The Value of Standardized Testing

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron S. Benjamin ◽  
Hal Pashler
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Common Core ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
The United States ◽  
Instructional Interventions ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Philanthropic Organizations

Recent years have seen an increased push toward the standardization of education in the United States. At the federal level, both major national political parties have generally supported the institution of national guidelines known as Common Core—a curriculum developed by states and by philanthropic organizations. A key component of past and present educational reform measures has been standardization of tests. However, increased reliance upon tests has elicited criticism, limiting their popular acceptance and widespread adoption. Tests are not only useful for assessment purposes, however. The goal of this article is to review evidence from the recent literature in psychology that indicates that tests produce direct educational benefits for students. A reconsideration of how and how many tests are implemented based on these principles may help soften the focus on testing solely as a means of assessment and help promote wider recognition of the role of tests as potent instructional interventions.

The Role of Congress in the Development of a Responsible American Policy Toward Angola

1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 18-21
Author(s):  
Gerald J. Bender
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Commission Report ◽  
American Policy

In addition to our discussions today of the current situation in Angola, I would like to direct my remarks to the question of what role, if any, the United States should play with regard to Angola, and concretely, how the Congress can assist in the formulation and execution of a responsible American policy toward Angola. We have all learned a number of important lessons from recent revelations about the conduct of American policy in Southeast Asia, about Government coverups such as Watergate, corporate bribery of foreign officials and political parties, and about the illegal and unacceptable activities of the CIA as described in the Rockefeller Commission report and elsewhere. Certainly we can apply some of these lessons to our present consideration of U.S. policy toward Angola; hopefully we will learn the vital facts and ask the necessary questions now, rather than, as has too often been the case, after the fact.

scholarly journals Activating Community Resilience: The Emergence of COVID-19 Funds Across the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 1119-1128
Author(s):  
Laurie E. Paarlberg ◽  
Megan LePere-Schloop ◽  
Marlene Walk ◽  
Jin Ai ◽  
Yue Ming
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Organizational Capacity ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Resources ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Community Capitals ◽  
Philanthropic Organizations ◽  
Global Threat

This article draws upon concepts of community resilience to explore the antecedents of community philanthropic organizations’ response to COVID-19. Although the pandemic is a global threat, responses have been local. We test a model of community resilience activation in the context of the emergence of local COVID-19 funds. We find that a philanthropic organization’s capacity to act in a crisis and respond to the needs of the community depends on the stock of community capitals and organizational capacity. The importance of economic, cultural, and political factors in predicting the emergence of a fund raises important questions about disparities in resilience along class and race lines and the role of political ideology in shaping perceptions of crises. Our research contributes to our understanding of community philanthropic organizations’ capacity to activate community resources during a crisis.

The Whigs' America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph W. Pearson ◽  
Dick Gilbreath
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Collaborative Effort ◽  
Vast Array ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
The Past ◽  
Role Of The State

This book is about politics, exploring the general outlook of a group of Americans called Whigs. The Whigs were one of the two great political parties in the United States between the years 1834 and 1856, battling their opponents the Jacksonian Democrats for offices, prestige, and power. This book explores how Whiggish Americans understood human nature, society, and the role of the state, and explains how they reflected on the past and anticipated the future. A Whig worldview resonated with a vast array of future-looking people in large cities and small villages, in factories and on farms, and in the varied state houses across the country, as well as the in halls of Congress. The Whig Promise attracted those Americans seeking middle-class achievement, community, and meaning through collaborative effort and self-control in a world growing more and more impersonal.

