Canonization of Scripture (How the Bible Was Compiled)

I chose this topic because it is one of the hardest things for me to accept concerning â€Å"religion† in general. The mere fact that the individual writings are written by human men â€Å"under the inspiration of God† just bothers me to no end. Knowing the imperfections of man, and how things always get twisted, embellished, misinterpreted, and/or generally made more grandiose than originally told has always made me wonder: What were God’s original thoughts and meanings on any particular subject? What has been lost in translation? What has been twisted to suit a particular situation? Why has God allowed his words to be so misconstrued for so many years? The Hebrew canon, known to us as the Old Testament, is a collection of 24 â€Å"books† accepted by†¦show more content†¦By the year 200, the four gospels, thirteen Pauline epistles, the Acts of the Apostles, the first epistle of Peter and the first epistle of John were almost universally accepted; and by the end of the fourth century, all twenty-seven books that form today’s New Testament canon were generally recognized. The official list of twenty-seven books was ultimately determined on the basis of the collective experience of the church.† 1 (pg. 271) There were several reasons why the Church would have put together such a list of accepted books. As time passed after Jesus’ death, and the gospel was spreading throughout the middle east and northern Africa, there were some who â€Å"edited† the writings to suit themselves. Variations in the teachings began to multiply and since the writings were hand-copied in those early times, not all congregations had the same group of texts, or even similar texts of the same book. Probably the â€Å"three ‘major’ reasons for the official recognition of the biblical canon were: 1. The spread of false doctrine - The very existence of the church was seriously threatened by gnosticism. 2. The development of false writings - A major motivation for the canon was pseudepigrapha, false writings. These came out of a desire to know more about the childhood of Jesus and to have more information about New Testament personalities. 3. Persecution - In A.D. 303, the Edict of Diocletian declaredShow MoreRelatedHistory of the Bible Essay1727 Words   |  7 Pages9 December 2009 The History of the Canonization of the Bible The process by which the English Bible, as it is known to the English culture today, was compiled is an extraordinary thing to see. The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The process by which both Testaments were written and then canonized into one book transpired over a period of many years. Once the canonization of the Bible officially came to an end, it was translated into English. Since then, manyRead MoreThe Word Of God And The Sacred Scriptures Essay1204 Words   |  5 PagesThe word of God or human word? Given that the ancient canonization of the sacred Scriptures was compiled by human beings (editors) and not without human elements and limitations, would that imply then, that one needs scientific, literary and critical methods to determine what these ancient authors meant when they expressed for example, that the word of God came to them? In this context, this study will explore the literary/narrative/rhetorical meanings of the expression ‘the word of God came to meRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of The Word Of The Lord Came From Me ! Essay1435 Words   |  6 PagesStudy the literary/narrative/rhetorical function of the expression The word of the Lord came to me! Introduction: The word of God or human word? Given that the ancient canonization of the sacred Scriptures was compiled by human beings (editors) and of course, not without human elements and limitations, would that imply then, that one needs scientific, literary and critical methods to determine what these ancient authors meant when they expressed for example, that the word of God came to them? InRead MoreTextual Criticism and Canon of Scripture Essay5748 Words   |  23 PagesLiberty University Textual Criticism and the Canon of Scripture: Dealing with Inspiration and Preservation in the light of human error A Paper submitted to Dr. Tomlin In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For History of Christianity I – CHHI 520 By: James Mead December 14, 2007 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Developing the Need for a Canon 5 Gnostics 5 Cerinthians Gnostics 6 Doketist Gnostics 6 Marcion 7 The PresentationRead MoreThe Worldview And Its Impact On My Worldview1608 Words   |  7 Pagesestablished 3 main tenants of my worldview, God is, the universe was and morality will be. These are the foundations for the way I live, move and express my being in this world. My worldview is informed by way of epistemology. Epistemology suggest the source of all knowledge is God. Knowledge can be acquired through reading and studying the bible. Scripture is authoritative and is an inspired source of knowledge from God. The degree to which scripture is trustworthy is called inerrancy (Brown et al., 2008Read MoreBackground to the Quran Essays1134 Words   |  5 Pageshave been illiterate, the book’s great literary excellence is considered a miracle and one of the greatest proofs of revelation. Contrary to what some people believe, that the Quran is to Islam what the Bible is to Christians, the Quran is regarded with far higher reverence. Generally the Bible is read, studied, and appreciated as a record of God’s revelation. Biblical hermeneutics requires the study of the context and investigating what the first addressees of the text could have understood inRead MoreEssay on The Historical Critical Method2026 Words   |  9 PagesThe New Testament is now well over 1900 years old and for nearly the same period of time people have struggled for the right interpretation of that what was written in these 27 books and letters. How should one handle a book that is Gods Word? Before looking at the pro and contra of historical-critical exegesis it is necessary to define this method. One of the many textbooks teaching the historical-critical method Methodenlehre zum Neuen Testament by Wilhelm Egger method gives us this definitionRead MoreThe Foundations Of The Canons1702 Words   |  7 PagesOld Testament scripture (), this was what the Church was looking for in forming a canon that related to the teaching of Christ; a type of written text that would be foundational therefore no one would want to take away or add to it. The early church was using the four Gospels and the letters of many of the Apostles in their church teachings. The churches focused on the importance of the authors being in a first-hand relationship or direct correlation to a disciple such as Mark was to Peter andRead MoreFactors Influencing The Collaboration Of The New Testament3081 Words   |  13 Pagesexamine the internal and external factors which spurred and led to the well-known theologian Athanasius proposing the now existing New Testament books of the Holy Scriptures. The internal factors that will be examined in this paper include: Docetism, Judaism, Gnosticism, Marcionism, Montanism, and Apollinarianism. Secondly this paper will view how the false prophets influenced not only the doctrine of Christ but sought to take advantage of the Church’s generous heart for personal profit and gain. The external

