About ITT Technical Institute

ITT Technical Institute (often shortened to ITT Tech or ITTTI) is a for-profit technical institute with over 130 campuses in 37 states of the United States. ITT Tech is owned and operated by ITT Educational Services, Inc. (NYSE: ESI), a publicly traded company. ITT Educational Services, Inc. (ESI) was spun off by ITT Corporation through an initial public offering (IPO) in 1994, with parent company ITT as an 83% shareholder. ITT Tech licenses the "ITT" name from ITT Corporation, which originates from the latter company's original name "International Telephone & Telegraph".

Company history

The company was founded in 1946 as Educational Services, Inc. and has been headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, since 1969. From 1965 until its IPO in 1994, ITT Tech was a wholly owned subsidiary of ITT Corporation (as "ITT/ESI"). By 1999, ITT Corp. (which had merged with Starwood the year before) divested itself completely of ITT Tech's shares but the schools still use the "ITT" name under license. It operates over 130 ITT Technical Institutes in 37 states which primarily provide career-focused degree programs to approximately 80,000 students.
Academic services

ITT Tech offers AAS, bachelor's BAS, and master's (business-only, online) degrees. ITT Tech is nationally accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. It may be impossible to transfer from ITT to a traditional university; per the ITT website, "it is unlikely that any credits earned at an ITT Technical Institute will be transferable to or accepted by any institution other than an ITT Technical Institute."

Controversies

A two-year associate's degree at ITT Tech (which requires 96 credit hours, 12 credits per quarter, 3 classes every quarter, and 4 credits per class) costs approximately $47,328 and that cost comes out to $493.00 per credit hour. Out of concern that students at ITT Tech and other for-profit Technical Institutes are taking on unsustainable levels of debt, the Department of Education implemented new regulations that restricts students at for-profit Technical Institutes from taking out more debt than their future employment prospects would justify.
ITT Technical Institute has been involved in several controversies over its business and academic practices, among them:

• In August 1998, 15 former students alleged misrepresentation, fraud and concealment by ITT arising out of their recruitment and education at ITT campuses. In September 1998, ITT settled all of the claims of the 15 claimants.
• On February 25, 2004, federal agents raided the company's headquarters and 10 of its campuses. The investigation negatively affected the company's stock and triggered several class action lawsuits by investors.
• In October 2005, ITT agreed to pay $730,000 to settle a lawsuit with California in which employees alleged that it inflated students’ grade point averages so they qualified for more financial aid from the State of California.
• An investigation by WGBA-TV (NBC26, Green Bay, WI) found evidence of widespread grade inflation. In one instance, a student got 100% on a computer forensics assignment by emailing the professor a noodle recipe. The station believes this to be a way to increase federal student aid funding.
• In early March of 2011 WTMJ-TV (NBC4, Milwaukee, WI) ran an investigation finding teachers lying on attendance records so they could get cash bonuses paid by ITT Tech. ITT Tech uses an attendance policy as part of a requirement to get financial aid to show student progress.

Notes

1. ^ "Corporate Governance - Management & Directors". ITT Education Services. http://www.ittesi.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=94519&p=irol-govboard. Retrieved 2010-04-16. 
2. ^ "Eugene Feichtner: Executive Profile & Biography". BusinessWeek. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=9363920&ticker=ESI:US. Retrieved 2010-04-16. 
3. ^ "About Us". ITT Technical Institute. http://www.itt-tech.edu/about.cfm. Retrieved 2010-04-16. 
4. ^ ITT Educational Services, Inc. Announces the Opening of its First College in West Virginia Expanding the Company's Reach into 37 States MarketWatch, November 14, 2008
5. ^ "ITT Educational Services, Inc. Company History". Funding Universe. 2008-07-09. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/ITT-Educational-Services-Inc-Company-History.html. Retrieved 2008-12-16. 
6. ^ ITT Tech website
7. ^ "ACICS Accredited Institutions" (PDF). Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools. 2008-08-05. http://acics.org/accredited/documents/accreditedinstitutions8.6.08_000.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-26. 
8. ^ ITT Technical Institute FAQ
9. ^ "In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade School and Debt", New York Times, March 13, 2010
10. ^ Itt Educational Services Inc · 424B4 · On 1/27/99
11. ^ Feds serve warrants at ITT Tech campuses, CNN
12. ^ Federal Probe Targets ITT Tech, CertCities March 2, 2004
13. ^ ITT's CEO Expects Lengthy Federal Investigation, Stock Slips, Channel Web Network, Feb. 26, 2004, Mark Jewell
14. ^ ITT, Calif. Settle False Claims Lawsuit, Inside Higher Education, Oct. 18, 2005, Doug Lederman
15. ^ NBC26 Special Report: Easy A's, WGBA-TV, Accessed 2/17/11
16. ^ I-Team: Teachers Told to Lie?, WTMJ-TV, Accessed 3/3/11

