Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Administrator And Teacher Perceptions Of The Impact And Effectiveness Of Academic Standards On Select Indiana High Schools, Andrew T. Melin

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in perception of high school teachers and administrators, as well as the differences in perception between math and language arts teachers and all other teachers, in regard to teacher understanding of state standards, the level of standards' implementation in instruction, and the degree to which student achievement is affected by a standards' focused curriculum. Teachers and administrators were compared because current school accountability legislation on both a state and national level places greater pressure on administrators than on teachers to assure standards are taught. Math and language arts teachers were …

Defining Educational Adequacy, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In his 2001 ruling of the Lake View case, Judge Kilgore ordered, “an adequacy study is necessary and must be conducted forthwith.” In November 2002, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling and mandated that the General Assembly begin an “adequacy study.” Consequently, Act 94 of 2003 created the Arkansas Joint Legislative Committee on Educational Adequacy, which was given primary responsibility for fulfilling the Court’s mandate. The Committee contracted with the national consulting firm of Lawrence O. Picus and Associates to conduct a statewide adequacy study and report the findings to the Committee in the Fall of 2003. …

Understanding The Achievement Gap, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Educators across Arkansas and the nation are sharpening their focus on “achievement gaps,” or those areas in which less-advantaged students perform poorly compared to their more advantaged peers. The No Child Left Behind Act, nationally, and the Lake View case, in Arkansas, are driving state and local education policymakers to address these achievement gaps to ensure that all student subgroups perform at high standards. Reducing these achievement gaps can have myriad social benefits, not the least of which is reducing racial inequality in educational achievement and future inequality in employment and earnings.

School Consolidation: Making Sense Of The Consolidation Debate, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Much scholarly and public debate has centered on whether consolidation of small schools is positive, negative, or neutral for student academic achievement, student social development, and funding efficiency. In an attempt to derive lessons from the research on this issue, we investigated evidence related to: (1) school district consolidation and school size, and (2) spending and academic performance data for schools and districts in Arkansas.

The Relationship Between Maine School Administrative Unit Size, Costs, And Outcomes, David L. Silvernail Phd, James E. Sloan

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

No abstract provided.

On Ranking: A Response To Mitchell Berger, Paul D. Carrington

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Comments In Reply, Mitchell Berger

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Nsu Achievements - Winter 2003, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Achievements

No abstract provided.

Recent Trends In Higher Education: Accountability, Efficiency, Technology, And Governance, John L. Lahey, Janice C. Griffith

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Have Charter Schools Materialized Their Promise A Contrast Between Rhetoric And Reality, Mary Kay Kempker-Vandriel

Dissertations

Charter schools are a growing force in American education. Parents are demanding a choice in their child's public education. Are charter schools better than traditional public schools? Have charter schools kept their promise?

In the study regular public schools and charter schools were compared along five dimensions: (a) opportunity for learning and access to quality education, (b) innovative teaching methods and participative management, (c) teacher job satisfaction, (d) parent involvement, and (e) school accountability. Existing data from the 1999/2000 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) were analyzed with primarily chi-square tests and one t-test. These analyses provided results in relation to …

Nsu Achievements - Fall 2002, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Achievements

No abstract provided.

What Effective Middle School Principals Do To Impact School Climate, Tammy Dee Roeschlein

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose of the Study. The Lwo purposes of this mixed-methodology sludy were to: (1) examine or quantitatively analyze the relationship between leacher perception of principal effectiveness and principal perception of principal effectiveness, and (2) qualitatively investigate the differences between what more effective principals and less effective principals do to impact school climate. iii Procedures. The first phase of the study was quantitative; 254 public middle schools with a grade configuration of six through eight were included in the original sample. Principal effectiveness data was collecled in each of the identified middle schools using the Principal Leadership Inventory developed by Barbara …

Building A National Vocational Education And Training System, Robin Ryan

Shannon Research Press

This study seeks to establish that policy in vocational education has oscillated between two poles. At one, vocational education is seen largely as an adjunct to economic development and the primary concern of the sector is to meet the needs of industry rather than of students. At the other, vocational education is seen as primarily student centred, encompassing goals of individual self-development and the creation of a more equitable society. In practice both these perspectives are present at any time, and both may be almost equally emphasised in VET policy and rhetoric.

School District Performance Under The Mcas, Jie Chen, Thomas Ferguson

New England Journal of Public Policy

Education reform has spawned efforts to test learning across the nation. This paper analyzes the determinants of Massachusetts’ school district test scores under the state’s high stakes testing program, MCAS. The study is the first to demonstrate direct links between improvements in MCAS scores and state aid to school districts. The authors estimate “value added” for each school district in the state. The list of schools with high value added produces real surprises — while some affluent districts do well, others rank at the very bottom. Additionally, the study analyzes how teacher maximum salaries, district superintendent salaries, per capita income, …

Nsu Achievements - Spring 2001, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Achievements

No abstract provided.

Nsu Achievements - Winter 2001, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Achievements

No abstract provided.

The Evaluation Of Education Systems: Insecurity Through Testing?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some fallacies in a common approach to employing the testing of students in evaluating education systems.

Nsu Achievements - Summer 2000, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Achievements

No abstract provided.

Principals', Guidance Directors', And Department Chairs' Perceptions Of Goals And Effectiveness Of The Trimester Schedules In Indiana High Schools, Robert E. Brower

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to compare high school principals', guidance directors', and department chairs' perceptions of agreement (as clustered from 33 literature-based goals into school benefit, teacher benefit, and student benefit) of a trimester schedule. Secondly, this dissertation compared high school principals', guidance directors', and department chairs' perceptions of agreement (as clustered from 33 literature-based goals into school benefit, teacher benefit, and student benefit) as to whether these 3 3 goals were achieved after one year on a trimester schedule. This study is based on 10 Indiana high schools that were on the trimester schedule for a minimum …

Nsu Achievements - Spring 1999, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Achievements

No abstract provided.

