Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Blended Learning: Internal Factors Affecting Implementation, Zachary Hamilton

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

Blended learning is defined as an education program in which a student learns, at least in part, through online delivery of content and instruction and, at least in part, at a supervised brick-andmortar location away from home (Staker & Hom, 2012). It is regarded as an effective learning model in terms of student outcomes; however, there are barriers to the implementation of blended learning. These barriers can be categorized as external or internal. The aim of this study was to determine and understand the barriers or factors that affect the implementation of blended learning. To accomplish this, it was important …

Education And The Art Viewing Experience: The Evolution Of Learning In Museums And Corporate Art Collections, Piper Hutson

Dissertations

By investigating the history of corporate art collections and the evolution of educational frameworks in museums, this case study questions the differences between exhibition formats to illuminate possible areas of improvement. Museums were initially formed to display collections donated by wealthy or royal families and constructed around the ‘Curator’s Gallery’ format. This exhibition type focused on the aesthetic arrangement of objects based on the established art historical canon hierarchy and were accompanied by minimal ‘tombstone’ labels with little, if any, didactic information. Science museums emerged in the middle of the 19th century and were among the first informal learning institutions …

A Mixed Methods Study Comparing Nursing Preceptored Clinical Learning Experiences And Nursing Simulation Clinical Learning Experiences Of Nursing Students In A Midwest Community College, Teresa R. Hamra

Dissertations

Among schools of nursing nationwide, the competition for clinical sites, and insufficient numbers of nurse preceptors led nursing schools to turn away thousands of qualified applicants. Due to a shortage of clinical sites, shortage of nurse preceptors, and an increase in simulation technology, nursing schools used simulation clinical in place of traditional clinical experiences. Much of the literature supported using simulation as a replacement for traditional clinical hours. The literature discussed a gap in transition to practice from student nurse to professional nurse and pointed to safety issues as the highest concern in practice settings. One Midwest community college faced …

Developing An Instrument To Observe And Evaluate Assessment System Maturity, Royce L. Robertson, Martha J. Larkin

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Maturity models fill the need for a measure of overall growth in how outcomes assessment is defined and how feedback informs improvement to meet internal and external expectations at individual institutions of higher education. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted to develop an instrument, the Assessment System Maturity Matrix (ASMM), to observe and evaluate outcomes assessment system maturity. Research procedures included conducting a literature review and comparing business, software, and limited education maturity models; administering self-reported questionnaires to higher education outcomes assessment professionals; and piloting the instrument. Data collection results provided the ideal criteria for the ASMM design and content …

An Investigation Of Patterns Between Demographic Characteristics Of Teachers And Grading Practices, Jenelle Lee

Dissertations

This mixed-methods phenomenological study examined a sample of grade 7 through 12 core content area teachers at four Missouri school districts. This study investigated the patterns linking demographic characteristics of teachers and grading practices. These practices were cross-referenced to the level of implementation of bestgrading practices as it pertained to the amount of time and support systems a district provided for its teachers. The teachers in this study responded to a survey and provided insight regarding their grading practices. The purpose of the survey was to collect demographic information on the teachers, information on the academic and non-academic factors included …

Innovation In Preservice Teacher Preparation: Undergraduate Research In Special Education, Kymberly Harris, Meca Williams-Johnson, Dana Sparkman

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

Teacher preparation programs emphasize the connection between student outcomes in achievement and behavior, but the framework of teachers as researchers is rarely presented as a foundational basis of good instruction. Teachers are aware of the need to consider scores and trends and alter their instruction based on the response of the students to their teaching, but the techniques involved are not explicitly taught as research methods in most preparation programs.

The initial purpose of including a research course in the undergraduate program of study was to provide preservice teachers with research skills to enhance their instruction. The long term goal …

Alternative Routes To Teacher Certification

Occasional Paper Series

Alternative routes to teacher preparation are clearly here to stay. A growing research literature on non-traditional pathways suggests the complexity of the task ahead. This report offers new teachers the opportunity to tell their own stories in their own words.

High-Needs Schools: Preparing Teachers For Today's World

Occasional Paper Series

In the second decade of the 21st century, some schools are in trouble and some schools are not. The subject of this Occasional Paper is the preparation of teachers for schools that--lacking sufficient resources, effective leadership, or vocal advocates--are failing to educate their students by any reasonable measures. The teachers and teacher educator contributors to this volume offer a more variegated set of responses grounded in a diversity of local experiences. Their approaches to researching and understanding the immediacy of becoming a teacher are based on decades of working in hard-pressed urban schools and the institutions that supply them with …

Teacher Leaders: Transforming Schools From The Inside

Occasional Paper Series

Teacher leadership is "hard." Many of the reasons are obvious: Teaching is a highly labor-intensive profession to begin with, leaving little downtime for work with other adults. School schedules are notoriously stingy with space for adult collaboration. Teachers are rarely paid to exercise leadership; when they are, they are never paid enough. This volume is a modest attempt to restore the issue of teacher leadership to the prominence it deserves and requires. Although there is considerable overlap among the essays, they have been organized loosely into three categories: "mentoring," to address the essential question of teacher helping teacher; "transforming school …

