Understanding Charter School Evaluation: A Synthesis of the Literature on CREDO’s VCR Method for Stakeholders

Increased charter school demand creates a critical need for reliable information on outcomes. Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) has a series of influential reports on charter schools using the virtual control record (VCR) method. However, the VCR method has been criticized and the validity of CREDO’s findings challenged, leading to confusion among stakeholders. In this paper, we synthesize charter school evaluation literature, explain CREDO’s methods as well as other evaluation methods, and consider the limitations of matching in this context. We find that, while the matching techniques are imperfect, they provide necessary information on the greatest percentage of charter school students.

Pregled vrednotenj naravoslovnega znanja v prvem vzgojno-izobraževalnem obdobju osnovne šole

This paper presents an overview of Slovenian elementary school evaluation of students’ natural science knowledge in the first three years of elementary school. Science knowledge in Slovenia is not measured regularly; therefore, we have focused primarily on the results of the international TIMSS survey, which measures the mathematical and natural science knowledge of students. The TIMMS survey is performed every four years in various countries, and Slovenia participated from 1995 to 2015. After reviewing and analysing the results of the natural science examinations of Slovenian fourth-graders, we found a steady increase compared to the international average. However, at the same time, the positive attitude towards science lags behind.

The Development of the Child’s Personality as the Core Issue of Vasyl Sukhomlynsky’s Creative Work

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the holistic pedagogical system of comprehensive development of the student’s personality, which was developed in the writings of V. Sukhomlynsky and tested in practice in the experience of Pavlyska School. The analysis of the components of this system is presented, it includes goals and values of the educational process, comprehensive study of the inner world of the child, creation of motivation for development, modernization of the content of education, creation of educational and developmental environment in the school, evaluation of the results of teachers’ work. The importance of working with problematic children is analyzed and recommendations for teachers are given. The special conditions of a humane approach to the organization of the initial-educational process are defined. V. Sukhomlynsky’s approaches to the development of the younger student’s personality correspond to the modern theoretical and practical research for the modernization of the modern education system.

THE EXPRESSION OF LEARNING ORIENTED ASSESSMENT CULTURE: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT ASSESSMENT

This article presents the results of a thematic analysis conducted after informal interviews with 10 teachers and a head teacher of one secondary school in the city of Vilnius about their classroom assessment practices. Part of a larger critical ethnographic research exploring the change of school culture when introducing assessment innovation, this analysis reveals common classroom assessment practices, teachers’ beliefs about the role of assessment, and the anxiety the school community shares around standardized testing and examinations. Literature suggests that both formative and summative assessment practices have great potential for improving students’ learning. Teachers are encouraged to integrate assessment into their teaching in order to identify where their pupils are in their learning and the steps they need to take for improvement and progress (Gardner, Hayward, Harlen Stobart, 2008). However convincing the arguments in favour of change are, the external school evaluation data shows that the real change in the way teachers assess students’ progress is very slow and hardly noticed. The concept of learning oriented assessment culture (Birenbaum, 2014) could provide more understanding about the nature of good classroom assessment and necessary conditions that help to sustain school efforts in improving assessment practices.

Diagnóstico do Funcionamento do Conselho de Classe no IFMT-Campus Cuiabá Cel. Octayde Jorge da Silva