Renewable Energy Renewable Resources - 1944 Words

Renewable energy: energy in which comes from natural resources that are naturally replenished, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat (Bhatia, 2014). This essay is focused on the main three renewable energies, wind, sunlight, and water. Renewable resources are well on the way to out rule the fossil fuel industry because of the diminishing amount of fossil fuels left in the world and increase of renewable resource use, the damage fossil fuels do to the environment, and the various positive aspects that renewable resources bring. Fossil fuels will run out in the world with time, these fuels take millions of years to form, the supply simply cannot meet the demands of the world forever. According to the Colorado River Commission of Nevada, the amount of petroleum left in the world is 2,686 billion barrels left, annually, the world uses 27 billion barrels (2002). Natural gas has 14,006 billion left and the world uses 84 billion barrels a year (The Colorado River Commission of Nevada, 2002). Coal has 1,089 billion barrels left with 5 billion used a year (The Colorado River Commission of Nevada, 2002). This may seem like a lot of fossil fuels, but with the population continuing to grow, this is not a very large quantity. As stated by the Colorado River Commission of Nevada, â€Å"All together the fossil fuel resources is estimated to be gone between 2050 and 2075† (2002). It is certain that fossil fuels are limited, and will eventually run dry. This may not seem toShow MoreRelatedRenewable Resources For Re newable Energy1438 Words   |  6 Pagesdefinition, energy is power that is harnessed from physical or chemical resources, often utilized in order to produced light, heat or fuel. It can be extracted from various renewable or non-renewable sources and has become a necessity for day to day life. Currently non-reusable resources account for the majority of energy production. The prominence of fossil fuels in the energy sector validates this claim. At the same time this statement reveals a major world issue in regards to energy sustainabilityRead MoreRenewable Resources For Renewable Energy Essay1157 Words   |  5 Pages Renewable Resources used to be a source that was futuristic and far beyond the time period. Fossil Fuels are damaging to the home that is named Earth. Americans should support the production of renewable resources because they are more efficient, the world will experience a decline in the emission of Fossil Fuels, and the use of of WWS (Wind, Water, Solar) Resourc es will produce a more resilient source when compared to the sources that in effect now. WWS Resources produce more efficiently thanRead MoreRenewable Energy Resources928 Words   |  4 Pagesfact that 86% of our energy comes from nonrenewable, polluting, costly fossil fuels and only 14% is renewable is diabolical. Why must we harm our environment to contribute to our energy production when renewable energy sources are so abundantly present so that we may be symbiotic with nature? To lessen our environmental impact and be able to avoid the high expenses of non-renewable fossil fuels in the near future it should be obvious that we start to use more renewable energy sources than we do nonrenewableRead MoreEnergy Resources And Renewable Energy1240 Words   |  5 PagesEveryone uses a lot of power for lighting, heating, machines, movements, and so much more. All of that energy has to come from an energy supply. Some energy resources are renewable, while others are non-renewable. Energy has various forms and is a very essential part of our everyday lives. In my house, I always try to conserve energy when I can. I try an hot water by using a lower flow shower head and very rarely use the bath tub which does waste a lot of hot water. When buying light bulbs, I onlyRead MoreEnergy Resources : Renewable And Non Renewable Ones1225 Words   |  5 Pagesa discovery of the ability to transform the energy into the electricity. In today’s modern world it is hard to imagine that there was a world without the electricity and that electricity was gifted to the humanity just 400 years ago. As George Gobel said once: â€Å"If it weren’t for electricity, we’d all be watching television by candlelight†. Electricity is the gift granted to humans and it is our generation’s duty to use the electricity energy smartly and pass it to future generations. ForRead MoreRenewable vs. Non-Renewable Energy Resources1840 Words   |  8 PagesRenewable Vs. Non-renewable Energy Resources: Environmental and Economical Advantages and Disadvantages Imagine a life without washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, computers, televisions, lights, and cars. Imagine a planet so polluted that smog is in the air so bad that one cannot see very far, lakes and streams are poisoned, and land so badly scarred from people trying to find more energy sources. One day this may be a reality if we do not do something to change how we use our energy resourcesRead MoreRenewable Resources For Solar Energy1387 Words   |  6 PagesSolar Energy is something that the entire world relies on every day. Without energy, the earth would be dark, and nothing will be able to operate. Lately, there has been many concerns with the various types of resources that are used to generate energy. Many resources that are used are non-renewable resource. This means that the resources such as oil and coal are not grown or produced, they are found in regions in specific sections of the world. These resources are also recognized as fossil fuelsRead MoreAlternative Energ y Resources : Renewable Energy Source848 Words   |  4 PagesAlternate energy resources are being developed to compete against the fossil fuel power stations. Fossil fuel such as coal and oil are drilled and shoveled out of the ground and then processed to be turned into electricity. Problems with fossil fuels are that they produce hazardous air emissions and give off by-products that will harm the area. Some well-known alternate renewable energy resources are wind, solar, and hydro power. These are all sources that are in abundance and will be around forRead MoreRenewable Sources Of Energy Future Energy Resources2146 Words   |  9 Pages Conserve Energy Future: Excessive Usage of Non-Renewable Sources of Energy Deteriorates the Scope for Future Energy Resources Syed Rehanuddin Quadri LS-608-EV: Professional Writing Research Professor Cynthia October 18, 2014 Abstract Nowadays, the world is suffering from various crises like ebola to polar vortex but the problem of global warming and extinction of various resources are persistent from decades. The evolution of these problems is due to excessive usage or dependenceRead MoreOptimal Integration Of Renewable Energy Resources881 Words   |  4 PagesOptimal integration of renewable energy resources in data centers with behind the meter renewable generator Abstract Introduction Nowadays the consumption of energy has increased rapidly in data centers due to increase in use of internet and cloud computing The electricity cost of data centers in USA is about $7.4 billion annually. Design resource management algorithms have been developed to run the data centers more effectively and efficiently this was due to the increasing energy costs in data centers

