Managerial Finance Analysis Valuation

Question: 1. Dewhurst Plcfounded in 1919 is an independent supplier of components to the lift, keypad and rail industries. The company employs over 300 people in locations around the world. Dewhurst is known for its range of high quality pushbutton products (often sold under the Dupar brand). The companys pushbutton innovation in 1971 was the launch of the unique US81 Original Pushbutton. Following on from the success of the US81 the company has since focused heavily on pushbuttons and fixture products and now has a wide range of Braille and EN81-70 buttons. As well as having a significant presence in the lift industry, Dewhurst is also a major player in the keypad industry and supplies a wide range of keypad products for the ATM industry. The companys modern manufacturing plant is located in London, where the research and development facilities are also located with the latest Computer Aided Design equipment as well as test equipment such as shadowgraphs, endurance test equipment, environmental and dust chambers. The company has become a specialist in pushbutton design and production with extensive knowledge of hertzian stress design, QTC switch technology, pushgate switch technology and membrane enhancements. 2. BCU is a new private hospital in Birmingham that offers a range of cosmetic surgery. Figures for the hospital for 2015 are provided below and taking on some outsourcing from the state provider the NHS (National Health Service) is being considered. During 2015 the hospital charged patients 400 per patient per day for nursing care and a 5m turnover was reported. During 2015 40 beds were available for the 365 days of the year. The number of beds is regarded as bed capacity and this is agreed at the commencement of each year by the hospitals board of directors. The costs of running the hospital consist of allocated variable costs, fixed costs and direct staffing costs. The charges for variable costs such as catering and laundry are based on the number of patient days in hospital. Charges for fixed costs such as security, administration and rent are based on bed capacity (i.e. for 2015, 40 beds). Direct staffing costs are established from the personnel requirements applicable to particular levels of patient days. The tables presented below shown the break-down of the variable, fixed and staffing costs applicable to the hospital unit for 2015. Required Prepare marginal cost comprehensive statement of income to report the contribution per patient day cost unit, the overall contribution and the overall profit or loss. The break-even number of patient days, the Margin of safety as a percentage, the breakeven point in revenues for the hospital and comment on the financial return performance. The Birmingham NHS (National Health Service) is currently offering BCU a contract for 2,000 patient days at 300 per patient day. Evaluate and advise if this should be accepted in 2016 justifying with reasons your decision assuming the 2015 cost structures remain constant. 3. Human and intellectual capital form a significant part of the competitive advantage of twenty-first-century organisations, and yet remain unmeasured and non-disclosed in the annual report. Given the nature of these type of intangible assets involved, it is difficult for businesses and their stakeholders to properly assess an organisations effectiveness in terms of creating, transferring and deploying knowledge. This lack of visibility, coupled with an unstable and uncertain financial environment, can make it nearly impossible for organisations to articulate their true potential for creating long-term value. Human capital management remains inadequate. Critically discuss this statement within a cited academic essay. Answer: 1. In this given assignment, analysis of various financial data obtained from the profit and loss account and balance sheet given will be done. 5 years data is available based on which vertical and horizontal analysis of the financial statement is made. Based on these financial data various ratio are computed which shows the profitability, efficiency and liquidity aspects of the company. (a) Financial Analysis Horizontal analysis of Income Statement Here revenue means the amount received by the company from sale of its product. Cost of Sales (COS) is the purchase price of the goods sold by the company. Gross profit is derived by subtracting COS from sales (Nobles, Mattison and Matsumura 2013). Operating cost is the expenses incurred in running the business. Operating profit is the profit of the company from its operation. Finance cost is the cost of interest payment made by company. Profit before tax is derived by deducting finance cost and other expenditure from operating profit and by adding finance income with the operating profit. Profit after tax is derived by deducting tax expenses from profit before tax. Cost of sales is 47% of total revenue during the year then it increased during the year 2012 to 50% of revenue and then it has again decreased during the year 2013 and 2014 to 46% of revenue. Therefore, it can be said that in the year 2013 has increased a lot which may be due to the economic inflation. Operating cost was 39% of revenue in the year 2010 then it increased to 41 % in the year 2011 then it again fall to 39% in the year 2012 which again increased to 44% in the year 2013 and again falls in the year 2014 to 42% . Therefore, it can be said that operating cost has been very