Vocational education and race in the Chicago public schools: Three historical case studies and implications for current reform

Three vocational high schools provide illustrative and contrasting histories in terms of African-American education and economic opportunity. Washburne Trade School reinforced trade union exclusion of African-Americans, and since integration in the 1960s has been abandoned by most of the powerful unions. Dunbar Vocational High School directed African-Americans into the lower-paying trades, but has lost the economic base that the ghetto once provided. Chicago Vocational School prepared the white working class for industrial jobs, but integration and re-segregation has coincidentally seen the erosion of Chicago's manufacturing base. These schools are compared in the economic, political, and cultural contexts of past and present. It is proposed that an integrated strategy for the reform of vocational education is necessary for these schools to adapt to economic change in the present and future.     

Comparability of Scores From Performance Assessments

Why is comparability of forms important for performance assessments? Can traditional methods of form equating be used? What problems are likely to arise in equating? Can standards generalize across forms?     

New academics’ perceptions of the language of teaching and learning: identifying and overcoming linguistic barriers

Seventy‐seven new academics – 59 at a large, public university in the UK and 18 at a medium‐sized, private comprehensive university in the USA – were asked to read an extract of an article on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and mark the text according to categories of difficulty or dislike. Analysis of the data revealed six main linguistic barriers in the text: specialist vocabulary, passive constructions, pronouns, figurative language, derivations and poor editorial standards. These barriers were similar at both institutions, suggesting they apply across different contexts. Contrary to expectations, no conclusive disciplinary‐based distinctions were detected. Implications for both readers and writers are explored and proposals are made for developing a literary style in SoTL literature that is simultaneously accessible and credible.

Soixante‐dix‐sept nouveaux enseignants – cinquante‐neuf provenant d’une université publique britannique de grande taille et dix‐huit provenant d’une université privée américaine de taille moyenne – ont lu l’extrait d’un article portant sur le scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) et ont identifié les parties qu’ils jugeaient difficiles ou qu’ils n’appréciaient pas. Une analyse des données révèle la présence de six barrières linguistiques principales dans le texte: le vocabulaire spécialisé, les constructions passives, les pronoms, le langage figuratif, les dérivations et des standards de rédaction de piètre qualité. Ces barrières étaient similaires dans le cas des deux institutions, ce qui suggère qu’elles sont applicables dans des contextes différents. Contrairement aux attentes, aucune distinction reposant sur les disciplines permettant de tirer des conclusions n’a pu être détectée. Les implications pour les lecteurs et les rédacteurs sont explorées et des propositions visant à développer un style littéraire pour la documentation portant sur le SoTL qui soit à la fois accessible et crédible sont formulées.     

Integrating multidisciplinary engineering knowledge

In order to design two distinct engineering qualification levels for an existing University of Technology programme, empirical evidence based on the current diploma is necessary to illuminate the nature of and the relationship between the contextual and conceptual elements underpinning a multidisciplinary engineering curriculum. The increasing focus on contextual application could result in decreasing opportunities to develop the conceptual disciplinary grasp required for a dynamic, emerging region at the forefront of technological innovation. Using the theoretical tools of Bernstein and Maton to analyse final year student practice, the research addresses the question of how multidisciplinary knowledge is integrated by students, and what this reveals about the nature of such knowledge. The paper presents a conceptualisation of multidisciplinary knowledge integration practices as a dynamic process along two axes simultaneously, shifting between different forms and levels of conceptual and contextual knowledge.     

Teacher views on the effects of the change from coursework to controlled assessment in GCSEs

When General Certificates of Secondary Education (GCSEs) were introduced in the late 1980s, coursework was included as a requirement in many subjects. Coursework was intended to help best represent students' attainments, but concerns about various issues (e.g., tasks becoming formulaic, authenticity of student work, workload) led to a review and ultimately to its replacement with “controlled assessments”. This research investigated the effects of this change. A questionnaire was completed by 346 teachers across 6 subjects. Most teachers felt the risks of plagiarism are similar or have reduced. Two thirds of teachers reported that the introduction of controlled assessment has affected the way they teach, and around 60% feel it has affected the nature of the knowledge and skills learnt by students. There are reportedly practical challenges relating to timetabling, student absence, and increased administration. However, over 70% of teachers consider it “important” or “very important” to have some form of internal assessment in their subject.     

Exploratory analyses to improve model fit: Errors due to misspecification and a strategy to reduce their occurrence

Two Lagrange multiplier (LM) methods may be used in specification searches for adding parameters to models: one based on univariate LM tests and respecification of the model (LM‐respecified method) and the other based on a partitioning of multivariate LM tests (LM‐incremental method). These methods may result in extraneous parameters being included in models due to either sampling error or the model being misspecified. A 2‐stage specification search may be used to reduce errors due to misspecification. In the 1st stage, parameters are added to models based on LM tests to maximize fit. Second, parameters added in the 1st stage are deleted if they are no longer necessary to maintain model fit. Illustrations are presented to demonstrate that errors due to misspecification occur with the LM‐respecified method and are even more likely with the LM‐incremental approach. These illustrations also show how the deletion stage can help eliminate some of these errors.     

Let’s Stay Together

全球许多传媒实况报道了奥巴马第二任就职大典的过程,包括祷告会、宣誓就职、检阅仪仗队、午餐、就职庆祝游行、晚餐以及舞会。在整个就职大典中,舞会扮演了十分重要的角色。在今年的舞会上,奥巴马夫妇跳了第一支舞,由著名演员、歌唱家詹妮弗·哈德森(Jennifer Hudson)伴唱,歌曲是"让我们在一起"(Let’s Stay Together),这是一首七十年代的当红流行曲,被列入美国五百首最了不起歌曲排行榜的第六十名。春节、情人节,一中一西两个节日,总是让整个虽然还春寒料峭的2月天都洋溢着温暖甜蜜的气氛,这首歌很是应景呢。