Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

A Study To Determine The Relationship Of The Direct Instruction Program Corrective Reading On Terra Nova Tests Scores In One School System In East Tennessee, Dawn Heterick Werner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the Direct Instruction program Corrective Reading on standardized achievement test scores specifically of reading scaled score gains in grade levels three through six in a selected school system in East Tennessee.

The causal-comparative quantitative approach was the foundation for this study. Reading scaled score gains from the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) achievement test Terra Nova given in the years 2001-2002 and 2003-2004 were analyzed by grade level using ANOVA and t tests to determine if the implementation of Corrective Reading had an impact on students' achievement.

No statistically …

Associations Involving Open Court Reading In Kindergarten And Student Performance On Standardized Assessments In Reading In A Tennessee School System., Rachel Suzanne Walk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine what, if any, associations existed between the implementation of the Open Court Reading^® program in kindergarten and students’ reading achievement on the Terra Nova standardized achievement test in the first grade. The study involved first-grade students who attended kindergarten in one school system in East Tennessee. Using a quantitative design, this study included the first-grade Terra Nova scores from 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. Scores obtained by first-grade students who did not receive Open Court Reading^® in kindergarten (2001 and 2002) were compared with first-grade scores obtained by students who …

The Perception Of The Value Of The Use Of Primary Source Documents Among East Tennessee Lakeway Area History Teachers In Grades 5-12., Matthew Elliott Drinnon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the perceptions of history and social studies teachers in the Lakeway Area of East Tennessee concerning the use of primary source materials in classroom instruction. The purpose of this study was to determine what value the educators in the intact group held for the use of primary source documents, how much time was devoted to the analysis of primary source documents by students in those classes, and potential barriers to the implementation of the use of primary source materials.

The research design was descriptive and used data gathered from a survey instrument constructed by the researcher. A …

The Association Between The Use Of Accelerated Math And Students' Math Achievement., James Atkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between time spent on a computer managed integrated learning system entitled Accelerated Math and traditional mathematics instruction on achievement as measured by standardized achievement tests of elementary school students. The variables of ability level, special education, grade, socioeconomic status, gender, classroom teacher, school attended, and degree of implementation were also considered. The population consisted of 542 students who were sixth, seventh, and eighth graders during the 2003-2004 school year and took the TerraNova each year. Data were gathered that covered the three-year period beginning in 2001 and ending in 2004. …

How To Find Students’ Inner Geek, Marc Zimmer

Chemistry Faculty Publications

As a chemistry professor at a liberal-arts college, the author believes it is his job to find the youthful awe in his students and draw it out so that they will be intrigued once again by science and nature, so that they want to learn about equilibria, pH, and redox reactions. He has to go fishing inside their brains, to find, hook, and reel in their scientific spirit. Most of the students he teaches have not yet deeply suppressed their inner science geek. He can hook almost all of them if he uses the lures available to professors everywhere: enthusiasm, …

Elements Of Credible Research, Charles Eberly

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

This paper is developed from a speech I gave before the 100th anniversary convention of the National Panhellenic Association. The organization was concerned about the questionable ethics of articles published about the college fraternity and sorority at that time.

Education And Labour Market Outcomes For Indigenous Young People., Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

LSAY Briefing Reports

This briefing issue summarises findings from research based on the 1995 and 1998 LSAY cohorts of Year 9 students, focusing on the Indigenous students in the surveys. Analyses of data indicate that Indigenous students in Year 9 have a generally positive perception of their schools, however fewer Indigenous students aspire to or do complete Year 12 than their non-Indigenous counterparts. The study highlights an array of differential outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students that contribute partially to explaining the lower rate of Year 12 participation among Indigenous students. [Author abstract, ed]

Elements Of Credible Research, Charles G. Eberly

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

This paper is developed from a speech I gave before the 100th anniversary convention of the National Panhellenic Association. The organization was concerned about the questionable ethics of articles published about the college fraternity and sorority at that time.

