Education Commons^™

Assessing Teacher Data Use: A Validation Study Of The Teacher Data Use Survey (Tdus), Alice Renee Foran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Student achievement data have been the cornerstone of state and national accountability efforts for decades, and the focus on data-based decision making and evidence-based practices in education from policymakers, the public, and researchers continues to increase. Underlying the various pressures and incentives on educators to use data is a basic logic model: if teachers use data, their practice will change, and those changes will lead to improved student outcomes. The simplicity of the model belies the complexity of the practice of data use. Many individual- and organizational-level factors, such as attitudes and beliefs, competence, supports, and context play a role. …

“Bad Inquiry”: How Accountability, Power, And Deficit Thinking Hinder Pre-Service Practitioner Inquiry, Stephanie Schroeder

Journal of Practitioner Research

This study of 30 pre-service teachers’ practitioner inquiry papers explores potential pitfalls of practicing inquiry with pre-service teachers. Focusing on the types of questions pre-service teachers ask about student learning, the challenges they face when engaging in inquiry, and the weaknesses of their inquiry products, this paper finds that accountability culture in education, pre-service teachers’ lack of power in the classroom, and deficit thinking left unchallenged by instructors led to weak inquiries. Implications include the need for teacher educators to work with mentor teachers across university and K-12 boundaries, and the need to teach explicitly about the power inquiry holds …

The Teacher Evaluation Conundrum: Examining The Perceptions Of Special Education Teachers, Gordon Brobbey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For more than a decade now, state and local education agencies have adopted high-stakes teacher evaluation systems in response to federal accountability mandates and the recognition of the critical role of teacher effectiveness in student achievement. Teacher evaluation systems have revealed relevant details regarding teacher effectiveness, especially in general education settings. However, no systems of teacher evaluation have been developed and evaluated for special education teachers and little is known about how special education teachers have fared under the accountability microscope. The study was informed by three significant issues pertaining to special education teacher evaluation: (1) the challenges surrounding evaluation …

Perceptions Of Practitioners In A Voluntary Prekindergarten On Probation, Susan Evelyn Weber

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the perspectives and beliefs that practitioners have about prekindergarten in a Voluntary Prekindergarten program unable to meet minimal accountability requirements. The exploratory questions included: What are the beliefs and perceptions about effective and appropriate early childhood education among practitioners in a Voluntary Prekindergarten program on probation? And in what ways does probation influence practitioners' perceptions and beliefs about early childhood education? I used participants from a school where I conducted a pilot study. My data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews, resumes, my research reflective journal, and the centers program improvement …

Reading Assessment Practices Of Elementary General Education Teachers: A Descriptive Study, Sarah Mirlenbrink Bombly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this descriptive study, I researched five elementary general education teachers' reading assessment practices as they worked within the context of IDEA (2004), NCLB (2002) and Response to Intervention (RTI). My own connection to the classroom and reading assessment practices brought me to this research. I presented my personal and professional connection through vignettes about my own classroom assessment practices. Relevant literature on both the context and culture of assessment were pertinent to this research.

I used a qualitative design, specifically, Colaizzi's (1978) method of phenomenological analysis. Data were three in-depth phenomenological interviews, relevant documents and artifacts, and use of …

Impact Of School Counselors' Use Of Deliberate Practice And Accountability Measures On Perceived Levels Of Self-Efficacy And Student Academic Success, Allison Paolini

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the degree and frequency to which school counselors' utilized accountability measures and deliberate practice and their impact on perceived levels of counselor self-efficacy, as well as, perceived levels of student academic success. This study attempted to answer several critical questions regarding school counselor accountability and deliberate practice. It assessed the relationship between receipt of formal training in the American School Counseling Association Model (ASCA) or another counseling model and likelihood of using ASCA principles, the relationship between years of work experience and use of accountability measures and deliberate practice, the relationship between use of accountability measures and …

The Relationship Of Principal Resiliency To Job Satisfaction And Work Commitment: An Exploratory Study Of K-12 Public School Principals In Florida, Jason Pepe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics associated with resilient school leaders. Principals juggle multiple responsibilities and work under increasingly stressful conditions. Despite recent role changes, added job responsibilities, and increased accountability, some principals remain remarkably resilient while working in a tumultuous environment. Using Henderson and Milstein's (2003) definition, principal resiliency was described as "the capacity to spring back, rebound, successfully adapt in the face of adversity, and develop social, academic, and vocational competence despite exposure to severe stress or simply to the stress that is inherent in today's world" (p. 7). This empirical study tested the theory …

Accountability In A Postdesegregation Era: The Continuing Significance Of Racial Segregation, Kathryn M. Borman, Tamela Eitle, Deanna Michael, David J. Eitle, Reginald Lee, Larry Johnson, Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, Sherman Dorn, Barbara Shircliffe

Educational and Psychological Studies Faculty Publications

In the wake of both the end of court-ordered school desegregation and the growing popularity of accountability as a mechanism to maximize student achievement, the authors explore the association between racial segregation and the percentage of students passing high-stakes tests in Florida's schools. Results suggest that segregation matters in predicting school-level performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test after control for other known andpurportedpredictors of standardized testperformance. Also, these results suggest that neither recent efforts by the state of Florida to equalize the funding of education nor current efforts involving high-stakes testing will close the Black-White achievement gap without consideration …

Accountability In A Postdesegregation Era: The Continuing Significance Of Racial Segregation, Kathryn M. Borman, Tamela Eitle, Deanna Michael, David J. Eitle, Reginald Lee, Larry Johnson, Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, Sherman Dorn, Barbara Shircliffe

Deirdre Cobb-Roberts

In the wake of both the end of court-ordered school desegregation and the growing popularity of accountability as a mechanism to maximize student achievement, the authors explore the association between racial segregation and the percentage of students passing high-stakes tests in Florida's schools. Results suggest that segregation matters in predicting school-level performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test after control for other known andpurportedpredictors of standardized testperformance. Also, these results suggest that neither recent efforts by the state of Florida to equalize the funding of education nor current efforts involving high-stakes testing will close the Black-White achievement gap without consideration …

The Political Legacy Of School Accountability Systems, Sherman Dorn

Educational and Psychological Studies Faculty Publications

The recent battle reported from Washington about proposed national testing program does not tell the most important political story about high stakes tests. Politically popular school accountability systems in many states already revolve around statistical results of testing with high-stakes environments. The future of high stakes tests thus does not depend on what happens on Capitol Hill. Rather, the existence of tests depends largely on the political culture of published test results. Most critics of high-stakes testing do not talk about that culture, however. They typically focus on the practice legacy of testing, the ways in which testing creates perverse …