Dynamic complexity results from hidden, un known factors-or more precisely, interactions between factors-that can unexpectedly im pact the perfor mance of systems. When the influences of dynamic complexity are not meas ured and understood, new never-seen-before behaviors can come as unwelcomed surprises, which disrupt the performance of systems. Left alone, processes that were once prized for their effi ciency unexpectedly begin to degrade-costs increase, while volumes and quality decline. Evidence of problems may come too late for effective resolution as technology advance ments induce rapid change and compress the time available to react to that change. The results of dynamic complexity are always negative and unmanaged dynamic complexity can bring business or global systems to the point of sudden chaos. The 2009 H1N1 pandemic, 2008 Credit Crunch and 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster are global examples of the dangers of undiagnosed dynamic complexity. With increasing frequency executive leaders today are discovering that their business and IT system performance levels are not meeting expectations. In most cases these performance deficiencies are caused by dynamic complexity, which lies hidden like a cancer until the symptoms reveal themselves-often when it is too late to avoid negative impacts on business outcomes. This book examines the growing business problem of dynamic complexity and presents a path to a practical solution. To achieve better predictability, organizations must be able to expose new, dangerous patterns of behavior in time to take corrective actions and know which actions will yield the optimal results. The book authors promote new methods of risk management that use data collection, analytics, machine learning and automation processes to help organizations more accurately predict the future and take strategic actions to improve performance outcomes. The presented means of achieving this goal are based upon the authors' practical experiences, backed by scientific principles, and results achieved through consulting engagements with over 350 global organizations.

Today we are seeing a new form of blended learning: not only is technology enhancing the learning environment but formal and informal learning are combining and there is self- and peer-assessment of results. Open learning cultures are challenging the old and long-practiced methods used by educators and transforming learning into a more student-driven and independent activity , which uses online tools such as blogs, wikis or podcasts to connect resources, students and teachers in a novel way. While in higher education institutions most assessments are still tied to formal learning scenarios, teachers are more and more bound to recognize their students' informal learning processes and networks. This book will help teachers, lecturers and students to better understand how open learning landscapes work, how to define quality and create assessments in such environments, and how to apply these new measures. To this end, Ehlers first elaborates the technological background for more collaborative, distributed, informal, and self-guided learning. He covers the rise of social media for learning and shows how an architecture of participation can change learning activities. These new paradigms are then applied to learning and education to outline what open learning landscapes look like. Here he highlights the shift from knowledge transfer to competence development, the increase in lifelong learning, and the importance of informal learning, user generated content, and open educational resources. He then shows how to manage quality by presenting a step by step guide to developing customized quality concepts for open learning landscapes. Finally, several methods dealing with assessment in these new environments are presented, including guidelines, templates and use cases to exemplify the approaches. Overall, Ehlers argues for assessment as an integral part of learning processes, with quality assurance as a method of stimulating a quality culture and continuous quality development rather than as a simple controlling exercise.

This textbook provides in-depth instruction for conducting psychoeducational assessments of children in grades K-12 and conveying results through detailed, well-written reports. It takes readers step by step through the assessment process - collecting data, writing reports, and communicating conclusions - for students with conditions spanning the range of IDEA classifications such as autism, learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, and conditions covered by Section 504. The book offers not only a broad understanding of assessment and communication skills, but also of the ethical, legal, cultural, and professional considerations that come with psychoeducational evaluation. And its sample reports model clear, well-organized results accessible to parents and caregivers as well as teachers and colleagues. Key areas of coverage include: * Assessment basics: the testing environment and protocols, interviewing, and observation. * Report writing section by section, from reason for referral to summary and recommendations. * Guidelines for oral reporting, with case examples. * Special issues in psychoeducational assessment and report writing. * Sample psychoeducational reports using this framework. Psychoeducational Assessment and Report Writing is an essential text for graduate students, researchers, professors, and professionals in child and school psychology; assessment, testing, and evaluation; social work; and psychological methods/evaluation.

Why is assessment so important in the teaching-learning process?

How should we assess pupils in the primary classroom?

Assessing Learning in the Primary Classroom is an accessible introduction to the concepts critical to a professional understanding of this vital aspect of a teacher s role. It comprehensively considers the principles underpinning effective assessment, the different forms it can take and the different purposes it serves, both within and beyond the classroom.

