The purpose of this document is to design and record a Kindergarten visual arts unit using the Activboard to determine how student achievement, motivation, and interest are impacted. Methods of data collection include both observational recording and student interviews. The Activboard facilitates a highly interactive study of the art curriculum and data collected throughout the unit indicates a positive impact on student achievement, motivation, and interest.

A cooperative small group facilitated case-based learning method has been used in the medical college at the researchers educational institution since the 2003-2004 academic year. They were designed to be a supplement to a primarily lecture-based curriculum where it was believed that these cooperative cases helped students to develop a better understanding of the material taught in the lectures, although no rigorous investigations had been completed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of these cooperative facilitated small group cases on five specific outcomes which included: 1) achievement, 2) knowledge confidence, 3) student satisfaction, 4) students perceived time on task, and 5) the students perceptions of the degree to which they believed a facilitator helped them to learn the material. These outcomes for cooperative learning (CL) were compared with individual learning (IL) outcomes. Quantitative data on student achievement and knowledge confidence were collected using a pre-test post-test 10 multiple choice question quiz. A brief questionnaire was also distributed to students to collect data regarding student satisfaction, time on task and perceived helpfulness of the facilitator.<p>Fifty-nine medical students were randomly assigned to either the CL or IL cohort (cooperative cohort, n = 32; individual cohort, n = 27). All students were blinded to the purpose of the study until all data were collected at the end of the investigation. Students completed the 10 multiple choice question pre-test. After each question they rated their level of confidence (on a scale from 1 to 10) that they had chosen the correct answer. Immediately after completion of the pre-test, they worked on the case, either cooperatively or individually. One week after the pre-test and case, the students completed the post-test quiz with the same questions, as well as the questionnaire.<p>A repeated-measures MANOVA was used to compare achievement and confidence in the CL (n =19) and IL (n =13) cohorts. An alpha level of .05 was used for all statistical tests. Effect sizes (d) were calculated for within-group and between-groups comparisons for achievement and confidence. Descriptive data on student satisfaction, time on task and facilitator helpfulness were gathered from the questionnaire and compared between groups.<p> Within-group results from the study showed that CL had a greater impact on student achievement and confidence than IL (achievement, d = 0.57 vs. 0.16; confidence, d = 0.52 vs. 0.14). The results for the statistical analysis did not reach significance for achievement or confidence. Between-groups effect sizes were calculated for average pre- to post-test change for achievement and confidence (achievement, d = 0.35; confidence, 0.40). Students in the CL cohort reported spending more time on task before and during the case session and less after the session. They also reported greater levels of satisfaction with the learning experience than IL group. The majority of students (90.5%) in the CL cohort felt that the facilitator helped them to learn.<p>The findings from this study showed that this CL method had a greater impact on the five outcomes outlined above compared to the IL method. Students made greater gains in achievement and confidence. They also spent more time on task, and had higher levels of satisfaction with the learning experience. Students in the CL cohort also believed that the facilitator helped them to learn. Implications of the study include possible expanded use of the cases within the curriculum of this medical college although the demands of resources and curriculum content would have to be carefully considered.

Mayoral control of public schools as a solution for failing schools and low student achievement. This thesis analyzes different models of governance, the types of students served in districts with mayoral control, and the types of solutions implemented by mayors (charter schools, voucher programs, and the tools of NCLB) and whether there has been any success to mayoral control than mere anecdotal evidence.

