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| Find the uniforms you are looking for at Uniforms.We have information on medical scrubs, work uniforms, team uniforms, sports uniforms, military outfits, restaurant wear, scout uniforms, and professional services clothing.I'll be back next time our office needs to purchase new uniforms.Our school needed new basketball uniforms, and FAST!We didn't win, but we looked great!For other uses, see Uniform (disambiguation).People performing religious activities have often worn standard costumes since the dawn of recorded history.Other early examples of people wearing uniforms include the clothing of the armies of the Roman Empire and other civilizations.Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organisations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates in prisons.In some countries, some other officials also wear uniforms in some of their duties; such is the case of the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service or the French prefects.Service and work uniforms
Workers sometimes wear uniforms or corporate clothing of one nature or another, including but not limited to shop workers, bank and post office workers, airline employees and holiday operators, and bar, restaurant and hotel employees.The use of uniforms by these organizations is often an effort in branding and developing a standard corporate image but also has important effects on the employees required to wear the uniform.The first service uniform registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office was the Playboy Bunny outfit (U.However the term 'uniform' is misleading because employees are not always fully uniform in appearance and may not always wear attire provided by the organization, while still representing the organization in their attire.Pratt (1993) referred to uniformity (homogeneity) of dress as one dimension, and conspicuousness as a second.Employees all wearing black, for example, may appear conspicuous and thus represent the organization even though their attire is uniform only in the color of their appearance not in its features.Across the world uniforms are worn in schools.Countries with school uniforms mandated include Japan, India, Australia and the UK, as well as many other places.In some countries uniform types vary a lot from school to school, but in the UK many pupils between 11 and 16 of age wear a formal jacket, tie and trousers for boys and blouse, tie and trousers or skirt or culottes for girls.Children in many UK state primary schools will have a uniform jumper and or polo shirt with the school name and logo.Sports
Most, if not all, professional sports teams also wear uniforms, made in the team's distinctive colors, often in different variations for "home" and "away" games.Domestic workers
Domestic workers are often required by their employers to wear a uniform.Powell at the 1938 World Jamboree, "it covers the differences of country and race and make all feel that they are members one with another of one World Brotherhood".Nowadays, uniforms are frequently blue, orange, red or green, and shorts are replaced by long pants in areas where the culture calls for modesty, and in winter weather.Retrieved on 1 November 2007.This page was last modified 21:58, 10 January 2008.SEGMENTS AND FUNNELS
hbx.Danner has always built boots to be
as purposeful as those who wear them.Shoe Company has been a leading manufacturer and pioneering
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certification awarded by the Department of Defence.Features lightweight footwear for the Uniform Profession!Rent, Lease or Purchase?Offer is not transferable.ABSTRACT
Recent discourse on public school reform has focused on mandatory
uniform policies.Proponents of such reform measures emphasize the
benefits of student uniforms on specific behavioral and academic
outcomes.This research empirically tests the claims made by uniform
advocates using 10th grade data from The National Educational
Longitudinal Study of 1988.Our findings indicate that student
uniforms have no direct effect on substance use, behavioral problems
or attendance.These findings are contrary to current
discourse on student uniforms.We conclude that uniform policies may
indirectly affect school environment and student outcomes by
providing a visible and public symbol of commitment to school
improvement and reform.INTRODUCTION
Public discourse surrounding educational reform has recently
focused on the importance of uniform policies in public schools.School uniform policies have historically been restricted to the
private sector and have only recently begun to be discussed as a
viable policy option in public school districts.Within the Catholic school literature,
school uniforms have never been asserted as a primary factor in
producing the Catholic school effect.Nevertheless, public school
administrators are beginning to consider uniform policies as a way to
improve the overall school environment and student achievement.Due
to the controversial nature of mandatory school uniform policies,
educators are speaking out, both advocating and condemning the
proposed reform efforts.Uniform advocates propose several different arguments.Additionally, uniforms are attributed to
decreasing behavior problems by: increasing attendance rates,
lowering suspension rates, and decreasing substance use among the
