Major Differencies Between Eastern and Western Philosophies as the Basis for Adult Education Essay Example for Free

Major Differencies Between Eastern and Western Philosophies as the Basis for Adult Education Essay Western philosophy has its roots in Athens, Rome and Judeo ­Christianity while Eastern philosophy is derived from Confucianism, Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism. As Greek and Latin are to Western civilisation, so classical Chinese is to East Asian civilisation. I will focus on four major differences between Eastern and Western philosophies. 1. Western Individualism and Eastern Collectivism In the Greco‑Roman tradition, the image of Prometheus powerfully illustrates the struggle for individual freedom. Prometheus had gone against Zeus, the all powerful god who ruled the sky from Mt. Olympus. Prometheus annoyed Zeus by creating human beings. To protect the human beings from Zeus, he stole fire from Hephaestos, the blackmith god and gave it to the human beings. This angered Zeus to the extent that Prometheus was chained to a rock and an eagle tore out his liver. In European consciousness, Prometheus had become the hero who: defied the patriarchy in the name of individual freedom, who brought light into our darkness. He was the saviour who sacrificed himself for the sake of mankind, the benefactor who brought the gift of technology down from heaven, the teacher who taught us that we are not at the whims of the gods any more, who showed us how to use our intelligence to take control of the world. The Christian tradition has also reinforced the notion of individual rights. The Bible speaks of God creating Man in His own image and letting him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth (Genesis 1:26). By comparison, the Chinese live in a world of obligations: obligations to serve the ruler, obligations to work for the family, obligations to obey elders, obligations to help relatives, obligations to do well to glorify the name of ancestors, obligations to defend the country in times of trouble, and obligations to oneself to cultivate ones own virtue. It would also seem that rights only belong to one individual ‑ the Son of Heaven. Confucianism promotes conservatism and this stifles creativity and robs the people of self‑introspection. 2. Fragmentary and Holistic According to Fritjof Capra, the emphasis of rational thought is epitomised in Descartes celebrated statement,Cognito, ergo sum ‑ I think, therefore, I exist. This has forcefully encouraged Westerners to equate their identity with their rational mind rather than with the whole organism. This division between the mind and the body has led to a view of the universe as a mechanical system consisting of separate objects, which in turn were reduced to fundamental building blocks whose properties and interactions were thought to completely determine all natural phenomena. This mechanistic conception of the whole world is still the basis of most of our sciences and continues to have a tremendous influence on our lives. Academic disciplines become fragmented and this has served as a rationale for treating the universe as if it consisted of separate parts to be exploited by different groups. The essence of the Eastern world view is the awareness of the unity and the mutual inter‑relation of all things and events, the experience of all phenomena in the world as manifestation of a basic oneness. All things are seen as independent and inseparable parts of a cosmic whole, as different manifestations of the same ultimate reality. The Eastern traditions refer to this ultimate, indivisible reality as Brahman in Hinduism, Dharmakaya in Buddhism and Tao in Taoism. 3. Conflict and Harmony The Marxist view of history saw change as arising from a dialectic interplay of opposites ‑hence class struggle and conflict. Western civilisation based itself on the struggle between the Good and Evil, God and Satan or Psyche and Cupid. Eastern philosophical thought is based on this notion of the Yin and the Yang. Frithjof Capra describes the Yang as the strong,male creative power associated with Heaven while yin is the dark,receptive, female and maternal element. The dark yin and the bright yang are arranged in a symmetrical manner. They are dynamic ‑ a rotating symmetry suggesting very forcefully a continuous cyclic movement.The two dots in the diagram symbolise the idea that each one of the forces reaches its extreme, it contains in itself the seed of the opposite.Life says Chuang Tzuis the blended harmony of the yin and the yang. Taoism permeates the economic and social lives of the Chinese through geomancy, qigong, Chinese medicine and idol worship. As Chan observes:Almost every hotel, office and commercial building that has gone up within the last decade adheres to certain principles of geomancy or Fengshui ‑ the art and science of harmonising man and nature. 4. Idealism and Pragmatism. The Western idea of democracy does not fit into the Eastern scheme of things easily. In an interview by the Daily Telegraph on 16 October 1989 the former Prime Minister remarked that: I think in a mainly Chinese electorate, the idea of a loyal opposition and an alternative government does not come easily. Youre either for or against the government. The Confucianistic idea of social hierarchy where a persons existence is relational, extending from his family, society and country. The pragmatism of the East is exemplied in the way Confucianism has been used to emphasize order through social hierarchy and the rules and conventions. Taoism provided the meaning of life and thus compliment Confucianism. Confucius preached the doctrine of the here and now. The emphasis is one of life and life and not life and death. The sage hoped to hear the right way in the morning, and die in the evening without regret. What lays the foundation of life for the Chinese is the family and the continuation of the family also means the passing on of experience, culture and thought. The Taoists has an equal view of life and death seeing life and death as the coming out and going back of a human form of existence. Chuang Tsu talks of coming and going . Lao Tzu said,out to life, in to death. The crux of the matter is to make the best of the present.

Techno Structural Interventions

Techno Structural Interventions Employees involvement is one of the major issues in the field of management sciences; it becomes relatively more important when appears in organization development process. While going for some interventions, success without the employees involvement seems to be impossible. This paper argues that how the employees involvement affect the success of interventions process. For this Empirical study has been conducted in the textile sector of Pakistan to explore the relationship between the employees involvement and the techno-structural interventions, the results are very much likely the literature. Change tries to alter the employees status quo; if it occurs rapidly it can be very disturbing for all the stake holders of the organization (DaphneÂÂ  G.ÂÂ  Taras, JamesÂÂ  T.ÂÂ  Bennett, 2007) as the employees are the direct victims of the change thats why they feel more economic insecurity in the work place. Change can be of various types and can raise the fear in the employees, doest not matter; it has good or bad impact on the employees (ADF Price, K chahl, 2006) but on the whole change always come in the organization for the development purposes (Rikard Athin, 2004). Organization development is controlled process in which sequence of actions, activities intended to improve the organizational performance and effectiveness (Thomas G cummings; Christopher G whorley, 2002).These set of sequenced planned changes for improvement of organizational performance and development are called interventions (cummings; whorley, 1993). Interventions will only work for the or ganization if they are relevant with the organization (Chris Argyris, 1970). These interventions design varies from organizational needs and can be divided into different types of interventions (D. Coghlan 1995). At the highest level in the organization, there are strategic level interventions, which are designed to form the organization structure for achieving its objectives affectively (R. Draft 1998). The other one is the techno-structural intervention, having purpose is to form appropriate work designs and organizational structures to provide the strategic support of the organization development (E lawler III, 1974). The third component of the intervention is the people oriented interventions which focus on the fulfillment of human needs in the organization as well as the expectations of the organizational effectiveness (Frank Friedlander; LD Brown, 1974). Our main focus in this research is in techno-structural intervention, which deals with the restructuring of the organization; the restructuring is in the division of workload of overall organization in to subunits for completion of the task effectively (M Tushman, E Romanelli, 1986). Restructuring can be performed on at least five major factors, environment, organization size, technology, organization strategy and world wide operation (Thomas G cummings; Christopher G whorley, 2002). Second other major component of techno structural intervention is the employees involvement, D Glew, et al 1995 defined the employees involvement on the basis of power, information, knowledge and skills and finally reward. Final component of intervention is work design , broadly speaking work design is of two types, one is of scientific management (F. Taylor, 1911) which is task oriented, the other type of work design is motivational approach (G Susman, 1976). Muhammad Imran Muhammad Mahmood Aslam In literature, F. Herzberg, N. Mausner, B snyderman 1959, describes the work design having the opportunities for autonomy, move