Are International Educational Tests Good Accountability Tools?

incentives, education, School accountability, educational tests, TIMSS

Migration Background and Educational Tracking: Is there a Double Disadvantage for Second-Generation Immigrants?

Research on immigrants’ educational disadvantages largely focuses on differences in student achievement tests. Exploiting data from the German PIRLS extension, we find that second-generation immigrants face additional disadvantages with respect to grades and teacher recommendations for secondary school tracks that cannot be explained by differences in student achievement tests and general intelligence. Second-generation immigrations are disproportionately affected by prevailing social inequalities at the transition to secondary school tracks due to their generally less favorable socio-economic background. We additionally provide new evidence suggesting that these inequalities might be related to the failing economic assimilation of immigrants.immigration, educational inequalities, educational tracking, Germany

Heavy Schistosomiasis Associated With Poor Short-Term Memory and Slower Reaction Times in Tanzania Schoolchildren

Cross-sectional studies of the relationship between helminth infection and cognitive function can be informative in ways that treatment studies cannot. However, interpretation of results of many previous studies has been complicated by the failure to control for many potentially confounding variables.We gave Tanzanian schoolchildren aged 9±14 a battery of 11 cognitive and three educational tests and\ud assessed their level of helminth infection. We also took measurements of an extensive range of potentially confounding or mediating factors such as socioeconomic and educational factors, anthropometric and other biomedical measures. A total of 272 children were moderately or heavily\ud infected with Schistosoma haematobium, hookworm or both helminth species and 117 were uninfected with either species. Multiple regression analyses, controlling for all confounding and mediating variables, revealed that children with a heavy S. haematobium infection had signi®cantly lower scores than uninfected children on two tests of verbal short-term memory and two reaction time tasks. In one of\ud these tests the effect was greatest for children with poor nutritional status. There was no association between infection and educational achievement, nor between moderate infection with either species of helminth and performance on the cognitive tests. We conclude that children with heavy worm burdens and poor nutritional status are most likely to suffer cognitive impairment, and the domains of verbal\ud short-term memory and speed of information processing are those most likely to be affected

Comparison of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Instruments and Skinfold Calipers in the Determination of Percent Body Fat in Division I Tennis Players

Body composition, specifically percent body fat, is an important measurement performed in both the clinical and educational settings. Very reliable and accurate systems for measuring body composition are available for use, but they are time-consuming and very expensive, such as dual x-ray absorptiometry and hydrostatic weighing. Attempting to find technology that is inexpensive and easy to operate in determining body composition is a difficult task. However, bioelectrical impedance analysis machines offer the possibility of fulfilling this need in the educational and clinical settings. The question that needs to be answered is whether the bioelectrical impedance analyzers are a reliable and accurate tool in determining body composition in the clinical or educational setting. In this research, there will be three different trial sessions. Each session will consist of four different body composition tests. The results of these tests will be analyzed using Pearson’s r correlation to show statistical significance between trials and instruments

Education and life satisfaction: perception or reality?

Using data from the Gallup World Poll, this paper analyze the way in which perceptions on thequality of education affect wellbeing. In addition, we explore if educational quality perceptions aredetermined by objective educational outputs, such as international standardized tests scores (i.e. PISAscores) and individual educational attainment. Results indicate that educational quality perceptionsare positively correlated with standardized test scores but negatively correlated with individualeducational attainment. Similarly, favorable perception on the quality of education contributes tohigher individual wellbeing, even after controlling for individual educational attainment and othertraditional determinants of wellbeingWellbeing, educational quality perceptions, educational outcomes

Feeding a Population: Agricultural Education Priorities in Haitian History

The nation of Haiti has experienced a long history of poverty and of tests to its economic development. Among its priorities has been the establishment of an effective educational system. While educational standards remain high, the area of agricultural education—necessary for Haiti’s economy as well as nutritional subsistence—has met with unique challenges. This paper examines analyses and programming policies of the past in order to illuminate contemporary circumstances