fluctuating during this 5-year span. . Gross profit has increased from 52.74% in the year 2010 to 52.94% in the year 2011 by only 0.20%. Again, it has fallen during the year 2012 to 49.65% and again increased to 53.59%. In the year 2013 and again decreased during the year 53.52% by only 0.07%, which will not affect the company as it, is tolerable. Operating profit 13% of revenue in the year 2010, which has fallen to 11% in the year 2011, stayed at that rate in 2012, and again decreased during the year 2013 to 6%, which again increased during the year 11%, which is a good sign for the company. Finance cost 0% during the year 2010 and 2011, which has increased to 1% in the year 2012 and stayed at that level in 2013 and 2014. Profit before tax was 13% during the year 2010, which decreased to 10% during the year 2011 and again increased to 11% in the year 2012, and then it suddenly falls to 5% in the year 2013 and finally it doubled in the year 2014 to 10%. Therefore, it can be said that profit before tax has fluctuated a lot during the 5 years time span. Profit after tax has followed the same trend as profit before tax, which is expected. It was 9% in the year 2010, and then it decreased to 7% in the year 2011 and stayed at that level in the year 2012, then it has decreased during the year 2013 to 2% which is due to the economic downturn bu the company revived itself in the next year and its PAT increased to 8%. Horizontal Analysis of Balance Sheet Non-current asset is the fixed and intangible asset of the company. Current asset are those asset, which can be easily converted into cash. Total asset is derived by summing up Current asset and non-current asset. Equity is the summation of shareholders fund and reserve and surplus. Long-term liability is the debentures and pension funds payable by the company (Hoskin, Fizzell and Cherry 2014). Current liability are those liability which is payable by the company within 12 months. Total liability is the summation of short-term and long-term liability. Shareholders fund, long-term liability and short-term liability taken together is known Total liability and equity. Vertical Analysis of Income Statement In this section, the difficulties in the various items of income statement are to be discussed. Revenue has increased up to the year 2012 and then it has again decreased during the year 2013 and again increased in 2014. The trend of cost of goods and operating cost sold is the same as Revenue. Operating profit has decreased in the year 2011, then it has increased in the year 2012 due to gain on disposal of 3994, and again it has decreased in the year 2013, which again increased in 2015. Profit before tax has followed the same trend as operating profit. Income tax has increased up to the year 2012 and then decreased during the year 2013 and 2014 due to lower profit before tax. Vertical Analysis of Balance Sheet Total noncurrent asset has increased in 2011, and then it has again decreased during the year 2012 to 2014. Total current asset has fluctuated during the year 2010 to 2014 i.e. every alternative year it has either increased or decreased. Total asset has increased up to the year 2012 and then it has decreased during the year 2013 and again increased during the year 2014. Noncurrent liability has have only pension which have increased up to the year 11856 and then it has decreased during the year 2013 and again increased in the year 2014. Total current liabilities have also followed the same trend as of Noncurrent liability. Equity shareholders fund has increased in the year 2011, and then it has decreased during the year 2012 and again increased during the year 2013 and 2014. Financial Ratios Analysis of various ratios for 5 years is given below: Table 1 RATIO ANALYSIS 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 Profitability Ratio Gross Profit 53.52% 53.59% 49.65% 52.94% 52.74% Interest Coverage 11.65 5.67 16.91 32.53 32.47 Operating Profit Ratio 20.76% 11.08% 22.11% 20.14% 24.98% Profit before tax (PBT) 10.32% 5.08% 10.56% 10.41% 13.05% Profit after tax (PAT) 8.46% 2.09% 7.28% 6.97% 9.43% Return On capital employed (ROCE) 21.44% 10.15% 25.24% 19.86% 22.89% Return On Asset (ROA) 9.63% 2.36% 9.44% 7.87% 10.34% Liquidity Ratio Working capital or Current Ratio 4.19 3.81 3.84 3.14 4.50 Acid Test or Quick ratio 3.48 3.08 3.08 2.35 3.60 Efficiency Ratio Asset Turnover 1.14 1.13 1.30 1.13 1.10 Receivable Collection or debtors turnover 10.36 9.59 10.63 9.72 9.22 Payables or creditors turnover 4.01 3.72 4.65 3.74 4.13 Inventory Turnover 10.36 9.59 10.63 9.72 9.22 Capital Gearing ( since there is no debt in this company) NA NA NA NA NA Cash Cycle 154.96 154.00 118.40 156.92 144.30 Cost Analysis Cost Of Goods Sold % on Revenue 46.48% 46.41% 50.35% 47.06% 47.26% Operating Cost % on Revenue 41.77% 44.25% 38.87% 41.17% 39.25% (b) Narrative Interpretation From the above Table-1, it can be seen that Gross profit ratio has remained within the range of 49% - 53% during the 5 years period. It has not changed much so it can be said that the revenue of the company has not grown too much during the past 5 years. Interest coverage is very much high for the company as the standard ratio is 2.5. It means the company has a good capability to pay its interest (Vogel 2014). This company used to have a 32.47 interest coverage ratio in 2010, which is reduced to 11.65 in 2014 still tough it is very high. Operating Profit ratio for the company has decreased 24.98% in 2010 to 