Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Effective School Reform, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

At the forefront of education research and policy agendas is an effort to ensure that all children, especially those in low performing, high-poverty schools, get a quality education. The question of which programs and strategies are most effective in reforming K-12 education is complex. School administrators and policymakers throughout the nation are seeking strategies that will help all students to achieve mastery of basic grade-level academic skills as measured by standardized tests. This brief summarizes current research on the characteristics of effective schools and effective teachers. Also, we highlight several comprehensive school reform models with evidence of effectiveness in improving …

Special Masters’ Report, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The final ruling in the 1992 Lake View School District case was upheld by the State Supreme Court in November 2002 in a decision known as “Lake View III.” The ruling found that the school system for Arkansas failed to meet the mandate in the Arkansas Constitution requiring that the State provide a “general, suitable and efficient system of free public schools equally available to all" (Article 14, § 1) and required that the legislature develop remedies by January 1, 2004. The Arkansas General Assembly convened in a Special Session from December 8, 2003 to February 6, 2004 to address …

Codebook: The Lsay 1998 Year 9 Sample Wave 6 (2003) Technical Report No. 30, Kylie Hillman

LSAY Technical Reports

In 1998, a nationally representative sample of approximately 14,000 Year 9 students was selected to form the second cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth. The sample was constructed by randomly selecting two Year 9 classes from a sample of schools designed to represent state and sector. Reading and numeracy tests were administered to students in their schools to provide information on school achievement for use in later analyses of educational and labour market participation. Students also completed a background questionnaire about their educational and vocational plans and attitudes to school. Details on the 1998 survey are provided in …

Accountability Systems In School-To-Work, Kevin Hollenbeck

Reports

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Students' Use Of The Fast Forword Reading Program And Their Performance On Standardized Assessments In Elementary Schools., G. Greg Marion

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the academic achievement of students through the use of standardized testing to examine the relationship of participation in a computer-based phonics instructional system called Fast ForWord^®. The sample included students enrolled in the fifth and sixth grades at four elementary schools in the Grainger County, Tennessee, school system. The comparison group consisted of same-grade peers at the four elementary schools in Grainger County who were not enrolled in the Fast ForWord^® program. Students' scores were compared using the 2003 Terra Nova standardized assessment test and using their 2001 and …

Barriers To The Implementation Of The Oklahoma Learning Site Initiative., Robin L. Plumb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Oklahoma State Legislature and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education have partnered to put forth an initiative to strengthen the state's intellectual power in hopes of preparing its citizens to compete in the global, knowledge-based economy of the 21^st Century. As a starting point for the Oklahoma Learning Site Initiative, the Oklahoma State Regents set forth two goals: (a) to improve the quality of life of the citizens of Oklahoma and (b) to improve Oklahoma's rankings on national economic indicators to achieve a condition in which Oklahoma's growth rate on national economic indicators is consistently above the …

Perceptions Of High School Principals And Senior Army Instructors Concerning The Impact Of Jrotc On Rates Of Dropout And Transition To College., Lawrence Neil Marks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of high school principals and their Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) senior Army instructors about the cost effectiveness and value of JROTC in impacting dropout and transition-to-college rates at their schools. The purposeful sample for this study included principals and senior Army instructors at three high schools, two in northwest North Carolina and one in northeast Tennessee.

The research investigated the per-student costs for the operation of the JROTC programs; the dropout rates for JROTC and non-JROTC students; the transition-to-college rates for JROTC and non-JROTC students; and the perceptions …

Validity Of Self-Reported Data On Seat Belt Use: The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System., Agnes Mary Banks Samples

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Personal lifestyle and behavior are associated with the 10 leading causes of death for Americans. Motor vehicle crashes kill more than 40,000 people and injure more than 3 million people annually in the United States, representing one of America's most serious health and economic problems. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), someone in America is injured in a motor vehicle crash every 14 seconds and someone is killed every 12 minutes (as cited in Ad Council, 2003). It is widely accepted that increased use of safety belts and reductions in driving while impaired are two of the …

