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por la calidad de la educación, que renovó el discurso pedagógico y llevó aparejado un refuerzo de las actividades de evaluación, al ser esta entendida como un instrumento clave para producir la anhelada mejora. Fue en ese contexto en el que comenzó a construirse en España una política común de evaluación de los centros educativos, considerados el lugar donde se encarna la tarea educativa y se debe producir la mejora. Dicha política fue cambiando a lo largo del tiempo, en función de los cambios registrados en la orientación política general, el reparto de competencias en materia de educación y las iniciativas concretas de los diversos agentes y administraciones. En este artículo se analizan las características de las políticas desarrolladas en los últimos treinta años para evaluar los centros docentes, así como de las prácticas en que se han traducido. El enfoque adoptado se inscribe en la política de la educación, centrándose en los planteamientos adoptados y las prácticas desarrolladas por las diversas administraciones. Para ello se ha recurrido a la identificación y consulta de obras académicas y de investigación, informes oficiales, normas legales y «literatura gris». Tras llevar a cabo dicho análisis, el trabajo concluye que la política adoptada a lo largo de estos treinta años se ha caracterizado por los avances y retrocesos, los cambios de orientación, la falta de coherencia entre las intenciones y la práctica y la insuficiencia de las acciones desarrolladas.

Problem Statements: The kick in Pencak Silat has a magnitude called momentum, which requires a tool capable of measuring several variables based on the International System of Units (SI) in real-time. Nowadays, there are affordable and reliable sensor technologies to meet these needs. Purpose: The research aimed to design a test instrument that utilizes sensor technology to measure kick momentum in the sparring category of Pencak Silat following the applicable SI, and to test its reliability and validity. The resulting instrument is named Inosen’s Silat Momentum Test. Approach: This study followed Johnson and Nelson’s seven-test construction process. Twenty-four Pencak Silat athletes, consisting of 12 elite and 12 non-elite participants, were involved in the evaluation process. The test’s reliability was assessed by examining the correlation between the test and retest results. The construct validity test was conducted by comparing the results of the front kick tests of elite and non-elite Pencak Silat athletes. Data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation and independent t-tests using Minitab 21.4.1 software. Results: The results of the test and retest indicate a very high correlation (r = 0.923), demonstrating the consistent ability of Inosen’s Silat Momentum Test to measure kick momentum. The study found a statistically significant difference in the Inosen’s Silat Momentum Test scores (p < 0.05) between the elite fighter group (average score of 463.3 kg.m/s) and the non-elite fighter group (average score of 375 kg.m/s). The results indicate that Inosen’s Silat Momentum Test is an effective instrument for differentiating kick momentum based on fighter performance. Conclusions: Based on the findings, it is inferred that Inosen’s Silat Momentum Test is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring Pencak Silat kick momentum according to SI standards. Keywords: biomechanics, kick momentum, pencak silat, performance test, sensor technology.

Lack of guidance for interpreting the definitions of endangered and threatened in the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) has resulted in case-by-case decision making leaving the process vulnerable to being considered arbitrary or capricious. Adopting quantitative decision rules would remedy this but requires the agency to specify the relative urgency concerning extinction events over time, cutoff risk values corresponding to different levels of protection, and the importance given to different types of listing errors. We tested the performance of 3 sets of decision rules that use alternative functions for weighting the relative urgency of future extinction events: a threshold rule set, which uses a decision rule of x% probability of extinction over y years; a concave rule set, where the relative importance of future extinction events declines exponentially over time; and a shoulder rule set that uses a sigmoid shape function, where relative importance