Parental Involvement, Poverty, and Student Achievement Essay

Current education reform is intended to influence higher student achievement. According to Hanushek (1997), the development of school reform is largely motivated by economic issues. Education reform becomes a meaningful topic on the national agenda when the National Commission on Excellence in Education issued a report, A Nation At Risk (1983). This report focused on the claim that a steady increase in mediocrity had overcome schools which impacted upon the economic competitiveness of the country. One example of this competitiveness was when the Soviet Union 1957 launched Sputnik. It was concluded that declines in educational performance were in large part the result of inadequacies in the way the educational process was conducted. The findings that follow, selected from a much more extensive list, reflect four important aspects of the educational process: content, expectations, time, and teaching. The United States government responded by beginning reform of how its educational system. As part of this process, all segments, including parent committees, were formed to give attention to the implementation of the recommendations of the report. The report further stated that reform should not only come from students, teachers, school boards, colleges and universities, local, state, and federal officials, teachers’ and administrators’ organizations, but also from parents themselves with interested in and responsibility for educational significance begin with the parent. Moreover, you bear a responsibility to participate actively in your child’s education. You should encourage more diligent study and discourage satisfaction with mediocrity and the attitude that says let it slide, monitor your child’s study; encourage good study habits; encourage your child to take more demanding rather than less demanding courses; nurture your child’s curiosity, creativity, and confidence; and be an active participant in the work of the schools. Above all, exhibit a commitment to continued learning in your own life. Finally, help your children understand that excellence in education cannot be achieved without intellectual and moral integrity coupled with hard work and commitment (p. 26) Henderson and Berla (1994) did extensive research linking parental involvement to student achievement. There are a variety of parenting practices that have been associated with positive student outcomes. Despite this research, Desimone (2001) contends that there is still no clear understanding of how patterns and effects of parental involvement differ across ethnic and income groups. Previous studies have shown that parent involvement patterns vary according to parental social, racial-ethnic, and economic characteristics (Catsambis & Garland, 1997), but the findings have been mixed. Several studies have reported that low income minority parents often have different beliefs about parents’ role in school involvement are less involved in school activities than higher income, non-minority parents (Delgado-Gaitan, 1991; Chavkin & Williams, 1993). Other studies, however, have demonstrated that the level of parent involvement by race-ethnicity (i. e. , Asian, African-American, Hispanic, and white) differs for only a few types of involvement and that minority parents have higher levels of involvement in certain areas than do white parents (Catsambis & Garland, 1997). Previous studies have reported that low-income minority parents often have different beliefs regarding parental roles in school involvement and are less involved (Chavkin & Williams, 1993). Comer and Haynes (1991) have hypothesized that low income and inner city minority students may be more positively affected by certain types of parent involvement than other students. According to them, in order for parental involvement programs to be successful, they need to be focused upon a school improvement process that is designed to create positive relationships that support the total development of children and not the traditional bureaucratic or authoritative school environment which is a less collaborative structure. Other theorists (Devaney, Ellwood, and Love, 1997; Lewit, Terman, & Behrman, 1997) suggests that parental involvement may not be as effective in improving student achievement for low income children as for children from middle class homes. Because the large number of risk factors that impact upon children living in poverty, including health, safety, and housing, the role of parental involvement in schools in explaining academic outcomes for those children may be significantly less than for their peers who do not experience as many negative environment influences. Desimone (2001) suggests that race-ethnicity and other background characteristics can be strong mediators in the effects of various types of parental actions and the impact they have on student achievement. While work in this area is limited, there is little information that compares the effects of multiple forms of parental involvement across several racial/ethnic and income groups. McNeal’s (2001) study investigated the relationships between parent involvement and socioeconomic status. Findings indicated that parental involvement was an important factor in explaining behavioral outcomes (such as truancy and dropping out) but not cognitive outcomes (such as science achievement), with the greatest support for parent child discussion and involvement in parent-teacher organizations. He contends that there have been inconsistencies with the findings linking parental involvement to academic achievement. The contradictions likely were related to one of the following weaknesses in research. The first condition was the use of perception measures by teachers rather than direct reports by students and/or parents. Another was a failure to fully conceptualize parent involvement into its constituent parts. The last was not fully assessing the extent to which parental involvement differently affects academic achievement by social class. The three shortcomings can be improved upon but parent involvement has little effect on student achievement because it is a cognitive outcome and parental involvement affects behavioral outcomes. Reginald Clark’s research shares findings from a body of research on closing achievement gaps in urban school communities (Ferguson, Clark, & Stewart, 2002). In Clark documents the importance of five influential factors for improved students achievement, especially among disadvantages urban students. The first factor is described as the teacher’s expectations and actions in the classroom. The second is amount of students’ weekly participation in high-yield in and out of school activities. High-yield out of school activities include: leisure reading, writing, studying, and participation in community and school clubs or programs, and playing organized sports. High-yield in school activities include participating in classroom lessons as well as structured leisure activities. The third factor is the quality of students’ participation in and out of school activities. The fourth factor is parental beliefs and expectations. The fifth factor is parent-teacher communication. Ferguson, Clark and Stewart, 2002 found that the type and amounts of constructive in school and out of school learning activities contribute to a success-oriented lifestyle. More specifically, Clark found that high achieving activities. Some examples of actions in the classroom include reading, working alone on a lesson, listening to a lecture, solving a problem with classmates, or asking questions. Ferguson, Clark and Stewart, 2002 found that high achievers spent more time during out of school high-yield learning activities than low achievers. Some activities include: weekly time dialoguing with adults, hobby or volunteer activities, or organized sports. Regular study and homework routines, with adult monitoring or support, and reading and writing activities also were seen as practices in the home. Some less structured or unstructured activities include hanging out, playing video games, talking on the telephone, and watching television. Ferguson, Clark and Stewart 2002 found that the beliefs and attitudes of parents had a significant role in student success in becoming competent readers. The analysis of data from parents of 459 students about their expectations for their child’s learning and their perception of whether they had been supported by their child’s teacher showed that students benefit when parents set high standards for their child’s performance in school and feel personally supported by partnerships they have formed with their child’s teacher. Lastly, Clark indicates that parent beliefs are likely to be influenced by parent-teacher communication. In other words, parents may benefits from well-organized teacher-led communications. When teachers take specific actions to cultivate instructional partnerships with parents, those parents are more likely to support their children’s learning at home. Clark’s data showed that students’ scores were higher on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment in reading when teachers reported more communication with parents. REFERENCES Bankston, C. L. , & Caldas, S. J. (1998). Family structure, schoolmates, and racial inequalities in school achievement. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 715-723. Braswell. J. S. , Lutkus,A. D. , Grigg,W. S. , Santapau, S. L. , Tay-Lim, B. , & Johnson, M. (2001). Subgroup results for the nation and the states. In The nation’s report card: Mathematics 2000 (pp. 53-181). Washington DC: U. S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics.