 

 

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/  

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Parent Involvement in Elementary Language Arts: A Program Model

"Parent involvement" is fast becoming a hot topic. Teaching periodicals, parent magazines, newspapers, and even television talk shows and special broadcasts are emphasizing the impact parents make in educating their children. Topics include hints on effective communication at conference time, tips for establishing study skills and habits at home, and information on how to use parents effectively as volunteers in the classroom (Vukelich, 1984). A potential limitation with the teacher-parents involvement suggestions described in some articles is that even though they may be worthwhile, they often lack an overall organization that allows teachers to plan and develop principled programs for parents (Becher, 1986; Becher, 1984; Vukelich, 1984). Many well-meaning, dedicated teachers approach parent involvement as an "afterthought" that may lack purposeful implementation. Parent involvement, in this sense, is not seen as part of the curriculum. A general format may help to eliminate wasted effort and guide the development of an organized approach to parent involvement--a parent involvement program that is integrated into the language arts curriculum. DIMENSIONS OF INVOLVEMENT Petit (1980) attempts to organize the various dimensions of parent involvement. Petit specifies three levels or degrees of increasing parent involvement: (1) monitoring, (2) informing, and (3) participation. At Petit's MONITORING LEVEL, schools make parents aware of the school situation. Potter (1989) suggests that this is done through informal conversations (e.g., open houses, school programs), announcements regarding the school's activities, and questionnaires. This type of contact helps to establish parental feelings of assurance, confidence, and acceptance. Parents feel more comfortable sharing with the teacher their child's positive, as well as negative, attitudes about school that the child may be experiencing at home. Many schools are effective and active at this level of parent involvement with weekly bulletins, annual open houses in the fall, and public invitations to special school programs and activities. Petit's second level is described as INFORMING. This means keeping parents informed about the policies, procedures, aims, and expectations that exist in the school, but particularly in the classroom. The contact is more formal and direct. Communication at this level is more specifically between the classroom teacher and the parent rather than between the school and the parents. This is done through (1) parent-teacher conferences, (2) home visits, (3) class newsletters, (4) bulletin boards, (5) reporting, (6) phone calls, and (7) take-home packets. In addition to teachers informing parents, parents need to inform the teacher about anything going on at home that may help the teacher to understand the child's behavior and performance at school. Parents should communicate with the teacher on how the child's reading and language activities are progressing at home and give feedback regarding the supportive activities done at home. PARTICIPATION is Petit's final level. At this level parents become actively involved in the classroom with teachers. Teachers solicit the assistance of parents in helping the school and/or classroom with instructional support. Parents might act as aides or volunteers in classrooms, helping with bulletin boards, checking assignments, or making games and activities. Parents might volunteer to work in the library, do typing, or work with school equipment such as laminating and duplicating. Parents who have had experiences that match a special theme or topic being explored by the class could be asked to make special presentations. They may be asked to participate in classroom instruction or act as classroom reading tutors or writing editors who work with one or two children who are experiencing difficulty. Parents who cannot actively participate in the classroom are encouraged to provide supportive instruction at home using reading and writing strategies and methods similar to those being used in the classroom. It is necessary that parents be aware of effective instructional techniques when working with children in the classroom and at home. Parent knowledge and skills can be extended through parent observation and/or instruction. It is at this participation level that parents become involved in workshops or reading courses. Teachers, specialists, or other professionals explain to parents about the school's language arts program. Parents are then given instruction on how to help students in the classroom and at home. A PROGRAM MODEL One such program encourages parent participation in the classroom for those parents who are able to volunteer their time, but also emphasizes participation at home. In this program, an elementary school teacher was implementing a literature-based program in the language arts curriculum. The teacher informed the parents through letters that the students would be integrating reading and writing in the language arts block and that they would be involved in a variety of literature experiences. Parents were given detailed explanations of various strategies