Archive for April, 2025

The Sidney Prize and the Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize

Friday, April 4th, 2025

Sidney Prize is awarded by Sidney Hillman Foundation in both North America and Canada to journalists and writers who advance social justice and public policy to serve the common good. Furthermore, this prize also recognizes outstanding investigative journalism that advances social and economic justice.

In addition to awarding the Sidney Prize for journalism, the Hillman Foundation presents the Sidney Award for Reporting on Racial and Economic Justice in honor of journalist Sidney Hillman. Hillman was instrumental in creating this prize due to his tireless advocacy on workers’ rights as well as civil liberties such as voting and free speech – making him its inaugural recipient.

Annie Zhang won the 2023 Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize with her story ‘Who Rattles the Night?’ She lives on unceded Wangal land and was selected from an eight-writer shortlist earlier this month; winning $5000 plus publication in Overland magazine as the grand prize recipient and two runners-up receiving $750 each will complete this year’s winners circle.

This award honors journalist Sidney Hollander for his efforts in securing equal rights for African Americans. It is funded by the Sidney Hollander Fund of Baltimore, Maryland USA; an organization providing support to media professionals working towards civil liberties, social reform and combatting racial discrimination.

Elizabeth Spencer stands out among her peers with her fearlessness as a writer, which earned her the Sidney Prize for her debut collection of short stories “Burning Bright.” Since then, she has written four novels and six collections of short stories, including her 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award-winning collection “Chemistry and Other Stories”. Additionally, she has won various other accolades.

The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) awards various prizes that recognize excellence in scholarship within its field of history of technology. Each year, an outstanding book in history of technology receives The Sidney Edelstein Prize as recognition. The Abbot Payson Usher Prize recognizes an exceptional article published in Technology and Culture that is accessible to non-specialists, while the Joan Cahalin Robinson Prize honors graduate students or early career scholars who present at their first SHOT annual meeting. The Brooke Hindle Postdoctoral Fellowship provides pre- and postdoctoral funding for those researching aerospace technology history. The Melvin Kranzberg Dissertation Fellowship honors those preparing their dissertation in this area for publication, while the Samuel Eleazar and Rose Tartakow Levinson Prize recognizes an essay which appeals broadly both general readers and scholarly specialists.

What Is a Student Growth Percentile (SGP)?

Thursday, April 3rd, 2025

SGPs provide an important indicator of a student’s progress toward meeting state standards. SGPs are calculated by comparing a student’s assessment score against those of his/her academic peers; academic peers include all those students with similar prior test scores in any grade/subject area – not demographics or program participation factors.

Example: A student with low assessment scores but higher academic peers can have a significant growth rate if their performance meets or surpasses that of their academic peers, because this shows they have made progress toward meeting a target level of performance as defined by statistical models.

Calculating a student’s SGP involves matching his or her academic peer group against a statistical model of achievement for that subject and grade, then assigning scores that reflect how well students should perform on future assessments for that subject and grade. SGPs are reported as percentiles to allow comparison across grades and subjects.

Student Growth Percentiles provide an indicator of a student’s progress toward meeting State Standards for each subject and grade. The median SGP in Washington is 50; that is, half of Washington students have achieved growth at or above this mark.

Students who do not make sufficient progress toward meeting the State Standard by their graduation date run the risk of failing the standard and miss out on making use of their time in school. Working closely with parents and teachers, their SGP can identify areas in which additional support may be necessary for these students.

SGPs are calculated through a statistical method called quantile regression that describes the relationship between students’ previous test scores and current assessment scores. This allows school districts to use this measure of comparison between classes; and teachers to use it determine which form of instruction and support would help each child reach state standards more quickly.