forwarding, responsibility and authority gives more satisfaction to the employees and increase the employees involvement. Enrichment of the job of the employees leads to the employees satisfaction as well as to the acceptance of the change (F. Hertz berg, 1974). Employees involvement plays an important role in the success or failure of the organization. Our research in this context revolves around the relationship between the employees involvement and its effect on the techno structural interventions. In this exploratory research we will describe the relationship which exists in the employees involvement and techno-structural interventions. Methodology We have used the data from three different sources i.e. Literature, Survey using questionnaire and unstructured interviews. The literature based on the interventions; which includes the previous research on the interventions as well as the case studies from national as well as from international journals have been used to provide theoretical ground to our hypothesis. Beside this, for empirical study we have selected the textile industry of Pakistan, in which changes are imminent on radically basis (Yim Yu Wong, Peng S. Chan 1993). In textile industry of Pakistan, we have selected the five readily available organizations from which we get the sample of 150 respondents by using the simple random sampling method. All the respondents were middle level managers having minimum 10-15 years of experience in the apparel industry. Beside this in our respondents are the top level management, for them we use the interviews for collecting the data. Analysis of both quantitative and qualitative da ta has been performed in our research. Scope As the Economic recession all over the world has affect the industry all over the world, but in all these circumstances under developed countries suffer more with this phenomenon (Nick Beams 2001 ). In case of Pakistani, where the major export portion is based on the apparel industry this phenomenon become more critical (Frank P. Saladis PMP, 2007) resultantly, decreasing in export give rise the manager to bring some intervention in this sector at top management level, a number of decision has been taken to bring change but the success ratio of these are very low (Areeba Khan 2001) our research in this context will bring the revolutionary change it will give the manager a new direction that how the successfully interventions can be made by involving the employees. Our study setting is contrived in which we have the minimal interference in this study so, the external validity of our study will be very high and it will provide a great support to the industry. Limitations The intervention process or any change process is not an event of day; it took from months to the year (Stuart Gilmour, et al 2006). As our study is cross sectional study in which we have gather the data in the same span of time so we can just analyze the past that in the past what are the impact made by the employees involvement in the intervention. However we can give recommendations for the future. Another thing which limit our study is that though we have selective the respondent with the random sampling methodology; however the organizations for the study are those which are readily available to us. Literature Review Changes must be preceded systematically (GuangmingÂÂ  Cao, et al 2004). The success ratio for the change increase greatly, when we use the proper model of planned change (YitzhakÂÂ  Samuel, et al 2004). In spite of all the planning and development change never successfully happened and mostly the reason behind this failure is resistance (JamesÂÂ  L.ÂÂ  Vann, 2004). To overcome the resistance and for the success of change several factors can influence, these can be management involvement and support, employees participation, information sharing and the most important is leadership (Jean E. Neumann, et al 1999). The sequenced, planned, organized and managed from the top changes are called the interventions (Beckhard 1961). While designing intervention, concept of Effective intervention has much importance which describes that effective intervention is providing the free and informed choice to the employees by the organization (C Argyris, 1970). Widely, research has been done that how to design intervention and how to make them effective to achieve the organization objective effectively (D. Warrick 1995). While designing some interventions, individual differences (skills, knowledge, need for autonomy, etc), organization factors (management structure, Employees, culture etc) and dimension of change process (management support, employees involvement, power etc) must be considered (J Porras, et al 1987).While going for interventions in the organization, four major options are available that are strategic interventions, Techno-structural Human Process and Human Resource Management intervention (Thomas G. Cummings, et al 2001 ). Strategic intervention is of broader term describes the corporate as well as business level strategic intervention like cultural change, strategic change, self design organization, and integrate strategic management (P. Evans, et al 1997). In human process, the interventions deals with the social issues which occurs among the organization members like communication gap, individual differences, conflicts and team issues (D. Ancona, et al 1992). Thirdly, the human resource management interventions, aim is to goal setting, Performance management, reward systems, career planning and development and managing work force diversity (D. McDonald, et al 1995). Techno-structural intervention is another type of the organizational intervention which mainly deals with the issues like business process reengineering, total quality management, Quality circles and work design (M. Tushman, et al 1985). Techno-structural interventions have two important components which are technological interventions and the structural interventions (J. Galbraith, R. Kazanjian 1986). Technological interventions involve introduction of new technology in the organization like in organization changes made from the manual to computerized, or to implement som e enterprise system (A. Chandler 1962). While in case of structural intervention it deals with the changing in organization structure, work design so that the organization may able to achieve the organization objective more effectively (G. Hamel, C. Prahalad 1994). In textile sector of Pakistan several techno-structural interventions have been made but the success ratios of these intervention is very low and still Pakistan is far behind than the rest of the world (Noor Ahmad Memon, Noor Zaman 2007). There are a number of reasons behind to discuss all these failure in the industry, but the most important of it is the lack of employees involvement in the intervention process which lead to this failure (S.A.J Shirazi 2007). Some researcher has defined the employees involvement on the basis of Participation in the change process and the profit sharing with the employees (Susan Schwochau 1997). Employees Involvement can be defined as on the basis of Power, information sharing, Knowledge skills and finally Reward (Thomas G cummings; Christopher G whorley, 2002). In our research we have used all the four variables which we have further sub divide into sub variables to measure this abstract into concept. Theoretical Framework Employees Involvement in relation with the Techno-structural Intervention Employees Involvement is independent variable and having sub variables are power, information sharing, knowledge and skills, while on the other hand techno-structural intervention is dependent variable. In our research we have studied the empirical relationship between the employees involvement and techno-structural intervention. Our scope of study is limited up to the textile industry of Pakistan in which we have selected the five readily available organizations. Power Information Sharing Knowledge and Skills Reward Employees Involvement Techno-structural Intervention Independent Variable Dependent Variable Figure-1: Employees Involvement in Relation with the Techno-structural interventions. In five organizations, we go through the study of 150 participants who are all the middle level managers. For data collection we further classified all these four variables into its indicators. Power is being defined as the decision making authority given by the employer to the employees up to their levels (D. Glew, et al 1995). The other indicators which we used in our research in order to find the indicators of power are management support and autonomy which gives the employees confidence and increase their participation in the intervention process (E. Lawler III 1986). The second indicator of the employees involvement is the information sharing which also encourage the employees to participate in the change process (SusanÂÂ  Schwochau, et al 2007). The information can be strategic information of the organization which deals with the organization vision, mission and objectives as well as the financial information which indicate the financial gains or loss by the organization, it also give raise to the trust between the employees and employers as well (David E. Morgan, Rachid Zeffane 2003). The third indicator of the employees involvement is the employees knowledge and skills which focuses on the Training and development of the employees regarding the interventions (D. Roche, et al 1984). Employees involvement can also be made affective by giving them assignment which are challenging and relevant to the change of the organization (K. Broosseau 1983), beside this overall technique of knowledge management and transfer of learning can be made appli cable to enhance the positive participation of the employees (R. Ruggles 1998). Finally, Reward systems of the organization also