Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of English, 2005. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-155).

abstract: ABSTRACT External accountability is embedded in every school system across the United States. This dissertation study focuses on how ten principals negotiate the accountability system placed upon their school by the state of Arizona. The federal accountability policy, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), requires that states use a standardized assessment to document student achievement. Arizona's policy to meet the federal requirements of NCLB is Arizona Learns (AZLearns). AZLearns outlines the formulas for determining which schools are achieving and which schools need to improve. Each school is tagged with a label annually. The labels are Excelling, Highly Performing, Performing Plus, Performing, Underperforming and Failing. The foundation of this study lies in the interpretation, application and negotiation of a school's label by its principal. To investigate the relationship between external accountability and the daily life of a principal, I interviewed ten Arizona elementary school principals. The research questions of this study are: (R1) What effects do external accountability measures have on the development of the organizational capacity of a school? (R2) How do Arizona principals negotiate their school's assigned label in their everyday professional practice? (R3) What are Arizona principals' views of the state accountability process? A qualitative, phenomenological research methodology was used to interview the participants and analyze their stories for common themes. The commonalities that surfaced across the experiences of the principals in response to the labels placed on their school are Accountability, Achievement and Attitude. This study found that Accountability was based on multiple interpretations of policies enforced by the federal government, state or district guidelines and parent or school expectations. Achievement was a result of multiple factors including data collected from test scores, the quality of teachers or instruction and the personal goals of the principals. Attitude was a process embedded in the high stakes testing era, boundaries or conflicts within the location of the school and the personal experiences of the principals. This research is an attempt to share the multiple voices of principals that may lead to alternative meanings or even provoke questions about the labeling system in Arizona schools. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2011

Test anxiety involves a variety of physiological, cognitive, and emotional components. Those suffering from high test anxiety seem to perform poorly on examinations because test anxiety can contribute to information processing challenges both while studying for tests and during evaluative situations. Current research indicates that when a training program is applied that incorporates cognitive behavioral techniques as well as study skills training, highly test anxious individuals can overcome information processing challenges, increase their academic performance, and earn higher scores on tests. In this study, a training program (Counseling Exam Test Anxiety Intervention) combining cognitive behavioral techniques and study skills training was applied to highly test anxious counselors and counselors in training preparing to retake the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) after failing it at least once. This study makes the first known attempt to examine test anxiety specifically associated with the NCMHCE. The research questions guiding this study related to exploring the nature of test anxiety, any changes that occurred during administration of the Counseling Exam Test Anxiety Intervention (CETAI), and whether or not the CETAI was effective in terms of decreasing test anxiety and increasing academic performance. The findings revealed that when participants in this study applied the skills they learned from the CETAI, they improved their scores on practice tests, experienced an increase in confidence, and the majority of them successfully passed the NCMHCE when they retook it.

Under våren 2020 ställdes det nationella provet i matematik, för årskurs 9, in som en följd av Coronapandemin. Det nationella provet i svenska genomfördes som vanligt. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilken roll det nationella provet i årskurs 9 har för slutbetyget för elever i läs- och skrivsvårigheter, samt att synliggöra de faktorer som avgör vid betygsättning. Vidare vill studien undersöka hur bortfallet av ett nationellt prov påverkar gruppens slutbetyg samt se om skillnader finns i slutbetyget mellan flickor och pojkar.   För att besvara studiens frågeställningar används metoden mixed methods, det vill säga en kombination av kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod. Den kvantitativa delen bygger på 221 elevers betygshistorik och nationella provresultat. Den kvalitativa delen består av intervjuer med en matematiklärare, en svensklärare samt en specialpedagog i syfte att fördjupa förståelsen för den kvantitativa delen. Studien visar att elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter, framför allt pojkar, fick ett lägre slutbetyg i ämnet matematik under vårterminen 2020 jämfört med tidigare fem år. Avsaknaden av det nationella provet i matematik kan ha varit en bidragande orsak till detta. Studien visar att korrelationen mellan nationellt prov och slutbetyg är lägre för elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter än för övriga elever. Många elever ur denna grupp får först efter avklarat nationellt prov ett godkänt matematikbetyg. Studiens kvalitativa del visar att det sena uppnådda betyget även påverkas av yttre faktorer såsom gymnasieantagningen som motivator samt att lärare som tidigare varit avvaktande med att ge betyg för dessa elever nu känner att tillräckligt underlag finns. Diskussionsdelen lyfter de möjligheter ett nationellt prov ger, trots de svårigheter gruppen har för proven. Vidare diskuteras ersättningsprovens utformande, språkliga påverkan samt de konsekvenser som uppstår om bortfallet av provet påverkar gruppens meritvärde negativt.

Modern businesses place a premium on employees' oral communication skills.  Business schools are meant to develop future employees and leaders with the requisite skills for success.  Industry representatives, however, consistently express dissatisfaction with business graduates' oral communication skills.  There appears to remain a gap between business students' oral skills and marketplace demands. Research demonstrates that among many possible factors, oral communication apprehension (OCA) appears a significant contributor to ineffective oral communication. OCA may also significantly impede oral skills development by impacting the core aspects of spiral curriculum, an educational theory aimed at the processes of higher education.  The PRCA-24, the most utilized OCA measurement tool, assesses individuals' trait-like OCA levels across common oral communication settings (e.g., public speaking, interpersonal, group, and meeting) as well as their context (e.g., state) OCA levels within each setting.  This study examines whether OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables and therefore operates as a state.  If so, acquiring business students' situational OCA may benefit educators as complimentary data to PRCA-24 assessments. This study also examines business and non-business undergraduates' self-reported OCA levels across general public speaking, interpersonal, and group/meeting oral communication settings as well as those in respective high (and low) stakes situations meant to reflect the stress-inducing scenarios they will likely experience on the job after graduation.  Results indicate OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables (e.g., stakes).  Results are discussed in the framework of providing more relevant measurements of business students' OCA levels to help educators fill the oral skills gap. / Master of Arts

