“Which child left behind” : historical issues regarding equity in science assessment

Assessment of learning plays a dominant role in formal education in the forms of determining features of curriculum that are emphasized, pedagogic methods that teachers use with their students, and parents’ and employers’ understanding of how well students have performed. A common perception is that fair assessment applies the same mode of assessment and content focus for all students—the approach of assessments in international comparative studies of science achievement. This article examines research evidence demonstrating that the act of assessment is not neutral—different forms of assessment advantage or disadvantage groups of students on the basis of family backgrounds, gender, race, or disability. Assessment that implicitly or explicitly captures the social capital of the child serves to consolidate, not address, educational equity. The article provides an overview of ways that science curriculum focus and assessment can introduce bias in the identification of student achievement. It examines the effect of changes to curriculum and assessment approaches in science, and relationships between assessment of science and the cultural context of the student. Recommendations are provided for science–assessment research to address bias for different groups of students.

Vibrational spectroscopy of the silicate mineral plumbotsumite Pb5(OH)10Si4O8 : an assessment of the molecular structure

We have used scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis to determine the precise formula of plumbotsumite, a rare lead silicate mineral of formula Pb5(OH)10Si4O8. This study forms the first systematic study of plumbotsumite from the Bigadic deposits, Turkey. Vibrational spectroscopy was used to assess the molecular structure of plumbotsumite as the structure is not known. The mineral is characterized by sharp Raman bands at 1047, 1055 and 1060 cm−1 assigned to SiO stretching vibrational modes and sharp Raman bands at 673, 683 and 697 cm−1 assigned to OSiO bending modes. The observation of multiple bands offers support for a layered structure with variable SiO3 structural units. Little information may be obtained from the infrared spectra because of broad spectral profiles. Intense Raman bands at 3510, 3546 and 3620 cm−1 are ascribed to OH stretching modes. Evidence for the presence of water in the plumbotsumite structure was inferred from the infrared spectra.

Assessment of traffic noise level before and after freeway widening using traffic microsimulation and a refined classic noise prediction method

In this paper, a refined classic noise prediction method based on the VISSIM and FHWA noise prediction model is formulated to analyze the sound level contributed by traffic on the Nanjing Lukou airport connecting freeway before and after widening. The aim of this research is to (i) assess the traffic noise impact on the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) campus before and after freeway widening, (ii) compare the prediction results with field data to test the accuracy of this method, (iii) analyze the relationship between traffic characteristics and sound level. The results indicate that the mean difference between model predictions and field measurements is acceptable. The traffic composition impact study indicates that buses (including mid-sizedtrucks) and heavy goods vehicles contribute a significant proportion of total noise power despite their low traffic volume. In addition, speed analysis offers an explanation for the minor differences in noise level across time periods. Future work will aim at reducing model error, by focusing on noise barrier analysis using the FEM/BEM method and modifying the vehicle noise emission equation by conducting field experimentation.

Thymidylate synthase expression and outcome of patients receiving pemetrexed for advanced nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer in a prospective blinded assessment phase II clinical trial

INTRODUCTION In retrospective analyses of patients with nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer treated with pemetrexed, low thymidylate synthase (TS) expression is associated with better clinical outcomes. This phase II study explored this association prospectively at the protein and mRNA-expression level. METHODS Treatment-naive patients with nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer (stage IIIB/IV) had four cycles of first-line chemotherapy with pemetrexed/cisplatin. Nonprogressing patients continued on pemetrexed maintenance until progression or maximum tolerability. TS expression (nucleus/cytoplasm/total) was assessed in diagnostic tissue samples by immunohistochemistry (IHC; H-scores), and quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Cox regression was used to assess the association between H-scores and progression-free/overall survival (PFS/OS) distribution estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Maximal χ analysis identified optimal cutpoints between low TS- and high TS-expression groups, yielding maximal associations with PFS/OS. RESULTS The study enrolled 70 patients; of these 43 (61.4%) started maintenance treatment. In 60 patients with valid H-scores, median (m) PFS was 5.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.9-6.9) months, mOS was 9.6 (95% CI, 7.3-15.7) months. Higher nuclear TS expression was significantly associated with shorter PFS and OS (primary analysis IHC, PFS: p < 0.0001; hazard ratio per 1-unit increase: 1.015; 95%CI, 1.008-1.021). At the optimal cutpoint of nuclear H-score (70), mPFS in the low TS- versus high TS-expression groups was 7.1 (5.7-8.3) versus 2.6 (1.3-4.1) months (p = 0.0015; hazard ratio = 0.28; 95%CI, 0.16-0.52; n = 40/20). Trends were similar for cytoplasm H-scores, quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and other clinical endpoints (OS, response, and disease control). CONCLUSIONS The primary endpoint was met; low TS expression was associated with longer PFS. Further randomized studies are needed to explore nuclear TS IHC expression as a potential biomarker of clinical outcomes for pemetrexed treatment in larger patient cohorts. © 2013 by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

