Effects of Cte on Nfl Athletes free essay sample

As of now, 33 deceased NFL players have been confirmed to have had CTE before their death (Breslow, 2013). Literature Review CTE is characterized by a few neurological and physiological abnormalities in the brain, one of the main symptoms is the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau (Zeigler, 2012). In CTE affected brains, tau clumps and builds up in places, causing the brain to malfunction, often leading to dementia in later stages. (Zeigler, 2012). Also, it has been confirmed that many living NFL players are living with CTE right now (Kroll, 2013). While no way to reverse the effects has been thought of yet, research is slowly progressing in detecting it earlier on (Kroll, 2013). The NFL is attempting to work with various institutes to study CTE and hopefully prevent it as much as possible in their players. They have been providing counseling to former players now dealing with depression, memory loss, and other key symptoms. We will write a custom essay sample on Effects of Cte on Nfl Athletes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, there is no way to clearly see the future affects that CTE research will have on the NFL and the game of football.

Managing Service Innovation-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the Managing Service Innovation. Answer: Introduction In todays business world, the hospitality industry is shifting from service-focused, physical asset intensive business to customer centric and experience centric. The organizations in this industry are making various innovations for managing the service by focusing on needs and demands of customers. The major objective of this essay is to evaluate different issues, which are significant for managing the service strategies in hotel and hospitality industry. Moreover, this essay will examine different theoretical perspectives on service in a range of settings like; events and conferences, hotels, licensed retails, commercial catering, transport catering and other service sectors (Robinson and Picard, 2016). For a hospitality business, it is essential to analyze these factors and theoretical perspectives to stay competitive in the industry. Theoretical Perspectives of Service The impact of economic conditions, globalization, service development and increased competition have led to changes in the business and operating environment of global hospitality industry. It needs service organizations, like hotels to adopt competitive and marketing strategies to enhance the competitiveness and sustain the customers (Bilgihan, and Neiad, 2015). There are various theoretical perspectives, which can be used for examining the services offered by hospitality industry and its sectors such as; events and conferences, hotels, licensed retails, commercial catering, transport catering etc. These theoretical perspectives offer the activities and practices, which are fully associated with the service recovery and service failure management. One of the most important theoretical perspectives of service is service innovation theory. This theory states that implementing innovation in services assists the organizations or businesses to find new revenue systems by fulfilling the needs and demands of customers to get the things done. For successful service innovation, it is very important to develop synergy between all the elements of service. It enables the organization to respond effectively to the changes in customer behavior with innovative practices and services. In hotel and hospitality industry, service innovation is a major source of competitive advantage in markets, where the needs and preferences are changing rapidly (Bowen, 2016). The major reason behind adopting service innovation is innovative business models and technologies. The hotels are making several innovations like; self-service, mobile booking, phone as key cards, check-in kiosks, electronic luggage tags, smartphone boarding passes, guest connectivity de vices etc. To make innovation, there are innovative collaborations among different brands, which operate their business different sectors are also building service industries, like; hospitality and tourism. For instance, the Line Hotel in US has partnered with the Linus Bike by offering a vehicle of branded bikes for its guests in hotels (Lusch, and Nambisan, 2015). In addition to this, the hotel has created the maps of domestic bike routes for the guests, so that they can discover their routes. Moreover, Marriott Hotel has collaborated with IKEA Company to develop Moxy brand. Three star hotels aim at millennial customers, who do not spend on their stay at expensive hotels. Under their service offering, they provide stylish rooms, using neutral tones and artistic characteristics and buildings, which are eco-friendly. There are various event organizations, which are using innovative technologies for interactive engagement with the audiences (Carlborg, Kindstrm, and Kowalkowski, 2014). Another theoretical perspective, which can be applied on service and service strategies in hospitality industry, is role theory. Role theory of HRM has served as a theoretical and conceptual framework for the study of behavior of employees in an organization. In the service organizations, a major objective is to fulfill the needs and demands of customers. This theory emphasizes on the need to consider how the roles are differently played by the people of organization. For instance, behavior of managers in a service organization is different from the behavior of lower level employees. In the hospitality industry, it is useful to implement this theory as a major source to enhance the understanding of HRM behaviors and practices (Kusluvan, Kusluvan, Ilhan and Buyruk, 2010). There are various five star hotels such as; Holiday Inn and Marriott International are adopting role theory for effective service delivery. Implementation of this theory assists the management for developing service interactions in hotels and other hospitality sectors. Apart from above theories, customer retention management is another important theory. In the context of this theory, authors stated that regardless of the efforts of service companies to adopt competitive strategies for enticing customers and their efforts to manage the productivity, demand and supply, the customers do not stay loyal to the same service organization. Customers may buy same services from its competitors due to better quality and prices. To become successful, service organizations especially hospitality organizations should focus on satisfying their customers and develop relationship. It will lead the organizations to customer retention. Customer retention framework at hotel should include various efforts such as; defection management, relationship marketing, compatibility management, service recovery and failure management. Relationship marketing is one of the most significant processes that assist the hotels in building strong relationships with guests (Coussement, 2 014). The organizations need to manage customer to customer interactions for retaining the customers. Marriott is the best example that made various efforts for retaining the customers and made innovation in its hospitality services worldwide. For a service organization, it is essential to manage the service failure. According to the service failure management theory, service failure is defined as the incapability to fulfill the needs and expectations of clients related to service delivery. Customer retention management and service failure management theories are interrelated with each other, because the management should not rely on the service recovery and they should do the things appropriately from the beginning. In the case of transport catering, the organizations should find out the requirements of food products according to the requirements of travellers (Petzer, and Styen, 2006). It is very important to analyze the demands and needs of food products according to the number of travellers in train, aircraft, buses and ships. These theoretical concepts are significant for effective service delivery and these aspects can work as service strategies for the organizations in hospitality industry. By the help of these theo ries, service organizations will be able to overcome the issues, which are important for managing the service strategies in hospitality industry. Issues in Hospitality Industry During past few decades, service industries such as hospitality and tourism industries have experienced a significant growth as people love to spend their money and time on travelling and exploring new destinations. It has increased the profits and revenues of this industry. Along with this growth, this service sector is still facing some complex issues, which are arising from strategic