Thesis advisor: Andrew Hargreaves / In 2006, Singapore introduced the Teach Less Learn More (TLLM) movement to continue the systemic changes introduced under the Thinking Schools Learning Nation vision. A curricular initiative, TLLM had implications for classroom assessments, calling on teachers to focus on the process of learning, and to use more formative and qualitative assessing. This dissertation examined the extent to which Singapore teachers' classroom assessment practices are aligned to the policy. It adopted mixed methods research to study teachers' assessment practices. Data culled from the Teacher Questionnaire used in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study provided the national pattern of assessment practices. Classroom practices were based on assessments contributed by eight teachers and from their interview comments. Classroom assessment practices were examined quantitatively using the Authentic Intellectual Work criteria (Newmann and Associates, 1996), and interpreted qualitatively using constructivist assessment (Shepard, 2000). The findings suggest there was incremental change in the teachers' assessment practices. At the national and classroom levels, three patterns of assessment practices--change, variety, and persistence--emerged. Of the three, the pattern of persistence was the most dominant, indicating that most teachers continued to use assessment practices that the policy was discouraging. The prevalence of the pattern of persistence meant that teachers were more likely to focus on achievement rather than on learning. At the classroom level, the result of such assessment practices was that teachers did not always present students with challenging tasks. There was a range of practices among the eight teachers. The extent to which the teachers' practices were aligned to the policy is the result of a complex interaction of policy, school, and classroom factors. Based on these findings, this dissertation suggests that to bring about fundamental change in classroom assessment practices, there needs to be greater macro policy coherence, a larger student role in the classroom, and more assessment leadership from principals. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

This study is an action research project where I study my own practice in giving feedback in investigative tasks. The aim is to find ways of improving my feedback by engaging learners in conversation and eliciting misconceptions. The study is framed by a sociocultural view of learning and teaching. The study was conducted in a high school with a class of Grade 10 learners who worked on an investigative task and six lessons were video recorded. Analysis was based on the investigative task, feedback given to learners, misconceptions that arose and conversations that took place during the lessons. The findings are that when developing an investigative task, the teacher should look for mathematical processes that can be developed as learners work on it. I found that I both took up and missed opportunities to work with learners’ misconceptions and that four components of mathematical conversations: questioning, explaining mathematical ideas, sources of mathematical ideas and responsibility were present at different levels in my classroom. On the basis of my findings I make a number of recommendations for my own further practice and for other teachers.

The research presented in this dissertation involves a quantitative study of mathematics teachers' knowledge of formative assessment. Formative assessment is understood as a process in which both teachers and students actively become the agents of the process, responsible for their own knowledge and practice. In this process, formally gathered evidence is used to formulate feedback and inform decisions; and informal evidence (e.g. observation, conversations) is used to generate teacher and peer-feedback to improve learning (Hargreaves, 2005; Wiliam & Leahy, 2015). The focus of the study is on mathematics teachers in state secondary schools in the Brazilian Federal District. The research design employs survey methodology with a structured e-questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed based on six domains of knowledge extracted from existing research literature. The several piloting phases, and a field test conducted with a larger sample, demonstrate the validity and reliability of the instrument and provide information about mathematics teachers' knowledge of formative assessment. The evidence shows that teachers in the Federal District did relatively better in terms of interpreting evidence of students' learning and helping students to use assessment information. On the other hand, they had a relatively lower performance in terms of choosing/developing assessment methods (e.g. classroom activities, discussions) to elicit evidence of students' learning. The overall performance of teachers in the Federal District was lower than that of teachers sampled from the other states of Brazil. The original contribution of this research is methodological in the development, piloting and application of a new instrument to assess mathematics teachers' knowledge of formative assessment; and to knowledge in providing information and a unique insight into Brazilian mathematics teachers' knowledge of formative assessment. There are important implications for policy and practice, focussing on teachers' professional development with regards to formative assessment and clarifying Brazilian teachers' roles as assessors.

