Macroeconomic forecast paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Macroeconomic forecast paper - Essay Example The NCES distinguishes three possible scenarios and, moreover, provides different figures for men and women and different age groups. For 2005-2006 the NCES's forecast of unemployment rate for the middle alternative variant is as follows: for women 25 years or older - between 4,4% and 4,7%; for men from corresponding age group - between 4,4% and 5,2% (n.d., n.p.). The forecasts of the inflation rate calculated at national level vary even to a greater extent. The experts of the Economist Intelligence Unit estimate this indicator at 2,8% level in 2005 and at 2,7 % in 2006, predicting that it will "remain relatively contained" (2005, n.p.). At the same time their colleagues from the Federal Reserve also think that the inflation rate would go down in 2006 in comparison with 2005, but expect different figures - 2,6% and 2,5% correspondingly (2005, n.p.). Another figure provided by the Federal Reserve (n.d.,n.p.) is annual estimate of inflation rate for the next ten years, which equals to 2,5 %.

Relationship between job roles functions Essay Example for Free

Relationship between job roles functions Essay In this coursework I will be analysing the relationship between job roles functions and and organisations structure using appropriate illustrative examples. The aims of Thorpe park is ‘to deliver memorable experience to millions of customers in the safest possible way’ Answer these questions to explain how the following helps Thorpe park achieve its aims. Why is it important that Thorpe Park has separate customer assistants, supervisors and managers? Use 1 area of Thorpe Park e.g. the Food Beverage area to help explain why. Thorpe park has separate customer assistants supervisors and managers because if a customer has a problem with a specific department for example food beverage then the customer assistance from that pacific area can help but if it was to be all together then the business wouldn’t flow steadily in facts everything would be mixed up and customers would be unhappy and Thorpe park would loose customers and money this is why organisation skills are important if everything was mixed the Thorpe park would know what to improve and do.managers has the most authority then comes supervisor then customer assistants and then the managers have control over supervisors and they have control over customer services etc they have different job roles and all of the different job roles help that department run smoothly making sure there aware of their duties and responsibilities and who to go to if theres a problem this is why team work is very important for all small and large business like Thor pe park. Why has Thorpe Park organised its employees into ‘areas’ e.g. Guest Services / Retail / Human Resources / Health Safety etc. What advantages does this give Thorpe Park? Dividing employees into areas gives Thorpe park a advantage because it makes it organised and neat for example if someone has a problem with there tickets they can go to guest services manager this allows Thorpe park to track what they need to improve on as each area they would need to change something in each areas in order to short the problem as this shows the general manager the performance of each area the  weaknesses and the strengths organisational skills and problem solving skills are a good idea. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Thorpe Park having a tall organisational structure? Are there any disadvantages? The advantage of thorpe park having a tall organisational structure is because the general manager of Thorpe park is responsible for less employees as there is managers for each area such as health and safety manager,finance manager,human resources manager etc.the general manager is only responsible for area managers the fewer people at the top who manager people below them and at the lower levers there are more employees and fewer managers the function of each layer will be clear and distinc there will clear lines of control and responsibilitys and each employee can be closly supervised.however the disadvantages of Thorpe park having a tall organisational structure are that there are a lot of manager levels than a flat chart who have fewer manager levels having a tall structure means slower decision making for example the product enginer at a small business can talk to the owner straight away however in a larger business cannot respond quickly beacause several management layers coul d be involved in the decision making tall structures usually mean higher costs for different management layers meaning a lot of money is being spent of a large business like Thorpe park in order to have all these different areas in Thorpe park.another disadvantage is that communication is a problem as if has to go through many layers before reaching a final outcome. Explain how having separate job roles, business ‘areas’ a well organised employee structure help Thorpe Park achieve their aim to ‘deliver memorable experiences to millions of customers in the safest way’. Having separate job roles business areas and a well organised employee structure helps Thorpe park achieve their aim as it will make the business it sell organised having seperat job roles keeps the employees in categories and aware of what their duties and responsibilities are and also they can be clearly supervised and made sure they are achieving what they want and working hard.having a well organised employees structure keeps the employees focused on one thing instead of more things meaning the better the job will get done as responsibility gets shared out.

