Walmart Undergoing Change Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Walmart Undergoing Change - Case Study Example It is normal that this change will incredibly improve the exhibition and the upper hand of the organization in the business condition. The necessities of workers are regularly met by the initiative of an organization or association. The requirements of workers inside Wal-Mart’s distinctive practical regions will accordingly be met under a brought together group of pioneers. There are assorted necessities among representatives, for example, successful remuneration, benefits, great workplace and reasonable working hours. These requirements would be influenced by the new initiative structure. For instance the necessities of representatives inside the Logistics work are probably going to be not the same as those inside the Real Estate work. All together for these change to be successful, it is in this manner essential for the organization initiative to viably speak with workers and comprehend their necessities so a powerful arrangement for meeting them would be executed (Vakola and Nikolaou, 2009). Since the authoritative change at Wal-Mart is planned for improving the administration conveyance to the clients, it is clear that the organization is probably going to enroll new representatives to guarantee that this goal is accomplished successfully. The administration of hierarchical change incorporates meeting the preparation needs of new workers (Tsoukas and Chia, 2008). This implies the new initiative group inside Wal-Mart will be answerable for building up a preparation program in which the aptitudes and information on new workers hands on will be successfully accomplished. In the choice of new workers, the organization must hold fast to the enlistment arrangements inside its strategy note pad. This implies the necessary degree of training, experience, abilities or information for the different useful territories of the organization must be shown by the new workers. The enlistment procedure should likewise guarantee that the new workers will increase the value of the organization through advancing its profitability and making it increasingly serious in its market. Since the frameworks and

Exploring Marketing with Delta Airlines as a Case Study Essay

Tedlow, Richard S. accepts that the historical backdrop of buyer item promoting in the United States can be isolated into three phrases.1 The historical backdrop of advertising will help us in understanding the business world today and is hence valuable in this article to investigate this in short before setting out on examining Delta Airlines as a contextual analysis to move toward the subject of showcasing, with regards to the U.S Airline Industry. Expression 1 is that of fracture and this is absolutely because of coordinations reasons, as opposed to the aftereffect of any advertising methodology. This outcomes in transportation of massive merchandise starting with one district then onto the next being generally costly and for a shopper item to accomplish national conveyance, an ideal proportion of weight and mass to esteem is required. This expression occurred before the 1880s and the market size is confined because of an absence of data, and it is described by a high edge and low volume. The second expression of unification is the ascent of mass showcasing, with high volume and a low edge, which is the direct inverse of the main expression of fracture. The improvement of this expression is conceivable due to initially, the advancement of the railroad and the message and also, developments in assembling innovation. All the above developments prompted an increasingly compelling transportation and correspondence arrange that bro ught down the expense of mass promoting items by huge rates. There is an ascent of normalization with progresses in assembling innovation, and it is currently conceivable to deliver in incredible volumes and furthermore, in little bundles. Expression Two happened in the period 1880s to 1950s, and during this period, brand showcasing and the board developed in significance. Makers endeavor to change the name of his item into a sort of supername Ââ€"a brand.2 The results of this expression focused on national dispersion, yet additionally strived to pull in all shoppers utilizing a solitary brand or item, that will be viewed as Â'standardâ'. 1 Richard S. Tedlow, â€Å"The fourth period of showcasing: Marketing history and the business world today,† in Tedlow, Richard S. furthermore, Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass showcasing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 19 2 Richard S. Tedlow, New and improved : the account of mass promoting in America (New York: Basic Books, 1990), p. 14 The third expression is that of division. The developments that prompted this expression after the 1950s is made conceivable by radio and TV promoting. There were additionally significant changes in America culture that affected buyer request. Business promoting through TV demonstrated that specific projects spoke to specific classes of watchers. This implied the open doors for dividing markets, that is, focusing the selling bid on one specific gathering of potential clients who may be characterized by their age, salary, and training ( known as socioeconomics) or by their way of life ( known as psychographics) were extraordinarily improved. 3 There is an ascent in picture publicizing in this expression, for instance, Coca-Cola had consistently been Âthe image of the leading figure of immutable, ever-enduring Americanaâ.4 Commericals were not, at this point about attributes of the items, however of the individuals depicted as utilizing them, and this prompted the improvement of the ÂPepsi Generationâ for instance. This saw the breakdown of the entire American mass market created in Phrase Two to spilt into various item classes from need things to up-showcase buyer durables. Division additionally happens at the retail level. This expression is described by high volume and worth valuing. The key improvements of the railroad, broadcast, creation advances and TV promoting, are outside to partnerships, yet they figure out how to benefit from them and transform openings into benefits. This is the way advertise division advanced. Advertisers are delicate to changing occasions and they exploit openings and turn the circumstance around to a positive one, regarding satisfying the companyâ's targets. This is the subsequent recommendation set up by Tedlow, that of Âentrepreneurial visionâ, of which daring individuals need to accomplish speculations and turn their dreams. 5 3 Robert D Buzzell and Jean-Louis Lecocq, ÂPolaroid France (S.A.), in Steven H. Star, Nancy J. Davis, Christopher H. Lovelock and Benson P. Shapiro, editors, Problems in Marketing, (New York:McGrawHill, 1977), pp. 191-213 4 Richard S. Tedlow, â€Å"The fourth period of promoting: Marketing history and the business world today,† in Tedlow, Richard S. also, Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass promoting (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 18 5 Richard S. Tedlow, â€Å"The fourth period of showcasing: Marketing history and the business world today,† in Tedlow, Richard S. furthermore, Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass promoting (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 21 Another significant recommendation set up by Tedlow is that of Âmanaging changeâ. Customer tastes and the outside condition are continually evolving. Enterprises must be adaptable and adjust rapidly to the shaky condition confronting them. Rivalry can emerge out of different companies as far as either attempting to beat the firstmover with a similar methodology, or attempting to change the rules.5 Tedlow proposes a fourth expression of promoting and this is because of data innovation. ÂInventory, is the cost of the absence of data; and the data upset is bringing down that cost in the plant, in the circulation framework, and at the purpose of sale.â6 This is the phase of Âmicromarketingâ, which is hyper-division, of perhaps every client as a segment of a fragment of one. Gracefully can increment because of data innovation, be that as it may, simultaneously, interest for micromarketing is expanding. Shoppers are turning out to be increasingly requesting and they hope to get what they need, in this manner there is an ascent in customization. Purchaser decisions will increment and it is each marketerâ's would like to sell any potential client correctly what they need and to guarantee they get greatest fulfillment. It is not, at this point important to persuade buyers to buy the normalized items that the manufacturing plant has made. Be that as it may, weaknesses of micromarke ting must be noted. The last may bring about an overflux of decisions and customers become confounded, as contrasts decrease. There is likewise the issue of rack space or that of the impediments of conveyance. Rare asset as rack space must be assigned by the retailers, and along these lines items canâ't simply continue expanding. I will presently direct my concentration toward the U.S Airline industry, where advertising is a structure for aircraft dynamic. During the period 1979 to 1983, the most profound world downturn made numerous issues in the U.S Airline industry. Among these were fast development of fuel costs, which expanded the working expenses of aircrafts. Opening limitations brought about by the leave air traffic controllers in August 1981 additionally posted an issue. The U.S downturn brought about a general shortcoming in air traffic and yields. This 6 Richard S. Tedlow, â€Å"The fourth period of showcasing: Marketing history and the business world today,† in Tedlow, Richard S. what's more, Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass promoting (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 27 is a marker that the outer condition that carriers are working in, is altogether unsteady. Financial upswings and downturns are normal. At the point when the Airline Deregulation Act was passed in the United States on October 1978, the carrier business is confronted with overcapacity and admission wars, and it is difficult to look after yields. Be that as it may, exercises have been educated since the last world downturn for the U.S aircrafts. One New York investigator remarks that ÂI have never observed an industry so decidedly ready for a recession.â Carriers currently are delicate to the limit cycle and despite the fact that the business has various new airplane in transit, there are no over the top responsibilities for new limit. A great deal of adaptability is incorporated with the airplane arrangements and carriers have more seasoned, completely deteriorated airplane that they can either clutch or resign, despite overcapacity. There are presently two new weapons open toward the North American majors that they didn't have in the last downturn. The first is that of the territorial stream that resuscitated the provincial aircraft industry, and is a potential new market. The second is the ease carrier inside aircraft tasks, for example, Delta Express and US Airwaysâ' new MetroJet. The majors can contend with Southwest, who can brave a downturn well due to its commitment to minimizing expenses and knowing its business sectors well.7 Delta Express, the aircraft inside a carrier, propelled in 1996, was begun not exclusively to shield the mainline bearer from expanding low-charges rivalry in America yet additionally to demonstrate to Wall Street that Delta the executives can be imaginative and dynamic too. The Just Plane Treats, formed to look like airplane, turned into the mark of Delta Express. Delta Express offers lower pay rates than those at the mainline, however it is propelled to inspire Deltaâ's representatives indeed, after the trust factor has been broken, with the 7.5 program as an endeavor to reduce expenses radically during the last business downturn. Some 65% of Delta takeoffs from Orlando are currently delta Express flights and the market is so critical to Delta Express that the transporter presently involves the entire wing of a terminal at Orlando Airport. Delta Express discharges the imaginative aptitudes of their kin and this lifts employeesâ' spirit. Developments are made along these lines as the administration can react right away. The way to making Delta Express work is to characterize the limits 7 ÂUS majors intend to break the cycle,â Airline Business, January 1999, p.

How Primary Emotions Affect You

How Primary Emotions Affect You PTSD Print How Primary Emotions Affect You By Matthew Tull, PhD twitter Matthew Tull, PhD is a professor of psychology at the University of Toledo, specializing in post-traumatic stress disorder. Learn about our editorial policy Matthew Tull, PhD Updated on June 24, 2019 franckreporter / Getty Images More in PTSD Causes Symptoms Diagnosis Treatment Coping Related Conditions PTSD and the Military Primary emotions are those that occur as a direct result of encountering some kind of cue. For example, if someone is late for a meeting that is scheduled, she may experience frustration or concern. These emotions would be considered a primary emotion  because the emotion occurred as a direct consequence of encountering some kind of event. Learn more about primary emotions and their relationship to secondary emotions with this review. What Makes Primary Emotions Stand Out Primary emotions are fast-acting. That is, they occur in close proximity to the event that brought them on. Primary emotions are important  because they provide us with information about our current situation and get us ready or motivated to act in some way. People with post-traumatic stress disorder  (PTSD)  often experience strong emotions. If you have PTSD, you may experience  sadness,  anger,  or  anxiety  when youre reminded of the traumatic event or at other  stressful moments. These emotional reactions are all primary. Sometimes, however, emotions occur in response to having  other  emotions. For example, you might feel  shame  about being anxious or sad or anxiety because youre angry. This type of emotional reaction is called a  secondary emotion. Understanding Primary and Secondary Emotions If someone cuts you off in traffic, youll probably feel irritated or angry. In this situation, anger or irritation is a primary emotion, because it occurred as a direct consequence of the event (being cut off in traffic). Or, if you start  remembering the loss of someone  you care about, the primary emotion you might feel is sadness. Secondary emotions, on the other hand, are less useful. Secondary emotions are the emotions we have in response to having primary emotions. Lets go back to the example of  someone cutting you off in traffic. You first feel the primary emotion of anger. However, lets say you were brought up to believe that it is not okay to be angry, or you  fear that when you feel anger, youll lose control and do something  impulsive. If this is how you evaluate your primary emotion, anger, youll probably feel shame or anxiety as a secondary emotion. Secondary emotions dont pass quickly or provide useful information, but they do tend to stick around for a long time. Theyre also problematic  because they can take over from primary emotions, effectively blocking them. As a result, secondary emotions can keep you from  getting information from your primary emotions  and acting on it in healthy ways. You could think of this as a way of trying to  avoid your emotions. How to Reduce Your Secondary Emotions The first step in reducing your secondary emotions is to  increase your overall emotional awareness.  Self-monitoring exercises  may help. In these exercises, you identify and evaluate your emotional responses to situations, trying to capture the kinds of secondary emotions that arise from your primary ones. The goal is to learn to  challenge your thoughts  or be more  mindful of your thoughts. You  practice  not taking your secondary emotions at face value or as truth, but simply as emotions, youre having only because youve had them before in the same types of situations, and its become a habit. Over time, getting into the habit of recognizing and  challenging your secondary emotions  can help you reduce their effects. That way, you can stay in touch with your primary emotions long enough to  act  on them in healthy ways.

