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This study explored school-based speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') use of iPads and apps for speech and language instruction, specifically for articulation, language, and vocabulary goals. A mostly quantitative-based survey was administered to approximately 2,800 SLPs in a K-12 setting; the final sample consisted of 189 licensed SLPs. Overall, findings indicated that SLPs used iPads for an average of 20 minutes to meet a variety of speech and language goals. Specifically, the results demonstrated that SLPS were less likely to use iPads for articulation goals than for language and vocabulary goals. The app most commonly used for articulation goals was Articulation Station, and Super Duper was most commonly used for language and vocabulary goals. iPad use among the SLPs did not vary based on demographic characteristics, including gender, education, work setting, and borough location. Furthermore, the following relationships were noted: (a) a positive relationship between support and vocabulary goals and behavior rewards, and (b) a positive relationship between behavior rewards and training. SLPs with higher iPad efficacy were more likely to use the iPad to meet students' articulation and language goals. Responses to open-ended items in the survey revealed a number of changes to SLPs' practice and service delivery. Reportedly, iPad and educational apps helped to make instruction more dynamic and interactive. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this study is to explore intelligence processes and procedures as they apply to organizational learning in higher education settings. This exploration seeks to identify key components and processes in higher education institutions that were previously identified in the research as important and integral to the discipline of intelligence, and therefore essential to organizational learning. The researcher employed a cross sectional research design with a mixed methods research methodology, employing interviews and surveys to address the research questions. Qualitative data collection was accomplished through a series of interviews with selected higher education leaders and administrators at three colleges in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Quantitative data collection was accomplished using a survey instrument administered to staff and faculty at the same colleges. The research produced a number of key findings: articulating, tracking, and providing feedback on information requirements is not a significant or important part of intelligence processes in the institutions studied; the information collection effort is decentralized; the results of the information collection effort rarely find their way to key decision-makers and there are no systematic processes in place to facilitate this information sharing; written formal procedures for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating information do not exist; a lack of systematic processes focused on reducing uncertainty and surprise within the colleges studied; there are no uniform or institution wide processes for integrating or using external information to assist in the strategic planning process; the colleges comprising this study evidence concrete learning practices and processes but to a lesser degree than institutions in other industry sectors. The main conclusions drawn from this research were that the absence of a formal process for formulating, articulating and disseminating intelligence requirements indicates that information collection will be poorly directed, unfocused, and lack priorities at these colleges. College leaders and decision-makers receive actionable information as a result of intelligence processes but they are not satisfied with the timeliness or quality of the product. This study's findings are an initial indicator of organizational learning deficiencies in higher education institutions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This qualitative ethnographic Linguistic Landscape (LL) study collected and analyzed ten individual "walking tour" interviews with residents of Memphis, Tennessee, exploring the personal thoughts and feelings about linguistic changes in the communities triggered by the LL. The researcher focused the participants' attention on multilingualism present on public signage and the emotional affects of the LL at the moment of seeing. The interviews were conducted in 2007 and 2008 and a follow-up was done in 2009. Multilingual and foreign language signs at the sites selected for the "walking tour" interviews were photographed and analyzed prior to the interviews. The interviews were tape recorded and later transcribed for analysis. This interactional sociolinguistic study examined the self-reported statements and discursive processes of the interaction and meaning making during the onsite interviews which were stimulated by focused attention and reference to the LL. Explicit statements were coded and tracked according to source of stimulation and then categorized for emotional or referential content. Responses and discourses were then categorized and examined within the discursive contexts of self-positioning and identity marking, empathy movements, and co-constructions of meanings. Contextualized meanings were discussed for each individual interview. The results showed Memphis in transition as evidenced by the LL which was never a neutral text but triggered a complex range of individual emotional responses. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study is an exploration of alternative teacher professional development. While using symbolic interactionism for a research lens, it characterizes the discursive practices commonly found in formal, informal, and blended-space speech communities based on the talk within a leadership-development program comprised of five female, church-based small group leaders. The author designed, facilitated, and researched the discourse accounting for the formal professional development design and informal discursive practices which comprised this blended-space speech community. The author provides an overview of the leadership-development program design along with the sociolinguistic research methods. The analysis describes both above-the-sentence and turn-by-turn discursive practices for the group's talk. This includes above-the-sentence discursive practices of managing the conversational floor, enacting discursive power, offering representations of reality, and maintaining appropriate relationships, as well as turn-by-turn practices of responding to questions, utilizing repetition, offering minimal responses, and overlapping turns. The author concludes that blended-space professional development, employing appropriate levels of formal and informal discursive practices, will support both professional and relational goals for teachers. Furthermore, the author suggests implications for designing, facilitating, and examining discourse for conversation-based professional development. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Local restaurant managers suggested ways for the Orcutt Union School District, California, to set up a centralized, self-service lunch program that has reduced labor and food costs. Instructions for ordering an information packet about the program from the district are provided. (MLF)