Although many institutions and government agencies count degrees as the sole measure of determining departmental or program viability, this method fails to consider other factors such as how many students who are within programs are present to replace students who graduated from those programs or how many credit hours were generated in the area.…

The Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) has been the governing legislation for teacher evaluation in Illinois since its inception in 2010. PERA's original purpose was to improve the professional competence of teachers while increasing the academic performance of students. This study explored the perceptions and experiences of a small group of…

There has been a move toward personalized learning and alternative types of authentic assessment in K-12 education. This shift toward personalized learning and authentic assessment has been partly driven by increases in the available technology that can support those types of changes. This dissertation is a basic qualitative study aimed at…

This study explored perceptions and practices around authentic assessment within a diverse, science-based school at an Australian University. We were motivated to inquire into authentic assessment through a work-readiness lens, with the goal of embedding the assessment of skills that are transferable across a range of STEM roles and graduate roles…

The purpose of this research is to analyze the opinions of secondary and high school teachers and administrators regarding the performance evaluation of teachers in the context of performance-based payment policies. In this research, in order to learn about participant views about the subject, basic qualitative research design which is one of the…

A deductive, sequential mixed design was used to better understand the internal aspects of performance-based self-evaluation activities as related to teacher preparation. A modified theory of change informed the investigation of a subset (N = 15) of teacher candidates from a larger study, who all showed significant improvements in their teaching…

The appropriate use of academic language demonstrates a learner's understanding of discipline specific--arts or education--knowledge. Educators are responsible for ensuring that learners acquire and correctly apply academic language in context. Entrance into the teaching profession requires teacher candidates to develop facility with the academic…

Collaborative learning increases student achievement of learning outcomes in a wide range of disciplines, including the natural sciences, and is a hallmark of authentic assessment. To help students collaborate more effectively, I have used Google Docs, a free, online word-processing program accessible using almost any internet-connected device.…

The ability to solve authentic real-world problems in science, engineering, and medicine is an important goal in post-secondary education. Despite extensive research on problem solving and expertise, the teaching and assessing of advanced problem-solving skills in post-secondary students remains a challenge. We present a template for creating…

The objective of this work was to verify if there is an association between a merit pay policy practiced by the Rio de Janeiro municipal local administration in the patterns of teachers' mobility and attrition. The research followed the movement of teachers who took posts in the Rio de Janeiro municipal system between 2009 and 2011 during the…

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is essential for independent active learners. Despite its importance, supporting students' SRL is often challenging for teachers who lack the necessary knowledge and skills for in-class SRL practices. Hence, there is a need to support teachers' SRL: both as learners--how to self-regulate their own learning, and as…

The goal of early intervention and early childhood special education is to enable young children with disabilities to be active and successful participants during their early childhood years and in the future. Child outcomes are the benefits that children and families experience as a result of early intervention or early childhood special…

The implementation of edTPA, a portfolio assessment that preservice teachers must pass in order to gain certification in 41 states, has added standardization to the certification process. Those who go through the process develop very specific skills in the three focus areas of planning, instructing and assessing. The way that teachers are hired,…

Many quality assurance policies for teacher education are linked to the assessment of their training and although this is widely studied, the subjects' perspectives have not been taken into consideration. This study sought to answer: how do the subjects perceive these education assessments and how do those assessments influence their training? A…

This study examined undergraduate students' perceptions and definitions of success and implications for higher education. Participants consisted of a diverse group of students from a large urban public university. A team of multidisciplinary researchers conducted a qualitative study adopting a phenomenological approach. Results show that students…