This study examines the relationship of student achievement in mathematics and factors purported to influence such achievement. The factors utilized in the study were selected from those contained in accountability reports issued by the state of Tennessee in 1995-96. The student achievement measures were based on four high school end-of-course mathematics tests. Student performance on these tests is examined both in terms of actual scores and value-added measures. This study organizes the available accountability measures in an Opportunity-to-Learn (OTL) framework for the purpose of determining relationships that can inform practice and give policy guidance. The study examined 65 (of 139) school systems in Tennessee in a research design of correlation and multiple regression analyses. Twenty-three independent variables were organized into three OTL categories (fiscal, educational process, and teacher quality) and an "external factors" category. Eight dependent variables represented actual and value-added results on the four tests. Results revealed a number of significant relationships; there were relatively fewer and weaker relationships involving value-added measures than actual measures of achievement. Conclusions emphasize the need for continued refinement of the accountability and research goals for the state. Specific recommendations are that the number of variables measured be increased and that the focus and specificity of the variables be increased.

This study uses the state report cards published by the Tennessee Department of Education to compare the academic achievement grades to the value-added grades to determine if there is a relationship between the two grading systems. The data used for this study are from the 2001, 2002, and the 2003 state report cards published for each school using the five subject areas of reading, language, math, science, and social studies. One thousand sixty schools in the state of Tennessee were for this study. The socioeconomic status (SES) of the schools was used as a covariate to determine if the socioeconomic status of the school has an effect on the relationship between achievement grades and value-added grades on the state report card. Schools were grouped into one of three categories. Schools with 0 – 33% of their students eligible for free/reduced meals were categorized as an upper SES school. Schools with 34-66% of their students eligible for free/reduced meals were categorized as a middle SES school, and schools with 67-100% of their students eligible for free/reduced meals were categorized as a lower SES school. The data used to determine the grades on the report card are based upon the results of the state mandated achievement tests given in the state of Tennessee. The 3 cumulative three year averages of the normal curve equivalent scores (NCEs) are used to determine the achievement grades while the cumulative three-year value-added percentages are used to determine the value-added grades on the state report cards. There was a statistically significant relationship between academic achievement grades and value-added grades in math, language, and social studies on the 2001, 2002, and 2003 state report cards. In reading, the 2002 state report card did not show a significant relationship between the grades while the 2001 and 2003 report cards did indicate a significant relationship. In science, the 2001 and 2003 report cards did not indicate a significant relationship between achievement and value-added grades while the 2002 report card did indicate a significant relationship between the grades.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare measures of teacher effectiveness between two different Tennessee teacher evaluation models. The two teacher evaluation models compared were the Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model (TEAM) and the Teacher Instructional Growth for Effectiveness and Results Model (TIGER). The measures of teacher effectiveness used were final observation scores and individual value-added growth (TVAAS) scores. The relationship between observation scores and growth scores were also compared for the two different evaluation models. There were four guiding research questions and corresponding null hypotheses. Data were provided from participating school systems. The sample for this study included 230 TIGER teachers from 3 TIGER districts and 2,389 TEAM teachers from 9 TEAM districts. Independent samples t-tests and Pearson correlations were computed to investigate the research questions. All data were analyzed using a 0.05 significance level. Findings from the data indicate that teachers who were evaluated using the TIGER model had statistically higher TVAAS scores and final observation scores when compared with TEAM teachers. Results also indicated a significant positive relationship between observation scores and TVAAS scores for both TEAM and TIGER teachers. Findings indicate a stronger relationship for the TIGER teachers than for the TEAM teachers.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the potential for using propensity score-based matching methods to estimate teacher contributions to student learning. Value-added models are increasingly used in teacher accountability systems in the United States in spite of ongoing qualms about the validity of teacher quality estimates resulting from those models. Using a large national dataset, teacher effects were estimated for 435 teachers using both value-added and propensity score-based approaches. The two approaches resulted in teacher effect estimates that were moderately correlated, with propensity score-based estimates more highly correlating with the value-added estimates as the matching ratio was increased. For many teachers' students, finding a set of matched control students was impossible unless the set of matching variables was reduced. Results suggest that many teachers have classroom compositions that are unusual, making evaluation of the teachers' impacts on student outcomes problematic. It was also found that, while value-added estimates were relatively insensitive to covariate inclusion choices or method of effect estimation, propensity score-based estimates were somewhat sensitive. Propensity score-based teacher effect estimates offer promise both for better accounting for classroom composition and student background variables and for indicating when a teacher's context is unique with respect to those variables, making the teacher's impact challenging to evaluate.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship that exists among instructional practice scores, value-added measures, and learning gains for the Large Urban School District (LUSD) among reading teachers in Grades 6-12 for the 2012-2013 school year. In addition, this study was also conducted to address the perceptions of secondary school principals and assistant principals regarding the relationship of the three variables and their relevance in making personnel decisions. Quantitative data were obtained from school district databases for observation scores, value-added measures, and standardized assessment achievement data to determine the relationship among the variables. In addition, a perception survey was completed by secondary school principals and assistant principals. With a sample size of 138, the survey yielded a return rate of 84%. The data were analyzed to determine actual relationships among instructional practice scores, value-added measures, and learning gains, as well as how the participants perceived each variable in isolation. The literature review supported the findings regarding the inflation of observation scores by school administrators. The only significant relationship (.48) existed between value-added measures and learning gains. Likewise, school leaders in the LUSD believed that their observations were important in analyzing the needs of their teachers and should be included in summative evaluations. Learning gains were supported by the participants more than instructional practice scores and value-added measures as evidence of effective instruction. The literature review revealed past program evaluation studies regarding the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) as a valid measure for assessing grade level benchmarks. The information in this study is valuable and suggests that continued professional learning for school leaders regarding classroom observations to improve inter-rater reliability is needed. Likewise, school leaders would benefit from understanding the relationships that exist among instructional practice scores, value-added measures, and learning gains to drive conversations with teachers regarding rigorous instruction.