student body (Gursky, 1996).Opponents of adopting uniform policies stress the legal,
financial, and questionable effectiveness of such policies.This argument is extended by opponents who argue
that mandatory uniform policies are being considered largely for
urban school districts, and hence are being forced upon a
predominately minority and poor student population (Thomas, 1994).Financially, groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have
voiced concerns about the cost of uniforms, specifically that
purchasing one is a mandatory cost which some disadvantaged parents
are unable to afford (Gursky, 1996).The case study most often cited in the political rhetoric
surrounding the uniform debate is that of the Long Beach Unified
School District (LBUSD).LBUSD was one of the first large urban
school districts within the United States to adopt a mandatory school
uniform policy.This case provides some context for the discussion in
that it serves as a prime example of a system which has recently
instituted a school uniform requirement, has received national
attention for it's efforts, and attributes students' behavioral
changes to the mandatory uniform policy.In a press release, the
Board President of LBUSD had the following to say about the uniform
policy:
These schools are becoming educational workplaces.They're getting along with one
another better and experiencing significant gains.Polacheck, 1996)
In this district, school uniforms are currently required from
kindergarten through eighth grade in 70 schools, including
approximately 60,000 students.School District press releases
indicate that there is widespread parental support for the mandatory
uniform policy.The table (Table A) in Appendix A presents the statistical
evidence provided by the School District in support of their claims
that school uniforms decrease crime.It is typically assumed, as exemplified by the Long Beach case,
that uniforms are the sole factor causing direct change in numerous
behavioral and academic outcomes.It is these pronouncements by
uniform proponents that have raised strident objections and created a
political climate in which public school uniform policies have become
highly contested.Hence, it seems critical at this point in time,
for empirical analyses to be conducted to inform the school uniform
debate.This paper examines the relationship between uniforms and
several outcomes which represent the core elements of uniform
proponents' claims.Specifically, we will examine the effect of
wearing a uniform on attendance, disciplinary behavior problems,
substance abuse, and academic achievement.It is the intention of the
authors that a thorough analysis of the arguments proposed by uniform
advocates will add critical insight to the ongoing debate on the
effects of school uniform policies.THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Nathan Joseph (1986) has formulated an analysis of clothing as
communication which provides a framework within which uniform
proponents claims can be better understood.School uniforms, by contrast, are clothing which is
selected by school officials and mandated to students.Joseph suggests that for clothing to be considered a 'uniform' it
must fulfill the following criteria: 1) it must serve as a group
emblem, 2) it must certify the institution's legitimacy by revealing
an actor's status position, and 3) it must suppress individuality
(1986).Within the context of an educational institution, school
uniforms clearly function as a symbol of membership to the school
community.School uniforms serve as a clear sign of this status distinction
between students and faculty and therefore, certify the legitimacy of
that distinction by all members.School uniforms act as suppressers
of students' individuality by mandating standardization of appearance
and removing student expression through clothing.Given these characteristics of uniforms, it becomes clear that
mandatory uniforms serve the function of maintaining social control
within the school environment.The uniforms, as a sign of group
membership, act as immediate cues which signal who does and does not
belong to the school community.Amongst the community members
themselves, uniforms seem to act as a dramaturgical device by
establishing interactional boundaries between members of separate
statuses (teachers and students) and promoting the internalization of
organizational goals.If uniforms are considered a sign which facilitates social control
of student behavior, then it can be expected that students in
uniforms will display behaviors which are consistent with the
institutional goals of the school.The following
hypotheses are provided to test the validity of the uniform
advocates' statements.Within the context of the public debate on mandatory uniform
policies, the mechanisms through which uniforms effect the above
stated outcomes are subtly implied.In
testing each of the above stated relationships, it is expected that
the direct effect of uniforms on the four outcomes will disappear
when these moderating variables are added to the equation.If this is
in fact the case, arguments stating uniform policies' direct effect
on a given outcome should be abandoned and more attention given to
the actual mechanisms which produce the sought after effects.Finally, it should be emphasized that the purpose of this paper is to