affect the intervention process in the organizations. While going for intervention, the organization have pay plans like skill based pay plans in which employees are being rewarded according to the skills they owned (V. Gibson 1995). Performance based pay plans and performance based incentive is also in voyage in modern management practices to encourage the employees to work for the change (Z Schiller 1996). After the successful intervention, Employees should be get participated in the profit which the organization actually make by the implementation of intervention, this will encourage other employees to be the part of the intervention in the future (J Belcher 1994). If the organization dont go for the direct financial benefits, than other measures like promotion can be a source of encouragement to the employees. In this way, we have developed all these variables to measure the employees involvement in the process of Techno-structural interventions. Power Decision making Authority Autonomy Management Support Information Sharing Strategic Information Financial Information Future Plans Procedures and Results Knowledge and Skills Training development Challenging Assignment Developing Skills Knowledge Management Reward Skill based plans Performance based plans Gain Sharing Promotion Employees Involvement Figure 2 Variables effecting the employees involvement Data Gathering For getting the data for our research, we developed several questionnaires in which we measure all these four variables that are power, information sharing, knowledge and skills. In questionnaire technique, all questionnaires consists of approximately 15-20 questions in which we have measured all these four variables to measure the employees involvement while techno-structural intervention has been measured by the indirect questions by asking about the work design, changing in technology and adoptability of the employees with the interventions. Analysis of Data Analysis of Data is being performed by the SPSS (statistical package for social sciences) and in which by using the regression model we analyze our findings. We used the regression analysis model for finding the empirical relationship between the employees involvement and the techno-structural interventions in the organization. This model indicates that there is positive relationship exists between the employees involvement and techno-structural interventions. If the employees involvement is greater than the employees will perform better and go for the success of the intervention, in case if the organization is not given the employees the right to involve in decision making and employees dont find enough autonomy than employees not only will resist the change but also the success ratio of the intervention will also reduced. In context with the regression analysis performs above this indicate that model is quite significant, as the value of significance is less than .05. The significance value is actually the p-value which in statistics predicts that how much reliable is your model to predict the independent variable. On the basis of the data we gather by using the likert scale, from the observation as well as from executives interviews, we well come to know that there exist a strong relationship between the employees involvement as well as in the success of the techno-structural interventions, we have also proved this by using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) where we use the regression analysis to find the correlation in between our variables. As the data is collected from the field so the externally it does not give the exact result which we expect from the study but it shows the positive relationship and model is quite significant, in spite of field study. Another reason which can also be one of the factor that it is not showing the optimum relation is the culture of Pakistan, in which most of the time employees hesitate to take the responsibility and very few go for the intervention process and want to take the responsibility another thing which we study during this empirica l study is the attitude of executives who dont want to share the information with the employees due to broken of secrecy problem they never ever trust in their employees either they are the bottom line managers or middle level managers, our study in this circumstances is just limited up to the executives and middle management as the low level managers and workers are not directly victim of the change process, they actually take the commands from the top and middle level management and act like that, in Pakistan it is more about the culture rather than the rules and regulations or policies of the company. Conclusion Recommendations Based on the data, and the calculations shown above, it has been proved that techno-structural intervention is greatly impacted by the employees involvement, if the employees found the chance to participate in the change process, than they better performed as compared to those who dont have a chance to give their views about the intervention process. So, it is better to get the participation of the employees which should be in positive manner this will enhance the confidence of the employees towards the intervention process and self responsibility of the employees will lead to the success of the intervention. In Textile Sector, as in case of Pakistan, Employees involvement can be increased by giving the employees proper participation as well as providing the opportunity to the employees so that they can get the responsibility by their own self. The all four variables which have been discussed here must be kept in mind in order to prepare the employees for the Techno-structural intervention. One of the major problems which we really face while getting the data about the employees involvement is the organization structure which is highly autocratic. At the top level, Management dont wanted from the employees side to listen any thing they just wanted to pass the orders rather than to make the decisions by the consensus of the employees. But on one way around though some employees are also enough satisfied with this culture of the organization but in real sense the employees creativity element will all shutter down, resultantly they unable to produce that thing which actually they can. Summin g up, our discussion as that as the competition is in the market is increasing, new and radical changes are being occurring in the organizations. Those organizations who get prepared their employees to accept the changes got success while other who unable to got accept the changes fail badly and one of the major reasons they have that their human resource dont accept the change made by the employer in some technical work or some structural design, resultantly it fails down.

The Structure Of Skeletal Muscle Biology Essay

The Structure Of Skeletal Muscle Biology Essay Skeletal Muscle is a form of fibrous tissue with the fibers arranged parallel to each other. A muscle fiber (cell) is surrounded by the endomysium. A group of these cells is wrapped by fascicles. Bundles of fascicles are covered by the perimysium and bundles of the perimysium are wrapped by the epimysium to form a muscle. The muscle fibers have contractile properties which enable them to move bony levers in order to produce skeletal movement1. The functional unit of the muscle fiber is the sacomere which consists of most importantly, actin and myosin. The actin and myosin are arranged such that during contraction, they can slide over each other thus shortening the muscle2. Muscles suffer from many diseases, one of which is polymyositis. This is an inflammatory myopathy that affects mainly the muscles of the thorax and those around the torso. It affects all age groups but has been noticed mainly in late childhood and early adulthood. The sypmtomps are nonspecific but results in general muscle weakness and the cause, though believed to be an invasion by the white blood cells, is not very clear10. 2.0 The Structure of Skeletal Muscle. In daily life, structures and arrangements of designs are dictated, to a large extent by the purpose and function for which the design is meant for. Knowing that skeletal muscle is made up mainly of fibrous tissues, the arrangement of these tissues and how they are bound together to maintain a particular shape in order to accomplish different purposes (mainly to generate force and produce movement) may to a large extent, define the structure of the muscle4. At a macro level, the skeletal muscle is composed of bundles of individual muscle fibers, the supporting structure called the basal lamina, and the connective tissue sheaths as shown in figure 1. These connective tissues bind the cells together giving them strength and partly providing mechanical protection2. We can examine these connective tissues and their functions as follows: 2.1 The basal lamina. This is an extracellular matrix that acts as a scaffold on which a cell sits. It has been realized that apart from providing structural support, the basal lamina can orient and constrain cell during the process of regeneartion3. 2.2 The endomysium. This is a fine sheath of connective tissue that surrounds each individual muscle cell. The endomysium consist of loosely interlacing fibers composed mainly of collagen4. 2.3 The perimysium and fascilces. The individual muscle fibers wrapped by the endomysium, are grouped together in what is called fascicles. A layer of fibrous tissue called the perimysium wraps each fascicle4. 