11.08% in 2013 and again it has increased to 20.76% in 2014, which shows that operating expenses of the company has increased during this 5 years period. PBT and PAT of the company has decreased during the year 2010 2013 and then it has again increased during 2014 which is a good sign for the company as it can be seen from the trend of ratios that 2013 was a down turn for the company (Whitecotton, Libby and Phillips 2013). ROCE and ROA has fluctuated during past 5 years which means that the management of the company has not been efficient in generating earning on its capital employed and Asset. This must be taken into account immediately by the company to increase its efficiency. Current ratio and Acid test ratio of the company is well above 2 which is a standard ratio for a company. it is danger sign for the company if it falls below 1. Therefore, it can be said that the liquidity position of the company is very excellent and it has the ability to pay of its debts easily (Saaty and Peniwati, 2013). Asset turnover of the company has remained within the range of 1.10 1.14 within the 5 years period, which means the company, is not efficiently using its asset to generate revenue. The higher the ratio the better is for the company and asset turnover of 1.14 is considered as significantly low for a company. The company collects its receivable from debtors almost 10 times in a year and it pays to its creditors almost 4 times in a year, which is a good sign for a company. Cash Cycle means the number of days required in the process of purchasing the raw material converting into salable condition and collection after sale. This is currently 155 days for this company this average as per industry (Healy and Palepu 2012). The company keep 1/10th of its salable units as its stock in hand for its safety which is a good practice from the view point of the company. 2. In this section Marginal costing which includes BEP, MOS and new proposal acceptance will be discussed. (a) Marginal costing In this given assignment, marginal costing concept will be discussed in depth and its impact on the operation and profitability off the hospital (BCU) is discussed below. Table-2 Marginal Costing Statement Occupancy 12500 Total () Per unit Revenue 5000000 400 Less: Variable Cost Catering 400000 32 Laundry 185000 14.8 Medical Material 675000 54 Contribution 3740000 299.2 Less: Slab Fixed cost Supervisor 140000 11.2 Nurse 260000 20.8 Assistant 250000 20 Less: Fixed Cost Security 75000 6 Administrative 700000 56 Rent 900000 72 Profit 1415000 113.2 From the above statement in Table-2, it can be seen that the hospital is currently running at a total profit of 1415000 and a per unit profit of 113.2 which is a very good sign for the trustee and management of the hospital. (b) BEP and MOS analysis Analysis of Profit Volume ratio (PV), Breakeven point (BEP), Margin of safety (MOS) will give a clear picture of the standing and financial position of the hospital, which is given below: Profit Volume Ratio 74.80% Units Euro Break Even Point 7771 3108289 Margin of safety (MOS) 37.83% PV ratio is derived using this given formula: Contribution/Sales*100, where contribution means Sales minus variable cost (Kaplan and Atkinson 2015). It shows that variable cost is only 25.2% of sales. Higher the PV ratio the better is for the hospital. BEP is derived using this given formula: Units: Fixed Cost/Contribution per unit Value: Fixed Cost/PV Ratio or BEP(units)*Revenue per unit. In case of this hospital, BEP (units) is 7771 whereas its actual occupancy is 12500 (85.6%). Therefore, it can be said that BCU has outperformed in this year. MOS is derived using this given formula: (Sales BEP Sales)/Sales*100 In case of BCU, Its MOS is 37.83%, which is very high as compared to hospital industry. Therefore, it can be said that there is no chance of shut down in recent years. (c) Analysis of New Proposal Analysis of the new proposal from NHS is discussed below: New Proposal Revenue 600000 Relevant Cost Variable Cost Catering 64000 Laundry 29600 Medical Material 108000 Opportunity Cost 0 Discretionary Fix Cost Supervisor 0 Nurse 78000 Assistant 50000 Net Gain 270400 If there is ideal capacity and new proposal is to be accepted then only relevant cost is to be taken into account (DRURY 2013). Relevant cost comprises of variable cost, opportunity cost and Discretionary fixed cost. In case of BCU, there is no opportunity cost so variable cost of 2000 patient days and discretionary fix cost due to salary paid to extra 3 nurses and 4 assistants since number of patient has increased above 13000 is to be taken into account. Since the company has a net gain of 270400 from the new proposal, it should be accepted. 