Performance Standards in Education


Book Description

Since the early 1980s, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) have shown unprecedented interest in the setting and evaluating of educational standards and in improving assessment procedures. This book is the outcome of a study undertaken by the OECD in 1994 at the request of the Government of the United States. A conference held in Paris in December 1993 launched the study; experts from 10 OECD countries were then commissioned to write case-study reports, which were presented at a seminar in Paris in October 1994. The study was carried out under the auspices of the Center for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) and the Education Committee. The book contains an overview by John Lowe, followed by the 10 case studies from Australia, Canada (Ontario), England and Wales, France, Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia), Ireland, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. A synthesis offers a functional model of reform and considers the ways in which the United States and other governments could profit from the case studies. A total of 15 tables and 24 figures are included. (LMI)













Leadership and Diversity


Book Description

As society becomes increasingly diverse, there is international awareness in education about how this impacts on leaders & leading. For decades the emphasis has been placed on increasing the number of leaders with specific attributes. This text takes a wider view, challenging the reader to recognise the importance of diversity issues.




Designing and Assessing Educational Objectives


Book Description

"Marzano concisely and effectively shows how his three domains of learning and the New Taxonomy can be operationalized for teachers and administrators. This book integrates objectives, instructional approaches, and assessment options so that these critical aspects of teaching are aligned to promote student learning." —James McMillan, Professor and Chair, Foundations of Education Virginia Commonwealth University A hands-on guide for applying the New Taxonomy to develop meaningful and targeted educational objectives and assessments. Translating mandated standards into concrete objectives and then creating appropriate tasks to assess student learning of those objectives can be a challenge for educators. This practical resource provides a step-by-step process that shows readers how to make designing educational objectives and creating appropriate assessment tasks a part of their day-to-day practice. Written as a stand-alone volume, Designing and Assessing Educational Objectives reviews the framework and basic principles of Marzano′s New Taxonomy and illustrates how educators can utilize Marzano′s model to assess student performance on a broad scale or for a specific unit of instruction or grading period. The book explores objectives and tasks for each of the six levels of mental processing—retrieval, comprehension, analysis, knowledge utilization, metacognition, and self-system thinking—and features: Benchmark statements that provide a starting point for the process Step-by-step models, helpful diagrams, and useful charts Numerous detailed examples from multiple subject areas and grade levels Application of the taxonomy′s three domains of knowledge: information, mental procedures, and psychomotor procedures Comprehensive and profound, this resource is essential for teachers, school and district administrators, curriculum directors, and assessment specialists seeking to apply standards to curriculum and instruction for measurable results.




Engaging People in Sustainability


Book Description

The book is based on the exchange of professional experiences which featured in an IUCN CEC workshop in August 2002. Practitioners from around the world shared their models of good practice and explored the challenges involved in engaging people in sustainability. The difficulties facing practitioners vary between country and context but some challenges are universal: A lack of clarity in communicating what is meant by sustainable development; An ambition to educate everyone to bring about a global citizenship; Social, organisational or institutional factors constrain change to sustainable development, yet there is an emphasis on formal education, and community educators do not receive the same support; A lack of balance in addressing the integration of environmental, social and economic dimensions leading to an interpretation that ESD is mainly about environment and conservation issues; New learning (rather than teaching) approaches are called for to promote more debate in society. Yet, few are trained or experienced in these new approaches. Practitioners need support to explore new ways of promoting learning. [Foreword, ed].




Innovating with Concept Mapping


Book Description

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Concept Mapping, CMC 2016, held in Tallinn, Estonia, in September 2016. The 25 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 135 submissions. The papers address issues such as facilitation of learning; eliciting, capturing, archiving, and using “expert” knowledge; planning instruction; assessment of “deep” understandings; research planning; collaborative knowledge modeling; creation of “knowledge portfolios”; curriculum design; eLearning, and administrative and strategic planning and monitoring.




The North American Mosaic


Book Description

The North American Mosaic has four overarching features. First, it is, to the extent feasible, based on comparable information on the status and trends of major indicators of the state of the environment in Canada,Mexico, and the United States. Second, the report confirms that these three countries together make up an incredibly complex, dynamic, and interconnected ecosystem in which humans play a dominant and decisive role. Third, the report raises important and sometimes disquieting questions concerning the sustainability of some current trends. Finally, the report is a reminder that our economic, social, and physical well-being are utterly dependent on the life-sustaining services provided by nature. This report emphasizes the importance of developing mutually compatible economic, social, and environmental goals and policies across the three-country region.