Water Molecules

I love to travel and can be found In every home in the United States. I can change into many different shapes and can go almost anywhere If I am given the chance. My story starts in a well in my back yard at my home. I come from an underground aquifer. I can travel through the pipes into my kitchen faucet. I have many uses. I can be hot, warm or even cold. I can be mixed with dish soap in the kitchen sink or ran through a dishwasher to clean the dishes.I can wash clothes or be used to cook with. I can be mixed with something or drank plain. There are a lot of foods made with me. I am used for many things. People clean with me. Drink me and cook with me. I travel swiftly and In many shapes. I also can rise Into the clouds and evaporate Into a gas. It starts to rain. I fall down to earth. I lay in puddles. The plants soak me up. Rain barrels fill with me in them and the animals drink me. Plants and animals cannot survive without me. I make the plants and grass grow.After lying on top o f the soil for a while, what does not evaporate soaks into the soil. I am now groundwater traveling through the ground. I make my way back Into the underground aquifer and back Into my well. This Is a never ending process. I start my cycle all over again. I am used many times thru out the day. I go through my cycle over and over each day and night. Everyone needs me. Not everyone has easy access to me. Some people have easy access at their homes while others have to buy water or walk for miles to attain enough water to survive.In many cases water is being wasted. Hydrogen bonding holds water molecules together. At 32 degrees the kinetic energy is so low that the water freezes. When the temperature rises the kinetic energy thaws and we then have liquid water again. When the molecules absorb energy from the sunlight evaporation takes place and this is called water vapor which is the gas state. References: Wright, r. , & bores, d. (2014). Water: Hydrological Cycle and Human use. Enviro nmental Action.

