ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
The ACT WorkKeys NCRC as an Indicator of Skills Needed for Success in Work-Based Learning. Technical Brief
Author: Steedle, Jeffrey T.
Date: 2020-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Job Skills,Success,Academic Achievement,Work Experience Programs,Job Training,Apprenticeships,Youth Programs,Outcomes of Education,Education Work Relationship,Career Readiness,Manufacturing Industry,Certification,Scores,High School Students

GPS Education Partners (GPSEd) is a community-based nonprofit organization and work-based learning intermediary offering a statewide manufacturing youth apprenticeship in Wisconsin. During their one to two years in the program, students meet high school graduation requirements, receive industry-specific and job-specific training, technical certifications, and Department of Workforce Development Youth Apprenticeship Certification. This report describes a research collaboration between GPSEd and American College Testing (ACT) that examined the relationships between ACT® WorkKeys® performance and outcomes for GPSEd students. Analyses revealed that WorkKeys scores correlated with academic outcomes like reading ability level and math course-taking patterns. WorkKeys scores and WorkKeys® National Career Readiness Certificate® (NCRC®) Levels were also related to Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) Certified Production Technician (CPT) certificate attainment as well as attendance in GPSEd classes and apprenticeships. In all, the results suggest that WorkKeys provides useful signals of the foundational workplace skills required for success in a work-based learning program. Moreover, average WorkKeys scores increased significantly from junior to senior year, which is consistent with the notion that students can improve their foundational workplace skills in a work-based learning program.
Promoting Career Readiness in Arkansas High Schools. Technical Brief
Author: Steedle, Jeffrey T.
Date: 2020-01-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Career Readiness,High Schools,High School Students,Job Skills,Student Characteristics,Career Exploration,Experiential Learning,Curriculum,Postsecondary Education,Occupational Tests

The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) is focused on transforming Arkansas to lead the nation in student-focused education. To accomplish this vision, one of ADE's goals is for each student to meet or exceed milestones along pathways to graduate high school prepared for college, career, and community engagement. Some career and technical education (CTE) students in Arkansas high schools take American College Testing (ACT®) WorkKeys® to measure their foundational workplace skills in Applied Math, Workplace Documents, and Graphic Literacy. This report focuses on educational programs in high schools with greater-than-expected WorkKeys performance. That is, compared to other schools enrolling students with similar ACT scores and demographics, these schools exhibited higher average WorkKeys scores. Ten such schools were contacted to find out how they promote WorkKeys performance and career readiness more generally. Results revealed common themes such as supporting career exploration, connecting students and local employers, using WorkKeys Curriculum® to prepare students for the WorkKeys Assessments, and emphasizing the value of the NCRC.
Modes of Representation about Circular Motion Used by Prospective Teachers and Predictions of Instructors about These Modes
Author: Yildiz, Ali
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,Mechanics (Physics),Elementary School Mathematics,Mathematics Education,Motion,Mathematical Concepts,Scientific Concepts

This study aims to examine the modes of representation used by prospective teachers, taking the physics-I (mechanics) course of the primary mathematics education program in the Faculty of Education. The teachers' opinions were elicited about circular motion and the awareness of the instructors delivering the physics-I course regarding these modes of representation. A total of 107 prospective teachers participated in this study. 46 were female, and 61 were male. In this study, open-ended questions were used in order to discover the modes of representation used by prospective teachers when expressing their opinions about circular motion. After the questions were administered to the prospective teachers, 5 instructors teaching physics-I course were interviewed and they were asked to identify the modes of representation, together with the usage rates of the prospective teachers in answers to open-ended questions. In the study, it was seen that current situation regarding the modes of representation used by the prospective teachers while expressing their opinions about uniform circular motion, radial and tangential acceleration differs from the predictions of instructors, who presented the lesson.
Effectiveness of WorkKeys Curriculum for Improving Foundational Workplace Skills: Nevada State High School Case Study. Technical Brief
Author: Steedle, Jeffrey T.
Date: 2020-01-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: High School Students,Program Effectiveness,Job Skills,Occupational Tests,Scores,Achievement Gains,Mathematics Skills,Grade Point Average,Curriculum,Pretests Posttests,Visual Literacy