management, human resources, marketing, service quality and culture. After analyzing the above theoretical perspectives, it can be stated that non-compliance of these aspects will generate various issues for service organizations. Human resources play a vital role in effective service delivery (Clarke, 2016). This industry is confronting different issues, which are rising from human resource context. These issues are such as increased costs of training and decreased employee morale, while they are working in hotels workplace. Each and every service organization ensures that it recruits the experienced and talented human resources for managing its routine operations (Boella, and Goss-Turner, 2013). This process makes it very difficult to supervise and organize all the roles and responsibilities of employees, so it needs proper training and development program for meeting the quality standards of service delivery. Organizing training and development programs may lead to higher costs of training that increases the administrative expenses to organization. Moreover, hospitality industry may confront the issue in context of decreased employee morale that may influence the service delivery to customers or guests. There is a major connection between employee satisfaction and guest satisfaction. If the employees will be satisfied then they will be able to satisfy the customers effectively. Motivation of employees is a significant component because it directs the company to become successful and stay competitive. For example, in low occupancy period, the staff feels demotivated as they get dissatisfaction from their salaries. In this situation, the staff will not be able to fulfill the needs of guests, so that organizations in service sector have to emphasize on enhancing morale of human resources by involving them in decision making process (Crick, and Spencer, 2011). For instance, Hotel Career Expo, Sydney is one of the major examples that have faced the problems related to lower employee morale and employee turnover. In addition to human resources, marketing and service quality has an important role in the operations of hospitality organizations. Under this, two major issues, which are faced by service organizations, are service delivery failure and insufficient efforts for promotion and marketing. With the development of modern technology and innovation, there are several options, which are available for service firms, so that they can capture the online market (Mok, Sparks, and Kadampully, 2013). But there are various hospitality organizations, which are still using old and traditional methods. Due to these poor marketing and promotional practices, sales and brand image of hotels are influenced negatively. In service industry, it is a major issue as it impacts the number of guests, which are arriving to these hotels. Furthermore, these service sector organizations are confronting the issue related to service quality failure. This service failure can be evaluated by measuring the guest satisfaction level. The major reason behind service failure is that the organization does not offer the committed service to the customers (Dedeoaylu, and Demirer, 2015). Other reasons behind this issue are such as; lack of coordination and communication, lack of effective service delivery, poor services, ignoring the customer complaints etc. These issues can leave the customers or guests dissatisfied towards organizations services and it has negative effect on repeat intention of guests. The above theoretical perspectives indicates, there may be some issues in hospitality and service industry, which may be related to cultural communication between employees and managers and employees and guests from different backgrounds. In a service organization, issues may occur, when individuals from different backgrounds are not able to understand each other that is not only the result of language barrier but it is due to differences in cultures also (Grobelna, 2015). So, it is important to train the staff to speak foreign language and become aware about the cultural differences in different nations. As the hospitality industry is going global, so cultural communication and cultural awareness are two important components for both hotel employees and guests as well. In the increase in globalization, several hotels are going under business expansion into international markets. For instance, The Accor Hotel is operating its business operations internationally and has its hotels in different cities all over the world. In this way, shifting in different nation for international project is possible when functioning with international hotel. To develop service strategies, hospitality organizations need to conduct a marketing research, so that they can understand needs and market trends in service industry (Aragon-Correa, Martin-Tapia, and Torre-Ruiz, 2015). The organizations find it very challenging to acquire and collect the market information to develop strategies for its products and services. Thus, these are the issues, which can affect the growth and success of different service sectors such as hospitality, commercial catering, transport catering etc. Conclusion In the limelight of above analysis, it can be concluded that hospitality industry is a major contributor to world economy. There are some specific theories and concepts, which are useful for different service organizations. From the theoretical concepts, it can be understood that there are some issues, which are affecting the business growth and operations of service organizations. These issues may be related to human resources, strategic management, marketing, products and services and service quality. From the above analysis, it has been analyzed that of the employees will not be satisfied then they cannot fulfill the needs of customers. So, top management should make efforts to enhance the morale of employees and implement customer retention strategies. However, the organizations need to spend money on providing training to its employees. Thus, the service organizations need to emphasize on different issues and try to overcome these issues to stay competitive in the industry. Func tioning in service industry, hotels need to emphasize on above theoretical perspectives and develop strategies to overcome the above issues References Aragon-Correa, J.A., Martin-Tapia, I. and de la Torre-Ruiz, J., 2015. Sustainability issues and hospitality and tourism firms strategies: Analytical review and future directions.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,27(3). Bilgihan, A. and Neiad, M., 2015, Innovation in hospitality and tourism industries, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 6 (3). Boella, M. and Goss-Turner, S., 2013.Human resource management in the hospitality industry: A guide to best practice. UK. Routledge. Bowen, D.E., 2016. The changing role of employees in service theory and practice: An interdisciplinary view.Human Resource Management Review,26(1). Carlborg, P., Kindstrm, D. and Kowalkowski, C., 2014. The evolution of service innovation research: a critical review and synthesis.NY. Taylor and Francis. Clarke, R., 2016, Time to address key issues facing the Australian hotel industry: attracting and growing quality staff, Retrieved from https://www.accomnews.com.au/2016/05/time-to-address-a-key-issues-facing-the-australian-hotel-industry-attracting-and-growing-quality-staff/. (Accessed on 27 February 2018). Coussement, K., 2014. Improving customer retention management through cost-sensitive learning.European Journal of Marketing,48(3/4). Crick, A.P. and Spencer, A., 2011, Hospitality quality: new directions and new challenges, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 23 (4). Dedeoaylu, B., and Demirer, H., 2015, Differences in service quality perceptions of stakeholders in the hotel industry.International Journal Contemporary Hospitality Manamgement,27(1). Grobelna, A., 2015, Intercultural Challenges Facing the Hospitality Industry. Implications for Education and Hospitality Management, Journal of Intercultural Management, 7 (3). Kusluvan, S., Kusluvan, Z., Ilhan, I. and Buyruk, L., 2010. The human dimension: A review of human resources management issues in the tourism and hospitality industry.Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,51(2). Lusch, R.F. and Nambisan, S., 2015. Service innovation: A service-dominant logic perspective.MIS quarterly,39(1). Mok, C., Sparks, B. and Kadampully, J., 2013.Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. UK. Routledge. Petzer, D.J. and Styen T.F.J., 2006, Customer Retention: A Theoretical Perspective Of Service Failure And Service Recovery In The Hotel Industry, Acta Commercii. Robinson, M. and Picard, D. eds., 2016.Emotion in motion: Tourism, affect and transformation. UK. Routledge.

