Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Assessment Matters #18, November 2013, Assessment In Action Committee

Assessment Matters @ WMU

No abstract provided.

Student-Teachers' Comments' Type On Children's Writing: Practices And Perceptions Of Their Role As Writing Facilitators, Esther Sayag- Cohen, Merav Asaf, Nurit Nathan

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Student-Teachers' Comments' Type on Children's Writing: Practices and Perceptions of their Role as Writing Facilitators

Abstract

This study examines how student-teachers in the final stage of their teacher education program, perceive the role of feedback and how they write feedback on children's writing. Towards this end, student-teachers wrote compositions, answered a questionnaire, and wrote feedback on compositions written by 6^th grade students. 10 student-teachers were also interviewed. Findings are that student-teachers perceive writing as a functional and technical process; they mainly edited the texts, they did not relate to the content, and were critical towards the expression of feelings …

Making The Most Of Existing Resources: An Online Rubric Database In University-Wide Writing Program Assessment, Jennifer M. Good, Kevin Osborne

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

When creating an assessment plan to measure writing outcomes for a university-wide writing across the curriculum (WAC) program, administrators considered multi-layered evaluation methods for benchmarking and measuring internal growth of students. Although assessment plans must address these needs, the actual assessment practices must be flexible, accessible to faculty, and feasible--based on existing technological structures and data systems at an institution. The writing assessment that is provided addresses all of these elements and is offered as a model for other programs.

For this particular study, the internal aspect of the assessment plan that tracks growth of students over time is the …

Modification And Adaptation Of The Program Evaluation Standards In Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Alyami

Dissertations

The Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation’s Program Evaluation Standards is probably the most recognized and applied set of evaluation standards globally. The most recent edition of The Program Evaluation Standards includes five categories and 30 standards. The five categories are Utility, Feasibility, Propriety, Accuracy, and Evaluation Accountability. In recent years, evaluation has grown into a global practice with more than sixty national evaluation associations around the world. Examples include Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Niger, and New Zealand. Because countries differ from one another in context and culture, they may need …

Veteran Teachers And Novice Coaches: A Case Study Of Content Focused Coaching In Three Persistently Failing Midwestern Middle Schools, Brian E. Gamm

Dissertations

This research is a qualitative case study analysis of the experiences of six, veteran, English Language Arts teachers, and three, first-year, English Language Arts instructional coaches all of whom are implementing a district-mandated reform strategy called Content-Focused Coaching. The settings for this research study were three Persistently Lowest Achieving middle schools. The researcher began the data collection process with the organization of Professional Learning Community agendas and minutes. Following the organization of PLC meeting agendas and minutes, four categories were identified that were used as criteria for classroom observations as well as in assisting in organizing responses collected during the …

Making Grades Matter: Connections Between Teacher Grading Practices And Attention To State Assessment, Gregory D. Warsen

Dissertations

Research suggests that traditional grading practices are fraught with subjective problems and that many factors go into grading that have little, if anything, to do with what a student knows or is able to do. More recent research, however, has made connections between teacher-assigned grades and subsequent performance on the American College Test using correlational studies. This study reinforces and extends that work by, first, testing the relationship between grade point averages (GPAs) and ACT scores for four graduating high school classes in two case study high schools. Then, this study qualitatively examines teacher thinking and decision making around planning …

Missing The Mark: Why Modern Efforts To Better Schools Through Standardization Aren't Working, Richard Knowlton

Masters Theses

In the thirty years of school reform that began with A Nation at Risk, and continues today with A Race to the Top, the United States has rapidly increased its reliance on a standardized “one-size-fits-all” policy in regard to modern educational reform. This report provides a review of the empirical and statistical evidence to demonstrate that despite lofty and well-meaning intentions, modern reform has done nothing to significantly advance the quality of education in America, and in many cases have had a severe negative impact—blocking real reform. Many schools, especially those in low-income areas, have become glorified test-prep centers in …

A Teacher's Journey In School Improvement And Reform, Kristi Domrase

Masters Theses

Today America‘s schools are failing to prepare its students to compete in the 21st century knowledge based economy. The work presented in this thesis addresses current and historical educational reform movements in the United States with an emphasis on why American reforms are failing to keep pace with other countries in preparing its new students for the new global economy. As a teacher in a persistently low achieving school the paper is a culmination of course studies, research, and personal experiences with the school improvement process and reform policies. What I discovered is that the current educational reforms in America …

A Comparative Study Of Exact Versus Propensity Matching Techniques Using Monte Carlo Simulation, Mukaria J. J. Itang'ata

Dissertations

Often researchers face situations where comparative studies between two or more programs are necessary to make causal inferences for informed policy decision-making. Experimental designs employing randomization provide the strongest evidence for causal inferences. However, many pragmatic and ethical challenges may preclude the use of randomized designs. In such situations, subject matching provides an alternative design approach for conducting causal inference studies. This study examined various design conditions hypothesized to affect matching procedures’ bias recovery ability.

