Kuh and colleagues (2008) use the term "high-impact practices" (HIPs) to describe co-curricular programs that are particularly effective in advancing student learning. The original list of HIPs does not include campus employment, which McClellan et al. (2018) argued should be added. According to the results from the 2019 NASPA survey…

The field of biology is becoming increasingly fragmented, and this fragmentation spills over into the ways our students think and learn about biology. Biology education policy documents stress the importance of teaching biology in an integrated manner and call for the biology education research community to establish a unifying paradigm for the…

Recent studies suggest that preservice music teacher educators (MTEs) had more experience in assessment preparation at the graduate level than during their undergraduate experience. Although music standards and assessments emphasize providing information about student learning, research investigating what assessment strategies music faculty are…

This qualitative, phenomenological study examined the impact of the Puko?a Kani ?Aina grant project that provided eight instructors at the University of Hawai?i West O?ahu a professional development opportunity. This study examined how the eight, representing the Mathematical, Natural and Health Science [BSNS, STEM Degrees] Division, were offered…

The American school system is funded, operated, and evaluated based on student academic achievement data that is generated by various assessment tools and grading practices. The most traditional grading practice, norm-referenced grading, assesses student academic achievement on a 100-point scale that is further broken into categorical levels (A-F)…

The much-criticized Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA) is not aligned with current Common Core literacy standards, is expensive, has a low pass rate on the first try of 66%, and keeps People of Color from joining the profession (California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, 2019). The test maybe replaced with coursework. Critics…

The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore and understand the impact of standardized testing on educational practice in an urban, Title I school community, and to determine solutions to improve the utility of standardized testing in supporting student learning and achievement. The specific areas of focus are diagnosing…

Roles of Hybrid Teacher Leadership (HTL), positions which involve classroom teaching for part of the day and academic coaching, curriculum planning, department chair, or professional development responsibilities for the remainder of the day, are becoming more prevalent due to budgetary concerns and teacher shortages. This autoethnography analyzes…

The current shift in U.S. educational reform toward standards and guiding frameworks that are more inclusive of twenty-first-century competencies has created a need for research regarding the assessment of these skills. Also, needing further exploration is an understanding of how these new learner-centered assessments may impact students.…

Accessing and assessing the controlling beliefs of teachers about the role of faith in curriculum decisions is an essential first step in efforts to address the gap between the faith integration mission of Christian schools and actual practices (Boerema, 2011). Without intervention, teachers' beliefs about teaching--shaped by early classroom…

Middle school students struggle to solve mathematical word problems and mathematics teachers require researched based strategies to use when instructing students. Drawing a picture or representation is a strategy that students frequently use, and the purpose of this study was to examine the effects that learner-generated drawing has on a student's…

This dissertation is the result of research which examined the implementation of professional learning communities in a primary school. Professional learning communities or PLCs are groups of educators coming together collaboratively in a process of inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. While there were…

Although many leaders in evaluation advise evaluators to address the diverse needs of stakeholders, very little is known about how or if practicing evaluators address this injunction. Understanding how practicing evaluators address the needs of multiple stakeholders could inform evaluator training. The purpose of this qualitative study was to…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the use of a self-advocacy strategy, with high school students identified as having a mild cognitive disability, would increase student use of self-advocacy skills across multiple school settings. Participants in the study were also identified as participating in at least one general education class at…

The purpose of this study was to compare the science achievement and high school completion rates of students in a large high school implementing professional learning community concepts and practices with two large high schools not participating in professional learning community concepts and practices. The primary methodology employed was a…