Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Feasibility Study For The East Asia Summit - Regional Facility For Education Quality Assessment Project (Rfeqa), John Cresswell, Karyn Docking

Monitoring Learning

This report presents a feasibility study into an East Asia Summit (EAS) Regional Facility for Education Quality Assessment (RFEQA).The project was developed partly in response tomajor findings of the 2008 study Harnessing Educational Cooperation in the EAS for Regional Competitiveness and Community Building (‘the Harnessing Report’) which noted that 'One potential issue for a number of EAS countries is that a number of the international student achievement studies are focused on secondary education. For developing countries in particular, the higher priority is likely to be student achievement in primary education as secondary participation rates are relatively low...'

This report …

Accuracy Of Rasch Model Item Parameter Estimation, Luc T. Le, Ray J. Adams

Assessment and Reporting

This study used Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the item parameter recovery from ACER ConQuest 3 software (Adams, Wu, & Wilson, 2012) for the dichotomous Rasch model. The authors’ primary focus was the comparison of its estimation methods, joint maximum likelihood (JML), marginal maximum likelihood (MML) with a normal distribution assumption and MML with a discrete distributions assumption when the populations were in fact non-normal. The simulation data sets were generated with two test lengths (10 and 50 items) and four alternative true population distributions for the abilities: normal, bimodal, uniform, and chi-square. As expected, results showed that MML-Normal was …

Standardized Chaos: A Portrait Of The Indonesian Education System, Andrea Bucciarelli

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Indonesian education system exists to provide children across the archipelago with a high quality education that bears relevance to life and culture in Indonesia. School attendance is mandatory for at least nine years, however schools have yet to achieve 100% enrollment at any level. School curriculums, unified by national guidelines, cover a wide range of subjects and evaluate students on their knowledge at the end of each schooling level, through a national exam. Teachers are often, but not always, employed by the central government and assigned to teach in public schools. Other teachers may work part-time at public schools, …

Course Transformation As A Catalyst For Campus-Wide Change, Chantal Levesque-Bristol, Tomalee Doan

IMPACT Presentations

Presentation given at the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Miami, FL. Overview of Instruction Matters Purdue Academic Course Transformation (IMPACT) including the Faculty Learning Community, description of IMPACT classroom and IMPACT progress to date.

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.

Comparing Traditional Period And Semester Block In High School Mathematics: Effect On Algebra I End-Of-Course Assessment, Chad Wallace

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

School systems continue to explore different ways to improve student achievement to meet the high expectations of preparing our students for a global community and market. For many years, educators have explored the use of time as an avenue for change to improve student scores on state end-of-course assessments. The purpose of this causal comparative study is to explore student achievement in a modified block format with students receiving instruction on either a semester block or a traditional period where clock hours for students are the same. This study will examine student achievement for males and females. The Virginia Standards …

The Relationship Between Facebook™ Activity And Academic Performance Among African American Students, Eric Brubaker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This non-experimental, regression study examined the relationship between Facebook^TM activity and academic performance for an African American sample population. The study was conducted at a large, four-year, private university in the Mid-Atlantic. All undergraduate, African American students enrolled in the College of General Studies, School of Health Sciences, and School of Education comprised the sample population. Volunteer participants completed a Facebook^TM Activity Survey, which is an instrument used to collect semester grade point averages (GPAs), time-use of Facebook^TM, multitasking information, type of Facebook^TM activities, and demographic information. The results of the survey were analyzed using …

A Collective Case Study Of The Perceptions And Implementation Of Self Advocacy From Four Educators Of Students With Disabilities, Heather Heap

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative study identified four educators' perceptions and their implementation of teaching advocacy to students with disabilities within a public secondary educational setting. Federal mandates, such as Public Law 94-142, requested educators including administrators, counselors, special educators, and general educators to help facilitate self advocacy skills in the public educational setting. Using observations, comprehensive interviews, and available documentation, this collective case study identified four educators' experiences (an administrator, a counselor, a special educator, and a general educator) in developing student self advocacy as it pertains to the educators' perceived role in working with students with disabilities. This study identified their …

Impact Of Looping On Middle School Science Standardized Achievement Tests, Tammy Barger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Looping may be defined as a teacher remaining with a group of students for multiple academic years. In this quantitative study, looping was examined as a factor on science achievement. State-wide eighth grade school level 2010 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) data were used. By responding to a mailing, school administrators indicated if 2010 eighth grade students had or had not been looped. The schools' percentage of advanced and proficient Science PSSA data were used to determine if the independent variable had a significant impact on science achievement. The results of the independent t-test analysis suggest that looping does …

Moving Margins: Using Marginalia As A Tool For Critical Reflection, Patricia Alvarez Mchatton, Sandy May