declines slowly at first and then more rapidly. We obtained decision cutoffs by interviewing several biologists and then emulated the listing process with simulations that covered a range of extinction risks typical of ESA listing decisions. We evaluated performance of the decision rules under different data quantities and qualities on the basis of the relative importance of misclassification errors. Although there was little difference between the performance of alternative decision rules for correct listings, the distribution of misclassifications differed depending on the function used. Misclassifications for the threshold and concave listing criteria resulted in more overprotection errors, particularly as uncertainty increased, whereas errors for the shoulder listing criteria were more symmetrical. We developed and tested the framework for quantitative decision rules for listing species under the U.S. ESA. If policy values can be agreed on, use of this framework would improve the implementation of the ESA by increasing transparency and consistency. La falta de orientación para interpretar las definiciones de en peligro y amenazada en el Acta de Especies en Peligro de E.U.A. ha resultado en la toma de decisiones caso por caso, con lo cual el proceso es vulnerable para ser considerado arbitrario o caprichoso. La adopción de reglas de decisión cuantitativas podría remediar esta situación pero requiere la especificación por parte de la agencia de la urgencia relativa concerniente a eventos de extinción en el tiempo, los valores de corte de riesgo correspondientes a diferentes niveles de protección y la importancia otorgada a diferentes tipos de errores de enlistado. Probamos el funcionamiento de 3 conjuntos de reglas de decisión que usan funciones alternativas para ponderar la urgencia relativa de eventos de extinción futuros: un conjunto de reglas umbral, que utiliza una regla de decisión de x% de probabilidad de extinción en y años; un conjunto de reglas cóncavo, en el que la importancia relativa de los eventos de extinción futuros declina exponencialmente en el tiempo; y un conjunto de reglas que utiliza una función de forma sigmoidea, en donde la importancia relativa declina lentamente al principio y más rápido posteriormente. Obtuvimos valores de corte de decisiones mediante entrevistas con varios biólogos y luego emulamos el proceso de enlistado con simulaciones que cubrieron un rango de riesgos de extinción típico de las decisiones de enlistado del AEP. Evaluamos el funcionamiento de las reglas de decisión bajo cantidades y calidades diferentes de datos con base en la importancia relativa de los errores de clasificación. Aunque hubo poca diferencia entre el funcionamiento de las reglas de decisión alternativas para enlistados correctos, la distribución de errores de clasificación difirió dependiendo de la función utilizada. Los errores de clasificación para los criterios umbral y cóncavo resultaron en errores de sobreprotección, particularmente a medida que incrementó la incertidumbre, mientras que los errores de la función sigmoidea fueron más simétricos. Desarrollamos y probamos un marco de referencia para reglas de decisión cuantitativas para enlistar especies en el Acta de Especies en Peligro de los EE. UU. Si se logran acuerdos sobre los valores para establecer políticas, el uso de este marco de referencia podría mejorar la implementación del AEP al incrementar la transparencia y consistencia.

Muga silkworm is endemic to Assam and adjoining areas in North-Eastern India, and naturally produces golden silk. From time immemorial, many ethnic and tribal groups have produced muga silk. Muga silkworms are mostly wild unlike the mulberry silkworm, which is completely domesticated. The muga silkworm is a single species with little genetic variation among populations, survives harsh climatic conditions and is subject to various diseases, pests and predators. Due to the high incidence of disease and natural enemies, and variations in climatic conditions, the production of muga silk has recently declined dramatically. In order to improve the productivity of this silkworm it is important to have a better knowledge of both its host plants and biology. Lack of knowledge of its genetics and host plants is a major bottleneck. This paper reviews various aspects of muga silkworm culture, including the availability of different populations, and methods used to select for improvement in survival, cocoon yield, disease resistance, conservation and egg production.

