ITEM BANKS: WHAT, WHY, HOW

In this paper, we discuss curricular implications of item banking and its practical value to teachers and students, and list a variety of working banks with their sources. We also review the psychometric basis of item banking, outline a family of computer programs for accomplishing banking, and give the equations necessary to build a bank. We conclude with a discussion of item quality control and examples of items that misfit because of miskeying, guessing, or carelessness.     

TEACHING LEARNING AND DISCIPLESHIP: EDUCATION BEYOND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

An attempt is made to identify what some have felt to be absent from recent official views as to how curricula and the transfer of knowledge are most performatively to be managed. To this end, particular conceptions of teaching and learning are proposed, and use is made of recent work by George Steiner in elaborating a third variant of the relationship between teacher, learner and what is to be learned, namely that of discipleship. While noting that Steiner is concerned with a small number of exceptional teachers, the possibility is considered that the concept may have some more general educational application, attention nevertheless being drawn to the possible dangers and drawbacks this may present.     

How effective is parental prosecution as a method of improving school attendance among primary‐aged children?

Just under half a million children and young people in state schools in England miss school every day. Indeed, improving school attendance has remained a key aim for successive governments. Various strategies have been adopted at both national and local levels in an attempt to tackle the persistent issue of school attendance with varying degrees of success. This study explores the effectiveness of one of those strategies – that of parental prosecutions – as a means of improving children and young people's school attendance. It reports on the effectiveness of parental prosecutions while highlighting some of the emerging patterns among a cohort of those prosecuted within one local authority during one academic year.     

Education and Training Packages for CAD/CAM

The provision of education and training almost always lags behind the needs of industry. This is particularly so in the case of rapidly developing high technology fields such as CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design and Manufacture), where the educational sector finds it difficult to keep up with industry's requirements not only because of the rapid growth rate, but also because of the high level of funding which is required to purchase and maintain suitable facilities. Two education/training initiatives are described in this paper. The first of these is a pack of resource material for lecturers teaching CAD/CAM to undergraduate level, and the second is a training course for the managers of CAD/CAM systems which is part of the U.K. Manpower Services Commission's Open Tech programme.