Vulnerable Populations in Current Events

Defining a Vulnerable Population A vulnerable population is any group that has been identified by an epidemiological or there study that classifies them at a higher risk than the general population from a specific or broad condition (Oxford Reference Online, 2011). The elderly population is considered a vulnerable population because they must face not only self-image disturbances related to an aging body, but also problems with mental and spiritual well -being as well. Barriers older adults must face are generated by these issues.Barriers of a Vulnerable Population According to Smith, et. Al (2010), is important for community and local governments to the aging population and provide age-friendly services (p. 15). As the population continues to grow, change, and age, there are numerous barriers the elderly face. Financially, the elderly population Is mostly surviving on a fixed or limited Income making It difficult at times to afford prescriptions. Doctor visits, and other healthcare related expenses. All of these issues place them in a state of vulnerability.Impaired or limited mobility creates yet another barrier especially for the elderly related to the side effects of an aging body. Consequently, they are more prone and apt to have injuries from falls leading to other serious debilitating healthcare issues. Many of the elderly population do not have the ability to drive safely or access to a vehicle due to their compromised health Issues related to aging such as poor vision, Alchemies, and severe arthritis: transportation becomes another barrier. According to Smith, et. L (2010), without proper transportation in place, communities will have a higher incidence of injuries and increased emergency response costs. Life experiences with Vulnerable Persons My parents are both of the elderly population. They both suffer from symptoms of an aging body. My dad Is hard of hearing, has chronic renal failure, terribly severe artless, thinning skin, and Impaired vision. My mother has Just recovered to a double knee replacement surgery because she had become immobile related to her severely arthritic knees.I have spent several years caring for them both and helping them through these difficult times of aging. I have noticed various discriminations by society of the elderly and the poor attitude towards them. People have very little patience, understanding, and compassion. I have also seen the moments of sadness, frustration, and depression that my parents have encountered related to having to race ten Tact's Nat teeny are aging; teeny are no longer addle to phonically ay want teeny used to be able to do and think that they can still do.This has been the hardest for me to witness because I can remember when they were able to do anything they wanted to physically. They have both overcome many barriers, but continue to be vulnerable and I know that they're level of vulnerability will continue to increase with the passing years to come. Knowing this, I continue to learn and look for ways to help and advocate for them. Summary With the aging population, it is important to assess what vulnerabilities the elderly faces and address them to improve the quality of life.

Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example But who is she hanging out with And who is lurking online in the shadows of MySpace leering at the profiles of these vulnerable tweens While some have hailed MySpace as the greatest social experiment of the century, others have called it a Sears and Roebuck catalogue for pedophiles. Are these children age 8-13 years old safe on MySpace Or are websites like MySpace potentially dangerous for the pre-teen crowd The rising popularity of MySpace has made this a timely and important question. Parents struggle to keep up with their Internet savvy kids who are always one step ahead. Security blocks and parental controls may be subverted when parents can't maintain a 24/7 vigil on their 10-year-old. Reports have begun to proliferate as predators find ways into the MySpace domain and use it as their personal hunting ground. Still, MySpace contends that it has taken steps to curtail the dangers and has committed to making it a safe meeting place for all ages. The public and parents need to be certain that the realm of online social networking is indeed safe for children. This paper will attempt to answer three main questions. First, the paper will try to determine if a 13-year-old girl can sign up on MySpace and create the profile of an 18-year-old girl. This will determine if an unsupervised 13-year-old girl is safe in this environment. Second, it will try to establish whether a 35 year old male can register and create a profile of a 15 year old girl. This will determine whether any underage girl on MySpace is out of reach of predators. Third, the paper will consider whether the amount of information contained in the typical underage profile is useful to predators. This will examine the ways in which a pedophile might exploit what appears to be innocent information. The research will be conducted by gathering information from credible experts on the topic of teenage digital networks. It will look at the statistics they present and the unique point of view that they offer. It will draw on personal experiences of those that have been members of MySpace. There will be no actual attempt made to register with MySpace under false pretenses just to prove it can be done. Rather, the paper will interview a computer security expert to gain insight into what flaws there may be in MySpace's registration and profile process. Bibliography Carlotti, Richard. Personal Interview. 21 Feb. 2007. Carlotti is a computer securities expert with a pharmaceutical chain. He has analyzed the MySpace registration process. He contends that to provide adequate security, the site would be unusable except by professionals. He said, "If it is designed to be used by teen-agers, the security needs to be geared toward them. Which means any one with a 13 year old mind can subvert the system". He further stated that there is no practical way to do age checking on the Internet and there is nothing available in the near future. He said identity verification on the Internet "could only be accomplished with expensive biometric techniques such as fingerprint readers or retina scans. These are the kinds of things the Defense Department uses, but not MySpace". Carlotti contended that the present registration method at MySpace is the honor system. It takes what you give it. He said that the limitation of contacting children under 18 merely requires a name and