Student of the Year Free Essays

WEDDINGS IN THE UAE Every nation has its own way of celebrating their festivals or personal occasions. These anniversaries are indeed very essential and important in the culture of every country in the world. Some people have different ways of celebrating their rituals and their dear parties. We will write a custom essay sample on Student of the Year or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the UAE, for example weddings have another different story. Have you ever asked your grandparents about their wedding? Weddings were different in the UAE in the past. In the days before the discovery of oil, the majority of people didn’t have much money and they lived in smaller towns and villages where everyone knew every other. Unlike today when a wedding is a very expensive party for one day, weddings in the past often lasted for many days and the whole community took part in them. One day I asked my curved back and toothless grandmother about how she got married from my grandfather. Her cracked face smiled and produced a laughing sound . She didn’t hesitate to answer me with pleasure as I am Some people who are 80 years old now remember when a dowry cost Dh 60 and Dh 40 would pay for a whole wedding. The family of the bride and her women neighbors made the wedding dress in a tent near her house , In the past , these dresses were very colorful and were sewn with a hand . It took several days to sew the bride’s clothes, so women had a chance to visit. They often sang while they worked. When they the clothes were ready, they perfumed the clothes with incense and then stored the clothes in a wooden trunk. Then as now, henna decorations were very important for a beautiful bride. The groom’s family prepared the place for the couple to live . The mother of the groom even made a cradle so that when the couple had their first child , the baby’s bed would be all ready. A tailor made the groom’s colored kandoora. Even the man wore henna sometimes in the past. Food was as important in the past as it is now. However, in the past, the families got together to make large amounts of rice and meat that were served at the wedding. Since houses were smaller in the past, weddings were often held outdoors in small tents and both men and women attended them. The men danced and the women sang old songs about love and happiness. Wedding traditions change with time. Recently, more people have chosen to have their wedding parties in traditional tents set up near the houses instead of having them at luxury hotels . Some young Emiratis prefer to have their weddings in tents because it makes them feel more committed to heritage and traditions and it helps them save money and feel more private. Tent dealers are very happy with the increase in their business. On tent dealers once said more than 50% of their clients have been UAE nationals who have hire tents for their weddings . Another company said that they charge 25,000 Dhs for tents with full service for 1000 guests. It is a recent habit to have wedding parties in a 5-star hotel. A lot of neighbors and relatives could not attend the wedding if it was in a hotel. How to cite Student of the Year, Essay examples

The Dead and Dying - and the Grief Left Behind

Question: How does Wolterstorff find joy after his loss? What is the meaning and significance of death in light of the Christian narrative? How does the hope of the resurrection play a role in comforting Wolterstorff? Answer: Introduction: To act emotionally is human, and human beings are perhaps the only living being who can express their emotion that can be comprehended. This emotion leads in getting attached with the people related to them or they know. The short lived attachment leads to grief form the other person or people. The reason is not death, but the feeling the one of their near one would not be there anymore. The discussion reflects on the book written by Wolterstorff named Lament for a Son, which was written in honor of their dead son, who accidentally died in mountain climbing expedition. The book became a reflection of not only the emotion of the author but also about every people who are suffering or have suffered through such loss. Stages of Grief: Many spiritual leaders have identified the five existing stages of grief which happens due to someones death or for a person who is soon going to die (Lundquist, Nelsen Irish, 2014). They are: The denial stage: People who are about to die or whose near ones who are going to die (especially whose death is unaccepted) therefore they tend to isolate themselves so that they could accept the fact which is supported by people who know but not themselves (Green, 2010). Annoyance stage: The person gets annoyed at this stage. His uncontrolled expressions of emotions reflect on his action (Dastur, 2012). The person could not control his negative reactions on life. The stage of agreement: The person starts dealing with the reality slowly. He initiates bargaining about life with God, if there could be any possible ray of hope. The despair stage When emotions are highlighted it tends to mourning. They want to go through treatments which are advanced and start believing people who provides positive vibes (Greenawalt, 2006). There are basically two types in this stage, the implication reaction and the reaction in private. The acceptance stage: here the person is totally prepared and have accepted the situation (Greenawalt, 2006). This is basically demonstrated as grieving resistance. This implies an act of bravery. The sufferer withdraws and becomes calm in behavior. The joy after losing his son: After the death of Eric, Wolterstorff realized that previously the presence of his son was considered as grunted by him. He also realized that all his love was more important and how much he loved Eric. Rather than forgetting he kept on repeating about his son. Christian narrative importance after losing Eric: Death fundamentally means the separation of the spirit from the body according to the established belief of Christians. God created mankind in the light of ancient times creatures and defined the good in it. But mankind really doesnt bother about the urge for embodiment beyond time. This generates a fear for dying. By death in light it means positive overview created after sudden death of a person and in this makes people believe that death in inevitable and it should not be feared. When the soul finds death beautiful than fearing death it is known as death in light (Mallon, 2008). The hope of Resurrection: The context in bible about death did not relieve Wolterstorff neither made him remember about the resurrection hope (Greenawalt, 2006). The consideration of not being an incessant pit regarding death is what the author believed. He could realize that something is gone. And in the closing stages of every hope he accepted. He knew that there is no hope of return for his son. He reached the point of acceptance before which everything reminded about his son, Eric (Wolterstorff, 1987). Conclusion: Any person who is dealing with these the stages of grief, have to be strong enough so that people can learn to be strong from them. From Wolterstorff people came to relate their situation and learned how to deal with the grief and the pain that one suffers from dying and death. References Dastur, F. (2012).How are we to confront death?. New York: Fordham University Press. Green, L. (2010).Understanding the life course. Cambridge: Polity. Greenawalt, K. (2006).Religion and the Constitution. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Lundquist, ', F., Nelsen, V., Irish, D. (2014).Ethnic Variations in Dying, Death and Grief: Diversity in Universality. Mallon, B. (2008).Dying, death, and grief. Los Angeles: SAGE.