2.4 The epimysium. This is the outside layer that finally wraps the whole muscle. It is composed of dense irregular connective tissue4. Figure 1 Source: http://www.web-books.com/eLibrary/Medicine/Physiology/Muscular/muscle_structure.jpg 3.0 The muscle cell Having described how individual muscle cells are organized into a muscle, it is imperative that we look at the structural composition of the cell itself. Just like many other cells in the body are specialized according to their functions, skeletal muscle cells are specialized to produce force and movement5. The skeletal muscle fiber is thus composed of mainly three structural elements:-the myofibrils, the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondria, each contributing a unique aspect of muscle function. The entire function of the muscle can be attributed to the shifts in proportions of these three structures6. 3.1 The Myofibrills. These are cylindrical specialized sub-units within the muscle fiber. They consist of two types of contractile protein filaments-the thin filaments referred to as actin and the thick filaments referred to as myosin. The two most important parameters of the myofibrils are their diameter which determines its strength and the fiber length which determines it contraction velocity and distance over which the fiber can contract. The myofibril consist of two filaments-actin and myosin6,2. 3.1.1 Actin (thin filament). Actin filaments are responsible for regulation of contraction. The actin filament is formed by a helical arranged of actin monomers which is an ambiguous protein2 (figure 2). Because of the helical nature, a long grove is formed along the filament and the protein troponin is located at intervals along the length of the actin filament. It is troponin which is responsible for turning on contraction2,7. Figure 2.The actin molecule. Source: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~sjjgsca/Muscleslidingfilament1.gif 3.1.2 The Myosin (thick filament). Myosin filament is about 150nm long. It has a tail and two heads. The tail is formed by two helical shaped fibers that coil around each other. A collection of several of these helical tails together form a myosin filament (figure 3)4b. Figure 3. The myosin molecule. Source: http://webanatomy.net/anatomy/myosin.jpg. 3.2 The sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Groups of about 200 thick and thin filaments constitute a myofibril. Each myofibril is thus enclosed in a membrane called the sarcoplasmic reticulum8. The SR membrane stores and releases calcium during muscle contraction and relaxation. The SR can therefore be thought of as the functional unit of the myofibril9. 3.3 The mitochondria. Found within the cell cytoplasm, the mitochondria are responsible for generation of most of the cells energy by the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). There are several mitochondria distributed along the length of a myofibril4. 4.0 The mechanism of muscle contraction Muscle contraction can largely be attributed to the structure of actin and myosin, their arrangement within the SR and the interaction between them in order to produce force (Figure 4). This type of arrangement allows the thin actin filaments to slide in and out by the action pull of the myosin heads8b. Figure 4. Actin and myosin arrangement: Source: http://www.exrx.net/Images/ActinMyosin.gif Muscles are composed of a number of actin and myosin filaments arranged in series in a basic unit called the sacomere. The sacomere consists of a thick filament in the meddle and two thin filaments, one overlapping on each side. The heads of the thick filament attach to the thin filament at the overlap and these heads allow movement in only one direction. When activated, each thick filament head rachets repeatedly along the actin, pulling the two actins closer together. Since the actin are attached to the Z line (The distance between two Z lines form the sacomere), ends of the sacomere (Z lines) are pulled in and the sacomere shortens. The sacomeres are arranged in series so that when the muscle fiber contracts, all the sacomeres contract simultaneously transmitting the force to the end of the muscle. The whole process of contraction described above occurs when the muscle is electrically stimulated2b. 5.0 Muscle stimulation. Skeletal muscle cells are stimulated by the motor neurons of the somatic nervous system. The reception of the motor stimulus (action potential) opens the calcium channels allowing calcium which is stored in the SR to be released. The release of calcium causes the release of acetylcholine-Ach (neurotransmitter). The calcium binds to the troponin on the actin filament. Troponin then regulates the tropomyosin which obstructs binding sites for myosin. This allows the tropomyosin to move, unblocking the bonding site. Myosin then binds to the unblocked site on the actin and applies a pull. This will pull the Z bands towards each other thus shortening the sacomere, causing muscle contraction2b. However, as calcium is released, the ATP-dependent calcium pump is activated and it continuously pumps calcium back to the SR to be stored again. This leads to a drop in calcium level within the cytoplasm. When the calcium level is too low, the calcium binding action to troponin is terminated, releasing tropomyosin which again blocks the binding site. This stops the interaction between actin and myosin thus relaxing the muscle2b. 6.0 Muscle Diseases There are a number of muscular diseases and disorders ranging from acquired, familial to congenital. Limiting ourselves to one of the acquired disorders of the muscles, lets look at polymyositis. 6.1 Polymyositis (PM). PM is a type of muscle inflammatory myopathy. Just like the name suggests, this disease causes inflammation of the muscle fiber. Although the causes of the disease are not well understood, it is believed that PM begins when white blood cells, spontaneously invade muscles. This can result in severe muscle weakness. Polymyositis is a persistent disease characterized by periods of increased and reduced or no symptoms. PM affects mainly the muscles of the thorax and is more common in women than men. It is said to affect all age groups although is it commonly noted in early childhood or 20s10. Key pathologic and diagnostic features of the disease. Endomysial inflammation. This is the inflammation of the outer connective tissue that surrounds the muscle fiber. This is done by the white blood cells that leave the blood and enter the tissue, somehow confirming the earlier assertion that the PM begins when white blood cells invade muscles. Invasion of myofibers by autoaggressive lymphocytes. This is when the T lymphocytes begin to attack the intact myofibers. Unlike in muscle dystrophy where inflammation is associated with degenerating myofibers, the invasion of T lymphocytes causes inflammation of health myofibers in PM.This causes inflammation of healthy myofibers. Other diagnostic features that may not be exactly specific to PM include myofiber necrosis, myophagocytosis, myofiber atrophy and fibrosis, a feature of chronic PM10,11. 7.0 Conclusion Human movement is only possible because of the action of muscle contraction. Voluntary contraction of muscle is made possible by the somatic nervous system which sends out an action potential activating the contraction process. The process is accomplished by the sliding of myosin and actin over each other. Many diseases and disorders affect muscles, prominent among them is muscular polymyosis which causes inflammation of the muscles mainly around the torso. Its believed to be caused by the unwanted action of the white blood cells and the symptoms include muscle weakness.

The Red River Settlement :: Free Essay Writer

The Red River Settlement The Red River Settlement was founded by the Fifth Earl of Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, In the year 1812. He called his settlement Aissinidoia. Aissinidoia was a close knit community whose economy was built around the Hudson Bay Company. The settlement was split into two major groupings: The French speaking and predominate Roman Catholic Metis and the English speaking and predominate Protestant â€Å"country born†. The Earl of Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, bought the Hudson Bay Company in 1811 and was able to get a grant of land for 300 000km2. The Earl called this settlement Aissinidoia. The Earl hoped his settlement would attract some former Hudson Bay Company employees. He hoped the settlement would produce enough food for his company. The Metis were half-breed French/Natives. They were extremely helpful to the settlers when the first moved to the red river area. Some historians believe that if it was not for the Metis that the settlement would not have survived. Eventually the Metis allied with the North West Company who were highly opposed to the Hudson Bay Company moving in. The Nor’westers were worried that they could lose their fur supply and pemmican. In 1815 the Nor’westers tempted people to move to Upper Canada with offers of better land. The Earl of Selkirk quickly resettled the colony. Some tension between the nor’westers, with their allies the Metis, and the settlers led to violence. North West Company men and half-breeds now resorted to violence on a large scale, killing 22 in the massacre of Seven Oaks (June 19, 1816). Upon hearing of the violence the earl went to the fighting with a group of Swiss soldiers. Not only did they win the battle but also captured the Nor’westers trading post of Fort William. Other attacks followed. The result of these moves was a series of court charges and counter charges that ruined Selkirk. When Lord Selkirk's legal battles were finally settled, he returned to England. He died in France in the year 1820, just a few months before the two bickering companies resolved their differences and merged. Once Selkirk heard what happened he made his way to where the fight was happening with some Swiss soldiers. Selkirk re-established his colony and also took controlled fort William. The last fight proved to be the last straw for the fur trade companies in the area. The Red River Cart was an excellent transportation method invented by the Metis.