Canva Review Create Graphics From Your Web Browser for Free

Creating high-quality images for your WordPress site – such as informative graphics for how-to guides and  featured images for your blog posts – can be tricky without a photo editing or graphic design solution. As this  Canva review will show, access to such tools create new opportunities to improve your site.With custom graphics and images, you can take your website to the next level and impress your visitors with your professional design. While tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator can get expensive, Canva offers a low-cost solution capable of creating high-quality photos and graphics.In our Canva review, well explore Canva’s features, services, and pricing to help give you an idea of how it can give your site’s images a little extra something. Let’s get started! Photoshop and Illustrator programs. Canva enables you to accomplish many of the design tasks you would want to use Illustrator for, such as creating infographics, logos, and other v isual aids for your posts and brand:It also tackles some basic photo editing needs. If youre not using many of Photoshops advanced tools, Canva can very easily take over and help you crop, straighten, and add effects to your photos.Canva review: Four key featuresBy providing a variety of graphic design and photo editing features, Canva makes it easy to spruce up your site. Whether you need to share important data or just want a visual element to break up your written content, the features below will help you out.1. Create graphs to share dataStatistics and data can go a long way when it comes to your sites users. While they may value your opinion, being able to back it up with numbers shows youve done your research and have authority on the topic. The problem is, stuffing large amounts of data into tables isnt very visually appealing, and doesnt always display information clearly.On the other hand, graphs and charts can communicate your data effectively while appealing visually in y our social media or blog posts. With Canva, you can select from a variety of graphs and charts to display data attractively. You can choose from more than two dozen chart types, including Venn diagrams, flow charts, bar graphs, and pie charts:Theyre easily customizable through either direct editing, or by inputting your data and letting Canva build the graph for you. Once your graph or chart is complete, you can embed it in another Canva design for use in your social media posts or blog graphics. You could even use a variety of charts to create detailed infographics.2. Edit photos to improve their qualityPhotos play many roles on websites. They can be featured images for your blog posts, personal photos that add authenticity to your brand, or pieces for your portfolio. Regardless of their function, you want them looking their best. Sometimes this means your photos need a little editing.At ThemeIsle, we use Canva to create all of the featured images for our blog posts. Canva is capab le of handling many of our basic photo editing tasks, such as straightening and cropping images. It can also help with a few more advanced techniques. For example, you can use it to apply transparencies and filters:These can help adjust the mood of your photos to fit the context of your posts or highlight certain elements in the photo. Youll also have control over aspects such as brightness, contrast, and saturation to prime your images for their debut on your site.3. Design graphics to enhance your postsTheres a wide variety of reasons you may want to add a graphic to your a post or page. You may want to share an infographic to explain your research. A photo collage could add visual interest to long blog posts. Or you may even want to create your own memes to throw in a bit of humor (no Canva review would be complete without a meme!).Whatever your design needs, Canva probably has a template or a tool to help you create it. The simple drag and drop editor is easy to use. You can cho ose from Canvas free library of images, graphics, and icons, or upload your own:Canva also includes dozens of free backgrounds you can use, as well as several fonts. If youre ever feeling stuck, the platform provides resources to help. You can check out their color wheel, design size guide, and font combinations for inspiration.4. Use layouts and templates to simplify the design processCanva includes a host of design layouts and templates to streamline your design process. While many of them can be useful for some of the situations weve already mentioned – such as graphs and photo collages – they can also help with other brand aspects you may want to implement.For example, Canva includes logo templates you can use to create a logo for your site or business. You could also use their book cover template to create an e-book, or their newsletter templates to add your custom branding to your marketing emails:Using templates can speed up the design process while still enabli ng you to make each element your own. With Canva, you can grow your brand quickly by tackling all your design needs with one easy-to-use platform.Pricing for CanvaYou can use Canvas basic tools at no cost. Creating a free account grants you access to the main features listed above, as well as two folders and one gigabyte of storage space to upload your own photos and graphics. Plus, you can utilize Canvas libraries of free stock photos, graphics, backgrounds, and templates.Additionally, there are millions of other elements you can use with a free account for just $1 per photo or graphic. If you use Canva to create brand elements such as posters or business cards, you can also pay to print these items. Canva offers a variety of finishes and delivers your designs right to your door.If youd like to access the full scope of Canvas features – which includes unlimited storage, exclusive free design elements, set brand color palettes, GIF creation, and custom resizing – you c an sign up for a paid plan. This option is still remarkably affordable at just $12.95 per month.Optimizing your Canva designs for the webCanva enables you to resize your designs to meet your needs. However, youll still want to optimize your image files before adding them to your website. This will prevent any large media files from slowing down your page load times and discouraging users from staying on your website.The easiest way to handle this is by installing an image optimization plugin like  Optimole on your WordPress site to automate media file optimization. Optimole will not only prevent your new Canva designs from weighing your site down, but will also optimize all of the images already on your site and speed up delivery with a CDN: Image optimization Lazy Load by Optimole Author(s): OptimoleCurrent Version: 2.1.2Last Updated: September 25, 2019optimole-wp.zip 96%Ratings 211,971Downloads WP 4.7+Requires Optimizing your images is a best practice that can improve y our overall site performance, as well as your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and bounce rate. By combining Canva and Optimole, youll be able to create eye-catching graphics and photos that enhance your site without slowing it down.Canva review summaryPhoto-editing and graphic design solutions such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator can get expensive. However, theyre also useful for creating high-quality images for your site. An affordable alternative can make a big difference in the quality of your sites images as well as your budget.Weve covered a lot of ground in this Canva review, including some of its key features. We also explored the pricing options available with this platform, and discussed the importance of optimizing your Canva-made images with a plugin such as Optimole. our tutorial on how to create blog images with Canva.Do you have any questions about using Canva to transform your sites images? Ask them in the comments section below!Free guide5 Essential Tips to Speed Up Your WordPress SiteReduce your loading time by even 50-80% just by following simple tips.

