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Assessment is at the core of high-quality education. When educators purposefully engage in assessment, the learning experiences and outcomes of all students, especially of students diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLDs), are improved. In this chapter, we discuss assessment as unfolding within a framework that includes purposes, processes, and tools of assessment existing in the educational context. We open the chapter with an explanation of this framework. Then, in Part 1, we review the construct of SLD and detail how assessment is used within prominent approaches to diagnosis. In Part 2, we discuss how assessment is used to inform instruction before and after diagnosis. We ground our discussion in a vignette that follows Tess, a student who, at the beginning of third grade, has undiagnosed SLD in the area of reading. We show how educators at Tess's school collaborate in the purposeful use of assessment to inform instruction before and after Tess's diagnosis of SLD, highlighting traditional and innovative assessment techniques along the way.

Dynamic assessment in the educational setting has been shown to offer many benefits for students with speech and language disorders. This chapter highlights the benefits of dynamic assessment and describes the limitations of static assessments. Because dynamic assessment can be implemented in many ways, three scenarios have been designed to provide an overview of some of these variations. Scenario 1 includes a graduated prompt approach for assessing abilities in the production of speech sounds using a standardized dynamic assessment. Scenario 2 includes a graduated prompt approach for assessing the linguistic skills underlying spelling errors. Scenario 3 includes a test-teach-retest approach for determining the presence of language impairment in students who speak a nonmainstream dialect of English. Suggestions for goal setting and increasing dynamic assessment applications for students with speech and language disorders are presented.

This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy. It provides an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering various library types, study populations and research contexts. The selected bibliography is useful to efficiently keep up with trends in library instruction for busy practitioners, library science students and those wishing to learn about information literacy in other contexts.

This article annotates 424 English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, theses and reports on library instruction and information literacy published in 2021. The sources were selected from the EBSCO platform for Library, Information Science, and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Scopus, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and WorldCat, published in 2021 that included the terms “information literacy,” “library instruction,” or “information fluency” in the title, abstract or keywords. The sources were organized in Zotero. Annotations summarize the source, focusing on the findings or implications. Each source was categorized into one of seven pre-determined categories: K-12 Education, Children and Adolescents; Academic and Professional Programs; Everyday Life, Community, and the Workplace; Libraries and Health Information Literacy; Multiple Library Types; and Other Information Literacy Research and Theory.

The paper provides a brief description of 424 sources and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.

The information may be used by librarians, researchers and anyone interested as a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy within 2021.

Attempts to include students with severe disabilities in mainstream classes are comparatively recent in the history of special education. A major motive for inclusion is recognition of the right of all individuals to community membership. However, views differ on the extent to which the goals of inclusive education should emphasise the acquisition of the skills needed to function as contributing members of the community. Inclusion of students with severe disabilities involves changes in teacher roles and responsibilities and flexible approaches to class organisation. The move from an emphasis on functional curriculum to participation in core curriculum with non‐disabled students requires creative adaptations of both curriculum and instructional strategies, including strategies that foster class membership. Challenging behaviour is a potential barrier to successful inclusion, and new approaches that enable both class and specialist teachers to minimise its occurrence need to be developed. Although barriers still exist to inclusion of students with severe disabilities, there is evidence that inclusion can work successfully.

The need for “job‐ready” graduates has catalysed the development of non‐technical skills in higher education institutions worldwide. Continued criticism of business school outcomes has provoked this examination of non‐technical skill deficiencies in Australian business graduates. The purpose of this paper is to compare findings with existing literature on skill gaps in other developed, culturally‐similar economies, underscore the generality of identified problems, and highlight to stakeholders in undergraduate education those areas requiring curricula review.

In total, 211 managers/supervisors of business graduates and 156 business academics assessed the typical performance levels of Australian business graduates against a comprehensive framework of 20 skills and 45 associated workplace behaviours. Ratings were examined within and across the two samples and variations analysed by work area, business activity and business discipline.

Some differences were detected between academic and employer skill ratings of certain workplace behaviours. Respondents agreed that although graduates are confident and proficient in certain non‐technical skills, they are deficient in vital elements of the managerial skill set. There were differences in employer ratings across certain business activities and work areas but none detected in academic ratings from different business disciplines.

