The effect of vocational education on high school students in a large urban multicultural school district

The completion of and graduation from high school is a major problem that must be resolved. A 6% random sample of the students (1,059) who were in the 9th grade in Miami-Dade Public Schools, a large urban school district, September 1992, were selected for this study. The sample was divided into 2 groups, advanced academic and general track students. Each group was then divided into vocational and non-vocational. A causal comparative design was used to evaluate the results for graduate vs. non-graduate. The indicators were the program of study, attendance, standardized test scores, grade point average, ethnicity and gender. It was found that both advanced academic and general track students had significantly higher graduation rates at the .01 level when a vocational education program was part of their studies. All of the other indicators did not show any significant differences. If we arc to improve students educational outcomes and reduce the dropout rate, vocational education should be part of every student's education.^

Perceptions of the Induction Process of Intern Principals in a Large Urban School District

This study presents perceptions of principals in a leadership induction program in a large urban school district in the southeastern United States. Qualitative research procedures were used to document experiences of principals. Theoretical constructs guiding the study were professional socialization, organizational socialization, and instructional leadership.

Impact of protected forests on rural household fuel tree planting and deforestation: Chiro District, Ethiopia

This study aims at exploring the potential impact of forest protection intervention on rural households’ private fuel tree planting in Chiro district of eastern Ethiopia. The study results revealed a robust and significant positive impact of the intervention on farmers’ decisions to produce private household energy by growing fuel trees on their farm. As participation in private fuel tree planting is not random, the study confronts a methodological issue in investigating the causal effect of forest protection intervention on rural farm households’ private fuel tree planting through non-parametric propensity score matching (PSM) method. The protection intervention on average has increased fuel tree planting by 503 (580.6%) compared to open access areas and indirectly contributed to slowing down the loss of biodiversity in the area. Land cover/use is a dynamic phenomenon that changes with time and space due to anthropogenic pressure and development. Forest cover and land use changes in Chiro District, Ethiopia over a period of 40 years was studied using remotely sensed data. Multi temporal satellite data of Landsat was used to map and monitor forest cover and land use changes occurred during three point of time of 1972,1986 and 2012. A pixel base supervised image classification was used to map land use land cover classes for maps of both time set. The result of change detection analysis revealed that the area has shown a remarkable land cover/land use changes in general and forest cover change in particular. Specifically, the dense forest cover land declined from 235 ha in 1972 to 51 ha in 1986. However, government interventions in forest protection in 1989 have slowed down the drastic change of dense forest cover loss around the protected area through reclaiming 1,300 hectares of deforested land through reforestation program up to 2012.

Vegetation community and geochemistry in the Uummannaq District, West Greenland

Beach and salt marsh vegetation of the Uummannaq District, northern West Greenland (c. 70°15' N - 72° N, 49° W - 54° W) was studied 1998 according to the Braun-Blanquet phytosociological approach. Habitat analyses included soil chemistry. Such vegetation locally occurs and is not developed over extensive areas. On gravely stony beaches a Mertensia maritima ssp. maritima community occurs, while a Honckenya peploides var. diffusa community is confined to sandy beaches. The association Honckenyo diffusae-Elymetum mollis Thannh. 1975 is confined to sandy shore walls and low dunes. All vegetation types are assigned to the alliance Honckenyo- Elymion arenariae Tx. 1966, which again is a unit of the order Honckenyo- Elymetalia arenariae Tx. 1966, which is sub ordered to the class Honckenyo-Elymetea arenariae Tx. 1966. On fine sediments along sheltered coasts salt marsh vegetation is locally developed mainly on fiord deltas and outwash plains of small rivers and streams. A distinct zonation pattern in vegetation can be observed from the lower to upper salt marsh: Puccinellietum phryganodis Hadac 1946 association, Caricetum subspathaceae Hadac 1946 association, Caricetum ursinae Hadac 1946 association (all assigned to the alliance Puccinellion phryganodis Hadac 1946) and Festuco-Caricetum glareosae Nordh. 1954 association (assigned to the alliance Armerion maritimae Br.-Bl. et de Leeuw 1936). Both alliances are units of the order Glauco- Puccinellietalia Beeftink et Westhoff in Beeftink 1965, which is assigned to the class Asteretea tripolii Westhoff et Beeftink in Beeftink 1962. TWINSPAN and CCA support the vegetation classification and the CCA with soil chemistry parameters shows that salinity (related to position above MHW) and Ncontent are strongly correlated with the floristical differentiation of the vegetation of the Honckenyo-Elymetea class. In the Asteretea tripolii class, position above MHW (negatively correlated with pH, conductivity and Clcontent) and fresh water supply are likely the main factors, which affect vegetation differentiation. A synoptic survey of vegetation types from Greenland based on published phytosociological tables is presented and distribution of the vegetation types is addressed, just as their position in a circumpolar context. Moreover a Cochlearia groenlandica-Melandrium triflorum community is described as a new vegetation type, occurring on shallow soil on cliffs influenced by salt spray.