Education Commons^™

Fostering Understanding Of Early Numeracy Development, Kate Reid, Nicola Andrews

Monitoring Learning

In 2012, the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) began the Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study: Transitions from Preschool to School (LLANS:TPS). The study is part of a program of longitudinal literacy and numeracy research at ACER that started with a seven-year longitudinal study of children’s developing literacy and numeracy throughout primary school, which began in 1999 with a cohort of 1000 children from 100 schools around Australia (Meiers et al., 2006). The original Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study (LLANS) developed new instruments for assessing children’s literacy and numeracy understanding in the first three years of primary school and described …

Mapping Progress – Using Data For Teaching And Learning, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

It’s important to keep in mind that there are three central uses of data in school education. Professor Geoff Masters AO discusses.

Monitoring Student Growth, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

In any given classroom, students are likely to be at very different points in their learning and development. Professor Geoff Masters AO explores why it is important for teachers to be able to track the long-term progress that each student makes.

Schools As Learning Organisations, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

School improvement is most likely when an entire school has a shared improvement agenda and is committed to learning how to improve. Professor Geoff Masters AO discusses a five-step improvement cycle.

Five Challenges In Australian School Education, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Policy Insights

There is no shortage of challenges in school education. Some of the biggest challenges we face can appear frustratingly intractable. Despite reform efforts, regular government reviews and ongoing calls for change, progress in addressing our most significant challenges is often slow and solutions continue to elude us. In this paper Professor Geoff Masters discusses five significant challenges facing school education.

1. Equipping students for the 21st Century, including by increasing reading, mathematical and scientific literacy levels;
2. Reducing disparities between Australia's schools, particularly along socioeconomic lines, by ensuring that every student has access to an excellent school and excellent teaching;
3. Reducing the …

Is There Another Way To Think About Schooling?, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

There is a well-established way of thinking about schooling. But is there another way? Professor Geoff Masters AO discusses.

Getting All Children Off To A Good Start, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

One of the biggest challenges we face in improving quality and equity in our schools is to better address the learning needs of the many children who, on entry to school, are at risk of being locked into trajectories of long-term low achievement, writes Professor Geoff Masters AO.

The ‘Long Tail’ Of Underachievement, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

One of the biggest challenges educators face is to find better ways to meet the learning needs of the many students who fall behind in our schools, fail to meet year-level expectations (often year after year) and, as a consequence, become increasingly disengaged, writes Professor Geoff Masters AO.

Observing Classroom Engagement In Community College: A Systematic Approach, Stacy Alicea, Carola Suárez-Orozco, Sukhmani Singh, Tasha Darbes, Elvira Abrica

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Despite decades of research indicating classrooms shape student engagement, learning, and development, there is a dearth of empirically grounded research focusing specifically on observed classroom engagement as a predictor of student outcomes in community colleges. This article describes the development of a qualitatively grounded, quantitative classroom-level engagement measurement protocol designed for this purpose. We provide evidence for the measure’s validity and reliability via confirmatory factor analyses and descriptive analyses that offer a snapshot of the information this measure can generate. Furthermore, we examine a two-level structural equation regression model that uses student survey data from students nested in observed classrooms. …

Edps 870: Introduction To Educational And Psychological Measurement—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Anthony D. Albano

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio was compiled at the completion of the Peer Review of Teaching Project, professional development available to faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The purpose of the project is to support faculty in evaluating and documenting the effectiveness of their teaching. The main objective of this portfolio is to summarize the results of my participation in the project during the 2015/2016 academic year. The portfolio summarizes key features of the course and my teaching methods, along with examples of student work.

Reducing Disparities Between Australian Schools, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

According to Professor Geoff Masters AO, one of the biggest challenges we face in school education is to reduce current disparities in the schooling experiences of students in Australia’s most and least advantaged schools

‘Big Five’ Challenges In School Education, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

Real reform and significant progress in improving the quality and equity of Australian schooling depend on tackling our deepest and most stubborn educational challenges, writes Professor Geoff Masters AO.

Exploring Intensive Longitudinal Measures Of Student Engagement In Blended Learning, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

In this exploratory study we used an intensive longitudinal approach to measure student engagement in a blended educational technology course, collecting both self-report and observational data. The self-report measure included a simple survey of Likert-scale and open-ended questions given repeatedly during the semester. Observational data were student activity data extracted from the learning management system. We explored how engagement varied over time, both at the course level and between students, to identify patterns and influences of student engagement in a blended course. We found that clarity of instruction and relevance of activities influenced student satisfaction more than the medium of …

Measurement: Five Considerations To Add Even More Impact To Your Program, Derek Hurrell

Education Papers and Journal Articles

The potential of using Measurement as a way of “tuning students into mathematics” is demonstrated. Five ideas that can form the basis of focusing on measurement to access other strands of the mathematics curriculum are examined.

