Thesis (MTech (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, 2007 / With the advent of implementing transformational outcomes-based education in South African schools, educators have had to adopt a standards-based assessment approach. Rubrics as an assessment scoring tool have been acclaimed as one of the most effective assessment tools with which standards-based assessment can be implemented and managed. This study explores the ways in which educators manage assessment in their classrooms whilst promoting the basic tenets of transformational outcomes-based education. The demand is on competencies that illustrate the ability to think and perform critically. Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain is put forward as an instrument to use in designing and using rubrics in order to achieve the desired learning outcomes. Effecting change is not an easy process and this study investigates the challenges educators are facing in implementing this aspect of educational reform.

Mathematics and science are key areas of knowledge and competence for the development of an individual, and the social and economic development of South Africa in a globalising world. Since 1994, the new democratic government in South Africa has emphasised the centrality of mathematics and science as part of the human development strategy for South Africa. Performance in this area is one of the indicators of the health of the South African educational system. It makes an important contribution to the economy and has been a contributor to inequalities of access and income. The twenty-first century is characterised by exponential growth and rapid change, which will be mainly based on information technology. The major asset in any successful country as its inventiveness in science and technology, rather than its abundance of labour or its natural resources. Therefore, it is important that school education should prepare the youth in scientific and technological fields to cope with, and contribute to, the well-being of their country.athematics and science are key areas of knowledge and competence for the development of an individual, and the social and economic development of South Africa in a globalising world. Since 1994, the new democratic government in South Africa has emphasised the centrality of mathematics and science as part of the human development strategy for South Africa. Performance in this area is one of the indicators of the health of the South African educational system. It makes an important contribution to the economy and has been a contributor to inequalities of access and income. The twenty-first century is characterised by exponential growth and rapid change, which will be mainly based on information technology. The major asset in any successful country as its inventiveness in science and technology, rather than its abundance of labour or its natural resources. Therefore, it is important that school education should prepare the youth in scientific and technological fields to cope with, and contribute to, the well-being of their country.

In order for the democratic government in South Africa to eradicate segregatio. It was necessary to introduce new policies with school teachers being expected to be agents of change. Teachers have a big role to play in the transformation of the country. This research investigated Integrated Quality management Systems (IQMS) for improving performance of selected schools in the King Williams Town Education District. Three schools were selected in the King Williams Town District . The aim of this research was to examine the implementation of IQMS in the selected schools. The introduction of IQMS by the Department of Education in 2003, did not help the schools in the King Williams Town district improve their performance. IQMS is a government policy. The intention of public policy is to solve a problem. The findings of this study indicates that in the selected schools the problem of poor performance was not solved by the introduction of IQMS. Scholars have written extensively on performance appraisal. Different writers agree that the main purpose of appraisal is to improve performance. The Constitution (1996) and policies provide a strong foundation for the effective implementation of IQMS and public administration provides a good support for the effective implementation of IQMS. Additionally, legislation and subsequent policies give guidelines of how to implement the system successfully. In this study, questionnaires were given to 15 educators to investigate how schools understand and implement the IQMS. Qualitative analysis was undertaken to interpret the responses from the educators. Themes were formulated based on the responses received. Findings were generalised from the responses received. The research discovered that educators do implement IQMS, but they do not see it as a mechanism of improving performance. Teachers demonstrated an inadequate understanding of IQMS.

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictive value of selected input variables on the accountability rating of Texas high schools with student populations greater than or equal to 900. Specifically, this study analyzed the effect of student, staff and fiscal input variables in determining the odds of a high school in this study receiving a Low Performing, an Academically Acceptable, or a Recognized rating in the Texas public education accountability system - a system which is based in student performance on state standardized testing. Identifying a set of variables that helps predict campus accountability ratings provides campus administrators and teachers with information to improve student performance on standardized testing. Using statistical methods to determine the odds of campus ratings based on selected input variables, this study revealed that successful student remediation in mathematics is the most consistent, positive indicator of campus accountability rating out of 60 student, staff and fiscal inputs analyzed. However, the most telling aspect of this study is that inputs such as, teacher experience, teacher campus tenure, teacher degree level, student SAT performance, Advanced Placement testing performance and the percentage of low socioeconomic students were not statistically significant. The wider implications of these findings warrant further research into why these variables seem to have no affect on campus accountability rating.

This study addresses student accountablity and the need for a change of focus from groups of children to the individual child. Accountability data gathered for the study came from the Texas State Department of Education.

