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This report evaluates the mathematics assessments in use in Texas -- the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) mathematics exams and the end-of-course algebra 1 exams -- with respect to their mathematics content and grade level expectations as a way of understanding their impact on mathematics achievement in Texas. Several means of evaluating these assessment tools suggest that only low levels of achievement are being measured. Indeed, the high school exit exam seems more appropriate to sixth-grade achievement. Thus, the ability of the assessments to measure high levels of achievement is suspect. This suggests that Texas may not be effectively utilizing the power of a statewide assessment system to drive up achievement. Setting low expectations may also fail to keep students on track for later success in algebra and beyond. These effects seem to be a consequence of an assessment system that is too tightly focused on minimal achievement levels.
The goal of the assessment program in Texas is to measure student progress toward achieving academic excellence. The primary purpose of the state student assessment program is to provide an accurate measure of student achievement . . .
The statement of goal and purpose above does not make it explicit that the assessment program is intended to promote greater academic achievement statewide in Texas, or the desire to bring the achievement of Texas students up to "world-class standards" or similar lofty ambitions. Surely, promoting greater achievement is a central objective behind the implementation of the assessment system in Texas.
This report evaluates the mathematics assessments in use in Texas -- the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) mathematics exams and the end-of-course algebra 1 exams. Particular attention is paid to the mathematics content and grade level expectations of these exams as they relate to stimulating greater achievement in mathematics.
Statewide examinations in mathematics carry enormous potential as a tool to improve achievement at a relatively low cost. They can be useful to students to gage their own progress and their relative strengths and weaknesses, and it is clear that the exams can provide a motivational influence. They are also useful in evaluating mathematics education. For example, they are helpful in identifying instructional methods and curriculum materials that are highly successful. Thus, these assessment devices are also motivational at the system level. Finally, they provide a degree of objective validity to the high school diploma and other indicators of academic progress - something that is needed after years of grade-inflation and social promotion have deteriorated the utility of these traditional indicators of academic success.
The introduction of assessment programs, particularly high-stakes assessments, can provide a strong source of motivation. This has become increasingly important as more and more teachers experience difficulty in motivating their students for academic success. The impact is widely evident in Texas where students spend extra time in test-preparation, textbooks address the assessments directly, and teachers strive to prepare their students for success on the examinations. Private industry even enters the picture by providing study materials and instruction specifically for the exams.
The potential benefits of a powerful statewide assessment system in mathematics are not guaranteed. Great care must be taken in designing these assessments, and the associated reporting mechanisms, so that the greatest possible benefits to mathematics achievement will result. With this in mind, this report evaluates the mathematics content and difficulty of these assessments. The goal is to clarify and interpret the nature of these assessments as a way of understanding their impacts on mathematics achievement in Texas.
Various organizational schemes have been employed over the years to classify the content of mathematics education. Traditionally in the U.S. we have thought about mathematics education in terms of the subject areas of mathematics - things like arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. In more recent times, we have seen a variety of other sets of taxonomic categories proposed. These may be called strands, objectives, domains, or elements, but the underlying purpose is the same - to provide a structure for studying and thinking about the content of the mathematics curriculum.
In general, these systems provide a high-level structure of categories that runs across all grade levels. This has the obvious advantage of providing a unified vision of the curriculum across grades, and may help to clarify how particular content areas build over the years. Yet, the use of any such system must be approached with caution. It is clear, for example, that the meaning or interpretation of any one category changes considerably over the grade levels in terms of the kinds of material that it addresses. Also, none of the classification schemes is very successful in that particular mathematical ideas or procedures or problems are often difficult to assign to one and only one category.
In reality, all of these classification schemes are artificial and inexact. They should be thought of as nothing more than crude organizing methods that can serve as a helpful technique for the study of the curriculum. However, more often than not the system of classification takes on a life of its own and begins to influence both curriculum and assessment. There can be positive benefits that result. For example, discontinuities in the curriculum may be discovered and corrected. On the other hand, there can be negative consequences as well. One possibility is that there may be pressure to weight each content area equally across the grade levels. This seems certain to misrepresent what is important year to year, and gives far too much authority to a classification scheme that has arbitrary and inexact characteristics. For example, there is every reason to expect that instruction in the operations of arithmetic will be predominant over the use of algebraic manipulations in the early grades and that this will tend to reverse as students progress through the grade levels.
The dimensionality of the classification scheme may be used in attempts to change the face of the curriculum rather than to describe it. For example, as new categories are added, there will be a tendency to take emphasis away from "old" categories like arithmetic and algebra. While changes to the curriculum are not necessarily negative, each must be evaluated carefully on its own merit. There is no merit in curriculum changes introduced simply to satisfy the needs of the classification system itself.
The overall achievement goals in Texas have been divided into two, roughly parallel classification systems that are related to the development of the TAAS. These are illustrated below as a hierarchy of specifications that runs from overall achievement goals down to the actual test items.
Broad categories or strands are identified in the seven Essential Elements and in the thirteen TAAS Mathematics Objectives. The Objectives were generated subsequent to the Essential Elements, and are intended to encompass the materiel in the Essential Elements.
Grade level specifics are provided by the details of the Essential Elements and the Instructional Targets specified for the TAAS.
A cross-reference between the grade-level details of the Essential Elements and the Instructional Targets for the TAAS has been provided by the Texas Education Agency in the TAAS Mathematics Objectives and Measurement Specifications.	This cross-reference provides a means to equate the two classification systems.
Test items are generated to match the TAAS Instructional Targets.
The number of test items in various content areas is based on weights for each Objective. Thus, relative emphases in the TAAS are determined by Objective.
The two classification schemes should be studied together to understand the content emphases.
By counting the cross-references between the details of the Essential Elements and the Instructional Targets for each Mathematics Objective and summing these across grade levels, a rough map between the Essential Elements and the Mathematics Objectives can be generated. The results of this mapping are represented graphically below.
By inspecting the figure up and down for each Mathematics Objective, the Essential Elements addressed by the Objective can be identified. There are no great surprises in this mapping.
By inspecting each row of the figure, the Mathematics Objectives that load on each Essential Element can be identified. An admittedly oversimplified summary is presented below.
There are a few obvious omissions from the table above. For example, Objective 2 - Relations, functions, and algebraic concepts - also taps Essential Element 4.	Also, Essential Element 7 - Probability, statistics, and graphing - relates to the probability and statistics Objective, but shares some relationship to other Objectives.
Of primary importance in this mapping is the fact that the problem solving and the operations Essential Elements have been expanded to a more predominant position in the Objectives. This is important because the distribution of test items is set by the Objective, not by the Essential Element.
This means that substantially more than 1/7th of the items will address Essential Element 4 - Operations and computation. This is altogether reasonable for the early grades where an emphasis on the operations of arithmetic is indicated. Whether it continues to be appropriate at higher grade levels is open to question and depends in part on the way the Objectives are elaborated. In particular, the transition to algebraic subject matter should appear in later grades.
There will also be an increased emphasis on Essential Element 1 - Problem solving. This is further augmented by the fact that it is related to Objectives 11 and 12 since these Objectives are given more items in the TAAS. This is reflective of the desire in Texas to provide more emphasis on "problem solving and complex thinking skills." On the other hand, since these objectives are more difficult to define, they will also be related to the Essential Elements for operations and computation and probability, statistics, and graphing.
The mapping discussed above was collapsed across grade levels. Indeed, there is good reason to believe that relative emphases would vary across grade levels.
To address this issue, the references to Essential Elements were expressed as proportions within each Objective at each grade level. These were then weighted by the item counts for each Objective at each grade level so that weights for each Essential Element could be estimated. These were then expressed as a percentage of emphasis in the corresponding TAAS exam. The relative weights are illustrated in the figure below.
As anticipated, Essential Element 4 - Operations and computation - receives the largest emphasis at each grade level. Also as anticipated, Essential Element 1 - Problem solving - has the next largest weighting each year. The remaining Essential Elements have roughly equal weights. Moreover, this pattern is relatively consistent from grade 3 through the high school exit exam.
It is evident at this point that the system of specifications - Essential Elements, Objectives, Instructional Targets, and item counts per objective - has exerted an influence on the distribution of emphases in the TAAS. In part, this influence is entirely appropriate, such as the emphasis on operation and computation especially in the early test grades. On the other hand, the relatively consistent weights for the other Essential Elements are cause for concern. In particular, the lack of a demonstrated growth in the emphasis on algebraic content over the grades is worrisome. Similarly, one would expect a transition in the relative weights for measurement and geometry across the grades. The seriousness of these issues depends in part on the changing definitions of the strands across the grade levels in terms of the Instructional Targets and the actual test items that are generated. In any case, this information provides cause for concern that content emphases may be unduly influenced by the classification systems used to generate test specifications and test items.
Following the procedure of tracking references between Essential Elements and Instructional Targets, it is possible to relate item specifications for the TAAS to mean grade levels given in the Essential Elements. The results of this approach are illustrated below.
It is evident in the figure that mean item specifications in the TAAS lag a year behind the expected grade level in the Essential Elements, and that the expectations for the exit exam are nearly identical to the grade 8 exam. Both of these phenomena reflect processes intentional in the test design. Although legally mandated as a criterion-referenced assessment, item specifications generally address Essential Elements distributed across a range of grade levels - at grade level, one year behind, and two years behind. Thus, the average lag of about one grade level. In addition, special consideration was made in designing the exit exam since high school students are not required to take higher level mathematics courses in order to graduate. Consequently, the exit exam appears in this analysis to be undifferentiated from the eighth grade exam.
Two points need to be clarified regarding the figure above. First, the minimum passing rates on these exams are approximately 70% correct. Thus, students will need to get at least some of the grade-level appropriate items correct to pass. This would have the effect of bringing the exam levels closer to the "on-target" line represented in the figure. However, these are also multiple-choice items with chance correct rates ranging from 20% to 25%. With chance taken into account, the grade-level estimates relative to the Essential Elements presented in the figure should be approximately correct.
Thus, relative to the Essential Elements, the TAAS exams appear to be behind grade level and the exit exam appears to be similar to the grade 8 exam.
However, these conclusions are based upon information provided by Texas Education Agency documents regarding item specifications and the Essential Elements. These conclusions do not speak to how the Essential Elements relate to improving achievement overall, and they do not address the relationship between the specifications and actual item content and difficulty levels. Rather than address each step in the hierarchy of achievement specifications that ultimately results in test items, content issues relating to the test items themselves are presented below.
An inspection of TAAS exit exam items reveals several achievement areas that are either missing or weakly represented in TAAS items. The following elements are provided to illustrate this finding, and are based upon the inspection of 240 TAAS items -- 60 per year for 4 years of exams.
Addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators: Three addition items and three subtraction items were found. Their denominators are simple small integers in each case.
Multiplication and division of fractions or mixed numbers: There were no instances of the multiplication of two fractions. There was one instance of the division of a mixed number by a fraction.
Terminating and repeating decimals: There were no items related to this distinction.
Factors of numbers: There were no items found that directly addressed the factors of numbers, prime and composite numbers, greatest common factor or least common multiple.
Powers, roots, and exponents: There were two items found that called for the squares of integers (15 and 40). There was one item found that called for finding the two integers that bound the root of a number.