The White Heron Essays - A White Heron, The Story Of An Hour

The White Heron Symbols in Kate Chopin's ?The Story of an Hour? represents the feelings of Mrs. Mallard, the main character. The open window indicates Mrs. Mallard desire of a different life. The life she hoped for would never exist. Spring illustrates a new beginning for Mrs. Mallard. Her mind expands to reveal new discovers never witnessed before. Going up was her method of freedom. A place to refresh her mind and reject any concerns. It was a place to obtain power and authority over her life. Going down was an unpleasant area for her. She was a puppet with strings letting others control her. The locked door represents a safeguard against people entering her world of freedom. Fitting in among classmates remain the leading conflict for Emily Ames, the main character in Alica Adam's ?Truth and Consequences?. Emily always strived to gain awareness from others around her. Through playing truth and consequences finally gained the attention she yearned for. Taking advantage of the attention she gained, even if it appeared to be unhelpful, she used it to become recognized. As a result of playing a childish game earned her the attention she constantly sought after. Sylvia, the main character in ?A White Heron?, realized the right decision came about not telling the hunter where the White Heron remained. Dissatisfy the hunter and putting aside the money was a hard choice to make. It would have been cruel for her to inform the hunter where the bird was located. Sylvia without doubt remained true to herself. Peacefulness grasped on to her as the bird was released. Creative Writing

Kohls and Effective Advertising essays

Kohl's and Effective Advertising essays Did you know that the Kohls department store we know and love today was once your modern supermarket? Maxwell Kohl, who had previously operated traditional grocery stores, built his first supermarket in 1946, the first in what would become a southeastern Wisconsin chain known as Kohl's Food Stores. In 1962, he started his first department store, Kohl's Department Store, in Brookfield, Wisconsin. He positioned Kohl's between the higher-end department stores and the discounters, selling everything from candy to engine oil to sporting equipment (Kohls, 2013 ). In 1972 the British-American Tobacco Company's US retail division, BATUS Inc., bought a controlling interest in Kohl's Corporation, which at the time operated 50 grocery stores, six department stores, three drug stores and three liquor stores. The Kohl family, led by Allen and Herbert Kohl, continued to manage the company (Kohls, 2013). Over the last 40 years Kohls has become one of the most successful department stores with very well advertised daily deals and great fashion lines. The advertisement has multiple interfaces with a silent white background. Every letter on the advertisement is full of color and properly sized. There are pictures of men and women randomly placed where there are space, modeling shirts and various products. Small print lines the bottom of each picture with an accurate description of the product. Each segment seems to have its own box with invisible boundary lines as to not protrude into its neighbors space! Every so often there lays a banner describing a new section of the stores products. Finally at the very bottom reads the hours of operation specific to the location this advertisement portrays. There are five human needs the advertisers hit pretty hard in this advertisement. Every human, whether or not they like to admit it, has a need for attention. Some may have a stronger ne...

Read the article in its entirety,then answer those qestions Assignment

Read the article in its entirety,then answer those qestions - Assignment Example tionships of good relationship employees have with their supervisors and if organizational culture is conducive, open and there is fairness (Hastings and Payne 311). However, while expressing dissent some individuals state that email should never be used as a means to express dissent while some say that email is an appropriate way if the information contains facts and figures and contains no emotional tirade (Hastings and Payne 318). These statements in the article are well quoted as they can be related to an incident that occurred in the previous workplace. A coworker responding to a supervisor used her venting out through email. As email is a medium where one cannot retrieve back the information and can be well recorded it had a negative impact on her work profile. In a similar incident, when another worker used telephone as a means of dissent he was still able to handle the controversy as he apologized and there was no record of the incident. Hasting and Payne concludes by saying that email can be used as a constructive means of inviting dissent and discussions where emotions are kept aside and there is articulation of dissents focused on improving the organization (Hastings and Payne 327). If there is a chance to work in Human Resource Department, this aspect can be applied in the professional life as well because employee engagement and feedback can help organizations reduce conflicts and increase job satisfaction amongst employees. Communication is very important to carry on the business effectively. Business Communication is very important as it the need of every organization to communicate with others to expand the course of their business. National Culture influences business communication as distinguishes the people of culture from other (Ulijn, OHair and Weggeman 300). The article explains the way how people change their views and ways of communication to deal with people belonging to different cultures. It is well known that English is an

Coordination and Control in Multinational's Essay

Coordination and Control in Multinational's - Essay Example From this essay it isclear that  a Multinational corporation or enterprise’s trait characteristic is their presence in more than at least two countries. Some claim, Knights Templar, founded in 1118 was the first multinational when it started banking. Others claim Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602, was the first multinational. Multinationals are known by a variety of names such as a Multinational Corporation (MNC), Multinational Enterprise (MNE), Transnational Corporation (TNC) or simply Multinational Organization (MNO).  According to the report findings  a corporation, once it has achieved success at a local level, slowly branches out. Next it manages to attain power and influence and become an active member in shaping globalization. Multinational corporations are known to have very large budgets that even have the ability to exceed the budgets of many counties. Multinationals can be highly influential politically as they play an active role in International rela tions. This is mainly due to two factors that, Multinationals have a huge economical influence upon politicians’ representative districts and that multinationals have huge economical resources available for public relations and political lobbying.  Countries are competing with one another to win the attention of MNC’s so they could be considered by these corporations. The setting up of multinationals in a country would mean tax revenue, employment and economic activity.

U.S. HISTORY I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

U.S. HISTORY I - Essay Example The war itself did not have a starting point, but began in a series of steps and a number of American Presidents had a part to play during the period. With the French fighting a loosing battle to retain control of the Indochina colony and Vietnam, the then US President Harry Truman, offered a small economic and military support to the French. But after the Vietnamese defeat of the French and the northern half came under communist rule, the threat of the southern non-communist half also falling under northern control was unacceptable to the next US President Dwight Eisenhower who sent military advisers to train the South Vietnamese army. The domino effect that communism might have on Asian nations was the main reason why the US became involved in the war. In order to prevent the Communist Vietnamese from gaining control, the United States in 1965 sent military forces to Vietnam to keep the weak South Vietnamese government in power of their region. America had other political ambitions tied with economic ones. Trade domination in the Asia Pacific region would open US markets to Japan. The British who had rubber plantations in Malaya would be comforted with American presence in the region. Aid would enable France to send back their troops back to Europe to assist rearmament of West Germany permitting the US to have an upper hand at the cold war. The prevention of the spread of communism was the primary focus for the US. Communism to America meant disregard for democracy, human rights violations, military hostility and the creation of closed economies that rarely traded with the West. All this the US took as a threat t o freedom and liberty. Following John F Kennedy’s assassination, the next US president, Lyndon B. Johnson committed the US into the Vietnam conflict with prolonged bombings of North Vietnam. The war took a heavy toll on the Vietnamese who lost 3 to 4 million lives on either side, along

