How to Write a Winning College Essay

How to Write a Winning College EssayWriting a winning college essay can be an intimidating task. After all, not everyone has the skill to write a stellar essay. The trick is to make sure that you follow a few steps and make sure that you put in the effort. Here are a few tips on how to write a winning college essay.First, decide what you want to say in your college essay. A good way to begin is to write down exactly what you want to say. If you are going to talk about yourself or who you are, start with that. But if you want to talk about your school or your college experience, it may be best to start with a sentence or two about the topic you are going to cover. Think of writing about yourself as preparing your best work, and that's the way you should do it.Next, decide what theme you want to follow in your college essay. Themes are a useful way to outline the types of material you will cover in your essay. If you have a special interest in a particular area, or you're passionate ab out something, you may choose a theme to tie in with that interest. Other themes include ethnic backgrounds, experiences from past years, hobbies, and other things.One of the first mistakes people make when they are writing a college essay is to make grammatical or spelling mistakes. Always spell correctly when writing your essay. If you have a habit of making typos, you'll have to cut back on what you put into your essay.Finally, you should also make sure that you use a professional-looking essay format. Look for writing software or professional-looking software to help you find the best format for your essay. If you get a professional-looking software, you will save yourself a lot of time and trouble.Now that you know how to write a winning college essay, you can go about researching everything you need to do. By taking some time to go through your own writing and then checking out the resources available, you will get a feel for what works and what doesn't.Writing an essay is no easy task. Even if you have a pretty good idea of what you want to say, don't get discouraged. There are many steps you can take to make sure you give it your best effort. With some preparation and research, you can give a college essay the boost it needs to stand out among the rest.

Sample Why Our School Essay - How to Write a Sample Why Our School Essay?

Sample Why Our School Essay - How to Write a Sample Why Our School Essay?If you are interested in knowing how to write a sample why our school essay, I will give you some tips on how to do so. My first tip would be that as a student, you should put yourself in the shoes of a medical student.It is really important that you take into consideration that the students' mind is set on medical sciences and this may be so from the very start of their schooling. One example is that they may be called upon to perform a certain procedure and it may appear to be that they have no choice but to do so, even if the procedure is not desirable. On the other hand, if a student wishes to write a sample why our school essay, he or she should be thinking logically, and not on their own fancy or emotions.When you are writing a sample why our school essay, you should not rely on your own emotional feelings. Your logical mind should guide you in order to write a logical piece. This means that you will want to avoid speculating what the student would think if he were given the opportunity to write a sample why our school essay.After all, if you make a few mistakes in grammar, it could potentially error on the student's part, which is why it is essential that you carefully check the piece over again until you have corrected all the errors. This is because mistakes in grammar could actually make a difference on whether or not the student is accepted into medical school or not.I would also like to mention that the critical issue for a student to think about is whether or not the essay is relevant to his or her school. The more relevant it is, the more likely you are to be accepted into the medical school that you desire to attend. As an example, if the student wrote his or her essay in support of his or her religion, it may seem reasonable that they would be accepted into the same institution that requires him or her to say something he or she does not believe in.On the other hand, if the student decided to express his or her opinion on religion, he or she may be able to write personal statements about his or her faith at a different institution. There are many cases where a student may write about his or her religion in order to be accepted into a certain institution. It is therefore important that the student consider this as well, and try to represent the major points that he or she believes in the essay.Finally, it is always good to consider all the pros and cons, when writing a sample why our school essay. Sometimes, a student may not be sure about a particular question or issue, but on the other hand, it is not always possible to address a problem, if it is a serious one. Hence, it is always important to think this through before writing anything down.