The Basics of Back-Formation

The Basics of Back-Formation The Basics of Back-Formation The Basics of Back-Formation By Mark Nichol A back-formation is a new word produced by excising an affix, such as producing the verb secrete from the noun secretion. Many back-formations, like that one, acquire respectability, but others, especially more recent coinages, are considered nonstandard, so use them with caution. Back-formation can be seen as a form of clipping, though the distinction between one category and the other is that clipped forms (ad in place of advertisement, for example) are the same part of speech as the original form, whereas most back-formations are verbs formed from nouns. (Many back-formations are formed from words ending in -tion, such as automate and deconstruct.) Most back-formations eventually take their place among other standard terms, though they are often initially met with skepticism. For example, curate and donate, now accepted without question (and associated with the high pursuits of art and philanthropy, respectively), were once considered abominations. Newer back-formations that careful writers are wise to avoid include attrit, conversate, enthuse, incent, liaise, spectate, and surveil. These buzzwords are convenient hence their creation but they are widely considered inelegant, and in the case of at least a couple of them, concise synonyms are already available. (To spectate is to watch, and to surveil is to observe.) Sometimes, a back-formation is derived from a noun describing an action, as with attendee from attendance, or from a noun describing an actor, as with mentee from mentor. Many people consider such terms aberrant, and they are also ill advised in formal writing. Other back-formations derive from confusion about a base word. Cherry and pea both developed from the assumption that the original terms cherise and pease are plurals. More recently, biceps (and triceps) and kudos have been misunderstood as plurals, resulting in bicep, tricep, and kudo. Although cherry and pea were accepted without reservations into English long ago, bicep, tricep, and kudo are still considered nonstandard. Another class of back-formations are those shorn of their prefixes for humorous effect, such as gruntled from disgruntled and kempt from unkempt; rarely do such truncations enter the general lexicon. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Synonyms for â€Å"Angry†How to Punctuate Descriptions of ColorsWords That Begin with Q

American history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

American history - Essay Example The Progressive Era witnessed the appearance of reformers known by the name progressives whose objective was to knock down the devils of inequalities in the nation (Roosevelt). With the target of highlighting democratic principles and social justice, the progressives made efforts to lay the pillar for a â€Å"new† America with liberty, equality and power (Roosevelt). These progressives emerging from a tradition of middle-class elites possessed a great sense of social responsibility for the underprivileged class (Roosevelt). In the view of Eleanor Roosevelt who belonged to this social class, â€Å"In that society you were kind to the poor, you did not neglect your philanthropic duties, you assisted the hospitals and did something for the needy.† (Roosevelt). The demand put forward by the progressives started gaining recognition from farmers to politicians as it went on expanding from social service to journalism (Roosevelt). Such was the outcome of the endeavors that even president, Theodore Roosevelt mentioned: â€Å"No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down as to the way in which such work [reform] must be done; but most certainly every man, whatever his position, should strive to do it in some way and to some degree.† (Roosevelt). This was supported with Roosevelt’s resolution to discourage the laissez-faire approach and to hold up labor of 1902’s Anthracite Coal Strike settlement (Roosevelt). In the Progressive Era, ladies such as Jane Addams and Lillian Wald shouldered the social duties of updating the immigrant sections and steering them towards the right ways of life and moral values (Roosevelt). This had some influence on the woman and child labor laws, welfare benefits and factory inspection legislation (Roosevelt). However, the exertions of these female reformers simply added to the bosses’ recognition (Roosevelt). Another group of progressives were â€Å"muckraking† journalists like Jacob Riis, whose work How

Buffron Needle Problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Buffron Needle Problem - Essay Example The assumption would be that the lines are parallel to the x-axis. Two variables exist in this scenario; the angle with which the needle would be tilted to the lines, ÆŸ, and the distance between the closest line and the center, which would never exceed half the distance between the equidistant lines (See fig. 2 below) The assumption is that the needle would land at a random point between the lines and the angle of inclination would be another random variable. It should further be assumed that the random variables are a result of uniform distribution. This picture depicts the needle missing the line and the needle could only be on the line if the distance closest to a line, D would be less than or equal to  ½SinÆŸ, that is D ≠¤  ½SinÆŸ. This could be illustrated better using figure 3 below. From this, the values representing a hit would occur below or on the curve, D ≠¤ 1/2SinÆŸ. The probability of hitting the line would be computed as a ratio of the shaded curve to the area of the entire rectangle. The area under the curve would be computed using integrals between zero and Ï€. This will give a result of 1. The rectangle would have an area of  ½Ãâ‚¬. The probability of hitting the line would therefore be 1/ ( ½Ãâ‚¬) = 2/Ï€, which is approximately 0.6366. To work out Ï€, the number of needle drops, say N would be multiplied by two and then divided by the number of hits, N’. That is: This would be a situation where the needle is long and its length, l, would be greater than the distance between the equidistant lines. Hence, x = l/d > l. The probability that the needle would intersect a line would be computed using the expression below: Consider the size parameter x = l/d. Taking N as the number of crossings and n as the tosses made by a short needle of size parameter x, then N would have a binomial distribution as a function of n and 2x/Ï€. The point estimator with regard to

The national curriculum of Indonesia

