Substantial evidence indicates that maltreatment places abused children at great risk for illiteracy and damaging self-perceptions of competency and worth. Given that academic ability and self-concept are reciprocally related and mutually reinforcing, it was hypothesized that participation in an intensive literacy intervention would positively impact the reading, writing, and related self-perceptions of maltreated Struggling Readers from the Ontario Child-Welfare system. Using a mixed methods approach, 24 participants (ages 14-24) completed achievement and self-perception measures and were interviewed about their literacy experiences and views, pre and post intervention. Repeated measures analyses and pairwise comparisons measured the impact of intervention on the literacy skills and related self-evaluations of these youth and assessed how the literacy skills and related self-evaluations differed from maltreated youth without reading difficulties (n = 22). Interviews were analyzed thematically. Results converged to provide empirical support for the benefits of literacy intervention on skill and self-perception development for this high risk group of youth. Qualitative analyses further revealed unanticipated, dramatic and meaningful life changes. Participants manifested improved communication and metacognitive skills, increased autonomy and internal motivation, and amplified feelings of empowerment and hope for the future.

Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) 2007 reading ability item data and contextual data on reading strategies were analyzed to investigate the relationship between self-reported reading strategies and item difficulty. Students who reported using higher- or lower-order strategies were identified through a factor analysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether students with the same underlying reading ability but who reported using different reading strategies found the items differentially difficult. Differential item functioning (DIF) analyses identified the items on which students who tended to use higher-order reading strategies excelled, which were selected response items, but students who preferred using lower-order strategies found these items more difficult. The opposite pattern was found for constructed response items. The results of the study suggest that DIF analyses can be used to investigate which reading strategies are related to item difficulty when controlling for students’ level of ability.

Teachers' conceptions are powerful in shaping the quality of their instructional practice. The purpose of this thesis is to defend a four-facet model of teachers' conceptions of assessment, which revolves around emphasising improvement or school accountability, or student accountability purposes or treating assessment as irrelevant. Further, it explores how those conceptions relate to teachers' conceptions of learning, teaching, curriculum, and teacher efficacy. A literature review is used to identify the major conceptions. Multiple studies led to a 50-item Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment (COA-III) questionnaire based on the four main conceptions of assessment. Structural equation modelling showed a close fit of a hierarchical, multi-dimensional model to the data. Teachers moderately agreed with the improvement conceptions and the system accountability conception. Teachers disagreed that assessment was irrelevant. However, teachers had little agreement that assessment was for student accountability. Improvement, school, and student accountability conceptions were positively correlated. The irrelevance conception was inversely related to the improvement conception and not related to the system accountability conception. A four-factor structure of teachers' beliefs about assessment, curriculum, teaching, learning, and teacher efficacy, was found. Teachers agreed that assessment influences and improves their teaching and student learning. They agreed less strongly that assessment, measuring surface learning only, makes schools, teachers, and students accountable and that teachers are able to conduct assessment through a systematic technological approach. They agreed at a similar level with student centred learning that involves deep approaches to learning, divorced from assessment. They disagreed with a telling type of teaching that focuses only on intellectual development of students or on reconstruction or reform of society. Use of the CoA-III makes teachers' conceptions of assessment more explicit and will assist in the development of teacher training programs, the design of assessment policy, and enhance further research into educational assessment practices. Furthermore, explicit attention to teachers' conceptions of assessment is expected to be a precursor to teachers' self-regulation of their assessment beliefs and practices.

Teachers' conceptions are powerful in shaping the quality of their instructional practice. The purpose of this thesis is to defend a four-facet model of teachers' conceptions of assessment, which revolves around emphasising improvement or school accountability, or student accountability purposes or treating assessment as irrelevant. Further, it explores how those conceptions relate to teachers' conceptions of learning, teaching, curriculum, and teacher efficacy. A literature review is used to identify the major conceptions. Multiple studies led to a 50-item Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment (COA-III) questionnaire based on the four main conceptions of assessment. Structural equation modelling showed a close fit of a hierarchical, multi-dimensional model to the data. Teachers moderately agreed with the improvement conceptions and the system accountability conception. Teachers disagreed that assessment was irrelevant. However, teachers had little agreement that assessment was for student accountability. Improvement, school, and student accountability conceptions were positively correlated. The irrelevance conception was inversely related to the improvement conception and not related to the system accountability conception. A four-factor structure of teachers' beliefs about assessment, curriculum, teaching, learning, and teacher efficacy, was found. Teachers agreed that assessment influences and improves their teaching and student learning. They agreed less strongly that assessment, measuring surface learning only, makes schools, teachers, and students accountable and that teachers are able to conduct assessment through a systematic technological approach. They agreed at a similar level with student centred learning that involves deep approaches to learning, divorced from assessment. They disagreed with a telling type of teaching that focuses only on intellectual development of students or on reconstruction or reform of society. Use of the CoA-III makes teachers' conceptions of assessment more explicit and will assist in the development of teacher training programs, the design of assessment policy, and enhance further research into educational assessment practices. Furthermore, explicit attention to teachers' conceptions of assessment is expected to be a precursor to teachers' self-regulation of their assessment beliefs and practices.

