StandardizedTestsandInformal Reading Assessments Essay Example for Free

StandardizedTestsandInformal Reading Assessments Essay Many teachers’ today are experience increased pressure in proving their effectiveness in teaching students through standardized testing. With the standardized testing schools and teachers are graded on their ability to provide a proper education for their children. If the school scores and A+ people believe that the school is effective in teaching their students. The school scores a D are below the school is believed to be ineffective. Unfortunately many schools are judged according to the results of standardized testing. Even though the results of testing is misleading as to the staff effectiveness in teaching. Yet these results are what everybody relies on. (Timeout From Testing.org, n.d.) What is standardized testing: is a tool that measures a student’s ability to perform at a certain academic level. Being highly controversial standardized testing will always be debated. As the debate continues we can be assured that standard testing will not disappear. This paper with examining several pros and cons by both sides of the standard testing debate.(Timeout From Testing.org, n.d.) Pro; 1) Standardized testing will hold student and teacher accountable. Students are purposed in mastering certain skills and applying them throughout the test. Teachers are required to adjust their curriculum based on results of these assessments. The failure of so many students can bring the school under a microscope can cause loss of jobs teachers who are not meeting standards. 2) Standardized testing is able to test and compare students from different school districts. Students are required to take the same test. Standardized testing allows this to occur comparing student to student across the state. 3) Well-established rules and instructions are provided to the teachers with directions for what and when a subject needs to be taught in the school. This will also allow student to move to a new school and not worry about being behind his/hers new classmates. 4) Standardized tests are not scored with human emotion. A teacher can possibly score a student test with emotional bias. Computers and or people score the test without bias they had no knowledge of the student is. 5) Standardized tests help schools develop programs and services to multiple subgroups. Establishing data to assist the subgroups in improving their scores. Con; 1) Standardized testing does not allow for emotional and him and him and external factors of the student. There have been students who have made straight As a GPA 4.00 for their career in school and fail the standardized test and not graduate. The standardized test will not show intelligence of the student taken the test. Three weeks before the standardized test a student’s parents get divorce. Will that student be truly focusing on the test? 2) Teachers feeling the pressure of standardized test will teach to the test. Teacher’s evaluation dependent upon this test and student success will only foster more teachers to continuing in this practice. This can only harm the student because it will not be taught other skills needed for their future. 3) The stress level surrounding standardized testing is very high. Teachers have walked out of the classroom because so much emphasis is placed on the standardized test. Students reach unhealthy levels of stress because of this test. Students have high levels of stress because her whole future is based on whether you pass or fail this test. No retakes allowed. 4) Standardized test can only evaluate the individuals performance and not their overall growth. If the student is having a bad day but fails the test or scores very low it is not an accurate as to the true knowledge of the student and how hard the teacher worked and helping their students to achieve. Students may have improved tremendously throughout the year and it is impossible one test to implement what the teacher is qualified or not. 5) Standardized testing can be and has been used for peoples political agenda. This is that for many politicians stand on educational platforms to further their career. These politicians have absolutely no clue what learning is really all about.(Timeout From Testing.org, n.d.) Standardized testing are essential for obtaining information as to the weakness of student’s ability to read. As you read above in essence standardized testing as necessary uses to evaluate a student’s ability but shall not dictate their future. Student portfolios are essential part of the development and assessments. What is the purpose of a portfolio. You can show student growth, and by the various, and gentian violet themselves and their own teaching method. For folders containing selected selections of students work that will accurately show their progress.(Gallaudet.edu, n.d.) Start introducing the portfolio after the first week of school. The students rarely understand or even know what portfolios are. As we teachers explain to our students that we will be creating an ongoing portfolio. The portfolios will help to introduce, and assess our learning experience during the school year. Students can create their own portfolio by assembling a designing with their own individual personality. Most rewarding part of student’s portfolios is the displaying of the student best work. The pride many students will feel when they can see their accomplishments in learning.