Johnny Tremain Essays (527 words) - Johnny Tremain,

Johnny Tremain When the book started, Johnny was an annoying pain who always fought and always made bad comments about people. Ever since his mother had died, he has been a blacksmith's apprentice working under a man named Mr. Lampham. His mother arranged for it to be that way before she died. She left Johnny with a silver cup. It was told to Johnny that when all of his hope is lost, and God has turned away from him, then only shall he go to the merchant Lyte and present it to him. Johnny kept it in a chest in the attic all locked up. Johnny was the easiest to teach the art of being a blacksmith. He could read and write, and was a fast learner. This made him the most valuable in the family. He always treated the other learners very badly. This is why one day, they played a trick on him. Johnny and Mr. Lampham had a very important client they were working for. They were going to make him a special bowl for his wife's birthday. Johnny was working all week on the handles he was to design. He came close to the end of the week but he still hadn't got it perfectly right. On Saturday he was told that he couldn't work because he couldn't work on Sabbath. So, Johnny told Mrs. Lampham about this and she said that he could secretly work on Sunday. While Johnny was working, One of the other workers handed him a broken piece which had a crack in the side. It broke and silver when everywhere. Johnny's hand went on the stove. He nearly burned it, it was completely silver on his palm. They called for an old lady. A month later, they were going to unwrap his hand out of the cloth they put it in. When they took off the cloth, it was crippled. Johnny's thumb grew into his other fingers. He couldn't work as a blacksmith so he became useless. Mr. Lampham told Johnny to go look for another job. So Johnny went into town and looked with no luck. He came upon a Printers work place and soon started working there. He became friends with guy named Rab, who was two years older than he was. Johnny learned to control his temper while with Rab, and read many of their books which they had. He was taught by Rab to ride a horse. Johnny learned to ride one of the toughest horses. The horse's name was Goblin. Johnny went into other towns delivering papers to subscribers on Goblin. He still found a place to meet Cill, a girl whom he liked in Mr. Lampham's house. He met her in the middle of town. She gave him updates on news which happened recently. Johnny later began part of the Tea Party. He was there throwing tea even with his bad hand. When the British were here, Rab wanted one of their guns because it seemed more modernized than ours. So he talked one soldier into giving him his gun so that the man could be a farmer. Rab fought hard but was killed at Lexington and Concord. Johnny was never found again. At the end of the book, Johnny learned to be a better person overall.

Dyslexia and Multisensory Teaching Approaches

Dyslexia and Multisensory Teaching Approaches Multisensory learning involves using two or more senses during the learning process. For example, a teacher who provides lots of hands-on activities, such as building a 3-dimensional map enhances their lesson by allowing the children to touch and see the concepts she is teaching. A teacher who uses oranges to teach fractions adds sight, smell, touch and taste to an otherwise difficult lesson. According to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), multisensory teaching is an effective approach to teaching children with dyslexia. In traditional teaching, students typically use two senses: sight and hearing. Students see words when reading and they hear the teacher speaking. But many children with dyslexia may have problems processing visual and auditory information. By including more of the senses, making lessons come alive by incorporating touch, smell and taste into their lessons, teachers can reach more students and help those with dyslexia learn and retain information. Some ideas take just a little effort but can bring about big changes. Tips for Creating a Multisensory Classroom Writing homework assignments on the board. Teachers can use different colors for each subject and notations if books will be needed. For example, use yellow for math homework, red for spelling and green for history, writing a sign next to the subjects students need books or other materials. The different colors allow students to know at a glance which subjects have homework and what books to bring home.Use different colors to signify different parts of the classroom. For example, use bright colors in the main area of the classroom to help motivate children and promote creativity. Use shades of green, which help increase concentration and feelings of emotional well-being, in reading areas and computer stations.Use music in the classroom. Set math facts, spelling words or grammar rules to music, much as we use to teach children the alphabet. Use soothing music during reading time or when students are required to work quietly at their desks.Use scents in the classroom to convey differe nt feelings. According to the article Do scents affect peoples moods or work performance? in the November, 2002 issue of Scientific American, People who worked in the presence of a pleasant smelling air freshener also reported higher self-efficacy, set higher goals and