Scoring Subscales Using Multidimensional Item Response Theory Model, Christine E. Demars

Department of Graduate Psychology - Faculty Scholarship

Several methods for estimating item response theory scores for multiple subtests were compared. These methods included two multidimensional item response theory models: a bi­factor model where each subtest was a composite score based on the primary trait measured by the set of tests and a secondary trait measured by the individual subtest, and a model where the traits measured by the subtests were separate but correlated. Composite scores based on unidimensional item response theory, with each subtest borrowing information from the other subtest, as well as independent unidimensional scores for each subtest were also considered. Correlations among scores from all …

Neutral Or Unsure: Is There A Difference?, Christine E. Demars, T. Dary Erwin

Department of Graduate Psychology - Faculty Scholarship

University students responded to a survey measuring identity development using a 4-point Likert-type scale with two additional options: neutral and unsure. The level of identity development of students who chose neutral was compared to the level of identity development of students who chose unsure on the same item. On average, these two groups of students had similar scores. Neutral and unsure did not seem to be used to indicate different levels of the construct of interest. Often these two categories were used as a middle response, but on one scale they were used as a moderately high response

What Is "Good" Education Research?, Karl Hostetler

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

The question of what counts as good education research has received a great deal of attention, but too often it is conceived principally as a methodological question rather than an ethical one. Good education research is a matter not only of sound procedures but also of beneficial aims and results; our ultimate aim as researchers and educators is to serve people’s well‐being. For their research to be deemed good in a strong sense, education researchers must be able to articulate some sound connection between their work and a robust and justifiable conception of human well‐being. There is a good deal …

Assessing Library Instruction Assessment Activities, Jim Kapoun

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

For several years I have been using PowerPoint for various library instruction classes. In the spring of 2000 I was asked by a senior undergraduate psychology student (Lynn) to participate in a project she had to complete for her senior research class. She had attended my psychology library instruction class and was impressed with my use of PowerPoint to emphasize major points. Her problem statement to prove was that students learn more from a PowerPoint-enhanced lecture than a lecture with overheads or a traditional lecture. I accepted her invitation and was part of her experiment team.

Leaving School In Australia : Early Career And Labour Market Outcomes., Julie Mcmillan, Sheldon Rothman

LSAY Briefing Reports

This briefing uses key findings from two LSAY research reports to describe post-school education, training and labour market activities of young people during the period from 1996-2000. It also identifies some of the factors that affect young people's chances of obtaining full-time employment or not becoming unemployed. The results suggest that the early career and labour market outcomes of young people are largely positive. Making a good start upon leaving school, either by engaging in full-time work, an apprenticeship or university study increases the likelihood of success in subsequent years. [Author abstract, ed]

The Victorian Institute Of Teaching : Standards And Professional Learning, Jenny Wilkinson, Adrian Beavis, Lawrence Ingvarson, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Teaching standards and teacher evaluation

The Victorian Institute of Teaching implemented its new registration procedures for Provisionally Registered Teachers (PRTs) in 2004. A pilot version of these procedures was trialled in 2003, and evaluated by ACER (Kleinhenz and Ingvarson 2004). Background information about the development of the Standards and Professional Learning Project can be found in this report. As part of the process for full registration, PRTs were required to prepare a portfolio with three components: an analysis of teaching and learning, collegiate classroom activities and a list of and commentary on professional activities undertaken. In 2004 the new requirements for PRTs were extended to …

Attitudes, Intentions And Participation, Siek Toon Khoo, John Ainley

LSAY Research Reports

This report examines the relationship between students' attitudes to school and intentions to participate in education and training, and the influence of these attitudes and intentions on participation in Year 12 and in further education and training. Students' attitudes to school, educational intentions and attainments are considered in the context of earlier school achievement, social background, geographic location, language background and gender. These factors are related to attitudes, intentions and participation. [p.1]

Role Expectations Of The District Superintendent: Implications For Deregulating Preparation And Licensing, Theodore J. Kowalski, Lars G. Björk

