Education Commons^™

Development And Initial Validation Of A Flipped Classroom Adoption Inventory In Higher Education, Taotao Long

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to develop and initially validate an inventory to learn about the critical variables involved in a higher education instructor’s decision to adopt a flipped classroom instructional model. A flipped classroom is an instructional model in which students’ learning is divided into two phases, the self-directed pre-class learning phase and the in-class student-centered active learning phase. Both phases are typically technology-enhanced. This study addresses a gap in the recent research regarding the identification and assessment of the critical variables that are related to a higher education instructor’s decision to adopt a flipped classroom instructional model. …

A Comparison Of Comprehension Accuracy And Rate: Repeated Readings And Listening While Reading, Megan Amber Schall

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a need for effective and efficient reading interventions in American schools. Two empirically supported reading interventions are Repeated Readings and Listening While Reading. Previous researchers have evaluated the effects of these interventions individually on reading fluency and comprehension, and in comparison on students’ reading fluency. This is the first study to compare the relative effectiveness of each intervention on students’ comprehension, which is the typical purpose of reading. The current study extends previous research by considering the instructional time required to complete each intervention, and converting students’ comprehension accuracy scores into a comprehension rate measure. Additionally, students read …

Differential Prediction And Validity Of Advanced Placement (Ap®) For Student Subgroups, Minji K. Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

Concerns over fairness permeates every aspect of the testing enterprise, and one characterization of fairness in testing defined by the Standards (AERA, APA, & NCME, 1999) is a fairness as lack of bias. One important way to study bias in college admission context concerns the degree to which prediction equations are equivalent for different groups. To the extent that the AP variables are used together with admission test scores and previous academic records to predict future academic achievement, it is important to know if members of one group are systematically predicted to obtain lower or higher grades than they actually …

Turning Around The Culture Of Teaching And Learning: A Turnaround School Success Story, Rachael B. Lawrence

Doctoral Dissertations

In 2009-2010, Riverton Elementary School in Portland, ME was awarded a School Improvement Grant (SIG), supported by the Federal Department of Education (Federal DOE) through the Maine Department of Education. With this funding, Riverton undertook the challenge of the turnaround school model between 2010-2013, which resulted in positive change in academic achievement for their students and an improved teaching and learning climate and culture. This dissertation examines why the turnaround model may work, what is currently known about SIG funded turnaround schools, and what the specific actions and changes that led to the successful turnaround of this school were. While …

The Development And Validation Of The Emotion Knowledge And Awareness Test, Catherine A. Rossi

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop, test, and pilot a general outcome measurement tool that will allow educators to test young children’s knowledge of factors of emotional development: emotional identification and fluency, understanding situations where multiple emotions are present, understanding that others may feel differently in situations, and emotional regulation (CASEL, 2014). There are few assessments that reliably measure emotion knowledge in early elementary grades. The Emotion Knowledge and Awareness Test (EKAT) has been developed for kindergarten through second grade students to measure emotion awareness across two domains: knowledge and management. It was developed as a pre/posttest assessment …

Who Is Like Whom? Reclassification And Performance Patterns For Different Groupings Of English Learners, Molly M. Faulkner-Bond

Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately 10 percent of the US K-12 population consists of English learners (ELs), or students who are learning English in addition to academic content in areas like English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. In addition to meeting the same academic content and performance standards set for all students, it is also a goal for ELs to be reclassified – i.e., to master English so that they can shed the EL label and participate in academic settings where English is used without needing special support. Working with a longitudinal cohort of ~28,000 ELs in grades 3 through 8 from one state, …

Pre-College Characteristics And Online Homework Learning: Factors Associated With First Year Engineering Students’ Academic Success, Wenshu Li