Thorough assessment of DNA preservation from fossil bone and sediments excavated from a late Pleistocene–Holocene cave deposit on Kangaroo Island, South Australia

Fossils and sediments preserved in caves are an excellent source of information for investigating impacts of past environmental changes on biodiversity. Until recently studies have relied on morphology-based palaeontological approaches, but recent advances in molecular analytical methods offer excellent potential for extracting a greater array of biological information from these sites. This study presents a thorough assessment of DNA preservation from late Pleistocene–Holocene vertebrate fossils and sediments from Kelly Hill Cave Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Using a combination of extraction techniques and sequencing technologies, ancient DNA was characterised from over 70 bones and 20 sediment samples from 15 stratigraphic layers ranging in age from >20 ka to ∼6.8 ka. A combination of primers targeting marsupial and placental mammals, reptiles and two universal plant primers were used to reveal genetic biodiversity for comparison with the mainland and with the morphological fossil record for Kelly Hill Cave. We demonstrate that Kelly Hill Cave has excellent long-term DNA preservation, back to at least 20 ka. This contrasts with the majority of Australian cave sites thus far explored for ancient DNA preservation, and highlights the great promise Kangaroo Island caves hold for yielding the hitherto-elusive DNA of extinct Australian Pleistocene species.

A metastatic neuroendocrine anaplastic small cell tumor in a patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 syndrome : assessment of disease status and response to doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, etoposide chemotherapy through scintigraphic imaging with 111In-pentetreotide

Extrapulmonary small cell and small cell neuroendocrine tumors of unknown primary site are, in general, aggressive neoplasms with a short median survival. Like small cell lung cancer (SCLC), they often are responsive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Small cell lung cancer and well differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas tend to express somatostatin receptors. These tumors may be localized in patients by scintigraphic imaging using radiolabeled somatostatin analogues. A patient with an anaplastic neuroendocrine small cell tumor arising on a background of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 syndrome is reported. The patient had a known large pancreatic gastrinoma and previously treated parathyroid adenopathy. At presentation, there was small cell cancer throughout the liver and skeleton. Imaging with a radiolabeled somatostatin analogue, 111In- pentetreotide (Mallinckrodt Medical B. V., Petten, Holland), revealed all sites of disease detected by routine biochemical and radiologic methods. After six cycles of chemotherapy with doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and etoposide, there was almost complete clearance of the metastatic disease. 111In-pentetreotide scintigraphy revealed uptake consistent with small areas of residual disease in the liver, the abdomen (in mesenteric lymph nodes), and posterior thorax (in a rib). The primary gastrinoma present before the onset of the anaplastic small cell cancer showed no evidence of response to the treatment. The patient remained well for 1 year and then relapsed with brain, lung, liver, and skeletal metastases. Despite an initial response to salvage radiotherapy and chemotherapy with carboplatin and dacarbazine, the patient died 6 months later.

The essential parameters of a resource-based carrying capacity assessment model : an Australian case study

Carrying capacity assessments model a population’s potential self-sufficiency. A crucial first step in the development of such modelling is to examine the basic resource-based parameters defining the population’s production and consumption habits. These parameters include basic human needs such as food, water, shelter and energy together with climatic, environmental and behavioural characteristics. Each of these parameters imparts land-usage requirements in different ways and varied degrees so their incorporation into carrying capacity modelling also differs. Given that the availability and values of production parameters may differ between locations, no two carrying capacity models are likely to be exactly alike. However, the essential parameters themselves can remain consistent so one example, the Carrying Capacity Dashboard, is offered as a case study to highlight one way in which these parameters are utilised. While examples exist of findings made from carrying capacity assessment modelling, to date, guidelines for replication of such studies in other regions and scales have largely been overlooked. This paper addresses such shortcomings by describing a process for the inclusion and calibration of the most important resource-based parameters in a way that could be repeated elsewhere.

