ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Predicting Human Judgments of Essay Quality in Both Integrated and Independent Second Language Writing Samples: A Comparison Study
Author: Guo, Liang
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Linguistics,Second Language Learning,Writing Skills,Language Tests,Syntax,Scores,Predictor Variables,Essays,Persuasive Discourse,Scoring,Automation,Scoring Rubrics,Correlation

This study explores whether linguistic features can predict second language writing proficiency in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL iBT) integrated and independent writing tasks and, if so, whether there are differences and similarities in the two sets of predictive linguistic features. Linguistic features related to lexical sophistication, syntactic complexity, cohesion, and basic text information were investigated in relation to the writing scores for both integrated and independent samples. The results of this study show that linguistic features can be used to significantly predict essay scores in the integrated as well as the independent writing. When comparing across the two writing tasks, there are both similarities and differences in the two sets of predictive features. For instance, lexical sophistication was found to be a significant predictor for both tasks while features such as verbs in 3rd person singular form and semantic similarity were only significant predictors for the integrated task. These findings demonstrate that evaluation of the two writing tasks rely on similar and distinct features, and are at least partially assessed using different linguistic criteria. Implications of these findings for the assessment of second language (L2) writing are also discussed.
Local School Finance Study, 2012
Author: Cody, Christopher A.
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Educational Legislation,Federal Aid,Federal Legislation,Federal Programs,Educational Finance,State Aid,Local Government,Taxes,Counties,Expenditure per Student,Elementary Secondary Education,Socioeconomic Influences,Charter Schools,Real Estate,Costs,Salaries,Operating Expenses,Income,Public Schools

For more than 25 years the Public School Forum of North Carolina has isolated state and federal spending to examine the capacity and effort counties make to support their schools. The intent of the annual Local School Finance Study is not to blame counties for their effort to support schools, but to examine the capacity and actual effort the state's 100 counties make to support 115 school districts. The 2012 Local School Finance Study examines data from the 2010-11 school year. The primary source of financial information is the Financial and Business Services Division at the Department of Public Instruction, which provided the non-property tax revenue, low wealth and small county supplemental funding information, final average daily membership numbers, effective county tax rate, adjusted revenue tax base, and current expense. Other sources include the NC Department of Revenue's Tax Research and Ad Valorem Tax Divisions, which provided the 2010-11 property tax valuations and tax rates. The Department of Health and Human Services provided data for the mandated social services expenditures. The Department of State Treasurer's State and Local Finance Division provided the Public School Capital Outlay Report, and the Office of State Budget provided the School Construction Average Daily Membership. The per capita income was provided by United States Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis. North Carolina public schools spent $11.9 billion in the 2010-11 school year using a combination of state, federal, and local resources. State funding accounts for 60.1 percent of expenditures, federal funding accounts for 16.0 percent, and local funding accounts for 23.9 percent of spending. According to a recent National Education Association survey, North Carolina ranks 11th in the Nation and 2nd in the Southeast for the highest percentage of funds from State revenue. The National Average is 45.5%.
Educational Game Enjoyment, Perceptions, and Features in an Intelligent Writing Tutor
Author: Roscoe, Rod D.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Educational Games,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Intelligent Tutoring Systems,Writing Instruction,Program Effectiveness,Predictor Variables,Student Attitudes,Student Motivation,Design,High School Students,Rating Scales,Tests,Writing Apprehension

The ability of educational games to promote students' engagement in learning and practice depends on perceived enjoyment of those games. This study investigated high school students' perceptions and enjoyment of games within the Writing Pal intelligent tutoring system. In accord with research on motivation, results showed that perceived helpfulness and difficulty of the games were the main predictors of enjoyment, whereas graphics quality and writing apprehension were not. Perceived difficulty was most salient for generative practice games in which students had to apply strategies to write original text. [This paper was published in: &quot;Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference&quot; (p.515-520). Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, 2013.]
Writing Quality, Knowledge, and Comprehension Correlates of Human and Automated Essay Scoring
Author: Roscoe, Rod D.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Correlation,Essays,Scoring,Writing Evaluation,Evaluators,Construct Validity,Intelligent Tutoring Systems,Writing Skills,Reading Comprehension,Vocabulary Skills,High School Students,Scoring Rubrics,Undergraduate Students,Reading Tests,Knowledge Level,Computer Software