Properties of real numbers: There were two items found that dealt directly with the distributive property asking for the equivalence of two expressions.
Absolute value and negative numbers: There were no items found that dealt with absolute value. There was one item found that required sorting signed integers, one that asked about the distance between two altitudes one of which was below sea level, and one that required evaluating an expression containing a sum where one replacement value was negative.
Area and volume: There was one item found asking for the lateral surface area of a cylinder (although the formula is supplied). There was one item found asking for the volume of a rectangular prism.
Median and mode: There was one item found that asked for a median.
The above content areas provide a flavor for elements of mathematics that are not well represented in the exit level TAAS.
Students are asked for the ordered pair that represents the intersection of two lines given by linear equations. However, the lines are clearly graphed. This problem thus only requires being able to identify a point in the coordinate grid.
Students are told that two ladders are leaning against a building at the same angle. They are given the length of both ladders and the distance from the ladder base to the wall for the longer ladder (They are also informed in a figure that the ground forms a right-angle with the wall). Students evidently are to use reasoning about similar triangles and proportions to determine the distance from the base of the shorter ladder to the wall. Unfortunately, only one response choice is reasonable given the illustration that accompanies the problem. In fact, all incorrect response choices greatly exceed the entire length of the shorter ladder.
Three items appear to require the use of the Pythagorean theorem to solve for unknown lengths of right triangle sides, or at least the recognition and application of Pythagorean triples. However, the figures are drawn reasonably close to scale and only one response alternative for each item is reasonably possible given the figure.
Thus, some of the most difficult content areas addressed in the TAAS exit exam have simpler alternative solution strategies available that students are likely to employ.
Looking at actual TAAS exit exam items helps to clarify the nature of these tests. Some of the items discussed above are among the most advanced TAAS items in terms of the mathematics content. To illustrate the lower end of the spectrum, some of the items with the lowest level of mathematics content are listed below.
The total attendance recorded at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California, was 5,797,923. What is this number rounded to the nearest thousand?
Mrs. Ramos has a plastic cube on her desk that holds photographs. There is a picture on every face of the cube except the bottom. How many pictures are displayed on the cube?
Devon's house is on a rectangular block that is 330 yards long and 120 yards wide. What is the distance around his block?
Kenyon is 5 feet 6 inches tall. His sister Tenika is 7 inches taller than he is. How tall is Tenika?
At a restaurant Steve ordered food totaling $6.85. If he paid with a $20 bill, how much change should he receive?
Certainly every high school graduate should be competent at solving problems of this nature. However, these items do not reflect the kinds of skills and knowledge that are grade level appropriate for high school students. There can be little question that these items are more appropriate to examinations used in much earlier grades.
In Japan, 12-year-olds are given a mathematics examination that consists of 225 story problems. These items show a depth of content for Japanese 12-year-olds that is striking in contrast to the TAAS exit examination items. Some of these items have been translated into English (Pacific Software Publishing) and are reproduced here by permission.
How many 'C' balls does it take to balance one 'A' ball?
Jenny wanted to purchase 2 dozen pencils and a pen. Those items cost $8.45 and she did not have enough money. So she decided to purchase 8 fewer pencils and paid $6.05. How much was a pen?
Hose A takes 45 minutes to fill the bucket with water. Hose B can do the same in 30 minutes. If you use both hoses, how long will it take to fill the bucket?
A job takes 30 days to complete by 8 people. How long will the job take when it is done by 20 people?
Bob, Jim and Cathy each have some money. The sum of Bob's and Jim's money is $18.00. The sum of Jim's and Cathy's money is $21.00. The sum of Bob's and Cathy's money is $23.00. How much money does each person have?
Tom's mother is 30 years old. The three children are 5, 3, and 0 years old. 12 years later, the total age of Tom's mother and father is twice as much as the total ages of all three children. How old is Tom's father?
Ellen baked cookies of the neighborhood children. She gave each child 6 cookies and she had 7 cookies remaining. So, she gave one more cookie to each child, but, was one cookie short. How many cookies did she bake in total?
It is 6 miles between Joe's house and Larry's house. Joe and Larry started to walk to each other's houses at noon, meeting at 12:30. Joe walked 2 miles per hour faster than Larry. How fast did Larry walk?
They were designed carefully to be on-track with the best international competition, including Japan and Singapore.
They are perhaps the most highly detailed of all sets of state mathematics standards, greatly facilitating item evaluation.
Two of the authors (P.C. and D.K.) independently judged the grade level of every TAAS Mathematics exit exam item for the prior four years using the California standards as a guide. Although some degree of subjectivity was involved, these ratings proved to have a reasonably high level of rater reliability (r=.813). When the two ratings did not concur, they were averaged. The average distribution of item grade levels on a TAAS exit exam is illustrated below.
The ratings against the California Mathematics Standards yielded a mean grade level of 5.3 for the TAAS exit exam. The most advanced TAAS exit items were judged as equivalent to the California grade 7 standards.
Admittedly, the California Standards are set at a high level, being roughly equivalent to progress in Singapore and Japan. Nonetheless, the low estimated grade level is striking. Moreover, the California Standards are designed to complete the content of pre-algebra by grade 7 so that students will be ready to study algebra and geometry in grades 8 and above.
This finding raises the possibility that students could pass the TAAS exit level examination and still not be ready for the study of algebra. This possibility is consistent with the fact that Texas students enjoy greater success on the TAAS exams than on the algebra 1 end of course exam.
If the grade level ratings of TAAS exit exam items based on the California standards are a valid indicator, then TAAS exam scores would presumably be elevated by the inclusion of items below grade level. Likewise, the percentage of students with correct answers on individual items ought to vary as a function of item grade level ratings. Analysis of data for individual items from field tests and actual tests in Texas shows this is indeed the case as indicated below.
These results suggest that passing rates on the TAAS exit exam would be considerably lower if all items fell at the 7th grade (or higher) level based on the California standards.
To study grade level expectations across content areas on the TAAS exit exam, the mean grade level rating was computed for each of the Mathematics Objectives indicated on the TAAS. This is possible because each TAAS item is tied to a Mathematics Objective. The grade level means are illustrated below.
Mean grade level ratings were significantly lower for the Measurement, Addition, and Subtraction Objectives than for the other Objectives (p<.05 in each case). This may not be a surprising result as the topic areas of measurement, addition, and subtraction might be expected to enter the curriculum earlier than some of the other Objectives. Although more complex material could enter these content domains, this does not appear to be the case from the grade level ratings. Thus, it appears that the emphasis given by the weights in these three Objectives is grade level inappropriate in the exit exam. Likewise, Objectives 2 and 3, which should reflect algebraic and geometric material, do not appear to reflect more advanced content as might be expected.
The proportion of students meeting the minimum expectations on the TAAS exams has been rising. This is a positive indication, but the conclusion relies heavily on equating derived scores for test difficulty differences year to year. If the tests cannot be shown to be of equivalent difficulty (in derived scores), than the finding of improvement may be suspect.
TAAS exams are roughly equated for difficulty in the process of item selection. Furthermore, derived scores are further equated through statistical procedures that are mathematically sound. Since tests contain only a finite number of items, at least small fluctuations in the difficulty associated with a passing (minimum expectations) score are certain. Some further inaccuracy in the process of equating difficulty must exist. However, the degree of accuracy in the equating process is not documented in the Technical Digest. Furthermore, the tests are equated year to year, so that errors in this process may be compounding over time.
To address the equivalence of TAAS exit exams year to year, a comparison among the mean item grade-level ratings based on the California standards was computed for four years of exams. While this does not address the statistical equating process, it does provide an indication of relative item difficulties across years. The results of this test were not statistically significant (p = .46), with grade level means hovering around 5.3 for each of the test years. Thus, this method supported the notion that the tests were of roughly equal difficulty levels across years.
Another design concern relates to the use of the Texas Learning Index (TLI). The design of the TLI is extremely useful in that it provides scores that students can use to gage their relative achievement progress over the grades. Although a valuable resource, the TLI should be recognized as an essentially norm-based score for grades 3 to 8. This means that any unevenness in achievement across the grade levels in the norming year will be perpetuated in the TLI score distributions in succeeding years. For example, if the gain in mathematics achievement in the sixth grade was low as measured in the spring of 1994 due to some curriculum defects at the time, then a "passing" TLI score of 70 for grade 6 will continue to reflect this low level of achievement in future years. It is even possible that these future scores would be seen as endorsing achievement rates that would not be found if a criterion-referenced system was in place.
During the screening of potential TAAS items, a review is conducted to insure that the item content is reasonably well addressed by the existing curriculum in Texas. Students are not to be tested on material they have not had the opportunity to study. However, this deviates from criterion-referenced assessment by adding the stipulation that criteria must be covered by the curriculum. The stipulation inhibits the ability of the assessments to drive advancements in the curriculum. There may be a risk of "curriculum stagnation" in which deficiencies in the curriculum tend to be perpetuated.
There are several reporting methods summarizing TAAS performance data. These include average scale scores, TLI scores, Texas Percentile Rank scores, Normal Curve Equivalents, and the percentage meeting minimum expectations. However, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the figures for the percentage of students meeting minimum expectations. The inherent risk in setting a "floor" or minimum requirement is that it will effectively become a "ceiling," meaning that there may be a tendency to set a cap on achievement levels.
The basis of this thinking is that an emphasis on bringing up minimum achievement levels will tend to focus both the curriculum and instruction at levels that are too low to provide the greatest benefit to student achievement overall. Simply put, there is a risk that designating these targets will leave many students with lower achievement prospects than they are capable of.
This concern is amplified by the level of TAAS Instructional Targets relative to the Texas Essential Elements, the low achievement expectations evident in the items themselves and in comparison to the test for Japanese 12-year-olds, and the grade level ratings of TAAS items relative to the California Mathematics Standards. If the TAAS assessment levels are lower than optimal and there is a focus on minimum achievement relative to those assessments, there is an inherent risk that curriculum and instruction will be swayed toward sub-optimal levels as a result of the assessment process. Thus, it is possible that the TAAS exam system is not nearly as effective as it might be in promoting greater mathematics achievement statewide in Texas.
The presence of the TAAS examinations, and the minimum expectations used for graduation requirements, make this a high-stakes assessment system. As a consequence, a great deal of attention is given to preparation for TAAS exams. This includes material in school textbooks, classroom instruction time, and a sector of private industry that supplies materials and instruction. This illustrates the power of a high-stakes examination system. The findings given above suggest that Texas may not be making the greatest possible use of this power.
The distributions of raw scores on the TAAS exit exams are give below for three test years. These show H3 negative skews. The presence of negative skew is not surprising given that the initial target of 70% correct is surpassed by a majority of students. However, the degree of skew is sufficient to suggest that the TAAS cannot function effectively in the identification of high achievement levels, and ceiling effects in the distribution are obvious. Since the exams do not differentiate well at higher achievement levels, we cannot tell whether or not the implementation of the assessment system is leading to similar ceiling effects in actual achievement. However, the lack of sensitivity to high achievement levels would suggest that the TAAS will not be effective at motivating achievement for a good proportion of students.
In addition to the TAAS exams, end-of-course examinations are also available in several content areas. In mathematics, students enrolled in introductory algebra take the algebra 1 end-of-course examination. They may use a passing score on this examination as part of their high school graduation requirement instead of the TAAS exit exam in mathematics.
In order to comment on both the content coverage and difficulty level of the Algebra 1 end-of-course exams, all of the exam items for four successive years were evaluated by one author (W.B.). To accomplish this, a list of common algebra concepts and skills was prepared by looking through several standard pre-algebra and algebra 1 textbooks and the examinations themselves. These were chosen so that an objective analysis of the content of each item could be completed.
A rating of "3" represents the level of standard but easy algebra, the level of universal mastery of the content of algebra 1. A "2" represents standard pre-algebra, say at the level of Saxon Algebra 1/2 or Japanese Grade 7 Math (two of the sources used). A "1" is below that, roughly fourth or fifth grade math competence without even algebra readiness implied.
