Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Research Brief: "A Call To Duty: Educational Policy And School Reform Addressing The Needs Of Children From Military Families", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

The purpose of this study was to identify the unique circumstantial stressors faced by military children and identify what type of educational support can be provided through implementation of supportive educational policies. Further research is necessary for the sustainability of proposed practice and policy.

Research Brief: "Provider, Veteran, And Family Perspectives On Family Education In Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Facilities", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This research examines military family perspectives on community- based outpatient clinics (CBOC) and potential barriers to educational initiatives. Findings from this study indicate that although providers strongly support educating families about mental illness and PTSD, few providers are specifically trained to deliver this kind of education to families. Therefore policies should encourage providers to inform veterans and family members of CBOC family services. Further research in this field should include a more nationally representative and diverse sample of veterans.

An Analysis Of The Legal Obstacles To State Pension Reform, Jeremy Stuart Buck

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Public pension systems are underfunded, straining state budgets. Historically, many states have presumed that they can modify pension benefits only as to newly-hired employees, and that they must leave benefit accruals untouched for current workers. More recently, though, states have begun enacting more fundamental pension reform that modifies future accruals or even reduces cost-of-living allowances for retirees. Nearly all such new reforms have been the subject of one or more lawsuits alleging that the federal and/or state constitution bars the legislature from reducing benefits or accrual patterns. This dissertation examines the legal underpinnings for arguments made against pension reform, and …

Family Policies And Institutional Satisfaction: An Intersectional Analysis Of Tenure-Track Faculty, Heather Lee Schneller

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gender and faculty career advancement have been examined with a focus on academic work environment, including faculty workloads, mentoring relationships, access to research networks, and work-life balance. Previous studies concerned with gender, employment, and care work only have considered child care. Additionally, the exploration of faculty and care work focused specifically on gender instead of examining the interaction of race and gender. To date, no study on academic work-life policies includes faculty perceptions of their importance and effectiveness nor has the faculty assessment of eldercare policy been examined in relation to career success.

Guided by an intersectional perspective, this study …

Predicting College Success: An Analysis Of Graduating Students At The University Of Texas-Pan American, Esther G. Herrera

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Using inferential statistics, this thesis examines whether college experiences, pre-college experiences, and the institutional factors affect college success at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, Texas. Secondary data were used from the Graduating Student Survey administered by the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at the University of Texas-Pan American for the years 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011. The findings indicate that college experiences do have an effect on college success (significant at .05 p-value); job after graduation serves as a better predictor of college success than competency; institutional factors also have a significant effect on college success, especially in …

School Type And Student Achievement: Does School Type Affect Student Achievement In Hidalgo County, Texas?, Krystal Estarei Garcia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study concentrates on identifying whether school type affects student achievement. Throughout this thesis, school type is the independent variable and student achievement is the dependent variable. School type was measured according to whether the school was classified as either a public school or charter school. In addition, school type was further defined according to the following variables: total academic and administrative staff, number of principals, number of assistant principals, school size, number of teachers, student teacher ratio, and student type. School expenditures, time, and method of teacher certification are the control variables. For the purpose of this thesis, student …

A Case Study Using Principal-Agent Theory To Explore How A Public, Four Year University Interacts With A System Office, Annie Macias

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The focus of this research was to examine the funding relationship between a single public institution of higher education and its accompanying system office. Such a study is important in order to obtain insight into the relationship between a System Office and an institution, and thus how institutions carry out their fiscal responsibilities, not directly to the state but to the System Office they serve. The study provides insight into how the System Office communicates and transacts with an institution regarding financial allocations. Also important is whether that institution receives effective communication and whether the institution's perceived expectations are as …

The Unique And Combined Effects Of Homelessness And School Mobility On The Educational Outcomes Of Young Children, John W. Fantuzzo, Whitney A. Leboeuf, Chin-Chih Chen, Heather Rouse, Dennis P. Culhane

Heather Rouse

This study examined the unique and combined associations of homelessness and school mobility with educational well-being indicators, as well as the mediating effect of absenteeism, for an entire cohort of third-grade students in Philadelphia. Using integrated archival administrative data from the public school district and the municipal Office of Supportive Housing, multilevel linear models were estimated to test these associations while adjusting for nesting of students within schools. Findings demonstrated that homelessness had a unique association with problems in classroom engagement, school mobility was uniquely related to both academic achievement and problems in classroom engagement, and experiencing both homelessness and …

