Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Teachers’ Perceptions About Mathematics In A Socio-Religious Context: A Case From Pakistan, Munira Amirali, Anjum Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This study investigated mathematics teachers’ beliefs about the nature of mathematics and the contributory factors shaping them. A survey of 200 trained and untrained mathematics teachers from public and private schools was carried out in Karachi Pakistan, a context with a strong influence of religion on the socio-cultural practices of the people. The survey was followed by a focus-group discussion with selected teachers and is the focus of this paper. This is a ground-breaking study in a hitherto under-researched socio-religious context.
Teachers across the system showed a strong similarity in beliefs. A commonly held view was that mathematics is created …

Examining Arkansas' Freshman Gpas And Long-Term Outcomes, Sarah R. Morris, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Charlene A. Reid

Arkansas Education Reports

This study examines the Grade Point Averages (GPAs) of high school freshman in Arkansas and their relationship with later outcomes. Using de-identified student-level data from 2009-10 to 2018-19 from the Arkansas Department of Education, this research investigates trends in freshman GPAs, how these trends vary for different demographic and socioeconomic groups, and the relationship of freshman GPAs to high school graduation and college enrollment.

We follow seven cohorts of Arkansas first-time freshmen who were enrolled in twelfth grade four years later. Using regression analyses controlling only for student demographic characteristics, we find a one-point gain in freshman GPAs to be …

Implementing Food Science-Based Instruction In Career Technical Education Courses, Jasmine D. Hendrix

Theses and Dissertations

Students are exposed to food concepts in agriculture-based career technical education (CTE) courses which provide a gateway for students to become more aware of food science career pathways. Professional development for Mississippi (MS) CTE teachers is needed to effectively implement food science-based instruction since there is not a food science curriculum framework adopted in MS. The objective of this study was to assess a food science professional development training for MS CTE teachers that would increase their self-perceived knowledge of food science, self-perceived ability to conduct food science skills, and their self-efficacy to implement food science-based instruction. Thirty-one teachers participated …

Beating The Odds: High-Growth Schools Based On The Act Aspire Examinations, Serving Low-Income Communities, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights high-growth schools across Arkansas based on the ACT Aspire examinations in Math and English Language Arts (ELA) for the 2020-2021 academic year. For these awards, we consider schools where at least 66% of the student body is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRL).

High-poverty schools are ranked by school level (Elementary, Middle, or High) based on Overall Growth (Math and ELA combined), as well as for growth in each content area independently. High-poverty schools are also ranked within each region of the state. Tables include the region in which the school is located, the number of …

Examining Arkansas' Ninth-Grade Gpas And Long-Term Outcomes, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah R. Morris

Policy Briefs

In this brief, we examine Arkansas’ students’ ninth-grade GPAs and their relationship to high school graduation and college enrollment. We follow seven cohorts of Arkansas first-time freshmen who were still enrolled in twelfth grade four years later. We find ninth-grade GPAs strongly influence future academic successes. We suggest policies to help all freshmen succeed.

A Causal Comparative Study Of Stem Persistence Between Supported And Non-Supported Stem Interested Students, Elizabeth Bernardi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many students who enter a STEM track in college move out of that track before graduation (National Science Foundation, 2018). The purpose of this study was to assess whether there was a difference in STEM-related major persistence for population proportions of students actively involved in the Science Scholars program and those who were STEM-interested but not program participants. This program oriented students to the STEM program, facilitated engagement with peers and faculty, exposed students to research opportunities, and filled in potential learning gaps (Gibson et al., 2019).

The questions guiding the current research included:

Q1. Was there a statistically significant …

Strengthening Supports For Dual Credit Instruction In Chicago: Takeaways And Promising Practices, Ginger M. Reynolds

Reports, Analyses, and other Publications

No abstract provided.

High-Growth High Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights high schools across the state whose students demonstrated high growth on the Arkansas ACT Aspire exams. The ACT Aspire was administered to students in grades 3 through 10 in April 2021 in Math and ELA courses which include English, Writing, and Reading.

Each table in this section presents the Top 20 schools for the noted subject area and school level. In addition, these tables include the region in which the schools are located, the grades served at the school, the weighted achievement score, and the content growth score in that particular subject.

The level of the schools, …

Insights From Two Decades Of P-12 Engineering Education Research, Cary I. Sneider, Mihir K. Ravel

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

The 21st century has seen a growing movement in the United States towards the adoption of engineering and technology as a complement to science education. Motivated by this shift, this article offers insights into engineering education for grades P-12, based on a landscape review of 263 empirical research studies spanning the two decades from January 2000 to June 2021. These insights are organized around three core themes: (1) students’ understandings, skills, and attitudes about engineering and technology; (2) effective methods of P-12 engineering education; and (3) benefits of P-12 engineering education. The insights are captured in the form of evidence-based …

Teachers’ Beliefs And Practices Regarding Assessment In English As A Foreign Language Classrooms In Vietnam, Xuan Van Ha, Nam Giang Tran, Ngoc Hai Tran

