What Do Test Score Really Mean? A Latent Class Analysis of Danish Test Score Performance

Latent class Poisson count models are used to analyse a sample of Danish test score results from a cohort of individuals born in 1954–1955, tested in 1968, and followed until 2011. The procedure takes account of unobservable effects as well as excessive zeros in the data. We show that the test scores measure manifest or measured ability as it has evolved over the life of the respondent and is, thus, more a product of the socioeconomic status of the parents and the human capital formation process than some latent or fundamental measure of pure cognitive ability. We find that variables which are not closely associated with traditional notions of intelligence explain a significant proportion of the variation in test scores. This adds to the complexity of interpreting test scores and suggests that school culture and possible incentive problems make it more difficult to understand what the tests measure.     

What Can We Do for Social Justice?

Abstract

Teaching for Social Justice Edited by William Ayers, Jean Ann Hunt, and Therese Quinn, New York: The New Press, 1998, 416 pages, $;18.95 paperback original     

What Should We Do?

A soldier is telling a story about the war. He asks Tom a question. Soldier: Tom, if the enemies want to use our railway, What should we do? Tom: Go to the ticket office, and destroy all tickets.     

What Would I Do?

鸟儿是人类的朋友。我们应该怎样对待这些可爱的朋友呢?看完下面许凡同学与她的小鸟之间的感人故事之后,我们就可以找到答案了。     

What Do Tests Test?

Howard Gardner, the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor in Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the "father" of multiple intelligences theory, weighs in on the issue of high-stakes testing in this commentary: "We must proceed cautiously before we place students' minds and hearts at risk with tests of dubious quality whose meaning can be over-interpreted and whose consequences can be devastating," writes Gardner.     

“What Do I Do Now?”

ABSTRACT

Recent advances made by medicine and psychiatry in the development of practice guidelines and evidence-based interventions are spreading to social work and other helping professions. As the movement toward evidence-based practice grows, more demands for the use of tested interventions will be placed on practitioners. In this paper, we argue that social work practice education must change to respond to this demand. Specifically, evidence-based interventions must be incorporated into the teaching of the middle phase of social work practice more than it is now. Social work training has traditionally relied on untested interventions that have come from the tacit knowledge of accumulated practice wisdom. Although tacit knowledge has an important place in social work practice, instructing students about evidence-based, empirically derived interventions provides them with critical knowledge and skills they will need to enter the competitive world of social work practice. Moreover, this approach amplifies the importance of launching practitioners with skills of evidence-based thinking; that is, the identification, evaluation, and selection of interventions with demonstrated effectiveness.     

What Do Field Seminars Accomplish?

This paper describes the evaluatin of a weekly school-based MSW field seminar with multiple purposes, among which was the integration of classroom and field learning. Both students and seminar instructors found the primary purpose of the seminar to be one of professional support. Knowledge integration was reported by participants to have taken place more often in structured vs. unstructured group sessions. Student suggestions have implications for such a seminar as a learning lab as well as a forum for professional growth and self-awareness.     

What Do You Want Most?

实现人生的追求,是每一个人的梦想。然而你是否想过,你最想要的是什么呢?名?利?健康?希望?友谊?幸福?成功还是其他什么呢? You've heard it said that the best things in life aren't things.This truth is illustrated well by Andrea Jaeger. At age 14 Andrea __1__ her first professional tennis tournament.At 18,she reached the finals of Wimbledon.But at age 19,a shoulder in- jury __2__ her career to an end.     

Adult Jewish Learning: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?

This article describes the emergence of the field of adult Jewish learning and the need for research in this burgeoning aspect of contemporary Jewish life. The authors describe the context in which the upsurge of adult Jewish learning has occurred, drawing attention to the absence of systematic data collection about programs, funding structures, or long-term impacts. They review existing research about adult Jewish learners, learning experiences, and teachers, and identify three categories (and numerous questions) for future research: (1) the purposes of adult Jewish learning; (2) adult Jewish learning settings, subject matter, and methods of instruction; and (3) underrepresented groups in adult Jewish learning programs.     

What Do Schools Do after OFSTED School Inspections-or before?

ABSTRACT

The results of research on the effects of OFSTED secondary school inspections in England since 1994 are presented. The reactions of headteachers to the inspections and their progress on the resulting school action plan are given. The results indicate considerable potential for school inspections to contribute to the process of school improvement.     

What Can We Do About Waste?

Last week’s topic:The e-waste problem is growing rapidly.Just whatare China’s problems with recycling?Howcan we improve the system?And,howcan we raise our awareness? Jin Guangcan:People’s attitude isthe major reason for the e—waste problem