Example Leisure Management Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3543 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Critical essay Did you like this example? Critically evaluate the process of change management carried out by a leisure and sport organisation with which you are familiar. Use appropriate theory to evaluate the change management process in question. Sports and fitness has come a long way over time, it is now looked upon as an industry, which operates on a global scale. Sports and Fitness could comprise clubs, health centres, big games like the Olympics, football clubs, golf courses, championships and titles ranging a multitude of sports and games. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Example Leisure Management Essay" essay for you Create order Each of these activities are part of organisations which are run just like any other organisation with management control, finance, marketing, human resource management and strategy. Each of these areas contribute to the success or failure of the enterprise. Due to immense media coverage and sponsorships, the sector has become very active, glamorised and highly competitive. The competition in this sector is becoming stronger and more players realise the lucrative benefits this sector has to offer. Television and media have greatly publicised the health and sports segment, to an extent where people are beginning to see the advantages of being part of it. Many beauty pageants have also been instrumental in creating the message about beauty, health and fitness. The outcome has been a combination of fitness and leisure centres, these are training grounds for athletes and people who would like to achieve a fitness regime by being part of these centres. More and more people are now keen to be fit and involved in sports of some kind to keep up their fitness levels and be healthy. Crichter (1984) says, the paradox of sport is that it provides such moments of self-realisation even as it confirms their apparent impossibility elsewhere. It both realises human identity and denies other kinds of especially racial and sexual identity. It is both uncontaminated by the rest of social life and shot through with economic and political influences. It is both timeless and a product of history [Frank Kew (1997), p 12 25]. Sports and fitness are about helping create a self-identity, which is high on self-esteem, confidence and good belief. The following is information on sports psychology which helps understand the reasons behind so many fitness and leisure centres springing up across countries including UK. Another interesting quote about sports comes from Huizinga, 1972, Play is essentially a free activity quite consciously outside ordinary life as being not se rious, but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. Play has no material interest, and no profit can be gained by it. It proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It promotes the formation of social groupings which tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress their differences from the common world by disguise or other means [Cox H. Richard (1998), p 15 30]. The feature about sports, which is of great interest, is that the ways these organisations work have wholly different perspectives. The social practices, rule structures are self-contained and independent and so applying management practices would need to take this psychology in context to the final argument. The people who work in this industry are also influenced by the way this industry operates, their psychology is determined by this. The concept of sports and fitness as joint collaborative projects can be analysed fu rther, there are social dynamics involved in this ball game. In this context, the social dynamics pertains to practitioners who interact with each other. As per Guttmann (1978), modern sports and fitness is monitored and handled by multinational companies, who administer and control the operations by local, regional or international levels. The people in this organisation exercise a lot of power, power to oversee and sanction athletes, teams and events make up rules and enforce them, organise events and certify records [Cox H. Richard (1998), p 20 34]. As the sports industry had gained momentum and is diffused with different social and national groups of personnel, the bureaucracy needed to oversee the governance process of sports have become more complex and powerful. In organisations driven by such force bringing about change would be a tall order, which would need more than good management skills. Although sports and health organisations are a new phenomenon compared to a lot of sectors and industries, which have been around for decades now, change management is a subject which will be difficult and need strategic management inputs when applied to this sector. Yet given the volatile markets and external environment, change would be a factor organisations cannot avoid. Change in any organisation could be triggered due to either internal or external circumstances. The organisation in question for this paper is a health club, which has three divisions sports, health and beauty and a leisure centre. For the sake of protecting the identity of the club, the name of the organisation has been changed to Fitness first. The problems in this organisation first started with the introduction of a new arm to the organisation Sports Centre, where world famous coaches along with fringe benefits of private training gave professional and prospective athletes the option of being part of a club. Fitness first was initiated and conceptualised in the year 2001, the infrastructure and management were the best in the industry and finance was not a problem since the funding came from heavy weights in the Sports industry. To begin with the senior management that was brought on board by the two directors were given a lot of autonomy in running the business and expansion plans. The first two years in the business witnessed an inflow of members who were ready to pay a hefty annual fee to be part of the club. This was because of the personal care and interest each member was able to enjoy along with the state of the art infrastructure. The members realised the value of such benefits and were promoting the club through the word of mouth. Any business is good to go once the customers are satisfied with the deliverables and they see value for money. By the year 2003, the club had opened up 20 branches across England with additional features like a Beauty centre, which was very popular with both, the male and female members. The problem starte d in the year 2004 with the initiation of the Sports centre facility, the directors increasing interference, bureaucracy, lack of autonomy for the management and complacency on part of the management towards the operational and customer service aspects of the business. The first sign was the failure of a club, which had opened up in the posh area of Kensington, London. The management was unable to understand the reasons for the lack of members despite heavy promotional campaigns. It was then observed that almost seven clubs had not enrolled new members over a period of three months. Finally the first Sports centre initiated at the Reading branch was showing blatant signs of failure. From a membership base of six professional athletes and 4 beginners, three beginners had already dropped out in the first month itself and the remaining members were considering giving up membership of the sports centre. All this had a combined effect on the revenue figures as well as dwindling profits in the first quarter of 2004. Fortunately the two directors realised that there were serious problems with the health club and leisure centre and a meeting was called upon with the entire management team across all clubs. A whirlwind strategic conference was organised, which lasted four days, and everyone realised that there was a need for introspection and change. The main problems identified during the conference were 1. Lack of Autonomy 2. Lack of focus on customer service 3. Lack of flexibility amongst management 4. Lack of improvisation tools to enhance business prospects 5. Lack of focus on new customers as well as old 6. Lack of personalisation, which had been a competitive advantage at one time The problem now was to understand and plan a strategy to combat all the problems listed above. Change is always a difficult proposition since it needs people to do something new, something they are not aware of and this especially since it takes them into an insecure environment. The framework involving strategic change might comprise the organisation structure, culture and skill set. When implementing plans for a change proposal, one needs to comprehend if the change runs as deep as the organisation structure and culture since the latter is a deep process which needs a lot of time, patience, acceptability and understanding. Peters and Watermans (1982) defined strategy as the core structure of change, strategy is the deliberate or emergent pattern of decisions which shape an organisations future and its fit within its environment. These decisions may involve changing the future scope and shape of activities or major areas of internal change aimed at protecting or enhancing capability. [Grundy Tony (1993), p 28] The changes at fitness first would not only need the management personnel who were part of the conference but also individuals who were contributing at one level or another at every branch. Each personnel needed to understand the extent of the problem and be willing to bring about the required change so that the organisation could once more progress towards growth, profitability and satisfied customers. Carnall (1986) is an important contributor to the process of managing change. As per Carnall, implementing change goes through a series of stages, which involve, denial, defence, discarding, adapting and internalising. Change needs very adept and fragile handling of people, according to Lewin (1935), the cycle of change spans a considerable amount of time, it depends on how fundamental or challenging the change is, also there is always some decline in performa nce in managers and thats what the change agents need to account for [Grundy Tony (1993), 40 46]. A change agent is the person in charge of bringing about the change process; the agent might be internal or external depending on the circumstances as well as the extent of change. This agent is a manager with special qualities, which will make him/her effective and successful in planning and executing the process. Charles Handy (1999) uses the ten roles defined by Mintzberg as a basis for making one understand the different roles of the manager. As leading personnel the manager needs to be a figurehead, leader and liaison, all these are interpersonal roles. In the capacity of an administrator, he/she needs to monitor, disseminate and be a spokesperson these are informational roles. Lastly as a fixator, he/she need to be an entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator, these are decisional roles. Since the meeting at Fitness First, it was strategically de cided that each centre would be assigned a change agent who will be internal given the extent of the problem. The senior management, local teams and the directors based on a compilation of all the above qualities, mutually listed the change agents. Charles Handy brings in some interesting perspective on how organisations are, as much as people would like to view them as well-oiled machinery, they comprise of people. People from different backgrounds, cultures, lives, opinions and behaviour. All these people compete for resources, power, recognition and their own judgements. There will always be a difference of opinions, values and culture, each one would conflicts of priorities and goals, there are pressure groups and lobbies, cliques and cabals, rivalries and contests, clashes of personality and bonds of alliances. [Charles Handy (1999), p 209 210] Since the problems being faced at Fitness First were grave in appearance, the directors were very forthcoming in following a p articipative approach, from top to down in the organisation. They realised that the autonomy and right to exercise power in the individual sphere of the managers was a positive attribute, which had to return to the way the organisation functioned. As per Rosabeth Moss Kanter (1983), the participative approach is only taken when the change agents view the problem as internally driven, based on choice and responsiveness, rather than something which is imposed externally facing extreme resistance. The architecture of change needs an awareness of foundations, Rosabeth Moss Kanter (1983) an academic expert on change management states that the change agents need this history of relationships, coordination, mutual trust to learn from a successful story and imbibe the values in the new process. The art and architecture of change, also involves designing reports about the past to elicit the present actions required for the future [Rosabeth Moss Kanter (1983), p 288 290]. The build ing blocks of change can be easily interpreted from Quinns definition of managing strategic change, The most effective strategies of major enterprises tends to emerge step-by-step from an iterative process in which the organisation probes the future, experiments, and learns from a series of partial commitments rather than through global formulations of global strategies. Good managers are aware of this process, and they consciously intervene in it. They use it to improve the information available for decisions and to build to improve the information available for decisions and to build the psychological identification essential to successful strategies. Such logical incrementalism is not muddling as most people understand that word it honours and utilises the global analyses inherent in formal strategy formulation models and embraces the central tenets of the political or power-behavioural approaches to such decision making [Rosabeth Moss Kanter (1983), p 288 295]. The pro cess of change as defined by so many academics needs trust, loyalty and faith in the change agent who will lead the people involved through the process. The managerial style in organisations like Fitness First needs to change as part of the change management process. The hierarchical form needs to become more networked where people have access to information, there is informality, equality and there is lateral bottom up communication. Birchall and Lyons (1995), talk some more about the way businesses need to become more effective and efficient, as this will help in the change process, similar to fitness first businesses need to rethink the way work is being organised and executed. This is due to the changing demands of the customers, the expectations and aspirations of the employees; the transformation comes through with revamping of operations and by taking advantage of emerging possibilities. Expectations and communication brings us back to the way the change agents would draw personnel at Fitness First into rectifying the problems being faced by the organisation. Change is not always about something new; sometimes it is about going back to the foundation and grass root level of the origination of the business. Since the change was primarily internal, managing the expectations of the people involved about the quantity and quality of change would be very important. The people involved need to know that the change is being brought about within the structure and culture of the organisation to eventually benefit everyone by being part of a successful venture. Since the profits are dwindling, it does call for extreme measures, which people might not be expecting. The biggest fear amongst employees in the face of change is the insecurity of not having a job, these fears had to be allayed by the change agents at the earliest else the performance would dip to a large extent. The second step was to know expectations and then communicating the plan for managing and executing change in the way work was being handled. The final steps needed at Fitness First were 1. Changing the organisation structure in certain places depending on the agenda and need 2. Make the business more result oriented through customer satisfaction 3. Training for all personnel to understand customer relationship management 4. Motivate the employees through personal belief to work towards rectifying the problems 5. Open door communication policies to make operations transparent 6. Introduce annual reward management system for employees and customers A communication plan was the first step towards personnel involvement in the change process. When complacency sets in and people get comfortable with their surroundings, change mostly uproots them from this comfort zone and more often than not, the results are not very encouraging. The change agents brought into play an effective communication plan, which covered the scope of change, the effects and results. Since there was a need for restructuring, the involvement of people is necessary, listening and learning become prime to making it a success. The agent has to take people into confidence about how the change will affect them internally as well as externally, from the view point of the organisation as well as personally. Another important factor to be remembered by the change agents is the five-model process for managing change diagnosis, planning, implementation, control and learning. At fitness firs t the first two stages were near completion and the following three were moving at a parallel pace with the ensured commitment of the staff. According to Margaret Davis and David Weckler (1996), a major factor underpinning the success of failure of change is the capability of the organisation in question. Organisational capability is a big part of the organisations competitive advantage; it is also a reflection of its inherent flexibility, adaptability, and capacity to preserve single-mindedness, rationality despite all pressures, internal or external. Coming to fitness first, now that a detailed analysis of the organisation structure and resources was through with a new one in place, displacement of employees from their previous positions had to be dealt with patience. It is important to time and again bring in communication tools and enforce the change objective and what it does on a larger scale. The anxiety and insecurity need to be dealt with, once the commitment is pa rt of the change project, success is not difficult. Once the change agents had spent time, money and effort in designing the new organisation chart, it was important to see how well it could be implemented. This brought us to the three important ingredients of implementation communication, impact analysis and transition management. In this case the employees needed to know if the reporting system would be different, working in different divisions under different people would be a part of this transition. The customers needed to know if the services changed with this process in flow and if the representatives they dealt with earlier would also change. On all accounts, effective communication was introduced through a first ever group wide meeting being called to mitigate or absolve any doubts which might hinder the change process. The customers were dealt with newsletters and individual meetings as deemed appropriate. Fitness First change agents had devised a list of ripples t hese changes might create and so there were already back up resources and plans in place. Each Change Agent had accounted for a transition manager in their teams who would be responsible in overseeing that the transition took place as effectively and smoothly as possible. After long, fitness first had brought changes in the structure and introduced open communication channels; there was more autonomy in the organisation. This gave way to a common platform for employees to chip in ideas about growth potential and customer enrolment. The sports centre introduction was seen as a moderate expansion plan and so new associates and trainers were introduced to cater to the demands of upcoming talent. Apparently a talk with the old members revealed that they missed personal training regimes and a dedicated coach scenario, which led them to the decision of quitting membership. The introduction of the Customer Relationship Management program was an effective measure, which reintroduced one to one personal communication between members and the club centres. There was a monthly reward program for the most successful idea of the month; all these tools went a long way in hauling employee confidence, motivation and loyalty. The customers were also content and satisfied with the resurgence of these change measures, which showed responsiveness on part of the club towards their reaction and value. Customers always need to feel important and taken care of; this is the oldest adage for any successful business. To conclude the design of an organisation cannot be rigid. Given the current competitive environment and unpredictable markets, they need to be more in tune with the customers and changing business conditions. The only constant is change and so any organisation their structure and business processes need to be productive, flexible, adaptable and responsive to changing business needs. Fitness First was able to bring about internal changes which the manageme nt deemed fit, yet in the future there will always be need for more review processes to see when and where another change might be required. This was a learning lesson for fitness first, a platform for them to realise the need to become a learning organisation to stay abreast of competition and external environment. Senge (1990) introduced the concept of the learning organisation, one, which constantly reflects, understands, and evolves and changes based on internal and external conflicts and needs. All organisations need to imbibe the qualities of a learning organisation and the sooner they do o the better. Finally Change involves the interaction of a number if systems within an organisation. These may interact with one another in ways, which will either facilitate or inhibit change. A key factor in managing change effectively is to understand how these systems interact with one another. Openness to understanding these interdependencies is identified by Senge as being a cruci al part of the learning organisation [Handy Charles (1999), p 12 25].

