Education Commons^™

Faculty And Program Predictors Of Pass Rates Of Graduates Of Nursing Programs In West Virginia On The National Council Licensure Examination For Registered Nurses 1991 To 2000, Lynda F. Skinner Turner

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mean student program scores on standardized pre-graduation nursing tests, program attendance policies, grading scales, policies on repeating nursing courses, faculty turnover, degree, teaching experience, clinical nursing experience, part-time faculty, national certification, and NCLEX-RN success in West Virginia nursing programs from 1991-2000. A causal comparative and correlational design was used to investigate the relationship between the dependent variable of NCLEX-RN pass rates and the independent variables. The population of this study consisted of 19 undergraduate nursing programs preparing graduates for entry into practice as registered nurses. Data collection tools utilized …

A Comparison Of The Wj-Iii Test Of Cognitive Abilities And The Wais-Iii, Brittany Leigh Metz

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Since the birth of the intelligence test in the early 20th century, these instruments have gone through tremendous alterations. The revision of such instruments creates an obligation of those who utilize these tests to provide empirical evidence that supports concurrent validity with additional cognitive measures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities, Third Edition and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test, Third Edition. Both instruments were administered to 30 college students attending a Midwest university. The previously collected data was analyzed using a Pearson Product Moment Correlation as well as a …

The Correlation Between Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Iii And Woodcock-Johnson Iii Cognitive Abilities And Wj Iii Achievement For College Students: Which Is A Better Predictor Of Reading Achievement?, Carrie M. Adkins

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The present study is intended to examine whether the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III or Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Abilities would better predict reading achievement on the WJ III Achievement in the college student population. Participants included 29 college students attending a university in the Midwest, being evaluated for a learning disability or academic accommodations. Data were analyzed using Pearson r correlation, Fisher z, and t-test for each intelligence test in comparison to achievement subtests. Results from this study indicated that both IQ scores obtained from the WAISIII and the WJ-III COG correlated with reading significantly, but not highly enough to …

The Testing Effect: Using Retrieval Practice In The Classroom, Karen S. Clifton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Repeated testing was applied in a college classroom setting to determine whether a single intervening test, which allowed for retrieval practice, would improve performance on a final test compared to a single structured rehearsal of the material. Performance was measured using multiple-choice exams and relatedness rating tests. The findings suggest that a test condition which requires retrieval, when compared to a read-only condition, improves performance on a final test of item-specific knowledge but not on a test of relational knowledge of the same material. The difficulty of retrieval was manipulated using hard and easy questions on the intervening test and …

A Study Of The Importance And Implementation Of National Pre-Kindergarten Standards For Language And Literacy As Perceived By West Virginia Directors Of Early Childhood Centers, Judaea Hodge

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examined the difference between levels of importance and implementation for the National Pre-Kindergarten Standards for Language and Literacy (NPKSLL) in four-year-old programs as perceived by West Virginia licensed pre- kindergarten programs directors and the differences based on director’s education level, years of experience, years in present position, program type and size, and the number of four year olds in the program. To examine this relationship, The Early Childhood Language and Literacy Survey (ECELLS) was designed based on the NPKSLL five goals: listening (Goal 1), complex speech (Goal 2), print awareness (Goal 3), story structure (Goal 4) and beginning …

Student Preferences For Common Or Unique Assignments: Some Early Evidence, Erwin Waldmann, Janek Ratnatunga, Marshall A. Geiger

Accounting Faculty Publications

Accounting assignments and homework exercises that use identical problem material for all students encourage plagiarism. Giving each individual student a unique assignment alleviates this problem, but raises other issues such as the lack of co-operative learning and grading parity. This paper examines students' attitudes towards both common and unique accounting assignments. The results indicate that a large majority of students preferred the unique assignments and perceived getting a high grade on these assignments as more rewarding and reflective of higher learning than similar grades on common assignments. Attitudinal variables for the validity of grading, perceptions regarding plagiarism, and perceptions of …

Common Data Set, 2005-2006, Office Of Institutional Research And Assessment, Bridgewater State College

Common Data Sets

No abstract provided.

