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Performance Management, Evaluation Capacity, And Organizational Learning : A Study Of Nonprofit Organizations, Shahid Umar

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Most evaluation capacity building (ECB) approaches use staff training as the method to build evaluation capacity (EC) in organizations. ECB has rarely been understood and empirically studied at the organizational level. The present study fills this gap by using an organizational learning perspective. Specifically, the study was a response to the following research question: do organizations with high EC differ from organizations with low EC in terms of OLC? OLC was measured using five measures of organizational learning: staff empowerment, staff development, external alignment, experimentation, and clear organizational goals. Data were collected from 26 nonprofit organizations (NPOs) located in the …

Taming A Profession : State And Economists During China's Economic Reform, 1978-2012, Jing Li

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

As neoliberalism comes to reshape the world, economists have increasingly reconstituted themselves into a global profession with sufficient political power over national states. This dissertation examines the professional development of Chinese economists during last thirty years’ economic reform to see whether they have converged with their colleagues elsewhere and triumphed over state power.

Effects Of A Strategy To Improve Offender Assessment Practices: Staff Perceptions Of Implementation Outcomes, Wayne N. Welsh, Hsiu-Ju Lin, Roger H. Peters, Gerald J. Stahler, Wayne E.K. Lehman, L.A.R. Stein, Laura Monico, Michele Eggers, Sami Abdel-Salam, Joshua C. Pierce, Elizabeth Hunt, Colleen Gallagher, Linda K. Frisman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: This implementation study examined the impact of an organizational process improvement intervention (OPII) on a continuum of evidence based practices related to assessment and community reentry of drug-involved offenders: Measurement/Instrumentation, Case Plan Integration, Conveyance/Utility, and Service Activation/Delivery.

Methods: To assess implementation outcomes (staff perceptions of evidence-based assessment practices), a survey was administered to correctional and treatment staff (n = 1509) at 21 sites randomly assigned to an Early- or Delayed-Start condition. Hierarchical linear models with repeated measures were used to examine changes in evidence-based assessment practices over time, and organizational characteristics were examined as covariates to control for …

Soc 4101, Francis Adeola

University of New Orleans Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Soc 5101, Francis Adeola

University of New Orleans Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Ranking Small Business Resistance Criteria Toward The Affordable Care Act, Rakesh M K Gupta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Following the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, politicians, media, and lobbyists rendered a number of conflicting and confusing interpretations of its merits and demerits. Such interpretations intensified the skepticism and concerns of small business enterprise (SBE) owners. The purpose of this study was to develop a representative, prioritized list of SBE owners' concerns or resistance factors. The goal was to create a useful guide for SBE owners who are seeking ways to reducing the adverse financial impact of the law. With social choice theory as the theoretical framework, 50 randomly selected SBE owners across 5 distinct …

Crp Organizational Change (Bringing Employment First To Scale, Issue No. 2), Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

Federal and state policy shifts have opened the doors to meaningful community employment for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD). Progress is apparent across the country: creative outcomes for individuals with significant support needs through customized jobs and self-employment, innovative practices at the provider level, and state investment in an Employment First philosophy. Despite these achievements, the number of individuals supported in integrated employment by state agencies that serve individuals with IDD has remained the same since 2000. While some community rehabilitation providers (CRPs) across the country have transformed their services to focus on integrated employment, including closing facility-based programs, most …

Integrating Research, Training, And Knowledge Translation (Bringing Employment First To Scale, Issue No. 1), Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

What our new center is about: People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) can work and want to work--yet the majority don’t have jobs. State and national policies exist to increase employment, but systems have not aligned to make integrated employment a priority. To meet this need, the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at UMass Boston is hosting a new rehabilitation research and training center, or RRTC. It’s called the RRTC on Advancing Employment for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Because change is critical at multiple levels, the RRTC integrates four focus areas:

1. individual and family knowledge and engagement, …

Leadership Orientation Frame Preferences Of School Boards In Mississippi, Patrick Laquincy Washington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The work of schools is becoming more complex and demanding. Administrators, teachers and parents are often at the core of the educational debate about what is needed to improve schools. The demand for better results in America's schools has led to many efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning that mainly rested on the shoulders of teachers and school leaders. The past decade has led to added accountability measures that also include local school boards. Accountability for the school board calls for an in-depth look at school board capacity. This research looks at the role of the school …

