Education Commons^™

Advancing Evaluation In Community Colleges: A Mixed Methods Case Study Of Outcomes-Based Assessment Training In Student Affairs, Tammy L. Russell

Dissertations

Many student affairs departments struggle to contribute to an institution’s evidence base of student learning. In part, this results from student affairs personnel not having adequate training in how to assess learning outside the classroom. This is a particular challenge for small community colleges, in which individual units (e.g., admissions or financial aid) may have only one or two employees. Failure to assess co-curricular learning poses challenges to institutions in meeting accreditation standards, placing them at risk for increased scrutiny and loss of state funding under a performance-based system. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to use a …

An Analysis Of Campus Violence Threat Assessment Policy Implementation At Michigan Community Colleges, Russell T. Panico Jr.

Dissertations

This dissertation evaluated campus violence threat assessment policy and procedure implementation at the community college level of higher education. The importance of this topic was to provide a manageable and collaborative initiative for leadership at institutions of higher learning to identify, develop, implement, and evaluate a policy that can effectively prevent acts of campus-related violence. A mixed-methods study approach using a Likert-scale survey with supporting open-ended questions was used to guide the exploration. Bardach’s (2016) Eightfold Path for Policy Analysis was the framework used by Michigan community colleges to apply to their own unique situations. This method determined the prevalence …

A Mixed-Method Investigation Of Common Assessments Within A Suburban Secondary School, Matthew Irvin

Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method case study, on the continued implementation of common assessments developed within Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), was to investigate possible relationships between teacher collaboration, common assessments and End of Course (EOC) assessments. The researcher investigated the perceptions of teachers and administrators in a Midwest secondary setting on common assessment development and utilization on the culture of teaching and data-driven decision making. The information from this study will provide the researched school district as well as others with insights into their implementation of PLCs and specifically the development and utilization of common assessments. In order to …

Taking The “Squeeze” Off Of Social Studies: A Phenomenological Study Of Teacher “Curricular” Autonomy And Its Effects On Social Studies Instructional Time, Jerri Antoinette Johnson

Dissertations

The state of social studies instruction in US schools has become dismal. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain an understanding of the impact of high stakes testing on social studies teaching when it is not tested by the state. I examined the elementary teacher’s “curricular” autonomy (curricular/instructional decision making) within the context of social studies teaching in a suburban low performing, urban demographic, school. Participants were asked to describe the experience of making instructional decisions regarding social studies education. The specific aims of this study were to: 1. reveal the meaning of teacher autonomy for teachers in …

Conceptualizing And Validating The Character Virtues Index (Cvi), Mark Allen Liston

Dissertations

Can a valid, reliable measure of multi-dimensional adolescent character be developed? Goals were: 1) To construct a grid of trait lists by experts in Positive Psychology (PP), Character Education (CE), and Positive Youth Development (PYD) to create the Character Taxonomy as a conceptual basis; 2) to construct the Character Virtues Index (CVI) as a brief measure of the taxonomy’s traits; and 3) to validate CVI. The Character Taxonomy produced 18 traits that were hypothesized to cover the various dimensions of character. Two CVI field tests produced a reliable measure with 11 factors for a validation study. The validation study of …

Using Tops For Identification Of Gifted Hispanic Students, Barbara Martin

Dissertations

USING TOPS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF GIFTED HISPANIC STUDENTS

Researchers have noted an underrepresentation of Hispanic ELL students in gifted education. A literature review revealed several problems encountered when assessing and identifying gifted Hispanics and have also suggested a variety of solutions including use of non-standardized alternative assessments. In this project, the researcher explored the attitudes of educators regarding the addition of a non-standardized tool. The TOPS is a non-standardized tool used to systematically gather and document qualitative observational data within the context of instruction (Harradine, Coleman, & Winn, 2014). The researcher used both a survey questionnaire and a semi-structured interview …