3. Human and intellectual capital means the value of intangibles in the company, their relationship of which intellectual property is a component. It is used in evaluating the intellectual and human wealth of the company, which cannot be determined properly, and due to this reason their impact on the company remains un justified (Scafarto, Ricci and Scafarto 2016). These are not directly visible tangible assets. Intellectual property comprises of Structural, Strategic alliance, Human and Relational capital. Human capital gives values to the employees of the organization whereas Relationship capital takes into account the customer relationship (Machlup 2014). Structural capital focuses on the infrastructure of the company whereas Human and Relational capital deals with the external relationship. Human capital is inherent capability of an individual and organization has no control over it. It can only be improved by the organization with proper training. Therefore, it can be said that if an efficient employee leaves an organization then human capital also leaves the organization. It also shows that how an organization effectively manages its human capital for achieving its goals and objectives. Structural capital focuses on trademarks and patents together with organizational image, information system and softwares. Because of its diversified field, it is further categorized into process, innovation capital and organization. Process capital is the techniques and procedure to improve the delivery system of services and goods. Relationship capital is separated from human and structural capital since it the central importance area of an organization. Often relationship with customer is referred as goodwill of the company but will not properly accounted properly for in the books of accounts of the organization. For an organization to survive and thrive in the competitive market they need to capitalize their intellectual and human capital. Organization tends to transfer their intellectual capital to their subsidiaries to avoid corporate tax. Audit of intellectual capital is required to explore the opportunities available within and outside the organization References DRURY, C.M., 2013.Management and cost accounting. Springer. Healy, P. and Palepu, K., 2012.Business Analysis Valuation: Using Financial Statements. Cengage Learning. Hoskin, R.E., Fizzell, M.R. and Cherry, D.C., 2014.Financial accounting: a user perspective. Wiley Global Education. Kaplan, R.S. and Atkinson, A.A., 2015.Advanced management accounting. PHI Learning. Machlup, F., 2014.Knowledge: Its Creation, Distribution and Economic Significance, Volume III: The Economics of Information and Human Capital(Vol. 3). Princeton university press. Nobles, T.L., Mattison, B.L. and Matsumura, E.M., 2013.Horngren's Financial Managerial Accounting: Pearson New International Edition. Pearson Higher Ed. Saaty, T.L. and Peniwati, K., 2013.Group decision making: drawing out and reconciling differences. RWS publications. Scafarto, V., Ricci, F. and Scafarto, F., 2016. Intellectual capital and firm performance in the global agribusiness industry: the moderating role of human capital.Journal of Intellectual Capital,17(3). Vogel, H.L., 2014.Entertainment industry economics: A guide for financial analysis. Cambridge University Press. Whitecotton, S., Libby, R. and Phillips, F., 2013.Managerial accounting. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

The Great Khalid by Khalid free essay sample

Khalid is an American singer and songwriter who made his debut with his first single â€Å"Location† released in February of last year, which had listeners including myself hooked ever since. Following his first single, Khalid released an album of fifteen songs filled with a whole plate of emotions. He uses this album as his outlet for many relatable feelings, loneliness and high school raging sessions. His voice throughout the whole album remains soft and smooth, not to mention he takes emotions that would often be considered heavy hearted and made them into something truly impassioned. From the beginning to the end of this album we see a theme of complex relationships. The song â€Å"Cold Blooded† about a shaky young romance, written about his inner feelings and blind love. Another example on this album is â€Å"Young Dumb and Broke† talks about his highschool friends and how this time of life shaped him. We will write a custom essay sample on The Great Khalid by Khalid or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In particular, this song makes me feel like clouds going away on a rainy day when the sun finally comes out. Its very understandable because it puts thoughts into a song and is extremely relieving in this sense. Another theme we see is freedom and moving on. He wrote â€Å"Let’s Go† to describe moving on from graduating and opportunity awaiting. He also talks about relieving himself from the past, nd growth in his own life. Another example of freedom would be the song â€Å"8TEEN† written about his whole eighteenth year and how is created him into who he is becoming. I personally find these songs very relatable and they make me feel as if im putting my head and arms out the window while driving and listening to music on the highway. The whole album is full of emotions of different sorts rather than steering towards one of the other, I wouldn’t put it in a â€Å"sad† songs category nor a â€Å"happy† songs because it is more than just those g eneric words. The album is called â€Å"American Teen† which also happens to be the name of the first song. The tone of this song is somewhat welcoming almost. It talks about his whole life and youth. It creates a basis for the rest of the songs and brings them altogether in this sense.In my eyes, this album is different then anything I have ever heard because of all the attached feelings that comes with it. Besides the upbeat songs there are also some gloomy songs, including â€Å"Coaster† which is based on putting his emotions to the side and avoiding a situation that has to do with his relationship and the issues that come with it. In conclusion, out of all the music I have listened to being a teenager,this album is my absolute favorite and I highly recommend everybody give it a listen.