were more likely to employ efficient work strategies than participants who worked in a no-odor condition. Aromatherapy can be applied to the classroom. Some common beliefs about scents include: Lavender and vanilla help promote relaxationCitrus, peppermint and pine help increase alertnessCinnamon helps to improve focus You may find that your students react differently to certain scents, so experiment to find which works best using a variety of air fresheners. Start with a picture or object. Usually, students are asked to write a story and then illustrate it, write a report, and find pictures to go with it, or draw a picture to represent a math problem. Instead, start with the picture or object. Ask students to write a story about a picture they found in a magazine or break the class into small groups and give each group a different piece of fruit, asking the group to write descriptive words or a paragraph about the fruit. Make stories come to life. Have students create skits or puppet shows to act out a story the class is reading. Have students work in small groups to act out one part of the story for the class. Use different colored paper. Instead of using plain white paper, copy hand-outs on different color paper to make the lesson more interesting. Use green paper one day, pink the next and yellow the day after. Encourage discussion. Break the class into small groups and have each group answer a different question about a story that was read. Or, have each group come up with a different ending to the story. Small groups offer each student a chance to participate in the discussion, including students with dyslexia or other learning disabilities who may be reluctant to raise their hand or speak up during class. Use different types of media to present lessons. Incorporate different ways of teaching, like films, slide shows, overhead sheets, P owerpoint presentations. Pass pictures or manipulatives around the classroom to allow students to touch and see the information up close. Making each lesson unique and interactive keeps students interest and helps them retain the information learned. Create games to review material. Create a version of Trivial Pursuit to help review facts in science or social studies. Making reviews fun and exciting will help students remember the information.   ReferencesDo scents affect peoples moods or work performance? 2002, Nov 11, Rachel S. Herz, Scientific AmericanInternational Dyslexia Association. (2001). Just the facts: Information provided by the International Dyslexia Association: Orton-Gillingham-Based and/or Multisensory Structured Language approaches. (Fact Sheet No.968). Baltimore: Maryland.

World Literature. Don Quixote & Doctor Faustus Essay

World Literature. Don Quixote & Doctor Faustus - Essay Example While one was ruled by greed (Doctor Faustus), other was ruled by a passion for chivalry (Don Quixote). Thus the basic plots of these stories, and the enduring images presented in them exhibit the protagonists’ single minded pursuits. This forms one of the distinguishing expressions of the Western men. Each of them embodies an arte and a hubris, an exceptional prowess and a vitiating excess, in spheres of action that are particularly important to our culture (Ian Watt, Pg. viii). Though both the men are of extraordinary temperaments, Don Quixote is more appealing of the two characters and more realistic. He is a real man of flesh and blood, an idealistic and a romantic. He would continue to grow in history as long as chivalry and love pervades. On the other hand, Faust resembles more of an idea. He is a fanatic, a genius who has sold his soul to the devil in a bid to gain supreme knowledge and power for twenty four years. Don Quixote wins our pity and scorn but Faust earns onl y our resentment. No one sympathizes with him when he meets his cruel end.

An act of kindness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An act of kindness - Essay Example The author has rightly presented that kindness is not restricted to help someone with material things like money, food or clothes. Kindness also means to share someone’s grief or pain or it also means to say a few kind words which could redress people’s grievances. Whoever performs an act of kindness, it is a message delivered from one heart to another generated from the inner self. The author tells that he cannot remember exactly in which class he was. But he does remember the very first act of kindness he did for someone. One day, the researcher was coming back home from his school that he saw a boy of his age begging on the signal. The author was surprised to see that why the child of his age is begging instead of wearing a school uniform and books in the hand. The author asked his father that why there is so much difference between the two of them. His father replied that they are poor children and they cannot afford to buy a uniform and school books. Their parents are forced to send them begging money and food so that they can feed their stomach. The author said to his father that he cannot see a child of his age begging on the road instead of studying in school. What could he do to help this urchin? His father said that if you really want to do an act of kindness and help the poor kid, you should compromise on something you have and you love. God will be very happy with your kind act. Suddenly, something clicked his mind.

