Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Education

Investigating The Links Between Teacher Professional Development And Student Learning Outcomes, Marion Meiers, Lawrence Ingvarson Sep 2005

Investigating The Links Between Teacher Professional Development And Student Learning Outcomes, Marion Meiers, Lawrence Ingvarson

Professional learning for teachers and school leaders

This report, in two volumes, describes an investigation of the links between teacher professional development and student learning outcomes. The study, funded by the Australian Government, provides a review of the research literature and of national and international initiatives linking professional development with student outcomes. It provides detailed case studies of the school-based trials of ten professional development programs in a number of different sites. It examines the repeated measures of student achievement from students in the classes of teachers in the school-based trials. Analysis and discussion of a common questionnaire completed by teachers in the school-based trials is provided. …


Brief 18: Creating A Culture Of Inquiry, New England Resource Center For Higher Education, University Of Massachusetts Boston Apr 2005

Brief 18: Creating A Culture Of Inquiry, New England Resource Center For Higher Education, University Of Massachusetts Boston

New England Resource Center for Higher Education Publications

The Community College Student Success Think Tank, part of the Community College Student Success Project, funded by Lumina Foundation for Education, brings student and academic affairs officers together with institutional researchers to reflect on trends and issues surrounding data-driven decision making in community colleges. Participants consider various forms of accountability data, processes and analyses to bring about institutional transformation. At a recent meeting, Think Tank members discussed ways to create a culture of inquiry at community colleges.


Valuing Community Playgroups: Lessons For Practice And Policy, Geraldine French Jan 2005

Valuing Community Playgroups: Lessons For Practice And Policy, Geraldine French

Reports

The Community Playgroup Initiative (cpi) was established and funded by the Katharine Howard Foundation (KHF) in partnership with the South Eastern Health Board (SEHB*) and with assistance from the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme (EOCP). This three-year project was developed to assist community playgroups to deliver a high quality sessional service and to identify and evaluate the impact of funding and support on the quality of service provided to children and their families. A further aim of cpi was to highlight the value of community playgroups. Among the objectives of cpi were that children and families would benefit, that staff and …


Assessing Second Language Writing: The Rater’S Perspective, Tom Lumley Dec 2004

Assessing Second Language Writing: The Rater’S Perspective, Tom Lumley

Dr Tom Lumley

This study investigates the process of rating texts written by adult ESL learners. Four experienced raters provided think-aloud protocols describing the rating process for a set of 24 texts. The think-aloud data allowed analysis of the sequence of rating, raters' interpretations of the scoring categories, and difficulties raters faced. The study reveals the complexity of the rating process, whereby raters struggle to resolve a tension between the wordings (or rules) of the rating scale and their complex, initial, intuitive impression of the text. Rating requires training to provide reliable measurement. The study also demonstrates that caution is needed in interpreting …


Values And Goal-Free Evaluation: A Case Study, Brandon Youker Dec 2004

Values And Goal-Free Evaluation: A Case Study, Brandon Youker

Brandon W. Youker Ph.D

How does a goal-free evaluator deal with values? Which values? Whose values? This presentation argues that the goal-free evaluator takes a consumerist perspective. Thus the evaluator's values are in serving the program's consumers and satisfying the consumers' needs.


International Association For Impact Assessment, Brandon W. Youker Ph.D Dec 2004

International Association For Impact Assessment, Brandon W. Youker Ph.D

Brandon W. Youker Ph.D

International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) defines impact assessment as “the process of identifying the future consequences of current or proposed action.” “IAIA is a forum for advancing innovation, development and communication of best practice in impact assessment. Its international membership promotes development of local and global capacity for the application of environmental assessment in which sound science and full public participation provide a foundation for equitable and sustainable development.”


Ethnography And Evaluation: Their Relationship And Three Anthropological Models Of Evaluation, Brandon W. Youker Ph.D Dec 2004

Ethnography And Evaluation: Their Relationship And Three Anthropological Models Of Evaluation, Brandon W. Youker Ph.D

Brandon W. Youker Ph.D

This paper examines the relationship between ethnographic research methods and evaluation theory and methodology. It is divided into two main sections: (a) ethnography in evaluation and (b) anthropological models of evaluation. Three levels of the leading anthropological models of evaluation are summarized, which include responsive evaluation, goal-free evaluation, and constructivist evaluation. In conclusion, (a) there is no consensual definition of ethnography; (b) in many circumstances, ethnographic evaluation models may be beneficial; and (c) ethnography can be used in evaluation but requires a high level of analysis to transform ethnographic data into useful information for eliciting an evaluative conclusion.


The Evaluation Exchange--Harvard Family Research Project, Brandon W. Youker Ph.D Dec 2004

The Evaluation Exchange--Harvard Family Research Project, Brandon W. Youker Ph.D

Brandon W. Youker Ph.D

Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) was founded by the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1983. The HFRP aims to help strengthen family, school, and community partnerships of early childhood care and education; promote evaluation and accountability; and offer professional development to those who work with children and/or their families. The project has aided philanthropies, policymakers, and practitioners by collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing research and information. HFRP publishes the journal The Evaluation Exchange.