Building an Assessment Use Argument for sign language: the BSL Nonsense Sign Repetition Test

In this article, we adapt a concept designed to structure language testing more effectively, the Assessment Use Argument (AUA), as a framework for the development and/or use of sign language assessments for deaf children who are taught in a sign bilingual education setting. By drawing on data from a recent investigation of deaf children's nonsense sign repetition skills in British Sign Language, we demonstrate the steps of implementing the AUA in practical test design, development and use. This approach provides us with a framework which clearly states the competing values and which stakeholders hold these values. As such, it offers a useful foundation for test-designers, as well as for practitioners in sign bilingual education, for the interpretation of test scores and the consequences of their use

Evaluation of Irrigation Planning Decisions

A method is developed to determine optimal irrigation strategies for a single season using crop production functions which incorporate physically based coefficients. The relationship of yield to evapotranspiration is used to develop the yield-irrigation function. The physical parameters used in the production function can be determined from field measurements or various types of computer simulation. Using this approach, the optimal irrigated area and depth of water to apply can be related to prices, costs, and physical parameters. This produces a more general solution than commonly used production functions that depend on limited experimental results. The optimal irrigation depth and irrigated area can be determined for either land or water limiting conditions. The analysis also allows consideration of different irrigated and dryland crops. Three examples are analyzed to illustrate the use of the technique and to develop some general guidelines

Equity and Financing in Water Resources Development

This paper summarizes the results of a systems approach to water development issues concerning the Platte River in Nebraska. This approach enabled the production of numerous tradeoff curves which show the implications of the different choices available to decision makers. The particular tradeoffs considered in this paper were those concerning project financing and the associated equity implications. It was found that there are major choices to be made regarding financing from current account versus debt capital. This basic financing choice has a major effect on inter temporal equity. The analysis also illustrated the interrelationships between financing and user group equity

Intertemporal Farm Response to Limited Groundwater Conditions

Intertemporal farm-level irrigation planning decisions associated with a policy mandated limited water supply are examined with a two-state dynamic programming model. The model uses a backward solving algorithm with farm and field level data. General conclusions on policy structure and producer response are drawn from a test application