See attachment for full abstract.

Wmu Assessment In Action Day Conference 2013: Session Descriptions, Office Of Assessment And Undergraduate Studies

Assessment in Action Conference

No abstract provided.

Online Learning Of Safe Patient Transfers In Occupational Therapy Education, Cynthia L. Hayden

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Online higher education is steadily increasing. For programs in allied health to be offered effectively in an e-learning format, clinical psychomotor skills need to be addressed. The aim of this research was to design, implement, and evaluate an online safe patient transfers module for occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students. The efficacy of teaching safe patient transfers in an e-learning environment was appraised using both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The applied research project was completed at a Tennessee community college. A convenience sample of eighteen students participated in the pilot study. Twenty-five students participated in the subsequent study. The instructional design …

Assessment Matters #17, Feb 2013, Assessment In Action Committee

Assessment Matters @ WMU

No abstract provided.

Highlighting Assessment Work Of Student Support Units At Western Michigan University, Anne Lundquist, Ewa Urban, Cari Robertson

Assessment in Action Conference

No abstract provided.

Developing Rubrics For Assessment In Non-Degree Granting Academic Programs, Marilyn Duke, Steven Miller

Assessment Grants

No abstract provided.

Charting Their Course: Allowing First Year Students To Take Charge Of Their Academic Success, Laura Ciccantell, Sarah C. Stangl

Assessment Grants

No abstract provided.

Intensive Follow-Up Of Wmu Probation Students To Increase Retention And Academic Success, Bette Ludwig, Patricia Hinckley

Assessment Grants

No abstract provided.

Department Of Dance Student Investment Project Assessment, Megan Slayter

Assessment Grants

No abstract provided.

Wmu Assessment In Action Days Conference 2013, Office Of Assessment And Undergraduate Studies

Assessment in Action Conference

No abstract provided.

Classroom Assessment, Departmental Assessment And Assessment For Student Support Units, Barbara E. Walvoord

Assessment in Action Conference

No abstract provided.

Examining The Role Of Research Mentoring In Predicting Research Self-Efficacy Among Minority Professional Psychology Doctoral Students, Donald Edward Knight

Dissertations

The involvement of racial/ethnic minority doctoral students in the conduct of psychological research is of significance in meeting the mental health challenges of an increasingly diverse US population. However, scant empirical evidence exists regarding the mentored research experiences and resulting increases or decreases in confidence these students encounter in conducting research. The purpose of this study is to examine predictors [i.e., Research Mentoring Experiences (RME), perceptions of the Research Training Environment (RTE), and Interest in Research (IRQ)] of research self-efficacy among a sample of racial/ethnic minority PhD students in APA-accredited clinical and counseling psychology programs. The study is guided by …

A Study Of The Effects Of Charter Schools On Achievement, Attendance And Selected Mitigating Factors In A Midwestern State’S Small Urban School Districts, Frederick C. Clarke

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students attending urban charter schools did better, or worse, than students attending traditional public schools, over a five-year time period, in a Midwestern state. Thirty-one urban school districts affiliated with a Midwestern Urban Education Association, and corresponding charter schools, located within these Midwestern school districts, were selected to participate in this study.

This study utilized a quasi-experimental research design and was supported by the earlier research of Dr. Gary Miron and Dr. Jerry Horn from Western Michigan University (Miron & Horn, 2000; Miron & Horn, 2002; Miron, 2005) and Dr. Scott …

Characteristics Of Public Alternative High Schools Specifically For Students Placed At-Risk: A National Study Using The 2003-04 And 2007-08 Schools And Staffing Survey, Masashi Izumi

Dissertations

In this study I investigated determinants of the average daily attendance (ADA) and graduation rate of public alternative high schools specifically for students placed at-risk by analyzing the nationally representative data from Schools and Staffing Surveys of 2003-04 and 2007-08. I built three models via successive block entry, predicting the ADA and graduation rate by (a) student demographics, (b) staffing characteristics, and (c) school processes. Through multiple regression analyses on ADA, I found (a) a positive relationship between career technical education and ADA; and (b) a negative relationship between teacher-student ratio and ADA. Through the set of multiple regression analyses …

Assessment Matters #16, Nov 2012, Assessment In Action Committee

Assessment Matters @ WMU

No abstract provided.