Inventions :: Technological Scientific Advancement

Stepping into the 21st century, almost everybody is living on the edge of technological and scientific advancements. Many inventions and discoveries have been made by so many great minds whose purposes were to make our life always better than before. Ever since the beginning of all mankind, humans have always had the ambition to improve their life. From that ancient time to the present, we can’t list all of our discoveries and inventions. Each of them is very important and helped making our life better. Among these, three most important inventions that define our life in the 21st century are automobile, computer, and music.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dated back even to the ancient time, transportation has always been a very important thing. Back then, ships were the only mean of transportation for human to travel from one place to another. It was a great method of transportation and even used until today. In the 1800s, human saw the emergence of train as the primary method of transportation on land. But the greatest thing was yet to come. Automobiles came to life in late 1800s and begin to shape people’s life so differently that it defined the new era from the past. In the 1900s, Ford made automobiles a lot cheaper and this mean transportation for everybody to everywhere. No longer human had to be restricted to single route for the masses. Each family can now own an automobile and can go anywhere the roads permit anytime they want. This is a new sort of freedom for each individual. They don’t have to gather to one place at a specific time, going to the same destination as in the past. This kind o f freedom is the stuff that defines the modern world. Take away the automobile and imagine how our life will be. Will 21st century be 21st century if we don’t have the freedom to traverse from point A to point B?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Automobiles have given people the mean of transportation, but in 1940s a new inventions was made. Computers came to the world and have completely taken the whole world to a new different level. Modern age wouldn’t be modern age if it wasn’t for the computers. Invented in 1945, but came into our life in less then 20 years, computers have changed the way people live. Nobody would refuse the fact that computers have blended themselves into our life. Inventions :: Technological Scientific Advancement Stepping into the 21st century, almost everybody is living on the edge of technological and scientific advancements. Many inventions and discoveries have been made by so many great minds whose purposes were to make our life always better than before. Ever since the beginning of all mankind, humans have always had the ambition to improve their life. From that ancient time to the present, we can’t list all of our discoveries and inventions. Each of them is very important and helped making our life better. Among these, three most important inventions that define our life in the 21st century are automobile, computer, and music.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dated back even to the ancient time, transportation has always been a very important thing. Back then, ships were the only mean of transportation for human to travel from one place to another. It was a great method of transportation and even used until today. In the 1800s, human saw the emergence of train as the primary method of transportation on land. But the greatest thing was yet to come. Automobiles came to life in late 1800s and begin to shape people’s life so differently that it defined the new era from the past. In the 1900s, Ford made automobiles a lot cheaper and this mean transportation for everybody to everywhere. No longer human had to be restricted to single route for the masses. Each family can now own an automobile and can go anywhere the roads permit anytime they want. This is a new sort of freedom for each individual. They don’t have to gather to one place at a specific time, going to the same destination as in the past. This kind o f freedom is the stuff that defines the modern world. Take away the automobile and imagine how our life will be. Will 21st century be 21st century if we don’t have the freedom to traverse from point A to point B?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Automobiles have given people the mean of transportation, but in 1940s a new inventions was made. Computers came to the world and have completely taken the whole world to a new different level. Modern age wouldn’t be modern age if it wasn’t for the computers. Invented in 1945, but came into our life in less then 20 years, computers have changed the way people live. Nobody would refuse the fact that computers have blended themselves into our life.

Art as Expression Essay -- Art

Artists are central to cultural, political and social discourses in the world. They are here not only to inspire us, but to provoke us as well. Four artists that broke social, political and cultural barriers were, Rene Magritte, John Heartfield Jackson Pollock and Otto Dix. While the artists were involved in different movements, each one made revolutionary statements with their works. Artists have a responsibility to use their works as a weapon to the status quo and to break these cultural and social barriers. Rene Magritte and John Heartfield were important figures to the Surrealist movement. Surrealism was a movement that developed after World War II and as a result, society was requesting art that was of the ‘norm’ to give the world a sense of stability. As a reaction to this request, the artists helped influence the Surrealist movement. It is often described as rebellious, idiosyncratic, dream-like and emotional. Maggritte’s thought-provoking pieces, and Heartfield’s anti-war messages all sent a strong message to society. Rene Magritte was a Belgian surrealist painter who was known for painting thought-provoking works that require viewers to question the most mundane aspects of life, including familiar objects such as a tobacco pipe. Magritte wanted his viewers to question the perceptions of reality and if art has the ability to truly represent an object. He believed that even the best artists could not paint an object, because it would always only be a representation of that image. If an artist drew an apple, it was only a representation of an apple, because the viewer could not eat it. In 1929, Magritte painted â€Å"The Treachery of Images†; at first glance appears to be an advertisement of a tobacco product, but underneath t... ...uld be considered: what would the art world look like now if no artist took a risk to express his or her political and social ideologies? Would artists just be creating art their society wants? Would there be any rebellion? Pollock would have painted with a paintbrush, Magritte would not have questioned our perceptions of reality and Dix and Heartfield would not have questioned the motives of politics. It is critical for artists to push these limits, no matter the criticism they will endure. The power behind the arts has been its ability to be a vehicle for expression and it should continue to do just that. Works Cited Foster, Hal. Art since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism. 1st ed. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2011. Print. Foster, Hal. Art since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism. 2nd ed. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2011. Print.