Closing The Achievement Gap Education Essay

Closing The Achievement Gap Education Essay The American education experienced long and sustained period of school reforms filled with significant challenges. The policymakers as well as the governors made the school reform movement their top project priority since the 1980s (Sindelar, Shearer, Yendol-Hoppey Liebert, 2006). The school reform movement undergone profound achievements in the past and continues to tackle significant challenges although it has achieved its goal in creating changes to school conditions, student performance, and institutional policy. The National Governors Association for Best Practices is looking into the achievement gap challenge facing the schools today (Grant, 2009). This requires creating new policies and developing old policies to close in the achievement gap problems happening in several states. The policy primer discloses the nature of the achievement gap problem, its history, and the different states efforts to solve the existing problem. The primer also discusses alternative solutions and strategies at state level including important issues and factors to avoid in implementing solutions. Understanding the achievement gap context The achievement gap context is all about the differences one sees between people coming from different race and class (Chubb Loveless, 2002). There is an increasing difference concerning the performance of students coming from the disadvantaged minority as compared to the performance demonstrated by white students of the same grade level (Chubb Loveless, 2002). This achievement gap is a clear issue of racism and the effects of the power of the privilege. Educational institutions, educators, and policymakers face genuine lack of understanding creating and developing schools that can cope up with the context of a diversified society. The challenge goes on with the creation of correct policy that could help close the achievement gap. Federal response to the urgent persisting achievement gap problem The No Child Left Behind Act or NCLB is an attempt by the Federal government to close the achievement gap (Chamberlain, 2004). The policy set forth a new accountability practice for American schools to set the same standards with detailed plan for testing performance to ensure students meet preset standards of the schools. The framework of the NCLB allows a student to transfer to other schools located at the same district if he fails to pass the test performance set by the school. It is the responsibility of the school district to provide persistently failing students supplemental services as well as choices to study at other schools operating within the same district (Chamberlain, 2004). The school needs to demonstrate adequate progress about the problems of persistently failing students. Failure to show progress makes them open for state law corrective action (Chamberlain, 2004). The schools focus their performance targets based on the conditions of the students with disabilities a nd coming from disadvantaged family background. This includes students coming from ethnic or minority group that possess limited English language skills and proficiency. However, well performing schools are still required to alter school practices, policies, and governance to accelerate and enhance the educational experience of the disadvantaged group of students. The state considers a school as well performing only when they become successful in bridging the achievement gap. The intervention of the new Federal law on the educational scene has created quite a stir among schools struggling to meet the new set of policies and criteria. How do you measure the achievement gap? NCLB Act is clearly a Federal strategy to challenge the achievement gap brought by the effects and challenges of inequality among students in the US. Schools measure achievement gap by comparing African-American test scores and academic performance with the Hispanic group and white Americans using standard assessment tests (Chamberlain, 2004). Survey statistics gathered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reflected a narrow gap between Hispanic and African-American 17 year old students reading scores for the period 1975 to 1988 (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). The gap becomes wider or somehow constant in the areas of mathematics and reading during 1990 to 1999. The NAEP charts on achievement gap raised concern over the intelligence and skills of the disadvantaged minority students. The Education Trust analysis on the NAEP data bothered policymakers. It concluded that the grade 12 level disadvantaged minority students performed similar to the level of the s tudents studying four years behind them (Ferguson Mehta, 2004). The skills of the Latino and African-American 17 year old students are comparable to the skills possessed by the 13-year-old White students in the subjects of English, science, and mathematics (Ferguson Mehta, 2004). The educational attainment is another way to measure the achievement gap between races. The different ethnicities showed wider gap as to the highest educational level of attainment they had achieved in the past. The groups showed gaps in all discipline. Dropouts among African-American and Hispanic groups in high school are heavier even though the tuition fee rates are lower than those rates given to the Whites (Ferguson Mehta, 2004). The Whites show more effort in trying to get a college degree than the Blacks and Hispanic young adults. Policymakers and schools do not overstate the importance of achievement gaps but actually noted the big difference between Whites and other ethnic groups educational achievement specifically Hispanic and African-American groups (Chubb Loveless, 2002). The achievement gap is the outcome of local and national standard test measures between diversified groups of students mostly categorized by ethnicity and socioeconomic status (Chubb Loveless, 2002). The other forms of category applicable to the groups are their gender and ability. There are many ways that a school can measure the achievement gap between the groups such as test scores resulting from standardized test and average grades obtained by each group. The dropout rates, highest level of educational attainment, and population of college enrollees are other ways to measure the achievement gap between ethnicities (Strictland Alvermann, 2004). Although the results of this statistic survey came from different American states, the same thing is also happening with other countries. These achievement gaps noted across countries showed the possible effects brought by discrimination and social injustice. The government made a good move eradicating social discrimination. The move to bridge the achievement gap between ethnicities also responds to their effort to solve existing social discrimination at the same time. Eradicating the gap as a public policy would help eliminate the other problem of social discrimination. However, some people disagree that the core causes of the achievement gap come from a persons class, culture, or even biology. These people believe that policymakers can directly influence economics and education using progressive education based on multiculturalism. This idea is more effective in helping them achieve equality among ethnic groups. Identified factors causing the widening achievement gap Researchers do not have any clear idea about the real reason for the increasing achievement gap between ethnic groups. Structural as well as cultural factors played a major role to the widening discrepancy. Students lacking the cultural capital portrayed by the middle class are likely to show low academic scores and achievements especially if they experience little parental involvement concerning their education and home coursework (Strictland Alvermann, 2004). Annete Lareau stated that better resource students demonstrate more accomplishments in academics and life (Lareau, 2000). Other researchers believed that a persons ability to achieve more in life and academics largely depends on its socioeconomic condition and the classification of race from which he belongs. It is evident that students belonging to the disadvantaged minority suffer the adverse result of the achievement gap because they find themselves at a disadvantage position than the White students. Understanding the effects of the environment and culture to students performance The culture, traditions, beliefs, social roles, and environment of the student influence the students performance and are factors that need extra consideration and study when dealing with the core causes of achievement gap (Lareau, 2000). It would be for the researchers advantage that he should look into the lives, environment, economic condition, and practices of the disadvantaged minority to ascertain and identify specific cultural differences that can help explain the differences of the child-parent relationships between ethnic group families (Lareau, 2000). Cultural differences shaped the childs behavior and motivation to become achievers. The authors Jencks and Phillips argue that a child belonging to the Black family do not have much motivation and encouragement from their parents because of the lack of understanding about the benefits of education and obtaining academic skills (Jencks Phillips, 1998). The lack of awareness resulted to Black children going to school with littl e vocabularies than their White counterparts. Studies claimed that students with parental involvement such as homework assistance show more progress in school (De Carvalho, 2001). In comparison, the disadvantaged minority consists of single parents have to spend more of their time looking for money to cope up with their household economics and other needs rather than staying and getting involve with their childs homework (De Carvalho, 2001). The minority group also consists of parents that do not understand nor speak English well. The study points two major causes of the childs difficulty namely unavailable English speaker at home and lack of parental involvement for homework. Researchers highly believed that children from the minority group do not attend school because they are not willing to find themselves in comparison with the Whites and accused as behaving like the White children by their peers (De Carvalho, 2001). The children of the minority group simply lack the motivation and the understanding to pursue higher education because they do not see and believe the benefits and