Broadening the basis of assessment to prevent the narrowing of learning

ABSTRACT

This article presents an argument for a reconsideration of the types of assessment pro‐ moted by national policy. It argues that education for the twenty‐first century should place emphasis on higher‐order skills and ‘deep learning’ while not neglecting basic skills. The evidence relating to the impact of assessment on learning is briefly reviewed, as is the current state of understanding about different types of learning. On this basis it is argued that the range of types of assessments used, both formally and informally, should be expanded to illuminate and support a wide spectrum of rel‐ evant learning, including both the learning of facts and skills, deeper understandings of concepts and principles and their application in unfamiliar contexts. The impli‐ cations for policy and for the refocusing of national assessment in England are then discussed and an alternative framework is proposed.     

Specialized Reading Instruction for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: What Special Education Co‐Teachers Say

In this exploratory study, secondary special education co‐teachers report about specialized reading instruction for students with learning disabilities in co‐taught classes. Almost half of the respondents were concerned that reading instruction was not occurring in co‐taught classes. One‐third were concerned reading instruction was not occurring any time during the school day.     

What Lies Beneath Seemingly Positive Campus Climate Results: Institutional Sexism,Racism, and Male Hostility Toward Equity Initiatives and Liberal Bias

This study investigates what preservice elementary school teachers assume about children's capacities to learn about equity issues and how teachers might translate teaching for social justice into actual classroom practices. Participants said they did not see the age of their students as a barrier to teaching for social justice, although their ways of conceptualizing this varied considerably, and those teaching grade 4–6 students were generally more risk-taking in the curricular and pedagogical choices they made. We found that the concepts of childhood innocence and developmental appropriateness mediated the topics and approach to topics that beginning teachers considered. Roughly half the participants believed that younger children are relatively uninterested in the events of the day, are incapable of forming nuanced opinions, and are unable to analyze political issues; while the other half disagreed. Participants concerned about engendering negative emotional responses from elementary students made more limited and generic responses to name-calling or teasing rather than naming specific forms of oppression or prompting students to reflect critically on hurtful language and behavior.     

Redefining library space: managing the co-existence of books, computers, and readers

Library design must better integrate space for collections and computers than it has. This article presents planning strategies that integrate digital products and print collections based on patron needs. Many flexible solutions in developing buildings will enhance library service in the technologically dynamic future.     

Measuring the economic impact of the British library

Assessing the British Library's contribution to the national economy is a complex matter, requiring consideration of a number of different dimensions. First, the value added by the Library takes many forms—economic, cultural, social and intellectual. Second, the British Library adds value both to those who use our products and services directly, and to the wider UK population who benefit indirectly from the Library's existence and the services it provides. Traditionally, attempts to assess these benefits have taken the form of qualitative case studies—telling good stories, but failing to provide a comprehensive evaluation. But now a technique supported by the Nobel Prize winning economists, Kenneth Arrow and Robert Solow, permits a coherent quantitative evaluation of the total benefit to the nation of publicly funded institutions and programmes. Recognising the value of this technique, the British Library commissioned a groundbreaking research study to estimate the impact of the Library on the UK economy. The study demonstrates that the Library generates value of around 4.4 times the level of its annual public funding of £83m. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first time the ‘Contingent Valuation’ technique has been used to derive a figure for the overall economic impact of a national or major research library.