Preschool Assessment Essay

This paper addresses the many questions the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation has received about testing four-year-olds. Our reasons for sharing this paper with early childhood practitioners, policymakers, and parents is three-fold: (a) to provide basic information about the terms and issues surrounding assessment; (b) to add an empirical and pragmatic perspective to what can sometimes be an impassioned debate; and (c) to affirm our commitment to doing what is best for young children and supporting those who develop the programs and policies that serve them. High/Scope believes child assessment is a vital and necessary component of all high quality early childhood programs. Assessment is important to understand and support young children’s development. It is also essential to document and evaluate how effectively programs are meeting their educational needs, in the broadest sense of this term. For assessment to occur, it must be feasible. That is, it must meet reasonable criteria regarding its efficiency, cost, and so on. If assessment places an undue burden on programs or evaluators, it will not be undertaken at all and the lack of data will hurt all concerned. In addition to feasibility, however, assessment must also meet the demands of ecological validity. The assessment must addresses the criteria outlined below for informing us about what children in real programs are learning and doing every day. Efficiency and ecological validity are not mutually exclusive, but must sometimes be balanced against one another. Our challenge is to find the best balance under the conditions given and, when necessary, to work toward altering those conditions. Practically speaking, this means we must continue to serve children using research-based practices, fulfill mandates to secure program resources, and improve assessment procedures to better realize our ideal. This paper sets forth the criteria to be considered in striving to make early childhood assessment adhere to these highest standards. Background The concern with assessment in the early childhood field is not new. Decades of debate are summarized in the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) publication Reaching Potentials: Appropriate Curriculum and Assessment for Young Children (Bredekamp & Rosegrant, 1992). This position statement has just been expanded in a new document titled Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation: Building an Effective, Accountable System in Programs for Children Birth through Age 8 (www. naeyc. org/resources/position_statements/pscape. asp). 1  What is new in this ongoing debate is the heightened attention to testing young children as a means of holding programs accountable for their learning. Assessment in the Classroom (Airasian, 2002) offers the following definitions: Assessment is the process of collecting, synthesizing, and interpreting information to aid classroom decision-making. It includes information gathered about pupils, instruction, and classroom climate. Testing is a formal, systematic procedure for gathering a sample of pupils’ behavior. The results of a test are used to make generalizations about how pupils would have performed in similar but untested behaviors. Testing is one form of assessment. It usually involves a series of direct requests to children to perform, within a set period of time, specific tasks designed and administered by adults, with predetermined correct answers. By contrast, alternative forms of assessment may be completed either by adults or children, are more open-ended, and often look at performance over an extended period of time. Examples include objective observations, portfolio analyses of individual and collaborative work, and teacher and parent ratings of children’s behavior. The current testing initiative focuses primarily on literacy and to a lesser extent numeracy. The rationale for this initiative, advanced in the No Child Left Behind Act and supported by the report of the National Reading Panel (2000), is that young children should acquire a prescribed body of knowledge and academic skills to be ready for school. Social domains of school readiness, while also touted as essential in a series of National Research Council reports (notably Eager to Learn, 2000a and Neurons to Neighborhoods, 2000b), are admittedly neither as widely mandated nor as â€Å"testable† as their academic counterparts. Hence, whether justified or not, they do not figure as prominently in the testing and accountability debate. This information paper responds to questions being asked of early childhood leaders about the use and misuse of testing for preschoolers 3 to 5 years old. This response is not merely a reactive gesture nor an attempt to advance and defend a specific position. Rather, the paper is intended as a resource to provide information about when and how preschool assessment in general, and testing and other forms of assessment in particular, can be appropriately used to inform policy decisions about early childhood programming. As a framework for providing this information, High/Scope accepts two realities. First, testing is, will be, and in fact always has been, used to answer questions about the effectiveness of early childhood interventions. Since early childhood programs attempt to increase children’s knowledge and skills in specific content areas, evaluators have traditionally used testing, along with other assessment strategies, to determine whether these educational objectives have been achieved. Second, program accountability is essential, and testing is one efficient means of measuring it. Numerous research studies show that high quality programs can enhance the academic and lifetime achievement of children at risk of school failure. This conclusion has 2 resulted in an infusion of public and private dollars in early education. It is reasonable to ask whether this investment is achieving its goal. Testing can play a role in answering this accountability question. With this reality as a background, this information paper proceeds to address two questions. First, given the current pervasive use of testing and its  probably expansion, when and under what conditions can this type of assessment be used appropriately with preschool-age children? That is, what characteristics of tests and their administration will guarantee that we â€Å"do no harm† to children and that we â€Å"do help† adults acquire valid information? Second, given that even the most well-designed tests can provide only limited data, how can we maximize the use of non-test assessments so they too add valuable information over and above that obtained through standardized testing procedures? General Issues in Assessment Uses of Child Assessment  Assessment can provide four types of information for and about children, and their parents, teachers, and programs. Child assessment can: 1. Identify children who may be in need of specialized services. Screening children to determine whether they would benefit from specific interventions is appropriate when parents, teachers, or other professionals suspect a problem. In these cases, assessments in several related domains are then usually administered to the child. In addition, data from parents and other adults involved with the child are considered in determining a diagnosis and course of treatment. 2. Plan instruction for individuals and groups of children. Assessment data can be used by teachers to support the development of individual children, as well as to plan instructional activities for the class as a whole. In addition, information on developmental progress can and should be shared with parents to help them understand what and how their children are learning in the classroom and how they can extend this learning at home. 3. Identify program improvement and staff development needs. Child assessments can provide formative evaluation data that benefit program and staff development. Findings can point to areas of the curriculum that need further articulation or resources, or areas where staff need professional development. If children in the classroom as a whole are not making progress in certain developmental domains, it is possible that the curriculum needs revision or that teachers need some additional training. In conducting formative evaluations, child data are best combined with program data that measure overall quality, fidelity to curriculum implementation standards, and specific teaching practices. 4. Evaluate how well a program is meeting goals for children. It is this fourth purpose, sometimes called outcome or summative evaluation, that is the primary focus of this paper. 3 Note that it is the program, not the child, who should be held accountable. Although data may be collected on individual children, data should be aggregated to determine whether the program is achieving its desired outcomes. These outcomes may be defined by the program itself and/or by national, state, or district standards. How the outcomes are measured is determined by the inextricable link between curriculum and assessment. Ideally, if a curriculum has clear learning objectives, those will drive the form and content of the measures. Conversely, thoughtful design of an appropriate assessment tool can encourage program developers to consider what and how adults should be teaching young children. Reliability and Validity Any formal assessment tool or method should meet established criteria for validity and reliability (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council of Measurement in Education, 1999). Reliability is defined as how well various measurements of something agree with each other, for example, whether a group of similar test items or two observers completing the same items have similar results. Validity has several dimensions. Content or face validity refers to how well an instrument measures what it claims to measure; ecological validity refers to the authenticity of the measurement context; and construct validity deals with the measure’s conceptual integrity. In assessing young children, two aspects of validity have special importance—developmental validity and predictive validity. Developmental validity means that the performance items being measured are developmentally suitable for the children being assessed. Predictive validity means the measure can predict children’s later school success or failure, as defined by achievement test scores or academic placements (on-grade, retained in grade, or placed in special education) during the elementary grades. Over the longer term, predictive validity can even refer to such outcomes as adult literacy, employment, or avoiding criminal activity. In Principles and Recommendations for Early Childhood Assessments, the National Education Goals Panel (1998) noted that â€Å"the younger the child, the more difficult it is to obtain reliable and valid assessment data. It is particularly difficult to assess children’s cognitive abilities accurately before age 6† (p. 5). Meisels (2003) claims â€Å"research demonstrates that no more than 25 per cent of early academic or cognitive performance is predicted from information obtained from preschool or kindergarten tests† (p. 29). Growth in the early years is rapid, episodic, and highly influenced by environmental supports. Performance is influenced by children’s emotional and motivational states, and by the assessment conditions themselves. Because these individual and situational factors affect reliability and validity, the Panel recommended that assessment of young children be pursued with the necessary safeguards and caveats about the accuracy of the decisions that can be drawn from the results. These procedures and cautions are explored below. 