Creating an exam that ensures an even coverage over all the Intended Learning Outcomes and at the same time ensures that to pass, the student should have passed all the Intended Learning Outcomes can be a difficult task. After an exam have been graded, formative feedback should be given to the students, especially in those cases where they did not pass the exam. This can be a time consuming process, and because of this, it is not always possible to give as good feedback as one would otherwise like. In this project an exam tool was created, for assisting in creating exams and give individual formative feedback to the students after an exam. By storing all the questions in a database, where each question is connected to an Intended Learning Outcome, along with writing the questions in a standardised format, with regards to point representations, grading rubrics and references it becomes possible to automatically generate exams. Generated individual feedback is created by combining the information in the question together with the students result. The feedback provides motivation of given grade, which topics a student should read up on, along with recommended reading instructions. In those cases a student got a full mark, it is also possible to provide further study instructions, this can be anything from recommended articles and book chapter, to courses. Differential privacy have been used to anonymize the grade distribution to make it possible to show the students how the exam went, without risk exposing what grade a certain student got. The exam tool created achieves all of these goals, however there are still much room for improvement. The anonymisation function needs further development, since differential privacy is not suitable for small datasets. The usability of the interface and feedback reports needs more work. However in its current state it is fully functional and have been used in numerous courses.

The primary concern of this thesis is to quantify and analyze the lithic (chipped stone) assemblage previously excavated by Hepp (2015) and the La Consentida Archaeological Project (LCAP) at the archaeological site of La Consentida in the lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico. The lithic assemblage is comprised of over 500 artifacts mainly of obsidian and chert. This research represents a study of all primary context lithic artifacts from La Consentida and focuses on obsidian, the material most used at the site. In the first part of this thesis I provide an analysis of all lithic artifacts of this primary context assemblage collected during the 2012 field season. Additionally, I present technological considerations regarding manufacturing techniques and subsequent issues regarding technique implementation. The second part of this thesis examines the distribution of lithics, in addition to other artifact classes (i.e. ceramics and ground stone), at the site and relates this to manufacturing techniques and inferences towards social organization. Results indicate that the people of La Consentida favored obsidian as a material for lithic manufacture. While other materials were used to produce chipped stone, obsidian dominates the assemblage. Further, these materials were used in expedient lithic reduction, which characterizes the majority of the assemblage. In addition to expedient flakes, specialized tools are also present, although minimal. Additionally, the way in which lithics, and more importantly obsidian artifacts, are distributed at the site indicates a purposeful designation for manufacture and use in specific locations. The artifacts I examine here are crucial to determining the economic practices of this Early Formative period (2000–1000 B.C.) site. Ascertaining how the lithic artifacts were distributed at the site will help expand current understandings of Early Formative period exchange, crafting, and subsistence practices. Furthermore, these results may have implications for developing our understanding of social organization at the earliest known settled village in coastal Oaxaca.

A self-study at a local elementary school revealed that homework assignments appeared to be at lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, and students were inadequately prepared for summative assessments that required the application and critical thinking levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Formative assessment data, ideally, drives teachers’ instructional decisions in the classroom. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to better understand the formative assessment processes that drive instructional decision making. The conceptual framework by Chappuis and influenced by Black and Wiliam includes the strategic process for successful formative assessment teaching and learning. The research questions explored the use of homework as a formative assessment in classrooms. In this intrinsic case study, data collection included face to face interviews with 10 general education Grade 3-5 teachers in 2 different schools within the same, a 2- week document analysis of homework assigned in language arts and mathematics, and a focus group of participants. The data were analyzed with open coding followed by axial coding to determine themes. Member checking and triangulation were used to ensure validity and accuracy. The themes that emerged from the coded data identified ineffective teacher use of feedback, self-assessment, and learning targets—essential practices of the formative assessment process. Improving the formative assessment process for teaching and learning may encourage positive social change through promoting teacher selfefficacy and collaboration through a professional development paired with a professional learning community. This study may also lead teachers to change their formative assessment processes and provide guided instruction that enhances student learning outcomes.

