According to Fossati and Guzdail, many CS instructors rely on their intuition, feedback from students and anecdotal advice from other instructors to make course improvements. Guzdail noted that: "Computing educators' practice would dramatically improve if we drew on evidence, rather than intuition". This means that Computer Science instructors may benefit from processes and tools that help them make informed changes to their curriculum. An evidence-based approach to course improvement is curriculum alignment, which evaluates the degree which the learning objectives, course content, and assessment methods are in agreement with each other. This provides instructors with a detailed view of their course and areas that need improvement. Current alignment processes are impractical for a course instructor to apply, requiring a panel of experts and training on the process. In this research, I developed a computer-assisted alignment process (CAAP) that uses the concept of traceability from software engineering, to define a process that is applicable by a single course instructor limiting the need for a panel of experts. In an initial application CAAP took 75 hours to apply, consequently a prototype alignment tool (AlignET) was designed to automates the new alignment process providing instructors with results they can use to make course improvements. I evaluated the practicality of AlignET by conducting collective case studies with four participants. Observations and interviews were used to collect data. AlignET reduced the time to complete CAAP to less than 11 hours and the participants identified course improvements, gaps in their instructional methods, and learning objectives they emphasized more than others. The findings from the case study presented key improvements to AlignET. / Doctor of Philosophy / According to Fossati and Guzdail, many CS instructors rely on their intuition, feedback from students and anecdotal advice from other instructors to make course improvements. Guzdail noted that: "Computing educators' practice would dramatically improve if we drew on evidence, rather than intuition". This means that Computer Science instructors may benefit from processes and tools that help them make informed changes to their curriculum. An evidence-based approach to course improvement is curriculum alignment, which evaluates the degree which the learning objectives, course content, and assessment methods are in agreement with each other. This provides instructors with a detailed view of their course and areas that need improvement. Current alignment processes are impractical for a course instructor to apply, requiring a panel of experts and training on the process. In this research, I developed a computer-assisted alignment process (CAAP) that uses the concept of traceability from software engineering, to define a process that is applicable by a single course instructor limiting the need for a panel of experts. In an initial application CAAP took 75 hours to apply, consequently a prototype alignment tool (AlignET) was designed to automates the new alignment process providing instructors with results they can use to make course improvements. I evaluated the practicality of AlignET by conducting collective case studies with four participants. Observations and interviews were used to collect data. AlignET reduced the time to complete CAAP to less than 11 hours and the participants identified course improvements, gaps in their instructional methods, and learning objectives they emphasized more than others. The findings from the case study presented key improvements to AlignET.

Master of Science / Curriculum and Instruction / Lawrence C. Scharmann / In the current high-stakes assessment environment of NCLB and AYP, the type of assessment students are subject to is crucial. Good assessments make teaching to the test an effective, rather than deplorable, strategy that aligns learning objectives, classroom teaching, and student achievement. While science, this author’s content area, isn’t currently AYP mandated, it will be soon, and in the meantime, students are still required to take state and local assessments. This project seeks to effect change on a local level – specifically, with how the local CRT is written so that it can both reflect sound research-based assessment practice as well as an understanding of science as concept- and process-based rather than content- and fact-based.

The purpose of this study was to explore the alignment of soft skills sought by current business IS entry-level employers in electronic job postings, with the integration of soft skills in undergraduate business information systems (IS) syllabi of public four-year universities in Texas. One hundred fifty job postings were extracted from two major electronic career databases. Ten undergraduate AACSB-accredited programs in the field of business information systems (IS) were investigated, and syllabi for the 70 major courses of the business IS programs were obtained for review. Content analysis was applied to all job postings and syllabi, exposing all soft skills related to the 9 categories used in this study adapted from the 21st Century Framework for Learning (Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2009). Frequencies were tabulated to determine rank of soft skills in job postings and syllabi, and Jaccard’s coefficient statistic of occurrence was used for cluster analysis. Soft skills within all 9 categories were found in job postings (n = 1554) and course syllabi (n = 774). Three soft skill categories were aligned between job postings and syllabi: (1) initiative and self-direction, (2) social and cross-cultural skills, and (3) flexibility and adaptability. However, because differences in the higher ranked frequencies of soft skills in job postings and syllabi were noted, the null hypothesis of this study was rejected.