The experiment was carried out in Cascavel, Paraná State, using the soybean cultivar CD 202, with the objective of evaluating the amount of spraying suspension deposited on soybean leaves. Samples were collected containing 15 leaves per plot in five plants in different extracts - one leaf of the lower extract, one of the medium and one of the upper extract - with the objective of evaluating the amount of suspension deposited in function of flow and nozzle type. The treatments were constituted of four spraying nozzles (simple fan, double fan, double fan with air injection and empty cone) and three suspension volumes (100, 200 and 300 L ha-1). The suspension volume that presented the highest depositions in the different extracts of the soybean plants was 300 L ha-1; the spraying nozzle that presented the highest depositions, in the upper plant extract was the double plane jet; for the medium and lower extracts, the jet empty cone nozzle. The depositions in middle and lower thirds of the soybean plants were significantly lower to those obtained in the upper third, regardless of the nozzle and flow used; for higher depositions in the upper third of soybean plants, the best combination is to use double plane jet nozzles, with suspension volumes of 300 L ha-1; for higher depositions in the medium and lower third of soybean plants, the best combination is to use conical jet nozzles, with suspension volumes of 200 or 300 L ha-1 O experimento foi conduzido no município de Cascavel, Estado do Paraná, com a cultivar de soja CD 202, com o objetivo de avaliar a quantidade de calda depositada nas folhas da soja. Foram coletadas amostras, contendo 15 folhas por parcela, em cinco plantas, em diferentes extratos, sendo uma folha do extrato inferior; uma, do mediano, e uma, do superior, com a finalidade de avaliar a deposição da calda de pulverização em função da vazão e do tipo de bico. Os tratamentos foram constituídos por quatro bicos de pulverização (leque simples, duplo leque, duplo leque com injeção de ar e cone vazio) e três volumes de calda (100, 200 e 300 L ha-1). O volume de calda que apresentou maiores deposições, nos diferentes extratos das plantas de soja, foi o de 300 L ha-1; o bico de pulverização que apresentou maiores deposições, no extrato superior das plantas, foi o bico de jato plano duplo; e para os extratos mediano e inferior, o bico de jato cone vazio. As deposições ocorridas nos terços mediano e inferior das plantas de soja foram significativamente inferiores às obtidas no terço superior, independentemente do bico e da vazão utilizada; para maiores deposições, no terço superior das plantas de soja, a melhor combinação é utilizar bicos de jato plano duplo, com volumes de calda de 300 L ha-1; para maiores deposições no terço mediano e inferior das plantas de soja, a melhor combinação é utilizar bicos de jato cônico, com volumes de calda de 200 ou 300 L ha-1

Introduction. The Chinese jujube tree always presents some unfavorable performances because its vegetative growth is very vigorous. Our study was conducted to apply root pruning to test whether it can effectively inhibit the vigorous vegetative growth by regulating the competitive ability of the root system for water and nutrients. Materials and methods. For our experiment, roots were cut at three different distances from the trunk (light, moderate and severe root pruning) on both inter-row sides of jujube trees to the depth of 20 cm. Roots of control jujube trees were not pruned. Then we determined for three years the competitive indicators of Chinese jujube trees including the length, number and thickness of primary branches; photosynthetic characteristics and nutrient concentrations of leaves; hormone contents in the jujube head, flower number and fruiting percentage, yield, and fruit quality. Results and discussion. In the early stage after root treatment, root pruning decreased lots of indicators such as concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in leaves, photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal conductance, and intercellular CO2 concentration of leaves, relative to the same indicators as the control group. With the gradual emergence of new roots, these indexes appeared to have adverse patterns with respect to those in the early stage after root pruning. Compared with the control, root pruning significantly decreased the length and number of primary branches and flower number, but thickened primary branches, enhanced fruiting percentage and increased the amount of ethylene release of the jujube head in the whole experiment. Fruit quality was improved with root pruning, as indicated by increases in vitamin C and total sugar and a decrease in titrable acidity. No effects of root pruning were noticed on yield. From our results, we conclude that the removal of the root system at a distance of three times the trunk diameter (severe pruning) from the trunk is the most effective in regulating the competitive ability of the Chinese jujube