Participation in cross-national learning assessments and impact on capacity development: Programmes,practice, structures and teacher competency. Case study of Kenya,Tanzania and South Africa

This research is one of the few attempts to employ the conceptual framework of "technology transfer" to analyze the extent that participation in cross-national learning assessments has had on capacity development, particularly in the development of official public structures, by equipping educationists and influencing teachers’ competency in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants drawn from the Ministries of Basic Education, national examinations councils, civil society organizations and curriculum development institutions in the three countries. The in-depth interviews were complemented by relevant literature on this topic. The study established improved technical capacities in the public education sector in South Africa and Kenya to design and conduct independent large-scale learning assessments. This important research demonstrates a certain level of commitment by African countries to establish official structures necessary to design/implement and sustain a culture of monitoring learning outcomes through public funded large-scale learning assessments. The research potentially contributes to the body of knowledge as far as ‘summative’ evaluation and analysis of the theory of change underpinning the participation in cross-national learning assessments espoused under the Education for All (EFA) Framework of Action     

Development of an evidence-based conceptual framework for workplace assessment

One solution to the underutilization of workplace accommodations is to use teleconferencing technology to conduct remote assessments, effectively expanding the geographical area that experienced rehabilitation specialists can cover. However, such an effort requires a highly structured and comprehensive assessment protocol. This paper reports on the analysis of 53 existing assessments to develop a conceptual framework for assessment and the use of that framework to evaluate the applicability of 10 work-related assessment protocols for remote tele-assessment. While none of the 10 protocols were found to be sufficiently comprehensive for our purposes, the conceptual framework itself will serve as an important tool to structure a new comprehensive protocol that will be developed. Moreover, the framework can also be used by providers of workplace assessments to evaluate the suitability of any assessment protocol to meet the needs of any particular individual or workplace situation.     

Reliability of work-related assessments

Insufficient evidence of the reliability of work-related assessments is a major concern in this area of practice. Despite this concern there has been ongoing development of new assessments, while existing assessments have been revised, modified and updated and others are no longer used or available. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent and quality of evidence for the reliability of work-related assessments. STUDY DESIGN: This study examined available literature and sources in order to review the extent which reliability has been established for 28 work-related assessments. RESULTS: The levels of evidence and reliability are presented for each assessment. This indicates that a number of commercially available work-related assessments have insufficient evidence of reliability. For the limited number of work-related assessments with an adequate level of evidence on which to judge their reliability, most demonstrate a moderate to good level. Few assessments, however, have demonstrated levels of reliability sufficient for clinical (and legal) purposes. CONCLUSION: With this study clinicians will be able to examine their options with regard to the reliability of the assessments they choose to use. Interpretation of changes in test results can be considered in the light of the evidence for the reliability of the instrument used.     

The State of Play in Poland's Unconventional Shale and Oil Development

Following initial geological assessments, Poland was identified as having one of the largest reserves of unconventional natural gas in the European Union. The Poles, seeking to diversify their energy sources, met the news with tremendous fanfare. However, shale gas development often requires voluminous speculative activity before the gas can be successfully extracted – an activity which has been rare in Poland, where a lack of critical infrastructure coupled with bureaucratic red tape in the permission process has led to slow growth in exploration activities. This article examines the current situation in Poland's unconventional gas and oil development.     

The categorical versus dimensional assessment controversy in the sociology of mental illness

This paper reviews the sociological controversy over using categorical versus dimensional assessments in the study of psychological distress. The preference of sociologists for dimensional assessments is traced to two assumptions: (1) that the associations of predictors with psychological distress syndromes are most accurately operationalized by using dimensional measures; and (2) that no true discrete mental illnesses can reasonably be inferred to exist that would justify the creation of dichotomous measures. Methods are described in this paper to test both assumptions. An argument is made that the first assumption is the critical one and that dimensional analysis is useful only when it can be demonstrated that the associations of predictors with dimensional scores are constant throughout the relevant dimensional severity range. The paper closes with an argument for the tandem use of categorical and dimensional assessments in future sociological research.     

Identity Development as a Mediating Factor Between Urban Poverty and Behavioral Outcomes for Junior High School Students

This study examines the developmental issue of identity development among 102 eighth graders living in a context of economic hardship. Results show that links between economic deprivation and behavioral outcomes were mediated by identity development for two of three outcomes. Support also was found for the hypothesis that content-specific identity development is more strongly related to behavioral outcomes than global assessments of identity development. Much of the research on youth living in urban poverty has focused on problem behaviors, such as drug use or dropping out of school. Less is known about how normal developmental transitions are resolved. Results are discussed relative to the protective nature of identity development and to theoretical and methodological issues regarding measuring identity development within specific populations.     

Risk assessment of forensic patients: nurses' role

One of the unique roles of forensic nurses is to conduct risk assessments. Establishing a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship helps forensic nurses perform accurate and useful risk assessments. Accurate risk assessments can facilitate formulation of individualized risk management plans, designed to meet patients' needs and ensure public safety. The importance of forensic nurses' knowledge and application of appropriate communication and proper documentation cannot be overemphasized.     

