Standard Setting as a Participatory Process: Implications for Validation of Standards-Based Accountability Programs

In standards-based accountability programs, test scores are interpreted with reference to cut scores that establish categories like "proficient" or "below basic." The meaning of these cut scores is set forth in their associated "performance standards." Validity arguments for such interpretations require both a criterion-referenced score scale and a legitimate exercise of authority by those who set the standards. Stakeholder participation in a rational and coherent deliberative process is necessary to assure that these conditions are satisfied. This article sets forth a framework for the required validity argument and suggests possible ways to enable such participation. A new standard-setting method, the "briefing book" method, is suggested for possible study.     

Examining the Validity of Standards-Based Assessments for Initially Fluent Students and Former English Language Learners

To date, assessment validity research on non-native English speaking students in the United States has focused exclusively on those who are presently English language learners (ELLs). However, little, if any, research has been conducted on two other sizable groups of language minority students: (a) bilingual or multilingual students who were already English proficient when they entered the school system (IFEPs), and (b) former English language learners, those students who were once classified as ELLs but are now reclassified as being English proficient (RFEPs). This study investigated the validity of several standards-based assessments in mathematics and science for these two student groups and found a very high degree of score comparability, when compared with native English speakers, for the IFEPs, whereas a moderate to high degree of score comparability was observed for the RFEPs. Thus, test scores for these two groups on the assessments we studied appear to be valid indicators of their content knowledge, to a degree similar to that of native English speakers.     

Moving Toward a Comprehensive Assessment System: A Framework for Considering Interim Assessments

Local assessment systems are being marketed as formative, benchmark, predictive, and a host of other terms. Many so-called formative assessments are not at all similar to the types of assessments and strategies studied by   Black and Wiliam (1998)   but instead are interim assessments. In this article, we clarify the definition and uses of interim assessments and argue that they can be an important piece of a comprehensive assessment system that includes formative, interim, and summative assessments. Interim assessments are given on a larger scale than formative assessments, have less flexibility, and are aggregated to the school or district level to help inform policy. Interim assessments are driven by their purpose, which fall into the categories of instructional, evaluative, or predictive. Our intent is to provide a specific definition for these "interim assessments" and to develop a framework that district and state leaders can use to evaluate these systems for purchase or development. The discussion lays out some concerns with the current state of these assessments as well as hopes for future directions and suggestions for further research.     

基于标准的美国教育改革运动简论

基于标准的美国教育改革运动,对美国的基础教育产生了深远的影响,教育标准的泛化和现实教学的矛盾引起美国研究者的普遍关注。联邦政府在这场追求教育公平和标准的改革运动中发挥了重要作用,以严格标准化测验和教学效果问责制为主要特征的这场改革运动引发了美国研究者对改革效果、教育信息统计、标准完善、测验设计等方面的积极研究。     

Selecting the Qualified: A Standards-Based Teacher Education Admission Process

A standards-based admission process for qualifying caring and competent candidates for teacher preparation is presented. The major elements of the admission process include prerequisite standards that address the knowledge, dispositions, and skills candidates should possess upon entrance to the teacher education program; multiple assessments that evaluate the prerequisite standards; and an admission interview process that involves collaboration of arts and sciences faculty, education faculty, undergraduate students, and professionals from the field. A unique aspect of the admission process is its strong focus on dispositional standards. Emphasis is placed on qualifying future teachers into teacher education programs based upon demonstrated evidence of their meeting defensible and education community supported admission standards.     

王国维小说批评的圆照法论略

王国维小说批评的圆照法就是以圆融观照之法考量小说.此法以"人生"为其理论核心,圆融艺术与功利、圆融中西、圆融多个学科,努力建构一个小说批评的弘大的人文观照体系.     

