Data were examined in this study from student records in a large North Texas urban school district who were taught with two different mathematics curricula to determine whether or not they had different effects on student achievement. One of the mathematics curricula, Everyday Mathematics, was developed upon national mathematic standards, written by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The other mathematics curriculum was district-approved, using a textbook from a large publisher, with a more traditional approach. The students selected for the experimental group came from six schools that had implemented the Everyday Mathematics curriculum for the 1998-99 school year. An experimental group was formed from these students. Twelve schools with similar socioeconomic ratios, ethnic makeup and 1998 Iowa Test of Basic Skills mathematic score profiles were selected. A control group was formed from this population of students that was similar to the experimental group with the exception of having been taught using the district-approved mathematics curriculum. These two groups were very similar in socioeconomic, ethnic, gender, and grade level makeup. Most importantly, the experimental group and control group were almost identical (there was no statistically significant difference) in their 1998 Iowa Test of Basic Skills mathematics scores, a gauge used to demonstrate that prior mathematics ability was equal going into the 1998-99 school year. In the statistical analysis, almost all comparisons showed that the experimental group taught with the Everyday Mathematics curriculum had higher scores on the 1999 Texas Assessment of Academic Skills mathematics test. When compared to children with similar mathematics ability at the beginning of the 1998-99 school year, the students in this study who were taught using Everyday Mathematics showed greater achievement gains than students in classes that used the district-approved curriculum.

abstract: A new algebraic system, Test Algebra (TA), is proposed for identifying faults in combinatorial testing for SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) applications. In the context of cloud computing, SaaS is a new software delivery model, in which mission-critical applications are composed, deployed, and executed on cloud platforms. Testing SaaS applications is challenging because new applications need to be tested once they are composed, and prior to their deployment. A composition of components providing services yields a configuration providing a SaaS application. While individual components in the configuration may have been thoroughly tested, faults still arise due to interactions among the components composed, making the configuration faulty. When there are k components, combinatorial testing algorithms can be used to identify faulty interactions for t or fewer components, for some threshold 2 <= t <= k on the size of interactions considered. In general these methods do not identify specific faults, but rather indicate the presence or absence of some fault. To identify specific faults, an adaptive testing regime repeatedly constructs and tests configurations in order to determine, for each interaction of interest, whether it is faulty or not. In order to perform such testing in a loosely coupled distributed environment such as the cloud, it is imperative that testing results can be combined from many different servers. The TA defines rules to permit results to be combined, and to identify the faulty interactions. Using the TA, configurations can be tested concurrently on different servers and in any order. The results, using the TA, remain the same. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Computer Science 2014