Prototype Theory essays

Prototype Theory essays The "prototype theory" was proposed by Rosch (1978), who suggested that when people categorize objects they match them against "the prototype", i.e. an "ideal exemplar", which contains the most representative features inside the category. Objects that do not share all the characteristics of the prototype are still members of the category but not prototypical ones. She argued that prototypes represent a "basic level of categorization", e.g. "chair", as opposed to a "superordinate", e.g. "furniture" and a "subordinate" level, e.g. "kitchen chair". The prototype theory has been particularly fruitful in providing several researchers with a convenient explanation of some phenomena in studies of vocabulary acquisition and teaching, mental lexicon, as well as in studies of cognitive linguistics and linguistic data. Rosch's concept of prototype served Griffiths (1986) to illustrate "the nature of the mental representations children have for their nominals" (p. 295). He focuses on dissimilarities between the language systems of a child and an adult, paying special attention to the so-called "overextension", i.e. covering many meanings with one word only. It is exemplified by presenting the situations in which a little girl, R., applied the word "shoe" to denote "brown beetle", "doll's arm", "sock", "feet", "shoe". The author's explanation of this phenomenon is as follows: My version of prototypes theory ... would attribute to R's mind something like videotape recordings of one or more shoe-involving episodes from her life ... she compared what she was currently experiencing with episodes in her mental "video" library and found that current input was closer to something in the shoe collection than to anything else. (p. 298) The similarity was probably a matter of visual resemblance (colour of the beetle, shape of the sock and feet) and action (arm being fitted to a body). Just like Griffiths, Cook (1991) is also concerned with vocab...

Americas Prison Population Professor Ramos Blog

Americas Prison Population The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities and 3,163 local jails (Wagner and Sawyer). America is by far the leader in people incarcerated into prison systems. There are another 840,000 people on parole and a staggering 3.7 million people on probation (Wagner and Sawyer). People look to America as the land of the free, yet we have so many of our citizens incarcerated and we need to look to the possibilities of why this is. We can start by looking into the growth of juvenile crimes and the punishments behind them. â€Å"The divergence of trends of juvenile and adult violent crime in the last decade represents a potentially alarming development in the fight against crime. The rate at which juveniles were arrested for violent crime rose 79 percent between 1978 and 1993, almost three times the increase over that time period for adults (Levitt 1156).† Each state has different systems when dealing with juvenile and adult criminals but the age majority at which an individual may be tried at an adult court varies between 16 and 19 years of age. So, depending on the crime, a 16 year old teenager may be tried as an adult. â€Å"There are sharp changes in crime rates associated with the transition from the juvenile to the adult court. In the year following the attainment of the age of majority, states that punish adults particularly harshly relative to juveniles see violent crime rates fall by almost 25 p ercent and property crime 10-15 percent relative to states in which adult punishment are relatively lenient (Levitt 1181).† This brings us to another factor we must look at when talking about over population in our prison systems. Are laws being created for more severe prison sentences? â€Å"One of the most significant trends in criminal justice is the growing emphasis on imprisonment. Legislators have continuously responded to constituent fears by establishing longer sentences or mandatory minimum sentences for wide varieties of crimes and criminals. As a result, United States prison populations have increased nearly 400% in the twenty-five years from 1968 to 1993 (Marvell 696).† According to Michael Tonry the Director of the Institute of Criminology at Cambridge University, â€Å"The large majorities often express the view that sentencing is too lenient, and that people demand that criminal punishment be made tougher. On this account, elected officials have merely respected the public will, and imprisonment rates have risen as a result (420).† In other terms, we look to punish criminals s everely out of fear in the hopes that the criminal doesn’t repeat any crimes anytime soon. But maybe we’re right. Overall, 67.8% of the 404,638 state prisoners released in 2005 in 30 states were arrested within 3 years of release, and 76.6% were arrested within 5 years of release (Durose et al. 1). Over three quarters of the prisoners released in 2005 in 30 states had been re-incarcerated back into our prison systems adding on top of all the new juvenile crimes being tried as adults. The statics show within 5 years of release, 84.1% of inmates who were age 24 or younger at release were arrested, compared to 78.6% of inmates 25 to 39 and 69.2% of those age 40 or older (Durose et al. 1). Most inmates are heading right back into prison within 5 years of their release and so we need to look to factors that might impact this. â€Å"Among the 404,638 prisoners released in 30 states in 2005, 31.8% were in prison for a drug offense, 29.8% for a property offense, 25.7% for a violent offense, and 12.7% for a public order offense (Durose et al. 1).