Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Interview With Andreas Schleicher, Padraig O'Malley, Andreas Schleicher

New England Journal of Public Policy

This interview took place on March 17, 2014, in Washington, DC, with Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills, and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Schleicher is responsible for the Directorate of Education and Skills’ research, analysis, and publication of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), and the development and analysis of benchmarks on the performance of education systems. The OECD reports on PISA, PIAAC, and TALIS were released between December 3, …

The Influence Of Community Demographics On Student Achievement On The Connecticut Mastery Test In Mathematics And English Language Arts In Grade 3 Through 8, Albert Nii Lartey Sackey Jr.

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Student achievement has been measured in the United States for decades through the use of standardized state assessments. The purpose of this study was to examine which combination of 15 out-of-school community demographic variables best predicted and accounted for the most variance in a Connecticut school district’s percentages of students scoring goal or above on the 2010 Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) for the third through eighth grade in Mathematics (Math) and English Language Arts (ELA). Analyses were conducted using both a simultaneous regression model and a hierarchical regression model. This study looked at the entire population of districts that were …

Student Motives For Taking Online Courses In Educational Administration, Theodore J. Kowalski, David Alan Dolph, Ila Phillip Young

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This study was conducted with students enrolled in a master’s degree program in educational administration at a private research university that offered all required courses in both online and in-class formats. The purposes were to determine (a) the extent to which online courses were selected, (b) the level of importance students placed on four common motives for taking online courses, and (c) levels of association between the importance of values and two demographic variables (employment level and years of teaching experience). The extent to which students took online courses varied considerably. Convenience and flexibility were the most important motives and …

Superintendent Mobility, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A study nearly 50 years ago categorized superintendents as being either career-bound or place-bound. The former consisted of administrators inclined to advance their career by relocating to a new school district or state. The latter group consisted of administrators who sought internal promotions over relocation.

Two findings from AASA:s latest decennial superintendents' study reveal virtually no change in mobility since 2000. This outcome is somewhat surprising in light of the increases in the number of post-retirement individuals continuing to serve in the superintendency by accepting a job covered by another state's pension system.

An Investigation Of Teacher Evaluation Systems And How They Can Be Transformed To Improve Teaching And Learning: A Change Leadership Plan, Kelly O'Brien

Dissertations

Numerous states have contributed to the overhaul of teacher evaluation systems by imposing mandatory guidelines for the development of new measures. The purpose of this Change Leadership plan was to build upon my research “Principal Perspectives on the Current State of the Art of Teacher Evaluations: A Program Evaluation” which revealed a need to investigate how teacher evaluation systems could be transformed by integrating technology to streamline the process and thus improve teaching and learning. Therefore, this Change Leadership plan aimed to address two important questions. How is technology being used within current teacher evaluation systems? Within current teacher evaluation …

Race-Based Preferences And The Supreme Court, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

So-called race-conscious remedies ensure that all citizens are considered fairly and equally for employment and education opportunities. The legal status of race-conscious remedies continues to present challenges for education leaders, policymakers, and lawmakers.

Does Retirement Make You Happy? A Simultaneous Equations Approach, Raquel Fonseca, Arie Kapteyn, Jinkook Lee, Gema Zamarro

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

Continued improvements in life expectancy and fiscal insolvency of public pensions have led to an increase in pension entitlement ages in several countries, but its consequences for subjective well-being are largely unknown. Financial consequences of retirement complicate the estimation of effects of retirement on subjective well-being as financial circumstances may influence subjective well-being, and therefore, the effects of retirement are likely to be confounded by the change in income. At the same time, unobservable determinants of income are probably related with unobservable determinants of subjective wellbeing, making income possibly endogenous if used as control in subjective wellbeing regressions. To address …

School Type And Structure As Predictors Of Perceived School Climate And Student Academic Achievement Among Middle School Students In Baltimore City Public Schools, Rhonda L. Richetta

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study examined the impact of school type and school structure on perceived school climate and student achievement, for middle grades students in a large urban school district. The specific school types examined were charter schools, transformational schools, and traditional schools. For school structure, the grade configurations of K-8, 6-8, and 6-12 were examined. The total sample number for the first data set, the climate survey, was 12,258 students, and for the second data set, test scores, it was 17,472, and a total of 103 schools.

Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to measure the association among school types, school …

Providing The Fuel (And Passing The Flame), Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

At the risk of opening with a cliché statement- at the heart of the most effective mentor is a burning passion. The fuel for this passion is a desire to convince, not just try to, but actually convince your mentee that you care about their success (be it in the classroom, career, or personal life). I am guilty of believing in, and living by, this cliché. However, despite passion being my primary motivator, I am not unwilling to admit that rationale for mentoring can sometimes transcend this ethically normative line of thinking. I believe that there are also sometimes quantitative, …

Ex Ovo Omnia, Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

One of history’s most diverse thinkers metaphorically depicted humanity’s dangerous reliance on nonrenewable energy resources as an unborn chick in an egg. American philosopher, poet, scientist, and mathematician, Buckminster Fuller, described the nutrients in an egg as the temporary and extinguishable support required for the development of an unhatched chick. Once the nutrients are depleted, the chick must break from its shell and cultivate its own mechanism for survival. Symbolically, he explained that the human population must view the use of earth’s finite resources as the nutriment in an egg that can be provisionally relied upon in order to provide …

Perceptions Of State Education Agencies, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Relationships between state government and school districts reflect long-standing tensions involving liberty and equity. In states where the former is emphasized, the authority and scope of responsibilities relegated to state agencies are limited, so local boards and superintendents have considerable leeway to make decisions. In states that exercise centralized controls to provide reasonably equal educational opportunities, localities have less flexibility. Consequently, superintendent survey ratings should be considered in light of such dissimilarities across state education departments.

An AASA superintendency study indicated superintendents held widely differing views of their state education agencies. In general, district enrollment, with one exception, was not …

Toward A More Perfect Definition Of Learning: Using Biomarkers To Predict And Assess Learning Performance, Samuel J. Hunt

Dissertations

This study seeks to establish groundwork for a new definition of learning based on neurogenesis capable of guiding future educational policy and practice. The purpose of the research was to: (1) produce separate increases in neurogenesis and intelligence, (2) measure the changes in neurogenesis using protein biomarkers, and (3) correlate increases in levels of the protein biomarkers with increases in intelligence. The study employed a randomized pretest-posttest, control/comparison group research design. Thirty-eight fourth- and fifth-grade students with diverse academic needs were divided into three experimental groups: chess, exercise, and combined; with an additional control group. Pre-post measures included intelligence (RSPM) …

Type Of School And Parental Awareness Of The Clery And Minger Acts When Selecting A College In The Commonwealth Of Kentucky, Steven R. Briggs

Dissertations

College and university campuses are being scrutinized more stringently in regard to the issue of campus safety. While media reports and advocacy groups may suggest to parents that college campuses are becoming more dangerous, research continues to demonstrate that colleges are a relatively safe environment. A problem exists that, although the Clery Act and the Minger Act in the Commonwealth of Kentucky require colleges and universities to report campus crime rates in order that parents and students can make an informed decision on selecting a college based on campus safety, few parents tend to be familiar with this resource. The …

Teacher Expectations Of Students In A Predominantly African American School District, Durand Duron Payton

Dissertations

Wong and Wong (2004) reported teachers‟ perceptions could become a self-fulfilling prophecy when addressing the students. According to Haycock (2001) once teachers‟ perceptions had developed, even if they were inaccurate, teachers would begin to act as if their beliefs were factual. By acting as though the beliefs were real, teachers could essentially cause their perceptions to materialize into the expectations of students. The purpose of this study is to explore teachers‟ expectations of students in a predominantly African American school district. Ferguson (1998) had considered the behaviors in which teachers' perceptions of the students‟ impact their expectations towards the students. …

Happiness In Us Schools: Students’ Subjective Well-Being As A Part Of School Improvement Planning, Richard E. Cleveland

Leadership, Technology & Human Development: Faculty Presentations

This paper presentation will begin with a brief overview of United States’ public education school improvement policy, the School Improvement Plan (SIP), and the focus on school climate. Next, the presentation will provide participants with an understanding of subjective well-being and a review of the literature addressing subjective well-being (SWB). Results from a psychometric investigation of two instruments measuring subjective well-being (SWB) with elementary-aged children will then be presented. The presentation will conclude with recommendations for application within the educational environment and future research.

Graduate Program Practices At Western University, Gloria J. Leckie

Purple Guides

Based on interviews with graduate chairs and faculty, the guide catalogues practices in graduate education, from recruitment through coursework, comprehensive exams, thesis proposals, to placement and tracking.