O processo de automatização de teste de software possui alto custo envolvido em sistemas de larga escala, pois exigem cenários de teste complexos e tempos de execução extremamente longos. Além disso, cada etapa do processo de teste requer recursos computacionais e um tempo considerável para a execução de muitos casos de teste, tornando-se um gargalo para as empresas de Tecnologia da Informação (TI). Neste contexto, os benefícios e oportunidades oferecidos pela combinação da computação em nuvem com o Teste como Serviço (Testing as a Service, TaaS), que é considerado um novo modelo de negócio e de serviço atraente e promissor, podem proporcionar um impacto positivo na redução do tempo de execução dos testes de maneira custo-efetiva e aumentar o retorno sobre o investimento ou Return on investment (ROI). Todavia, existe o problema de vendor lock-in, que é o aprisionamento do usuário à plataforma de um fornecedor específico ou serviço de teste, ocasionado pela dificuldade de migrar de um fornecedor TaaS para outro, limitando a utilização dessas novas tecnologias de maneira efetiva e eficiente, impedindo assim, a ampla adoção do TaaS. Como os estudos existentes não são rigorosos ou conclusivos e, principalmente, devido à falta de evidência empírica na área de serviço de teste, muitas questões devem ser investigadas na perspectiva da migração entre os provedores de TaaS. O objetivo deste trabalho é reduzir o impacto ocasionado pelo problema de vendor lock-in no processo de automatização de testes na computação em nuvem, na escrita, configuração, execução e gerenciamento dos resultados de testes automatizados. Neste contexto, foi desenvolvido o protótipo da abordagem intitulada Multi-TaaS por meio de uma biblioteca Java como prova de conceito. A abordagem Multi-TaaS é uma camada de abstração e a sua arquitetura permite abstrair e flexibilizar a troca de fornecedores de TaaS de forma portável, pois permite encapsular toda a complexidade da implementação do engenheiro de software ao desacoplar o teste automatizado de qual plataforma TaaS ele será executado, bem como abstrair os aspectos da comunicação e integração entre as APIs REST proprietárias dos diferentes fornecedores de TaaS. Além disso, a abordagem Multi-TaaS possibilita também sumarizar os resultados dos testes automatizados de forma independente das tecnologias da plataforma TaaS subjacente. Foram realizadas avaliações comparativas da eficiência, efetividade, dificuldade e do esforço de migração entre as abordagens Multi-TaaS e abordagem convencional, por meio de experimentos controlados. Os resultados deste trabalho indicam que a nova abordagem permite facilitar a troca do serviço de teste, melhorar a eficiência e, principalmente, reduzir o esforço e os custos de manutenção na migração entre fornecedores de TaaS. Os estudos realizados no experimento controlado são promissores e podem auxiliar os engenheiros de software na tomada de decisão quanto aos riscos associados ao vendor lock-in no TaaS. Por fim, a abordagem Multi-TaaS contribui, principalmente, para a portabilidade dos testes automatizados na nuvem e da sumarização dos resultados dos testes e, consequentemente, possibilita que o modelo de serviço TaaS na computação em nuvem seja amplamente adotado, de forma consciente, no futuro. / The automation of software testing involves high costs in large-scale systems, since it requires complex test scenarios and extremely long execution times. Moreover, each of its steps demands computational resources and considerable time for running many test cases, which makes it a bottleneck for Information Technology (IT) companies. The benefits and opportunities offered by the combination of cloud computing and Testing as a Service (TaaS), considered a new business and service model, can reduce the execution time of tests in a cost-effective way and improve Return on Investment (ROI). However, the lock-in problem, i.e., the imprisonment of the user in the platform of a specific vendor or test service caused by the difficult migration from one TaaS provider to another limits the effective use of such new technologies and prevents the widespread adoption of TaaS. As studies conducted are neither rigorous, nor conclusive, and mainly due to the lack of empirical evidence, many issues must be investigated from the perspective of migration among TaaS providers. This research aims at reductions in the impact of the vendor lock-in problem on the automation process of testing in cloud computing, writing, configuration, execution and management of automated test results. The prototype of the Multi- TaaS approach was developed through a Java library as a proof of concept. The Multi-TaaS approach is an abstraction layer and its architecture enables the abstraction and flexibilization of the exchange of TaaS providers in a portable way, once the complexity of the software engineers implementation can be encapsulated. The two main advantages of Multi-TaaS are the decoupling of the automated test from the TaaS platform on which it will be executed and the abstraction of the communication and integration aspects among the proprietary REST APIs of the different TaaS providers. The approach also enables the summarization of automated test results independently of the underlying TaaS platform technologies. A comparative evaluation between Multi-TaaS and conventional migration approaches regarding the difficulty, efficiency, effectiveness and effort of migration among TaaS providers was conducted through controlled experiments.The results show the approach facilitates the exchange of test service, improves efficiency and reduces the effort and maintenance costs of migration among TaaS providers. The studies conducted in the controlled experiment are promising and can assist software engineers in decision-making regarding the risks associated with vendor lock-in in TaaS. The Multi-TaaS approach contributes mainly to the portability of automated tests in the cloud and summarization of their results. Finally, this research enables also the widespread adoption of the TaaS service model in cloud computing, consciously, in the future.

