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No description available.

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of National Board Certified Teachers on student performance on Mississippi’s Subject Area Testing Program (SATP) English II assessment, an end-of-course exam that assesses 10th grade students in Mississippi school districts. The researcher sought to determine if there was a statistically significant difference between the SATP English II scores of two groups of students (those taught by National Board Certified Teachers and those who were not). If there was a difference, the researcher sought to determine how the difference could be explained based on selected teacher demographic data (sex, race, highest degree received, years of experience, and National Board Certification status) and selected student demographic data (sex; race; previous scores on the Mississippi Curriculum Test, Second Edition; and free- or reduced-lunch status). The results indicated that students who were taught by National Board Certified Teachers were more likely to have higher SATP English II scores than students who were taught by non-National Board Certified Teachers. Though previous researchers have concluded that teachers’ years of experience and highest degree received play a vital role in the difference in student achievement, this study did not confirm those findings. The results of this study, however, indicated that teacher and student demographic data were potentially important predictors of the language arts standardized test scores. Though these data can be used as predictors, the combined effect of teacher gender, teacher race, and years of experience, along with student race, student gender, student lunch status, and prior Mississippi Curriculum Test, Second Edition Language Arts scores were not found to be statistically significant in this study.

This study discussed the need for a broader public discourse on high-stakes accountability-based school reform that underscores teachers' perspectives. Also, the study discussed the need for fuller disclosure of the possible undesirable classroom effects of the reform. To address these needs, the study described teachers' perspectives on the Standards of Learning (SOL) school reform in Virginia, focusing upon teachers' views on the reform's classroom effects. The domains of interest were (1) the adequacy of curriculum and the diversity of teachers' instructional strategies, (2) the quality of student learning, (3) teachers' sense of professional autonomy and level of teacher tension, and (4) school quality. The study examined whether there are differences in teachers' views based the income level of the school locale where teachers teach (low-, middle-, or high-income), the school type (elementary, middle, or high school) in which they teach, and teachers' status on whether they teach a SOL-tested subject (yes/no). The participants of the study included 360 randomly selected teachers who were listed as members of Virginia Education Association (VEA). A survey research design was employed. The instrument included 80 Likert-type items, eight demographic items, and three open-ended questions. Inferential and descriptive statistics were reported for eight scales of the survey as were thematic trends in the qualitative data. The study's results suggested that the SOL program contributes to a hurried, high-pressure classroom culture that depletes the potentiality of the very ends of education the program is intended to achieve. Teachers tended to report (1) an inadequacy of the SOL content standards, (2) a reduction of teachers' use of diverse instructional strategies and an inability of the SOL program to meet diverse student needs, (3) arbitrary SOL test cut-scores, (4) an inadequacy of the SOL pass rates to represent school quality, (5) a lack of diagnostic usefulness of SOL test scores, (6) an inadequacy of SOL testing and SOL test scores to hold schools accountable, (7) teachers' sense of diminished professional autonomy, and (8) teachers' mounting tension in the classroom. These results were juxtaposed to the views of policymakers and business leaders, the public at large, parents, and scholars in the field of education concerning the issue of high-stakes accountability-based school reform. Finally, the study discussed a conflict related to the purpose of public schooling between a prevailing narrative of many policymakers and business leaders and what have been the marginalized views of classroom teachers. / Ph. D.

The state of Texas passed the Student Success Initiative (SSI) in 1999 which requires all 3rd graders to pass the reading portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test to be promoted to the 4th grade, and for 5th graders to pass the reading and math portions of the TAKS test to be promoted to the 6th grade. Beginning in spring 2008, 8th graders will also need to pass the reading and math portions of the TAKS test to be promoted to the 9th grade. The purpose of this study was to examine the academic performance of 3rd and 5th grade students who did not meet the passing standard on the TAKS test and were retained during the 2005-2006 school year. The population of this study included 33 3rd graders and 49 5th graders who were retained during the 2005-2006 school year due to not meeting the promotion requirements of the SSI. There was also a second population of 49 5th graders who were retained in 3rd grade during the 2003-2004 school year due to not meeting the promotion requirements of the SSI. These students were enrolled in the 5th grade for the first time during the 2005-2006 school year. Their TAKS scores were examined to see whether students were still benefiting from the year of retention in 3rd grade. Results for all populations were broken down by ethnicity and program codes. The results of the study showed a statistically significant gain in 3rd grade reading and 5th grade math scores. The 5th grade reading scores did have a statistically significant improvement even though the reading mean score was still below the minimum passing score even after a year of retention. A cross tabulation done on students who had been retained in 3rd grade due to SSI requirements and were enrolled in the 5th grade during the study showed a greater significant growth in math than in reading. A strong correlation between the ITBS and TAKS tests were found in both 3rd grade reading and 5th grade math. A weak correlation between the tests was found in 5th grade reading.