The Unique And Combined Effects Of Homelessness And School Mobility On The Educational Outcomes Of Young Children, John W. Fantuzzo, Whitney A. Leboeuf, Chin-Chih Chen, Heather Rouse, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

This study examined the unique and combined associations of homelessness and school mobility with educational well-being indicators, as well as the mediating effect of absenteeism, for an entire cohort of third-grade students in Philadelphia. Using integrated archival administrative data from the public school district and the municipal Office of Supportive Housing, multilevel linear models were estimated to test these associations while adjusting for nesting of students within schools. Findings demonstrated that homelessness had a unique association with problems in classroom engagement, school mobility was uniquely related to both academic achievement and problems in classroom engagement, and experiencing both homelessness and …

On Estimating The Effects Of Increased Aid To Education, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Richard P. Chaykowski

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] The 1983 report, A Nation at Risk, of the National Commission on Excellence in Education decried the state of public education in the United States and suggested a number of reforms. Among their recommendations was increased federal aid for education. The view was that this would lead to desirable outcomes such as reduced class sizes and higher teacher salaries, with the latter aiding in the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. Somewhat surprisingly, previous research on the economics of education provides us with very few insights about what the effects of such proposals might be. For example, while there …

Research Brief: "Web-Based Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Education For Military Family Members", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

In this study, researchers introduced an educational website to assess and improve knowledge of PTSD, and also help to engage family members in positive actions to assist service members struggling with PTSD. Web-based content can serve as a valuable method of providing care and information to military service members without the risk of being stigmatized; therefore, policy makers should focus on creating and maintaining structural and financial support for programs that provide military service members, and their families, tools to manage post-deployment issues. Future studies should focus on providing an increased range of services for military families using the educational …

Slides: Impacts Of Energy Deficits In Cooking, Illumination, Water, Sanitation, And Motive Power, Paul S. Chinowsky

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Paul Chinowsky, Director, Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities; Professor, University of Colorado

25 slides

The Social Security Student Benefit Program And Family Decisions, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

In 1965 Congress established the Social Security Student Benefit Program which provided benefits for children of deceased, disabled or retired workers, who were enrolled in college full—time and were not married, up until the semester they turned age 22. The program grew to be a major financial aid program; at its peak in FY 81 it represented about 20% of all federal outlays on student assistance for higher education. The program was terminated for students newly entering college as of May 1, 1982. Somewhat surprisingly, in contrast to the debate that accompanies most social programs, debate over the student benefit …

The Effect Of Immigrant Composition On Student Achievement: Evidence From New York City, Ryan Yeung

Ryan Yeung

There has been a large body of recent literature focused on the effects of school composition on student outcomes. These studies have focused on peer group characteristics such as achievement, gender composition, ethnic and racial composition, and socioeconomic composition. This area of research has been commonly called "peer effects." A relatively unexplored area of peer effects research involves the effect of immigrant children on their schoolmates. Because of the heterogeneity between immigrant groups, this study focuses on East Asian and Dominican immigrant children. As these two groups are on opposite sides of the socioeconomic spectrum, comparing results of the two …

Research Brief: "Challenges And Opportunities Of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans With Disabilities Transitioning Into Learning And Workplace Environments", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief discusses the transition difficulties of Veterans with PTSD or TBI into civilian employment or academic environments. In practices and policy, implementing some programs and constructing policies with veterans advocacies have been found to provide successful and engaging campuses for veterans. Suggestions for future research include focusing on gender specific outcomes for veterans readjusting to civilian life, including both employment and education outcomes.

