Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership Theses and Dissertations by Subject "Academic achievement"

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    An Examination of the Relationship Between the Frequency of Standardized Testing and Academic Achievement
    (University of Oregon, 2014-09-29) Bergmann, Eric; Zhao, Yong
    Over the past twenty years, there has been significant research conducted on the effects of large-scale standardized tests on academic achievement. Policy makers around the world have developed policies and allocated substantial sums of money in order to increase the frequency of large-scale standardized tests, although existing research offers inconclusive findings as to whether the use of large-scale standardized tests leads to higher achievement. This study was intended to empirically examine the use of standardized testing and its relationship with student achievement. The study focused on two questions: first, why do some nations require their students to take large-scale standardized tests more frequently than others? And second, is there a correlation between the frequency of large-scale standardized tests frequency and academic achievement? This study examined data from the 2003 and 2009 administrations of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in order to address these questions. Results from this study indicated the frequency of large-scale standardized tests is most likely to be associated with testing consequence or stake (e.g., data are made public, etc.). Additionally, results suggest that the frequency of large-scale standardized tests is not significantly related to academic achievement.
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    Gauging Community Support for a Bilingual Two-Way Immersion Program for K-8 Students Using Under-Represented Languages
    (University of Oregon, 2018-10-31) M'Enesti, Milan; Bullis, Michael
    This application is for the U.S. Department of Education’s Education Innovation and Research Program to secure funding for a market analysis to gauge the interest of Portland, Oregon parents for opening a two-way immersion (TWI) Romanian-American bilingual public charter school. Initial conversations with members of the Romanian community in the Portland area indicate that such interest may exist. A formal survey of that community has not yet been conducted to firmly establish the potential market for such a school. Moreover, there is evidence to document that such an educational option could increase the academic achievement of English Language Learners from Underrepresented Languages (ELL-UL). Some English Language Learners (ELL) face great academic challenges in today’s public educational system which may be masked within the larger ELL population. First generation Romanian children, as ELL students, are represented across the Portland metropolitan area. Although their presence is pervasive, they constitute only a small proportion of all students (2.4 percent of all students in one district). Because of the low incidence of Romanian students, and the fact they are enrolled in schools across a broad geographical area, practical barriers prohibit their participation in bilingual education programs compared to students from well-represented cultures and languages (e.g., Spanish). This project will conduct a market analysis to gauge the Portland Romanian community’s interest in opening a bilingual two-way immersion (TWI) public charter school, embracing both the Romanian culture and language. By documenting this interest, a clear direction and structure for such a school will be established, which should foster the academic success for children of Romanian heritage.