James Clavell Essay - Taipan and Shogun :: essays research papers

James Clavell’s Exploration Of Ancient Oriental Customs James Clavell certainly had his work cut out for him when he chose to write his â€Å"Asian Saga† series of novels. Exposing the customs and culture of the ancient Orient is a daunting task for even the most qualified professional. However, to do so with an intriguing and entertaining medium is verging on impossibility. Until the last two centuries, both China and Japan remained time capsules that held within them unique societies based on radically different values and perspectives. This national seclusion in China and Japan was a direct result of the countries’ trade policies and their view of foreigners. Both countries believed that their country was truly the â€Å"land of the Gods† and that all foreigners were inferior. This belief lead to laws that acted as force fields to repel Western society. Clavell’s in-depth biography explains how Clavell spent part of his life as a prisoner of war in Japan (JamesClavell.net, par. 2), and thus was able to coupl e his experiences with his natural gift of story telling. Throughout James Clavell’s novels Taipan and Shogun, Clavell cleverly intertwines the plot with beliefs and customs of ancient Hong Kong and Japan, respectively. Clavell does not merely present the oriental culture, but he incorporates all of his characters in the process of portraying the different aspects of their way of life. In doing this, Clavell is able to educate the reader without losing their interest. Throughout the two novels, Clavell stresses the importance of â€Å"face† and honour to the Oriental cultures. Early on in the novel Shogun, Clavell opens the reader’s eyes to the absolute importance of honour. Honour, in Japan, came in many forms. A person of low status was always expected to honour a superior by treating them with the utmost respect. One of the most important ways to pay respect to a superior was by bowing to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   them. Clavell demonstrates that this ritual of bestowing honour was extremely important when one man is purposefully disrespectful by â€Å"rise[ing] deliberately, without bowing† (Clavell, 1975, 34). The astonishing result of this disrespect is that â€Å"the [superior’s] killing sword made a hissing silver arc and the man’s head toppled off† (Clavell, 1975, 34). Although this seems extremely ridiculous and uncalled for, the reader realizes that if a samurai broke their code of honour, or bushido, then they had shamed themselves forever. When this occurred, their life no longer had meaning and was disposable at the will of their superiors.

Managing Conflict in a Female Dominated Workplace

Today more companies have opened its doors for women workers than in the past twenty years. More women are having full-time jobs and even holding positions of power and influence in the corporate world. This reality might not have totally eliminated the â€Å"glass ceiling† concept, yet this suggests that the gender discrimination issue is slowly eliminated in the world of work. Women have significantly impacted the corporate world. However, some studies suggest that in women-dominated workplace new challenges can emerge. This is because women interact differently and expect different things from their co-workers than men. Risk of unresolved conflict is also high as women have different approach to dealing with conflict than men. Women’s approach to conflict is usually dictated and influenced by their role in the society, women’s tendency to be judgmental and subjective, and society’s expectations. The groundbreaking book of Phyllis Chesler â€Å"Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman† revealed that women have the tendency to deny that they are competitive, give more importance to relationship and belonging than succeeding, and expect nurture, support, and sympathy from other women. It further revealed women’s subjective perception of criticism and their tendency to judge harshly other women. These behaviors of women are potential source of conflict and can make conflict resolution difficult. Tracy Douglass suggested ways to constructively deal with these behavior of women in the workplace to effectively deal with conflict among them. She said that the ability to recognize exclusionary behavior of women workers and evaluate criticism constructively, make a balance and objective response, making constructive statements that are focused on the problem and not on the person, communication skills, and personal awareness of one’s own behavior are important to be able to effectively manage women workers and also conflict in the workplace. The article of Tracy Douglass presented only a grain of truth about working women  and their behavior that can be a source of challenge and conflict in the workplace. The description sounded more of a social stereotyping than an objective analysis of the causes of conflict in a female dominated workplace and how to manage it. If the analysis presented is true then the percentage of women working will not increase. The â€Å"ever-changing and expanding role of women in the management structure of the modern corporations† (Rue & Byars, 2000, p. 13) proves that companies recognize that women can be effective as men. It proves that women have successfully shown that they are capable of objectively dealing with personal and work issues, as well as achieving competence in their work. Women may have inherent weaknesses but these can be eliminated or use constructively in the workplace given proper mentoring, training and other developmental programs. Nowadays an increasing number of people believe in equality of ability and opportunity of men and women, thus â€Å"more companies use mentoring programs to ensure that women gain skills and visibility needed to move into managerial positions† (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2000, p. 342). The daycare center is not different from other working environment where training, mentoring and other developmental activities are applicable to enhance personal and professional skills of women employees. The daycare center director can turn the described handicap of women workers in dealing with conflict and co-women employees into a blessing because their nurturing, sympathetic and supportive behaviors are what children need from their care providers. It is said that â€Å"hugs like water and food are vital to health and development of infants and children† (Cromie, 1998) and these too give children the sense of belongingness and safety.   The female staffs are generally capable of providing these to the children with warmth, sensitivity and affection so the children will have sound social development. Conflicts among women employees can be avoided if every challenge is taken as an opportunity to develop the employees and the team as a whole. References Cromie, W.J. (1998). Of hugs and hormones. Retrieved January 10, 2007 Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. & Wright, P.M. (2000). Human resource  management: Gaining a competitive advantage (3rd ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Rue, L.W. & Byars, L.L. (2000). Management: Skills and application (9th ed.). U.S.A.: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.         