Predicting Undergraduate Student Retention in STEM Majors Based on Career Development Factors

A research gap exists with regard to examining the influence of career interventions and career readiness assessments on student retention in college majors related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). To address this gap, the authors examined 3 variables as potential predictors of retention in STEM‐related majors: (a) a STEM‐focused career planning intervention, (b) students' initial major declarations, and (c) changes in scores on a measure of career readiness. Results revealed that all 3 independent variables were significant predictors of STEM retention but did not accurately predict students who would not be retained. These results have implications for undergraduate STEM initiatives, college counselors and career advisors, and researchers investigating the predictors of STEM retention. Future research should include additional predictor variables.     

Roadmap for a communication maturity index for organizations—Theorizing,analyzing and developing communication value

This study employed a constitutive (CCO) communication approach to advance the dynamic concept of communication maturity for the purpose of theorizing, analyzing, and developing communication value on an organizational level. A literature review resulted in six theoretical areas related to communication maturity: understanding, function, organization, prerequisites, competence and practices including assessments of communication. These were analyzed in a qualitative comparative case study including 85 key stakeholders from eleven organizations. Findings illustrated the relevance of the theoretical areas to stakeholders’ perceptions of their respective organizations’ communication maturity. A first version of a Communication Maturity Index including four levels of maturity; immature, emerging, established, and mature is proposed. Based on the qualitative analysis, organizations’ communication maturity levels varied from emerging to mature. Findings of this study are limited to participating organizations and interviewed stakeholders. The CMI can be further developed in quantitative studies to investigate the constitutive role of communication in organizations and to be used in practice to develop higher levels of communication maturity.     

Preventing spiritual distress in the dying client.

1. Nurses want to provide holistic care to all clients. Viewing spiritual development as a part of human growth and development is appropriate and essential to nursing practice. 2. Nursing care that is effective in maintaining the spiritual integrity of clients nearing death can be effective if placed within a theoretical framework. 3. Levels of spiritual development coupled with the transitional phases of the dying process lead to accurate assessments of clients. In turn, nursing strategies that are selected as a result of such theoretically based assessments are likely to be effective in preventing spiritual distress.     

Using developmental evaluation as a system of organizational learning: An example from San Francisco

In the last 20 years, developmental evaluation has emerged as a promising approach to support organizational learning in emergent social programs. Through a continuous system of inquiry, reflection, and application of knowledge, developmental evaluation serves as a system of tools, methods, and guiding principles intended to support constructive organizational learning. However, missing from the developmental evaluation literature is a nuanced framework to guide evaluators in how to elevate the organizational practices and concepts most relevant for emergent programs. In this article, we describe and reflect on work we did to develop, pilot, and refine an integrated pilot framework. Drawing on established developmental evaluation inquiry frameworks and incorporating lessons learned from applying the pilot framework, we put forward the Evaluation-led Learning framework to help fill that gap and encourage others to implement and refine it. We posit that without explicitly incorporating the assessments at the foundation of the Evaluation-led Learning framework, developmental evaluation’s ability to affect organizational learning in productive ways will likely be haphazard and limited.     

Ecometrics: Toward a Science of Assessing Ecological Settings, With Application to the Systematic Social Observation of Neighborhoods

This paper considers the quantitative assessment of ecological settings such as neighborhoods and schools. Available administrative data typically provide useful but limited information on such settings. We demonstrate how more complete information can be reliably obtained from surveys and observational studies. Survey-based assessments are constructed by aggregating over multiple item responses of multiple informants within each setting. Item and rater inconsistency produce uncertainty about the setting being assessed, with definite implications for research design. Observation-based assessments also have a multilevel error structure. The paper describes measures constructed from interviews, direct observations, and videotapes of Chicago neighborhoods and illustrates an "ecometric" analysis—a study of bias and random error in neighborhood assessments. Using the observation data as an illustrative example, we present a three-level hierarchical statistical model that identifies sources of error in aggregating across items within face-blocks and in aggregating across face-blocks to larger geographic units such as census tracts. Convergent and divergent validity are evaluated by studying associations between the observational measures and theoretically related measures obtained from the U.S. Census, and a citywide survey of neighborhood residents.     

SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL RISK AND PROTECTION: A TYPOLOGY WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Social environmental assessments can play a critical role in prevention planning in schools. The purpose of this study was to describe the importance of conducting social environmental assessments, demonstrate that complex social environmental data can be simplified into a useful and valid typology, and illustrate how the typology can guide prevention planning in schools. Data collected from 532 3(rd) through 5(th) graders using the Elementary School Success Profile were analyzed in the study. A latent profile analysis based on eight child-report social environmental dimensions identified five patterns of social environmental risk and protection. The classes were labeled High Protection, Moderate Protection, Moderate Protection/Peer Risk, Little Protection/Family Risk, and No Protection//School Risk. Class membership was significantly associated with measures of well-being, social behavior and academic performance. The article illustrates how the typology can be used to guide decisions about who to target in school-based preventions, which features of the social environment to target, and how much change to seek. Information is provided about online resources for selecting prevention strategies once these decisions are made.     