† It isn’t as simple to think all your problems will go away once you’re released from prison. You now have a criminal background which makes it much tougher to find jobs and pass background checks. It is these statistics that encourage repeat offenders such as drug dealers and thieves to go right back into their old habits. Some just looking to it as a means of survival knowing their odds of being arrested again were against them. â€Å"Drug arrests give residents of over-policed communities criminal records, which then reduce employment prospects and increase the likelihood of longer sentences for any future offenses (Wagner and Sawyer)†. It is not only you commit the crime you do the time. It is if you re-commit the crime you are now doi ng longer time. Just adding on to longer prison sentences in already over populated prison system. â€Å"More than 90 percent of prisoners are men, incarceration rates for blacks are about eight times higher than those for whites, and prison inmates average less than 12 years of completed schooling† (Petit and Western 151). Over the years research shows that prisons are filled not only with uneducated inmates but that most prisons are predominantly filled with black males. We can look at poor education in low income areas as a cause and effect and this can point towards why there is an increase in juvenile crimes. Future politicians, Police officers, Correctional officers, Parole officers, Judges, Lawyers are just some of the many these over populated prison systems impact. We keep seeing growth in prisons and less in schools. We have more criminals incarcerated than any other country in the world and we don’t even hold the world’s largest population. We need to look at crimes and their punishments and install proper sentences and infrastructures to help rehabilitate prison inmates while being incarcerated and upon release. We need to target juvenile crimes at the source and figure punishments accordingly instead of preparing juveniles for prison. We must not keep building prisons to fill the beds, America must look deeper into its prison policies and laws and develop new methods to keep its citizens out of jails and committing repeat offenses. Durose, Mathew et al. â€Å"Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 30 States in 2005: Patterns from 2005 to 2010†. Bureau of Justice Statistics. April 2014. NCJ 244205. Pp. 1-30. Levitt, Steven, â€Å"Juvenile Crime and Punishment†. The Journal of Political Economy. Vol. 106, Issue 6, December 1998. Pp 1156-1185. JSTOR. http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittJuvenileCrimePunishment1998.pdf Marvell, Thomas B. â€Å"Sentencing Guidelines and Prison Population Growth.† The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. 1973, vol. 85, no. 3, 1995, pp. 696–709. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1144046. Petit, Becky and Western Bruce. â€Å"Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in U.S. Incarceration†. American Sociological Association. Vol. 69, No. 2 April 2004, pp. 151-169. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3593082 Tonry, Michael. â€Å"Why Are U.S. Incarceration Rates So High?† Crime Delinquency, Vol. 45, No. 4, October 1999. Pp. 419-437. https://uakron.edu/dotAsset/1662091.pdf Wagner, Peter and Sawyer, Wendy. â€Å"Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2018†. Prison Policy Initiative. March 2018. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2018.html Eric Kazos English 010 3pm

About physical therapy Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

About physical therapy - Personal Statement Example My father gave me a simple reply, â€Å"Because they need it.† My father was never a man of many words so I knew that I needed to seek the answer to my question from my cousin. His reply was to set the career path that I would eventually follow. He explained to me that the people in the clinic had all been physically injured either by playing sports, a work accident, or just a stroke of bad luck. Their injury damaged their body physically so they could not move like a normal person would. Pointing out the others who had their arms in slings or casts, and some people with amputated arms, he told me that â€Å"They all need help in learning how to move like a normal person. That is what I help them with.† Since we had time to spare before having to leave, I intently watched my cousin do his job. Trying to understand what exactly it was that he was trying to do for these people. When I asked him what he called what he was doing to them, he responded â€Å"Physical therapy†. I told myself that I would remember those two words because I wanted to be like my cousin when I grew up. So while I spent my time being a voracious reader, I made sure to read as many books as i could about the foundation of a physical therapists career aside from many other book genres that I liked to read. I made sure to spend as much free time as I could throughout my high school years observing my cousin in his workplace. Learning as much as I could and asking as many questions that I could about what he was doing to the patients. I will always be grateful to him for never tiring of answering the thousand and one questions that I kept asking him. I became such a regular fixture at his clinic that even the patients already knew me by name and some even considered me a friend already. When I was not observing at the physical therapy clinic, I spent whatever time I could doing volunteer work for the needy and less fortunate in my city. One of the places that I volunteered at

Astronomy assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Astronomy assignment 2 - Essay Example 1. Mass transfer or overflow – a process that could have occurred in a close binary system where one high-mass star beginning the end of its life expands and sheds off its outer gas to the other, originally a low-mass star, as a result of the latter’s gravitational pull. The originally low-mass star grows in size and becomes a high-mass star (Heggie & Hut 2003). Thus, Blue Stragglers have live longer than the usual high-mass star. 2. Collision theory – Collision could occur between single-binary or binary-binary stars encounters in a cluster which will produce a single body which will have a mass twice or more than that of the turn-off mass (Heggie & Hut2003. Bennett, Jeffrey and Megan Donahue, Nicholas Schneider and Mark Voit. The Cosmic Perspective, Fifth Edition. http://www.coursesmart.com/mycoursesmart?page=0&__myxmlid=9780321542632#X2ludGVybmFsX0Jvb2tJbmZvQWpheFBhbmVsP3BhZ2U9JnhtbGlkPTk3ODAzMjE1NDI2MzI= , pp 536, 566,