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to develop a working model to predict at risk students in an Introduction to Engineering course. The model considers both students’ pre-college characteristics, psychological traits, and online homework learning behavior. The study assisted the course instructor in the creation of an early warning system and the development of targeted interventions for students at risk. A reliable and valid instrument to measure engineering students’ pre-college characteristics was initially developed. The study also applied data mining to analyze the student online homework logs in order to observe engineering students’ homework learning process. A decision tree model …

Solving The Migrant Children Public School Enrollment Issue In Urban China: A Policy Study Perspective, Hui Huang

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is designed to learn lessons from China’s experiences of seeking to solve the migrant children’s education issue, specifically, the city public school enrollment issue. In China, access to public schools is the main channel for migrant children to be well educated. With the hope to inspire education policy makers and researchers on solving this issue, it is important to find out how the central and local governments work out proper policies to ensure equal compulsory education for migrant children. Qualitative research methods including content analysis and historical analysis are deployed in this dissertation to review related policy documents …

Building Communicative Competence: An Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of An Intensive Japanese-Language Program, Yukiko Konishi

Doctoral Dissertations

Even though language-program evaluations provide educators with various types of information on teaching practices and the programs in which they work, insufficient literature discusses issues related to language-program evaluation. This mixed-methods study examined the effectiveness of a Japanese-language program offered at a government-sponsored Institute located in northern California on language-program evaluation and developing communicative competence at postsecondary schools.

Data comprised two sets of surveys, six individual interviews, and one group interview. Survey respondents were 35 former students of the institute and 12 Japanese instructors who are currently teaching Japanese or have taught Japanese at the Institute. Of the 35 students, …

Enriching Teacher Self-Efficacy Through A Support Centric Evaluation Model: A Mixed Methods Study Of Team's Impact On Teacher Self-Efficacy, Elizabeth Marie Norton

Doctoral Dissertations

The effectiveness of teacher evaluation systems is determined by the extent to which they can support improved instructional practice. Research suggests that implementation factors such as attitudes of school leaders (Kimball & Milanowski, 2009), perceptions of fairness (Delvaux, Vanhoof, Tuytens, Vekeman, Devos, & Petegem, 2013), the relationship of the evaluator and the teacher (Weber, 1987), and the quality of the feedback provided can all impact the effectiveness of the evaluation system (Conly & Glasman, 2008; Danielson, 2012; Delvaux et al., 2013; Weber, 1987). This mixed methods study attempted to determine the extent to which these implementation characteristics occurring within the …

You Kind Of Have To Prove It: Gender Microaggressions Within The Lived Experiences Of Women In Engineering, Crystal Rose Diaz-Espinoza

Doctoral Dissertations

This intrinsic case study explored the lived experiences of women within three engineering majors at a mid-sized institution in the Mid-Atlantic using gender microaggressions (Nadal, 2010; Sue, 2007) as a theoretical lens. Data included individual interviews with 28 participants as well as document review from Web pages and observations from physical spaces within the campus engineering building. Data analysis resulted in seven themes in congruence with Sue’s (2007) taxonomy of gender microaggressions and further established the three levels of gender microaggressions distinguished by Nadal (2010). Findings also revealed that barriers within engineering were less visible or outwardly sexist, and that …

Translanguaging And Identity In A Kindergarten Classroom: Validating Student's Home Culture And Language In An English-Only Era, Maria Eugenia Lozano Lenis

Doctoral Dissertations

This ethnographic multi-year study examines the effects of federal and state education policies in language-minority school children’s in Western Massachusetts. Specifically, it explores, how, in an increasingly English Only era, a Latina kindergarten teacher resists Massachusetts' restrictive bilingual education law at the same time that she builds on her students’ multi-ethnic identity. Methodologically, this study combines ethnographic and discourse analysis methods and techniques analyzing the curricular effects that the NCLB and the state of Massachusetts language policy have on an underperforming school serving a predominantly Latino/a population. The focus of the study is the literacy practices enacted by a Dominican …

Evaluating The Impact Of Construct Shift On Item Parameter Invariance, Test Equating And Proficiency Estimates, Xueming Li

