An Alternative Approach to Measuring Opportunity-to-Learn in High School Classes

The Opportunity-to-Learn framework has provided policymakers and researchers a means to develop strategies to measure classroom practices. In particular, the measure of the delivered content has been shown to be a good predictor of student achievement on tests. The method presented in this article uses classroom artifacts as the main data source to determine the attention teachers give to various content in the curriculum. The number of treatments that address set learning outcomes was the unit of measurement employed in this method. The article illustrates how this method was used to describe content delivery and how content emphasis exposed the differences between two teachers following the same prescribed syllabus. This method is best applied at the secondary school level to measure one component of the delivered curriculum. Finally, the limitations and potential of this method are discussed for use in research and for school improvement.Les décideurs et les chercheurs ont eu recours au cadre « Opportunity to Learn » (occasion d’apprentissage) dans le développement de stratégies pour mesurer les pratiques en salle de classe. En fait, la mesure du contenu fourni aux élèves s’est avérée être un bon prédicteur de la performance des élèves aux examens. Cet article présente une méthode s’appuyant sur les artéfacts de la salle de classe comme source principale de données et visant l’évaluation de l’attention qu’accordent les enseignants à divers contenus du programme d’études. Le nombre d’interventions visant des résultats d’apprentissage déterminés a constitué l’unité de mesure. L’article démontre, d’une part, l’emploi de cette méthode pour décrire la prestation de contenu et d’autre part, comment le fait de porter attention au contenu fait ressortir des différences entre deux enseignants qui suivent le même syllabus. Cette méthode s’applique le mieux au niveau secondaire pour mesurer une composante du programme d’études. L’article termine par une discussion des limites et du potentiel de cette méthode dans le contexte de la recherche et de l’amélioration du rendement scolaire

Policy Trends and Tensions in Accountability for Educational Management and Services in Canada

Accountability structures and processes have become such an integral part of education policy development and implementation that Ranson (2003) argues, “accountability is no longer merely an important instrument or component within the system, but constitutes the system itself” (p. 459). This argument is supported by the growth of an orientation in public education reforms toward the premise that more accountable schools are better schools. Canada fits the global trend that levers educational reforms through accountability measures.Les structures et les procédures de responsabilité sont devenues une partie tellement intégrante du développement et de la mise en œuvre des politiques en matière d’éducation que Ranson (2003) maintient que la responsabilité n’est plus simplement une composante importante du système, mais elle constitue le système même (p.459, traduction). Les réformes dans l’éducation publique, de plus en plus orientées par l’idée qu’une école responsable, c’est une meilleure école, viennent appuyer cette affirmation. Le Canada s’inscrit dans cette tendance globale qui font passer les réformes en éducation par des mécanismes de responsabilité

Learning Networks of Schools: The key enablers of successful knowledge communities

In an effort to intentionally create the level of deep learning necessary for practitioners to make meaningful changes in their classrooms, professional networks are increasingly being promoted as mechanisms for knowledge creation that can makes a difference for students. This paper explores the way networks function by testing a theory of action within the Network of Performance Based Schools (NPBS) in British Columbia, Canada. It presents networks as collaborative systems that support particular ways of working and find expression within two distinct organizational units – the network itself and its participant schools.Dans le but de créer un niveau d’apprentissage en profondeur (deep learning) nécessaire aux intervenants pour que ces derniers apportent des changements importants dans les salles de classe, les réseaux professionnels sont de plus en plus promis comme des mécanismes de création du savoir qui peuvent susciter le genre de changements qui feront une différence pour les élèves. Cet article permet d’explorer le mode de fonctionnement des réseaux en faisant l’essai d’une théorie de l’action au sein du réseau Network of Performance Based Schools (NPBS) en Colombie-Britannique, au Canada. Il décrit les réseaux comme des systèmes collaboratifs qui appuient des façons particulières de travailler et qui trouvent une application dans deux unités organisationnelles distinctes – le réseau lui-même et ses écoles participantes

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Assessment Reform and the Case for Learning-Focused Accountability

Calls for greater accountability within schools have led to an expansion, and in some cases, retraction of test-based accountability systems within many English-speaking Western nations. Countries such as England, United States, and Canada have all developed educational standards that are primarily measured in relation to standardized achievement test results. This paper discusses the documented impact and social consequences of external testing measures on students, teachers, and school systems within the Western culture of student performance. The discussion considers alternative assessment systems that are currently evolving into a framework of learning-focused accountability. The article concludes by discussing the implications of these progressive alternatives for policy-makers, school personnel, and institutions concerned with the training of teachers and administrators

Educational assessment in Canada

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 7 nov. 2008).Disponible sur demande à [email protected]