The life of data: Evolving national testing

To this point, the collection has provided research-based, empirical accounts of the various and multiple effects of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in Australian schooling as a specific example of the global phenomenon of national testing. In this chapter, we want to develop a more theoretical analysis of national testing systems, globalising education policy and the promise of national testing as adaptive, online tests. These future moves claim to provide faster feedback and more useful diagnostic help for teachers. There is a utopian testing dream that one day adaptive, online tests will be responsive in real time providing an integrated personalised testing, pedagogy and intervention for each student. The moves towards these next generation assessments are well advanced, including the work of Pearson’s NextGen Learning and Assessment research group, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) move into assessing affective skills and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s (ACARA) decision to phase in NAPLAN as an online, adaptive test from 2017...

National testing from an Australian perspective

Introduction This book examines a pressing educational issue: the global phenomenon of national testing in schooling and its vernacular development in Australia. The Australian National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), introduced in 2008, involves annual census testing of students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in nearly all Australian schools. In a variety of ways, NAPLAN affects the lives of Australia’s 3.5 million school students and their families, as well as more than 350,000 school staff and many other stakeholders in education. This book is organised in relation to a simple question: What are the effects of national testing for systems, schools and individuals? Of course, this simple question requires complex answers. The chapters in this edited collection consider issues relating to national testing policy, the construction of the test, usages of the testing data and various effects of testing in systems, schools and classrooms. Each chapter examines an aspect of national testing in Australia using evidence drawn from research. The final chapter by the editors of this collection provides a broader reflection on this phenomenon and situates developments in testing globally...

Local experiences, global similarities: Teacher perceptions of the impacts of national testing

Since 2008, Australian schoolchildren in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 have sat a series of tests each May designed to assess their attainment of basic skills in literacy and numeracy. These tests are known as the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). In 2010, individual school NAPLAN data were first published on the MySchool website which enables comparisons to be made between individual schools and statistically like schools across Australia. NAPLAN represents the increased centrality of the federal government in education, particularly in regards to education policy. One effect of this has been a recast emphasis of education as an economic, rather than democratic, good. As Reid (2009) suggests, this recasting of education within national productivity agendas mobilises commonsense discourses of accountability and transparency. These are common articles of faith for many involved in education administration and bureaucracy; more and better data, and holding people to account for that data, must improve education...

NAPLAN, MySchool and accountability: Teacher perceptions of the effects of testing

This paper explores Rizvi and Lingard’s (2010) idea of the “local vernacular” of the global education policy trend of using high-stakes testing to increase accountability and transparency, and by extension quality, within schools and education systems in Australia. In the first part of the paper a brief context of the policy trajectory of National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is given in Australia. In the second part, empirical evidence drawn from a survey of teachers in Western Australia (WA) and South Australia (SA) is used to explore teacher perceptions of the impacts a high-stakes testing regime is having on student learning, relationships with parents and pedagogy in specific sites. After the 2007 Australian Federal election, one of Labor’s policy objectives was to deliver an “Education Revolution” designed to improve both the equity and excellence in the Australian school system1 (Rudd & Gillard, 2008). This reform agenda aims to “deliver real changes” through: “raising the quality of teaching in our schools” and “improving transparency and accountability of schools and school systems” (Rudd & Gillard, 2008, p. 5). Central to this linking of accountability, the transparency of schools and school systems and raising teaching quality was the creation of a regime of testing (NAPLAN) that would generate data about the attainment of basic literacy and numeracy skills by students in Australian schools.

Environmental context for late Holocene human occupation of the South Wellesley Archipelago, Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia

A 2400 year record of environmental change is reported from a wetland on Bentinck Island in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia. Three phases of wetland development are identified, with a protected coastal setting from ca. 2400 to 500 years ago, transitioning into an estuarine mangrove forest from ca. 500 years ago to the 1940s, and finally to a freshwater swamp over the past +60 years. This sequence reflects the influence of falling sea-levels, development of a coastal dune barrier system, prograding shorelines, and an extreme storm (cyclone) event. In addition, there is clear evidence of the impacts that human abandonment and resettlement have on the island's fire regimes and vegetation. A dramatic increase in burning and vegetation thickening was observed after the cessation of traditional Indigenous Kaiadilt fire management practices in the 1940s, and was then reversed when people returned to the island in the 1980s. In terms of the longer context for human occupation of the South Wellesley Archipelago, it is apparent that the mangrove phase provided a stable and productive environment that was conducive for human settlement of this region over the past 1000 years.