王国维小说批评的圆照法论略

王国维小说批评的圆照法就是以圆融观照之法考量小说，此法以“人生”为其理论核心，圆融艺术与功利、圆融中西、圆融多个学科，努力建构一个小说批评的弘大的人观照体系。     

The Multiple‐Use of Accountability Assessments: Implications for the Process of Validation

Implications of the multiple‐use of accountability assessments for the process of validation are examined. Multiple‐use refers to the simultaneous use of results from a single administration of an assessment for its intended use and for one or more additional uses. A theoretical discussion of the issues for validation which emerge from multiple‐use is provided focusing on the increased stakes that result from multiple‐use and the need to consider the interactions that may take place between multiple‐uses. To further explore this practice, an empirical study of the multiple‐use of the Education Quality and Accountability Office Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics, a mandatory assessment administered in Ontario, Canada, is presented. Drawing on data gathered in an in‐depth case study, practices associated with two of the multiple‐uses of this assessment are considered and evidence of ways these two uses interact is presented. Given these interactions, the limitations of an argument‐based approach to validation for this instance of multiple‐use are demonstrated. Some ways that the process of validation might better address the practice of multiple‐use are suggested and areas for further investigation of this frequently occurring practice are discussed.     

Superintendent Evaluation in a Standards-Based Environment: A Status Report from the States*

In the current political climate, in which accountability and standards-based reform represent the educational centerpiece, a renewed interest has emerged in superintendent evaluation as a focal point for school improvement. This paper examines the current state-of-the-art of superintendent evaluation. Findings from the study suggest that despite the recommendations for personnel evaluation standards proposed by The Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (1988), 8 of the 50 state AASA/NSBA affiliates do not have requirements or guidelines for the evaluation of the superintendent. Evaluation materials provided by the affiliates in the other 42 states do not meet all of the essential criteria for quality personnel evaluation.     

Standards-Based Evaluation and Teacher Career Satisfaction: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

Structural equation modeling was used to assess the plausibility of a conceptual model specifying hypothesized linkages among perceptions of characteristics of standards-based evaluation, work environment mediators, and career satisfaction and other outcomes. Four comprehensive high schools located in two neighboring counties in southern California provided the data for this study. The schools’ districts had recently developed and implemented evaluation systems based on six California Standards for the Teaching Profession generated in 1997. One hundred and seventy-eight teachers responded to survey questions designed to capture the following constructs: understandable/relevant standards, satisfactory/helpful evaluation, role ambiguity, effort performance-rating linkage, work criteria autonomy, career satisfaction, organizational commitment, and perceptions of the effectiveness of the evaluation system. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess whether the items measuring evaluation fit two hypothesized constructs. Structural equation modeling results indicated that there are two mediators in the evaluation-career satisfaction relationship: role ambiguity and work criteria autonomy.

Rhetorical Analysis of Stakeholders in Environmental Communication: A Model

This article examines contributions of selected theories to technical communication's understanding of environmental discourse and uses a dialogical synthesis to construct a model of stakeholder analysis. The model, with its interactive variables of stakeholder knowledge, attitude, and desired behavior, is applied to a pollution prevention document and calls for an active research emphasis in determining effective communication strategies.     

利益相关者视角下的高校综合改革路径探析

新一轮高校综合改革正如火如荼地进行,破除改革"瓶颈"、建立适应中国特色现代大学制度已迫在眉睫。从利益相关者角度看,高校综合改革中的利益相关者主要有政府、社会和高校,不同利益相关者在高校改革中拥有不同的权益和立场。在这场"使命驱使"的新一轮高校综合改革中,高校作为改革主体,明确各利益相关者的职能和角色、完善利益主体间均衡博弈制度,构建协同参与的监督评议和申诉机制、建立高校改革过程评价和结果反馈体系;扮演好沟通者、操作者和捍卫者的角色是高校综合改革取得成功的有效路径。     

Student-Centered Teaching in a Standards-Based World: Finding a Sensible Balance

This paper addresses a tension that existsin the present reform movement in scienceeducation. This is the tension between rigorand accountability through standards,benchmarks, and high stakes testing on theone hand and more progressive,student-centered approaches to teaching andlearning on the other.     