role of education in their future. They possess little understanding about the benefits that knowledge and higher education bring to their lives and how it could improve years of hard work (De Carvalho, 2001). The common minority behavior from lack of motivation to do better in school is plain rejection of the idea to achieve something more in their future. It is like giving up their potential and the ability to do more by not studying and working hard to make any progress in their social status as well as to receive higher wages. Furthermore, researchers found that schools often set up their performance measures based from the students knowledge as well as familiarity about the White group that belongs to the middle class cultural capital. It is obvious that the disadvantaged minority is not familiar about the middle class cultural capital background of the White group. Schools need to change their test for students performance and base it on their understanding of the subject matter. The test should be solely base on how they understand and perceive the subject they are taking. How structures of the institutions influence the students? Students coming from the disadvantaged minority group definitely go to schools categorized by the district as poorly funded schools (Danielson, 2002). Children belonging to low-income household attend poorly funded schools because it is the only affordable form of education. Schools belonging to the poorly funded school category have limited resources and employ teachers with less qualification (Danielson, 2002). Schools tried to solve the achievement gap between ethnicities by placing students in tracking education groups. The framework of the tracking education group assigns students within the same school into several groups base on their skills and academic abilities (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). The schools then tailored the teachers lesson plans to meet the varying requirements of the different sets of learners abilities (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). The strategy made dramatic progress to some learners. However, some schools based their grouping from the students cultural capital and socioeconomic status that results to the disadvantaged minority overly representing the lower educational group (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). This made schools placed the African-Americans and the Hispanic students into the lower educational group. Their perception about the minority group wrongly placed the African-Americans and the Hispanic students, which reflects practice of institutional racism (Ansalone Biafora, 2004). This confirms some researchers beliefs that the initiation of the tracking education groups implies the existence of racial segregation within the school system itself. Several studies performed on tracking education groups provided negative results. The implementation of the tracking education groups harmed the potential of the minority students to learn more skills because the teachers assigned to their groups are less qualified (Molnar, 2003). The curriculum design for the minority group is also less challenging and provides less opportunity for advancement in their academic fields. The peers as well as the teachers of the students belonging to the lower tracking educational group labeled them as slow learners. This greatly affected their self-confidence and motivation to continue their studies, which resulted to increasing minority school dropouts. Concerned psychologist claimed that the schools tracking groups outcomes might not be beneficial to all groups (Molnar, 2003). They cannot identify any lasting benefit to the grouping. Chapter 2 Rational The schools explanation over the creation of the tracking education widely varies. The goal to find applicable institutional and policy solutions to narrow the achievement gap gave birth to drafting education reforms. The categorization leads schools to provide remedial classes as well as tutoring sessions for identified less performing students. Strategies applied to narrow the ethnicities achievement gap The school provided tutoring sessions to the less advantaged and low performing students after school. They also offer remedial classes to help underperformers. The main problem noted with the categorization program is the pressure it gave to minority students. The program pushes minority students or underperformers to learn at a fast pace in an attempt to catch up with the performing groups usually comprise of their White counterparts. The catch up required more efforts from the teachers and gave much pressure to the students. The schools changed their categorization by race to grouping the students according to their ability. This new grouping criteria enabled schools to provide fair quality education for the students without considering ethnicity. The detracking scheme made schools and teachers perceive students equally (Burris Welner, 2005). This also made schools provide more teachers that are qualified to the different groups, design their curriculum appropriately, and provide more resources to the learners. Understanding the condition of the minority The Blacks and the Latinos usually describe the low-income minority of the United States (Aragon, 2000). These students usually come from poor families and comprise the less performing group in school. The schools can easily identify minority students based on their SAT scores. Minority students often obtain lower scores than their White peers (Aragon, 2000). The schools broke down their SAT scores according to their socioeconomic status. The results showed that the Blacks and the Latino students usually achieve lower SAT scores than the Whites. However, Asians still achieve higher SAT scores than their White peers who belong to the same family income level. The analysis of the authors Steven G. Rivkin and Eric A. Hanushek fully explained the core causes of the increasing achievement gap. In their book published last 2006, the authors discussed the effects of the schools effort to group the students according to their socioeconomics and ethnicity (Hanushek Rivkin, 2006). The racial concentration in certain groups created the unequal distribution of experienced teachers and the inexperienced teachers (Hanushek Rivkin, 2006). The study noted the increasing achievement gap in the grades 3 and grades 8 levels. Looking into the structure of the high performers that belongs to the minority group There are minority students who managed to excel in their grade levels. One great example of minority high performers is the students attending at Davidson Magnet School of Augusta, Georgia. The other school with minority high performers is the Amistad Academy located in New Haven, Connecticut. The schools strategically employ traditional and rigorous training instructions that include providing direct instruction to students. Researchers found direct instruction effective and efficient in developing the skill levels of the learners coming from the inner city of the research title Project Follow Through (Harris Graham, 2007). Black schools sometimes perform higher than their White counterparts do. The results of the annual test during the later part of the 19th century at Washington, DC can prove this claim. The Blacks performing higher than the Whites do continued until the middle of the 20th century. The M Street School gave quite a performance during this period by exceeding on the national standardized test. The author Carl L. Bankston III and his partner researcher Stephen J. Caldas claimed that the achievement gap causes the segregation of the schools in US (Caldas Bankston, 2005). The book titled A troubled dream: The promise and failure of school desegregation in Louisiana published in 2002 and the other book titled Forced to fail: The paradox of school desegregation published in 2005, clearly pointed that students benefit more when placed in the same school with high achieving students (Caldas Bankston, 2005). Their research also showed that students experienced academic disadvantage when they interact more with low achieving schoolmates. This proves their perception about the achievement gap as the core cause of school segregation. This means that parents played a major role and are greatly involve in the creation of school segregation for the fact that many parents even avoid sending their children to schools with larger minority student population (Caldas Bankston, 2005). Understanding the standards based form of education reform The standard based education reform based its classification by the education characteristics and income level of the student regardless of performance (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). Most schools in US decide to adopt the education reform. The policymakers believed that students regardless of race and gender have the potential to become achievers and receive higher pay levels. There is a need to study the content and context as well as the effects of the states education policy and compare them with the education policies of other nations. Improved performance is attainable using the standard based assessments with clear set of incentives such as examination for high school graduation (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). The student reforms of whole language, multiculturalism, affirmative action, block scheduling, desegregation, inquiry-based science, and reform mathematics were not successful in improving the achievements of the students. The recent NCLB legislation requires students to take annual testing and demonstrate progress at an acceptable rate every school year. The federal government imposed sanctions to schools with larger population of under performing students. Obviously, the schools having the greatest attendance of minority and poor students face the problems of coping up with the legislation and working on the skills of the students. Those who favored the traditional education claimed that the schools are not designing the education reforms in a constructive way because the reforms are not curriculum and student based. The IQ tests and the SAT are widely accepted as norm-referenced tests. Some people claimed the ACT as limiting chances for the minorities. Many people favored the standards based assessment because they have a clear definition and design of the criteria for the reference test (US Commission on Civil Rights, 2004). The criteria are acceptable and regarded as free from any