First-Year Teacher Surveys (FYTS) are essential for evaluating teacher preparation programs (TPPs), providing crucial feedback from recent graduates about their training and readiness for real-world teaching. This study focuses on Missouri's FYTS, utilizing Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to investigate the…

What kinds of validity evidence can the University of Kansas Sense of Belonging Test (KU-SBT) provide? Through the operationalization of a construct, this study intends to build an initial validity argument for the KU-SBT to determine exchange graduate students' manifestations of internal and external sense of belonging, which may play a role in…

High School graduation rates are key indicators of accountability for high schools and school districts in Oregon. Beginning with the 2008-09 school year, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) implemented the cohort method of calculating graduation rates. The cohort method identifies the year the student entered high school for the first time…

This article seeks to answer two questions: what kinds of expertise are needed to lead an effective dissertation boot camp; and how can those outside the graduate student's discipline support their writing? Drawing on four years of application data and post-camp interviews, I reveal how writing process knowledge--similar to that described in the…

Blended learning utilizes the affordances of information and communication technology to integrate online learning with face-to-face teaching. It facilitates to meet students' disciplinary learning needs and helps them achieve the intended learning outcomes so that they can advance in their professional study. The present study focuses on…

The purpose of this study was to describe how states in the REL Central Region (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming) evaluate teacher preparation programs and planned changes for evaluation. Publicly available documents were reviewed and interviews were conducted with state education agency representatives…

In June 2013, former Texas Governor Rick Perry signed into law House Bill (HB) 5, 83rd Texas Legislature, Regular Session, which established a new high school graduation program--the Foundation High School Program--for students entering Grade 9 in 2014-15 and reduced the number of state assessments required for graduation. The legislation gave the…

This study examined the factors perceived by in-service teachers as either facilitating or impeding successful completion of online group work in a virtual graduate school of education program. Based on a quantified qualitative data analysis of open-ended questions, five facilitative factors were identified as (a) individual accountability, (b)…

For the third year, an Employer Satisfaction Survey collected ratings given by Tennessee employers to recent graduates recognized as secondary vocational-technical program completers. On a statewide basis, the average number of eligible employers per eligible program was 7.5. In total, the usable rate of return was 62 percent (798 employers). The…

This packet identifies and explains the questionnaires and coding used in DeVault VIII, a subsystem of the Texas Student Information System designed to generate data for local utilization and for fulfillment of the federally-mandated Vocational Education Data System (VEDS) student and employer follow-up requirements. The report first explains the…

This report focuses on assessing the quality of undergraduate education. A framework for thinking about the topic is provided, followed by a discussion of the ways in which the educational context is typically organized and student achievement is typically measured, with suggestions for new indicators and measures. The significance of contexts and…

This report contains the results of a pilot survey of employer satisfaction with Connecticut's public college graduates from the class of 2003 conducted by the Department of Higher Education (DHE) in the spring of 2005. The project was part of a four-state project entitled, "Defining Best Practices for Responsible Accountability Models in…

At North Dakota State University annual follow-up studies have been conducted on teacher education graduates of the secondary teacher preparation program since 1963. Each year, survey forms are sent to all teacher education graduates of the previous year and to the principals or superintendents of graduates who are teaching. The purpose of the…

Alverno College (Wisconsin), a women's liberal arts college, has developed an Alumni Career Level Classification (AACLC) scheme to measure alumna career advancement and demonstrate institutional accountability. This validation study was part of a larger longitudinal study of two entire cohorts of students entering the college in 1976 and 1977, of…

In an effort to determine the effectiveness of Lakeshore Technical Institute's (LTI's) Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program, questionnaires were administered to 1982 program graduates (N=45) and their employers (N=43) requesting an assessment of the graduates' preparedness to perform 39 nursing functions. Responses were submitted to a…