Characterizing And Supporting Change In Algebra Students' Representational Fluency In A Cas/Paper-And-Pencil Environment, Nicole L. Fonger

Dissertations

Representational fluency (RF) includes an ability to interpret, create, move within and among, and connect tool-based representations of mathematical objects. Taken as an indicator of conceptual understanding, there is a need to better support school algebra students’ RF in learning environments that utilize both computer algebra systems (CAS) and paper-and-pencil. The purpose of this research was to: (a) characterize change in ninth-grade algebra students’ RF in solving problems involving linear equations, and (b) determine conditions of a CAS and paper-and-pencil learning environment in which those students changed their RF.

Change in RF was measured by comparing results from initial to …

Describing The Apprenticeship Of Chemists Through The Language Of Faculty Scientists, Brandy Ann Skjold

Dissertations

Attempts to bring authentic science into the K-16 classroom have led to the use of sociocultural theories of learning, particularly apprenticeship, to frame science education research. Science educators have brought apprenticeship to science classrooms and have brought students to research laboratories in order to gauge its benefits. The assumption is that these learning opportunities are representative of the actual apprenticeship of scientists. However, there have been no attempts in the literature to describe the apprenticeship of scientists using apprenticeship theory. Understanding what science apprenticeship looks like is a critical component of translating this experience into the classroom. This study sought …

Traveling With A Purpose: Stories Of Contradiction And Transformation In International Service-Learning, Rebecca A. Mcnamara

Dissertations

Different conceptualizations of service‐learning are found in higher education, ranging from charity to social justice focused. Little is known about the lasting impact of social justice focused service-learning on undergraduate participants, especially in a global education setting. This study examined the experience and meaning making of participants of critical international service-learning (ISL) over time. Nineteen alumni of five ISL courses at three different higher education institutions were interviewed in this phenomenological study. Participants described contrasting experiences of being both stretched and destabilized, friend and foreigner, and finding the service‐learning both enjoyable and unsettling. The long term impact of ISL course …

Student Success: An Investigation Of The Role The Pre-Admission Variables Of Academic Preparation, Personal Attributes, And Demographic Characteristics Contribute In Predicting Graduation, Lianne Briggs

Dissertations

Despite retention being a significant focus of higher education research, graduation rates remain of concern. Increased numbers of students are advancing to college bringing with them a wider range of abilities, attributes, and characteristics. There is much we know about what predicts success for these students but our knowledge is far from complete. My study therefore explores to what extent pre-admission variables of academic preparation, personal attributes, and demographic characteristics are predictive of graduation with the goal of identifying students who are more or less likely to do well than their high school academic preparation would suggest.

The study examines …

The Dissemination And Effective Use Of Physics Education Research In Undergraduate Instruction, Trevor Stefanick

Masters Theses

Based on the results of a national survey of physics faculty, a set of interviews was conducted of 70 physics faculty from a diverse set of institutions. The interviews included questions about the dissemination and effective use of curricula and instructional strategies based on Physics Education Research (PER), focused to obtain recommendations to the PER community that might help to spread the use of these PER-based materials. Approximately half of the interviews (those with faculty who indicated knowledge about or use of Peer Instruction) have been previously analyzed. This project is the analysis of the 38 interviews that were conducted …

Café Culture: Promoting Empowerment And Pleasure In Adolescent Literacy Learning, Brandi Gribble Mathers, Amanda J. Stern

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The 160 third, seventh, and eleventh-graders involved in this study agreed, almost unanimously, that reading was“important.” Participants cited the empowering benefits of reading as they justified this opinion. However, with regards to the enjoyment of reading, fewer middle and high school participants reported “liking” reading than their elementary counterparts and fewer reported reading in their free time.

One solution to this dilemma involves providing adolescent students with a context devoted solely to pleasure reading. In doing so, educators can look to an institution that boasts both an historical link to literate culture and current-day pop culture appeal: the coffeehouse. When …

The Professional Development Practices Of Two Reading First Coaches, Charlotte A. Mundy, Dorene D. Ross, Melinda M. Leko

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

To establish job-embedded, ongoing professional development recent policies and initiatives required that districts appoint school-based coaches. The Reading First Initiative, for example, created an immediate need for coaches without a clear definition of coaches’ responsibilities. Therefore, the purpose of this case study was to investigate how two Reading First coaches interpreted and enacted their professional development responsibilities. Cross-case analyses identified similarities and differences in coaches’ enactments. Findings revealed that while each coach engaged in similar professional development responsibilities (e.g. modeling, observing, and classroom walkthroughs) their approach to these responsibilities differed — collaborative versus expert driven. These differences in approaches indicate …