Education Commons^™

The Importance Of Partnerships In State Financial Aid Research, Sarah Pingel, Dustin Weeden

Journal of Student Financial Aid

In this essay, we explore the importance of state financial aid programs for both states and the students they serve. Effective state financial aid policy benefits from rigorous research that engages partners from a variety of roles, such as state agencies, legislative staff, and intermediary organizations. It also benefits from the engagement of financial aid professionals. This essay supports the key role played by each of these stakeholders in the execution and dissemination of research projects related to state aid programs.

Roadmap Connecting Researchers And Practitioners To Relevance For Postsecondary Policy Interests, Zakiya W. Smith

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Those interested in positioning research to be used by policymakers or funded by foundations often wonder how best to do so. Foundation and policy interests can intersect, as philanthropy and policy both aim to provide solutions to big societal problems. This article explores themes from federal financial aid policy, in particular, suggesting that relevance can come from attention to the national mood, aligning solutions with identified problems, and condensing ideas for more immediate connection.

Influences On University Staff Members Responsible For Implementation Of Alcohol-Control Policies, Glenn A. Cochran

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Excessive college student drinking is a complex problem associated with a range of consequences including deaths, injuries, damage, health risks, legal difficulties, and academic problems. State governing boards, trustees and executives have enacted policies aimed at reducing the negative effects of excessive drinking. This study examined influences on university staff members responsible for implementation of alcohol-control policies. Deeper understanding of factors influencing alcohol-control policy implementation may help leaders improve policy making, implementation and attainment of policy objectives.

This mixed methods study utilized a sequential transformative mixed methods strategy with a quantitative survey, sequenced first, informing the prioritized qualitative multiple case …

“Traversing The Legal Minefields That Surround Academic Chairpersons”, Nathan M. Roberts

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The presenter will describe common higher education law issues encountered by Chairpersons and provide a framework for analyzing them to protect the department and the Chairperson. Perspective on the process will be offered by a former chairperson, now dean, who is also an attorney and teaches courses in education law.

Principal And Faculty Senate Chair Perceptions Of Faculty Senate Participation In Teacher Hiring In West Virginia Schools, Sarah Elizabeth Grose

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to assess principals’ and faculty senate chairs’ perceptions of the effectiveness of WV BOE Policy 5000: Procedures for Designated Hiring and Transfer of School Personnel, in improving teacher hiring practices in West Virginia schools. Policy 5000 was enacted on September 16, 2013; therefore, West Virginia’s schools were required by state policy to include a configuration of faculty senate committees in the hiring process, if the faculty senate voted to participate. A wide-scale effectiveness status check has not been conducted since that date. A mixed-methods study was designed to examine the perceptions of principals and …

Implications Of Small Group Instruction For Overage Secondary Students' Academic Performance, Orlando Ledyard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a secondary school in a southeastern state a large number of overage students who are at least 2 grade levels behind where they should be in academic terms, have struggled with academic performance and have often dropped out of school. Educational researchers have found that the implementation of instructional interventions is important in meeting the learning needs of these students. The purpose of this bounded case study was to determine educators' perspectives of possible intervention strategies to improve the academic performance of overage students in grades 9 and 10 at the school. Constructivism was used as the conceptual framework. …

Mandated Continuing Education And The Competency Of Illinois Physical Therapists, Denise Lynn Hunter Ethington

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Continuing education (CE) mandate laws are passed by states because it is in the public interest. The intent behind the passage of Illinois's CE law for physical therapists is to protect public health and safety through ensuring the competency of providers. However, studies into the impact of mandated CE on competency have been mixed. The problem addressed by this study was whether Illinois's CE law was effective in improving the competency of physical therapists and its impact on patient care. The purpose of this study was to understand what role mandated CE played in developing the competency of physical therapists …

Principals As Instructional Leaders As Opposed To School Managers, Lolita Annette Rockette

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the Denver metropolitan area, many elementary school principals have been focused more on management than on instructional leadership issues, even though school administrators have been charged with overseeing academic achievement based on state and federal standards. According to research, participating in these 2 disconnected roles hinders principals' ability to achieve the academic and social success of their students. Guided by Bandura's self-efficacy theory and Hallinger's distributed leadership theories, this qualitative study explored factors that influenced 6 principals' adoption of the instructional leadership role to learn how principals might shift from managing the school to becoming its instructional leader. The …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Factors That Limit Career And Technical Education Course Offerings, Antonio Cooper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study addressed the problem of the lack of Career and Technical Educational (CTE) courses offered at 3 high schools located in a rural Alabama county. Guided by Bourdieu's cultural capital theory, this study examined cultural capital in reference to the transference of knowledge that each high school in this study provides its students throughout their high school education. The research questions explored the stakeholders' perceptions of the factors that prevent the schools from offering more CTE programs and how CTE programs should be expanded in each school. A collective case study design was used for this study, with the …