Faculty Articles

Marginalia is the practice of writing notes in the margins of texts as a way to capture ones' thoughts and feelings about the text during reading. It is giving in to the impulse, based on what was read, to stop and record a comment. In this manuscript, we make the connection between marginalia and the visceral responses to text felt by one doctoral student (the second author) taking a course examining language as a "place of struggle" (hooks, 2004, p. 153). We also demonstrate how marginalia can be used as a qualitative method to document and investigate the way textual …

Accelerated Reader And Its Effects On Fifth-Grade Students' Reading Comprehension, Jan Nichols

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Schools in the United States have been using the Accelerated Reader (AR) program since the mid-1980s. A search of the literature related to the effectiveness of the AR program revealed that many of the studies were conducted more than a decade ago, and a large number of those studies failed to utilize a control group to provide comparative data. Researchers and educators have examined the use of the AR program, whose parent company is Renaissance Learning, for more than 20 years, yet there is still little definitive data on whether the system positively affects student reading comprehension and motivation to …

An Examination Of The Effects Of Intrusive Advising And Support Services On Academically At-Risk Students, Earl Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research study compared the effects of the intrusive form of developmental academic advising (IDAA) and the influence of additional academic support services on the mean cumulative Grade Point Averages (GPAs) of 4 randomly assembled groups of academically at-risk college students during 2 separate semesters. Academically at-risk students are defined as those students whose cumulative GPAs are below academic good standing at a university. The mean cumulative GPA of each student group was averaged prior to the beginning and at the end of the Spring 2012 and Fall 2012 semesters, respectively. All of these students were enrolled in a private …

Gifted Learners And Mathematical Achievement: An Analysis Of Gifted Instructional Models, Lezley Anderson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to examine whether differences exist in the mathematics achievement of fifth grade gifted students based on the instructional delivery model used for mathematics instruction, cluster or collaborative, as defined by the Georgia Department of Education. The content area of mathematics, an area susceptible to underachievement among gifted learners, was investigated using archival data from a sample of 67 participants from rural Southwest Georgia over three academic years. The STAR Math assessment and the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT): Math assessments were used to measure overall mathematics achievement. The subscales on the CRCT were …

Factors Influencing The Completion Of The Ged In A Federal Correctional Setting: A Multiple Regression Correlation-Predictive Study, Kimberly Akers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Correctional education's primary goal is to reduce recidivism and increase employment among ex-offenders. The Bureau of Prison's practical goal in its mandatory GED program is to maximize the number of inmates obtaining the GED in a given time period. The purpose of this research is to model the number of instructional hours an inmate requires to obtain the GED as a regression on socio-demographic and Bureau of Prison policy variables related to inmate conduct in education programs. This quantitative research uses multiple regression to produce and analyze the model. An archival random sample of GED graduates in a large federal …

A Logistic Regression Analysis Of Student Experience Factors For The Enhancement Of Developmental Post-Secondary Retention Initiatives, Michael Shenkle

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In response to stagnant undergraduate completion rates and growing demands for post-secondary accountability, institutions are actively pursuing effective, broadly applicable methods for promoting student success. One notable scarcity in existing research is found in the tailoring of broad academic interventions to better meet the specific needs of students from known risk populations. The purpose of this correlational study was to investigate possible predictive relationships among three specific pre-matriculation characteristics (gender, ethnicity and secondary school type) and subsequent academic year retention for residential undergraduate students that completed a developmental education course at a private, liberal arts university. A logistic regression was …

More Than Just A Good Book: Employing U.S. Department Of Education Guidelines To Teach Character Education Using Literature, Suzy Besson-Martilotta

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this research study, which was conducted as a qualitative content analysis, was to discover to what extent children's literature from a popular anthology could be used to teach the tenets of character education according to U.S. Department of Education (2005) guidelines in a pre-Kindergarten through second grade setting. A team of participant-coders, which consisted of experienced early childhood educators, evaluated and analyzed each of the 44 complete books contained in the 320 page anthology, The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury: Celebrated Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud (Schulman, 2005), in order to investigate opportunities to explore …

Is The Sat The Root Of All Evil? Reviewing The Evidence On Admission Policies And Diversity In Higher Education, Loris Fagioli

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

It is imperative to achieve diversity in Higher Education. With affirmative action policies under fire, it is becoming difficult to enroll a diverse student body. Many critics see standardized tests, and the SAT in particular, as contributing to the problem. This paper reviews research on such criticism, about suggested alternative approaches, and regarding recommendations on how to improve the current situation. In general, this review finds little evidence against a judicious use of the SAT. Also, alternative approaches such as percent plans or abolishing the SAT have had little success in increasing diversity. However, most specialists agree that a comprehensive …

The Great Migration: Charter School Satisfaction Among African American Parents, Monica Almond

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

This study addresses the reasons that African American students are disproportionately enrolled in public charter schools by surveying parents of African American charter school students at a small public charter middle school in California. The researcher utilized a quantitative research design by collecting survey data from 71 charter school parents. The findings indicate the following reasons that African American parents remove their students from traditional public schools: their desire for a safer schooling environment, higher expectations for their students, individualized attention, and a college-going atmosphere. Recommendations are made for traditional public school leaders to consider the implementation of these practices.

