THE MUSIC DRAMAS OF ROBERT BEADELL

ROOT, SCOTT LEE University of Northern Colorado 1995 해외박사

Kenneth Burke's concept of the criticism of literature as rhetoric

Root, Marilyn Mathias University of Illinoise at Urbana-Champaign 1974 해외박사

The Semantics of anaphora in discourse

Root, Rebecca Louise Univ.of Texas 1986 국내박사

How the ideology of English influences classroom interactions in South Korea : insights from personal narratives

Root, Elizabeth UMI 2007 국내박사

Concentration of measure, negative association, and machine learning

Root, Jonathan Boston University 2016 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

In this thesis we consider concentration inequalities and the concentration of measure phenomenon from a variety of angles. Sharp tail bounds on the deviation of Lipschitz functions of independent random variables about their mean are well known. We consider variations on this theme for dependent variables on the Boolean cube. In recent years negatively associated probability distributions have been studied as potential generalizations of independent random variables. Results on this class of distributions have been sparse at best, even when restricting to the Boolean cube. We consider the class of negatively associated distributions topologically, as a subset of the general class of probability measures. Both the weak (distributional) topology and the total variation topology are considered, and the simpler notion of negative correlation is investigated. The concentration of measure phenomenon began with Milman's proof of Dvoretzky's theorem, and is therefore intimately connected to the field of high-dimensional convex geometry. Recently this field has found application in the area of compressed sensing. We consider these applications and in particular analyze the use of Gordon's min-max inequality in various compressed sensing frameworks, including the Dantzig selector and the matrix uncertainty selector. Finally we consider the use of concentration inequalities in developing a theoretically sound anomaly detection algorithm. Our method uses a ranking procedure based on KNN graphs of given data. We develop a max-margin learning-to-rank framework to train limited complexity models to imitate these KNN scores. The resulting anomaly detector is shown to be asymptotically optimal in that for any false alarm rate alpha, its decision region converges to the alpha-percentile minimum volume level set of the unknown underlying density.

What is the relationship between the degree middle schools implement the NYS Essential Elements, student achievement and the programs and practices applied in each school?

Root, Ravo P., III Syracuse University 2015 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

By 2003, both the New York State Board of Regents Policy Statement and the new Commissioner's Regulation 100.4, required all middle level programs to implement a set of policies and practices called the NYS Essential Elements of Standards-Focused Middle-Level Schools and Programs. Early adolescence (ages 10-14) is a time when students experience, the most tumultuous physical and mental changes occur during adolescence, with the exception of a child's first year of life (Montessori, 2004). Middle grade level philosophy and a description of what middle schools should be like are directly linked to taking a balanced approach to meeting the social, emotional, intellectual and academic needs of students in the middle grades. Many of these beliefs became the foundation of middle grade level education and they serve as the principles of the NYS Essential Elements. The New York State Education Department (NYSED) never enforced its own middle grade regulations and has provided little support to help school leaders understand and implement the Essential Elements. Some observers insist that the practices required by the Essential Elements can play a critical role in supporting students' learning, while others treat practices that do not directly address their academic learning as "extras" that only the wealthiest school districts can afford. Recently, public schools in New York State have faced financial difficulties trying to manage many changes to their instructional and evaluative practices. School leaders often struggle to know what decisions to make that will improve the culture within the school and earn higher student achievement ratings on state tests. How would applying the NYS Essential Elements impact the culture in the building and the test scores of its students?. This study compares the ways in which four schools implement the NYS Essential Elements and explores whether and how their implementation of the Elements may have affected three years of student achievement scores on the NYS math and ELA, 8th grade test. Both surveys and follow up interviews were used to collect data to measure the degree each school implemented the NYS Essential Elements. A basic statistical analysis was used to explain the survey data. Interview data was coded to facilitate analysis. The study investigates how and why schools apply the NYS Essential Elements and the impact they may have on the academic and social fabric within each school. Results of the study indicated that all four schools implemented the NYS Essential Elements to a moderate or above moderate degree. The school that implemented the NYS Essential Element to the greatest degree also had the highest test scores in math and second highest in ELA in spite of having a high percentage of students living in poverty. Another school that had the highest percentage of students living in poverty implemented the Essential Elements to the second highest degree and performed as well on state tests as the school with lower rates of poverty and implementation. The two high need schools in the study performed as well or better than the average need schools. The study provides reasons to believe that applying the NYS Essential Elements can help students overcome the hurdles of poverty and achieve at a higher rate. This study contributes to the body of literature about middle level philosophy and practices. Four school case studies provide an in depth look at how and why the NYS Essential Elements of Standards Focused Middle Level Schools and Programs benefit middle school students. The study also reveals the importance of taking a balanced approach to middle grade education, making time to meet the specific needs of students and having school leaders consider the NYS Essential Elements to guide them through difficult decisions.