Parent And Family Engagement: The Missing Piece In Urban Education Reform, Sonya D. Horsford, Tonia Faye Holmes-Sutton

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

Parent and family engagement in the educational lives of children and youth positively influence student learning and achievement. While this connection may seem obvious, varying ideals of parent engagement limit the ways in which school communities understand, encourage, and benefit from meaningful school‐home‐community interactions. This is frequently the case in culturally diverse, urban communities where education reform has focused heavily on high‐stakes testing, teacher accountability, and school choice, but less on the fragile connections that often exist between schools and the families they serve. The purpose of this policy brief is to review selected research on parent involvement and expand …

Mobilizing Alumni Constituents For Legislative Advocacy In Higher Education, Elizabeth Saxman Underwood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adequate funding has become a critical issue for institutions of higher education, affecting outcomes such as accessibility, affordability, and quality of education. The recent economic recession has been detrimental for state funding, resulting in budget cuts for higher education in a majority of states. Overall, state funding has not kept pace with the rising costs of education. Additionally, the issues of state governance and institutional autonomy have also become heightened. Thus, many higher education institutions are initiating advocacy programs with their external constitutions. Because alumni are integral group of an institution's constituent base, and often exhibit the most passion for …

The Neglected Minority: Interviews With Successful Community College Students From Poverty, Heather Hollifield-Hoyle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poverty in the US is growing at an alarming rate. The current economic climate demands higher education to embrace the economic diversity of all students and to prepare them, regardless of economic class, for a globally competitive workplace. Unfortunately, the higher education community is not as adept at serving low-income students, as it is middle- and upper- income students. Low-income students are less likely than their more affluent peers to enroll in college or graduate. Employing qualitative narrative methods, this dissertation explores the factors that contributed to the persistence and success of 18, low-income, community college students. This study addresses …

Cyberbullying Policy In Public Schools, Alison Humphries

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many schools and school districts have had direct experience with the negative psychological effects of cyberbullying in their schools, ranging from high profile suicides to lower profile incidents that affect the ability of students to receive an education. Federal, state, and local regulations, as well as mandates from state educational agencies, require schools and school districts to address cyberbullying. Experts advocate that schools play a major role in addressing cyberbullying with anti-bullying policies in general and anti-cyberbullying policies in particular. This study presents case study portraits of two exemplary school districts, with a comparison to similar school districts, suggesting that …

Ask What Your Country Can Do For You: Social Spending And Satisfaction With Democracy In Latin America, Kenneth Retzl

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Past research on social policy in Latin America has primarily focused on how each countries' policies were formed, the institutional framework that bred the policies, or the economic constraints that necessitated certain reforms. Little work has been done to examine the effects those policies have had on the populace. This thesis attempts to determine if there is a relationship between social spending and satisfaction with democracy. The research takes two forms. First I present case studies of Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela. The second is an ordered logit hierarchical linear model utilizing survey responses from the 2005 Latinobarometer survey. In total …

Social And Technological Innovation In Teaching Public Affairs: Introduction To The Symposium, Thomas A. Bryer, Angela M. Eikenberry

Public Administration Faculty Publications

Technology can be defined as “the social, material, or cloud/cyberspace tools used to manipulate human behavior to achieve a specified objective.” In the classroom, teachers use a variety of technologies to elicit desired student response or output and ultimately to achieve a level of learning appropriate for particular students. For example, decisions to use a chalk/white board versus PowerPoint during a lecture are often made based on the nature of engagement desired with the students. Arranging seats or desks in a classroom in a lecture format, an open circle, or an open square generates different types of engagement among and …

Emp And Geomagnetic Storm Protection Of Critical Infrastructure, George H. Baker Iii

George H Baker

EMP and solar storm wide geographic coverage and ubiquitous system effects beg the question of “Where to begin?” with protection efforts. Thus, in addressing these “wide area electromagnetic (EM) effects,” we must be clever in deciding where to invest limited resources. Based on simple risk analysis, the electric power and communication infrastructures emerge as the highest priority for EM protection. Programs focused on these highest risk infrastructures will go a long way in lessoning societal impact. Given the national scope of the effects, such programs must be coordinated at the national level but implemented at local level. Because wide-area EM …

Genocide In The Classroom: How Transitional Societies Are Affected By The Quality Of Genocide Education, Leah Oppenheimer

Honors Scholar Theses

Recognized as a legal term since 1944, genocides have been an unfortunate occurrence since the beginning of world history. However, many countries have failed to properly educate students about genocides that have taken place in their own countries by either not providing accurate or consistent information about what took place or denying the genocide outright. Additionally, in many countries, relations between formerly warring ethnic groups have not improved, despite the often large amount of time that has passed since the end of the genocide. This study examines how history education, both accurate and inaccurate, has affected the current social situation …

Changing The World From Classrooms To Communities: Designing And Disseminating A Service-Learning Curriculum For Teaching In A Formal Education Setting, Amanda English