Stace & Dunphy Essay Example for Free

Stace Dunphy Essay Five dilemmas that have characterised decisions about organisational change: 1. Adaptive V rational strategy development 2. Cultural change V structural change 3. Continuous improvement V radical transformation 4. Empowerment V leadership and command. 5. Economic V Social goals Having discussed the five dilemmas, Dunphy and Stace (1996) differentiate them in terms of `soft and `hard approaches to managing change: Soft approaches are characterised by: adaptive strategy, cultural change, continuous improvement and empowerment. while hard approaches are characterised by: rational strategy, structural change, radical transformation and leadership and command. Introduction to Cultural Change Structural Success in business is often determined by how effective an organization manages cultural change. That is success is not achieved by an executives skills alone, nor by the visible features the strategy, structure and reward system of the organization. Every organization has an invisible quality a certain style, a character, a way of doing things that may be more powerful than the dictates of any one person or any formal system. This invisible quality the corporate culture dictates how effective the organization is in the marketplace. Achieving cultural change to maintain a prime market position has to be a key preoccupation of every chief executive. To understand the soul of the organization and the cultural change required necessitates us probing below the below what is visible, e.g., charts, rule books, machines and buildings and into the underground world of peoples feelings, beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, only then can the corporate culture be defined and cultura l change initiatives be identified. To provide meaning, direction and mobilisation, i.e., the social energy that moves the corporation into either productive action or destruction requires constant cultural change to keep abreast of current management thinking and technology. Many organisations however simply do not recognise the need for cultural change and therefore this social energy has barely been tapped; whether diffused in all directions or even deactivated, it is not mobilised to help the company. Most members seem apathetic or depressed about their jobs and no longer pressure one another to do well. Even cultural change pronouncements by top managers that they will improve the situation fall on the deaf ears of employees who have heard these promises before. Consequently, without cultural change being itself part of the culture, the soul of the organisation slowly dies. The crucial role of corporate cultural change in shaping behaviour, and the especially powerful effects of group norms, one way to turn around a maladaptive company is to effect cultural change by managing its norms. Even cultural norms that dictate behaviour, opinions style and attitudes, etc., can be brought to the surface, discussed and altered by cultural change initiatives. Experience of corporate consulting work, has revealed it helpful to have all group members (generally in a cultural change workshop setting) list the actual norms that currently guide their behaviour and attitudes. This can be done for one or many cultural change groups, departments and divisions. Sometimes, it takes a little prodding and a few illustrations to get the process started, but once it begins, cultural change group members are quick to suggest many norms. In fact, they seem to delight in being able to articulate what was never written in any document and rarely mentioned even in casual conversation between themselves. What is Structural Change Structure is the place where culture grows. The structure of the organization, its physical structure, its work processes and systems support and create the behavior of the people who work there. Often organizations distribute new mission statements, beautiful posters with new values on them, but since the structure of the workplace does not support the mission or values, they are doomed to disappear. The networks of an organization function as culture maintainers organization members who communicate in predictable ways about predictable things based on history. Fundamental and lasting change requires the transformation of the networks that are the foundation for communication and relationships within the organization. By changing the way people sit, the processes they use, the structure of relationships between departments new networks form and old ones fade away. The structural changes should be small, many and high leverage. The changes should be small so that small numbers of volunteers can implement them quickly. Changing many things at the same time destabilizes the old, out-dated systems and processes. High leverage changes have a profound impact on the whole system. New structure forces new behaviors, just as changing the position of a wall in a room, or taking it away all together, causes people in the room to move and to change their focus. (Ref: Johnson Gerry and Scholes Kevan, (2002), exploring corporate strategy, 6 e/d, Printice Hall, UK) Structural change is enduring and difficult to undo. Once new walls, new systems and new processes are built to replace old structures, it is hard to return to the old way of doing things. Remember when the typewriter and the computer sat in side-by-side in the offices and how the people continued to use their typewriters? As soon as the typewriters were gone, people switched to computers. A test for structural change is an econometric test to determine whether the coefficients in a regression model are the same in separate subsamples. Often the subsamples come from different time periods. CNN has picked up on a report by the New York Federal Reserve Bank that suggests that the recovery is jobless because there is a