Going in the other direction, a "4" represents problems that require a more sophisticated level of algebra competence for solution. For example, clearing fractions and then solving a linear equation, or finding an obvious least common multiple of the denominators of two rational functions and adding them. A "5" level item is beyond that, though still appropriate for a broad screen, end-of-course algebra test. Examples would be something like clearing the fractions and then solving a resulting quadratic equation or solving an equation involving radicals that requires squaring both sides twice or that requires rejection of one or more of the "solutions" that were introduced in that process, or simplifying complex rational functions that involve quadratic (though easily factorable) expressions.
Generally speaking, if it appeared that an algebra-ready student who had not yet studied the subject should be able to solve the problem by inspection or by testing the given answer choices rather than using actual techniques of algebra, the item was rated at the pre-algebra level. That was especially true if that seemed to be the most likely approach to the problem, for example without clearing fractions, squaring both sides, or factoring as would be algebraically indicated. Some of the items would receive higher ratings if response grids rather than a multiple choice format were used.
The distribution of item ratings for the Algebra 1 end-of-course exams is indicated below.
The mean rating across all items was 2.46 on the 5-point rating scale. As is evident in the figure, this means that the exams are primarily a combination of pre-algebra material and algebra at a low difficulty level. Mean ratings did not change significantly across test years (p=.24).
Approximately 14% of the items would have received higher ratings had alternative, less-advanced solution strategies not been available for the item in context (mostly if response grids could replace the multiple choice format). Thus, if these alternative solution strategies were not available, the mean rating would increase to 2.62 on the 5-point rating scale.
It is disturbing to see almost no factoring necessary on the tests. In fact, there is almost no algebraic simplification or algebraic arithmetic operation competency tested. Factoring appears to be intended in several items on each test, but it is always possible to get around it, sometimes trivially as with solution checking or with "factoring blocks" misused to give the actual factorization in this artificial form. Factoring simple polynomial expressions when possible is a very helpful tool in subsequent courses successive to this one so the idea needs to get more emphasis. The omission of factoring in this test sends a message to the state's algebraic teaching community that symbolic manipulation skill does not matter.
Another area of concern is the need for better and more traditional word problems. The word problems that are presented mask a lack of algebraic depth. Direct and inverse variation (find the constant, for example, without a given model to follow) or, "How much water should be added to 20 quarts of a 30% solution to obtain a 14% solution," have H3 practical application in science. Less practical, perhaps, but excellent mathematical reading and algebra training are integer number problems such as, "The quotient of the successor of an integer number and one-third of the number is 4. What is the number?"
Finally, graphing linear equations in two variables is far too poorly done for the space that it consumes. Standard and useful items such as finding the slope-intercept form of a line that contains two given points, or a point and perpendicular to a given line, are almost nonexistent. Lots of pictures of graphs take up lots of pages but are not nearly as informative as a picture of one line with a couple of specified points for definiteness and then a response-grid question for the slope, the y-intercept, or the x-intercept. A good level "3" question here would be two lines given in standard form and graphed that appear to intersect at an integer pair, say (3,2). The question would then be something like, " These lines intersect at a point close to (3,2) but we cannot tell from the graph if that is precisely correct. Which of these is the correct value for the x-coordinate of the point of intersection?" A level "5" question along this line would be to not give equations of the lines but to give the coordinates of two points on each line so the first step is to find equations of the lines and the second is to use them to find the actual point of intersection. Questions like this can be multiple choice and still be testing the underlying algebra concepts. If they are not a bit more complicated, such as these suggestions are, the ability to just check the answers defeats confirmation of the intended algebra concepts.
The following points with respect to content should be noted.
1. There are too many formulas given. Most, such as the area of a rectangle or the slope of a line, should be assumed to be known.
2. There are no rational function reduction or arithmetic items.
3. There is almost no confirmation of algebraic arithmetic skills at all: products of binomials, reduction of fractions involving exponential monomials, etc.
4. There are no problems that require factoring polynomials, even "taking out" a common factor.
5. Standard word problems that lead to algebraic solution are inadequate in number and in depth.
6. Although there are enough items, linear graphing is inadequate; e.g., there are no items that involve the slopes of perpendicular lines.
7. Many items can be done by checking given answer choices or by inspection. Even just a "none of the above" would be helpful.
8. The distance formula is never used and all Pythagorean Theorem items can avoid it.
9. Radical equation exercises are trivial or don't exist.
10. Scattergram questions are trivial and should not be included.
11. "Which BEST describes . . ." language is used even when a perfect fit is among the choices.
12. The response-grid format is insufficiently used. It is down to one item in 1998.
In summary, this test is more of an algebra readiness test than it should be. There are no items that require more than the most trivial symbolic manipulation, a standard part of algebra, and many of the items only appear to require an algebraic solution. They can be done, and will be done, by inspection or by testing the given answer choices. The statistics and probability questions are not at algebra level under the most generous interpretation.
By combining together much of the information given above, a preliminary look at the progression through algebra 1 in the Texas assessments is possible. This method is admittedly tentative, but may be useful for understanding the progression to algebra in Texas.
California grade-level estimates for TAAS grades 3 to 8 were assumed to be discrepant from the Essential Elements reference mapping in a manner that was proportional to the difference seen in the exit exam.
Algebra exam items rated at 3 and above were assumed to reference California grade 8. Items rated at 2 were assumed to map to California grade 7. Items rated at 1 were assumed to map to California grade 5.
The results of the computations based on these assumptions are indicated below.
This preliminary model suggests that there is a discontinuity between the grade 8 (or even the exit level) TAAS exam and the algebra end-of-course exam. This is true even though the ratings placed the algebra end-of-course exam at a low level vis-a-vis California Standards (grade=7.34).
The implication of this finding is that Texas students who are minimally competent through grade 8 may have a difficult time mastering the content of algebra since this constitutes roughly a two-year jump in the model above. This is consistent with the fact that a smaller proportion of Texas students meet minimal expectations for the end-of-course algebra exam than do so for the TAAS mathematics exams.
While this finding should be considered preliminary based on the required assumptions, the implications are quite serious and demand further study. The possibility exists that the assessment system is not targeting the skills and understandings that are sufficient for success in algebra even at the modest levels addressed by the end-of-course exam. If this is true, then the assessment system is not contributing to the improvement in achievement that might otherwise be obtained.
An Anecdote: It was a warm evening in Arizona, and some of the vacationers at the hotel were lounging by the Jacuzzi. A 14-year-old from Texas chanced to strike up a conversation with a math instructor from California. The instructor asked the teenager about the TAAS exam in Texas. "Oh, that . . ." replied the youth, "well, the math is very easy and that's all they teach us, so it gets pretty boring."
Texas has maintained a relatively stable statewide mathematics assessment system, and there is evidence to suggest that some improvements have been made in achievement. The percentage of students meeting minimum expectations on the TAAS has been going up, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores for Texas look promising relative to the rest of the country. But, judging by international comparisons like the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), doing better than other parts of the U.S. may not be saying much.
The evidence reviewed above is consistent in indicating that Texas assesses mathematics achievement at a low level. Indeed, the content of the high school exit exam is more appropriate as a target for the sixth grade. Students could pass this exam and yet have difficulty with the Japanese exam given to 12-year-olds.
Whether or not establishing low targets is a good way to stimulate achievement in mathematics statewide is a critical strategic question. The consequences for far too many students may be similar to the experience of the teenager in the anecdote above. Low-level objectives are not consistent with the high expectations for mathematics achievement that are being called for from one end of the country to the other. Low-level objectives are unlikely to bring student achievement up to the level of our international competition.
The "teaching to the test" phenomenon is often used in an undifferentiated attack on large scale assessment in general. But, this position only belittles the teaching and learning efforts that are motivated by assessment. The assessment system is an effective stimulus for learning to the extent that it promotes greater achievement. Students who acquire the knowledge and skills they need to do well on a challenging test have indeed been learning. Testing itself is not evil, but bad tests can be evil in terms of their consequences. They are a misuse of the power of assessments.
The review of the examinations used in Texas is suggestive of a system wherein the power of statewide assessments has focused on raising achievement only to a minimal level. The low expectations evidenced by the exam items themselves, and the fact that instruction is geared toward these exams, is cause for concern. This concern is amplified by the indications that the system design may be insufficient to promote greater success in algebra and higher level mathematics courses.
Provide all students the opportunity to take algebra I or a similarly demanding course that includes fundamental algebraic concepts in the 8th grade and more advanced math and science courses in all four years of high school.
Build the groundwork for success in algebra by providing a rigorous curriculum in grades K-7 that moves beyond arithmetic and prepares students for the transition to algebra.
Ensure that all students, parents, teachers, and counselors understand the importance of students' early study of algebra as well as continued study of rigorous mathematics and science in high school.
The findings reported above raise concern that the mathematics assessment system in Texas is not designed to meet these objectives.
There will always be advantaged students that find other routes to high achievement, but this is not true opportunity for all students. There is an incessant relationship between socio-economic status and achievement in mathematics that bodes poorly for the disadvantaged. However, it is a statistical given that the strength of this relationship will appear to decrease if the top of the achievement distribution is truncated by using a test that is too easy. The inherent risk is that data generated by the statewide assessment system would be misleading with respect to equity issues in education.
The power of a statewide assessment system can be exerted in many ways. In Texas, a sharp focus has been drawn by the minimum requirements for high school graduation. Even the score reports for the early grades are keyed to these minimum graduation requirements as the long-term objective. As a result, the public evaluations of schools and districts tend to focus on achievement rates for these minimal objectives as well. But such requirements necessarily target low achievement objectives since no system that fails most students would be socially acceptable.
Alternative systems of rewards and consequences should be investigated that can target higher achievement levels. For example, the public reports for the performance of schools and districts, even without mandated consequences, are powerful motivators at a system level. Greater emphasis in these reports should be given to achievement relative to higher objectives. Reward systems for increases in high-level achievement rates should also be considered.
Any design that emphasizes high achievement levels needs to be carefully monitored to insure that the motivational factors do not lead toward artificial claims of success. This is exemplified by an algebra test that is, in reality, a combination of pre-algebra and low-difficulty algebra topics. High achievement goals must represent honest levels of high achievement, not just high achievement in name only.
In Texas, as in many other states, there has been a call for an emphasis on "problem solving and complex thinking skills." But, also as in many other states, there is difficulty in operationalizing these goals in a way that is objective, can be measured, and shows progressive development across the grade levels. For this reason, these content areas require special scrutiny. There will be a tendency to think of objectives as high-level if they contain language about problem solving and complex thinking. However, this sort of material may not represent advanced achievement in practice. The development in these areas must be tied to more explicit objectives, such as "differentiating between relevant and irrelevant information in a problem situation requiring solution by multiplication or division." In this way, the objectives in problem solving and complex thinking need to be tied to the mathematics content objectives at the appropriate level.
Much of the above discussion has focused on the need to employ the power of a statewide assessment system to promote high achievement levels. At more modest levels, there is evidence to suggest that the system of assessments in Texas has been effective. By comparison to California's new standards, most Texas high school graduates can achieve at least at a fifth- or sixth-grade level. But, the possibility exists that even this benefit may have run its course and that any further gains will reflect diminishing returns.
In summary, the system of mathematics achievement assessment in Texas emerges as a powerful model but one that is too highly focused on minimal achievement. The incentives for improvement that accompany the statewide assessment system do not emphasize high achievement sufficiently. In fact, the design of the assessment devices themselves doesn't even permit the measurement of high achievement levels with any degree of accuracy. Without a substantial adjustment to the objectives that are evidenced by the exam items themselves, it seems unlikely that the assessment system will effectively promote the kind of achievement necessary for students to realize the full benefit of a rigorous mathematics education.


