scholarly journals One University’s Measured Approach to Student Evaluations

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-34
Author(s):  
C. Dale Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Student Perception ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
Study Format

Student evaluations of teaching occur at most universities and colleges in the United States and are used for a variety of purposes including course improvement and as data to evaluate instructors.  Increasingly, universities manage the collection of student perception data about courses and teaching with commercially available software.  This is a report of the work of one university to review the process of collecting and using student assessment of instruction data and to determine how the data would be used.  The work of a task force to examine a process in place for ten years by seeking input from stakeholders, reviewing ten years of collected data, and reviewing the literature is presented in a case study format with task force recommendations and a report on subsequent implementation.

Franchise model schools: rethinking educational practices and structures

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-44
Author(s):  
Miguel Gonzales ◽  
Maria Roberts
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Assistant Principals ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Year ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Model Schools

Purpose How will schools reinvent themselves to respond to the technological and economic demands of the mid-21st century? In response to the demands, a school district in the western region of the United States implemented a model patterned after the franchise business model. Two effective principals were tasked to simultaneously lead multiple high-risk elementary schools and to replicate the success they achieved from their flagship school. This paper aims to introduce the concept of franchise model schools. It also examines the innovative impact of the model as it relates to student achievement and leadership development. Design/methodology/approach The methodology for this research was a case study approach. This case study sought to examine teacher and school leaders' perceptions of the implementation of the franchise model school framework. The setting of this case study was five franchise model elementary schools in the western region of the United States. Participants of this study included 37 grade-level teacher leaders and 133 teacher respondents to an online questionnaire. Semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with grade-level teacher leaders at each participating school. State and site-based academic assessments were also collected and analyzed. Findings Due to the novelty of the franchise model schools, the long-term effects on student outcomes are not yet discernable. Interviews with the teachers and school leaders revealed that staff morale was low after the initial implementation of the model and student assessment scores also decreased after the first year of implementation. The current pattern of student assessment revealed a decrease after the first year of implementation and a small increase after the second year. Findings revealed assistant principals within the model increased their leadership capacity and efficacy. Assistant principals felt confident in their ability to lead a school as principals. Originality/value The implementation of franchise model schools is unique to the United States education system. Minimal research exists which examines the novelty and impact of franchise model schools. This case study has the potential to inform school systems, policy-makers and educator preparation programs of new practices and innovative structures that can help meet the demands of obtaining a mid-21st-century education. For educational leadership preparation programs, the use of this model provides new practicum and internship opportunities for aspiring school administrators.

On Reading Entrails and Student Evaluations

2019 ◽  
pp. 82-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Brennan ◽  
Phillip Magness
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Effectiveness ◽  
The United States ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Course Evaluations ◽  
Tea Leaves ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
Faculty Hiring

In the United States, most universities and colleges ask students to complete course evaluations at the end of each semester. They ask students how much they’ve learned, how much they studied, whether the instructor seemed well-prepared, and how valuable the class was overall. This chapter examines how colleges routinely make faculty hiring, retention, and promotion decisions on the basis of what they ought to know are invalid tests. It argues that student course evaluations do not track teacher effectiveness. Using these as the bases of determining hires, promotions, tenure, or raises for faculty is roughly on par with reading entrails or tea leaves to make such decisions. The chapter also explains why universities continue to use student course evaluations.

The geopolitics of Pakistan’s 2018 greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force

2021 ◽  
pp. 002070202110164
Author(s):  
Abdur Rehman Shah
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Task Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Financial Action Task Force ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Economic Coercion ◽  
Financial Action Task ◽  
Financing Of Terrorism ◽  
Trump Administration

This article argues that, in addition to the valid reasons for Pakistan’s greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2018, geopolitical dynamics also played a crucial role behind this development. While the United States (US) under the Trump administration pushed Pakistan to seek an end to “the longest war” in Afghanistan, India, hoping to curb cross-border terrorism, capitalized on this momentum to pressure Pakistan. In order to hastily greylist Pakistan, institutional procedures of the FATF were thus disregarded. The case study demonstrates how economic coercion was used to push Pakistan to accept US and FATF demands. This article argues that Pakistan’s greylisting has created a win-for-all scenario for now. But these gains should not be overrated. Pakistan’s implementation of FATF requirements faces significant structural limitations. Still, the consensus between major actors underscores the potential of the FATF to counter money laundering and financing of terrorism globally.

Gendered differences in emigration and mobility perspectives among European researchers working abroad

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Scheibelhofer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
The Future ◽  
Highly Skilled

This paper focuses on gendered mobilities of highly skilled researchers working abroad. It is based on an empirical qualitative study that explored the mobility aspirations of Austrian scientists who were working in the United States at the time they were interviewed. Supported by a case study, the paper demonstrates how a qualitative research strategy including graphic drawings sketched by the interviewed persons can help us gain a better understanding of the gendered importance of social relations for the future mobility aspirations of scientists working abroad.

‘A Routh O’ Auld Nick-Nackets’ – the antiquarian collection of John Rae

2015 ◽  
Vol 36-37 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-183
Author(s):  
Paul Taylor
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Representative Case ◽  
National Museums ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University

John Rae, a Scottish antiquarian collector and spirit merchant, played a highly prominent role in the local natural history societies and exhibitions of nineteenth-century Aberdeen. While he modestly described his collection of archaeological lithics and other artefacts, principally drawn from Aberdeenshire but including some items from as far afield as the United States, as a mere ‘routh o’ auld nick-nackets' (abundance of old knick-knacks), a contemporary singled it out as ‘the best known in private hands' (Daily Free Press 4/5/91). After Rae's death, Glasgow Museums, National Museums Scotland, the University of Aberdeen Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, as well as numerous individual private collectors, purchased items from the collection. Making use of historical and archive materials to explore the individual biography of Rae and his collection, this article examines how Rae's collecting and other antiquarian activities represent and mirror wider developments in both the ‘amateur’ antiquarianism carried out by Rae and his fellow collectors for reasons of self-improvement and moral education, and the ‘professional’ antiquarianism of the museums which purchased his artefacts. Considered in its wider nineteenth-century context, this is a representative case study of the early development of archaeology in the wider intellectual, scientific and social context of the era.

Palestine Unbound

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-134
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Task Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Tel Aviv ◽  
The Us ◽  
Intention To Move ◽  
Arab Israeli Conflict ◽  
The U.S

This section, updated regularly on the blog Palestine Square, covers popular conversations related to the Palestinians and the Arab-Israeli conflict during the quarter 16 November 2017 to 15 February 2018: #JerusalemIstheCapitalofPalestine went viral after U.S. president Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced his intention to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. The arrest of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi for slapping an Israeli soldier also prompted a viral campaign under the hashtag #FreeAhed. A smaller campaign protested the exclusion of Palestinian human rights from the agenda of the annual Creating Change conference organized by the US-based National LGBTQ Task Force in Washington. And, UNRWA publicized its emergency funding appeal, following the decision of the United States to slash funding to the organization, with the hashtag #DignityIsPriceless.

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