Compare Hale's Outsider with Burrow's Junky Essay

Compare Hale's Outsider with Burrow's Junky - Essay Example Junky was a semi autobiographical narrative of the daily life of a heroin addict. Although the book is quite straightforward in telling the story of a drug addict it is considered to be more political than literary. The book attracted controversy because of its contentious drug themes, which is evident from subtitles in the book such as Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict. Nevertheless, it is clear from the story that the author has depicted himself as an outsider amongst outsiders because he himself was not a drug addict but had ventured into the sleazy world of drugs in attempts to escape from his mental agony after he accidentally shot his wife. This paper makes a comparison of Burroughs work with Hale’s A Nation of Outsiders. The paper holds that Hale has focused and highlighted perceptions of how middle class whites in America began believing themselves to be outsiders in their own country during the period after the Second World War. In contrast, the Junky does not aim at creating any kind of sympathy for drug addicts. The book titled A Nation of Outsiders: How the White Middle Class Fell in Love with Rebellion in Postwar America by Grace Elizabeth Hale also deals with the issue of outsider in terms of the characteristics of life in America after the end of the Second World War. ... At this time Americans had started identifying themselves with outsiders or rebels whom they mostly associated with African Americans. Hale argues that in having identified themselves with the outsider, Americans had started pursuing inconsistent objectives. They had started working towards their self perceived independence and individual freedom. In being fascinated with outsiders, Americans had started desiring to remain connected and to have value in terms of having a deep sense of sharing with other people. Such paradoxical reversals engrossed many white middle class Americans after the Second World War. It became a fashion for middle class whites in America to have perceptions of being outsiders. Hale has depicted how a large number of people began defining themselves as outsiders although these groups always appeared to compete with one another. But all these people created their respective group’s identity as outsiders. For instance, during the time when the abortion de bate was at its zenith, anti abortion activists thought of themselves as outsiders because the Supreme Court had legalized abortion in 1973. Because these people were entirely against legalizing abortion they started considering themselves as outsiders, while the insiders were considered to be those that were favored by the law of the land (Hale, 2011). The similarity of these circumstances can be felt in Burrough’s Junky because nothing much has changed in the several years since the book was published. Drug addiction continues to be a strong moral issue for many people and in being fair as a society Americans have not made much progress by way of understanding the ways in which drugs should be treated. It cannot be denied that there

Leadership Management and Management of Strategic Change in Apple Inc Essay - 1

Leadership Management and Management of Strategic Change in Apple Inc - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the change in technology and the workforce characteristics have come up with the challenges of predicting the business direction. The leaders have to remain flexible in a data-centric world where quick business decisions have to be made within the shortest time possible. The entry of global competition has seen the organizations lose domestic markets and the profit margins reduce considerably. For any organization to remain profitable, it is crucial for leaders to execute strategic measures to position themselves in the market and overcome the challenges that come along with a rapidly changing business market. At the same time, new opportunities such internet connectivity and data processing technologies have come up, although taking advantage of them is always a challenge for managers. In light of this, having to work in the dynamic mobile industry is a big challenge for our organization. Therefore, managers at Apple Inc need to remain creative, opportuni stic and flexible to implement strategic management within the organizations. One great challenge that is a potential threat to the survival of Apple Inc in the future is the competition by other innovative companies such as Samsung and Nokia. Although the company has created a unique profile by patenting most of its applications, Samsung has come around this challenge by using the Android Platform, which is the world’s favorite software platform. The mobile and Table users today prefer the Android platform over the iOS, which Apple Inc uses. The Android platform allows flexibility of access open source application, which makes it more integrative than any other operating system within the market. This is the major reason why the Apple mobile market is constrained as people shift their tastes towards this new software platform. This trend promises that Apple Inc is bound to experience a severe challenge if it does not take appropriate measures to counter ever-rising competiti on in the market.

