This volume focuses on the decision-making potential provided by second language performance assessments. The authors first situate performance assessment within a broader discussion of alternatives in language assessment and in educational assessment in general. They then discuss issues in performance assessment design, implementation, reliability, and validity. Finally, they present a prototype framework for second language performance assessment based on the integration of theoretical underpinnings and research findings from the task-based language teaching literature, the language testing literature, and the educational measurement literature. The authors outline test and item specifications, and they present numerous examples of prototypical language tasks. They also propose a research agenda focusing on the operationalization of second language performance assessments.

"America's Children and the Environment (ACE)" is EPA's report presenting data on children's environmental health. ACE brings together information from a variety of sources to provide national indicators in the following areas: Environments and Contaminants, Biomonitoring, and Health. Environments and Contaminants indicators describe conditions in the environment, such as levels of air pollution. Biomonitoring indicators include contaminants measured in the bodies of children and women of child-bearing age, such as children's blood lead levels. Health indicators report the rates at which selected health outcomes occur among U.S. children, such as the annual percentage of children who currently have asthma. Accompanying each indicator is text discussing the relevance of the issue to children's environmental health and describing the data used in preparing the indicator. Wherever possible, the indicators are based on data sources that are updated in a consistent manner, so that indicator values may be compared over time.

Cities across the globe are looking to develop affordable, environmentally friendly, and socially responsible transportation solutions that can meet the accessibility needs of expanding metropolitan populations and support future economic and urban development. When appropriately planned and properly implemented as part of a larger public transportation network, urban rail systems can provide rapid mobility and vital access to city centers from surrounding districts. High-performing urban rail services, when carefully approached as development projects, can help enhance quality of life by giving citizens access to employment opportunities, essential services, urban amenities, and neighboring communities. The purpose of this Handbook is to synthesize and disseminate knowledge to inform the planning, implementation, and operations of urban rail projects with a view towards: -- Emphasizing the need for early studies and project planning; -- Making projects more sustainable (economically, socially, and environmentally); -- Improving socioeconomic returns and access to opportunities for users; -- Maximizing the value of private participation, where appropriate; and -- Building capacity within project implementing and managing institutions This Handbook provides experiential advice to tackle the technical, institutional, and financial challenges faced by decision makers considering urban rail projects. It brings together the expertise of World Bank staff and the input of numerous specialists to synthesize international 'good practices' and recommendations that are independent of commercial, financial political, or other interests. The material presented is intended as an honest-broker guide to maximize the impact and manage the challenges of urban rail systems in cities in both developed and developing countries. Rather than identify a single approach, this Handbook acknowledges the complexities and context necessary when approaching an urban rail development by helping to prepare decision makers to ask the right questions, consider the key issues, perform the necessary studies, apply adequate tools, and learn from international good practice all at the right time in the project development process.

This book will enable readers to understand the principles underpinning the management of pain which a particular emphasis upon the care of the older adult. The chapters will explore concepts that are recognised to be involved in the pain experience but each author will then add their own unique perspective by applying the principles to their specialist area of practice and the care of the older adult. It is structured to include the aims and outcomes of the chapter at the beginning so that readers can track their progress, and provides chapter outlines and further reading suggestions foir this unique topic area.

The U.S. sheep industry is complex, multifaceted, and rooted in history and tradition. The dominant feature of sheep production in the United States, and, thus, the focus of much producer and policy concern, has been the steady decline in sheep and lamb inventories since the mid-1940s. Although often described as "an industry in decline," this report concludes that a better description of the current U.S. sheep industry is "an industry in transition."

This classic textbook in the field, now completely revised and updated, provides a bridge between theory and practice. Appropriate for the second course in Finance for MBA students and the first course in Finance for doctoral students, the text prepares students for the complex world of modern financial scholarship and practice. It presents a unified treatment of finance combining theory, empirical evidence and applications.

element of relationships between entities, but, above all, it positively influences the building of an organization's intellectual capital. This capital can be defined in different ways, but its definition always references elements that determine the potential of sustainable organizations, often in human, social, relational, organizational, and innovation dimensions. Trust is increasingly becoming the key determinant of this capital (Kożuch, Lenart-Gansiniec, 2017). Trust also has a number of different definitions. However, the basis of many of these definitions is the building of relationships focused on developing some kind of individual or inter-organizational link. Organizational trust is a complicated concept, and it is the basis of all organized activities performed by people in the organization, largely because trust is needed to develop relationships with integrity and commitment. Thus, it is interesting to study the relationship between trust and the building of the intellectual capital of sustainable organizations. Indeed, intellectual capital plays a special role here. It is a guide and a platform for achieving not only a competitive advantage for the sustainable organization, but also a source of value creation in the short and long term. Thus, this strategic hybrid, composed of a business model, strategy, and business processes, is favorable to the development of intellectual capital (Jabłoński 2017). Trust is an element that ties this capital to relationships in business. Moreover, it has an integrated character (R.C. Mayer, J. H. Davis, F. D. Schoorman 1995). Assuming that, nowadays, the network paradigm is becoming increasingly important, it is worth asking how the mechanism of building trust-based intellectual capital in a sustainable organization functions as its key asset in the network environment.