Boundary-work in United States psychology: A study of three interdisciplinary programs

Root, Michael J University of New Hampshire 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Between 1970 and 2000 scientists from three interdisciplinary programs---evolutionary psychology, cognitive science, and chaos theory---contributed to changing U.S. psychology's disciplinary boundaries. These interdisciplinary scientists brought about this change through their conceptual, material, and social practices. Psychologists used "boundary-work" as a means to control the influx of these various practices. Boundary-work connotes activities that promote scientists' epistemic authority in society. Boundary-work also serves to demarcate a science's particular collection of knowledge from other collections. Through their boundary-work activities, various psychologists resisted some of the practices of these interdisciplinary scientists while making accommodations for other types of practices. These resistances and accommodations illustrate the ways in which psychologists conveyed their epistemic authority and demarcated their discipline's boundaries between these three decades. The purpose of my dissertation is to describe psychologists' boundary-work in reaction to the introduction of these interdisciplinary programs' practices between 1970 and 2000. First, I present an overview of psychology's complex disciplinary boundaries. I then use the history of psychology and sociology of scientific knowledge literature to describe the nature of boundary-work activities. Next, I present the foundational components and a brief history of each interdisciplinary program. Fourth, I outline each program's conceptual, material, and social practices. Lastly, I discuss psychologists' resistances and accommodations to each interdisciplinary program's practices with reference to how they affected psychology's disciplinary boundaries. My results indicate that certain psychologists most often resisted evolutionary psychologists', cognitive scientists', and chaos theorists' conceptual practices. Psychologists' resistances seemed ineffective in preventing these conceptual practices from entering the discipline and did not stop other psychologists from using them. Accommodations occurred for all types of practices for all three programs, indicating that psychology's disciplinary boundaries are relatively permeable. I argue that psychologists made accommodations for these practices to increase their epistemic authority within the scientific community and throughout society. Finally, I discuss the advantages of writing psychology's history through an examination of psychologists' boundary-work.

How urban school superintendents effectively use data driven decision making to improve student achievement

Root, Lonny Gene University of Southern California 2010 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002, schools, districts, and therefore, superintendents have been held increasingly accountable for the achievement of the students. The states and federal governments have used student achievement data to measure the progress and success of schools and districts and have held districts accountable to this data. This study examined the use of data by superintendents in their decision making related to student achievement. The study looked at what competencies they possessed in the use of data and how they learned those competencies, and what types of data they used and valued. The study also identified what actions, policies, and communications superintendents used to promote data use among all of the educators in their districts. Superintendents' use of data in the evaluation of principal, teachers, and educational programs was also included in this study. This study used a mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) approach to examine a population of 23 superintendents from urban school districts in California. All of the participating superintendents had been in their position for at least two years and demonstrated improved student achievement as measured by their API scores. All 23 superintendents responded to a 45 questions Data-Driven Decision Making Survey Questionnaire designed to measure and identify specific skills they possessed, the level of those skills, and for what types of decisions did they use those skills. It identified which types of data they believed valuable and which they used in a set of decisions that superintendent often make. It also measured the frequency that they engaged in certain data-driven decision making actions. Five superintendents whose responses and reputations indicated that they effectively used data in their decision making were selected from the group of 23 and participated in personal interviews. They responded to 13 pre-selected questions designed to elicit detailed information in the same areas as the surveys. The research study made several significant findings. Participating superintendents reported that they possess nearly all of the competencies needed to make effective-data driven decisions and that they learned most of these competencies through on-the-job experiences rather than any type of formal training. These superintendents identified CST data, benchmark data, and program data as the types that they used and valued in making most of their decisions. The results indicated that the actions superintendents were most effective in for the purpose of promoting data use among all educators in their districts were: communicating district goals, expectations, and results using data, and providing the time and resources for using data to teachers. The study revealed that the superintendents used data effectively in evaluating their principals and programs, but did not use data in the evaluation of their teachers.

