An Application of Generalizability Theory to Evaluate the Technical Quality of an Alternate Assessment

Although federal regulations require testing students with severe cognitive disabilities, there is little guidance regarding how technical quality should be established. It is known that challenges exist with documentation of the reliability of scores for alternate assessments. Typical measures of reliability do little in modeling multiple sources of error, which are characteristic of alternate assessments. Instead, Generalizability theory (G-theory) allows researchers to identify sources of error and analyze the relative contribution of each source. This study demonstrates an application of G-theory to examine reliability for an alternate assessment. A G-study with the facets rater type, assessment attempts, and tasks was examined to determine the relative contribution of each to observed score variance. Results were used to determine the reliability of scores. The assessment design was modified to examine how changes might impact reliability. As a final step, designs that were deemed satisfactory were evaluated regarding the feasibility of adapting them into a statewide standardized assessment and accountability program.     

Back to the Future: Warlpiri Encounters with Drawings,Country and Others in the Digital Age

Since the early 1900s, Warlpiri people living in the central desert region of Australia have experienced an intense process of adaption to the changing circumstances of postcolonial life. From the earliest days, their encounters with kardiya, non-Aboriginal people, have been mediated by diverse visual technologies that have, over time, become integral to the ways Warlpiri orient themselves to each other and their wider world. In this paper I trace the key elements of the complex visual environment that has emerged from this history of mediation. The central part of the paper considers events around the repatriation to Warlpiri communities in 2011 of a collection of drawings made in the 1950s by their forebears. In responses to a medium that once was new but now is old, several points of interest emerge, among them a clear sense of a hierarchy of value Warlpiri apply to modes of visual communication. In the context of the return of the drawings, the significance Warlpiri ascribe to other visual media comes to the fore. I consider some of the ways visual forms are deployed in support of public projections of cultural identity on the one hand and everyday modes of expression and address on the other. The paper's central argument is that contemporary Warlpiri attitudes to images – whether they be drawn, painted or broadcast – reveal the complex postcolonial workings of mimetic desire.     

Increasing label-free stem cell sorting capacity to reach transplantation-scale throughput

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) has proven an invaluable tool for the enrichment of populations of stem and progenitor cells owing to its ability to sort cells in a label-free manner and its biological safety. However, DEP separation devices have suffered from a low throughput preventing researchers from undertaking studies requiring large numbers of cells, such as needed for cell transplantation. We developed a microfluidic device designed for the enrichment of stem and progenitor cell populations that sorts cells at a rate of 150,000 cells/h, corresponding to an improvement in the throughput achieved with our previous device designs by over an order of magnitude. This advancement, coupled with data showing the DEP-sorted cells retain their enrichment and differentiation capacity when expanded in culture for periods of up to 2 weeks, provides sufficient throughput and cell numbers to enable a wider variety of experiments with enriched stem and progenitor cell populations. Furthermore, the sorting devices presented here provide ease of setup and operation, a simple fabrication process, and a low associated cost to use that makes them more amenable for use in common biological research laboratories. To our knowledge, this work represents the first to enrich stem cells and expand them in culture to generate transplantation-scale numbers of differentiation-competent cells using DEP.     

Multiple languages in one society: categorisations of language and social cohesion in policy and practice

This article examines the way in which socially constructed notions of ‘language’, ‘social cohesion’ and ‘diversity’ create tensions within different educational arenas, particularly concerning educational policies developed at administrative levels and the subsequent interpretation of these policies in the classroom. Specifically, the article looks at the different production and reproduction processes of an official policy concerning ‘language and integration’, aimed at the immigrant population in Catalonian schools (Spain). The method used combines conversation analysis with text analysis of official documents in order to find traces of interdiscursivity between texts and practices. While the focus of the article is based on a case study of conceptualisations of languages, social cohesion and cultural diversity in two classrooms in Barcelona, it is generally relevant to the world of education, especially as the rate of population movements worldwide has increased significantly in recent years.     

The Future of Instructional Teacher Leader Roles

In response to increased performance expectations, schools and districts are turning to nonsupervisory, school-based, instructional teacher leader roles to help improve teachers’ instruction and enhance student learning. Increased opportunities to learn about teacher leadership may facilitate the implementation and institutionalization of instructional teacher leader roles. We discuss how institutions of higher education could develop programs for instructional teacher leaders, provide related coursework to school administrators and preservice teachers, and educate school communities about the potential usefulness of these roles.     

Disclosure of a Cancer Diagnosis in Organizational Peer Relationships

The purpose of this study was to explore types of message content received by peers of cancer survivors (N = 126) during cancer disclosure in the workplace. Coworkers reported cancer disclosure interactions with female (65.5%) and male (34.5%) cancer patients. Based on organizational peer types reported in the literature, coworkers reported differences in specific message content received by informational (36.5%), collegial (52.3%), and special peers (11.1%). Coworker relationships were also examined for perceived interpersonal solidarity based on peer type. Results reveal that messages with a treatment focus were most common with all peer types, followed by nondisclosure. Nondisclosure of a cancer diagnosis between coworkers reinforces cancer patients' needs for privacy boundaries, even within close workplace relationships. Of the three peer types, special peers had the most perceived interpersonal solidarity after a cancer disclosure.     

Early Child Contingency Learning and Detection: Research Evidence and Implications for Practice

The types of contingency experiences infants and young children are typically exposed to are examined with a focus on the implications for early childhood intervention with young children who have developmental disabilities and delays. Studies of response-contingent child learning, the manner in which contingencies are not under direct child control, and child/caregiver reciprocal contingencies, are reviewed in terms of how they influence child learning and development. Results indicate that the different types of contingencies all positively influence child behavior. Implications for practice are described in terms of contingency-rich everyday child learning activities, child response-contingent learning in the context of those activities, and caregiver contingent responsiveness as an instructional strategy for supporting child contingency learning.