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This is the first extensive comparative study that systematically illustrates how Galen tailors his rhetorical strategies according to the genre of literature he is using. This study is part of a growing body of literature which attempts to address the over-arching question posed by Prof. van der Eijk in Toward a Rhetoric of Ancient Scientific Discourse-'How was scientific knowledge expressed and communicated in the ancient world?'. The particular aim of this study is to provide insight into the interrelationship between scientific knowledge, genre and rhetoric in the Galenic Corpus. To illustrate this, six Galenic texts were selected as exemplars of different types of scientific communication: protreptic, prolegomena, medical commentary, isagogic text, thesis and scientific treatise. Each exemplar is systematically analysed in respect to its understood objective, participants (author/audience), structure, language, level of explanation and the kinds of proofs used. This analysis is informed both by modern linguistic theory as well as by ancient definitions and practices of the aforementioned types of discourse. The format of this study lends itself to drawing comparisons between the aforementioned texts. This study illustrates how Galen is a skilled communicator who adjusts his authorial posture, arguments and stylistic register to a broad range of communicative situations and audiences.

Schools seeking to increase student achievement often employ professional development strategies to institute instructional reforms, yet research offers little guidance on how leadership behaviors might support professional development aimed at district reform and instructional change. This qualitative case study examined the following research questions in a suburban Massachusetts district: (1) What is the role of leadership in an initiative to change literacy instruction in a small, suburban district? (a) How is leadership distributed, if at all, in this initiative? (b) What leadership behaviors, if any, do teachers and administrators view as contributing to or limiting to positive instructional change in the literacy initiative? Who is exercising these leadership behaviors? (c) What leadership behaviors support or limit engagement in the initiative? (2) How, if at all, do the professional development strategies utilized in this literacy initiative build capacity for teacher and administrator growth and further change? Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with six district leaders, including four elementary principals, the superintendent, and literacy coach; observations of Literacy Leadership Team meetings and study groups; a written teacher questionnaire; and a reflexive journal. Findings revealed that participants favorably viewed the reform-oriented professional development activities and reported that instructional changes had occurred in their schools. Discrepant perspectives on leadership affected its successful distribution. Time and communication concerns surfaced deeper, adaptive challenges related to the collective understanding of the initiative's vision and priorities, the enactment of instructional leadership by principals and teachers, and trust between stakeholders. Recommendations that arose from the findings provide guidance to the district about how to build professional capacity, shared meaning, distributed leadership, sustainability, and trust. [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.]

In 1973, the state of Florida implemented the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP). The program was developed to distribute available funds to public school districts in a more equitable manner than the Minimum Foundation Plan it replaced. Almost immediately, the Florida Education Finance Program came under attack as less equitable and unnecessarily complex. The Florida Education Finance Program provides funding to local school districts based on the number students and the types of educational programs in which they are enrolled. Through a system of program cost factors and district cost differentials the Florida Education Finance Program adjusts for the type of students and the economic environment the district serves. But does it distribute funds equitably? This study was designed to answer one central research question: "Does the Florida Education Finance Program equitably distribute available funding to public school districts in the state?" In order to answer this question, a three phase method was implemented. In the first phase a chronological development of Florida's school finance plan was developed. The second phase employed research based statistical tools to gauge the distributional equity of Florida's mechanism for distributing available funds for Florida public school districts. The final phase used Pearson product-moment correlations to gauge the fiscal neutrality of the system. The study is patterned after a similar study completed in 1982 that called into question the distributional equity of the Florida Education Finance Program. The coefficient of variation, federal range ratio, McLoone index, Verstegen index, and Gini coefficient are all research based measures of distributional equity that are resistant to inflationary pressure. Each of these measures of distributional equity yielded the same results. They showed a high level of equity in the distribution of available funding to Florida's public school districts through the Florida Education Finance Program. This study left open the questions of adequacy and the role of the state in funding public education in the state of Florida to future study. [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.]

Schools seeking to increase student achievement often employ professional development strategies to institute instructional reforms, yet research offers little guidance on how leadership behaviors might support professional development aimed at district reform and instructional change. This qualitative case study examined the following research questions in a suburban Massachusetts district: 1. What is the role of leadership in an initiative to change literacy instruction in a small, suburban district? (a) How is leadership distributed, if at all, in this initiative? (b) What leadership behaviors, if any, do teachers and administrators view as contributing to or limiting to positive instructional change in the literacy initiative? Who is exercising these leadership behaviors? (c) What leadership behaviors support or limit engagement in the initiative? 2. How, if at all, do the professional development strategies utilized in this literacy initiative build capacity for teacher and administrator growth and further change? Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with six district leaders, including four elementary principals, the superintendent, and literacy coach; observations of Literacy Leadership Team meetings and study groups; a written teacher questionnaire; and a reflexive journal. Findings revealed that participants favorably viewed the reform- oriented professional development activities and reported that instructional changes had occurred in their schools. Discrepant perspectives on leadership affected its successful distribution. Time and communication concerns surfaced deeper, adaptive challenges related to the collective understanding of the initiative's vision and priorities, the enactment of instructional leadership by principals and teachers, and trust between stakeholders. Recommendations that arose from the findings provide guidance to the district about how to build professional capacity, shared meaning, distributed leadership, sustainability, and trust.