Catching Fish And Avoiding Sharks: Investigating Factors That Influence Developmentally Appropriate Measurement Of Preschoolers' Inhibitory Control, Steven J. Howard, Anthony D. Okely

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Although researchers agree that the first 5 years of life are critical for children's developing executive functions (EFs), further advances are hindered by a lack of consensus on the design and selection of developmentally appropriate EF tasks for young children. Given this debate, well-established adult measures of EF routinely have been adapted for young children. Given young children's comparatively limited cognitive capacities, however, such adaptations do not guarantee that the task's critical EF demands are retained. To investigate this possibility, the current study examined the characteristics that optimize measurement of young children's EFs-specifically, their inhibitory control-using the go/no-go (GNG) task …

Green Space And Child Weight Status: Does Outcome Measurement Matter? Evidence From An Australian Longitudinal Study, Taren Sanders, Xiaoqi Feng, Paul P. Fahey, Chris Lonsdale, Thomas Astell-Burt

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To examine whether neighbourhood green space is beneficially associated with (i) waist circumference (WC) and (ii) waist-to-height ratio (WtHR) across childhood. Methods: Gender-stratified multilevel linear regressions were used to examine associations between green space and objective measures of weight status in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a nationally representative source of data on 4,423 children aged 6 y to 13 y. WC and WtHR were measured objectively. Percentage green space within the local area of residence was calculated. Effect modification by age was explored, adjusting for socioeconomic confounding. Results: Compared to peers with 0-5% green space locally, boys …

Analysis Of Students’ Proportional Reasoning Strategies, Michele Carney, Ev Smith, Gwyneth Hughes, Jonathan Brendefur, Angela Crawford, Tatia Totorica

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Proportional reasoning is key to students’ acquisition and application of complex mathematics and science topics. Research is needed regarding how students’ progress towards and come to demonstrate key developmental understandings within proportional reasoning. To this end we created and administered assessment items to 297 middle grades students. We categorized student solution processes qualitatively, followed by Rasch analysis to examine item difficulty and strategy use in relation to an anticipated trajectory. Our findings indicate that different strategies manifest themselves in a hierarchical manner, providing initial confirmation of categories based on strategy efficiency and emphasizing the importance of teacher (and researcher) analysis …

Assessing End-Of-School Attainment, Geoff N. Masters

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

Is there a ‘best’ way to establish the levels of knowledge, understanding and skill that students have attained in a subject by the end of Year 12?

Incentives - An Ineffective School Improvement Strategy?, Geoff N. Masters

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

By the turn of the century, the observation had been made in many countries that substantial increases in expenditure on schools had failed to deliver measurable improvements in student performance. But just how effective are incentives as an improvement strategy?

How Do We Know If It Works? Measuring Outcomes In Bystander-Focused Abuse Prevention On Campuses, Alison C. Cares, Victoria L. Banyard, Mary M. Moynihan, Rebecca Warner

Sociology and Criminology Department Faculty Works

Objective: To address acknowledged limitations in the effectiveness of sexual and relationship abuse prevention strategies, practitioners have developed new tools that use a bystander framework (Lonsway et al, 2009). Evaluation of bystander-focused prevention requires measures, specific to the bystander approach, that assess changes over time in participants’ attitudes and behaviors. Few measures exist and more psychometric analyses are needed. We present analyses to begin to establish the psychometric properties of four new measures of bystander outcomes and their subscales. Method: We collected data from 948 first year college students on two campuses in the northeast United States. Items assessing attitudes …

Using Reflective Practice To Study The Impact Of Community Engagement, Mary Slade, Erin Burke-Brown

Division of Community Engagement Resources

Research was conducted in order to determine the impact of the study of community engagement on students who participated in undergraduate community engagement coursework.