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eBulletin
Mike Zilles
NTA EBulletin December 20, 2020
Dear Colleagues: We are all entering this break with much trepidation. Stay Safe. Stay socially distanced. While it is going to be a hard winter, remember: Tomorrow is the solstice. Starting on Tuesday, every day will be longer than the day before. Hang in there. And please take some time for yourselves over this break to recharge. This will be my last EBulletin until we return from break. 2021-2022 School Calendar Over 60% of members voted not to change the School Calendar next year. We will let the SC know that we do not wish to implement any change to the start of the school year next year. Ventilation The district has been putting up more "dashboards" to report the results of the testing and balancing they are doing. We continue to push for greater transparency--the data they are providing is still not adequate to easily determine whether a room has sufficient fresh air. Nor is the district clear about how they are addressing the need to to provide mitigation when rooms do not. That said--we are making progress, and there have been significant improvements. But there is still much that needs to be done for everyone to be safe.
Click on Image above to Take Action! Make Newton's School Safe! Since I emailed members on December 9th, you have sent 312 emails to the School Committee, Mayor Fuller, and David Fleishman asking them to (1) reach an agreement on a new MOA, (2) finish the HVAC work in the NPS, and (3) implement genuine surveillance testing. We must keep the pressure up. If you have not yet sent an email, please do so by clicking here. Even if there is a district-wide or statewide return to remote only learning, we will need these measures to re-open schools to in-person learning safely. New DESE requirements for Time on Learning This week the department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued new regulations on how much time students must spend doing synchronous learning. Students who are receiving remote only instruction must have a minimum of 40 hours every two weeks of synchronous instruction; hybrid students must have a minimum of 35 hours every two weeks. In Newton, all middle and high school students are already meeting these requirements. Elementary schools will have to made adjustments to the amount of synchronous instruction. The NTA will bargain how this will be implemented. Chris Walsh has recruited a group of six teachers, one for each grade, who will meet tomorrow with Mary Eich, Eva Thompson and a group of elementary principals to begin to figure out what the district needs to do to meet these new requirements. High School Hybrid Negotiations We have been meeting weekly with members of the Central Administration and the two high school principals to work out the parameters of the "hyflex" model. Specifically, we have been negotiating how to guard as much educator time as possible for planning, as teaching in this new model requires much more planning. We are near an agreement. *************** "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." Please take care and stay well. Mike Mike Zilles, President Newton Teachers Association
NTA EBulletin January 10, 2021
Newton Schools Need Surveillance Testing! As many of you are probably aware, in a press conference on Friday, Governor Baker announced he was making funding available to school districts to implemen
2021-2022 School Calendar On Thursday, December 10, the NTA Executive Committee moved that I should survey members once again on whether to allow the School Committee to change the school calendar f
NTA EBulletin December 9, 2020
The School Committee has received hundreds of emails from community members, many of whom advocate for increased in person learning time. It's time the Committee heard more from us, and from our sup
© 2020 by Newton Teachers Association.
Newton Teachers Association
46 Austin Street
Newtonville, MA 02460