Findings broadly align with literature from previous studies, highlighting the generality of presented skill deficiencies. The study suggests that although business schools are producing well‐rounded graduates, they are overlooking the development of certain non‐technical skills deemed essential in managers. This urges curricula reform and raises questions on who is responsible for developing work readiness in graduates. The implications of differing perceptions of graduate performance are discussed.

Discusses the second phase of a project on graduate employment in small hospitality firms. It explores the data from the first phase of the project using the concept of graduate identity. The views of both graduates and their managers are examined. The reflections on the data suggest that a complex relationship exists between graduates, their managers and graduate identity. Suggests that hospitality graduates in small firms fail to develop a sense of graduate identity and that their managers lack understanding on how the employment of graduates “makes some difference”. Nevertheless, it is affirmed that graduate identity offers a useful perspective for much‐needed further research on the transition of graduates into SME employment.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a backward design model implemented to develop a leadership ethics course taught in a graduate leadership program. Backward design was implemented to deeply embed the construct of applied ethics within the fabric of leadership curriculum while capturing intended course competencies. Course curriculum integrates a servant leadership theoretical framework and pedagogy that serves to shape and develop moral imagination in leadership students. Backwards design contributed to clarity, integrity, and alignment of course curriculum with program objectives and university mission.

This paper aims to form an empirical study, stemming from a Middle-Eastern context, on eliminating gender discrimination and achieving women’s empowerment. It aims to develop a conceptual model on the principal social and cultural factors inducing the success of Emirati women in attaining senior leadership roles and shaping their leadership style to be transformational. Moreover, it examines the comparability and divergence of the accumulated data on the empowerment of Emirati women in an international context from existing international literature.

The design of the study was based on data gathered from face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with four Emirati women occupying the highest leadership positions in various fields, followed by thematic analysis.

Data analysis confirmed the significant influence of the study’s key factors, namely, the role of the national government, Islamic work ethic and family, on the subjects’ empowerment and their adherence to transformational leadership style. However, two new k ey factors impacting empowerment emerged, namely, the influence of rulers’ leadership and the efforts in balancing work/life commitments. The findings led to the development of a study model on Emirati women empowerment and leadership style, reflecting the appropriateness of international literature on the Emirati context. Particularly, it is the social and economic circumstances of the nation supported by policies form the major source of empowerment, in addition to the important role that family capital and business ethics play. Remarkably, the challenges facing Emirati working women ought to be different than the rest of the Middle East.

A dearth of literature pertaining to women’s leadership exists; however, they were mostly carried out within Western contexts that may not be applicable to Arab societies because of cultural and religious differences. The study strives to portray an unambiguous picture to the significant impact of the parenting role and Islam work ethics in relating positively to their daughters and prompt them to develop crucial societal and professional skills, in a country as UAE where expatriates and Westerns dominate the population body. In addition, it shapes the UAE national government as a unique example and role model, to local governments in other Arab states, to learn from regarding supporting women, helping them to achieve excellence. Aiming for feminizing leadership, the Emirati women leadership styles are explored in an attempt to demonstrate the capacities and potentials of Emirati and Arab women in positions of power and influence. It is assumed that this study will help in bringing confidence in Emirati women capabilities, inducing a change in attitudes towards Arab women managers and encouraging employment in non-traditional feminine based jobs.

The purpose of this paper is to establish three sets of principles – the first for effective prudential supervision of financial institutions; the second for the timely resolution of failed institutions and the management of financial crises; and the third for the successful protection of deposits. It also aims to show how these principles have been eschewed, especially in the USA and the UK.

The first set of principles and examples of their violation are determined from material loss reviews conducted by agency inspectors general, government reports, and academic research. The second set of principles is derived from International Monetary Fund practice and research; violations are those reported in government reports, published research, and press articles. The third set of principles is chosen from those proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the International Association of Deposit Insurers. Violations are those reported in academic and practitioner research and the press.

Many of the three sets of principles have been ignored in the current financial crisis.

Experience in previous crises has shown that eschewing these principles delays the resolution of individual failed institutions, increases resolutions costs, and delays the recover from the crisis. If the legal and regulatory system is to be reformed appropriately to prevent a recurrence, future research must discover the reasons why the principles have not been followed.

The paper assembles three sets of principles and instances where they have been violated in order to help policymakers, practitioners and researchers to focus on where and what reforms are needed to prevent a recurrence of the current severe financial crisis.