4 Testing. Appropriate Uses of Testing Standardized tests are used to obtain information on whether a program is achieving its desired outcomes. They are considered objective, time- and cost-efficient, and suitable for making quantitative comparisons. Testing can provide valid data when used appropriately and matched to developmental levels. Moreover, tests can act as teaching tools by providing a window into what children already know and where they need more time, practice, and/or help to improve. Creating a valid assessment for young children is a difficult task. It must be meaningful and authentic, evaluate a valid sample of information learned, be based on performance standards that are genuine benchmarks, avoid arbitrary cut-off scores or norms, and have authentic scoring. The context for the test should be rich, realistic, and enticing (Wiggins, 1992). It is therefore incumbent upon the creators of assessment tools to design instruments that—unlike artificial drills— resemble natural performance. If these conditions are met, young children are more likely to recognize what is being asked of them, thus increasing the reliability and validity of the results. Criteria of Reliable and Valid Preschool Tests Both the content and administration of tests must respect young children’s developmental characteristics. Otherwise the resulting data will be neither reliable nor valid. Worse, the testing experience may be negative for the child and perhaps the tester as well. Further, the knowledge and skills measured in the testing situation must be transferable and applicable in real-world settings. Otherwise the information gathered has no practical value. To produce meaningful data and minimize the risk of creating a harmful situation, tests for preschool-age children should satisfy the following criteria: 1. Tests should not make children feel anxious or scared. They should not threaten their selfesteem or make them feel they have failed. Tests should acknowledge what children know—or have the potential to learn—rather than penalizing them for what they do not know. 2. Testing should take place in, or simulate, the natural environment of the classroom. It should avoid placing the child in an artificial situation. Otherwise, the test may measure the child’s response to the test setting rather than the child’s ability to perform on the test content. 3. Tests should measure real knowledge in the context of real activities. In other words, the test activities as well as the test setting should not be contrived. They should resemble children’s ordinary activities as closely as possible, for example, discussing a book as the adult reads it. Furthermore, tests should measure broad concepts rather than narrow skills, for example, alphabetic and letter knowledge sampled from this domain rather than familiarity with specific letters chosen by the adult. 5 4. The tester should be someone familiar to the child. Ideally, the person administering the test would be a teacher or another adult who interacts regularly with the child. When an outside researcher or evaluator must administer the test, it is best if the individual(s) spend time in the classroom beforehand, becoming a familiar and friendly figure to the children. If this is not feasible, the appearance and demeanor of the tester(s) should be as similar as possible to adults with whom the child regularly comes in contact. 5. To the extent possible, testing should be conducted as a natural part of daily activities rather than as a time-added or pullout activity. Meeting this criterion helps to satisfy the earlier standards of a familiar place and tester, especially if the test can be administered in the context of a normal part of the daily routine (for example, assessing book knowledge during a regular reading period). In addition, testing that is integrated into standard routines avoids placing an additional burden on teachers or detracting from children’s instructional time. 6. The information should be obtained over time. A single encounter, especially if brief, can produce inaccurate or distorted data. For example, a child may be ill, hungry, or distracted at the moment of testing. The test is then measuring the child’s interest or willingness to respond rather than the child’s knowledge or ability with respect to the question(s) being asked. If timedistributed measurements are not feasible, then testers should note unusual circumstances in the situation (e. g. , noise) or child (e. g. , fatigue) that could render single-encounter results invalid and should either schedule a re-assessment or discount the results in such cases. 7. When repeated instances of data gathering are not feasible (e.g. , due to time or budgetary constraints), an attempt should be made to obtain information on the same content area from multiple and diverse sources. Just as young children have different styles of learning, so they will differentially demonstrate their knowledge and skills under varying modes of assessment. For example, a complete and accurate measure of letter knowledge may involve tests that employ both generative and recognition strategies. 8. The length of the test should be sensitive to young children’s interests and attention spans. If a test is conducted during a regular program activity (e. g. , small-group time), the test should last no longer than is typical for that activity. If it is necessary to conduct testing outside regular activities, the assessment period should last 10–20 minutes. Further, testers should be sensitive to children’s comfort and engagement levels, and take a break or continue the test at another day and time if the child cannot or does not want to proceed. 9. Testing for purposes of program accountability should employ appropriate sampling methods whenever feasible. Testing a representative sample of the children who participate in a program avoids the need to test every child and/or to administer all tests to any one child. Sampling strategies reduce the overall time spent in testing, and minimize the chances for placing undue stress on individual children or burdening individual teachers and classrooms. 6 Alternative Child Assessment Methods Alternative forms of assessment may be used by those who have reservations about, or want to supplement, standardized tests. These other methods often fall under the banner of â€Å"authentic† assessments. They engage children in tasks that are personally meaningful, take place in real life contexts, and are grounded in naturally occurring instructional activities. They offer multiple ways of evaluating students’ learning, as well as their motivation, achievement, and attitudes. This type of assessment is consistent with the goals, curriculum, and instructional practices of the classroom or program with which it is associated (McLaughlin & Vogt, 1997; Paris & Ayres, 1994). Authentic assessments do not rely on unrealistic or arbitrary time constraints, nor do they emphasize instant recall or depend on lucky guesses. Progress toward mastery is the key, and content is mastered as a means, not as an end (Wiggins, 1989). To document accomplishments, assessments must be designed to be longitudinal, to sample the baseline, the increment, and the preserved levels of change that follow from instruction (Wolf, Bixby, Glenn & Gardener, 1991). Alternative assessment can be more expensive than testing. Like their counterparts in testing, authentic measures must meet psychometric standards of demonstrated reliability and validity. Their use, especially on a widespread scale, requires adequate resources. Assessors must be trained to acceptable levels of reliability. Data collection, coding, entry, and analysis are also time- and cost-intensive. This investment can be seen as reasonable and necessary, however, if the goal is to produce valid information. Alternative child assessment procedures that can meet the criteria of reliability and validity include observations, portfolios, and ratings of children by teachers and parents. These are described below. Observations In assessing young children, the principal alternative to testing is systematic observation of children’s activities in their day-to-day settings. Observation fits an interactive style of curriculum, in which give-and-take between teacher and child is the norm. Although careful observation requires effort, the approach has high ecological validity and intrudes minimally into what children are doing. Children’s activities naturally integrate all dimensions of their development—intellectual, motivational, social, physical, aesthetic, and so on. Anecdotal notes alone, however, are not sufficient for good assessment. They do not offer criteria against which to judge the developmental value of children’s activities or provide evidence of reliability and validity. Instead, anecdotal notes should be used to complete developmental scales of proven reliability and validity. Such an approach permits children to engage in activities any time and anywhere that teachers can see them. It defines categories of acceptable answers rather than single right answers. It expects the teacher to set the framework for children to initiate their own activities. It embraces a broad definition of child development that includes not only language and mathematics, but also initiative, social relations, physical skills, and the arts. It is culturally sensitive when teachers are trained observers who focus on objective, culturally neutral descriptions of behavior (for example, â€Å"Pat hit Bob†) rather than subjective, culturally loaded 7 interpretations (for example, â€Å"Pat was very angry with Bob†). Finally, it empowers teachers by recognizing their judgment as essential to accurate assessment. Portfolios One of the most fitting ways to undertake