The reauthorized No Child Left Behind requirement for annual state-mandated student examinations led some teachers to believe that they must teach solely for test preparation. This case study explored teachers' perceptions of preparing students for the state-mandated tests at an economically disadvantaged high school in the southeastern United States. Ten teachers were interviewed to understand their perceptions of 'teaching to the test,' feelings of pressure and stress, motivation to teach, and recommendations for integration of creative teaching strategies. The researcher collected demographic data, such as gender, grades taught, and subjects taught, and manually calculated frequencies and percentages. With an electronic software program for qualitative data management, the researcher analyzed the data manually by iterative review of the interview transcripts for codes and themes. Teachers' perceptions of standardized test preparation were both positive and negative. Preparation fostered discipline and content mastery but inhibited teacher creativity and stressed students. Teachers experienced pressure and stress with unhealthy physical reactions, lack of competence, and responsibility to students. Teachers' motivations were both positive and negative. Some experienced increased self-efficacy, and other experienced decreased motivation; commitment to students; and inadequate institutional support. Teachers recommended incorporation of creative teaching strategies and professional development (PD) programs. Findings led to a PD for addressing the problems and creative strategies (e.g., reciprocal teaching, graphic organizers). Findings may help teachers reduce negative feelings toward standardized test preparation and use innovative strategies for students' more effective learning.

Education policies tend to target failing schools that are often located in disadvantaged communities. However, the use of high-stakes testing to identify and punish failing schools has become increasingly controversial. An overemphasis on test scores to determine school quality has led to unintended consequences and overshadows other valuable school-based resources that parents feel meaningfully contribute to students' academic experiences. To better understand how low-SES parents describe their children's low performing schools, I interviewed 92 families in an under-served community. Through these interviews I illuminate the school-based resources that contribute to school quality. In fact, these additional elements were often more important signifiers of school quality for low-SES parents than were test scores.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of high-stakes testing under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act on school culture. Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with first grade through sixth grade teachers and principals from two of Nebo School District's schools located in Utah. Their responses were categorized into twelve themes. Most of the teachers and principals reported that high-stakes testing negatively impacted student and teacher motivation, teaching and learning, and curriculum. They also discussed negative effects of the application questioned the accuracy of high-stakes testing. Fewer teachers and principals communicated positive effects of high-stakes testing. Among these positive effects were that testing data provided some useful information about teaching and learning and provided some accountability. Implications regarding these findings are discussed. This in-depth case study analysis of two elementary schools will add to the growing number of qualitative studies about the effects of high-stakes testing under the NCLB Act.

No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top are Federal educational policies that have evoked criticism from teachers and administrators. Both policies extended the federal government’s reach into local education by tying federal funds to a school’s student growth and teacher effectiveness. With an increasing emphasis on economic mechanisms such as choice and competition, teachers’ effectiveness is now determined by standardized and quantifiable measurements. These policies have created a data driven and high stakes accountability culture within each school. Teachers are finding themselves in a new balancing act of recording quantifiable yearly progress for all students while trying to work against environmental factors that are out of their control. The rising trend to utilize a “no zero” homework policy under these new pressures merits investigation into its role within teacher culture and these current tensions. The recent call for anthropology to re-enter the classroom as a cultural site allows the researcher to provide context to the fluid relationships that often lead to the reproduction of or resistance against dominant ideology. Using the case study method, this ethnography employs the critical theory framework to examine policy impact on teacher culture and gain an understanding for how and why trends such as the “no zero” homework become a part of school policy. By looking at a “school of choice” and a traditional “feeder middle school,” this thesis gives context to how the local trends illuminate larger cultural shifts

The evolving nature of education emphasizes the importance of fostering 21st-century skills. To align with the requirements of the contemporary era, Uzbekistan introduced its new competency based National Curriculum, highlighting the development of 21st century skills. Despite the National Curriculum's emphasis on contemporary skills, a gap persists due to the exam-focused education system in Uzbekistan, with university entrance exams largely dictating classroom practices. This qualitative study, through students’ lenses and experiences, aims to explore how preparation for these exams, particularly in English, aligns with the goals of National Curriculum. Washback, defined as the influence of tests on teaching and learning, has been utilized as the study’s conceptual framework. Reflexive thematic analysis has been employed as the method for data analysis. The participants include first-year public university students in Uzbekistan. The findings revealed a multifaceted, complex and context-specific nature of washback. Key observations include a negative washback effect of high stakes public university entrance exams, leading to the prioritization of exam subjects at the expense of holistic education, a misalignment between English instruction and the curriculum, high-stakes entrance exam induced stress, and broader educational context factors, such as lack of teacher qualification and competence, low teacher salary, contributing to poor quality education. The study also highlights the crucial role of private tutoring in preparing for higher education and the emergence of unethical practices in schools. While the exams fostered certain 21st-century skills in students, an overemphasis on rote memorization limits deeper cognitive competencies. Positive washback is observed in lyceum education and among students preparing for the IELTS exam - an alternative pathway to fulfill the English language requirement for public HE, advocating for measurement-driven instruction and comprehensive language skill development. The study concludes that positive changes in Uzbekistan’s public university admission system could be achieved through a more holistic assessment of students’ skills and competencies and measurement-driven approach to education. The study recommends incorporating students' school performance as an admission criterion, offering a more comprehensive assessment of their abilities and knowledge.