Linking the latest research and theory with examples of assessment in the classroom, it considers key issues such as:

• Why we assess
• How we assess
• How we ensure quality in assessment: validity and reliability
• Assessment internal and external to the school
• Statutory assessment throughout the primary school
• Local, national and international assessment
• Using assessment results in pupil, teacher, school and system evaluation

Assessing Learning in the Primary Classroom is for all students undertaking their PGCE, those working at masters level, and experienced teachers who wish to broaden their understanding of both the value and pitfalls of educational assessment.

Check pupils are on track and making expected progress with six reading comprehension tests for Year 1/P2. Carefully selected extracts provide a range of vocabulary, styles and content to build reading skills towards SATs. Photocopiable and editable, these informal tests help identify gaps in learning and next steps. Assess pupils' comprehension skills in Year 1 with questions that gradually introduce SATs style language to help build familiarity for end of KS1 tests. Measure progress every half term with short, illustrated, cross curricular fiction, non-fiction and poetry comprehension tests. Check pupils are on track for the expected standard with guidance and SATs style mark schemes. Save time with high quality tests written by primary literacy experts and a range of unseen age-appropriate extracts. Easy to use with national curriculum objectives and content domain references set out in a yearly overview. Available for Years 1-6/P2-P7, you can provide a consistent and systematic way of assessing reading comprehension in your school.

Check pupils are on track and making expected progress with six reading comprehension tests for Year 6/P7. Carefully selected longer extracts provide a range of vocabulary, styles and content to build reading skills and stamina towards KS2 SATs. Photocopiable and editable, these informal tests help identify gaps in learning and next steps. Assess pupils' comprehension skills in Year 6 with questions that use SATs style language to help build confidence and prepare for end of KS2 tests. Measure progress every half term with illustrated, reading comprehension tests which cover stories, non-fiction, poetry and plays. There are two extracts per test. Check pupils are on track for the expected standard with guidance and SATs style mark schemes. Save time with high quality tests written by primary literacy experts and a range of unseen age-appropriate extracts. Easy to use with national curriculum objectives and content domain references set out in a yearly overview. Available for Years 1-6/P2-P7, you can provide a consistent and systematic way of assessing reading comprehension in your school.

Check pupils are on track and making expected progress with six reading comprehension tests for Year 4/P5. Carefully selected extracts provide a range of vocabulary, styles and content to build reading skills towards KS2 SATs. Photocopiable and editable, these informal tests help identify gaps in learning and next steps. Assess pupils' comprehension skills in Year 4 with questions that use SATs style language to help build familiarity and confidence for end of KS2 tests. Measure progress every half term with illustrated, cross curricular fiction, non-fiction and poetry comprehension tests. There are two extracts per test. Check pupils are on track for the expected standard with guidance and SATs style mark schemes. Save time with high quality tests written by primary literacy experts and a range of unseen age-appropriate extracts. Easy to use with national curriculum objectives and content domain references set out in a yearly overview. Available for Years 1-6/P2-P7, you can provide a consistent and systematic way of assessing reading comprehension in your school.

This book provides ways of thinking for preservice and new teachers to transition from the theory behind curricular design to engaged teaching and learning in the classroom. It offers a comprehensive framework for the creation and implementation of one's own authentic and effective ELA curriculum. In addition to strategies for preservice teachers to develop their own pedagogies, lessons, and teaching techniques, Costigan also demonstrates how to design tools for teaching in the current testing- and standards-driven context of the educational reform movement. Containing real-life examples of reading and writing instruction, this book empowers preservice teachers to translate the concepts of curriculum design to actual ELA classroom practices that will engage students.

50 Techniques for Engaging Students and Assessing Learning in College Courses Do you want to: * Know what and how well your students are learning? * Promote active learning in ways that readily integrate assessment? * Gather information that can help make grading more systematic and streamlined? * Efficiently collect solid learning outcomes data for institutional assessment? * Provide evidence of your teaching effectiveness for promotion and tenure review? Learning Assessment Techniques provides 50 easy-to-implement active learning techniques that gauge student learning across academic disciplines and learning environments. Using Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning as its organizational framework, it embeds assessment within active learning activities. Each technique features: purpose and use, key learning goals, step-by-step implementation, online adaptation, analysis and reporting, concrete examples in both on-site and online environments, and key references all in an easy-to-follow format. The book includes an all-new Learning Goals Inventory, as well as more than 35 customizable assessment rubrics, to help teachers determine significant learning goals and appropriate techniques. Readers will also gain access to downloadable supplements, including a worksheet to guide teachers through the six steps of the Learning Assessment Techniques planning and implementation cycle. College teachers today are under increased pressure to teach effectively and provide evidence of what, and how well, students are learning. An invaluable asset for college teachers of any subject, Learning Assessment Techniques provides a practical framework for seamlessly integrating teaching, learning, and assessment.