The Qualitative Report

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has generated worldwide popularity as a curriculum innovation, and extensive research has investigated various aspects of the approach. However, little is known about the implementation of classroom assessment in TBLT curricula. This study investigated high school English as a foreign language teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding assessment in a curriculum innovation context in Vietnam. Data comprised in-depth interviews with six teachers, as well as testing documents. The findings revealed a strong impact of the high-stakes exams on teachers’ testing beliefs in that they focused explicitly on linguistic items in the assessed content and forms of assessment. …

Massachusetts High School Teachers’ Perceptions Of Transitions In Teaching And Assessment Related To The Next Generation Science Standards, Alyssa Mocharnuk

All Theses And Dissertations

The experiences and perceptions of high school science teachers with the transitions in teaching and assessment related to the adoption of the 2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Framework based on the Next Generation Science Standards were studied in this interpretative phenomenological analysis. The Next Generation Science Standards incorporated both traditional disciplinary content ideas and the new science and engineering practices (NGSS Lead States, 2013). Teachers were required to develop new materials, and difficulty in developing new ways of teaching and assessing science (Friedrichsen and Barnett, 2018; Kawasaki and Sandoval, 2020; Wilde, 2018) was exacerbated by the delay in high-stakes testing …

The Lived Experience Of Rural Cte Teachers As Members Of The Secondary Education Teaching Corps, Matthew E. Speno

All Theses And Dissertations

The secondary education system in the United States provides the opportunity for students to earn a high school diploma in preparation for post-secondary college and career. These students are taught by certified high school teachers with similar pedagogy but deliver instruction in different content areas. This qualitative study was conducted to understand how rural CTE high school teachers describe their lived experience of being a member of the secondary education teaching corps. Guided by two research questions that ask (1) how rural CTE teachers describe their teacher professional identity and (2) how rural CTE teachers characterize the role of vocational …

Perceptions Of Classroom Management Coaching At District A Independent School District, Ashley L. Brittain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed teacher retention and research-to-practice gaps in the literature related to classroom management coaching and what types of teacher support are the best and why. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of teachers, campus administrators, and campus intervention coaches regarding District A Independent School District’s campus intervention coach model. This study attempted to understand better the perceptions of how the campus intervention coach model influences teachers’ decisions to remain in the profession; how teachers, campus administrators, and campus intervention coaches perceive the campus intervention coach model’s effectiveness in reducing the percentage of …

Transforming Technology & Engineering Educator Inputs Into Desired Student Outputs Through Mechanism Analysis And Synthesis, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The intention of this article is to provide middle and high school Technology and Engineering Educators (T&EEs) with a more thorough understanding of an engineering approach to the teaching and learning of mechanics. During the teaching and learning of engineering content, in this case mechanics, the educator should attempt to align pedagogical content knowledge with engineering content knowledge and practices. T&EEs will also need to focus on terminology, structure, and applying theory to practical hands-on learning activities inside and outside of the classroom. T&EEs have the potential to foster middle and high school students’ mechanical knowledge and the ability to …

Contextual Considerations: Revision Of The Wiliam And Thompson (2007) Formative Assessment Framework In The Jamaican Context, Clavia T. Williams-Mcbean

The Qualitative Report

The research context should be carefully considered in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research as it influences the efficacy of the processes and outcomes. This paper describes how contextual factors in the teaching of English in Jamaican secondary schools led to changes in the Wiliam and Thompson (2007) formative assessment framework. Data collected through interviews and observations of 32 teachers of English in the qualitative phase of a mixed-methods study reinforced the conceptualization of formative assessment as a unified framework. However, they elucidated the manifestations of Jamaica’s colonial past and the language context in Jamaican classrooms that necessitated changes to …

Building Support Systems For High School English Language Learners: A Developmental Program Evaluation, Manuel Ferreras

Dissertations

The graduation rate of English Language Learners (ELL) is lagging behind the general school population graduation rate. The purpose of this study is to address the needs of ELL students for improving the graduation rate of ELL students. The context of this inquiry is a high school with a large ELL population located in one of the state’s largest school districts. My study demonstrates outcomes of a lack of a shared vision and attention by the school administrators on addressing the needs of ELL students, ineffective remediation strategies and tools used to guide ELL students, and the potential impact high-stakes …

Information Seeking Behavior Of As-Syifa Boarding High School Students In Fulfilling Academic Tasks, Nurul K. Az-Zahra, Ike Iswary Lawanda

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Academic tasks from teachers can stimulate students’ information needs. To fulfill it, students can search for information in different ways amongst the students. It is known at SMAIT As-Syifa Boarding School which is an Islamic-based boarding school, there are additional subjects of Islamic teachings that can lead to more diverse and broad information needs for students. It was also found that students’ needs and behavior in seeking information to fulfill tasks were not known. Moreover, the literature on information needs and information-seeking behavior in Islamic boarding schools that are available is still quite a few. This study discussed the information …

Scaling Education Pathways Initiative (Sepi) Analysis, Ginger M. Reynolds

Reports, Analyses, and other Publications

No abstract provided.

