The Future of Test-Based Educational Accountability

The Future of Test-Based Educational Accountability
Author: Katherine Ryan
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 331
Release: 2010-03-17
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1135590885

In recent decades testing has become a much more visible and high-stakes accountability mechanism that is now seen as a powerful tool that can be used to drive school improvement. The purpose of this book is to identify and analyze the key issues associated with test-based educational accountability and to chart the future of educational accountability research. Chapter contributions are intended to be forward looking rather than a compendium of what has happened in the past. The book provides an accessible discussion of issues such as validity, test equating, growth modeling, fairness for special populations, causal inferences, and misuses of accountability data.

Measuring Success

Measuring Success
Author: Jack Buckley
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2018-01-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1421424967

"Once touted as the single best way to measure students from diverse backgrounds, schools, and experiences, standardized college admissions tests are now criticized for being hopelessly biased in favor of traditionally privileged groups. Out of this has emerged the test-optional movement that seeks to allow students to apply to schools without sitting through the rigors of the SAT. This book takes a step back and applies rigorous empirical measurements to these rival claims. Drawing upon the expertise of higher education researchers, admissions officers, enrollment managers, and policy professionals, this edited volume is among the first to investigate the research and policy implications of test-optional practices. It was conceived in response to the editors' frustration with the fragmented and incomplete state of the literature around the contemporary debate on college admissions testing. Many students, teachers, parents, policymakers--frankly, nearly anyone immediately outside the testing industry and college admissions--have little understanding of how admissions tests are used. This lack of transparency has often fueled beliefs that college assessments are biased, misused, or overused. Decades of research on various aspects of testing, such as the predictive validity of assessments, makes a compelling case for their value. But all-too-frequently researchers and admissions officers talk past one another instead of engaging substantively. This collection intends to remedy the situation by bringing these disparate voices together. This book is designed for provosts, enrollment managers, and college admissions officers seeking to strike the proper balance between uniformity and fairness"--

The Test

The Test
Author: Anya Kamenetz
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2015-01-06
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1610394429

"[The anti-testing] movement now has a guidebook. . . . Kamenetz shows how fundamentally American it would be to move toward a more holistic system." -- New York Times Book Review The Test is an essential and critically acclaimed book for any parent confounded by our national obsession with standardized testing. It recounts the shocking history and tempestuous politics of testing and borrows strategies from fields as diverse as games, neuroscience, and ancient philosophy to help children cope. It presents the stories of families, teachers, and schools maneuvering within and beyond the existing educational system, playing and winning the testing game. And it points the way toward a hopeful future of better tests and happier kids.

Test-Driving the Future

Test-Driving the Future
Author: Diane Michelfelder
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2022-09-12
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1786613247

As the development of autonomous vehicles proceeds full-speed ahead, it is often said that this new, disruptive form of transportation will change everything. Such a claim has drawn both philosophical and public attention to what could be called ethical emergencies: imaginary situations ranging from life-or-death trolley-problem conundrums to large-scale cyber-attacks on mobility networks. This perspective puts other important, but less dramatic, ethical dilemmas connected with driverless vehicles at risk of being underexplored or simply ignored. The primary focus of the original essays collected together in this volume shifts to considering these issues, ones arising out of more everyday human-autonomous vehicle relations and encounters. Topics investigated range from how driverless vehicles ethically affect what it is to be a pedestrian to how they could inspire more opportunities for social justice, along with a consideration of the need for policy makers to look at the softer impacts of driverless cars. Overall, this volume contributes to defining a new area of exploration connected to the ethics of driverless vehicles, one that should appeal not only to philosophers of technology but to engineering designers, regulators, and urban planners as well. Contributors: Jason Borenstein, Jeremy Carp, Shane Epting, Sven Ove Hansson, Joseph Herkert, Ike Kamphof, Robert Kirkman, Diane Michelfelder, Keith Miller, Sven Nyholm, Robert Rosenberger, Patrick Schmidt, Tsjalling Swierstra, and Galit Wellner

Testing Treatments

Testing Treatments
Author: Imogen Evans
Publisher: Pinter & Martin Publishers
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2011
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 1905177488

This work provides a thought-provoking account of how medical treatments can be tested with unbiased or 'fair' trials and explains how patients can work with doctors to achieve this vital goal. It spans the gamut of therapy from mastectomy to thalidomide and explores a vast range of case studies.

