Journals
Online ISSN: 2519-9722 | Print ISSN: 2522-6789
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Volume 6 Number 4 June 2021
Big, Bad, Audacious Unitus: Building a $1.2 Billion Social Enterprise for Microcredit
Pages: 48-55Authors: Dr. Warner Woodworth
Abstract
This action research is a social science analysis of a progressive organization over two decades, Unitus, Inc. It was established to accelerate the microfinance movement starting in 2000 to tear down the barriers in order to expand capital for funding poor people’s struggles. The first few dozen NGOs to do this beginning in the 1980s were mostly small, underfunded, and limited in terms of managerial competence. In contrast, Unitus came into being as a social enterprise to remedy these deficiencies. Its founders sought to design a radically visionary approach that would offer a new model for doing microfinance using investment partners, not just small donors. Over the next decade, it raised $1.2 billion, partnering and providing loan capital to various NGOs in 23 countries benefitting many millions of the poor. After a decade of success up through 2010, Unitus then shifted strategically and morphed into different organizations throughout the following years until the present. This paper analyzes the origins, systems, strategies, and successes in achieving such results, as well as challenges, problems and criticisms until 2021.
A Study on the Teaching Strength of International Young Chinese Teachers from the Porter Diamond Model
Pages: 40-47Authors: Fang Yajun*, Li Heng
Abstract
In recent years, as Chinese has spread to the world, the development of Chinese international education has shown a good trend. Teachers’ teaching strength as comprehensive ability literacy, is essential for improving the quality of young international Chinese teachers. From the perspective of the Porter Diamond Model, analyzing the teaching strength of young international Chinese teachers from the four key elements: analysis of factor conditions analysis of demand conditions organizational structure and opportunities. Finding that there are three defects in the teaching process of young international Chinese teachers: lack of teaching motivation, Lack of ability in teaching research and application of results, and lack of innovation in teaching. It is believed that the teaching strength of young international Chinese teachers needs to be improved from the combination of teacher learning and reflection teaching, the combination of knowledge-action and curriculum reform, and the combination of teacher training and scientific evaluation.
The Relationship between Cardiovascular Fitness and Body Mass Index to Student Achievement in 5th Grade Hispanic Children of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas
Pages: 30-39Authors: Maricela Valdez*, Rosalinda Hernandez, Alejandro Garcia
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between cardiovascular fitness, body mass index and academic performance in 547 Hispanic children in 5th grade from a Rio Grande Valley school district. The dependent variable, academic performance, was measured by children’s gain score on the STAAR Progress Measure for Reading and Math assessments. The independent variables of physical fitness were measured by scores on cardiovascular fitness and body mass index from the FITNESSGRAM assessment. The statistical and data analysis method used by this study utilized multiple regression. The results revealed that body mass index was correlated with academic performance. Body mass index accounted for a statistically significant variance in math gains while time did not explain any significant variance in math. There was no correlation between reading gains and time and body mass index. The results by weight group revealed a significant correlation between time and reading gains for the normal weight group and a significant correlation between body mass index and math gains for the obese group. These results suggest that at grade 5, consideration be given to body mass index levels of Hispanic children from low-income backgrounds.