Understanding past climate variation and environmental change for the future of an iconic landscape – K'gari Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia

The unique combination of landscapes and processes that are present and operate on Fraser Island (K'gari) create a dynamic setting that is capable of recording past environmental events, climate variations and former landscapes. Likewise, its geographic position makes Fraser Island sensitive to those events and processes. Based on optically stimulated luminescence dating, the records archived within the world's largest sand island span a period that has the potential to exceed 750 ka and contain specific records that are of extremely high resolution over the past 40,000 years. This is due to the geographic position of Fraser Island, which lies in the coastal subtropical region of Queensland Australia. Fraser Island is exposed to the open ocean currents of the Coral Sea on the east coast and the waters of Hervey Bay on its western margin and is positioned to receive moisture from the Indo-Australian monsoon, southeast trade winds and experiences occasional tropical and ex-tropical cyclones. We review literature that presents the current level of understanding of sea level change, ecological variation and environmental change on Fraser Island. The previous works illustrate the importance of Fraser Island and may link processes, environments and climates on Fraser Island with global records.

Assessment of the risk of failure of high voltage substations due to environmental conditions and pollution on insulators

Pollution on electrical insulators is one of the greatest causes of failure of substations subjected to high levels of salinity and environmental pollution. Considering leakage current as the main indicator of pollution on insulators, this paper focus on establishing the effect of the environmental conditions on the risk of failure due to pollution on insulators and determining the significant change in the magnitude of the pollution on the insulators during dry and humid periods. Hierarchical segmentation analysis was used to establish the effect of environmental conditions on the risk of failure due to pollution on insulators. The Kruskal-Wallis test was utilized to determine the significant changes in the magnitude of the pollution due to climate periods. An important result was the discovery that leakage current was more common on insulators during dry periods than humid ones. There was also a higher risk of failure due to pollution during dry periods. During the humid period, various temperatures and wind directions produced a small change in the risk of failure. As a technical result, operators of electrical substations can now identify the cause of an increase in risk of failure due to pollution in the area. The research provides a contribution towards the behaviour of the leakage current under conditions similar to those of the Colombian Caribbean coast and how they affect the risk of failure of the substation due to pollution.

Verification and Operation of Adaptive Materials in Space

Piezoelectric polymers based on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) are of interest as smart materials for novel space-based telescope applications. Dimensional adjustments of adaptive thin polymer films are achieved via controlled charge deposition. Predicting their long-term performance requires a detailed understanding of the piezoelectric property changes that develop during space environmental exposure. The overall materials performance is governed by a combination of chemical and physical degradation processes occurring in low Earth orbit as established by our past laboratory-based materials performance experiments (see report SAND 2005-6846). Molecular changes are primarily induced via radiative damage, and physical damage from temperature and atomic oxygen exposure is evident as depoling, loss of orientation and surface erosion. The current project extension has allowed us to design and fabricate small experimental units to be exposed to low Earth orbit environments as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiments program. The space exposure of these piezoelectric polymers will verify the observed trends and their degradation pathways, and provide feedback on using piezoelectric polymer films in space. This will be the first time that PVDF-based adaptive polymer films will be operated and exposed to combined atomic oxygen, solar UV and temperature variations in an actual space environment. The experiments are designed to be fully autonomous, involving cyclic application of excitation voltages, sensitive film position sensors and remote data logging. This mission will provide critically needed feedback on the long-term performance and degradation of such materials, and ultimately the feasibility of large adaptive and low weight optical systems utilizing these polymers in space.

pH testing for detecting the position of nasogastric tubes in adults and children (Intervention Protocol)