A Case Study On Ethical Decision Making By Legislative Leaders And Their Motion To Approve The North Carolina Charter School Bill Of 2011, Moses Fox Iii

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the role that equity and ethics played in decision making by examining the perspectives of elected leaders in a case where members of the North Carolina legislature decided to lift the cap on charter schools by enacting the 2011 North Carolina Charter School Bill. The analysis was based on triangulated qualitative data from historical documents, written documents from the state’s legislative library, and interviews from consenting legislative leaders of North Carolina. The researcher used Colaizzi’s (1978) phenomenological data analysis protocol to explore and understand the participants’ lived experiences. Finally, a pattern matching …

Factors Influencing Level Of Implementation Of Physical Activity Interventions In Youth-Serving Organizations, Yuen Yan Lau

Theses and Dissertations

In the past decade, numerous interventions have been developed and tested to increase physical activity in children and adolescents. Among these interventions, those that reported higher levels of program implementation appear to have better program outcomes. However, relatively little is known about the specific factors that contributed to successful implementation in youth physical activity interventions. The overall purpose of this dissertation was to identify a set of core factors that are most important in explaining implementation of physical activity interventions in youth-serving settings. Three studies, an expert panel study and two prospective observational studies, were conducted to address the purpose …

Development Of The Readiness To Teach Online Scale, Angel Chi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the growing importance of online education, faculty acceptance has remained unchanged. Training programs developed for faculty to teach online have often focused on assessing their cognitive rather than affective and behavioral outcomes. The Readiness To Teach Online scale was developed as part of a multiphase mixed method research project to measure faculty perceptions and motivations toward teaching online. Items in the subcategory Teaching and Learning measured perceptions of technology and online teaching, and motivations regarding resources and other external factors. Items in the subcategories Social and Student Engagement, Faculty and Technology Support, Course Development and Instructional Design, and Evaluation …

Antecedents And Outcome Of Union Commitment, Alejandro Miguel C. Acayan, Meryl Haydee C. Cua, Joyce Celinka T. Te, Mendiola Teng-Calleja

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

There is an apparent decline in union membership across industries in the Philippines. The study tried to understand this phenomenon by determining factors that lead to union commitment using a framework derived from existing models of union commitment and participation. Survey data were gathered from 194 union members belonging to academic and financial institutions, and pharmaceutical industries. Path analysis was used to analyze the data. The resulting model verified that organization commitment, perceived union instrumentality, pro-union attitude, and union socialization are predictors of union commitment. Furthermore, union commitment leads to union participation. Findings suggest that unions may enhance member commitment …

Organizational Ethics For Sponsorship And Governance In Catholic Healthcare, Alex Garvey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catholic healthcare in the U.S. is distinctive in its organizational structure insofar as it typically has Sponsorship as well as Governance oversight, reflecting the Catholic social tradition and organizational ethics to engage both patient care and the public good. Sponsorship deals with the mission and identity of Catholic organizations to ensure that they implement the Catholic social tradition. Governance deals with organizational ethics to ensure that the organization's values (reflecting its mission and identity) influence all aspects of the institution. Because these are intricately connected, the dissertation deals with them in an integrated manner, hence the combined focus upon Sponsorship …

A Phenomenological Study Focused On The Lived Experiences Of Cable Television Executives Surrounding The Phenomenon Of Candor With Their Teams, Pao Lo

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation study examines how cable television executives are able to experience the phenomenon of candor with their teams. The research used a phenomenological research framework to gain an understanding of how cable executives are able to experience candor. Face to face interviews was the method and tool used to obtain the data. The cable executives were purposefully selected from the researcher’s professional network to participate. The research analyzed the data to reveal any common themes or undertones in how the phenomenon of candor is experienced. The research discovered that cable executives do experience candor and the environment to foster …

Action-Logics Of Veterans Health Administration Magnet Nurse Executives And Their Practice Of Supporting Nurses To Speak Up, Bonnie R. Pierce

