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Full-Text Articles in Education

The Enactment Of Quality Assurance Policies In Ecuadorian Higher Education: A Case Study In The Public Universities In The Province Of Manabí, Diego R. Sornoza Parrales Jul 2022

The Enactment Of Quality Assurance Policies In Ecuadorian Higher Education: A Case Study In The Public Universities In The Province Of Manabí, Diego R. Sornoza Parrales

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigates how the administrators in the research and quality assurance offices in the regional universities in Ecuador enact the national research quality assurance policy. The massification and diversification of higher education and the internationalization, as well as globalization of higher education institutions create an increasingly competitive environment. Given this competition, resources are scarce, resulting in more frequent and more aggressive budgetary constraints. Government and national funding agencies are including the notion of “quality” in their policies to measure the performance and efficiency of universities and determine budget allocation, demanding universities to “prove their value” to remain operational. In …


The Comparative Legal Landscape Of Educational Pluralism, Nicole Stelle Garnett Dec 2020

The Comparative Legal Landscape Of Educational Pluralism, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Arkansas Law Review

In the United States, debates about private and faith-based education tend to focus on questions about government funding: which kinds of schools should the government fund (and at what levels)? Should, for example, students be able to use public funds to attend privately operated schools? Faith-based schools? If so, what policy mechanisms should be used to fund private schools—vouchers, tax credits, direct transfer payments? How much funding should these schools receive? The same amount as public schools or less? As a historical matter, the focus on funding in the United States makes sense because only public (that is, government-operated) elementary …


High School Teachers' Perceptions Of Social Studies In The Context Of Accountability, Kristina M. Kelleher-Bianchi May 2020

High School Teachers' Perceptions Of Social Studies In The Context Of Accountability, Kristina M. Kelleher-Bianchi

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe urban public high school social studies teachers’ perceptions of social studies curriculum narrowing and its influence on their professional identity within the context of Massachusetts’ school accountability policies. This study gave nuance to larger quantitative studies by allowing policy and school leaders to hear directly from teachers who mediate the influence of accountability policies on students. It examined these questions: What were public school teachers’ understandings of the influence of testing pressure in their school? What were high school teachers’ experiences with social studies curriculum narrowing? How did teachers perceive their …


Understanding Congressional Coalitions: A Discourse Network Analysis Of Congressional Hearings For The Every Student Succeeds Act, Yinying Wang Jan 2020

Understanding Congressional Coalitions: A Discourse Network Analysis Of Congressional Hearings For The Every Student Succeeds Act, Yinying Wang

Educational Policy Studies Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to investigate policy coalitions of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) at U.S. congressional hearings. This study is grounded in the advocacy coalition framework, which argues that advocacy coalitions are forged by policy actors who have similar policy preferences. To identify the coalitions, according to the policy claims articulated by policy actors, discourse network analysis was performed to examine 30 testimonies in the congressional hearings on ESSA since its passage in 2015. The policy actors fall into eight categories: (1) federal administrative and executive offices, (2) state administrative and executive offices, (3) teachers unions, …


Karmel Oration: Leading Schools And School Systems In Times Of Change: A Paradox And A Quest, Toby Greany Aug 2017

Karmel Oration: Leading Schools And School Systems In Times Of Change: A Paradox And A Quest, Toby Greany

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The ‘paradox’ in this title refers to a set of contradictions that sit at the heart of education policy in many school systems. Policymakers in these systems want things that, if not inherently at odds, are nevertheless in tension— such as a tightly defined set of national standards and a broad and balanced curriculum; academic stretch for the most able and a closing of the gap between high and low performers; choice and diversity and equity; and so on. The ‘quest’ is for leaders and leadership to resolve these tensions in practice. School autonomy policies have placed huge power in …


Student, Teacher, School, And District Determinants Of Elementary School Accountability Classification In The Detroit Metropolitan Region, Embekka Nakia Thompson Jan 2016

Student, Teacher, School, And District Determinants Of Elementary School Accountability Classification In The Detroit Metropolitan Region, Embekka Nakia Thompson