Continental Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Continental Philosophy - Essay Example Hegel was refuted as part of the emergence of Anglo-American analytic philosophy in England, a century ago. Around the beginning of the last century three philosophical tendencies emerged with the influence of Hegel’s Analytical approach: American pragmatism, Analytic philosophy, and Phenomenological movement. C S Peirce is considered as the founding father of American Pragmatism. J H Lambert and Immanuel Kant exhibited phenomenological tendencies whereas, Phenomenological movement and debate was set in motion by Edmund Husserl. Thus, it is difficult to understand Hegel’s contribution to the problem of knowledge and contemporary debate on knowledge. The romantic period flourished with Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant who emphasized the self, creativity, imagination, and values of art in their works: Kant’s idea, that human beings do not see the world directly but through a number of categories, resulted in looking at the world in a subjective perspective. Rousseau, in Social Contract, attempted to describe a society in which natural nobility and liberty of the spirit could flourish. Philosophers and writers like Goethe, Schelling, and Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel nurtured romanticism in Germany, while their contemporaries Coleridge and Wordsworth propagated it in Britain during eighteenth century. Existentialism began in the first half of 19th century with Kierkegaard, who was concerned with the individual’s subjective experience to religious faith, and criticized Hegel’s approach of analyzing the existence of individuals in an abstract and impersonal way. The school of existentialism gained prominence wi th Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Jean Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus. Camus believed that life was essentially absurd and that the modern world is full of injustice. Analytic philosophy played an important role in the English speaking

How General Sherman was Instrumental in Ending the War as well as the Research Paper

How General Sherman was Instrumental in Ending the War as well as the Reconstruction Effort - Research Paper Example The Reconstruction period, which began after the war and ran until 1877 was a time where both sides needed to make compromises, and the law needed to be examined and reevaluated. It is often considered that the Reconstruction period was much more difficult than the war itself, as the issues were not as evident, and resolution was difficult to reach.The Southern states believed that their secession from the Union was legal; the Northern states did not believe so2. During this time, one key individual that played a significant role both in ending the Civil War, as well as in the Reconstruction effort was General Sherman. Born in 1820, William Tecumseh Sherman was a military man who was retired at the start of the Civil War. Like many other Northerners, Sherman was angry at the defiance of the Southerners and supported destructive moves against them. In a speech at Pittsburgh, Sherman proclaimed that war resulted in ‘relapses to barbarism’ and that everything their enemies had, including their lives, should be taken from them3. Sherman was well known by the end of the war because of his strong war making techniques. He believed that discipline and military expertise were crucial for the North winning the war. Towards the end of the war Sherman’s severity significantly increased with actions such as leveling Randolph, a town in Tennessee, as well as evicting the families of soldiers and sending them beyond Federal lines. To win the war, Sherman waged war not only on solders, but also on their families and the civilians of the South4. Many people consider that this approach is cruel, as not all those in the south agreed with view of the Confederates, and many were women and children. Nevertheless, these actions had a significant effect on the progress of the war, minimizing the attacks on the army, as the rebels feared Sherman’s retaliation. During the final stages of the war, Sherman’s primary campaign was a northern march through the Carolinas. Everything that had military value that Sherman and his troops encountered during the march was destroyed, including crops and civilian buildings. He captured South Carolina on February 17, 1965. During that night, fires began to burn, which destroyed most of the town. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, and the capturing of the city had a significant impact on the morale of the Confederates. Indeed, Sherman is still viewed as an example of Northern cruelty by Southerners today5. The demoralization that Sherman’s attacks caused played a significant role in ending the war. As well as being a military General and playing a significant role in the Civil War, Sherman was also an important figurehead during the Reconstruction effort. Sherman and other officials were of the opinion that the Southern states were not out of the Union, and that any prosecution for the secession and acts during the Civil War should be against individuals not agai nst states. To this effect, Sherman drew up the Johnston-Sherman convention, which offered amnesty to citizens of the Southern states and the restoration of full state rights once an oath of alliance had been taken by the state officials6.However the road to reconstruction was not smooth and at many times it appeared that the Presidential Reconstruction would fail completely. In 1965, Sherman

