Failing to fail: MUM effect and its implications in education

It is important to carry out the assessment of students correctly and in an unbiased way; but more importantly, the assessment decisions should also be conveyed to the students in an unbiased manner, even if the decisions are negative ones. But here lies the catch – many a times, assessors tend to shy away from conveying such negative decisions properly to the students due to various reasons. This article is an effort to identify such reasons and their implications in the education scenario.

Analisis Dan Implementasi Sistem Pendukung Keputusan Dengan Metode Topsis Mengidentifikasi Kecamatan Terbaik Di Kota Tanjungbalai

The Tanjungbalai City Government annually conducts an assessment of the best sub-district using existing indicators. So far, the assessment has only used Microsoft Excel calculations so that the time used to carry out the assessment process seems long and slow. To overcome these problems, a solution method with accuracy and speed in making the best district assessment decisions is needed. The Decision Support System was made using the Laravel framework and the MariaDB database and the method used was TOPSIS. The results of the best sub-district assessment using a Decision Support System with the TOPSIS method are needed to assist the assessment team in carrying out a faster assessment process so that the results obtained are much better. Analysis and implementation of a decision support system using the TOPSIS method to classify the best sub-districts in Tanjungbalai City facilitates the decision-making process to be faster and better for the Tanjungbalai City Regional Secretariat, especially in the Government section in choosing the best District based on existing criteria. The results of processing the system are 100% the same as the results of manual processing. Therefore this system is very helpful in speeding up work.Keyword: Decision support system; TOPSIS; Best District Assessment. Abstrak: Pemerintah Kota Tanjungbalai setiap tahunnya mengadakan penilaian Kecamatan terbaik dengan menggunakan indikator-indikator yang ada. Selama ini penilaian yang dilakukan hanya menggunakan perhitungan Microsoft Excel sehingga waktu yang digunakan untuk melakukan proses penilaian terkesan lama dan lambat. Untuk mengatasi permasalahan tersebut maka diperlukanlah metode penyelesaian dengan ketepatan dan kecepatan pada pengambilan keputusan penilaian kecamatan terbaik. Sistem Pendukung Keputusan tersebut dibuat menggunakan framework Laravel dan basis data MariaDB serta metode yang digunakan adalah TOPSIS. Hasil dari Penilaian kecamatan terbaik menggunakan Sistem Pendukung Keputusan dengan metode TOPSIS sangat dibutuhkan untuk membantu tim penilai dalam melaksanakan proses penilaian yang lebih cepat agar hasil yang akan didapatkan jauh lebih baik. Analisis dan implementasi sistem pendukung keputusan dengan metode TOPSIS mengklasifikasi kecamatan terbaik di Kota Tanjungbalai memudahkan proses pengambilan keputusan menjadi lebih cepat dan lebih bagus kepada Sekretaraiat Daerah Kota Tanjungabalai khususnya dibagian Pemerintahan dalam memilih Kecamatan terbaik berdasarkan kriteria/indikator yang ada. Hasil pengolahan sistem 100 % sama dengan hasil pengolahan secara manual. Maka dari itu sistem ini sangat membantu dalam mempercepat pekerjaan.Kata Kunci : Sistem Pendukung Keputusan;TOPSIS;Penilaian Kecamatan Terbaik.

Perceptions of Tone at the Top from the Inside: Insights into Audit Pricing

Tone at the top plays an important role in entities’ internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) and in auditors’ planning and risk assessment decisions. Using a novel measure based on employee perceptions, we find that strong tone at the top is associated with reduced audit pricing and that this relation holds even for firms that report effective ICFR. This relation is stronger when employees’ tone perceptions are more consistent throughout the organization, when accounting is more complex, and when earnings manipulation risk is higher. We also find that strong tone is negatively associated with the incidence of reported material weaknesses and positively associated with positive abnormal accruals, and that the management integrity component of tone is more strongly associated with audit pricing than is the quality of management communication. Finally, we find evidence that auditors become familiar with employees' tone perceptions in the normal course of an audit.

