Education Commons^™

Reporting And Comparing School Performances, Geoff N. Masters, Glenn Rowley, John Ainley, Siek Toon Khoo

Dr John Ainley

This report provides advice on the collection and reporting of information about the performances of Australian schools. The focus is on the collection of nationally comparable data. Two purposes are envisaged: use by education authorities and governments to monitor school performances and, in particular, to identify schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances; and use by parents/caregivers and the public to make informed judgements about, and meaningful comparisons of, schools and their offerings. Our advice is based on a review of recent Australian and international research and experience in reporting on the performances of schools. …

Participation In And Progress Through New Apprenticeships, John Ainley, Matthew Corrigan

Dr John Ainley

New Apprenticeships provide a pathway from school to adult working life for a significant proportion of each cohort of young people and thus make a potentially important contribution to the formation of skills for individuals and for the community as a whole. New Apprenticeships are based on a formal combination of study and work that links learning in the workplace with learning in an educational institution. They incorporate both traditional apprenticeships and traineeships. This report focuses on two broad research questions : What are the characteristics of young people who commence a New Apprenticeship overall, as well as of those …

Reading Comprehension And Numeracy Among Junior Secondary School Students In Australia, Gary Marks, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

This report examines the performance, and levels of mastery, on tests of reading comprehension and numeracy of Australian students in junior secondary school between 1975 and 1995. Data for the analyses reported were drawn from two national monitoring studies and other studies of representative samples of junior secondary school students designed to monitor the progress of young people through school into further education, training and work. In each of the studies students completed tests that are similar to those conducted in the Australian states and territories and overseas to monitor student performance. The tests focussed on reading skills (which correlate …

Using Research To Advance Professional Practice, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

This paper discusses quality in professional practice - whether as an engineer, accountant or orthopaedic surgeon - and how it depends on expert knowledge of the field, a deep understanding of underlying principles, accumulated experience in the practice of the profession, a familiarity with recent advances in the professional knowledge base, and mastery of the best available techniques and tools. Teaching qualifies as a profession to the extent that it requires the application of specialised knowledge and skill developed through research and high-level education and training. Quality in teaching practice depends on familiarity with recent advances in the professional knowledge …

Conceptualising And Researching Student Wellbeing, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Schools have always seen it as part of their role to support and encourage children's all-round development, including their cognitive, interpersonal, social, aesthetic, physical and moral/spiritual growth. Beyond the academic, schools have been committed to children's general wellbeing; in seeing children develop into well-rounded, healthy individuals who can take their place as informed, principled and engaged members of society. In fulfilling this role, schools have worked alongside and complemented families, churches and other institutions in the community. In recent years, Australian schools and education systems have made efforts to clarify the broad purposes of schooling and to introduce ways of …

Reporting And Comparing School Performances, Geoff N. Masters, Glenn Rowley, John Ainley, Siek Toon Khoo

Prof Geoff Masters AO

This report provides advice on the collection and reporting of information about the performances of Australian schools. The focus is on the collection of nationally comparable data. Two purposes are envisaged: use by education authorities and governments to monitor school performances and, in particular, to identify schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances; and use by parents/caregivers and the public to make informed judgements about, and meaningful comparisons of, schools and their offerings. Our advice is based on a review of recent Australian and international research and experience in reporting on the performances of schools. …

Australian Certificate Of Education: Exploring A Way Forward, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Geoff Masters explains why Australia needs greater national consistency in senior school certificates and how an Australian Certificate of Education would likely benefit all Australian students.

Charting Growth, Outcomes And Change, Hamish Bennett Coates

Professor Hamish Coates

This update provides an overview of two related projects which have researched participation in science, mathematics and technology in Australian education, and the employment demand and outcomes for graduates with higher degree research qualifications in the science and mathematics fields. It includes a story on the Online Leadership Learning System (OLLS) being developed by the University of Western Sydney and ACER with a grant from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council. This update provides a quick snapshot of ACER’s consultative design of a national Tertiary Engineering Capability Assessment (TECA), and of patterns emerging from 2008 AUSSE. A briefing is given …

International Terrorism:Role ,Responsibility And Operation Of Media Channles, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

"Terrorism" is a term that cannot be given a stable defintion. Or rather, it can, but to do so forstalls any attempt to examine the major feature of its relation to television in the contemporary world. As the central public arena for organising ways of picturing and talking about social and political life, TV plays a pivotal role in the contest between competing defintions, accounts and explanations of terrorism. Which term is used in any particular context is inextricably tied to judgemements about the legitimacy of the action in question and of the political system against which it is directed. …

Los Académicos Mexicanos A Principios Del Siglo Xxi: Una Primera Exploración Sobre Quiénes Son Y Cómo Perciben Su Trabajo, Sus Instituciones Y Algunas Políticas Públicas, Jesús F. Galaz-Fontes

Jesús Francisco Galaz Fontes

Con base a una encuesta nacional de 1973 académicos en su gran mayoría de tiempo completo, se proporciona información sobre su perfil demográfico y la manera en que perciben sus condiciones de trabajo, las actividades que realizan, el ambiente organizacional y sus opiniones respecto a políticas públicas como el Sistema Nacional de Investigadores y el Programa para el Mejoramiento del Profesorado. Los resultados encontrados se discuten a la luz de los procesos de cambio que se han venido dando en la educación superior mexicana durante las últimas tres décadas, y se reflexionan sobre algunas de las implicaciones de dichos resultados.

