<p> Online gradebooks have gradually become a staple of schools in the 21st century. Students and parents have immediate access to grades, and the composition of these grades is transparent. While the purpose of the online gradebook may have initially been for the conveniences such systems offer the school and its stakeholders, it has also served as a catalyst for gradebook reform. Gradebook construction strategies have been called into question, and solutions which allow gradebooks to provide more accurate and specific information have been developed.</p><p> This study explored student learning growth through the use of two different online gradebooks: a traditionally averaged gradebook and a standards-based gradebook. While the quantitative results of the study showed that students demonstrated a little more growth with an online standards-based gradebook than with an online traditional gradebook, the qualitative portion of this study explored student, parent, and teacher preferences for gradebook construction and suggested that online standards-based gradebooks may result in greater learning increases for students if they are consistently used. </p><p> For instance, "organization and clarity benefits" were among the positives students referenced concerning the standards-based gradebooks. One student recognized the benefit such a gradebook may provide at final exam time, as the gradebook clearly showed the skills in which the student was strong and weak. Likewise, the parents also preferred the clarity of the standards-based gradebook. However, they also liked the traditionally averaged gradebook as it provided information they were familiar with and to which they could relate. </p><p> The teacher input echoed thoughts of the students and parents. They liked the idea of the standards-based gradebook and could see how it helped students learn. However, they also recognized the great deal of work that may go into developing such a system for classroom use, and the great deal of work that may accompany such a system in day-to-day use. This ominous amount of work, they opined, would likely decrease once they used the system consistently, allowing results of this study to support that such a system can only work to its intended extent once it has been implemented and consistently practiced over multiple semesters.</p>

<p> Few classroom measures of English language proficiency have been evaluated for reliability and validity. This research examined the concurrent and predictive validity of an oral language test, titled A Developmental English Language Proficiency Test (ADEPT), and the relationship to the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) in the receptive/listening and expressive/speaking domains. Four years of retroactive data representing 392 student records were obtained from a local urban school district in Los Angeles County with a significant proportion of English language learners. After preparing the data file for analysis, data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) system. Cronbach's alpha was used to analyze the internal consistency of ADEPT. Pearson r analysis was performed to examine concurrent validity and predictive validity. Findings indicated moderate to high correlation coefficients of internal consistency in the first three levels of ADEPT. Concurrent validity results varied depending on the school year. In the most recent school year, 2012-2013, positive moderate to strong correlations were found. This relationship was weaker in each previous year. Overall, correlations increased and remained positive as sample size increased but predictive validity was weak for all three sets of comparative years. These findings support the use of ADEPT as a multiple measure, as a monitoring tool and to inform instruction. </p>

<p> A college education is essential to the future. Those with a college degree will make a higher income and be affected less by economic instability. Employment requiring a college degree will grow, while jobs that do not require postsecondary education will decline. Yet barriers exist that keep all students from attaining a college education. </p><p> It is the charge of schools to prepare students so they not only enter college, but also have the necessary skills to be successful in college-level courses. Federal initiatives mandate periodic assessments to ensure student learning and to hold schools accountable. However, scores from these assessments do not help students gain college entrance nor do they evaluate college readiness. Some states now provide the ACT to all high school students as part of the required state assessment. By doing so, all students will have a common measure of academic achievement in terms of college readiness in time to close achievement gaps before leaving high school. </p><p> This study examined the effects of increased ACT testing on college enrollment and readiness for students graduating in 2010. State testing percentages were obtained from the 2010 ACT Profile Reports for each state in the sample. College enrollment information was obtained from the Digest of Education Statistics. College readiness was measured by the percentage of students who met or exceeded the ACT benchmark scores in English and Mathematics. </p><p> Results revealed a relationship between increased testing and college enrollment, especially in Caucasian/White students, although the degree to which testing was responsible for this increase was limited. Strong relationships were found between increased testing and college readiness in both English and Mathematics. A negative correlation was found between the percentage of students who took the ACT and the percentage of students who met benchmark scores. Results suggested a disconnect between what high school students are taught and what they need to know for college success. Additional study should be pursued to investigate possible reasons for these findings. Recommendations for improvement and suggestions for future research are presented. </p>

<p> While many pre-service teachers successfully passed the state licensure test, a large percentage of students from diverse school districts continue to score below average on their ending standardized state test. Instruction in Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) might diminish the discrepancy between student performance and teacher performance. The research question was: How do the three university teacher education programs prepare pre-service teachers to teach CRP? The purpose of this qualitative study was to compare three distinctive TEPs regarding how they prepare pre-service teachers to respond to the learning needs of culturally diverse student populations using CRP. Three distinct Midwest TEPs participated in this study: a Black urban and public university, a White private suburban university, and a White private rural university. The participants included three chairs/deans and 103 pre-service teachers. A qualitative case study design was selected because it can describe a real-life phenomenon. Data sources were triangulated and included interviews of chairs/deans, Culturally Relevant Teacher Self-Efficacy (CRTSE) survey results of pre-service teachers, and mission statements from the three universities. Results included ten interview themes: caring, respect, trust, relationship, student diversity, family values, sensitivity and cultural differences, student centeredness, vicarious experience, and infusion of CRP in TEP. </p><p> The results revealed that there were no important differences between the three TEPs and that they (a) comply with the state diversity standard in varying ways; (b) have chair/deans who understand CRP and are confident their TEPs prepare students to use CRP; and (c) have pre-service teachers who have above average self-confidence in all four categories of Culturally Relevant Teaching (CRT). The only mal-alignment was chair/deans confidence that they were developing pre-service teachers who are sensitive to cultural differences, but pre-service teachers lacked confidence (lowest scores, though still above average) in having the skill to create a culturally enriched environment. There appeared to be a discrepancy in what they believe they are doing and what they are actually doing. TEPs should realign the mal-alignment discovered in the interview and survey data by providing pre-service teachers the opportunity to develop skill in being sensitive to cultural differences (doing it) through cultural enrichment (having it).</p>

