Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-201). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (PhD(Curriculum Studies))-University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2006. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ted Hodgson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-121).

The focus of this study is on assessment in an Outcomes Based Education environment. The question arises as to how assessment of Entrepreneurship and Business Management-N4 can be changed to suit an Outcomes Based Education approach. Action research was used as the research methodology and the findings were reported as case studies. A sample of three colleges in the Eastern Cape was chosen to take part in the study. Only two modules of the Entrepreneurship and Business Management-N4 syllabus were adapted to suit an Outcomes Based Education approach, as the students still had to write the normal external examination at the end of the semester as required by the Department of Education. In the first two cycles the participants implemented Outcomes Based Education in the classroom using only the resources available at the college for the old education system. During the third cycle the researcher implemented Outcomes Based Education in the classroom under the same circumstances, but with the advantage that the researcher benefited from the reflections of the first two cycles. In order for assessment to meet the requirements of an Outcomes Based Education approach, it was necessary to change teaching practices as well. Important aspects such as group work, new assessment methods, the role of resource materials and the training of lecturers were included in the study. At the end of the third cycle a model for the assessment of Entrepreneurship and Business Management-N4 was developed. Recommendations on aspects such as students, lecturers, resources and assessment were made.

Assessing students’ writing through the Curriculum Based Measurement is an area that is not widely researched or practiced by classroom teachers. Presenters will share experiences with progress monitoring the writing of students from a rural school district. Participants will learn to score writing probes to monitor students’ progress.

For generations--and certainly for the last 30 years--proponents of traditional and progressive philosophies have argued over how best to educate our children. Although this debate is often carried out in the political and academic spheres, the difficulties created by not being able to resolve the differences between the two belief systems become blatantly clear in the pedagogy of early literacy. On the one hand, traditionalists argue for a direct and explicit instructional methodology, and on the other hand, progressives advocate for Whole Language or Balanced Literacy instruction. The classroom often becomes a battlefield as advocates of these opposing schooling paradigms struggle with each other. Differences emerge about which skills and what knowledge are the most important for students to master. Conflicts arise over which methodology is most effective in ensuring that students gain access to bodies of knowledge. The result is that the real world of classroom instruction often becomes a mish-mash of content and strategies that derive from both philosophies. Student assessments frequently contribute to the confusion because they are not aligned with the knowledge and skills students are expected to acquire as well as with the strategies teachers use. Without assessments that are tightly coupled with the underlying philosophy of an instructional program, with classroom practice, and with high-stakes summative assessments, it is extremely difficult for both teachers and administrators to have confidence that they are offering their students the best possible learning opportunities. Interim/benchmark assessments are vital tools for linking classroom instruction with year-end assessments and an essential element of any comprehensive assessment system. Currently, the Dynamic Indicator of Beginning Early Literacy Skills, commonly referred to as DIBELS, is a widely used interim/benchmark assessment. It serves many districts and schools quite well. However, many progressive educators believe that the DIBELS assessment is not well-aligned with a Balanced Literacy approach. In this dissertation the author examines the following essential question about early literacy interim/benchmark assessments: (a) Is the relationship between the assessed level on the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), which fits within a Balanced Literacy framework, and student's performance on high stakes accountability test as strong as the relationship of DIBELS to these same tests; and (b) does the DRA have a degree of predictive validity comparable to DIBELS? The study demonstrated a strong relationship between the DRA and performance on OAKS and that the DRA has a degree of predictive validity that is comparable to DIBELS. The results from the study support the claim that a curriculum-based measure, such as the DRA, can be used as a literacy screening assessment to detect potential reading difficulties. These results give support to progressive educators who wish to have a viable alternative DIBELS.

As advances in technology allowed national and state education assessments to be administered digitally, many school districts transitioned to computer-based instructional programs and assessments to improve student achievement and better prepare students for high-stakes computerized assessments. One such rural public school district in Mississippi implemented a supplemental web-based instructional program, i-Ready, for the first time in the 2017-2018 school year. The purpose of this study was (a) to investigate the effects of the i-Ready program on student achievement in Grades 4 – 5 reading/language arts and mathematics and (b) to determine if there were significant differences in growth (from pretest to posttest) among performance levels of students in Grades 4 – 5 on the 2017 state assessment in reading/language arts and mathematics. A quantitative research design using existing data was used to conduct the study, and the paired-samples t-test provided the primary means of analysis for research questions one and two to determine the effect of the i-Ready program on student achievement. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used as the primary means of analysis for research questions three and four to determine if there were significant differences in growth among students across Performance Levels 1 – 5. The results from the research study showed the i-Ready program had a positive impact on student achievement in reading and math for Grades 4 – 5. No statistically significant differences were found in student growth among the performance level groups indicating all students were impacted by the program. Recommendations for future research include: (a) conducting longitudinal studies to determine long-term effects of participation in the i-Ready program, (b) analyzing methods of implementation by classroom teachers, (c) measuring i-Ready’s predictability of proficiency and growth on state assessments, and (d) conducting studies of other online instructional programs using control groups.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-96).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-96). Also available in print.