tree. Introduction. Le jujubier chinois présente toujours certaines performances désavantageuses du fait de sa croissance végétative très vigoureuse. Notre étude a été menée pour tester la taille des racines afin de vérifier si elle peut freiner efficacement la croissance végétative en régulant la compétitivité du système racinaire pour l’eau et les nutriments. Matériel et méthodes. Pour notre expérimentation, les racines de jujubiers chinois ont été coupées à trois distances différentes à partir du tronc (taille légère, modérée et sévère des racines), de chaque côté entre les rangs de jujubiers, à 20 cm de profondeur. Les racines des jujubiers témoins n’ont pas été taillées. Nous avons ensuite suivi pendant trois années certains indicateurs de compétitivité du jujubier chinois, dont la longueur, le nombre et l’épaisseur des branches primaires ; les caractéristiques photosynthétiques et les concentrations en éléments nutritifs des feuilles ; les teneurs en hormones dans le haut des arbres ; le nombre de fleurs et le taux de fructification, ainsi que le rendement et la qualité des fruits. Résultats et discussion. Au début, après traitement des racines, la taille des racines a induit la diminution de nombreux indicateurs tels que les concentrations en azote, en phosphore, en potassium des feuilles, ainsi que la photosynthèse, la transpiration, la conductance stomatique, la concentration en CO2 intercellulaire des feuilles, par rapport aux mêmes indicateurs mesurés sur les arbres du groupe témoin. Avec l’émergence progressive de nouvelles racines, ces indices ont eu un comportement inverse par rapport à ceux mesurés à ce stade précoce faisant suite à la taille des racines. Par rapport aux arbres témoins, la taille des racines a diminué significativement la longueur et le nombre de branches primaires et le nombre de fleurs, mais elle a induit un épaississement des branches primaires, une amélioration du taux de fructification et une augmentation de la quantité d’éthylène libérée par la tête des arbres. La qualité des fruits a été améliorée avec la taille des racines : augmentation de la teneur en vitamine C et des sucres totaux et diminution de l’acidité titrable. La taille des racines n’a pas eu d’effets sur le rendement. Nous déduisons de nos résultats que la suppression du système racinaire à une distance du tronc égale à trois fois son diamètre (taille sévère) est le traitement le plus efficace pour réguler la compétitivité du système racinaire du jujubier chinois. Introducción. El azufaifo chino presenta siempre ciertos rendimientos desventajosos por el hecho de su crecimiento vegetativo muy vigoroso. Nuestro estudio se llevó a cabo para testear el tamaño de las raíces con el fin de verificar si puede frenar eficazmente el crecimiento vegetativo regulando la competitividad del sistema de raíces para el agua y los nutrientes. Material y métodos. Para nuestro experimento, se cortaron las raíces del azufaifo chino a tres distancias diferentes a partir del tronco (tamaño ligero, moderado y severo de las raíces), a ambos lados entre las filas de azufaifos, a 20 cm de profundidad. No se tallaron las raíces de los azufaifos testigos. A continuación, hicimos el seguimiento durante tres años de ciertos indicadores de competitividad del azufaifo chino, entre los cuales, la longitud, el número y el grosor de las ramas primarias; las características fotosintéticas y las concentraciones en elementos nutritivos de las hojas; los contenidos de hormonas en lo alto de los árboles, el número de flores y el índice de fructificación, así como el rendimiento y la calidad de los frutos. Resultados y discusión. Al principio, después del tratamiento de las raíces, el tamaño de las raíces indujo que disminuyeran numerosos indicadores, tales como las concentraciones de nitrógeno, fósforo, potasio de las hojas, o la fotosíntesis, la transpiración, la conductancia estomática, la concentración de CO2 intercelular de las hojas, en relación con los mismos indicadores medidos en los árboles del grupo testigo. Con la progresiva emergencia de nuevas raíces, según el tamaño de las mismas, estos índices se comportaron inversamente a los índices medidos en la fase precoz. En comparación con los árboles testigo, el tamaño de las raíces hizo que disminuyeran significativamente la longitud, el número de ramas primarias y el número de flores, pero llevó a un aumento de las ramas primarias, una mejora del índice de fructificación y un aumento de la cantidad de etileno liberado por la corona de los árboles. La calidad de los frutos se mejoró con el tamaño de las raíces: aumento del contenido de vitamina C y de azúcares totales y disminución de la acidez valorable. El tamaño de las raíces no tuvo efectos en el rendimiento. Deducimos de nuestros resultados que la supresión del sistema de raíces a una distancia del tronco igual a tres veces su diámetro (tamaño severo) es el tratamiento más eficaz para regular la competitividad del sistema de raíces del azufaifo chino.

