Education Commons^™

Developing An Assessment Framework: Measuring Digital Literacy Of Interior Design Students In A Digital Drawing Course, Somang Yang

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study provides a foundation to measure students’ level of learning based on education theory for digital technology and meaningful technology theory for digital literacy. There has yet to exist an effective assessment tool that can evaluate students’ digital literacy. To provide initial insight into the digital technology integrated course development, Wacom pen-tablet and Autodesk Sketchbook were utilized to create an interior design curriculum for undergraduate college students. The findings of this study shed light on the necessity of assessing new technology for integration into coursework in higher education. There are five themes that an instructor must examine when …

An Evaluative Study Of A Health Information Management Program Following A Significant Curricular Change, Jennifer Lynn Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

The advent of electronic health records (EHRs) has led to significant changes in the role of those who managing patient health information, Health Information Management (HIM) professionals. These changes have further led to significant changes in the educational training required for HIM professionals, leading to new curriculum requirements. Based on the need for well-prepared professionals in the changing HIM environment, it is essential to insure that educational programs are effectively preparing students for the new roles they will be expected to fill. This study is an in-depth case study of the HIM academic program at Illinois State University. The purpose …

Resilience And Academic Achievement In Minority Students, James A. Britton

Theses and Dissertations

Students can thrive within school programs and sustain their capacity for success despite seemingly overwhelming obstacles. A model of school-based resilience can insulate students from risk and help students acknowledge challenges, embrace them, and learn as students encounter challenge and surmount it.

This study of a high school program analyzed the relationship between educational resilience and academic achievement through a direct measure of resilience. The research investigated whether a program increased resilience for minority and low-income high school students and whether stronger resilience was associated with improved academic outcomes. Students in the program produced significantly better academic outcomes, as measured …

Teaching To Assess: An Evaluation Of Assessment Education For Secondary Teacher Candidates, Daniel M. Frederking

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the assessment instruction of a four-year undergraduate secondary education program and its alignment to the teaching standards and the summative teacher licensure assessment. Document analyses were conducted on the program’s syllabi as well as the assessment portions of the InTASC standards and the handbook of the edTPA. Results highlighted several areas of misalignment in the areas of categorical concurrence, depth of knowledge, and range of knowledge. Also of note, preservice teachers in different secondary subject areas are receiving different amounts of assessment instruction. Additionally, local edTPA data was examined to highlight areas of strength and weakness. Students …

Applying Conditional Distributions To Individuals: Using Latent Variable Models, Feng Ji

Theses and Dissertations

This study proposes a new method to interpret individual results of psychological test batteries. The Mahalanobis distance is a commonly-used measure of how unusual an individual’s profile of scores is compared to a population of score profiles. In models in which there is a set of predictors and a set of dependent variables (e.g., cognitive abilities predicting academic abilities), it is useful to distinguish between a profile of dependent scores that is unusual because its profile of predictor scores is unusual and a profile of dependent scores that is unusual even after controlling for the predictors. The conditional Mahalanobis distance …

The Assessment Of Scientific Reasoning Skills Of High School Science Students: A Standardized Assessment Instrument, Shane Hanson

Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of science education has been achieving scientific literacy. However, this has been no easy task considering that scientific literacy has many definitions that involve a plethora of activities. This means that assessing the topic becomes quite challenging, especially if this is done with some sort of overarching instrument. Fortunately, Shamos (1995) has characterized the many dimensions of scientific literacy into three levels. These dimensions can then be assessed individually, making the task of assessment less overwhelming. The highest level, true scientific literacy contains dimensions that are discussed in this study, which already have individual assessments. Wenning's Nature …

Executive Coaching As A Model Of Professional Development For School Superintendents, Timothy Brian Arnold Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a utilization-focused program evaluation that describes the impact of an executive coaching model on the professional learning of superintendents who participated in the IASA School for Advanced Leadership (ISAL). This program evaluation is a knowledge-focused, or lessons learned-oriented, formative evaluation of the ISAL cohort program. A qualitative approach is used to describe the lived experiences of superintendents who participated in the coaching model provided through the ISAL cohort program. The results were intended to inform general practice and to provide recommendations on the use of a coaching model in the professional development of superintendents for the ISAL …

Illinois Teacher Evaluation Student Growth Component: A Predecision-Making Policy Analysis, Joshua Robert Olsen

Theses and Dissertations

ILLINOIS TEACHER EVALUATION STUDENT GROWTH COMPONENT:

A PREDECISION-MAKING POLICY ANALYSIS

Joshua R. Olsen

122 Pages May 2015

Public school districts in Illinois are going to face massive changes to their evaluation systems in the coming years. Thanks to the adoption of the Performance Evaluation Reform Act of 2010 and Senate Bill 7 of 2011, teacher evaluation must contain student growth as a significant factor, beginning with the 2016-2017 school year. Not only must student performance on tests become part of the evaluation of teachers, but, moreover, teacher evaluation will play a greater role in the hiring, retention, and release of …

An Analysis Of Program Evaluation In Community College Learning Assistance Centers, Doug Franklin

Theses and Dissertations

Learning assistance centers exist in varied formats at many colleges and provide services to support the educational mission such as tutoring, support for special needs students, study skills instruction, writing or math instruction. This study seeks to add to the small body of research on evaluation measures used within learning assistance centers and the program evaluation practices of such centers by determining the prevalence of program evaluation and what measures learning assistance directors perceive they should be using in the evaluation of their program compared to those actually being used?

Learning assistance center directors at 61 public two-year institutions, out …

Essentially Point-Less: The Influence Of Alternative, Non Points-Based Grading On Teachers' Instructional Practices, Jay C. Percell

Theses and Dissertations

Grading is often a time-consuming, laborious task for teachers continuously required to document student performance. Simultaneously, among students there is intense competition for grades, which determine class ranks, college entrances, scholarship opportunities, as well as satisfy parental and societal expectations (Campbell, 2012; Wood, 1994). Due to the importance of grades, some educators have sought to determine whether or not traditional grading systems are truly indicative of students' abilities (Brookhart, 1991, 1993; Guskey, Swan & Jung, 2011).

This study investigated alternative grading systems, especially those that were non points-based, and the influence alternative grading had upon teachers' instructional practices. This study …

Assessment For Learning: An Evaluation Of A Professional, Aimee Davis Feehery

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this program evaluation was to determine how teachers have come to understand, use, and value formative assessment through their participation in our Assessment for Learning Teams for the past five years. Greeno, Collins, & Resnick's (1996) learning theory serves as the theoretical framework of the evaluation, as this program evaluation serves to determine if, and how, teachers have changed their mental models of assessment from a Behaviorist-Differentiationist model to the Cognitive-Situative model, or from an Assessment of Learning view of assessment, to an Assessment for Learning perspective. In order to determine if teachers have gained the conceptual …

Disparity Of Principal Accountability, Mary Kathryn Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

This study begins with a review of court cases that have helped shape public education in America. Following the review is an analysis of federal reform in education from 1965 to the present, paired with educational leadership literature to highlight a disparity in what federal mandates and state policies have in place for accountability measures. The study ends with a state analysis of Illinois and Iowa to find the strengths and weaknesses of state policy in the area of principal accountability.

As policymakers have worked to increase accountability in K-12 education, efforts have focused on a variety of measures to …