A cooperative small group facilitated case-based learning method has been used in the medical college at the researchers educational institution since the 2003-2004 academic year. They were designed to be a supplement to a primarily lecture-based curriculum where it was believed that these cooperative cases helped students to develop a better understanding of the material taught in the lectures, although no rigorous investigations had been completed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of these cooperative facilitated small group cases on five specific outcomes which included: 1) achievement, 2) knowledge confidence, 3) student satisfaction, 4) students perceived time on task, and 5) the students perceptions of the degree to which they believed a facilitator helped them to learn the material. These outcomes for cooperative learning (CL) were compared with individual learning (IL) outcomes. Quantitative data on student achievement and knowledge confidence were collected using a pre-test post-test 10 multiple choice question quiz. A brief questionnaire was also distributed to students to collect data regarding student satisfaction, time on task and perceived helpfulness of the facilitator.<p>Fifty-nine medical students were randomly assigned to either the CL or IL cohort (cooperative cohort, n = 32; individual cohort, n = 27). All students were blinded to the purpose of the study until all data were collected at the end of the investigation. Students completed the 10 multiple choice question pre-test. After each question they rated their level of confidence (on a scale from 1 to 10) that they had chosen the correct answer. Immediately after completion of the pre-test, they worked on the case, either cooperatively or individually. One week after the pre-test and case, the students completed the post-test quiz with the same questions, as well as the questionnaire.<p>A repeated-measures MANOVA was used to compare achievement and confidence in the CL (n =19) and IL (n =13) cohorts. An alpha level of .05 was used for all statistical tests. Effect sizes (d) were calculated for within-group and between-groups comparisons for achievement and confidence. Descriptive data on student satisfaction, time on task and facilitator helpfulness were gathered from the questionnaire and compared between groups.<p> Within-group results from the study showed that CL had a greater impact on student achievement and confidence than IL (achievement, d = 0.57 vs. 0.16; confidence, d = 0.52 vs. 0.14). The results for the statistical analysis did not reach significance for achievement or confidence. Between-groups effect sizes were calculated for average pre- to post-test change for achievement and confidence (achievement, d = 0.35; confidence, 0.40). Students in the CL cohort reported spending more time on task before and during the case session and less after the session. They also reported greater levels of satisfaction with the learning experience than IL group. The majority of students (90.5%) in the CL cohort felt that the facilitator helped them to learn.<p>The findings from this study showed that this CL method had a greater impact on the five outcomes outlined above compared to the IL method. Students made greater gains in achievement and confidence. They also spent more time on task, and had higher levels of satisfaction with the learning experience. Students in the CL cohort also believed that the facilitator helped them to learn. Implications of the study include possible expanded use of the cases within the curriculum of this medical college although the demands of resources and curriculum content would have to be carefully considered.

The purpose of this study is to explore high school students’ understandings of achievement and opportunity through their lived experiences which are constructed under a high-stakes testing environment in Korea. This study undertakes a critical analysis of high-stakes testing and its intersectional effects in terms of structure and culture, attending to students’ everyday experiences in testing practices as these are embedded in certain discourses. Recent scholarship reveals that high-stakes testing reinforces a correspondence between socioeconomic status and educational attainment under the neoliberal educational policies of school choice, privatization, and high-stakes testing. In the analysis of educational policies such as the accountability movement, some studies contend that the political and economic discourses underpinning high-stakes testing are effectively hidden behind educational practices ostensibly aimed at raising standards. To date, however, there has been little attention to how students internalize the logic of neoliberal competition and how they experience educational achievement and opportunity structure within a high-stakes testing environment. Drawing on in-depth interviews of high school students from varying economic and academic backgrounds, this study found that students’ experiences of the high-stakes testing environment are influenced by their social class and achievement levels. High-stakes testing does not contribute to reducing achievement gaps between classes but rather reinforces educational alienation as well as opportunity gaps. Furthermore, high-stakes testing, as a cultural practice which affects students’ daily lives and their experience of curriculum and instruction, contributes to the ideological construction of students’ understandings of achievement and opportunity structure. While students experience structural constraints in achievement, they believe in testing as being a fair and equal opportunity. Concealing students’ struggles within structural barriers as well as their contradictory experiences in relation to ideologies of achievement and success, high-stakes testing becomes the medium through which students’ social desires are reproduced. An intersectional analysis in terms of culture and structure of students’ experiences in relation to high-stakes testing can help us to understand how the achievement ideology responds to students’ aspirations and also how those aspirations help this ideology persist. This study urges educational policies to focus on opportunity gaps and to look at contradictions and struggles that students experience in high-stakes testing. / text