The Arab Spring

The Arab Spring – Can It Avoid Death? A high degree of pessimism continues to hold a strong grip over the enthusiasts of democracy in the Arab world. In the last one year or so, the popular uprisings for social and political change have stalled in Bahrain, Syria and Yemen. In Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, where the populace succeeded in toppling the authoritarian rulers, things did not change that much. Violence, conflicts, and killings of political opponents disturbingly characterize all the Arab countries affected by the popular uprisings.On the whole, the success rate of democratization is so far disappointing. That begs the question whether the Arab popular uprisings for democratic change, what the media conveniently dubbed the ‘Arab Spring’, are dead or still alive. Certainly, the Arab Spring is not dead; prevailing political and economic realities do, however, indicate that it is inching towards the death bed. Though it is too early to make such an assertion, th e insurmountable political and economic challenges facing the post-revolutionary governments portend less hope for its success.There exist huge gaps between what the pro-democracy forces expected from the revolutions, that is, the expectations of transforming their societies away from authoritarian to democratic order, and what has been achieved or what is achievable on the ground. Neither national conditions nor global developments appear propitious to favor the goals and expectations of the pro-democracy forces. The Arab Spring, in stark contrast to other great historical revolutions, is marked by a series of distinctive features, and many of its weaknesses largely originate from these distinctive features.This is probably the first time in history that popular uprisings for social and political change kicked off without a particular ideology to promote. The Arab youths who organized the uprisings and shaped its course come from different political persuasions; they had no common political platform, no common political thread to tie them together. Neither in the post-uprisings period did they galvanize their political spirit by floating a common political party to consolidate their victories against the anti-democratic, counter-revolutionary forces.Equally noticeable was the absence of able leaders to guide the uprisings to successful conclusions. True, there existed some timid political parties in Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen but no revolutionary or visionary leaders in the likes of George Washington, V. I. Lenin, Mahatma Gandhi, Ayatollah Khomeini or Nelson Mandela. These political parties were hesitant to join the pro-democracy popular movements but tried to catch up once protesters defied the security forces and went out of control of the autocratic regimes.The leadership vacuum has put the army initially and then the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Ennahda Party in Tunisia, a conglomerate of anti-Gaddafi forces in Libya, and elements of the old guards in Yemen in power. The beginning rather sounded inauspicious. Worse of all, the uprisings have fostered close collaboration between democratic and counter-revolutionary camps. The conservative Gulf monarchies, except Kuwait to a large extent, are the most fortified anti-democratic fort of the Middle East.In order to preserve hereditary rules and oil money-supported patronage systems, the Saudi King Abdullah sent troops on 14 March 2011 to suppress the popular demands for political and economic reforms in the island kingdom of Bahrain. The US, which has its Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain and a welter of strategic and business interests throughout the Gulf, acquiesced to Saudi intervention. Iran was projected as the enemy out there to take advantage.The Saudis, the Qataris and the Americans also found themselves onboard to oust Muammar Gaddafi through NATO-led military assault on Libya – a wonderful episode of cooperation between democracy and authoritarianism history will preserve in its archive for good. The young Egyptians, Libyans, Tunisians and Yemenis have defied all authoritarian hurdles to set their homelands on the track to democracy. They did not dream of becoming European liberals or American conservatives overnight but were motivated by the need to bury their authoritarian past and build their countries anew.There is a minimum expectation that propels every great revolution. In 1917 the Russian proletariat and the unpaid armed forces supported V. I. Lenin’s socialist revolution in the hope of securing a guaranteed future for bread and butter; the French revolutionaries of 1789 mobilized the common Frenchmen by promising an end to monarchical absolutism and the promulgation of inalienable rights, citizenships for all and good governance.In 2011, the Arab youths and mass people started their uprisings believing that they would be better off in a post-authoritarian system. Their expectations focused on achieving three principal goals – f reedom from want, freedom from fear, and the freedom to live in dignity what together make up human security, a concept the UNDP first popularized in 1994. Human security is widely defined as ‘safety from the constant threats from hunger, disease, crime and repression’.The achievement of human security in the post-revolutionary Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen requires, at a minimum, enough employment creations for the Arab youth bulge (15 – 29 age brackets) who constitute one-third of the total population, elimination of mass poverty (that ranges from 25 per cent in Egypt to 54. 