Education Commons^™

Math, Class, And Katrina Aftermath: The Impact Of Experiences Teaching Mathematics To Low-Income Middle School Students On Middle-Income Teachers’ Pedagogical Strategies, Susan J. Ikenberry

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Despite a century of educational reforms, no matter how achievement is measured, learning and opportunity gaps can still be predicted by race and socioeconomic status. Teachers and schools are blamed for functioning to reproduce social inequality. This study investigated teacher agency and transformative potentials. It considered how teachers modified their pedagogical practices when teaching low-income and high-poverty students. In order to capture teacher beliefs and logic, a qualitative approach was used involving in-depth interviews of a small number of participants.

The research used the context of the dislocation of students from high-poverty Orleans Parish schools in the year following Hurricane …

Systemic Transformation For College And Career Readiness And Enhanced Social Return On Investment, David F. Lewis

Dissertations

The transition in motion in the nation and in Florida has the potential to have a short-term adverse impact on high school graduation rates. The transition to more rigorous Florida Standards and their accompanying assessments are expected to promote improved college and career readiness and graduation rates for students in the long term. The disruptive consequences of the transition presents a scenario of short term losses sparking a sense of urgency among educators, parents, students, and the community at-large. This sense of urgency serves as the catalyst for the transformational change initiatives outlined in this document. This Change Leadership Project …

Applying Social Return On Investment Analysis To A Large Central Florida County Public School District, David F. Lewis

Dissertations

All social organizations are faced with basic questions pertaining to the value they add to their community and how effectively and efficiently they do so. These questions are increasingly being directed to public schools and school districts as well relative to the various programming they offer and the results they achieve. By completing all aspects of a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis with fidelity, I have established a statistically reliable baseline SROI ratio based on a comparison of inputs (revenues) to outputs (outcomes). This baseline ratio serves as the foundation for subsequent change initiatives that will lead to district-wide …

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 …

A Correlational Study Examining The Relationship Between State Fiscal Effort And High School Graduation Rates, Kelli Marie Cedo

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

One way of analyzing United States investment in human capital is through examination of the nation's high school graduation rates. High school graduation has an impact on society's growth and prosperity. This study examined states fiscal effort toward education and its impact on state high school graduation rate. Utilizing a qualitative design state fiscal effort and state high school graduation rate were examined over a 25 year period from 1986-2010. Multiple regression analysis and repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine if sustained fiscal effort had an interaction with state high school graduation rate over time. This study revealed that …

Educational Investment Makes Financial Sense: A Longitudinal Study Investigating The Effect Of Fiscal Effort On Personal Income, Mark Loiterman

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

As the United States seeks to compete in the increasingly connected global economy, efforts have been made to improve both internal educational outcomes such as test scores and graduation rates, as well as relative educational outcomes such as the ranking of the United States' test scores on international assessments. Finding the correct strategies to improve education nationally is difficult, since education takes place in a very personal context that differs from state to state, district to district, school to school, classroom to classroom, and student to student. However, because of the importance of increasing educational outcomes, the nation has looked …

The Impact Of Student Performance On Large-Scale Assessments: A View Of Long-Term Health, Career, And Societal Outcomes, Roman Usatin

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study examined the predictive power of student growth for large-scale assessments on meaningful life outcomes, focusing on the three categories of health, career, and societal involvement. Analysis was conducted using the NELS:88/00 dataset–a longitudinal study that followed a nationally-representative sample of over 12,000 eighth grade students from 1988 to 2000, until the students were 26 years old and entered into the work force. The large-scale assessment variables included math and reading performance in the 1988 cognitive batteries administered by NELS. To gauge growth levels, I generated Student Growth Percentiles (SGP) from tests administered by NELS from 1988 to 1992. …

Does Public School Administrative Spending Affect District House Prices?, Catherine Degen

Honors Theses

Public schools are often criticized for the way in which they elect to distribute their limited resources. Perhaps the most critical assets for schools are teachers and administrators, and the compensation of these individuals varies widely amongst public school districts. There exists an optimal level of spending on district administration. Districts that pay administrators above or below this optimal point are likely not allocating their resources in the best possible manner, and educational quality may suffer. We hypothesize that within districts where either of the above situations is the case, home prices will be lower, as homebuyers will be less …

A Sociological Perspective Of The American Education System, Duskin Hobbs

Social Sciences

The intension of this research project is to provide a critical analysis of the modern American school system, the policies that created and maintain it, the extensive effects of its practices, and the future of education under such a system. I will begin by tracing the evolution of the current order and discuss the impacts of government educational initiatives such as No Child Left Behind (George W. Bush) and A Race to the Top (Barack Obama) among others. To support these examples I will use secondary statistical research data, scholarly journals, government sources, and other forms of evidence. In this …

The Price Of Prestige: A Study Of The Impact Of Striving Behavior On The Expenditure Patterns Of American Colleges And Universities, Kevin Iglesias

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study examined the effect that striving behavior has upon an institution’s expenditures. While not the first study to examine such effects, it was the first to look across a multitude of institutional types, spanning seven levels of Carnegie classifications and encompassing public and private not-for-profit bachelors-granting schools to public and private research institutions. Further, by including 8 distinct lines of expenditures, the study was the first to provide such a comprehensive look at changes in institutional expenditures. The study drew on numerous theoretical constructs, including resource dependency, theory of strategic balance, isomorphism, and Perrow’s theory of prestige in order …

Maine’S Charter School Law: Predicted Impacts On Waynflete School Enrollment, Kelsey Robinov

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to predict the impacts of Maine’s recently enacted charter school law on the enrollment at Waynflete School, a private co-educational day school in Portland, Maine. National data on current public and private school enrollment trends were examined, as well as existing data on the effects of charter schools on enrollments at these schools. The intent at looking at this data will be to determine what, if any, factors can predict in what areas charter schools are likely to flourish and pull students from private schools in significant numbers and to compare the characteristics of …

The Grave Disparities In Modern Education, Segregation, And School Budgeting: A Comparison Between Brown V. Board Of Education And San Antonio Independent School District V. Rodriguez, Kristin Anne Ballenger

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Education And Economic Development: An Untapped Alliance, Serena E. Williams

Honors Theses

Many Mississippi economic developers firmly believe that education could be the answer to the economic development of a community. However, there is a relatively small amount of research published on how the connection between education and economic development works. This is a case study of the Greater Hattiesburg Area of Mississippi which seeks to explore and to begin to understand how to better the relationship between education and economic development.

The researcher conducted eight in-depth, open-ended interviews with key informants who were directly engaged in the K-12 education system and economic development of the Greater Hattiesburg Area. The researcher coded …

A Policy Framed Analysis Of The Valley Of Death In U.S. University Technology Transfer, William Ker Ferguson

Dissertations

At least as far back as the enactment of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 there has been an ongoing desire on the part of politicians, policy-makers and the public in the U.S., to obtain greater economic returns on the federal investment in publicly funded university research. Today among policy-makers there is an apparent belief that a capital shortage in the mid-stages of technological development is the rate-limiting factor, preventing the maximum flow of university inventive knowledge from entering the marketplace. The consequence is a Valley of Death demise for the vast majority of university inventions. In order to mitigate the …

The Relationship Between Wellness Behavior Traits And Organizational Citizenship Behavior Traits, Vicki Yeager Brumfield

Dissertations

In difficult economic times a healthy employee that has consistently low absenteeism rates and who volunteers or takes on extra responsibilities at the workplace could be an asset for any business or organization. The personnel component is a significant area of expense for most businesses that includes costs related to salaries, insurance, and training. An effective and efficient employee impacts the morale, productivity, and the fiscal health of a workplace. The aim of the present study was to examine the pattern of relationships between organizational citizenship behavior and employee wellness behaviors. Data sets that consist of a combination of a …

Tennessee: The Birth And Development Of Performance-Based Funding In Higher Education, Evan Williams

Honors Theses

Tennessee was the first state to introduce performance based funding metrics into their higher education system in 1979. Over the past 30+ years, the state reevaluated and amended their formula every five years. What was initially an additional allocation that could be earned on top of an institution’s standard budget has now become the sole method of allocating funds for higher education in Tennessee. In 2010 the Tennessee legislature passed the Complete College Tennessee Act, Which put the state on the path to be the first state in the nation that allocates 100% of higher education funds on the basis …

Connecting The Dots: An Economic Study Of Parental Factors Shaping Early Childhood Cognitive Development, Bryn Alexandra O'Neill

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This study investigates how maternal and paternal employment status and educational attainment, coupled with parental time and educational inputs such as toys, books, etc. devoted to children, have impacted young children's cognitive development in the U.S. Cognitive development comprises the intellectual and conscious thinking growth that begins in infancy. It involves problem solving, reasoning and memory aptitudes and is tested for throughout each year of childhood in various ways. The impact of the use of external childcare in lieu of parental time on development is also evaluated. This paper will outline reviewed literature, a theoretical model, data discussion, model construction …

An Economic Analysis Of Sizing Constraints: Price Discrimination And Changes In Welfare Under The New York City Soda Ban, Brian A. Bourquard

Open Access Theses

This thesis uses profit maximizing techniques and nonlinear, second-degree price discrimination theory to describe changes in consumption and gains and losses in welfare of consumption under a container size constraint. It observationally examines the New York City soda ban to provide insight into retailer behavior in the event of such a ban, and examines three cases to highlight potential retailer decisions to compensate for a ban: to continue using a restricted menu of pricing options; to sell only to high type soda consumers; or to serve both markets with a one-size-fits-all strategy. This thesis finds that the ban generally reduces …

Relationship Between Virginia's Fiscal Effort And Public School Graduation Rates, Bryce Ryan Johnson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Prior education finance studies have measured the effect of funding on various student achievement variables. These studies demonstrate the need for resources in education, but this need requires further exploration. Previous literature shows several limitations regarding study length, scope and fiscal resources analyzed. This study further investigates school funding by analyzing the relationship between school funding and high school graduation rates over a nine-year time frame.

This research examines what role Virginia's school districts' division fiscal effort (the proportion of its wealth invested in K-12 public education) plays in determining several identified measurable student outcomes from 2003 to 2012. The …

An Analysis Of Two-Year College Fundraising Practices, Luke Joel Howard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract: this study sought to discover information about the types of fundraising methods being used in community college resource development, determine what methods are most effective for successful development practices, and inform community college development officers of these methods. Specifically, this study addressed the following question: are there statistically significant relationships between two-year college size, fundraising method(s), and the amount of funds raised? Descriptive statistics were obtained, and two-way chi-square analysis was used to illustrate the comparisons between the categorical variables in all hypotheses. Only one hypothesis was rejected based on a computed chi-square (χ2 = 22.507), which exceeded the …

Examining Student Motivation In Saudi Arabia, Sarah Marie Springsteen

MA TESOL Collection

Every year, thousands of people from all over the world travel to Saudi Arabia to teach English. As well, yearly, thousands of Saudi students receive a large portion of their English education from these expatriate teachers. Despite the millions of dollars spent on this educational process, the linguistic impact suffers greatly from a lack of understanding between teacher and student, often caused by undiscussed misconceptions. This paper is written in an effort to open a dialogue about the problems of motivation in the Saudi college and university prep-year programs. It analyzes student motivation using three different research techniques, and posits …