<p> The performance of the United States' students on international tests remains an ongoing source of concern, division, and anxiety for government, educational, and business leaders, teachers (and their unions), as well as the general public. These selfsame test results have been used as evidence to support diametrically opposed political and educational strategy and policy for decades. All too often the performance of students is discussed with a single test score number that is used to represent the entirety of the education system's students without accounting for geographical, demographic, or socioeconomic differences among the student test takers. The contributing factors of the national level performance are often summed up simplistically as resulting from underfunded school systems or under qualified teachers. These generalized assessments and underlying national angst are also often based on the mistaken perception that the United States once led the world in international testing and that the declining performance is a grave indicator of the nation's economic and social future. </p><p> Researchers have begun to produce studies showing a far more nuanced interpretation of national level scores that point to much different contributing factors; in particular, poverty. Somewhat unexpectedly for the world's largest economy, the United States' poverty level is nearly the highest of all nations taking standardized international tests. These studies show that when international test results are controlled for certain socioeconomic factors that the United States scores are at, or very near, the top of the international tables. This study supported the body of evidence that poverty is the greatest hindrance to the academic achievement of the nation's students and sought to better understand the unique contributors to achievement of the nation's poor on the mathematics portion of the Program for International Student Assessment test depending upon the socioeconomic composition and geographical location of a student's school.</p>

<p> The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine if READ 180 is an effective reading intervention program for English Language Learners (ELLs). School districts nationwide are seeking effective programs to close the achievement gap between ELLs and the general population in order to fulfill federally established Title III requirements. This study examined the results of the 2011-2013 Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State (ACCESS), an English Language Proficiency assessment tool specifically designed for ELLs. At the time of this study, 35 states, including Missouri utilize the ACCESS test to measure proficiency levels of their ELLs in partial fulfillment of Title III requirements. Two rural Missouri schools, with ELL populations that exceeded 10%, participated in the study. Both school districts utilize Scholastic's READ 180 program, an intervention program specifically designed for struggling readers. The seventh and eighth grade ACCESS scale scores from both school districts were compiled and analyzed through multiple F-tests, z-tests, and t-tests. The research questions were designed to determine if there was a significant difference in the mean gain in ACCESS reading, writing, literacy, and overall scale scores of those ELLs enrolled in READ 180 and those ELLs not enrolled in READ 180. The results of the study yield mixed results. In nine of the 12 subtests, there was no significant difference in the mean gain in ACCESS scale scores. However, those ELLs who were enrolled in READ 180 for two consecutive years demonstrated the most significant differences in mean gain scores.</p>

<p> Upon entrance to the educational arena, new teachers face many challenges, and rural school teachers face a unique series of challenges compared to teachers in urban and suburban school districts (Ingersoll, 2012). Rural school districts often have difficulty both recruiting and retaining teachers (Dadisman, Gravelle, Farmer, &amp; Petrin, 2010). Teacher induction programs presented a possible solution to increase the teacher retention rates for rural school districts (National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 2007). The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between the degree of implementation of teacher induction programs and the teacher retention rates for high-performing rural school districts. For the purposes of this study, rural school districts were defined as those with 650 or fewer students enrolled. The sample population was 291 rural school districts in Missouri, and when Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) data and Distinction in Performance recognition filters were applied, the result was a stratified sample of 132 rural school districts. An online survey, created for the purpose of this study, yielded a sample of 46 high-performing rural school district respondents. The analysis of the data revealed no significant relationship between the degree of implementation of a teacher induction program and teacher retention rates for high-performing rural school districts. Specific components of teacher induction programs were not related to teacher retention rates for the sample school districts. Three components of teacher induction programs&mdash;rigorous selection of mentor teachers, the requirement of new teachers to observe peer teachers, and the requirement of building administrators to meet at least twice per year with new teachers&mdash;were common among sample districts with 100% teacher retention rates.</p>

<p> This study analyzed Putnam County School System's (PCSS) implementation of an online academic credit recovery tool. The online application was intended to allow students to recover credits required to graduate on time. The focus of the research was to determine if the implementation of Compass Learning by Putnam County School System has improved graduation rates across the four high schools within the district and to assess the consistency and fidelity of the implementation among the facilitators of the program. Online academic credit recovery allowed students the opportunity to reclaim credits needed to graduate from high school on time that they were unable to earn in a traditional classroom setting. The researchers gathered data from the four high schools located in the district. They included Cookeville, Monterey, Upperman, and White Plains. The data were gathered through observations of Compass Learning classes in each of the high schools; responses to surveys from faculty, facilitators, and students; graduation statistics from both the State of Tennessee and PCSS; and Compass Learning metrics provided by the central office staff. The study revealed that graduation rates improved after the implementation of Compass Learning for credit recovery. The study also showed that facilitators, students, and teachers had similar views of the implementation practices across the district, and that facilitator availability was a strong factor in assisting students to success.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0585. Adviser: James Rounds. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-66) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Lehigh University, 2007. / Adviser: Edward S. Shapiro.