Automated essay scoring tools are often criticized on the basis of construct validity. Specifically, it has been argued that computational scoring algorithms may be unaligned to higher-level indicators of quality writing, such as writers' demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the essay topics. In this paper, we consider how and whether the scoring algorithms within an intelligent writing tutor correlate with measures of writing proficiency and students' general knowledge, reading comprehension, and vocabulary skill. Results indicate that the computational algorithms, although less attuned to knowledge and comprehension factors than human raters, were marginally related to such variables. Implications for improving automated scoring and intelligent tutoring of writing are briefly discussed. [This paper was published in: &quot;Proceedings of the Twenty-Seventh International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference&quot; (p.393-398). Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, 2014.]
Cohesion-Based Prompt Effects in Argumentative Writing
Author: Crossley, Scott A.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Persuasive Discourse,Prompting,Writing Instruction,Essays,Writing Skills,Grade 9,Grade 10,Grade 11,College Freshmen,Scoring,Automation,Syntax,Statistical Analysis,High School Students

Linguistic properties of writing prompts have been shown to influence the writing patterns contained in student essays. The majority of previous research on these prompt-based effects has focused on the lexical and syntactic properties of writing prompts and essays. The current study expands this research by investigating the effects of prompt cohesion on the cohesive features of student essays. Results indicate that prompt-based cohesion effects were observed for all the measured cohesion variables. Further, these cohesion prompt-effects were stronger than the effects observed for many lexical features and all syntactic features. Implications of these results in light of writing research are discussed. [This paper was published in: &quot;Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference&quot; (p.202-207). Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, 2013.]
Using Automated Indices of Cohesion to Evaluate an Intelligent Tutoring System and an Automated Writing Evaluation System
Author: Crossley, Scott A.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Intelligent Tutoring Systems,Automation,Writing Evaluation,Writing Assignments,Writing Strategies,Educational Games,Essays,Feedback (Response),Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Revision (Written Composition),Pretests Posttests,Natural Language Processing,High School Students,Statistical Analysis

We present an evaluation of the Writing Pal (W-Pal) intelligent tutoring system (ITS) and the W-Pal automated writing evaluation (AWE) system through the use of computational indices related to text cohesion. Sixty-four students participated in this study. Each student was assigned to either the W-Pal ITS condition or the W-Pal AWE condition. The W-Pal ITS includes strategy instruction, game-based practice, and essay-based practice with automated feedback. In the ITS condition, students received strategy training and wrote and revised one essay in each of the 8 training sessions. In the AWE condition, students only interacted with the essay writing and feedback tools. These students wrote and revised two essays in each of the 8 sessions. Indices of local and global cohesion reported by the computational tools Coh-Metrix and the Writing Assessment Tool (WAT) were used to investigate pretest and posttest writing gains. For both the ITS and the AWE systems, training led to the increased use of global cohesion features in essay writing. This study demonstrates that automated indices of text cohesion can be used to evaluate the effects of ITSs and AWE systems and further demonstrates how text cohesion develops as a result of instruction, writing, and automated feedback. [This paper was published in: K. Yacef et al. (Eds.), &quot;AIED 2013&quot; (p.269-278). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2013.]
Feedback and Revising in an Intelligent Tutoring System for Writing Strategies
Author: Roscoe, Rod D.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Essays,Revision (Written Composition),Intelligent Tutoring Systems,Educational Games,Automation,Feedback (Response),Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,High School Students,Writing Strategies,Writing Instruction

This study investigates students' essay revising in the context of an intelligent tutoring system called &quot;Writing Pal&quot; (W-Pal), which combines strategy instruction, game-based practice, essay writing practice, and automated formative feedback. We examine how high school students use W-Pal feedback to revise essays in two different contexts: a typical approach that emphasizes intensive writing practice, and an alternative approach that offers less writing practice with more direct strategy instruction. Results indicate that students who wrote fewer essays, but received W-Pal strategy instruction, were more likely to make substantive revisions that implemented specific recommendations conveyed by the automated feedback. Additional analyses consider the role of motivation and perceived learning on students' revising behaviors. [This paper was published in: K. Yacef et al. (Eds.), &quot;AIED 2013&quot; (p.259-268). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2013.]
Calling to Account. [2016 Annual Report]
Author: American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Date: 2017-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Trustees,Professional Associations,Higher Education,Accountability,Governance,Costs,Educational Finance,Educational Quality,Academic Freedom,Colleges,Universities,Freedom of Speech,Guidelines,Publications,Educational Change,Accreditation (Institutions),Stakeholders,History Instruction,Curriculum Development,News Reporting,Educational Policy,Awards