ResumoEste trabalho foi motivado pela expectativa de diagnosticar, a partir dos documentos vigentes, a atual forma de organização e de funcionamento do Conselho de Classe no IFMT- campus Cuiabá Cel. Octayde Jorge da Silva. Foi usada uma abordagem qualitativa com característica exploratória, por meio da Técnica da Documentação Indireta: pesquisa bibliográfica e pesquisa documental. Para tanto, buscou-se um embasamento teórico por meio de bibliografias referentes ao Conselho de Classe e em documentos legais como: a LDB/96; o Projeto Pedagógico Institucional do IFMT/2019 e a Organização Didática do IFMT/2014. Com base nos documentos legais se concluiu que o Conselho de Classe deve ser instituído nas escolas de forma participativa e colegiada, e que essa instância possui uma função importante no tocante ao acompanhamento do processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Todavia, não foram encontrados, no âmbito da Instituição, documentos com orientações para a prática da organização e do funcionamento do Conselho de Classe. Assim, identificou-se a necessidade de se construírem tais instrumentos, com vistas a ações mais efetivas para a execução, o acompanhamento e a avaliação do processo pedagógico nos cursos Técnicos Integrados ao Ensino Médio. Palavras-chave: Projeto Pedagógico Institucional. Organização Didática. Ensino-Aprendizagem. Avaliação Escolar. Ensino Médio Integrado. AbstractThis work was motivated by the expectation of diagnosing, based on the current documents, the current form of organization and functioning of the Class Council at the IFMT-campus Cuiabá Cel. Octayde Jorge da Silva. A qualitative approach with an exploratory characteristic was used, through the Indirect Documentation Technique: bibliographic research and documentary research. To this end, a theoretical basis was sought through bibliographies regarding the Class Council and in legal documents such as: LDB / 96; the Institutional Pedagogical Project of IFMT / 2019 and the Didactic Organization of IFMT / 2014. Based on the legal documents, it was concluded that the Class Council should be instituted in schools in a participatory and collegial way, and that this instance has an important role regarding the teaching-learning process monitoring. However, no documents were found, within the institution, with guidelines for the organization practice and the Class Council functioning. Thus, the need to build such instruments was identified, with a view to more effective actions for the execution, monitoring and evaluation of the pedagogical process in the Technical courses integrated to High School. Keywords: Institutional Pedagogical Project. Didactic Organization. Teaching-Learning. School Evaluation. Integrated High School.

Avaliação no ensino de História: uma experiência no Colégio de Aplicação/UFSC

O artigo apresenta uma análise sobre as possibilidades de entender a avaliação como parte central do processo de ensino/aprendizagem em História. Essa reflexão surge como produto da atividade de regência de classe pertinente à disciplina de Estágio Supervisionado em História II, na Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Portanto, há nesta discussão elementos empíricos (resultados das avaliações formativas, avaliação somativa e autoavaliação da turma), que, em diálogo com referenciais teóricos, permitiram-nos tecer considerações que apontam para resultados propositivos quanto ao uso sistemático de avaliações, por meio de atividades com fontes históricas. Dessa maneira, esse trabalho estabelece uma comparação entre avaliações objetivas e formativas, demonstrando que a utilização de avaliações formativas com fontes históricas pode contribuir para um melhor processo de ensino/aprendizagem.Palavras-Chave: Estágio Supervisionado de História; Colégio de Aplicação; Avaliação; Ensino de História. AbstractThe article presents an analysis of the possibilities of understanding evaluation as a central part of the teaching/learning process in History. This reflection arises as a product of the class activity pertinent to the subject of Supervised Internship in History II, at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Therefore, there are empirical elements in this discussion (results of formative assessments, summative assessment and self-assessment of the class), which, in dialogue with theoretical references, allowed us to make considerations that point to propositional results regarding the systematic use of assessments, through activities with historical sources. Thus, this paper establishes a comparison between objective and formative assessments, demonstrating that the use of formative assessments with historical sources can contribute to a better teaching/learning process.Keywords: Supervised History Internship; Laboratory School; Evaluation; History teaching.

A Comparative Study on Chinese Teachers' Implicit Theories of Creativity in the Context of Cross-cultural Communication

Teachers' Implicit theories of creativity affect cultivation of students' creativity. This study aimed to investigate Chinese teachers' implicit theories of creativity in international schools in Chinese mainland by comparing the effect size with the previous research data. Results showed that there are mixed patterns of implicit theories in cross-cultural groups. Mixed patterns can be further divided into Native, Westernized, Continuous, Mutational, and Common patterns. Combined with individual interviews, this study further analyzes the deep reasons for the formation of the mixed patterns of implicit theories in cross-cultural groups from the perspectives of creative thinking and creative personality, and finds that school evaluation methods and the definition of students' achievements affect teachers' implicit theories of creativity.