Teachers' conceptions are powerful in shaping the quality of their instructional practice. The purpose of this thesis is to defend a four-facet model of teachers' conceptions of assessment, which revolves around emphasising improvement or school accountability, or student accountability purposes or treating assessment as irrelevant. Further, it explores how those conceptions relate to teachers' conceptions of learning, teaching, curriculum, and teacher efficacy. A literature review is used to identify the major conceptions. Multiple studies led to a 50-item Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment (COA-III) questionnaire based on the four main conceptions of assessment. Structural equation modelling showed a close fit of a hierarchical, multi-dimensional model to the data. Teachers moderately agreed with the improvement conceptions and the system accountability conception. Teachers disagreed that assessment was irrelevant. However, teachers had little agreement that assessment was for student accountability. Improvement, school, and student accountability conceptions were positively correlated. The irrelevance conception was inversely related to the improvement conception and not related to the system accountability conception. A four-factor structure of teachers' beliefs about assessment, curriculum, teaching, learning, and teacher efficacy, was found. Teachers agreed that assessment influences and improves their teaching and student learning. They agreed less strongly that assessment, measuring surface learning only, makes schools, teachers, and students accountable and that teachers are able to conduct assessment through a systematic technological approach. They agreed at a similar level with student centred learning that involves deep approaches to learning, divorced from assessment. They disagreed with a telling type of teaching that focuses only on intellectual development of students or on reconstruction or reform of society. Use of the CoA-III makes teachers' conceptions of assessment more explicit and will assist in the development of teacher training programs, the design of assessment policy, and enhance further research into educational assessment practices. Furthermore, explicit attention to teachers' conceptions of assessment is expected to be a precursor to teachers' self-regulation of their assessment beliefs and practices.

Teachers' conceptions are powerful in shaping the quality of their instructional practice. The purpose of this thesis is to defend a four-facet model of teachers' conceptions of assessment, which revolves around emphasising improvement or school accountability, or student accountability purposes or treating assessment as irrelevant. Further, it explores how those conceptions relate to teachers' conceptions of learning, teaching, curriculum, and teacher efficacy. A literature review is used to identify the major conceptions. Multiple studies led to a 50-item Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment (COA-III) questionnaire based on the four main conceptions of assessment. Structural equation modelling showed a close fit of a hierarchical, multi-dimensional model to the data. Teachers moderately agreed with the improvement conceptions and the system accountability conception. Teachers disagreed that assessment was irrelevant. However, teachers had little agreement that assessment was for student accountability. Improvement, school, and student accountability conceptions were positively correlated. The irrelevance conception was inversely related to the improvement conception and not related to the system accountability conception. A four-factor structure of teachers' beliefs about assessment, curriculum, teaching, learning, and teacher efficacy, was found. Teachers agreed that assessment influences and improves their teaching and student learning. They agreed less strongly that assessment, measuring surface learning only, makes schools, teachers, and students accountable and that teachers are able to conduct assessment through a systematic technological approach. They agreed at a similar level with student centred learning that involves deep approaches to learning, divorced from assessment. They disagreed with a telling type of teaching that focuses only on intellectual development of students or on reconstruction or reform of society. Use of the CoA-III makes teachers' conceptions of assessment more explicit and will assist in the development of teacher training programs, the design of assessment policy, and enhance further research into educational assessment practices. Furthermore, explicit attention to teachers' conceptions of assessment is expected to be a precursor to teachers' self-regulation of their assessment beliefs and practices.

