Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Sexting: You Found The Sext, What To Do Next? How School Psychologists Can Assist With Policy, Prevention, And Intervention, Morgan J. Aldridge, Kelli Jo Arndt, Susan C. Davies

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Early Monday morning, it is brought to the school psychologist’s attention that Katie, a 15-year-old student, engaged in “sexting” over the weekend; she sent a naked picture of herself to her boyfriend. The boyfriend immediately forwarded the picture to a group of his friends. At school on Monday, many students were talking about the picture, and Katie was humiliated. The school is unaware of how many students this sext message has reached. What can the school psychologist do to intervene with the female student, her boyfriend, and his friends? What, if anything, can be done to prevent this message from …

English Proficiency / Fluent English Proficient Students, Susan R. Adams

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

K-12 students whose first language is not English are identified upon enrollment in U.S. schools through a home language survey and are immediately assessed to determine whether English as a second language (ESL) services are required. Students who do not pass this initial screening assessment are classified as English Language Learners (ELLs), or as limited English proficiency (LEP) students, and are identified to receive school-provided English language development (ELD) and accommodations. Students who pass the initial screener or who demonstrate English proficiency two years in a row on state-mandated annual assessments are deemed fluent or fully English proficient (FEP) students …

Homeschool Participation In Public School Extracurricular Activities In Tennessee: A Case Study, Elizabeth Rockholt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The study describes a qualitative collective case study regarding the possibility of homeschool participation in public school extracurricular activities in West Tennessee. Literature exists on extracurricular activities but not on the effect on the homeschooled student specifically. The research questions addressed: How do homeschool parents in west Tennessee whose children are involved in one or more extracurricular activities outside of the public school system feel about current legislation regarding homeschool students being excluded from participation in public school extracurricular activities other than sports? Why would homeschool parents in west Tennessee allow their child to participate or why would they not …

World-Class Universities Or World Class Systems?: Rankings And Higher Education Policy Choices, Ellen Hazelkorn

Books/Book chapters

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of University Rankings On Higher Education Policy In Europe: A Challenge To Perceived Wisdom And A Stimulus For Change, Ellen Hazelkorn, Martin Ryan

Books/Book chapters

The arrival of global rankings in 2003 was a clarion call for urgent reform of European higher education. The results of the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Times Higher Education QS World University Ranking, first published in 2003 and 2004 respectively, challenged the perceived wisdom about the reputation and excellence of European universities. Since then, the EU and its Member States have sought to reshape and modernise higher education in Europe. This paper argues that the emergence of global rankings was not only a challenge to perceived wisdom, but also a stimulus for change in European higher …

A Study Of The Associations Between Conditions Of Performance And Characteristics Of Performers And New York State Solo Performance Ratings, Elizabeth Curran Vonwurmb

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation undertakes an analysis of 1,044 performance evaluations from New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Spring Festival solo adjudication ratings of student performers from a large suburban school district. It relies on results of evaluations of observed performances, and takes these evaluations as assessments of what the student performers know and are able to do in this field. The analyses undertaken in this study seek to uncover patterns in performance ratings by identified conditions of performance (time of day of performance, level of music performed, and performance medium) and characteristics of performers (gender, race/ethnicity, and grade level). The …

An Implementation Study Of The Science And Technology Entry Program (Step) In New York State, Susan C. Perkins

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

As global demands for workers in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields persist, there are increased opportunities for historically underrepresented African-American and Latino youth to fill STEM career pipelines. African-American and Latino youth have long faced disproportionately high unemployment rates. Joblessness has been complicated by lower high school graduation rates for African-American and Latino youth. Significant federal and state funding has been allocated to address this state of affairs. Research findings on STEM career development programs for historically underrepresented youth can inform public policy and resource allocation.

International Computer And Information Literacy Study: Assessment Framework, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, John Ainley

ICT - Digital Literacy

The purpose of the International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2013 (ICILS 2013) is to investigate, in a range of countries, the ways in which young people are developing computer and information literacy (CIL) to support their capacity to participate in the digital age. To achieve this aim, the study will assess student achievement through an authentic computer-based assessment of CIL administered to students in their eighth year of schooling. It will also collect and report on analyses of data about student use of computers and other digital devices as well as students’ attitudes toward the use of computers and …

Variable Appropriation Of An Online Resource Discovery And Sharing Tool, Victor R. Lee, Mimi Recker, Tamara Sumner

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Even when following best practices for participatory design, the appropriation of tools in formal education settings can be hampered by a number of factors. Drawing from a case of a web tool built to help teachers in five school districts find and share free resources in an educational digital library, we describe patterns of tool use and provide some explanations for variability in tool appropriation. We also suggest that future research consider school districts as complex systems of professionals whose interactions and inter-relationships may yield unexpected technology adoption behaviors.