The national curriculum of Indonesia In the course of history since 1945 (Independence Year), the national curriculum of Indonesia had undergone change several times, namely in 1947, 1952, 1964, 1968, 1975, 1984, 1994, 2004 and the latest curriculum of KTSP 2006 (best understood as School Based Currriculum), those amendments are logically consequences of political issue, government system, social cultural, economic, science and technology change in the living of state community (Soekisno, 2007,). Therefore, the curriculum as a set of educational plans should be developed dynamically in accordance with the demands and changes that occur in society. All Indonesias national curricula were designed based on the same foundation, namely Pancasila (Philosophical foundation of the Indonesian Republic) and the 1945 constitution; the principal differences among those curriculums were only on emphasizing of educational goals and approaches to realize it. Continuing to improve the quality of education in order commensurate with other developing countries, the Indonesian government has made various changes, and continues to review the implementation of education in Indonesia. The National Education Standards of Indonesia (BSNP) had regulated through Government Regulation (PP) No. 19 Year 2005 and set eight contents of the Standards of Education, specifically Content Standard, Standard Process, Graduates Competency Standards, Educators Standards and Education Workforce, Infrastructure Standards , Management Standards, Financial Standards and Evaluation Standards. Simultaneously the Government Regulation No.19 year 2005 affected the direction of Indonesian curriculum development policies to implement its Content Standard (SK) and Graduate Competency Standard (SKL) as established through the Regulation of The Minister of National Education: Number 22, 23, 24 year 2006. These three regulations then further elaborated KTSP (School Based Curriculum) which is built and developed by each educational unit or school in Indonesia. According to Azumardi Azra (2006), explained that the changes in education in Indonesia means that there are two new paradigms emerged in education, shifting the orientation of the policy where previously being centralized to decentralized, then national education is more oriented to the learning process rather than results. Decentralized system means to implement the new breakthrough School-Based Curriculum known as KTSP in Indonesia. Change of curriculum had affected the national education system of Indonesia; it had not only affected the learning climate in the classroom, but the readiness of the principal and subject teachers in efforts to understand and apply the curriculum in practice. In addition, Sutrisno and Nuryanto (2008) viewed that the implementation has not been optimally practiced as educational practitioners think KTSP differs with KBK. Meanwhile Suhadi (2006) argued that such an assumption was due to a prior attitudes and psychological resistance against the changes. The changes enhanced the operational practice of curriculum which are developed and implemented by each school consisting of their own respective goals, local content perspectives, educational calendar and syllabus. KTSP which was being mandated by the Ministry of National Education Indonesia (MoNE) through The National Education Standard Institution (BSNP) means to reinforce the implementation of its predecessor (read: KBK), it implies that KTSP still put pressure on developing students competencies. According to Fasli and Bachruddin (2007) said that KTSP implementation will not be undergoing a public test, because this curriculum had been tested through KBK which was being applied by several schools in a pilot project before the birth of KTSP. This is then a following-up toward curriculum change in the context of regional autonomy and decentralization of education programmed by the government of Indonesia. The implementation of this curriculum is focused on three dimensions of students enrichment of knowledge (cognitive), attitude formation (affective) and behavior (psychomotor). Under KTSP the school and teacher have the authority to decide the educational goals based on their own schools perspective, in other words, teacher have duties on: (1) constructing and formulating the proper goal, (2) choosing and constructing the right lesson material according to the needs, interest and childrens development phase, (3) using various methods and teaching media, (4) and constructing the program and the right evaluation. A curriculum should be made systematically and detail, which will help the teachers in its implementation. However, KTSP faces major challenges related to integration of local information, national, and international. Combining these integrations may only be solved by having resources which are prepared ahead of time, not by the teachers who prepared instantly through a variety of curriculum development assistance programs. It is more dangerous if the schools eventually just offered cheat or trace the guidelines offered by National Education Standard (BSNP). If so, KTSP will create the instant schools and result in stunted creativity, contrary to the mandate of the KTSP. Some of the reasons behind the needs for this research include (a) KTSP implementation needs to be evaluated simultaneously in qualitative and quantitative terms; and (b) the results of that evaluation can be made as the basic information for all policy decisions related to educational elements in Riau Province especially at Indragiri Hilir Regency. Research Problem However, having been launched on 2006, there were many issues discussed by experts and parties whose responsible for education, particularly in the implementation of School Based Curriculum (KTSP) which has inadequate human resources whose capable to interpret even elaborate it into the practice of educational unit , incompleteness of the supporting facilities of its implementation, the teachers do not understand KTSP as a whole, both in terms of concept and its implementation in schools and even still busy using the previous theory in the process of teaching and learning in classroom. In accordance with the principal of KTSP, all levels and types of education in Indonesia must develop their own curriculum based on their potential areas and students. This is supported by Minister of National Education Regulation No. 22 of 2006 on the Content Standards, as well as Minister of National Education Regulation No. 23 of 2006 on Graduates Competency Standards (SKL); these regulations mandate to the schools in order being required to prepare their own curriculum. However, this policy is not accompanied by teachers readiness or even understanding. These generate confusion among them while applying the KTSP. As informed by Curriculum Center 2010, the monitoring noticed the implementation of KTSP has been conducted mostly in large areas, although majority of them still adopting from existing model of curriculum. Hopefully, with technical assistances undertaken by various parties will ensure the success of its development and help improve understanding of the concept and philosophy, and encourage them to develop the curriculum based on their respective conditions. Various obstacles occurred during realizing the empowerment of schools and KTSP. First, lack of ability is the main construct, developing of staffs members capabilities while providing technical assistance to particular regions could lead them to learn by doing. The instability of funding for the dissemination and socialization of KTSP causes the Curriculum Center to experience substantial cost-cutting measures; it impacts the perfect planning that has been initially organized became severely hampered in its implementation and also creates distrust between local education authorities and Curriculum Center. But the best spirit in welcoming this new curriculum to be highly efficacious for the Curriculum Center to do the best in accordance with the appropriate quality needs, potentials and regional particularities. Therefore, any problems arise due to the implementation of KTSP supposed to comprise more serious concern of Indonesian Government, especially Indonesian Ministry of National Education. The aspects to be considered include the following: Improving teachers quality and understanding toward relevant concepts of KTSP implementation. Providing such of facilities and infrastructure that can support the successful of KTSP implementation. Simultaneously help every educational unit in developing KTSP. Evaluating its process at