test the claims made in the context of the school uniform debate
using a nationally representative sample of students.NELS:88
oversampled certain minority groups, private sector schools, and high
performance schools.Thus, standardized weights and design effects
will be applied in order to make statements about the population of
tenth grade students in the United States and the effects of uniforms
on them.VARIABLES
NELS:88 provided a number of variables which were used to analyze
the relationship between student uniforms and various student
outcomes.Independent Variables
Several controls for student characteristics were constructed.White students remained the omitted category
and all comparisons are made to them.These
categorizations resulted in a weighted distribution of 49.Variables to control for school characteristics were also used.School Component of NELS:88 was used to
ascertain whether or not a student was, due to school policy,
required to wear a uniform.Ascertained students are required to wear a uniform at
their high school.Student uniform use is the focal independent
variable of this research project.These scales represent variables which are hypothesized to
be the critical moderating variables explaining why uniforms might
affect the dependent variables as opposed to uniform use having
direct effects.It taps an
important dimension of attitudes towards behavior at school which
would or would not cater to a positive academic atmosphere.As the analysis proceeded, interaction terms between the
uniform variable and those of the moderating scales were computed to
assess the special effects of these combinations on the outcomes of
interest.Dependent Variables
The debate over school uniforms suggests using several outcomes to
test the effectiveness of adopting a uniform policy on how students
fare on these consequences.The dependent variables chosen were
student absenteeism, student behavior problems, student substance
use, and student achievement.The authors
remain specifically interested in the relationships and the
predictive power of student uniform policies on the outcomes of
interest.In all analyses a weighting procedure utilizing the population
weight (F1QWT) and the appropriate design effect was computated
according to the population being tested.Table 3), we correct for clustered
sample problems which stem from each case not necessarily being
independent due to the sampling frame used by the collectors of
NELS:88.Student uniforms are slightly (.Student
uniform use is not significantly correlated with any of the school
commitment variables of absenteeism, behavior, or substance use
(drugs).Also, note the significant negative correlations between
these attitudinal variables and the various outcomes of interest.See a above except this is for
the private school sample only.Catholic schools and uniforms go together in most people's minds,
and in fact, they are the sector which utilizes uniform policies the
most (65.Catholic students (if uniforms
are indeed a force behind what occurs there).The same logic should
apply to other private schools, albeit to a less exact extent.This fails to
support the thesis that uniforms are related to these outcomes.Student Uniforms as Predictors
So far this paper has presented somewhat weaker, though
interesting, tests of the relationship between student uniforms and
the various outcomes.The debate tends to imply stronger claims than
simple correlations and mean comparisons: there is an implicit charge
that uniforms "cause" or "impact" the outcomes with which educators
and policymakers are concerned.Table 4 presents
the results for the regression of achievement on uniforms and other
variables.Do uniforms have an impact on absenteeism?Model I presents the
unstandardized coefficients for the impact of the control variables
on absenteeism.In Model II, the variable for student uniforms is added.The uniform coefficient is not significantly different from zero and
no statements can be made.An interesting finding is that once the variation for uniform use
is taken into account the Catholic effect actually gets stronger in
decreasing absenteeism.This implies that the Catholic effect, often
cited in the literature as effecting these sorts of outcomes, remains
supported.Hypothesis One, which stated that student uniforms would decrease
absenteeism, is not supported by these results.Do student uniforms significantly decrease behavioral problems?The student uniform variable is added
in Model II and the insignificant effect is similar to that for
absenteeism.Hypothesis Two, which stated that student uniforms will
decrease behavior problems, is not supported by this analysis.Do student uniforms significantly decrease substance
use among high school students?Model II adds the student uniforms
variable.Thus, Hypothesis Three, which
stated that student uniforms will decrease substance use, is
unsupported, implying that implementing uniform policies at the high
school level will not effectively create the desired outcomes.Table 4 presents a similar set of models as in the previous three
analyses for uniform's effect on achievement scores.Do student
uniforms effect achievement?Model II adds the dummy variable for
student uniforms.Here, contrary to the expected, student uniform use
actually decreases, on average, the standardized test score of these