Movie Analysis Hello - 964 Words

Tijo Joseph Contemporary Perspective Film Response –Malaysian film â€Å"Hello† The Malaysian comedy film â€Å"Hello† portrayed a new culture which was truly an altered perception from what I had originally perceived. The storyline of the film is fairly simple to dissect as it tells us the story of three friends each interested in one particular women and a doctor who catches her interest. However, though the storyline was easy to gauge, there were numerous amounts of scenes which had me question the motive for certain actions. First and foremost was the style of comedy. In comparisons with other comedic films; there was a certain revulsion which was hard for me to shake. In the films representations of humor and wit, a repeated gesture of†¦show more content†¦In addition, it seemed as if landowners and farmers had more stature in which they had better lifestyles and living accommodates than the physicians themselves. Some questions which had loomed was â€Å"Is the class and authenticity of life really similar to Malaysian lifestyle?† â€Å"Is this video quality and low cost film production common for 2013 produced film?† However, though the movie seemed bland and outdated for the viewing audience; there were many lessons viewers can take away. For example, my initial reaction is simply the overall idea that this movie is made of a different cloth than what I’d usually expect in comedy. The comedy wasn’t riveting as expected and at certain times, felt it failed to live up to its latent potential. One key aspect which was very irritating to watch was the flat comedy some Malaysians find funny. This film was top ranked but seemed just about ordinary in my eyes. The level of comedy in certain developments was bizarre and second-rate at best. For example, a comical depiction was a romantic setting in which one of the protagonist brushes off a repulsive overweight girl obsessed with him. Secondly, one echoing experience that followed throughout this film was the voices of men. These voices didn’t sound bothersome because of the language, but because the high volume pitch articulated by it. In certain scenes, these voices literally

The Forbidden Game The Kill Chapter 9 Free Essays

string(52) " was a click and another card appeared in the slot\." As the coin clunked somewhere in the machine’s innards, Jenny heard a faint buzzing, then a mechanical ticking. The glass brightened, and Jenny could see that two bare lightbulbs had gone on inside. They illuminated a wizard, maybe two feet high and wearing a surprisingly mournful and pained expression. We will write a custom essay sample on The Forbidden Game: The Kill Chapter 9 or any similar topic only for you Order Now As Jenny watched, it began to move jerkily, like clockwork. Its eyes opened and shut, and its eyebrows lifted and fell. .Its lower lip seemed to be jointed and moved below a surprisingly fine and lifelike beard, as if it were mumbling to itself. Its face was ruddy plastic, with carmine lips and deep shadows under the eyes. Jenny could see layers of caked-up paint on the cheeks. Poor thing, she thought. Absurd as it was, she felt sorry for the mechanical figure. It showed much finer workmanship than the barn dancers, but it was undeniably in a state of disrepair. Its paintbrush eyelashes were matted, its black velveteen robe dusted with red lint. A strange feeling was coming over Jenny. A squeezing in her chest. It was ridiculous to feel this way about an automaton. But it looked so pathetic-so trapped there in that box, in front of a stapled-on backdrop of shabby red velveteen†¦ . And something about the figure †¦ something about its face †¦ The wizard held a chipped and peeling wand in one clenched fist. He raised the wand and struck it on the table in front of him-Jenny could see the indentation where he’d done it many times before. His eyes opened and shut, rolled around, moving back and forth. They didn’t look at the wand. His lower lip moved, showing white painted teeth, but there was no sound. He seemed to be talking to himself. Jenny was mesmerized by the wizard’s jerky, almost violent movements-but she didn’t know why, and she was getting more and more frightened. It’s because he looks like one of those homeless guys at the shelter, she told herself. That’s why he’s familiar. No. It was more than that. Something about the plastic face, a face frozen in an expression of ineffable sadness. The glass eyes rolled, staring straight out at Jenny. Dark as marbles, strangely tired, strangely kind. She knew. She really did know then, but it was such an impossible, intolerable concept that she pushed it away. Slam-dunked it back into her subconscious. Too insane to even think about. She heard a click at the bottom of the machine and saw that a card had appeared. She reached for it reflexively-then stopped for just an instant, again feeling as if her mind was shouting a warning. Her fingers closed on the card. She turned it over and stared at the writing on the other side. Then she felt herself begin to faint. The cramped lines of type were faded but perfectly readable. Not a prediction or a personality chart. The entire card was covered with two words typed over and over. HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME †¦ The letters swam in front of Jenny’s eyes, merging into a scintillating black-and-white pattern. She couldn’t control her trembling or the shuddering in her stomach. She couldn’t feel her legs. And she couldn’t scream-even though there was a screaming inside her. She felt the floor bang her palms and rump as her legs gave way. â€Å"What happened? Did it do something to you?† The others were around her. Jenny could only look up at the glass, box, as her fingers tightened on it. Those tired dark eyes, oh, yes, they were familiar. But they didn’t belong with a shabby velveteen robe and a long angel-hair beard. They belonged with a slight, stooped body, a cardigan sweater, and thinning white hair. And a smell of peppermint, because that was what he always carried in his pockets. â€Å"It’s my grandfather,† Jenny whispered. â€Å"Oh, Dee, it’s my grandfather, it’s my grandfather. †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Dee cut a glance at the box. When she looked back at Jenny, her face was composed. â€Å"Okay, now, you take it easy. Lets get you some water here..† â€Å"No!† Jenny screamed. She was completely out of control. She hit Dee, beating at her feebly with her fists. â€Å"Don’t humor me’. It’s my grandfather in there -they’ve done it to him. Oh, God!† Tears were flying as she whipped her head. â€Å"It’s a joke, don’t you see? He was a sorcerer-now he’s a wizard. I thought he was dead-but this is so much worse-â€Å" Dee simply grabbed the flailing hands so Jenny couldn’t do any harm. Jenny could see Michael’s brown eyes, and Audrey’s chestnut-colored ones, looking over Dee’s shoulder. â€Å"It’s true,† she gasped, quieting. â€Å"Look at the card. He wants help. He wants out!† Michael picked up the card silently, showed it to Dee and Audrey. They all looked at the box. The wizard was still moving, staring straight ahead with his tragic expression, hitting the table with his wand. His hands were all in one piece, Jenny noticed with wild precision. She could see beads of paint in the slight grooves between the fingers. She’d thought the Shadow Men would eat him. That was what the hungry eyes in the closet had wanted. But whatever they’d done with his body, his soul was here. They’d put it in this-thing. Stuck it in a plastic body so that he could stand forever moving like clockwork when the machine was activated, endlessly banging his wand. Julian had said the Shadow Park had been created ten years ago, and for a special reason. It was ten years ago that her grandfather had disappeared. â€Å"They did it to punish him,† she whispered. â€Å"They put him here so he could never die-they trapped him the way he trapped them in the closet†¦ .† Her voice was rising. Michael swallowed, looking sick. Dee’s nostrils flared. There was a click and another card appeared in the slot. You read "The Forbidden Game: The Kill Chapter 9" in category "Essay examples" Dee reached for it, letting go of Jenny’s hands. Jenny scrambled to her knees to see it over Dee’s arm. LOOK IN THE BLACK CABINET. â€Å"There,† Michael said. Jenny twisted. Behind her was a shiny black machine with a wide, darkened oval window. It looked relatively new, and a plaque read: speak to the spirits, ask any yes or no question. Jenny knew the type of game. The window lit up and a skull nodded or shook its head to answer you. A wave of icy cold swept over her, as cold as the water in the mine ride. â€Å"Do it, Michael,† she whispered and held her breath. Michael wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He glanced uncertainly at Jenny, then put a coin in. The glass brightened. There wasn’t a skull inside illuminated from below with a ghastly blue light which clearly showed .there was nothing below either neck. At the sight of them, Audrey screamed thinly and Michael retched. Dee grabbed hold of Jenny hard enough to hurt. â€Å"Now do you believe me?† Jenny said, her voice rising again. â€Å"They’re here, they’re all here!† Michael was pressing his hand to his mouth. Dee was holding on to Jenny. Audrey was still making a thin wheezing noise. Nobody answered Jenny, but in the cabinet the heads of Slug and P.C. bobbed. The blue light shone on their chapped, loose-hanging lips. They looked unconscious-as if unseen hands were wagging them by the hair, making them nod. You guys were so tough, Jenny thought, unable to look away from the cadaverous faces. Such bad boys. Breaking into my house, stealing the Game. Barging into the Shadow World uninvited. Now you’re both here and you don’t look so tough. And- â€Å"Summer,† Jenny whimpered. â€Å"If Summer-if Summer-â€Å" â€Å"Jenny-â€Å" â€Å"If we find Summer like that- â€Å" There was a click. Dee snatched the card before Jenny could get to it. She read it, holding Jenny away. â€Å"What does it say?† Slowly Dee turned the card. LOOK IN THE FUN HOUSE. â€Å"At least it’s not another cabinet,† Dee said. Michael said, â€Å"You mean, you think it’s about â€Å"I-maybe. Or†-Dee’s face relaxed-â€Å"it could be a clue for a doubloon.† Audrey shielded her eyes. â€Å"I can’t stand those things-make them stop,† she said in a ragged voice. The heads were bobbing slowly up and down, nodding again. â€Å"I think that’s our answer,† Michael said. â€Å"Yeah, but which is it-Summer or a doubloon?† â€Å"I don’t care, I just want to get out of here,† Audrey said. â€Å"We can’t go,† Jenny said to Dee. â€Å"We can’t leave him, we can’t go anywhere.† She pulled herself up using the wizard’s cabinet as a support, and leaned a hand on it, looking into the glass. â€Å"I have to help him.† â€Å"Jenny.† Dee touched her elbow gently. â€Å"There’s nothing you can do for him.† Then, as Jenny held on to the glass: â€Å"All right, what are you going to do for him?† Jenny didn’t know. Stay here with him-if she could keep from screaming. Break the cabinet to pieces. But then what? Could she stand to hold the thing that was in there, cuddle it like a stiff, oversize doll? If she broke the doll, would it kill her grandfather? Or would he still be alive inside his pieces? He’d rather be dead than be like this, she knew. But how did you kill something that wasn’t alive, only trapped? â€Å"Oh, I’m so sorry,† she whispered, pressing her hand to the glass. â€Å"I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry†¦.† It was her fault-he’d gone in her place. Given But Dee was right. Jenny couldn’t do anything for him now. Her hands trailed down the glass. â€Å"We’ll go to the fun house.† On their way out she turned back to face the wizard’s cabinet, looked into the dark, staring eyes. â€Å"I’m coming back,† she said. â€Å"And when I do, I’ll help you.† The heads were bobbing in their case as she left. Out into the night again. Jenny wished she had a map. Her memory for some parts of the park was sketchy. â€Å"The fun house is up near the very front,† she said, â€Å"so it’s got to be somewhere that way.† She pointed the way they’d come. â€Å"Yeah, but more to the left. We can cut across there.† Dee was more talkative than she had been since Audrey’s accident, but her voice was still not quite itself. They passed rest rooms, trees, a large refreshment stand. The Tilt-a-Whirl was dark; so was the Enterprise. And so, as they approached it, was the fun house. Then an uncanny sound began. Two slow, rising notes, repeated over and over. Jenny recognized it. â€Å"The foghorn on the ark.† Lights were going on in the large boat, first outlining the roof, then illuminating the windows of the house on deck. Jenny could see animals in the windows: an elephant, an ostrich, a hippopotamus, and at the very top Father Noah, with an expression more like a leer than a grin. The ark began to rock visibly. â€Å"Looks like they’ve got the welcome mat out,† Michael said. They entered through the whale’s mouth, walking on the spongy pink tongue. Inside, the doors were slanted, exacerbating the rocking feeling. Jenny began to feel giddy immediately. She couldn’t see much inside. Black lights made Audrey’s white nylon jacket glow and Dee’s eyes flash. We should have looked for controls, Jenny thought. There must be some way to turn on the lights in these places. But when she looked back, the door she’d just come through was gone. Instead, there was a glass booth, with a human figure silhouetted inside. Summer! Jenny’s heart gave a terrible jolt. She took a step toward the booth, then stopped. She couldn’t tell anything about the figure. She took another step, one hand out toward the glass. Oh, God, I don’t want to see this†¦ . A light in the booth went on. Wild laughter assaulted Jenny’s ears. It was the sound of somebody going insane, and at first it frightened her so much that she couldn’t take in what she was seeing. Then she focused on the figure. It was a hugely fat woman, bucktoothed, with freckles like birthmarks and scraggly hair. Her hands waved in front of her as she cackled and guffawed. I remember that! Laughing-oh, what was her name? Laughing Lizzie. She used to be in the arcade, and she always scared me. Jenny scanned the florid face, looking for something familiar in the emptv eves. Could Summer-be in there? Summer had been tiny, dimpled, with thistledown blond hair and dark blue eyes. She’d been as light as a flower petal stirred by the wind. Could they have destroyed her body and put her in this bloated plastic thing? Or maybe she was like P.C. and Slug. Maybe there was a table somewhere in here with a piece of Summer’s old body on it. But Jenny couldn’t see anything she recognized in the fat woman’s eyes. Nothing to make her want to look any closer, especially since the demented laughter was going on and on. She glanced at the others. â€Å"Let’s keep moving.† They stumbled through twisted corridors and across shifting floors. A blue Day-Glo hippo gaped at Jenny, a snake dropped from the ceiling in front of her. From all around came panting, growling, weird music-a cacophony of strange sounds. It made it hard for Jenny to hear even Dee and the others right next to her. And it was hard to examine the exhibits. Chain-link fencing was strung in front of many of them and had to be pulled away. Every figure that looked even vaguely human had to be studied, and anything that looked like gold had to be scrutinized. â€Å"Everything in here looks suspicious,† Michael said as they stared at a laughing man with three faces that rotated slowly on his neck. Jenny was most disconcerted by the mirrors. On the floor they mimicked endless drops, reflecting lights down into infinity. On the walls they confused her, duplicating her own wide green eyes, Audrey’s copper hair, Michael’s pale, set face. It reflected Dee’s supple movements, making it seem as if there were dozens of camouflage jackets all going in different directions. Zach always hated these mirrors, too, Jenny remembered, turning a sharp zigzag corner. Enough that Julian put them in the paper house as part of his nightmare. She suddenly realized that she hadn’t thought about her cousin in quite a while. She’d been too busy worrying over Tom-and over how to survive. But she did miss Zach. She missed his winter-gray eyes, and his sharp-featured face, and his dry intelligence. Even if Tom had been safe, she would have come to the Shadow World questing for Zach. â€Å"Ugh,† Dee said. â€Å"What’s this?† They had come out of the mirror maze and were now in dark, windy corridors with very unsteady floorboards. There were displays every few feet-much like museum displays, except that Jenny had never seen this kind of thing in any museum. â€Å"Disgusting,† Michael said under his breath. â€Å"Replogle, disgusting †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Replogle was really the name of a map company, but Michael thought it made a much better adjective. He was trying to cheer himself up. Because, Jenny thought, the displays really were gruesome. They were torture scenes. Wax figures were set up as victims and torturers. Some of the equipment Jenny recognized. The rack. The Iron Maiden. The stocks. And some of it was dreadfully and harrowingly unfamiliar. Boots with handles like the vise Tom’s father had in his garage workshop. To break bones, Jenny supposed. Grotesque metal helmets with iron tongues that gagged the victim. Cages too small to stand or lie down in. Every kind of device to burn, or cut, or maim. â€Å"This was not here this afternoon,† Audrey said. â€Å"It’s my fault, I guess,† Dee said after a moment. â€Å"I went up to San Francisco once with my mom, and there was a place at Fisherman’s Wharf-like a chamber of horrors, you know? It gave me nightmares for years.† Abruptly she turned away from the nearest scene and leaned against the wall, head down. She was breathing hard. Jenny peered through the darkness. â€Å"Dee?† â€Å"Yeah. Just give me a minute.† â€Å"What are you mumbling?† â€Å"It’s-it’s, uh, this thing for when you get upset. I got it out of-† She paused. â€Å"Ancient Chinese manuscripts.† â€Å"In what dialect?† Audrey demanded. â€Å"Mandarin? Cantonese?† â€Å"All right, it was from a kung fu movie. But it works. It’s pretty long, but the end goes ‘I am as strong as I need to be. I am my only master.'† â€Å"I am my only master,† Jenny repeated. She liked that. Julian and his people might be the masters of this world, but not of her. No one was her master if she wouldn’t let them be. â€Å"Is it helping?† she asked Dee. â€Å"Enough. I don’t think I’m going to faint or puke right this moment.† Shock tingled in Jenny’s palms. The very idea of Dee fainting was so outrageous-so frightening-she couldn’t cope with it. Dee was never that scared. Only maybe she was, especially when confronted with things that physical courage couldn’t do anything about. The stuff around them here was history -and who could change that? â€Å"I’m gonna join Amnesty International if I ever get out of here,† Dee muttered. â€Å"I swear, I swear.† â€Å"Mother and I already belong,† Audrey said. Mrs. Myers? thought Jenny, and Dee said, â€Å"Your mom?† Audrey’s mother was a society matron, good at making finger sandwiches and arranging charity fashion shows. She and Dee didn’t get along. â€Å"Maybe all that organization is good for something after all,† Dee murmured. Jenny still had a very bad feeling about the place. She wanted to hurry through it, to not see as much as possible. And they couldn’t. They had to check every figure, staring into faces the color of peach crayons, with teeth that were a little too shiny in the spotlights. The skin of the wax figures had an unreal inner glow, as if the outer layers were translucent and the color buried somewhere inside. But none of the glassy eyes looked like Summer’s. And nothing moved, although Jenny was in constant dread that an eyelid would flicker or a chest would rise. If they start coming to life, I’ll go crazy, she thought almost with detachment. Just screaming, staring crazy. It would be a relief to go crazy at this point. â€Å"Jenny-† Michael’s voice was choked. Jenny turned. â€Å"Blue,† Michael said, and Jenny saw what he meant. It was on a table. Above it, suspended by a rusty chain, was a huge wooden disk with bloody iron spikes. It was a little pool of china blue precisely the color of Summer’s shirtdress. Something was inside the dress. Funny that Jenny could remember that outfit so exactly. Summer had appeared on the doorstep wearing it the night of Tom’s birthday party, looking fresh, sweet, and completely inappropriate, since it was freezing outside. Now it was lying on a table, encasing a body. Although the figure’s face was turned away from Jenny, she could glimpse sandaled feet curled up at one end and soft light curls at the other. Jenny stood frozen. It had happened too suddenly; she wasn’t prepared. She’d seen that dying in the Shadow World didn’t mean you got buried and disappeared. She’d known they were looking for Summer, however transformed, however defiled Summer might be. Ever since Michael’s dream she’d allowed herself thoughts that Summer might not be lost completely. But now that she was face to face with the possibility, she couldn’t cope with it. She didn’t want to go and look, didn’t want to know. She glanced at the others, saw them standing paralyzed, too. You have to look. You can take it. It’s probably just a normal wax figure with nobody inside. And that’s not blood on those spikes, it’s red paint. She knew this was comnletelv irrational. She knew very well that it probably wasn’t just a normal wax figure, and that there was no reason for the blood on the spikes to be anything but blood. After everything she’d seen in the Shadow World, after what had happened to Slug and P.C. and her grandfather, she knew that. But her mind needed to say something to get her legs going. To keep away the pictures of Summer’s head falling off when Jenny took her by the shoulder, or of some Rosemary’s Baby-type monster looking Up with crafty, glee-filled eyes. The huge log disk swung on its chain above the table. I can take it. I can take it. I’m strong enough. Jenny inched closer. She could see the spun-sugar curls, just the color of Summer’s hair, and the little hands lying folded like rose petals. She couldn’t see the face. The log swung, creaking. With sudden inspiration Jenny thought, am my only master.p She reached for the figure’s shoulder. â€Å"Look out!† Dee shouted. How to cite The Forbidden Game: The Kill Chapter 9, Essay examples