Path Analysis Of Factors Affecting Student Outcomes And Continued Participation After Completing Alnu 1100 Basics Of Patient Care At East Tennessee State University., Melessia Dawn Webb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test a causal analytic model for predictors of course outcomes and a second causal model for predictors of continued participation in post-secondary education. The demographic characteristics were compared for students who continued to participate in post-secondary education and those who did not continue to participate in post-secondary education after completing ALNU 1100 Basics of Patient Care at East Tennessee State University. The two models selected for testing were Henry and Basile’s (1994) “Decision Framework” for students’ decisions to continue participation, and Donaldson and Graham’s (1999) “Model of College Outcomes for Adults”, which focused …

The Impact Of A Rural School-Based Health Center On Students And Their Families In Sneedville, Tennessee: A Case Study., Michael D. Belcher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the impact that the school-based health center in Sneedville, Tennessee had on students who attended Hancock County High School. The study documented how the school-based health center affected students, families, and the community of Sneedville. Case study methodology was used to determine if the school-based health center impacted school attendance, mental and emotional health, sexual practices, and overall quality of life for students and their families.

Data were collected through 25 interviews with health center stakeholders. The methodology included working with the staff at the school-based health center to identify the key …

Correlates Of Depression In Young Adult Caregivers, Mark Gillen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examined depression in young adult caregivers. It was hypothesized that levels of depression in 18 to 40 year olds who provided care to older adult family members would be similar to depression levels of middle age adult caregivers. This study also examined the relationship between depression, gender, employment, physical health, and relationships. Participants included 172 young adult caregivers that were employees of one of three mid-west universities or colleges. All employees in the young adult age range were contacted and provided with a survey packet. The survey included the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and predictor …

Koinonia, Tony Marchese, David M. Johnstone, Kerri Cissna, Michael Card, Jeff Doyle, Todd Ream, Skip Trudeau

Koinonia

Articles
Engaging the Meaning-Making Power of Reflection: An Evaluation of the Undergraduate Experience, Tony Marchese

"The Classroom is Not Enough..." The Reason for Residence Life on a Christian Liberal Arts Campus, David M. Johnstone

Frugal Flushing: A Look at Stewardship in Student Development, Kerri Cissna

Conference Spotlight
Wishes or Hope, Michael Card

Book Review
Strategies for Staff Development: Personal and Professional Education in the 21st Century, reviewed by Jeff Doyle

Features
The President's Corner

Editor's Disk

Thinking Theologically: To Seek the Grace that Redeems, Todd Ream

The Western Scholar, Editors

WKU Scholar

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of The Standards And Professional Learning Project 2003, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Lawrence Ingvarson, Charlotte Danielson

Teaching standards and teacher evaluation

In February 2003, the Victorian State Minister for Education and Training launched the ‘Standards and Professional Learning Project’ as the first major policy initiative of the new Institute. The brief of the project was: to develop professional teaching standards for full registration, and to support new teachers (who were mostly newly graduated teachers from tertiary teacher education programs) to move from provisional to full registration at the end of their first year of teaching. This involved designing and implementing evidence based assessment processes to show that the standards had been met. These assessments would provide guarantees of teacher quality to …

Item Parameter Drift: The Impact Of The Curricular Area, Christine E. Demars

Department of Graduate Psychology - Faculty Scholarship

The items from tests from two content areas, information literacy and global issues, were examined for item parameter drift across four years. The items on the information literacy test were expected to show more drift because the content of this field is changing more rapidly and because the test changed from low to high stakes for students while the other test remained low stakes. More items did show drift on the information literacy test, but the drift was not always readily explained. Further, some items did not fit the drift model available in BILOG-MG, either because the drift was a …

A Comparison Of The Recovery Of Parameters Using The Nominal Response And Generalized Partial Credit Models, Christine E. Demars

Department of Graduate Psychology - Faculty Scholarship

In this simulation study, data were generated such that some items fit the generalized partial credit model (GPCM) while other items fit the nominal response model (NRM) but not the constraints of the GPCM. The purpose was to explore (a) how the errors in parameter estimation were affected by using the GPCM when the constraints of the GPCM were inappropriate, and (b) how the errors were affected by using the less-constrained NRM when the constraints of the GPCM were appropriate. With large sample sizes, there were considerable gains in precision from using the NRM when the GPCM was inappropriate, and …

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 …

Use Of Evaluation Findings In Michigan’S 21St Century Community Learning Center Programs, Wendy L. Tackett