The purpose of this study was to examine what effect Propostion 48 has had on black representation on NCAA Division IA men's basketball and football teams. A one - page questionnaire was mailed to the compliance coordinator at each of the 106 col1eges and universities participating in men's basketball and football at the NCAA Division IA level from 1985-86 to 1990-91. The questionnaire contained two charts and one open - ended question. The questionnaire was designed to identify any change in black representation on football and basketball teams since the inception of Proposition 48. This was done by comparing the final year prior to the introduction of Proposition 48 with each of the 5 succeeding years. Responses were received from 45 of the colleges and universities. However, due to incomplete information, and several declinations the data was computed on only 19 responses. The data was analyzed through a statistical test of differences between two populations at a .05 confidence level. Analysis indicated only a total of 4 significantly positive Z scores out of a possibility of 205 scores. This confirmed the belief of the researcher that Proposition 48 did not have a significantly negative effect on the representation of black student and universities athletes participating in football and basketball at NCAA Division IA colleges / Master of Science

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine staff attitudes and preferences toward outcomes assessment in Maryland's public, undergraduate institutions. The data were collected in Fall, 1989. Over 400 chief academic officers, division chairs, and faculty from 26 two- and four-year institutions were surveyed. An analysis of the data indicated the following: (1) That four-year faculty and administrators were less positive than two-year staff about the value and feasibility of outcomes assessment. (2) That, although there is not active opposition among either institutions' faculty and staff to the value of assessment, there was considerable lack of knowledge and suspicion of the program. Means of the responses to questions dealing with value were on the positive side of 3.0 on a five-point scale. (3) However, faculty and staff in both types of institutions were even less sanguine about the feasibility of assessment; the means were near or below 3.09 for most groups. (4) There was general agreement about those indicators which should be assessed; in general faculty and administrators agreed that the most important measures were employer satisfaction and transfer success. (5) Staff in both types of institutions did not like "rising-junior examinations" or "graduate earnings." (6) There was overwhelming agreement that results of assessment should be used to improve curricula and instruction. (7) However, only 57 percent though that assessment would improve instruction--supposedly the major reason for its imposition. These results and others suggest that faculty and staff are relatively neutral about the idea of outcomes assessment. One gets the sense when viewing the statistical information derived from 76 questions and from volunteered comments that the major concerns rest with the methods of implementation and use of the data. Much of what faculty and staff would like to have assessed are already measured by many colleges. The data also suggest that faculty need to become actively involved in what is likely to be an expensive program in terms of dollars and time. The study includes a set of recommendations for state and institutional activities to increase faculty involvement and for case study research. / Ed. D.

Community participation has increased over the last twenty years. The states of California, Florida, Hawaii and South Carolina have mandated representative community advisory councils. The purpose of this study was to investigate on a national level the attitude of local school board members toward community participation-community control within the selected areas of curriculum, finance, personnel and student affairs, and the relationship of this attitude to selected demographic and personal data. The population for this descriptive research was school board member subscribers to The American School Board Journal. A stratified random sample of 17% received the National Questionnaire on Attitudes of School Board Members. Responses were analyzed according to frequency distribution and crosstabulation procedures to determine significance between respondent's attitude and demographic and personal variables. Respondents reported that there were six areas in which the community should be involved, are presently involved, and to which they would be willing to delegate decision-making responsibility. These areas were: Education Objectives; Construction, Renovation or Closing of Schools; Curriculum Evaluation; Determination of Local Tax Rates; Student Discipline; and Expenditures for School Operation. The respondents differed in attitude toward the six areas mentioned above across demographic and personal variables. / Ed. D.

The study was designed to investigate the intervention program, PEP-UP, in the Richmond Public Schools in Richmond, Virginia, and to determine if significant differences occurred in the academic achievement and self-concept of the program participants. Data for the study were obtained from SRA Achievement Test scores of the subjects participating in the study and from questionnaires given the participants. The subjects were 15 classes of PEP-UP students who were retained in the second grade on the basis of test scores, and 15 classes of control students composing the lower level reading groups of the third grade. Permission was granted by the Superintendent of Schools to utilize the test scores from school records and to administer the questionnaires to the subjects. The data were analyzed by use of the analysis of covariance with the signicance level set at .05. Major findings were: (1) There was a significant difference in the reading achievement after seven months of instruction between the experimental and control groups; (2) the mathematics achievement scores were similar for both groups and no significant differences were found; (3) the Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) did not indicate a significant difference between the groups, even though a slight increase in scores was evident for the PEP-UP students; (4) a significant difference in teachers' ratings did occur between the experimental and control groups. / Ed. D.