in the letters. The teacher asked for their support and involvement at home in helping their child accomplish assignments through these new experiences. Parents and students were encouraged to share reading at home, as well as to share ideas and thoughts about the books. Suggestions or strategies for sharing books were explained and sent home for parent reference. As the students became acquainted with this literature-based program, enthusiasm for reading was apparent in many of the students. A letter was sent home recounting some of the students' positive experiences and asking for parent volunteers--those who felt comfortable with the discussions and strategies for sharing reading. Some parents came into the classroom to help with small group discussions, book projects, etc. Later on, the writing process was briefly explained in a parent letter, and activities the students were engaged in and editing marks and skills were defined, so that parents could assist their child at home. In this same letter, parents were asked to come into the classroom to help small groups of students with the authoring cycle, edit final drafts, type student stories, and assist with bookmaking. When parents did volunteer, it was very common to see the students explaining and informing the parents what it was they were doing in literature circles. It was not uncommon to see parents in authoring circles listening to student stories, offering suggestions, and helping students with first drafts. Parents were given opportunities to help in book selection for new literature groups. The teacher sent home book club orders and suggestions and recommendations for book selection. The letter encouraged parents and children to discuss the recommended books on the list and then make their selection together. Literature groups were then determined from the book selections made by parents and children. The teacher provided additional opportunities for parent input through a variety of correspondence. Periodically, parent letters were sent home telling of the progress students were making with literature and author circles. An invitation to observe these activities in the classroom was extended. Contracts were sent home to be signed by parents, students, and teachers regarding classroom rules, homework policies, responsibility for using classroom literature sets, and support for achieving success in this program. A list of necessary reading and writing supplies was sent home, and parents were asked to donate some of the items, such as white-out ink, contact paper, markers, old greeting cards, index cards, wallpaper books, cereal boxes, cushions, bean bag chairs, and so forth. CAREFUL PLANNING IS ESSENTIAL Initiating an effective and well organized plan for parent involvement takes plenty of work--work to achieve it, work and commitment to maintain it. It is realistic to think that as one moves through the levels of involvement that Petit describes, the audience of parents narrows. It is easy to have all parents and all teachers included at the beginning levels. However, as movement makes its way up the levels, the focus narrows. Fewer parents and teachers are able and willing to enter into the "participation" level of involvement with classrooms and homes. Teachers cannot let this be discouraging. Instead, they must continually remind themselves that the obligation to reach a wider audience of parents still remains. When parent involvement reaches the level in which parents are actually involved at school and/or at home, teachers must recognize that it was attained through effective communication in the beginning or at previous levels. This effective communication involves positive actions by teachers, parents, and administrators who are willing to cooperate and act in concert with one another. The Office of Educational Research and Improvement (1986) argues that teachers who succeed in involving parents in their children's schoolwork are successful because they (teachers) work at it. "Working at it" calls for a commitment from principals, teachers, and parents which ultimately benefits the child. REFERENCES Becher, Rhoda. "Parent Involvement: A Review of Research and Principles of Successful Practice." In L. Katz, Ed. Current Topics in Early Childhood Education, 6. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1984. ED 014 563 Becher, Rhoda. Parents and Schools. ERIC Digest. 1986. ED 015 756 Petit, D. Opening Up Schools. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1989. Potter, Gill. "Parent Participation in the Language Arts Program." Language Arts, 66(1), January 1989, 21-28. EJ 381 859 Vukelich, Carol. "Parents' Role in the Reading Process: A Review of Practical Suggestions and Ways to Communicate with Parents." Reading Teacher, 37(6), February 1984, 472-77. EJ 291 313 What Works: Research about Teaching and Learning. Washington, D.C.: Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1986. ED 263 299 Source: Marge Simic

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Israel Announces Expansion of East Jerusalem Settlements as International Community Scrambles

In the midst of the international lobby war leading up to the September UN General Assembly, the Israeli authorities made an announcement that undoubtedly annoyed more than one person in the White House.

