Best of Five MCQs for the Gastroenterology SCE

10.1093/oso/9780199653027.001.0001 ◽

2013 ◽

Keyword(s):

Best of Five MCQs for the Gastroenterology SCE is the first revision guide designed specifically for this new high-stakes exam. It contains 210 best of five questions with explanatory answers, each accurately reflecting the layout of questions in the exam. The book is divided into seven subject areas, covering all the main themes of the exam, and providing a thorough assessment of the candidate's gastroenterological knowledge. Where relevant, questions are illustrated with full colour photographs including endoscopic, radiological and histology images. Uniquely, the explanatory answers include references to guidelines and other sources to enable candidates' further reading and study.

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Best of Five MCQs for the Endocrinology and Diabetes SCE

10.1093/oso/9780198729334.001.0001 ◽

2015 ◽

Keyword(s):

High Stakes ◽

Subject Areas

Best of Five MCQs for the Endocrinology SCE is designed specifically for this new high-stakes exam. It contains over 300 best of five questions with explanatory answers, each accurately reflecting the layout of questions in the exam. The book is divided into six subject areas, covering all the main themes of the exam, and providing a thorough assessment of the candidate's endocrinological knowledge. Uniquely, the explanatory answers include references to guidelines and other sources to enable candidates' further reading and study.

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The Relative Equitability of High-Stakes Testing versus Teacher-Assigned Grades: An Analysis of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS)

Harvard Educational Review ◽

10.17763/haer.71.2.v51n6503372t4578 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 71 (2) ◽

pp. 173-217 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Robert Brennan ◽

Jimmy Kim ◽

Melodie Wenz-Gross ◽

Gary Siperstein

Keyword(s):

White Students ◽

High Stakes Testing ◽

Comprehensive Assessment ◽

Assessment System ◽

Male Students ◽

Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System ◽

High Stakes ◽

High Stakes Tests ◽

Two Measures ◽

Subject Areas

Which is more equitable, teacher-assigned grades or high-stakes tests? Nationwide, there is a growing trend toward the adoption of standardized tests as a means to determine promotion and graduation. "High-stakes testing" raises several concerns regarding the equity of such policies. In this article, the authors examine the question of whether high-stakes tests will mitigate or exacerbate inequities between racial and ethnic minority students and White students, and between female and male students. Specifically, by comparing student results on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) with teacher-assigned grades, the authors analyze the relative equitability of the two measures across three subject areas — math, English, and science. The authors demonstrate that the effects of high-stakes testing programs on outcomes, such as retention and graduation, are different from the results of using grades alone, and that some groups of students who are already faring poorly, such as African Americans and Latinos/Latinas, will do even worse if high-stakes testing programs are used as criteria for promotion and graduation. (pp. 173–216)

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Teacher Participation in Content-Focused Professional Development & the Role of State Policy

Teachers College Record ◽

10.1177/016146811111301106 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 113 (11) ◽

pp. 2586-2630

Author(s):

Kristie J. R. Phillips ◽

Laura Desimone ◽

Thomas M. Smith

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Science Teachers ◽

State Policy ◽

State Level ◽

Subject Area ◽

Teacher Participation ◽

High Stakes ◽

Effective Professional Development ◽

Policy Environments ◽

Subject Areas

Background/Context Recent research has demonstrated the potential for teacher professional development to enhance teacher learning, improve instruction, and increase student achievement. Nevertheless, research examining the relationship between state and local policies and teachers’ participation in professional development is sparse. This connection between policy environments and teacher-based outcomes becomes increasingly important as educational reforms place new demands on teachers. Since professional development is a key mechanism to improving teachers’ instruction and students’ achievement, we address the extent to which state and school policy environments are associated with teachers’ participation in content-focused professional development. We consider such policy environments within the context of both mathematics, a high-stakes subject area, and science, currently a low-stakes subject area. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study In describing state policy environments along several dimensions, we seek to discover which types of policies are more or less influential in moving teachers into the types of professional development that research has shown to be most effective for improved teaching and learning. Research Design Using a national sample of high school mathematics and science teachers from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), we conduct a secondary analysis using a three-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) to predict teachers’ level of participation in different types of professional development. We conduct separate analyses for mathematics (a high-stakes subject area) and for science (currently a low-stakes subject area). Findings/Results We find that the policy context at both the school- and state-level is more predictive of teacher participation in effective professional development in a high-stakes subject (mathematics) than a low-stakes subject (science). We also find that the alignment between state standards and assessments is a key attribute of state-level policies that tend to promote teacher participation in content-focused professional development in high-stakes subject areas. Even though state-level policies are important in promoting participation in effective professional development, we find that policy environments are strongest when they are closest to the teacher. Conclusions/Recommendations We conclude that both state- and school-level policy environments are associated with teachers taking high-quality professional development, but these findings are most pronounced in high-stakes subject areas. We also find that policies promoting consistency in the form of alignment between standards and assessments are perhaps the most important type of policies that states can adopt to encourage teachers to participate in effective professional development.

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Democrazy—Dem Go Craze, O: Monitoring the 1999 Nigerian Elections

Issue A Journal of Opinion ◽

10.1017/s1548450500005862 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 29-33

Author(s):

Darren Kew

Keyword(s):

Transition Program ◽

The Political ◽

High Stakes ◽

Political Class ◽

Soccer Match ◽

The Public ◽

The Military

In many respects, the least important part of the 1999 elections were the elections themselves. From the beginning of General Abdusalam Abubakar’s transition program in mid-1998, most Nigerians who were not part of the wealthy “political class” of elites—which is to say, most Nigerians— adopted their usual politically savvy perspective of siddon look (sit and look). They waited with cautious optimism to see what sort of new arrangement the military would allow the civilian politicians to struggle over, and what in turn the civilians would offer the public. No one had any illusions that anything but high-stakes bargaining within the military and the political class would determine the structures of power in the civilian government. Elections would influence this process to the extent that the crowd influences a soccer match.

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School Success and School Engagement of Immigrant Children and Adolescents

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000139 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 126-135 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Frosso Motti-Stefanidi ◽

Ann S. Masten

Keyword(s):

Academic Achievement ◽

Academic Success ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

School Engagement ◽

School Success ◽

Immigrant Children ◽

Integrative Model ◽

High Stakes ◽

The Individual

Academic achievement in immigrant children and adolescents is an indicator of current and future adaptive success. Since the future of immigrant youths is inextricably linked to that of the receiving society, the success of their trajectory through school becomes a high stakes issue both for the individual and society. The present article focuses on school success in immigrant children and adolescents, and the role of school engagement in accounting for individual and group differences in academic achievement from the perspective of a multilevel integrative model of immigrant youths’ adaptation ( Motti-Stefanidi, Berry, Chryssochoou, Sam, & Phinney, 2012 ). Drawing on this conceptual framework, school success is examined in developmental and acculturative context, taking into account multiple levels of analysis. Findings suggest that for both immigrant and nonimmigrant youths the relationship between school engagement and school success is bidirectional, each influencing over time the other. Evidence regarding potential moderating and mediating roles of school engagement for the academic success of immigrant youths also is evaluated.

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