Research Overview
I combine my current expertise in language assessments, critical thinking in the classroom, and teacher evaluation with my years of experience in all facets of international education, formal and informal, to solve real world education problems. I pursue practical solutions to standardized testing which often discriminates against students with different cultural backgrounds.
I combine my current expertise in language assessments, critical thinking in the classroom, and teacher evaluation with my years of experience in all facets of international education, formal and informal, to solve real world education problems. I pursue practical solutions to standardized testing which often discriminates against students with different cultural backgrounds.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Close, K., Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Collins, C. (submitted). Putting teacher evaluation models on the map, again: A national overview after the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Teachers College Record
Henderson, J.B., Marley, S., Wilcox, J. M., Nailor, N., Sowl, S., & Close, K. (in review). Challenges assessing the impact of project-based learning on critical thinking skills. Assessment for Effective Intervention.
Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Close, K. (2019). Teacher-level value-added models (VAMs) on trial: Empirical and pragmatic issues of concern across five court cases. Educational Policy.
Paige, M. A., Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Close, K. (2019). Tennessee’s national impact on teacher evaluation law & policy: An assessment of value-added model litigation. Tennessee Journal of Law & Policy, 13(2), 523-574.
Close, K., Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Collins, C. (2018). State-level assessments and teacher evaluation systems after the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act: Some steps in the right direction. Boulder, CO: Nation Education Policy Center (NEPC). Retrieved from http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/state-assessment
Henderson, J. B., McNeill, K. L., González‐Howard, M., Close, K., & Evans, M. (2018). Key challenges and future directions for educational research on scientific argumentation. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 55(1), 5-18.
Martin, T., Janisiewicz, P., Aghababyan, A., & Close, K. (2015). Microgenetic learning analytics methods. Journal of Learning Analytics. Manuscript accepted.
Editor-Reviewed Publications
Close, K., Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Collins, C. (In Press). Mapping America’s teacher evaluation plans post ESSA. Phi Delta Kappan.
*Close, K., & Amrein-Beardsley, A. (2018). Learning from what doesn’t work in teacher evaluation. Phi Delta Kappan, 100(1), 15-19. Retrieved from http://www.kappanonline.org/learning-from-what-doesnt-work-in-teacher-evaluation/
*Selected by the Horace Mann League as a top read in their newsletter
*Selected by the Horace Mann League as a top read in their newsletter
Close, K., Bowers, N., Mehta, R., Mishra, P., & Henderson, J.B (2018). Students as teachers: How science teachers can collaborate with their students using peer instruction. iWonder: Rediscovering School Science. (5).
Book Chapters
Close, K., Bowers, N., Mehta, R., Mishra, P., & Henderson, J.B (2018). Students as teachers: How science teachers can collaborate with their students using peer instruction. iWonder: Rediscovering School Science. (5).
Lawanto, K., Close, K., Ames, C., Brasiel, S., (2017) Exploring strengths and weaknesses in middle school students’ computational thinking in scratch. In C. Hodges & P. Rich (Eds.), Computational thinking: research and practice.
Presentations
Clarke-Midura, J., Allan, V., Close, K. (March, 2016) The role of mentoring as a way to increase girls’ participation in CS. SIGCSE ’16. Memphis, TN. Accepted.
Close, K., Martin, T., Brasiel, S., Janisiewicz, P. (November, 2015). Accelerating analysis of learning: Using the FUN! tool to automatically adapt, analyze, and visualize data. AECT International Convention. Indianapolis, IN.
Cain, R., Close, K., Hernandez, J., Brinkerhoff, M. (September, 2015). Crafting a new university department sign: A maker approach. Making Innovation Conference. Logan, UT.
Martin, T., Close, K., Brasiel, S., & Janisiewicz, P. (April, 2015). Capturing changes in children’s computer programming ability while playing Scratch. National Association of Research on Science Teaching Annual International Conference. Chicago, IL.
Former Projects
The Virtual Performance Assessment Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education is a research project funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The purpose of our research is to develop and test the feasibility of using virtual performance assessments for assessing science inquiry.
Funded by a National Science Foundation Cyberlearning Grant, Developing FUN! for Automated Assessment of Computational Thinking in Scratch focuses on developing a a data pipeline, version control system, and community sharing platform for educational researchers with large amounts of realtime data.
For more information visit: http://activelearninglab.org/projects/active-projects/developing-fun-for-automated-assessment-of-computational-thinking-in-scratch/