Assessments for Early Childhood Programs Essay Example for Free

Assessments for Early Childhood Programs Essay William J. Wilson once said, â€Å"The person who scored well on an SAT will not necessarily be the best doctor or the best lawyer or the best businessman. These tests do not measure character, leadership, creativity, or perseverance†. Why do we test students? What is the purpose of assessments? Do these tests and assessments benefit the students? These are questions educators have been asking for years. It is impossible for one to determine a child’s academic abilities based solely on a test. Yet there still needs to be some form of assessments performed in order to evaluate the academic level each student has reached. But how much assessing is too much? How heavily do educators rely on the results of these assessments? The main issues, when it comes to assessing early childhood students, are the consequences of the assessment results and how they affect the child. According to The National Academies of Sciences, there are two key principles that support the success of assessment. The first is that the purpose of an assessment should be a guide for assessment decisions. â€Å"The purpose for any assessment must be determined and clearly communicated to all stake- holders before the assessment is designed or implemented. Most important, assessment designed for programs should not be used to assess individual children. Because different purposes require different kinds of assessments, the purpose should drive assessment design and implementation decisions† (The National Academies of Sciences, 2008). The second principle is that any assessment performed should be completed in a â€Å"coherent system of health, educational, and family support services that promote optimal development for all children. Assessment should be an integral part of a coherent system of early childhood care and education that includes a range of services and resources† (The National Academies of Sciences, 2008). These two principles explain the main purpose of why assessing is important and how assessments should be conducted. After having an understanding of the purpose of assessments, why is it so important to begin evaluations at such a young age? What is the purpose of evaluating infants and toddlers? Author Sue Wortham explains evaluating toddlers and infants determine whether the child is developing normally or if they show any signs of delay and need assistance. All in all, the main purpose of assessment is to benefit the child (Wortham, p. 32). The NAEYC believes that during a child’s early years, evaluating and assessing their development should be the primary focus. They want to study how young children grown and learn. All the â€Å"results of assessment are used to inform the planning and implementation of experiences, to communicate with the child’s family, and to evaluate and improve teachers’ and program’s effectiveness† (Wortham, p.34). Teachers also use assessment results to in order to plan their curriculum accordingly. So exactly do assessments search for? Assessments look not only for what the child is already capable of doing independently but also what they can do with the help of a teacher or another student (Wortham, p. 35). So how are they assessed exactly? There are many different assessments given to children across the U. S. everyday. These may be administered orally or as written works, such as questionnaires, surveys, or tests. These may include: standardized tests, observations, checklists, rating scales, rubrics, interviews, or portfolios. Each of these serve a different purpose in order to give different pieces of information needed to evaluate the child in question. Standardized tests, though many disagree with them, are meant to measure individual characteristics. Observations, on the other hand, are one of the most effective ways to measure students’ characteristics. When children are young, it can be hard at times to determine if there are any developmental delays (Wortham, p. 39). Developmental checklists, or scopes, are mainly used at all levels of education. These checklists are lists of the learning objectives that have been established by the teacher in order to keep track of their learning and development. Items on a checklist are rated with a negative or positive response from the teacher. Rating scales, unlike checklists, provide measurement on a continuum and are used when a collection of criteria is needed to attain specific information. Another form of assessment teachers commonly use is Rubrics. Rubrics were created to â€Å"evaluate authentic and performance assessments† (Wortham, p. 41). Rubrics, like rating scales, have a range of criteria that must be met. However, unlike rating scales, rubrics can be used to not only determine the quality of performance required, but are also used to assign grades. Rubrics make it easy for students to understand what is expected and is makes it easier for teachers to grade assignments. The final types of assessments that are most frequently used are performance and portfolio assessments. These evaluations might be administered through interviews given directly by the teacher in order to understand the child’s thinking and understanding (Wortham, p. 41). Teachers may present these evaluations through directed assignments, activities, or games. The performance results are typically kept in a student or teacher portfolio. These portfolios contain samples of student’s work and are used as a sort of progress report card. Keeping detailed reports of student’s work in the portfolios help teachers keep track of their student’s progress and help determine which areas of learning are lacking attention (Wortham, p. 41). Overall, according to Wortham, these tests, whether administered to an individual child or a group of students, are meant to determine