Perspectives On School Leadership : Taking Another Look, Thomas J. Sergiovani

APC Monographs

The author argues that in many respects leadership has failed us. Not that we should be overwhelmed by this. We just need to know, so we can work on it. There are, I believe, three reasons for the failure of leadership. First, we’ve come to view leadership as behaviour, rather than action; as something psychological rather than spiritual; as having to do with persons rather than ideas. Second, in trying to understand what drives leadership, we’ve overemphasised bureaucratic and personal authority, neglecting professional and moral authority. In the first reason we separated the hand of leadership from the head and …

Schooling The Yuk/Wow Generation, Erica Mcwilliam

APC Monographs

Working as I do in a university setting, when I talk to school teachers and school leaders I feel like I have come home. Teachers have seen wave after wave of ideas come through. Haven’t we all. We’ve watched them arrive, and we’ve seen the initial excitement that comes with them. We maintain our passion for teaching, even though we have seen the failure of many of these ideas over time. We are sceptical, and we do not indulge in mindless optimism. I like good teachers’ ‘nonstupid optimism’ and I like working in context, where that is possible. Mind you, …

Acer 2004-2005 Annual Report, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

ACER Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Primary Teacher Work Study Report, Jenny Wilkinson, Lawrence Ingvarson, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Adrian Beavis

Teacher workforce and careers

This research was conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in 2005. The study was a result of the New Zealand Primary Teachers Collective Agreement 2004-2007 which specified that a workload study be complete to consider how the work of a teacher could be better structured, resourced and organised to support more effective classroom teaching. The purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the nature and patterns of primary teachers' work. The research was commissioned by the New Zealand Ministry of Education.

Learning About Learning And Teaching: Using The Evidence Of Student Achievement For Improvements At Individual, Class And School Level, Reg Allen

2005 - Using data to support learning

This paper describes the nature, use and importance of some powerful techniques through which teachers can use data to improve student learning. For a teacher, the central purpose of analysing data is to improve the learning of one or more particular students.That is, the individual teacher and the school take the students who come to them and seek to improve the learning of those students.This purpose is different from that of the sociologist seeking to understand patterns of participation, or that of the policy analyst seeking to understand the impact, if any, of policy settings.The possibly powerful generalisations about a …

Good Data, Bad News, Good Policy Making ..., Gabrielle Matters

2005 - Using data to support learning

The New Basics Trial in Queensland (2000 –04) was about improving educational outcomes. At its heart was the idea that, to do this, there must be an orchestration of the message systems of curriculum, teaching and assessment – and that these changes must be in practices, not merely in statements of intention or expectation. This paper spans the trial period (2000 –04) and the immediate post-trial period (2005), showing how research evidence informed policy-making. The New Basics approach (which introduced three suites of Rich Tasks covering three 3-year spans from Year 1 to Year 9) to curriculum, teaching, assessment, reporting, …

From Accounting To Accountability: Harnessing Data For School Improvement, Lorna Earl

2005 - Using data to support learning

There was a time in education when decisions were based on the best judgements of the people in authority. It was assumed that school leaders, as professionals in the field, had both the responsibility and the right to make decisions about students, schools and even about education more broadly. They did so using a combination of intimate and privileged knowledge of the context, political savvy, professional training and logical analysis. Data played almost no part in decisions. In fact, there was not much data available about schools. Instead, leaders relied on their tacit knowledge to formulate and execute plans. In …

Benchmarks And Growth And Success... Oh, My!, G Gage Kingsbury

2005 - Using data to support learning

This paper will discuss some recent research concerning US attempts to use student proficiency standards to identify schools that are struggling. It will also discuss a model that combines growth and standards to improve our ability to identify successful schools. Finally, it will discuss the use of an assessment system that fosters improvement in education.