Impact of Study Stress on Students

Question: Discuss about the Impact of Study Stress on Students. Answer: Introduction Study stress has a great impact on the health of the students. Students may suffer from the various health issues such as eyestrain, headache, back pain, anxiety, depression, tiredness and memory impairment. Literature Review Some of the literature states that the study pressure that create various health issues can be reduced by the stress management. Stress management has a strong relation with the nursing. Creswell et al., (2014) mentioned that the stress level of one should be managed mainly the chronic stress to improve the everyday life. In case of students, it is necessary to maintain the stress as they have opt do extra curriculum activity as well as study (Carlson et al., 2014). Stress refers to the important negative consequence to avoid the health issues. On the other hand, Smith (2014) suggested that the students can take break during the study and should not sit for long time for study purpose. This can affect negatively on the student. In case of study, concentration plays important role. Hence, the student needs relaxation. The students can listen music or go for a walk that will refresh their minds. The student can get fresh air by the walk on open road or field. On the other hand, Smith ( 2014) opined that the students can take a shower or can read some amusing books to light the mood. Sitting for several hours for study purpose can create various health issues such as tiredness, stress, neck pain, back pain, memory impairment, headache and lack of concentration, sadness and anxiety (Carlson et al., 2014). In these consequence, the parents need to be careful as well as the students. The students need to be careful about their health. Goyal et al., (2014) mentioned that with the ill health no0one can concentrate on study. Methodology and Data Collection For the research, quantitative research methodology will be chosen. This method will help to emphasize the objectives and analyze the data collection via survey and surveys. The researcher will choose the survey method for collecting the data. The subjects of the research are the students of nursing who have the load of study pressure. Ethical Approval The research study will follow the ethical issues. At the time of research methodology, the researcher will follow the code of conduct. This will help to identify the right and wrong set of behaviors. The researcher needs to analyze the role of study on health of students by maintaining the ethical issues. Research Schedule The research may take 7- 10 weeks to complete the research as the research has several steps to follow. However, Boss, Bryant and Mancini (2016) mentioned that any research topic may be either cross sectional or longitudinal in nature. This depends on the time allotment for the particular topic. Validation, Reliability The validity of the collected data depends on the data collection method. Therefore, the researcher needs to careful during choosing the data collection method. The participants, who are involved in the data collection method, were not forced or influenced. Therefore, there are no issues regarding the reliability in the study. Data Analysis Figure 1: what do you think is causing stress during your studies? Figure 2: what are the effects that you feel from stress? Figure 3: what do you do to relieve your stress? Figure 4: were these helpful to get rid of the stress? Figure 5: do you think stress management should be added as a subject to your nursing program? Barriers to Research The barriers that can affect the research are the time, ethical issues and budget. Due to the cross sectional nature of study, researcher will get limited time to study the work in short time. With the limited budget the researcher will face various limitations in study of research topic. Sharing of Research Findings The research findings have implications in the nursing practice. Entire study will focus on the research topic. The students face problems due to study pressure that needs to be reduced. The study will find the relation in between study stress and implication for nursing practice. References Boss, P., Bryant, C. M., Mancini, J. A. (2016).Family stress management: A contextual approach. Sage Publications. Carlson, D. J., Dieberg, G., Hess, N. C., Millar, P. J., Smart, N. A. (2014, March). Isometric exercise training for blood pressure management: a systematic review and meta-analysis. InMayo Clinic Proceedings(Vol. 89, No. 3, pp. 327-334). Elsevier. Creswell, J. D., Pacilio, L. E., Lindsay, E. K., Brown, K. W. (2014). Brief mindfulness meditation training alters psychological and neuroendocrine responses to social evaluative stress.Psychoneuroendocrinology,44, 1-12. Goyal, M., Singh, S., Sibinga, E. M., Gould, N. F., Rowland-Seymour, A., Sharma, R., ... Ranasinghe, P. D. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis.JAMA internal medicine,174(3), 357-368. Smith, L. G. (2014).Impact assessment and sustainable resource management. Routledge.

Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele free essay sample

The new Ghostface Killah album,Supreme Clientele is one of the better albums to come fromthe Wu-Tang Clan since the release of Bobby Digital by theRZA in 1998. Ghostface is a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, who are knownfor extensive rhyming and different beats they putdown. Ghostface lives up to his fellow clan members and more byusing new beats put together by the RZA. Ghostface also does a good jobmixing the slower, more meaningful rhymes and the fast-paced ones thatpull you in. Some of the tracks off the album that do a good job areGhost Deni, Apollo Kids, The Grain,Buck 50, Childs Play and Wu Banga101. Ghostface also uses a lot of cameos. Method Man spitshis rhymes on a couple of tracks and the RZA, who should be given creditfor producing the album, also graces us with his presence. GZA, anothermember of the Wu-Tang Clan, gives us some of his smooth lyrics. We will write a custom essay sample on Ghostface Killah Supreme Clientele or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Redman,one of the best rappers in the business who will say anything (no matterwhat) as long as it flows, also contributes. So if you have been dyingto hear something new from the Wu-Tang, go out and get GhostfaceKillahs Supreme Clientele.

Heart of darkness 3

Heart of darkness 3 Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad's novella, Heart of Darkness focusses on a journey of self-discovery and the effects of colonialism and imperialism. The struggle that Marlow and Kurtz experience in coming to terms with their world enables them to learn and discover a lot about themselves and others. Conrad exhibits the potential for a physical and psychological journey up the Congo to induce character discoveries into themselves, the natives, the knitters, the doctor and on each other. Predominately, it is Marlow's discoveries within himself that are evident throughout Conrad's text.The na ¯ve, young Marlow, through his journey to the Inner station learns to discriminate between good and evil. Although Marlow never clearly draws a conclusion about his experience, it is obvious that he grasps reality and experience. He discovers that his experiences are a test of his powers of self-control as he gains a tolerance for others through his deep infatuations with the exploiter in Kurtz.S woosie KurtzIn the mental changes, search for reality and battle with the wilderness Marlow believes that it is a journey to "find yourself in what no other man can know". In his experiences, particularly at the Inner station,"the farthest point" and " culminating point" of his existance, Marlow reaches maturity and returns with a knowledge than is greater than his years. Influencing the remaining years of Marlows life, his search for Kurtz has ended in being presented with a man exposed to his evil ways and an individual that has no chance to rectify his past.Although Kurtz' presence in heart Of Darkness is limited, it is through Marlow, that it is clear that Kurtz makes discoveries about himself through his struggle to survive. The wilderness exposes Kurtz' true self and the title, Heart Of Darkness, indicates the darkness that Kurtz...

How New Materials Lead to New Thinking-Emphasis on Le Corbusier and Essay

How New Materials Lead to New Thinking-Emphasis on Le Corbusier and the Villa Savoye - Essay Example They took up all shapes and forms, before this remarkable idea, buildings were known to be rectangular or evenly in shape. With this idea, buildings took up all shapes, human body shape, pyramid shape and other shapes that are unique and equally amazing. How the relationship between the structure of a building and its enclosure has changed There was the idea of encircling a striking building in a highly elevated hedged concrete wall. This idea was killing the whole purpose of putting up such a magnificent building. With the new idea, such buildings do not necessary need to be enclosed, they can be built in an open piece of land, and one can see such a building on his or her way. In buildings, there are some objects like the ladder that are considered to be indispensable and useful for apartments and story buildings, when one gets to the details of a building such items can add to the adornment of a building. A wooden ladder on a building is just a ladder and serves the functional pur pose, but placing a silver ladder on a building adds to its facet and style. As much as the ladder will be functional, it will be an ornament of beauty to the building. With the use of new materials in building, it is so clear that, buildings are changing. Retrievedfrom:http://www.architecturalreview.com/Pictures/web/b/g/p/Fallet_Sectionpd_380.jpg There is the idea of a curtain wall; this is where instead of putting up so many unnecessary walls glasses are used to separate buildings. These glasses are functional because they enable light to transfer consistently inside a room. When viewing such a building from a distance one cannot help but feel nostalgic, especially if the building has numerous floors. Such a building can be enclosed between plantations, and as one views it, it looks more like a depiction than real. Some buildings are built using precast concrete; this type of concrete is advanced because it does not require painting after the building work is complete. They are a beauty on their own and tend to look outstanding when used on large walls like a school wall. The idea of a rooftop was always perceived to be a protruding head of a building, but this has since changed. Most buildings do not have such roofs they have roofs that act as playing grounds for kids or open space for adults to sit and relax. The roofs of such houses can be built using concrete beams and columns instead of iron sheets and wood. Before these immaculate building ideas, buildings were built to be buildings, but with the evolving ideas, they have become a form of art because they take up any shape (Le, Corbusier, and Corbusier Le 2008). The idea of building car garages also changed, instead of putting up boring concrete buildings on the side of the house to act as a garage, tunnels or the basement can be used. This idea elucidates that, instead of going around the house in order for one to park his or her car, one can go straight ahead under the house and park the car. Such bu ildings can have an entry and an exit, instead of coming around after dropping someone to exit the building, the person driving the car can go straight ahead to the exit. This prevents back tracking and straining on the person driving. When it comes to adding features inside a

Are humans born with a conscience will send assignment sheet for 300 Research Proposal

