Navigating Mandates and Working toward Coherence: Our Journey with a High-Stakes Teacher Performance Assessment

Abstract

This article details the experiences of four teacher education faculty members as we navigated the consequential implementation of a state-mandated high stakes teacher performance assessment in our educator preparation program. By shifting our perspective from simply complying with an assessment mandate to considering how we can leverage implementation of high stakes performance assessment as a vehicle for program inquiry, we were able to gain significant insight into our practice.     

“Countability not answerability?” Accountability in Hong Kong and Singapore universities

Singapore and Hong Kong are vying to be the principal educational hub for the Asia-Pacific region and have begun to compete with Australia, Britain, Canada and the USA in providing cross-border education. Although these four Anglo-American countries still dominate cross-border education, Singapore and Hong Kong hope to make inroads into this export market and compete on the global stage. To create “world-class” universities, Singapore and Hong Kong have introduced quality assurance mechanisms, diversified funding sources, and restructured their university governance systems. This article compares the accountability measures introduced into Hong Kong and Singapore universities, and the responses of academics and administrators to these measures. The results indicate that both countries introduced greater autonomy as they augmented accountability for their universities, and the term “decentralised centralism” describes the kind of government control exerted in these Asian universities in the twenty-first century.     

Influences of Teacher–Child Social Interactions on English Language Development in a Head Start Classroom

Increasing numbers of Spanish-speaking preschool children require attention to improve the likelihood of success in school. This study, part of a larger 2-year ethnographic study of a Head Start classroom, elaborates the role of teachers’ interactions with students who were learning English. Using an interactional ethnography approach, the authors focus on the social nature of these interactions. The study illuminates the kinds of teacher interactions with students that support and hinder the students’ language learning. It reinforces the importance of student engagement in social interactions with teachers and with English other than codes of obedience and authority. Finally, it recommends actions teachers can take to provide optimal circumstances for English learning interactions for students.

One size still does not fit all in specific learning disability assessment across ethnic groups

The use of IQ scores and discrepancy formulas for identifying specific learning disabilities (SLD) has been widely discredited by prominent researchers for more than a decade. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of state policies still specify the use of discrepancy formulas, including the simple difference method, which is psychometrically inferior to regression-based methods. This study compares the use of a minimum IQ cutoff score and a simple difference method versus a regression-based method for identifying SLD in a sample of African American and European American full-time college students (N = 117). Replicating the findings from previous studies using typically achieving children, typically achieving adults, and school-age children with SLD, this study adds to the chorus of voices criticizing the use of outdated assessment practices that can have deleterious effects for individuals with SLD. The implications for legislative policy are discussed in the context of the historical overrepresentation of African Americans in all special education categories except SLD and the increased access to higher education that students with SLD have gained during the past decade.     

Internationalisation in practice in Australian independent secondary schools: a global-local nexus?

The phenomenon of internationalisation of education in the twenty-first century has developed more rapidly and has been the subject of more research in higher education than in the schooling sector. This paper conducts a comparative analysis of the perspectives of school leaders, teachers and students about ‘internationalisation in practice’ in two case-study Australian independent secondary schools that adopted different approaches to internationalisation. Theoretical lenses of both interpretivism and critical theory were used to guide the research at different stages. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Findings indicate that whilst globalisation is having a powerful impact on schools, local contextual factors such as school ethos, school resources, teacher values and parent demographics and expectations play a significant part in shaping how schools engage with internationalisation. Wider implications for equity, teacher education and further research and theory development are also discussed.     

The comparative ethnography of educational projects: youth and adult literacy programmes in Brazil

This article elaborates the concept of educational projects, a term that signifies consistent constellations of institutions, financial resources, social actors, ideologies, theories of knowledge and attendant pedagogies that shape local cultural practices of schooling. The article demonstrates the utility of the concept of educational projects for comparative and international educational studies by examining competing educational projects in Brazilian literacy programmes for youth and adults. In conclusion, the article argues that the concept of educational projects provides a theoretically rich comparative tool for the field of comparative and international education.     

Supporting Transgender College Students: Implications for Clinical Intervention and Campus Prevention

This study examines the experiences of transgender college students in coping with stress in comparison to their cisgender peers. Undergraduate and graduate students from 73 colleges, totaling 26,292 participants, of which 47 identified as transgender completed an online survey. Transgender students reported greater exposure to trauma and higher rates of suicidal experiences, as well as different precipitants to reported stressful periods and sources of support than their cisgender peers. Implications for individual and group counseling as well as outreach and prevention to better support transgender students are explored.     

"My Ladies Aren't Interested in Learning": Managers, Supervisors and the Social Context of Learning

This paper is based on a research project which examines the opportunities for and barriers to workplace learning amongst low-grade staff in the UK public sector. It examines the key role of managers and supervisors, who make many of the decisions about individuals' access to learning opportunities. Their perception of staff's willingness and need to learn is influenced by factors such as age, gender or the likelihood of career development. It is these managers who control the immediate work environment and the flow of information about learning opportunities. Innovative examples of workplace learning are described, yet the paper concludes that the reality for many low grade manual and routine clerical staff continues to be one of limited opportunities for workplace learning.