick, M. W. (2005, Mar). An investigation of the effect of class size on student academic achievement. Education Economics, 13(1), 73-83. Colorado Association of School Boards, Colorado Association of School Executives Colorado Education Association. (n. d. ). Believe in a better Colorado. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www. believeinabettercolorado. org/images Dustmann, C. , Rajah, N. van Soest, A. (2003, Feb). Class size, education, and wages. Economic Journal, 113(485), F99-F149. Ehrenberg, R. G. , Brewer, D. J. , Gamoran, A. Willms, J. D. (2001, Nov). Does class size matter? Scientific American, 285(5), 78-85. Graddy, K. Stevens, M. (2005, Apr). The impact of school resources on student performance: A study of private schools in the United Kingdom. Industrial Labor Relations Review, 58(3), 435-451. Gursky, D. (1998, Oct). Class size does matter. Education Digest, 64(2), 15-18. Hanushek, E. A. (2000, Aug). Evidence, politics, and the class size debate. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www. utdallas. edu/research/tsp/pdfpapers/paper19. PDF Lamdin, D. J. (1995, Apr). Testing for the effect of school size on student achievement within a school district. Education Economics, 3(1), 33-42. Morisi, T. L. (1994, Jul). Employment in public schools and the student-to-employee ratio. Monthly Labor Review, 117(7), 40-44. National Center for Education Statistics. (2001, Sep). Elementary and secondary school enrollment. Education Statistics Quarterly, 2(2). Retreived November 19, 2007 from, http://nces. ed. gov/programs/quarterly/Vol_2/2_2/q3-3. asp Preece, P. F. (1987, Jul/Aug). Class size and learning: A theoretical model. Journal of Educational Research, 80(6), 377-379. Sable J. Garofano, A. (2007, Jun). Public elementary and secondary school student enrollment, high school completions, and staff from the common core of data: School year 2005-06. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from, http://nces. ed. gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo. asp Schweitzer, T. T. (1991, Summer). Collective bargaining, teachers, and student achievement: Comment. Journal of Labor Research, 12(3), 297-298. Vignoles, A. (1998, May). Raising standards in our schools: Does class size really matter? Economic Outlook, 22(3), 18-23.

Stages of Demographic Transition in Spain Between 1960-2008 Essay Example for Free

Stages of Demographic Transition in Spain Between 1960-2008 Essay This corresponds to the red square stated on the figure showing the demographic transition theory. At the start of the second phase the birth rate and the death rate are still high, but in this phase they will both decline to a lower level. The death rate starts declining earlier and it will decline faster than the birth rate. This will result in a remarkable growth in the population size during the second phase. A important factor for the decline of the death rate is the improvement in the standard of living. Other factors for this decline were improvement in health care and in hygiene. The decline in the birth rate during the second phase of the demographic transition theory is also a result of the improvements in the standard of living and in health care. The increase in prosperity resulted in a decline of the total fertility rate. Children were no longer needed to work in the industrial life to help their parents raise an income, and because of the improvements in health care, children were no longer needed to take care of their parents when they were old.

