Credibility and Economic Value in the Visual Arts

The paper states that the quality of visual arts cannot be measured objectively. An artist must be credible to the public in order to generate economic value. How is credibility and thus economic value generated on the market? To judge the quality of arts, it takes experts. They form a worldwide network relationship and apply cultural knowledge, a highly specific type of knowledge which requires lifelong learning. Cultural knowledge is only in part of a factual nature and includes subjective elements. Since the public cannot in general ascertain the quality of an artist's oeuvre directly, experts must themselves be credible to the public in order to lend credibility to a given oeuvre. It is shown that the process by which experts generate public credibility for a given oeuvre is path dependent, i.e., may by chance end up at inferior solutions.     

Changing ideas about the periodic table of elements and students' alternative concepts of isotopes and allotropes

The Periodic Table of Elements (PTE) is one of the organizing principles in chemistry. Originally it was a list of elements (as substances). Later, the PTE developed into a list of atoms of the elements. However, isotopes and allotropes are difficult to integrate into the PTE. Therefore, difficulties in understanding these terms can be expected. The investigation set off to study secondary school students' concepts of isotopes and allotropes and how the concepts are linked to the PTE. Three specific research questions were addressed: (a) How do secondary school students describe the relationship between fundamental particles constituting an atom? (b) How do they conceive isotopes? and (c) What are students' concepts of graphite and diamond? Multiple choice items were given to 3074 senior high school students. In addition, six interviews were conducted with senior high school students. The data analysis revealed students' alternative concepts, which distinguished between standard atoms and atoms of isotopes. Standard atoms contain neutrons and protons in equal numbers and are more stable. The atomic masses are expressed as integers. Moreover, students considered graphite and diamond as isotopes. The analysis of the results shows that students actively tried to make sense of what they had experienced. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 257–277, 2003     

Setting Reliable National Curriculum Standards: a guide to the Angoff procedure

The Northern Ireland Curriculum, like the English National Curriculum, records pupil achievement on a 10‐level scale. The level to which a pupil is ‘assigned’ at the end of a Key Stage is based upon two sources of assessment information: classroom‐based measures provided by the teacher and summative information from Common Assessment Instruments (CAIs), which are pen‐and‐paper tests taken at the end of the Key Stage. CAIs play a central role in confirming the accuracy with which teachers judge the level at which a pupil is working. While the teacher might judge a pupil to have mastered level 7 in Algebra, for example, based upon observation in class, test data and homeworks, the CAI will only confirm this level if the pupil scores above the level 7 cutscore on the CAI. If this cutscore does not accord with a reliable measure of what constitutes level 7 performance in Algebra in the classroom, there is likely to be misclassification of pupils with attendant difficulties for the efficient planning of teaching and learning. Misclassifications can be minimised when examiners and teachers interpret level 7 achievement in Algebra similarly. The Angoff standard‐setting procedure was used to establish level 5 cutscores in the Number and Handling Data tests of the mathematics CAI so that comparisons might be made between the published level 5 cutscores and those which result from a judgemental standard‐setting procedure. The 21 teachers involved in the procedure were offered the opportunity to recommend a level 5 ‘standard’ using the Angoff methodology, and to review their recommendations in the light of test data from the February 1993 CAI administration. A further opportunity was offered following a discussion during which individual teachers articulated their reasons for the standards they recommended. The results confirm that the reliability of recommended standards increases both as a consequence of receiving normative data and of discussion. All statistical measures reported in this article indicate that the procedure could command the confidence of examiners, teachers and the public. While the recommended cutscore for Number is in close accord with that published by the examiners, the extent of the mismatch in the Handling Data test is such as might give rise to some misclassification of pupils. It is important to stress that this mismatch had no real consequences since 1993 was a pilot year and no test outcomes were reported. The article concludes with an outline of the contribution which the Angoff methodology can make to the resolution of some of the difficulties faced by English national assessment, as identified in Sir Ron Dealing's interim report “The National Curriculum and its Assessment”.     

The Role of Teachers and Schooling Experiences in Learners’ Adult Life Quality: A Senegalese Case Study

School attended, Qur’anic education attendance, fathers’ occupation, and some aspects of teachers’ classroom actions make a difference for the adult life of the former learners. This paper presents findings from a longitudinal study of the career and life situations of Senegalese individuals who were of school age in the beginning of the 1980s. Data was collected on teacher ratings and predictions of school success as well as absenteeism during the academic year 1980/1981. In a follow up study in 1999/2000 the individuals were 25-32 years old and they were interviewed and tested on a simple life-skills test.     

Textbooks of doubt: using systemic functional analysis to explore the framing of climate change in middle-school science textbooks

Middle school students are learning about climate change in large part through textbooks used in their classes. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the language employed in these materials frames this topic. To this end, we used systemic functional analysis to study the language of the chapters related to climate change in four sixth grade science textbooks adopted in the state of California. The linguistic variables investigated were: types of nominal groups; processes; circumstances; and the modality system. Our findings showed that these textbooks framed climate change as uncertain in the scientific community – both about whether it is occurring as well as about its human-causation. The implications for science education are discussed in relation to how the current political and public discourses of climate change, rather than the scientific discourse, is influencing how textbooks discuss this topic.     