The Evolving Concept of (Language) Assessment Literacy. Implications for Teacher Education

Language teachers’ assessment knowledge and skills have received considerable attention from language assessment researchers over the past few decades (Davison & Leung, 2009; Hill & McNamara, 2012; Rea-Dickins, 2001; Taylor, 2013). This seems to be linked to the increased professionalism expected of them in classroom-based assessments. However, teachers seem to face a number of challenges, including how large-scale standardized language exams influence their classroom assessment practices. Teachers’ assessment literacy, therefore, needs to be examined in order to explain their assessment decisions. In this paper, we review the concept of (language) assessment literacy, how it has evolved and how it is conceptualized currently. Recent interpretations seem to reflect a multidimensional, dynamic and situated view of (language) assessment literacy. Implications for teacher education are also highlighted by presenting research findings from studies that explored teachers’ and teacher candidates’ assessment literacy in various educational contexts. As a result, we can identify some common patterns in classroom assessment practices as well as context-specific training needs. Finally, we make a recommendation for tackling some of the challenges language teachers are facing in relation to classroom-based assessment in the Hungarian context.

A comparative analysis of international health technology assessments for novel gene silencing therapies: patisiran and inotersen

Objectives: Using the case study of patisiran and inotersen, we conducted a narrative comparative analysis of the health technology assessment (HTA) agency appraisals of these two first-in-class transthyretin gene silencers, which represent exceptional advances in the treatment of hereditary transthyretin-mediated (hATTR) amyloidosis, a rare and multisystemic disease. Despite the impact of each product on the treatment landscape, the majority of HTAs are only considered standard of care as a comparator, resulting in a void of information and limited comprehension of the clinical and pharmacoeconomic differences between the two treatments. Methods: A search was conducted internationally for HTA reports, and only instances where assessment decisions for both treatments were publicly available were included in the present analysis. The HTA reports were analyzed broadly for the assessment of clinical and pharmacoeconomic evidence. Only economic models considering both patisiran and inotersen were included in this analysis. Results: A total of nine agencies with public assessment reports for both treatments were identified. HTA agency assessments for both treatments were essentially positive; however, differences were noted in the final recommendations, place in treatment or reimbursed indications, and in the narrative of the evaluations. Only the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) assessment for patisiran evaluated an economic model comparing the two treatments. Conclusions: The differences summarized in this comparative analysis may provide a more comprehensive overview of the two treatments.

Using Inter-Rater Discourse to Trace the Origins of Disagreement: Towards Collective Reflective Practice in L2 Assessment

This article explores how the analysis of inter-rater discourse can be used to support collective reflective practice in second language (L2) assessment. To demonstrate, a focused case of the discourse between two experienced language teachers as they negotiate assessment decisions on L2 written texts is presented. Of particular interest was the discourse surrounding the raters’ most divergent assessment decisions, which in this case were those relating to Task Achievement. Thematic analysis indicated that rater discourse predominantly focused on explicit objective factors, primarily the L2 texts and the rating scale; however, rater discourse also focused on more subjective, rater-centred factors. The discourse surrounding these rater-centred factors was often central to the identification and resolution of rating disagreements. The paper argues that the subjective dimension of language assessment needs to be more directly and systematically reflected upon in language teaching contexts and that analysis of rater discourse, especially discourse focused on points of disagreement between raters, provides a valuable mechanism to facilitate this.

Sistem Pendukung Keputusan Penentuan Desa Terbaik Dalam Pengelolaan Dana Desa Pada Kecamatan Merdeka Kabupaten Karo Menggunakan Simple Additive Weighting (SAW)

In making a decision, a system that can recommend the best village is based on criteria determined by the user. Support System for Deciding the Best Village Determination in Village Fund Management in Merdeka District, Karo District using the SAW (Simple Additive Weighting) Method. The SAW method can help in making a case decision, but calculations using the SAW method only produce the greatest value that will be selected as the best alternative. Results C01, C02, C03, C04, C05, C06, C07, form the decision matrix. Normalization calculation results to get a normalized value matrix (R). Analysis Results, displays alternative data values and criteria data values. Obtained total assessment, followed by ranking. For the report, the highest total score is the result of the Best Village Assessment in managing village funds. Assessment decisions are displayed in the Report Menu.

Statistics for Classroom Language Assessment: Using Numbers Meaningfully

Large-scale language testing uses statistical information to account for the quality of an assessment system. In this reflection article, I explain how basic statistics can be used meaningfully in the context of classroom language assessment. The paper explores a series of statistical calculations that can be used to examine test scores and assessment decisions in the language classroom. Therefore, interpretations for criterion-referenced assessment underlie the paper. Finally, I discuss limitations and include recommendations for teachers to use statistics.