Choices and Challenges is a fresh way of looking at humanity's relationships with God and each other. Based on the concept that while God loves us He does not exist to serve humanity but that we exist to serve God, Alan Greer confronts and debunks the atheistic notion that since our world and its multitude of religions are demonstrably imperfect with each and every one of us not being protected from all harm, God can not exist because if He did He would have prevented all such imperfections. Greer likewise challenges the other extreme that two to four thousand years ago God laid down a series of laws and rules that can not under any circumstances be changed or broken. Instead Greer shows how God has taught us how and when to break those rules in favor of new and better ones. Choices and Challenges demonstrates that God has an ongoing purpose for each of us and for humanity as a whole that stretches into the far distant future.

As charter schools enter their third decade, research in this key sector remains overwhelmingly contradictory and confused. Many studies are narrowly focused; some do not meet the standards for high-quality academic research. In this definitive work, Wohlstetter and her colleagues isolate and distill the high-quality research on charter schools to identify the contextual and operational factors that influence these schools’ performances. The authors examine the track record of the charter sector in light of the wide range of goals set for these schools in state authorizing legislation—at the classroom level, the level of the school community, and system-wide. In particular, they show how the evolution of the charter movement has shaped research questions and findings. By highlighting what we know about the conditions for success in charter schools, the authors make a significant contribution to current debates in policy and practice, both within the charter sector and in the larger landscape of public education.

The true-life adventures of Stacy Kanner, a single school teacher working in various small Christian schools around the world, continue in Choices, Changes, and Challenges, Stephanie Kauffman’s latest installment in her series of memoirs. As always, accident-prone Stacy witnesses the grace of God in her life in moments that could be pulled out of an action film. From riding a motorcycle with a freshly-plastered cast on her leg, to swimming with a shark in the Caribbean Sea, Stacy keeps you wondering what will happen next. Set in the 1990s, the story takes readers to various locales in Canada, the United States, Belize, Haiti, and New Zealand. Each new destination presents its share of challenges and anxieties, all of which serve to fortify Stacy’s faith and draw her closer to God. The book begins as Stacy returns to Red Lake in northern Ontario to commence a teaching position at a local church-school. At every school she bonds with students by throwing herself into their activities whole-heartedly, memorizing the Gospel of John, engaging in a fitness regimen, and even building tents in the “Arab desert.” Her passion for people and creativity is contagious! Readers will experience Stacy’s wide range of emotions as they walk with her through this time in her life, and they will also rejoice with her at the goodness of God. To be read as the fourth book in a series or as a stand-alone novel, Choices, Changes, and Challenges will inspire, delight, and challenge!

The social constructionist perspective has revolutionized the way that social scientists investigate social problems. Constructing Social Problems (Spector and Kitsuse [1977] 2001) offered the guiding statement of the approach, which both transformed and revitalized the sociology of social problems, propelling it into a quarter century of exciting and innovative empirical research. John Kitsuse and Malcolm Spector challenged conventional approaches to the field; they insisted on treating social problems as social constructions--as the products of claims-making and constitutive definitional processes. The purpose of this book is to highlight contemporary challenges to the social constructionist perspective on social problems. In 1993, two collections of essays, Reconsidering Social Constructionism: Debates in Social Problems Theory (Holstein and Miller 1993) and Constructionist Controversies: Issues in Social Problems Theory (Miller and Holstein 1993), brought a wide variety of constructionist challenges into focus. Challenges and Choices attempts to distill these debates, and offers some compelling suggestions for how challenges may be met and where constructionist studies might proceed in the future. While each of the essays in this volume deeply appreciates the constructionist approach, each of them points to issues and choices that social constructionists must confront if the perspective is to continue to be a vital part of ongoing debates on social problems. The essays critique previous constructionist formulations; make suggestions for advancing, expanding, or diversifying the constructionist agenda; and challenge the perspective to move in new directions. They remind us that social constructionism is an ongoing, not a finished, product, and the essays point to some of the choices available to social constructionists in moving their projects into new, even uncharted, territories. James A. Holstein and Gale Miller are professors in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences at Marquette University.

Do you have a child who has taken a few wrong turns in life? In When Choices Become Challenges, you will discover inspiration, ideas and insights that will aid you in ministering to your prodigal. You will discover there can be joy in the journey, delight in the detour, and restoration on the road , while taking this unexpected journey.

The eighth volume in NBR’s Strategic Asia series assesses the major strategic choices on Asia facing the new U.S. president and administration as well as the broader policy community. Through a combination of country, regional, and topical studies, the book analyzes the impact of U.S. policy and geopolitical developments on Asia’s transformation over the past eight years.

Living with Uncertainty gives a broad perspective on the complexities and challenges of the practice of end-of-life care, as well as the perceived benefits and limitations of medical intervention. Drawn from research and clinical and pastoral experience, the book examines the feelings associated with the end of life, highlighting the demands that people are faced with and their consequences. It moves into the difficult area of people who feel defeated by their illness and can or want to live no longer, as well as the family, caregivers and professionals who surround them. These perspectives have been built upon around a hundred narratives of lived experience, combined with the wider clinical and practical range of voices. A topical post-script Lessons from Covid-19 captures the choices and challenges on a personal, professional and systemic level which the pandemic acutely revealed with a multiplicity of examples. This will be essential reading for students and professionals in palliative and end-of-life care. Families and friends will also benefit from this book as they try to come to terms with the delicate but universal issues of death and dying.

This book discusses practical issues of innovation and entrepreneurship. It first outlines the basic factors contributing to economic growth in the knowledge-based economy. Portraying wealth creation as taking scientific research results from lab to market, it identifies two interlinking components of the innovation process: turning scientific research to industrial technology and nurturing an eco-system conducive to technology business. Thus, it clarifies the position and role of four institutional players of the national innovation system: university (U), technology institute (T), government (G) and business (B). Making these players interact synergistically provides a fertile environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. The development of Silicon Valley, Hsinchu, Shenzhen and Singapore are illustrated as examples.For the technology entrepreneur, having a novel technology or unique product does not guarantee commercial success. It requires an effective business model, ability to execute business plan and entrepreneurial culture, all related to the soft power attributes of the entrepreneur team. The competitiveness of innovation and management of entrepreneurship are analyzed based on the concepts of Laozi and Confucius.Every entrepreneurship must learn to manage the challenges brought about by the changing business environment. The competitiveness and sustainability of a business is reflected by its ability to manage the change, both in bad and in good times. Every choice it makes will bring about new challenge. This is a definite, continuous and cyclic phenomenon occurring to all types of business. Some case examples of success or failure in managing challenges are given. They include: Alibaba Group, Ardentec IC testing, Cisco Systems, Delta Electronics, Eastman Kodak, Epistar HBLED, Fairchild Semiconductors, General Motors, GIANT carbon fiber bicycles, Tencent Holdings, TSMC, Volkswagen and others.This book is based on the author's practice and observation in technology and economic development especially in the Asia Pacific region during the post-1990s period. It is intended to be a reference of best practices for entrepreneurs, corporations and countries striving to make its mark in the knowledge-based economy.