Design, implementation and multisite evaluation of a system suitability protocol for the quantitative assessment of instrument performance in liquid chromatography-multiple reaction monitoring-MS (LC-MRM-MS)

Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mass spectrometry coupled with stable isotope dilution (SID) and liquid chromatography (LC) is increasingly used in biological and clinical studies for precise and reproducible quantification of peptides and proteins in complex sample matrices. Robust LC-SID-MRM-MS-based assays that can be replicated across laboratories and ultimately in clinical laboratory settings require standardized protocols to demonstrate that the analysis platforms are performing adequately. We developed a system suitability protocol (SSP), which employs a predigested mixture of six proteins, to facilitate performance evaluation of LC-SID-MRM-MS instrument platforms, configured with nanoflow-LC systems interfaced to triple quadrupole mass spectrometers. The SSP was designed for use with low multiplex analyses as well as high multiplex approaches when software-driven scheduling of data acquisition is required. Performance was assessed by monitoring of a range of chromatographic and mass spectrometric metrics including peak width, chromatographic resolution, peak capacity, and the variability in peak area and analyte retention time (RT) stability. The SSP, which was evaluated in 11 laboratories on a total of 15 different instruments, enabled early diagnoses of LC and MS anomalies that indicated suboptimal LC-MRM-MS performance. The observed range in variation of each of the metrics scrutinized serves to define the criteria for optimized LC-SID-MRM-MS platforms for routine use, with pass/fail criteria for system suitability performance measures defined as peak area coefficient of variation <0.15, peak width coefficient of variation <0.15, standard deviation of RT <0.15 min (9 s), and the RT drift <0.5min (30 s). The deleterious effect of a marginally performing LC-SID-MRM-MS system on the limit of quantification (LOQ) in targeted quantitative assays illustrates the use and need for a SSP to establish robust and reliable system performance. Use of a SSP helps to ensure that analyte quantification measurements can be replicated with good precision within and across multiple laboratories and should facilitate more widespread use of MRM-MS technology by the basic biomedical and clinical laboratory research communities.

Public Economics and the Assessment of Tourism Developments and Policies

Public economics covers both topics in welfare economic of social (as opposed to private) interest and aspects of public finance. This chapter considers the application of two methods of social economic evaluation of tourist developments, namely, social cost-benefit analysis and economic impact analysis. The role of social cost-benefit analysis in the assessment of tourism is illustrated by its application to the evaluation of inbound tourism. This is followed by a discussion of taxes on tourism and subsidies to promote it. The principle focus is on hotel room taxes. The analysis of taxes on tourism involves both public finance and welfare economics issues. The scope for and desirability of applying the user-pays principle to tourism is then examined.

Assessment for Education : Standards, Judgement and Moderation

Do you need a practical guide to assessment, curriculum and policy? Are you also looking for a book that is firmly grounded in the theory of this subject? Assessment for Education combines both theory and practice, making it the perfect guide for students, researchers, academics and teachers. This book makes assessment processes transparent for practitioners, and shows how assessment should relate to education. It looks at evidence-informed decision-making and the interrelationships between standards, judgment and moderation practice for improved assessment, teacher quality, schools and systems. The book will provide you with: ' Knowledge about quality assessment and judgement practice ' Understanding of relationships across curriculum, assessment, teaching and learning ' Knowledge of the concept of front-ending assessment based on the learner's needs ' An analysis of practitioner judgement approaches ' Understanding of the conditions under which teacher assessment can be valid ' Principles derived from research of social moderation practices Whether you are studying and researching assessment or working in curriculum and assessment policy, this book will show you how practitioner use of achievement standards can improve learning, equity, social justice and accountability.

In vitro assessment of surface congruency and integration of chondrocytes at adjacent edges of micro-fabricated clefts on cartilage

Osteochondral grafts are common treatment options for joint focal defects due to their excellent functionality. However, the difficulty is matching the topography of host and graft(s) surfaces flush to one another. Incongruence could lead to disintegration particularly when the gap reaches subchondoral region. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate cell response to gap geometry when forming cartilage-cartilage bridge at the interface. The question is what would be the characteristics of such a gap if the cells could bridge across to fuse the edges? To answer this, osteochondral plugs devoid of host cells were prepared through enzymatic decellularization and artificial clefts of different sizes were created on the cartilage surface using laser ablation. High density pellets of heterologous chondrocytes were seeded on the defects and cultured with chondrogenic differentiation media for 35 days. The results showed that the behavior of chondrocytes was a function of gap topography. Depending on the distance of the edges two types of responses were generated. Resident cells surrounding distant edges demonstrated superficial attachment to one side whereas clefts of 150 to 250 µm width experienced cell migration and anchorage across the interface. The infiltration of chondrocytes into the gaps provided extra space for their proliferation and laying matrix; as the result faster filling of the initial void space was observed. On the other hand, distant and fit edges created an incomplete healing response due to the limited ability of differentiated chondrocytes to migrate and incorporate within the interface. It seems that the initial condition of the defects and the curvature profile of the adjacent edges were the prime determinants of the quality of repair; however, further studies to reveal the underlying mechanisms of cells adapting to and modifying the new environment would be of particular interest.