The Role Of Institutional Agents In The Socialization Of Minority Students: Implications For Research And Practice, Kathleen Neville, Samuel D. Museus

Kathleen Neville

Understanding Cpd Of Adults Through An Insider's Narrative, Imran Anjum Chaudary

Dr Imran Anjum

No abstract provided.

Mexican Academics At The Turn Of The Twenty-First Century: Who Are They And How Do They Perceive Their Work, Institutions And Public Policies (A Preliminary Analysis), Jesús F. Galaz-Fontes, Laura E. Padilla-González, Manuel Gil-Antón, Juan J. Sevilla-García, José L. Arcos-Vega, Jorge G. Martínez-Stack, Sergio Martínez-Romo, Gabriel A. Sánchez-De-Aparicio-Y-Benítez, Leonardo Jiménez-Loza, María E. Barrera-Bustillos

Jesús Francisco Galaz Fontes

Based on a first cut of nearly 826 Mexican full-time faculty, data is presented in relation to their socio-demographic profile, working conditions, and opinions regarding their institution. Results, although preliminary, are discussed in the context of the changes Mexican higher education has gone through the last four decades.

Information Management Principles, Lance Deveson

Lance Deveson

The author sets out 10 essential principles for achieving excellence in information management at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

Assessment At The Program Level: Using Assessment To Improve Undergraduate Statistics Programs, Roxy Peck, Beth Chance

Beth Chance

With the growing focus on assessment and accountability, programs at many universities are now expected to define learning goals and objectives at the program level (as opposed to the course level) and to devise strategies for assessing whether these goals and objectives are being met. This paper will look at the role of assessment at the program level and how the resulting information about student learning can be used to make informed decisions about curriculum.

A Formative Evaluation Of A National Sorority's Recruitment Program In Its Inaugural Year, Colleen Elizabeth Coffey, Charles G. Eberly

Charles G. Eberly

A formative evaluation of a national sorority's recruitment program was conducted to determine the effectiveness of selected program elements over the course of the first year's implementation. Primary objectives were to discover perceived needs among undergraduate members and chapters that were not met and to create program improvements based upon the respondent recommendations. A mixed method design employing a survey, the use of focus groups, and a review of available organizational recruitment data was utilized. Results indicated some participants understood and benefitted from the recruitment program, while others felt pressure to recruit, and still others appeared unaware of the program's …

“Crick”? “Crack”! Jeweled Peacock Stories, Janice B. Fournillier

Janice B Fournillier

This paper discusses the challenges faced and the lessons learned in bringing forth mystory (Ulmer, 1989). The ‘Author’ a self identified native anthropologist having had an experience of the ‘peacock stories’ 3 years after her dissertation field work, finds herself caught in the third space. She returns home to the stories and chooses to use frames drawn from poststructural analytic approaches, hermeneutical phenomenology, and performance theories to make meaning of her experience via its performative representation (Denzin, 2003). She examines the metadiscursive practices (Briggs, 1993) in which she participates and explores how she constitutes and is constituted by the text …

Enhancing Engagement, Standards And Capability, Hamish Bennett Coates

Professor Hamish Coates

Learning Leaders in Times of Change has identified the capabilities that underpin effective leadership and the Changing Academic Profession survey provides information on academic staff and their work. The new online English Language Skills Assessment identifies incoming students who need further support to develop their English language proficiency. This edition also reports on the international use of the ACER developed aptitude test uniTEST, and the new Health Professional Admissions Test to assist with university admissions processes. It also reports on recent large scale analyses of how different groups of students experience university education. The Higher education update is published by …

Los Dilemas Del Profesorado En La Educación Superior Mexicana, Jesús F. Galaz-Fontes, Laura E. Padilla-González, Manuel Gil-Antón, Juan J. Sevilla-García

Jesús Francisco Galaz Fontes

El presente artículo se refiere a las tensiones que experimentan los académicos mexicanos como consecuencia de los desafíos que enfrenta la educación superior en México: aumentar la cobertura, lograr la pertinencia económica de los programas educativos, fortalecer las funciones de investigación y hacer más eficiente y transparente la gestión en las instituciones. Lo anterior ha derivado en expectativas de que realicen, de manera “equilibrada”, funciones de docencia, investigación, inculación y gestión, ejerciendo una presión desmedida sobre ellos y propiciando el rendimiento mínimo requerido en cada uno de los ámbitos, a fin de cumplir con los requisitos que diversos programas demandan …

Center For Early Literacy Learning (Cell): Achieving Adoption And Use Of Evidence-Based Early Literacy Learning Practice With Young Children With Disabilities, Carol M. Trivette, Carl J. Dunst

Carol M. Trivette

No abstract provided.

