M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract.

The early identification of children who are "at risk" of experiencing learning problems is of interest to educators and policymakers. Conflicting evidence exists regarding the efficacy of screening measures for identifying children "at risk". The rationale for screening programs is that early identification of problems allows for treatment which may eliminate more severe problems from developing. If a student is identified as "at risk", school personnel may intervene with remedial programs. Subsequently, if the student succeeds, the earlier prediction is no longer valid. The identification of "at risk" would appear inaccurate because the intervention was successful in improving skills. Researchers often measure the prediction of "at risk" with a correlation coefficient. To the extent that the intervention is successful, the correlation of the identification of "at risk" with later measures of achievement is lowered. One of the problems with research on early prediction has been failure to control for the effects of the interventions which were implemented as a consequence of screening. An evaluation of "at risk" prediction is important because results of screening procedures are used to make decisions about retentions and the allocation of special services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between kindergarten screening measures and grade three achievement for two entire cohorts enrolled in 30 schools in one school district. The analysis employs a two-level hierarchical linear regression model to estimate the average within-school relationship between kindergarten screening measures and grade three achievement in basic skills, and determine whether this relationship varies significantly across schools. The model allows for the estimation of the relationship with control for individual pupil characteristics such as age, gender and physical problems. The study examines the extent to which the relationship between kindergarten screening and grade three achievement is mediated by children receiving learning assistance or attending extended (4-year) primary schooling. The study also examines differences among schools in the kindergarten screen/achievement relationships and the achievement of "at risk" pupils by including school characteristics in the analysis. The results of this study indicate positive relationships between kindergarten screening measures and achievement outcomes, even after controlling for age, gender and physical conditions. The kindergarten screen/achievement relationship did not vary among schools. The study failed to demonstrate that controlling for interventions would improve the kindergarten screen/achievement relationship; in fact the effects were in the opposite direction. Levels of adjusted achievement of pupils who obtained scores at the cut-off point for risk status varied significantly among schools. The "at risk" pupils performed better on all four achievement measures in schools with high school mean-ability than similar pupils in schools with low school mean-ability. These results show that progress in the study of the predictive validity of screening measures can be made through the use of hierarchical regression techniques. Researchers need to give consideration to the effects of educational interventions and the contextual effects of schools. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

M.A. (Applied Linguistics) / The South African English Academy requested that an investigation be undertaken on the feasibility of producing a battery of English proficiency tests in the four modes (listening, speaking, reading and writing) which are free of ethnic labels. For the purpose of this study the aural and oral modes will be developed first as these are the two modes from which language arises. These tests are intended to be universal language tests which will be appropriate for both English first and second language learners. They will be undertaken with mother tongue standards as the first point of departure. It is proposed that mother tongue speakers represent the "universal" standard to which second language speakers aspire, although we are fully aware that native speakers show considerable variation in ability. First language norms will be taken as the norm of performance for this study because it assumed that this is what most second language learners would aspire to. This study will attempt to provide a valid and reliable measuring instrument to facilitate the correct placement of pupils in schools where English is the medium of instruction. Of particular importance is the fact that these are not tests of absolute competence, but are tests of progressive competence. No pupil is a failure, the pupils performance is measured on a continuum of six levels in the senior primary phase. This will enable the teacher to assist each pupil to progress at his own pace according to his own ability. There is a very definite need for performance tests in English since tests of communicative competence in English that are "universal in nature" are not available in South Africa. A standardised test battery aimed at measuring the language proficiency (of the heterogeneous population at the senior primary level) across all four language modes, does not exist in South Africa. The problem is to .develop tests with tasks at the appropriate level for a heterogeneous population and produce evidence regarding their validity. Although subjective and objective assessment methods are commonly used, the merits of the one method as opposed to the other are still debated. The importance of investigating the relationship between the multiple-choice aural test (by means of objective and indirect assessment) and the productive oral test (by means of subjective and direct assessment) cannot be underestimated.

An abstract of the thesis of José Luis Perea-Hernández for the Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages presented February 11, 2010. Title: Teacher Evaluation of Item Formats for an English Language Proficiency Assessment. Language testing plays a significant role in the collection of systematic information about English Language Learners' ability and progress in K-12 public schools in Oregon. Therefore, the following thesis reports on a process of the development of this assessment as I was at some point one of the members in the test development team and then drew upon teachers' opinions and judgments to compensate for a gap in this process. For instance, despite the fact that Oregon item-writers produced test items in summer 2004, they identified some deficiencies as they followed the process. Therefore, the need of more examples of item formats in order to develop better items, a proper identification of materials for reading and listening and mainly the lack of detailed item test specifications was imminent. Unfortunately, item writers did not posses a guiding document that would allow them to generate items. The item writing process was not `spec-driven'. Hence, these drawbacks in this test (larger project), provide the basis and rationale for this thesis. Thus, the aim of the present study was to identify what item formats worked best based on professional teacher judgment. Then, once identified these were used to detect what items could potentially be reverse-engineered into specifications for future studies or developmental stages of this assessment. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to analyze through professional teacher-judgment the suitability of item formats, test items and the construct in a way that would be helpful for future item-writing sessions, but most importantly to the better understanding of teachers devising items for this test. Teachers determined what items and item formats were more suitable in a testing situation for the diverse English language learners according to their relationship to the construct of the test, practicality, cognitive level, appropriateness, and similar tasks as used in classroom instruction. Finally, the outcomes based on teacher feedback allowed the required data to establish a process to reverse-engineer test items and item formats into item test specifications. Thus, based on this feedback a more systematic process was illustrated to demonstrate how item formats can be the basis to reverse-engineer item test specifications.

No description available.

No description available.

This study examined the relationship between attitudes and aptitudes toward Computer-aided design (CAD) and personality types among interior design students. Twenty-eight junior and 28 senior interior design students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University comprised the population of this study. Information was mainly obtained from the survey questionnaire and Keirsey Temperament Sorter which were administered during the last week of the spring semester 1991. The collected data was analyzed by descriptive statistics. The frequency distribution and mean scores were used to describe the characteristics of the sample population, attitudes and aptitudes toward CAD, and personality types. Correlation coefficients were used to examine the hypotheses of this study that a significant relationship exists between students' attitudes and aptitudes toward CAD and personality types. Results of this study revealed that students seem to have higher preference for Extravert, Intuition, Feeling, and Judging types rather than Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving. This finding suggests that most students in the classes tended to perceive things by intuition, relied more on empathy and sensitivity in making judgment, and made systematic, orderly judgements about the world. It was found that the students who had stronger attitudes toward CAD usefulness tended to be the Feeling type rather than Thinking. It was also discovered that there was a correlation between the Judging type and higher CAD proficiency grades. While only an isolated case, this study revealed a significant difference between the CAD instructor and stUdents in personality types.the world. It was found that the students who had stronger attitudes toward CAD usefulness tended to be the Feeling type rather than Thinking. It was also discovered that there was a correlation between the Judging type and higher CAD proficiency grades. While only an isolated case, this study revealed a significant difference between the CAD instructor and students in personality types. / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1937 M34

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1955 R72 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1979 D45 / Master of Science