Doctoral Dissertations

Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics at grades K to 12 were introduced in 2009 and at one time had been accepted by 45 of the states in the U.S. The new standards have created national curricula in these two subject areas. Along with this reform, new assessment systems have been developed too. Many of these new tests are showing signs of being more multidimensional than the tests they were replacing because of the use of new item formats, and the assessment of higher level thinking skills and various performance skills. In the short term at …

Implementing Universal Social And Emotional Learning Programs: The Development, Validation, And Inferential Findings From The Schoolwide Sel Capacity Assessment, Cheyne A. Levesseur

Doctoral Dissertations

In order to effectively transport universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs into natural settings, it is important to understand implementation barriers that may hinder the likelihood of successful outcomes (Fixsen, Naoom, Blasé, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005). The current study is primarily based on the notion that within the planning phase of implementation, few technically adequate assessment measures targeting both organizational capacity (OC) and provider characteristics (PC) for SEL programming actually exist. The purpose is to extend the SEL implementation assessment literature by developing a new rating scale designed to measure SEL implementation barriers (School SEL Capacity Assessment [SSCA]) and …

Phallacies: Constructing A Critical Space And Pedagogy For College Men To Engage Across Non-Hegemonic Masculinities, Taj Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

Peer groups are one of those critical social organizations within our cycles of socialization that assist in regulating culturally acceptable practices of masculinity (Connell, 2005; Gilbert & Gilbert, 1998; Mac an Ghaill, 1994). Men's peer groups are viewed as primary social commitments that should not be broken and maintained through performances of masculinity that are influenced by gendered expectations (Migliaccio, 2009). Unfortunately, the regulation that comes with joining such groups often requires collective and individual oppressive practices that result in some men policing other men's attitudes and behaviors (Flood, 2007). As a response to Harris and Barone's (2011) call for …

An Investigation Of Subtest Score Equating Methods Under Classical Test Theory And Item Response Theory Frameworks, Minjeong Shin

Doctoral Dissertations

Test scores are usually equated only at the total score level. If a test mainly measures a single trait, indicating that the test is essentially unidimensional, equating at the total score level could be the best choice. However, when a test is composed of subtests having negligible relationships among them, separate equating for each subtest offers the best choice. Given a moderate amount of correlations among the subtests, performing individual equating for each subtest may be misleading in that it ignores the relationship of the subtests. This study applied and compared several possible subtest score equating methods based on classical …

Using Social Network Analysis To Investigate The Relationship Between School-Based Team Communication Networks And Implementation Of Positive Behavior Support Systems, Shannon K. Barry

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school-based team communication networks and implementation of school-wide reform efforts and initiatives, namely Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The study employed social network analysis (SNA) to determine if a relationship was present between the structure and properties of the team communication network and the level of implementation of PBIS, the position and properties of the PBIS leadership team and the level of implementation of PBIS implementation, and the quality of internal process for collaboration of the PBIS leadership team and PBIS implementation. It was predicted that schools in …

You Have To Find That Music That Both Parties Can Dance To: One School District's Experience With Collaborative Conferencing, Janel Marie Seeley

Doctoral Dissertations

In 2011, Tennessee passed the Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act (PECCA), replacing the former mode of collective bargaining between professional educators and school board administrators with a process called collaborative conferencing (CC). The purpose of this study, the first research on the new process, was to investigate the experiences of participants who engaged in CC in one school district. The study also examined participants’ perceived relationship between training and its application to CC. The school district used the newly developed Interest-Based Collaborative Problem Solving and Reflective Practice (IBCPS/RP) model to guide its CC process. This approach is similar to interest …

The Development And Validation Of The Self-Efficacy In Statistical Practices Scale, Niranji Anuradha Pathirage Dopa Pathirage