(About.com, n.d.) The items that are found in students portfolios are as follows; Quotations or dictations, five stages of reading recorded by video, a list of books read, writing journals, narrative essay, exploratory, explanatory, persuasive, cause-and-effect, diagrams, graphic organizers. The many types of work samples represent the students reading programs. (Tompkins, n.d.) Formative assessments are used to monitor students learning by helping them identify strengths and weaknesses and target the areas that are the weakest in. Summative assessment evaluates the student’s knowledge at the end of a instructional unit such as midterms, essay papers. These assessments are places in students portfolio help evaluate the progress in the game in the school year. This information can be used formative when teachers and students got their progress in reading programs. (Eberly Center, n.d.) Standardized testing has been debated for many years. Educators across the country will always feel the pressure of performing for the politicians who dreamed up standardized testing. Whether teachers are pro or con when it comes to standardized testing is truthfully here to stay. The cost of standardized testing will always be difficult to justify. Whether you are pro or con standardized testing unfortunately will be how is the community administration will judge your performance. Stupid their References About.com (n.d.). Student Portfolio. Retrieved July 10, 2013, from http://712educators.about.com/od/portfolios/a/portfolios.htm?=1 Eberly Center (n.d.). What is the Difference Between Formative this Summative Assessment data. Retrieved July 10, 2013, from http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.html Gallaudet.edu (n.d.). Portfolios for Students Growth. Retrieved July 10, 2013, from http://www.galludet.edu/clerc_center/information_and_resources/info_to_go_/transition_to_adulthood/portfolios_for_student_growth.html Meador, D. (n.d.). Standardized Testing; Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing [Online exclusive]. About.com. Retrieved July 10, 2013, from canhttp://teaching.about.com/od/assess/a/Standardized-Testing.htm?p=1 Timeout From Testing.org (n.d.). Standardized Test: Terms and Definitions. Retrieved July 10, 2013, from http://timeoutfromtesting.org/doedefinitions.php Tompkins, G. E. (n.d.). Literacy for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/pearson/2010/literacy-for-the 21st-century_- a-balance-approach_ebook-5e.php

Western Perspective on Western Biases in Hinduism Essay -- Hindu Relig

In many ways Rita Gross’ stance on Western bias on Hinduism, which creates an andocentric stance on three primary deities of Vishnu, Siva, and Devi, worshipped in Hindu tradition, is valid. As argued by Gross, within texts of Hinduism there appears an inclination towards an andocentric classification of the primary deities. This classification which is continually purported, truly does, resembles a group created with a patriarchy in mind. The list consistently is, as provided, Vishnu, Siva, and Devi. According to Gross’ theory, the male oriented Hindu representation of the primary three deities was not questioned by Western scholarship. As well as the fact, that Western traditions primary â€Å"favour of texts† would have hindered any further advancement of Hindu religion (Gross, p. 320). By excluding the rituals and symbols of the deities there would only be a partial understanding of Hinduism. In my opinion, I agree with Gross on the aspect of Western tradition biasing the actual representation of goddesses. But I believe it may be important to illustrate the fact that other factors could have enabled an increase of Western biases. Among the unquantifiable number of civilizations which have come and dissipated into time, religion has been variably andocentric. Take the Greek and Roman religious tradition, both held above all the patriarchic tradition of rule under a man: Zeus and Jupiter. Further on in monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, there are also aspects which can be determined to be andocentric. All three religions validated, over time, through dogma and tradition of a male god. Even though Judaism contains a matriarchic tradition of governance, there remains an ideology, which the old and new testa... ...n are subordinate to the male deity, in example Mary the mother of Christ became one of her son’s chief followers. Mary is still held in high regard but not in the same esteem as her son, Christ. In this suggests an andocentric tendency by Westerns who place more importance on men than women. When faced by a polytheistic system of deities which includes goddesses as not subordinate to the gods but sometimes more powerful and fearful characters could also increase the bias held by Westerns. Works Cited Fuller, C. J. The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2004. Print. Gross, Rita M. "Toward a New Model of the Hindu Pantheon: A Report on Twenty-some Years of Feminist Reflection." Academic Press 28 (1998): 319-27. Klostermaier, Klaus K. Hinduism: Beginners Guides. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2007. Print. Western Perspective on Western Biases in Hinduism Essay -- Hindu Relig In many ways Rita Gross’ stance on Western bias on Hinduism, which creates an andocentric stance on three primary deities of Vishnu, Siva, and Devi, worshipped in Hindu tradition, is valid. As argued by Gross, within texts of Hinduism there appears an inclination towards an andocentric classification of the primary deities. This classification which is continually purported, truly does, resembles a group created with a patriarchy in mind. The list consistently is, as provided, Vishnu, Siva, and Devi. According to Gross’ theory, the male oriented Hindu representation of the primary three deities was not questioned by Western scholarship. As well as the fact, that Western traditions primary â€Å"favour of texts† would have hindered any further advancement of Hindu religion (Gross, p. 320). By excluding the rituals and symbols of the deities there would only be a partial understanding of Hinduism. In my opinion, I agree with Gross on the aspect of Western tradition biasing the actual representation of goddesses. But I believe it may be important to illustrate the fact that other factors could have enabled an increase of Western biases. Among the unquantifiable number of civilizations which have come and dissipated into time, religion has been variably andocentric. Take the Greek and Roman religious tradition, both held above all the patriarchic tradition of rule under a man: Zeus and Jupiter. Further on in monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, there are also aspects which can be determined to be andocentric. All three religions validated, over time, through dogma and tradition of a male god. Even though Judaism contains a matriarchic tradition of governance, there remains an ideology, which the old and new testa... ...n are subordinate to the male deity, in example Mary the mother of Christ became one of her son’s chief followers. Mary is still held in high regard but not in the same esteem as her son, Christ. In this suggests an andocentric tendency by Westerns who place more importance on men than women. When faced by a polytheistic system of deities which includes goddesses as not subordinate to the gods but sometimes more powerful and fearful characters could also increase the bias held by Westerns. Works Cited Fuller, C. J. The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2004. Print. Gross, Rita M. "Toward a New Model of the Hindu Pantheon: A Report on Twenty-some Years of Feminist Reflection." Academic Press 28 (1998): 319-27. Klostermaier, Klaus K. Hinduism: Beginners Guides. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2007. Print.

Reusability of Code Essay

Designing a code can often take a lot of time, depending on the complexity of the coding. This is why code reusability has become a standard when it comes to computer programming. But to understand why you would reuse code, you need to understand what goes into creating code. This essay will compare and contrast procedural programming modules and objects. Also, it discuss the security terms in hiding code, passing of data versus data encapsulation, code reuse in more than one program, and how object-oriented methods are similar to procedural modules. According to Gaddis (2010) there are two methods of programming that are primarily used: Object-oriented and Procedural. Procedural programming is more focused on creating procedures; object-oriented programming is focused on creating objects. When dealing with procedures, the data items are separate from the procedures. Gaddis (2010) says this can cause problems, but at the same time it will help the program become larger and more complex. But where procedural programming separates code and data, object-oriented programming handles it through encapsulation and data hiding. Encapsulation takes an object and combines data and code into it. Data hiding makes it possible to hide code in the inside of an object from the code outside of the object. An object normally hides its data, but leaves the methods available for access. Gaddis (2010) states, â€Å"When an object’s internal data is hidden from outside code and access to that data is restricted to the object’s methods, the data is protected from accidental corruption.† There is also no reason to worry about formatting of the code inside the object, just the methods of the object. If you want to reuse codes, the best way to do it is to create modules. They let you duplicate code in a program so that you can execute whenever you  need the service. The Microsoft website (What Is Reusable Code?, 2013) says that code reusability can be used if the code doesn’t have to modified, and can perform a specific service regardless of what the application uses it. It just can be too complex of a code. Just as we use standards in everyday life, there are standard code that is used with computer programs. Venit and Drake say (2011) that inheritance goes along with code reusability. Inheritance takes the methods and attributes from old classes and uses them in new ones. In conclusion, there are different aspects between object-oriented programming and procedural programming. These two methods have different ways of functioning within a program. And as long as a code isn’t to complex, code reuse is very possible. References Gaddis, T. (2010). Starting Out with Programming Logic & Design (Second Edition ed.). Addison-Wesley. Microsoft. (2013). What Is Reusable Code? Retrieved from msdn.microsoft.com: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/aa189112(v=office.10).aspx Venit, S., & Drake, E. (2011). Prelude Programming Concepts and Design (Fifth Edition ed.). Addison-Wesley.