Pre-Test Assessment, Thomas D. Berry

Thomas D Berry

La Participación Del Académico En Procesos De Planeación Y Su Visión Institucional, Juan J. Sevilla-García, Jesús Fco. Galaz-Fontes, José L. Arcos-Vega

Jesús Francisco Galaz Fontes

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de un análisis exploratorio de las posibles relaciones, para los académicos de tiempo completo de una universidad pública estatal mexicana, entre niveles de participación en los procesos de formulación del Programa Integral de Fortalecimiento Institucional (PIFI) y/o Programa de Fortalecimiento de la Dependencia de Educación Superior (PRODES), y los niveles de información, percepción del ambiente laboral, de la administración, de la toma de decisiones e influencia, de imagen y pertenencia institucional, y de satisfacción en el trabajo. La información se obtuvo a partir de la Encuesta Anual de Ambiente Organizacional (EAAO) aplicada en …

Wine And Words : A Trilingual Wine Dictionary For South Africa : Project, Michele Van Der Merwe

Michele Van Der Merwe

Die Suid-Afrikaanse wynbedryf het die behoefte aan 'n aanlynvakwoordeboek oor wyn en wingerdkunde in Afrikaans, Engels en isiXhosa geïdentifiseer. Die woordeboek verskaf inligting oor wynterminologie, sowel as taalkundige inligting oor die gebruik van sulke terminologie. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om 'n beskrywing van die projek te gee. Die samestellingsproses van die woordeboek word beskryf, vanaf die samewerking tussen die wynbedryf en die leksikograwe, tot die voorgestelde teikengebruikers en die keuse van die tale van die woordeboek. Funksies van die woordeboek word bespreek, met verwysing na spesifieke gebruikersituasies, naamlik teksproduksie, teksresepsie en vertaling. 'n Etiketstelsel is vir die woordeboek …

Refining English Language Tests For University Admission: A Malaysian Example, Arshad Abd Samad

Arshad Abd Samad

No abstract provided.

Los Límites De La Autonomía Universitaria, Imanol Ordorika

Imanol Ordorika

Uno de los resultados políticos de los conflictos que tuvieron lugar a lo largo de los años setenta, los cuales marcaron de cierta forma la pauta para las relaciones entre la Universidad y el gobier- no para la siguiente década, fue el refuerzo de los vínculos entre el gobierno federal y los grupos dominantes en el seno de la Universidad. En este contexto es posible señalar, contrariamente a lo que afirman Levy y otros, que durante los ochenta la intervención gubernamental en los asuntos políticos, académicos y económicos de la Universidad se hizo de forma más encubierta, pero su influencia …

Pensadores Y Forjadores De La Universidad En México, Roberto Rodríguez-Gómez

Roberto Rodríguez-Gómez

This essay provides an overall perspective on the development of public university in Mexico from the Viceroyalty to our days. The presentation focuses on some periods, institutions and debates of particular relevance.

La Educación Media Obligatoria En España, Chile, Argentina Y México, Roberto Rodríguez-Gómez

Roberto Rodríguez-Gómez

Se comparan cuatro sistemas de educación media (bachillerato) del ámbito iberoamericano: España, Chile, Argentina y México. Se describen y explican, para cada caso y para el conjunto, las modalidades y fórmulas normativas de obligatoriedad de ese nivel de estudios.

Development And Validation Of Physical Education Achievement, Dr. Uche J. Obidiegwu

Dr. Uche J. Obidiegwu

This study sought to develop and validate a Physical Education Achievement Test (PEAT) which will be used for accurate assessment of adult learners in basic education. Eight items were developed and pilot tested. Validation and reliability were determined using Kuder-Richardson formula ‘21’. Based on the results some recommendations were made.

Automated Diagnostic Writing Tests: Why? How?, Elena Cotos, Nick Pendar

Elena Cotos

Diagnostic language assessment can greatly benefit from a collaborative union of computer-assisted language testing (CALT) and natural language processing (NLP). Currently, most CALT applications mainly allow for inferences about L2 proficiency based on learners’ recognition and comprehension of linguistic input and hardly concern language production (Holland, Maisano, Alderks, & Martin, 1993). NLP is now at a stage where it can be used or adapted for diagnostic testing of learner production skills. This paper explores the viability of NLP techniques for the diagnosis of L2 writing by analyzing the state of the art in current diagnostic language testing, reviewing the existing …

Automatic Identification Of Discourse Moves In Scientific Article Introductions, Elena Cotos, Nick Pendar

Elena Cotos

This paper reports on the first stage of building an educational tool for international graduate students to improve their academic writing skills. Taking a text-categorization approach, we experimented with several models to automatically classify sentences in research article introductions into one of three rhetorical moves. The paper begins by situating the project within the larger framework of intelligent computer-assisted language learning. It then presents the details of the study with very encouraging results. The paper then concludes by commenting on how the system may be improved and how the project is intended to be pursued and evaluated.