The dissertation describes a study of the instructional validity of the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS), a standards-based assessment. The study addresses the third- and fifth-grade mathematics portion of the 2005 AIMS test, focusing on two performance objectives per grade level. The study centers on the following questions: Can variation in students' mathematics achievement on AIMS be explained by instructional validity measures, namely: (1) alignment between test items and instructional characteristics and (2) by the degree of teacher emphasis on the two skills of interest to the study? Does the relationship between these measures and AIMS performance differ across grade levels? What possible explanations exist to account for grade level differences? Is there a relationship between the instructional validity measures and performance on the objectives of interest to this study?The dissertation discusses the evolution of thinking about instructional validity as standardized testing has changed. The study methods, including developing alignment measures from interview transcripts and classroom assessment examples collected from 16 third-grade teachers and 20 fifth-grade teachers in one school district are also described. Findings include that, although the method of using qualitative data to gauge instructional validity yields rich information about instructional practice, there was little instructional variation between classrooms in the district studied. This may have occurred because the district requires teachers to provide instruction exactly as specified in the district-adopted mathematics text. Some between-grade level differences do exist in the curricular alignment with AIMS. Teachers attempted to overcome this in their instruction despite district mandates to the contrary. Results support the instructional sensitivity of AIMS at third grade, but not at fifth grade. Differences in instructional sensitivity across grade levels might be linked to curricular differences; some third-grade teachers reported supplementing the curriculum to address the state standards while fifth-grade teachers largely reported that this was not necessary. Interestingly, the degree of alignment at third- and fifth-grade did not vary, although fifth-grade teachers placed more emphasis the study objectives. This speaks to third-grade teacher commitment to address the standards, and the challenges in emphasizing them when district-adopted curricula are not well-aligned with state standards.

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / Across the nation, most states are implementing a new set of standards- and accountability-based reforms: the Common Core State Standards and their accompanying assessments. Unfortunately, the perspectives of school-based educators are largely missing from policy and implementation decisions about the Common Core. To address some of the gaps in previous research, the purpose of this dissertation—a comparative case study of two middle schools on the East Coast of the United States—was to describe and analyze school-based educators’ perceptions of and responses to the Common Core and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) Exam. Data analysis revealed that educators in the two schools generally worked from an inquiry stance on teaching, learning, and schooling (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009) in that they collectively and critically analyzed the intentions of educational policy and practice based in part on their beliefs about student-centered, constructivist teaching and learning. Consistent with this perspective, they made sense of the Common Core and SBAC based on the degree of alignment they perceived between their own educational values and beliefs, on the one hand, and the values and beliefs that animated the policies, on the other hand, which I conceptualized as “principled sensemaking.” How the educators actually implemented the Common Core and SBAC was the result of the intersection of their principled sensemaking of these standards-based reforms and the degree of agency they had over policy implementation. I termed this type of response to policy “principled implementation.” Four types of principled implementation were identified: principled adoption, principled neglect, principled compliance, and principled resistance. New understandings of school-based educators’ unique, critical, and nuanced perceptions of the Common Core and SBAC and how they believe the Common Core and SBAC influence teaching and learning have the capacity to inform decisions about the future of the Common Core in schools, and contributes to a broader understanding of how school-based educators take up and respond to standards- and accountability-based reforms. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

During the 1990s, standards-based reform became the predominant education reform inthe country. However, neither federal legislation nor state standards-based reform programshave focused much on addressing the needs of special groups. While, the explicit goal ofstandards-based reform was to raise academic achievement of all students, the implicit goal wasto change beliefs about specific groups of students, particularly students who traditionally havebeen perceived as "disadvantaged." This dissertation examines the implementation of standards-based reform policies withpopulations of limited English proficient (LEP) high school students to determine the strength of the Kentucky's policies to include LEP students and the capacity for those policies to influenceeducator beliefs about the abilities of LEP students. The study includes an analysis ofKentucky's reform policies and a case study of one high school English as a Second Languageprogram seen as a leader in implementing standards-based reforms. The case study approachprovided an opportunity to learn about the issues associated with educating LEP high schoolstudents in the context of standards-based reform from the point of view of those who arecharged with implementing these policies. The findings from this study suggest that it is notsufficient to include LEP students in state assessment and accountability systems. In order foraccountability systems to ensure strong student performance, they must also address inequities instudents' opportunities to learn to high standards. The success of Kentucky's policies, as well asother standards-based policies, depends on their ability to drive changes in educator beliefs aboutstudents' capabilities and to drive the creation of local conditions supportive of practicesconsistent with achieving the goals of the Kentucky Education Reform Act.

No description available.

This study examines the messages and accuracy of the messages sent to students from the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) math test regarding academic preparedness for postsecondary education. Previous studies investigating messages sent to students, derived from information such as educational standards, grades, course taking policies, test material, and college admissions requirements, focused on content alignment of secondary and postsecondary content standards. However, a dearth of research exists on messages from high school performance, as measured by exit exams and college performance measured by grades, major selection, or graduation. This study addresses the need to understand and interpret messages students receive based on academic performance. Specifically, this study aims to answer three questions. First, what is the relationship between AIMS math scores and college math performance defined by the University of Arizona math requirement and college graduation? Second, to what degree do AIMS math scores predict college math performance? Third, what is the average AIMS math score and performance level for students who choose certain majors? To answer the research questions posed in this study, various statistical analyses were employed. To answer the first question, a one-way ANOVA and logistic regression analyses were used. A linear regression analysis served to analyze the second and third questions. Results indicate that the messages sent to students regarding college readiness are, in fact, well aligned and clear and consistent. Also, there is evidence that the messages vary by gender and ethnicity.

