“Rational” Observational Systems of Educational Accountability and Reform

There is something incalculable about teacher expertise and whether it can be observed, detected, quantified, and as per current educational policies, used as an accountability tool to hold America’s public school teachers accountable for that which they do (or do not do well). In this commentary, authors (all of whom are former public school teachers) argue that rubric-based teacher observational systems, developed to assess the extent to which teachers adapt and follow sets of rubric-based rules, might actually constrain teacher expertise. Moreover, authors frame their comments using the Dreyfus Model (1980, 1986) to illustrate how observational systems and the rational conceptions on which they are based might be stifling educational progress and reform. Accessed 4,702 times on https://pareonline.net from August 20, 2015 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right

The advanced placement opportunity gap in Arizona: access, participation, and success

Participation in Advanced Placement (AP) classes and AP test-taking are widely viewed as indicators of students’ college readiness. We analyzed enrollment in AP courses and AP test outcomes in Arizona to document disparities in students’ access to rigorous curricula in high school and outline some implications of these patterns for education stakeholders. Findings suggest that although 80% of high schools in Arizona offered at least one AP course, the total number of AP courses offered varied considerably across schools. Small schools and schools that served higher percentages of minority students were less likely to offer a wide range of AP courses than large schools and schools with majority White student populations. Although Hispanic students were underrepresented in AP courses, they had the highest test-taking rate. Only a third of the Hispanic students who took AP courses passed the AP test

Schopenhauer on the Rights of Animals

I argue that Schopenhauer’s ascription of (moral) rights to animals flows naturally from his distinctive analysis of the concept of a right. In contrast to those who regard rights as fundamental and then cast wrongdoing as a matter of violating rights, he takes wrong (Unrecht) to be the more fundamental notion and defines the concept of a right (Recht) in its terms. He then offers an account of wrongdoing which makes it plausible to suppose that at least many animals can be wronged and thus, by extension, have rights. The result, I argue, is a perspective on the nature of moral rights in general, and the idea of animal rights in particular, that constitutes an important and plausible alternative to the more familiar views advanced by philosophers in recent decades

Importance of stand density for the old-growth forest lichen species Usnea longissima

The epiphytic lichen Usnea longissima is strongly associated with old-growth forests and is declining. Previous studies have documented unimodal relationships between stand density and abundance of U. longissima. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate whether the same relationship is found in Sweden and to determine the optimum level of stand density. The study area (1.4 ha) was divided into a grid with 48 circular plots (10-m radius). Stand density was measured as basal area (m²/ha) using a relascope and abundance of U. longissima was measured as the length of the longest thallus present on the tree nearest the plot center. Usnea longissima was found in 42 plots (mean thallus length of 37 cm). The regression analyses between length of U. longissima and basal area showed that the relationship was not significant (R²=0.082, P=0.066), and tended to be linear rather than unimodal. However, plots with U. longissima had significantly lower basal area (30.4 m²/ha) than plots without the lichen (35.1 m²/ha). The basal area in U. longissima plots was higher than in Norwegian studies, but similar to other Swedish sites. Thus, my results correspond well with earlier studies that have documented higher basal area in U. longissima-locations in Västernorrland than in more oceanic areas in Norway. Thereby a basal area around 27-35 m²/ha seems most favorable for U. longissima in the study area. The lichen cannot develop large populations in dense stands, indicating that management operations to reduce the basal area might be needed in such stands

Importance of stand density for the old-growth forest lichen species Usnea longissima

The epiphytic lichen Usnea longissima is strongly associated with old-growth forests and is declining. Previous studies have documented unimodal relationships between stand density and abundance of U. longissima. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate whether the same relationship is found in Sweden and to determine the optimum level of stand density. The study area (1.4 ha) was divided into a grid with 48 circular plots (10-m radius). Stand density was measured as basal area (m²/ha) using a relascope and abundance of U. longissima was measured as the length of the longest thallus present on the tree nearest the plot center. Usnea longissima was found in 42 plots (mean thallus length of 37 cm). The regression analyses between length of U. longissima and basal area showed that the relationship was not significant (R²=0.082, P=0.066), and tended to be linear rather than unimodal. However, plots with U. longissima had significantly lower basal area (30.4 m²/ha) than plots without the lichen (35.1 m²/ha). The basal area in U. longissima plots was higher than in Norwegian studies, but similar to other Swedish sites. Thus, my results correspond well with earlier studies that have documented higher basal area in U. longissima-locations in Västernorrland than in more oceanic areas in Norway. Thereby a basal area around 27-35 m²/ha seems most favorable for U. longissima in the study area. The lichen cannot develop large populations in dense stands, indicating that management operations to reduce the basal area might be needed in such stands

“Blond flowing hair”, “tumid lips,” “rigid posture”, and “choleric temperament” : Universal aspirations and racial asymmetries in Linnaeus' definition of Homo sapiens

The starting point of my analysis will be Reinhard Koselleck’s hypothesis of historical asymmetrical counterconcepts. His belief in a conceptual and ideological global dualism (Hellene/Barbarian, Christian/Heathen, Superman/Subhuman), in which a collective Self is contrasted to a generic Other of negation, will be tested on Linnaeus’ 18th-century classifications of human varieties (races). Though proposed as a neutral scientific map of human ethnic groups, the conceptual asymmetries were nestled within Linnaeus quadripartite and occasionally quinquepartite division of the world. The asymmetric character of these taxonomies, complicating Koselleck's essentially dichotomous vision of conceptual asymmetry, will be explored through their connotations of inclusion and exclusion, immateriality/invisibility vs materiality/visibility, civilization, authenticity/originality/innocence and, 'degeneration'. The binary scheme of asymmetrical concepts is further qualified by Linnaeus' empirical and morphological findings that thwart easy clear-cut distinctions, as well as by his reliance on ancient Humoralism with its stress on symmetry, equality and balance of four nodes (rather than two), and, finally, Linnaeus' self-referential characterization of the human species (nosce te ipsum - know thyself) which does not preclude, however, a subtle ambivalence regarding European cultural sophistication