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) is turning the tide and calling colleges and universities to account. The ACTA is making significant progress in the campaign to make higher education accountable, affordable, and effective. ACTA's goal is for America to be again able to say our nation's higher education is the envy of the world. Following a statement from ACTA's president, Michael Poliakoff, this report is divided into five sections: (1) Good Governance, which discusses the &quot;Project on Administrative Costs&quot; and ACTA's 2015 report, &quot;The Cost of Chaos in the Curriculum&quot;; (2) Academic Excellence, which profiles and supports the campus programs that have become &quot;Oases of Excellence&quot;; (3) Academic Freedom, which promotes that all colleges and universities follow the Chicago Principles regarding freedom of expression set forth by the University of Chicago; (4) Spreading the Word, which discusses how ACTA's footprint in media was bigger than ever in 2016; and (5) About Us, which lists ACTA staff members and 2016 financial statements. [For the 2015 report, see ED585792.]
Momentum: Restoring the Promise of Higher Education. 2017 Annual Report
Author: American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Date: 2018-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Trustees,Higher Education,Professional Associations,Educational Finance,Costs,Accountability,Educational Quality,Academic Freedom,Freedom of Speech,Expenditures,Governance,News Reporting,Periodicals

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has gone from strength to strength in advancing their mission to ensure that American higher education is the finest in the world. This annual report focuses on how well ACTA has led schools, coast to coast, to strengthen cost-control and accountability, nurture academic excellence, and enhance academic freedom. Impressive momentum has been achieved in strengthening schools around ACTA's three &quot;A's&quot; of accountability, academic excellence, and academic freedom. In 2017, ACTA captured the attention of their trustee and academic leadership network with a signature project and report on how institutions prioritize their spending. This annual report shares the success ACTA has experienced through their efforts to drive curricular improvement and as a national leader in defending rigorous core standards. [For the 2016 report, see ED585789.]
Temperate Radicals: Celebrating Two Decades of Hard-Charging Higher Education Reform. [2015 Annual Report]
Author: American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Date: 2016-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Trustees,Educational Change,Higher Education,Educational History,Professional Associations,Educational Quality,Illiteracy,Academic Freedom,Accountability,Governance,Information Dissemination,Educational Research,Advocacy,Research Reports,Civics,Citizenship Education,Freedom of Speech,Best Practices,Accreditation (Institutions)

In 2015, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) celebrated 20 years of hard-charging higher education reform. Once a lone voice in the wilderness, ACTA is now leading the charge in their vigorous campaign to restore academic excellence, academic freedom, and accountability to American higher education. Core curricula, accreditation reform, historical literacy, engaged governance, and intellectual diversity--these issues are now front and center. ACTA has put them there. Following a statement from ACTA's president, Anne Neal, this report is divided into five sections: (1) Academic Excellence, which discusses ACTA's crisp and hard-hitting report, &quot;A Crisis in Civic Education,&quot; which brought into relief the depth of student illiteracy; (2) Academic Freedom, which discusses how ACTA has worked hard to ensure that students are exposed to different viewpoints and encouraged to think for themselves; (3) Accountability, which discusses how ACTA has pursued a radical new perspective on higher education governance--one that demands engaged and informed trustees who are not afraid to ask the tough questions and insist upon results; (4) Spreading the Word, which discusses ACTA's research and advocacy receiving coverage in all 50 states and the United Kingdom; and (5) About Us, which lists ACTA staff members and 2015 financial statements.
Investing in What Works: Community-Driven Strategies for Strong Public Schools in Georgia
Author: Dingerson, Leigh
Date: 2015-12-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Public Schools,School Districts,Evidence Based Practice,Community Schools,Educational Change,Access to Education,Educational Quality,Early Childhood Education,Preschool Education,Instructional Leadership,Teacher Effectiveness,Student Centered Learning,Culturally Relevant Education,School Community Relationship,Community Support,Outcomes of Education,Parent School Relationship,Minority Group Students,Disadvantaged Youth,Poverty,Educational Strategies

