Jay Parkes

The Purposes of a Syllabus

Abstract The purposes of a syllabus are almost as varied as the possible contents but can be grouped into several categories. The article proposes that syllabi serve three major roles: the syllabus as a contract, the syllabus as a permanent record, and the syllabus as a learning tool. Each function has implications for what a syllabus should contain. General observations about constructing syllabi conclude the article.

Who Chooses Dual Language Education for Their Children and Why

Abstract A survey of 724 families of dual language enrichment students in the South-west USA explored what kinds of families had chosen dual language education for their children and why. Of those parents who chose dual language for their children, 45.4% speak primarily English with their child, while 54.6% speak primarily Spanish. English-dominant parents constitute 24.7% of those who so chose, while 34.2% are Spanish-dominant and 40.5% are bilingual. In terms of education level, 50% of them have a high school education or less, 32.1% have an undergraduate degree and 17.9% have a graduate education. Of all respondents, 93.6% said they chose dual language so that their child would be able to speak, read and write in two languages, making it the most frequently selected followed by to be successful in a global society (63.1%), to be more successful in school (61.3%) and to be comfortable relating to different people (60.7%). There are several implications: not all parents have the same motivations; bilingual parents are different from monolingual parents; and more needs to be known about parents of secondary students as well as parents opting out of dual language programmes.

Effects of classroom assessment on student motivation in fifth-grade science

Abstract Researchers have suggested that assessment has the potential to affect learner behavior in terms of cognitive strategy use and motivation. The authors attempted to provide an understanding of the nature of the effect of particular assessment types on motivation. Students in 3 5th-grade science classes were exposed to 3 different classroom assessment conditions: traditional paper-and-pencil tests, a laboratory task format of assessment, and a performance assessment Measures of attitudes about science, goal orientation, and cognitive engagement (J. L. Meece, P. C. Blumenfeld, & R. K. Hoyle, 1988) were used. Analyses indicate a significant effect attributable to assessment type on goal orientation only, with the traditional paper-and-pencil tests and the performance assessments fostering more task-focused orientations than the laboratory tests.

How satisfied are parents of students in dual language education programs?: ‘Me parece maravillosa la gran oportunidad que le están dando a estos niños’

A survey of 724 families of students at eight dual language schools in the southwest United States that focused on parents’ satisfaction with their childs academic skills and with program characteristics is reported. Results are explored for parental language, parental education level, program model type, grade level of the child, and years the child has been in the program. Parents surveyed were highly and uniformly satisfied with their childs skills and with the program. Parents’ involvement with specific skills at home related to their satisfaction with those skills. A few areas of concern with the childrens skills and with the program were mentioned: language and literacy development, math skills, home-school communication, and academic challenge. While it is possible that less satisfied parents did not participate in the study, the strength and uniformity of parent satisfaction here is remarkable, particularly when demonstrated across diverse families.

Legal Issues in School Accountability Systems

The rapid proliferation of school accountability systems and the increasing stakes being attached to them will no doubt be challenged in the courts. This article extrapolates from existing case law on testing to the likely ways in which school accountability systems may be challenged in the courts. The same categories of suits filed against specific tests and test uses-due process claims and equal protection claims-may well apply to accountability systems. Due process considerations include adequate notice to schools about the requirements they face, appeals processes, and a nonarbitrary system. Equal protection considerations include whether schools with large percentages of minority students are rewarded or sanctioned in proportion to other schools. A list of recommended actions for accountability system developers is also offered.

Increasing the relative weight of noncognitive admission criteria improves underrepresented minority admission rates to medical school.

Construct: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of varying the relative weights of cognitive versus noncognitive admission criteria on the proportion of underrepresented minorities admitted to medical school. It answers the question, “Can medical schools increase the admission rates of underrepresented minority (URM) students by balancing cognitive criteria with the experiences, attributes, and metrics of noncognitive data in the admission process?” Background: U.S. demographics are shifting, and by 2042 ethnic minority groups will make up approximately 50% of the population. Increasing diversity of the U.S. population foreshadows the need to increase the number of physicians from underrepresented minorities to help address healthcare disparities that are on the rise. Approach: A cohort of three medical school applicant classes (2007–2009) was used to model the impact on URM admission rates as the relative weights of cognitive and noncognitive admission criteria were varied. This study used the minimum admission standards established for the actual incoming classes. The URM rate of admission to medical school was the outcome. Cognitive criteria included Medical College Admission Test scores and grade point averages. Noncognitive criteria included four categories: background and diversity, interest and suitability for a career in medicine, problem-solving and communication skills, and letters of recommendation. Results: A cohort of 480 applicants from the three applicant classes were enrolled in the study. As the weighting scheme was varied from 50% cognitive/50% noncognitive weights to 35%/65%, the proportion of URM students accepted to medical school increased from 24% (42/177) to 30% (57/193; p < .001). Hispanic and Native American acceptance rates increased by 5.1% and 0.7%, respectively. Conclusions: Admission rates of URM students can be increased by weighting noncognitive higher relative to cognitive criteria without compromising admission standards. Challenging conventional practice in the admissions process may improve health disparities and diversify the physician workforce.

Appropriate Expertise and Training for Standardized Patient Assessment Examiners

ConclusionExpertise varies by domain and does not readily transfer from one domain to another. In performance assessment, the application of expertise begins with the selection of the objectives to be assessed. Clarity about the assessment of objectives directs the designers to the most relevant domains of needed expertise. For assessment outcomes to be valid, the context, design, scoring guides, examiners, training, and implementation—all of which imply different areas of expertise—must be considered. Sometimes these areas of expertise may reside in one expert, and sometimes they may be constellated across different experts. The realistic infusion of expertise throughout the assessment is what supports validity.

Reducing Task-related Variance in Performance Assessment Using Concept Maps

Task-related variance causes scores from performance assessments not to be generalizable and thus inappropriate for high stakes use. It is possible that task-related variance is due, in part, to students’ inability to transfer their knowledge consistently from one assessment task to another. Therefore, concept-mapping, a cognitive tool, might be useful to aid this transfer. This study examines the effects of concept maps on the task-related variance components of Political Science performance assessments. On three quizzes, some students used concept maps while writing two essays, while other students did not. The task variance components remained unchanged across groups, but the person main effect components increased and the task-by-person interaction components decreased for those using concept maps. Also, the scores from the concept mapping groups had higher generalizability coefficients than for those who did not use a concept map.

Estimating the Prevalence of Adolescent Nonverbal Peer Pressures: An Exploratory Study

Abstract The basic forms of nonverbal communication include eye gaze (oculesics), emblems (gestures), proxemics (space invasion), haptics (touch), facial expressions, and paralanguage. This research project studied how frequently adolescents communicate nonverbally with each other to exert pressure in typical high school situations. The primary purpose of this study was to survey ninth grade students (N=135) regarding the prevalence of nonverbal pressures in their daily experiences and examine gender differences. Results analyzed by gender show differences in prevalence of receiving threatening gestures (p<.001); space invasion from males (p< .001); trust toward deceptive smiles from males (p< .01), and greater prevalence of males using gaze to pressure others (p< .05). Of 37 items, these nonverbal strategies were the only statistically significant gender differences. Despite the increasing interest in nonverbal communication, school-based sexuality education programs do not typically implement training programs that teach adolescents how to decode and negotiate nonverbal pressures exerted during interpersonal situations. Creative and relevant nonverbal peer resistance training could benefit the young population, particularly females. Applied training on detecting and managing nonverbal overtures designed to exert health-compromising pressures can assist youths in effectively negotiating these forces (i.e., unprotected sex, drinking, drug experimentation).