Dissertations

There is a lack of empirical evidence demonstrating the use of evaluation findings within grant programs such as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers programs (CCLCs). This study was designed using Michigan's federally-funded CCLCs to meet the following purposes: to explore the use of evaluation findings; to determine the relationship of the use of evaluation findings by local school administrators to the employment of an internal or external evaluator; to identify evaluator qualifications connected to evaluation use; and to determine whether there are relationships between the Program Evaluation Standards (Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, 1994) utility domains and …

Measuring Spelling Growth Over Time In Elementary Writing Samples, Pamela M. Ansell

Masters Theses

Developmental spelling stage theories have been proposed and disputed for 30 years. The current study used Gentry's (1982) model to assign category ratings to narrative writing samples produced by 32 students over two years to observe developmental growth over time. In addition, quantitative measures were obtained from the samples, including an index of control (Laminack & Wood, 1996) and a percentage correct. Analyses were also used to test the effectiveness of using a writing lab approach (Nelson, Bahr & Van Meter, 2004) on spelling development. During the last half of second grade, all 32 students received intervention guided by the …

Location, Location, Location : Implications Of Geographic Situation On Australian Student Performance In Pisa 2000, John Cresswell, Catherine Underwood

ACER Research Monographs

The primary focus of this report is to examine the effect that geographical location may have on the performance of students from schools from all parts of Australia who participated in the OECD/Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2000). Approximately 5477 students from 231 school across Australia encompassing schools in Major Cities, Inner Regional areas, Outer Regional areas, Remote areas and Very Remote areas participated. Results for Australian schools located in Major Cities and Inner Regional areas were above the OECD average in reading literacy. Outer Regional areas and Remote/Very Remote areas were at or below the OECD average.

Perceptions Of The Library: A Key To Planning Effective Services, Sue Alexander, William Black, Virginia Vesper

The Southeastern Librarian

such as questions answered, books cataloged, and dollars spent. Now we are called upon to measure the impact of those services on our clients. Stakeholder demand for accountability, changing accreditation standards, and state and federal concerns over student outcomes have driven a real concern for measurement from the client’s perspective. This will become increasingly important as demands for accountability and competition from other sectors increase. “Assessment and evaluation are intended as means to demonstrate institutional effectiveness, foster institutional improvement, and demonstrate accountability.” Programs such as the New Measures Initiative, from the Association of Research Libraries, have been developed to strengthen …

2004 Spring Nutshell, Morehead State University. Institutional Research & Analysis.

Office of Institutional Research & Analysis Publication Archive

Spring 2004 issue of the Nutshell.

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 15, Number 1, Spring 2004, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Exchange

Contents

Message from the President: Things We Value - Tom Edwards, Thomas College

Metaphors for Teaching - Polly Parker and Bill Searle

Significant Learning Experiences: Integrated Course Design Designing the Learning We Want into the Learning Experiences - L. Dee Fink

NEFDC Fall Conference Keynote Speaker: L. Dee Fink

NEFDC Spring Roundup, June 4, 2004; theme: Building Community and Collaboration Through Technology

UNH To Offer Online Certificate in College Teaching - Michael Lee, University of New Hampshire

Assessment in New England: Announcing Discipline-Based Workshops

Conference: Faculty-Student Partnerships in Teaching and Learning

Board of Directors

Enrollment Report - Spring 2004, Uno Office Of Institutional Effectiveness

Enrollment Reports

The Enrollment Report provides administrative and delivery-site information on enrollment headcount and student credit hours, as well as the demographic characteristics of enrolled students. The purpose of this profile is to provide the undergraduate and graduate enrollments and student credit hour information by college or equivalent academic unit, class, gender and ethnicity.

Invited Submission To Inquiry Into The Sex Discrimination Amendment (Teaching Profession) Bill 2004, By The Australian Senate Legal And Constitutional Legislation Committee, Ken Rowe

Student learning processes

This submission focuses on two areas of relevance (with brief summaries), namely: 1. The ‘declining’ trends in male to female teacher ratios in Australian schools during the last decade, and possible reasons for the ‘gender imbalance’. Despite prevailing anecdote and popular myth, there is a pressing need to know more about senior secondary students’ students’ attitudes towards, and perceptions of teaching as a career – particularly those of males – prior to any proposed amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984. 2. It is important to be informed about relevant findings from local and international evidence-based research that shed light …

Lights, Camera, Begin Final Exam: Testing What We Teach In Negotiation Courses, Michael Moffitt

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

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.