Validity of High‐Stakes Assessment: Are Students Engaged in Complex Thinking?

The validity of high-stakes assessments and accountability systems is discussed in relation to the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The extent to which content standards and assessments are cognitively rich, the challenges in setting performance standards, and the impact of high-stakes assessments on instruction and student learning are addressed. The article argues for quality content standards, cognitively rich assessments, and a cohesive, balanced assessment system.     

观念与认知的转变在高校基地干部短期培训中的重要性研究--以信息革命为例

人类已经进入信息时代,加快信息化建设与发展,已经成为世界各国的共同选择。中国目前正处于全面深化改革的重要时期,必须要自觉置身于信息时代的大背景下,顺应时代要求,掌握信息时代新型竞争力,占据信息化发展的制高点。历史经验告诉我们,每一次国家转型改革的重要时期,党政干部解放思想、转变观念与认知都是最重要、最关键的。干部教育培训高校基地必须要顺应时代要求,响应党和国家全面深化改革要求,充当好扩充干部认知半径的“知识库”,孕育干部正确观念的“摇篮”,从优化高校培训的供给机制入手,让转变干部观念与认知的工作能够真正落到实处。     

Instructional practices in secondary science: How teachers achieve local and standards-based success

This article reports on analyses of the instructional practices of six middle- and high-school science teachers in the United States who participated in a research-practice partnership that aims to support reform science education goals at scale. All six teachers were well qualified, experienced, and locally successful—respected by students, parents, colleagues, and administrators—but they differed in their success in supporting students' three-dimensional learning. Our goal is to understand how the teachers' instructional practices contributed to their similarities in achieving local success and to differences in enabling students' learning, and to consider the implications of these findings for research-practice partnerships. Data sources included classroom videos supplemented by interviews with teachers and focus students and examples of student work. We also compared students' learning gains by teacher using pre–post assessments that elicited three-dimensional performances. Analyses of classroom videos showed how all six teachers achieved local success—they led effectively managed classrooms, covered the curriculum by teaching almost all unit activities, and assessed students' work in fair and efficient ways. There were important differences, however, in how teachers engaged students in science practices. Teachers in classrooms where students achieved lower learning gains followed a pattern of practice we describe as activity-based teaching, in which students completed investigations and hands-on activities with few opportunities for sensemaking discussions or three-dimensional science performances. Teachers whose students achieved higher learning gains combined the social stability characteristic of local classroom success with more demanding instructional practices associated with scientific sensemaking and cognitive apprenticeship. We conclude with a discussion of implications for research-practice partnerships, highlighting how partnerships need to support all teachers in achieving both local and standards-based success.     

The UK 14–19 education reforms: perspectives from a special school

The pilot research reported in this article is part of the Centre Research Study (CReSt) which evaluates the impact of the educational reform programme on schools, colleges and other centres in England. The article reports findings from one special school, based on interviews with teachers (including the headteacher), students and a parent. The aim of the article is to identify factors that appear to be having an impact on this special school, and these are presented under four headings: curriculum choice and flexibility; partnership challenges; concerns about Foundation Learning; and curriculum opportunities. This is a small‐scale study, and the conclusions are tentative – future research will reveal whether the findings apply over time and to other special schools.     

Changes in school mathematics knowledge in Greece: a Bernsteinian analysis

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the changes that took place in school mathematics knowledge for pupils aged six and seven (first grade of Greek elementary school) and its pedagogical approach, which took shape following the reforms of the mathematics curricula in 1982 and 2003. Our analysis is based on Bernstein’s theoretical framework on pedagogic discourse and Dowling’s theoretical framework on textual domains. The results showed that there are differences between the 1982 and 2003 reforms, in terms both of the content of mathematics knowledge, as well as of the forms of pedagogic interaction between the teacher and the pupil.     

新课程下英语教师的现状及对教师教育的启示

对在职英语教师所做的一项调查显示：传统教师教育阶段的课程没有为师范生今后从事外语教育教学准备必要的语言学和外语教育学研究意识;传统教师教育课程未能给师范生留下持久有效的影响;教师教育没有为师范生后天可持续发展所需核心能力提供充分有效的训练。因此,教师教育需要从单纯培养知识技能型外语人才转向培养应用型研究人才;要重新审视实践的作用,调整实践结构,加大实践比重,协调好理论讲解与实践经验的关系;要培养学生具有后天可持续发展能力,尤其要重视训练其自我反思的能力。     

高师小学教育研究方法与教学改革的思考与实践

为适应基础教育改革和发展对高师院校提出的研究型教师培养要求,作为初等教育专业主干课程的小学教育研究方法,主要从以下几方面进行课程与教学改革：改革课程内容,增强课程的针对性和适用性;改革教学模式与教学方法,探索＂讲授—体验—反思—评价＂四环节研究性教学模式,采用多种教学方法,突出学生的自主探究和操作体验;改革评价方法,突出评价的发展功能;促进教师专业发展职前职后一体化。     

创新型国家目标下政府科技研发组织体系的变革与发展

本文以创新型国家政府科技研发组织体系的共性变革趋势为基础,通过时我国科技体制改革的历史回顾,揭示了现阶段我国政府科技研发组织体系中仍待解决的主要问题,指出在建设创新型国家的目标下,我国的政府科技研发组织体系必须做出适应性调整和完善,包括:以创新体系的要求再造公共科研组织体系,多举措做强企业技术研发支撑组织,以及以组织和制度创新引领跨部门跨组织合作,推动合作研发的深度发展.     

凝聚精气神强化拼抢争全力以赴开创吴江改革发展新局面

吴江将主动顺应经济深度调整的新趋势,把改革贯穿于经济社会发展的各个领域,以提高经济增长质量和效益为中心,大力培植产业升级新优势,大力拓展改革开放新空间,大力提升城市发展水平,大力开创城乡统筹新局面,积极顺应党的建设新要求,同心协力聚焦重点、攻克难点、打造亮点,全力以赴拼干劲、抢进度、争先进,以实实在在的成效,奋力开创改革发展新局面,全力争当苏南现代化示范区建设的先行军。     

高职高专“建筑工程测量”课程教学改革初探

针对目前高职高专"建筑工程测量"课程体系和课程内容滞后于行业发展和科技进步的问题,为了提高教学质量,文章从课程体系构建、教学内容设置、教学方法改革以及职业道德及素质培养四个方面进行探讨,提出课程教学改革思路。