This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the third grade Summer Reading Camp (SRC) in a large urban school district. The SRC curriculum was assessed to determine if it aligned with effective remediation and filled the third grade students’ knowledge voids in reading. The study further analyzed how the school district officials selected the curriculum content utilized in the SRC. This study was conducted using qualitative and quantitative methods. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews of school district personnel on the SRC committee regarding the implementation of the 2012 lesson plan, and from students’ Winter Benchmark Assessment scores. The school district implemented the SRC to fulfill a state requirement that all students who received a Level 1 on the reading Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Reading must receive remediation. The SRC committee designed the curriculum using the state reading benchmarks and decided the activities required during SRC would be whole group, small group, writing, and independent reading. The program was to be evaluated each year using teacher and administrator survey data and the analysis of test scores to determine changes to be implemented. Of the 10 benchmarks assessed on the school district reading benchmark test, only three were aligned with the students’ knowledge voids. There were a total of eight FCAT tested reading benchmarks that were not taught during SRC. The researcher suggests the school district re-align the curriculum with the needs of the students as identified by the Winter Reading Benchmark. It is further recommended that each iii student’s specific remediation needs be evaluated to ensure the curriculum is meeting the needs of all the students in attendance at SCR.

Since the American Revolution free public education has been a discussion of political debate. The purpose that such an institution should play in society is a debate fervently argued when the founding fathers wanted to build a republic based on meritocracy. The problem this study addresses is the undefined relationship between the goals of schooling relevant to Georgia and the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) which is a critical piece to creating a complete systemic view of public schooling in Georgia. The purpose of this study is to investigate the alignment between the GPS and schooling goals. The guiding question and sub-questions are: How well are the GPS, or the intended curriculum of Georgia schools, and each of the various stated goals of schooling aligned? How relevant are the eighth-grade GPS to the latent themes of each of the stated goals of schooling? How balanced are the latent themes of each of the stated goals of schooling in the eighth-grade GPS? Through a historical investigation of the literature and current policy the author establishes the currently relevant goals of schooling which serve as the latent goals for which the method will seek to find evidence within the Georgia Performance Standards. The study employs a quantitative content analysis of a significant section of the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) looking for themes associated with various stated goals of schooling as indicated by the literature review. The manifest themes, developed from the latent goals of schooling, are incorporated as the dependent variables in the study, while the GPS serve as the independent variable. Neuendorf’s (2001) framework for content analysis is used to develop a new method for investigating the goal-curriculum alignment relationship through new measures of Curricular Balance, Curricular Relevance, and Manifest Theme Presence. This study presents a new visual model to compare a curriculum’s alignment to multiple goals of schooling called the Goal-Curriculum Alignment Measures (G-CAM) model. This study finds that the GPS are strongly aligned to the goals of Americanization, high student test scores, post-secondary enrollment, and national gain, while poorly aligned to democratic participation and social justice. Evidence for these conclusions are discussed and related to the current socio-political literature.

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) was used to measure Indonesian fourth grade elementary school students’ reading comprehension in 2006 and 2011. Indonesian students scored among the lowest of the participating countries with a score of 405 in 2006 and 428 in 2011, with the PIRLS average scale score being 500. These results raised questions about the alignment of the Indonesian curriculum with PIRLS. Alignment research between the PIRLS 2021 frameworks and the Curr13 language standards and textbooks (the current Indonesian curriculum) was conducted to provide Kemendikbud (Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture) with a prediction of students’ performance in future PIRLS. The alignment research was mixed methods research with an exploratory sequential design (a three-phase design). The first phase was qualitative data collection and analysis. Alignment instruments were developed using the components of Webb, NAEP ESSI, and HumRRO alignment models. The second phase identified features to be tested, where I revised the alignment instruments, guidelines, and codebook based on the first phase and created a new table. The revised instruments were then used to align Curr13 and PIRLS. The third phase was quantitative calculation using Webb's quantitative criteria (categorical concurrence, depth-of-knowledge consistency [DOK], range-of-knowledge correspondence, and balance of representation) and descriptive statistics. After the three phases, the interpretation used both the qualitative and quantitative data. The results found inconsistencies between Curr13 and PIRLS frameworks. There was no categorical concurrence between PIRLS frameworks and Curr13 unit assessments. Curr13 language standards and unit assessments did not include one PIRLS framework, evaluating and critiquing content and textual elements. This resulted in the absence of DOK for this framework. One PIRLS framework mostly covered by Curr13 language standards and unit assessments was interpreting and integrating ideas and information. DOK and balance of representation were achieved in this framework. Two PIRLS frameworks on comprehension processes (focusing on and retrieving explicitly stated information and making straightforward inferences) aligned to Curr13 and had a balance of representation but weak DOK. Meanwhile, Curr13 unit resources mostly aligned to one of two reading purposes in the PIRLS framework, acquiring and using information, but was weakly aligned with the other one, literary experience. The implication of research findings was to support Kemendikbud in predicting students’ performance in future PIRLS participation by examining the inconsistencies between Curr13 and PIRLS. Recommendations were provided for the elementary school teachers, students, parents, publishers, policymakers, local governments, and other elementary school stakeholders to be familiar with and understand PIRLS. The role of AKSI should also be maximized. In addition, the concept and practice of curriculum alignment should be introduced and enacted into the educational system in Indonesia.

