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Increasing the Quality of Student Voice: The Role of Personal Response Devices, or Clickers in the Evaluation of Secondary School Reform
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| Presenter(s):
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| Maribel Harder, University of Miami, mgharder@miami.edu
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| Ann G Bessell, University of Miami, agbessell@miami.edu
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| Sabrina Sembiante, University of Miami, s.sembiante@umiami.edu
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| Ileana Altamirano-Cardenas, University of Miami, i.altamirano@umiami.edu
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| Abstract:
A broader vision for secondary school reform that promotes leadership and career-based skills in addition to the traditional academic, classroom-based approach has been advocated by Harvard Graduate School of Education's Pathways to Prosperity Project(2011). The University of Miami Education Evaluation Team (UMEET) has served as the third party evaluator of such a reform effort, evaluating the implementation of career-based academies, or smaller learning communities (SLCs) for the past seven years, providing formative and summative assessment to a multi-cohort, multi-site group of 28 large urban high schools. This year, audience response clickers were implemented in order to enhance efficient and effective data collection methods during our participatory 'Data-in-a-Day' school visits. This session presents information gleaned using personal response devices, or clickers with high school students, and discusses the benefits and challenges overcome associated with the usage of this innovative technology for evaluation purposes.
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An Evaluation of the Use of a Database Management Software for Improved Student Performance
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| Presenter(s):
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| Susan Skidmore, Sam Houston State University, skidmore@shsu.edu
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| Abstract:
Almost half of the school districts in Texas (n=441) have implemented the use of the Database Management Assessment and Curriculum (DMAC) software to optimize teachers' ability to tailor curriculum to meet students' needs. However, before DMAC's utility can be assessed, an understanding of the extent to which teachers' actually use the software has to be determined. The present evaluation study assesses teachers' facility with and affinity for DMAC in a rural east Texas school district. All high school campus faculty, administrators and counselors were surveyed. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers from each of the five departments and the campus testing coordinator. Results indicate that teachers are frustrated with development of the curriculum based assessments (CBAs) and require more training on how to best interpret the data provided. Suggestions for improving the use of database management software are offered.
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Use of Incentives to Increase Participation
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| Presenter(s):
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| Susan Saka, University of Hawaii, Manoa, ssaka@hawaii.edu
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| Abstract:
A high participation rate is vital to obtaining reliable and valid information. With the increased academic requirements of NCLB educators are reluctant to take on anything that takes away from academic time and adds burden to teachers and students. The use of incentives helped to increase participation in school-level health surveys. Various kinds of incentives including gift card, items with healthy slogans, and refreshments were used to 'reward' teachers who attended a training session, and healthy gifts (e.g., pedometer and lunch bag) and gift cards were offered as incentives to teachers and school-level coordinators for permission form return. Food items and drawings were used for students. Proper planning, including knowing the rules is paramount, including identifying potential problems. An examination of participation rates for 10+ years and interviews with project-related personnel regarding the effectiveness of the incentives and will be discussed.
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