Classroom Life In The Age Of Accountability

Occasional Paper Series

Concerned that various reforms promising greater professional autonomy and status as well as student success are actually disempowering teachers, impoverishing intellectual life in schools, and serving as a portal for the marketization of teaching and education, editors invited teachers to respond to the ways in which the proliferation of standards and testing combined with their own loss of professional control is altering the landscape of American education. The editors' goal was to raise questions about whether and how educators are balancing the demands of high stakes testing, scripted curricula, and a focus on performance outcomes with the emotional complexity of …

The Effect Of Exit Slips On Student Motivation Within The Classroom, Karen Izor

Honors Projects

Through this study on the use of exit slips in the classroom, it was found that exit slips were an effective way to help answer students’ questions, motivate students to take ownership of their learning, and provide the teacher with an accurate picture of where students are in their understanding of the material. The results of the data collected and the student interviews conducted at the end of the study showed that the use of exit slips in the classroom can be beneficial. Students said that they were able to use the feedback given to them on their exit slips …

Heterogeneous Impacts Across Schools In The First Four Years Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program, Patrick J. Wolf

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) is a school voucher initiative that offers publicly- funded scholarships to students from economically-disadvantaged families to attend a participating private school of their choice. While school choice theory suggests that market- based reforms such as the LSP should improve student outcomes, experimental evaluations of the program instead find significant negative effects of the program on math and reading scores after its first year. Those effects diminish to insignificant differences by the end of the third year before becoming negative again in the fourth year. Our study builds on previous work with an exploratory analysis of …

The Effects Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program On Student Achievement After Four Years, Jonathan Mills, Patrick J. Wolf

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) offers publicly-funded vouchers to students in low-performing schools with family income no greater than 250 percent of the poverty line, allowing them to enroll in participating private schools. Established in 2008 as a pilot program in New Orleans, the LSP was expanded statewide in 2012. In this study, we estimate the achievement impacts of ever using an LSP voucher to enroll in one’s first-choice private school over the four year period spanning from 2012-13 (Year 1) through 2015-16 (Year 4). In contrast to our previous research, which indicated large initial negative achievement effects of the …

The Effect Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program On College Entrance, Heidi Holmes Erickson, Jonathan Mills, Patrick J. Wolf

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) is a private school voucher program available to families who have incomes no greater than 250 percent of the federal poverty line and whose children attend a low performing public school. It began as a pilot program in New Orleans in 2008 and was expanded statewide in 2012. Previous evaluations of the LSP generally found negative impacts of the program on math and English language arts test scores. In this study, we evaluate the effects of the program on college enrollment for the first cohort of students eligible to enter college by 2017-18. Using lottery …

Do You Get Cream With Your Choice? Characteristics Of Students Who Moved Into Or Out Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program, Yujie Sude, Patrick J. Wolf

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

Private school choice programs often are accused of failing to serve disadvantaged students. Critics claim that participating private schools “skim the cream off the top” by admitting only the best students and “push out” students who are the most difficult to teach. This study tests these student selection hypotheses in the context of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP). We find LSP applicants are less advantaged than their public school peers regarding their family socioeconomic status and initial test scores. No consistent evidence indicates that the LSP private schools are “skimming the cream” or “pushing out” students based on their family …

Understanding Chinese International Undergraduate Students’ Experiences At The University Of Missouri - St. Louis, Yujia Wang

Dissertations

This study examines the challenges and stressors Chinese international undergraduate students face while attending the University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL) in relation to their study abroad experience. Surveys were initially used to gather information and to gauge students’ familiarity and use of university support services available to help with specific challenges and stressors. Follow-up interviews were conducted to collect additional in-depth data. As consistent with the literature review, the study found that UMSL students confronted language barriers, academic challenges, and cultural differences when transitioning to UMSL’s academic culture and social environment. Additionally, financial stresses were exacerbated by issues …

So You Want To Do Post-Intentional Phenomenological Research?, Katherine E. Soule, Melissa Freeman

The Qualitative Report

In this article, phenomenology, both in its philosophical and methodological variants, is introduced in the form of a fictional dialogue between a student justifying her interest in using a post-intentional phenomenological approach in her dissertation to her major professor. The dialogue tackles founding philosophers, notably Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty; contemporary researchers, including A. Giorgi, B. Giorgi, van Manen, and Vagle; several phenomenological concepts, such as intentionality, bracketing, and bridling; and provides examples of three distinct approaches to phenomenological research.

Research-To-Practice Brief: Using Labor Market Projections For Successful Transition Planning, Amy-Jane Griffiths, Meghan Cosier, Sara Morgan

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Employment rates and post-school transition outcomes for individuals with disabilities remain alarmingly low compared to peers without disabilities. Transition plans often focus on skills associated with employment opportunities that are immediately available to the individual with a disability. We contend that transition plans must be developed with specific attention to projected labor market needs to ensure that we are preparing students with disabilities for long-term success. This research brief describes how the results of an in-depth labor market analysis can be used to develop strong transition plans that prepare students for careers that will last far into the future.

