Education Commons^™

Accreditation Of Teaching And Research Universities In Afghanistan: A Policy Implementation Analysis, Sayed Javid Mussawy

Doctoral Dissertations

The quest for quality has encouraged many countries to establish quality assurance and accreditation models to sustain and improve quality. While some established their own procedures, a great majority of the countries including those in the developing world have adopted quality assurance policies developed in the Global North to respond to internationalization and to participate in the knowledge economy. However, most universities in developing countries lack adequate infrastructure to implement accreditation standards. Thus, investigating the implementation of accreditation policies in developing nations provides new insight into the opportunities and challenges posed by internationalization of quality assurance and accreditation. This study …

Financing Public Higher Education In Afghanistan: Alternative Sources And Options, Hassan Aslami

Doctoral Dissertations

Adequate financing is key to achieving the priority goals of higher education – access, quality, and relevance. In Afghanistan, the demand for higher education has increased remarkably while public higher education institutions still rely heavily on inadequate government funding. In addition, the constitutional provision guaranteeing free higher education up to the bachelor’s level in public institutions, the overall weak economy of the country, and the lack of institutional autonomy, contribute to financial austerity in public higher education institutions. This study explored alternative funding sources and options for financing public universities in Afghanistan. An integrated theoretical framework guided this study as …

Master's Tools And The Master's House: A Historical Analysis Exploring The Myth Of Educating For Democracy In The United States, Timothy Scott

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past forty-years, neoliberal education reform policies in the U.S. have spurred significant resistance, often galvanized by claims that such policies undermine public education as a vital institution of U.S. democracy. Within this narrative, many activists call to “save our schools” and return them to a time when public schools served the common good. With these narratives in mind, I explore the foundational and persistent power structures that characterize the U.S. as a means to reveal the fundamental purpose of its public education system. The questions that guide my research include: (1) With an understanding that capitalism, white supremacy, …

Speaking Back To Structure: Critical Multimodal Media Literacy & The Politics Of School Reform, Kate Way

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores the development of critical multimodal and media literacy skills in high school aged students against the backdrop of current state and national education policy. Following the progress of students in a semester-long writing course that focuses on critical multimodal and media literacy, the study examines how critical literacy skills develop within different modes and mediums – particularly those enabled by new media and digital technologies – and considers the implications of critical multimodal and media literacy skills for student engagement, agency, and achievement. The study further analyzes the impact at the institutional level of educational reforms incentivized …

Perceptions Of Health Educators And Supervisors About Their Preparation In Alexandria, Egypt (How Well They Believe Their Training And Preparation Prepared Them To Work As Health Educators), Elshaymaa Ahmed

Master's Capstone Projects

Health educators have many responsibilities, including community education, assessment program development, evaluation, research, health policy and grant writing. Health educators in Egypt do not participate in all these activities, but they mostly do participate in essential activities such as community education. The health educators in Egypt get training and preparation on topics such as addiction, women’s health, chronic diseases, and the skills needed for teaching.

This study investigated the perceptions of health educators and their supervisors about how well they believe their training and preparation has prepared them to work with health clients in Alexandria, Egypt. The study includes interviews …

Through A Critical Sociocultural Lens: Parents’ Perspectives Of An Early Childhood Program In Guatemala, Yaëlle Stempfelet

Master's Capstone Projects

The present case study is on an Early Childhood program in Guatemala based on participant parents’ feedback. The Early Childhood program is non-formal, focuses on emergent literacy and nutrition, and takes place in a community-run library in a poor, semi-rural town in the mountainous regions of Quiche, Guatemala. The library was set up by a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that works in Guatemala as well as another neighboring country.

Using a critical sociocultural lens, this study assumes that the parents’ perceptions reflect the state of the program and that involving their feedback through this research will ultimately help to bolster the …

Ingos In The Mirror: Critical Reflections Of Practitioners Implementing Psychosocial Support Programs, Stephen M. Richardson

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this qualitative research is to learn from the professional wisdom of practitioners involved in implementing school-based psychosocial support in conflict-affected contexts. Practitioners from four different International Non-governmental Organizations (INGO) working in three different contexts—the Congo Basin region, the South Asia region, and the Sudan region—reflect on the concepts and realities of the psychosocial support models that their organizations use. A common theme emerging from these interviews is that the approach to psychosocial support has the potential to do harm. The practitioners provide real examples of the ways in which harm may occur and their possible causes. These …