Theses and Dissertations

Health care organizations typically have a hierarchical structure, with physicians dominant and nurses subordinate. The challenge to open and honest communication between doctors and nurses is real, and communication errors contribute significantly to undesirable patient outcomes. Nurse executives (NEs) have a responsibility to help lead transformation of health care organizations to support nurses to speak up and communicate all critical information. NEs are challenged to improve safety and quality, decrease costs and increase access to care. Combining health care expertise with business ability can support these goals. Rooke and Torbert found correlations between successful business leaders and postconventional action-logics, or …

Architechture: Rebuilding The Traditional University For The 21st Century, Sarah E. Shearer

CMC Senior Theses

This senior thesis is an examination of the major complexities and considerations encountered in developing an e-learning program. In light of the changing landscape of higher education resulting from technological advancement, combined with changing pedagogies and financial pressures, traditional institutions are under heightened scrutiny and most in need of innovation. Online learning as been proposed as a solution to many of these issues, but creating a successful program is no small feat. Furthermore, experimental research on specific course designs and delivery often fails upon real-world implementation. Looking through the lens of Design-Base-Implementation Research (DBIR), an emerging research model that seeks …

The Expression Of Organizational Dissent Among Sub-Saharan African Student Migrants In The United States, Délwendé Bouda

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This research project, titled The expression of organizational dissent among Sub-Saharan African student migrants, was conducted by Délwendé Bouda, a student in the Department of Communication Studies at Minnesota State University, Mankato as a requirement for completing a Master of Arts degree in July 2015. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate how Sub-Saharan African immigrants express dissent in an organizational setting in the United States. Three hypotheses were established for this study, and online surveys were conducted through Qualtrics. Three different scales were used to measure the following variables: organizational dissent (articulated, displaced, and latent), belief in …

An Effectiveness Review Of Section 404 Of The Sarbanes Oxley Act (2002), Christopher Francis Morelli

Honors Theses and Capstones

The accounting scandals that occurred in the early 2000s launched the current day regulations set fourth in the Sarbanes Oxley Act. The Sarbanes Oxley Act is comprised of several titles, all aimed to help eliminate financial accounting errors and the potential of fraud. Within this piece of legislation, there is one section that has created a lot of discussion. Section 404, which discusses the way in which disclosures of internal control deficiencies are handled, is the topic of this paper. In addition to a literature review of a research paper written by Sarah Rice and David Weber, this paper will …

Network Connections In Reit Markets, George D. Cashman, Stuart L. Gillan, David M. Harrison, Ryan J. Whitby

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

Relationships play a central role across the spectrum of real estate transactions. Whether negotiating prices, securing funding, or acquiring permits, knowing the right people provides multiple channels to facilitate deal making. To better understand the role of relationships in real estate markets, we examine how the connectedness of REIT directors is associated with deal making, growth, and profitability. We find strong evidence that REIT connections are positively associated with both deal making and accounting based measures of profitability, however, those relations do not translate into better market returns or higher valuations. One explanation of these somewhat contradictory results is that …

Use Of Change Agent To Facilitate Implementation Of Personalized Health Plans, Colleen Miranda

Doctor of Nursing Practice Program Projects

In 2015, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention reported that the most common, costly but preventable health problems are heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and arthritis. Literature shows preventable chronic diseases have increased in the current healthcare system. Healthcare leaders are calling for a change in the current faulty healthcare delivery system to personalized healthcare. A patient-centered approach focuses on the health gains that can be made in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease with a higher level of patient engagement.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is advocating patient-centered care (PCC) to focus on the health gains …

An Analysis Of A Byod Program In A School District, Richard J. Hackler

Technical Library

This project documents and analyzes the preparation and execution of a bring your own device program implemented in a local affluent school district. The project looks at the implementation from a cost/benefit perspective, identifying the stated goals of the program and working to develop a method of measurement for evaluation. It examines the technical infrastructure upgrades and configuration required to ensure a smooth roll­out. The project also examines bring your own device programs in several other industries, identifying the motivations and methods of measurement as means for developing recommendations based in experience.

Analyzing The Effect Of Individual Factors And Organizational Context On Faculty Participation In Online Teaching, Deborah F. Miller

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study analyzed the influence of individual factors and institutional context on faculty participation in online teaching at public higher education institutions in the United States. Through an ex post facto design, cause and effect relationships were explored using statistical analysis of a large national data set. Variables in the data set directly related to the areas of interest in this study included interest in teaching, student-centered pedagogy, autonomy and control, instructional support, and institutional climate. Factors related to interest in teaching and institutional reward were statistically significant (p

Testing The Technology Acceptance Model 3 (Tam 3) With The Inclusion Of Change Fatigue And Overload, In The Context Of Faculty From Seventh-Day Adventist Universities: A Revised Model, David Andrew Jeffrey

Dissertations

Problem.