This dissertation argues that cultural capital is self-reinforcing in nature. This conjecture is explored through the analysis of sixth-four semi-structured interviews with black and white middle class parents. The first phase of the analysis investigates how the use of one form of non-elite cultural capital, racial socialization, varies among middle class black parents and how it is related to their deployment of elite forms of parental cultural capital. Throughout the dissertation elite parental cultural capital is operationalized as parents' educational aspirations, parental encouragement of academic engagement and promotion of the work ethic. Next, the relationship between the use of elite parental cultural capital and adolescents' academic achievement is evaluated for black and white middle class families. Ultimately the link between the use of non-elite cultural capital and racial differences in academic outcomes is examined. The results suggest that there may be subtle differences in cultural socialization practices among black parents in this sample, which are apparently correlated with their use of elite cultural capital. This implies that non-elite cultural capital has the potential to reinforce elite cultural capital. However, this appears to have only a weak relationship to the achievement of black adolescents or to the racial achievement gap. / African and African American Studies

Tyrimas atliktas, siekiant ištirti elektroninės vertinimo sistemos, kaip naujos grįžtamojo ryšio priemonės veiksmingumą. Tirta, kaip dažnai ir kokiu tikslu mokytojai, mokiniai ir jų tėvai (globėjai) naudojasi elektronine pažymių knygele, kokią įtaką elektroninė vertinimo sistema daro grįžtamosios informacijos kokybei, ko trūksta, kad elektroninės vertinimo sistemos pildymas bei tikrinimas būtų efektyvesnis. Tyrime dalyvavo tik tų mokyklų respondentai, kuriose įdiegta elektroninė ryšio sistema. Tyrimas parodė, kad elektroninė pažymių knygelė yra dažniau naudojama mokytojų, nei mokinių ir jų tėvų (globėjų). Jos pildymas yra skatinamas ugdymo įstaigų vadovų. Vertinant atsakymus pastebėta, kad mokytojams vis dar trūksta patirties ir žinių, kaip efektyviai elektroninę vertinimo sistemą panaudoti ugdymo procese. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad elektroninė mokinių pasiekimų vertinimo sistema turi reikšmės grįžtamosios informacijos kokybei: palengvina ugdymo subjektų tarpusavio bendravimą, pagerina mokinių lankomumą ir pažangumą, skatina naudotis informacinėmis technologijomis, suteikia savalaikę informaciją apie mokinius: jų pažangumą ir lankomumą. Išryškintos techninės elektroninės vertinimo apskaitos tobulinimo kryptys: sistemos administratoriai turi suteikti galimybę bet kuriuo metu ištaisyti padarytą klaidą, turi būti skiriamos papildomos apmokamos darbo valandos elektroninių vertinimo priemonių pildymui, mokytojų darbo vietos turi būti aprūpintos kompiuteriais. Atskleistos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The research was aimed at the analysis of the efficiency of the electronic assessment system as a new means of feedback. The analysis focuses on the frequency and aim of teachers, students and their parents (foster-parents) using the electronic record book and on the influence electronic assessment system has on the quality of the feedback as well as on the shortcomings of the system that prevent a more efficient input and testing in the electronic assessment system. Respondents exclusively from schools that have electronic connection system were involved in the research. The research revealed that electronic record book is more frequently used by teachers than by students and their parents (foster-parents). Its constant updating is incited by heads of educational institutions. Analyzing the questionnaires it became obvious that teachers still lack experience and skills to effectively use electronic assessment system in the process of education. The results of the research revealed that electronic student achievement assessment system has an impact on the quality of feedback: it facilitates the intercommunication between educational subjects, increases student attendance and level of achievement, encourages the usage of informational technologies, provides up to date information on students, their achievements and attendance. The following technical directions for the development of electronic record of assessment have been pointed out: system administrators should provide... [to full text]