a student’s â€Å"abilities, achievements, aptitudes, interests, attitudes, values, and personality characteristics† (Wortham, p.39). Now having an understanding of the different types of assessments used to evaluate students and the purpose, let us turn to the negative and positive effects of these evaluations. It is crucial for educators to administer tests and evaluations carefully, because it they are poorly articulated, it can lead to decisions that are unfair or unclear, and they may do harm to programs, teachers, and, most importantly, children (Snow, C. E. Van Hemel, S. B. , p. 341-342). Evaluations and assessments are not meant to punish a child, and therefore, should never be overseen lightly. It is important that the information gathered outweighs any negative effects. Editors of Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How, Catherine E. Snow and Susan B. Van Hemel, explain that â€Å"although the same measure may be used for more than one purpose, prior consideration of all potential purposes is essential, as is careful analysis of the actual content of the assessment instrument. Direct examination of the assessment items is important because the title of a measure does not always reflect the content† (Snow, C. E. Van Hemel, S. B. , p. 346). So what are some negative effects? Negative consequences of assessment findings may include program de-funding, closing a center, firing a teacher, mislabeling a child, or a reduction in program resources (The National Academies of Sciences, 2008). These effects, such as mislabeling a student, can follow students for the rest of their education career. Once a child is entered into a program, it can be difficult at time for teachers to look past that label. Children all develop at different his or her own pace. No one child will develop and learn the same way as another child. They all grow up and develop at different stages. Yet educational theorists have been able to observed and gather enough information to conclude that children, if divided in age groups, do tend to follow a certain development pattern. The problem is, it is hard to determine which children are the outliers in these results without carefully administering proper assessments. Assessments are not used to necessarily judge student or punish them. Their main purpose is to help students, teachers, and parents. So what are some positive effects of assessment and evaluations? Students that benefit from assessments and evaluations are those that are properly observed and tested. Teachers also benefit from the use of assessments because it helps them create an appropriate curriculum for their students. Evaluating children at a young age can have a positive effect if a delay or disability is in fact found, and because it was caught early, the student has a better chance of exceeding their potential in school. Catching developmental delays or disabilities at a young age is the same as finding cancer at an early stage in the sense that the earlier the cancer is found; the chances of survival are greater. Assessment results are used to plan for instruction, evaluate instructional programs, and report student progress. These are all positive results of assessments. Without the results of assessments and test, how can educators determine what to teach their students? Evaluations, if planned and administered properly, can be more beneficial than harmful. Unfortunately, not all teachers evaluate children fairly or appropriately. So it is important for parents to stay involved in their children’s education in the event that the results of an evaluation do not match the potential of their child. Parents should know the norms and abnormalities of their child’s behavior. Therefore, it is always beneficial to the child for parents and teachers to communicate. This way if a child is acting up in class, and the teacher notifies the parent, the parent may confirm any fears right away by simply saying, â€Å"that isn’t like him† or â€Å"he’s just nervous†. Avoiding drastic measures and not jumping to conclusions is the proper way to evaluate a child fairly. What are the predicted long-term benefits to Early Childhood Assessments? Are assessments and student evaluations accurate? Should teachers be required to assess and evaluate students as much as they already do? These are just a few of the questions that plagued educators for years. Too much assessing has placed so much pressure on students and teachers, inevitably taking away a child’s desire to learn for the sake of learning. The purpose of assessments and evaluations is a great concept, but placing too much pressure and emphasis on the test results is tainting the original purpose of learning. References Bers, T. H. Mittler, M. L. (1994). New Directions for Community Colleges. Assessment Testing Myths and Realities: A Critical Review of Student Assessment Options, 69-83. Brink, M. (2002). Involving Parents in Early Childhood Assessment: Perspectives from an Early Intervention Instructor. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(4), 251-7. Retrieved from Education Full Text database Early, D. M. , McKenna, M. , Slentz, K. L. (2008). A Guide to Assessment in Early Childhood; Infancy to Age Eight. Washington State: Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The National Academies of Sciences (2008). Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, And How. Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www. bocyf. org/head_start_brief. pdf. Early Learning Standards Task Force and Kindergarten Assessment Work Group. (2005). Early Childhood Assessment For Children From Birth To Age 8 (Grade 3). Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania’s Departments of Education and Public Welfare. Snow, C. E. Van Hemel, S. B. (2008). Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, And How. Washington, D. C. : The National Research Council Of The National Academies Wortham, S. (2012). Assessment in Early Childhood Education, (6th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.