SGPs are an integral component of WASB’s efforts to enhance instructional practices and increase student achievement. They provide data-driven decisions and assist schools with creating strategies aligned to the Common Core State Standards while tailoring learning plans to individual student learning needs. SGPs should not replace the current reporting system of current and past assessment results, which remains the most valuable and reliable measure of academic achievement for each student. Instead, the SGP serves as a comprehensive means of gathering more detailed data about student performance throughout the year. All collected information will be readily accessible for review and analysis throughout this process. This will assist schools, parents, and students in making more informed choices regarding instructional practices. Furthermore, it will allow the public to compare performance of schools across the state as well as enable WASB to analyze trends and patterns in student achievement – something particularly helpful to school leaders seeking an equitable and transparent system of accountability for all.

Using Data SGP to Analyze Student Growth

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025

Data SGPs provide educators with an effective tool to assess student growth. By comparing a student’s score on an assessment to his or her academic peers (defined as students in his/her grade and subject who have had statistically comparable scores on previous assessments), SGPs allow educators to measure student improvement from year to year. Traditional achievement reports typically just display average scores while SGPs offer more insight.

SGPs are normed, meaning they are created using samples of students from across a state who have taken a single test. SGP models calculate percentile differences by comparing test scores of these students against an average test score for students in their grade and subject using only assessment scores (no demographic or program participation information is included in the sample). These percentiles can then be used to estimate each student’s growth percentile.

Students whose scores are analyzed with mSGP are organized by grade level and subject in the database and then ranked according to their growth percentiles. This allows teachers to see where each of their students ranks as well as understand how much improvement their class made over the prior year, compare students from other schools with similar rankings, as well as view results with an Excel spreadsheet for sorting and viewing purposes.

The Excel spreadsheet is updated daily with the most up-to-date data from the state database, providing detailed information for every subject measured by SGP: English, math, science, reading and STEM subjects as well as test details such as number taken and how many questions answered correctly by individual students.

The first column in the sgpData spreadsheet, “id,” provides an unique student identifier. Subsequent columns (SS_2013 – 2016) display assessment scores in each of these five years for that student; finally SS_2017 contains their current ACT assessment score.

The sgpData spreadsheet also features additional variables frequently used for analyses. One such variable, HIGH_NEED_STATUS, shows students at both ends of each subject area quartile range in each school. Furthermore, users can sort this spreadsheet to display only those students with HIGH_NEED_STATUS as this enables users to focus on students that require most assistance in improving.

The Best HK Pools

Tuesday, April 1st, 2025

Are you feeling refreshed? Look no further. Our selection of the top Hong Kong pools will have you feeling rejuvenated in no time, from luxurious hotel pools with breathtaking views to rooftop pools that can help provide extra relaxation. Plus, sip on some drinks poolside!

Not only can these hotels boast stunning views, they also boast amazing restaurants and bars where you can continue to make the most of your day in the sun. Furthermore, some offer luxurious rooms or suites for an even more memorable stay; just be sure to read up on their terms and conditions prior to making a reservation.

Though purchasing lottery tickets may seem like an exciting venture, take care not to overspend. Losing track of spending can quickly happen when chasing down that big jackpot prize! Before diving in with both feet and purchasing tickets for yourself or anyone else, take the time to understand exactly how much your budget allows and the actual costs associated with running a lottery are.

Southern Metropolis Daily published a report that demonstrated LCSD’s operating expenses were much higher than other lotteries around the world, in part due to high ticket prices and prize amounts; as well as costs related to running a lottery business such as marketing, advertising, technical support and customer service.

Reports also detail that several LCSD pools were closed during the second half of 2016 due to unsanitary conditions. At that time, pools had become polluted with vomit and feces from mainland swimmers; many tourists used these pools regularly and may have spread germs back home with them.

HK Pools is taking steps to ensure its operations run smoothly despite these setbacks. Although its stock has decreased recently due to lower demand, this should change soon and HK Pools intends on opening more swimming pools and renovating existing ones in order to attract more customers and boost revenue. HK Pools has already made some substantial investments which have propelled it forward as an industry leader.