The purpose of this interview study was to understand the perspectives of 17 educators towards assessment of reading-language arts in the public education system in British Columbia, Canada. The study used G. H. Mead's (1932) notion of a "perspective" and A. Strauss' (1978) construct of a "negotiated order" to examine the dynamic, tensive relationships educators enter into with"others" (Mead, 1932) including themselves, when they carry out reading assessments in the public school. With these constructs, the development of a modern-day "mode of cognition" (Gellner, 1964) and the concomitant development of attenuating, "structural processes" (Strauss, 1978) that form the hidden backdrop to assessment are elucidated. Against this backdrop, the participants accounts, gathered through reflective conversations, were interpreted as a set of agonizing relationships (Hillman, 1983) that revolve around dilemmas inherent in assessing children's growth and ability in reading. The study concludes by exploring the nature of some of the dilemmas the educators in this study faced, and presenting an argument for the necessity of deliberation and agony in coming to know, teach and judge children in reading. / Graduate

Introdução/Objetivos: Uma das etapas da formação do cirurgião-dentista passa pelo entendimento dos processos relacionados ao envelhecimento. O objetivo do presente trabalho é definir os conhecimentos, atitudes e práticas (CAP) dos profissionais com relação à saúde do idoso, para a criação de um instrumento de avaliação. Metodologia: Para a definição dos domínios do instrumento CAP foram realizadas entrevistas com dez profissionais de saúde e educação com experiência na geriatria. As entrevistas foram conduzidas a partir de um roteiro estruturado. Também foi realizada uma revisão da literatura e legislação das políticas públicas vigentes. Realizou-se análise qualitativa dos dados obtidos a partir de princípios da Teoria Fundamentada em Dados. Resultados: Como resultado da análise qualitativa, definiu-se os domínios do instrumento como sendo: conhecimento clínico, conhecimento contextual e conhecimento das políticas de saúde. As atitudes foram divididas entre “Saber ser” e “Medos e inseguranças” e as práticas a serem avaliadas seriam: práticas clínicas, de inclusão/acesso e de planejamento. Conclusão: Através da metodologia proposta, identificaram-se os domínios referentes aos conhecimentos, atitudes e práticas que devem ser utilizados para o desenvolvimento do instrumento de avaliação. / Introduction / Objectives: The formation of the dentist requires an understanding of the processes related to aging. The objective of this study is to define the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of professional regarding the health of the elderly, for the creation of an instrument of evaluation. Methodology: For the definition of CAP instrument domains interviews were conducted with ten health and education professionals with expertise in geriatrics. The interviews were conducted from a structured script. Also a literature review of existing legislation and public policies was held. We conducted qualitative analysis of data obtained from principles of Grounded Theory. Results: As a result of qualitative analysis, we defined areas of the instrument as: clinical knowledge, contextual knowledge and understanding of health policies. The attitudes were divided between "Knowing how to be" and "Fears and insecurities" and the practices to be evaluated are: clinical practice, inclusion / access and planning. Conclusion: Through the proposed methodology, it identified the areas relating to knowledge, attitudes and practices that should be used for the development of the evaluation instrument.

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a correlation between the implementation of standards-based grading (SBG) and a rise in student achievement as indicated by the evaluation of end-of-course exam data from the four core subject areas in secondary schools&mdash;English, Algebra, Government, and Biology. This mixed methods study focused on the collected data of 6,000 test scores, split evenly from tests taken prior to the launch of SBG and after the launch of SBG, as well as focusing on varying perceptions of SBG from both teachers and members of the community as a whole. Quantitative data consisted of test scores aggregated by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MODESE) and distributed to school districts. Qualitative data were secondary in nature and taken from two separate surveys administered by the Cooperating School District to teachers and parents concerning how they felt about the implementation of SBG. These data were aggregated and analyzed by using coding techniques for qualitative data to determine the study outcomes. The quantitative data indicated that there was no statistically significant increase in test scores over the five years researched for this study. The qualitative data indicated that perceptions of SBG were frequently negative in nature, although there were varying degrees of negativity. This result came from both the teacher and parent responses. According to these qualitative data, parents and teachers alike viewed SBG as diminishing the foundation of the education the students were receiving, while at the same time inadequately preparing them for the post-secondary world in that too many chances were given for them to succeed under SBG.</p><p>