Human Physiology and Anatomy Write Up

Human Physiology and Anatomy Write Up In the practical the systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured, heart and respiration rate, tidal volume, minute volume and % gas analysis at rest and immediately after a short period of exercise will also measured. The respiratory volumes will be measured by collecting expired air in a Douglas bag via a mouthpiece and a valve. Definitions Of Key Terms Heart rate is the number of heartbeats per unit of time typically expressed as beats per minute (bpm) which can vary as the bodys need for oxygen changes, such as during exercise or sleep.- Web definition Wikipedia Systole the contraction of the chambers of the heart (especially the ventricles) to drive blood into the aorta and pulmonary artery. Diastole the widening of the chambers of the heart between two contractions when the chambers fill with blood.- Web definition Wikipedia Blood pressure (BP) is a force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. During each heartbeat, BP varies between a maximum (systolic) and a minimum (diastolic) pressure.- Web definition Wikipedia Respiratory rate (RR) is the number of breaths a living being, such as a human, takes within a certain amount of time.- Web definition Word Net Web Tidal volume is the lung volume representing the normal volume of air displaced between normal inspiration and expiration when extra effort is not applied. Typical values are around 500ml or 7ml/kg bodyweight.- Web definition Wikipedia Respiratory minute volume is the volume of air which can be inhaled (inhaled minute volume) or exhaled (exhaled minute volume) from a persons lungs in one minute.- Web definition Word Net Web Factors that were taken into consideration when working with a human subject, is health factors, is the person physically fit to stand the exercise. Mental stamina if the subject can withstand the pressures of lengthily exercises. Method: Ask a demonstrator to check that the Douglas bag is correctly connected to a mouthpiece, valve and three-way tap. Once seated comfortably on a bike, the subject should put on a nose clip, then breathe through the mouthpiece with the three-way tap open to the atmosphere for a short period for acclimatisation (Question why is this?). The tap should then be opened to the Douglas bag for five minutes during which time one observer measures the respiration rate using a stop watch and another observer obtains values for resting systolic and diastolic blood pressures as directed by the demonstrator. At the same time, another group member estimates the heart rate every 60 seconds. At the end of the 5 minute period the three-way tap is closed. The subject is now connected to a second Douglas Bag and using the bicycle ergometer provided, the subject should exercise for five minutes. NB, this should be light exercise only. As the subject exercises recorded the heart rate every 60 seconds as before. As soon as possible after the subject has stopped exercising the expired air should be collected in a Douglas bag (as above) but for only one minute, and measures of respiration rate and heart rate should be made for 5 minutes. Record blood pressures. Take a gas sample from each bag used and measure the volume of expired gases in each bag (a demonstrator will assist you). Gas samples should be analysed for % oxygen and carbon dioxide. You will be provided with % oxygen and carbon dioxide values for inspired room air. Using the method above, none of the format was changed. Dissuasion: In upright exercise with all factors remaining equal, systolic blood pressure slowly amplifies while diastolic blood pressure remains the same. Diastolic pressure may even decrease due to vasodilation, or the slight variation of blood vessels caused by the heart pumping harder to spread more oxygen throughout the body. Diastolic blood pressure is the extended at base blood pressure, when pressure is weakest, and systolic shows pressure at peak times, when heartbeats force blood through the veins. Since systolic pressure is unswervingly associated to how the heart functions, it is affected the most by exercise. However, since the type of exercise and the amount will force a change on the bodys blood pressure. Dynamic, or aerobic, exercise, will affect blood pressure another way from static exercises. Characteristically during exercise heart rate will increase, this is in direct to increase blood flow to the functioning muscles to allow for amplified respiration in order for the muscles to work well. Therefore the more exhausting the exercise, the more your heart rate will increase. Blood pressure will also increase during exercise and again depends on strength levels. During exercise such as running/cycling/swimming systolic pressure will raise steadily whereas diastolic pressure will increase only somewhat. Exercise in healthy people can lead to, arterial CO2 levels rise slightly with light, moderate, medium and sub-maximum exercise strength levels regardless of the route of breathing during exercise. Since CO2 is the influential vasodilation agent, total arteries and arterioles improve blood and O2 delivery to all vital organs of the human body, including the heart and brain. Vasodilation guarantees aerobic respiration in body cells making it likely for healthy people to benefit from aerobic exercise without any key problems associated to tissue hypoxia causing too elevated blood lactate, muscle spasms, injuries, low recovery rates, volatility, stress, poor sleep. Looking at the Graphs on the separate page, there seems to be no large variations in the data. As graph one show shows a nice trend, that when the subject is resting there heart rate is a normal pace, as they started exercising the rate slowly goes up, and as the subject begins to get into the recovery period, the subjects heart rates starts to settle down. Graph two and three show that O2 and CO2 levels in a subject that has been exercising. Referencing: Wiki Answers (Unknown) What Happens To Your Heart Rate And Blood Pressure- [Online]. Available from: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_happens_to_your_heart_rate_and_blood_pressure_during_light_exercise#ixzz1Fjg4LKbJ [Accessed: 01 March 2011] eHow.com (2003) How Does Blood Pressure Change During Exercise? [Online]. Available from: http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5163258_blood-pressure-change-during-exercise.html#ixzz1FjfoHxac [Accessed: 01 March 2011] Normal Breathing (Unknown) Effects Of Exercising On The Respiratory System , [Online]. Available from: http://www.normalbreathing.com/c-effects-of-exercise-on-the-respiratory-system.php [Accessed: 03 March 2011]