This study sought to estimate the potential benefits of using ACT® WorkKeys® Curriculum to improve foundational workplace skills and subsequent performance on the ACT® WorkKeys® Applied Math, Workplace Documents, and Graphic Literacy assessments. Students at Nevada State High School (NSHS) took the WorkKeys Assessments before and after using ACT WorkKeys Curriculum. Using data from the supervisor dashboard, students were classified as engaged or unengaged in lessons, practice questions, and quizzes included in WorkKeys Curriculum. Overall, students who engaged meaningfully with WorkKeys Curriculum were expected to have greater score gains and were more likely to increase their WorkKeys level scores. In particular, students who engaged in Applied Math practice questions had significantly greater scale score gains than unengaged students, and students who exhibited overall engagement in the Applied Math and Workplace Documents modules were more likely to increase their corresponding level scores. Engagement in WorkKeys Curriculum was related to performance improvements for Graphic Literacy but not to a statistically significant degree.
Multiple Imputation for Continuous and Categorical Data: Comparing Joint Multivariate Normal and Conditional Approaches
Author: Kropko, Jonathan
Date: 2014-04-23
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Statistical Analysis,Multivariate Analysis,Accuracy,Data,Probability,Statistical Distributions

We consider the relative performance of two common approaches to multiple imputation (MI): joint multivariate normal (MVN) MI, in which the data are modeled as a sample from a joint MVN distribution; and conditional MI, in which each variable is modeled conditionally on all the others. In order to use the multivariate normal distribution, implementations of joint MVN MI typically assume that categories of discrete variables are probabilistically constructed from continuous values. We use simulations to examine the implications of these assumptions. For each approach, we assess (1) the accuracy of the imputed values; and (2) the accuracy of coefficients and fitted values from a model fit to completed data sets. These simulations consider continuous, binary, ordinal, and unordered-categorical variables. One set of simulations uses multivariate normal data, and one set uses data from the 2008 American National Election Studies. We implement a less restrictive approach than is typical when evaluating methods using simulations in the missing data literature: in each case, missing values are generated by carefully following the conditions necessary for missingness to be &quot;missing at random&quot; (MAR). We find that in these situations conditional MI is more accurate than joint MVN MI whenever the data include categorical variables. [Edited by Jonathan Katz. This is the online version of article published in &quot;Political Analysis&quot; 2014.]
An Investigation into In-Service and Pre-Service English Teachers&apos; Conception of Assessment
Author: Yetkin, Ramazan
Date: 2020-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,English Teachers,Knowledge Level,Educational Assessment,Student Evaluation,Educational Improvement,Accountability,Student Responsibility,Gender Differences,Instructional Program Divisions,Teacher Attitudes,Foreign Countries

Although the importance of assessment on education is undebatable, the intentions of assessors while conducting assessment haven't been studied yet in detail. To this end, this study aimed to disclose pre-service and in- service English teachers' conceptions of assessment. In the study, conception of assessment was categorized under four main titles; improvement, school accountability, student accountability and irrelevance. A total of 97 pre-service and in-service teachers participated in the study. Descriptive results indicated that conception of improvement held the highest agreement level among participants. On the other hand, school accountability got the lowest agreement level. Correlation results showed that improvement, school and student accountability conceptions were positively correlated. A MANOVA analysis was applied to scrutinize any effects of gender and grade level/teaching differences on participants' conceptions. Analysis results indicated that both gender and grade level/teaching factors made significant difference on participants' conceptions of assessment. A follow up ANOVA analysis indicated significant gender difference on school accountability, with males had higher value than females. Also, there was a significant difference among grade level/teaching groups on school and student accountabilities. Teachers held the highest value for school accountability, and fourth graders held the highest mean value for student accountability.
Implementation and Efficacy Study of Raz-Plus for Students from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade
Author: Ho, Hsiang-Yeh
Date: 2020-03-25
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Literacy Education,Web Based Instruction,Blended Learning,Educational Technology,Rural Schools,Elementary School Teachers,Elementary School Students,Student Interests,Reading Interests,Recreational Reading,Program Effectiveness,Reading Programs,Attitude Measures,Student Attitudes,Surveys,Reading Attitudes,Reading Achievement

The current study examined the effect of a web-based literacy program, Raz-Plus, that serves as a resource for blended learning instruction in K-5 classrooms. Following a 13-week implementation period at three rural elementary schools, comparisons of the treatment (21 teachers and 249 students) and control (18 teachers and 198 students) groups revealed greater outcomes in the treatment group for overall literacy achievement, student interest in academic reading, and student interest in recreational reading, as compared to the control group. Core dimensions of implementation fidelity were measured through classroom observations and surveys with participating teachers; analyses revealed no significant associations between fidelity measures and student outcomes. This study provides evidence of the efficacy of Raz-Plus as a tool for supporting literacy development of elementary students. Additional research is warranted to determine the elements of implementation that support optimal student outcomes.
Praise Research Trends and Future Directions: Characteristics and Teacher Training
Author: Floress, Margaret T.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Positive Reinforcement,Teacher Student Relationship,Classroom Techniques,Training Methods,Teacher Education,Educational Research,Behavior Modification,Feedback (Response),Validity,Interrater Reliability,Self Evaluation (Individuals),Goal Orientation,Incentives,Prompting,Coding,Literature Reviews