<p> In order for a student to be successful in dental hygiene education, the student must gain the required knowledge and skills necessary to perform as a hygienist and possess the ability to utilize critical thinking to apply these attributes while in the program and on the National Board of Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE) (Alzahrani, Thompson, &amp; Bauman, 2007; Fried, Maxey, Battani, Gurenlian, Byrd, &amp; Brunick, 2017). Dental hygiene students who attend a medical university have the option to take required pre-requisite courses at a community college or a four-year university. All dental hygiene students transfer from another institution and all have the potential to exhibit transfer shock, which may contribute to a drop in GPA following the transfer to another institution. Transfer shock typically occurs for students who transfer from a community college to a university (Hills 1965; Ivins, Copenhaver, &amp; Koclanes, 2016). This study investigates the impact of transfer shock on students who transfer into a dental hygiene program from a two-year community college as opposed to a four-year university. This study examined whether the type of institution, two-year community college versus a four-year university, attended prior to dental hygiene school is a predictor of success in a dental hygiene program in terms of ending program GPA and NBDHE first-attempt pass rates. After data analysis, results suggested that transfer shock did occur with both community college and four-year university students,. However, the four-year university group experienced less transfer shock than those who attended a community college during the first semester. Neither group increased their GPAs from the first to second semesters in the program. When comparing the entering GPAs with the end of program GPAs, both groups showed a significant drop. However, the community college group&rsquo;s decrease in GPA was greater. Only five students in the total population (two from the four-year university group and three from the community college group) failed the NBDHE on the first attempt. Students who were unsuccessful in passing the NBDHE had final program GPAs that ranged from 2.2 to 2.45.</p><p>

<p> This qualitative collective case study explored the experiences of faculty members in the social and behavioral sciences and SLO coordinators at community colleges in California as they engaged in student learning outcomes assessment (SLOA). Semi-structured interviews with eight faculty members and five student learning outcomes coordinators revealed common goals among the participants to use education to inform social change. Engaged student learning outcomes assessment practitioners shared characteristics with Rogers' (2003) early adopters. Participation in SLOA led to an invigoration of the teaching experience. Strategically-integrated dialogue among students in the classroom, faculty within departments, and across divisions within the institutions facilitated institutional change. Engagement in SLOA led to changes in teaching practice that align with research findings on best practices in higher education and participants perceived themselves to be better teachers as a result. However, participants were reluctant to claim responsibility for student learning or to identify improvements in student learning as a result of SLOA. Still, they were willing to consider the potential of SLOA as a tool to close achievement gaps. Recommendations focus on policy, leadership, and institutional strategies for increasing faculty engagement in SLOA.</p><p>

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 435-440).

abstract: Institutions of higher education often tout that they are developing students to become lifelong learners. Evaluative efforts in this area have been presumably hindered by the lack of a uniform conceptualization of lifelong learning. Lifelong learning has been defined from institutional, economic, socio-cultural, and pedagogical perspectives, among others. This study presents the existing operational definitions and theories of lifelong learning in the context of higher education and synthesizes them to propose a unified model of college students' orientation toward lifelong learning. The model theorizes that orientation toward lifelong learning is a latent construct which manifests as students' likelihood to engage in four types of learning activities: formal work-related activities, informal work-related activities, formal personal interest activities, and informal personal interest activities. The Postsecondary Orientation toward Lifelong Learning scale (POLL) was developed and the validity of the resulting score interpretations was examined. The instrument was used to compare potential differences in orientation toward lifelong learning between freshmen and seniors. Exploratory factor analyses of the responses of 138 undergraduate college students in the pilot study data provided tentative support for the factor structure within each type of learning activity. Guttman's <&lambda;>&#955;2 estimates of the learning activity subscales ranged from .78 to .85. Follow-up confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling did not corroborate support for the hypothesized four-factor model using the main student sample data of 405 undergraduate students. Several alternative reflective factor structures were explored. A two-factor model representing factors for Instructing/Presenting and Reading learning activities produced marginal model-data fit and warrants further investigation. The summed POLL total scores had a relatively strong positive correlation with global interest in learning (.58), moderate positive correlations with civic engagement and participation (.38) and life satisfaction (.29), and a small positive correlation with social desirability (.15). The results of the main study do not provide support for the malleability of postsecondary students' orientation toward lifelong learning, as measured by the summed POLL scores. The difference between freshmen and seniors' average total POLL scores was not statistically significant and was negligible in size. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Educational Psychology 2011