Hypothesis :: essays research papers

Hypothesis 2: Most Pupils Travel To School By Bus And Travel At Least 10 Miles. Most people travel to school by bus and travel at least 10 miles. The amounts of people who travel by bus from my random samples are 25 pupils all together. The amount of pupils who travel to school by car is 2 pupils and the amount of pupils who get to school by walking is 3 pupils. The bar graph which shows you the distance the pupils have travelled shows the pupils who travel less than 10 and more than 10 miles. This bar graph is the main graph for this hypothesis as we are also trying to find out if pupils travel more than 10 miles. The average miles travelled less than 10 miles is 5 miles and 12 people travelled less than 10 miles. The average miles travelled more than 10 miles is 23 miles and the amount of people who travelled more than 10 miles is 10 pupils. Though 1 reason why pupils may travel a large distance to get to Loreto is because they want to get a good education or it might have been the closest catholic grammar school. Pupils take the bus because they get a free bus pass –though this bus pass is given to pupils who live m0ore than 3 miles away. Pupils may take the bus as it might be more convenient to the parents as the parents won’t have to drop children off at school before going to work. The petrol costs are going higher and so if they are given the free bus pass why should the parents say NO? Maybe if you travel by bus you could get more friends which is called social element. Most pupils travel more than 10 miles away and therefore it is too far to walk or cycle to Loreto. If more people travel by bus then that would be more environmentally friendly and less vehicles are being used-which means less pollution.

Stoicism Essay -- essays research papers

In the tree of Ethics, there are many twigs and branches that all trace back to a single root: how a person ought to act. Now, the paths that some branches take to get to that single root differ in many ways, yet all arrive at their own definition of how they themselves should live. The ‘branch’ that I will be talking about today, is Stoicism. I will discuss the history and beginnings of Stoicism in the Hellenistic period, the basic ideas of stoicism, and I will share my own personal beliefs and skeptical ideas as concerned with Stoicism. To begin, what does the word ‘stoic’ mean? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘stoic’ as â€Å"one apparently or professedly indifferent to pleasure or pain.† In the world of Ethics, a stoic is defined as â€Å"a member of a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium about 300 B.C. holding that the wise man should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submissive to natural law.† So what school of philosophy are we talking about? Who is Zeno of Cittium? Why did the stoics behave as they did? In the early part of the 4th century B.C. going on into the middle of the 3rd, a man named Zeno of Cittium left his home of Cyprus and went to Athens. There, he began to teach small groups of people about his ideas of ethics. He held his sessions on a painted porch on the Athenian agora known as the Stoa Poikile, from which the terms stoic and Stoicism derive from. At one point, Zeno, who had become adjusted to a life of riches, could not pay a resident tax, and as a consequence, was sold into slavery, where he was bought by a friend and freed. At first glance, one could look at stoicism and dismiss it as a relatively easy way to lead one’s life. At the heart, stoics do not care about abstract reality, about how and why the universe began, or Earth for that matter. To a stoic, the most important concept is that of acceptance in human life. Some of the ideas that Stoicism is based upon comes from the mind of one Heracletus. In the 6th century B.C., Heracletus formed his ideas at his home in Ephesus. In his mind, the universe is an ‘ever-living fire.’ In description, Heracletus came up with the Flux and the Logos. The Logos, in a universal sense, is a single connection between everything in the world, but is always changing with the Flux. Back when philosophers classified everything into 1 of the 4 elements, Heracletus’ Logos w... ...believer in Fate, I am not a true believer. Instead of classical Stoic beliefs, where the Logos governs my every choice towards the final ‘good’, I believe that free will does play a part in philosophical life. Person A comes to choice X, but based on occurrences put out by Fate, makes a decision Y. Fate and free will are 2 strands to a rope, one depending on the other to be strong. Back with emotions, with free will depending on Fate, it depends on emotion as well. Person A comes to choice X, based on occurrences put out by Fate, but still is torn between decision Y and decision Z. Using his emotions and feelings, Person A makes decision Y, because of occurrences put out by Fate as well as feelings he has towards each decision. In conclusion, I feel that Stoicism is almost a valid pattern of thought to live by, but is nonetheless quite interesting to look upon and debate. The basics and foundations of Stoicism, as well as the pillars on which it sits are something to be learned from, and could be wise to cite. My soul, the very being that I am, restricts me from devoting myself completely to Stoicism, although it is the closest thing to my ‘ethical standpoint’ that I have found.