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: Our objective is to determine if there is sufficient evidence to recommend the use of pH testing (the intervention under scrutiny) for verification of correct placement of nasogastric tubes in adults and children. To this end, we will attempt to answer the following questions: 1. In adults and children, is pH testing an effective and safe method for determining whether nasogastric tubes are correctly positioned in the stomach before feeding (or delivery of any fluid) begins? 2. What evidence is there about the risk of adverse events in the case of incorrect placement? For this review, pH testing is defined as: litmus paper, pH indicator test strips, pH meters. These will be tested against other methods used for detecting placement of nasogastric tubes, including visual examination of aspirate, auscultation with insufflation of air, detection of air bubbles in a bowl of water, X-ray, ultrasonography, endoscopy, enzyme analysis of aspirate, capnography, and other methods that do not rely on measurement of pH.

Who pays for standardised testing? A cost-benefit study of mandated testing in three Queensland secondary schools

This paper reports on an Australian study that explored the costs and benefits of the National Assessment Programme, Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing, both tangible and intangible, of Year 9 students in three Queensland schools. The study commenced with a review of pertinent studies and other related material about standardised testing in Australia, the USA and UK. Information about NAPLAN testing and reporting, and the pedagogical impacts of standardised testing were identified, however little about administrative costs to schools was found. A social constructivist perspective and a multiple case study approach were used to explore the actions of school managers and teachers in three Brisbane secondary schools. The study found that the costs of NAPLAN testing to schools fell into two categories: preparation of students for the testing; and administration of the tests. Whilst many of the costs could not be quantified, they were substantial and varied according to the education sector in which the school operated. The benefits to schools of NAPLAN testing were found to be limited. The findings have implications for governments, curriculum authorities and schools, leading to the conclusion that, from a school perspective, the benefits of NAPLAN testing do not justify the costs.

Environmental efficiency of energy, materials, and emissions

This study estimates the environmental efficiency of international listed firms in 10 worldwide sectors from 2007 to 2013 by applying an order-m method, a non-parametric approach based on free disposal hull with subsampling bootstrapping. Using a conventional output of gross profit and two conventional inputs of labor and capital, this study examines the order-m environmental efficiency accounting for the presence of each of 10 undesirable inputs/outputs and measures the shadow prices of each undesirable input and output. The results show that there is greater potential for the reduction of undesirable inputs rather than bad outputs. On average, total energy, electricity, or water usage has the potential to be reduced by 50%. The median shadow prices of undesirable inputs, however, are much higher than the surveyed representative market prices. Approximately 10% of the firms in the sample appear to be potential sellers or production reducers in terms of undesirable inputs/outputs, which implies that the price of each item at the current level has little impact on most of the firms. Moreover, this study shows that the environmental, social, and governance activities of a firm do not considerably affect environmental efficiency.

Clustering acoustic events in environmental recordings for species richness surveys

Environmental acoustic recordings can be used to perform avian species richness surveys, whereby a trained ornithologist can observe the species present by listening to the recording. This could be made more efficient by using computational methods for iteratively selecting the richest parts of a long recording for the human observer to listen to, a process known as “smart sampling”. This allows scaling up to much larger ecological datasets. In this paper we explore computational approaches based on information and diversity of selected samples. We propose to use an event detection algorithm to estimate the amount of information present in each sample. We further propose to cluster the detected events for a better estimate of this amount of information. Additionally, we present a time dispersal approach to estimating diversity between iteratively selected samples. Combinations of approaches were evaluated on seven 24-hour recordings that have been manually labeled by bird watchers. The results show that on average all the methods we have explored would allow annotators to observe more new species in fewer minutes compared to a baseline of random sampling at dawn.

Birdcall retrieval from environmental acoustic recordings using image processing

Acoustic recordings of the environment provide an effective means to monitor bird species diversity. To facilitate exploration of acoustic recordings, we describe a content-based birdcall retrieval algorithm. A query birdcall is a region of spectrogram bounded by frequency and time. Retrieval depends on a similarity measure derived from the orientation and distribution of spectral ridges. The spectral ridge detection method caters for a broad range of birdcall structures. In this paper, we extend previous work by incorporating a spectrogram scaling step in order to improve the detection of spectral ridges. Compared to an existing approach based on MFCC features, our feature representation achieves better retrieval performance for multiple bird species in noisy recordings.