Special educational needs,disability and school accountability: an international perspective

Standards-based accountability approaches in education are increasingly being adopted in many industrialised countries. This tends to involve the scrutiny of student performance in national academic tests and then holding schools accountable for subsequent progress. International assessments such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are not accountability measures in themselves, but are often utilised in a similar way and national policies are judged against performance in these tests. Drawing upon the examples of PISA and national assessments in the USA, this paper explores how students with special educational needs and disability (SEND) are included in, and served by, these assessment policies. The analysis suggests that while these approaches are inclusive in their intent (most obviously through efforts to include students with SEND in testing) they may poorly represent the progress of these students. It is argued that more equitable inclusion of students with SEND must find a balance between accountability measures which measure performance in traditional attainment-focused tests and other relevant assessments which are meaningful to the given student and/or SEND sub-group.     

Updating RIGs: including the systematic influence of online study on student evaluation of teaching

Based on student evaluation of teaching (SET) ratings from 1,432 units of study over a period of a year, representing 74,490 individual sets of ratings, and including a significant number of units offered in wholly online mode, we confirm the significant influence of class size, year level, and discipline area on at least some SET ratings. We also find online mode of offer to significantly influence at least some SET ratings. We reveal both the statistical significance and effect sizes of these influences, and find that the magnitudes of the effect sizes of all factors are small, but potentially cumulative. We also show that the influence of online mode of offer is of the same magnitude as the other 3 factors. These results support and extend the rating interpretation guides (RIGs) model proposed by Neumann and colleagues, and we present a general method for the development of a RIGs system.     

Novel dissection of the central nervous system to bridge gross anatomy and neuroscience for an integrated medical curriculum

Medical schools in the United States continue to undergo curricular change, reorganization, and reformation as more schools transition to an integrated curriculum. Anatomy educators must find novel approaches to teach in a way that will bridge multiple disciplines. The cadaveric extraction of the central nervous system (CNS) provides an opportunity to bridge gross anatomy, neuroanatomy, and clinical neurology. In this dissection, the brain, brainstem, spinal cord, cauda equina, optic nerve/tract, and eyes are removed in one piece so that the entire CNS and its gateway to the periphery through the spinal roots can be appreciated. However, this dissection is rarely, if ever, performed likely due to time constraints, perceived difficulty, and lack of instructions. The goals of this project were (i) to provide a comprehensive, step‐by‐step guide for an en bloc CNS extraction and (ii) to determine effective strategies to implement this dissection/prosection within modern curricula. Optimal dissection methods were determined after comparison of various approaches/tools, which reduced dissection time from approximately 10 to 4 hours. The CNS prosections were piloted in small group sessions with two types of learners in two different settings: graduate students studied wet CNS prosections within the dissection laboratory and medical students used plastinated CNS prosections to review clinical neuroanatomy and solve lesion localization cases during their neurology clerkship. In both cases, the CNS was highly rated as a teaching tool and 98% recommended it for future students. Notably, 90% of medical students surveyed suggested that the CNS prosection be introduced prior to clinical rotations. Anat Sci Educ 11: 185–195. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Unpacking Participatory Research in Education

The authors of this paper are members of Ottawa Participatory Researchers in Education (OPRE) a group of teachers, university academics, and students attempting to develop research initiatives using democratic and collaborative research approaches. Building on the experiences of the group, the paper examines and problematizes three elements typically ascribed to non-traditional research approaches: a social action focus, a transformative objective, and a participatory process. Particular emphasis is placed on the questions of who participates, in what ways, and under what conditions. As a result of OPRE's experience and self reflection, seven traps of "pseudo-democracy" are identified and illustrated as potential problems in research purporting to embody equal collaboration between university based academics and community members, such as teachers and students. It is argued that in order to further a democratic research process, equality of opportunity to participate cannot be assumed at any stage of the research process. Attention is paid to the following stages: setting the research agenda, the research epistemology, chronology of the project, representativeness of project participants, funding processes, knowledge cultures, and dissemination choices. Conclusions call for raising awareness of the possibility of teachers and students collaborating to identify research issues of mutual concern and developing a controlling role in research where academics are included as consultants and equals, but not as the possessors of superior and controlling research expertise.     

我国自然旅游资源私有化后果动态管理研究

通过对"自然旅游资源私有化(NBTRP)"现象的机会和危险分析。NBTRP产生的影响既有正面影响也有负面影响,因此"NBTRP净影响监管模型"被设计用以动态综合评价目标目的地NBTRP的成效。     

Stability of WISC-R subtest profiles for learning disabled children

Stability of the WISC-R subtest profile for 161 learning disabled (LD) children over a 7-month test-retest interval was examined. A unique subtest profile reported earlier (Smith, Coleman, Dokecki, & Davis, 1977a) was replicated. Performance IQ was significantly greater than Verbal IQ at both testing occasions. A mean test-retest increase was observed for Performance IQ, but not for Verbal IQ.