The purpose was to investigate the relationship between Canadian and Saskatchewan PISA 2009 reading performance and organizational learning (OL) conditions as perceived by students and principals when selected student and school characteristics were taken into consideration. Gender, Aboriginal status, and socioeconomic status were the student characteristics that were considered. School size, urban versus rural school community, proportion of students self-identified as Aboriginal, and school average socioeconomic status were school characteristics taken into consideration. A nationally represented sample of 978 schools and 23,207 15-year-old students across the ten Canadian provinces participated in the PISA 2009. Within this sample, 1,997 students and 99 schools were from Saskatchewan. Principal components analyses were conducted to produce components for the calculation of two composite (OL) indices: a Student OL Index based on the Canada and OECD PISA student questionnaires and a School OL Index based on OECD PISA school questionnaire. Subsequently, two hierarchal linear modelling analyses were employed to examine the association of student-level OL index and school-level OL index with reading performance. Across Canadian and Saskatchewan schools, students’ perspective of OL conditions was positively associated with reading performance in the presence of the selected student and school characteristics. Except for one school-level OL component (i.e., principal’s perspective of school culture/environment) in the Canadian model, school-level OL conditions were not significantly associated to reading performance in the presence of student and school characteristics. With the adjustment of student and contextual characteristics incorporated in the modelling, the average reading performance was comparable across Canadian and Saskatchewan schools, 528 and 523 respectively. Variance decomposition of final models indicated that 55% of the Canadian school-level variance in reading achievement and 68% of the Saskatchewan school-level variance were explained by the selected student and school characteristics along with student perspective of OL conditions. The findings from this study supported the hypothesis that OL conditions are associated with student achievement. Additionally, it was noted that the effect of OL conditions was of similar magnitude to that of the socioeconomic status effect. Furthermore, the findings from this study further emphasized the importance of the student voice within the school OL framework.

abstract: ABSTRACT Research literature relating to the use of humor as a teaching method or curricula specifically designed to include humor was reviewed to investigate the effects of humor on student learning in various environments from elementary schools to post-secondary classrooms. In this multi-method study, four instruments and a humor treatment were selected to test the hypothesis that students who receive humor-embedded instruction would perform better on assessments than students who did not receive humor instruction. These assessments were analyzed to show student growth in achievement and memory retention as a result of humor-embedded instruction. Gain scores between a pre- test and two post-tests determined student growth in achievement and memory retention. Gain scores were triangulated with student responses to open-ended interview questions about their experiences with humor in the classroom. The gain score data were not statistically significant between the humor and non- humor groups. For the short-term memory gain scores, the non-humor group received slightly higher gain scores. For long-term memory gain scores, the humor group received higher gain scores. However, the interview data was consistent with the findings of humor research from the last 20 years that humor improves learning directly and indirectly. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2011

O Brasil é um dos países mais violentos do mundo, e essa realidade se reflete no ambiente escolar. O problema da violência na escola induz nos agentes de educação comportamentos que se contrapõem às metas de melhoria da qualidade do ensino. Por isso, a violência na escola é um dos candidatos a determinante da baixa qualidade educacional encontrada no Brasil. Este trabalho investiga se existe relação entre violência na escola e proficiência dos alunos no Brasil nos anos de 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 e 2013. Os resultados das regressões lineares e das regressões quantílicas incondicionais indicam que a ocorrência de um tipo de evento violento adicional está associada a uma redução na proficiência. Eles indicam também que há heterogeneidade na resposta dos alunos à violência na escola: a violência na escola parece afetar mais os alunos da quarta série, os alunos que se encontram na mediana da distribuição das notas e os alunos com melhor condição socioeconômica. Além disso, a violência na escola parece afetar mais a proficiência em Matemática em comparação com a proficiência em Língua Portuguesa, e a violência contra o professor tem efeitos tão ou mais deletérios que a violência entre os alunos. / Brazil is one of the most violent countries in the world, and this reality is part of the school environment. The problem of school violence hinders any possible progress in improving the quality of education. Indeed, school violence is a key element in explaining the low educational quality in Brazil. This research investigates the relationship between school violence and student achievement in Brazil in the years of 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. The results of linear regressions and unconditional quantile regressions analysis show that an occurrence of an additional kind of violent event is associated with a reduction on student achievement. They also show that there is a high degree of heterogeneity in student responses to school violence: the school violence seems to affect more 4th graders, the students that are in the median of the distribution of the grades and the students with the best socioeconomic conditions. Moreover, school violence seems to affect more grades in Math than Portuguese, and the violence against teachers has effects as or more deleterious than the violence between students.