The Picture Of Smartphones At School Is Not A Dire One And The Picture Of Student Competence Is A Bright One, Victor R. Lee

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In the United States, where I am based, one would get the impression that smartphones are a dangerous drug. Adults worry about smartphone addiction, the correlation of depression with smartphone usage, and an excess amount of screen time (e.g., Elhai, Levine, Dvorak, & Hall, 2016; Duke & Montag, 2017; Škařupová, Ólafsson, & Blinka, 2017). News headlines appear about technology moguls who will not allow their own children to have their own mobile device despite they themselves being the leaders in smartphone products and services. This then evokes guilt and causes anxiety for all the other American adults who are not …

A Mixed-Methods Investigation Of Problem-Based Learning And Technical Students In General Studies Course At A Midwest Technical College, Barbara R. Primm

Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between problem-based learning, motivation and engagement (as measured by the Motivational and Attitudinal scale) selfdirectedness, and academic achievement of technical students enrolled in general studies courses at a Midwestern technical college. The intended purpose for the study was to identify if tactile learners, who currently spend 75% of their program in hands on instructional courses, would benefit from the implementation of a PBL model in general studies courses. Career Technical Education prepares students for the workforce. Creating an academic learning platform that mimics technical instruction where students solve real life problems can encourage students to …

Learning Opportunities Available To Frontline Workers, 21cleo Research Team

21CLEO Research Project Blog Posts

In our efforts to better understand the characteristics of learning opportunities available to frontline service workers, we've undertaken a comprehensive review of the work that has been published and distributed in the field. In our last post, we shared that we've collected and reviewed over 50 reports and publications from a variety of sources. This post focuses on our initial findings and insights from this review.

“A Descriptive Analysis Of New Jersey’S Low-Achieving, Focus And Priority Schools”, Lisa Lin Schneider

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study describes the characteristics of schools and the teachers within a low-performing population of schools, the New Jersey Focus and Priority Schools. Additionally, a combination of school and teacher-related variables that distinguish between the New Jersey Priority and Focus Schools is identified. Drawing upon data collected from the New Jersey School Report Cards during the school years 2008-2009, 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 – the same years used to classify groups of New Jersey’s schools as Focus and Priority schools, descriptive statistics revealed the majority of schools in the study are public, regular, general education schools with a grade range of …

Understanding The Perspectives Of First-Year African American Students And The Impact Of A Trio Living Learning Community At A Historically Black College And University, Dorothy M. Pearce-Brady

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 Dorothy M. Pearce-Brady on April 15, 2019.

Infographic: Physical Activity In Schools, Dominique Russell

Teacher infographics

A new report looks at the levels of physical activity among children and young people across the world. Grades were assigned to a number of indicators which influence physical activity.

Complexities Of Clery Act Reporting Requirements As Related To Non-Compliance: Perceptions Of Compliance Officials At Midwest Higher Education Institutions, William R. Kenny

Dissertations

Violent crimes and sexual assaults on higher education campuses in the United States has been an ongoing for decades. In 1990, Congress enacted the Jeanne Clery Act in to enhance the safety of students by requiring higher education institutions to publish their crime statistics and security policies in the form on an Annual Security Report (Fox, Khey, Lizotte, & Nobles, 2012; Richards & Kafonek 2013). Previous research revealed the Clery Act’s many requirements are confusing and open to interpretation, which has prevented higher education institutions from maintaining compliance (Wood & Janosik, 2012). This study investigates the complexities of Clery Act …

A Mixed-Method Study Evaluating English Second Language Student Classroom Placement At The Secondary Level In A Midwest Public School, Corbin Kreamalmeyer

Dissertations

English second language (ESL) learners have been present in the United States public schools for decades. While the identification and procedures for entering students into an ESL program have improved throughout the years, there still seems to be a lack of understanding of academic backgrounds and program support for these students with unique educational backgrounds and languages. Instructional techniques for ESL students have varied widely, but there has not been a common consensus on which technique to utilize with secondary ESL students. Placement of ESL students has proved to be a difficult task in districts with limited options and often …

Assessment Of Library Instruction At The University Of St. Augustine: A Mixed-Methods Analysis, Julie Evener

Education Collection

Evaluation of library instruction (LI) at the University of St. Augustine found that students did well on assignments tied to LI and were more likely to participate in LI when it was required. Incorporating data points into the library’s overall assessment and strategic plan allowed for ongoing assessment of LI.

Teachers’ Perception Of An Integrated Approach To Biology And Emotional Learning, Laura Ferreira González, Thomas Hennemann, Kirsten Schlüter

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Inclusive education requires that teachers not only teach academic knowledge and skills, but also consider the individual needs of all pupils, especially with respect to their social-emotional status. All teachers (including science and biology teachers) have to promote the well-being of their pupils by helping them develop social-emotional skills. The positive impact of these skills has been widely researched and documented. There is no doubt that academic achievements and social-emotional skills go hand in hand. However, only very little research data are available on how biology lessons and biology teachers can facilitate inclusive education in everyday school. The purpose of …

The Other 17 Hours: Valuing Out-Of-School Time

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Inclusive Classrooms: From Access To Engagement

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.