cultural bias. The students can easily pass the reference test criteria. In 2006, states like the Washington questioned the effectiveness of the approach. The assessment became a mandatory requirement for graduation. Terry Bergeson, a Superintendent, believes that students coming from the disadvantaged minority can compete and are capable of achieving higher scores (Thomas, 2005). However, these minority students need additional help to perform more. MCAS in Massachusetts showed higher percentage of graduating students for all races. In the Fairtest point, there are still many minority students dropping out and performing less than the Whites and Asians. Although the Washington state has narrowed the achievement gap, researchers cannot find any conclusive evidence that the standard based reforms are effective in closing the achievement gap. The author of the book titled The Bell Curve, Charles Murray, looked into the point gaps and its relative improvement (Locke, 1995). His analysis implied that the test is theoretically easy to pass but actually difficult to answer. The test consists of open-response questions that are mostly problem solving, reading, writing, and mathematics. Minorities who fail the test are about twice or even four times than the population of the students that achieve high scores of the testing history. In 2006, only one sophomore student belonging to the minority group passed the standard test. One needs to pass WASL to obtain a diploma. The tasks of keeping American public schools from educational failure depends on how fast policymakers and educators provide efficient policies and effective structure of framework for teaching that can respond to the students individual differences and capabilities. There is a rising need for educational institutions to meet projected challenges posed by changing demographic trends and requirements. The most crucial part is the transmission of societal values from diversified students of differing religion, philosophy, history, and political context. The lack of understanding of each ethnic group values and culture endangers the opportunity of any education reform to work for the learners. Chapter 3 Significance of the problem The American Indian group always ranked below the Latino and the African American students in terms of graduation rates and standardized test scores. The three groups always showed significant numbers concerning dropout rates. The achievement gap persists in the US history. The study published in the Education week revealed that American Indian or Alaska Native students graduation rate is about 47.4 percent. The foundation of the couple Bill and Melinda Gates funded the study. The statistics showed that American Indians were 30 points below their White peers, which means that about half of the graduating students belonging to the minority failed. The Council of Chief State School Officers report in 2006 declared that the low attendance of American Indian students across the country is a significant problem among the states specifically West Mississippi (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2006). The persisting problem about the achievement gap of the African Americans, Hispanic, Asian Americans, and Caucasian students present a challenge to the present structure of public education (Zajda, 2005). The gap narrowed a little during the 1970s and the 1980s and then started to widen again in 1990. The gap persists to widen until today (Vanneman, Hamilton, Anderson Rahman, 2009). There were about 22% grades 4 White students who scored below the basic NAEP test for reading in 2007. The report also showed about 50% Hispanic and 54% Black students who obtained scores below the basic NAEP. There were about 16% White students at grades 8 who scored below the basic mark required to pass the reading test. There were about 42% Hispanic and 45% Black students performing below the basic mark required to pass the reading test. The wide achievement gap reflected in their math scores also. Some people argued that district resegregation across the states reinforced the rising disparity problems. This is especially true in the northern and southern districts (Kozol, 2005). The White parents enroll their children in high quality suburban schools while the African-American as well as the Hispanic families enroll their children in racially isolated schools. These racially isolated institutions normally provide school instruction of very low quality and normally face other types of problems (Zajda, 2005). The California state is the most affected state in the US. Jack OConnell, State Superintendent, considers the task of helping the minority as moral, economic, and ethical imperative (Gerston Christensen, 2009). The California Department of Education (2009) revealed the state needs to prepare and train the students especially the African-American and the Latino to compete in the global economy. This would make California gain a competitive edge over world economic leaders. The success of the task largely depends on how well the students respond to the NCLB standardized test. Taylor (2006) is the main advocate of the Critical Race Theory. He tried to bring awareness about the racial minority and institutionalized oppression hidden under the Federal as well as state policies. Although the Federal government created the NCLB in an attempt to bridge the achievement gap, Taylor claimed that the Federal regulation puts too much pressure over the educators and students in trying to improve academic performance. Taylor claimed that the movement did not correctly address the issues stated in The Colors of Poverty by Lin and Harris. Taylor claimed that putting pressure to perform better does not respond to the racial segregation practices and policies. People and policymakers do not even understand the occurrence and the consequence of the practices nor do they have the ability to reverse its occurrence (Taylor, 2006). Understanding the context of differentiated instruction Differentiated instruction makes students the center of learning and teaching based from the theory that students come to school bearing different skills implying unique differences on their learning needs (Tomlinson, 1999). The varying degrees of differences may refer to their personal and educational context, community or environment background, and academic skills. The educators under the differentiated instruction design and employ several methods of instruction that can facilitate the learning experiences of the diversified students in the classroom effectively. The goal is to match students skills to the resource materials in a qualitative manner. The program includes blending the needs of the whole class with the design of their individual instruction using effective approaches and methods to expedite the processing of knowledge, input and output, of the learners. This requires constant assessment of the students progress by their respective classroom teachers. Policymakers considered the differentiated instruction movement as a proactive approach to educational issues facing practitioners today (Tomlinson, 1999). The proactive approach makes the students become more comfortable in pursuing their education. Educators refine and tailor their instructions according to the needs of the students. This also entails adjusting the curriculum to fit the students academic needs. Teachers committed to this approach understand that the students they teach shape their teaching style and practically believe that students create awareness on teachers how to shape them. The students personality and learning style necessarily influence the instructors teaching philosophy and methods (Tomlinson, 1999). This is the only way to get through them and seems the only possible way that they get to learn things. Creating a model for differentiated instruction requires student centered approach that supports the key elements of interest, readiness, and learning profile (Allan Tomlinson, 2000). The Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, declared that people receive and learn more things when they are ready to learn these things (Daniels, 2001), which is the theory behind the differentiated instruction movement. The differentiated instruction approach matches the individuals interest and methods of learning. This approach supports the student interest, which is one of the key elements of differentiated instruction. Jerome Bruner claimed that the moment a teacher gains the interest of the student is the specific moment that a student starts to learn and the learning experience becomes more rewarding (Tomlinson Allan, 2000). The American psychologist who wrote about the multiple intelligence theory, Howard Gardner, claimed that a human being is a unique individual that possesses different levels of intelligence and perceives learning in different ways. This led him to suggest that schools need to look into the possibility of providing individual-centered approach. The framework tailors the curriculum to the intelligence and preferences of the child (Tomlinson Allan, 2000). This suggestion fits to the different student learning profile key element of differentiated instruction. The context of differentiated instruction supports and integrates the learning styles of the students to the conditions of their brain development. This constructivist learning theory details and analyzes the various factors that influence the readiness, intelligence preferences, and the interest of the students that motivate and engage them to learn at school (Anderson, 2007). Kathie Nunley, an educational psychologist, stated that the movement for differentiated instruction is crucial to the classroom makeover from the 1970s homogeneous groupings to the present heterogeneous learners (Nunley, 2006). Educators using the differentiated instruction approach are able to ascertain and meet the differing needs of the students, help each student in their learning process, and exceed expectations from established standards (Levy, 2008). Tomlinson believed that the need to implement differentiated instruction came from the fact that learners are unique individuals that vary in different ways. The student population is also fast becoming academically diverse, which presents higher probability that diversity will continue for a long time . Pre-assessment criteria for differentiated instruction The most crucial part of the differentiated instruction program is the assessment, identification, and determin