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


How can I get more people to read our latest news?
How do I list my Entrecard droppers?
I saw a blog that had a list of the latest Entrecard users to drop a card on their blog. How can I do this?
How do I get my favicon to show in my blog feed?
My website has a favicon that shows up in my browser, but when I look at my feed it doesn't seem to get picked up. How do I reuse it?


text:
Q: is it possible to pass variables into the oracle apex application success message box I am trying to output results from a function that is run within my oracle apex application, is it possible to pass variables into the oracle apex application success message box. thanks in advance.

A: If the item is on the same page as the success message box is on, then use this format:
&ITEMNAME.
This will display the value of the ITEMNAME item.

A: You can refer to an item value using the &P1_ITEM. syntax, or you can add a Process which sets APEX_APPLICATION.g_print_success_message, e.g.
APEX_APPLICATION.g_print_success_message := 'Hello ' || localvar;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Town Mayor pays tribute to long serving Town Crier
At the Town Council meeting on Wednesday 16th December 2020, the Town Mayor, Councillor Sarah Rook, paid tribute to former Town Crier Mr. Jim Pearman, who has recently passed away.
Councillor Rook said Jim had served as Town Crier for Kidderminster for over 10 year from 2006 up to his retirement in 2017. Jim was a distinctive character in the town with his bright red uniform and top hat.
Jim has served the town at a national and international level in town crier events. He was also the first Town Crier of the newly formed Town Council back in 2015
The Town Council observed a minutes silence in memory of Jim and his service to the town.


Home / Entertainment / Endgame' trailer has dropped and we're trying not to cry!
After releasing a new teaser for "Avengers: Endgame," the studio dropped a trailer for "Captain Marvel". "Some people move on, but not us", says Rogers.
"But not us." Watch the brand new Marvel Studios' #AvengersEndgame spot that aired during the Big Game. And maybe, Captain Marvel is their ace in the hole.
And this statement appears to continue to be accurate as we see the Avengers immediately reacting to Thanos' attack and coming together for a plan of action in what appears to be just a short time late. I also love how Captain Marvel has not been seen in any capacity yet within the trailers for Avengers: Endgame, whether that will change after Captain Marvel releases as a promotional tag for Endgame is unclear. While below them Captain Marvel along with other team members is seen walking with a flawless attitude. Avengers: Infinity War did most of the heavy lifting crossing $2 billion with its earnings worldwide with Black Panther and Incredibles 2's earnings also playing a vital role. It will be the cinematic event which will see us once again have the biggest group of superheroes come together to see if they can somehow restore the universe to what it once was after Thanos clicked it away.


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L'équipe des Îles Salomon féminine de football est placée sous l'égide de la Fédération des Salomon de football.

Histoire

Parcours en Coupe d'Océanie
 2007 :
 2010 :
 2022 :

Parcours aux Jeux du Pacifique
 2007 :  Groupe A
 2011 :  Groupe A
 2015 :  Groupe A
 2019 :  Groupe B