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to develop a scale intended to measure undergraduate students’ self-efficacy in statistical practices. In order to apply statistical concepts and methods that students learn in the classroom to real world situations, it is important for college students to have not only statistical knowledge and skills, but also self-efficacy in using those concepts and methods. Even though there is growing attention on the importance of assessing students’ statistics self-efficacy, currently available measures have numerous limitations. Therefore, the Self-Efficacy in Statistical Practices Scale (SESPS) was developed, and the internal consistency reliability and convergent validity of …

Student Persistence In Career And Technical Education: A Multi-Sample, Mixed-Method Evaluation Of Student Services, Brittany Jo Daulton

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the student services offered at the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCAT) institutions, getting perspectives from students, faculty, and administrators. It also served to investigate the link between student support services and persistence. Using the TCAT institutions as an exemplary model, the evaluation study provided a model to be used by similar institutions to help students persist through their career and technical education experience. The evaluation used a utilization focused approach to determine the effectiveness of student support services provided. Data were collected from student, staff, and administrators and triangulated to …

The Relationship Between Demands And Resources And Teacher Burnout: A Fifteen-Year Meta-Analysis, Tammy Marie Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

This meta-analysis explored the phenomenon of teacher burnout— the biggest contributor to teacher attrition (Owens, 2013; Unterbrink, 2014; Yu, 2015). The focus of this study was to use meta-analytical procedures to explore the relationship between burnout dimensions (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of personal accomplishment) and specific demand and resource correlates. Demand correlates included work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, and student misbehavior. Resource correlates included peer support, supervisory support, and decision-making. This meta-analytical research method encompassed fifteen years of published and unpublished studies from January 2000 through January 2015. A total of 116 studies met the following inclusion …

Comprehensive Self-Selected Reading And Student Engagement With The Novel: A Program Evaluation, Jennesis Kathleen Jensen

Doctoral Dissertations

Not reading (Krashen, 2009) is a phenomenon widely noted in students assigned to read as a part of school curriculum. A solution to the many criticisms and deficits cited in the literature surrounding the practice of not reading may lie in the CSSR (Comprehensive Self-Selected Reading) program chosen for focus in this study. In this high school student-reading program, incoming students are guided through a process of textual self-selection and evaluation in an enthusiastic, engaging, and motivating manner. During an eight-month study duration, thirty-two 10th grade students actively read a total of 24,419 pages collaboratively, and 763.09 pages on average. …

Impacts Of The Game-Centered Approach On Cognitive Learning Of Game Play And Game Performance During 5-Week Of Spring Season With Intercollegiate Female Soccer Players, Kanae Haneishi

Doctoral Dissertations

Game-centered approaches have been increasingly recognized for their features and the impacts in coaching profession. Research with the game-centered approach is still underdeveloped in coaching sports and physical activities. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the impacts of the game-centered approach on cognitive learning of game play and game performance during 5-week of spring season with intercollegiate female soccer players. Game performances at beginning, mid, and end of the season were examined through Game Performance Assessment Inventory (GPAI) with seventeen participants. Cognitive learning of game play was also assessed with instant recalls and practice journals with all …

Teachers’ Experiences Of Professional Development In (Post)Crisis Katanga Province, Southeastern Democratic Republic Of Congo: A Case Study Of Teacher Learning Circles, Paul St J Frisoli

Doctoral Dissertations

Teachers in (post)crisis contexts face an array of de-motivating factors such as insecurity, lack of pay, difficult working conditions, minimal leadership, and feeling undervalued (Johnson, 2006; OECD, 2009; Shriberg, 2007). To bolster their motivation and support their teaching, teachers in these settings need a forum where they feel valued as professionals (Asimeng-Boahene, 2003; Bennel & Akyeampong; Kirk & Winthrop, 2007). One model of teacher professional development (TPD) known as "Teacher Learning Circles"(TLCs) is currently being implemented in Katanga province in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for early grade reading teachers. TLCs strive to help teachers adopt innovative teaching techniques …