restructuring beginning to happen. In a recent report, economists at the New York Fed suggest that what is happening is structural. In past recessions job losses were far more cyclical: The economy turned down, your company laid you off, but as soon as things got better you got hired back. Lets discuss an issue on structural and cultural change on The causes of Poverty in U.S. There are many competing theories about the causes of poverty in the United States with mountains of empirical evidence to justify support for each. The debate among theorists and policymakers is primarily divided between advocates who support cultural/behavioural arguments and those who support structural/economic arguments. This debate tends to manifest itself across political party lines with republicans supporting the cultural/behavioural thesis and democrats looking more to structural causes. (Ref: http://www.canberra.edu.au) Structural Causes Supporters of the structural school of thought argue that most poverty can be traced back to structural factors inherent to either the economy and/or to several interrelated institutional environments that serve to favor certain groups over others, generally based on gender, class, or race. Of the various institutional environments that tend to sustain a multitude of economic barriers to different groups, it is discrimination based on race and gender that create the most insidious obstructions. The disproportionately high rate of poverty among women may be viewed as the consequence of a patriarchal society that continues to resist their inclusion in a part of society that has been historically dominated by men, and as a consequence, welfare programs have been designed in ways that stigmatize public support for women as opposed to marital support; both arrangements tend to reinforce patriarchy. In this regard, the rise in poverty among women is an important structural level variable t o consider, but the lack of reliable data going back to 1947 makes testing difficult. This view is in part analogous to spatial mismatch theory, which generally hypothesizes that the location and relative access to jobs of the disadvantaged group is more operable than race per se. In a comprehensive literature review, Holzer concludes that spatial mismatch has a significant effect on Black employment and is primarily due to the low availability of well-paying jobs in the inner-city; a situation brought on by job decentralization and increasing commute times to distant jobs. However, Holzer suggests that the root cause of higher unemployment among inner-city Blacks may not be clearly distinguishable between the characteristics of the people who reside in each place as opposed to the problems created by location per se.. Structural economic factors include the level and variation in unemployment, median income, and measures of income inequality. The effects of unemployment and rises in median income are well documented and their relationship to poverty is intuitive. The rate of poverty tracks very closely with median income and in general, rises in median income has positive benefits for all classes, including the poor. Over the last half century, as median income has risen, the rate of poverty has decreased in close correlation. This relationship lends credibility to the argument that work is the best mechanism for lifting people out of poverty. Indeed, one of the clearest strategies for fighting poverty should be to focus on ensuring a strong and growing economy. However, for individuals to take full advantage of a strong and changing economy, they need education. Rises in income are positively correlated with educational attainment. Yet education is not equally accessible by all members of the pop ulation. Since property taxes represent the largest share of local school funding, the quality of education will necessarily vary relative the economic wealth of the locality. Federal and State funding represent smaller shares and are meant to level the playing fields somewhat, but they do not. It is education that allows people to adapt to changes in the economy and by extension changes in the demand for labour. During the latter half of the 20th Century, the American economy shifted from one based on manufacturing to one based on services. The gains in wages and working conditions that were made in the manufacturing sector have been weakened by the service economy. For example, Wal-Mart offers its employees one of the weakest wage/benefits packages of any corporation of its kind and continues to fend off unionization; it is now one the most powerful corporations with a huge market share and monopsony power over its suppliers. The gains in US GDP are in part due to the success of a consumer economy that rewards Wal-Mart and its cousin conglomerates, but at what cost to the Americans working low wage/benefit jobs. The barriers created by these trends are difficult for the poor to overcome. How is the poor parent supposed to take care of his/her family based on a near minimum wage job with poor and/or expensive health coverage and child care? A publication by the Institute of Womens Policy Research demonstrates that many among the poor rely on several sources of income in order to get by, including government assistance, income from other family members, child support, and job income. These multiple sources of income along with the stresses inherent to the pursuit of each would not be as needed if sufficient employment were available for livable wages and benefits. Economic Vs Social goals Some obstacles to the development of new forms of work organisation have been recently reported : low level of awareness, poor access to evidence-based resources, ountervailing trends, distribution of the relevant competencies. When thinking of the impact of industrial relations on organisational innovation, another sociological factor may