This dissertation is guided by my driving research question: what works for whom in education and why? I examine issues of instruction, assessment, and research approaches that begin to answer this question. Study 1 examines a classroom intervention's child x instruction interactions. Study 2 examines underlying cognitive factors, including…

The Conference Report accompanying the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 included a provision for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate Department of Defense (DOD) Professional Military Education (PME) and JPME institutions. This report examines the extent to which: (1) the military services'…

Purpose: A growing number of schools are now implementing quality management systems (QMS). As a result, studies are being conducted to assess the educational benefits of these systems and their capacity to identify areas for improvement in school processes and performance. The purpose the present study is to assess the impact of ISO:9001…

A history of change efforts by philanthropic agencies and government organizations directed at graduate schools of education has not produced long-term or sustained changes in their form and function. The Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), however, has been able to demonstrate that external change efforts can result in change in…

Twenty-four pre-service teachers participated in a workshop designed to provide explicit opportunities to learn what spatial thinking is and how to incorporate it into teaching practice. The objectives of this paper are to: (1) examine the educational effect of the workshop on pre-service teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and (2)…

High turnover rates affect diverse professional areas. Recruiting and training new employees is costly for profit and non-profit organizations. Teacher induction programs provide the emotional and professional support that beginning teachers need in the transitory phase from being a student at a university to being a teacher in a classroom. To…

Teacher education programs play a crucial role in preparing teachers for their future assessment roles and responsibilities, yet many beginning teachers feel unprepared to assess their students' performances (Mertler, 2009). To address concerns related to the relevancy of pre-service assessment education, this study examined 57 syllabi from…

Race to the Top's success ultimately must be measured by its long-term impact on student learning. Because simultaneous change in multiple systems takes time, it is too early to make that determination of success now. However, it is not too early to learn from the positive achievements of and challenges faced by Race to the Top states. This report…

Race to the Top's success ultimately must be measured by its long-term impact on student learning. Because simultaneous change in multiple systems takes time, it is too early to make that determination of success now. However, it is not too early to learn from the positive achievements of and challenges faced by Race to the Top states. This…

This qualitative follow-up evaluation explored the long-term impact of a faculty development program on participants who were five years post program. This study focused on 12 faculty members who participated in the University of Missouri's New Faculty Teaching Scholars program. The nine month program focused on creating a culture of teaching…

Background/Context: Discussion is central to mathematics teaching and learning, as well as to mathematics as an academic discipline. Studies have shown that facilitating discussions is complex work that is not easily done or learned. To make such complex aspects of the work of teaching learnable by beginners, recent research has focused on…

High quality measurements are important to evaluate interventions. The study reports on the development of a measurement to investigate authoritative teaching understood as a two-dimensional construct of warmth and control. Through the application of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) the factor structure…

Since 1996, K-12 schools are increasingly moving from a traditional, face-to-face educational environment to an online learning environment utilizing technologies to deliver instruction primarily via the Internet. As this trend continues, administrators familiar with traditional supervisory methods will observe and evaluate teachers of online…

While there is consensus that institutions need to represent their educational effectiveness through documentation of student learning, the higher education community is divided between those who support national standardized tests to compare institutions' educational effectiveness, and those who believe that valid assessment of student…

In 2005, state fish and wildlife agency wanted to examine how one of its conservation education programs was providing science-based understanding and outdoor experiences by evaluating students' knowledge, skills, attitudes and intended behavioral outcomes related to fish, fishing and aquatic habitats in Montana. A key factor in this study was the…