Privatisation,Decentralisation And Governance In Education In The Czech Republic,England, France,Germany And Sweden

The Czech Republic, England, France, Germany and Sweden differ culturally and economically, but they commonly exhibit general trends of decentralisation in the control of educational processes and outcomes. The present contribution looks at these five European countries as the venue for case studies in educational restructuring as well as evaluation, assessment and reporting. It shows that such trends have been most radical in the Czech Republic and Sweden, while England has centralised curriculum policy and France has devolved some decision-making to bodies at lower levels, but as representatives of the central state.     

Streamlining high‐school homework

Western Youth Meets Eastern Culture. By Frances G. Sweeney, Emily Fanning Barry, and Alice E. Schoelkopf. Columbia University, 1932. Pp. xvi + 335.

Journalistic Vocations. By Charles Elkins Rogers. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1931. Pp. ix + 354.

Educational Views of Benjamin Franklin. By Thomas Woody. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Co. 1931. Pp. ix + 270.

The Austrian Educational Institutes. By Beryl Parker. Vienna and Leipzig : Austrian Federal Publisher for Education, Science, and Art, 1931. Pp. 12 + 184.

Secondary Education. By Herbert G. Lull. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1932. Pp. xxii + 356.

Case Studies of Normal Adolescent Girls. By Elsie M. Smithies. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1933. Pp. ix + 284.

The Road to Health. Books I and II. By Bundesen &; Manry. New York: Laidlaw Brothers, 1932. Pp. 96 + 127.

Our Neighbors Near and Far. By Carpenter. Book One. American Book Company.

English Practice Books. Books 3, 4, and 6. By Fennek and Madden. The American Book Company.

The Art of Educational Research. By Harold H. Abelson. New York: World Book Company, 1933. Pp. xi + 332.

Educational Psychology. By Harry L. HoixingsworTh. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1933. Pp. xvi + 540.

Arithmetic Workbook, Grade I. By Clifford B. Upton. New York: American Book Company, 1933. Pp. 128.

Clothing. By Friend and Shultz. Pp. x + 300. Living in Our Homes. By Friend and Shultz. Pp. xviii + 274. New York : D. Appleton and Co., 1933.

Lina Sarger. By Marque Maier. Boston: The Christopher Publishing House, 1932. Pp. 249.

Study Guide in Secondary Education. By Edgar M. Draper and Alexander G. Roberts. New York : The Century Co., 1933. Pp. xi + 151.

Survey of Higher Education in Maine. By the University of Maine. Pp. x + 430.

Archery Simplified. By Phillip Rounsevelle. New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1931. Pp. vii + 120.

The Dawn of Literature. By Cam, Holliday. New York : Thomas Y. Crowell Company. Pp. 377.

Problem Solving in Arithmetic. By Leon Nelson Neulen. New York City: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1931. Pp. v + 87.

A Text‐Book of Physics. Fourth Edition. By Louis Bevier Spinney. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1931. Pp. v + 679.

The Junior College. By Walter C. Eells. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company, 1931. Pp. xxviii + 833.

Realism in American Education. By William Setchel Learned. Cambridge : Harvard University Press, 1932. Pp. 2 + 70.

Paraguay. By Arthur Elwood Elliott. New York City : Teachers College, Columbia University, 1931. Pp. v + 210.

Modern Business Geography. By Ellsworth Huntington and Sumner W, Cushing. New York : World Book Company. Pp. xii + 352.

The World We Live In. By Gertrude Hartman. Macmillan.

The Measurement of Certain Aspects of Personality Among Hard of Hearing Adults. By Henry Hunter Welles, III. New York : Columbia University, 1932. Pp. viii + 77.

The Educational and Occupational Preferences of College Seniors. By Marlin Ray Chauncey. New York: Columbia University, 1932. Pp. 72.

Making the Most of Books. By Leal A. Headley. Illinois: American Library Association, 1932. Pp. 342.

Relations of Religious Training and Life Patterns to the Adult Religious Life. By Luther Ellis Woodward. Teachers College, Columbia University, 1932. Pp. v + 75.     

Praxis und Verhältnis interner und externer Evaluation im Schulsystem im internationalen Vergleich

The overview article deals with the interaction of internal and external evaluation within the current paradigm of school governance. The actual practice of both approaches and the current state of research about the effects on school development is described. Both evaluation approaches are less focused on aspects of school output such as student performance, and more on school processes such as school management or the quality of teaching. External evaluation in the form of school inspection mainly fulfills the function of accountability and the identification of weak schools. Internal evaluation is probably a better way to achieve school development. However, the necessary competence to use internal evaluation as a systematic process of quality management for which each individual school takes responsibility is currently underdeveloped. Considerations about the future relationship between internal and external evaluation focus on using external evaluation as a kind of “meta-evaluation”. But before external evaluation can build on results of internal evaluation in this way, a broad capacity building in schools and a different understanding of the role of inspectors are necessary.