Schools in Abu Dhabi are going through transformation and reform. The New School Model (2010) introduced changes to the curriculum and teaching and learning methodologies. In line with these changes, recently introduced "Principal Professional Standards" and "Performance Evaluation" documents have conceptualized new roles and…

Engaging students in meaningful applications of their knowledge is a key aspect of both addressing the standards and providing greater access. Not only do the standards emphasize the importance of meaningful engagement in real-world tasks, but evidence shows that engagement is strongly related to student performance on assessment tasks, especially…

Last year, the California Legislature passed a new law--the California Mathematics Placement Act--to address widespread concern over equity in the math placement process. The law is aimed at improving the measurement of student performance in order to move more students successfully through the high school curriculum. In this context, researchers…

This study examines the effects of the summer period on value-added assessment (VAA) of teacher and school performance at the early grades. The results indicate that 40-62% of the variance in VAA estimates originates from the summer, depending on the outcome. Furthermore, when summer is omitted from the VAA model, 51-61% of the teachers and 58-61%…

Teacher-evaluation has become a key measure for determining teacher effectiveness and the examination of the evaluation process at early childhood levels is a critical area of study. Responding to federal policies, many states have reformed their teacher evaluation systems. One of the more recent developments in state policy is the inclusion of…

We use longitudinal data from Washington State to provide estimates of the extent to which performance on the edTPA, a performance-based, subject-specific assessment of teacher candidates, is predictive of the likelihood of employment in the teacher workforce and value-added measures of teacher effectiveness. While edTPA scores are highly…

This study aimed at discussing the benefits of portfolio assessment in assessing students' writing skills. The study explores the use of authentic assessment in the classroom. Eleven primary school children from Year 4 in a rural school in Sabah participated in this study. Data were collected by observing them during the English Language lessons…

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a group of states working together to develop a modern assessment that replaces previous state standardized tests. It provides better information for teachers and parents to identify where a student needs help, or is excelling, so they are able to enhance instruction to…

In August 2010, the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) received a grant of more than $25 million from the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) program for a five-year study to validate its Leadership Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) model in three very diverse regions of the United States: rural North…

This dissertation is comprised of three papers that propose and apply psychometric models to deal with complexities and challenges in large-scale assessments, focusing on modeling rater effects and complex learning progressions. In particular, three papers investigate extensions and applications of multilevel and multidimensional item response…

The International High School at Langley Park (IHSLP) opened during the 2015-2016 school year. By the fourth year of operation, the school will be home to 400 English language learners (ELLs) new to the United States. Working in partnership with the Internationals Network for Public Schools, the school is designed around the "HELLO…

Online learning has caused a seismic shift in higher education since its rise beginning at the turn of the century. A portion of that impact has been on the ascent of the part-time employee teaching online. Adjunct instructors account for the overwhelming majority of the faculty providing education to these online learners. Because an instructor's…

The Rhode Island 2020 Vision for Education defines an ideal Rhode Island graduate to be "one who is well prepared for postsecondary education, work, and life. He or she can think critically and collaboratively and can act as a creative, self-motivated, culturally competent learner and citizen." The updated Secondary School Regulations,…

In August 2010, the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) received a grant of more than $25 million from the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) program for a five-year study to validate its Leadership Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) model in three very diverse regions of the United States: rural North…

This paper describes validity of quality improvement system (QIS) performance measures and longitudinal change over four years in Oklahoma 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) programs. In general, our findings indicate that the Oklahoma Afterschool Improvement Process is performing in accordance with its purposes: using accurate…