Are humans born with a conscience will send assignment sheet for 300 level english class - persuave writing - Research Proposal Example What he is saying is that many theologians believe that some people are born with the capacity to be good, and others aren’t. Paul doesn’t agree with this assessment. He believes that we all have the capacity to be good, because God gave it to us. While he also believes that â€Å"one must love to do good and avoid evil,† (120) the fact is that whether we choose the right road has nothing to do with the fact that God’s grace has given us all the possibility to always choose good. Paul added, â€Å"Conscience is not an infallible judge; it can make mistakes† (121). This is obviously true. The Bible teaches us that none are perfect, and that all fall short of God’s glory. Still, Paul maintains that the important thing is to know the difference in what we choose, and what we have the ability to choose. While it is clear to Paul that we have, innately, all we need to make good decisions, we still need to study the Bible, and attend, church as a c ompass to keep us headed in the right direction. In Lois Walker’s â€Å"Religion Gives Meaning to Life,† Walker writes about a similar belief. It is her opinion that who we are is determined at the time of our births. She writes, â€Å"We are not the products of chance† (626). Walker’s essay is in response to an atheist who claims that people only need to practice being responsible to know the right thing to do. According to Walker, the atheist proclaimed, â€Å"We don’t need a big Daddy in the sky. We need to grow up and become our own parents† (624). While we do need to know how to govern ourselves, we do, also, need our Father in heaven. Walker is states that she believes in the theistic philosophy that holds, â€Å"The universe is suffused in goodness and that good will win out over evil† (627). God’s purpose, according to Walker, is to give us a continuous reason to want to behave. If God can give his son

Lift And Drag Coefficients Of Planes Engineering Essay

Lift And Drag Coefficients Of Planes Engineering Essay The term fluid in everyday language typically refers to liquids, but in the realm of physics, fluid describes any gases, liquids or plasmas that conform to the shape of its container. Fluid mechanics is the study of gases and liquids at rest and in motion. It is divided into fluid statics, the study of the behavior of stationary fluids, and fluid dynamics, the study of the behavior of moving, or flowing, fluids. Fluid dynamics is further divided into hydrodynamics, or the study of water flow, and aerodynamics, the study of airflow. Real-life applications of fluid mechanics included a variety of machines, ranging from the water-wheel to the airplane. Many of the applications are according to several principles such as Pascals Principle, Bernoullis Principle, Archimedess Principle and etc. As example, Bernoullis principle, which stated that the greater the velocity of flow in a fluid, the greater the dynamic pressure and the less the static pressure. In other words, slower-moving fluid exerts greater pressure than faster-moving fluid. The discovery of this principle ultimately made possible the development of the airplane. Therefore, among the most famous applications of Bernoullis principle is its use in aerodynamics. In addition, the study of fluids provides an understanding of a number of everyday phenomena, such as why an open window and door together create a draft in a room. Wind Tunnel Suppose one is in a room where the heat is on too high, and there is no way to adjust the thermostat. Outside, however, the air is cold, and thus, by opening a window, one can presumably cool down the room. But if one opens the window without opening the front door of the room, there will only be little temperature change. But if the door is opened, a nice cool breeze will blow through the room. Why? This is because, with the door closed, the room constitutes an area of relatively high pressure compared to the pressure of the air outside the window. Because air is a fluid, it will tend to flow into the room, but once the pressure inside reaches a certain point, it will prevent additional air from entering. The tendency of fluids is to move from high-pressure to low-pressure areas, not the other way around. As soon as the door is opened, the relatively high-pressure air of the room flows into the relatively low-pressure area of the hallway. As a result, the air pressure in the room is reduced, and the air from outside can now enter. Soon a wind will begin to blow through the room. The above scenario of wind flowing through a room describes a rudimentary wind tunnel. A wind tunnel is a chamber built for the purpose of examining the characteristics of airflow in contact with solid objects, such as aircraft and automobiles.   Theory of Operation of a Wind Tunnel Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles (primarily  airplanes) in free flight. The wind tunnel was envisioned as a means of reversing the usual paradigm: instead of the airs standing still and the aircraft moving at speed through it, the same effect would be obtained if the aircraft stood still and the air moved at speed past it. In that way a stationary observer could study the aircraft in action, and could measure the aerodynamic forces being imposed on the aircraft. Later, wind tunnel study came into its own: the effects of wind on manmade structures or objects needed to be studied, when buildings became tall enough to present large surfaces to the wind, and the resulting forces had to be resisted by the buildings internal structure. Still later, wind-tunnel testing was applied to  automobiles, not so much to determine aerodynamic forces per second but more to determine ways to reduce the power required to move the vehicle on roadways at a given speed. In the wind tunnel the air is moving relative to the roadway, while the roadway is stationary relative to the test vehicle. Some automotive-test wind tunnels have incorporated moving belts under the test vehicle in an effort to approximate the actual condition. Its represents a safe and judicious use of the properties of fluid mechanics. Its purpose is to test the interaction of airflow and solids in relative motion: in other words, either the aircraft has to be moving against the airflow, as it does in flight, or the airflow can be moving against a stationary aircraft. The first of these choices, of course, poses a number of dangers; on the other hand, there is little danger in exposing a stationary craft to winds at speeds simulating that of the aircraft in flight. Wind tunnel Wind tunnels are used for the study of aerodynamics (the dynamics of fluids). So there is a wide range of applications and fluid mechanic theory can be applied in the device. airframe flow analysis (aviation, airfoil improvements etc), aircraft engines (jets) performance tests and improvements, car industry: reduction of friction, better air penetration, reduction of losses and fuel consumption (thats why all cars now look the same: the shape is not a question of taste, but the result of laws of physics!) any improvement against and to reduce air friction: i.e. the shape of a speed cycling helmet, the shape of the profiles used on a bike are designed in a wind tunnel. to measure the flow and shape of waves on a surface of water, in response to winds (very large swimming pools!) Entertainment as well, in mounting the tunnel on a vertical axis and blowing from bottom to top. Not to simulate anti-gravity as said above, but to allow safely the experience of free-falling parachutes. The Bernoulli principle is applied to measure experimentally the air speed flowing in the wind tunnel. In this case, the construction of Pitot tube is made to utilize the Bernoulli principle for the task of measuring the air speed in the wind tunnel. Pitot tube is generally an instrument to measure the fluid flow velocity and in this case to measure the speed of air flowing to assist further aerodynamic calculations which require this piece of information and the adjustment of the wind speed to achieve desired value. Schematic of a Pitot tube Bernoullis equation states: Stagnation pressure = static pressure + dynamic pressure This can also be written as, Solving that for velocity we get: Where, V is air velocity; pt is stagnation or total pressure; ps is static pressure; h= fluid height and à Ã‚  is air density To reduce the error produced, the placing of this device is properly aligned with the flow to avoid misalignment. As a wing moves through the air, the wing is inclined to the flight direction at some angle. The angle between the  chord line and the flight direction is called the  angle of attack  and has a large effect on the  lift  generated by a wing. When an airplane takes off, the pilot applies as much  thrust  as possible to make the airplane roll along the runway. But just before lifting off, the pilot  rotates  the aircraft. The nose of the airplane rises,  increasing the angle of attack  and producing the  increased lift  needed for takeoff. The magnitude of the lift  generated  by an object depends on the  shape  of the object and how it moves through the air. For thin  airfoils,  the lift is directly proportional to the angle of attack for small angles (within +/- 10 degrees). For higher angles, however, the dependence is quite complex. As an object moves through the air, air molecules  stick  to the surface. This creates a layer of air near the surface called a  boundary layer  that, in effect, changes the shape of the object. The  flow turning  reacts to the edge of the boundary layer just as it would to the physical surface of the object. To make things more confusing, the boundary layer may lift off or separate from the body and create an effective shape much different from the physical shape. The separation of the boundary layer explains why aircraft wings will abruptly lose lift at high angles to the flow. This condition is called a  wing stall. On the slide shown above, the flow conditions for two airfoils are shown on the left. The shape of the two foils is the same. The lower foil is inclined at ten degrees to the incoming flow, while the upper foil is inclined at twenty degrees. On the upper foil, the boundary layer has separated and the wing is stalled. Predicting the  stall point  (the angle at which the wing stalls) is very difficult mathematically. Engineers usually rely on  wind tunnel  tests to determine the stall point. But the test must be done very carefully, matching all the important  similarity parameters  of the actual flight hardware. The plot at the right of the figure shows how the lift varies with angle of attack for a typical thin airfoil. At low angles, the lift is nearly linear. Notice on this plot that at zero angle a small amount of lift is generated because of the airfoil shape. If the airfoil had been symmetric, the lift would be zero at zero angle of attack. At the right of the curve, the lift changes rather abruptly and the curve stops. In reality, you can set the airfoil at any angle you want. However, once the wing stalls, the flow becomes highly unsteady, and the value of the lift can change rapidly with time. Because it is so hard to measure such flow conditions, engineers usually leave the plot blank beyond wing stall. Since the amount of lift generated at zero angle and the location of the stall point must usually be determined experimentally, aerodynamicists include the effects of inclination in the  lift coefficient.  For some simple examples, the lift coefficient can be determined mathematically. For thin airfoils at subsonic speed, and small angle of attack, the lift coefficient  Cl  is given by: Cl = 2 where  Ã‚  is 3.1415, and  a  is the angle of attack expressed in radians: radians = 180 degrees Aerodynamicists rely on wind tunnel testing and very sophisticated computer analysis to determine the lift coefficient. Lift coefficient The  lift coefficient  (  Ã‚  or  ) is a  dimensionless  coefficient that relates the  lift  generated by an aerodynamic body such as a  wing  or complete  aircraft, the  dynamic pressure  of the fluid flow around the body, and a reference area associated with the body. It is also used to refer to the aerodynamic lift characteristics of a  2D  airfoil  section, whereby the reference area is taken as the airfoil  chord.  It may also be described as the ratio of lift pressure to  dynamic pressure. Aircraft Lift Coefficient Lift coefficient may be used to relate the total  lift  generated by an aircraft to the total area of the wing of the aircraft. In this application it is called the  aircraft  or  planform lift coefficient   The lift coefficient  Ã‚  is equal to: where   is the  lift force,   is fluid  density,   is  true airspeed,   is  dynamic pressure, and   is  planform  area. The lift coefficient is a  dimensionless number. The aircraft lift coefficient can be approximated using, for example, the  Lifting-line theory  or measured in a  wind tunnel  test of a complete aircraft configuration. Section Lift Coefficient Lift coefficient may also be used as a characteristic of a particular shape (or cross-section) of an  airfoil. In this application it is called the  section lift coefficient  Ã‚  It is common to show, for a particular airfoil section, the relationship between section lift coefficient and  angle of attack.  It is also useful to show the relationship between section lift coefficients and  drag coefficient. The section lift coefficient is based on the concept of an infinite wing of non-varying cross-section, the lift of which is bereft of any three-dimensional effects in other words the lift on a 2D section. It is not relevant to define the section lift coefficient in terms of total lift and total area because they are infinitely large. Rather, the lift is defined per unit span of the wing  Ã‚  In such a situation, the above formula becomes: where  Ã‚  is the  chord  length of the airfoil. The section lift coefficient for a given angle of attack can be approximated using, for example, the  Thin Airfoil Theory,  or determined from wind tunnel tests on a finite-length test piece, with endplates designed to ameliorate the 3D effects associated with the  trailing vortex  wake structure. Note that the lift equation does not include terms for  angle of attack   that is because the mathematical relationship between  lift and  angle of attack  varies greatly between airfoils and is, therefore, not constant. (In contrast, there is a straight-line relationship between lift and dynamic pressure; and between lift and area.) The relationship between the lift coefficient and angle of attack is complex and can only be determined by experimentation or complex analysis. See the accompanying graph. The graph for section lift coefficient vs. angle of attack follows the same general shape for all  airfoils, but the particular numbers will vary. The graph shows an almost linear increase in lift coefficient with increasing  angle of attack, up to a maximum point, after which the lift coefficient reduces. The angle at which maximum lift coefficient occurs is the  stall  angle of the airfoil. The lift coefficient is a  dimensionless number. Note that in the graph here, there is still a small but positive lift coefficient with angles of attack less than zero. This is true of any airfoil with  camber  (asymmetrical airfoils). On a cambered airfoil at zero angle of attack the pressures on the upper surface are lower than on the lower surface. A typical curve showing section lift coefficient versus angle of attack for a cambered airfoil Drag Coefficient In  fluid dynamics, the  drag coefficient  (commonly denoted as:  Ã‚  Ã‚  or  ) is a  dimensionless quantity  that is used to quantify the  drag  or resistance of an object in a fluid environment such as air or water. It is used in the  drag equation, where a lower drag coefficient indicates the object will have less  aerodynamic  or  hydrodynamic  drag. The drag coefficient is always associated with a particular surface area. The drag coefficient of any object comprises the effects of the two basic contributors to  fluid dynamic  drag:  skin friction  and  form drag. The drag coefficient of lifting  airfoil  or  hydrofoil  also includes the effects of lift  induced drag.  The drag coefficient of a complete structure such as an aircraft also includes the effects of  interference drag. Definition The drag coefficient  Ã‚  is defined as: where:   is the  drag force, which is by definition the force component in the direction of the flow velocity,   is the  mass density  of the fluid,   is the  speed  of the object relative to the fluid, and is the reference  area. The reference area depends on what type of drag coefficient is being measured. For automobiles and many other objects, the reference area is the frontal area of the vehicle (i.e., the cross-sectional area when viewed from ahead). For example, for a sphere  Ã‚  (note this is not the surface area =  ). For  airfoils, the reference area is the  planform  area. Since this tends to be a rather large area compared to the projected frontal area, the resulting drag coefficients tend to be low: much lower than for a car with the same drag, frontal area and at the same speed. Airships  and some  bodies of revolution  use the volumetric drag coefficient, in which the reference area is the  square  of the  cube root  of the airship volume. Submerged streamlined bodies use the wetted surface area. Two objects having the same reference area moving at the same speed through a fluid will experience a drag force proportional to their respective drag coefficients. Coefficients for unstreamlined objects can be 1 or more, for streamlined objects much less.