Single Gender Language Arts Classes And The Impact On Achievement Of Males, Brock English

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this causal comparative research design was to analyze the relationship between Language Arts scale scores of elementary male students on the Mississippi Curriculum Test, Version 2 (MCT2) and the type of classroom, mixed-gender or single-gender. The study also analyzed the percentage of questions answered correctly on the MCT2 in the English Language Arts sub-categories of vocabulary, reading comprehension, writing, and grammar. Archival data of 222 students was used, 100 male students in single-gender classes and 122 students in mixed-gender classes. The study was conducted in an urban elementary public school with a diverse population in northeast Mississippi. …

Negligence, Student Supervision, And School Business Officials, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

With a new school year on the horizon, the topic of adequate student supervision is once again on educators’ minds. Whether students are attending classes, playing in school yards, or participating in extracurricular sports or other activities, educators are at risk of liability for injuries that children sustain if officials fail to meet their duty to protect youngsters from unreasonable risks of harm.

Accordingly, awareness of the principles relating to the legal duty to supervise students adequately and the defenses to negligence can go a long way toward shielding school districts from liability. As evidenced by the representative cases cited …

Finance For All: The Impact Of Financial Literacy Training In Compulsory Secondary Education In Spain, Laura Hospido, Ernesto Villanueva, Gema Zamarro

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

We estimate the impact on objective measures of financial literacy of a 10-hour financial education program among 15-year-old students in compulsory secondary schooling. We use a matched sample of students and teachers in Madrid and two different estimation strategies. Firstly, we use reweighting estimators to compare the performance in a test of financial knowledge of students in treatment and control schools. In another specification, we use school fixed-effect estimates of the effect of the course on changes in scores in tests of financial knowledge. The program increased treated students’ financial knowledge by between one-fourth and one-third of a standard deviation. …

An Historical Perspective To Examine How Federal Policy Influenced The Definition And Evaluation Of Teacher Effectiveness Since 1950, Janine M. Mathesz

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Increased public demand to hold teachers accountable for student learning and to remove ineffective teachers has challenged state department of education officials to develop teacher evaluation systems that include student assessment data. Many educational researchers theorize teacher effectiveness is the variable under the control of the school with the most influence on student success.

This study examines the influence of federal government education policies on state teacher evaluation systems and how this influence has shaped the definition and evaluation of an effective teacher over the past 62 years. Teacher evaluations, when used as a proper tool, assist administrators in providing …

Navigating With Trust: A Proposal For Transforming Public Sector Schools Towards Learning Organizations In Pakistan, Zubeda Bana

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

While working with teachers, teacher educators, educational leaders and principals of schools and teacher education colleges throughout the country, I am informed that the most significant factor for transforming public sector schools is winning the trust of teachers. Teachers, no matter how they are recruited and what their current competencies are, have become part of the work-force in public sector schools. It is observed that the school administrators have exhausted their trust and treat all kinds of teachers including good and committed teachers, with the same administrative approach which places them in odd situations, wherein they start losing their own …

Understanding The Lived Experience Of Late-Entry English Learners In The Vista Canyon Unified School District, Joseph W. Boffa

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Many researchers have attempted to identify best practices, habits, and conditions of English Language Learners (ELs, ELLs) pertaining to school success. It is clear EL students pose unique and significant challenges, yet unclear what strategies and program models educators can implement to motivate learning, improve educational experiences, and appropriately acknowledge and reward these learners’ accomplishments. Few studies have attempted to determine the difficulties and challenges associated with academic success and probability of graduation for Late-entry English Learners (LEELs), defined as those entering the school system as eighth-through-twelfth grade students. Their test scores weigh heavily on high-stakes standardized testing accountability measures. …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of The Special Education Referral Process For Black Males Based On Ace: Administration, Culture And Environment, Malik Douglas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this causal comparative study is to contribute to the understanding of Critical Race Theory by using a parametric test to compare the independent variable of human characteristics to the dependent variables of Administrative, Cultural, and Environmental/ Hereditary (ACE) factors to develop a picture of parents'/guardians' and educators' attitudes about factors that may explain the overrepresentation of Black males in special education programs. A total of 162 participants completed a self-reporting demographic characteristic survey and the Gresham survey to provide information on the attitudes towards the administrative, cultural, and environmental/hereditary factors that may be correlated with the overrepresentation …

Preparing Librarians To Be Campus Leaders Through Mapping And Integrating Information Literacy Into Curriculum, Sharon A. Weiner, Li Wang

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Curriculum mapping is a process by which curricula are methodically examined to determine where information literacy (IL) capabilities are, or should be taught during formal coursework. Curriculum integration is the process of intentionally integrating IL capability at the points in coursework when students need to master those capabilities and competencies. During this session, librarians will develop an understanding of curriculum mapping and how to integrate IL in curricula. This knowledge prepares librarians for campus leadership, since the curriculum is the primary focus of teaching and learning and affects the entire campus.

