Item Pool Maintenance in the Presence of Item Parameter Drift

Differential linear drift of item location parameters over a 10 -year period is demonstrated in data from the College Board Physics Achievement Test. The relative direction of drift is associated with the content of the items and reflects changing emphasis in the physics curricula of American secondary schools. No evidence of drift of discriminating power parameters was found. Statistical procedures for detecting, estimating, and accounting for item parameter drift in item pools for long-term testing programs are proposed     

An examination of knowledge prioritisation in secondary physical education teacher education courses

A number of terms have been used to describe knowledge needed for teaching, one of which is subject knowledge. How knowledge for teaching is conceptualised in teacher education prioritises some knowledge bases over other knowledge bases. Further, knowledge prioritised by student teachers is influenced by socialisation prior to and during an initial teacher education course and priorities for student teachers as they develop as teachers. Previous research in physical education teacher education points to the pre-eminence of content knowledge above other knowledge bases. The purpose of this study was to look at what knowledge is prioritised by student teachers, school-based mentors and university tutors working on three secondary physical education initial teacher education courses in England. Results showed that content knowledge was seen as having greater importance for student teachers and mentors, but university tutors generally conceptualised subject knowledge more broadly, suggesting that it should be seen as covering a number of knowledge bases needed for teaching. These results are discussed in relation to socialisation processes in education and phases of development. Although there is a clear physical education focus to this work, it is possible that student teachers learning to teach other subjects may also focus excessively on subject content knowledge above other knowledge bases.     

Theories for teacher selection: Objective, subjective, and critical contact

Decisions made by applicants for teaching positions have generally been ignored by most teacher selection research. The purpose of this study is to obtain additional information about the teacher as a decision-maker. Contents of recruitment interviews were varied via video tape to reflect the salient factors associated with the objective, subjective, and critical contact theories. The reactions of teachers to these manipulations were assessed in a laboratory study. Teachers were more positive when the recruitment interview stressed nonpecuniary aspects of the work environment (subjective theory) than when the recruitment interview stressed either economic incentives offered by a local school district (objective theory) or specific information about the work itself (critical contact theory).     

Fostering Intelligent Moderation in the Next Generation: Insights from Remida-Inspired Reuse Materials Education

ABSTRACT

Ecologically minded leaders and early childhood teacher educators offer a culturally significant shiny fish project in their community as a way to launch an environmental-material reuse project. Questioning if environmental collapse is imminent, their project investigation of developing a locally relevant Remida Reggio-inspired center serves as hope for reconceptualizing early childhood practices, offering innovations, and fostering intelligent moderation of earthly resources. Finding widening circles of influence and engaging participants are key to nurturing hope, and these educators draw implications to manifest a large and impactful vision and call to action.     

Keith Haring in Pisa and Melbourne: Controversy and conservation

Keith Haring painted large outdoor murals in Melbourne, Australia, in 1984 (the Collingwood Mural) and at Pisa in Italy in 1989 (Tuttomondo). Recently, both murals have been analyzed and conserved by similar teams of conservators and scientists. The original appearance of the Collingwood Mural was severely compromised, and the original materials much degraded. Tuttomondo was somewhat altered visually but with less physical damage. There were initial suggestions to repaint Tuttomondo but these were dissipated by good communication of the analytical findings. In Melbourne, there was a high-profile and emotive campaign to have the Collingwood Mural repainted. Conservators and government were heavily criticized for supposedly ignoring the artist's wishes. However, detailed research into Haring's published statements revealed that conservation does respect his artistic aims. For the Collingwood Mural, conservators had to consider whether to reduce the visual disturbances which obscured the works. Practices documented by conservation theorists and routinely undertaken by conservators guided the decision to apply mechanically reversible re-integration. This made Haring's unique ‘line’ visible and accessible again, and pleased the public. The controversies showed how conservators must communicate clearly and tactfully; appreciate the feelings of the public and involve communities in conservation, without compromising rigorous scientific and curatorial research.     

Self-study courses in undergraduate science teaching: The report of a survey

This paper surveys the use of self-study courses in universities, polytechnics and colleges in the United Kingdom and Ireland. These are an increasingly common alternative to the traditional lecture-tutorial course in undergraduate science teaching. They place great emphasis upon individual study by students of prepared materials, primarily in the form of written units.Forty-three such courses in the physical, social and applied sciences were located and surveyed by means of questionnaires, interviews and discussions. This paper describes the background against which these courses have been introduced and reviews the wide variety of approaches to self-study courses which emerged. The outcomes of the courses are also reported in terms of examination performance, staff and student reaction. Finally, the paper collects together the lessons learnt by the teaching staff in introducing self-study courses and considers the influence of certain emerging trends upon the future of self-study courses in undergraduate science.     