5 per cent in Yemen) and economic inequalities, the elimination of conflicts, crimes and violence, and an end to intimidations, illegal tortures, and discriminations.In a nutshell, in order for the Arab Spring to stay alive, the post-uprisings Arab governments must achieve a minimum level of economic development to satisfy the basic needs of their people, and reorient the political order to secure good governance and social justice for all. The big question is: can they do it? Both insiders and outsiders easily comprehend that much of the violence and conflicts that keep battering Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen originate from the lack of adequate economic provisions for the common people.The initial euphoria for democracy, it seems, may not last long unless the economy picks up dynamism with job promises for the young people. A 2012 Pew Research Center poll has found that the common Arabs prefer a strong economy to a democratic government. One does not need to be a genius like Karl Marx to grasp the simple idea that economics shapes the patterns of politics. The Egyptians are particularly frustrated that their post-revolution economic condition is worse than it was under Hosni Mubarak.Fiscal crisis and current account imbalances are more than threatening to the goals of pro-democracy movements. Egypt’s foreign currency reserves dropped from $36 billion in 2 010 to $24 billion by July 2011 and by January 2013 it shriveled to $13. 6 billion; foreign investors pulled $5. 5 billion by the end of 2011 and foreign direct investment declined sharply; GDP growth rate slid to 1. 8 per cent in 2011 to 1. 5 per cent in 2012 creating many economic woes for the Egyptians.The same picture is visible in Tunisia and Yemen. The dictators vanished leaving behind their economies in shambles. Under Hosni Mubarak, Egypt strongly pursued a pro-market private sector-led development strategy till his fall in February 2011. Late Anwar El-Sadat introduced this strategy in the mid-1970s that marked a cut-off point from Gamal Abdel Nasser’s social contract that guaranteed employments for the educated youths and free social services for the common Egyptians in exchange for political loyalty.Mubarak’s son Gamal Mubarak, groomed as the next in succession line, pursued a rapid privatization program and sold most state corporations to private Egyptian bu sinessmen and investors from Brazil, China, Russia, the US, and the Gulf Arab states. The program spread elite corruption and sharply widened the gaps between the rich and the poor effectively turning Egypt into a two-tier society. In Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali established a family fiefdom where his family members and relatives came to firmly control the economic and commercial activities of the country.The common Tunisians suffered so much so that their patience broke down once the college graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire on 17 December 2010. In Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh dispensed power and patronage through biased tribal and regional systems that bred discontents nationally and ignited rebellion in some parts of the country. Al-Qaeda fighters stepped in to take advantage of domestic political and economic grievances created by Saleh’s misrule. A quick improvement in post-revolutionary economies requires nothing less than economic miracles but this is very unlikely to happen.A few steps that seem urgent include a bold transition to market economy, introduction of sound fiscal and economic growth strategies to create employment opportunities for the youth bulge, policies to reduce social and economic gaps between the rich and the poor and simultaneous democratization of the political order at a pace people find acceptable. Libya may find the transition relatively easy since money coming from the oil sector gives it substantial leverage to navigate through financial and economic difficulties.The Libyan government earned a total of $54. 9 billion in 2012 in oil and gas revenues with a state budget of approximately the same amount for the same year to finance (50 billion Libyan dinars budget). For resource-poor Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen there is no easy solution. Their limited capacities to deal with post-revolution social and economic problems are chipped away by the continuing global economic recession, particularly the economic decline in the European Union (EU) member states.The economies of Egypt and Tunisia are more integrated with the EU; Tunisia, in particular, is sensitive to the ripple effects of what happens in the big EU economies. The economic and social problems are complicated more by the evolving patterns of politics. Except in Yemen, the Islamists are in control in all the post-revolutionary Arab states. Long repressed by the Arab autocrats, the Islamists rose to power by capitalizing on the weaknesses of the secular political forces and by dint of their organizational strength.The electoral victories of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt or the Ennahda Party in Tunisia did not bring with them a wealth of democratic state and nation-building experiences. While in the opposition they found too many faults with the now toppled dictators but once in power they started wavering in action, sometimes making the politically counterproductive decisions. The violent popular reactions to power grab by Egyptian Presi dent Mohammed Morsi is just a case at hand.In the absence of governance experiences and a development plan to stimulate economic growth to steer clear of political discontents, many Islamists turned to Turkey under the AKP (Justice and Development