Sarah Orne Jewetts Miss Tempys Watchers :: Sarah Orne Jewett Miss Tempys Essays

Sarah Orne Jewett's Miss Tempy's Watchers Sarah Orne Jewett was born in Berwick, Maine, 275 miles away from Oakfield, where my grandmother lives. Jewett’s story, â€Å"Miss Tempy’s Watchers,† takes place in a small farming town in New Hampshire, yet as I read the story for the first time, I was certain it took place in the small northern Maine town, and my grandmother was a subject of the author’s study. Jewett makes use of the dialect New England is known for by following very broad rules as well as the pickiest details one might never notice unless one were looking with ultimate scrutiny or from personal experience. Jewett chose certain phrase structure to make her characters’ speech genuine. Sarah Ann Binson, one of Miss Tempy’s watchers, describes how Tempy â€Å"never did like to hear folks goin’ about themselves.† To some this phrase may be foreign, but to an older New Englander it means to speak of oneself braggingly. Another syntactic trait of the speech is the frequent regularization of verb forms. Mrs. Crowe, the other watcher, says, â€Å"Tempy come right up after they rode by,† and Sarah Ann later asks if Mrs. Crowe made cupcakes â€Å"while you was home to-day.† These are both obvious grammatical errors, but the two women were only trying to make sense of a very complicated set of rules. To two women of middle and upper-middle class who are not particularly familiar with a true upper class where the English language is treated with greater care, they were only speaking in a manner that seemed most natural. Something else worth mentionin g is when Sarah Ann asks Mrs. Crows if she remembers a certain girl. Mrs. Crowe answers, â€Å"Certain,† and Sarah goes on about her. A stickler for grammatical perfection would insist she say, â€Å"Certainly,† or at least, â€Å"For certain,† but in the New England dialect of the older generation, there is nothing wrong with just â€Å"certain.† Sarah Ann Binson, the less wealthy of the two watchers, uses the word â€Å"ain’t,† but Mrs. Crow, the one of slightly higher class, never lowers herself to such unsophisticated speech. Sarah Ann also adopts a typically Acadian dialect (owing to her location in a New Hampshire farming area) when she tells of how Tempy once said, â€Å"I’m only a-gettin’ sleepier and sleepier.† The reader can’t be sure if it is a direct quote or if the structure is her own, but it is clear it is not entirely foreign to their ears.

A Life of Her Own

The first thing that is noticeable in the way Emilie Carles wrote â€Å"A Life of Her Own†, her autobiography, is the almost straightforward narration that she used in depicting what her life as a little girl living in a rural mountain valley of Alpine, France.As a married woman, a mother, a schoolteacher and later an activist, had been during the pre-World War and the postwar development phase that took place in France and the world’s history. Straightforward, in the sense that no time was given to dwelling in sentimentalities.Every word written and every image that were portrayed were significant and true in her eyes as a child and as an adult. The purpose of this paper is to show the difference of Emilie Carles from other women because what she wanted to impose in her book is not as easy as making a fictional biography of a woman in the twentieth-century.Emilie Carles narrated how the people in her village, including her family, confront life’s challenges in a day-to-day basis. She depicted a life that is led by poverty, hard grueling work and an almost passive acceptance of the fate and destiny of the people. In her village, she highlighted the importance of the bull or cows and its ability to produce calves, milk and other products to enable a family of four (or more) carry on with their lives.Her opening statement in her book showed the seeming â€Å"unconcerned† attitude of her father to her, even when she fell down the 2-storey house where they live. The bull that he had to buy is far more important than the situation of his daughter. French peasants in Carles’ village would usually cry due to a cow’s death than family members. As she have stated, â€Å"the torment of poverty outweigh the ruling of the heart†.[1]Through her stories, she helped the readers envisioned a pre-war life in France that is full patriarchal in nature; and almost all marriages are arranged, like her parents’. She wrote that women’s lives are usually broken due to its inability to choose whom to marry. Marriages, during her early childhood, are business contracts between two families that are usually decided by the male members. It is usually considered as marriage of convenience, a business contract where land and products will be combined to enable the peasants to live a little more easily.Her mother tried to fight this culture by running to a benefactor, her revered godmother, to ask for her blessing and advice in not marrying Joseph Carles and instead, marry the one she loves. She was thwarted by her godmother and was informed that to follow the course of her fate is the best advice she could to her. Otherwise, she will become an outcast in their Alpine village. Though her mother did not love Joseph Carles, she gave herself into taking care of her family, becoming the â€Å"sap† to her father’s â€Å"tree†; the â€Å"branch† to his â€Å"tree† and life and s trength of the family.Her mother was unable to defy the system in the village but she was strong-willed and spoke her own mind when she thinks it is needed. She is generous and knows how to please people such that after her death, people will come to Emilie to tell her that her mother is a remarkable woman. Perhaps, this characteristic of her mother is one of those that Emilie inherited, giving her the willpower and the strength of mind and soul to pursue her career as a schoolteacher and as a mother, as well as being an activist later in life.Due to the inability of his father to take care of the four siblings left behind by his wife, the youngest, a four-month old, had to be alternately nursed by mothers in the village. Emilie herself was sent to her uncle’s place to be taken cared of, as promised by their relative. She will become a schoolteacher later on with the help of her uncle, although life with her uncle had been full of tribulations as her aunt somehow maltreated h er by always finding little faults in her.[1] Carles, Emilie and Destanque, Robert. A Life of Her Own: The Transformation of a Countrywoman in 20th-Century France. 1992. Reed Business Information, Inc.