The focus of this research was to examine the initial year of implementation of the Marzano Teacher Evaluation Model and iObservation®tool (Learning Sciences International, 2012) as it related to student achievement in the School District of Osceola County, Florida and to determine if the Marzano model improved the ability to determine teacher effectiveness with more accuracy than previous models of teacher evaluation used in the school district. Twelve research questions guided this study concerning the relationship and predictability between the variables of teacher instructional practice scores, number of observations reported in the iObservation®tool, and student achievement in Grades 3-5 using reading and mathematics FCAT 2.0 DSS scores. Linear Regression analysis suggested that for Grade 3 reading and mathematics the instructional practice mean had statistical significance in predicting performance and was a strong predictor of Grade 3 FCAT reading and mathematics performance. Linear Regression analysis suggested that for Grade 3 reading and mathematics the instructional practice mean had statistical significance in predicting performance and was a strong predictor of Grade 3 FCAT reading and mathematics performance. Linear Regression analysis further suggested no statistical significance or predictability for Grades 4, 5 for instructional practice mean and Grades 3,4,5 for observation mean related to FCAT reading and mathematics performance. Caution should be used when attempting to interpret these findings, as this study was based solely on intitial year implemention data. Implications for practice are also discussed in this study.

The most known and widely used methods use cash flows and tangible assets to measure the impact of investments in the organization’s outputs. But in the last decade many newer organizations whose outputs are heavily dependent on information technology utilize knowledge as their main asset. These organizations’ market values lie on the knowledge of its employees and their technological capabilities. In the current technology-based business landscape the value added by assets utilized for generation of outputs cannot be appropriately measured and managed without considering the role that intangible assets and knowledge play in executing processes. The analysis of processes for comparison and decision making based on intangible value added can be accomplished using the knowledge required to execute processes. The measurement of value added by knowledge can provide a more realistic framework for analysis of processes where traditional cost methods are not appropriate, enabling managers to better allocate and control knowledge-based processes. Further consideration of interactions and complexity between proposed process alternatives can yield answers about where and when investments can improve value-added while dynamically providing higher returns on investment

Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS) is the preferred third generation (3G) communication standard for mobile communications and will provide worldwide coverage, a convenient software technology and very high data rate. The high data rate, especially, requires the use of bandwidth-efficient modulation schemes such as Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK). But modulation schemes such as QPSK need, in turn, a very linear power from the output of the transmitter power amplifier in order to meet the spectral requirements. A linear power amplifier, traditionally, has very low energy efficiency. Poor energy efficiency directly affects operational costs and causes thermal heating issues in base station transmitters. Thus the power amplifier designer is forced to trade-off between linearity and efficiency. As a result of this trade-off a Class-AB power amplifier is most often used in QPSK based systems. Class-AB power amplifiers provide acceptable linearity at efficiency values around 45-50% typically. This compromise is not a satisfactory solution but is inevitable while using traditional power amplifier design techniques. This thesis details the use of a Class-F amplifier with carefully chosen bias points and harmonic traps to overcome this problem. Class-F amplifiers are usually considered as very high efficiency (80% or more power-added efficiency) amplifiers where the high efficiency is obtained through the use of harmonic traps (L-C filters or quarter-wavelength transmission lines), which provide suitable terminations (either open or short) for the harmonics generated. By doing this, a square wave drain voltage and a peaked half-sinusoidal drain current out-of-phase by 180 are produced. Since only a drain voltage or a drain current exists at any given time, the power dissipation is ideally zero resulting in 100% theoretical efficiency. These very high efficiency values are usually associated with poor linearity. However the linearity can be improved to meet the design standards but compromising on efficiency. Even after this is done, efficiencies are usually 10 to 15% greater than a traditional Class AB power amplifier with similar linearity performance. Thus efficiency can be improved without affecting linearity by the use of Class-F power amplifiers. In order to verify this theory, a Class-AB and a Class-F power amplifier are designed using Motorola's high voltage laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) transistor. The choice of bias points and the design of the harmonic traps are very critical for the Class-F performance and hence were designed after careful consideration. The designs were simulated on Agilent's Advanced Design System (ADS) and the simulated results were compared for three different power levels namely, the peak power, 3 dB below peak power and 6 dB below peak power. At all of these power levels it was noted that the Class-F and Class-AB power amplifiers have very similar linearity performance whereas the Class-F power amplifiers show about 10% improvement in efficiency in comparison to the Class-AB power amplifiers. / Master of Science

学位プログラム名: 京都大学大学院思修館 / 京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(総合学術) / 甲第24949号 / 総総博第31号 / 新制||総総||5(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院総合生存学館総合生存学専攻 / (主査)教授 池田 裕一, 教授 IALNAZOV Dimiter Savov, 准教授 関山 健, 安橋 正人 (奈良女子大学) / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy / Kyoto University / DFAM