Education Commons^™

Policies For Place: How To Make Sustainable Investments In Communities, Kathleen Bolter, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein, Michelle Miller-Adams, Lee Adams, Brian J. Asquith, Alfonso Hernandez, Kyle Huisman, Iryna V. Lendel, Gabrielle Pepin, Bridget F. Timmeney, Beth C. Truesdale, Yulya Truskinovsky

Reports

No abstract provided.

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Equity In Learning Opportunities For Middle School Students: Connecting Communities And Transportation Through Gis, Tom O’Brien, Ben Olson

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Geographic information systems (GIS) is part of an in-demand career skillset that can lead to safer streets in California communities. This project included a three-session bootcamp that introduced middle school students to transportation via GIS and gathered assessments on their awareness of transportation as a career pathway. The project built upon CSUTC TRANSPORTS’ Year 4 project, “K–12 Special Investigation Project: Mapping E-Commerce Locally and Beyond.” The bootcamp for this project was coordinated in partnership with Rio Hondo College, which provided the instructor and connection to the students at the Mountain View Unified School District in El Monte, CA. The bootcamp …

Why The Public Discourse On Education Is Wrong, Jesus Felipe

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

ONCE upon a time, the Philippines was praised for its relatively well-educated labor force. Not anymore. The situation seems to have reversed: policymakers and commentators single out education as one of the primary causes for the country’s poor performance (lack of competitiveness) and the unemployability of many of its workers.

To put the discussion in the correct context, I will start by arguing that the relevant measure of progress for a developing nation like the Philippines is productivity. Without productivity increases, there cannot be increases in income. Productivity in the Philippines is low in general. Is education the key to …

Liquid Border, Yingfan Jia

Masters Theses

A River is a mighty and constantly-evolving force, leaving behind an intricately designed and constantly changing system. Not just a river, the Rio Grande stretches all the way from Colorado before intersecting with the US-Mexico Border in southern Texas - a point where the powerful forces of nature now merge with a clearly-defined political boundary. The outcome of this is a unique ecological niche, which may often go unnoticed despite its distinctiveness.

Texas is famous for its farms and ranches, and the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas was once an agricultural hub. However, urbanization and the depletion of water …

The Unintended Consequences Of International Student Shortage: Evidence From A Policy Reform In South Korea, Syngjoo Choi, Chung-Yoon Choi, Kim, Jongkwan Lee

Research Collection School Of Economics

We study the role of international students in the higher education sector and the local economy by exploiting a policy reform in South Korea that significantly restricted the admission of foreign students to local universities. By comparing the pre- and post-reform differences between universities with different pre-reform shares of international student enrollment, we find limiting the inflow of international students significantly worsened the financial outcomes of local universities. We also document that a reduction in the number of international students in local areas resulted in decreases in native employment, mainly in sectors such as agriculture and business support services, suggesting …

The Decline Of Routine Tasks, Education Investments, And Intergenerational Mobility, Patrick Bennett, Kai Liu, Kjell Salvanes

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

How does a large structural change to the labor market affect education investments made at young ages? Exploiting differential exposure to the national decline in routine-task intensity across local labor markets, we show that the secular decline in routine tasks causes major shifts in education investments of high school students, where they invest less in vocational-trades education and increasingly invest in college education. Our results highlight that labor demand changes impact inequality in the next generation. Low-ability and low-SES students are most responsive to task-biased demand changes and, as a result, intergenerational mobility in college education increases.

Aligning Kresa Efe/Cte Course Offerings With Local Business Needs: Results Of Two Studies, W.E. Upjohn Institute For Employment Research

Reports

No abstract provided.

A Qualitative Study On The Financial Education Of Young Black Men, Sue M. May

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Financial literacy awareness is low among young adults, and financial literacy among Black college students is significantly lower than in other groups (Singh, 2018). However, there is little to no research on why financial literacy is so low among young Black men between 18 and 25. Few studies specifically show how financial literacy and decision-making may be related to their family economics and socialization for young Black men. Using Critical Race Theory and Family Financial Socialization theoretical frameworks, this dissertation project examined a sample of seven young self-identified Black men ages 24 to 25 years old in Northern California Bay …

The Free College Handbook: A Practitioner’S Guide To Promise Research, Michelle Miller-Adams Co-Editor, Jennifer Iriti Co-Editor, Meredith S. Billings, Celeste K. Carruthers, Gresham D. Collum, Denisa Gándara, Douglas N. Harris, Brad J. Hershbein, Amy Li, Danielle Lowry, Lindsay C. Page, Bridget F. Timmeney

Reports

No abstract provided.

College Academic Coaching Can Increase College Success And Later Earnings, Pierre Mouganie, Serena Canaan, Stefanie Fischer, Geoffrey C. Schnorr

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

Keep Me In, Coach: The Short- And Long-Term Effects Of Targeted Academic Coaching, Serena Canaan, Stefanie Fischer, Pierre Mouganie, Geoffrey C. Schnorr

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

To boost college graduation rates, policymakers often advocate for academic supports such as coaching or mentoring. Proactive and intensive coaching interventions are effective, but are costly and difficult to scale. We evaluate a relatively lower-cost group coaching program targeted at first-year college students placed on academic probation. Participants attend a workshop where coaches aim to normalize failure and improve self-confidence. Coaches also facilitate a process whereby participants reflect on their academic difficulties, devise solutions to address their challenges, and create an action plan. Participants then hold a one-time follow-up meeting with their coach or visit a campus resource. Using a …

Addressing Teacher Attrition Through Trauma-Informed Practices In The Workplace, Amy Pahl, Amy L. Pahl

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Teacher attrition and turnover have been widely studied to understand the reason for the number of teachers moving each year or leaving the profession altogether. Researchers have attempted to understand the contributing factors that lead to teacher movement and attrition, yet a knowledge gap exists between understanding the problem and finding solutions. The aim of this study was to investigate how implementing trauma-informed practices in the workplace impacts teacher mobility and attrition. A grounded theory approach was taken, which data from interviews to investigate the problem. Teachers who have left the profession or have moved from a position were interviewed …

Yearly Changes In Education Expenditure And Changes In Student Performance, Dale A. Manzo

Undergraduate Economic Review

Using data from the state of Florida in the 2000s, we dispute the findings of the Coleman report. We find that there is a positive relationship between changes in expenditure per pupil and changes in academic performance. This study takes advantage of changes in expenditure resulting from the Great Recession to formulate a quasi-experimental analysis of the relationship between expenditure per pupil and academic performance. Our conclusion is consistent with the theory of decreasing marginal returns to expenditure on education.

Workforce Development: A Comparative Analysis Of Community College Governance And Funding In The Mountain West And Policy Proposals For Nevada, Peter Grema

Student Research

Nevada experienced one of the worst economic downturns in the nation following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed the vulnerability of Nevada workers. In his 2021 State of the State address, Governor Steve Sisolak highlighted aligning the state’s workforce development capacity with community colleges to best leverage federal funding and statewide infrastructure for jobs training and economic recovery. In addition, he said, “I will be asking the Legislature to work with the Nevada System of Higher Education over the next two years to develop a framework transitioning Nevada’s community colleges to a new independent authority that will focus …

The Boys Are Back In School: Increased Chinese Import Exposure’S Effect On Community College Enrollments, Georgiana Reece

Undergraduate Honors Theses

I analyze how Chinese import competition impacts community college enrollments in US commuting zones by using the variation of import exposure across the United States. After controlling for broader changes in the US economy, the findings show that there is fairly large and positive effect on enrollments for men between the years 1990 and 2007. The results for female enrollments are small or negative. However, these results for both men and women are imprecisely estimated. The findings of this paper resemble previous findings in the literature, namely Greenland and Lopresti (2016), Ferriere et. al (2021), and Lee (2021) which demonstrate …

Strengthening The Southern Nevada Workforce Pipeline, Katie M. Gilbertson

Student Research

Workforce development has been a keystone in the discussion of economic diversification of Las Vegas for decades. The leisure and hospitality industry is the lifeline for the Southern Nevada economy due to the reliance on tourism as the city’s main economic driver. The leisure and hospitality industry requires physical labor and more face-to-face customer interaction than other employment sectors. Thus, these jobs often do not require high educational attainment, but rather sharp soft skills like effective listening, nonverbal communication, and negotiation strategies. While these are valuable traits, the lack of educational attainment within the leisure and hospitality workforce suppresses employees’ …

The Impact Of Student Debt On Career Choices Among Doctor Of Public Health Graduates In The United States: A Descriptive Analysis, Chulwoo Park, Eric Coles

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

(1) Background: As gaps in the public health workforce grow in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, graduates of the schools of public health, especially Doctors of Public Health (DrPH), are poised to offer relief. While there are some known recruitment issues, student debt and debt impact on career choices are understudied. (2) Methods: In the present study, we perform a descriptive analysis of the potential impact of student debt on career choices among DrPH students and alumni in the United States using a cross-sectional national online survey. A total of 203 participants (66: alumni and 137: current students) completed …

Understanding Campus Environmental Sustainability: A Thematic Analysis Of Interviews With Facilities Management Staff And Administrators At The University Of Denver, Alejandro Cerón, Dinko Hanaan Dinko, Izzy Beltran, Madeline Bonner, Mia Glover, Linh Nguyen, Madeline Ohaus, Maren Parchen, Quisi Rodriguez-Oregel, Delanee Taylor, Dani Thompson, Kansas Wood

Anthropology: Undergraduate Student Scholarship

This project sought to understand what influences sustainability choices on the University of Denver campus. Universities and colleges play a pivotal and influential role in shaping sustainable future discourse in society. As centers for innovation and research, universities continue to generate new knowledge and skills necessary to create awareness of the negative impact of human activities on the environment and pathways to mitigate these impacts. Over the past decades, there has been a growing transformation of universities from places of knowledge creation to places where created knowledge is implemented. Thus, in the field of environmental change, there is a growing …

Cotton: A Historiographical And Instructional Exploration: 1835-2020, Chad Joseph Rosenbloom

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I.Synthesis Essay……………………………...2

II.Primary Documents and Headnotes……...36

III.Textbook Critique…………………………...45

IV.New Textbook Entry………………………..49

V.Bibliography………………………………….53

The Green Wave: Effects Of Legal Marijuana On The Labor Market., Sara Varon

Honors Theses

In this paper I examine the relationship between the introduction of recreational marijuana laws and the labor market. First, using Google Trends data I find evidence that states that undergo the treatment of recreational marijuana legalization will likely experience a large and significant increase in search volume terms related to marijuana demand following the implementation of marijuana regulations. Using this same data set, I find support for the theory that as marijuana legalization becomes more entrenched within each individual state, public interest for marijuana also increases which allows for the use of Google Trends data as a proxy for legalization …

A Survey Of Faculty Perceptions Of Community College Career And Technical Education, Thomas Gauthier Dr.

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

Community colleges are the leaders in facilitating career and technical education (CTE), and faculty help develop program offerings on campus. This study explored faculty perceptions of community college CTE programs using the survey research method. Participants included 36 faculty members from various disciplines from 15 state colleges in Florida. Participants were sent a digital survey and asked to use a scale from 0 (do not agree) to 8 (agree) to score their agreement level with 43 statements of opinion. Data revealed that community college faculty perceive CTE as beneficial, but CTE programs must include the habits of mind and support …

Rethinking Credentials For Aviation Sustainability: A Dacum Approach, Leila Halawi

Publications

The pandemic of COVID-19 Millennials aren't the youngest working generation anymore, and Gen Zers are the new kids on the block. This group of individuals, born between 1995 and 2019, already makes up 5% of the total U.S. labor force, roughly 9 million people. However, the skills gap is real and exists, one in which research shows that new college graduates either do not have all the skills employers want, or they are not doing an excellent job of demonstrating those skills in their resumes.

Sustainability programs consistently encounter challenges that threaten the future as a viable academic discipline. It …

Barriers To Post-Secondary Success, Douglas Swanson, Najeana Henderson, Maritza Sloan

Dissertations

This study reviews factors that prior studies have identified or failed to consider as barriers to post-secondary success. The three main areas include academic success for Latinx students after high school, organizational systems and their impact on African-American students’ postsecondary readiness, and what workers think of their high school education with regards to career preparedness.

Five factors are identified as major barriers for Latinx students to continue in a higher education system. A survey of former students from Saint Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas, metroplex area identified 56 Latinx students that participated in an initial survey. This led to a …

Educational Investments In Low-Income Households: The Role Of Parental Occupational Identity And Substitutability, Aparna Anand

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Poor parents face difficult trade-offs when investing in their children's education. This dissertation studies how low-income urban households in Southern India, where child labor is a concern, make educational investments for their children. First, I build a model that shows how educational investments are shaped by the possibility of children substituting labor for their parents. Second, I collect parent surveys, child surveys, and student-level administrative data from schools and construct a linked dataset. Third, I examine the relationship between educational investments and several pertinent factors, with an emphasis on child labor substitution and the strength of occupational identity. I find …

Federation Divided, Max M. Balton

Capstones

At the start of the 2020 school year, a lack of covid safety plans led teachers like Rosy Clark to protest, urging her union the United Federation of Teachers to act. She and other progressives in the dissident caucus, Movement of Rank and File Educators, were willing to strike to ensure their safety. Union leadership hesitated largely because public union strikes are illegal under the state’s Taylor Law.

This four-part audio documentary looks at the history of the UFT and this contentious state law. The union began striking under more onerous strike prohibition legislation. Its roots are steeped in radical …

The Relationship Between The Earning Of Career And Technical Industry Credentials And The Virginia Economy, Anjanette Mcfadden Hendricks

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Nationally, the labor market is calling out for workers to fill the increasing number of job vacancies, but those qualified, skilled, and able to fill them are limited in supply or retiring in large numbers. As America’s key industries offer high salaries in return for candidates with the necessary skills and credentials to fill their vacancies, the skills learned and third-party industry credentials earned in secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs seem to make a perfect fit for the student, employer, and the economy. However, unlike the favored US educational model of the four-year degree, the continued outdated perception …

Recruitment And Retention Of Agriculture Teachers In The Southeast: An Empirical Analysis Of The Star Program., Kristie Guffey, Jeffrey Young

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

This article describes the collaborative efforts of various state and national agencies working together to recruit and retain agriculture teachers in the states of Kentucky, South Carolina, and Ohio. We contrast multiple measures of recruitment and retention in these states with those from the comparator states of Arkansas, West Virginia, and Alabama. The strategies outlined market to new agriculture teachers and maintain current teachers in the profession targeting work-life balance, emotional, physical and social health. These have been a focal point in the federal State Teach Ag Results (STAR) program, but the effects of participation in STAR on recruitment and …

A Language Barrier To Human Capital Development: The Case Of Guatemalan Students, Fidel Pérez Macal

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Not being proficient in a school’s predominant language of instruction can represent a language barrier for students’ human capital development. In Guatemala, 24 languages are spoken apart from Spanish, which is the language of instruction in the majority of schools, and about 40 percent of the total population has a non-Spanish language as a mother tongue. National standardized tests show that non-Spanish mother tongue (non-SMT) students are outperformed by SMT students in elementary and secondary schools.

My thesis analyzes whether non-SMT students face a language barrier and traces its source. Two main findings emerge. First, non-SMT students are not yet …

The Importance Of Cognitive Domains And The Returns To Schooling In South Africa: Evidence From Two Labor Surveys, Plamen Nikolov, Nusrat Jimi

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Numerous studies have considered the important role of cognition in estimating the returns to schooling. How cognitive abilities affect schooling may have important policy implications, especially in developing countries during periods of increasing educational attainment. Using two longitudinal labor surveys that collect direct proxy measures of cognitive skills, we study the importance of specific cognitive domains for the returns to schooling in two samples. We instrument for schooling levels and we find that each additional year of schooling leads to an increase in earnings by approximately 18-20 percent. The estimated effect sizes—based on the two-stage least squares estimates—are above the …