Instructional discourse and learning opportunities in three advanced placement United States history classrooms

Root, Alexey Wilhelmina University of California, Los Angeles 1999 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Curricular frameworks, written sometimes by advocates of cultural literacy (who emphasize knowledge of facts) and sometimes by “New Historians” (who stress historical interpretation), appear to be loosely coupled with classroom practices. Despite shifts in the curricular debate, most recently toward interpretive history, classroom history teaching in the United States remains largely unchanged. Over the past one hundred years, most history teachers have used recitation as a primary teaching method (Cuban, 1984). Previous research by Wertsch and Toma (1995) in science classrooms, using Vygotsky's psychological theories, showed the cognitive implications of “univocal” and “dialogic” instructional practices. Univocal discourse casts the teacher as the evaluator of students' answers. In contrast, dialogic discourse allows students to consider each others' words as thinking devices. This dissertation borrowed from Wertsch and Toma, as well as from the case studies of McNeil (1986/1988) and Page (1991), to study the effects of instructional discourse on learning. A pilot study relied on the essay analysis techniques of Wertsch and O'Connor (1992). “Change” was found to be an unifying theme in pre-instructional eleventh grade student essays about the 1960s. For the observational study in three Advanced Placement (AP) United States history classrooms, attention was paid to teacher and student talk, homework assignments, tests, and student presentations. The researcher was a participant-observer. Primary methods of data collection were videotaping, copying classroom documents, and interviews. Data analysis of instructional discourse used an instrument from Gutierrez (1993). Written classroom artifacts were analyzed using a researcher-invented instrument derived from Oakes and Lipton (1990). Dialogic instruction was prominent in one of the three research classrooms. Students in that classroom spoke in more interpretive terms about history than did students in the mostly univocal classrooms. Within the two mostly univocal classrooms, students who presented orally exhibited more historical learning than those who just listened to the presentations. The amount of univocal and dialogic instructional discourse affected the factual or interpretive learning about the 1960s of Advanced Placement students.

A Search for Belonging: David Foster Wallace's Fictional Communities

Root, Colbert ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Temple University 2017 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

As a writer popularly known for his fervent self-interrogations and encyclopedic second novel Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace's most apparent significance in US literary history lies in his explicit response to his postmodern predecessors, such as John Barth and Thomas Pynchon. In his now infamous essay "E Unibus Pluram: Television and US Fiction," Wallace argued that postmodern authors had over-invested in the literary tools of irony and self-reference to such a degree that they became complicit in the erosion of the same communal principles that broadcast television attacks in its bid for increasing consumer dependency and profit. In search of a way beyond this complicity, Wallace called for a brand of "anti-rebels" who would discard irony for earnest principles and teach us how to resist the temptations of the United States' consumer culture. This call was heard by literary critics. "E Unibus Pluram" is the center for arguments over Wallace's fiction, as critics discuss whether that essay expresses the literary project Wallace actually pursued and to what extent it should guide our reading practices. One problem this dissertation identifies in these discussions is an overemphasis on specific devices like irony that Wallace analyzes in "E Unibus Pluram." Though important for understanding his argument, this overemphasis comes at the expense of our seeing the deeper problem that Wallace identifies in "E Unibus Pluram," which is the atomization of US culture that is fueled by our addiction to pleasure-based commodities like television. The loss of focus on this central problem has led to confusion in readings of Wallace that fail to see the abiding concerns that he carried from his first work to his last. This dissertation seeks to remedy this problem by reading Wallace's mature fiction as a developing struggle against the atomization of US culture. In this struggle, Wallace launched a series of increasingly complex narrative strategies for promoting a communal way of life to his readers. This dissertation reads several of these strategies to reveal two developments in Wallace's thought: his diagnosis of the problems facing US culture as created by an unmitigated individualism and his understanding of the best way to respond to individualism by emphasizing the great importance of social institutions. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that Wallace pictured fictional communities throughout his career as a means of critiquing the atomized space of the contemporary United States. He built these communities to help readers see that there are different ways to occupy the world than those promoted by consumer capitalism, but he also structured his narratives to teach readers how to see and think in the ways he thought necessary for realizing such alternatives.