Rates of missing responses in personal digital assistant (PDA) versus paper assessments

This article describes rates of missing item responses in personal digital assistant (PDA) assessments as compared to paper assessments. Data come from the evaluation of a classroom-based leisure, life skills, and sexuality education program delivered to high school students in Cape Town, South Africa. Analyses show that the paper assessments had much higher rates of missing-ness than PDA assessments. This association is moderated by item order. Certain analyses also suggest that paper assessments have higher rates of missingness for items pertaining to participants' sexual behavior. Implications of these results for evaluation research will be discussed.     

Understanding Environmental Risk Perceptions: A Case of Contested Illness in South Florida

Communities facing environmental health threats can experience contention when residents have conflicting interpretations of risks; yet little is known about the social–psychological processes that contribute to divergent risk perceptions in these cases. Drawing on previous work on environmental contamination, contested illness, and literature on risk perceptions, we offer a framework for analyzing how residents assess potential environmental risks. Using the case of The Acreage, Florida, we examine a community where a cancer cluster has been established, but an environmental cause has not been determined. Specifically, we ask how residents individually assess risks concerning possible environmental contamination in cases of contested illness. Data come from 57 in‐depth interviews conducted with current and former residents of The Acreage. We argue that residents utilized particular cognitive heuristics to develop understandings and assessments of the situation. However, when these assessments contradicted those of other residents, community conflict emerged. We conclude by discussing how the framework utilized in our analysis can be applied in future research of contaminated communities.     

‘They are harsher to me than to my friend who is blonde’. Police critique among ethnic minority youth in Sweden

ABSTRACT

Young people belonging to categories and living in areas that are targeted by the police find more arguments for detailed police critique than others. When they narrate their assessments there is a series of experiential references being made, which can be used to sort out their police critique. This article draws on 20 interviews with ethnic minority youth in so-called vulnerable neighborhoods in Sweden. It shows how young people portray the police as sometimes profiling and racist, sometimes just and legitimate, and how they do so by comparisons and identifications. Comparisons within Sweden and identifications with police targets tend to result in more negative assessments whereas comparisons with countries of origin and identifications with non-targeted categories may result in more positive or mixed assessments. These young people also evaluate the police with reference to the stigmatization of their neighborhoods. To be stopped because you are associated with a residential area is described as deeply unfair, even if the police are polite, and observations of how the police change behavior in different areas promote critique. Our findings point to the importance of extending a criteria-based model of how today’s young people assess the police with a more social and ethnographic understanding.     

Using a child development model to assess the outcomes of social work interventions with families

The Children Act 1989 strengthens the view that the purpose of providing children's welfare services is to support families in promoting their satisfactory development. Implementation of the Looking After Children materials provides data that enables us to assess how far such aims are achieved both for individual children and for groups. Concrete information in each of the key areas of need, threshold, objective, service and progress across seven dimensions of development can be built up to provide complex assessments of outcome. Extending such assessments beyond the group of children looked after away from home raises questions about public responsibilities to families.     

Learning to be interprofessional through the use of reflective portfolios?

Learning portfolios are used extensively in health and social care. There is evidence of their value as a tool to consolidate learning although limited information is available regarding their use in social work education. This study explores the use of a portfolio to encourage social work students to reflect on their interprofessional learning (IPL). The portfolio offers a means of demonstrating professionalism concerning knowledge, skills and attitudes in the context of collaborative practice. The findings of this research suggest that qualifying students were largely capable of reflecting on their development of interprofessional competence after attending specific IPL events, which were part of a wider programme. Social work students found reflective writing difficult, although this improved over time. In particular students struggled to write about skills and attitudes. Students perceived the portfolio to be a good way to assess their progress and believed this helped them to engage with their learning and make meaning through reflection and analysis. They appreciated that IPL and feedback from their assessments had advanced their abilities for self-analysis; despite needing help with reflective writing, they felt better prepared for ongoing use of reflection in their professional development, and in ‘working together’.     

THE CONTRIBUTION OF PSYCHOANALYTICAL OBSERVATION IN CHILD PROTECTION ASSESSMENTS

In this paper I describe my role in undertaking child protection assessments for children in my work for a Family Centre managed by a national voluntary child care organisation. I explore how psychoanalytical observation provides additional knowledge informing assessments of risk for children. In an example that I discuss in some detail, I show how observation provides a means for assessing relationships between children and parents which leads to informed recommendations to court. In a second example I show how observation can be linked with a therapeutic approach to generate necessary change in parenting capacity. I conclude that observation is an important and effective training for professionals responsible for protecting children from harm.