The great depression Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The great depression - Research Paper Example The depression drastically changed living standards worldwide as people suffered losses of wealth and regular income. However, the depression initiated several policy responses to change the economic downturn. The period also witnessed the growth of the labor unions and various welfare schemes were introduced by the US government to cater for the unemployed. Several key government regulations and policies were also introduced to counteract the effect of the depression. Some of these policies did not help in improving the situation and contributed to a slower recovery period. It was only after the World War II that the country’s economy was back on the recovery track with increases in consumer spending and rises in employment (Romer; Smiley). The great depression caused huge declines employment, industrial production and growth and deflation in all countries worldwide. Beginning in the United States in the summer of 1929, the effect of the depression spread far and wide across many countries in Europe and Latin America and in Japan. The depression worsened during late 1929 and lasted up to 1933. During this period the industrial production in America declined by 47 percent and the GDP reduced by 30 percent. The wholesale price index or the deflation rate slumped by 33 percent and the unemployment rate increased by 20 percent (Romer). Several causes have been attributed to have caused the great depression. Monetary contractions by the Federal Reserve and a general decline in consumer spending are considered to be principle causes that initiated the depression. The stock market grew explosively during the 1920’s with the stock prices reaching its peak in 1929. In order to curb this rapid rise in stock prices the Fed eral Reserve increased the interest rates which caused the initial decline in consumer spending. This was followed by a gradual decline in stock prices which eventually led to rapid selling as investors began to lose

Education Assesment Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Education Assesment Plan - Essay Example Learners who are able to read letter A to Z, A to L and A to G without errors are assigned grade 3, 2 and 1respectivelty. Since the students involved are at lower level the issue of time needed to complete is task is a major constraint. Besides, the entry behavior of the students and question of whether to inform the students about the standard for awarding score provides a big challenge. However, the assessment plan adheres to various principles of evaluation and hence suitable for assessing performance level. A school as an agent of social change is accountable to the community. The society expects a school to provide quality education that meets both the individual and national demands. One instrument available for establishing whether a school responds to this goal is through assessment. An assessment refers to the process of gathering, scrutinizing, analyzing, giving meaning to both qualitative and quantitative data and presenting a report about a particular area of study. The r eport acts as basis for formulating policies at school and national level. Moreover, it gauges the level of achievement of learning objectives. A teacher may choose to assess student continuously in class (formative assessment) or administer a test at the end of the term (summative assessment). Although, one type of assessment may be preferred over the other, an assessment as whole is an integral part of learning process. Therefore, the process of evaluation must not fall below standard. The process can be improved by planning the entire assessment process. An assessment plan is scheme detailing objectives, context, content, task and time of assessment. For any assessment to achieve its intended goals, it must be valid. This means it must test whatever it meant to evaluate without ambiguity (Morrow et al, 2006). Consequently, the assessment should relate to the content or curriculum. The study of alphabets is key requirement in the learning of language. It is the foundation of word formation. The assessment correctly tests this area by letting the students recite the alphabet from A to Z and assign specific words to each letter. Therefore, the assessment is meaningful. The test captures all aspects of the content such as recitation, sequencing and word building. Moreover, the mental complexity of the student is tested by asking students to identify the missing letters in a sequence. A apart from validity, an assessment should also be reliable. A reliable assessment is one which is consistent and produces similar results if it was repeated. As a result, a student should get almost same score if the assessment was done again (Maureen, 2006). This assessment is done under same condition and instruction. Each student is expected to perform same task of reciting the alphabets. Therefore, no significant variation in the performance of student is expected if the test was repeated because the instructions are clear. Again, the students are given tasks with same level of difficulty irrespective of their cognitive abilities. A student who is able to recite all alphabets is expected to fill the missing alphabets in a sequence. This demonstrates high level of internal consistency. The students are given time to perform the tasks and demonstrate their skills and abilities. In addition, they have been given an opportunity to grade themselves. The students should be made aware of the assessment criteria before commencing a test