be stressed: Whatever the necessary roles of the collective social actors in the work organisation, employees are now definitely the key actors in this respect. However, in many countries, the history of industrial relations systems, the actual balance of power between employers and employees in companies and the growing social insecurity based on flexibility, lead many employees to wonder about the aim and the effects of the new forms of work organisation. They consider that companies are asking them for more efforts in their single interests (productivity, quality of product) without any evidence that it may improve employees ones ( working conditions, job security, wages, industrial democracy). For them and for some of their unions, closing the gap with stakeholders is an illusion, and improving workers involvement requires a real balance between economic and social goals in organisational innovation. Therefore, in some industrial relations systems, even more than technical tools, learning processes, used rhetorics or formal provisions, this balance is a basic precondition for most employees to implement and develop new forms of work organisation. In order to meet this precondition, i.e. to ensure both economic and social goals in work organisation, a major tool is employee representatives participation in the decision making, the monitoring and the evaluation of organisational changes at every regulatory level. Proposals are already on the table that actors should build coalitions or should have a proactive role in developing these changes. But in many countries, such proposals cannot be implemented if employers or managers remain the only decision makers in work organisation. Confirming this approach, the EPOC results (Employee Participation in Organisational Change, a programme including a survey on 5800 European companies) reported that, from most managers point of views, the more employee representatives are involved in the regulation of direct participation, the more this participation is efficiently implemented, with a good impact on cost reduction, improvement of quality of product/service, absenteeism. In the same way , in France, reducing working time by law finally was, in many companies, the best way for actors to co-operate in changing work organisation. The deal was clear, with advantages for both partners. Such a social actors involvement in regulation of work organisation is now converging with a more general trend in industrial relations systems towards what may be called a multilevel model of regulated autonomy, involving social partners in co-producing rules at most interlinked levels of work regulation, from the European level to the workplace one. Moreover, this model itself between deregulation and old top-down regulation- is clearly aimed at introducing regulatory flexibility at local levels while common rules may be kept at upper levels. The Auroux Law was the first example in France of such a model. So, in order to establish balanced goals and advantages in organisational change, and more generally in order to co-produce work regulation, employees representatives are or should be at the core of the system. But a major problem then appear. Their weakness in many countries, specially at company level, is often leading to u nbalanced situations in which they dont have the power to play their roles of counterpower. In the long run, the results of the bargaining between unbalanced partners often look unbalanced and not satisfactory for workers, for instance about employment, precariousness or working conditions. (Ref: Lynch Richard, (2000), corporate strategy, 8 e/d, Prentice Hall, England.) Empowerment Leadership and command Empowerment evaluation is part of the intellectual landscape of evaluation. It has been adopted in higher education, government, inner-city public education, nonprofit corporations, and foundations throughout the United States and abroad. A wide range of program and policy sectors use empowerment evaluation, including substance abuse prevention, HIV prevention, crime prevention, environmental protection, welfare reform, battered womens shelters, agriculture and rural development, adult probation, adolescent pregnancy prevention, tribal partnership for substance abuse, self-determination and individuals with disabilities, doctoral programs, and educational reform (the Accelerated Schools Project a national educational reform movement). Descriptions of programs that use empowerment evaluation appear in Empowerment Evaluation: Knowledge and Tools for Self-assessment and Accountability (Fetterman, Kaftarian, and Wandersman 1996). Foundations of Empowerment Evaluation presents a complete description about how to conduct an empowerment evaluation (Fetterman, 2001). The definition of a leader is someone who has followers. To gain followers requires influence but doesnt exclude the lack of integrity in achieving this. Indeed, it can be argued that several of the worlds greatest leaders have lacked integrity and have adopted values that would not be shared by many people today. Empowerment evaluation has three steps. The first step is establishing a mission or vision statement about the program. Some groups do not like the terms mission or vision and instead prefer to focus on results. They state the results they would like to see, based on the outcome of the implemented program and map backwards endash;- specifying activities required to achieve those processes and outcomes. The second step, taking stock, involves identifying and prioritizing the most significant program activities. Then program staff members and participants rate how well the program is doing in each of those activities, typically on a 1 (low) to 10 (high) scale, and discuss the ratings. This helps to determine where the program stands, including strengths and weaknesses. The third step involves charting