In this report, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) highlight instructional and community-based strategies for strong public schools in Georgia. The authors offer eight essential, evidence-based strategies for success: (1) Access to high quality early childhood and pre-K education; (2) Collaborative and stable school leadership; (3) Quality teaching; (4) Restorative practices and a student-centered learning environment; (5) A strong curriculum that is rigorous, rich and culturally relevant; (6) Wraparound supports for students and their families; (7) Deep parent-community-school ties; and (8) Investment, not divestment. This report provides a window into the ways in which relevant and life-changing classroom instruction happens through ongoing community support and why Georgia communities must have a stake in their beloved community schools.
Education 24/7: Expanding Learning Opportunities for North Carolina Students to Be Career and College Ready, Spring 2013 [Results of the Public School Forum&apos;s XV Study Group]
Author: Public School Forum of North Carolina
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Public Education,School Schedules,Educational Improvement,Strategic Planning,After School Programs,Summer Programs,Mentors,Tutors,Internship Programs,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education

North Carolina's education model is based on an agrarian calendar when it comes to time spent in school and on an industrial, factory model for the process of how students are educated. Educational models structured around the agrarian calendar and industrial model served the state well during a time period in the state's history, but that time period is over. A cohesive new educational framework can bring together three components: (1) traditional schools; (2) communities and families; and (3) Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELOs). This new framework removes time and buildings from being constants in the educational process and makes them variables alongside every other educational aspect that creates a high-performing educational system. The most efficient way to use the framework is as a start-up guide and a strategic plan on how a community can effectively implement ELOs. The framework provides an overview and beginning process for the initial phases of planning and organizing ELOs in a community. However, since there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to creating ELOs in an area, it is up to stakeholders working on school/community projects to use this framework as a roadmap and not a sole directive. Sample ELOs are described: (1) After-school programs; (2) Before-school programs; (3) Summer learning programs; (4) Mentoring, internships, and tutoring; and (5) Digital learning.
Creating Internationally Competitive Schools. The Public School Forum&apos;s Study Group XII
Author: Public School Forum of North Carolina
Date: 2006-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Educational Improvement,Mathematics Instruction,Science Instruction,Educational Quality,Faculty Development,Teaching Methods,Best Practices,Global Approach,Academic Achievement,State Standards,Expectation,Teacher Competencies,Cultural Awareness,Student Diversity

The growing belief that North Carolina's schools need to be up to international standards led the Public School Forum of North Carolina to launch its twelfth Study Group, addressing three questions: (1) What would it take to bring North Carolina's teaching of mathematics and science up to internationally competitive standards?; (2) How could North Carolina become a national leader in creating a curriculum that would better prepare young people to work and thrive in an increasingly global environment?; and (3) What would be needed to enable North Carolina to provide high quality, high volume professional development to support these changes? Recommendations include: (1) Place a priority focus on improving the delivery of instruction in mathematics and science by incorporating the best educational practices from states across the country and from nations around the world; (2) Launch an initiative that will result in schools throughout North Carolina incorporating education about the history, cultures, art and people around the world to better prepare North Carolina's young people to thrive in an increasingly global environment; and (3) Take the necessary steps to give North Carolina the capacity to provide high-volume, high-quality professional development that will support the goal of giving all children a 21st century quality of instruction.
The Epistemic Stance between the Author and Reader: A Driving Force in the Cohesion of Text and Writing
Author: McNamara, Danielle S.
Date: 2013-09-08
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Authors,Reader Text Relationship,Connected Discourse,Reading Comprehension,Epistemology,Difficulty Level,Audience Awareness,Cues,Writing (Composition),Writing Skills

This article explores the role of text cohesion in the comprehension and production of text. While most discourse models have considered the roles of the text features and the reader, the crucial role of writers' epistemic stance has not been widely considered. The thesis explored here is that levels of cohesion emerge in text based on the epistemic stance of the author relative to the reader. Evidence is provided indicating that text genres (i.e. science, narrative) show compensatory relationships between different features related to text difficulty. For example, while science texts have more challenging words than do narratives, they tend to have higher cohesion and simpler syntax. These text profiles indicate that skilled writers have an awareness of readers' needs. By contrast, less skilled writers seem to have less sensitivity to the interplay between textual dimensions and less audience awareness. For example, evidence is reviewed showing that more proficient essays are characterized by lower cohesion than less proficient essays: less skilled writers tend to use more cohesive cues (when they are likely unnecessary) than do more skilled writers. To the extent that an author understands the readers' needs, the author has a more successful epistemic stance toward the reader. This stance is partially evidenced by the crucial role of cohesion in text comprehension and writing. [This is the online version of an article published in &quot;Discourse Studies.&quot;]