Teacher praise is an effective classroom management tool. Training teachers to increase their use of praise can improve student disruptive and off-task behavior. The purpose of this article is to examine different characteristics of praise and the training methods used in the literature. Training methods with positive treatment acceptability and demonstrated impact are summarized. Results indicate that most research focuses on behavior-specific, verbal, and contingent praise delivered to individual students. Most training studies used a combination of two or more methods that most commonly included a didactic, feedback, or goal setting component. Only half of the training studies measured treatment acceptability and the majority of these ratings were positive. Most studies training teachers to use praise had positive results. More research focused on infrequently studied praise characteristics (e.g., gestures, physical, and private) and training methods (e.g., in vivo, self-monitoring, and incentives) is needed. Implications for future praise research are presented. [This article was published in &quot;Behavioral Disorders&quot; (EJ1159699).]
An Investigation of the Effects of Writing to Learn Activities on Academic Achievement in the Fourth Grade Introduction to Matter Unit
Author: Aktepe, Zeynep Tuba
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Instructional Effectiveness,Academic Achievement,Scientific Concepts,Retention (Psychology),Content Area Writing,Elementary School Students,Grade 4,Foreign Countries,Learning Activities,Elementary School Science,Visual Aids,Letters (Correspondence)

The purpose of the study is to explore the effect of writing to learn activities including letter, summary, and poster on academic achievement in the fourth grade science course called introduction to matter unit. The study was carried out via pre-test post-test control group design, one of the quasi experimental research designs. The achievement test developed by the researchers about the unit of introduction to matter was used as data collection tool in the study. The achievement test about the unit of introduction to matter was administered to three experimental groups and one control group chosen randomly among the 4th grades as a pre-test. Then, the first experimental group students were asked to write a letter, the second experimental group was asked to write a summary and the third group was asked to prepare a poster as a writing to learn activity for each part of the unit. The control group students solved questions about the subjects learnt in this process. At the end of the implementation, the achievement test was administered as a post-test and then as a retention test three weeks later to all groups. The paired sample t-test (or the dependent ttest for paired samples) and one-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) were used for data analysis. The findings of the study reveal that the fourth graders' post-test and retention test results for the introduction to matter unit in science course is statistically in favour of the experimental group students. As a result of the study, it was found that the academic achievement of the students who used writing to learn activities was higher and what they have learnt was more permanent than the students who learned the unit with current methods.
Web-Based &quot;Sentheme Mining&quot; on Abstracts of Junior Researchers: A Thematic Analysis for &apos;Attractive&apos; Writing for Beginners
Author: Camara, Jun S.
Date: 2019-12-01
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Documentation,Academic Language,Researchers,Research Reports,Writing for Publication,Foreign Countries

Improving academic writing is a key towards successful publishing, and assessment of pre-published write-ups is the beginning of that ending. Words have 'emotions', and the ability to control it in write-ups is an evolving industry skill. This paper aimed to profile and analyze through web-based sentiment analysis and text mining with theme generation of the scientific paper abstracts of junior researchers in the Philippines. Significant findings showed that majority of the specimen abstracts conformed with academic writing standards, and obtained a passing rating from conference judges. Sentiment Analysis revealed an equal writing behavior of junior researchers in wording abstracts positively or negatively, even if majority were found to have written abstracts neutrally. Text Mining reported the frequent use of the words 'effective' and 'potential' for positively-worded and negatively-worded conclusions of abstracts, respectively. Generating themes from these premises, thematic analysis proposed four principles of writing abstracts to attract acceptance of papers in science fairs. 'Sentheme Mining' as a research procedure was recommended, among others things, for use in future studies involving qualitative studies of paper abstracts or full articles.
The Rhetorical Problems Experienced by Indonesian Lecturers in Social Sciences and Humanities in Writing Research Articles for International Journals
Author: Arsyad, Safnil
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Faculty,Social Sciences,Humanities,Journal Articles,Writing for Publication,Faculty Publishing,Reputation,Productivity,Research Reports,English (Second Language),Rhetoric,Persuasive Discourse,Citations (References),Academic Language,Periodicals,Barriers