The curriculum in higher education can be viewed as: …

Catholic School Faculty Meetings: A Case Study Linking Catholic Identity, School Improvement, And Teacher Engagement, Daryl Craig Hagan

Dissertations

While research on faculty meetings is limited, existing literature suggests that meetings could be an arena where schools can address their common challenges (Brandenburg, 2008; Michel, 2011; Riehl, 1998). The purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding of the perceptions of Catholic school teachers on teachers in a high-performing Catholic school regarding their own faculty meetings and to explore how faculty meetings engage teachers in the work of promoting Catholic identity and school improvement. This dissertation builds on the work of Macey and Schneider’s (2008) Model of Employee Engagement, as well as McGrath’s Model of Group Effectiveness …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Working Conditions: The Difference Between Static And Improving Schools In Kentucky, Amy Bryant Allen

Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to identify the changes concerning teachers’ perceptions of working conditions within Kentucky’s District 180 Priority Schools. The District 180 Priority Schools comprises of 41 secondary schools that ranked in the bottom fifth percentile on the Kentucky School Report Card. Schools were divided into two categories, static or improving, based upon student achievement changes from 2009 until 2013. The study utilized results from the 2011 and 2013 TELL Kentucky Survey to determine whether changes in teachers’ perceptions of working conditions were statistically significant from 2011 to 2013 in the areas of instructional time, availability …

Factors Predicting The Satisfaction Of 12th Grade Students In Christian Schools, Darren Mathews

College of Education Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if any predictive effects existed between gender, religious affiliation (church of Christ versus non-church of Christ), academic achievement measured by GPA, longevity measured by years, and college readiness measured by ACT composite scores on academic, social, faculty, and spiritual satisfaction for 12th grade students in four private, Christian schools in Arkansas. This study determined the accuracy of predictor variables in explaining the criterion variables. It also provided an indicator of the percentage of variance on the criterion variables explained by predictor variables and showed how well they explained the varience. It was …

The Danielson Evaluation System In Two Mid- South High Schools: A Case Study, Laura R. Strickland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to answer the question: How do pilot users of the Danielson Evaluation System perceive this model in two mid-south high schools? The study describes the perceptions of teachers and administrators who implemented the Danielson Teacher Evaluation Model. The primary focus was on teachers and administrators experience with the pilot of the new Arkansas Teacher Excellence Support System. In an effort to meet requirements under the ESEA flexibility waiver Arkansas developed a comprehensive evaluation model to meet state and federal accountability standards. Arkansas Department of Education developed a pilot school program in which they were …

Effects Of Project-Based Learning Professional Development On 21st-Century Skills, Debra Sue Atwell

College of Education Dissertations

This research project was designed to add to the limited available research concerning effects of project-based learning professional development on 21st-century skills within rural Arkansas settings. The researcher sought to determine if high school teachers, trained in project-based learning in the NTN model, perceived they taught and assessed their students’ 21st-century skills differently than high school teachers not trained in project-based learning under the NTN model.

This casual comparative study was conducted in 20 school districts in Arkansas with a total student population of approximately 11,646 from 6th grade to 12th grade. The 21st-Century Teaching and Learning Survey was used …

Persistence Among African-American Males In The Honors College, Johnell Roxann Anderson Goins

Dissertations

Retaining African American students, specifically African American males, is an issue that plagues the American higher education system. Research shows that African American male students are the lowest represented group in the gifted studies programs (Ford, 2010). Lockie and Burke (1999); Chen and DeJardins (2010) and Bell (2010a) found that barriers to African American male retention in higher education include but are not limited to the following: financial assistance, the battle of the two-self concept, lack of mentoring/advising, low expectations from faculty, and alienation. In an effort to remove these barriers, institutions have implemented retention strategies such as more faculty …