Statistiques

Classement FIFA

Matchs disputés

Bilan

|-bgcolor=lightgreen

|}

Les 11 meilleurs buteuses

Lien externe
 Les Salomon sur le site de la FIFA

Notes et références

Salomon
Football aux Îles Salomon
Football feminin

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


From punk to grunge, from wearable pieces of art to conceptual fashion and crazy body adornments, 'Anti-Fashion' describes the ways in which designers and the fashion-aware express their opposition to the fashion establishment.
A recent exhibition entitled 'Outer Dark: Continuing After Fashion' at Frankfurt's Museum Angewandte Kunst (MAK) profiles the 'fashion after fashion' movement which emerged in the 90s as a reaction to the excess of the previous decade, indicating an uncertain age when the ideals of beauty were called into question. As we're living now in an overload of information, in a glorious inconsistency driven by puzzled interests, the Anti-Fashion of the moment is not only about questioning the 'overdose of beauty' and artificiality in contemporary culture (see Faceless Exhibition), but also the idea of authenticity and the status-quo of fashion itself.
As we can see, Anti-Fashion is possible only in the context of the mainstream fashion (without referral to which, Anti-Fashion simply doesn't make sense). Fashion and Anti-Fashion share a lifelong love-hate relationship. They're somehow symbiotic, as the evolution of fashion is fuelled by Anti-Fashions, and the Anti-Fashion arises as a reaction to 'official' fashion.
Nowadays, when everything moves very fast, when we are constantly bombarded by hundreds of images and ideas, when every code seems to be broken and you can hardly find something never-before-seen, there are certain approaches in fashion which manage to break through this, and address more profound concerns.
Some projects go against the grain of commercial fashion. While artists such as Jana Sterbak or Vanessa Beecroft create work that intersects with the world of fashion, contemporary fashion designers reveal a conceptual approach to the art of making clothes, evolving beyond fashion trends and their usual recipes. In Satu Maaranen's pieces from her 'Garment in Landscape' collection, she has found a personal method of making the concept of haute couture relevant and accessible to contemporary demands.
Striving to provide alternatives that challenge the flatness of the global fashion industry, designers conceive original fabrics, alternative techniques and unique pieces. For Spring/Summer 2014, Craig Green built interesting layers of tie-dyed surfaces and deconstructed knits, matched with spectacular 3D cardboard constructions.
On the other hand, there's a band of creators developing subversive aesthetics and experimental fashions. Mina Palmqvist's obsession with the female body and the way we look at it drove her to "a long lasting concept and expression with a value that does not diminish by time". Her provocative garments are sometimes accompanied by art installations and films. Working with astonishing fabrics and surprising elements, Manon Kundig is not afraid to explore new paths in order to achieve unique fashion solutions. Another particular case is Dr. Noki (NHS), who creates new pieces from waste elements. His customisations are a statement against mass-produced fashion branding, using DIY style and re-working second hand garments into an ethical one-off pieces of clothing.
Another relevant direction is fuelled by artists and designers who create crazy, paradoxical accessories or 'impossible objects'. The works of Naomi Filmer, Ana Rajcevic, Bart Hess or Erwina Ziomkowska deconstruct our habits and prejudices related to the fashion garment. 'Good design' (in which form closely follows function and conventional aesthetics) was often ridiculed and substituted with 'altered' elements – Maison Martin Margiela crafted jewelled masks for their couture collections, Sruli Recht designed marble eyeshades for the visually impaired. Artist Erwina Ziomkowska conceived women's shoes and intimate garments pinched with pins, thus questioning the relationship between the luxurious look of the outside and what's really going on in the inside.
As well as the artistic/conceptual alternative to mainstream fashion, there is an approach that has become increasingly prominent in recent years. And it says we should slow down and invest in essential design pieces. Those basic, timeless garments have little to do with the changing nature of fashion. Their value is based on different features: the use of local materials and resources, recycling, traditional cuts and dyeing techniques, high-quality craftsmanship and, of course, the test of time. A pair of Birkenstocks could be considered classics, but they somehow symbolize the Anti-Fashion look. Considered for a long time 'pretty ugly', the style was picked by Phoebe Philo and reworked in a luxurious way for Celine's Spring/Summer 2013 collection. Philo is renowned for delivering safe and perfectly designed products, which hold fast against fashion's perpetual ins and outs.
Actually, in the realm of fashion, everything 'new' is a little bit 'anti'. Successful designers – Miuccia Prada, Christopher Kane, Rick Owens and Rei Kawakubo, know how to grow the Anti-Fashion seed in order to convert it into commercial products. Thus, Anti-Fashion could be regarded as the engine that moves things forward; finally reaching consumers years later on. It's a paradox, but challenging the notion of fashion is the most fashionable thing to do. Because that's the way fashion works and, after all, the Anti-Fashion would be always part of fashion, or better said, the black sheep of fashion. That's why we love it!


The Unseen isn't a new movie. Our own Luke Rodriguez reviewed the film nearly two years ago. He gave a glowing review, saying "I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like The Unseen before." And from the latest trailer, we have to agree.
At its core, The Unseen is about a father trying to find his missing daughter. However, after watching the trailer, the movie is much more than that. The protagonist and father, portrayed by Aden Young, is also disappearing. The visual effects look stunning, and Luke gave them a shoutout in his review's opening paragraph.
The Unseen writer and director Geoff Redknap has makeup department credits on Deadpool, The Cabin In The Woods, and The Watchmen, which likely explains the movie's exceptional visual style.
The trailer doesn't give the movie a release date. We can only hope The Unseen is available soon.


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Force Science Scholarship Award Winners
We're thrilled to announce the recipients of the Force Science Scholarship Awards. This award was created from a partnership between VirTra and the Force Science Institute, allowing twelve outstanding peace officers around the country to earn a scholarship to a five-day Force Science Certification Course in 2021. The peace officers chosen were from: Ames Police...
The demand for evidence-based policing continues to create unprecedented opportunities to develop and improve professional policing standards. In support of this mission, the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) reached out to Dr. Bill Lewinski and the Force Science Institute for the latest research in police skill development and decision-making....
The Advanced Force Science Specialist Course – Updated, Expanded, and Now Approved for Undergraduate and Graduate College Credits!
Force Science is proud to announce the latest version of its successful Advanced Force Science Specialist course. This updated and expanded program includes additional subject matter experts and will be led by Dr. John Azar-Dickens. Dr. Azar-Dickens is a clinical psychologist, an active police officer, and frequent presenter for the Force Science Institute. The Advanced...
New Book: Deadly Force Encounters, Second Edition: Cops & Citizens Defending Themselves and Others
With their latest book, Deadly Force Encounters, Second Edition, Dr. Alexis Artwohl and Loren W. Christensen present the much-anticipated update to their groundbreaking 1997 publication. Still focused on preparing cops "to mentally and physically prepare for and survive a gunfight," the authors' second edition is thoughtfully expanded to include civilians who may suddenly find themselves...
COVID-19 | Force Science Training Postponements
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and requests from host agencies, a handful of Force Science courses are being postponed over the next few months in order to do our part to help assure public health and to comply with city, state, and federal response guidelines. For the courses affected, each attendee will receive an email...
The Passing of Ed Nowicki
The Force Science Institute regrets to announce the passing of Ed Nowicki, one of our nation's most outstanding law enforcement leaders. Edward J. Nowicki, founder of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, left this life on December 5, 2019. ILEETA has announced that memorials in Ed's name may be made to the: National...
VirTra and Force Science Announce Scholarship Award Recipients
VirTra and the Force Science Institute have partnered up to provide scholarship awards for twelve peace officers to attend a five-day Force Science Analyst Certification course so more officers can obtain a higher level of learning. The following winners are as follows: Polk County Sheriff's Office, IowaSaint Peter Police Department, MinnesotaStoughton Police Department, MassachusettsO'Fallon Police...
Force Science Encourages Survey Participation: What Skills are Required for Leadership in Public Safety?
Washington State University (WSU), in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards & Training (DPSST), is working to identify a comprehensive set of critical skills required for leadership in the public safety sector. This survey is for Law Enforcement, Corrections, Parole & Probation, Fire, EMS, and Telecommunications/Dispatch. Force Science encourages public safety personnel at...
VirTra and Force Science Institute Partner to Advance Law Enforcement Officer Training
VirTra, Inc. (NASDAQ: VTSI), a global provider of training simulators for the law enforcement, military, educational, and commercial markets, has partnered with Force Science Institute to create realistic training and education for law enforcement officers, which is backed by the science of human performance. The formal partnership builds on the two companies' relationship, which was...
Force Science to Present at New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police
Dr. Bill Lewinski will kick off the 107th Annual Training Conference and Police/Security Expo for the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police on Tuesday, June 25, in Atlantic City, NJ. The Conference combines prominent speakers and training professionals, high-profile incident reviews, and valuable leadership insights for police executives. The Annual Police/Security Expo is one of...