The publication rate of Indonesian academics in reputable international journals is far below those of neighbouring countries. This is because Indonesian academics are not familiar with the appropriate rhetorical style of English research articles although they can write academic texts in English reasonably well. This study investigated the rhetorical problems experienced by Indonesian lecturers in social sciences and humanities when writing research articles for international journals. In this study, all sections (abstract, introduction, methods, results and discussion) of research article drafts written by Indonesian academics were analysed based on their rhetorical styles following the models suggested by Swales (1990, 2004), Swales and Feak (2009), Lim (2006), and Peacock (2011). The results show that Indonesian authors have significant rhetorical problems in writing the introduction, results and discussion sections but few problems with writing abstracts and the methods section. The majority of these academics fail to write a convincingly argumentative introduction and discussion because they either do not use relevant references at all or they use them in improper ways. The study concludes that Indonesian authors must learn the ideal rhetorical styles of research article introductions and discussions, especially the use of references, in order to be accepted in international journals.
Ideas for Integrating Meaningful Immediate Repetition Tasks in the English as an Additional Language Classroom: Promoting Fluency
Author: Zaccaron, Rafael
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Teachers,Teaching Methods,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Speech Communication,Drills (Practice),Accuracy,Language Fluency,Task Analysis,Peer Relationship,Decision Making

Although repetition is at the core of many different approaches to language learning, either implicitly or not, using this pedagogic practice in the additional language classroom is still negatively perceived by some teachers (Bygate and Samuda, 2005). For contemporary research, on the other hand, the use of repetition is not incongruous with communicative additional language teaching approaches that bring the use of tasks to the forefront. The use of immediate repeated tasks can benefit learners because it allows the possibility of repeating slightly altered tasks in a meaningful way. Bearing this in mind, this paper describes three immediate repetition tasks that focus on the speaking skill aiming at developing both fluency and accuracy. All are inherently suited for the additional language classroom and can be easily adapted to better suit specific contexts.
Appropriateness of Afro-Asian Literary Texts in Developing Metalinguistic Awareness among Grade 8 Students
Author: Sagun, Mark Leomyr A.
Date: 2019-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Metalinguistics,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Literature,Language Teachers,African Culture,Asian Culture,Grade 8,Student Characteristics,Junior High School Students,Language Tests,Achievement Tests,Language Proficiency,Vocabulary,Grammar

This study anchors on the linguistic theme of &quot;Metalinguistic Awareness&quot;. The study analyzed this phenomenon as imbibed by high school students, and how it can be promoted by instructional tools, such as literary pieces that have gained predominant use in ESL and EFL teaching. The participants of this study are Grade 8 students and teachers handling the Grade 8 English course. A total of 210 students were randomly selected to partake in the research population, as well as their current English language teachers in Afro-Asian literature. The study was conducted within the school year 2018-2019 at Moncada National High School, located in Moncada, Tarlac (research locale).
Variance in the Use of Invitational and Intrusive Rhetoric in Online EFL Teaching Discourse
Author: De Vera, Presley V.
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Online Courses,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Classroom Communication,Discourse Analysis,Rhetoric,Teaching Methods,Case Studies,Gender Differences,Classification,Speech Communication,Instructional Improvement,Linguistic Theory,Language Teachers,Foreign Countries

Teaching discourses essentially presuppose the use of rhetoric. This study that doubly registers as EFL Research and Communication Research draws on the Theory of Discourse Analysis and Rhetoric Theory of Communication to investigate rhetoric undertones in the teaching discourses of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers engaged in online teaching. The case study involved four participants of equal number of male and female teachers to account for sex-aggregated analysis. It employed Sinclair &amp; Coulthard's method of classroom discourse analysis in the transcription of the teachers' spoken corpora. Findings revealed that (1) male and female teachers used rhetoric in the online teaching of EFL courses, and (2) they used rhetoric in the context of deploying certain discourse functions. On the varied rhetoric intents of the teachers underlying their rhetorical moves, male and female teachers account exhaustively on the use of all types of rhetoric, i.e. Foss' typology of invitational and patriarchal rhetoric (operationalized in this study as &quot;intrusive rhetoric&quot;), and the latter's sub-types. There have been noted difference, both remarkable and less significant, between male and female teachers' rhetoric practices. As a major contribution of the study, it poses significant supplement and a stark critique to Foss' Invitational Rhetoric Theory of Communication. From the synthesis of the study's findings and conclusions, several recommendations are offered for the improvement of English language pedagogy, for future research, and the interest of advancement in theorizing under the rhetoric tradition in the field of communication and its complementary insights to the enterprise of teaching EFL.