Bang for the Buck: Autonomy and Charter School Efficiency in Milwaukee

Charter schools are a relatively new phenomenon in American education. Since the first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1991, they have expanded to 42 states and represent 6.2% of all public schools in the country.¹ This growth has been attributed to a number of factors, chief among them evidence that charter schools can improve performance (Lamdin and Mintrom, 1997). While there is a substantial evidence for relative performance benefits of charter schooling (e.g. CREDO, 2015) far less research been conducted on the efficiency of charter schools relative to traditional public schools. What research there is has produced both positive (e.g. Wolf et. al., 2014) and negative results (e.g. Carpenter and Noller, 2010). What can account for the disparity in these findings? In this paper, I make the case that differences in charter efficiency may be accounted for by differences in their level of autonomy from the school district. I base this argument on economic theories that the devolution of power to the lowest level possible tends to produce gains in efficiency (Johnson, 1991; Duncombe and Yinger, 1997). Those that are “on the ground” are thought to be more effective at monitoring expenditures, and allocations of resources have to pass through less ‘red tape (Hess 2006).’ In addition, more autonomous charter schools better fit the original purpose of charter schools in devolving power from centralized authorities (Budde, 1996). In order to test this theory, I take advantage of a unique situation that exists in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in which three types of charter schools with varying levels of autonomy operate simultaneously. Using school type as a proxy for autonomy, I find that more independent charter schools are more efficient than traditional public schools and charter schools with less autonomy.     

Designing Assessments and Assessing Designs in Virtual Educational Environments

This study used innovative assessment practices to obtain and document broad learning outcomes for a 15-hour game-based curriculum in Quest Atlantis, a multi-user virtual environment that supports school-based participation in socio scientific inquiry in ecological sciences. Design-based methods were used to refine and align the enactment of virtual narrative and scientific investigations to a challenging problem solving assessment and indirectly to achievement test items that were independent of the curriculum. In study one, one-sixth grade teacher used the curriculum in two of his classes and obtained larger gains in understanding and achievement than his two other classes, which used an expository text to learn the same concepts and skills. Further treatment refinements were carried out, and two forms of virtual formative feedback were introduced. In study two, the same teacher used the curriculum in all four of his classes; the revised curriculum resulted in even larger gains in understanding and achievement. Gains averaged 1.1 SD and 0.4 SD, respectively, with greater gains shown for students who engaged more with formative feedback. Principles for assessing designs and designing assessments in virtual environments are presented.

Assessment as learning: Enhancing discourse,understanding, and achievement in innovative science curricula

An assessment‐oriented design‐based research model was applied to existing inquiry‐oriented multimedia programs in astronomy, biology, and ecology. Building on emerging situative theories of assessment, the model extends prevailing views of formative assessment for learning by embedding “discursive” formative assessment more directly into the curriculum. Three twenty‐hour curricula were designed and aligned to content standards, and three levels of assessments were developed and used to assess and enhance learning for each curriculum. These assessments included three or four informal “activity‐oriented” quizzes and discursive formative feedback rubrics supporting collective discourse, a “curriculum‐oriented” examination of individual conceptual understanding, and a “standards‐oriented” test measuring aggregated achievement of targeted standards. After two design‐research cycles, worthwhile scientific argumentation and statistically significant gains were attained for two of the three packages on the exam and test. Achievement gains were comparable to or larger than those of students in comparison classrooms. Many existing innovations could be enhanced and evaluated in this fashion; designing these strategies directly into innovations could have an even greater impact on discourse, understanding, and achievement. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1240–1270, 2012     

Preparing to not be a footballer: higher education and professional sport

In the commercialised and professionalised world of elite sport, issues associated with career pathways and post sporting career options have a particular resonance. In various football codes, an unexpected knock, twist, bend or break can profoundly impact a player's career. In this high risk and high consequence environment, a number of sports entertainment industries have instituted player development and education programmes to educate and prepare elite level performers for life after football. Drawing on Foucault's later work on governmentality and the care of the self, this paper will discuss findings from a research project funded by the Australian Football League (AFL). The paper presents data that suggests that, elite performers are so focused on establishing and prolonging a career as an elite performer, that other aspects of identity are seen as something to be complied with as a consequence of industry expectations. An industry emphasis on higher education raises issues for the sports industries that promote player enrolment in higher education and for the higher education institutions that must manage this lack of engagement.