The Problem With Problem Identification In The Process Of Educational Reforms In The Kyrgyz Republic, Gulzat Kochorova

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this paper is to expose issues that are being identified as ‘problems’ or ‘challenges’ of the Kyrgyz education in general, and of higher education in particular. Drawing on the specifics of the identified problems, this paper will also analyze theoretical assumptions upon which they are based. This is important because identified problems and their projected solutions are going to constitute further reform attempts, and ultimately shape the future of the educational system of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Resilience In School, Milka Ndura

Master's Capstone Projects

This study explores the factors that motivate students to perform well in the national examination at their basic primary education level despite the unlikely environment to support this success in Kibera slums, Kenya. In the current situation in Kenya, national examinations are used as a basis of distributing the fewer than students slots in secondary school, despite the different circumstances facing each candidate, passing of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education is still an important factor that determines a child’s eligibility to attend secondary school. Students enrolled in Kenyan primary school system take the same national exams regardless of the …

Feeding Students? Examining Views Of Parents, Students And Teachers On The World Food Program’S School Feeding Initiatives In Chamwino District In Tanzania, Benjamin Ngaji Oganga

Master's Capstone Projects

School feeding programs have become a worldwide phenomenon and an agenda pushed by the International Development Agencies such as the World Food Program (WFP) with the assumption that it may contribute towards addressing barriers to poor students’ enrollment and retention in primary schools in developing countries. The assumption is that, because of hunger and low income, parents are mostly likely not motivated to send their children to school; and on the other hand, children too may not effectively concentrate in learning and therefore are likely to drop out of schools. Different studies have shown the effectiveness of the school-feeding program …

Teacher Attrition: Why Secondary School Teachers Leave The Profession In Afghanistan, Hassan Aslami

Master's Capstone Projects

This study examines factors influencing teacher attrition in public secondary schools in Kabul, Afghanistan. Substantial increments in the school-age population, the Education for All (EFA) mandate, and a “seven-fold” growth in number of students during the last decade have collectively increased the demand for teachers in Afghanistan; whereas, teachers from the public schools are leaving the teaching profession in large numbers. The lack of teachers poses serious challenges for the education system especially for Ministry of Education.

This exploratory study focuses on the reasons for the departure of both current and former teachers. It also explores and suggests some strategies …

The Effects Of Incentive Initiatives On Teacher Retention In Tanzania: A Case Of The Rukwa Region, Anna Every Swai

Master's Capstone Projects

Availability of teachers at Secondary schools is one of the major factors that enhance students and general school performance. Despite this fact, there is high teacher reluctance in taking teaching position in remote areas. Different policy initiatives have dramatically improved the state of education in Tanzania, particularly in terms of classroom infrastructure and student enrollment. The increased students’ enrollment has increased the national demand for secondary school teachers and training of teachers has not mirrored this growth. There is a very high teacher shortage in secondary schools particularly those located in remote areas.

In 2004, in the National Strategy for …

Case Study Of Post-Literacy Program In Indonesia, Ryke Pribudhiana

Master's Capstone Projects

This study aims at analyzing a post-literacy program run by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Indonesia. This program, operating since 2009, provides public resources in the form of grant money to educational institutions and community learning centers (CLCs), not only to preserve literacy but also to help poor and illiterate people achieve economic independence. This study examined students’ achievements in literacy and life skills, and explored the program’s economic impact on communities. The interviewees who participated in the study included adult students, tutors, heads of CLCs, and senior education officers at the district, provincial, and Ministerial level. A …

Beyond Pronade: Ngos And The Formal Education Sector In Guatemala, Jacob A. Carter

Master's Capstone Projects

In Guatemala, the Ministry of Education (MoE) is overburdened with challenges;these include the most basic provision of services and support for public schools across the country. In the absence of a capable state presence, countless nongovernmental organizations (NGO) have sprung up to provide, sustain and/or take over basic education services. These NGOs come in all shapes and sizes, with different motivations, from different countries and receiving funding from a variety of national and international sources. The combination of rapidly increasing numbers of NGOs along with minimal state coordination means that the Ministry is unaware of the number of NGOs operating …

Strengthening The Education Management Information System (Emis) In Tanzania: Government Actors’ Perceptions About Enhancing Local Capacity For Information-Based Policy Reforms, Assela M. Luena

Master's Capstone Projects

Strengthening the Education Management Information System (EMIS) in Tanzania is an important task, as the government needs quality data and information to support the creation of sound policies, making plans and managing educational resources. Well-functioning EMIS can ensure achievement of national goals to provide quality education, which is the basis for facilitating economic growth and sustainable development. The government also needs quality data and information in order to enhance monitoring and evaluation of the education sectors’ performance and ensure the right direction for achieving the intended goals and objectives.

Creating a sustainable and efficient EMIS is a challenge that requires …

Experiencing Shadow Education: The Rural Gambian Context, Colleen King

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to gain insights into the practices that emerge at the community and school level to promote change and to understand the underlying values at play in local educational practice compared to and inside the larger structure of national or state level educational planning. The phenomenological approach to this study focuses on the lived experience in the provision, monitoring and receiving of educational services in the rural Gambian context. Attitudes and perceptions are explored, divorced from assumptions about universal educational goals. This provides a descriptive, rather than evaluative, record of the relationship and meaning that …

Assessing Stakeholders Perceptions On Private Tuition In Zanzibar, Mshauri Abdulla Khamis

Master's Capstone Projects

This study investigated the perceptions of key education stakeholders on the issue of private tuition in Zanzibar. The key stakeholders invited to participate in this study were parents, head teachers, Advanced School Students (ASSs) and Senior Education Officer from the Ministerial level. The study sought their perceptions on factors that influence the growth of and access to private tuition, its advantages and disadvantages. The purpose of this chapter is to present a general overview of the study. The chapter has seven sections: the motivation and rationale for conducting this study; the context of the study including my personal working experience …

Assessment Practice And Perception Of Social Science Instructors In Afghanistan, Delawar Darmal

Master's Capstone Projects

This thesis has been prepared with three objectives in mind. First, investigating and identifying the problems and challenge of assessment is essential to the quality of education as well as to the reform of education in Afghanistan. Any reforms and the improvement of education are greatly based on the findings of research. Therefore, this project is targeting to facilitate this process.

Second, this research project is aiming to explain the assessment that is practiced in Higher Education of Afghanistan. This is essential to two critical issues. It is useful not just to Afghan instructors to know about the assessment practices …

Integrated Development: Best Practices For Girls’ Education, Rebecca Paulson

Master's Capstone Projects

Integrated development takes into consideration the multidimensional nature of every issue. This thesis focuses on the issue of girls’ education and examines the many interconnected barriers which prevent girls from attending school specifically in the context of Niger, but also on a broader level. There must exist a supportive environment which enables girls to be able to access, attend and succeed in school, and this supportive environment must be created across sectors by addressing the many issues which prevent girls’ schooling: cost, health, physical access, culture and tradition etc. Multi-level and multisectoral partnerships of local and international NGOs and the …

Farmer Literacy Practices: A Comparative Study Of Farmers In Kurnool District Of Andhra Pradesh, India, Konda Reddy Chavva

Master's Capstone Projects

ABSTRACT The goal of the study was to understand farmer literacy practices, and how farmer participants perceive the usefulness of Farmer Water School (FWS) training. Studying the farmer literacy practices was to help identify farmer friendly methods, and design effective messages for dissemination on crop choices, decisions, and sustainable groundwater management. To understand the usefulness of FWS training to farmers, a comparative study of FWS participants and non-FWS pa11icipants' perceptions on crop-water management, crop choices, and agriculture practices was undertaken. The study focused on the farmers of Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, India.

The research questions driving this study included: …

Multicultural Training For Korean Teachers, Bokeong Cheong

Master's Capstone Projects

The main focus of this Master’s project, Multicultural Training for Korean Teachers, is to generate recommendations for multicultural training for elementary and secondary school teachers in Korea. The background is in the current circumstance that Korea is being illuminated as a newly emerging multicultural society. The two factors illustrated as the primary reasons for this shift are the increase of foreign immigrant workers and internationally married couples centered in Korean rural areas. While these foreign populations contribute to the economic development of society in both rural and urban areas, the majority of Koreans view them in negative and prejudiced ways. …

Prospects And Challenges: Teaching An Introductory Course On International Education In U.S. Classroom, Manaslu Gurung

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research is to explore the experiences of teaching an introductory course on International Education in a US classroom. The study focuses on some of the leading challenges of discussing links between international education and international development from a variety of global perspectives, particularly the Third World perspective. The underlying goal of this reflective research is to address the importance of International Education is today’s world where education continues to be political and where what we see, understand, and value in the First World impacts the Third World more directly and severely than ever before. Free Market …

The Magnitude And Causes Of Dropout In Malawi: A Study Of Chiradzulu District, Christopher Winston Naunje

Master's Capstone Projects

Dropout is one of the problems many public education systems face all around the world. In Malm-vi, the problem worsened after l994 when primary education was made free and an influx of children came into the system. Soon after, the children started to quit. It is estimated that about 10 per cent of the children who were enrolled into primary school that year dropped out during the first six months of the school year. This trend is still going on, sometimes with as little as 25 percent completion rate (to the last class of the cycle).

The study sought to …

Challenges In The Payment Of Primary School Teachers’ Salaries: The Case Of Lilongwe District (Malawi), Ken Kaziputa Ndala

Master's Capstone Projects

This study investigated the payment system of primary teachers in Malawi with an aim of finding the weaknesses for improvement. Lilongwe district was chosen as a case study. The study followed the qualitative methods of face-to-face interviews with ministry officials at central office, division office, district office and head teachers. Other partners in the payment system were also interviewed, thus, the police and banks.

Little is known on how teachers are paid in other developing countries. A lot of work however seems to be done in teacher management with an emphasis in recruitment and deployment. Payment of teachers being part …

Microfinance With Nonformal Education An Approach For Effectiveness And Scaling Up Outreach, Mukul Acharya

Master's Capstone Projects

Any discipline when it gets some popularity also becomes the subject of a constant review and even critical assessment. This can be positive sign of its growth and potentiality. It draws more attention. Pressure starts mounting up for ongoing improvements within its own framework. If it cannot keep it up with the pressure that energy will be diverted to development of alternatives. This is very natural. Now Microfinance is also going through this. It has become one of the important components of development initiatives. Over time microfinance has become very successful. At the same time, it has also generated some …

Implications Of Cost Sharing Policy On Access And Persistence In Secondary Education System: A Case Of Chiradzulu District In Malawi, Dyce Kapumula Nkhoma

Master's Capstone Projects

This study investigated the impact of cost sharing policy on access and persistence of students in secondary school system in Chiradzulu district in Malawi. The policy was implemented in 2001. The impact of the policy on families' financial budgets was investigated. The study also explored the views of secondary school head teachers and parents regarding the new secondary school fees that resulted from the implementation of the policy.

Two questionnaires were used to collect data. Secondary school head teacher questionnaire was administered in 15 secondary schools, 14 questionnaires were collected, representing a return rate of 93.3%. Household survey questionnaire was …

American Private Foundations In Russia: Locating Priorities, Natalia Kovalyova

Master's Capstone Projects

The study describes the increasing international assistance in the field of education in Russia and focuses on programs implemented by the US private foundations, tracing, translation of the foundations goals into actual programs in the region. Using data from a variety of sources, foundations program portfolios are analyzed in relation to thematic diversity and geographic spread; types of support and major recipients of aid. Then, a comparative documentation analysis is applied to the programs' descriptions. A case study of two recent initiatives in Russian higher education is presented.

Kinsey Dialogue Series #2: Participatory Research And Action: Flower, Weed, Or Genetically Modified Monster?, Eileen Kane

Participatory Research & Practice

Over the last fifteen years I have been using participatory research in many areas, and especially to look at problems and opportunities for girls' education in developing countries. In this paper, I want to share some ideas about what I think needs to happen if participatory approaches are to grow and flourish in the future. The questions I am asking are, "what is participatory research? is it a sunflower, getting stronger as it pushes toward enlightenment? Is it kudzu, omnipresent and sometimes out of place? Is it a rootless creation, a carbuncle grafted on to the conventional trunk of research? …

Students’ Dropout In Continuing Education: A Namibian Case Study, Vekaama Heroldt Murangi

Master's Capstone Projects

This study was undertaken in Namibia, to determine causes for student dropouts m continuing education face-to-face centers. The utilized sample in the study consisted of one hundred and seventy learners (including both current & non-continuing learners), and sixty tutors. In this context, dropout refers to those students enrolling for a course (Grade 10, Standard 10) at face-to-face centers and discontinuing their studies before completing the entire course. It is required from all learners to attend classes regularly before they can sit for the final external examination taking place annually in October or November.

Chapter 1 of the study gives a …

Mason Square Revitalization Study Urban Village Potential, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This report had tried to develop recommendations that would revitalize the Mason Square area, which is located in the geographic center of the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, through the improvement of public space and community development.