After implementing a statewide standardized testing program in 1998, the Virginia Department of Education realized that some schools were making great gains in student achievement while other schools continued to struggle. The Department conducted a study to identify the practices used by schools showing improvement. Six effective practice domains were identified. The current study was a follow-up to the research conducted by the Virginia Department of Education. A questionnaire measuring the six effective practice domains: (a) curriculum alignment, (b) time and scheduling, (c) use of data, (d) professional development, (e) school culture, and (f) leadership was administered to teachers in 148 schools in Virginia; 80 schools participated. Two questions guided the study: (1) How frequently do schools use the Virginia Department of Education effective practices, and (2) what is the relationship between the use of the effective practices and school pass rates on the 3rd grade 2005 Standards of Learning (SOL) reading test? Descriptive statistics, linear regression, and discriminant function analysis were applied to explore the relationships between the predictor variables (percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch and the use of the effective practices) and the criterion variable (school pass rate on the 2005 SOL 3rd grade reading test). Academic culture and the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch accounted for significant amounts of the variance in school pass rates. The remaining five effective practice measures were not related to school pass rates. The measures may have affected the results. In most cases, one person was used as the proxy for the school, and this person may have provided a biased assessment of what was happening in the school. / Ed. D.

This descriptive study uses a qualitative, content analysis to examine the middle school visual arts and core Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) to determine the potential common learning activities that can be aligned between the two. By performing an alignment of the potential common learning activities present in the middle school visual art TEKS and the middle school core TEKS, I demonstrate that there is a foundation for curriculum integration in the Texas middle school visual arts classroom.

The aim of this study is, firstly, to determine if there is a difference in the perceptions of academic staff members and students concerning the purpose of their actual assessment practices. Secondly, the aim of the study is to identify what the challenges are that may influence the implementation of effective assessment practices. A case study design, involving the academic staff and students within the Baccalaureus Educationis (BEd) Early Childhood Development, Foundation Phase Programme in the Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria, was used. The sample consisted of 30 academic staff members and 114 third-year students who each completed a standardised questionnaire (quantitative data), to get a broader idea of their perceptions and understanding of the purpose of assessment practices. The questionnaire was followed up by face to face interviews (qualitative data) with three staff members and three students in order to validate and supplement the quantitative data. The method employed to analyse the collected data was a concurrent nested, mixed method design. The quantitative data analyses were done using SPSS computer software to determine the frequencies for both staff and students’ perceptions. Statistical data analyses were also performed using a non-parametric chi-square technique. The collected qualitative data was first analysed using manifest and content data analysis. Codes had been developed after which the data was further analysed using SPSS computer software to determine the frequencies for both staff and students’ perceptions. The standards model which represents assessment reform (enquiry or outcomes-based assessment) and the measurement model (traditional assessment) were used as framework to interpret the collected data. The results of my study showed that both academic staff and students perceived the main purpose of assessment as developmental or formative. However, the stated importance of the formative purpose of assessment was not evident in the practice of academic staff. For example, academic staff reported that within their assessment practices, assessment either took place at the beginning of the module, sometimes during the module, but mostly at the end of the module. Furthermore, staff reported that within their assessment practices, self- and peer-assessment and feedback were infrequent occurrences and that feedback to students was almost never followed up with actions. Academic staff perceived the biggest challenge for effective assessment practice to be large class sizes, while students perceived the biggest challenge to be the reliability of assessment, including marking reliability and assessor reliability. I concluded that the standards model of assessment is the desirable model in formal education and especially Higher Education, because it attempts to reflect what has been learned in criterion referenced terms. However, in this study, as well as in the Maclellan study (2001) and LOAP study (Fun, 2005), academic staff declared a commitment to formative purposes of assessment, but students perceived that staff engages in practices that were not in line with the standards model of assessment. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

This study sought to determine if the 2012 Eighth Grade Summer Reading Camp curriculum was aligned with the students’ needs. To determine if curriculum alignment existed, the researcher completed a qualitative and quantitative study. The qualitative study consisted of interviewing the school district program development team to ascertain how the curriculum was designed. The quantitative segment involved running descriptive statistics for student performance on the Pre-program Benchmark Examination. The determined student knowledge voids were compared to the amount of instructional time spent taught teaching those individual benchmarks to ascertain if the curriculum was aligned with student need. The curriculum was determined to not be aligned with the performance deficiencies of the students.