Picking Up The Mantle Of “Expert”: Assigned Roles, Assertion Of Identity, And Peer Recognition Within A Programming Class, Deborah A. Fields, N. Enyedy

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Changing an established role in a classroom is difficult. It involves constructing a new set of relations within a community. In this article we investigate how students with newly developed interest and experience in programming developed outside the classroom pick up and establish their roles as experts in programming within the classroom community. More specifically, we focus on how two 11-year-old software designers shifted their established roles in their classroom to gain status as expert programmers. We use an identity lens to understand how peer expertise was established in the context of a classroom community, adopting a multifaceted perspective of …

As Seen Through The Lens: Students’ Encounters And Engagement With Science During Outdoor Field Trips, Jonathan Z. Boxerman, Victor R. Lee, J. R. Olson

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Factors That Are Associated With Workkeys® Assessment Scores Of Inmates In Michigan Department Of Correction's Community And Employment Readiness Training Program And Michigan State Industries Program, Pamela S. Jackson

Wayne State University Dissertations

Inmates face challenges in obtaining employment once they leave prison because many are undereducated and lack work skills. This study examined demographic and criminogenic variables of inmates in Michigan Department of Correction's (MDOC) Community and Employment Readiness Training (CERT) and Michigan State Industries (MSI) programs that were associated with their scores obtained on the WorkKeys® assessment test. MDOC uses the WorkKeys® to assess the gaps between inmates' current job readiness skill level and skills needed for various types of jobs upon release. There is no published literature comparing MDOC's Community and Employment Readiness Training (CERT) and Michigan State Industries (MSI) …

Exploring Best Practices For Research Data Management In Earth Science Through Collaborating With University Libraries, Ting Wang, Benjamin D. Branch

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

To address the growing demand for managing earth science data, the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) partners with the Library and Technology Services (LTS) of Lehigh University and Purdue University Libraries (PUL) on hosting postdoctoral fellows in data curation activity. This inter-disciplinary fellowship program funded by the SLOAN Foundation innovatively connects university libraries and earth science departments and provides earth science Ph.D.s opportunities to use their research experiences in earth science and data curation trainings received during their fellowship to explore best practices for research data management in earth science and find out answers to:

How can the …

An Analysis Of Factor Extraction Strategies: A Comparison Of The Relative Strengths Of Principal Axis, Ordinary Least Squares, And Maximum Likelihood In Research Contexts That Include Both Categorical And Continuous Variables, Kevin Barry Coughlin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is intended to provide researchers with empirically derived guidelines for conducting factor analytic studies in research contexts that include dichotomous and continuous levels of measurement. This study is based on the hypotheses that ordinary least squares (OLS) factor analysis will yield more accurate parameter estimates than maximum likelihood (ML) and principal axis factor anlaysis (PAF); the level of improvement in estimates will be related to the proportion of observed variables that are dichotomized and the strength of communalities within the data sets.

To achieve this study's objective, maximum likelihood, ordinary least squares, and principal axis factor extraction models …

Pre- And Post- Wage Differences Of Trade Adjustment Assistance Job Training Participants In Arkansas, Kimberley Hall Gordon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A number of costs are associated with the implementation of trade agreements not the least of which is the cost to the American workforce. The information age ushered in an era of globalization unlike anything the world economy had experienced before. As countries raced forward to dominate emerging markets and grow market share, millions of American workers were left in the wake. A remedy to the plight of the dislocated worker was found in trade adjustment assistance, specifically in job training benefits.

