The rise of the accountability movement in education has resulted in the proliferation of school report cards, school ratings and rankings, and other kinds of performance reporting for public consumption and policy use. To understand the strengths and limitations of school rating systems and the role they play in shaping public perceptions and school improvement practices, this paper situates rating systems within the broader field of comparative organizational assessments and neo-institutional theory; describes school rankings and rating systems in use by states and consumer-oriented enterprises; and details four aspects of school ratings (measurement, transformation, integration, and presentation) that affect their use and interpretation.
The rise of the accountability movement in education has resulted in the proliferation of school report cards, school ratings and rankings, and other kinds of performance reporting for public consumption and policy use. To understand the strengths and limitations of school rating systems and the role they play in shaping public perceptions and school improvement practices, this paper situates rating systems within the broader field of comparative organizational assessments and neo-institutional theory; describes school rankings and rating systems in use by states and consumer-oriented enterprises; and details four aspects of school ratings (measurement, transformation, integration, and presentation) that affect their use and interpretation.
This volume provides a succinct up-to-date summary of global research on principal instructional leadership as it has evolved over the past 50 years. The book’s particular focus is on the development and use of the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS). The PIMRS is the most widely used survey instrument designed for assessing instructional leadership for research and practice. It has been used in more than 250 studies in more than 30 countries around the world. The authors provide a detailed conceptual and data-based description of the rationale and development of the instrument as well as the ways in which it has been used in practice. The book also provides, for the first time, a comprehensive assessment of the scale’s measurement properties. This represents essential information for future users of the instrument across different national contexts. Finally, the volume outlines an agenda for improving future research on the role of principal instructional leadership in student learning and school effectiveness.
BEST PRACTICES FROM SINGAPORE'S HIGH-PERFORMING SCHOOL SYSTEM Empowered Educators in Singapore is one volume in a series that explores how high-performing educational systems from around the world achieve strong results. The anchor book, Empowered Educators: How High-Performing Systems Shape Teaching Quality Around the World, is written by Linda Darling-Hammond and colleagues, with contributions from the authors of this volume. Empowered Educators in Singapore delves into the country's rapid rise to educational excellence on a global scale and the national effort that drives it. Singaporean students routinely outperform their peers from around the world, placing first or second in international assessments, particularly in math and science. In 2015, Singaporean students topped the league table for both the Programme in International Student Achievement (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). With educators around the world clamoring for the "Singapore secret," the reality is that Singapore's excellence is the result of a 25-year drive to improve education through systemic, long-term and ongoing, consistent, and deliberative reform with an emphasis on teacher quality. This book describes the interwoven strategies that merge context, quality, governance, and continual evolution into a consistently high-achieving student population.
This is the first in a series of volumes concerned with research encompassed by the rather broad term "environment and behavior. " The goal of the series is to begin the process of integration of knowledge on environmental and behavioral topics so that researchers and professionals can have material from diverse sources accessible in a single publication. The field of environment and behavior is broad and interdiscipli nary, with researchers drawn from a variety of traditional disciplines such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, geography, and other social and behavioral sciences, and from the biological and life sciences of medicine, psychiatry, biology, and ethology. The interdis ciplinary quality of the field is also reflected in the extensive involve ment of environmental professionals from architecture, urban plan ning, landscape architecture, interior design, and other fields such as recreation and natural resources, to name just a few. At present, the field has a somewhat chaotic flavor, with research being carried out by a variety of scholars who publish in a multitude of outlets. Many researchers and practitioners are unaware of the state of knowledge regarding a specific topic because of the unavailability of integrated reference materials. There are only a handful of books dealing with environment and behavior, most of them unintegrated collections of readings, with only an occasional systematic analysis of some facet of the field.
In Assessment the writers take the reader beyond the obvious function of assessment and focus upon the roles it performs in the social structuring of society.
For the past forty years Anne Taylor has studied how schools, classrooms, playgrounds, homes, museums, and parks affect children and how they learn. As a result, she has developed a holistic, sustainable philosophy of learning environment design. She argues persuasively that architects must integrate their design knowledge with an understanding of the developmental needs of learners, while at the same time educators, parents, and students must broaden their awareness of the built, natural, and cultural environment to maximize the learning experience. In other words, schools and other environments can themselves become "three-dimensional textbooks." When architects are cognizant of newer models of education and educators view the environment as more than a box in which to teach prescribed lessons, the result is an informed architecture that enables children to discover the power of their own learning. The book presents numerous examples of dynamic designs that are the result of interdisciplinary understanding of place. Taylor includes designer perspectives, forums derived from commentary by outside contributors involved in school planning, and a wealth of photographs of thoughtful and effective solutions to create learning environments from comprehensive design criteria. Because the concept of "school" is enlarged to a community campus, the book also spawns a new model of teaching and learning. This book is essential reading for educators, architects, and community members who are anxious to transform education in America and elsewhere. "Anne Taylor is the most outstanding educator, leading proponent, and practitioner in the three-dimensional textbook field. Her work is the finest resource available for connecting students (young and old) to their learning environments, and visa versa."--Edward E. Kirkbride, NCARB, REFP "Before Western man divided the universe into discrete subject matter areas, the order in the universe was (and still is) both interdisciplinary and holistic. The branching of trees, spiraling of shells, meandering of streams, and the radial designs of flowers, for example, represent an analogy of mathematics, biology, and art. The current artificial separation of subject matter is in contrast to the way the world is constructed and the way children perceive it. Architecture and the study of the built, natural, and cultural environment synthesize the world of material things and the world of ideas. Further more, it helps us to realize that we are a part of not apart from the environment. This book is a tool and a gift to designers, educators, and students everywhere to assist them in seeing the meaning behind all that we view and use for living on earth. To know our precious relationship to our surroundings is the intent of this book. In this way, life is a work of art and each of us is an artist."--Anne Taylor
The Geography of Tourism and Recreation presents the first comprehensive introduction to tourism, leisure and recreation and the relationships between them. This accessible text includes a wealth of international case studies spanning Europe, North America, Australasia and China. Each chapter highlights the methods used by geographers to analyse recreation and tourism. It also introduces new perspectives from gender studies and postmodernism and examines key issues including * the demand and supply of recreation and tourism * the role of public policy, planning and management * the impact of tourism and recreation on urban, rural, mountain and coastal environments * tourism and recreation in wilderness areas and other peripheral regions. The use of student text features makes it ideal for course use.
The landscape of early learning and out-of-school-time programs in the City of Santa Monica is complex, with numerous providers and funding streams. This complexity reflects its evolution in response to changes in federal, state, and local priorities and initiatives. Future shifts in funding levels, program auspices, and other features are likely. In July 2012, the City of Santa Monica Human Services Division and the Santa Monica–Malibu Unified School District contracted with the RAND Corporation to conduct an assessment of child care programs in Santa Monica. The study was motivated in part by the perception of some stakeholders that the system of care had become fragmented and complex. Additional motivations were the uncertainty of resource streams stemming from recent and anticipated state and federal budget cuts and a desire to ensure youth well-being in the community. The project sought to assess how well Santa Monica’s child care programs meet the needs of families, including child care and early education programs serving children from birth to kindergarten entry, as well as care for school-aged children (focusing on kindergarten through eighth grade) in the hours before and after school and in the summer. Overall, recommendations for improvement focused on advancing access, quality, service delivery, and financial sustainability.