Reflective Practice, Collaboration, And Stakeholder Communication: Where Does The Field Of Evaluation Stand?, Tiffany Lee Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study provides insight into the state of the field of evaluation regarding practitioners’ understanding and application of reflective practice (RP), one of six essential competencies in program evaluation identified and discussed by Stevahn, King, Ghere, and Minnema (2005). Specifically, the purpose of this study was to determine how professional evaluators view RP, the extent and manner in which they engage in RP behaviors, and how evaluators conceptualize whether RP efforts affect, if at all, the evaluation process. Through a snowball sample, nineteen highly experienced evaluators took part in an hour long interview. These interviews with evaluators who have …

More Myself: Exploring Students' Perceptions Of Self-Authorship Development, Benjamin B. Stubbs

Doctoral Dissertations

Increasingly, the challenges of modern adult life include the responsibility for ambiguous tasks, the need to work as a team with diverse others and the expectation to make important decisions in the face of competing interests. Research suggests that individuals able to meet these challenges demonstrate self-authorship, a way of knowing that allows them to exert control over their lives. Existing research provides insight into college students’ self-authorship and the influence of situational, environmental and personal factors on self-authorship development. However, the literature has yet to explore students’ own understanding of their self-authorship development. The purpose of this study was …

Predicting High-Stakes Tests Of Math Achievement Using A Group-Administered Rti Instrument: Validating Skills Measured By The Monitoring Instructional Responsiveness: Math, Jeremy Thomas Coles

Doctoral Dissertations

Three universal screeners and nine progress monitoring probes from the Monitoring Instructional Responsiveness: Math (MIR:M), a silent, group-administered math assessment designed for implementation with an RTI Model, were administered to 223 fifth-grade students. The growth parameters of the overall MIR:M composite and two global composites (math calculation and math reasoning) identified significant variation in student growth, within significant linear and quadratic trajectories. However, there were significant differences in the nature of the growth trajectories that have applied educational implications. In addition, growth parameters across the three composites provided significant predictive potential when using the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Achievement …

Participant Career And Research Outcomes Of The Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Award, Samuel Held

Doctoral Dissertations

In 1991, ORAU created the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Award program providing seed money for research of early career faculty at ORAU member universities. The Powe Awards are intended to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty and result in new funding opportunities. Eligible applicants are full-time assistant professors at ORAU member institutions within two years of their initial tenure track appointments. Awardees receive a one-year grant worth a total of $10,000. Four hundred sixty Powe Awards were made from 1991 to 2011.

This descriptive study presents a secondary data analysis of 258 survey responses received in …

Development Of The Biostatistics And Clinical Epidemiology Skills Assessment For Medical Residents, Patrick Brian Barlow

Doctoral Dissertations

This study developed the Biostatics and Clinical Epidemiology Skills (BACES) assessment, and established its preliminary item characteristics and validity evidence. Unlike previous instruments, the BACES assessment was developed and tested using an item response theory (IRT) approach to measurement to create a new, adaptive biostatistics and clinical epidemiology knowledge assessment for graduate medical professionals. Thirty multiple-choice questions were written to focus on interpreting relevant examples of clinical epidemiology and statistical methods. A four person expert panel reviewed these items for content validity. After this review, the BACES assessment was administered to 147 medical residents across three academic medical centers. Results …

Participatory Perspectives: A Photovoice Narrative Study Of Zambian Vulnerable Youth, Lori K. Imasiku

Doctoral Dissertations

The United Nations' Millennium Development Goals aim to meet the needs of the world's poorest people by 2015 through universally agreed upon targets. Goal number two aims to provide universal primary education and states that "by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling" (United Nations, 2010). Zambia, located in Sub-Saharan Africa, in an effort to increase school access and attendance, developed the Free Basic Education Plan which eliminated school tuition up to grade 7 and allowed for a large number of children to enroll in school. While this effort …