This study examined the wage differences experienced by Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) job training participants served through the …

What Is The Participant Learning Experience Like Using Youtube To Study A Foreign Language?, Yuan-Hsiang Lo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research is to explore and understand participants' experience using YouTube to learn a foreign language. YouTube and learning has become more and more popular in the recent years. The finding of this research will be adding more understanding to the emerging body of knowledge of YouTube phenomenon. In this research, there are three interviews and two questionnaires. The interviews are conducted to find in-depth responses from participants; the questionnaires are used to inquire demographic and basic information about the participants. There are twelve themes found in this research. These themes reflect on the perceived experience using YouTube to learn …

Gendered Socialization With An Embodied Agent: Creating A Social And Affable Mathematics Learning Environment For Middle-Grade Females, Yanghee Kim, Jae Hoon Lim

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This study examined whether or not embodied-agent-based learning would help middle-grade females have more positive mathematics learning experiences. The study used an explanatory mixed-methods research design. First, a classroom-based experiment was conducted with one hundred and twenty 9th-graders learning introductory algebra (53% male and 47% female; 51% Caucasian and 49% Latino). The results revealed that learner gender was a significant factor in the learners’ evaluations of their agent (η2 = .07), the learners’ task-specific attitudes (η2 = .05), and their task-specific self-efficacy (η2 = .06). In-depth interviews were then conducted with 22 students selected from the experiment participants. The interviews …

Navigating Life As An Avatar: The Shifting Identities-In-Practice Of A Girl Player In A Tween Virtual World, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In this chapter we study how one girl learned to participate in what was for her a new setting of play – a virtual world called Whyville.net with an emphasis on science education, populated by over a million young people ages eight to sixteen. Girls in particular have become prominent players in virtual worlds, a trend counter to many early observations that documented the absence of girls and women in gaming and technology at large (e.g., Cassell & Jenkins, 1998). The study of virtual worlds as play spaces then allows us to continue a conversation about gender and gaming to …

The Long Term Effect Of Parental Involvement In A Child's Education: A Ten-Step Approach, Eraina Ross-Aseme

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Parental Involvement in a child's education is very important to the child becoming a productive citizen. Some parents find themselves getting in at the start of their child entering elementary school; parental involvement should begin before the school age years. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of establishments such as schools, churches and businesses partnering in a child's education. The goal of this project is to empower parents to build stronger support systems with schools, neighborhoods, churches and communities. Its aim is to show parents, school systems and businesses that collaboration in the education arena can be strengthened to achieve a …

Facebook As An Instructional Tool In The Secondary Classroom: A Case Study, Stephanie Hunter-Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study is to describe how social media networks impact secondary students when utilized as an instructional tool . The problem this study seeks to address is exploring the roles that social media play in the lives of high school students and the experiences they encounter by utilizing these networks academically and socially. A case study approach was utilized to evaluate the impact of technology integration via social media networks in a secondary English classroom. The focus of the study was to determine the academic and social impact the social media network, more specifically Facebook, has on …

Comparison Of Pass Assessment Scores In Single-Gender And Heterogeneous Middle Schools In South Carolina, Patricia Canada

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In response to the mandates of No Child Left Behind, (NCLB), educators across the country struggle to close the gaps between males and females. Some of the physiological differences existing between the male and female brain suggest support for single-gender instruction, which is on the rise within this country as well as other parts of the world. Using the theoretical framework based on brain research, the purpose of this quantitative study was to compare the effect of single-gender instruction on assessment results in Palmetto Assessments of State Standards (PASS) math and reading scores of public middle single-gender schools to mixed-gender …

Digital Immigrant Teacher Perceptions Of Social Media As It Influences The Affective And Cognitive Development Of Students: A Phenomenological Study, Robert Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to describe how digital immigrant teachers perceive the influence of social media on the affective and cognitive development of students at three high schools in Alabama. As the prevalence of social technologies is increasing, educators must understand how it is affecting students in order to instruct students and utilize technologies in an effective manner. Thus, a phenomenological study should inform teacher practitioners on how to address concerns and issues associated with social media in order to positively influence the learning environment. Ten teachers were selected from one private and two public high …

Comparing The Success And Experiences Of Developmental Algebra I Students, Christy Lowery-Carter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Students enrolled during the spring 2011 and summer 2011 semesters taking developmental Algebra I were invited to participate in a study. Students were required to complete a researcher-made pretest prior to instruction, complete the course over the semester, and complete an identical posttest at the end of the course. The online students voluntarily completed a researcher-made survey. An ANCOVA analysis, using the pretest scores as a covariate, showed a significant difference between the online and seated students, as the online students scored significantly higher. The survey showed online students tended to utilize the captured lectures, with a larger percentage of …

Collection Of Online Learning Objects For Research Success (Colors) Pilot Project, Andrea Falcone, Stephanie Wiegand

University Libraries Publications

The availability of library-related videos is growing; yet it is difficult to justify the impact of such time-consuming projects. In order to investigate the impact of such projects and a possible solution, the researchers asked students to create videos that appeal to their peers. The following research questions were posed:

• Will creation of media projects enable students to learn core research concepts and skills?
• Will a series of peer-created media engage students and help them acclimate to researching in an academic library?