<p> This Delphi study explores the opinions of experts on their interactions with the adoption of digital products, services, and activities. Although there are a wide assortment of digital products and digital spaces that have the ability to make significant contributions to scholarship, still traditional monographs and textual publications dominate how research and opinions are shared. Even through scholars have widespread adoption of social spaces and digital technologies including self-publishing, many of their institutions and peer review platforms are still hesitated to recognize their contributions to scholarship (Gruzd, Staves, &amp; Wilk, 2011). The conceptual framework of this study is built upon Earnest L. Boyer&rsquo;s (1990) four principles of scholarship: the scholarship of discovery; the scholarship of integration; the scholarship of application; and the scholarship of teaching. In addition, the theory of diffusion of innovation by Rogers will guide the analysis component of the research.</p><p>

<p> Community colleges across the nation are under increasing pressure to find ways to improve the rate of which students, placed in remediation, complete college-level coursework. The attrition of students placed into the lowest levels of developmental mathematics has been a challenge for many colleges to overcome. Research has well recorded the lack of progress of students placed three to four levels below a transfer-level course. Yet, few studies have compared the outcome of similar students in accelerated programs designed to shorten the pathways through remediation. This study focused on students placed in the lowest levels of remediation at two colleges offering consecutive sequences of course-redesign and compression models of acceleration. Using multivariate analyses, the comparative effect on completion rates of students accelerated through two different developmental math acceleration programs from two different colleges within a four year period (2013&ndash;2017) were examined. Moreover, this study used student background characteristics, math placement and math acceleration model to predict developmental and college level math course completion using logistic regression analysis. </p><p> The results of this study suggest students placed in developmental mathematics who are in an accelerated pathway have decreased time to complete remediation and a transfer-level math course. Findings indicate course-redesign acceleration model yielded more statistically significant improvements in transfer-level math and developmental math completion rates for first-generation students, as well as students placed in both low-level and mid-level remediation. The compression model of acceleration showed significant improvement in completion rates for students placed in mid-level remediation yet results were mixed for students placed in low-level remediation. Students in consecutive acceleration courses were most likely to complete a transfer-level math course, and historically underrepresented minority students were more likely to complete remediation, under certain circumstances, in the compression acceleration model. </p><p> These findings inform the college administrators on the potential of sequential accelerated programs. The implications of these results contribute to redesigning academic programs and support current developmental policy reforms. Community colleges are encouraged to consider the recommendations in this study, such as integrating course redesign in California Assembly Bill 705 and California Community College Guided Pathways, to help non-traditional students who are most often placed into the lowest levels of remediation. </p><p>

<p> The purpose of this research study was to identify and prioritize the professional development needs for teachers of CTAE subjects within metropolitan Atlanta school systems. The methodology was primarily relational with descriptive components that relied on quantitative data. The administered survey called for participants to self-report demographic groups (i.e. Experience Level, School Type, and School Population). Secondly, participants completed online surveys yielding data that identified professional development needs relative to demographic variables. A modified Borich (1980) Needs Assessment Model was used to identify the perceived importance and perceived competency of 20 competencies prescribed by the Georgia Teacher Assessment of Performance Standards (TAPS). Once analyzed, the researcher identified and described professional development needs relative to demographic variables.</p><p>