Contingency Theory and Global Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Contingency Theory and Global Leadership - Essay Example Since, parties in a global market come from diverse backgrounds, global leaders have challenges in assessing the diverse demands of the parties (The Leadership Trust, 2008). Indeed, every cultural group has different demands. Moreover, the existence of boundaries between geographies and markets derives complexities in assessing the demands of parties in different geographies since there are no universal demands that apply to all geographies (The Leadership Trust, 2008). The rapid global impact of unforeseen events poses a great challenge to the global leaders since they cannot predict the occurrence and the effects of such events on the demand and thus assessing the demands of a situation given a global role. A global leader will also encounter challenges that emanate from social, economic, and political change. The global leader will also face the challenge of developing a creative approach in assessing the demand and implementing the solutions to various problems in the global mark et. Furthermore, lack of inspiring visions that can apply across cultural and organizational boundaries without losing meaning is also a challenge in assessing demands of a situation given a global role (The Leadership Trust, 2008). ... Developing self-reflective leadership, effective conflict resolution, and adopting diversity in the management and assessing demand will resolve the problems associated with assessing demand in a global situation. Moreover, the practice of creating global ethics and global strategies that will be flexible to multicultural differences will be very fundamental in this case (O’Brien, 2009). The creation of a vision and strategy as well as systems that managers can manage would play a significant role in resolving the above named problems. Furthermore, the presence of a Global Leadership and Public Policy as well the focus on organization and teamwork would help in addressing the challenges related to assessing demand in a global situation. Indeed, we can adopt the leadership theories to develop an organizational design that would relate to the global challenges in this context. A practice that relates to the situational variables and establishing an organization with internal fea tures that matches the demands of the diverse environments will help in assessing the demands in a global situation. The contingency theory asserts that there is no one best way to organize and that any way of organizing is not equally effective. The Contingency Theory asserts that a global leader must match their leadership style with the situational demands (Northouse, 2012). Ideally, the contingency theory confirms that no leadership style suits all situations and that specific variable like the dynamics of the situation, leadership style, and characteristics of the followers define the success of any leadership style. Personally, I experienced this when our marketing manager used contingency theory in a global role

Exploring Qualitative Problems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exploring Qualitative Problems - Essay Example This may be due to them holding down a full time job, or their personal commitments that do not allow them to travel to school. Some students may be ill or may not be in a position to move out of their present residence to be able to attend college. Distance education schools provide such student with the chance to study and add to their knowledge and expertise without attending daily classes. These courses may be run via the internet by publishing lectures, by sending course material and receiving physical or electronic assignments from students or by using podcasts and interactive sessions on occasion. Many schools combine a number of methods in order to provide the best possible learning experience to their students. But often, this experience does fall quite short of the benchmark set by regular courses. This is often attributed to the reduced stimulation received by students taking distance education courses. Thus, a large body of research has been attempting to understand and a ddress this concern over the last few years. Research Addressing Quality Enhancement In a study by De Smet, Van Keer, and  Valcke (2008), the interactions amongst fourth year students who were trained to be peer tutors and freshmen were analyzed using content analysis (Shank, 2006; Bogdan, & Biklen; 2007). The study attempted to evaluate the kind of interactions and the topics covered by tutors and the support strategies provided by them in asynchronous discussion conditions. The authors evaluated the discussion threads and collected data by identifying the type of discussions and the points of change in topics. It was found that the importance of tutors was constant throughout. The discussions among participants and the strategies used by the tutors varied as per the discussion themes; but did not evolve to higher levels of conversation. The study also used cluster analysis to identify the types of tutors; and found three styles - motivators’, ‘informers’ and ‘knowledge constructors’. This was taken as more proof for the importance of tutors. While content analysis of conversation amongst peer tutors and the students has provided valuable information on this study (Bogdan, & Biklen; 2007); it would have been more valuable if some professional tutors were also to interact with students. The value and need of tutors is dependent on the students’ need to gain information that may not be otherwise accessible. Professional tutors may handle discussions differently from peers, and these differences may help us identify the kind of inputs that help distance education participants’ gain more knowledge and skills from their courses. The content analysis also gives us the type of interaction and the styles of interaction used to approach a given problem. This is a truly valuable technique in this case, as it helps us identify the structure of conversation that best helps in student development in a given topic. Another s tudy published by Menchaca and Bekele in 2008 provides an understanding of the elements that contribute to making distance education a success. The researchers wanted to identify the strategies and the tools that helped both instructors and students to succeed in online courses. To this end, they collected data from students, instructors and administrators over a long period and applied a qualitative method for constant comparative analysis