In recent years, the use of technology in institutions of higher learning has grown significantly. The use of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) is central to this growth. LMSs assist in the ease, consistency, and effectiveness of delivering instruction to students. The challenges involved in implementing an LMS, and the time pressures placed on faculty make decisions concerning LMSs particularly crucial. Since the goal of administration is to encourage adoption and optimal usage of the LMS by as many faculty members as possible, the focus of this study is the dynamic of factors that predict usage of Learning Management Systems. …

Asset-Based Community Development: A Path Toward Authentic Community Development Practice, Cherry Stoltenberg Bruursema

SPNHA Review

Over the last fifty years, approximately $2.3 trillion has been spent to alleviate global poverty. Even so, the economic disparity between the poor and the non-poor is wider and continues to grow, while restlessness grows among civil societies, and socio-political power remains in the hands of an elite few. It is this development paradox with which the case for an Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) model purports to offer an authentic solution. Using secondary research, this paper examines three case studies of asset-based development from Ethiopia, Taiwan, and Guatemala. These case studies expose how ABCD can be utilized as a tool …

Unanswered Questions: Modernizing The Us Nuclear Arsenal And Forces?, Todd C. Royal

Pepperdine Policy Review

The United State strategic nuclear triad, consisting of land-based heavy bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) has been the ultimate provider of security for the US and its allies since the end of World War II. But with decades of neglect it is time for the US government to decide what it wants too do with the triad where recent problems have put the nuclear arsenal in a national light. These new revelations and challenges the US faces for its nuclear forces will be analyzed.

Designing Games For Learning: An Investigation Of Instructional Designers, Game Designers, And Teachers Design Decisions And Epistemological Beliefs, Michelle Kepple

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fields within education and training have been exploring the use of educational computer-based games, often referred to as serious games (SG), in multiple disciplines of academic research including the affective, cognitive, and psychomotor domains. Traditionally, game designers tend to represent a different viewpoint about learning than instructional designers, or even teachers. More so, one of the fundamental roles designers play in making decisions is based on multiple factors, which include personal assumptions about constraints and perceived constraints in instructional practice. In order for games to be successful in classroom environments, classroom teachers need to be involved in the design process …

Phenomenological Study Of Urban Elementary Principals: Reading-Proficient Students With Learning Disabilities, Elizabeth Theis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Changes in the demands on educational leaders have necessitated shifts in the roles and responsibilities of school principals. Meeting the needs of students with disabilities is among the critical challenges that administrators face today. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of elementary school principals where students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) demonstrate reading proficiency. Phenomenological research was conducted to identify the themes associated with effective school leadership, related to this specific population, students with SLD. Informal, non evaluative observations were conducted in conjunction with analysis of leadership summaries that were submitted by teachers who were …

Closing The Gaps In Professional Development: A Tool For School-Based Leadership Teams, Sandra Sampayo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The field of professional learning in education has been studied and added to extensively in the last few decades. Because the importance of learning in authentic contexts through professional dialogue has become so important, high quality, school-based professional learning is vital to building capacity at the school level. Unfortunately, the literature on professional development (PD) does not provide much guidance on how to bridge theory and practice at the school level, creating a gap. With the goal of PD ultimately being to improve teacher performance and student learning, the problem with this gap is that school-level professional development is arbitrarily …

"Build Your Own Adventure" Act Prep Manual: Beating The Odds Of High-Stakes Standardized Assessments, Natalie Holter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today's focus on high-stakes standardized tests has had a massive impact on education throughout America, and standardized test preparation is one of the ugly, open secrets of education. Ever since 2001 when President Bush signed into law No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a bipartisan reauthorization of Johnson's landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, students have been bombarded with standardized tests from the earliest grades. Politicians believe these measures are the only way to remedy the perceived weaknesses in the education system because "stringent accountability mandates… [provide] vital levers of change, inclusiveness, and transparency of results" (Education Week, 2011, …