Desprezando a democracia na política educacional: Sistemas de responsabilização do cartão de relatório da escola A-F

Sixteen states have adopted school report card accountability systems that assign A-F letter grades to schools. Other states are now engaged in deliberation about whether they, too, should adopt such systems. This paper examines A-F accountability systems with respect to three kinds of validity. First, it examines whether or not these accountability systems are valid as a measure, that is, do these systems validly measure school quality? Second, it examines whether or not they are valid as a policy instrument. or, how far do A-F accountability systems fulfill the stated aims of their proponents—empowering parents, providing “simple” and “common sense” measures of educational quality, and so on? Finally, it examines whether or not A-F systems are valid as a democratic framework:, how well do these systems align with the broader goals of educating students for democratic citizenship and of incorporating parents and community members in democratic deliberation about policies for their public schools? The paper concludes that A-F accountability systems are invalid along each of these lines, and provides recommendations for democratically developing and implementing criteria for school assessment.Dieciséis estados han adoptado sistemas de rendición de cuentas de tarjetas de calificaciones escolares que asignan calificaciones de letra A-F a las escuelas. Otros estados ahora están involucrados en la deliberación sobre si ellos también deberían adoptar tales sistemas. Este documento examina los sistemas de rendición de cuentas de A-F con respecto a tres tipos de validez. Primero, examina si estos sistemas de rendición de cuentas son válidos como medida, es decir, ¿estos sistemas valen válidamente la calidad de la escuela? En segundo lugar, examina si son o no válidos como un instrumento de política. o, ¿hasta qué punto los sistemas de rendición de cuentas de A-F cumplen los objetivos declarados de sus defensores -apoderando a los padres, proporcionando medidas "simples" y de "sentido común" de calidad educativa, etc.? Finalmente, examina si los sistemas A-F son válidos como marco democrático: ¿qué tan bien se alinean estos sistemas con los objetivos más amplios de educar a los estudiantes para una ciudadanía democrática y de incorporar a padres y miembros de la comunidad en una deliberación democrática sobre las políticas para sus escuelas públicas? El documento concluye que los sistemas de rendición de cuentas A-F no son válidos a lo largo de cada una de estas líneas y ofrece recomendaciones para desarrollar y aplicar criterios democráticamente para la evaluación escolar.Dezesseis estados adotaram sistemas de responsabilidade de cartões de nível escolar que atribuem notas de grau A-F às escolas. Outros estados estão agora envolvidos na deliberação sobre se eles também devem adotar tais sistemas. Este artigo examina os sistemas de responsabilização da A-F em relação a três tipos de validade. Em primeiro lugar, examina se esses sistemas de prestação de contas são válidos como medida, ou seja, esses sistemas são válidos para a qualidade da escola? Em segundo lugar, ele examina se eles são ou não válidos como uma ferramenta de política. ou, em que medida os sistemas de responsabilização da A-F atendem aos objetivos declarados de seus defensores - capacitando os pais fornecendo medidas "simples" e de "senso comum" de qualidade educacional, etc.? Finalmente, examina se os sistemas AF são válidos como um quadro democrático: quão bem esses sistemas se alinham com os objetivos mais amplos de educar estudantes para a cidadania democrática e incorporar os pais e membros da comunidade em uma deliberação democrática sobre as políticas para as escolas públicas? O documento conclui que os sistemas de responsabilização da A-F não são válidos ao longo de cada uma dessas linhas e fornece recomendações para desenvolver e aplicar critérios de forma democrática para avaliação escolar

Why School Report Cards Merit a Failing Grade

Sixteen states have adopted school report card accountability systems that assign A-F letter grades to schools. Other states are now engaged in deliberation about whether they, too, should adopt such systems. This brief examines A-F accountability systems with respect to three kinds of validity. First, it examines whether or not they are valid as a measure. That is, do these systems validly measure school quality? Second, it examines whether or not they are valid as a policy instrument. That is, how far do A-F accountability systems fulfill the stated aims of their proponents—empowering parents, providing “simple” and “common sense” measures of educational quality, and so on? Finally, it examines whether or not A-F systems are valid as a democratic framework. That is, how well do these systems align with the broader goals of educating students for democratic citizenship and of incorporating parents and community members in democratic deliberation about policies for their public schools? The brief concludes that A-F accountability systems are invalid along each of these lines, and provides recommendations for democratically developing and implementing criteria for school assessment

How Recent Education Reforms Undermine Local School Governance and Democratic Education

Democratic policymaking and democratic education have been undermined by the passage of No Child Left Behind. This brief offers guidelines for future federal education policy that addresses the loss of local control brought on by recent reforms

On school choice and test-based accountability.

