Throughout the years, United States education reform has sought to target the most disadvantaged students. Nonetheless, during this same period, proficiency rate disparities seem to have emerged among student subgroups. This study was designed to find ways for school districts to begin closing the achievement gaps between student subgroups,…

The data from universal screeners must be valid and reliable in order to use it to make appropriate decisions about how best to allocate resources to support students who are at risk of not passing the state achievement test. The instruments used as part of universal screening must also have diagnostic accuracy. This study examined the diagnostic…

The purpose of the research was to examine the impact of administrators' instructional technology leadership development on teacher efficacy for preparing students for high-stake online testing. The ten Texas administrators were interviewed two times in this multiple case study to determine if their capacity for instructional technology leadership…

This research study investigates the impact of the rapid transition from paper-based to online administration of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exams on student performance in a South Texas school district. The transition, mandated by House Bill 3261, presented Texas public schools with a tight timeline for adapting…

Computer-based assessments allow practitioners to collect rich process data by logging students' interactions with assessment tasks. In addition to providing final responses to test questions, computer-based assessments promise to furnish more evidence to support claims about what a student knows and can do through logging process data in log…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to ascertain the degree to which a relationship exists between teacher-reported technology integration in the classroom and student math achievement of classrooms containing third through fifth grade students in one Southern California school district, as measured by a standardized…

Considering instructional time is one of the most valuable and expensive resources in public education, there is nominal research examining the effectiveness of its use (Farbman, 2015). The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between the amount of extended learning time provided to eligible students at least one grade level…

The purpose of this causal-comparative study is to investigate the influence of an individualized computer-based program on student academic growth in mathematics over one school year. One hundred and eighty eight kindergarten students in a suburban setting participated in the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic (MAP)…

Examining the testing processes, as well as the scores, is needed for a complete understanding of validity and fairness of computer-based assessments. Examinees' rapid-guessing and insufficient familiarity with computers have been found to be major issues that weaken the validity arguments of scores. This study has three goals: (a) improving…

This quantitative study extends previous research on the impact of one to one (1:1) laptop environments on student outcomes in English Language Arts (ELA) by focusing on students from various socio-economic backgrounds, while using a new technology-enhanced, state-administered assessment to measure performance. This study is significant because…

Serious Educational Games (SEGs) have been a topic of increased popularity within the educational realm since the early millennia. SEGs are generalized form of Serious Games to mean games for purposes other than entertainment but, that also specifically include training, educational purpose and pedagogy within their design. This rise in popularity…

This dissertation study examined the reliability and validity claims of a modified version of the Spanish Modern Language Association Foreign Language Proficiency Test for Teachers and Advanced Students administered at George Mason University (GMU). The study used the 1999 computerized GMU version that was administered to 277 test-takers via…