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.

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 Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Marjorie R. Hancock / In today’s classrooms, literacy instruction is undergoing tremendous transformations as new technologies demand new literacies. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how integration of technology supports the emergence of new literacies, within the context of an electronic reading workshop in a fifth-grade classroom. The electronic reading workshop provided students multiple opportunities to response to e-books, both as readers and technology users. First, e-book tools allowed the participants to engage in a spontaneous response process as the plot unfolded. Second, students responded to teacher-constructed prompts in electronic literature response journals. Analysis of the journals revealed responses from three broad categories: 1) personal meaning making, 2) character and plot involvement, and 3) literary criticism. Third, students engaged in conversational response while participating in asynchronous message board discussions. The students composed and posted their own response prompts. Analysis of the message board transcripts suggested five types of student-constructed prompts: 1) experiential prompts, 2) aesthetic prompts 3) cognitive prompts, 4) interpretive prompts, and 5) clarification prompts. Virtual guide response projects provided a fourth opportunity for response to e-books. Working in groups, students created virtual guides to the literature in which they visually represented their personal interpretations of the e-books. The virtual guides were published as multi-modal PowerPoint presentations including sounds, images, animations, and hyperlinks. As students conceptualized, researched, published and presented their virtual guides to the literature, they used new literacies to fully exploit the potential of the available technologies. The electronic reading workshop provided a learning environment in which students interacted with each other as they made sense of and accessed the available information and communication technologies. In particular, socially constructed learning occurred through threaded discussions on an electronic message board and development of virtual guide response projects. Educators must be responsive to today’s learners. This study illuminated the expanded possibilities for integrating technology and literacy within the context of an electronic reading workshop. Findings of the study suggest technology integration supports the emergence of new literacies, while the new literacies support students’ utilization of available technologies.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / Paul R. Burden / Growth in the percentage of students of color and English Language Learners in the nation's public schools has significant implications for teacher preparation institutions and professional development programs. Teachers and students alike gain immeasurable benefits from the process that requires them to get in touch with their own cultural, racial, and ethnic heritage. However, little is known about the racial identity of student teachers and the relationship of their dispositions to meet the needs of diverse learners. This study examines that issue at a large Midwestern University in a survey of 128 elementary and secondary student teachers. They completed "A Survey of Racial Identity and Dispositions of Student Teachers." The survey had three sections: "Demographics," "Racial Identity Status Self Assessment (RISSA)," and "Dispositions" self-rate their racial identity and dispositions regarding educational practices for diverse learners. Descriptive statistics were organized and reported for all data sets. T-test, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression analysis, and correlations were conducted. Results indicate that the student teachers had low levels of racial identity and that they are unaware of themselves as racial beings. Moreover, students reporting a low racial identity status tend to lack the knowledge of meeting the needs of diverse learners. As student teachers continued to increase in the number of multicultural college credit hours, their racial identity status increased. Thus, the number of enrolled multicultural hours uniquely predicted racial identity status level of the student teachers. Some other main findings included a higher rating by females than males on the RISSA and on meeting the needs of diverse learners. Non-Whites scored higher than Whites on the RISSA, and elementary student teachers tended to score higher than secondary on the RISSA. Recommendations for practice include assessing student teachers racial identity before entering the teacher preparation program, requiring more multicultural college credit hours, and utilizing simulations during preservice preparation. Recommendations for further study include duplicating the study at a historical Black university, replicating the study nationwide, and adding qualitative components to add depth to the data.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / John A. Hortin / This study focused on migrant parent involvement in the educational experience of their children. Specifically, the study investigated parent involvement in the domains of (1) Community Setting, (2) School Setting, (3) and Home Setting, and its relationship to student achievement in reading and mathematics assessments. Research has clearly indicated that parent involvement in the education processes of children is a critical facet to their academic success. Nevertheless, research has also indicated that parent involvement programming in educational institutions has been structured to address a stable, middle class, language and culturally homogeneous patron. Given the dynamics that impact migrant families, districts that are heavily impacted by migrant families must ameliorate parent involvement programming to address the unique needs of migrant families and their children. The participants in the study comprised 51 migrant families. The response rate for participation in the study consisted of 25% of the total migrant population within the school district. Data were gathered through a survey