a course for the future. The group states goals and strategies to achieve their dreams. Goals help program staff members and participants determine where they want to go in the future with an explicit emphasis on program improvement. Strategies help them accomplish program goals. These efforts are monitored using credible documentation. Empowerment evaluators help program staff members and participants identify the type of evidence required to document progress toward their goals. Evaluation becomes a part of the normal planning and management of the program, which is a means of institutionalizing and internalizing evaluation. Empowerment evaluation is fundamentally a democratic process. The entire group not a single individual, not the external evaluator or an internal manager is responsible for conducting the evaluation. The group thus can serve as a check on its own members, moderating the various biases and agendas of individual members. The evaluator is a co-equal in this endeavor, not a superior and not a servant; as a critical friend, the evaluator can question shared biases or group think. Conclusion on Dilemmas While measurement issues remain, including the applicability of a national level analysis to various regions and cities each with potentially differentiated forms and causes of poverty, the final Model V of this analysis provides a useful framework for understanding the general causes of poverty at the national level. Contrary to the hypothesis of the paper, the cultural variables employed could not be integrated with the structural/political variables into a larger model that demonstrated the dynamic interrelation between the structural environment, cultural processes, and behavioral outcomes as theorized by Orlando Patterson Empowerment evaluation has three steps. The first step is establishing a mission or vision statement about the program. Some groups do not like the terms mission or vision and instead prefer to focus on results. They state the results they would like to see, based on the outcome of the implemented program and map backwards endash;- specifying activities required to achieve those processes and outcomes. The second step, taking stock, involves identifying and prioritizing the most significant program activities. Then program staff members and participants rate how well the program is doing in each of those activities, typically on a 1 (low) to 10 (high) scale, and discuss the ratings. This helps to determine where the program stands, including strengths and weaknesses. The third step involves charting a course for the future. The group states goals and strategies to achieve their dreams. Goals help program staff members and participants determine where they want to go in the future with an explicit emphasis on program improvement. Strategies help them accomplish program goals. These efforts are monitored using credible documentation. Empowerment evaluators help program staff members and participants identify the type of evidence required to document progress toward their goals. Evaluation becomes a part of the normal planning and management of the program, which is a means of institutionalizing and internalizing evaluation. Empowerment evaluation is fundamentally a democratic process. The entire group not a single individual, not the external evaluator or an internal manager is responsible for conducting the evaluation. The group thus can serve as a check on its own members, moderating the various biases and agendas of individual members. The evaluator is a co-equal in this endeavor, not a superior and not a servant; as a critical friend, the evaluator can question shared biases or group think. As is the case in traditional evaluation, everyone is accountable in one fashion or another and thus has an interest or agenda to protect. A school district may have a five-year plan designed by the superintendent; a graduate school may have to satisfy requirements of an accreditation association; an outside evaluator may have an important but demanding sponsor pushing either timelines or results, or may be influenced by training to use one theoretical approach rather than another. Empowerment evaluations, like all other evaluations, exist within a context. However, the range of intermediate objectives linking what most people do in their daily routine and macro goals is almost infinite. People often feel empowered and self-determined when they can select intermediate objectives that are linked to larger, global goals. In addition, a self-evaluation is more meaningful when linked to external requirements and demands. Empowerment evaluation also empowers external evaluators. Specifically, the external evaluators role and productivity is enhanced by the presence of an empowerment or internal evaluation process. Most evaluators operate significantly below their capacity in an evaluation because the program lacks even rudimentary evaluation mechanisms and processes. The external evaluator routinely devotes time to the development and maintenance of elementary evaluation systems. Programs that already have a basic self-evaluation process in place enable external evaluators to begin operating at a much more sophisticated level. References * Lynch Richard, (2000), corporate strategy, 8 e/d, Prentice Hall, England. * Channon Derek f., (1999), Encyclopedic Dictionary of strategy management, Blackwell Business, UK. * Lynch Richard, (2000), corporate strategy, 8 e/d, Prentice Hall, England. * Channon Derek f., (1999), Encyclopedic Dictionary of strategy management, Blackwell Business, UK. * Johnson Gerry and Scholes Kevan, (2002), exploring corporate strategy, 6 e/d, Printice Hall, UK. * Robson Wendy, (1997), strategic management and information system, 2 e/d, Prentice Hall, England. * http://www.canberra.edu.au * http://www.drew-associates.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk