Organizations responsible for managing commercial fisheries conduct annual stock assessments to monitor stock and, in principle, reduce the risk of overexploitation. These are fundamental to setting the total allowable catch for the upcoming fishing year. While there have been many attempts to estimate uncertainty associated with certain components and estimates of stock assessments, to date there has been no systematic assessment of their forecasted predicted value. Using data from annual stock assessments from 65 commercial fisheries around the world, estimates were obtained of both predicted (from the previous year) and observed (in the current year) catch-at-age. When comparing observed (actual) and predicted catch-at-age for a given stock, estimates were obtained of the predictive power of next-season forecasts. Using other attributes of the fishery and the stock (biological (e.g. life history) and management (e.g. assessment model employed)), empirical models were constructed that attempt to determine variability in predictive power among stocks. It was observed that, on average, within-year predictive powers (age-series within time samples) were higher than year over year predictive powers (time-series within age samples). While focusing on time-series within age, it was observed that change over the period of record (in natural mortality rate, assessment model employed, etc.) reduced predictive power; while for age-series within time, it was shown that cumulative landings reduced predictive power. This study represents one of the first attempts to quantify systematically the predictive power of fisheries stock assessment models.

The current set of experiments sought to evaluate and address current, empirically based assessments and treatment protocols for children who have autism and/or other developmental disabilities. The past few decades of research have been successful in developing effective behavioral treatments, however, the dissemination of these strategies has not been maximized in applied settings. Furthermore, many existing treatments are outdated or not widely used in school or social settings. The current experiments evaluate existing effective assessments and treatments and extend them with the implementation of a novel package based off of commonly utilized discrete trial training behavioral techniques in behavior analysis. This treatment protocol was shown to have high inter observer reliability scores throughout the use of this assessment, as well as a high correlation with a commonly used language assessment in Experiment 1. Experiment 2 examined the positive effects of this treatment curriculum guide following skills training. Experiment 3 evaluated the validity of the programs that examined higher order learning from Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behavior. The results suggest that this assessment and training protocol has significant potential in efficiently training students with and without disabilities. Implications of these finding are discussed in terms of future progress of translational research in applied settings. Furthermore, the present set of experiments contributes largely to the dissemination of emerging research and practice in behavior analysis.

Esta tese tem como objetivo analisar as ações do Estado brasileiro na educação básica no período de 1995 a 2014. Para tanto, faço uso de uma política pública educacional – o Sistema de Avaliação da Educação Básica (Saeb) – como “janela” desta pesquisa. O uso de uma política educacional como “janela” implica no entendimento de que as políticas públicas estão inseparavelmente relacionadas ao Estado (AGUDELO, 2011; OSCAR OSZLAK; GUILLERMO O'DONNELL, 1995) e que só se pode definir como política pública a ação que tem o aval estatal (OSZLAK; O'DONNELL, 1995). A escolha do Saeb, por sua vez, esteve alicerçada em uma revisão bibliográfica que aponta que, a partir das reformas estatais dos anos de 1990, as avaliações ganharam centralidade no cenário brasileiro (HYPOLITO, 2008; PERONI, 2003; FREITAS, 2004; BONAMINO; SOUSA, 2012; SOUZA; OLIVEIRA, 2003; COELHO, 2008). Esta é a justificativa para fazer uso de uma política pública educacional que inclui avaliações de larga escala, pois entendo que, olhando para tais avaliações, posso ter um acesso privilegiado para identificar como o Estado age na educação básica. A revisão bibliográfica também apontou que as reformas estatais de 1990 no Brasil foram fortemente influenciadas pelo modelo gerencial. Assim, os pressupostos gerencialistas foram aqueles, centralmente, utilizados para o entendimento das mudanças ocorridas no Estado brasileiro na década de 1990. Como forma de entender o modelo gerencial, faço uso das contribuições dos autores John Clarke e Janet Newman – que estudaram as reformas gerenciais no contexto da Inglaterra. Apresento um breve panorama histórico dos contextos internacional e brasileiro, no qual trato sobre a reestruturação do Estado e as principais mudanças que passaram a existir em relação às políticas educacionais, examinando, de forma especial, a centralidade que ganharam as avaliações de larga escala na educação. Através da realização de entrevistas realistas (PAWSON; TILLEY, 2000) com pessoas ligadas a órgãos estatais e a instituições não-estatais – que têm exercido um importante papel nas discussões educacionais –, da análise de documentos e da teoria construída para a tese, realizei uma análise que levou em conta as lentes teóricas utilizadas ao longo do estudo – análise relacional (APPLE, 2006) e a abordagem estratégico-relacional (JESSOP, 2008) – e que permitiu inferir, de forma complexa, sobre como se caracterizam as ações do Estado brasileiro na educação básica no período de 1995 a 2014. Concluí que, apesar da existência de particularidades no âmbito estatal brasileiro, sendo o Estado ainda forte e bastante centralizado e caracterizado pelo patrimonialismo, coronelismo e populismo (FAORO, 2001), as avaliações de larga escala e os pressupostos gerenciais servem como importantes orientadores das ações do Estado na educação básica, o que corrobora o alerta de Clarke e Newman (1997) de que, apesar das contradições existentes no Estado, o gerencialismo possui, atualmente, primazia sobre outros modelos. / This dissertation aims to analyze the action of the Brazilian State in the context of basic education from 1995 to 2014. Therefore, I use a public educational policy – the Basic Education Assessment System – as a “window” of this research. The use of a educational policy as a “window” implies the understanding that public policies are inseparably related to the State (HYPOLITO, 2008; PERONI, 2003; FREITAS, 2004; BONAMINO; SOUSA, 2012; SOUZA; OLIVEIRA, 2003; COELHO, 2008) and also requires the understanding that a policy can only be set as public policy when it has the State guarantee (OSZLAK; O'DONNELL, 1995). The choice of the Basic Education Assessment System was based on the literature review that points out that evaluations gained centrality in the Brazilian context since the State reforms in the 1990s (HYPOLITO, 2008; PERONI, 2003; FREITAS, 2004; BONAMINO; SOUSA, 2012; SOUZA; OLIVEIRA, 2003; COELHO, 2008). This is the justification for using an educational policy that includes large-scale assessments; I understand that, when looking for such assessments, I can have a privileged access to identify how the State acts in basic education. The literature review also pointed out that in the 1990s the State reform in Brazil was strongly influenced by managerialism. Thus, managerial assumptions were used to understand the changes in the Brazilian State in the 1990s. In order to understand managerialism, I use the contributions from John Clarke and Janet Newman – who have studied managerial reforms in England’s context. I present a brief historical overview of both international and Brazilian contexts, in which I deal with the restructuring of the State and the major changes in relation to educational policies, examining, specially, the centrality of large-scale assessments in education. By conducting realistic interviews (PAWSON; TILLEY, 2000) with people linked to State agencies and non-state institutions – which have played an important role in educational discussions –, document analysis and the theory built in this dissertation, I carried out an analysis that took into account the theoretical lens used throughout the study – relational analysis (APPLE, 2006) and the strategic-relational approach (JESSOP, 2008) – which allowed me to infer, in a complex way, how the action of the Brazilian State in basic education from 1995 to 2014 is characterized. I concluded that, despite of the existence of peculiarities in the Brazilian State level, which means that the State is still strong and quite centralized and characterized by paternalism, “coronelismo” and populism (FAORO, 2001), large-scale assessments and managerial assumptions have served as important guides of the State's actions in basic education, which confirms the Clarke and Newman’s alert (1997) that, in spite of the existence of contradictions in the State, managerialism has primacy over other models nowadays.

Studien syftade till att genom manipulation av namn på en fiktiv sökande till en ledig professur granska om bedömningar vid en professorstillsättning inom akademin i Sverige påverkas av sökandes kön och etnicitet. Anställda vid Högskolan i Gävle läste ett sakkunnigutlåtande och besvarade därefter en serie frågor om en sökandes lämplighet för tjänsten som professor. Sökandes kön och etnicitet manipulerades genom att ändra den sökandes namn. Inga signifikanta skillnader i bedömningen av den sökandes lämplighet baserat på kön eller etnicitet förelåg. Kvinnor skattade de sökandes lämplighet för professorstjänsten högre än män. Det fanns en skillnad vid bedömning mellan etnicitet då deltagaren fick svara på om de själva tyckte att den sökande skulle få tjänsten och om de trodde att den skulle få tjänsten. Avsaknaden av signifikanta effekter av kön och etnicitet hos den bedömda sökande kan försiktigt tolkas som att jämställdhetsarbetet inom akademin börjat ge resultat. / The purpose of the study was through manipulation of the name on a fictional applicant for a vacant professorship review if the assessments within the Academy of Sweden were shifting, depending on the applicant’s gender and ethnicity. Staff from Högskolan i Gävle read an expert opinion and then answered a series of questions about an applicant's suitability for a vacant professorship. The applicant’s gender and ethnicity were manipulated by changing the applicant’s name. No significant differences in the assessment of the applicant's suitability based on gender or ethnicity existed. Women estimated the applicant’s suitability for the professorship higher than men did. The participants made a difference by ethnicity if they themselves thought that the applicant would receive the professorship and if they thought that the applicant would receive the professorship. The lack of significant effects of gender and ethnicity of the assessed applicant can cautiously interpreted as the fact that the gender equality work within the academy has begun to profit results.

abstract: This study tested the effects of two kinds of cognitive, domain-based preparation tasks on learning outcomes after engaging in a collaborative activity with a partner. The collaborative learning method of interest was termed "preparing-to-interact," and is supported in theory by the Preparation for Future Learning (PFL) paradigm and the Interactive-Constructive-Active-Passive (ICAP) framework. The current work combined these two cognitive-based approaches to design collaborative learning activities that can serve as alternatives to existing methods, which carry limitations and challenges. The "preparing-to-interact" method avoids the need for training students in specific collaboration skills or guiding/scripting their dialogic behaviors, while providing the opportunity for students to acquire the necessary prior knowledge for maximizing their discussions towards learning. The study used a 2x2 experimental design, investigating the factors of Preparation (No Prep and Prep) and Type of Activity (Active and Constructive) on deep and shallow learning. The sample was community college students in introductory psychology classes; the domain tested was "memory," in particular, concepts related to the process of remembering/forgetting information. Results showed that Preparation was a significant factor affecting deep learning, while shallow learning was not affected differently by the interventions. Essentially, equalizing time-on-task and content across all conditions, time spent individually preparing by working on the task alone and then discussing the content with a partner produced deeper learning than engaging in the task jointly for the duration of the learning period. Type of Task was not a significant factor in learning outcomes, however, exploratory analyses showed evidence of Constructive-type behaviors leading to deeper learning of the content. Additionally, a novel method of multilevel analysis (MLA) was used to examine the data to account for the dependency between partners within dyads. This work showed that "preparing-to-interact" is a way to maximize the benefits of collaborative learning. When students are first cognitively prepared, they seem to make the most efficient use of discussion towards learning, engage more deeply in the content during learning, leading to deeper knowledge of the content. Additionally, in using MLA to account for subject nonindependency, this work introduces new questions about the validity of statistical analyses for dyadic data. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Psychology 2013

Este estudo analisa os efeitos colaterais indesejados de avaliações externas quando combinadas a políticas de responsabilização (accountability) escolar no Brasil. Estes efeitos colaterais, denominados \"peiragênicos\" por Madaus e Russell, são previsíveis, indesejados e decorrem da manipulação (gaming) das regras do sistema pelos agentes envolvidos, levando à inflação de escores, vieses nos resultados reportados e interferências indevidas nos processos escolares que se pretendiam monitorar. Este estudo completa uma lacuna na literatura nacional, visando a medir a extensão de dois destes efeitos: a exclusão não aleatória de alunos de baixa proficiência de avaliações e a incidência de fraudes ingênuas, em desacordo aos protocolos de aplicação das avaliações. Duas abordagens são apresentadas. Para estimar as exclusões de alunos de baixa proficiência é proposta uma análise baseada na assimetria de distribuições de proficiência, usando distribuições normais truncadas. Para avaliar a extensão de fraudes ingênuas, definidas como a divulgação de respostas aos alunos testados sem levar em conta a existência de cadernos de itens ou permissividade com \"colas\" entre alunos, é introduzida uma abordagem baseada na contagem de blocos impróprios maximizadores. Ambos os algoritmos são aplicados à Prova Brasil, de 2013 e 2015. As medições obtidas são confrontadas com variáveis explicativas associadas às pressões da responsabilização, mediante modelos hierárquicos lineares. As pressões consideradas neste trabalho resultam de programas estaduais de bonificação docente e de acompanhamento do Indicador de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica (Ideb), assim como variações em rankings do Ideb nos municípios. Os resultados indicam que tanto a exclusão de alunos de baixo desempenho quanto fraudes ingênuas ocorrem em associação a estas pressões. O gaming parece mais intenso em unidades da federação com políticas high-stakes, assim como em escolas com Ideb baixo verificado na avaliação anterior. Tendências de variação do Ideb, distâncias deste indicador às metas, ou mudanças em posições no ranking resultam não correlacionados significativamente às pressões. Exclusões medidas são menores em UFs com avaliações próprias para cálculo de bonificação. Um substancial aumento nas indicações de fraudes em 2015, versus 2013, pode estar associado às mudanças na participação mínima de alunos exigida nestas avaliações. Conclui-se que há necessidade dos formuladores de avaliações tomarem cuidados para controlar os dois efeitos estudados. / This survey analyzes the undesired side effects of standardized assessments when combined with accountability policies, in public schools in Brazil. These effects, identified as \"peiragenics\" by Madaus and Russell, are predictable, undesired and unplanned for, and arise from agents engaging in \"gaming the system\", leading to score inflation, biased reported results and undue interference in the schooling processes under assessment. This survey attempts to fill a void in Brazilian literature regarding the measurement of two side effects: exclusion of low performing students from assessments and undue interference of teachers or testers in the assessment protocols (cheating). To this effect, two analytic approaches are presented. To estimate non-random exclusions of low performing students from testing, a model based on the observed asymmetry of proficiency results, using truncated normal distributions, is proposed. A second model, to assess the extension of naive teacher cheating, defined as attempts to share common answers regardless of differences in test booklets or turning a blind eye to students\' copying answers from classmates, counts unexpected appearances of improper score-maximizing blocks, introduced in this study. Both algorithms are applied to Prova Brasil\'s 2013 and 2015 data sets, a federal assessment of mathematics and reading skills. Measurements are confronted with explanatory variables to test for accountability pressures and gaming-inducing drivers, using two-level hierarchical linear models. The pressures considered in this survey arise from teacher bonus programs adopted by several Brazilian states, performance tracking and rankings of the Ideb indicator (a nationwide metric of the development of elementary and middle-school public education). Results indicate that both selective exclusions of low performing students and naive teacher cheating occur, in patterns associated with pressures. Gaming behavior appears to be more intense in states with high-stakes linked to the assessment, in schools with lower Ideb ratings. Past trends and gaps versus targets in Ideb and changes in local rankings result not significantly correlated with gaming behavior. Lowest exclusion measurements occur in states where alternative assessments are used for bonus payments. A substantial increase in cheating indications in 2015 over 2013 was measured, possibly reflecting increased minimum participation requirements stressing schools to maintain performance through cheating attempts. In conclusion, the need for care in design of assessment policies to control for the two effects measured is made evident.