Wayne State University Dissertations

Legislators have implemented an accountability system in an effort to increase school quality for all students. Policymakers assume that rewards and sanctions, based on results from high-stakes testing, can improve student achievement. The accountability system does not consider environmental factors that impact student outcomes. This study examines student, teacher, school and district determinants and their impact on student achievement, school designation, and school ranking. Data was collected from 333 elementary (K-5) schools in 56 public school districts and 18 charter schools in three counties: Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne. Two research questions were developed for this study.The first research question examined …


Comparing Schools: From Value Added To Sound Policy, Jeffery Richmond Dean May 2015

Comparing Schools: From Value Added To Sound Policy, Jeffery Richmond Dean

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the last twenty years, value added measures (VAMs) have proliferated in education research and policy. Whether applied to teachers, schools, or districts, VAMs have attempted to measure the contribution made by a unit of interest toward observed student outcomes, typically test scores in literacy and math. At the same time, a small number of states have developed methods to formally compare schools on those outcomes, and such methods may be used and intended in ways that qualify them as a kind of VAM. My primary interest is to evaluate the properties of a similar schools model I develop in …


Understanding Resistance To Standardization In Education: The Tragedy Of The Commons As A Theoretical Framework, Grinell Smith, Colette Rabin Apr 2012

Understanding Resistance To Standardization In Education: The Tragedy Of The Commons As A Theoretical Framework, Grinell Smith, Colette Rabin

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to articulate how a theory, developed in 1968 by Garrett Hardin to describe how shared resources, or “commons” can become depleted, also elucidates the mechanism by which standardization of educational outcomes and assessment have come to dominate current education discourse. We then present results of a case study of a school struggling to succeed within a context of a district’s hyper-focus on standardized measures of success, and employ the theory to illustrate its usefulness to explain what we found at the school site. We believe this theoretical framework provides interesting perspectives on current trends …


Distortion, Disparity, And Dubious Data: The Impact Of Accountability On Instructional Practice, Curtis Jack Barnes Jan 2012

Distortion, Disparity, And Dubious Data: The Impact Of Accountability On Instructional Practice, Curtis Jack Barnes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the impact that state and federal accountability systems have had on instructional practice in two large Texas school districts by comparing the performance of students at these schools on individual items from the 2011 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) and relating performance to item difficulty and the schools' accountability risk as determined by prior accountability performance. To make this comparison, schools were placed into accountability risk groups based on past performance on the No Child Left Behind Act's (NCLB) Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) accountability instrument. The researcher then calculated the mean differences between average performance …


High School End-Of-Course Exams Show Proficiency Gains For 2010, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter Sep 2010

High School End-Of-Course Exams Show Proficiency Gains For 2010, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In July, the ADE released results for the 2009-10 end-ofcourse (EOC) exams given in Algebra I, Geometry, and Biology administered in April 2010. These results followed the Grade 11 Literacy results released in June. First, we present statewide 2010 results compared to last year. Second, test scores are examined across the state by districts' region, poverty level, and size. Third, we consider the performance of Arkansas students on other assessments to see if these results are consistent with EOC results.


Passage And Initial Implementation Of The Supplemental Educational Services Element Of The No Child Left Behind Act: An Historical Inquiry Study, Brad D. Christensen Jan 2009

Passage And Initial Implementation Of The Supplemental Educational Services Element Of The No Child Left Behind Act: An Historical Inquiry Study, Brad D. Christensen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With reports alleging a sharp decline in student achievement in the last several years, there has been a call for higher standards in the United States education system. In response, with bipartisan support, politicians overwhelmingly passed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. NCLB, the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), mandated increasing the educational performance of all children by focusing on accountability for student achievement, flexibility, higher academic standards, research-based reforms, parental choice, annual testing to measure student progress, analysis of the annual testing data, and sanctions for schools where students did …


Education Week’S Report On Arkansas, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter Jan 2005

Education Week’S Report On Arkansas, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

As schools open their doors for the spring 2005 semester, many legislatures around the nation are meeting to discuss accountability standards, equity and adequacy issues, and the link between money and student performance. While the education issues of 2005 are not unique, in that they have been discussed for years, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) deadline for schools to begin performing at higher standards increases the urgency. In addition to the increased standards, state policymakers are facing difficult legal challenges to their school funding systems. In an attempt to gauge the status of the nation and each state, Education …