The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium: A Standards-Based Approach to Strengthening Educational Leadership

In this article, we describe the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC), as well as its intellectual ground and reform efforts. We begin by examining the foundations that provide shape to the ISLLC standards. We review new visions of learning and teaching, changing conceptions of organizations, and reconfigured relationships between schools and their communities. We also analyze the evolving context of schooling, focusing on movements underway in the economic, social, and political domains of the education industry. The middle part of the article reviews the picture of educational leadership that informs the work of the consortium. In the final section, we describe the principles and core tenets that provide the architecture for the standards and outline the standards themselves. We also chronicle how the ISLLC standards are being used to strengthen educational leadership throughout the United States.     

Assessment of Teacher Reactions to a Standards-Based Teacher Evaluation System: A Pilot Study*

This article reports on teachers' reactions to a pilot implementation of a new standards-based teacher evaluation system in a medium-sized Midwestern school district. The system, based on the Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 1996), was intended to serve as the foundation for a new knowledge and skill pay plan for teachers. Teacher reactions were measured using both interview and survey methods. Teachers' overall favorableness toward the system, as measured by the survey, was correlated with acceptance of the teaching standards, perception of the evaluation process as fair and the evaluator as capable and objective, and perception that the evaluation system had a positive impact on their teaching. In interviews, teachers perceived both positive and negative aspects of the system, and for many these more or less balanced each other. While most teachers accepted the evaluation standards and the need for an evaluation system, many also perceived that the system added too much to teachers' workloads and did not provide enough feedback. Based on these results several changes were made in the evaluation system prior to full implementation. The results are discussed with reference to previous research and the Personnel Evaluation Standards.     

思想政治理论课社会实践教学的内容及其创新

思想政治理论课社会实践教学的内容既包括大学生社会实践的一般特征,又具有思想政治理论课的特殊性。思想政治理论课社会实践教学的具体内容包括：理论宣传、社会调查、社会服务、参观考察、红色之旅等。消除对思想政治理论课社会实践教学内容认识的误区,促进思想政治理论课社会实践教学内容的创新与发展。     

Cross-Cultural Validation of Four Positive Psychology Assessments for Use with a Ghanaian Population

This study reports the evaluation of four positive psychology assessments for use in clinical, education, and research settings with individuals in Ghana, Africa. The analyses attempted to identify validity evidence for internal structure and relationships with related variables for the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SLS; Diener et al. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75, 1985), General Mattering Scale (GMS; Marcus 1991), Short Grit Scale (GS; Duckworth and Quinn Journal of Personality Assessment, 9, 166–174, 2009), and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS; Smith et al. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15, 194–200, 2008). The data yielded from 657 Ghanaian participants indicated factor structures ranging from a strong model fit (SLS and GMS) to an acceptable fit following modifications to factor structure (GS and BRS), while evidence based on relationships to related variables was convincing. Implications for use of these assessments and for future research are discussed.     

利益相关者视角下大学发展的境域转换

大学是一个利益相关者组织。利益相关者的期望和要求规定了大学责任,利益相关者的物质和精神付出丰富着大学资源,利益相关者的作用、地位和权利规范着大学制度。在利益相关者视角下,大学的责任划定、资源获得、制度安排发生了从“单一的国家责任”走向“广泛的社会责任”、从“有形”走向“无形与有形并重”、从“自治自给”走向“合作开放”、从“单一计划行政管理”走向“共同治理”的境域转换。     

Alternative Interpretations of Alternative Assessments: Some Validity Issues in Educational Performance Assessments

The use of alternative assessments has led many researchers to reexamine traditional views of test qualities, especially validity. Because alternative assessments generally aim at measuring complex constructs and employ rich assessment tasks, it becomes more difficult to demonstrate (a) the validity of the inferences we make and (b) that these inferences extrapolate to target domains beyond the assessment itself. An approach to addressing these issues from the perspective of language testing is described. It is then argued that in both language testing and educational assessment we must consider the roles of both language and content knowledge, and that our approach to the design and development of performance assessments must be both construct-based and task-based.¹