Gender and Elections

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Voter Participation ◽  
Depth Analysis

The fifth edition of Gender and Elections offers a lively, multi-faceted account of the role of gender in the electoral process through the 2020 elections. This timely yet enduring volume strikes a balance between highlighting the most important developments for women as voters and candidates in the 2020 elections and providing an in-depth analysis of the ways that gender has helped shape the contours and outcomes of electoral politics in the United States. Individual chapters demonstrate the importance of gender in understanding presidential, congressional, and state elections; voter participation, turnout, and choices; participation of African American women and Latinas; support of political parties and women's organizations; and candidate communication. New chapters explore the role of social movements in elections and introduce concepts of gendered and raced institutions, intersectionality, and identity politics applied to presidential elections from past to present. The resulting volume is the most comprehensive and reliable resource on the role of gender in electoral politics.

Barriers to Schooling in Survivorship: The Role of Neuropsychological Assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e1516-e1523
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Jacobson ◽  
E. Juliana Paré-Blagoev ◽  
Kathy Ruble
Keyword(s):  
Retention Rate ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Neuropsychological Evaluation ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Evaluation Standard ◽  
Oncology Providers ◽  
Appropriate Education ◽  
Specific Barriers

PURPOSE: Pediatric cancer survivorship rates continue to improve, although disease- and treatment-related neurocognitive impacts substantively affect survivors’ educational access and availability for learning. Receiving formal educational supports substantially improves survivors’ academic progress and graduation rates; however, parents of survivors report obtaining such support is stressful, in part due to limited knowledge on their part and that of their oncology providers. METHODS: Parents (N = 195) of pediatric survivors across the United States were surveyed to explore specific barriers to obtaining appropriate educational supports and the facilitating role of the oncologist. RESULTS: Parent-reported barriers included limited access to formal educational supports, under-referral to neuropsychology services, and need for more information about available supports and how best to advocate for these, when needed. Not only were few survivors (35.4%) referred for neuropsychological evaluation, standard of care for many pediatric survivors, but survivors were more than five times more likely to be retained in grade compared with the national retention rate. When obtained, parents reported that the neuropsychological consultation and associated report were helpful in increasing their own understanding and addressing barriers to obtaining adequate supports for their children. CONCLUSION: Given the important role of neuropsychological evaluation for survivors and their families, bringing referral rates more in line with national guidelines represents a critical target for oncologists. With adequate training in relevant issues, the oncologist is positioned to be a key support to survivors and their families in ensuring access to neuropsychological services and reducing barriers to an appropriate education.

scholarly journals Pakistan’s Politics of Alliances and the Role of Pakistani Military in Politics (1954-1958): Uneven and Combined Development

2017 ◽  
Vol II (I) ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Ali Jibran ◽  
Syed Ali Shah ◽  
Muhammad Bilal
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Martial Law ◽  
Uneven And Combined Development ◽  
The Impact

The states have to adjust to the pressure exerted by the 'international'; yet impact of the 'international' on national politics has been ignored by mainstream international relations theories. This study uses a framework of "Uneven and Combined Development" to investigate the impact of Pakistan's inclusion in the United States led defense pacts on Pakistan military's role in domestic politics from 1954 to 1958. The central finding of this research is that the United States preferred Pakistan military over political leadership in Pakistan to checkmate communism in Asia as well as to stop communist political parties gaining power in Pakistan. By participating in these international pacts, the role of Pakistan military expanded in politics which culminated in the first martial law (1958).

Democrat, Republican, or None of the Above? The Role of Religiosity in Muslim American Party Identification

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt A. Barreto ◽  
Dino N. Bozonelos
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
The United States ◽  
Muslim Americans ◽  
Muslim American ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Partisan Identification ◽  
American Party

