Education Commons^™

Charter Schools’ Accountability: A Program Evaluation Of The Charter Oversight Unit Of The California Department Of Education, Chaddrick L. Owes

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a qualitative-based program evaluation that explored the existing charter school accountability measures, processes, and oversight systems of the California Department of Education (CDE) in relation to State Board of Education (SBE)-authorized charter schools. This dissertation further explored the potential program improvements that could be implemented to improve the charter school oversight functions of the SBE and CDE. After a charter school receives authorization and approval to operate, the degrees of accountably and oversight vary dependent upon the charter authorizer and the oversite entity. This dissertation study aimed to discover how charter schools authorized by the SBE are …

The Impact Of A Value-Added Model On Educational Leadership Practices In Northwest Louisiana, Candice D. Webert

Doctoral Dissertations

This study addressed the impact of VAM, concerns with VAM data, uses and interventions educational leaders provided teachers, and components perceived as necessary for VAM effectiveness as an evaluation tool. The demographics used for this study were position, school size, and experience. Due to the documented need for educational accountability from the 1960s to present, the knowledge gained in this study was valuable. While the initiative was implemented as a response to increased accountability, the perceptions and understanding of such new initiatives can impact their effectiveness; in turn, impacting educational leadership. This study focused on the effectiveness of VAM.

In …

Students And Faculty Indivisible: Crafting A Higher Education Culture Of Flourishing, Eileen K. Camfield

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of three separate articles addressing related issues central to the culture and future of higher education. The questions that animate the investigations are: In what ways is writing self-efficacy forged in the learning relationships between student and instructor? In what ways, if any, do traditional assessment practices impact student development? In what ways, if any, does institutional culture shape faculty identity, and what is gained or lost in the process? These queries stem from concerns about possible disconnects between visions of higher education's potential and actual practices in the classroom. The dissertation uses grounded theory to …

Faculty Perception And Use Of Learning-Centered Strategies To Assess Student Performance, Matthew Lynn Johnson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, the researcher explored collegiate faculty use and perception of learning- centered strategies to assess student performance on various learning tasks. Through this study, the researcher identified the assessment strategies that faculty participants most frequently used, as well as the strategies that they perceived to be most effective. In addition to an analysis of the most frequently used assessment strategies for the entire sample, the researcher also investigated differences in strategies used by faculty members in specific discipline sub-groups: Arts and Humanities, Natural and Health Sciences, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Participants taking part in this study were …

Designing Innovative Alternatives To Traditional High Schools: What Leaders Need To Know, Chester Roy Edwards

Dissertations and Theses

The need for new and innovative alternatives to traditional high schools has never been greater. Never designed to graduate all students on time, traditional high schools and their high dropout rates have remained unchanged for the last 30 years. Improving secondary schooling for all young people is a worthwhile social and educational objective. Many school leaders want to create alternative high schools but may lack the knowledge of what to do, nor may they have a comprehensive design process to follow.

The research question explored in this dissertation is: What do leaders in education need to know to design innovative …

Planting, Learning, Growing: Utilizing Service-Learning In Science, Technology, Engineering And Mathematics Among Urban Middle School Students, Carly Jessica Chavez

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is meant to work as a descriptive analysis of service-learning pedagogy and outcomes, through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning opportunities. One of the many challenges facing public education is how to actively incorporate elements of STEM into the classroom curriculum and school-wide.

Applications Of The Well-Educated Mind 2003 Concept By Susan Bauer In The Southern California History Classrooms, Tomasz Bogdan Stanek

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to discover how courses in world history and United States history are taught in Southern California secondary schools. At this stage of the research the study of the history course instruction will be generally defined as an exploratory and investigative inquiry involving the interviews of the history faculty, analysis of their course offerings and syllabi content, and the overall teachers' course content preparation and knowledge.

The Validation And Utilization Of The C.A.R.E. Self-Assessment Tool And A Comparison Of Perceived Levels Of Cultural Responsiveness In Benwood I And Benwood Ii Schools, Jennifer R. Spates

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine teachers' perceptions of culturally responsive policies and practices in sixteen elementary schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Participants completed a survey called the C.A.R.E. (Culturally Aware and Responsive Education) tool, which was developed by the researcher. The survey was administered in two sets of schools with contrasting populations and a comparative analysis between the two sets of schools was conducted. The purpose of this study was to measure teachers' perceptions regarding the level of cultural responsiveness of their school's policies and practices. An additional purpose was to validate the C.A.R.E. The sample of subjects consisted of …