- The Annual National Assessments for literacy and numeracy (Grades 1-6 and 9) for 2011, 2012 and 2013 are now available for download on the Department of Basic Education’s website. I’m really impressed with the transparency of the DBE and this a great sign going forward. Now I just wish that subject-experts would download the tests and compare the difficulty levels and questions across the years. Is there anyone out there?!
- The Illustrated guide to a PhD – classic illustration (thanks Hendrik van Broekhuizen)
- Great 1min video “MOVE” which reminded me that I really need to go and travel again sometime soon!
- Where is it illegal to be gay? – great resource from the BBC (thanks @James Dray)
- Great review of Nina Munk’s damning book (“The Idealist”) about Jeff Sachs and the Millenium Villages project. To his credit, Sachs answered my tweet and we eneded up having a great conversation about development and the meaning of “aid” – see my TL.
- Random tid-bit of info – for those interested in SA-SAMS, the manuals can be found online here (Thanks Gabi).
- “Wielding Whip and a Hard New Law, Nigeria Tries to ‘Sanitize’ Itself of Gays” – Tragic article from the NYT. Unbelievable what gets done in the name of religion while those who support the religion say nothing. I’m reminded of Burke’s quote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
- Quote of the week (and very relevant for the discussion on ANAs in South Africa) – Campbell’s Law – “The more any quantitative social indicator (or even some qualitative indicator) is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.” (thanks Jon Hodgeson)
Nic Spaull 