By asking students to create videos, the researchers were able to observe how users interact with and perceive …

A Phenomenological Study Of Motivations, Experiences And Reflections As Related To Teacher Training And Development In Tanzania, Melinda Ingiaimo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In third world countries where education often takes a back seat to survival, teachers struggle to prepare themselves to shape the destiny and future of the upcoming generation. This study examined the phenomena of Tanzanian teacher preparation with special emphasis on the motivating factors, common experiences and reflections of participants concerning their preparation process for teaching in a government funded school. This study inquired into the immediate teaching environment and the ongoing teacher development processes. Fifteen Tanzanian teachers were purposefully chosen for this study and data was gathered utilizing a semi-structured interview, a survey and a focus group. The teacher …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Caregiver Education Level, Time Spent On School Actvities, And Mathematics Achievement, Ebony Allen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the relationship between caregiver education level and time spent with a caregiver on school activities with regard to how Georgia Middle School students (N = 465) achieved on the mathematics section of the yearly Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) in Georgia. Caregiver education level and time spent with the caregiver on school activities was also examined to determine if a cumulative effect between the two factors could be found in relation to mathematics achievement on the CRCT. A causal comparative design was used and the data was analyzed using the 2009 version 16 of SPSS. A generalized …

The Manifestation Of Biblical Community Understanding In A Facebook Community: A Qualitative Study Among Christian College Students, Paul Perkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Applying theoretical studies of social capital, social presence, cognitive presence, and community helps researchers understand more fully the phenomenon of online social networks. The debate has moved from the positive and negative effects of online social networks to understanding how they fit into daily life. However, do biblical community beliefs transfer to Facebook? If Facebook is considered a community, does it exhibit the characteristics of a biblical community? Through a qualitative case study design, this research explored eight Christian college students, four men and four women, from two Midwest Christian colleges, investigating their understanding of biblical community and its application …

The Meeting School: An Alternative Mode Of Education, Hallel Parsons

Capstone Collection

What role do spirituality, community, and farming play in contemporary US education? As a farm and faculty intern at a small, private, Quaker boarding high school in rural NH I gained an interesting perspective on this subject. Using Robert G. Hanvey’s working thesis: An Attainable Global Perspective: Education for a Global Perspective as a standard by which to measure my experience at The Meeting School, I explore the implications of an education founded upon the Quaker values of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality (SPICE), within the context of an intentional community committed to organic farming as a means to …

The Impact Of Multimedia And Redundancy On The Efficiency Of History Presentations, Adam Leach

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The use of educational technology to create classroom presentations is already commonplace in American history classes. Therefore, this study focuses on how multimedia presentations can promote efficient instruction specifically, can the employment of the multimedia and redundancy principles (Mayer, 2009) improve the efficiency of student learning in high school history. The goal is to identify methods of multimedia presentation design that maximize the efficiency of instruction, as a gap in literature exists when referencing the performance of adolescents in a public high school and in the study of history. Keeping the focus on efficient learning, this study uses a quasi-experimental …

Designing For Problem-Based Learning: A Comparative Study Of Technology Professional Development, Lei Ye, Andrew Walker, Mimi Recker, M. Brooke Robertshaw, Linda Sellers, Heather Leary

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Despite of much focus on professional development aimed specifically at developing teachers' technology integration skills, rigorous studies of effective PD (professional development) are lacking. Evidence is also lacking on how these skills can best be integrated with pedagogical and content knowledge to improve student learning. The purpose of this article is to present two "design-oriented" TTPD (technology-related teacher professional development) designs and investigate the designs' impact on teachers. In one TTPD (tech-only), teachers learned technology skills to create activities using online learning resources. In the other (tech+PBL), teachers learned to create PBL (problem-based learning) activities using online resources. All teachers …