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 renatamotateixeira.pdf: 558361 bytes, checksum: 709f67998a9849717b2c64ff66feca49 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-15 / Esta Dissertação analisa a situação de duas escolas estaduais de Juiz de Fora, sendo uma delas com baixo desempenho no Programa de Avaliação da Alfabetização – PROALFA, considerada escola estratégica, e outra que melhorou sua proficiência no mesmo programa do ano de 2010 para 2011 e atingiu as metas propostas pela Secretaria de Estado de Educação de Minas Gerais, buscando identificar práticas escolares que possam contribuir para justificar essa diferença de resultados, a partir da implementação do Programa de Intervenção Pedagógica / Alfabetização no Tempo Certo – PIP/ATC. O interesse pelo tema da pesquisa se justifica pela constatação de que apesar do investimento do governo estadual em capacitações e materiais, com foco na alfabetização, ainda temos muitas escolas consideradas estratégicas, que são escolas que possuem dez ou mais alunos com proficiência abaixo do nível recomendado nas avaliações do PROALFA, ou seja, nos níveis intermediário ou baixo.No âmbito da pesquisa qualitativa foi realizado um estudo de caso que verificou a influência do Programa de Intervenção Pedagógica sobre o planejamento e o direcionamento das ações dos professores alfabetizadores das escolas mencionadas anteriormente. Foi investigada a importância dada pelo gestor às ações e materiais do programa advindos da SEE/MG e a existência de possíveis entraves no desenvolvimento do programa que apontem para a necessidade de ajustes e reformulações do mesmo, ou seja, foi realizada uma análise da gestão do PIP dentro das escolas. Os resultados indicaram que o PIP/ATC tem influenciado as escolas a desenvolverem ações que interfiram na condição de alfabetização dos alunos, tendo como elemento motivador da mudança o monitoramento do aprendizado dos alunos via avaliações externas, ou seja, é a avaliação que está mobilizando as escolas. A pesquisa também identificou pontos de dicotomia entre a escola estratégica e a escola que não está nessa condição. Os principais pontos são: gestor que conduz a discussão do PIP na escola X gestor que atua como coparticipante na implementação do PIP; maior frequência nas capacitações X menor frequência nas capacitações e PIP centrado em ações específicas em sala de aula X PIP com base em intervenções mais gerais, ainda que os dados analisados nesse último ponto sejam menos consistentes. / This thesis analyzes the situation of two state schools in Juiz de Fora city, one of them with low performance in Assessment Program of Literacy – called in portuguese PROALFA considered strategic school, and another who improved their proficiency in the same program from 2010 to 2011 and reached the goals proposed by the State Department of Education of Minas Gerais, searching to identify school practices that may contribute to explain this difference results from the implementation of the Educational Intervention Program / Literacy at the Right Time - PIP / ATC (Portuguese Abreviations). The interest in the subject of the research is justified by the fact that despite the state government's investment in training and materials, with a focus on literacy, we still have many schools considered strategic, which are schools that have ten or more students with proficiency below the recommended level evaluations of PROALFA, which means, with low or intermediate levels of literacy. Within the qualitative research was conducted a case study that examined the influence of Pedagogical Intervention Program for planning and directing the actions of literacy teachers of the schools mentioned above. We investigated the importance given by the manager to the actions and program materials given by SEE / MG ( State Departament of Education of Minas Gerais) and possible obstacles in the development of the program which may indicate the need for adjustments and restatements of the same, in other words, an analysis of the management of PIP (Abreviation in Portuguese for a program in Education) was done inside the schools. The results indicated that the PIP / ATC has influenced schools to develop actions that has been interfering in the condition of literacy students taking as basic motivator of change the monitoring of students learning via external evaluations, in other words, it is the school evaluation that is mobilizing schools. The survey also identified points of dichotomy between strategic school and the school that is not in this condition. The main points are: school manager leading the discussion of PIP in school X and school manager who acts as a co-participant in the implementation of the PIP; greater frequency in the training X less frequently in the training and PIP focused on specific actions in the classroom based on X PIP based on more general interventions, although the data analyzed in this last point are less consistent.

