Locally Developed Performance Assessments: One State’s Decision to Supplant Standardized Tests with Alternative Measures

In 2014, the Virginia legislature removed select standardized tests from elementary and middle school grades in social studies, science, and writing. In this case study, the author investigates the experiences of key stakeholders in one large school district as they adopt alternative assessment in lieu of multiple-choice, standardized assessments. The specific aim of the study was to develop a descriptive account of one large Virginia school district’s plan for implementation of locally developed, performance-based assessments. Findings on this contemporary topic document the collaboration among district stakeholders to enact alternative assessments that assess students’ content knowledge and higher-order thinking skills. Outcomes reveal participants’ initiatives to comply with legislative mandates while bridging policy with practice, alongside the benefits and challenges during design and implementation. Findings and discussion point to the division’s dispositions related to teaching and learning during the trial school year of 2014-2015. Implications for district leaders, policymakers, and researchers on national and international levels are provided

Alternative Assessment and Accountability: A Case Study of Policy Reform and Teacher Practice at the District Level

Deliberations on the topic of alternatives to standardized assessments spurred the 2014 Virginia General Assembly legislation (House Bill 930/Senate Bill 306) that removed five, end-of-year Virginia Standards of Learning tests from select elementary and middle school subjects and supplant them with alternative measures (Virginia Department of Education, 2014). In light of the reform, the purpose of this study was to develop a descriptive account of one large Virginia school district’s implementation of alternative, locally developed assessments designed as an intervention to enhance teaching and learning. Emphasis was on the impact of policy change in social studies practice to capture teachers’ perceptions of alternative assessment in relation to teaching and learning. Specifically, this study examined, “How does reform focused on alternative assessment influence: (a) teachers’ perceptions, and (b) educational practice?” A theoretical framework, adapted from Bronfenbrenner\u27s ecological systems theory (1979), offered a conceptual stance through which to view the formed relationships between educational systems (i.e., state, district, and classroom) acting upon student learning. Using phenomenological analysis within case study, this study followed sixth/seventh grade social studies teachers and district leaders through their enactment of performance-based tasks as formative means of assessment. Through extensive individual and focus group interviews, classroom observations, and document/artifact analysis, the ways in which alternative assessment reform influenced teachers’ perceptions and educational practice were uncovered. Main findings from the study revealed (1) participants’ lived experiences in making the transition from an old to a new assessment accountability system; (2) the establishment of “common ground” between district leaders and teachers through supportive interventions (i.e., professional development); and (3) the development of teachers’ responsive teaching that linked assessment accountability to practice. Discussion focuses on bridging the gap between assessment policy reform and educational practice with regard to the scaffolds and interventions provided for teachers. Suggestions for social studies educators, district leaders, and state policymakers focus on the growing demand for pedagogy that best supports the practice of alternative assessment

An exploratory study investigating factors associated with adherence to chest physiotherapy and exercise in adults with cystic fibrosis

Copyright @ 2009 European Cystic Fibrosis Society. This article is available through Elsevier's Open Access Archives and covered by Elsevier's user license: http://www.elsevier.com/about/open-access/open-access-policies/oa-license-policy/elsevier-user-license.This study explored the relationship between psychological and demographic variables relating to chest physiotherapy (CP) and exercise in adults with cystic fibrosis. The main results were that adherence to both treatments was low and analysis of variance indicated that severity and gender were associated with exercise adherence, importance and burden. These results suggest potential areas for interventions to improve exercise adherence

Health behaviour mediates the relationship between type D personality and subjective health in the general population

Type D personality is associated with unhealthy behaviour and poor subjective health in the general population. This study investigated whether health behaviour mediates the relationship between Type D and subjective health. There were 217 participants who completed measures of Type D, health-related behaviour, physical symptoms and quality of life. Type D individuals reported significantly less healthy behaviour and significantly poorer subjective health than non-Type Ds. In addition, it was found that health behaviour partially mediates these relationships. The study demonstrates that health behaviour may partly explain the relationship between Type D and poor health outcomes

Social Media Use to Build Capacity in Nonprofit Maternal Mental Health Organizations