The Future Internet

The Future Internet
Author: Alex Galis
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2013-04-22
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3642380824

Co-editors of the volume are: Federico Álvarez, Alessandro Bassi, Michele Bezzi, Laurent Ciavaglia, Frances Cleary, Petros Daras, Hermann De Meer, Panagiotis Demestichas, John Domingue, Theo G. Kanter, Stamatis Karnouskos, Srdjan Krčo, Laurent Lefevre, Jasper Lentjes, Man-Sze Li, Paul Malone, Antonio Manzalini, Volkmar Lotz, Henning Müller, Karsten Oberle, Noel E. O'Connor, Nick Papanikolaou, Dana Petcu, Rahim Rahmani, Danny Raz, Gaël Richards, Elio Salvadori, Susana Sargento, Hans Schaffers, Joan Serrat, Burkhard Stiller, Antonio F. Skarmeta, Kurt Tutschku, Theodore Zahariadis The Internet is the most vital scientific, technical, economic and societal set of infrastructures in existence and in operation today serving 2.5 billion users. Continuing its developments would secure much of the upcoming innovation and prosperity and it would underpin the sustainable growth in economic values and volumes needed in the future. Future Internet infrastructures research is therefore a must. The Future Internet Assembly (FIA) is a successful conference that brings together participants of over 150 research projects from several distinct yet interrelated areas in the European Union Framework Programme 7 (FP7). The research projects are grouped as follows: the network of the future as infrastructure connecting and orchestrating the future Internet of people, computers, devices, content, clouds and things; cloud computing, Internet of Services and advanced software engineering; the public-private partnership projects on Future Internet; Future Internet Research and Experimentation (FIRE). The 26 full papers included in this volume were selected from 45 submissions. They are organized in topical sections named: software driven networks, virtualization, programmability and autonomic management; computing and networking clouds; internet of things; and enabling technologies and economic incentives.

Accelerating Software Quality

Accelerating Software Quality
Author: Eran Kinsbruner
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2020-08-10
Genre:
ISBN:

The book "Accelerating Software Quality: Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in the Age of DevOps" is a complete asset for software developers, testers, and managers that are on their journey to a more mature DevOps workflow, and struggle with better automation and data-driven decision making. DevOps is a mature process across the entire market, however, with existing Non-AI/ML technologies and models, it comes short in expediting release cycle, identifying productivity gaps and addressing them. This book, that was implemented by myself with the help of leaders from the DevOps and test automation space, is covering topics from basic introduction to AI and ML in software development and testing, implications of AI and ML on existing apps, processes, and tools, practical tips in applying commercial and open-source AI/ML tools within existing tool chain, chat-bots testing, visual based testing using AI, automated security scanning for vulnerabilities, automated code reviews, API testing and management using AI/ML, reducing effort and time through test impact analysis (TIA), robotic process automation (RPA), AIOps for smarter code deployments and production defects prevention, and many more.When properly leveraging such tools, DevOps teams can benefit from greater code quality and functional and non-functional test automation coverage. This increases their release cycle velocity, reduces noise and software waste, and enhances their app quality.The book is divided into 3 main sections: *Section 1 covers the fundamentals of AI and ML in software development and testing. It includes introductions, definitions, 101 for testing AI-Based applications, classifications of AI/ML and defects that are tied to AI/ML, and more.*Section 2 focuses on practical advises and recommendations for using AI/ML based solutions within software development activities. This section includes topics like visual AI test automation, AI in test management, testing conversational AI applications, RPA benefits, API testing and much more.*Section 3 covers the more advanced and future-looking angles of AI and ML with projections and unique use cases. Among the topics in this section are AI and ML in logs observability, AIOps benefits to an entire DevOps teams, how to maintain AI/ML test automation, Test impact analysis with AI, and more.The book is packed with many proven best practices, real life examples, and many other open source and commercial solution recommendations that are set to shape the future of DevOps together with ML/AI