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

At this juncture when policymakers are being asked to choose between deregulation and reform, problems affecting the superintendency need to be framed appropriately and policy decisions need to be based on evidence and not raw politics or emotion. Deregulating a profession clearly is a serious matter that is prudent either when the need for the state to protect the public from practitioners is no longer valid or when the underlying knowledge has been found to be fraudulent or irrelevant (Kowalski, 2004). This paper identifies role expectations and position requirements that have evolved for school district superintendents over the past 100 …

Why Are School Districts Abandoning The Core-Plus Mathematics Curriculum, Amber Rae Richgels

Mathematics Graduate Theses

In this paper, the author establishes that high schools are abandoning the Core-Plus Mathematics curriculum and determines the need for curricular reform and the motivation to develop such standards-based programs. She discovers that although Core- Plus is a nationally recognized, exemplary mathematics curriculum, school districts are deciding to discontinue the curricular option of Core-Plus. The author reviewed literature and interviewed teachers from schools that have recently decided to abandon Core-Plus in attempt to determine factors leading to these decisions. This paper discusses those interviews, provides suggestions for the future adoption of Core-Plus, and concludes with recommendations that further study be …

"Varying Realities Of The Human Experience": University Studies Program At Portland State University, Charles Ryan Brown, Grace L. Dillon, Celine Fitzmaurice, Greg Jacob, Yves P. Labissiere, Antonia Levi, Cherry Muhanji, Candyce Reynolds, Jack C. Straton

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Like many institutions of higher education, Portland State University (PSU) has engaged in initiatives to promote a more equitable and democratic society, from curricular changes to institutional policy implementation. In the late 1980s, PSU required students to complete a certain number of “diversity” credits as part of its general education requirements. During the 1990s, PSU radically revised its approach to general education, creating the University Studies Program that places diversity awareness among its core goals. Most recently, current President Daniel O. Bernstine has instituted a comprehensive “Diversity Initiative” as part of a series of initiatives aimed at improving the quality …

Utilizing Assessment To Improve Student Motivation And Success, Amy Woytek

Essays in Education

The process of classroom assessment can serve an important role in enhancing student motivation and achievement. Teachers can help enhance student performance by sharing clearly defined learning goals Through student involvement in the assessment process, students learn to take responsibility for their own learning. This feeling of accountability and control may increase the students’ intrinsic motivation to learn and can heighten success. Also, teachers have the opportunity to help students succeed through the implementation and communication of quality assessments.

Lake View Reopened, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Arkansans may have thought that the decades-long fight over school funding was settled in 2002, when the state Supreme Court handed down the Lake View ruling which directed the state to “adequately and equitably” fund the education system. Since the Supreme Court’s decision, state legislators have made some strides in addressing the mandates outlined by the Court, such as increasing the state funding levels for districts and approving a plan to fund improvements to school facilities across the state.

Assessing The Value Of Additional Years Of Schooling For The Non Academically Inclined, Alfred Dockery

LSAY Research Reports

This paper seeks to assess the benefits of additional years of schooling for those Australian youth who are not well suited to further education. This has a very important policy context as school retention rates have increased markedly over recent decades and many traditional VET pathways have disappeared. Raising the compulsory schooling age is regularly put forward as a policy response to high youth unemployment rates. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence available to show how this may impact on those affected. If, for some segments of a cohort, schooling does largely serve as a signalling mechanism, then …

Course Change And Attrition From Higher Education, Julie Mcmillan

LSAY Research Reports

This report examines the pathways of recent school leavers who enter the higher education sector in Australia. The focus is on the first three years after completing senior secondary school. The report has four broad aims: to provide estimates of the proportions of entrants who change courses or leave the higher education sector before completing a course; to identify factors associated with course change within the higher education sector; to identify factors associated with attrition from the higher education sector; and to examine the initial education, training and labour market destinations of those who leave the higher education sector before …

The First Year Experience : The Transition From Secondary School To University And Tafe In Australia, Kylie Hillman

