Thesis advisor: Larry H. Ludlow / Preparing and supporting teachers to enact teaching practice that responds to diversity, challenges educational inequities, and promotes social justice is a pressing yet daunting and complex task. More research is needed to understand how and to what extent teacher education programs prepare and support teacher candidates to enhance the achievement of all learners while challenging systematic inequity (Cochran-Smith, Ell, Ludlow, Grudnoff, & Aitken, 2014). One piece of empirical evidence needed is a measure that captures the extent to which teachers enact teaching practice for equity. This study developed an instrument – the Teaching Equity Enactment Scenario Scale (TEES) - to measure the extent of equity-centered teaching practice by applying Rasch measurement theory (Rasch, 1960) and Guttman’s facet theory (Borg & Shye, 1995). The research question addressed whether the TEES scale can measure teachers’ self-reported enactment of practice for equity in a reliable, valid, and authentic manner. This study employed a three-phase design, comprising an extensive process of item development, a pilot study and a final full-scale administration. Fifteen scenario-style items were developed to capture the enactment levels of six interconnected principles of teaching practice for equity. Using the Rasch rating scale model the outcome was a 15-item TEES scale that reliably and validly measures increasing levels of teaching practice for equity progressing through low, moderate, and high levels of enactment. The distribution of the scenarios confirmed their hypothesized order and the instrument development principles of Rasch measurement - unidimensionality, variation and a hierarchical order of the items, as well as a uniform continuum defining the construct. The scale also provides meaningful interpretations of what a raw score means regarding one’s equity-centered teaching practice. The overall findings suggest that the novel approach of combining Rasch measurement and facet theory can be successful in developing a scenario-style scale that measures a complex construct. Moreover, the scale can provide the evidence needed in research on preparing and supporting teachers to teach with a commitment to equity and social justice.

Research has indicated accredited, U.S. higher education-governed intensive English programs (IEPs) often struggle financially due to a scarcity of resources (namely students) because of political and global economic factors and increased competition (ICEF Monitor, 2017; IIE, 2017; Ladika, 2018; Soppelsa, 2015). However, few IEPs advertise online language acquisition (OLA) courses despite the increase in online study methods at the higher education institutes governing the programs and its use by competitors. The purpose of this study was to determine the status and extent of OLA diffusion in U.S. IEPs, how IEP directors and faculty perceived OLA, and whether they perceived themselves to be the leaders in its diffusion. Drawing on Rogers’ (1962) diffusion of innovation framework to inform the instrument methodology, this study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional survey. The study used the Rasch measurement model (1960) as the framework informing the instrument’s design and analysis. All 249 executive directors and 2,492 faculty in the 249 accredited, higher education-governed IEPs were invited to participate in the study, and 328 directors and faculty from 121 IEPs opted to do so. Major findings revealed 40.5% had experimented with online courses within the last five years, and 24.8% offered it currently. The Winsteps dimensionality analysis showed each of the six innovation characteristics performed as a separate strand supporting the dimension of OLA adoption potential. The Wright map and item measures revealed respondents perceived OLA visibility (1.52 logits) as the most difficult-to-endorse characteristic followed by complexity (0.48 logits). The least challenging characteristic was articulated benefits (-0.39 logits), and the easiest item was technology confidence (-1.21 logits) followed by technology clusters (-0.65 logits). Regarding leadership in promoting OLA adoption, 53.2% of the sample claimed they were involved in its leadership at some level, and 31.1% reported leadership involvement at institutes currently lacking online English courses. This study suggests respondents found OLA to be beneficial for their IEP with articulable results. Cost and technology confidence were not viewed as prohibitive, but respondents lacked confidence that OLA would lead to increased enrollment. Because of the high level of OLA leadership in their IEP, the adoption of online language courses appears to be moving in an upward trajectory.

The purpose of this study is to explore a potentially more practical approach to direct writing assessment using computer algorithms. Traditional rubric rating (RR) is a common yet highly resource-intensive evaluation practice when performed reliably. This study compared the traditional rubric model of ESL writing assessment and many-facet Rasch modeling (MFRM) to comparative judgment (CJ), the new approach, which shows promising results in terms of reliability and validity. We employed two groups of raters”novice and experienced”and used essays that had been previously double-rated, analyzed with MFRM, and selected with fit statistics. We compared the results of the novice and experienced groups against the initial ratings using raw scores, MFRM, and a modern form of CJ”randomly distributed comparative judgment (RDCJ). Results showed that the CJ approach, though not appropriate for all contexts, can be valid and as reliable as RR while requiring less time to generate procedures, train and norm raters, and rate the essays. Additionally, the CJ approach is more easily transferable to novel assessment tasks while still providing context-specific scores. Results from this study will not only inform future studies but can help guide ESL programs to determine which rating model best suits their specific needs.

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