Griffins Egg: Gunther :: essays research papers

Griffin's Egg: Gunther   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Griffin's Egg is a story about Gunther, a man who lives on the moon. And his adventures,as he gets into all kinds of situatutions. He, along with many others, have inhabited the moon because Earth is engauged in a full thermonuclier war. The dangers of the moon however, also come along. Solar flares, dangerous robots, CMP chips, and many more dangers await Gunther on the moon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As gunther is delivering some fuel rods to the G5 Assembly Plant, a Surface Warning is broadcast, this is high levels of radiation caused by a solar flare. He is 30 minutes away from the nearest shelter, and the advisory is for 20 minutes. He finds a way to make a rig to sit under the truck, so he would be shielded from the radiation. He also uses his robot, Siegfried, to control the movement of the truck while he is riding under it, on his way to the plant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When he finally made it so the plant, he went inside to find it filled with thick, smoke-like mist. His light only distorts the images, so he turns it off and gets used to the dark room. When his eyes finally got adjusted, it was just in time, because just then a big metal puncher came by and punched a hole in the ground right next to him. He stumbled away, only to find that the robot was following him. He ran into the shelter and closed the door, sealing the robot outside of the shelter. The shelter was s small room, just big enough to fit a cot, a chemical toilet, and a rebreather with spare oxygen tanks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A while later, after the flare was over, the CMP chips, which has been implanted in everyone's brain that had come to the moon, was being used against them. Krishna, a scientist, found that if he broadcasted over the chips frequency, he could make hypnotic suggestions to the people with the chips. Gunther had to find a way to stop this, so he and another scientist, Hiro,