The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is initiating the International Early Learning Study, a cross-national assessment of early learning outcomes involving the testing of 5-year-old children in participating countries. The authors use this colloquium to inform members of the early childhood community about this project and to raise concerns about its assumptions, practices and possible effects. The authors also invite readers' comments, to start a process of democratic dialogue and contestation. Keywords Cross-national assessment, early childhood education, early learning outcomes, OECD Anglo-Saxon 'testology' … is nothing but a ridiculous simplification of knowledge, and a robbing of meaning from individual histories. (Malaguzzi, in Cagliari et al., 2016: 378) The very act of ordering and measuring the world also changes the world.
People make subjective judgments about hazards relying on what they know and feel. These risk perceptions may be based on accurate or inaccurate information and are often optimistically biased. The existence of uncertainties in the evaluation of many environmental hazards effects how risks are perceived. This paper examines fish consumption and risk perception of urban fishermen in the New York/New Jersey estuary, in areas where there were consumption advisories. We interviewed 318 fishermen and crabbers in the Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, and New Jersey shore. Fish were eaten an average of at least four times per month in all regions, but fishermen in the Arthur Kill fished most frequently, averaging over eight times per month. Although 60% of fishermen and crabbers in the Arthur Kill reported hearing warnings about consuming fish caught in these waters, 70% of fishermen and 76% of crabbers said they are their catch. Significantly fewer fishermen in the Bay and Shore regions had heard warnings (28% and 30%, respectively), and more reported consuming their catch (88% and 82%, respectively). In all regions, most people thought that the fish were safe to eat, many believing they were "fresher" than store bought fish. Thus, most people ignored the consumption advisories in effect for these waters. Some of these people are consuming high quantities of fish and crabs, and thus are exposed to potentially deleterious levels of contaminants. In general, people failed to consider the possibility of chronic effects and did not perceive that this enjoyable, familiar pastime could be hazardous. Further, fishermen generally had great confidence in their own knowledge, which proved to be inaccurate in many cases, and often expressed distrust in the information source (government). Clearly, simply issuing consumption advisories is insufficient to promote risk-reducing behavior.
During the past decade a number of countries have developed national curriculum statements and frameworks for schools and~or early childhood services. New Zealand is one of these. Margaret Carr and Helen May co-ordinated the early development of Te Whaariki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum. The development of Te Whaariki posed particular challenges towards ensuring that the processes for assessment and evaluation are in the interests of children and their families and fit alongside the Principles of Te Whaariki itself. This paper provides a brief summary overview of the Principles and framework of Te Whaariki, and of subsequent assessment and evaluation research. Our framework of "Learning and Teaching Stories, "' a "userfriendly '" approach to assessment and self evaluation, was trialled in an action research project located in six early childhood centres in three different regions of New Zealand. The paper discusses action research as a process for self-evaluation, and the implications of the findings of this phase of the project for early childhood self-evaluation practices. RI~SUMI~: Au cours de ces dix dernikres annkes, un certain nombre de pays a dkvelopp# des orientations et des programmes nationaux pour les kcoles et/ou les structures de la petite enfance. La Nouvelle-Z#lande fait partie de ces pays. Margaret Carr et Helen May ont coordonn~ les premiers stades de l'#laboration de Te Whaariki, le nouveau programme pour les jeunes enfants ndo-z~landais. Les enjeux particuliers Te Whaariki tiennent clans l'assurance que le contr~le et l'#valuation vont bien dans de sens des int~r#ts des enfants et de leurs familles et qu "ils concordent avec les principes du programme lui-m~me. Cet article propose une rapide vue d'ensemble des principes et du cadre de Te Whaarild ainsi que d'une kvaluation qui lui a fair suite. "Learning and teaching stories ", notre approche d'auto-Ovaluation "conviviale ", a ~t# exp~rimentOe dans le cadre d'une recherche-action men#e clans six structures pr#scolaires de trois r#gions n#o-z#landaises. Cet article discute la question de la recherche-action comme m~thode d'auto-dvaluation ainsi que l 'implication des premiers r#sultats de la recherche pour le d~veloppement de pratiques d'auto-kvaluation clans le champ de la petite enfance. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Im letztenJahrzehnt haben zahlreiche Lander-unter ihnen Neuseeland -nationate Lehrplanziele und -rahmen f~r Schulen undf~rfriihpgidagogische Einrichtungen ausgearbeitet. Margaret Carr und Helen May koordinierten die Konzeptentwicklung des Te WhaarikL des neuseelgindisehen Curriculums j~r die Friiherziehung. Die Entwicklung des Te Whaariki stellte insofern eine besondere Herausforderung dar, als die Verfahren J~r die Messung und Evaluation im Interesse sowohl der Kinder und ihrer Familien sein als auch mit den
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