Party) rule since 2002 as a possible model to emulate. Soon after the Tunisian revolution, the Ennahda Party leader Rachid Ghannouchi told a press conference that his party would follow the Turkish model. A 2011 TESEV (Turkish Economic and Social Studies Center) public opinion survey in the Arab world found that 66 per cent of Arabs preferred Turkey as a model for their respective countries.Though opinions on what the Turkish model exactly means are divided, a simple articulation of the model points to the coexistence of democracy, political Islam, and successful economic liberalization. The Islamic AKP coexists with secular political parties in a secular democratic state structure without Islamizing the face and identity of Turkey but sup ervising rapid economic development with an average 8 per cent growth rate in 2010 and 2011. That marks a fundamental shift from the pre-2002 Kemalists-led state-imposed, elitist, and military supervised economic and political modernization of Turkey.Turkey, as a Muslim country and also because of its geographic proximity, appeals to the Arab world but it is doubtful whether Egypt, Libya or Tunisia can follow the footsteps of AKP. There is limited prospect for these countries at best to score big on issues like Turkish-style successful transition to market economy and integration into the global markets, a sufficient level of economic development to cope with the pressures of population growth, and efficient governance systems.Turkey itself is also experiencing economic contraction as its economy grew only by 1. 6 per cent in the third quarter of 2012. What hopes the economically less developed, less modernized Egypt, Tunisia or Yemen hold out for their people? While the AKP, being an Islamic party, has not really attempted to bring about Islamic transformation of Turkey, the Arab Islamic political parties and groups seek to promote Islamic laws and identities of their societies.Post-uprisings Egyptian, Libyan and Tunisian constitutions prioritize Islamic religion as the principal source of law and values. Extra pressures for Islamization are created by the salafi groups, such as the Libyan Islamic Movement for Change or the Al-Nour Party in Egypt. This is what destabilizes the post-revolution political order by unleashing diverse and conflicting political forces who constantly jockey for power and influence.No less damaging has been external interference in the spontaneous course of Arab pro-democracy movements. Great and regional powers have got dangerously enmeshed in the movements, either supporting or opposing the movements. UN Security Council Resolution 1973 legitimized NATO-led military intervention in Libya to promote democracy; it succeeded in bringi ng down the Gaddafi regime on 20 October 2011 but raised new serious questions about the application of force to promote democracy in the name of ‘the responsibility to protect’.The French arms delivery to the rebel fighters in violation of Security Council Resolution 1970 that imposed arms embargos on all Libyan parties, and regime change through force, according to many observers, overstepped the powers and jurisdictions of the two Resolutions. The Russians and the Chinese subsequently used it to justify their decisions to veto similar resolutions on Syria to stifle the pro-democracy forces. The Arab Spring, in fact, created a new geopolitical arena for the great powers either to promote or preserve their national interests, real as well as perceived.France became eager to spearhead the NATO military strikes on the Gaddafi regime once it secretly concluded coveted oil deals with the rebel National Transitional Council; the Russians would leave no stone untouched to sa feguard their naval base in Syria’s sea port Tartus and continue arms supplies to the Bashar Al-Assad government; and the Americans would support no action against their allies – the Bahraini Al-Khalifa rulers and Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh though they warranted Security Council interventions.One notices with painful sadness that Arab democracy promotions did not genuinely figure in their interests calculations. Distressing internal developments and encumbering external environment together have retarded the normal course of the Arab Spring. It is beyond the imagination of many people that the Arab Spring is getting dried out so soon. The fates of past great historical revolutions constantly remind us not to be too much optimistic about the glorious Arab pro-democracy movements.The 1917 Russian socialist revolution lasted some seventy years what prompted the Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm to label the 20th century as ‘the short twentieth century’, the French Revolution soon unleashed a ‘Reign of Terror’ though normalcy returned after massive killings and bloodshed, and the 1979 Iranian Revolution soon found itself entangled in a long war with Iraq and then in shackles of sanctions imposed by the West. The Arab Spring is tied up by irresolvable internal politico-economic problems and unwelcome external involvements.This is what is cutting short the life of the Arab Spring. The young Arab democratic forces are angry with post-uprisings developments, they lack the capacities to define and determine the course of their countries but are spirited enough to safeguard what they have achieved by overthrowing the dictators in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. That promises no return to the authoritarian past but, at the same time, guarantees no progressive actions to materialize the objectives of the pro-democracy revolutions to keep the Arab Spring alive for years or decades to come.