The Myth of Achievement Tests

The Myth of Achievement Tests
Author: James J. Heckman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 469
Release: 2014-01-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 022610012X

Achievement tests play an important role in modern societies. They are used to evaluate schools, to assign students to tracks within schools, and to identify weaknesses in student knowledge. The GED is an achievement test used to grant the status of high school graduate to anyone who passes it. GED recipients currently account for 12 percent of all high school credentials issued each year in the United States. But do achievement tests predict success in life? The Myth of Achievement Tests shows that achievement tests like the GED fail to measure important life skills. James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, Tim Kautz, and a group of scholars offer an in-depth exploration of how the GED came to be used throughout the United States and why our reliance on it is dangerous. Drawing on decades of research, the authors show that, while GED recipients score as well on achievement tests as high school graduates who do not enroll in college, high school graduates vastly outperform GED recipients in terms of their earnings, employment opportunities, educational attainment, and health. The authors show that the differences in success between GED recipients and high school graduates are driven by character skills. Achievement tests like the GED do not adequately capture character skills like conscientiousness, perseverance, sociability, and curiosity. These skills are important in predicting a variety of life outcomes. They can be measured, and they can be taught. Using the GED as a case study, the authors explore what achievement tests miss and show the dangers of an educational system based on them. They call for a return to an emphasis on character in our schools, our systems of accountability, and our national dialogue. Contributors Eric Grodsky, University of Wisconsin–Madison Andrew Halpern-Manners, Indiana University Bloomington Paul A. LaFontaine, Federal Communications Commission Janice H. Laurence, Temple University Lois M. Quinn, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Pedro L. Rodríguez, Institute of Advanced Studies in Administration John Robert Warren, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century

Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2007-10-05
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0309109922

Advances in molecular biology and toxicology are paving the way for major improvements in the evaluation of the hazards posed by the large number of chemicals found at low levels in the environment. The National Research Council was asked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to review the state of the science and create a far-reaching vision for the future of toxicity testing. The book finds that developing, improving, and validating new laboratory tools based on recent scientific advances could significantly improve our ability to understand the hazards and risks posed by chemicals. This new knowledge would lead to much more informed environmental regulations and dramatically reduce the need for animal testing because the new tests would be based on human cells and cell components. Substantial scientific efforts and resources will be required to leverage these new technologies to realize the vision, but the result will be a more efficient, informative and less costly system for assessing the hazards posed by industrial chemicals and pesticides.

xUnit Test Patterns

xUnit Test Patterns
Author: Gerard Meszaros
Publisher: Pearson Education
Total Pages: 890
Release: 2007-05-21
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0132797461

Automated testing is a cornerstone of agile development. An effective testing strategy will deliver new functionality more aggressively, accelerate user feedback, and improve quality. However, for many developers, creating effective automated tests is a unique and unfamiliar challenge. xUnit Test Patterns is the definitive guide to writing automated tests using xUnit, the most popular unit testing framework in use today. Agile coach and test automation expert Gerard Meszaros describes 68 proven patterns for making tests easier to write, understand, and maintain. He then shows you how to make them more robust and repeatable--and far more cost-effective. Loaded with information, this book feels like three books in one. The first part is a detailed tutorial on test automation that covers everything from test strategy to in-depth test coding. The second part, a catalog of 18 frequently encountered "test smells," provides trouble-shooting guidelines to help you determine the root cause of problems and the most applicable patterns. The third part contains detailed descriptions of each pattern, including refactoring instructions illustrated by extensive code samples in multiple programming languages.