AbstractThe role of religiosity as an important predictor of partisan identification has been well researched over the years, with most of our understanding of religion focused on Christianity. However, it is not clear that religiosity operates equally for the partisan identification of non-Christian religious groups. One of the most discussed religious minority groups in the United States today is Muslim-Americans. Numbering between 2.3 million and 7 million, Muslim-Americans have been the focus of considerable debate regarding religion and American political inclusion. We argue that religiosity does influence Muslim-American party identification, however not in the same manner as with other groups. While the two major political parties encourage religiosity among Protestants, Jews, and Catholics, they are either silent or opposed to religiosity among Muslims within their parties. Thus, religiosity among Muslim-Americans may not necessarily lead to partisan identification with either Republicans or Democrats. Rather, high levels of religiosity, coupled with perceptions of discrimination against Muslims, may lead many to oppose both major political parties and instead identify with “none of the above.” This is not to say that Muslim-Americans reject civic engagement or political participation in the United States, but rather the two political parties have not carved out a space to welcome Islam, as they have for Christianity and Judaism. We examine new data from the 2007 Muslim-American Public Opinion Survey to assess the predictors of partisan identification among Muslims in the United States.

Personal leaders and party change: Italy in comparative perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fortunato Musella
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The United States ◽  
Party Change ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Party Leadership ◽  
New Parties ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
New Procedures ◽  
Selection Of

IntroduzioneParty leaders have become more powerful and autonomous actors in recent years by developing a direct and personal relationship with citizens. As anticipated in the United States (Lowi, 1985), the rise of the ‘personal leader’ seems to have occurred in many European democracies, both in old parties and in more recently formed parties, with a widespread tendency for them to be promoted and controlled by individual leaders. Nevertheless, party leadership remains quite a neglected theme in political science. Through a data set including ~500 party presidents in 13 democracies, this article focusses on the personalization of party leadership by comparing Italy with other Western countries. More particularly, new procedures for the selection of party chairs, the centralization of power in political parties, and the new role of party leaders in the legislative/governmental arena are analysed, given their importance to such a process. The article summarizes new data on the party leaders’ characteristics, with regards to their political backgrounds, how they are elected, how long they stay in office, and whether they become prime minister or enter the executive. In this way, we are able to see how some new parties are created from the outset as highly personalized and centralized parties (Forza Italia being the paradigmatic case), whereas other older parties have also evolved in a personalized direction.

scholarly journals Role of High Schools in Undocumented Students' College Choice

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Kenny Nienhusser
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
High Schools ◽  
College Choice ◽  
Undocumented Students ◽  
The United States ◽  
Institutional Agents ◽  
College Choice Process ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Education Benefits

In recent years, some states in the United States have enacted policies that grant some higher education benefits—primarily in-state resident tuition eligibility—to certain undocumented students. While in existence since 2001, little is known of the role of high school institutional agents in implementing such policies. This study describes the efforts of seven New York City high schools to educate their undocumented students about such educational benefits within their college choice process. It details five categories of activities that institutional agents developed to address undocumented students’ college choice needs. These college choice activities included: one-on-one counseling, presentations, outreach, scholarship, and curriculum. This study also examined the effects of institutional demographics on the process of educating undocumented students about their college choice. It discovered that those high schools that had higher percentages of undocumented students had a greater number of college choice activities and had organized their implementation in such a way as to make information more available to this student population. This article concludes with a section that is devoted to implications for research and practice.

scholarly journals Vote intent and beliefs about democracy in the United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris Dunn ◽  
Judd R Thornton
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
The United States ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
Party Support ◽  
Severe Punishment

Democracy is an abstract and murky concept. This is particularly apparent in the wide variety of beliefs about democracy held by publics around the globe. Within democracies, political parties often define and name themselves with reference to a particular understanding of democracy. This article focuses on this partisan division in understanding democracy. We suggest that parties will attract those who share similar beliefs about democracy. Specifically, we look at whether differences in beliefs about democracy predict party support in the United States. Examining the responses of US participants to the fifth wave of the World Values Survey, we find that differences on a number of “essential” aspects of democracy among individuals predict vote intent (and party identification). Those more likely to understand democracy as a form of government that promotes civil liberties and the redistribution of wealth to protect the vulnerable are more likely to vote Democrat. Those who report stronger associations between democracy and both religious interpretation of laws and severe punishment of criminals are more likely to vote Republican. This research reinforces the idea that policy differences between the two main parties in the United States may derive from different understandings of the role of government in society.

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