Monitoring Educational Quality through Performance Indicators for School Practice

This article discusses the management of quality in education systems. Indicator systems are discussed in the section that follows and the relationship between indicators, development and accountability is addressed in the context of the strategic management of improvement in school systems. A system of indicators developed to monitor the effectiveness of practice is then discussed. The final sections of the paper discuss these indicators in serving a dual purpose of school development and quality management. These indicators were developed to continuously monitor and review the quality of the education provided for students. Information from the monitoring of the effectiveness of school practice and functioning is discussed in the final section.     

Fredonia designs socioethical assessment measures

Since the Slate University of New York (SUNY) College at Fredonia revised its general education program seven years ago, all students have been required to take courses in international or cross-cultural subjects. Under the same program, faculty now connect introductory courses with other disciplines, teach the history of subjects, and discuss biases, values, and contradictory views. Minda Rae Amiran, dean for liberal and continuing education, describes the program designed at her institution.     

Human Resource Development and Personnel in a Post-Katrina/Rita Environment

This article provides a pre- and post-Katrina snapshot of issues in the human resource arena with emphasis on resilience, persistence, and the overwhelming need for effective planning.     

Foreign Cinema

Noel Burch, To the Distant Observer: Form and Meaning in the Japanese Cinema (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979 – $19.50/ $9.75)

Peter Cowie, Dutch Cinema: An Illustrated History (South Brunswick, New Jersey: A. S. Barnes, 1979–$12.00)

Documentary and Educational Films of the 1930s (244 pp.)

Films of Comment and Persuasion of the 1930s (256 pp.)

Peter Morris, Embattled Shadows: A History of Canadian Cinema, 1895-1939 (Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1978–$19.95/$7.95)     

How university student–teachers for primary school learn about Department of Education Policy on child sexual abuse,and mandatory reporting: the sources of their professional information

Many regional and local Departments of Education in many countries now require their primary school teachers to be mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse. However, many student–teachers are not provided with courses on child protection and its policy requirements during their pre-service university education. So, how do student–teachers source, and develop, their professional information about this important role? This study examines an Australian university cohort of final 4th year bachelor of education primary school student–teachers, asking them to identify and clarify the nature of any relevant professional information they accessed over the 4 years of their teacher education. The results show that, in the absence of formal child protection courses, such professional information was scarce and sporadic. Student–teachers consistently indicated a pattern of not learning about essential Department of Education policies and procedures whilst at university. These results, although disappointing, provide a rationale for university curriculum planners to design appropriate pre-service university training courses that initiate, develop, and enhance student–teachers’ professional competencies as mandated reporters of child sexual abuse.     

Report on a Boston University Conference December 7–8, 2012 on How Can the History and Philosophy of Science Contribute to Contemporary US Science Teaching?

This is an editorial report on the outcomes of an international conference sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) (REESE-1205273) to the School of Education at Boston University and the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University for a conference titled: How Can the History and Philosophy of Science Contribute to Contemporary US Science Teaching? The presentations of the conference speakers and the reports of the working groups are reviewed. Multiple themes emerged for K-16 education from the perspective of the history and philosophy of science. Key ones were that: students need to understand that central to science is argumentation, criticism, and analysis; students should be educated to appreciate science as part of our culture; students should be educated to be science literate; what is meant by the nature of science as discussed in much of the science education literature must be broadened to accommodate a science literacy that includes preparation for socioscientific issues; teaching for science literacy requires the development of new assessment tools; and, it is difficult to change what science teachers do in their classrooms. The principal conclusions drawn by the editors are that: to prepare students to be citizens in a participatory democracy, science education must be embedded in a liberal arts education; science teachers alone cannot be expected to prepare students to be scientifically literate; and, to educate students for scientific literacy will require a new curriculum that is coordinated across the humanities, history/social studies, and science classrooms.     

Using the Principles of BIO2010 to Develop an Introductory,Interdisciplinary Course for Biology Students

Modern biological sciences require practitioners to have increasing levels of knowledge, competence, and skills in mathematics and programming. A recent review of the science curriculum at the University of Queensland, a large, research-intensive institution in Australia, resulted in the development of a more quantitatively rigorous undergraduate program. Inspired by the National Research Council''s BIO2010 report, a new interdisciplinary first-year course (SCIE1000) was created, incorporating mathematics and computer programming in the context of modern science. In this study, the perceptions of biological science students enrolled in SCIE1000 in 2008 and 2009 are measured. Analysis indicates that, as a result of taking SCIE1000, biological science students gained a positive appreciation of the importance of mathematics in their discipline. However, the data revealed that SCIE1000 did not contribute positively to gains in appreciation for computing and only slightly influenced students'' motivation to enroll in upper-level quantitative-based courses. Further comparisons between 2008 and 2009 demonstrated the positive effect of using genuine, real-world contexts to enhance student perceptions toward the relevance of mathematics. The results support the recommendation from BIO2010 that mathematics should be introduced to biology students in first-year courses using real-world examples, while challenging the benefits of introducing programming in first-year courses.     

Children's ability to impute inferentially based knowledge

Do young children appreciate the importance of access to premises when judging what another person knows? In Experiment 1, 5-year-olds (N=31) were sensitive to another person's access to premises when predicting that person's ability to point to a target after eliminating alternatives in a set of 3 cartoon characters. Experiment 2 replicated the finding when 5- to 6-year-olds (N=102) judged who the other person thought the target was, and whether the other person knew who the target was. Experiment 3 demonstrated that children aged 5-7 years (N=107) more successfully imputed inference by elimination than syllogistical inferential knowledge. Findings suggest that an early understanding of inference by elimination offers a route into understanding that people can sometimes gain knowledge without direct perceptual access.