Progressivism essays

Progressivism essays Why might some historians argue that Progressivism was the ' Dawn of Liberalism?' Please elaborate your points in detail. First, let me explain the meaning of Liberalism. Liberalism means that government should be more active. Also, the social problems are susceptible to government legislation and action and government should throw money at the problems. Simiarly, Progressives advocated that must act if there were social problems happened in the country. They believed the government had the responsbility to protect the weakest members of the society. Obivously, the goal of the Liberalism and Progressivism are intimate. Progressives were paternalistic, moderate and soft-minded. They emphasized the importance of social consciousness. Furthermore, they spoke of common and public interest; they stressed collective action; they bulit bureaucratic leadership; and they tried to end the divisive and ruinous competition of small, individual differences in society. The followings were the action they taken to the society. Firstly, poverty had always existed in American society, but a number of Progressives reformers began to call for new legislation to help the poor in the late 1870s and early 1880. Progressives supported legislation for minimum wages, maximum hours, old-age pensions, and the elimination of child labour. Reformers also called for tighter regulation of consumer goods through pure food and drug laws, tighter regulation of the workplace to ensure worker safety, tighter regulations of 'trusts' to avoid monopolistic business practices, and tighter regulation of resources to conserve the nation's natural wealth. In addition, reformers attacked social disorder by promoting housing codes to prevent the spread of slums, public health programs to prevent the spread of infectious disease, anti-prostitution laws to prevent the spread of vice, and birth control campaigns to prevent the spread unwanted pregnan ...

Assessing Students with Special Needs

Assessing Students with Special Needs Assessing students with learning disabilities can be challenging. Some students, such as those with ADHD and autism, struggle with testing situations and cannot remain at task long enough to complete such assessments. But assessments are important; they provide the child with an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge, skill, and understanding. For most learners with exceptionalities, a paper-and-pencil task should be at the bottom of the list of assessment strategies. Below are some alternate suggestions that support and enhance assessment of learning disabled students. Presentation A presentation is a verbal demonstration of skill, knowledge, and understanding. The child can narrate or answer questions about her task. Presentation can also take the form of discussion, debate or a purely interrogatory exchange. Some children may require a small group or one-on-one setting; many students with disabilities are intimidated by larger groups. But dont discount the presentation. With ongoing opportunities, students will begin to shine. Conference A conference is a one-on-one between the teacher and the student. The teacher will prompt and cue the student to determine the level of understanding and knowledge. Again, this takes the pressure away from written tasks. The conference should be somewhat informal to put the student at ease. The focus should be on the student sharing ideas, reasoning or explaining a concept. This is an extremely useful form of formative assessment. Interview An interview helps a teacher to clarify the level of understanding for a specific purpose, activity or learning concept. A teacher should have questions in mind to ask the student. A lot can be learned through an interview, but they can be time-consuming. Observation Observing a student in the learning environment is a very powerful assessment method. It can also be the vehicle for the teacher to change or enhance a specific teaching strategy. Observation can be done in a small group setting while the child is engaged in learning tasks. Things to look for include: Does the child persist? Give up easily? Have a plan in place? Look for assistance? Try alternate strategies? Become impatient? Look for patterns?   Performance Task A performance task is a learning task that the child can do while the teacher assesses his performance. For example, a teacher may ask a student to solve a math problem by presenting a word problem and asking the child questions about it. During the task, the teacher is looking for skill and ability as well as the childs attitude toward the task. Does he cling to past strategies or is there evidence of risk-taking in the approach? Self-Assessment Its always positive for students to be able to identify their own strengths and weaknesses. When possible, self-assessment can lead the student to a better sense of understanding of her own learning. The teacher should ask some guiding questions that can lead to this discovery.