provincial level to local district and regions. Whatever the responses from the concerning person/social in regard to the implementation of KTSP, school and teacher are the central to implement this school based curriculum; they themselves have the potential to overcome any weaknesses occurring, if not it will be in vain. As suggested by Nana (2001) no matter on how good the curriculum, the results are highly dependent on what is being done by teachers and pupils in the classroom. It means the success of education through curriculum reformation will ultimately be determined by the teacher as an executor of the curriculum, and school as a learning provider. Research Objectives This study aims to see how the implementation of School-Based Curriculum (KTSP) is carried out in Junior High Schools and Senior High Schools as well as Madrasah at Riau province Indonesia. Specifically it will be conducted in one part of Riau Province namely Indragiri Hilir Regency. Particularly the objective of this study is to assess the status of KTSP implementation in the dimensions of context, input, process and product (CIPP model by Daniel Stufflebeam). To figure out the extent to which KTSP has been implemented in High Schools and Madrasah To investigate the complexities of its implementation during 4 years running To find out the supporting facilities provided by national and local government in its implementation Overall purpose of this study is to see the implementation of the KTSP in terms of context, input, process and product. Significance of the Study The result of this study will give some of practical benefits as follows: The policy recommendations to Indonesian Ministry of Education (especially for Indragiri Hilir Ministry of Education) based on the objectives data that will be resulted at the end of the study. Information to the public (stakeholder and parents) For basic development of relevant curriculum materials accordance with local potentials and teacher competency standard. As reference to the theoretical basis for the development of KTSP paradigm based on schools potential needs on respect to its planning, implementation, and evaluation. Research Questions In overall objectives, this study will formulate the research questions based on the evaluation model of curriculum developed by Stufflebeam (1972); those are Context, Input, Process and Product. Thus the research questions are formulated as the following: Dimension of Context How do the English teachers at Indragiri Hilir Regency develop their own curriculum based on schools desires, students needs and local needs? How do they implement and integrate all aspects of KTSP into their lesson plan and teaching? Dimension of Input How does the Indragiri Hilir Education Ministry assist the schools in developing their teachers capability in implementing KTSP? Dimension of Process How is the implementation of KTSP in Junior High School, Senior High Schools and Madrasah at Indragiri Hilir Regency Riau? How do they (Schools and teachers) evaluate its implementation? Dimension of Product How are the results of KTSP implementation? What is the effect of KTSP implementation on students competence in English (Impact of teachers creativities in designing their own curriculum development) CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Literature Review As the latest curriculum on 2006 which is derived from KBK (CBC-Competence-Based Curriculum, 2004), KTSP becomes a new breakthrough in the history of Indonesian education curriculum, which to progress its development to down-top approach. Contextually, KTSP develop by any groups or committees of the education unit or school/madrasah those under coordination and supervision of the National Indonesian Education Ministry and Local Indonesian Education Ministry. It emphasizes on developing the ability to perform competences and tasks with specific standards, so the results affect the students on mastery of a set of specific knowledge competencies, and values used in many fields of life. Indeed, KTSP is the curriculum that reflects the knowledge, skills and attitudes and also refers to the concept of education in turning to improve students potentialities. Moreover, according to historical records, following the independence of the Republic of Indonesia, the Dutch language was replaced by English as the first foreign language, and has been recognized as such in Indonesia since 1955 (Alisjabana, 1976; de Han, 2003 as cited in Mochtar Marhum, n.d.). Since the 1980s, English has been considered to be the most important foreign language in Indonesia. The governments and communitys interest in English has been growing since the early 1990s (Alwasilah, 1997). This position of English can be traced from government documents on the results of Parliaments meetings. In the GBHN (The Guidelines of the State Policy) 1983 and 1988, foreign language policy was not incorporated. However, in the GBHN 1993, the policy on foreign languages, particularly English, was clearly stipulated. The policy related to the use and mastery of English. In 1988, Government Regulation No. 55, 56 and 57/1988 changing Government Regulation No. 28, 29/990 was introduced. It confirmed the use of English in schools. Moreover, Government Regulation of No 57/1957/1988 confirmed the use of English as a foreign language and as a means of communication in the university. Subsequently, it was incorporated into Government Regulation No 60/1999 on the use of English in all higher education. Alwasilah (1997) suggested that the need for mastery of English in the globalization era was absolutely necessary. In addition, it would be ideal if the mastery of English became the mastery of second language (p. 89). Yet, the uniqueness of this KTSP hopefully brings the new education model to the success of Indonesian education. The development of a KTSP is a new phenomenon for the school community in Indonesia, consequently, in the early stage of its implementation some obstacles were found in a number of schools. The freedom of schools to create their own curriculum which is relevant with the needs of students cannot be fully implemented (Harry Burhanudin, 2008). The general model of it which is being developed as a model and fully adopted by a number of schools has tended to cause a similar curriculum among schools as to what was being implemented in the centralistic era. The change in the role of schools from curriculum implementer to curriculum developer has made the school community confused. The capacity of school community to analyze the conditions and needs of the students and implement them in school curriculum needs to be further improved. Therefore, school assistance through professional development programs provided for the head teachers and teachers in the context of this kind of school based curriculum is still considered important for several years to come. In line with the school assistance, capacity building of the educational management in autonomous regions (regency/municipality) managing the curriculum development still remains to be completed A number of studies have been carried out to investigate KTSP implementation; a study conducted in 2008 in Jambi province of Indonesia revealed (Sutrisno Nuryanto, 2008) that KTSP to all levels (Elementary Schools, Junior and Senior High Schools) having less applicable in term of (a) KTSP developmental preparation, (b) syllabus development, (c) teachers self development, (d) integrated learning, (e) local content development, (f) outcomes assessment, and (g) report process (p. 27). As such the issue above, implementation