Economic And Sociological Factors Associate With First-Year African American Students' Enrollment In Historically Black Colleges And Universities., Vickie Gale Bridgeman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the long struggle to gain access, African Americans always have valued education. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were established to educate Blacks. The racial integration of predominately White institutions (non-HBCUs) in the 1960s led to decreased enrollments in HBCUs and challenged their relevance. The purpose of this study is to discover what factors influence African American students to choose an HBCU today. Quantitative, secondary survey data methods were used to conduct the study. African American students at HBCUs and non-HBCUs participated in the survey. Consistent with generally accepted approaches in analyzing student college choice, this study utilized logistic …

The Design, Creation, And Cognitive Evaluation Of Ranking Tasks In Introductory Astronomy, Emily A. Welch

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Ranking tasks are a type of interactive formative assessment. They allow students to explore a concept by ranking similar situations for a specified variable, preferably without computation of that variable. I created two sets of introductory astronomy ranking tasks: the first connects the Hertzsprung–Russell (HR) diagram and the Stephan-Boltzmann luminosity equation; the second uses the transit method (TM) to rank exoplanets by comparing the depth, duration, and frequency of transits.

These tasks are designed within the constructivist pedagogical framework. They require students to call upon their own relevant schema to establish an assessment rule by which to rank the tasks. …

Vocational Education: Cna Students’ Perspectives Of Soft Skills In Training And The Workplace, Kimberly S. Mcclendon-Payton

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify CNAs’ perceptions about the most important soft skills used by CNAs in training and the workplace.

Methodology: This quantitative research study identified CNAs’ perceptions of the most important soft skills they used based on the composite model for soft skills. CNAs were selected based on purposeful sampling. Likert scores were collected from the survey responses.

Findings: Examination of the quantitative data from the 35 CNAs revealed that brainstorming is the most important collaboration soft skill in CNA training and the workplace.

Conclusions: Results based on the findings of this study …

Contributors

Early College Folio

Contributors to issue 1 of Early College Folio

Table Of Contents

Early College Folio

Table of Contents | Issue 1 | Early College Folio

Scaffolding Independence: Inside The Classroom, Outside The Classroom, And In The Spaces In Between, John B. Weinstein

Early College Folio

This piece outlines the author's educational concept, Scaffolding Indpendence, and its applications in early college classrooms over nearly a decade. The author also introduces the works of other dynamic, innovative educators—The Scaffolding Indpendence Team—who created educational modules to codify early college teaching practices.

Early College Pedagogy: An Introduction To The Bard Early College Fellowship, Ligaya Franklin

Early College Folio

The author introduces the Bard Early College Fellowship, an opportunity for faculty from the network of Bard Early Colleges to craft a lesson series which centers Bardian pedagogical methods and student success. The author also highlights five projects that emerged from past fellows, also published in this issue.

Initiatives To Find The "Lost Einsteins" Through The Integration Of Independent Scientific Research Projects In Early College, Maria Agapito, Mini Jayaprakash, Tiffany Morris, Carla Stephens

Early College Folio

This exploratory study examines the effects of incorporating Independent Scientific Research Projects (ISRP) into early college biology curriculum. The authors present their findings, which are steeped in the goal of increasing minority students’ interest in STEM careers, by analyzing student engagement in classrooms with and without ISRP integration.

The Need For Early College In The 21st Century, Donald E. Heller

Early College Folio

This essay, a response to Elizabeth Blodgett Hall’s “The House of Education Needs Overhaul,” details the evolution of the early college movement within the American educational system. The author then makes a case for the continued importance and success of early college models in the 50 years since Hall’s initial call for reform.

The Elementary And Secondary Education Act (Esea) And Its Reauthorization As The Improving America's Schools Act (Iasa) With Its Impact On Funding, Education Policy, And Supporting The Change For Improvement Of Student Achievement, Kaylee Latocha

University Honors Theses

A comparison of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 and the Improving America’s Schools Act (IASA) of 1994 within the time period they were written in, and contextualizing them historically to discuss their failures and successes. This thesis will examine how they were shaped on a national level by politicians and political activists to create a more equitable system so that funding was beneficial to all students. Education policy formed itself to funding and student achievement as achievement was what determined funding.

Local Advisory Panels For Transitional Instruction: Processes, Promising Practices, And Lessons Learned, Ginger M. Reynolds, Heather Penczak

Practitioner Toolkits and Resources

No abstract provided.

Understanding High School Assistant Principals’ Perspective Of Standardized Testing Policy For English Language Learners In Maryland, Jae Won Hwang

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Given federal and state mandates, school administrators in the United States are often held responsible for enacting standardized testing policies in their school settings. Standardized testing requirements apply for all students attending school including ELL (English Language Learner) students. However, a review of the literature finds that standardized testing for ELL students is problematic when schools interpret testing scores as some indication of content knowledge mastery. At the current time, content-area standardized testing policies and practices in public schools are not consistent with what we know about second language development. What is missing in the existing research is an examination …