No description available.

This thesis examines pupils’ justice conceptions regarding educational assessment. Due to the context-dependency of norms and values as well as of assessment, the study compares the justice conceptions of pupils in two different’socio-educational’ contexts: Sweden and Germany. The main interest of the study is to understand and to reconstruct pupils’ own relevance structures and what just assessment means from a pupils’ point of view. Here, the study aims to reach beyond the level of mere description by providing theoretical conceptualisations of pupils’ justice conceptions regarding assessment. Thus, the study´s methodological foundation is characterised by a combination of a context-sensitive comparative approach on the one hand, and on the other hand a pragmatist Grounded Theory approach. Data were mainly generated through focus group interviews with pupils attending the last year of the lower secondary level in the Swedish comprehensive school as well as in different school types in the German school system. In total, the sample consists of 95 pupils, who were interviewed in 21 focus group interviews. In addition, other sources of data were included, such as regulations and guidelines that supported a context-sensitive analysis of pupils’ conceptions. The theoretical conceptualisation that explains pupils’ justice conceptions is ‘meta-assessment’. ‘Meta-assessment’ refers to pupils’ evaluation of the assessment they experience in terms of justice and represents the shared, abductively derived and overlying analytical category regarding pupils’ conceptions. Pupils’ ‘meta-assessment’ is based on normative justice conceptions as well as on justice conceptions that are related to pupils’ situation and context-bound experiences with assessment. The first ones are about the ethico-moral character of pupils’ justice conceptions. The second shed light on the contextual conditions and consequences of the logics and practices underlying educational assessment as experienced by pupils on an everyday basis. This implies that just assessment from a pupils’ perspective needs to be understood in its wider contextual embedment; and in relation to teaching and learning in order to understand the complex interrelations of what just assessment ‘is’, and ‘should be’ from the perspective of those, who are mainly affected by it.

Questa ricerca presenta una panoramica introduttiva delle principali variabili (storiche, sociali, economiche, istituzionali, culturali, ideologiche e valoriali) che condizionano il policy-making educativo degli Stati Uniti e descrive le riforme e innovazioni più significative introdotte negli ultimi trent’anni nel sistema scolastico americano. Quali fattori socio-culturali, urgenze storiche, azioni e convinzioni politiche stanno alla base delle riforme in atto? Come stanno mutando gli equilibri di potere fra governo federale, stati membri e autorità locale e quali sono le ricadute di questo riallineamento sulla governance scolastica? L’approccio seguito per esaminare le principali riforme ed innovazioni (dal movimento per gli standard comuni, al collegamento fra i test scolastici e accountability per i risultati, alle charter school) è quello proprio della policy research, disciplina pressoché sconosciuta a quanti s’interessano di problematiche pedagogiche in Italia ma che può arricchire la capacità di lettura e comprensione di molte questioni dibattute quando si parla di riforme dell’istruzione. / this research provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of education policies in the United States. Blending together theoretical analysis and practical examples, it examines the main variables (history, economy, demographics, political structures, ideologies, values, political culture) that influence the policy environment. What social and economic needs does the U.S. education system cater to? What sociocultural factors, pressing historical circumstances, political choices and actions and beliefs (independent) underlie the current education reforms? What are the implications of the shift of power over education policy from the school and local levels to the federal and state levels? Current issues such as charter schools, high-stakes testing, standards-based reform, and school choice are analyzed in retrospective and perspective using a policy research approach to public problems and policy alternatives. Almost unknown to Italian educational experts, particularly in academia, policy research can expand our general understanding and knowledge about problems and choices when education reform is under discussion.

This study provided information for policymakers and practitioners by comparing performance of eighth grade students in 2007 on state standardized reading assessments and by the four census-defined regions identified by NAEP. NCLB required states to set their own performance standards and to create their own data collection instruments resulting in increased transparency of student performance data and a lack of uniform accountability systems. The inability of educators, policy-makers, and the general public to make state-by-state comparisons in the area of reading was the catalyst for the study. NAEP data were collected from NCES and state performance data were collected from the USDOE SY 2006-2007 CSPR to determine if a relationship existed between eighth grade students' state scores and NAEP scores in the four census-defined regions. Data were further disaggregated by low socioeconomic students and by nonwhite students. A regression analysis was statistically significant in predicting: a) the state proficient and above scores from the NAEP proficient and above scores, b) the low socioeconomic state proficient and above scores from the NAEP proficient and above scores in the West census-defined region, and c) the nonwhite state proficient and above scores from the NAEP proficient and above scores in all regions. A regression analysis was not statistically significant in predicting low socioeconomic state proficient and above scores from the low socioeconomic NAEP proficient and above scores in the Midwest, South and Northeast regions.