Digital Commons Network^™

Building A Magnet School Network In Rural Communities, Linda Moody, Susan Fritz, Lloyd C. Bell, Valerie Egger

Nebraska Network 21: Publications

Maintaining rural community economic viability, schools, and retaining youth are concerns for many rural areas. The current population shift from rural to urban areas is compounding the issue. One means of keeping young people and adults in rural communities and encouraging people to move from urban to rural communities is to provide high quality, relevant, affordable educational programs on demand. The Mead Agricultural Sciences Magnet School, the first rural magnet school, was created to fill such a void. Now in its third year of operation, the rural agricultural sciences magnet school concept is being incorporated into three other communities.

The …

Title Ix And Intercollegiate Athletics: An Analysis Of Title Ix Policy Implementation, Andrea Crilly

Honors Theses

This paper explores Title IX policy implementation in intercollegiate athletics and the charge that, in the implementation of the policy, the goal of offering equal access to both men and women in athletic programs has not been fully met. The paper is presented in three parts. The first summarizes the history of Title IX policy development from the passage of the Education Amendments of 1972 to the Office of Civil Rights' Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Interpretation and Title IX Investigators' Manual which serve as current policy. The second is a "case study" of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga that explores …

Using Tanf Sanctions To Increase High School Graduation, Ronald Harris, Loring Jones, Daniel Finnegan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The School Attendance Demonstration Project (SADP) was aimed at encouraging AFDC teens to attend school and finish high school. The project used a combined approach of the financial incentive in the form of a penalty for non-attendance, and the provision of social services. SADP tracked the school attendance and graduation status of eligible teens (n=997) in the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). The study utilized a control group with random assignment. Data indicated that SADP did not effect graduations. The findings seem to indicate that atrisk teens from families receiving public assistance have on-going problems with securing an education …

Special Focus Programs, Magnet Programs And Schools, And Early Childhood Education Centers: Equal Access In Portland Public School's Elementary Options, Nancy Seidule Hauth

Dissertations and Theses

As parents and educators demand more choice programs in their school districts, it is important for district officials to govern issues around equal access. When specialty programs are designed by grassroots groups and school staff without district-level guidance or funding, as it is in Portland, Oregon, equal access provisions can be overlooked resulting in lower ethnic and socio-economic diversity.

The purpose of this study was threefold: to determine if all families in Portland Public School district have equal access to special focus/magnet programs at the elementary grades; to better understand the link between Portland's past desegregation policies and current choice …

Rhode Island Teachers Ahead Of The Crowd, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"For teachers this is the time to enjoy the summer break to travel, stay home with their own children or just take a vacation. But for the majority there is something called professional development. Summer is the usual time when teachers go back to school to hone their skills, learn more about their subject area, work for advanced degrees or pick up some new practices for that high tech equipment sitting in the classroom. Like may other professionals who want to advance their careers and keep up with new ideas and practices, teachers also take courses during the school year …

The Exploiting Business, Deron R. Boyles

Educational Policy Studies Faculty Publications

Far from being limited to supermarket programs, school-business partnerships are increasing in number and variety and arguably represent a larger, exploitative agenda. The agenda is a pro-business, pro-capitalist, pro-careerist one that excludes questions about whether business is exploitative of workers and consumers (and schools), whether capitalism is the only or best economic theory, and whether elementary school students should be forced to consider their future based not on “What do you want to be when you grow up?” questions, but “What do you want to do when you grow up?” questions.

Clark County School District: Bonds And Debt. Can They Be Divided Equally?, Jocelyn Izumigawa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Clark County School District is one of the largest school districts in the nation with a student population of 203,616 for 1998-1999. Talk of deconsolidating Clark County School District has been proposed by Assembly persons. However, as recent as November 2000, another initiative for deconsolidation and reconfigurations had not been approved by the voters. One of the issues surrounding deconsolidation is the district's bond debt. An equitable division has not been reached should Clark County School District deconsolidate. This paper deals with dividing the bond debt equally among eight districts (identified in an earlier study of deconsolidation) and assessing whether …

Nebraska’S Preferred Future

Nebraska Network 21: Publications

It is timely and important that we Nebraskans begin more holistic thinking about the connections and interdependencies of the issues which affect the future of our communities.

Discussion Document:
Purpose: This initiative and document are intended to “seed” discussion by a wide range of groups and individuals at policy making levels of state, county and communities that can influence decisions that affect directions for Nebraska’s future.

Content:
Nebraska’s Megatrends — suggested discussion questions
Summary of Nebraska Preferred Future Characteristics — including cherished values
Nebraska Preferred Future and New Seeds for Nebraska — relationships

Accomplishments 1997 - 2000, Nebraska Network 21

Nebraska Network 21: Publications

NN21 wants to help education in Nebraska not only survive, but thrive in the changes ahead.
Nebraska Network 21's accomplishments are the result of partnerships between Nebraska higher education institutions and their constituents. This report gives us a chance to share a few of our success stories.
Now we are ready to take the next step. We're working to build on our successes and continue influencing the lives of Nebraskans across the state.

Commentary: Essential Programs And Services Model, Denison Gallaudet, Henry R. Sciopone, Thomas Scott, Robert B. Kautz, Roger Shaw, Mark Eastman, Richard A. Lyons, Bob Hasson

Maine Policy Review

To further discussion about the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) model for funding public education in Maine, Maine Policy Review asked eight superintendents—representing districts across the state— to provide their views. We also asked each to discuss the needs of his district and whether additional state policy options were necessary to tackle the most pressing issues. The districts represented by these superintendents are a cross section of urban and rural high-receivers and low-receivers. Still, several commonalities emerge: the need for a state commitment that does not wax and wane with the business cycle; the urgency of professional development for new …

Does School District Consolidation Cut Costs?, William Duncombe, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

Over the last 50 years, consolidation has dramatically reduced the number of school districts in the United States, and state governments still recommend consolidation, especially in rural school districts, as a way to improve school district efficiency. However, state policies encouraging consolidation are often challenged on the grounds that they do not lead to cost savings and instead foster learning environments that harm student performance. Existing evidence on this topic comes largely from educational cost functions, which indicate that instructional and administrative costs are far lower in a district with 3,000 pupils than in a district with 100 pupils. However, …

Determinants Of Educational Attainment Among Adolescents In Egypt: Does School Quality Make A Difference?, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Sahar El Tawila, Wesley H. Clark, Barbara Mensch

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The paper explores empirically the relationship between school quality in Egyptian preparatory (middle) schools and the likelihood of school dropout either during preparatory school or before the completion of secondary school. Despite strong empirical evidence for the many positive social and economic returns associated with more years of schooling, there has been little research exploring how the quality of particular schools might influence grade levels attained. The authors address this research gap using detailed data on Egyptian preparatory schools (grades 6-8, the last three years of the eight years of basic schooling) that are linked with a national survey of …

Fixing New York's State Education Aid Dinosaur: A Proposal, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

New York State provides aid to local schools through a confusing maze of aid programs that are, according to many commentators, unfair to the neediest school districts, often defined as those with many students who are poor or otherwise "at risk." For example, New York City, which, by any measure, is one of the neediest districts, currently receives less aid per pupil than the average district in the state. On January 9, 2001, in the case of Campaign for Fiscal Equity vs. State of New York (719 N.Y.S2d 475, 150 Ed. Law Rep. 834), the New York State Supreme Court …