In response to test-based accountability (No Child Left Behind, 2001), schools and districts across the country are adopting a variety of supplemental assessments aimed at improving student performance. These interim assessments are administered more than once during the school year for the following purposes: 1) predicting student performance on summative accountability tests, 2) identifying student strengths and weaknesses, 3) tracking student progress toward "proficiency," or 4) identifying students for remedial instruction. Vendors claim these assessments can improve teaching and learning, although critics contend they do not possess a number of attributes theorized to facilitate formative use of results, including particular assessment features, instructional practices, and school-level supports. To date, empirical evidence on interim assessments is scarce. Thus, this study collected the first empirical evidence on the use of interim assessments in reading and math in Iowa elementary schools. Elementary school administrators completed a survey regarding their school or district's use of interim assessments. Respondents provided basic descriptive information and also indicated how teachers use assessment results to modify teaching and learning and the types of professional development opportunities available. A companion teacher survey designed to capture teachers' use of assessment information to improve teaching and learning was constructed. This draft teacher survey was pilot-tested with a small sample of teachers in order to improve its clarity by identifying areas of ambiguity. Feedback generated from these interviews was used to revise the teacher survey. Study results suggest widespread use of interim assessments among respondents, particularly for the improvement of reading skills and primarily for instructional and remediation purposes. These reading assessments appeared to exhibit many of the characteristics deemed essential for formative use of assessment results. However, both survey and interview results suggested teachers have little autonomy for deciding when assessments will be administered. Results also suggest there is much room for improvement in teachers' formative use of assessment results, as one of the most important aspects of formative use (responding to results by modifying instruction and identifying alternative pedagogies) may also be the least used by classroom teachers and the most neglected with respect to professional development.

The purpose of this formative intervention was to design a professional and technical communications course around rhetorical inquiry. The participants, undergraduate health sciences majors (N=22 for section A, N=20 section B), were observed throughout the fall semester of the 2014-2015 academic year. A rhetorical inquiry framework was applied via activity systems, and data were collected using several methodologies including participant observations, research questionnaires, as well as participant deliverables, and were transcribed using Daisy Mwanza's Eight-Step Model. Results demonstrated students successfully used activity systems as a means of approaching rhetorical inquiry. Furthermore, students indicated a high level of engagement in the course. This study demonstrates how rhetorical inquiry can be utilized in Professional and Technical Communication for Health Sciences as a means of advancing student agency and participatory learning environments. The study also suggests rhetorical inquiry should be part of the professional and technical communication curriculum and other academic disciplines as well as utilized in the workplace.

The hypothesis for this essay is: ”Teachers use assessment methods that are mainly summative and as a consequence student involvement in the assessment process is low, with too little focus on the goals of the education.” The primary aim is to investigate whether or not this hypothesis is true. To answer this, students were asked their opinions about assessment. Also, teachers were asked questions about assessment, to see if there is a correlation between students' and teachers' thoughts. The investigation was conducted through a questionnaire, which 46 students and three teachers answered. The students came from three different ninth grade classes.      The results from the questionnaires indicate that mainly summative assessment methods are used since, for example, only 50% of the students know how they are being assessed. Also, when giving examples of assignments they get to do in class, most students gave answers that traditionally are connected with summative assessment. The results also show that student involvement in the assessment process is low, as 65% answered that they rarely or never get to self-assess, and they are only involved in planning subject areas sometimes. Also, a majority of 74% would like to have more personal conversations with their teacher about their development. However, most students feel that their teacher is clear about the goals and objectives of assignments.      The conclusion reached in this essay is that the hypothesis was partly true. The teachers in this study use mainly summative assessment methods, and student involvement in the assessment process is low. On the other hand, teachers are good at explaining the educational goals. In a majority of the questions, students' and teachers' opinions about assessment coincide. However, the opinions differ greatly between the classes in all but two questions.

Le but de cette étude est la planification d'une évaluation formative de l'implantation du programme uruguayen Servicio de Orientación Consulta y Articulación Territorial (SOCAT) zone 180601. Les particularités de cette étude sont l'application des connaissances en évaluation de programme dans un contexte bien défini et l'élaboration d'une démarche évaluative avec la participation des principaux utilisateurs des résultats de l'évaluation. La construction de la planification de l'évaluation a tenu compte à la fois des travaux récents de Hurteau, Lachapelle et Houle (2006) sur la logique de l'évaluation, du modèle d'évaluation basé sur la théorie des programmes de Chen (2005), de l'évaluation répondante de Stake (2004) ainsi que de l'évaluation axée sur l'utilisation de ses résultats (Patton, 1997). La méthodologie utilisée pour élaborer et valider le dispositif d'évaluation est de nature qualitative. Les résultats de cette étude se sont traduits par un dispositif d'évaluation adapté aux besoins spécifiques du programme et soumis à deux validations conduites respectivement par des experts en évaluation et par les principaux utilisateurs de l'évaluation. En conclusion, les résultats de cette étude ont répondu aux besoins en évaluation formulés par les principaux utilisateurs du programme uruguayen. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Planification d'évaluation, Dispositif d'évaluation, Évaluation de programme, Uruguay, Développement international, Servicio de Orientación Coordinación y Articulación Territorial.