Achieving quality and equity through inclusive education in an era of high-stakes testing

While great progress has been made by the international community to promote inclusive education for all children, regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender or disability, many countries still continue to marginalize and exclude students in educational systems across the globe. High-stakes assessments in market-driven economies have increased exclusionary practices. Using international databases and research studies, this paper provides evidence of the poor performance of high-stakes assessment policies, particularly in the United States. The authors analyse and compare the key assumptions and consequences of a market-based system of education with those of a system that is based upon the principles of inclusive education through a school-community model and examples from Europe and Latin America. These models demonstrate that the twin goals of quality and equity can be achieved within a system that addresses educational policy and practices more broadly than market-based reforms. Conclusions call for policy-makers to respond to the discrimination and exclusion of various populations around the world by considering the impact of current educational models and the potential they have to support genuinely inclusive education for everyone.     

Using wikis to promote quality learning in teacher training

This paper discusses writing as a social practice and speculates on how wikis might be used to promote higher quality academic writing and support collaborative learning. This study of undergraduate teacher trainees’ online learning activities focuses on how shared spaces – wikis – might be used to communicate ideas and generate course‐specific content. The study also explored how students, through such activities, were able to improve their academic writing skills and engage more critically in learning. Data captured from student discussion boards and a post‐module email questionnaire (n = 35) were used to map student perceptions of the usefulness of wikis in support of their academic studies. The data indicate that most students raised their skill level in writing directly to the publicly viewable wiki space, in sharp contrast to the more informal content they posted on the discussion boards. The scope of collaborative writing was limited due to students’ reluctance to edit each others’ work, but students appreciated the shared environment as a means of discussing their work and the content of the course. Students reported that their academic writing skills had improved through their formal participation in the wiki.     

Sally and the Universarium

English teachers encourage the view that the imagination helps us understand, and engage with, the world. However, we don’t often write fiction as a means of knowing and a way of telling. This short story emerged out of my experience as an English teacher, trying to make sense of the nature of my subject, and out of my reading of others’ attempts to define what it is that the discipline affords and how it has come to take the shape now seen in secondary schools.     

How are UK Academics Engaging the Public with their Research? A Cross‐Disciplinary Perspective

This paper takes a cross‐disciplinary perspective in examining the views and practices of public engagement with research by UK academics. Using a mixed method approach consisting of a survey questionnaire and interviews, the paper identifies the range of audience groups that can potentially be engaged with by academics, and shows that some audiences are more relevant to particular disciplinary groups than others. The paper also identifies the various public engagement activities undertaken by academics and finds that some academics are using creative ways of engaging the public, such as using the services of public relations firms to help in disseminating their research in traditional media outlets, and also by using social media. Essentially, the study reveals that some academics feel the pressure of engaging particular audiences at the expense of those that are relevant to them and that, academics in the main, are opposed to the notion of mandating public engagement as part of appraisal systems.     

Middle school behavioral profiles of antisocial and at‐risk control boys: Descriptive and predictive outcomes

Abstract

In this investigation we report two studies of the school behavior adjustment status of two groups of middle school‐age boys—an antisocial group (N = 39) and an at‐risk control group (N = 41). In study one, we compared the two groups on a series of behavioral measures across grades five, six, and seven that included (1) teacher ratings of social skills, (2) classroom observations, (3) playground observations, and (4) school archival records. Results indicated extremely problematic behavioral profiles for the antisocial subjects and much more favorable profiles for the at‐risk control students. The behavioral profiles for the two groups appeared to be quite consistent and stable across the middle school years with the exception that several variables (social skills ratings, attendance, math achievement, and school discipline contacts) tended to show gradually increasing negative trends for the antisocial subjects. In the second study, we used a series of selected fifth‐grade variables, derived from the four major clusters of study measures, as predictors in regression analyses of subjects' status on a series of seventh‐grade criterion measures of school success or failure. The criterion measures predicted in these analyses were reading and math achievement, school discipline contacts, attendance, and time spent within a nonregular classroom. There were low multiple Rs for reading achievement and time spent in a nonregular classroom setting. The multiple Rs for math achievement, school discipline contacts, and attendance were moderate to moderately high.     

A Report on the Montreux International Audio-Visual Symposium

The first International Audio-Visual Symposium was held in Montreux from 15-20 June 1980. The event will be held biannually.