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ASL Challenge Paper - 1016 Words

ASL is more than a language; it is a miracle. I find myself often perplexed by the difficulty that must have come with making a language solely from hands. It is amazing that there was a nationwide speaking of the hands for the deaf community and anyone who is interested to learn can join in easily, but only if they can hoop over some of the languages major challenges. In the article â€Å"Why is Learning American Sign Language a Challenge?† by Professor Mike Kent, he discusses the top 5 ASL challenges he has come across. The first challenge being social dominance patterns and attitude. This challenge is definitely a struggle for many new learners. People think that the deaf are nothing more than handicapped human beings that can’t do normal†¦show more content†¦Patience is key. The final challenge is that there are two types of motivations that gives people the will to learn sign language. These people fall into 2 categories. One, instrumental motivation is for all those people that want to benefit in there career with another language or are asked to take classes for a job. This person will just go to pass the tests but will quickly learn and forget the language. Even in our case as students it is technically an intellectual motivation for our degree but for many there is an actual reason they wanted to take ASL. When there is an outside motivation people are categorized as integratively motivated learners. These people have a significant person in their life that is deaf and only communicates through ASL or a friend or a colleague. Their motivation is stronger and the language will stick with them longer. If I had to choose one of the above 5 most challenging things about ASL, my personal challenge would be congruence and culture. As the article mentioned sometimes ASL can feel like a revolving door that becomes too late to enter if you miss some parts for new learners. I have found myself feeling this way often. Once a conversation starts going at (which often seem hyper speed) I feel helpless because I don’t know what’s going on when I miss important parts of the conversation. I find it also very challenging to not want to use my voice as I sign. I know deaf people I amShow MoreRelatedAlternative Communication Lesson Plan: Hey Helen Keller!1434 Words   |  6 Pagessigns in ASL. The students will be able to convert simple words into Braille. Required Materials: List all materials and equipment, including the text or other books, videos by title, etc. Give specific information so the exact video, book, etc. can be located by someone other than you. 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Its intention is to complement your understandingRead MoreThe Is A Simple Term Essay1308 Words   |  6 Pagesconcept. However, the word is. *insert quote*/citation. Just as we all perpetuate, to a degree, racism and sexism. We all perpetuate audism, even on an unconscious level. The society we live in supports audists beliefs and we are faced with the challenge of combatting those beliefs. Audism is the belief that hearing people are superior of deaf people, whether it is conscious or not. Before the coining of the term audism people were in a search for a term to describe the oppression of deaf individualsRead MoreA Jerney in to the Deaf World15812 Words   |  64 Pages enjoy a full command of language through exposure to ASL. Most Deaf children of Deaf parents function better than Deaf children of hearing parents in all academic, linguistic, and social areas. Some Deaf children of Deaf parents don’t realize that there are hearing people in the world until they are school age. 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Rosetta Stone An Innovative Technology Company - 1602 Words

Rosetta Stone is an innovative technology company that operates in the education field. Their competitive advantage lies in the idea that they are able to use the strengths of a technology company and apply them in the educational landscape where the competition appears to be more traditional. Through research and experience, Rosetta Stone has created a unique product that can be used all around the world no matter of the level of education of the person. Their first goal is to market themselves as an innovator in the technological world. They do not want to narrow themselves solely as a language platform, but instead as a resource for people from all around the world that have the desire to learn a new language using a proven and effective approach. The main strategic idea that Rosetta Stone is trying to achieve is to change the way people learn. They need financing to reach more customers and show that their learning strategy is not only great for languages but also to learn anythi ng else. Looking at the financial forecast provided in the case, it appears too optimistic because the real decline in growth only happens around 2012. Rosetta Stone being as successful as they are and going public soon will entice other companies to at least follow their lead and increase the competition in the technology and educational sector. This increased competition would cause revenue growth to decline at a faster rate than what management projects because similar companies would getShow MoreRelatedProject Analysis : Rosetta Stone1492 Words   |  6 PagesRosetta Stone is a technology innovative company that operates in the education field. Their competitive advantage lies in the idea that they are able to use the strengths of a technology company and apply them in the educational landscape where the competition appears to be more traditional. 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Copyright  © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may

