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Thesis (MEd) -- University of South Australia, 1998

This paper will describe the changes made to an existing student outcomes assessment system to more closely conform to the new assessment guidelines of the Computer Accreditation Commission of ABET. The processes, results and effectiveness of the techniques will be examined.

This paper will describe the changes made to an existing student outcomes assessment system to more closely conform to the new assessment guidelines of the Computer Accreditation Commission of ABET. The processes, results and effectiveness of the techniques will be examined.

School leaders are charged with the articulation of a clear vision for bringing about school change and providing students with an instructional program that promotes optimal learning (ISLLC, 2015). The purpose of this study was to examine secondary school principals' perceptions of professional development to achieve and/or maintain school accreditation. The study used a quantitative non-experimental research method along with simple descriptive statistics to analyze professional development experiences of principals and principal perceptions. The study included Virginia secondary schools in Region 2. Region 2 consists of 16 different school divisions with a total of 63 middle schools and 53 high schools. The research measured alignment of professional development to national ISLLC standards revealed in the literature review. Further examining relationship among relevance, quality, duration, format and differentiation of professional development for principals and variables such as school accreditation status. The research findings identified professional development experiences that were grouped by the following administrative themes: administrative, culture, data analyzing, instruction and technology. Approximately 99% of the professional development experiences were presented to principals face-to-face. All (100%) of the professional development experiences were aligned with the national ISLLC standards. Principals in the research study participated in only four online professional development experiences. Principals assigned to fully accredited schools accounted for 54.5% of the professional development experiences. Principals assigned to schools rated conditionally accredited reconstituted accounted for 28.7% of the professional development experiences. Implications for practice for improving the work of principals in secondary schools are recommended, as well as suggestions for future research. ' / Ed. D.

This paper seeks to identify one of the key problems faced by academic institutions seeking accreditation. The accreditation process requires academic institutions to conduct a self-study analyzing how well a given program is meeting the learning outcomes the accreditation board uses in its assessment. This self-study by schools often contains qualitative or subjective data and does not directly correlate the learning outcomes being measured to student performance. The lack of quantitative measurements at a granular level means that it is difficult for the academic institution to prove that it was effective in meeting a particular outcome. I propose in this paper a tool that is both efficient and effective in capturing quantitative data at the student level. The tool maps specific coursework to learning outcomes and shows how students performed towards that outcome over the duration of a particular course or program. Additionally, the data collected by the tool can be used to assess course and program design. / Master of Science

While the practice of managing trees in and near human settlements has been around for most of human history, urban forestry has only been organizing as a discrete profession since the mid-1960s. As a relatively new profession, urban forestry lacks much of the structure and organization seen in other professions. This study will contrast urban forestry against other professions to identify strategies for improving recruitment into urban forestry, collaboration with other professions, and career opportunities. Civil engineers, landscape architects, and urban planners (the allied professions) work together to plan and manage the urban environment, but urban foresters report difficulties integrating into or collaborating with this group diminishing their ability to influence urban forest management decisions. Allied professionals were surveyed on their usage of professional support mechanisms (e.g., certification) and their perception of professionalism in urban forestry. We found they are heavily invested in processes and functions that support practitioners and regulate their professions via certification, and the adoption of similar mechanisms by urban forestry would likely facilitate improved social capital. Enrollment in urban forestry degree programs is too low and diversity of practitioners is unrepresentative of the urban areas served. Over 1,000 life and natural science-oriented college students at 18 U.S. universities were surveyed on their perceptions of urban forestry as a career. Aside from the wealthiest students displaying lower interest in urban forestry than others, we found no demographic characteristics (i.e., race, gender, socio-economic status, residential setting growing up) that would preclude urban forestry from recruiting a greater diversity of students. Poor awareness of urban forestry seems to be the greatest obstacle to improved recruitment outcomes. Regularly probing the career opportunities of a profession for weaknesses and deficiencies is a tool of self-improvement commonly seen in other professions. We analyzed 151 job postings to assess typical salary, job duties, and requirements of education and certifications. We also interviewed 17 successful candidates to those positions to compare reality against written postings. A dearth of entry-level positions is likely deterring potential recruits. Employers were not posting 40% of the duties urban foresters were performing. Experience as an arborist was accepted in lieu of education as an urban forester in about half of positions, though a degree was required to reach the highest paying jobs. / Ph. D.

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In recent years, regional accreditation and the regional accreditation associations for higher education have experienced continuing criticism and become the objects of increased scrutiny. Higher education institutions look to the accreditation process as one of the principal means of justifying their actions and activities relative to their performance and results. Since the complaints and criticism directed toward higher education have not diminished but continued, and even increased, the regional accreditation associations find themselves to be the focus of similar complaints and criticisms. In the United States, we have no national system of accreditation. We rely on the actions and activities of one of the six regional accreditation associations. Each of these associations has its own separate and, in some cases, unique accreditation processes. Each publishes its own standards, its own handbooks, its own policies and practices, its own newsletters, and its own rules and regulations for accreditation. This situation can lead to inconsistencies, and could be a source of much confusion and misunderstanding when discussing the implications of an institution being accredited within a particular region. Logic models are diagrams or visual schematics that convey relationships between program processes and outcomes. This study uses logic modeling and logic model theory as the framework for an examination of the components of accreditation within two regional accreditation associations. A systematic and detailed methodology was developed in order to construct a logic model from existing handbooks and documents. As a result, two regional logic models were constructed, as well as a combined model based upon common elements. Implications of this study include the possible construction of a national accreditation logic model if the methodology is applied in the additional regional associations. This conceptual approach could lead to more consistency in the design, communication, and application of accreditation processes. Better understanding of, and less confusion concerning, the myriad of activities and processes required in a successful regional accreditation could lead to better, more effective, and more meaningful accreditation activities and results. This, in turn, could generate true growth and improvement in the actions, activities, and results achieved by our higher education institutions.