Essential Programs And Services: Equity And Adequacy In Funding To Improve Learning For All Children, Maine State Board Of Education

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

This report has been prepared at the request of the Maine State Legislature. It is an attempt to define and quantify the resources that are necessary for each child in Maine to meet the standards set by the Learning Results. The recommendations provide an adequate and equitable amount of resources. The committee has defined "essential programs" to be the eight content areas of the Learning Results. The essential services are all those resources that would be required for each child to meet the standards.

The services deemed necessary for all students to achieve the Learning Results standards are categorized as …

Implications And Prospects Of Reforming The Market For Secondary Education In The U.S., Steve Kapsos

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

The purpose of this paper is to address the complex issue of public school reform. I will focus primarily on the rather generic concept of school choice, which will inevitably be defined and redefined, throughout my analysis. In doing this, I will first examine the structure and composition of the market for education in America. I will then briefly look at some theoretical approaches to educational reform. Lastly, I will examine specific reform proposals that draw on some of the many varying concepts of choice as well as currently enacted projects that have a form of choice as their focus. …

Financial Characteristics Of High And Low Performing Schools In A Predominantly Rural State, David L. Silvernail Phd

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

Do high performing schools use resources differently than low performing schools? What are the connections between K-12 school funding and academic performance? Today several states (e.g., Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, etc.) are exploring answers to these questions as they attempt to fund schools adequately and in more efficient ways. The research literature from early production function studies (e.g., Brown & Saks, 1975; Hanushak, 1979, 1989; Harnisch, 1987) provides some partial answers, but some of the most recent studies have unearthed some conflicting results (e.g., Baum, 1986; Hedges, Laine, & Greenwald, 1994; Monk, 1994; Wenglinsky, 1997). In addition, few …

Utilization-Focused Evaluation: The New Century Text: By Michael Quinn Patton, New Delhi: Sage Publications,1996., Abhoy K Ojha

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

The Practicality Of Pre-Doctoral Prescription Training For Psychologists: A Survey Of Directors Of Clinical Training, Garret D. Evans

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Directors of Clinical Training (DCTs) at the nation's 164 APA-accredited clinical psychology programs iii were surveyed regarding their attitudes toward the hypothetical implementation of a sample pre-doctoral prescription training model created by the Ad Hoc Task Force on Psychopharmacology of the APA (1992). A 60% return rate (99 questionnaires) was achieved. Results suggest that the majority of DCTs (62%) remain equivocal regarding the implementation of such training at their program. A majority (62%) identify post-doctoral specialization as the preferred method of prescription training. DCTs' perceptions of benefits stemming from pre-doctoral prescription training served as the most potent predictor of …

The Impact Of School Spending On Student Achievement: Results Of Meap Statewide Tests, Robert D. Gaudet

New England Journal of Public Policy

Examining school spending and student achievement as measured by the Massachusetts Educational Assessment Program tests on a community-by-community basis indicates that high spending in and of itself does not ensure achievement. While every community must have adequate funding to deliver an acceptable level of education services, there is a wide variation in achievement in similar communities with similar spending. The data suggest that other factors influence outcomes at least as much as spending.

Affirmative Action Strategies In Elementary And Secondary Schools, Abigail Therstrom

New England Journal of Public Policy

Disproportionate numbers of black students do poorly on standardized tests; strategies to improve American education thus frequently target inner-city schools. These strategies often have an unrecognized affirmative action component. A search for more minority students or teachers is clearly an affirmative action effort. But the elimination of all tracking or competency grouping is another matter. Normally viewed as nothing more than a pedagogical strategy, it, like other affirmative action efforts, amounts to a conscious effort to alter the low-track status of minority pupils. Similarly, the demand for curricular reforms, racial sensitivity training, and more culturally "appropriate" tests, while not obviously …

Naep State Reports In Mathematics: Valuable Information For Monitoring Education Reform, Ronald K. Hambleton, Sharon F. Cadman

New England Journal of Public Policy

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a congressionally mandated program, can provide valuable data to educational policymakers in Massachusetts and other New England states about the status of their educational reform initiatives and their performance standards. The three purposes of this article are to describe NAEP and its goals and structure, to present some of the results of the 1992 Mathematics NAEP Assessment as an example of the utility of this national assessment program, and to highlight ways in which background data collected by NAEP can be helpful in interpreting assessment results and monitoring educational reform. The six New …

The School Improvement Industry: A Case Study Of Framingham, Abigail Jurist Levy

New England Journal of Public Policy

This study looked at school improvement in the Framingham public schools from three perspectives. We were interested in finding out if the administration and school committee, local businesses with an interest in education, and agencies that provide training and technical assistance to schools have similar ideas regarding how the Framingham schools should improve. We conducted interviews with administrators and members of the school committee, local businesses and businesses involved in school/business partnerships, and six agencies that provide training and technical support to schools in the Greater Boston area. We found that although all groups shared many interests, the businesses and …

Notes On Higher Education In The 1990s, Zelda F. Gamson

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article consists of a series of essays written for The Academic Workplace, the newsletter of the New England Resource Center for Higher Education, since 1990. The backdrop for the essays is the increasing inequality in higher education caused by changes in the political economy of higher education, especially in New England. The first essay analyzes the roots of contemporary faculty dissatisfaction with their work lives by tracing the impacts of the expansion of higher education, changes in the student body, and greater government involvement in higher education. Subsequent essays discuss multicultural education, faculty shortages, political correctness, responses to …