Dual Diagnosis free essay sample

What is the impact of complex health needs on the individual and mental health services? This essay aims to discuss the impact of complex mental health needs on an individual; it talks about the impact on mental health services on an individual Dual diagnosis refers to a condition whereby an individual suffers from an enduring mental illness and at the same time struggles with a co-existing drug or alcohol dependency issues (DoH 2009). Rassool (2002) describes dual diagnosis as a complex mental health problem which is a broad expression characterized by the presence of two inter-reliant disorders.The substances which are most commonly used by those with enduring mental illness are alcohol, cannabis and stimulants. People with dual diagnosis not only have two major struggles, however they also experience other complex issues such as homelessness, poor engagement with services, finances and legal issues which, results in the exacerbation of their mental state (DoH, 2002). This account aims to focus upon the impact of a complex mental health need and the services involved.The DOH (2002) acknowledges that providing services for someone both a mental health and a drug and/or alcohol problems is a very difficult task for frontline mental health services. The department reiterates that due to the complexity of the issues involved in the caring process, putting the service users at a high risk of suicide, relapse and consequently readmission to hospital. The involvement of multi- agencies in the provision of care though useful, tends to create gaps in the service provision if without effective coordination (Dorling 2003). DOH (2008) (refocus CPA) paved the way for a policy to clarify how care for individuals with a wide range of needs are ought to receive a high level of care coordination. The policy also clarifies that only this group of individuals will be subject to a CPA. Care plans and assessments will be used to address the various needs encountered by the concerned individuals. Care coordinators were identified as being very vital to ensure the care coordination process is person centred. Care coordinators will undergo nationally recognised training according to a national competences framework. Fisher et al 2004) supports that the treatment of individuals a dual diagnosis requires an effective integration of skills from both the mental health and chemical dependency fields. They also identify that due to the high mortality and morbidity of this group of clients, it is absolutely essential to provide the services in an integrated model. Research also shows that providing services separately to treat individuals with dual diagnoses is ineffective compared to the integrated services model (Graham et al 2003).Evidential proof has shown that suggests that people with dual diagnosis are more likely to suffer frequent relapses, hospital readmissions, and high incidences of suicide attempts, family problems, homelessness, and disruptive behaviour including violence (Drake 2005). The collaboration between social support and treatment agencies should clearly be effective and provide realistic treatment goals, taking into consideration that the services are scarce. The collaboration should be at all levels in order to cater for the varied and changing needs for the individuals with dual diagnoses (Bhui 2004).In 1998, the government developed a 10 year strategy to deal with drugs problem facing Britain. The government acknowledged that this was a serious problem posing a threat to the communities through drug related crimes. In the same report, the anti-drugs coordinator identified that the emphasis had just been put on tackling illegal drugs and he proposed that the misuse of legally obtainable substances such as alcohol and tobacco without medical intervention, was also closely related to illegal drugs problems and therefore needed addressing. In 2010, the government reviewed its strategy, and this time the strategy will be focusing on recovery. There are no fundamental differences as the onus still rests with the motivation of the individual to seek help and the emphasis on integrated service remains. Mental health services have the primary chief task of providing a widespread care for individuals with co-existing substance misuse problems. The general principle for this is that the mental health provision is better situated to provide services to those with complex needs.This process is called mainstreaming (Norman Ryrie 2008 ). The services are provided by teams such as assertive outreach, crisis management and long term care than the substance misuse services. In addition, it is expected that substance use services should support mental health services in this endeavour. Community drug and alcohol teams These are multidisciplinary teams offering a variety of treatment options. These will include assessment, detoxification programmes, maintenance programmes, individual therapy, specialist groups, alternative therapies as well as inpatient treatments.Referrals are made to these teams from many sources including health professionals, non-statutory agencies, probation, and social services and, in many