Among the two most prominent school reform measures currently being implemented in The United States are school choice and test-based accountability. Until recently, the two policy initiatives remained relatively distinct from one another. With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), a mutualism between choice and accountability emerged whereby school choice complements test-based accountability. In the first portion of this study we present a conceptual overview of school choice and test-based accountability and explicate connections between the two that are explicit in reform implementations like NCLB or implicit within the market-based reform literature in which school choice and test-based accountability reside. In the second portion we scrutinize the connections, in particular, between school choice and test-based accountability using a large western school district with a popular choice system in place. Data from three sources are combined to explore the ways in which school choice and test-based accountability draw on each other: state assessment data of children in the district, school choice data for every participating student in the district choice program, and a parental survey of both participants and non-participants of choice asking their attitudes concerning the use of school report cards in the district. Results suggest that choice is of benefit academically to only the lowest achieving students, choice participation is not uniform across different ethnic groups in the district, and parents' primary motivations as reported on a survey for participation in choice are not due to test scores, though this is not consistent with choice preferences among parents in the district. As such, our results generally confirm the hypotheses of choice critics more so than advocates. Keywords: school choice; accountability; student testing

Towards an Airframe Noise Prediction Methodology: Survey of Current Approaches

In this paper, we present a critical survey of the current airframe noise (AFN) prediction methodologies. Four methodologies are recognized. These are the fully analytic method, CFD combined with the acoustic analogy, the semi-empirical method and fully numerical method. It is argued that for the immediate need of the aircraft industry, the semi-empirical method based on recent high quality acoustic database is the best available method. The method based on CFD and the Ffowcs William- Hawkings (FW-H) equation with penetrable data surface (FW-Hpds ) has advanced considerably and much experience has been gained in its use. However, more research is needed in the near future particularly in the area of turbulence simulation. The fully numerical method will take longer to reach maturity. Based on the current trends, it is predicted that this method will eventually develop into the method of choice. Both the turbulence simulation and propagation methods need to develop more for this method to become useful. Nonetheless, the authors propose that the method based on a combination of numerical and analytical techniques, e.g., CFD combined with FW-H equation, should also be worked on. In this effort, the current symbolic algebra software will allow more analytical approaches to be incorporated into AFN prediction methods

Ligand-induced sequestering of branchpoint sequence allows conditional control of splicing

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite tremendous progress in understanding the mechanisms of constitutive and alternative splicing, an important and widespread step along the gene expression pathway, our ability to deliberately regulate gene expression at this step remains rudimentary. The present study was performed to investigate whether a theophylline-dependent "splice switch" that sequesters the branchpoint sequence (BPS) within RNA-theophylline complex can regulate alternative splicing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We constructed a series of pre-mRNAs in which the BPS was inserted within theophylline aptamer. We show that theophylline-induced sequestering of BPS inhibits pre-mRNA splicing both in vitro and in vivo in a dose-dependent manner. Several lines of evidence suggest that theophylline-dependent inhibition of splicing is highly specific, and thermodynamic stability of RNA-theophylline complex as well as the location of BPS within this complex affects the efficiency of splicing inhibition. Finally, we have constructed an alternative splicing model pre-mRNA substrate in which theophylline caused exon skipping both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that a small molecule-RNA interaction can modulate alternative splicing.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings provide the ability to control splicing pattern at will and should have important implications for basic, biotechnological, and biomedical research.</p

Imaging oxygenation of human tumours

Tumour hypoxia represents a significant challenge to the curability of human tumours leading to treatment resistance and enhanced tumour progression. Tumour hypoxia can be detected by non-invasive and invasive techniques but the inter-relationships between these remains largely undefined. (18)F-MISO and Cu-ATSM-PET, and BOLD-MRI are the lead contenders for human application based on their non-invasive nature, ease of use and robustness, measurement of hypoxia status, validity, ability to demonstrate heterogeneity and general availability, these techniques are the primary focus of this review. We discuss where developments are required for hypoxia imaging to become clinically useful and explore potential new uses for hypoxia imaging techniques including biological conformal radiotherapy

Sensory Communication

Contains table of contents for Section 2, an introduction and reports on twelve research projects.National Institutes of Health Grant 5 R01 DC00117National Institutes of Health Contract 2 P01 DC00361National Institutes of Health Grant 5 R01 DC00126National Institutes of Health Grant R01-DC00270U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Contract AFOSR-90-0200National Institutes of Health Grant R29-DC00625U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-88-K-0604U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-91-J-1454U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-92-J-1814U.S. Navy - Naval Training Systems Center Contract N61339-93-M-1213U.S. Navy - Naval Training Systems Center Contract N61339-93-C-0055U.S. Navy - Naval Training Systems Center Contract N61339-93-C-0083U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-92-J-4005U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-93-1-119