O processo de automatização de teste de software possui alto custo envolvido em sistemas de larga escala, pois exigem cenários de teste complexos e tempos de execução extremamente longos. Além disso, cada etapa do processo de teste requer recursos computacionais e um tempo considerável para a execução de muitos casos de teste, tornando-se um gargalo para as empresas de Tecnologia da Informação (TI). Neste contexto, os benefícios e oportunidades oferecidos pela combinação da computação em nuvem com o Teste como Serviço (Testing as a Service, TaaS), que é considerado um novo modelo de negócio e de serviço atraente e promissor, podem proporcionar um impacto positivo na redução do tempo de execução dos testes de maneira custo-efetiva e aumentar o retorno sobre o investimento ou Return on investment (ROI). Todavia, existe o problema de vendor lock-in, que é o aprisionamento do usuário à plataforma de um fornecedor específico ou serviço de teste, ocasionado pela dificuldade de migrar de um fornecedor TaaS para outro, limitando a utilização dessas novas tecnologias de maneira efetiva e eficiente, impedindo assim, a ampla adoção do TaaS. Como os estudos existentes não são rigorosos ou conclusivos e, principalmente, devido à falta de evidência empírica na área de serviço de teste, muitas questões devem ser investigadas na perspectiva da migração entre os provedores de TaaS. O objetivo deste trabalho é reduzir o impacto ocasionado pelo problema de vendor lock-in no processo de automatização de testes na computação em nuvem, na escrita, configuração, execução e gerenciamento dos resultados de testes automatizados. Neste contexto, foi desenvolvido o protótipo da abordagem intitulada Multi-TaaS por meio de uma biblioteca Java como prova de conceito. A abordagem Multi-TaaS é uma camada de abstração e a sua arquitetura permite abstrair e flexibilizar a troca de fornecedores de TaaS de forma portável, pois permite encapsular toda a complexidade da implementação do engenheiro de software ao desacoplar o teste automatizado de qual plataforma TaaS ele será executado, bem como abstrair os aspectos da comunicação e integração entre as APIs REST proprietárias dos diferentes fornecedores de TaaS. Além disso, a abordagem Multi-TaaS possibilita também sumarizar os resultados dos testes automatizados de forma independente das tecnologias da plataforma TaaS subjacente. Foram realizadas avaliações comparativas da eficiência, efetividade, dificuldade e do esforço de migração entre as abordagens Multi-TaaS e abordagem convencional, por meio de experimentos controlados. Os resultados deste trabalho indicam que a nova abordagem permite facilitar a troca do serviço de teste, melhorar a eficiência e, principalmente, reduzir o esforço e os custos de manutenção na migração entre fornecedores de TaaS. Os estudos realizados no experimento controlado são promissores e podem auxiliar os engenheiros de software na tomada de decisão quanto aos riscos associados ao vendor lock-in no TaaS. Por fim, a abordagem Multi-TaaS contribui, principalmente, para a portabilidade dos testes automatizados na nuvem e da sumarização dos resultados dos testes e, consequentemente, possibilita que o modelo de serviço TaaS na computação em nuvem seja amplamente adotado, de forma consciente, no futuro. / The automation of software testing involves high costs in large-scale systems, since it requires complex test scenarios and extremely long execution times. Moreover, each of its steps demands computational resources and considerable time for running many test cases, which makes it a bottleneck for Information Technology (IT) companies. The benefits and opportunities offered by the combination of cloud computing and Testing as a Service (TaaS), considered a new business and service model, can reduce the execution time of tests in a cost-effective way and improve Return on Investment (ROI). However, the lock-in problem, i.e., the imprisonment of the user in the platform of a specific vendor or test service caused by the difficult migration from one TaaS provider to another limits the effective use of such new technologies and prevents the widespread adoption of TaaS. As studies conducted are neither rigorous, nor conclusive, and mainly due to the lack of empirical evidence, many issues must be investigated from the perspective of migration among TaaS providers. This research aims at reductions in the impact of the vendor lock-in problem on the automation process of testing in cloud computing, writing, configuration, execution and management of automated test results. The prototype of the Multi- TaaS approach was developed through a Java library as a proof of concept. The Multi-TaaS approach is an abstraction layer and its architecture enables the abstraction and flexibilization of the exchange of TaaS providers in a portable way, once the complexity of the software engineers implementation can be encapsulated. The two main advantages of Multi-TaaS are the decoupling of the automated test from the TaaS platform on which it will be executed and the abstraction of the communication and integration aspects among the proprietary REST APIs of the different TaaS providers. The approach also enables the summarization of automated test results independently of the underlying TaaS platform technologies. A comparative evaluation between Multi-TaaS and conventional migration approaches regarding the difficulty, efficiency, effectiveness and effort of migration among TaaS providers was conducted through controlled experiments.The results show the approach facilitates the exchange of test service, improves efficiency and reduces the effort and maintenance costs of migration among TaaS providers. The studies conducted in the controlled experiment are promising and can assist software engineers in decision-making regarding the risks associated with vendor lock-in in TaaS. The Multi-TaaS approach contributes mainly to the portability of automated tests in the cloud and summarization of their results. Finally, this research enables also the widespread adoption of the TaaS service model in cloud computing, consciously, in the future.

Accountability is a major issue in education and in Texas, the TAAS test is used to indicate performance of students, teachers, campuses, and districts. The stakes are high for students, as performance on this test has determined whether they progress to another grade and whether they will receive a diploma. Most research studies focus on relationships between the teacher and individual students or groups of students, but not classrooms. Expectations and high stakes testing are central within the educational process, and their relationship on student achievement should be investigated, especially since no studies on teacher attitudes toward the TAAS test have been found. This correlational study measured teacher attitudes toward the TAAS and teacher expectations for students through data collected from a survey. Student achievement information was collected from averaged Texas Learning Index scores for students by classroom over a two year period. The sample consisted of 22 4th, 8th, and 10th grade reading and/or math teachers who had taught in the same Texas mid-sized, rural school district for at least two years. Frequency, percent, mean, and standard deviation were used to analyze the responses on the survey. A median score distinguished between high/low expectations and between positive/negative attitudes toward the TAAS. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient identified relationships, with levels of significance determined at the .05 level. From this study, it appears that no relationship exists among teacher expectations for students, teacher attitudes toward the TAAS, and student achievement. It appears that teachers support the TAAS and see a relationship between the test and improved student performance, and view the TAAS as nondiscriminatory for race and socioeconomic status. While teacher expectation levels are not the same for all students, most teachers feel responsible for insuring that students learn while they are in the teachers' classrooms, and communicate, via word or action, the expectation that their students can learn at or above grade level.

This study analyzed student test scores to determine if teacher participation in an inquiry-based professional development was able to make a statistically significant difference in student achievement levels. Test scores for objectives that assessed the critical thinking skills and problem-solving strategies modeled in a science inquiry institute were studied. Inquiry-based experiences are the cornerstones for meeting the science standards for scientific literacy. State mandated assessment tests measure the levels of student achievement and are reported as meeting minimum expectations or showing mastery for specific learning objectives. Students test scores from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Test (TAAS) for 8th grade science and the Biology End Of Course (EOC) exams were analyzed using ANCOVA, Chi Square, and Logistic Regression, with the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) 7th Grade Science Subtest as covariate. It was hypothesized that the students of Inquiry Institute teachers would have higher scale scores and better rates of mastery on the critical thinking objectives than the students of non-Institute teachers. It was also hypothesized that it would be possible to predict student mastery on the objectives that assessed critical thinking and problem solving based on Institute participation. This quasi-experimental study did not show a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The effects of inquiry-based professional development may not be determined by analyzing the results of the standardized tests currently being used in Texas. Inquiry training may make a difference, but because of factors such as the ceiling effect, insufficient time to implement the program, and test items that are intended to but do not address critical thinking skills, the TAAS and EOC tests may not accurately assess effects of the Inquiry Institute. The results of this study did indicate the best predictor of student mastery for the 8th grade science TAAS and Biology EOC may possibly be prior knowledge acquired in elementary school and as demonstrated on the 7th grade ITBS science subtest.