Shooting Fish In A Barrel: A Demonstration Of The Refraction Of Light, Walter Trikosko

Faculty Publications

This is not a treatise on optics or the index of refraction. It is merely a demonstration that will surprise and engage many of your students. We have all put a pencil in a beaker of water and observed how it appears to bend.1 Not so much fun or engaging, is it? Why not illustrate this optical effect by taking your students spearfishing? Simulated spearfishing, to avoid the financial and legal ramifications. I intercepted a quiver of 30-in long aluminum shaft arrows that were on their way to the dumpster because, if for no other reason, my office could …

An Annotated Review Of Scholarship: Measuring The Impact Of Community-University Partnerships, Kate Agnelli

Division of Community Engagement Resources

This series of annotations of scholarly products published between 2004 and 2013 seeks to provide readers with resources and scholarship regarding impact assessments for community-university partnerships. Articles reviewed include those that discuss the evaluation of individual partnerships, as well as those providing more general information and guidance. The document helps to illuminate work that is consistent with the Division of Community Engagement’s mission to mobilize effective partnerships and advance the university’s strategic plan, Quest for Distinction. These annotations will provide a resource to community-engaged faculty at VCU and other higher education institutions.

Modelling The Human Visual Cortex, A Complete Model From Visual Stimulus To Bold Measurement, Mark M. Schira, Peter Robinson, Michael Breakspear, Kevin M. Aquino

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at The Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision (APCV) 2014 19-22 July 2014, Takamatsu, Japan

Measure For Measure : A Review Of Outcomes Of School Education In Australia, John Ainley, Eveline Gebhardt

Assessment and Reporting

There have been a plethora of research reports providing information about the achievements of students in Australian schools and how those achievements differ among jurisdictions and among groups of students. However, each report has often been viewed in isolation from other similar studies. This report is intended to provide an integrated appraisal of the results of the international and national achievement surveys conducted since 1994 but with some references to earlier studies. In addition to limiting the task to manageable proportions, this time span corresponds to the widespread introduction of modern measurement methods so that there is a better basis …

Europe Looks For Better Ways To Measure The Value Of The Arts And Humanities, Ellen Hazelkorn

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Measurement Of Mental Attention: Assessing A Cognitive Component Underlying Performance On Standardized Intelligence Tests, Steven J. Howard, Janice Johnson, Juan Pascual-Leone

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Despite the widespread use of standardized IQ tests to measure human intelligence, problems with such measures have led some to suggest that better indices may derive from measurement of cognitive processes underlying performance on IQ tests (e.g., working memory capacity). However, measures from both approaches may exhibit performance biases in favour of majority groups, due to the influence of prior learning and experience. Mental attentional (M-) capacity is proposed to be a causal factor underlying developmental growth in working memory. Measures of M-capacity index important cognitive variance underlying performance on standardized intelligence tests. These measures appear to be reasonably culture-fair …

The Forms Of Bullying Scale (Fbs): Validity And Reliability Estimates For A Measure Of Bullying Victimization And Perpetration In Adolescence, Therese M. Shaw, Julian J. Dooley, Donna S. Cross, Stephen R Zubrick, Stacey K. Waters

Research outputs 2013

The study of bullying behavior and its consequences for young people depends on valid and reliable measurement of bullying victimization and perpetration. Although numerous self-report bullying-related measures have been developed, robust evidence of their psychometric properties is scant, and several limitations inhibit their applicability. The Forms of Bullying Scale (FBS), with versions to measure bullying victimization (FBS-V) and perpetration (FBS-P), was developed on the basis of existing instruments, for use with 12-to 15-year-old adolescents to economically, yet comprehensively measure both bullying perpetration and victimization. Measurement properties were estimated. Scale validity was tested using data from 2 independent studies of 3,496 …

Product Lifecycle Management: Measuring What Is Important - Product Lifecycle Implementation Maturity Model, Abram Walton, Cynthia Tomovic, Michael Grieves

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Industry reports that benefits of PLM are difficult to assess because the same benefit can be expressed as a function of time, cost, quality, or any combination. Based on a review of the PLM literature in an earlier study, a PLM Process Model and an initial list of PLM related metrics was generated and later confirmed through interviews with experienced PLM users. In the current study, the original PLM Process Model was refined and the list of metrics was subjected to an exploratory factor analysis in which specific metrics were found to be related to one of four factors: Inputs, …

Using Rasch Residuals To Analyze The Demographic Characteristics Of Respondents With Unexpected Incorrect Answers: Implications For Construct Validity, Robert K. Gable, Larry Ludlow, Ph.D., Stacey L. Kite

Research Methodology

This paper illustrates the use of Rasch model residuals to better understand perceived respondent meaning and structure of item content in the context of construct validity. Data were gathered from1366 grade 7-8 students using the Survey of Knowledge of Internet Risk and Internet Behavior. The characteristics of the respondents with unexpected patterns of residuals for persons not fitting the Rasch model are examined for 7 items defining the Knowledge of Internet Risk scale. These analyses contribute to a better understanding of the item content and person scores, and contribute to more meaningful score inferences.