tenth graders who wear them due to mandatory school policy.Finally, Hypothesis Four,
stating that student uniforms will increase student achievement, is
not supported by these data.In fact, all four of the original
hypotheses, derived from the public discourse surrounding the uniform
debate, are not supported.Since these variables consistently produce the
desired outcomes it is important to assess uniform's effects on these
as well.Looking at Table 5, in fact, uniforms do not have any effect
on the moderating variables in the analysis.The following questions
apply, respectively to the tests of interactions: Do uniformed kids
with high academic preparedness significantly differ in the desired
direction from their counterparts on the dependent measures?Do uniformed kids in urban areas
significantly differ in the desired direction from their counterparts
on the dependent measures?Finally, do uniformed
Catholic kids significantly differ in the desired direction from
their counterparts on the dependent measures?Uniforms seemingly have no impact in tandem with those
things which are proven effective.Our failure to find a direct effect of uniforms on behavioral
outcomes or academic achievement provide cause for a closer
examination of the uniform debate.It seems that reformers have
seriously considered the educational research showing outcome
differentials between public and Catholic school students.Long Beach case sheds light on the flawed
logic of uniform proponents' assertions.Between these periods a mandatory uniform policy was
established district wide.While in fact, these two events
may be empirically verifiable, the argument that uniforms have caused
the decrease in school crime is simply not substantiated.Taking into
consideration both the findings provided in this paper and the
additional materials from the Long Beach public school system, we
would propose an alternative interpretation.What is omitted from the discourse on school uniforms is the
possibility that, instead of directly impacting specific outcomes,
uniforms work as a catalyst for change and provide a highly visible
window of opportunity.An examination of the Long Beach case
shows that several additional reform efforts were simultaneously
implemented with the mandatory uniform policy.It seems
curious that given these substantive reform efforts, administrators
continue to insist that uniforms are the sole factor causing a
variety of positive educational outcome.Requiring students to wear uniforms is a change which not only
effects students, but school faculty and parents.Instituting a
mandatory uniform policy is a change which is immediate, highly
visible, and shifts the environmental landscape of any particular
school.Instituting a uniform policy
can be viewed as analogous to cleaning and brightly painting a
deteriorating building in that on the one hand, it grabs our
immediate attention but on the other, is, after all, really only a
coat of paint.This type of change serves the purpose of attracting
attention to schools, it implies that serious problems are existent
and necessitate this sort of drastic change, and it seems entirely
possible that this attention renews an interest on the parts of
parents and communities, and opens the possibilities for support of
additional types of organizational change.The juxtaposition of these findings and the ongoing rhetoric in
the public debate on school uniforms provides a lens for viewing the
effects of public opinion on school reform in general.The nature and
magnitude of the support behind the mandatory uniform policies of
districts such as Long Beach seem to illustrate the "quick fix"
nature of school reform policies in the 1990's.Bryk, Anthony and Mary Driscoll.Manual on School Uniforms."Ten Ideas Worth Stealing from New
Zealand."Uniforms and Nonuniforms: Communication
Through Clothing."Common Denominator: Schools See Less
Violence When Kids Wear Uniforms.""The Role of
Dress Codes, Uniforms in Urban Schools."School Uniform Program That Works.""Uniforms Help Solve Many School
Problems.""Uniforms in the Schools: Proponents Say
It Cuts Competition; Others Are Not So Sure."Model Guidelines
for the Wearing of Uniforms in Public Schools: Report of the
Department of Education to the Governor and the General Assembly of
Virginia.Workman, Jane and Kim Johnson.Scale created by summing across values of the three
variables (min.Scale was created by summing across the three variables
(min.Scale was created by summing across three reversed variables
(min.Purchase Options Uniforms that Fit the Way You Workwww.Nurse Uniform Scrubs on Sale!ClothingSponsored LinksUniform StoreHealthcare Employee Uniforms, Shoes And Name Tags.Conforming to one principle, standard, or rule; consistent.Unvaried in texture, color, or design.To make (something) uniform.To provide or dress with a uniform.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.Discount Medical UniformsDiscount Scrubs, Uniforms, Labcoats Scrubs, Pants, Prints, Tops, Shoeswww.The noun meaning "distinctive clothes worn by one group" is first attested 1748, from Fr.Example: The sky was a uniform grey.Example: Full uniform must be worn; The new uniforms will arrive tomorrow.Share This
UNIFORM An intermediate language developed for reverse engineering both COBOL and Fortran. |
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