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No description available.

Large Scale Assessments (LSAs) of student achievement in education serve a variety of purposes, such as comparing educational programs, providing accountability measures, and assessing achievement on a broad range of curriculum standards. In addition to measuring content-related processes such as mathematics or reading, LSAs also focus on thinking-related skills such as lower level thinking (e.g., understanding concepts) and problem solving. The purpose of the current study was to deconstruct and clarify the mechanisms that make up an LSA, including thinking skills and assessment perspectives, from a validation approach based on the work by Messick (1995) and Kane (1990). Therefore, when examining the design and student data of two LSAs in reading, (a) what common thinking skills are assessed? and (b) what are the LSAs’ underlying assessment perspectives? Content analyses were carried out on two LSAs that purported to assess thinking skills in reading: the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) and the Educational Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). As the two LSAs evaluated reading, the link between reading and thinking was also addressed. Conceptual models were developed and used to examine the assessment framework, test booklets, and scoring guide of the two assessments. In addition, a nonlinear factor analysis was conducted on the EQAO item-level data from the test booklets to examine the dimensionality of the LSA. The most prominent thinking skill referenced after qualitatively analyzing the assessment frameworks, test booklets, and scoring guides was critical thinking, while results from the quantitative analysis revealed that two factors best represented the item-level EQAO data. Overall, the tools provided in the current study can help inform both researchers and practitioners about the interaction between the assessment approach and related thinking skills.

Thesis analyze and assess the Assessment centre in banking company.

Approximately 18 months ago, an Arthritis Men's Group was started by the Social Work Department at the Vancouver Arthritis Centre. Having identified the need for such a group, interim objectives were proposed for the group which was still in the pilot stage of its development. The purpose of the study was to conduct a formative evaluation of the Men's Group to take a closer look at what was happening in the sessions, to examine the feasibility of the objectives and whether these objectives were being achieved. This information would be used by the planners to improve and/or modify the program. The underlying conceptual approach to the study was 'naturalistic'. In the context of this framework, several data collection methods were used including: interviews, quantitative measures, monitoring and narrative descriptions of group sessions. The findings suggested that interim objectives were being met in the sessions which focussed specifically on psycho-social issues. In addition, other sessions were serving an important 'informational' function which was recognized and valued by group members. Interviews with core-group members did indicate the perceived acceptance and usefulness of open discussions on psycho-social issues. However, over the short duration of the monitoring period no significant changes were found on the measures pre to post so that the positive or negative effects of the achievement of higher levels of emotional openness is not known. The study did provide a good preliminary data base on the nature of the group process and the heterogeneity of the membership. Useful information was gathered both on the kind of group process which may facilitate the achievement of the specific program objectives as well as the informational function of the group. Overall, group members seemed satisfied with group process and content and wanted to see the group continue. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This study was designed to investigate the usefulness of the administration of a Spanish translation of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Form A, in the language assessment of bilingual children.

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School leaders and principals have an obligation to use every tool at their disposal to maximize student achievement. All students deserve the best use of data to inform the decision-making of those entrusted to deliver the finest education available to them. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the perceptions of principals in Los Angeles Archdiocesan high schools about the use of assessment data in their schools by finding how they were using assessment data to inform curricular and pedagogical decisions, and then determining what factors affect the use of assessment data to inform their curricular decision-making. This study was a mixed-method investigation using a quantitative survey to find processes in Archdiocesan high schools that capture and utilize assessment data to inform decision-making, as well as to determine the principals’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges related to assessment data usage. The qualitative aspect of this study consisted of interviews of Archdiocesan high school principals meant to expand upon the findings of the survey. The findings of the study, viewed through the lens of a conceptual framework, suggest a breakdown in the use of data from the very beginning of the process. Standardized assessment data are the information used to drive curricular decisions while data from formative assessments and curriculum maps, are utilized less frequently. The study also found that, while principals feel that their teachers valued the use of data, there was room for growth in the protocols enlisted to analyze assessment data, and in the cultivation of a culture of collaboration and learning.

This research aims to develop a large-scale locally relevant flood risk screening tool, that is, one capable of generating accurate probabilistic inundation maps quickly while still detecting localized nuisance-destructive flood potential. The CASCADE 2001 routing model is integrated with GIS to compare the predicted flood response to heavy rains at the watershed, subwatershed, and municipal levels. Therefore, the objective is to evaluate the impact of scale for determining flood risk in a community. The findings indicate that a watershed-level analysis captures most flooding. However, the flood prediction improves to match existing FEMA flood maps as drill-down occurs at the subwatershed and municipal scales. The drill-down modeling solution presented in this study provides the necessary degree of local relevance for excellent detection in developed areas because of the downscaling techniques and local infrastructure. This validated model framework supports the development and prioritization of protection plans that address flood resilience in the context of watershed master planning and the Community Rating System. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Students' self-determination (SD) can positively influence their ability to make choices in planning for their future. The current study is a preliminary validity study on the most recent 21-item version of Shogren and Wehmeyer's Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI-SR). The SDI-SR was administered to 316 students (ages 13-22) and results were examined with exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results of the EFA on a 7-factor solution (TLI = 0.97; RMSEA = 0.04; SRMR = 0.02) aligned with the theoretical basis for the SDI:SR as well as results for the 7-factor CFA using simulated data (TLI = 0.913; RMSEA = 0.047; SRMR = 0.072 and CFI = 0.931); however, the CFA 7-factor solution results on the present study data were slightly lower than what is considered acceptable model fit (TLI = 0.883; RMSEA = 0.04; RMSR = 0.047). These results combined suggest that theory-based 7-factor solution does capture seven latent constructs in this data. A CFA was also conducted with a 5-factor structure based on factor loading from an EFA using the present research data resulting in a better model fit (TLI = 0.912; RMSEA = .075; SRMR = 0.046; and CFI = 0.940) as well as a CFA run with the simulated data resulting in an even better fit (TLI = 0.952; RMSEA = 0.040; SRMR = 0.064; and CFI = 0.967) than the 7-factor solutions. It appears the current study results aligned with five of the latent factors of SD.