Capacity building is key to organizational sustainability in the competitive environment of nonprofit behavioral health organizations. Strategic use of social media plays a prominent role in fundraising and stakeholder engagement to support capacity building. The aim of this study was to examine the use of social media by maternal mental health nonprofit organizations to increase income for the purpose of capacity development. The Baldrige Excellence Framework was used to ground this descriptive, multiple case study of four organizations in the United States. The primary data sources were public social media posts and statistics, organizational websites and documents, and data from a review of academic literature. Findings indicated variability in the organizations’ use of social media for fundraising purposes and limited application of social media fundraising best practices as identified in the academic literature. Recommendations based on findings include performing a social media needs assessment, developing and expanding social media capacity, hiring and training staff proficient with social media, creating a sense of urgency for donors, and exploring opportunities specific to each social media platform for fundraising. This study contributes to positive social change through the identification of opportunities to improve use of social media platforms for organizational capacity development, thereby ensuring sustainability and growth of maternal mental health support services for communities in need

An Evaluation of Columbia Villa/Tamaracks Community Service Intervention Project

The Community Service Intervention Program (CSlP) is a unique public agency response to a multifaceted set of problems confronting low income residents living in Oregon \u27s largest public housing project. The primary goals of the CSIP are to reduce crime, reduce the fear of crime among residents, and to improve the quality of life of the families living in Columbia Villa/Tamaracks. The evaluation of the CSIP combined a number of different research methods, on different analytical levels, to provide a summary assessment. Data were collected from individuals, from agencies, and from police records in a post facto analysis of the CSIP. Recommendations include: a higher profile by the County to coordinate, plan, manage, and evaluate services according to a set of carefully chosen set of objectives; a longitudinal evaluation of CSIP efforts; greater involvement by Columbia Villa/Tamaracks residents; greater job opportunities and job training for Columbia Villa/Tamaracks residents; additional participation in the CSIP by the Fire Department, Tri-Met, Metro (Solid Waste), and DEQ

Immobilization of Polymer-Decorated Liquid Crystal Droplets on Chemically Tailored Surfaces

We demonstrate that the assembly of an amphiphilic polyamine on the interfaces of micrometer-sized droplets of a thermotropic liquid crystal (LC) dispersed in aqueous solutions can be used to facilitate the immobilization of LC droplets on chemically functionalized surfaces. Polymer 1 was designed to contain both hydrophobic (alkylfunctionalized) and hydrophilic (primary and tertiary amine-functionalized) side chain functionality. The assembly of this polymer at the interfaces of aqueous dispersions of LC droplets was achieved by the spontaneous adsorption of polymer from aqueous solution. Polymer adsorption triggered transitions in the orientational ordering of the LCs, as observed by polarized light and bright-field microscopy. We demonstrate that the presence of polymer 1 on the interfaces of these droplets can be exploited to immobilize LC droplets on planar solid surfaces through covalent bond formation (e.g., for surfaces coated with polymer multilayers containing reactive azlactone functionality) or through electrostatic interactions (e.g., for surfaces coated with multilayers containing hydrolyzed azlactone functionality). The characterization of immobilized LC droplets by polarized, fluorescence, and laser scanning confocal microscopy revealed the general spherical shape of the polymer-coated LC droplets to be maintained after immobilization, and that immobilization led to additional ordering transitions within the droplets that were dependent on the nature of the surfaces with which they were in contact. Polymer 1-functionalized LC droplets were not immobilized on polymer multilayers treated with poly(ethylene imine) (PEI). We demonstrate that the ability to design surfaces that promote or prevent the immobilization of polymer-functionalized LC droplets can be exploited to pattern the immobilization of LC droplets on surfaces. The results of this investigation provide the basis of an approach that could be used to tailor the properties of dispersed LC emulsions and to immobilize these droplets on functional surfaces of interest in a broad range of fundamental and applied contexts

Dynamic Ordering Transitions of Liquid Crystals Driven by Interfacial Complexes Formed Between Polyanions and Amphiphilic Polyamines

We report the design of an amphiphilic polyamine (polymer 1) based on poly(2-alkenyl azlactone) that strongly couples the formation of polyelectrolyte complexes at aqueous/liquid crystal (LC) interfaces to ordering transitions in the LC. We demonstrate that the addition of a strong anionic polyelectrolyte to aqueous solutions in contact with polymer 1-laden LC interfaces (prepared by Langmuir-Schaefer transfer of monolayers of polymer 1 onto micrometerthick films of nematic LC) triggers ordering transitions in the LCs. We further demonstrate that changes in the ordering of the LCs (i) are driven by electrostatic interactions between the polyelectrolytes, (ii) involve multivalent interactions between the polyelectrolytes, and (iii) are triggered by reorganization of the hydrophobic side chains of amphiphilic polymer 1 upon formation of the interfacial complexes. The results presented in this paper lead us to conclude that ordering transitions in LCs can be used to provide insights into the structure and dynamics of interfacial complexes formed between polyelectrolytes