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai gave the official and final green light on Thursday for the construction of 1,600 new flats in Ramat Shlomo, a settlement in the north of East Jerusalem. Ramat Shlomo is the same Israeli colony that drove US-Israeli relations to a low point last year. Back then, President Barack Obama put his foot down and pressured his partner Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze the planned expansion. The situation today, however, is completely different.

One year later, the Israeli government not only confirmed that the building of these 1,600 new apartments is on its way, but a few days earlier further announced the expansion of yet another settlement in East Jerusalem. The plan is to build 930 flats in Har Homa, the massive colony constructed just in front of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

Europe, Washington, Russia, the UN (also known as the Quartet) and Turkey reacted immediately, condemning Israel’s new settlement expansion. “Such unilateral actions work against efforts to resume direct negotiations and contradict the logic of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties", criticized the American State Department in an official statement.

But as happened last year, the Israeli authorities appear to be immune to these mild warnings. Interior Minister Yishai concluded his statement on Thursday with another announcement: in the next few days the government will approve the building of some 2,700 new apartments; he didn’t say where or when they will be constructed.

The international community, with the Quartet leadership, is negotiating against the clock to convince the Palestinian Authority (PA) to accept restarting a bilateral peace process, thus abandoning its aim of gaining international recognition in the United Nations in September. But in order to have any chance of convincing the PA, the Quartet must first convince their Israeli counterparts to stop expanding the West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements, recognized internationally as illegal and under a military occupation. Ramat Shlomo has become the latest symbol of the international community’s defeat and Israel’s victory.

Home of some 18,000 ideologically-motivated settlers, Ramat Shlomo is part of the Israeli strategy to expand its presence in the surroundings of Jerusalem, well inside the internationally recognized Palestinian territories. Most of its residents are ultra-orthodox Jews, who moved there in the mid 1990s when the colony was initially established. They are convinced that God gave them this land and, therefore, they refuse any discussion or negotiation about the legitimacy of their presence there. “It’s in the Torah”, is the final answer that they gave to every international journalist that visited the colony last year during the US-Israeli diplomatic impasse.

Israeli authorities discuss this expansion as a solution to the housing shortage for these middle class families, most of them with five or six children,and young people who don’t want to leave their “neighbourhood” and need affordable houses.

More and more this argument is presented in the mainstream Israeli media as part of the same message of the massive protest movement in Israel’s major cities, such as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa. But while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems obsessed with granting every settler’s expansionist wish, the students, doctors, teachers, impoverished families and left-wing protesters in Israel are having a harder time convincing him of their agenda.

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Cash vs Physical settlement

In mid 2001, cash-settled single stock derivatives were introduced in India with a promise to be shifted to physical settlement after six months.

Since then there has been much controversy about the two modes of settlement with proponents of each mode decrying the other as speculative and vulnerable to manipulation. This article attempts to throw some light on this debate.

First of all, cash settlement allows the creation of derivative contracts on an underlying whose physical delivery is infeasible or even impossible - index futures and weather derivatives are prime examples.

Cash settlement may also allow us to choose an underlying that is less manipulable and has lower basis risk for hedgers.

However, single stock futures and options have been designed to permit physical settlement. Both modes of settlement are possible and the question is how to choose between the two modes.

What is the difference between receiving the underlying and receiving its price? Finance theory tells us that apart from transaction costs, there is no difference.

To convert the price into the underlying or the other way around requires one transaction in the cash market - nothing more and nothing less.

Let us look at the four categories of players in the derivative market - speculators, arbitrageurs, hedgers and manipulators - and see what difference the two modes of settlement make to each of them.

Consider a speculator who bought the futures at 40 and has seen the price rise to 55 before expiry. He would have received 15 as mark-to-market gains during the course of this price rise, and under cash settlement, there is nothing more to be done.