Texte remanié de: Dissertation--Philosophie--Würzburg, 1974. / Bibliogr. p. IX-XI. Index.

Teachers' conceptions are powerful in shaping the quality of their instructional practice. The purpose of this thesis is to defend a four-facet model of teachers' conceptions of assessment, which revolves around emphasising improvement or school accountability, or student accountability purposes or treating assessment as irrelevant. Further, it explores how those conceptions relate to teachers' conceptions of learning, teaching, curriculum, and teacher efficacy. A literature review is used to identify the major conceptions. Multiple studies led to a 50-item Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment (COA-III) questionnaire based on the four main conceptions of assessment. Structural equation modelling showed a close fit of a hierarchical, multi-dimensional model to the data. Teachers moderately agreed with the improvement conceptions and the system accountability conception. Teachers disagreed that assessment was irrelevant. However, teachers had little agreement that assessment was for student accountability. Improvement, school, and student accountability conceptions were positively correlated. The irrelevance conception was inversely related to the improvement conception and not related to the system accountability conception. A four-factor structure of teachers' beliefs about assessment, curriculum, teaching, learning, and teacher efficacy, was found. Teachers agreed that assessment influences and improves their teaching and student learning. They agreed less strongly that assessment, measuring surface learning only, makes schools, teachers, and students accountable and that teachers are able to conduct assessment through a systematic technological approach. They agreed at a similar level with student centred learning that involves deep approaches to learning, divorced from assessment. They disagreed with a telling type of teaching that focuses only on intellectual development of students or on reconstruction or reform of society. Use of the CoA-III makes teachers' conceptions of assessment more explicit and will assist in the development of teacher training programs, the design of assessment policy, and enhance further research into educational assessment practices. Furthermore, explicit attention to teachers' conceptions of assessment is expected to be a precursor to teachers' self-regulation of their assessment beliefs and practices.

Doctor of Education / Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology / Stephen Benton / This study explored the implications of cultural conceptions of the self (independent vs. interdependent) for epistemological beliefs, ways of knowing, and academic studying. Community college students (N = 340) were recruited from two community colleges in the Midwestern United States and one predominantly Hispanic community college in the Southwestern United States. Students completed a number of paper-and-pencil instruments, including measures of epistemological beliefs, self-construal, ways of knowing, and approaches to studying. As predicted, significant correlations were found between interdependent self-construal and omniscient authority, and also between interdependent self-construal and connected knowing. Although no effects were found for ethnicity on epistemological beliefs and ways of knowing, acculturation appears to be an important influence on ways of knowing. A path analysis indicated that acculturation exhibited both a direct and indirect effect on connected knowing. The indirect effect on connected knowing was through interdependent self-construal. Students who were less acculturated (i.e. more likely to speak English as a second language or to be born in another country) were more likely to endorse an interdependent self-construal, and consequently more likely to endorse connected knowing. These results suggest that conceptions of the self may be important influences on personal epistemology.

Master of Science / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Brandonn S. Harris / Student affairs personnel in higher education have an extraordinary ability to affect positively the academic, personal, social, emotional, and vocational development of students, as well as to provide an understanding of the challenges that students experience. In addition, an increase in investigating student success, as well as how to quantify success has occurred. The purpose of this report is to reflect the areas of student development upon which student affairs personnel can have a profound impact—that being the psychosocial variables to student success. In combination with exploring how Academic Assistance Centers (AAC’s) focus on psychosocial factors that influence student success, this report looks at the similarities between theory and the pragmatic programming that one particular Midwestern university employs to help facilitate student awareness and practice of psychosocial factors. The overarching belief of the author is that students can and will find success through challenge and support. This report will demonstrate, through a brief history of the challenges that higher education has faced, how student affairs personnel are often times the first and last line of defense in student support. Moreover, student affairs personnel have been charged with the task of providing support to an ever growing diverse student body in addition to providing the proper support needed to enhance the academic and personal success of such a diverse student body. Through a review of the literature investigating student attrition as well as retention, two subgroups of undergraduates were specifically identified as to how academic assistance centers can facilitate their success and, ultimately, their retention. The two subgroups are students who identify as multicultural and students who are on academic probation. Lastly, the author offers suggestions on what student affairs personnel, as well as higher education, can do to facilitate holistic student development and promote the awareness of psychosocial variables that will aid students in their academic development and success.