authentic, meaningful evaluation is through the use of a well-constructed portfolio system. Arter and Spandel (1991) define a portfolio as a purposeful collection of student work that tells the story of the student’s efforts, progress, or achievement in (a) given area(s). This collection must include student participation in selection of portfolio content, the guidelines for selection, the criteria for judging merit, and evidence of student self-reflection (p. 36). Portfolios describe both a place (the physical space where they are stored) and a process. The process provides richer information than standardized tests, involves multiple sources and methods of data collection, and occurs over a representative period of time (Shaklee, Barbour, Ambrose, & Hansford, 1997). Portfolios have additional value. They encourage two- and three-way collaboration between students, teachers, and parents; promote ownership and motivation; integrate assessment with instruction and learning; and establish a quantitative and qualitative record of progress over time (Paris & Ayres, 1994; Paulson, Paulson, & Meyer, 1991; Wolf & Siu-Runyan, 1996; Valencia, 1990). â€Å"Portfolios encourage teachers and students to focus on important student outcomes, provide parents and the community with credible evidence of student achievement, and inform policy and practice at every level of the educational system† (Herman & Winters, 1994, p. 48). The purposes for which portfolios are used are as variable as the programs that use them (Graves & Sunstein, 1993; Valencia, 1990; Wolf & Siu-Runyan, 1996). In some programs, they are simply a place to store best work that has been graded in a traditional manner. In others, they are used to create longitudinal systems to demonstrate the process leading to the products and to design evaluative rubrics for program accountability. There are also programs that merely have students collect work that is important to them as a personal, non-evaluative record of their achievements. When portfolios are not used to judge ability in some agreed-upon fashion, they are usually not highly structured and may not even include reflective pieces that demonstrate student growth and understanding. Portfolios are most commonly thought of as alternative assessments in  elementary and secondary schools. Yet they have long been used in preschools to document and share children’s progress with parents, administrators, and others. For portfolios to be used for program accountability, as well as student learning and reflection, the evaluated outcomes must be aligned with curriculum and instruction. Children must have some choice about what to include in order to feel ownership and pride. Portfolios should document the creative or problem-solving process as they display the product, encouraging children to reflect on their actions. Conversations with children about their portfolios engages them in the evaluation process and escalates their desire to demonstrate their 8 increasing knowledge and skills. Sharing portfolios with parents can help teachers connect school activities to the home and involve parents in their children’s education. Teacher Ratings Teacher ratings are a way to organize teacher perceptions of children’s development into scales for which reliability and validity can be assessed. Children’s grades on report cards are the most common type of teacher rating system. When completed objectively, report-card grades are tied to students’ performance on indicators with delineated scoring criteria, such as examinations or projects evaluated according to explicitly defined criteria. In these ways, teacher ratings can be specifically related to other types of child assessments including scores on standardized tests or other validated assessment tools, concrete and specific behavioral descriptions (e. g. , frequency of participation in group activities, ability to recognize the letters in one’s name), or global assessments of children’s traits (e. g. , cooperative, sociable, hard-working). Research shows that teacher ratings can have considerable short- and long-term predictive validity throughout later school years and even into adulthood (Schweinhart, Barnes, & Weikart, 1993). Parent Ratings Parent ratings are a way to organize parent perceptions of children’s development into scales for which reliability and validity can be assessed. Soliciting parent ratings is an excellent way for teachers to involve them as partners in the assessment of their children’s performance. The very process of completing scales can inform parents about the kinds of behaviors and milestones that are important in young children’s development. It also encourages parents to observe and listen to their children as they gather the data needed to rate their performance. An example of the use of parent ratings is the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) study, in which parents’ ratings of their children’s abilities and progress were related to measures of classroom quality and child outcomes (Zill, Connell, McKey, O’Brien et al. , 2001). Conclusion Recent years have seen a growing public interest in early childhood education. Along with that support has come the use of â€Å"high stakes† assessment to justify the expense and apportion the dollars. With so much at stake—the future of our nation’s children—it is imperative that we proceed correctly. Above all, we must guarantee that assessment reflects our highest educational goals for young children and neither restricts nor distorts the substance of their early learning. This paper sets forth the criteria for a comprehensive and balanced assessment system that meets the need for accountability while respecting the welfare and development of young children. Such a system can include testing, provided it measures applicable knowledge and skills in a safe and child-affirming situation. It can also include alternative assessments, provided they too meet psychometric standards of reliability and validity. Developing and implementing a balanced approach to assessment is not an easy or inexpensive undertaking. But because we value our children and respect those charged with their care, it is an investment worth making. 9 References Airasian, P. (2 002). A ssessment in the classroom. New Y ork: Mc Graw-H ill. American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council of Measu rement in E ducation. (1 999). S tanda rds for edu cationa l and psy cholog ical testing. W ashington, DC: American Psychological Association. Arter, J. A. , & Spande l, V. (199 2). Using p ortfolios of stud ent work in instru ction and a ssessment. E ducational Measurement Issues and Practice, 36–44. Brede kamp, S. , & Rosegra nt, T. (Ed s. ) (1992 ). R eaching Potentials: Appropriate Curriculum and Assessment for Young Children . Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Graves, D . H. , & Sun stein, B. S. (19 92). P ortfolio p ortraits . New Hampshire: Heinemann. Herma n, J. L. , & W inters, L. (199 4). Portfo lio research: A slim collection . E duca tional Lea dership , 5 2 (2), 48–55. McLa ughlin, M. , & Vogt, M . (1997) . P ortfolios in teacher education . Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association. Meisels, S. (2003, 19 March). Can Head Start pass the test? E ducation Week , 2 2 (27), 44 & 29. National A ssociation for the Educa tion of Yo ung Childre n and Na tional Assoc iation of Ear ly Childhoo d Specia lists in State Dep artments of E ducation (2 003, N ovemb er. E arly Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation: Building an Effective, Accountable System in Programs for Children Birth Through Age 8 . ) Washin gton, DC : Authors. Av ailable online at www. naeyc. org/resources/position_statements/pscape. asp. N ational E ducation G oals Pane l. (1998). P rinciples and rec ommen dations for early childh ood assessm ents. Washington, DC: Author. National R eading P anel. (200 0). T eaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washin gton, DC : National In stitute of Child Health and Human Developm ent, National Institutes of Health. National R esearch C ouncil. (20 00a). E ager to learn : Educating our preschoo lers. W ashington, DC: National Academy P ress. National R esearch C ouncil. (20 00b). N eurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, D C: National Acad emy Press. Paris, S. G . , & Ayers, L. R . (1994) . B ecom ing reflective s tudents a nd teach ers with po rtfolios and authen tic assessment. Washington DC: American Psychological Association. Paulson, F. L. , Paulson, P. R. , & Meyer, C. A. (1991). What makes a portfolio a portfolio? E duca tional Lea dership , 48 (5), 60–63. Schweinha rt, L. J. , Barne s, H. V. , & Weika rt, D. P. (19 93). S ignificant benefits: The High/Scope Perry Preschool study through age 27 . Ypsilanti, MI: High/Sco pe Press. Shaklee, B . D. , Barb our, N. E ., Ambros e, R. , & H ansford, S. J . (1997) . D esigning and using portfolios. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Valencia , S. W. (1 990). A portfolio ap proach to classroom reading asse ssment: Th e whys, whats an d hows. T he Reading Teacher , 4 3 (4), 338–340. Wiggins, G . (1992) . Creating tests wo rth taking. E duca tional Lea dership , 4 9 (8), 26–33. Wolf, D. , Bixby, J. , Glenn, J. , & Gardner, H. (1991). To use their minds well: Investigating new forms of student assessment. In G. Gran t (Ed. ), R eview of research in education, V ol 17 ( pp. 31–74). Washington D. C. : American Educational Research Association. Wolf, K . , & Siu-Run yan, Y.(19 96). Po rtfolio purpo ses and po ssibilities. J ournal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 40 (1), 30–37. Zill, N. , Conn ell, D. , Mc Key, R. H . , O’Brien, R . et al. (2001 , January). H ead Start FACES: Longitudinal Findings on Pro gram P erforma nce, Third Progres s Report. W ashington, DC: Administration on Children, Youth and Families, U. S. Depa rtment of Health and H uman Services. 10 High/Scope Assessment Resources High/Scope has developed and validated three preschool assessment instruments. Two are for children, one focusing specifically on literacy and the other more broadly on multiple domains of development. The third measure is used to assess and improve the quality of all aspects of early childhood programs. These alternative assessments are described below. Early Literacy Assessment In the Fall of 2004, High/Scope will release the Early Literacy Assessment (ELA), which will evaluate the four key principles of early literacy documented in the Early Reading First Grants and the No Child Left Behind legislation: phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, comprehension, and concepts about print. Evaluation will take place in a meaningful context that is familiar to children.