Education Commons^™

Pyp And Myp Student Performance On The International Schools’ Assessment (Isa), Ling Tan, Yan Bibby

Monitoring Learning

This study, undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), investigated how International Baccalaureate (IB) students enrolled in the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) performed on the International Schools’ Assessment (ISA), relative to non‐IB students. The ISA assesses student performance in Grades 3 to 10 across four domains: Math Literacy, Reading, Narrative Writing, and Expository Writing. The math and reading components of the assessment are based on the reading and mathematical literacy frameworks of the OECD'sProgramme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The study sample included IB students (N=23,575) and non‐IB students ( …

The New Arkansas School Performance Report, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The Arkansas Department of Education has just released the Arkansas School Performance Report, a yearly report on academic achievement in all of Arkansas’ schools.1 One important addition to the Report this year is an academic improvement rating for all elementary and middle schools in the state. This rating should be of interest to all school observers who desire more nuanced information about school and student performance than is provided in commonly used school performance indices, such as the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) rating. We applaud the Arkansas Department of Education for collecting and releasing this invaluable information on student growth.

Beyond Happiness: Managing Engagement To Enhance Satisfaction And Grades, Hamish Coates

Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE)

Universities collect a considerable amount of data on students’ perceptions of the quality of teaching and institutional services, including on their satisfaction with the overall experience. While much data is collected from students, less is collected on what students are actually doing. Yet it is equally – or arguably more – important to understand students and their learning as it is to understand learners’ satisfaction with provision. The Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) provides data on both learners’ engagement in effective learning practices and on whether institutions have provided the support mechanisms to facilitate such engagement. It also collects …

Developing Tests And Questionnaires For A National Assessment Of Educational Achievement, Prue Anderson, George Morgan

Assessment and Reporting

This book addresses the design of two types of data collection instruments: student achievement tests and background questionnaires. Part 1 covers the development of an assessment framework and a test blueprint, item writing, pretesting, and final test layout. Part 2 delineates comparable stages and activities in the construction of background questionnaires, which are used to gather information from students, teachers, head teachers, or parents on variables that might help explain differences in student performance on the achievement test. Part 3 describes how to design a manual for test administration to help ensure that all students take the test under standardised …

Developing The Whole Child: An Evaluation Of The Latino After‐School Initiative (Lasi), Virginia Diez

Gastón Institute Publications

This report presents findings from an evaluation of the Latino After-School Initiative (LASI), an umbrella organization that provides funding, educational guidelines, staff development, and networking opportunities to after-school programs in the Greater Boston area. LASI funds seven Latino-led after-school programs servicing children ages 7-14. The programs are located in Lynn, Cambridge, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and Chelsea. LASI was established in 2001 by the United Way of Massachusetts Bay as a five-year demonstration project to improve academic achievement—as measured by MCAS scores and high school retention rates—among Latino children.

Research On The Progressive Achievement Tests And Academic Achievement In Schools, Gerard Fogarty

Assessment and Reporting

This report presents three studies examining research conducted in Queensland on Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) published by Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). In study 1 ‘Predictive Validity of the Progressive Achievement Tests for Boys’, a battery of tests was used to assess vocabulary, comprehension, and numeracy skill levels of students commencing study at a regional high school. The tests were used as a screening tool to identify students who might benefit from additional instruction and also to select high achieving students for participation in extension work, maths competitions, and the like. Test results were later correlated with performance in …

Literacy Assessment New Zealand Style, Thomas R. Guskey, Jeffrey K. Smith, Lisa F. Smith, Terry Crooks, Lester Flockton

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

It's mostly performance based. It assesses students in teams as well as individually. What's more, students like it.

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. …

Learned Helplessness: The Effect Of Failure On Test-Taking, Michael W. Firmin, Chi-En Hwang, Margaret Copella, Sarah Clark

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study examined learned helplessness and its effect on test taking. Students were given one of two tests; the first began with extremely difficult questions and the other started with easy questions. We hypothesized that those who took the test beginning with difficult questions would become easily frustrated and possibly doubt their intellectual ability. This would result in the participants missing easy questions when compared to those who took the test which began with the easy questions. The result of the study confirmed our hypothesis. The results of this study could also be applied to other classroom tests and standardized …

How Classroom Assessments Improve Learning, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Teachers who develop useful assessments, provide corrective instruction, and give students second chances to demonstrate success can improve their instruction and help students learn.

Impact Of School Libraries On Student Achievement: A Review Of The Research, Michele Lonsdale

School and system improvement

This literature review was undertaken on behalf of the Australian School Library Association (ASLA). It was conducted over a four-week period in November–December 2002. The main purpose of the review was to report on the nature and extent of the evidence that has linked school libraries to student achievement from 1990 - 2002, to identify the strengths and gaps in existing data as it might relate to an Australian setting, and to suggest some strategies for developing further research in Australia.

Assessing Student Strengths: Academic Performance And Persistence Of First-Time College Students At A Private Church-Affiliated College, Jeffrey S. Williamson

Faculty Scholarship – School of Graduate and Continuing Studies

The research study sought to identify the significance or impact of strengths training received by first-time college students at a private, denominationally affiliated college that holds membership in the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and to determine whether or not there were statistically significant differences in first semester outcomes between students who received formal feedback and training on their identified strengths and those who do not receive their strengths results or training.

First-time college students at Mount Vernon Nazarene College (MVNC) in Mount Vernon, Ohio completed the Gallup Strengths Finder (GSF) assessment as a part of the new …

An Analysis Of 4th And 5th Grade Meap Results At Elementary Schools In Southwest Michigan, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Kristine Kracker

Reports

No abstract provided.

Case Studies Of High-Ability Students With Learning Disabilities Who Have Achieved, Sally M. Reis, Terry W. Neu, Joan M. Mcguire

Education Faculty Publications

We used qualitative methods to study 12 young people with learning disabilities who were successful at the college level. The participants reported negative school experiences, verified by their parents and school records, such as social problems, difficulty with teachers, and frustration with certain academic areas. The interaction of their high abilities and their learning disabilities produced a number of negative consequences since their talents were not usually addressed by the school system they attended. However, despite these experiences, participants were able to integrate specific personal traits and special compensation strategies and environmental modifications to succeed in a challenging university setting. …

Primary Education By Correspondence: Being An Account Of The Methods And Achievements Of The Australian Correspondence Schools In Instructing Children Living In Isolated Areas, Kenneth Stewart Cunningham

Student learning processes

An account of the methods and achievements of the Australian correspondence schools in instructing children living in isolated areas. It seems that Australia can claim to be the first country to have shown in a systematic way, and on a large scale, that it is possible to provide by correspondence a complete elementary education for children who have never been to school. Cunningham reviews the conditions giving rise to correspondence instruction, the growth and scope of the Correspondence Schools, curricula and methods, attainments and progress of pupils.