This study attempted to determine if the type of class schedule (traditional, A/B block, or accelerated block) used in Texas public high schools significantly affects students' achievement results, attendance rates and dropout rates. One thousand four hundred ninety (1490) Texas high school principals were surveyed to determine the type of schedule currently in use on each campus, the type of schedule previously used on each campus, the length of time the current schedule has been in place on each campus, and the length of time that the previous schedule was used on each campus. This study is particularly significant in that this research provides information to assist principals in determining if block scheduling is instrumental in improving achievement in reading and mathematics, in improving attendance and in lowering dropout rates. The results of the study indicated that the use of a particular type of schedule: traditional, A/B block, or accelerated block is not directly correlated to improved achievement, attendance, or dropout rates. An expectation that the implementation of a traditional, A/B block, or accelerated block schedule will be the sole factor to cause improved student achievement, improved attendance rates or improved dropout rates is inappropriate. Ultimately, campus and districts officials must assure that effective teaching practices are occurring on each campus, regardless of the schedule type. Currently, a projected (Texas) state education funding shortfall is causing school district administrators to review cost-saving options for the 2003 - 2004 fiscal year. There is discussion in many districts regarding the fact that traditional scheduling is more economical than A/B block or accelerated block scheduling. The results of this study indicate that the decision to move campuses from A/B block or accelerated block to traditional scheduling might be made as a cost-saving move without negatively impacting student achievement, attendance rates or dropout rates.

Selenium has been a method to test web applications for over a decade, it is interacting directly with the browser and has gained support from both browsers and the community. With the growing amount of browsers, mobile devices and operating systems which a web application is expected to work with, services providing these systems for testing web applications against has gained interest. These services provide testing as a service (TaaS), and runs Selenium-tests in the cloud. This research tried to compare the different services with each other in regard to flexibility, cost, simplicity and reliability. I have also tried to see differences between running the tests locally and using these services. The results showed that there are some differences between the services, and the one best suited might depend on the web application.

The purpose of this study was to investigate predicting student success on one example of a "high stakes" test, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Exit Level Exam. Prediction algorithms for the mathematics, reading, and writing portions of the test were formulated using SPSS® statistical software. Student data available on all 440 students were input to logistic regression to build the algorithms. Approximately 80% of the students' results were predicted correctly by each algorithm. The data that were most predictive were the course related to the subject area of the test the student was taking, and the semester exam grade and semester average in the course related to the test. The standards of success or passing were making a 70% or higher on the mathematics, 88% or higher on the reading, and 76% or higher on the writing portion of the exam. The higher passing standards maintained a pass/fail dichotomy and simulate the standard on the new Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Exit Level Exam. The use of the algorithms can assist school staff in identifying individual students, not just groups of students, who could benefit from some type of academic intervention.

The purpose of this study was to (1) gather information regarding knowledge of TAAS and perceptions (attitudes) about TAAS (excluding the current battery of End of Course Tests) from teachers and administrators; (2) relate teacher and administrator knowledge and perceptions of the test to student test performance as reported in the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) Reports. Answers to the following questions were sought: 1. To what extent do teachers and administrators possess different levels of knowledge regarding TAAS, and different attitudes toward TAAS about its purpose and usefulness? 2. Are differences in teacher and administrator knowledge of TAAS related to student performance? 3. Are differences in teacher and administrator attitude toward TAAS related to student performance? Information was collected, by means of a twenty-six-item survey measuring teacher and administrator knowledge and attitude toward TAAS. The selected schools were chosen from schools rated as either exemplary or low performing by the state accountability system. The data were examined using Descriptive Statistics (Mean, Median, Mode, Standard Deviation) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). ANOVA was performed to determine if a significant variance existed between the responses of teachers and administrators and also between exemplary and lowperforming schools. Exemplary and low performing schools were chosen to determine if there were differences in teacher and administrator responses from these two groups. The results of this study attempt to show what, if any differences there are in attitudes toward and knowledge about TAAS based on responses from teachers and administrators from both exemplary and low performing schools. Based on the analysis of the data, there is no evidence from this study that indicates that there are significant differences in knowledge between teachers and administrators regarding TAAS. There is evidence that administrators possess a more positive attitude toward TAAS than do teachers. There is no evidence presented in this study that differences in teacher or administrator knowledge significantly impact student performance.