LSAY Research Reports

This report examined the experiences of young people during their first year of tertiary education. The data used in this report are drawn from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), which study the progress of cohorts of young Australians as they make the transition from secondary school to work and further education and training, beginning in Year 9. The group of young people who were in Year 9 in 1998, and who first entered tertiary education during 2002, are the focus of this report. Three sets of questions form the basis of the report. How satisfied are university and …

An Evaluation Of The Bachelor Of Learning Management At Central Queensland University, Lawrence Ingvarson, Adrian Beavis, Charlotte Danielson, Louise Ellis, Alison Elliott

Initial Teacher education

The term 'learning management' was created to capture the increased importance of individual learning in the knowledge society. The over-arching purpose of the degree is to graduate 'Learning Managers' who have a significantly different perspective and skill/knowledge base than in the past. Bachelor of Learning Management graduates will have a 'quality guaranteed' capacity to manage the learning of students and will be able to work collaboratively with other teaching professionals, a range of other supporting professionals and the community. The Bachelor of Learning Management is a distinctive approach to pre-service teacher preparation that has widespread education industry support. A feature …

Action Research For Female Science Teacher Development: Case Pakistan, Harcharan Pardhan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

2004-2005 Profile, Morehead State University. Institutional Research & Analysis.

Office of Institutional Research & Analysis Publication Archive

2004-2005 issue of Profile Magazine.

The Evaluation Of The Use Of Technology/Electronic Media In Teaching Or Delivering Instructions/Lectures At A Florida University: History, Philosophy And Practices, Iwasan D. Kejawa

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

According to the previous survey conducted by Florida Atlantic University Student Academic Affairs department in 2001, it was indicated that faculty uses of teaching and learning technologies/electronic instruction media to teach and deliver their lectures at the college were lacking.

With the current research study, investigations were thoroughly made and suggestions are provided on the improvement of faculty performance in the use of technologies at the institution to teach and convey knowledge to their students. In this report, the institutional personnel and its administration are made aware whether all existing technologies are being optimally used by faculty. This study also …

The Effects Of The Michigan Transition Outcomes Project, Jane E. Finn

Dissertations

This study investigated whether the Transition Outcomes Project used in Michigan resulted in improved compliance with the transition components required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (IDEA 1997) and interviewed staff who have implemented this model to identify their perceptions ofhow it affected the transition planning process for students with disabilities. The study used qualitative and quantitative measures. The quantitative measures studied the effectiveness of the model, while the qualitative measures investigated the perceptions of the school personnel who implemented the model in their district.

Findings showed that the Michigan Transition Outcomes Project is an effective model …

Png Curriculum Reform Implementation Project : Implementation Project Report On The Pilot Curriculum Standards Monitoring Test, Chris Freeman, Prue Anderson, George Morgan

Monitoring Learning

This report presents an analysis of the test data from the Curriculum Standards Monitoring Test (CSMT) Pilot program, conducted in 2003 - 2004. It has been prepared by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) on behalf of the Department of Education (DoE), with the support of the Curriculum Reform Implementation Project (CRIP). The terms of reference for the pilot CSMT required ACER and Curriculum Development Division (CDD) to conduct an assessment of PNG student achievements in literacy and numeracy in Grades 3, 4, 5 and 8 against the then current curriculum, taking into account also the outcomes of the …

The Factors Influencing The College Choice Of The Leaving Certificate Cohort, Patrick O Sullivan

Theses

This thesis examines the factors that influence the college choice and decision making behaviour adopted by Leaving Certificate Students choosing third level colleges in tertiary education. It attempts to understand the decision making process and associated influences that affect students when considering a third level college. The position adopted for this study is that of a consumer behaviour perspective.

Whether or not the potential students operate a systematic process, logically thinking throughout each step, is worthy of research. Secondary research confirms the many variables influencing the decision-making process, particularly in the USA and UK. However, in-depth knowledge regarding the criteria …