and an interview. Four research hypotheses were identified and tested. The procedure employed to test the strength of the relationship between the individual domains and the scores was the Pearson's Product-Moment Correlation. Additionally, a two-tailed test was used as the procedure for all hypotheses tested. The results indicated that there was not a significant relationship between the domains and student achievement scores. Nevertheless, there was variability among the students' achievement scores despite the level of involvement demonstrated by the parents. Therefore, based on the range of scores, student success was not predicated on the level of engagement that parents demonstrated on the survey. Other factors accounted for the academic success or failure of the student. These factors may have included constraints such as teacher training and dispositions, the level of second language development that the child possessed, and the resiliency of the student. Nevertheless, for students within the same family, where one student scored extremely high and the other child scored extremely low, parent involvement could have been the deciding variable that could have assisted the low scoring child succeed academically, if the parent training had taken into consideration the factors that impact migrant families.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Socorro G. Herrera / This quasi-experimental study was designed to measure the effects of a research-based intervention on fourth and fifth grade culturally and linguistically diverse students' vocabulary development. Through the extensive review of literature on vocabulary instruction and second language acquisition, a substantive theoretical framework titled the IBA Framework was developed. The IBA Framework incorporates characteristics of effective vocabulary instruction by accessing students' background knowledge, connecting unknown vocabulary words to known knowledge, ensuring opportunities for meaningful use of the vocabulary words, providing multiple exposures, and focusing on higher-level word knowledge. The IBA Framework also addresses second language acquisition by incorporating the linguistic, academic, cognitive, and sociocultural processes of the prism model. The IBA Intervention, derived from the IBA Framework, examined the affect of targeted vocabulary strategies on the overall vocabulary development of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were utilized for data collection and analysis. Quantitatively, the affect of the IBA Intervention was measured by the Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment and the Ecobehavioral System for the Contextual Recording of Interactional Bilingual Environments (ESCRIBE). MAP assessment scores were used to measure the overall literacy achievement of CLD students. Analysis of the data indicated that the treatment group made greater gains than the control group. ESCRIBE was used to measure students' overall engagement. The affect of the IBA Intervention was measured by combining the results of three student variables: language initiating/responding behaviors, oral responses, and activity-related responses. The overall engagement scores indicated that CLD students who received the IBA Intervention had higher levels of engagement than the control group. Qualitatively, the affect of the IBA Intervention on students' vocabulary retention was investigated using student documents, participant observation, and informal interviews. The emic perspective that emerged from the data suggested that students in the intervention group demonstrated their vocabulary retention by building vocabulary knowledge, clarifying vocabulary knowledge, extending vocabulary knowledge, and using vocabulary knowledge across settings. Exemplars from each of these categories were provided as evidence of the CLD students' attainment of a deeper level of permanent vocabulary knowledge.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Marjorie R. Hancock / The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (PL 107-110) drives today's teaching environment. With the pressure not to leave any student behind, classroom teachers often request struggling students to attend summer school. This qualitative case study sought to gain a deeper understanding of how visualization embedded in the writing process may influence struggling learners in a kindergarten through fourth grade summer writing camp. The 3 1/2 week summer writing camp was based on Donald Graves' (1983/2003) writer's workshop and writing process. The selected 19 students (K - 4) and 5 teachers in a Midwestern school district participated in the visual, learning, and literacy-rich environment. During the writing workshop, teachers gave Lucy Calkin's (1994) inspired mini-lessons to teach struggling students how to use visualization embedded in the writing process. Students participated in 4 community-based field experiences, which served as inspiration for drawing and writing. Mental imagery has powerful effects on reading comprehension (Sadoski, 1983, 1985) and students recalled information and images from the field experiences by observing digital photographs, and then drawing and writing. Thirty-nine student art/writing samples were analyzed using Lowenfeld and Brittain's (1975) stages of artistic development, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (2004) writing levels, and Piaget and Inhelder's (1969/2000) stages of cognitive development. Drawing in the writing process created tangible images to help student authors in the primary grades increase their Six-Trait Analytical (Spandel, 2004) writing scores for Ideas, Organization, and Conventions. Students in the intermediate writing group also increased their writing scores in Ideas, Voice, and Conventions. In addition, the data revealed the student's stage of artistic development reflects his or her writing level and stage of cognitive development. The involved teachers believed aspects of the summer writing camp could be incorporated throughout the school year, and they wanted to learn more about using visualization in the writing process. This study provided insight essential to better understand how visualization embedded in the writing process influences struggling learners.