 on adding new partner firms. James Bristow has served as the Western Division President since NOVA Geotechnical & Inspection Services (NOVA) joined UES in May 2020.
There is a great deal of opportunity for UES to grow in the West, and with the increased focus on infrastructure.
"Trent's management background and experience in mergers and acquisitions, greenfield expansion and stabilizing operations will help accelerate the integration of all new and existing branches in the West," said James Bristow. "Trent and I will work together to improve organizational efficiencies and push continued growth with this new management structure."
"My goal is to become an integral part of the growth strategy for the West, and I am honored to lead the amazing team already in place," said Trent Anderson. "There is a great deal of opportunity for UES to grow in the West, and with the increased focus on infrastructure, we are well positioned to help our clients and communities grow and thrive."
Anderson most recently served as a Regional Vice President at Professional Service Industries, Inc. (PSI), leading one of the firm's regions and was a national strategic leadership team member. Anderson was instrumental in overseeing projects of all sizes and across multiple sectors, including federal, transportation, commercial, healthcare, academic and industrial. Anderson holds a BS in Agribusiness from Tarleton State University and an Executive MBA from the University of Texas at El Paso.
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View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/universal-engineering-sciences-appoints-trent-anderson-to-western-division-president-301498189.htmlWhile schools in states such as Texas, Arizona, and California have been teaching English learners for generations, the presence of English language learners (ELLs) is a comparatively new phenomenon in the Northwest. If systems are not already in place for students to develop their English proficiency while learning math, science, social studies and other subjects at the same time, what can principals do to make sure English learners get the support they need?
Imagine if you had to learn math in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, or another language in which you are not fluent. It would be an extra challenge, of course. But, it wouldn’t mean you were less intelligent or less able to learn the math. Teachers, out of sympathy, sometimes try to “help” by giving English learners easier assignments. Those easier tasks, however, just leave students with less ability to meet the expectations of new state standards. As a remedy, principals can communicate to teachers their belief that ELLs, with appropriate instruction and supports, can succeed in learning challenging content.
Part of being serious about high expectations means creating opportunities for ELLs to participate in Talented & Gifted programs, Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and the full range of extracurricular activities even before they are fully proficient in English. Principals can carefully scrutinize the master schedule to ensure that scheduling conflicts between AP and required ESL courses do not occur.
We all know about the crucial connection between parent involvement and student success. But, it can be challenging for parents to support their kids when they are unfamiliar with the language and the system. Principals can help in a variety of ways. For example, they can ensure outgoing communication—such as notices sent home to parents—are translated into home languages and provide interpreters at school events. They can also set up systems to ensure that incoming communication, such as notes or phone calls from parents, can be received and understood by someone affiliated with the school. Community volunteers can often help with these tasks.
One of the supports that ELLs need is time set aside to learn how academic English (as opposed to informal conversational English) really works. It is not sufficient for ELLs to join in reading instruction with English-proficient students—although they need that, too, of course. They also require specifically designated time for English language development (ELD), a time when they learn sentence structure, additional vocabulary, and how English is used in academic settings. ELD is helpful for ELLs at all levels—not only beginners--and it should be connected to what is happening in the general-education classroom the rest of the day. The master schedule should build this in so that ELLs don’t have to miss core math or reading instruction in order to receive ELD.
Since many ELLs receive most of their instruction from general-education classroom teachers, those teachers need to know how to scaffold instruction appropriately. We know that using visuals to convey ideas and providing graphic organizers, for example, makes a difference. Talking with partners and working in structured small groups gives ELLs the opportunity for language practice. While some teachers may already routinely use these and other techniques, others do not. Schoolwide professional development can build a shared understanding of ELLs’ needs and a common commitment to the instructional practices that support them.
How will you know whether the ELD instruction provided is building students’ English proficiency? How can you be sure whether the supports general-education teachers provide are sufficient to ensure that ELLs are learning academic content? Answers to these questions can only come with the use of data—both content-area assessments (such as math tests) and English-language proficiency tests. When principals review data, when teachers meet in grade-level teams to examine data, or when teachers look at formative assessments within their own classrooms, they need data showing the progress of ELLs and comparisons to non-ELLs. Are ELLs making progress? What about the recently reclassified students who were ELLs within the past two years. Is their learning progressing on par with that of non-ELLs? If not, what needs to be changed?
Many schools have a full- or part-time English as a Second Language (ESL) or bilingual specialist. This is often the person who provides ELD instruction and/or supports ELLs in the classroom in a “push-in” model. But, all too often, these specialist teachers complain that they never have the opportunity to interact with classroom teachers. This means both teachers are missing a valuable opportunity to collaborate, share insights about individual students, and make sure that the instruction they provide is aligned in meaningful ways without being repetitive. Principals can avoid the disconnect and reduce the isolation by building collaboration time into the schedule. Specialists can join teachers for grade-level meetings or have overlapping planning periods.Our final T3 Agenda of the week is headlined by a new wearable to help keep you safe when out on a run, Marshall's first Bluetooth headphones (with 30 hours of playback, no less) and more...
Wearables can practically do anything these days, but can they potentially keep you safe in the event of an attack? Runangel, a brand new device that's about to enter the market, promises just that - packing in a high-pitched alarm to scare away potential attackers when you're out on a secluded run or all alone on a walk home.
Said alarm can be as loud as 120dB high-pitched alarm when activated, and can even be paired with your smartphone to send out an emergency message should that worst case scenario ever occur.
Runangel uses Bluetooth to link your phone and uses its own bespoke app to create a 'guardian network' of trusted friends and family who can be set up as recipients should you need to send out an SOS.
With three weeks of battery life and an SOS light to help you stand out in dark places, runangel looks to be a real step forward and safety-minded technology. You can order one today for 99 euros (£85) via runangel.com.
Marshall, the iconic maker of speakers and cabinets, is making another foray into the world of headphones with the Bluetooth-friendly Marshall Monitor Bluetooth headphones.
Marshall is clearly aiming this at the market its so closely tied to, with its sleek design built for musicians working through long sessions in the studio. According to the firm the Monitor will offer a whopping 30 hours of playback on a single charge, as well as offering noise isolation and a balanced mix of clean tones and heavy bass.
Marshall is using APTX Bluetooth tech to ensure that audio signal is as clear and reliable as possible so we're expecting a powerful sound through these cups. The Marshall Monitor Bluetooth headphones will be available shortly with a price tag of £209.
Yamaha has just unveiled a brand new series of AV receivers, all four of which support the firm's MusicCast wireless multi-room feature. The Japanese tech giant has also confirmed its bringing Tidal and Deezer functionality in the near future.
All four receivers - which includes the RX-V383, RX-V483, RX-V583 and RX-V683 - support 4K, Dolby Vision and HDR, while the high end RX-V583 and RX-V683 (which are both 7.2-channel systems) also come with Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio features making for one professional audio and video setup.
Each one is also Bluetooth ready so you can link it up to your smartphone, PC or even a set of wireless speakers. All four will go on sale in June 2017, although prices have yet to be confirmed.
Why not check out... Hands on Galaxy S8 review: who needs bezels?I haven't programmed hill climbing algorithms, but presumably because once a candidate solution reaches a local minimum, most hill climber procedures will reject all new candidates. Because all new tour lengths will be longer, the algorithm doesn't know where else to go. The termination conditions can vary, but usually the algorithm will terminate once it detects it's stuck in a minimum