Curriculum Access for Students with Low-Incidence Disabilities

NCAC Curriculum Access for Students with Low-Incidence Disabilities: The Promise of Universal Design for Learning This report was written with support from the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum (NCAC), a cooperative agreement between CAST and the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Cooperative Agreement No. H324H990004. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, and no official endorsement by the Department should be inferred. ———————————————— Curriculum Access for Students with Low-Incidence Disabilities: The Promise of Universal Design for Learning Written by Richard M. Jackson, Director of Practice and CAST’s Liaison to Boston College for the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum â €”———————————————- Edited by Valerie Hendricks ————————————————- This report addresses the following questions: * What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)? * What are low-incidence disabilities? Why are schools and communities particularly challenged in serving students with low-incidence disabilities? * What are the needs of students with low-incidence disabilities? * What curricula and instructional practices are currently used with students with low-incidence disabilities? * What planning models are in use for students with low-incidence disabilities? * How can IEPs ensure greater access to the general curriculum for students with low-incidence disabilities? * What approaches exist for enabling students with low-incidence disabilities to participate in state- and district-level assessment systems? How can the UDL framework increase access to the general curriculum for students with low-incidence disabilities? Acknowledgements When one completes a writing project of this size and effort, there are many to recognize and thank. Foremost is CAST’s Valerie Hendricks, whose editing skills remain unparalleled. Valerie’s critical review, suggested reorganizations, and detailed edits in the final stages of the writing proved enormously helpful, contributing greatly to the overall quality of the work.I am also indebted to Kelly Harper and Lisa White, OSEP-supported research assistants based at Boston College, for their careful and extensive library research and literature summaries. Additionally, I want to recognize and thank other Boston College research assistants who helped with earlier editing and reference checking. They include Xiaoxia Chen, Jennifer Hawthorne and Randall Lahann. Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Chuck Hitchcock, NCAC’s project director at CAST, and David Rose, NCAC’s principal investigator at CAST, for their patience, encouragement, and commitment in seeing this project through to completion.Table of Contents Introductionvi Overviewviii I. What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)? 1 Origins of Universal Design1 Universal Design in Architecture2 Universal Design in Education4 Universal Design for Learning (UDL)5 II. What are low-incidence disabilities? 9 Alternative Systems for Classification9 A Focus on Incidence9 III. Why are schools and communities particularly challenged in serving students with low-incidence disabilities?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 12Insufficient Numbers12 Finding the Le ast Restrictive Environment13 IV. What are the needs of students with low-incidence disabilities? 15 Special Education is Not a Place15 Categories and Characteristics15 Addressing Intense and Complex Needs16 Clusters of Low-Incidence Disabilities17 Blind/Low Vision18 Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing19 Deaf-Blind22 Significant Developmental Delay23 Significant Physical and Multiple Disabilities25 Autistic Spectrum28 Considering Generic Needs29 V. What curricula and instructional practices are currently use with students with low- incidence disabilities?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Curriculum and Instructional Practices31 Toward a Definition of Curriculum33 Facing the Challenge of Curriculum Access35 Blending General and Specialized Curriculum37 Blind/Low Vision38 Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing42 Teaching Approaches43 Inclusion of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students45 Deaf-Blind49 Communication50 Orientation and Mobility50 Individualized Education51 Transition51 Inclusion in Family51 Teaching Strategies and Content Mod ifications51 Significant Developmental Delay52 Curriculum54 Instructional Adaptations56 Significant Physical and Multiple Disabilities60Autistic Spectrum61 Sensory-Motor Therapy63 Communication Therapy64 Social Skills Training64 Applied Behavior Analysis65 Multi-Treatment Programs65 VI. What planning models are in use for students with low-incidence disabilities? 67 The Evolution of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP)67 Person-Centered Planning69 Group Action Planning (GAP)69 Making Action Plans (MAPs)70 Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (PATH)71 Circle of Friends73 Collaborative Planning and the General Curriculum74 Planning in the Context of the General Curriculum76 VII.How can IEPs ensure greater access to the general curriculum for students with low-incidence disabilities?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 78 Expanding Roles and Functions of IEP Team Members78 Origins of the IEP79 Purpose of the IEP80 Limitations of the IEP82 IDEA ’97 Challenges for the IEP82 Addre ssing the General Curriculum with the IEP85 VIII. What approaches exist for enabling students with low-incidence disabilities to participate state- and district-level assessment systems? 91 The Role of Assessment in Standards-Based Reform91 Broad-Scale Assessment Systems92Standards-Based Assessment and Students with Disabilities93 Participation of Students with Disabilities in Assessment and Accountability Systems94 Changes in Assessment Systems for Students with Disabilities96 Accommodations98 Modifications99 Alternate Assessment Systems99 Massachusetts Alternate Assessment102 Issues Remaining with Alternate Assessment108 IX. How can the UDL framework increase access to the general curriculum for students with low-incidence disabilities†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 113 Universal Design Revisited114 UDL and the Curriculum116 UDL Components117 Goals119 Methods120 Materials121The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)123 Assessment124 Curriculum Flexibility for Students wit h Low-Incidence Disabilities125 References129 Appendices145 Appendix A: Tips for Universally Designed Teaching145 Appendix B: Principles of Universal Design for Instruction (UDI)147 Appendix C: Design Principles for Lesson Adaptations148 Appendix D: Expanded Core Curriculum for Blind/Low Vision Students149 Appendix E: Six Core Principles153 Appendix F: Alaska’s State Recommendations154 Appendix G: Six Guidelines for Inclusive Programs155 Appendix H: Alternate Assessment Approaches157Appendix I: Five Best-Practice Steps for States158 Introduction Twenty years ago, the publication of A Nation At Risk instigated two decades of educational reform in the United States. Yet improving our educational system remains a national priority. Today, various school reform efforts brought about by enabling legislation and funding streams are converging on the goal of providing a single high-quality education for all of America’s students. Expectations of excellence and equal access, a s well as a focus on outcomes, are driving the effort to â€Å"leave no child behind. The goal of much of this reform work is to ensure that children of color, children living in poverty, children learning English as a second language, and children with disabilities encounter no barriers as they receive the best education possible in order to become independent, productive, and participating members of the communities in which they will live as adults. Once, the â€Å"factory† model of schooling in America viewed all children as mere â€Å"raw material† to be measured and then either mainstreamed or side-tracked, with children disadvantaged by color, poverty, language, or disability automatically winding up outside the mainstream.This system of sorting and then tracking children institutionalized inequality and denial of opportunity. Reform efforts of today are directed toward eliminating this ad hoc marginalization of groups of children, such as those listed above, w ho are viewed as â€Å"at risk† in America’s schools. Reforming education, improving schools, and raising student achievement are noble and socially just pursuits, but by what means are these lofty goals to be accomplished?Many of the diagnostic and prescriptive approaches of the past have resulted in practices where presumably the least capable receive significantly less curricula. An alternative approach to understanding student learning difficulties becomes available when assessments are applied to a school itself, or, more particularly, to a school’s curriculum, instead of to students. Measurement can then proceed with the following questions: How accessible and user-friendly is the curriculum? To what extent does the curriculum permit multiple entry and exit points?To what degree does the curriculum allow for wide participation? How accurately and fairly does the curriculum assess student progress? In order to make a single high-quality public school educat ion available to all, the curriculum itself must be examined. The typical lecture-and-textbook curriculum, made accessible only to those who could demonstrably benefit from it, implies that any failure to grasp the material calls for the student him- or herself to be examined for flaws, as has traditionally been the case.Failure to examine the curriculum and to consider modifications to it presents a crucial question: are the problems confronting public schools today rooted in the students or in the curriculum? In the following pages, we take the position that the challenge of educating students with disabilities or students who are not achieving rests with the curriculum, not with the student. In particular, we posit that the problem resides within the static presentation of typical curriculum, which is unresponsive to the many and varied ways in which individual learners differ.In order to begin addressing not the deficits of students but rather the barriers erected for them by tr aditional curriculum, a framework is required for examining the curriculum as it is and for suggesting ways in which it may be made most accessible to all students. One such framework is Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (Rose & Meyer, 2002). UDL takes a trifold approach to assessing curriculum as it examines, first, the ways in which content can be represented; second, the means by which students can respond; and third, the conditions under which students can engage in the learning process.UDL anticipates an increasingly digitized information source for curriculum, which allows a UDL framework to guide the development of future digital media, delivery mechanisms, and technology tools for use in education. Today, an object as static as a textbook can be transformed in seemingly limitless ways when presented digitally (such as audio, CD-ROM, HTML). As schools become more inclusive and democratic institutions, and as technology develops exponentially, unprecedented opportunities lie ahead for all students to reach high standards in their learning and to experience a high quality of life in adulthood.In the discussion that follows, we present practices that hold promise for increasing access to the general education curriculum for our nation’s most vulnerable populations of students with disabilities. It is the general curriculum that prepares children to take on independent, responsible, and productive roles as adults. The general curriculum—delivered through publicly-funded schools (and therefore by or through democratic institutions)—affords a central opportunity for all to pursue the American dream.For students who are blind, deaf, multiply disabled, or significantly developmentally delayed, equal opportunity to pursue that dream is out of reach without advances in how we prepare and employ our teaching force, how we set policy that raises standards and expectations without discrimination, and, above all, how we deliver a curriculum tha t is flexible and widely accessible for all learners. Equal access to the general curriculum implies that all students have the right to strive for the same educational goals.Equal opportunity implies that accommodations are in place to remove or minimize the impact of disability on authentic performance, thus leveling the playing field. Equal opportunity also implies that modifications to entry points to and benchmarks of the curriculum can be made so that students with disabilities are enabled to make progress to the maximum possible extent. The central question at hand is how communities and state and local education authorities organize to provide the best education possible for students with low-incidence disabilities.One answer is that public education, equally afforded to all, can be accomplished through collaboration among stakeholders, including families, educators (both special and general), administrators, and policy-makers. We will demonstrate how adherence to a UDL fram ework for curriculum reform can yield a flexible and accessible curriculum for all students, including those with disabilities. Overview When Congress reauthorized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1997 (IDEA ’97), conditions were set for profound change in the ways disability is viewed in the broader context of schools and society.Originally, in the mid-1970s, Congress acted to ensure that no child, regardless of extent of disability, could be denied a free, appropriate, and public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment. At that time, an â€Å"appropriate† education meant a special education—one that would be individually designed to address the needs that result from disability. Now, more than thirty years later, the law states that no child may be denied access to the general education curriculum—specifically, that curriculum which schools and school districts make available to all non-disabled students (IDEA ’04) .Currently, the general curriculum consists of core subject areas plus varying elective subject options. Broad frameworks for core content areas are more or less determined by individual states, which also set requisite standards for grade advancement and graduation. In the larger, national effort to reform education in general, students with disabilities are not to be denied access to the same opportunities afforded their non-disabled schoolmates.In this way, Congress seeks to align opportunities for students with disabilities with those available to the non-disabled student population. Using broad-scale assessment systems, states now measure the extent to which all students, and the schools they attend, achieve intended outcomes. There is less emphasis on analyzing the discrepancy between what schools actually provide and what they intend to provide (inputs) in favor of greater focus on results as measured by standards attainment (outputs). Better results for schools presumably le ad to better adult outcomes for students.Just as schools are held accountable for student learning through standards testing, so too will schools be held accountable for supports and services they provide for students with disabilities in order to allow them to access the general curriculum. Accordingly, students with disabilities are now compelled by IDEA ‘97 and subsequent amendments to participate in all state- and district-level assessment systems. Today, the touchstone of special education law remains the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), which is a document detailing the range and intensity of services and supports intended for each eligible student with a disability.Unlike in the past, however, the IEP now formalizes the collaborative relationship between general and special education and also aligns the general curriculum with specially-designed instruction and other support structures necessary for enabling access to the curriculum. Some support structures relate to how instruction accommodates a student’s disability without altering standards (e. g. , extra time allotted for task completion, Braille in place of print).Other supports may involve curriculum modifications that adjust performance levels or entry points but continue to address standards’ content domain or framework. Accommodations or modifications stipulated in an IEP to adjust instruction or adapt curriculum for a student also apply to the administration of state- and district-level assessments. For students with significant developmental delays, accommodations alone may be neither sufficient nor appropriate. Alternatively, states and districts may employ alternate assessments to ascertain the extent to which students meet goals delineated on their IEPs.Alternate assessments in these cases are modifications of state standards, but they nonetheless follow the broad frameworks identified for each state’s core knowledge areas. Alternate assessment procedures can be authentic and performance-based. In frequent use are portfolios, evaluated according to rubrics that reveal the depth to which students meet standards. Alternate assessment procedures are labor intensive both to design and to carry out. Scoring by state authorities is also laborious and time-consuming.Presumably, however, the use of alternate assessments is limited to 1–3% of school-aged children, thus minimizing the extent of onerous time and effort. Moreover, time spent by teachers in initially documenting alternate assessments is well invested, as procedures become more routine over time with an IEP’s implementation. To many, this adherence to states’ curriculum standards for students with significant developmental delays appears unrealistic, but, clearly, Congress’ intent in IDEA ’97 and IDEA ’04 is to remove barriers that historically limit access to the same curriculum taught to non-disabled students.This amounts to a zero-rejec t from the general curriculum so that all students must participate in and make progress within the general curriculum to the maximum extent feasible. If one conceives of the general curriculum as the vehicle through which all students can achieve adult outcomes—outcomes understood in a broad sense as independence, participation, and productivity—then, in a just and democratic society, opportunity cannot be denied for students with disabilities.In the discussion that follows, we examine practices intended to improve access to the general curriculum for students with low-incidence disabilities. For many reasons, this population presents unique and daunting challenges for all committed to meeting IDEA ’97’s mandates. We follow a question-and-answer format in order to address key issues and to arrive at basic understandings concerning students with low-incidence disabilities. Since much of this report refers to a UDL framework, UDL will be defined.Low-incide nce disabilities are then contrasted with high-incidence disabilities to uncover some distinguishing characteristics of this population. Next, particular challenges confronting schools and communities that endeavor to serve these students and their families are examined. We then concentrate on identifying the needs of students with low-incidence disabilities. We also present disability-related needs that are unique to a particular category of specific disability and other, more generic needs that cut across categories.The reason for this is the fact that IDEA retains the use of specific disability categories for eligibility determination and classification. Over the past few decades, however, both professional literature and actual practice have supported alternative approaches for defining and classifying students with low-incidence disabilities. Thus, in order to provide students with low-incidence disabilities with appropriate and effective services, supports, and ancillary aids, it is necessary to examine alternative frameworks, differing from those traditionally in place, for understanding needs.Specialized curricula and instructional practices that hold particular promise for students with low-incidence disabilities are presented. Just as it is important to understand need from multiple perspectives, so too must curriculum and instructional practices be understood as meeting both unique as well as shared needs among students with low-incidence disabilities. We focus on curricula and practices that are highly specialized as well as those that address more typically shared needs.Because IDEA requires access to the general education curriculum for all students, it is necessary to examine ways in which specialized curricula and instructional practices can support or otherwise connect with broader approaches for improved access, participation, and progress for students with disabilities. Curriculum is highly complex. Historically, it has been examined through many different lenses. The complicated nature of curriculum theory and practice makes it difficult to envision innovative ways of making it accessible for students with disabilities.Thus, we will also examine and attempt to demystify some of that complexity. Instructional practices presented in the context of our discussion are intended to bring an effective focus to eliminating or reducing curriculum needs associated with low-incidence disabilities. As with the consideration of need, curricular options and instructional practices can also be both highly specialized to a specific disability and highly generic across disabilities. For example, approaches for engaging students who are blind or deaf can be quite unique to those disabilities, given the varieties of existing communication modes.Other approaches can be quite generic, involving, for example, applied behavior analysis or systematic instruction. After grounding in student need, curriculum, and instructional techniques, we e xamine models for collaborative planning. Students with low-incidence disabilities require services and supports beyond the classroom. These may intensify at various transition points throughout a life span and broaden out to include an array of community agencies. We examine the IEP in turn as a tool for pulling services together in support of access to the general curriculum.We then focus on approaches for enabling students with low-incidence disabilities to participate in state- and district-level assessment systems. Finally, we conclude with a consideration of how access to the general curriculum can be improved for students with low-incidence disabilities through the application of principles of universal design. I. What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)? A major premise of this report is that access to the curriculum for students with low-incidence disabilities is greatly enhanced by universal design.Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a particular framework that appli es to education. More specifically, UDL is an approach that can guide curriculum reform. A universally-designed curriculum includes multiple means of representation (to allow various ways of acquiring information and knowledge), multiple means of expression (to allow alternatives for demonstrating knowledge), and multiple means of engagement (to challenge appropriately, to motivate, and to allow learners to express and participate in their interests). A number of current contrasting approaches to universal design will be described.We conclude with an explanation of UDL. This will allow the reader to keep UDL in mind while progressing through subsequent sections until UDL solutions for curriculum access are more closely examined in our conclusion. Origins of Universal Design Architecture reveals the extent to which humankind can establish dominion over the natural environment by harnessing resources that it has to offer. Architectural design can be subjected to all manner of criteria , including beauty, convenience, utility, durability, safety, and even exclusivity.Only in recent times has the criterion of exclusivity been successfully challenged. As populations grew, built environments afforded travel and facilitated commerce. The need for standards in architectural design became apparent as built environments became interconnected. Architects needed to consider the preferences and capabilities of those who would access built environments. In more recent times, users of built environments were living longer and, therefore, functioning with less mobility and stamina. Notions of democracy and community were transforming views of belonging and participation.During the 1960s, social movements that began in Europe around such concepts as normalization, deinstitutionalization, and communitization were beginning to have a profound impact upon those who would advocate for the disabled in the United States. Thus, the needs of people who would potentially access the buil t environment were beginning to be understood as complex and diverse. Universal Design in Architecture The passage of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 essentially outlawed discrimination on the basis of disability.So far-reaching was this piece of federal legislation that it took nearly three years for a beleaguered Congress to write the regulations that would ostensibly remove architectural barriers from all publicly supported buildings and properties. During this era, universal design in architecture was born. Like the dream of building inclusive communities for all to enjoy equally, universal design is an ideal with a process to ensure maximum participation for all. The challenge of removing physical barriers and retrofitting solutions to barriers proved to be a costly and cumbersome process, often yielding unsatisfactory results.Universal design sought to embed solutions into features at the design level—features that would benefit all, not merely accommodate the few. Curb cuts intended for wheelchair users, for example, were also found to be helpful for users of baby strollers, shopping carts, skateboardes, among others. In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) extended the prohibition against discrimination on the basis of disability to the private sector, requiring all entities doing business with the public to make every reasonable accommodation in providing access.Accessibility standards, while necessary for guidance and compliance monitoring, can appear onerous or threatening in light of the fact that they are government regulations, particularly when coupled with the public’s misperceptions regarding disability. Universal design, as envisioned by Ron Mace and his colleagues at North Carolina State University’s Center for Universal Design, was intended to promote the design of products and environments that would appeal to all. North Carolina State’s Principles of Universal Design are listed below in bri ef form (without associated guidelines). PRINCIPLE ONE: Equitable Use The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities. PRINCIPLE TWO: Flexibility in Use The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities. PRINCIPLE THREE: Simple and Intuitive Use Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level. PRINCIPLE FOUR: Perceptible Information The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user’s sensory abilities.PRINCIPLE FIVE: Tolerance for Error The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions. PRINCIPLE SIX: Low Physical Effort The design can be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue. PRINCIPLE SEVEN: Size and Space for Approach and Use Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use, regardless of user’s body size, posture, or mobility. † Principles of Universal Design, version 2. 0 (Center for Universal Design, North Carolina, 1997).Application of these principles has established a framework for developing design standards in architecture, as well as for creating consumer products, that permit the greatest degree of access and usability for the widest possible range of individuals. Today, millions of Americans with disabilities enjoy access to buildings, restaurants, movie theatres, sporting events, transit properties, walkways, commercial vehicles, and bank teller machines—to name only a few venues that were once inaccessible to them.Wheelchair users, once limited to home instruction or restricted to special school buildings, now attend their neighborhood schools alongside their non-disabled agemates. However, although physical access to classrooms and other education facilities is an important first step toward educational equity for the disabled, it is not sufficient to ensure that all students with disabilities have equal access to the general curriculum or enjoy comparable opportunity to derive benefit from what school curriculum has to offer.Additional changes in the classroom environment and in the curriculum itself are also required in order for full equity to be achieved. Universal Design in Education Universal design in architecture recognized the importance of building environments that were more in line with the needs of an aging population and the requirements of those persons with disabilities who were being welcomed into the general community during the 1970s.In the 1980s, attention was brought to bear on the rapidly increasing diversity of America’s students through the publication of A Nation At Risk, a report presented to the U. S. Department of Education by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. According to this report, our nation’s schools—particularly in urban centers—appeared ill-equipped to prepare a diverse population to compete successfully in an increasingly global economy. The findings of the Commission spurred a wave of reform initiatives ith enabling legislation aimed at raising standards and outcomes for our nation’s most under-served students. More recent federal legislation, such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1997; 2004), seeks to build one education for all students, improve teacher quality, align curriculum with standards, measure outcomes at multiple points, and hold schools accountable for student performance.For no child to be excluded from—or left behind by—the general curriculum, the curriculum itself must be examined and re-designed from a fresh perspective, much in the same way that buildings, environments, and products were critically examined by the original advocates of universal design in architecture resulting in im portant and lasting changes in building standards. Colleagues at the University of Connecticut’s National Center on Postsecondary Education and Disabilities have developed a set of principles building upon and extending the principles originated at North Carolina State’s Center for Universal Design.Note that their educational design principles are essentially the same as those outlined by North Carolina State for architectural and product design (with the addition of principles 8 and 9—community of learners; instructional climate). Their new principles address more educational constructivist perspectives regarding communities of learners and a climate of high expectations and social interaction. Together, these principles set a framework for what Scott, McGuire, and Shaw (2001) call Universal Design for Instruction (UDI).Application of these principles allows postsecondary institutions in particular to dramatically widen the accessibility of course offerings by designing accommodations into course structures rather than retrofitting a series of educational work-arounds to try and meet the specialized needs of individual students after course materials have been prepared. UDI principles are listed and defined in Appendix B. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Calls for critically examining curriculum from a universal design perspective have come from many quarters (King-Sears, 2001; Hitchcock, 2001;Nolet & McLaughlin, 2000; Pugach & Warger, 2001; Rose & Meyer, 2002; Turnbull, et al. , 2002; Wehmeyer, et al. , 2002). The principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as put forth by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST, Inc. ) were first presented in an Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Topical Brief (Orkwis & McLane, 1998). Currently, typically taught curriculum in schools is a â€Å"one-size-fits-all† curriculum, best exemplified by the ubiquitous textbook.It generally lacks flexibility in how it presents inf ormation to students, how it permits students to respond, and how it engages students in the learning process. In order for typical textbooks and other curriculum materials to become accessible to many disabled students, they must undergo numerous time-consuming transformations and interpretations, to the extent that the student’s participation in classroom activities is often fragmented or delayed.Several projects supporting universal design and access approaches to the general curriculum were reviewed in Research Connections (Danielson, 1999), a bi-annual review of OSEP-sponsored research on topics in special education. Prominently featured were projects underway at CAST to create a universally designed early literacy curriculum (Scholastic’s WiggleWorks) and a universally designed document processor (CAST’s eReader).Also featured in the review was a framework advanced by the University of Oregon’s National Center for Improving the Tools of Education (N CITE) for designing the ‘architecture’ of effective instructional practices (Kameenui & Simmons, 1999). (Their design principles for lesson adaptations are available as Appendix C. ) CAST’s work is important because it demonstrates how flexible and malleable curriculum can be with the use of digital media and digital technology tools following a UDL framework.The NCITE’s work on the architecture of instruction is important because it draws upon the current knowledge base regarding effective instructional practices and illustrates how instruction can be tailored to learners depending on the degree of explicitness required. Over the years, many proposals have emerged to counter the old factory model approach to mass education begun in the 19th century with graded education.Approaches to individualized, personalized, or otherwise differentiated instruction have made enormous contributions to thinking about teaching and learning processes. What might distingui sh UDL from other efforts to improve instruction in general—or other perspectives on universal design in particular—is that UDL establishes a framework for curricular reform in education (Rose & Meyer, 2002) yet also recognizes the need to maintain a balance between curriculum and instructional practice (Hitchcock, 2001).Moreover, a UDL framework provides a perspective for collaborative teams of special and general education personnel to provide access to the general curriculum while addressing disability-specific needs in multi-level or inclusive classroom situations (Jackson & Harper, 2002). While UDL anticipates the coming digital curriculum with its inherent potential for flexibility and built-in options, it is not wholly reliant upon technology. UDL can ensure accessibility with new media and technology tools, but it depends upon the application of evidenced-based teaching practices to yield desired results (Hitchcock, 2002).To achieve these results, a UDL framewo rk relies upon three guiding principles—multiple means of representation, multiple means of expression, and multiple means of engagement—for the development of flexible teaching approaches and curriculum resources. These principles emanate from analyzation of available research on the brain and new conceptualizations of how neuroscience informs our appreciation of learning and knowing (Rose & Meyer, 2000).Areas in the brain that contribute to learning can be grouped roughly into three interconnected networks, each with a fundamental role in learning: (a) â€Å"recognition† networks, specialized to receive and analyze information (the â€Å"what† of learning); (b) â€Å"strategic† networks, specialized to plan and execute actions (the â€Å"how† of learning); and (c) â€Å"affective† networks, specialized to evaluate and set priorities (the â€Å"why† of learning) (Rose & Meyer, 2002).New insights into neurological systems worki ng within these three regions of the brain connected with learning has led to the formulation of the three guiding principles of UDL: 1. To support diverse recognition networks, provide multiple, flexible methods of presentation. For example, when introducing students to a new concept or unit, a teacher may provide multiple structures to present that information, such as a lecture, a digitized text, an activity-based exploration, a demonstration. 2. To support diverse strategic networks, provide multiple, flexible methods of expression and apprenticeship.For example, when a teacher requests student responses to demonstrate understanding and knowledge, he or she could provide a range of tools that allow students to respond in various formats, such as in writing, orally, with a slide show, with a video, with a drawing. 3. To support diverse affective networks, provide multiple, flexible options for engagement. Allow students to select an area of interest within a topic or concept to r esearch or study. For example, allow students to select one of the natural resources in a geographic area under study to research rather than assigning resources (Rose & Meyer, 2002).UDL also establishes a framework for providing access to, participation in, and progress within the general curriculum as first mandated by IDEA ’97. Hitchcock, Meyer, Rose, and Jackson (2002) have defined four main components of the general curriculum: 1. goals and milestones for instruction (often in the form of a scope and sequence), 2. media and materials to be used by students, 3. specific instructional methods (often described in a teacher’s edition), and means of assessment to measure student progress.Each component can be transformed for accessibility and participation by all students by adherence to the principles of UDL. UDL offers new ways to think about teaching and learning. Students with sensory challenges, for example, require curriculum that contains alternative approaches for presenting information. Students with motor challenges, on the other hand, may require curriculum that provides alternative ways of expressing what they know and can do, while students along the autism spectrum may require curriculum that contains alternative ways to become engaged in or connected with the learning process.Broadly stated learning goals may allow students who are cognitively challenged to enter the curriculum at points where appropriate levels of challenge and support can yield both tangible and measurable results. Methods and materials with designed-in supports may permit wider access and greater participation in the general curriculum by all students, including those with disabilities. Instructionally embedded assessments may provide more immediate feedback and more frequent data points for progress monitoring and instructional decision-making.These are some of the promises of UDL. II. What are low-incidence disabilities? Alternative Systems for Classification Students with disabilities can be classified in many ways. IDEA ’97 continues to recognize disabilities in the form of more or less discrete diagnostic categories, such as mental retardation, specific learning disabilities, or emotional disturbance. Other approaches to classification include categorizing disabled individuals by degree of severity of their needs, or by how atypical an individual may be when compared to a norm.Still other approaches may emphasize the level of intensity of supports necessary for an individual to function optimally in home, school, community, and work settings. Each of these approaches has advantages and disadvantages. The categorical approach taken by IDEA may emphasize learner characteristics for each disability, but, in so doing, it could also foster a self-fulfilling prophecy in which all members of a group sharing a categorical label, in a sense, become that label.A severity approach may emphasize developmental milestones at the expense of i gnoring strengths in functional skills. An intensity approach may meaningfully focus on levels of needed support, but, at the same time, limit opportunities for an individual to move to a less restrictive setting. None of these systems of classifying individuals with disabilities are either entirely satisfactory or entirely lacking in merit.For educators, it is important to be aware that several systems of categorizing students with disabilities exist simultaneously, because eligibility criteria, placement alternatives, intervention strategies, and teaching credentials may all vary substantially from school to school, depending on which system of classification is currently being employed. A Focus on Incidence When the issue at hand for students with disabilities centers on the provision of services in local schools, the availability of qualified personnel and the technical sophistication of necessary resources must be carefully considered.In order to provide students with disabilit ies with a free and appropriate public education, it is useful to classify learners in terms of incidence, or how many students with any particular disability or combination of disabilities reside in a community. Under such a system, students with the most commonly-seen disabilities may be more appropriately served by local public schools while students with relatively rare disabilities may not find adequate resources or highly qualified personnel.High-incidence disabilities include— * communication disorders (speech and language impairments) * specific learning disabilities (including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]) * mild/moderate mental retardation * emotional or behavioral disorders Low-incidence disabilities include— * blindness * low vision * deafness * hard-of-hearing * deaf-blindness * significant developmental delay * complex health issues * serious physical impairment * multiple disability * autismNone of the disabilities listed under low-inc idence disabilities generally exceed 1% of the school-aged population at any given time. The relative rarity of students with these disabilities in public schools often poses significant challenges for local schools struggling to meet their needs. Since they encounter these students so infrequently, most local schools have little if any knowledge of how to best educate these students, of what technologies are available to assist them, and of how to obtain needed and appropriate support services from outside agencies.All students with low-incidence disabilities thus experience a commonality: they are difficult to serve in current local public school programs. III. Why are schools and communities particularly challenged in serving students with low-incidence disabilities? Insufficient Numbers Students with low-incidence disabilities are difficult to serve in today’s public schools because none of the low-incidence categories alone can form a group large enough to warrant the pr esence of full-time, school-based, and highly specialized personnel, except in the largest of big-city school districts.Therefore, students with low-incidence disabilities are more likely to be served in less inclusive settings (such as in special classes, separate schools, and residential facilities) than are students with high-incidence disabilities. Local schools that do attempt to provide maximum inclusion most often support these efforts through the use of itinerant personnel, usually teachers/consultants who travel from school to school as needed, often crossing district lines to serve the needs of their students.Each variety of low-incidence disability brings its own unique challenges to a local school system. When intensive, specialized instruction is required, such as the learning of Braille for blind students or American Sign Language (ASL) for the deaf, teacher consultation models of intervention can prove woefully inadequate for the delivery of specially-designed and car efully-targeted intensive instruction.Similarly, when faced with students who present with complex healthcare needs, local schools frequently lack the capacity to respond appropriately to medical emergencies or to provide required routine intensive care. Each group of students with a low-incidence disability has its own set of specialized needs, requiring specialized supports and specially-trained personnel to maximize their educational opportunities. While some generic support services are of use to nearly all students, most are specialized to one group.For example, a deaf or autistic child is unlikely to need to learn Braille, while a blind student will not need the level of constant medical support that a quadriplegic child or one under medical treatment for leukemia is likely to require. The low-incidence nature of these disabilities also makes it extremely challenging to maintain an adequate supply of qualified professionals to serve them. The skills and knowledge sets of these professionals are highly technical, requiring a significant commitment of time and effort to acquire through professional preparation, typically at university centers.Yet the caseloads of these professionals are small and likely to change in composition from year to year. Further added to this supply challenge is the paucity of university-based, professional preparation programs to prepare sufficient numbers of practitioners to adequately serve these students. Moreover, administrative supervision and mentoring of new inductees to the field are frequently inadequate. These professionals are mostly isolated from colleagues, limiting their opportunity for collaboration and shared growth.Opportunities for targeted professional development may be extremely limited. In sum, it is difficult to attract qualified individuals into these fields to begin with and perhaps even more difficult to nurture, support, and retain them once employed. Finding the Least Restrictive Environment Often, the least restrictive environment for students with low-incidence-disabilities cannot be found in their local public school.While IEP teams must presume that a student is to be placed in the public school closest to her or his home, a team may be compelled by assessment findings to urge placement in a specialized setting where highly-trained personnel and appropriate technologies can be concentrated and unique needs can be appropriately targeted for intensive instruction. Although students with low-incidence disabilities are required to have access to the general education curriculum, that requirement does not state that the only way in which such a condition may be met is in a full-inclusion setting in a general education classroom.An IEP team may determine that an alternative and highly specialized setting is the most appropriate, and therefore least restrictive, placement available for meeting the specific needs resulting from a student’s disability(ies), particularly if thei r local public school is not sufficiently equipped to provide a safe and successful educational experience for that student. Thus, in many cases of students with low-incidence disabilities, the true path toward greatest access to the general education curriculum may be pursued more appropriately in a separate setting (for example, in a school for the deaf or a residential school for the blind).However, in some cases, appropriate program planning for students with low-incidence disabilities in local public schools is possible and may be the preferred placement according to the IEP team, which includes the student and the student’s family. Adequate provision for these students in inclusive settings requires broad community engagement and significant systems change. Collaboration and commitment among stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels are necessary to effect such change.With thoughtful and appropriate approaches to planning, such as those to be described, willi ng communities can amass the supports necessary to ensure high-quality educational services for even those students with the most significant cognitive disabilities or complex healthcare needs. IV. What are the needs of students with low-incidence disabilities? Special Education is Not a Place With the enactment of IDEA ’97, special education is no longer considered a place but rather a network of services and supports designed to enable students to derive full benefit from a public school education (Heumann & Hehir, 1997).As stated earlier, this does not mean that students with disabilities cannot be appropriately served in specialized settings. Rather, the intent of the law is to emphasize that â€Å"placement† or location of services is the last decision an IEP team makes during a team assessment and planning process. In earlier times, a disability-specific label itself would dictate placement, and that placement would define the treatment or nature of interventions for students. Today’s approaches use comprehensive and holistic assessments to reveal the extent of need in suspected areas of risk associated with a student’s disability.Their team then determines the setting in which needed services can best be provided, selecting from a continuum or array of placement options ranging from full inclusion in a general education classroom to residency in a hospital setting (Drasgow, Yell, & Robinson, 2001). An IEP team always starts with the presumption that a student will be placed in the same setting in which he or she would be educated if disability were not an issue, namely, a regular public school classroom (Turnbull & Turnbull, 1998).Thus, in order to place a student in a less inclusive setting, this starting presumption must be rebutted by assessment data before such a placement outside a general education setting can be made. Categories and Characteristics IDEA designates categories of disability with which specific learner ch aracteristics have been associated in the special education knowledge base (Hallihan & Kaufman, 2002; Hardman, et al. , 2002; Heward, 2003; Turnbull, et al. , 2002).These characteristics are correlates of particular disabilities and not necessarily connected with a particular disability—that is to say, they are characteristics that are commonly found in students with these particular disabilities, but for which there are often exceptions, such as cases where a student has a particular disability but not one or more of its expected associated characteristics or behaviors. â€Å"Learned helplessness,† for example, is associated with specific learning disabilities, but not all students with learning disabilities have acquired this psychological adaptation.Rather, they are at risk for acquiring learned helplessness. While there are often litanies of learner characteristics described as unique or disability-specific, the extent to which these areas of risk are observed in a n individual student can vary widely. Careful assessment and observation of an individual student and his or her needs must be undertaken to document actual need for initial intervention and not merely expected need. Such an assessment establishes a baseline of educational need(s) against which progress can be measured.Students with disabilities often become â€Å"handicapped†Ã¢â‚¬â€unnecessarily or unfairly restricted—not by their disabilities in and of themselves, but by the environment in which they live, learn, and relate. Consequently, extent of need cannot adequately be assessed without consideration of broader contexts in which an individual lives. This context includes family, community, and the local public school which would be a student’s default placement location.Thus, a team’s determination of the least restrictive and most appropriate environment for a student must take all these factors into consideration when judging the capacity or prep aredness of home, community, and local school to support and nurture a student in areas of assessed need and in assuring a student access to the general curriculum. It is imperative that any set of disability-specific needs not serve to stereotype a student, to lower expectations for a student, or to contribute to negative self-fulfilling prophecies for a student.So-called unique or disability-specific needs should be taken only as possible areas of risk for IEP teams to investigate, not inevitable features automatically conjoined to a specific disability in question. Addressing Intense and Complex Needs Identified needs of students with low-incidence disabilities are frequently complex and multiple (Browder, 2001). Addressing severe and complex needs of students is challenging for family, school, and broader community.Since the ultimate goal of education is community inclusion and high quality of life, an appropriate education must contain opportunities for each individual to achie ve independence, enjoy community participation, and increase productive and rewarding work to the maximum extent possible. Most children identified by IDEA categories as having low-incidence disabilities possess sensory, motor, or neurological deficits, and, consequently, they are typically identified and managed early in their lives through a medical model.Families of infants and toddlers with established risks receive early intervention services, most generally under the auspices of state departments of public health. Such services prepare a family and their local community to understand and cope with the impact of a child’s disability on their lives. Such services also prepare a family to actively participate in the planning and decision-making processes that accompany transitional events throughout the child’s life. Thus, early intervention and early childhood education can be effective in preventing or minimizing many long-term and predictable consequences of disa bility.Because of the possibility of mitigating many of the consequences of disability early on in a child’s life, possibly to the point where a disability essentially vanishes, IDEA encourages states to withhold disability categorization until age nine. The more generic term developmental delay is used instead, to avoid the stereotyping and lowered expectations that follow disability-specific labeling. However, states still have the option of using, for example, the terms â€Å"blind† or â€Å"deaf† if preferred.According to IDEA ’97),decisions made about a child with a disability must be informed by â€Å"persons knowledgeable about the disability† or by â€Å"qualified professionals. † States must â€Å"qualify† professionals through certification or licensure. Thus, for blind students to receive specially-designed instruction in Braille literacy, deaf students in ASL, and motor-impaired students in augmentative communication, stat es must ensure that an adequate supply of appropriately prepared professionals is available to support such students in educational programs.The need for the specialized knowledge and skills possessed by these professionals is often cited as a basis for retaining IDEA’s system of categorical labeling, as well as states’ systems for categorical teacher certification (Hallihan & Kaufman, 2002). Clusters of Low-Incidence Disabilities Hereafter, low-incidence disabilities are defined and described under the following headings: * Blind/Low Vision * Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing * Deaf-Blind * Significant Developmental Delay * Significant Physical and Multiple Disability * Autistic SpectrumNote that some of these headings do not match with IDEA’s current categories, being more general. Where appropriate, legal categorical definitions are quoted from IDEA ’97 in the text so that readers will note congruence with federal law. Blind/Low Vision According to IDEA ’97, Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. Authority: 20 U. S. C. 1401(3)(A) and (B); 1401(26)Historically, students with visual impairment have been referred to as blind, visually handicapped, visually disabled, visually impaired, partially sighted, partially blind, visually limited, or sight impaired. To understand the needs of students with visual impairments, the following factors must be taken into account: age at onset of visual impairment, degree of impairment, site of impairment, prognosis for improvement or degeneration in condition, day-to-day stability of condition, individual tolerance for visual fatigue, nd the extent and complexity of any co-existing additional impairments. Blind children are particularly challenged in understanding and moving about in physical space (Blasch, Wiener, & Welch, 1997). Withou t opportunity to directly observe space during locomotion, blind children have difficulty mentally representing and manipulating spatial concepts. They are also challenged in obtaining, manipulating, and producing many types of information, such as text, graphics, facial expressions, and gestural cues (Swensen, 1999).Achieving self-esteem is also difficult for blind children since self-awareness in the social context of school is often affected by such factors as social isolation, low expectations, and over-protection (Tuttle & Tuttle, 1996). Classroom instruction typically exploits the visual/motor channel of communication and relies upon social mediation for student achievement. Because blind students cannot partake of the visual channel of communication and are often socially isolated, they generally have limited opportunities for incidental learning.This places them at a disadvantage when attempting to participate in classroom activities. Often gaps exist in concept development, making it difficult for classroom teachers to activate prior knowledge, or leading them to make false assumptions in regard to the fundamental understanding these students have of the world around them. Moreover, the need for Braille as a necessary alternative to print creates a challenge for general education classroom teachers to provide invaluable corrective feedback, as very few general education classroom teachers can read and write Braille.Lack of eye contact and the impossibility of visually-based social recognition can have a profound impact on a blind student’s opportunity to form meaningful and cooperative relationships with peers. Such barriers must be carefully examined and skillfully addressed by practitioners in order to provide genuine and valid access to the general curriculum for blind students. Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing According to IDEA ’97, Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that [a] child is impaired in processing linguistic informat ion through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section. Authority: 20 U. S. C. 1401(3)(A) and (B); 1401(26) Needs of children who are hearing impaired must take into account factors such as age at onset of disability (in particular, pre-lingual vs. post-lingual deafness), audiometric hearing status (particularly in speech range with amplification), type of hearing loss (conductive, sensorineural, mixed, central) and possible presence of concomitant disabilities.The needs of children who are deaf and children who are hard-of-hearing must be understood as quite distinct when considering communication use. The native language of deaf children is American Sign Language (ASL), but children who are hard-of-hea ring may understand speech with amplification and may not identify with members of Deaf culture. Severity of hearing loss is measured by decibels (dB) or units of loudness. A hearing loss between 15 and 20 dB is considered slight. A person with a hearing loss of 60 dB has difficulty hearing conversational speech without amplification.An individual with a hearing loss of 100 dB is not able to hear a power lawnmower without amplification (Kirk, Gallagher, & Anastasiow, 2000). Children and adults with hearing disabilities characteristically confront significant issues with regard to social and intellectual development, speech and language development, and edu