areas, people who feel they would like help can refer themselves. Substance misuse can consequently have a negative impact on the nuclear and the wider family unit of the abuser, social and the wider community networks (Coppello et al 2005). This impact on family members sorely relies upon the different roles and responsibilities, for example: the parents of the drug abuser suffer more impact than the rest of the family members (Banard 2006).It affects them in several various ways such as: physical illnesses, education and employment and psychological illn esses. There is a strong possibility that family members experience negative emotions such as anger, shame, confusion, hurt and despair due to lack of knowledge of how to get help or lack of intervention or support from services (Templeton et al 2006). Children or siblings who undertake a caring role can face a risk of loosing their childhood, which can have a negative impact on schoolwork, health, conduct and friendships (Velleman and Templeton 2007).The provision and of services to meet the needs of family members and their involvement in the care of drug users, results in the enhancement and effectiveness of services and drug treatment and plummeting abuse (Velleman and Templeton 2007). It is imperative that services which are designated to offer expert help to family members and carers of drug users implement methods to amplify motivation and resilience because there is a tendency of loosing hope in the process (Templeton 2007).According to Banard (2006), family members play a vital role in influencing people with substance misuse problems to seek or accept help from services. Stanton and Heath (2005), believes that most partners of drug abusers experience physical violence, manipulation, pressure to release money to fund dr ugs and lying. Family members adults and children equally experience inevitable risks of developing numerous chronic problems such as substance misuse in their own right, physical sicknesses, involvement in arrangement of anti-social behaviours and unlawful behaviours (Hermine et al 2004).According to Richmond and Foster (2003), nursing staff exhibit a negative approach towards patients with a substance misuse issues, which results in a poor quality of care leading to reduced care which consequently worsen treatment outcomes. Some nursing staff might have an unenthusiastic approach towards treatment outcomes as some of them possibly will feel ill-equipped when engaging with service users with dual diagnosis, being judgemental and having pessimistic views towards treatment outcomes and dual diagnosis itself (Price 2002 ).Within the Mental Health services training is crucial in order to enhance knowledge about dual diagnosis, therefore improving quality of care provided and reduce feelings of dissatisfaction amongst the nursing staff( Ralley et al 2009 ). Some service users with Dual Diagnosis have a difficulty connecting and engaging with services and receiving treatment. A proposition was made to the Mental Health Services to engage in playing a primary function in delivering integrated interventions for people with Dual diagnosis and this process is called mainstreaming (Department of Health 2008).NICE guidelines (2007) recommends that treatment of individuals with dual diagnoses must be psychological i nterventions that are evidence based and it provided the guidelines for the treatments such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Harm Reduction. In order to achieve effective treatment of dual diagnosis, interventions such as Cognitive Behavioural therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing and harm minimisation are can be helpful for (DD) treatment (DoH 2006). These treatments are used to increase compliance with medication and enhance engagement with services. Steps towards treatment involve creating a trusting and therapeutic relationship with the service user and this results in the service user being able to retain skills in managing his/her own illness and achieving milestones (Nordsky 2003). In order to achieve good treatment outcomes, a good assessment has to carried out. Assessment aims to identify the biospychosocial needs which then assist in formulating a good and a suitable care plan and a risk assessment for the service user (Drummond et al 2008). During the assessment of substance misuse it is mperative to note that most patients have a tendency of using more than one drug (polydrug) (DoH 2006). Clinicians have to use screening questions to ascertain the level of the recent substance misuse. Other investigations can also be made to identify quantity of drugs being used, frequency, and route being use and length period of time (DoH 2006). Clinician should also identify the level of understanding of the service user in regards t o consequences of substance misuse consumption to their physical and psychological wellbeing, and the negative impact it has on their social and family life (Baker and Dawe 2005). The involvement of carers and families during assessment helps to obtain valuable information so as to achieve an inclusive assessment which then helps to prepare an absolute care plan (Rassool 2006). Mueser et al (2003) advise that all the clinical staff must be trained in the basics of assessing substance misuse in people with severe mental illness. They add that the more in-depth training in substance misuse can be made available to a more targeted group of clinicians to provide expertise in that area.