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Red Dead Redemption 2 Might Release in 2019 on PC
By Akhil Arora | Updated: 22 October 2018 11:28 IST
Red Dead Redemption 2 is out October 26 on PS4, Xbox One
It might release sometime in 2019 on PC
PC players have never seen the Red Dead franchise
Red Dead Redemption 2 might release sometime in 2019 on PC, according to Europe's largest consumer electronics retailer Media Markt.
Dutch website TechTastic spotted a Red Dead Redemption 2 PC listing on Media Markt's Swedish website on Friday, carrying a release date of December 31, 2019. That's a common placeholder date used by retailers, but it signals that the game might launch on PC sometime next year.
This follows the earlier development from June, when gaming website VG247 reported that an unnamed Rockstar Leeds employee had mentioned PC as one of the platforms that Red Dead Redemption 2 was being developed for on their LinkedIn page.
Rockstar Games has gone for a delayed PC release multiple times in the past. Grand Theft Auto V is the most famous example, with over a year and a half after its original release on PS3 and Xbox 360, and five months between PS4/Xbox One launch and its arrival on PC. It took six months for L.A. Noire and eight months for Grand Theft Auto IV.
That said, the previous two Red Dead titles never made it to PC, even though they were given ports for future consoles. It's possible that might happen with the upcoming prequel as well, though it does seem unlikely given the two separate indications of a PC release for Red Dead Redemption 2.
Set in 1899, twelve years before the original's setting, Red Dead Redemption 2 centres on Arthur Morgan, an outlaw and member of the Van der Linde gang in the American Old West. The protagonist and antagonist of Red Dead Redemption — John Marston and Dutch Van der Linde — return as well.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is out October 26 on PS4 and Xbox One.
If you're a fan of video games, check out Transition, Gadgets 360's gaming podcast. You can listen to it via Apple Podcasts or RSS, or just listen to this week's episode by hitting the play button below.
Further reading: Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games
Akhil Arora Email Akhil Akhil Arora covers entertainment for Gadgets 360, interviewing stars such as Christian Bale and Anurag Kashyap, covering series premieres, product and service launches across the globe, and looking at American blockbusters and Indian dramas from a global socio-political and feminist perspective. As a Rotten Tomatoes-certified film critic, Akhil has reviewed over 150 movies and TV shows in over half a decade at Gadgets 360. When he is not completely caught up with new film and TV releases, Akhil ...More
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Black Market Live on PS4, PC and Xbox One This Friday
Microsoft's $7.5 Billion Acquisition of GitHub Approved by the EU
Steam Winter Sale: The Best Deals on PC Games
PlayStation Holiday Sale: Assassin's Creed Valhalla, FIFA 21, and More
Red Dead Online Standalone Game Available December 1 for $5
Xbox Black Friday Deals: Sea of Thieves, Watch Dogs: Legion, and More
Steam Winter Sale 2019 Is Here: Get Discounts on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Red Dead Redemption 2, and More
MESSAGE Akhil Arora


other TeX distributions and should compile and run on Unix alikes.
The mp directory helps to include John Hobby's MetaPost in TeX-GPC.
dvips and Paul Vojta's xdvi.
tex.pdf. It shows what, why and how I changed Knuth's program.
make it compile with current releases of GPC. And here it is.
from the NetBSD package gpc-2.1nb3.
WEB macro "gpc_integer" in tex.ch and mf.ch accordingly.
This release of TeX-GPC was tested on Mac OS X 10.8.
and GPC 20070904, based on gcc-3.4.6.
how uppercase and lowercase differ.
course, I did. This is fixed now.
to let you easily change constants, automated by the shell script itgl.
The documentation in tex.pdf is largely improved.
.pool   String pool, contains the string constants of a WEB program.
.base   Base file, a compact representation of METAFONT's memory.
output device as specified in your mode times the magnification.
.fmt    Format file, a compact representation of TeX's memory.
contains the string pool (tex.pool) and preloaded .tfm files.
or ".tfm" to file names without extensions.
resolution/magnification the DVI drivers need one .nnnpk file.
mkpkfont automatically to create missing .nnnpk files.
directory and copy them to the working directory or to TeXinputs.
My change files import webmac-gpc.tex; move it to TeXinputs.
assume the METAFONT mode localfont which is defined in MFT/local.mf.
of the plain format. In the MFT directory you'll find other examples.
from CTAN, in this case ibygrk to typeset polytonic ancient Greek.
The web-macros need another font. Use webfonts to install it.
punched cards. TeX-GPC's programs don't.
This gives you the WEB files, manuals, macros and some .mf files.
At least you need the directories lib, tex, mfware, mf and web.
files (.mf) for Knuth's font Computer Modern.
And Copy the .mf files from the lib directory to MFinputs.
times. This is not true with other CTAN mirrors.
Build the ini-programs and save them as initex, resp. inimf.
of tgl to keep inimf.p and initex.p.
Go to the directory tex-gpc/mf and use inimf to create plain.base.
changed to build a production version.
packed font files (.nnnpk) in the next step.
and run the shell script plainfonts from there.
Check the file trouble that might contain commands that failed.
initex ../lib/plain \\dump # one backslash is consumend by sh!
Change tex.ch for production, and build it with tgl.
TeX is a trademark of the American Mathematical Society.
METAFONT is a trademark of Addison Wesley Publishing Company.


text:
Q: Find initial system from solution of a RREF matrix. I was looking at the solution's of my exam.
I used a different technique: I first found the RREF of the matrix giving the solution. Then I worked backward to find the initial system.
Can anyone explain what my prof is doing? I have no idea what he's trying to do.

A: The second row represents the equation: $x+3y+4z=??$. Plugging in the given solution, $x=-1,y=2, \text{ and } z=-1$, then the missing value must be
$$
(-1)+3(2)+4(-1)=1.
$$
The final row could be anything you wanted it to be, as long as it is consistent with the given solution. The easiest could have been $0x+0y+z=-1$. But other solutions could have looked like $x+2y+3z=0$ since $-1+2(2)+3(-1)=0$ or $256x-14y-23z=-261$ because $256(-1)-14(2)-23(-1)=-261$.
Does this help understand your prof's comment? He meant there were infinitely many different systems of equations that give rise to the given unique solution.

A: To be honest, I don't know what your professor is doing. The question you posted is either not complete, or straight weird. Geometrically, if the first two row represent a system of linear equations, then they cannot have "a unique solution." It would be two planes intersecting.