Accountability for student learning outcomes is of importance to parents and school and district administrators, especially since the passage of The No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. The requirement for high-stakes testing to measure progress has fostered interest in ways to monitor student preparedness during the school year. This study used 2014 and 2015 test data from of 154 students from one elementary school to measure the correlation between individually administered Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement Brief Reading and DIBELS Next reading assessments and outcomes on the high-stakes Utah SAGE test. This correlational study used Pearson correlation coefficients to determine redundancy across the tests, and used multiple regression to assess how well scores on the KTEA and DIBELS Next tests predict students' subsequent scores on the SAGE test. Results indicate that DIBELS Next was a strong predictor of SAGE outcomes while KTEA Brief results were moderate predictors.

Taiwan English teachers in secondary schools are facing a new challenge of having to teach listening comprehension skills to their students. Many instructors are not equipped to deliver adequate listening instruction although listening comprehension has become a benchmark for senior high students aspiring to enter a tertiary institution and earn a college degree. Instructors, students, parents, administrators, and members of the Ministry of Education agree that there is a need to meet the demands of the National English Curriculum Standards. Weimar's approach of learner-centered teaching served as the conceptual foundation for this study since the focus was on ways teachers could work collaboratively to learn evidence-based strategies for teaching listening comprehension skills. Guided by 4 research questions, the study investigated the perspectives of 4 teacher-participants at a Northern District Senior High regarding the process of teaching listening comprehension. In this qualitative study, an inductive analysis was used to define themes and concepts to discern any patterns and relationships connected with the data collected: interviews, classroom observation and unobtrusive measures. The findings showed that teacher-led peer coaching, via collegial collaboration, led to the building of teaching communities and more effective use of evidence-based strategies for improving the teaching of listening comprehension. This improved teacher pedagogy may lead to a positive social change whereby teachers have skills for teaching listening comprehension and students are better prepared for further schooling. Components of the project also can be used by other school districts and educational organizations where the administration can use the model to further advance similar workforce capacity in teaching L2 learners listening instruction.

This qualitative case study addressed a suburban school district's placement of academically at-risk English language arts (ELA) 9th graders as the district transitions from the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK) to use of the unfamiliar and controversial Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Based on the theoretical frameworks of the zone of proximal development, cognitive apprenticeship, and Bandura's model of self-efficacy, the purpose was to understand the characteristics of struggling (labeled 'academic') ELA students, placement practices and perceptions of these practices, and placement improvements. A purposeful sample was recruited of 7 staff members involved with placement and instruction of academic ELA students in Grades 7-10 for individual interviews. Using thematic data analysis, 4 themes emerged pertaining to the characteristics of academic students, placement practices, the efficacy of assessments used for placement, and improvements. Additionally, content analysis of data on academic students' standardized test scores and grades, collected from district reports, and research on reading assessments were conducted. Findings indicated consensus on the students' characteristics, but no standard procedure for placing academic ELA freshmen. A multiple measure placement matrix was created and incorporated in a white paper for the district's stakeholders, including administrators, teachers, guidance counselors, and child study team members. The implications for positive social change include a better understanding of academic students, their placement, and the benefits of communication, uniform policy, and the use of multiple measures to improve future placement practices.

This dissertation examines the life stories of Marsha Ethridge (all names are pseudonyms), a teacher who has taught for 46 years in one urban elementary school. The stories Marsha tells about her life are used as lenses to consider the following: (1) What influences most shaped Marsha’s practices and stories to live by as a teacher? (2) What has it been like for Marsha teaching reading in an urban elementary school for 46 years? and (3) What is the nature of caring in Marsha’s stories? The study draws on life story and portraiture methods. Data were collected over a period of three years and includes life story interviews, one focus group interview, observations, and artifacts. Through the process of constant comparative method, three themes emerged: literacy and accountability, teacher development and identity, and caring and connecting. The most salient theme was caring and connecting throughout Marsha’s stories, and it served as a unifying thread to pull her stories together. This study found that in Marsha’s first years of teaching there were few forms of accountability. She felt that this was the primary reason many of her sixth graders had made it through school without learning to read. In the following years she used a variety of measures for accountability, including high-stakes accountability, which caused her to experience increasing professional dissonance. The form of accountability she believed improved her teaching practices the most was accountability situated in the context of caring relationships and it led to hope for future success. Marsha experienced this face-to-face accountability in the teacher-initiated group she had been meeting with for 27 years. Research implications from this study include the need to further explore discourse in teacher-initiated groups over time and in different contexts, as well as consider how the relational dynamics and accountability within collaborative teacher groups contribute to teacher growth. Additionally, the analysis of Marsha’s life stories indicate a need for teachers, parents, researchers, and policy makers to lay aside discourse of blaming and shaming to create opportunities for extended conversations about alternatives to high-stakes accountability. / text