Education Commons^™

The Effects Of Overcrowding On Student Academic Performance In Kentucky High Schools, Maura Shirley

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Overcrowding in schools has been a popular topic reported by local newspapers across the state of Kentucky. Concerned parents often write letters to the editor, pleading their case for new school construction to alleviate the overcrowding that their students are facing. Approximately 27 percent of Kentucky high schools have experienced overcrowding for three consecutive years between 2002 and 2015. The National Center for Education Statistics reported in 2005 that only 18 percent of schools reported that they were overcrowded, a decrease from the 1999 study when 22 percent reported overcrowding. Overall, the problem of overcrowding is trending downward, but for …

Adequate Yearly Progress And Dropouts: An Analysis Of Kentucky High Schools & Districts, Michelle Schardein

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Education accountability measures, especially since the passage of No Child Left Behind, have been assessed for a variety of factors in empirical research. A large portion of this literature finds that overall, accountability measures increase performance, but also increase the achievement gap. These findings have inspired this research to examine what other marginal groups of students have been affected by the unintended reaction to the consequence-based incentives found in minimum competency accountability programs, such as No Child Left Behind.

In particular, this research looks at how the changes in a high school or school district’s Adequate Yearly Progress marks affect …

Competition Among Public Schools: An Analysis Of Kentucky Public Elementary Schools, Sarah L. Burns

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This study relied on data gathered on school identifiers and characteristics, student and teacher characteristics, and index scores of Kentucky public elementary schools, collected from 2001-2008 at the school level. An extensive literature review was completed in order to examine the effects of competition on public schools, both positive and negative.

This paper focused on the impact of public school competition on academic index scores in Kentucky school districts. Competition was measured in two ways: by the number of schools available per student in the district as well as the total district enrollment controlling for the total number of schools …

Examining Kentucky Public Schools: Gender Differences In An Index Measure Of Accountability For Academic Standards, Khin Thazin Myint

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Kentucky public education system has made progress over the past 20 years after a number of reforms beginning in 1990. A stated goal of these reforms has been not only to improve the overall performance of students in a school, but to also ensure that no student groups be allowed to fall behind. To accomplish this, the state has adopted and implemented goals that are shared with those of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, including school accountability and a goal of proficiency for all students by the year 2014. However the most recent analysis of three statewide …

An Analysis Of Bachelor's Degree Production By Kentucky Public 4-Year Universities: Before And After The Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act Of 1997, Jonathan Pruitt

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

With the passage of the Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997, Governor Paul Patton and the Kentucky General Assembly sought to improve the standard of living and quality of life in the state through increasing the educational attainment of its citizens. The production of bachelor’s degrees by the state’s public four-year universities is a key driver in increasing educational attainment and, therefore, meeting the goals of the legislation. This paper uses interrupted time series regression analysis to evaluate whether Kentucky public four-year universities have increased the rate at which bachelor’s degrees are produced in the period of time since the …

The Alternative? Alternative School Calendars’ Effects On Nonacademic Data In Independent Districts, Nick Grinstead

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This study measures the effect of alternative school calendars, otherwise known as year-round calendars, on “nonacademic data”, which includes average daily attendance rates, retention rates (where retention rate is defined as percentage of students held back a grade level), and dropout rates. This measurement will be done on Kentucky’s Independent School districts, which have a unique advantage of never having a problem with overcrowding (which will be explained as an important consideration for measurements of effects of alternative school calendars) and in whose districts the majority of alternative school calendars in Kentucky have been implemented. The study will be performed …

An Analysis Of Employing The Circuit Breaker As An Alternative Approach For Targeting Aid To Low-Income Students In Kentucky, William Walton

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Affordability is an essential element of college opportunity. The federal government and the states have acknowledged this belief by adopting policies to ensure that no academically qualified student who desires an education is limited access due to a lack of financial resources. But, many lower-income families today are having trouble paying for college due to a unique set of circumstances. First, the cost of higher education as a percentage of income has been increasing for over a decade, causing families to spend increasingly larger proportions of their incomes to afford postsecondary education. Second, the federal government has shifted its emphasis …