Assessment For Learning: Using Statewide Literacy And Numeracy Tests As Diagnostic Tools, Philip Holmes-Smith

2005 - Using data to support learning

Assessment of learning dominates assessment efforts around the world, and systems, whether intentionally or unintentionally, typically portray such programs as the best means of raising the standards of learning. At the classroom level, such programs are rarely appreciated and most teachers have little faith in either the reliability or validity of such State-mandated tests. While it is clear that school administrators take the results of such programs very seriously, few classroom teachers give any more than cursory attention to the results for their own class.This is a shame for a number of reasons. First and foremost amongst these reasons is …

Data For Schools In Nsw: What Is Provided And Can It Help?, Max Smith

2005 - Using data to support learning

Lifting the performance of New South Wales (NSW) students in literacy, numeracy and other key outcome areas to world-class standards is a central priority of this Government.The crucial responsibilities, shared between schools and the system, for effective educational provision are articulated in the most recent Framework for School Development and Accountability for NSW government schools.The role of 108 very senior officers, School Education Directors, recently appointed to regions across the state, is to ensure the effective implementation of this framework.The aim is to consolidate and focus existing accountability, improvement and reporting policies to improve and enrich student outcomes. Essential to …

What Is The Nature Of Evidence That Makes A Difference To Learning?, John Hattie

2005 - Using data to support learning

The major argument of this presentation is to move the discussion away from data towards interpretations, from student outcomes to teaching successes and improvements, and from accountability models located about schools to located first in the classroom to support such evidence-based teaching and learning.The asTTle model, which has been developed in New Zealand, will be used in the Keynote presentation to demonstrate such a model. By locating evidence in the classroom we can improve the quality of information and interpretations sent to students, parents, Ministries, Ministers, and thence the community.We can influence the major agent that influences student and learning …

Data-Driven School Improvement Through The Vce Data Service, Glenn Rowley, Peter Congdon

2005 - Using data to support learning

As the holder of student achievement data spanning three sectors and four levels, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) has a responsibility to provide these data to schools in ways that enable school staff to use them effectively and easily. With the discontinuation of the publication of school achievement indices, the VCAA was forced to confront a range of issues surrounding the question of which data belonged to the student, which was the property of the school, and which belonged to the general public. In 2002, a new balance was struck. A key component in this balance was the …

Researchers And Practitioners Working Together To Ensure Data-Informed Practice In Secondary School : Evidence From Vic, Sa And Nsw Schools, Carmel Richardson

2005 - Using data to support learning

The advantage of ‘ability-adjusted’ analyses of educational data is their capacity to provide fairer assessments of school and student achievement than reliance on raw scores alone. School performance evaluations based on students’ unadjusted (raw) marks favour schools with higher intakes of bright and advantaged students.The learning gains of middle and lower ability students are overlooked, and the achievements of students and schools in disadvantaged areas are not valued, while focus is concentrated on those achieving the highest marks. With ‘ability-adjusted’ analyses of school data, any student who achieves higher marks than similar ability peers is acknowledged as having performed well.This …

An Evidence-Based Approach To Teaching And Learning, Michele Bruniges

2005 - Using data to support learning

A Greek philosopher might suggest that evidence is what is observed, rational and logical; a Fundamentalist – what you know is true; a Post Modernist – what you experience; a Lawyer – material which tends to prove or disprove the existence of a fact and that is admissible in court; a Clinical Scientist – information obtained from observations and/or experiments; and a teacher – what they see and hear. The past decade has seen a high level of engagement and commitment by Australian schools to the collection, analysis and interpretation of information about students to inform teaching and learning. Rapid …

Using Data To Support Learning (Conference Proceedings), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

2005 - Using data to support learning

Research Conference 2005 is the tenth national Research Conference.Through our research conferences,ACER provides significant opportunities at the national level for reviewing current research-based knowledge in key areas of educational policy and practice.A primary goal of these conferences is to inform educational policy and practice.