Everything you need to pass the TASC If you're looking to gauge your readiness for the high school equivalency exam and want to give it all you've got, TASC For Dummies has everything you need. The TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion) is a state-of-the art, affordable, national high school equivalency assessment that evaluates five subject areas: reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. With the help of this hands-on, friendly guide, you'll gain the confidence and skills needed to score your highest and gain your high school diploma equivalency. * Helps you measure your career and college readiness, as outlined by the Common Core State Standards * Focuses entirely on the 5 sections of the TASC and the various question types you'll encounter on test day * Includes two full-length TASC practice tests with complete answers and explanations So far, New York, Indiana, New Jersey, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Nevada have adopted TASC as their official high school equivalency assessment test. If you're a resident of one of these states and want an easy-to-grasp introduction to the exam, TASC For Dummies has you covered. Written in plain English and packed with tons of practical and easy-to-follow explanations, it gets you up to speed on this alternative to the GED.

This book challenges institutions and their programs to prioritize the use of chronological assessment results to benefit enrolled students in comparison with the more common practice of prolonged assessment cycles that generally benefit future students. Peggy Maki advocates for real-time assessment processes to identify patterns of underperformance and obstacles that require timely interventions for enrolled students to succeed. In tandem with the sets of educational practices and policies that many institutions have now undertaken to close achievement and graduation rates across our diverse student demographics, such as developing clear degree pathways, she calls on all higher education providers - if they are to remain relevant and meet their social purpose in our complex world - to urgently recalibrate their assessment processes to focus on currently enrolled students' progress towards achieving a high-quality degree, regardless of when they matriculate or re-enter higher education. She demonstrates that we already have sufficient examples and evidence to implement real-time assessment of students as they progress through their studies. She draws on the practices of specialized accredited programs, such as those in the professions that assess in real time; on the experiences of institutions that have adopted competency-based education; and on the affordances of technologies that now provide faculty and students with up-to-the-minute diagnostics. She identifies the six principles necessary to implement a real-time assessment process, illustrated by case studies of how campuses have operationalized them to advance students' equitable progress towards achieving a high-quality degree; and demonstrates the benefits of real-time assessment compared to more future-oriented processes, among which is engaging students in reflecting on their own progress along their degree pathways. She advocates for the use of well documented national outcomes-based frameworks such as Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP), its aligned Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education scoring rubrics ( VALUE), the Degree Qualifications Profile, and discipline-based outcomes assessments to ensure high-quality degrees that meet well-defined standards and criteria. She also identifies how data systems and technological developments help to monitor closely and respond in time to students' patterns of underperformance. The book is an urgent call for higher education to achieve the values of equity, transparency and quality it espouses; and ensure that all students graduate in a timely fashion with the competencies they need to be active and productive citizens.

This book challenges institutions and their programs to prioritize the use of chronological assessment results to benefit enrolled students in comparison with the more common practice of prolonged assessment cycles that generally benefit future students. Peggy Maki advocates for real-time assessment processes to identify patterns of underperformance and obstacles that require timely interventions for enrolled students to succeed. In tandem with the sets of educational practices and policies that many institutions have now undertaken to close achievement and graduation rates across our diverse student demographics, such as developing clear degree pathways, she calls on all higher education providers - if they are to remain relevant and meet their social purpose in our complex world - to urgently recalibrate their assessment processes to focus on currently enrolled students' progress towards achieving a high-quality degree, regardless of when they matriculate or re-enter higher education. She demonstrates that we already have sufficient examples and evidence to implement real-time assessment of students as they progress through their studies. She draws on the practices of specialized accredited programs, such as those in the professions that assess in real time; on the experiences of institutions that have adopted competency-based education; and on the affordances of technologies that now provide faculty and students with up-to-the-minute diagnostics. She identifies the six principles necessary to implement a real-time assessment process, illustrated by case studies of how campuses have operationalized them to advance students' equitable progress towards achieving a high-quality degree; and demonstrates the benefits of real-time assessment compared to more future-oriented processes, among which is engaging students in reflecting on their own progress along their degree pathways. She advocates for the use of well documented national outcomes-based frameworks such as Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP), its aligned Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education scoring rubrics ( VALUE), the Degree Qualifications Profile, and discipline-based outcomes assessments to ensure high-quality degrees that meet well-defined standards and criteria. She also identifies how data systems and technological developments help to monitor closely and respond in time to students' patterns of underperformance. The book is an urgent call for higher education to achieve the values of equity, transparency and quality it espouses; and ensure that all students graduate in a timely fashion with the competencies they need to be active and productive citizens.

