Susan Catron

University of California, Davis, University Extension, Faculty Member

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Dr. Catron provides executive leadership for the Division of Continuing and Professional Education, a $40M self-supporting academic unit serving 50,000 learners annually in the region and globally. With more than 20 years in entreneurial higher education, Catron’s strengths include strategic planning, academic and operational leadership, policy and governance, and market-responsive program innovation in a self-supporting environment. Through influence, inquiry and advocacy, she helps amazing, talented people put boldness into action.

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Papers by Susan Catron

BEYOND THE BASICS: THE EFFECTS OF NON-CORE CURRICULAR ENRICHMENT ON STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES AT PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS (Abridged version of master's thesis as published in Michigan Journal of Public Affairs)

by Susan Catron and Robert Wassmer

Standardized test scores for school sites, like California's Academic Performance Index (API), ar... more Standardized test scores for school sites, like California's Academic Performance Index (API), are intended to measure student performance in what have been labeled the core learning areas of " reading, writing and arithmetic " and have become the focus of public concern. Some have argued that this focus has deemphasized the pursuit of curricular enrichment of anything besides these " Three R's. " In this paper we assess whether such a de-emphasis could hurt the pursuit of high standardized test scores. We do this through a regression analysis of factors that are expected to cause differences in recent API scores from 188 public high schools and 184 middle schools in 14 northern California counties, and find that the ratio of offerings in Health/PE, Fine Arts and Foreign Language exerts a positive effect on API scores depending on the average parent education level at a school site. The major implication is that curricular inputs must be used strategically to achieve the desired outcome. Notably, the less academic forms of enrichment are expected to enhance scores in schools serving disadvantaged student populations (as defined by a low average parent education level). These findings suggest caution in pursuing curricular changes designed to boost a school site's standardized test scores.

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An Investigation of Online Educational Quality in Professional and Continuing Education Using the Community of Inquiry Framework

Beyond being responsive to the demand for online learning in the marketplace, UC Davis Extension ... more Beyond being responsive to the demand for online learning in the marketplace, UC Davis Extension lacks the system and tools to assess, improve and sustain the quality of online instruction it delivers. This study evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of online instructional quality at UCDE in accordance with Garrison’s Community of Inquiry framework. The investigation is centered around three questions: (1) How do students perceive the level of social, cognitive and teaching presence in existing online courses, 2) What is the relationship between students’ perceptions of social, teaching and cognitive presence and their overall satisfaction with the course experience, and (3) How is presence manifest in the volume and patterns of interaction of online course interaction? Teaching presence is found to exhibit not only the highest mean ratings by students, but also the strongest, most substantive relationship to student satisfaction. While social presence is the lowest rated factor, it is only modestly related to satisfaction. One possible factor in students’ lower ratings for social presence appears to be the inability of UCDE communications technologies to support robust, real-time interaction. Finally, the volume of interaction activity is found to have little association with how students rate their perceptions of social presence—suggesting this tool has limited utility in evaluating/ monitoring online courses.

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A Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Auburn Blvd. Redevelopment District

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Exploring the Link Between Curricular Breadth and Student Achievement in Public Secondary Schools

by Susan Catron and Robert Wassmer

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An Investigation of Online Educational Quality in Professional and Continuing Education Using the Community of Inquiry Framework

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A Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Auburn Blvd. Redevelopment District

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Exploring the Link Between Curricular Breadth and Student Achievement in Public Secondary Schools

Susan Catron

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