Classrooms are a primary site of evidence about learning. Yet classroom proceedings often occur behind closed doors and hence evidence of student learning is observable only to the classroom teacher. The informal and undocumented nature of this information means that it is rarely included in statistical models or quantifiable analyses. This…

The problem of attrition in online learning has drawn attention from distance education administrators and chief academic officers of higher education institutions. Many studies have addressed factors related to student attrition, persistence and retention in online courses. However, few studies have examined how student expectations influence…

This article reviews Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners ("ACCESS for ELLs"[R]), which is a large-scale, high-stakes, standards-based, and criterion-referenced English language proficiency test administered in the USA annually to more than 840,000 English Language Learners (ELLs), in…

The study demonstrates a direct link between housing uncertainty and children's time preferences, or patience. We show that students who face housing uncertainties through mortgage foreclosures and eviction learn impatient behavior and are therefore at greater risk of making poor intertemporal choices such as dropping out of school. We find that…

As universities continually update and assess their curriculums, mainframe computing is quite often overlooked as it is often thought of as "legacy computer." Mainframe computing appears to be either uninteresting or thought of as a computer past its prime. However, both assumptions are leading to a shortage of IS professionals in the…

This study examines the computer self-efficacy among pre-service teachers (N = 708) at a teacher training institute in Singapore. Data were collected through self-reported ratings on a 7-point Likert-type scale. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on an initial sample (N = 354) and the result revealed that pre-service teachers'…

Recent research conducted on adults in the United States indicates low ocean literacy (Ocean Project, 2009b, 1999), but there is a dearth of peer-reviewed research on K-12 students' ocean literacy. This paper presents two research studies that examined the ocean and environmental literacy of 464 K-12 students in five states. Like the majority of…

Although there is significant research on improving college-level teaching practices, most literature in the field assumes an incentive for improvement. The research presented in this paper addresses the issue of poor incentives for improving university-level teaching. Specifically, it proposes instructor-designed common examinations as an…

This paper first presents an overview of the concepts of assessment and evaluation in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) environment. The large numbers of students and numerous courses make assessment and evaluation very difficult and administrative nightmare at Distance Learning (DL) institutions. These challenges informed exploring issues relating…

This study investigated parental perceptions of high school transition services. Experiential learning theory that emphasizes the use of hands-on learning for students with disabilities served as the theoretical framework. The cross-sectional, correlational design explored parental perceptions about the effectiveness of their children's high…

This study attempted to verify points of intersection (POIs) between mathematics and science in the eighth grade Sunshine State Standards (SSS), and to develop a valid and reliable instrument to evaluate these POIs as they were presented in the respective mathematics and science textbooks approved for use in Florida public schools. Shannon and…

This study investigated the validity of measures that were hypothesized to account for significant variance in English reading ability. During kindergarten, 63 bilingual Hispanic children completed letter identification, English and Spanish phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and sentence repetition static assessment tasks. They also…

Item response theory scaling has been well established in achievement testing, but the practice has seen limited use in student development research. The purpose of this study was to explore the reliability and validity of a graded response model scaling of an existing college student satisfaction survey. The existing survey was found to measure…

Researchers have raised a number of questions about whether student achievement data can be used fairly or accurately for purposes of teacher evaluation. Others have noted that achievement data alone cannot provide teachers with the information they need to improve their practice. Recognizing these limitations, the federal government and many…

Developed for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Career Exploration Program, the Find Your Interests (FYI) inventory was designed to help students learn about their career-related interests. The FYI is a 90-item interest inventory based on Holland's (1973, 1985, 1997) widely accepted theory and taxonomy of career choice. The…