The role of parents in their children's education is an issue of critical importance. Many of the changes currently underway in British schools have been justified on the grounds that they provide "what parents want." But what do parents really want? And how have they reacted to the changes already introduced in the UK, such as increased parental choice, the National Curriculum, and standardized assessment?

"Parents and Their Children's Schools" is the first book to tackle this important issue in depth and will be important reading for all those involved in education. It presents the findings of a unique research study which looked directly at these questions. The study followed 150 children through Key Stage One (5-7 years) of the National Curriculum, culminating in the first standardized assessments of 7 year olds ever to take place in the UK. The book presents the views of their parents and teachers, obtained through regular in-depth interviews at crucial stages during this period. As such, it provides important insights into the changes currently underway in schools and their effects on parents. In a broader context, it makes a major contribution to our understanding of the fundamental relationship between parents and schools.

International statistical comparisons of nations have become commonplace in the contemporary landscape of education policy and social science. This book discusses the emergence of these international comparisons as a particular style of reasoning about education, society and science. By examining how international educational assessments have come to dominate much of contemporary policymaking concerning school system performance, the authors provide concrete case studies highlighting the preeminent role of numbers in furthering neoliberal education reform. Demonstrating how numbers serve as 'rationales' to shape and fashion social issues, this text opens new avenues for thinking about institutional and epistemological factors that produce and shape educational policy, research and schooling in transnational contexts.

This book is a practical guide to the intellectual assessment of children and adolescents in the schools. Although primarily intended for graduate students in school psychology training programs and practicing school psychologists, it should also be useful for those involved with making decisions in schools that are based, in part, on the results of intelligence tests, including counselors, teachers, administrators, and other school personnel. In writing it, we placed particular emphasis on evidence-based practices pertaining to the use and interpretation of intelligence tests. The assessment of intelligence has long been mandated by law for eligibility determination for special education and related services. At the current time, however, there is widespread disagreement about the use and interpretation of intelligence tests. Nevertheless, none of the currently available books on intellectual assessment critically reviews the scientific evidence regarding the critical role played by intelligence tests in the schools for the determination of eligibility for special education and related services. One of the main intentions of this book was to fill that gap and to recommend best practices with scientific support.

This practical guide introduces functional behavioral assessment as a critical tool in planning interventions to reduce disruptive and other problematic behaviors. The book offers proven methods and strategies as a four-stage protocol in an easy-to-follow format with checklists, Q&A sections, applications, and an extended case example including an assessment report and intervention plan. Step-by-step instructions are delivered in an accessible teaching style, making all phases of assessment equally manageable. And although functional behavioral assessment is typically associated with schoolchildren, this material is also useful for working with adults in residential and community settings. The Guide gives readers: The basics of functional behavioral assessment. Guidance in preparing for conducting a functional behavioral assessment. An overview of assessment methods: formal and informal measures, interview, and observation. A framework for translating assessment data into an appropriate intervention plan. In-depth understanding of the role of prevention in behavioral intervention. A kit of questionnaires, worksheets, and other ready-to-use resources. Practitioner's Guide to Functional Behavioral Assessment is an essential resource for clinicians and related professionals as well as researchers and graduate students in school and clinical child psychology; behavior therapy; assessment, testing and evaluation; special education; and educational psychology.

2013 Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Review Kumar asks in this volume: Since characteristic features of human consciousness - fear, conditioning, and fragmentation - work against the educational experience, how can we re-imagine curriculum as a space for meditative inquiry and allow it to provide transformative educational experiences to teachers and their students?

Including relevant case studies and interviews with practitioners, Augmented Education explores the nature of learning where the 'real world' is augmented by use of the virtual to create new learning possibilities, tools, and environments. and offers insights into the development of a pedagogy that is authentic, inclusive and enjoyable.