Many health care providers aim to become more patient-centered, and developing mobile health applications for patients might help achieve this. In the light of this, this thesis explores if the progressive web application (PWA) concept is suitable for mobile health applications. It is investigated by developing a PWA intended to be used to gather health care patients’ self assessments. The work follows the double diamond design process with: a discover phase containing a literature study, interviews with experts, and partaking in a workshop; a define phase where system requirements are specified; a develop phase with lo- and mid-fi prototypes as well as usability tests with six test users; and a deliver phase where the application is implemented using Polymer 2.0 and web components. To furthermore assess the patients satisfaction of a PWA, an evaluation phase is conducted where eleven test users tries it during five consecutive evenings and answers a survey at the end. The general opinions were that they thought it worked good and was easy to use, indicating that a PWA can be suitable for this purpose. Following this and discussions of findings, we suggest guidelines for how to design and implement a PWA for similar projects. However, the developed PWA was due to shortage of time not completely finished and the test users support for PWA features were rather limited, so future investigation is recommended to determine if PWAs are suitability in this context.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Marjorie R. Hancock / No Child Left Behind legislation has required public schools to increase efforts to measure and track student performance through school, district, state and nation-wide assessments. Researchers argue that it is essential for all students, including special education students, to be included in accountability assessments in order to help measure and track educational progress and compare the performance of schools, districts and states in terms of achieving educational goals. One method for including more special needs students in accountability assessments is to use accommodations during testing. Assistive technology is an accommodation that is approved for use on accountability assessments in many states and has the potential to significantly impact the performance of special education students. The primary purpose of this research was to gather and analyze data from special service providers (staff of a special education cooperative) and educators and administrators (employees of the school districts the cooperative serves) on the subject of using assistive technology as an accommodation on Colorado State Assessment Project (CSAP) testing. The researcher conducted a survey to measure the attitudes and knowledge of educators and special service providers on this subject. The survey was a five point Likert scale comprised of ten items designed to measure "attitudes" and ten items designed to measure "knowledge". Data was analyzed using backward regression analysis to compare scores between groups and consider the impact that years of work experience had on survey scores. The researcher used responses from survey data to select ten survey respondents to participate in in-depth interviews. Interview data was analyzed using pentadic analysis, a method of rhetorical analysis designed by Kenneth Burke (1945). Survey results indicated that the knowledge and attitudes scores between the two groups were similar, however regression analysis identified a significant increase the attitude scores of employees of the special education cooperative as they gained work experience. Scores of district employees did not increase on either scale as participants gained work experience. Analysis of interview data provided rich description of participants’ knowledge and attitudes concerning the use of assistive technology as an accommodation and enabled the researcher to identify significant similarities and differences between groups of employees and the state standards intended to guide their decision making on this subject. Results of this research suggest a need for improving education on the subject of assistive technology, related state regulations and improving resources to foster the use of assistive technology as an accommodation on accountability assessments.

This thesis examines how mothers of children labeled ‘learning disabled’ negotiate with educational professionals as advocates for their children. Previous scholarship has not adequately addressed the role that parents, particularly mothers of children labeled ‘learning disabled’ play in the education of their children. Through analyzing the ways in which these educational practices shape people’s experiences and identities, we can gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which labeling processes are experienced, managed, constructed, negotiated and/or resisted. This subject was explored through in-depth interviews with six mothers, using interviewing practices informed by standpoint methodology. My analysis follows two major themes. The first theme deals with the contradictory nature of psychoeducational assessments in the classrooms of the educational system. I demonstrate how psychoeducational assessments act as a set of rules, regulations and rights. I demonstrate how the mothers in my study used these as tools for empowerment and resistance to educational structures and discourses of normalcy. I also demonstrate the limitations of these texts to secure the educational interest and rights of children labeled ‘learning disabled’. The second theme deals with transformation processes. I ask, how do mothers of children labeled ‘learning disabled’ change as a result of negotiating their child or children’s ‘learning disability’. I demonstrate how being a parent of a child labeled ‘learning disabled’ is outside the sphere of ‘regular’ parenting and the sphere of the formal educational system and the economic, social and health-related consequences of such negotiations. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate