Reclaiming And Reconceptualizing Accountability, Joseph Hailpern

Dissertations

This body of work contributes to the exploration of the intended and unintended consequences of the policy levers, referred to as education accountability policy, that have driven entire systems toward the inclusion of student performance data into educator performance ratings and the impact on the profession. Only from an extensive understanding of where we have been can a reimagined path forward be born to serve our youth and society better. This mixed methods dissertation does so by uncovering the legal landscape that defines the policy levers and bringing educators together in focus groups to delve deeply into these levers’ impact …

Evaluating Equity: Examining Inclusionary Practices From Educational Organizations To Improve The Education Experience Of Lgbtqia+ Students, Jillian G. Torrento

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This qualitative study explored the ways in which education policy and practices within public schools are addressing the needs of minoritized populations with a particular focus on LGBTQIA+ students. This study first employed a document analysis to investigate the federal, state, and district-level equity practices that are mandated or elective in addressing the needs of marginalized populations and LGBTQIA+ students. Secondly, a critical discourse analysis was conducted to examine the specific language, word choices, and symbols found within the public documents that signify equitable practices pertaining to minoritized student populations and the LGBTQIA+ community. Ultimately, the goal of this study …

Equitable Funding For Trauma Informed Social Policy: A Critical Analysis Of The 2019-2020 Pennsylvania Department Of Education School Safety And Security Grant Program, Heather Bickley

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This study is a critical analysis of the funding distribution of the 2019-2020 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) School Safety and Security Grant (SSSG) to identify if there is evidence of inequity in the grant's funding distribution. It used a theoretical framework that includes a transformative paradigm with trauma informed social policy as a theoretical lens, with the conceptual lenses education debt and distributive justice, applied to a concurrent mixed methods design. The research followed a QuantCrit methodology, and the features of a critical policy analysis were used to present the findings.

The quantitative tests found several significant …

Fostering An Evaluative Culture By Addressing A Breakdown In The Policy Development Cycle, Michelle Anderson-Draper

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) aims to address the problem of practice (PoP) of a breakdown in the policy development cycle. The breakdown has resulted in a lack of evaluative feedback on the extent to which policies have been implemented as intended and are effective in achieving their intended outcomes. The PoP challenges elected trustees, in a large and diverse K–12 school division in Western Canada, to carry out their governance role. To address the PoP, the OIP offers a comprehensive change implementation plan, guided by a four-step change path model, actions, and continuous improvement cycle, supported by communication strategies …

A Comparative Analysis Of Best Practices In A Facial Recognition Policy For Law Enforcement Agencies, Terry H. Smith

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) and the plethora of applications that have adopted this technology have exploded in the last decade. Most people have probably heard about local law enforcement agencies utilizing FRT to catch criminals, locate missing persons, and provide large-scale event security. Law enforcement's use of FRT has been criticized since its implementation. Critics have lambasted FRT, citing inaccuracy of the technology; potential race, age, and gender bias; the collection and retention of images; and a lack of governing standards as to when the technology can be applied. In addition, the lack of transparency has been met with fierce …

The Policy Feedback Loop: Exploring English Learner (El) Policy, Policy Implementation, And The Relationship Between Policy, Research, And Practice, Nathan D. Koerber

Doctoral Dissertations

This study will explore the EL policy implementation process and offer evaluative feedback by systematically reviewing the history of US federal educational language policy and its impact on schools and classrooms, as well as the role research, has played in the development of EL policy. Additionally, this study will explore how current language policy implementation impacts programming and practices in both the UK and the US through two separate case studies, as a means of providing evaluative feedback on the policies.

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the complicated history of EL policy and its impact, as well …

Building Support Systems For High School English Language Learners: A Developmental Program Evaluation, Manuel Ferreras

Dissertations

The graduation rate of English Language Learners (ELL) is lagging behind the general school population graduation rate. The purpose of this study is to address the needs of ELL students for improving the graduation rate of ELL students. The context of this inquiry is a high school with a large ELL population located in one of the state’s largest school districts. My study demonstrates outcomes of a lack of a shared vision and attention by the school administrators on addressing the needs of ELL students, ineffective remediation strategies and tools used to guide ELL students, and the potential impact high-stakes …

Pine Technical And Community College Policy Alignment Project, Amy Kruse

Leadership Education Capstones

The purpose of this project is to create an easily navigated campus policy and procedure process by aligning these documents with governing standards.

Strategic Educational Leadership Within The Policy-Making Arena: The Promulgation, Passage, And Practice Of Tennessee's High Performing School Districts Flexibility Act Of 2013, Robert Lawrence Hullett Jr.

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

In 2010, Tennessee’s 106th General Assembly passed the First to the Top Act (2010), a companion legislation for the federal Race to the Top Act (2009) program launched by the Obama Administration. A provision of this state law required that half of teacher and principal evaluations be based upon student achievement, which included a component of required continuous academic growth. For school districts whose students scored at the highest academic performance levels, the continuous growth component would negatively impact their teachers’ and principals’ annual evaluations. In 2012, the Williamson County Schools (WCS) superintendent requested mitigation for relieve from the Tennessee …

A Grounded Theory Of The Impact Of Teachnj On The Instructional Leadership Of Superintendents, Russell Matthew Lazovick

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a theory, grounded in data obtained by interviewing current superintendents on how TEACHNJ has impacted their ability to improve student performance. TEACHNJ is a law enacted by the state of New Jersey to improve teacher quality and raise student performance by changing evaluation and tenure processes in order to create greater transparency, equity, consistency, and accountability across districts. This study examined the law's impact on five specific actions superintendents can take that have been found to enhance student performance. The study found that TEACHNJ served as a punctuating event, sending …

Weaving The Braid Of Culturally Responsive Leadership Within Policy And Governance To Improve Indigenous Student Success, Shelly L. Niemi

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores a Problem of Practice (PoP) that highlights the need for why the Board of Education and the Senior Administration team within the Raven Bay School Division (RBSD, pseudonym) would benefit from using a culturally responsive leadership approach when making decisions and how this may be achieved through policy and governance to guide their practice. The goal of this OIP is to examine why this leadership approach would be relevant for the Board of Education and the Senior Leadership team when they are making any policy and governance decisions, as it relates to Indigenous …

Trust Issues: A Case Study Of The Relationship Between Trust And Reform Implementation, Courtney R. Wilson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Reform creation and implementation tends to focus on the mechanics needed to ensure intended outcomes are achieved. School relationships are affected by the tension caused by reform implementation. Research suggests trust among teachers and between teachers and their administrator affects the way teachers make sense of, implement, and use new reform efforts. Given the demands reforms place on schools, trust has the potential to impact and encourage the implementation of reform and the maintenance of relationships. A qualitative case study method was used to decipher the impact trust plays in the implementation of reform. The concept of trust is used …

Trauma And Social Frameworks: The Effect Of Uasd-Government Conflict Between 1966 And 1978 Over Perspectives About Higher Education, Jesús Leonardo D'Alessandro

Dissertations

Currently, the expenditures for higher education by the Dominican government are at record highs (OECD, 2012; MESCYT, 2018). Yet, nationwide, student attrition rates in universities average a challenging 50% (OECD, 2012). This percetange climbs to 80% in Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD). UASD is the oldest public university and the largest higher education institution in the Dominican Republic, hosting 44% of all undergraduate students enrolled in the country (OECD, 2012; UASD, 2018). The institution’s attrition levels suggest that while the Dominican government’s investment in higher education is high, the return on that investment is low.

Although domestic plans and …

Political Culture And Policy: The Impact Of Culture And Values On School Choice Legislation, Heather Leigh Neal

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Policy actors unite political culture, power, and values to make substantial decisions which are often subjective in nature. Politics and policy are about collective decisions, which rely on the arrangement of a group of people. As values can influence policy actors in their attempt to solve problems, it is important for policymakers to establish a balance among the most essential values. A qualitative case study approach was used to investigate how, and what ways, political culture influenced how state stakeholders interpreted or implemented policy. Power and values were explored as both can connect for the implementation of policy. If values, …

Attendance Matters! A Policy Advocacy Document, Robert G. Hubbird

Dissertations

This three-part dissertation concentrates on student attendance. It is clear that we have a student attendance problem in our nation, particularly in urban school districts. There have been other studies, discussions, and debates on how to improve student attendance, but identifying a single policy, program, incentive, and/or intervention to positively impact absenteeism is difficult. Student absenteeism has and will continue to be a national problem. Many factors play a role in student attendance, to a certain degree, some are controllable and others are extremely difficult to affect.

This Part III of the dissertation is a Policy Advocacy for absenteeism at …

Alignment Of School Improvement Plans With District Professional Learning Plan: A Policy Advocacy Document, Scott Carlson

Dissertations

This paper advocates for a local policy connecting a standards-based district professional learning plan to individual school improvement plans for the purpose of improving targeted instructional behaviors and student learning outcomes. Currently, my district’s school improvement plans follow a general template focused on student subgroup deficits and standardized test scores with little emphasis on professional learning aligned to educator and student outcomes. A local policy that aligns school improvement plans with a district professional learning plan would be consistent with recommendations from the Illinois P-20 Council (2017) and help the local school board understand how a district professional learning plan …

Skills And Student Affairs: A Discourse Analysis, Shannon Mckechnie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Media, industry, and other public actors have claimed that a ‘skills gap’ exists in students exiting post-secondary education and entering the workforce. The Ontario provincial government has developed policy, the Highly Skilled Workforce Strategy, to provide directives to universities in the province to provide skills development to students to aid in closing the gap and providing a workplace relevant education. In this study, I explore the experiences of student affairs and services (SAS) staff responsible for enacting provincial policy related to skills development at the university level by investigating the discourses that shape policy and practices of these staff …

The Private School Advantage: Evidence From School Vouchers And Educational Leadership, Mohammad Danish Shakeel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

School choice is becoming increasingly popular around the globe. Broadly the term ‘school choice’ is used to describe the options available for families to send children to school(s) other than the one they are residentially assigned to. Private school choice interventions known as ‘school vouchers,’ offer public or private funding to enable families to send their children to private school.

Research in 1970s and 80s by James Coleman and his colleagues showed a private school advantage in student achievement and graduation rates, in comparison to traditional public schools. Competing evidence was presented by Christopher Lubienski and Sarah Lubienski in 2013, …

Emerging Leadership Practices For The Implementation Of Professional Practice Standards, Georgia Lampracos-Gionnas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract

This qualitative exploratory case study, situated in a Canadian community college, was designed to characterize the leadership practices that have emerged during the implementation of national curriculum standards in a Denturism program. The program has recently adopted the curriculum standards outlined in the National Competency Profile for Denturists (NCPD). This research focused on the implementation of the NCPD standards in the program, with special emphasis on the field placement course. The purpose was to investigate the organizational structures that support the implementation of the NCPD standards, as well as the leadership practices that have emerged, as different stakeholders collaborate …

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 …

An Exploratory Analysis: A Mixed-Methods Investigation Of The Construct Validity Of The 2016 Mississippi Statewide Accountability System, Justin Andrew Geurin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract: the purpose of this research project was to conduct an exploratory analysis of the 2016 Mississippi Statewide Accountability System (MSAS), which is the model by which all public school in Mississippi are assessed, rated, and ranked, in an attempt to assess whether or not the system is an effective policy tool, especially in relation to the goals associated with its development and implementation. The study was conducted in three distinct sections: phase one analyzed the model itself and all associated documents, while the researcher also conducted interviews with several individuals with knowledge of the development of the system to …

The Impact Of Louisiana's Compass Teacher Evaluation System On Principals In One School District: A Case Study, David P. Schexnaydre Jr

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

As teacher evaluation practices become increasingly high-stakes, principal observation has been made an important source of data in the evaluation process. Driven by the federal Race to the Top initiative, implementation of teacher evaluation systems has been rapid and questions remain about the preparedness of principals to successfully implement the new evaluation processes. The researcher conducted a qualitative case study that focuses on the implementation of the Louisiana Department of Education's COMPASS teacher evaluation system and its impacts on principals in one school district. Interviews were conducted with six principals, a focus group was held with the four members of …

Increasing Student Achievement Through Supporting English Language Learners, Michelle George

Dissertations

The purpose of this advocacy document is to demonstrate the need for a policy to implement a two-way immersion program in Spanish and English. The intent of this policy is to provide opportunities for students to be successful in a global society, acquire a second language, and develop a strong global awareness. This advocacy document includes an analysis of the educational, economic, social, political, moral, and ethical need for the policy change. The primary needs addressed through research are the ability to implement strong instructional practices of language development for English as a Second Language (ESL) student and to develop …

Pennsylvania School Solicitors’ Guidance On How School Officials Should Respond When Regulating Off-Campus Student Expression, Scott Thomas Eveslage

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this study was to gather and analyze the perspectives of Pennsylvania school solicitors in Montgomery and Bucks Counties about how school officials should assess their regulatory authority of off-campus student online expression. With the rise in students online communication, the increasing and changing role of the school administrator, and the lack of a Supreme Court ruling on the matter, guidance and clarity for how school officials should proceed is blurry. Case law used as precedent to guide decision making has been inconsistent, with variations based on geographic region and the trends in that particular Circuit Court of …

An Embedded Case Study Of The Proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Statute & The Proposed Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Statute, James Vines

All Dissertations

The purpose of this explanatory, embedded case study was to understand why the proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention statute and the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment statute did not passed. The data for the study was conducted through direct observations of congressional committee hearings, document analysis and open-ended interviews. The proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention statute addresses cyberbullying by imposing criminal sanctions. The proposed Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Statute seeks to provide federal grants to institutions of higher education to implement anti-harassment programs. The findings revealed that vague terminology, language dealing with LGBT people and sexual orientation as well …

Student Perceptions Of Institutional Crisis Management, Preparedness, And Response: The Case Of The Active Shooter, Jared Allen Grimsley

Masters Theses

Institutional crisis management is becoming more relevant with every passing tragedy and crisis event. This study utilized a modified existing survey to collect quantitative data from students attending a large four-year public research institution located in the Southeastern region of the United States. A stratified random sample of commuter students and non-commuter students was analyzed to compare statistical similarities and differences between the groups. The largest group of student respondents were full-time, freshmen, female, involved, and currently live on campus. Students perceived their institutions to be moderately prepared to respond to both general crises and active shooting situations, although a …

Computer Integration In Palestinian Secondary Schools: Theory And Practice, Kefah A. Barham

Doctoral Dissertations

The overarching exploratory question that guides this study is: “How can Palestinian secondary schools move forward and integrate computer technology effectively into education?” For the purpose of this study, computer technology integration is defined as the use of computing devices such as desktop computers, laptops, software applications and the Internet, and peripheral devices, such as printers, scanners, digital cameras, and overhead projectors for instructional purposes in Palestinian secondary schools in the cities of Ramallah & Al Bireh and Qalqilia & Azoon. The purpose of this study is to identify ways to help teachers working at the Palestinian Ministry of Education …

Does Increased Family Income Reduce Fade Out Of Preschool Gains?, Colin C. Rose

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The current study examines the connection between a change of family income and the retention of academic gains for children in low-income households who have attended a center-based preschool program. These children are often shown to lose the academic advantage they gain during preschool as they move through k-12 education in a phenomenon called fade out. A theoretical framework was constructed positing that material and psychological effects of poverty inhibit the ability of these families to support and maintain growth during this critical time when children are highly nested in the family unit.

Treating family income as a causal risk …

The Least Restrictive Environment Clause Of The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act And Institutional Ableism: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Laura O'Laughlin

All Dissertations

This study focused on terms anchored in special education and associated stigma of disability in schools. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ensured the right to education in US public school systems for students with disabilities. An associated term asserted that children with disabilities must be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Yet, IDEA did not address the institutional or social stigma arising in the wake of labeling students as disabled. The stigma, a result of ableism, promotes a premise of normalcy and marginalizes students with disabilities. This study was a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the LRE clause. …

Model Provisions For Building A Successful Lead Poisoning Prevention Program: A Case Study For The Western United States, Kathleen Lauckner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It has been 236 years since Benjamin Franklin voiced his concerns about lead poisoning from the occupational exposures in his printing shop, yet, in 2012 childhood lead poisonings and adult occupational exposures are still serious public health issues in the United States. Lead poisoning is a 100% preventable affliction if the ingestion or inhalation of lead from environmental exposures can be avoided.

The quality of blood lead detection methods and brain function studies have improved dramatically over the last few decades and far more is now known about the adverse health effects from low level (microgram- µg) exposures to lead. …