Browsing by Subject "formative assessment"
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Item Defining and Measuring School Readiness using Confirmatory Factor Analysis Techniques(2016-06) Ward, JennaSchool readiness skills in kindergarten have been linked with later academic and social achievement; promoting these skills may be a way to help prevent later concerns. A first step is to define school readiness and identify those skills that are most important for later school success. The current dissertation took a two-study approach to measuring school readiness in kindergarten. Study one proposed a model for measuring school readiness in the fall of kindergarten, comprised of developmental and early academic formative measures. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) techniques were used to test five nested models proposed to explain school readiness. A two factor cross loading indicators model, comprised of achievement in developmental milestones and early academic skills, appeared to provide the best explanation of school readiness in the fall of kindergarten. Study two examined which of those school readiness skills across the kindergarten year best predicted end of kindergarten early academic achievement. Developmental milestones were measured through composite scores, based upon findings from the first study, as well as early reading and early math measures. Path analysis techniques were used to examine the variance accounted for in springtime early academic skills by fall and winter early academic and development skills. Developmental milestones did not appear to provide additional predictive value for end of kindergarten early academic skills, after accounting for beginning of kindergarten early academic skills. The results of these two studies support a clear definition and efficient measurement approach for school readiness skills in kindergarten. Limitations, future research, and practical implications of these findings are discussed.Item The Impact of Add+VantageMR Professional Development: A study on teacher implementation following professional development(2019-12) Miller, ChristinaSchool districts in the United States spend a significant amount of human and financial resources on the design and facilitation of professional development experiences to impact teachers’ understanding of how students think about and learn mathematics. In turn, these professional development opportunities hopefully lead to changes in instructional practices positively impacting students’ feelings towards mathematics and their mathematics achievement. Empirical evidence to support components of effective professional development is mounting and has grown significantly in the past fifteen years (Desmoine, 2009). This study provides a lens into three teachers’ experiences implementing Math Recovery assessment and teaching practices after participating in Add+VantageMR® (AVMR) professional development. AVMR professional development focuses on student thinking, along with dynamic diagnostic assessment of students’ known strategies to inform teaching. Teaching is complex, therefore several areas of opportunity exist to apply learning from AVMR. This study utilized a case study approach (Yin, 2014) and examined three first grade classroom by analyzing a series of video-recorded mathematics lessons collected over four months. The study examined teachers’ planning for, enacting, and reflecting upon mathematics lessons in the area of early number and operations. Three rounds of coding were applied to provide valuable insights into the ways Math Recovery Guiding Principles of Classroom Teaching and Dimensions of Mathematizing manifested in each classroom. Findings from this study indicate teachers implement assessment and teaching practices promoted in Add+VantageMR® professional development when planning for, enacting and reflecting upon whole number mathematics lessons. Each participant’s journey implementing AVMR course ideas was different, and evidence of impact was identified regardless of years of experience and teachers’ participation in Course 1 or Course 2.