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Ashton Kutcher will this week take the witness stand at the trial of an accused serial killer, who allegedly murdered the actor's former girlfriend Ashley Ellerin. Pic: Getty
Kutcher a witness in serial killer trial
1st May 2019 6:03 AM
WARNING: GRAPHIC
Ashton Kutcher could help to put away an alleged serial killer accused of slaying three women and possibly responsible for as many as 10 murders - including the actor's former girlfriend.
The trial of accused murderer Michael Gargiulo is set to begin in Los Angeles this week, where Kutcher will take the witness stand to recall the night in 2001 when his then girlfriend Ashley Ellerin was brutally stabbed to death in her Hollywood Hills home.
THE MURDER OF ASHLEY ELLERIN
Kutcher was at the height of his Dude Where's My Car? and That '70s Show fame when he began dating Ellerin, a 22-year-old fashion student and part-time stripper.
According to the statement he gave to police, on the night of the murder Kutcher and Ellerin had a plan to meet up late after he attended a party at a friend's house to watch the Grammys.
Ashley Ellerin, a former girlfriend of actor Ashton Kutcher, allegedly murdered by Michael Gargiulo. Picture: LAPD
When the show wrapped, Kutcher tried to call Ellerin twice, but she didn't pick up. Assuming she was annoyed at him for not inviting her to his friends' party, wanting to make peace, he drove to her place behind the Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Sunset Strip at around 10.45pm.
When he got there, Kutcher told police, all of the lights were on and his girlfriend's maroon BMW was parked in the driveway. But when he knocked on the door there was no answer.
Peering in the window, Kutcher recalled seeing what he thought was red wine spilt on the floor. Thinking Ellerin may have had some drinks and gone to bed, he drove home.
It wasn't until the next day he would learn it was not red wine, but blood. His girlfriend's body had been laying slumped just out of view after she had been stabbed 47 times.
Michael Gargiulo is on trial for the murders of three women and the attempted murder of a fourth. He has alluded to being responsible for as many as 10 killings. Picture: Supplied
Ellerin's killing was especially violent and brutal. According to the coroner's report, Ellerin had been stabbed so many times that she was almost decapitated.
One of the blows was so violent it removed a piece of her skull "like a puzzle piece".
Her body was left posed in a sexually suggestive position.
Ellerin's flatmate, Justin Peterson, found her the next morning.
Gargiulo immediately became a suspect in the murder of Ellerin after her friends told police he had become obsessed with her after he moved in nearby.
Ellerin had invited Gargiulo to a few parties at her house, even after friends expressed concern over his apparent growing fixation on her.
Ellerin's flatmate Justin Peterson had noticed Gargiulo parking his green Ford ute outside their house at odd hours. When Peterson confronted him, Gargiulo told him the FBI was after him, in connection with a murder in Chicago, so he was hiding out.
Peterson said he immediately warned Ellerin to stay away from him but "she probably thought I was being dramatic about it," Peterson said later.
Two months later, Ellerin was dead.
CATCHING GARGIULO
The accused, Michael Gargiulo, 43 has been in a Los Angeles county jail since 2008 after he allegedly attacked another woman, Michelle Murphy in her Santa Monica apartment.
Murphy fought off her attacker and survived.
A DNA match was made between Gargiulo and blood found at the scene.
Ashton Kutcher is now married to Mila Kunis. They have two children. Picture: Getty
It wasn't long before police connected him to the murder of Ashley Ellerin - by that time seven years after her death - and Maria Bruno, a 34-year-old who was murdered less than two weeks after moving into the same apartment building as Gargiulo in 2005.
Gargiulo also stands accused of the 1993 murder of his then neighbour in Illinois, 18-year-old Tricia Pacaaccio, in her home. She had been stabbed 12 times. He was 17 at the time and it has been suggested this may be the case Gargiulo was referring to when he spoke with Peterson about being on the run that afternoon.
Gargiulo may have killed as many as 10 times.
While in Los Angeles County Jail, Gargiulo said that as an air-conditioning repair man, he had entered thousands of home over the years. He told authorities that just because "10 women in those homes were killed" and his DNA was present doesn't mean he did it.
Gargiulo's work as an air-conditioning repairman earned him the nickname 'The Chiller Killer' as police suspected he used his work as a means of gaining access to and the trust of the women he targeted.
He's also known as 'The Hollywood Ripper'.
Michael Gargiulo's trial begins in Los Angeles this week. Picture: Supplied
AGONISING WAIT FOR JUSTICE
Almost 20 years after Ellerin's death - and 26 years since the murder of Tricia Pacaaccio - friends and families of the women Gargiulo allegedly brutally killed hope they will soon see him convicted and sentenced to a life behind bars.
The trial for all three killings, as well as Murphy's attempted murder, begins on May 2 at the Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles.
Ellerin's childhood friend Carolyn Murnick, who wrote a book called The Hot One about the case recently told British publication Grazia she wants her friend to be remembered as more than the girl Ashton Kutcher was dating.
"She wasn't just a party girl who hung out with Ashton Kutcher, and she wasn't just one of the many victims of an alleged serial killer," Murnick said.
"She was a real person with a childhood and people around her who loved her and still remember her. She was only just starting her life."
Kutcher, who is now married to Mila Kunis and has two children, has not spoken publicly about Ellerin's murder since giving his police statement all those years ago.
But he has reportedly confided in friends about the haunting chapter of his life.
"Ashton had nightmares for years over the killing," a close friend of the actor-producer told The Examiner in 2009.
"It was a horrible ordeal. He grieved for years over her."
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You will find us every Sunday morning 9.30am at the club outside the clubhouse. All abilities welcome to come along and give it a go. It is an all girl environment with friendly, qualified and experienced coaches.
Everyone has to start somewhere - Come to Camberley and give rugby a 'try'. Complete beginner or experienced player, there is a place for you at Camberley RFC.


When a rare cosmic neutrino hit the South Pole, alarms around the world went off.
A blue light flashed under the ice at the South Pole, and in 43 seconds, the world knew. A neutrino—a strange, almost massless particle created in a cataclysm in space—had hit the ice and created a subatomic particle that emitted the glow. Because neutrinos interact with matter only at the subatomic scale, the only way scientists can find them is by looking for radiation from a secondary particle created in a collision. A program that filters through thousands of these detections a second, looking for the unusually high energy that indicates a cosmic neutrino, recognized this glow and pinged a powerful Iridium satellite modem, set up specially to blast alerts from the bottom of the world. And on a Friday afternoon last September, Erik Blaufuss, in Maryland, got a text alert from the South Pole.
Blaufuss is the alerts coordinator for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, which recently announced the first detection of a cosmic neutrino coming from an identified event in space. The facility was built by the National Science Foundation in 2011, and by 2013, the team had detected its first neutrino from space, but confirming that discovery and those that followed came slowly, and astronomers couldn't tell much about the particles. They would broadcast their data, but "if these events [in space] were in any way transient, you were just too late," says Blaufuss. So he led the charge to set up IceCube's alert system, which uses a network created by gamma ray scientists and now co-opted by astronomers in other fields.
A few hours after Blaufuss got his text message, Yasuyuki Tanaka, in Japan, was monitoring alerts for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope team. He saw IceCube's alert, indicating the patch in the sky from which the neutrino came, and began looking through the Fermi's observations. There it was: a blazar, a galaxy with a black hole at its center that shoots out jets of high-energy particles. The black hole was in the midst of a violent flare. Tanaka and David Thompson, Fermi's deputy project scientist, sent out their own message saying they may have found the neutrino's birthplace, and soon other observatories—radio, optical, all across the spectrum—were chiming in. "And that's how we wound up with this paper in Science that had one thousand authors," says Thompson.
This is the latest example of what's being called multi-messenger astronomy—the coordinated study of light, gravitational waves, cosmic rays, and neutrinos. Another example came last fall when the detection of a gravitational wave was followed up by optical observatories that located the merging neutron stars that created the ripple in space time. With astronomers from so many fields now working together, understanding the mysteries of neutrinos seems imminent.


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HomeThe Last Leg: Locked Down Under
The Last Leg: Locked Down Under
The Last Leg: Locked Down Under is a TV show on Australian national television from ABC Comedy with an average rating of 3.8 stars by TVCatchUpAustralia.com's visitors. We have 4 episodes of The Last Leg: Locked Down Under in our archive. The first episode of The Last Leg: Locked Down Under was broadcast in June, 2020. Did you miss an episode of The Last Leg: Locked Down Under but don't you wan't that to happen in the future? Please set an alarm and add The Last Leg: Locked Down Under to your favourites, so we can remind you by email when there's a new episode available to watch. Completely free: handy!
Season 20, Episode 4
Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker are at home in Melbourne, London and Huddersfield with their unique take on the top stories as we emerge from lockdown. Plus guests Stephen Merchant and Sue Perkins.
Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker host from home in Melbourne, London and Huddersfield with their take on the top stories as we emerge from lockdown. Plus comedians Sarah Millican and Jamali Maddix.
19/05/2020 3.0 16 x
Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker host from their homes in Melbourne, London and Huddersfield with their take on the top stories during coronavirus lockdown. Plus guests Kevin Bridges and Aisling Bea.
Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker host from their homes in Melbourne, London and Huddersfield with their take on the latest during coronavirus lockdown. Plus guests Miriam Margolyes and Rob Beckett.
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Service-in and Service-out as basically starts, and Hill Rallies rarely use Passage Controls these days.
All Time controls follow the same colour code: Yellow is a warning that a Time Control is ahead; red is the actual control.
Hang on to it until you've got through the Flying Finish (red checkered flag)… that's the time you get for finishing the stage! Times are normally to the second.
Starts are a simpler in design, but tad more complex timing wise. You will have, from your Road Book, a defined time to get from the last time-control to this time control. You will lose a minute of Lateness for every minute you are late (or early) to this time control.
Arrivals (red clock) is the time you enter the "start area" and is measured in minutes, seconds are ignored.
On a Target Timed event, the car may enter during the sixty seconds immediately preceding the target check-in minute, or during the check-in minute.
For example: a car has a recorded time of 11.04.40 for the previous Stage Finish. The next section has a target time of 00:09 (nine minutes). It is therefore due at the next Time Control at 11.13.
The car arrives at the yellow advance Control Board at 11.08, stopping before the yellow board. The car is Permitted to enter the control zone at any time after 11.12.00. The Time Card may be handed in at any time between 11.13.00 and 11.13.59, and a time of 11.13 will be recorded.
Note that the time is taken from the recorded [Flying] Finish time, not the time the competitor leaves the stop line: By the time the stop-line marshal has marked your time-card, asked you how the stage was, and a detailed record of all the modifications to your car… you may have lost 3 minutes of your road time!
This procedure will incur no penalty.
On a scheduled time event, the car may enter the control zone during the sixty seconds immediately preceding the due time minute, or during the due time minute. The procedure to be followed is identical to that for a target timed event from the point of arrival at the yellow control board to the actual check in time.
Between Arrivals and Start, you are in Dead Time. The arrivals crew will have given you a notional time for when you will be starting, however the start crew may delay that. In this Dead Time, you may change a puncture (or change [or remove] the windscreen) but you may do no other work on the vehicle.
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