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

To change the world is a growing desire among many of today’s student populations, portrayed increasingly across the spectrum of media, social trends and career pursuits. While the demand grows among students for community-oriented and socially-responsible opportunities, the offerings in educational institutions must respond to these emerging requests with new and innovative academic programs. This text emphasizes the role of the developing discipline of service-learning in channeling these energies and providing students with deep and meaningful academic experiences. Its content seeks to combat misconceptions of service-learning as simply an extra-curricular activity and provide tangible methods for incorporating its concepts into …

Senior Center Participation In Northwest Arkansas: An Examination Of Future Marketing Strategies, Policy Implications, And Program Needs To Attract The Baby-Boomer Generation, Wanda Faye Turner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore the impact of the Baby Boomer Generation on the future services provided by Senior Centers in Northwest Arkansas, specifically in Benton, Madison, and Washington counties. The study was a mixed methods design utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Three research groups were used: Nine Senior Center Directors, which were interviewed; one focus group composed of four Baby Boomers; and a print survey distributed to ninety-two Baby Boomers. The data revealed that changes are needed in the program and services in Senior Centers to attract the Baby Boomer Generation. Changes will need to …

Merit Pay In Arkansas: An Evaluation Of The Cobra Pride Incentive Program In The Fountain Lake School District, Nathan Charles Jensen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Starting in the 2010-11, administrators at the Fountain Lake School District implemented the Cobra Pride Incentive Program (CPIP), a merit pay program designed to financially reward all school employees with year-end bonuses primarily for significant improvements in student achievement. At the conclusion of the 2010-11 school year, over $800,000 in bonuses were distributed to school personnel. Because of the substantial investment in this program, it was important to determine how the CPIP impacted the school counselors, teachers, and students of Fountain Lake, to see if any of the potential benefits of a merit pay program were realized.

The results from …

The Hegemony Of English In South African Education, Kelsey E. Figone

Scripps Senior Theses

The South African Constitution recognizes 11 official languages and protects an individual’s right to use their mother-tongue freely. Despite this recognition, the majority of South African schools use English as the language of learning and teaching (LOLT). Learning in English is a struggle for many students who speak indigenous African languages, rather than English, as a mother-tongue, and the educational system is failing its students. This perpetuates inequality between different South African communities in a way that has roots in the divisions of South Africa’s past. An examination of the power of language and South Africa’s experience with colonialism and …

Research Brief: "The Effect Of Veterans Benefits On Education And Earnings", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This study found that veterans’ benefits which subsidize education make up the largest federal program for student aid, and that veterans’ benefits are estimated to increase future schooling by 1.4 years, meaning annual earnings for these veterans will be 6% higher than they would have been otherwise. In practice, that implies annual earnings approximately 6% higher than would have been expected in the absence of the benefits. In policy, policymakers should note that this study found smaller effects on earnings and education than previous studies have found. Suggestions for future study include comparing the annual earnings premium for veterans’ benefit …

Reviewing The Roots Of Response To Intervention:Is There Enough Research To Support The Promise?, Tammi R. Ridgeway, Debra P. Price, Cynthia G. Simpson, Chad A. Rose

Administrative Issues Journal

In the United States, Response to Intervention (RtI) is used to promote the use of evidence-based instruction in educational institutions, with the goal of supporting general and specialized educators and enabling these professionals to work together in a comprehensive, integrated manner. In doing so, RtI provides a protocol for identifying students with specific academic deficits and who demonstrate the need for individualized forms of instruction. Specifically, professional educators utilize quantitative data accumulated from common student assessment scores, which is thought to reflect a student’s response to instruction in the general classroom, in addition to his or her response to more …

Ready For School, Ready For Life: The Increasing Significance Of Early Childhood Education And School Readiness In Nevada, Sonya D. Horsford

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

School readiness continues to be an area of growing concern in education and public policy circles. The notion that “all children should arrive at school ready for the first day” has important implications not only for parents, early childhood educators, and K‐12 schoolteachers, but also policymakers, business owners, and our local and state economies. The purpose of this policy brief is to define school readiness, present the most recent conceptualization of school readiness in the state of Nevada, and consider the challenges inherent in building bridges between the separate and distinct domains of early childhood and K‐12 education. The brief …