Twenty-one standard apple cultivars bred in Holovousy and registered in the Czech Republic during 1994-2011 were included in a comparative study. Their tree characteristics and yields were evaluated from 2004 till 2011 in a comparison with cvs Golden Delicious and Jonagold within experimental orchards planted on M 9 rootstock using a tree spacing of 4 x 1 m. The cultivars mutually differed in the mean term of flowering starting up to 6 days. The harvest time of 5 summer cultivars covered the harvest season from July 14 till the end of August. The remaining cultivars were storable, and on average, their harvest started between the September 8 (Nabella) and November 8 (Rubimeg). Cvs Resista, Selena and Vysocina were evaluated as totally resistant to scab and 5 other cultivars were distinguished by very low susceptibility to the disease. In the case of powdery mildew this desirable level of tolerance was observed on 7 cultivars. The most vigorous according to trunk cross-sectional area was cv. Mivine, whereas the weakest growing cv. Selena was 52% smaller in this trait. Significant differences among cultivars were also found in the case of yield precocity. In total, the most productive in this study was cv. Clijo, with mean annual harvest equal to 44.3 t/ha. The lowest level of annual harvest (25.6 t/ha) gave cv. Selena, but its crop efficiency was one of the highest.

What are students learning? Throughout the world, governments striving to improve educational quality are turning to national assessments to provide this much-needed information in key curriculum areas. The capacity for carrying out national assessments has grown remarkably in recent years, but it has not been matched by widespread use of their findings. This book seeks to maximize an appreciation for the value of such data and to assist countries in exploiting the knowledge that national assessments yield. [It] identifies the main factors affecting the use of national assessment findings. These include the political context in which an assessment is carried out, the nature of the assessment (census based or sample based), the assignment of accountability for the results, and the quality of assessment instruments. The book describes the type of information that the main report of a national assessment should contain, as well as other means of communicating findings to technical and nontechnical audiences. It outlines general considerations in translating national assessment results into policy and action, and examines specific procedures for using the data in policy making, educational management, teaching, and promoting public awareness. The topics addressed in this volume should be of interest to policy makers, educators, researchers, and development practitioners. (DIPF/Orig.).

The two volumes of the Handbook of Psychological and Educational Assessment of Children, Second Edition, cover all aspects of child and adolescent assessment. Leading clinical scientists summarize the state of the science of assessment paradigms, instruments, and methods. With an emphasis on practical clinical considerations, chapters also delve into issues related to test development, psychometrics, and bias. Conveniently designed for reference or text use, this vast knowledge base has been synthesized into two volumes which may be purchased separately or together. INTELLIGENCE, APTITUDE, AND ACHIEVEMENT surveys assessment of intelligence, learning styles, and academic achievement; covers historical issues and psychometric methods; and addresses diversity issues, ethical concerns, and special topics in mental testing. PERSONALITY, BEHAVIOR, AND CONTEXT reviews the use of projective methods, interviewing and observation, and objective methods of assessing personality and behavior; discusses the assessment of specific syndromes and symptoms; and presents tools for assessing adaptive skills and the family context.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the dimensional structure of a set of mathematical achievement tests used to assess the academic achievement in the Community of Madrid during 2005-06 and 2006-07 years and in three cohorts corresponding to the following academic degrees: 5th-6th of primary education, 1st-2nd and 3-4th of compulsory secondary education (ESO). The results coming from classical factor analysis and full information factor analysis are compared. Therefore a longitudinal study is performed in order to test whether such structure remains constant along time. The results confirm that most of the tests are mostly unidimensional structures. Meanwhile, it was proven that as the complexity of the contents increase, the complexity of the dimensional structure tests increase as well. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la estructura dimensional de las pruebas empleadas para evaluar el rendimiento académico en la asignatura de matemáticas en el contexto de la evaluación realizada en la Comunidad de Madrid en los cursos académicos 2005-06 y 2006-07 en tres cohortes: 5º y 6º de Educación Primaria, 1º-2º y 3º-4º de ESO. Para ello, se triangulan los resultados obtenidos de la aplicación de las técnicas factoriales clásicas con los del Análisis Factorial de Información total. Asimismo, se realiza un estudio longitudinal con objeto de ver si dicha estructura se mantiene constante a lo largo del tiempo. Los resultados confirman estructuras esencialmente unidimensionales. A su vez, se comprueba que el aumento de la complejidad de los contenidos implica un aumento en la complejidad de la estructura dimensional de las pruebas.