Gordon shows how we can use assessment to support teaching and develop students' competencies. Between 2011 and 2013, Gordon chaired an interdisciplinary commission of scholars and thinkers, who connected transformative research and ideas on learning, teaching, measurement, the nature of tests, intelligence, capability, technology, and policy.

Developing educational software requires thinking, problematizing, representing, modeling, implementing and analyzing pedagogical objectives and issues, as well as conceptual models and software architectures. Computer scientists face the difficulty of understanding the particular issues and phenomena to be taken into account in educational software projects and of avoiding a naive technocentered perspective. On the other hand, actors with backgrounds in human or social sciences face the difficulty of understanding software design and implementation issues, and how computer scientists engage in these tasks.

Tchounikine argues that these difficulties cannot be solved by building a kind of general theory or general engineering methodology to be adopted by all actors for all projects: educational software projects may correspond to very different realities, and may be conducted within very different perspectives and with very different matters of concern. Thus the issue of understanding each others perspectives and elaborating some common ground is to be considered in context, within the considered project or perspective. To this end, he provides the reader with a framework and means for actively taking into account the relationships between pedagogical settings and software, and for working together in a multidisciplinary way to develop educational software.His book is for actors engaged in research or development projects which require inventing, designing, adapting, implementing or analyzing educational software. The core audience is Master s and PhD students, researchers and engineers from computer science or human and social sciences (e.g., education, psychology, pedagogy, philosophy, communications or sociology) interested in the issues raised by educational software design and analysis and in the variety of perspectives that may be adopted.

This is a unique collection of leading examples of education grounded in alternative philosophies and cultures - from initiatives to create more democratic schools, through Quaker, Buddhist, Islamic, Montessori and Steiner/Waldorf schools, to Maori and First Nations education in Canada and Palestinian Jewish schools in Israel.

The rising reliance on testing in American education and for licensure and certification has been accompanied by an escalation in cheating on tests at all levels. Edited by two of the foremost experts on the subject, the Handbook of Quantitative Methods for Detecting Cheating on Tests offers a comprehensive compendium of increasingly sophisticated data forensics used to investigate whether or not cheating has occurred. Written for practitioners, testing professionals, and scholars in testing, measurement, and assessment, this volume builds on the claim that statistical evidence often requires less of an inferential leap to conclude that cheating has taken place than do other, more common sources of evidence. This handbook is organized into sections that roughly correspond to the kinds of threats to fair testing represented by different forms of cheating. In Section I, the editors outline the fundamentals and significance of cheating, and they introduce the common datasets to which chapter authors' cheating detection methods were applied. Contributors describe, in Section II, methods for identifying cheating in terms of improbable similarity in test responses, preknowledge and compromised test content, and test tampering. Chapters in Section III concentrate on policy and practical implications of using quantitative detection methods. Synthesis across methodological chapters as well as an overall summary, conclusions, and next steps for the field are the key aspects of the final section.

The importance of fairness, validity, and accessibility in assessment is greater than ever as testing expands to include more diverse populations, more complex purposes, and more sophisticated technologies. This book offers a detailed account of fairness in assessment, and illustrates the interplay between assessment and broader changes in education. In 16 chapters written by leading experts, this volume explores the philosophical, technical, and practical questions surrounding fair measurement. Fairness in Educational Assessment and Measurement addresses issues pertaining to the construction, administration, and scoring of tests, the comparison of performance across test takers, grade levels and tests, and the uses of educational test scores. Perfect for researchers and professionals in test development, design, and administration, Fairness in Educational Assessment and Measurement presents a diverse array of perspectives on this topic of enduring interest. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This volume reviews the background of mandated teacher performance assessment with an emphasis on policy, privatization, and professionalization. The authors discuss the potential impact of mandated teacher performance assessments on teacher education in the content areas of mathematics, English, and social studies. The perspectives and empirical research examined in this conceptual analysis illustrate the various ways in which the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE) Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) promises to restructure teacher education in the United States. The authors consider both the affordances and the constraints that teacher performance assessments offer for teacher preparation programs, and conclude by discussing the implications of the intersections among policy, privatization, professionalization, and performance assessments of teachers, as well as the relationship between performance assessments and teacher education. The impact of the edTPA on the development of signature pedagogies in teacher education is also discussed.