Under physical settlement, the speculator has to undertake one extra sale transaction in the cash market to complete the transaction.

At expiry, he pays 55 in the futures market and receives the underlying; simultaneously he sells the underlying for 55 in the cash market. These transactions on the expiry day cancel out apart from transaction costs.

Consider next an arbitrageur who has sold futures and bought the underlying for a cash and carry arbitrage. Under physical settlement, the arbitrageur simply delivers the underlying into the futures market.

Under cash settlement, the arbitrageur needs to sell the underlying in the cash market at expiry. The transaction costs here include an execution risk - the risk that the price realised in the cash market may not be exactly the same as the settlement price used for cash settlement in the futures market.

We now turn to the hedger who owns the underlying and is trying to hedge its value. Assuming that the hedge has been rolled over until the expiry matches the holding period of the underlying, the hedger's position is identical to that of the arbitrageur. Under cash settlement he needs to sell in the cash market and incur the transaction costs and execution risks.

Finally, we look at the manipulator trying to implement a bear squeeze. Under both modes of settlement, the manipulator buys both spot as well as futures.

In physical settlement, when he has bought up most of the floating stock, he makes a profit by selling the underlying to the shorts at an inflated price.

The shorts deliver this underlying back to him. In cash settlement, the manipulator gains by the futures being settled at the inflated price.

The underlying bought in the cash market remains with him. Under both settlement modes, the manipulator's transactions are the same and his holdings post expiry are also the same. In both modes, the defence against manipulation is position limits and large position disclosure.

In short, apart from transaction costs, there is no difference between cash settlement and physical settlement.

Even these costs do not apply to most trades because they are squared off before expiry. The choice of settlement mode can, therefore, be safely left to market forces.

But if the regulator chooses to intervene, it should be on the side of physical settlement because it imposes lower transaction costs on hedgers and arbitrageurs at the cost of higher transaction costs on speculators.

One final point about price discovery: under both modes of settlement, arbitrage keeps futures and cash prices tightly coupled. The principal exception is under intense short sale restrictions, when the cash price gets decoupled from the true equilibrium price.

Cash settlement may allow the futures price to track the true price even in this scenario. When liquid futures and spot markets disagree, usually the futures is right because there are less friction in the futures market.

Source: Jayanth R Varma / Ahmedabad January 19, 2004

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About Asbestos

Asbestos is a naturally occurring, fibrous mineral that can only be identified under a microscope. Asbestos is found in the ground and is mined all over the world. In the past, asbestos was added to different products such as insulation for fire resistance. Atlanta asbestos attorneys know that Asbestos exposure can cause ailments like mesothelioma and other problems. Extended asbestos exposure usually develops into serious problems. Persons who have been exposed to asbestos and suffer from related injures often have legal claims against the property owner where the poisoning occurred and/or their employer who exposed them to the product.

Asbestos exposure is particularly threatening for those employed in the following industries: building and construction, automotive, railroad, shipyard, and factory. Though asbestos use is no longer common, many structures still house hazardous asbestos materials that can cause asbestos poisoning. An estimated 1.3 million construction workers still face significant threats of asbestos poisoning on the job.

When you or a member of your family is diagnosed with an asbestos–related injury, it may be the first time you have ever considered hiring an attorney. Choosing the experienced Atlanta asbestos attorneys at Brandon Hornsby, PC, will provide priceless peace of mind during upcoming trying times when you are faced with medical treatments, bills, disability and other losses.

Going through the experienced and qualified Atlanta asbestos attorneys at Brandon Hornsby, PC has many advantages. First, the experienced Atlanta asbestos attorneys at this office have established links and contacts that can help you bring a successful lawsuit against a negligent party. We also know the sort of information required for a successful claim, and what the pitfalls of asbestos cases may be; therefore, we can increase the chances of a successful claim by putting together a watertight case. The Atlanta asbestos attorneys at Brandon Hornsby, PC, are also able to draw on past experience to give you an idea of your chances of success and even give you an idea of what sort of compensation payout you might expect based on the circumstances.

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