關於 country area ranking ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

菲律賓陸軍與海軍陸戰隊在2017年對抗伊斯蘭國侵略，紀念收復馬拉維的戰役

Rising from the Ashes: Marawi after the Siege

Sometime in May 2017, a report reached the 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division based in Pagadian City about the presence of a high-value target hiding somewhere in nearby Marawi City. A plan was immediately hatched to capture Isnilon Hapilon, the most senior Abu Sayyaf leader who is said to have pledged allegiance to ISIS.

The mission to arrest one of the country’s most wanted terrorists turned out to be the beginning of the Philippines’ biggest urban battle between state forces and violent extremists in the only recognized Islamic City in the country. Sensing the magnitude of the threat, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Mindanao under martial law. He cut short his official visit in Russia to oversee the situation in Marawi.

The soldiers knew that they were playing a game of life and death, but they were determined to fulfill their mission. As the battle raged on, various elite forces, infantry troops, and combat support units were sent in as reinforcements. Majority of the resources and capabilities of the Armed Forces were committed, as field commanders led their men to fight the enemy on various fronts.

The battle against the Maute Group dragged on for days, which turned into weeks and months. Aware of the enemy’s mastery of the city’s layout as well as their use of civilian hostages as human shields, the government forces remained deliberate in their operations so as not to cause further harm to the residents.

As the battle progressed, more people fled from their homes. The number of surrendering Maute members and reclaimed hostages from the terrorists are both increasing. Despite the mounting casualties from both warring sides, the soldiers knew that the end is still nowhere in sight.

Just when the government forces were gaining ground, the military lost its highest ranking official on the 111th day of the battle. Known as “Daredevil”, Army Captain Rommel Sandoval was hit several times as he tried to save one of his men. He used his body to shield an injured comrade as the enemy continued to fire on their location. He did not leave his men behind even in his final moments. Meanwhile, Private First Class Dhan Ryan Bayot displayed selflessness and courage when he insisted his comrades to fire at his location in order to neutralize the rebels in his area. For their sacrifices, Sandoval and Bayot were awarded the Medal for Valor and the Order of Lapu-Lapu, respectively.

On October 17, President Duterte announced the liberation of Marawi City. A few days later, the Secretary of National Defense declared the end of all combat operations in the city. After a 5-month battle which left 847 terrorists lifeless and 163 soldiers and policemen paying the ultimate sacrifice, the people’s confidence in the Armed Forces of the Philippines remained significant, which is evident in the high satisfaction rating of 75% at that time.

The Philippine Army continued to support the government in healing the wounds of the war by deploying troops during the rehabilitation of Marawi. To commemorate the third year of the city’s liberation, Task Force Bangon Marawi held multiple groundbreaking events and inauguration of infrastructures as part of the city’s rehabilitation program.

Today, Army Commanding GeneraL Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana along with Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Gilbert Gapay and other Service Commanders led the wreath-laying ceremony to honor the heroism of the Filipino soldiers who fought for the freedom and independence of Marawi.

The heroes of Marawi braved insurmountable challenges just to see the end of terror. They responded to the call of duty unmindful of their own safety. They did all these for the sake of the country's peace, security, and freedom.#
#ServingthePeopleSecuringtheLand
#YourPhilippineArmy

考試與評估研討會18分鐘精華
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgopnHD3Lg8
文字重溫　highlight transcript：
0241-0938 考試與評做在美國、香港及芬蘭的狀況
(Exam and Assessment) Situation in US, HK and Finland

Situation in the USA

Dr. Stephen Krashen: "The United States Department of Education has an obsession with competition. We’ve got to win, we’ve got to be number one in everything we do.

The Race to the Top increase testing, my estimate, about 20 times what we had before.

The effect of taking a standardized test to predict college achievement, the SAT. The SAT added nothing to the prediction. Teachers’ evaluation of students is the best measure we have.
A heroic movement called Opt-Out. Opt out was begun by parents, public school teachers and a few university professors on zero budget.

It spread by word of mouth. In New York State last year, 20% of the public school students eligible to take the test, did not take the test."

Situation in HK: TSA & PISA

Professor Esther Ho: "Both PISA and TSA are actually system level assessment as I said before, but then during the process we will use this score to identify individual school. So for TSA, the government has individual school ID, so they can really abuse it, not just misuse it, to make school accountable for the percentage correct, report every year to individual schools, but that is not fair, particularly for TSA, because in the primary level, all students are entering their schools by residential criteria, also will have very different family backgrounds.

Actually we have a very comprehensive assessment system if we stop the TSA in this little area, that won’t ruin the whole assessment system. We still have many different kinds of survey to understand the school.

In 2014, a group of international scholar including Stephen Ball, Henry Giroux, wrote an open letter to Andrew Schleicher, the leader of PISA since 2000.

They said, PISA tests are damaging education worldwide.
While standardized testing has been used in many nations for decades, PISA has been contributing to an escalation in such testing and a dramatically increased reliance on quantitative measures.

This emphasizing a narrow range of measurable aspects of education, take the attention away from the less measurable or immeasurable educational objectives like physical, moral, civic and artistic development, our student self-concept, anxiety, all the non-quantifiable items are less emphasized anymore because every three years, when they report these international results, the media always focus on the ranking.

So this kind of assessment regime is controversial if it’s a continual cycle of global testing, it will harm our children and impoverishes our classroom, and even de-skill the teachers, and then also endanger well-being of students and teachers.

I think HK should join the US movement, No Unnecessary Testing, the NUT movement from Stephen, and then really create the space to really nurture the competency, the soft skills, the passion and compassion of our students. And then really review the roles of all kinds of exams and tests on student learning, particularly when the test is hurting children at a very young age, what should we do as responsible adults? These adults are not just about the parents. They include the teachers, school administrators, principals, policy makers and scholars."

Response: Prof. Hau Kit Tai, CUHK: "I think we have a wrong focus because if we want to change the system, we have to work on high stake ones. So in HK in particular, we have to work on the high stake secondary school placement system, which TSA does not serve this purpose. TSA is low stake or no stake system by design.

Response: Legislator Ip Kin Yuen: "KT just say TSA is a low stake testing according to design. But just according to design. We all know that it has become a very highstake assessment in reality. So that is the problem if we do not face this reality, we miss the point."

Mediator: Prof. Stephen Chiu, CUHK: "We don’t want to compare school with factories. But if you have two factories, one has a good output with standard working hours, another one has better output but with a lot of overtime work, which one is the better factory? Which one is more productive.? That’s something that we have to put into context."

How do they test and assess in Finland?

Dr. Kristiina Erkkilä: "There are no national authorities for testing learning outcomes, nor are there any ranking list. Moreover, there is no school inspector. Evaluation of learning outcomes is based on national surveys. The aims are to produce information for both schools and students to develop.

The whole purpose to evaluate is to support learning of a student. And I think who does best is the teachers who are very close by, and the other adults and themselves. We have a strong emphasis on self evaluation, and also evaluation by their peers and by their community, because we also engage the families and the parents in participating in the growing of the child.

We are not perfect and we have problems being a remote country with a lot of darkness and harsh weather. Life is very hard in Finland too, but maybe in different respect. So may I said we try to keep our school a pleasant place and not add to that pressure in schools. "