Valuing The Voiceless: Understanding Silent Students In And Out Of The Classroom, Ray Ginter

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirments for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Ray Ginter on March 25, 2013.

An Empirical Assessment Of The Performance And Competitive Effects Of Los Angeles County Charter Schools, Sam Trachtman

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper evaluates the performance of charter elementary schools in Los Angeles County in three ways. First, I compare charter school performance to public school performance, controlling for a number of key characteristics. Second, I study the characteristics that appear to influence charter school success as compared to public school success. Third, I study the “competitive effect” of charter schools, examining how geographical proximity to charter schools affects the performance of traditional public schools. I find evidence that, ceteris paribus, traditional public schools score higher than charter schools, except in majority African American schools. Further, I find that the opening …

Assessing Extension Education Efforts In Afghanistan Through The Eyes Of U.S. Agricultural Support Personnel, Seburn L. Pense, John W. Groninger

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

Assessment of agricultural extension education efforts in Afghanistan was conducted through a qualitative case study of eight U.S. support personnel serving in the country. Security & access and provincial diversity were two overriding factors which determined how the three key attributes of assessment, content and process (Barrick et al., 2009) were able to function in an Afghan agricultural extension education program. Respondents indicated training should focus on young farmers and local farm demonstration sites should be essential program components. Respondents stressed recruitment of agents from local districts when this would not imperil the agents or their families. Respondents also insisted …

Building On And Honoring Forty Years Of Pbl Scholarship From Howard Barrows: A Scientometric, Large-Scale Data, And Visualization-Based Analysis, Hanjun Xian, Krishna Madhavan

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Over the past forty years, Howard Barrows’ contributions to PBL research have influenced and guided educational research and practice in a diversity of domains. It is necessary to make visible to all PBL scholars what has been accomplished, what is perceived as significant, and what is the scope of applicability for Barrows’ groundbreaking findings. As more disciplines recognize Barrows’ efforts and adopt PBL in education, it becomes crucial but challenging to sustain community memory so that PBL scholars are kept well informed of research innovations in various domains. In this paper, we review Barrows’ scholarly efforts in PBL and reveal …

Using Problem-Based Learning To Explore Unseen Academic Potential, Shelagh A. Gallagher, James J. Gallagher

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

One goal of the US Department of Education-funded Project Insights was to see if the use of Problem-based Learning (PBL) would encourage students to reveal previously unseen academic potential. Two PBL units were taught to 271 sixth grade students in 13 classrooms. Afterwards, teachers identified students who demonstrated previously unseen academic potential during the PBL units. This advanced academic potential group was compared with students identified as gifted using district criteria and the remaining sixth grade students. Measures included standardized achievement test scores, teacher ratings of students’ engagement in PBL, and independent ratings of students’ performance on specific PBL assignments. …

Perpetuation Excellence In Teaching, Leadership, And Learning (Petll): Pilot Implementation Study, Henry Webb, Jeff Hawkins

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Henry Webb and Jeff Hawkins on March 15, 2013.

Systems Appraisal Feedback Report (2013), Aqip Program, Higher Learning Commission

Accreditation

This document includes the feedback report from the Higher Learning Commission on the Systems Portfolio submitted in 11/2002.

Embedded Assessment And Evidence-Based Curriculum Mapping: The Promise Of Learning Analytics, Jane M. Souza

Pharmacy Faculty/Staff Publications

At Wegmans School of Pharmacy, we have adopted an embedded assessment approach to curriculum mapping and data collection on student learning outcomes achievement. In essence, we capture the data from the course level exams that our faculty members craft to measure student learning.

Creation And Implementation Of The Central Appalachian Institute For Research And Development, James L. Hurley

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by James L. Hurley on March 12, 2013.

School District Of Philadelphia Student Achievement As Related To 2008-2009 K-8 Teachers' Perceptions Of Major Academic Indicators, Cheryl Mason-Dorman

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Searching To Learn : Using Search Results To Build Concept Knowledge, Anne R. Diekama, Sheri Haderlie

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.