Using Data For School Improvement: A Practitioner's Approach, Wayne Craig

2005 - Using data to support learning

Over the past decade,Victorian government schools have become accustomed to the use of data as a means of evaluating school performance and identifying potential areas for improvement. In many instances however, the data has been relatively unsophisticated and the data has not been readily available to or useable by teachers, and students rarely had access to this information. The Victorian Education Department’s Accountability and Improvement framework, underpinned by a three year school charter, required schools to monitor, evaluate and report on performance data across a range of areas.

Turning Data Into Information That Improves Teaching And Learning: The Wa Experience, David Axworthy

2005 - Using data to support learning

This paper looks at some examples of the way in which the Western Australian Department of Education and Training is presenting student performance data and transforming it into information to assist teachers to modify their teaching practices and improve the learning of their students.

Moving On From Count Me In Too: Evidence-Based Teaching And Learning In Numeracy In The Early And Middle Years Of Schooling, Lynn Tozer, Marilyn Holmes

2005 - Using data to support learning

New Zealand developed the Early Numeracy Project for Years 1–3 in 2000–2001, based on the New South Wales’ Count Me In Too, and much has happened in mathematics education since. Change is inevitable and numeracy has moved on.Today the New Zealand Number Framework, the Diagnostic Interview and Teaching Model now underpin numeracy teaching practice in over 14,000 classrooms from Year 1–9. Important developments to date have included a flexible national database and web site, well-developed supporting materials and data-rich annual evaluation reports which inform future direction and expectation of achievement. Because the Numeracy Project is evolving, further development and consolidation …

Using Hsc Data To Give Principals Leverage, John Decourcy

2005 - Using data to support learning

What makes the difference in student achievement? What elements among ‘what makes the difference’ can a school principal influence? How does the principal influence these for the better? How do teachers best take account of the pedagogical information available in data? How can we use the data available to address these questions?

Evaluation Of The Getting It Right Literacy And Numeracy Strategy In Western Australian Schools, Marion Meiers

2005 - Using data to support learning

This paper and the paper by Dr. Lawrence Ingvarson are companion pieces to Rosemary Cahill’s account of the intentions of the Getting it Right Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, and the model of professional development on which the strategy is based. In these papers, we present some findings from the ACER evaluation of Getting it Right. We provide detailed results from the surveys of principals undertaken in 2003 and 2004, including findings of the use of data to improve planning.These results provide evidence of the impact of the initiative, and evidence of an increase of the impact of the strategy over …

Learning About Teaching And Teaching About Learning: Using Video Data For Research And Professional Development, Hilary Hollingsworth

2005 - Using data to support learning

Although video technology has been available for several decades, the collection and use of classroom video data for supporting and improving teaching and learning can still be considered to be in its infancy.A variety of research and professional development projects have made use of video data, revealing promising initial outcomes and identifying many possibilities for its use. However, relatively little systematic research has been conducted on the feasibility and effectiveness of various types and uses of video in education (Brophy, 2004). This paper outlines the nature and virtues of video data, and describes several Australian examples of research and professional …

Perceptions Of Effective Web-Based Design For Secondary School Students: A Narrative Analysis Of Previously Collected Data, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

In this article, I present the findings of a study on the perception of course developers and electronic teachers on the characteristics of effective web-based design for secondary school students. Through interviews, the perceptions of these participants on the use of various web-based components, how to incorporate sound instructional strategies into the web-based material, and the effectiveness of both the asynchronous web-based content and the synchronous delivery of that content are investigated in a virtual high school context.

Methods For Marine Ecosystems Research Through The Use Of Pdas With Preservice Teachers, Antoinette P. Bruciati, Maria Lizano-Dimare

Education Faculty Publications

Science teachers are charged with the task of providing students in grades K-12 with opportunities that will enable them to make sense of science and develop habits of mind. One goal of science education is to prepare well-rounded citizens who are scientifically literate. Through inquiry-based learning, students formulate questions, perform investigations, and construct new understandings.

It is important for preservice science teachers to be introduced to current techniques, discoveries, and debates in the field of science. The use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) can provide K-12 students with increased opportunities for exploring and learning through scientific investigations. In order for …