in this context leads to the true readiness of Jambi province in anticipating of changes toward educational paradigm from a previously centralized to decentralized model. For example, KTSP which was launched in late 2006 gave more emphasis on school autonomy through developing their own curriculum according to local needs and wisdom. This means Indonesian curricula is no longer centralized nationally and it is mandated under Indonesian Regulation No. 22 legislated in 1999 by the republic of Indonesia (R.I). Regarding local government, decentralization implies that the authority to implement and manage education shall be transferred from the national government to local districts or municipal government levels. At this point Sutrisno and Nuryanto (1998) also asserted that the teachers rules as facilitator in KTSP elements have not been working as the schools and committees expectations. Furthermore, on different angle was reported as in the following: The real condition shows that the paradigm shift is not necessarily accompanied by better result. A number of problems still advance in Jambi while on level of provinces, cities and countries. First, not all sectors which are directed to educational policy have human resources competent to formulate the technical policy and its implementation. Second, the increasingly of dominant political intervention in determining of policy and implementation, contextually in line with the trend of autonomy, bureaucratic chain is very closely possible to having dominantly power to education. (Sutrisno Nuryanto, 1998 p. 24). In a sense, it is important to consider the argument rose on where the KTSP developed, Endo viewed from this perspective that KTSP is similar to the concept of School-Based Curriculum Development (SBCD) in Australia which had begun to set on the mid-1970s, the discourse was in essence of giving more freedom in determining the curricula by the schools members (Endo, 1997). SBCD has several characteristics that are generally similar to SBC development in Indonesia, proved on through the participation of teachers, participation of the whole or part of school staffs; range of activities including selection (choice of a number of alternative curriculum), adaptation (modification of existing curriculum), and creation (designing a new curriculum); responsibilities transformation from centralist to decentralist (not terminating of responsibilities) and a continuation process among the community and stake-holders (to assist teachers and schools). Other studies have indicated, however, Indonesian KTSP is not derived from SBCD in Australia. Wachyu (2009) argued KTSP is having the differentials factors from SBCD in Australia, KTSP is an integrated curriculum combining between the Top-Down and Bottom-Up approach that was being confirmed in USPN (Legislation of Indonesian National Education Standard) on chapter X, article 36 and 37. USPN revealed that Indonesian curriculum development is based on National Education Standard (SNP) and considerately pay attention on learners potential diversities, schools diversities and local needs. Chapter 38 also states that the structure and framework of the curriculum of primary and secondary schools are determined by the government. Therefore, KTSP was divided into core (subjects tested nationally) and local subjects that are developed by each educational unit based on the assessment of its potential, including the content to develop learners personality and potential based on his interest in the form of extra-curricular activities. While SBCD in Australia tend to apply bottom-up approach, the entire process and the stages of curriculum based on the potential school. As confirmed by Skillbeck (1991) that School based curriculum is a process when some or all members of a school take part on planning, implementation, and evaluation on the aspects or elements of the curriculum (Sklill beck, 1991, as cited in Wachyu, 2009, p. 2). Decentralized curriculum; such of designing, implementing and controlling (evaluation and improvement) carried out through locally by each educational unit, teachers who design its curriculum working together with experts, schools committee/madrasah and others part of society. KTSP development could include all components of the curriculum or some only, instead of compilation can be done by a group or all teachers with regard to the needs of each school in accordance with the conditions in each educational unit or its surrounding communities. KTSP will be more meaningful because of the different situations in a certain local condition that lead to the fulfillment of needs, demands and local development. It will produce a variety of design but is easier to understand, master and implement by teachers by virtue of their involvement in expanding KTSP. Particularly the center of curriculum by Indonesian Education Ministry (2007) has pointed out also the advantages and its shortcomings, the advantages are taking on (a) KTSP is accordance with the needs, conditions, and on diversities which every local communities have, auto assist in developing society, (b) easier to carry out due to the designs that have been prepared by teachers considering the local factors that really support to develop. Instead, it has also several shortcomings, (a) not all teachers have the expertise or skills in curriculum development then, not every local schools have the teachers or an expert that proficiently in developing such of it, (b) with content being localized, the graduate can have lack of ability to participate in national competitiveness, (c) various designs that lead to the complexity of monitoring and evaluating in term of national learning outcomes, (d) transferring students from certain schools to another schools can cause difficulties (Cente r for the Development of Curriculum, 2007). Listen Read phonetically Recent reports have noted, 60 English teachers from junior and senior high schools spread of 24 regencies and cities in West Java Indonesia were being selected, most teachers who participated in this study had trained and socialized about KTSP (Wachyu Sundayana, 2009). Wachyu explored the research questions on (a) How are English teachers understanding about KTSP, (b) How are their perceptions on the development of KTSP, (c) What complexities were raising during implementing and developing its curriculum. This study showed the development of KTSP in every unit of education especially junior high schools and MTs (Madrasah) in West Java is still not in line with the stages of development as suggested in the guidelines of BSNP (Institution of National Education Standard). Data collection showed most teachers (74%) know what KTSP was, but they were not clear to what function they have in practice, implement and develop KTSP; for the same reason Faizah and Ismono investigated the readiness of chemistry teachers in Bangkalan district of Madura and found that Chemistry teachers from five schools were not ready to apply, the percentage just reached on 60% (Faizah Ismono, 2008, as cited in Yuli Eko Siswono, n.d). Simultaneously with the finding of Wachyu Sundayana study, the complexities on its implementation concluded as follows: (a) lack of supporting facilities of the schools, (b) incompleteness of KTSP guidance received by teachers, (c) KTSP guideline was not detailed and clear, (d) teachers understanding on KTSP documents. These data are consistent with the finding of research conducted by Miftahul Jannah (2008) showing teachers abilities are low in developing syllabus and lesson plan; most of respondents (75%) stated about their inabilities in developing syllabus but just copying and duplicating the examples from BSNP without having a preliminary investigation throughout students potentials and schools needs. Most of interviewing respondents admit to their complexities in making a good syllabus and lesson plan lines with the students and schools needs. This fact showed that teachers having many difficulties in developing varieties stages on KTSP (Miftahul Jannah, 2008, as cited in Wachy u Sundayana, 2009. p. 7). Regarding Riau province, whole schools on current educational year 2009/2010 are progressing to adapt KTSP, such socialization have always done, it felt as complexity because the entire process of transforming from being centralize to decentralized was not much understand by some teachers, referring to the function of teachers on KTSP, teachers are together with schools members to develop KTSP based on students potential and local needs (UUD No. 20 year 2003/article 37). In fact, it is of utmost importance to examine what we could learn from prior and present efforts to bring about the strategies that are currently progressed by BSNP to help every educational unit in developing its curriculum. Harianti (2008) explained although the authority of national curriculum development has changed, it is not making a sense for curriculum center to lose their jobs, the task change progressively to assist schools to prepare their own respective curricula. Furthermore, Harianti pointed out the job responsibility does not seem to be easy where there are a large number of schools in Indonesia contains 43.461 (elementary schools), 12.731 (junior high schools), 4.499 (senior high school) and 2.655 (vocational high schools), yet, not including Early Childhood education, Extraordinary Schools and Madrasah (Harianti, 2008). It does not allow for curriculum center helps one by one, there should be a strategy then schools can develop their own curricula. The expectation is that they can develop a curriculum, becoming true backbone in improving local human resources through education in national or even in international competitiveness. Empowering the schools and community in developing KTSP done through a technical assistance, both at the provincial level as well as at the level of district/city, at the provincial level expected to present a TPK (Curriculum Development Team) whose responsibility to provide the information and give assistance on the development of KTSP to TPK at the district level. Empowering at the provincial level such as Riau is concentrated in the area of curriculum development till the teams performing evaluation and monitoring its implementation based on their own respective regions, beside at the district level is concentrated on the ability of the team to perform in school curriculum development assistance. KTSP where commonly known as school based curriculum gone to be discussed for a long, the broad study of Marsh Collin (1990) on their final finding of School based curriculum development had suggested through sub of specifics SBCD issues: The key actors involved in political decisions about schooling in their respective countries tend to use several terms to describe or promote their efforts. Such term include quality of schooling, school-improvement, school-focused improvement, self-managing school, and many others. Be that as it may, there are a number of interesting issues about SBCD and (its synonyms) which are currently of considerable interest and are likely to remain so in the immediate future. They include: The role of parents and students in decision making Financial management by schools Professional development for teachers Teacher appraisal School evaluation Pressure of tightening central control (Marsh Colin, 1990, pp. 206-207) The Curriculum center in its official website released about the uniqueness of KTSP implementation in term of diversity of schools needs, although the two junior high schools are located in the adjacent neighborhood both were very much different in term of pupils conditions. The A school whose current learners come from upper and middle class of socio-economic level had high academic achievement; all of them want to continue on to university. On the other hand, the B school where the majority of learners come from disadvantaged of socio-economic groups planned to graduate soon and earning money is a primary goal of schooling. Both of these two schools will develop a very different curriculum. School A will focus on studies with higher order thinking that enables learners to have high academic thinking in leading them to continue university, while school B will enrich the subjects with several activities that cultivate the skills to work so that learners feel a sense of great benefici al skills after graduating from school B. Many researchers have investigated KTSP, Specifically on its implementation, based on the reviewing above some researchers had focused on the effectiveness on its evaluation based on the real phenomenon which occurred in the real situation of the schools, the writer although cannot find the way of their investigation by using several methods of curriculum evaluation models, where known on several studies like Glatthorn Allan, Floyd Bruce (2006) studied in their books that curriculum evaluation should be concerned with assessing the value of a program studies, a field of studies, and a course of study, furthermore, they argued of all these three levels of curriculum work are important. Hereafter, the evaluation models of curriculum as best known are practical such as: Tylers Objectives-Centered Model, Stufflebeams Context-Input-Process-Product Model, Scrivens Goal-Free Model, Stakes Responsive Model and Eisners Connoisseurship Model (Glatthorn, Floyd Bruce, 2006 pp. 302-306). For further study, the writer will focus on the evaluation model developed by Stufflebeams on Context-Input-Process-Product Model 1971. The context-input-process-product (abbreviated as CIPP) model, has several attractive features, namely: its emphasis on decision making seems appropriate for administrators concerned with improving curricula, its concern for the formative evaluation remedies. However the CIPP model has some associated drawbacks; its main weaknesses seems to be its failure to recognize the complexity of the decision making process in organizations. It assumes more rationality than exists in such situations and ignores the political factors that play a large part in these decisions (Glatthorn et al., 2006). Definition of the Terms Several operational definitions used by the researcher to conduct and focus on this study are as follows: Curriculum The original derivation of the word curriculum is from the Latin verb currere, to run; curriculum, a diminutive form, came to mean a racing chariot or race track (David Pratt, 1994, p. 5). Curriculum also can be defined as prescriptive, descriptive, or both. Ellis explained that Prescriptive definitions provide us with what ought to happen, and they more often than not to take the form of plan, an intended program, or some kind of expert opinion about what needs to take place in the course of study (Glatthorn et al., 2006, pp . 3-5). According to the Indonesian Institution of National Education Standards (2006) curriculum is a set of plans and rules about the goals, content, teaching materials, and the methods used to guide the implementation of instructional activities on achieving certain educational goals, its certain goals include the national education goals in accordance with the local potential