Developing an evidence-based clinical pathway for the assessment, diagnosis and management of acute Charcot Neuro-Arthropathy : a systematic review

Background: Charcot Neuro-Arthropathy (CN) is one of the more devastating complications of diabetes. To the best of the authors' knowledge, it appears that no clinical tools based on a systematic review of existing literature have been developed to manage acute CN. Thus, the aim of this paper was to systematically review existing literature and develop an evidence-based clinical pathway for the assessment, diagnosis and management of acute CN in patients with diabetes. Methods: Electronic databases (Medline, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase and Cochrane Library), reference lists, and relevant key websites were systematically searched for literature discussing the assessment, diagnosis and/or management of acute CN published between 2002-2012. At least two independent investigators then quality rated and graded the evidence of each included paper. Consistent recommendations emanating from the included papers were then fashioned in a clinical pathway. Results: The systematic search identified 267 manuscripts, of which 117 (44%) met the inclusion criteria for this study. Most manuscripts discussing the assessment, diagnosis and/or management of acute CN constituted level IV (case series) or EO (expert opinion) evidence. The included literature was used to develop an evidence-based clinical pathway for the assessment, investigations, diagnosis and management of acute CN. Conclusions: This research has assisted in developing a comprehensive, evidence-based clinical pathway to promote consistent and optimal practice in the assessment, diagnosis and management of acute CN. The pathway aims to support health professionals in making early diagnosis and providing appropriate immediate management of acute CN, ultimately reducing its associated complications such as amputations and hospitalisations.

Development of the Rapid Assessment, Prioritisation and Referral Tool (RAPaRT) for multidisciplinary teams in emergency care settings

Objective This investigation utilised the expertise of allied members of multidisciplinary teams working in emergency care settings to develop and validate a Rapid Assessment Prioritisation and Referral Tool (RAPaRT). This instrument is intended for use among patients (with non-life threatening acuity) presenting to emergency care settings to indicate when referral to an allied member of the multidisciplinary team is warranted. Method This three stage instrument development and validation study included: a Delphi panel process to determine key criteria to guide instrument development and identify potential items to be carried forward for testing (stage 1); a prospective cohort of consecutive admissions (n=153) to investigate item sensitivity and specificity and retain only the most suitable items (stage 2); then final consultation with the Delphi panel to ensure the final instrument was clinically amenable (stage 3). Results 23 potential items were identified following stage 1. At the completion of item sensitivity and specificity analysis and in consultation with the Delphi panel, seven items were retained in the instrument. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.803 for these seven items in predicting when a referral was warranted. Final consultation with the Delphi panel members also resulted in the addition of an open ended (eighth) item to allow description of any infrequent, but important, reason for referral. Conclusions The RAPaRT has demonstrated substantial promise as an efficient clinically amenable instrument to assist multidisciplinary teams in emergency care settings. Further research to investigate the wider implementation of the RAPaRT is warranted.

Towards fairer assessment

Drawing on the largest Australian collection and analysis of empirical data on multiple facets of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in state schools to date, this article critically analyses the systemic push for standardized testing and improved scores, and argues for a greater balance of assessment types by providing alternative, inclusive, participatory approaches to student assessment. The evidence for this article derives from a major evaluation of the Stronger Smarter Learning Communities. The first large-scale picture of what is occurring in classroom assessment and pedagogy for Indigenous students is reported in this evaluation yet the focus in this article remains on the issue of fairness in student assessment. The argument presented calls for “a good balance between formative and summative assessment” (OECD, Synergies for Better Learning An International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment, Pointers for Policy Development, 2013) at a time of unrelenting high-stakes, standardized testing in Australia with a dominance of secondary as opposed to primary uses of NAPLAN data by systems, schools and principals. A case for more “intelligent accountability in education” (O’Neill, Oxford Review of Education 39(1):4–16, 2013) together with a framework for analyzing efforts toward social justice in education (Cazden, International Journal of Educational Psychology 1(3):178–198, 2012) and fairer assessment make the case for more alternative assessment practices in recognition of the need for teachers’ pedagogic practice to cater for increased diversity.