Education Economics Commons^™

Disruption, Recovery, And Divergence: How Prepandemic Achievement Levels Shaped Learning Loss, Recovery, And Spending Efficiency In Tennessee Public High Schools, Wilson Boyd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant and uneven learning loss in Tennessee public high schools. The statewide ACT composite average fell from 20.2 in 2019 to 19.1 in 2021. By 2024-2025, it recovered only to 19.3. During the same period, Tennessee received approximately $3.86 billion in additional federal funds and $1.15 billion in new state funding. This ex post facto quantitative study examined whether prepandemic achievement levels predicted learning loss severity and recovery patterns of a census of 322 Tennessee public high schools from 2018-2019 through 2024-2025.

The study used two theoretical frameworks. Baumol's cost disease theory predicted that structural productivity …

Attendance And Academic Performance: A Comparison Of 4-Day And 5-Day School Week Schedules In Texas High Schools, Cynthia Miles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative cross-sectional comparable study examined the differences in academic performance and attendance in Texas public high school campuses between those operating on a 4-day instructional week and those operating on a 5-day instructional week. The study used a quantitative, cross-sectional comparable design. The analysis included campus-level data from the Texas Education Agency’s Texas Academic Performance Reports. The independent variable was instructional schedule—either a 4-day or a 5-day instructional week. The dependent variables included campus attendance rates and student performance on the English I and Algebra I End-of-Course (EOC) STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) assessments of ninth-grade …

What Teachers See: Collaborative Artmaking In Chinese And U.S. Elementary Schools, Jiayu Shi

Masters Theses

This study explores how elementary art teachers in the United States and China perceive and use collaborative artmaking with their students. Driven by my personal journey as a Chinese student and art educator now studying in the U.S., this research asks: How do teachers in these two countries compare in their views of collaborative artmaking, including its social-emotional outcomes, benefits, and challenges. I conducted semi structured interviews with three elementary art teachers: two from China (one veteran, one early-career) and one from the U.S. with experience in both rural and urban schools. Findings show that teachers in both contexts value …

A Quantitative Critical Analysis Of Comprehensive Education Plan Effects As Implemented Under Title 5 In California Community Colleges, Nicole Jones

Dissertations

California Code of Regulations, Title 5, is the policy and regulatory guide of the California Community Colleges. Sections of Title 5 policy govern the implementation of programs and services at these colleges. It provides protection for colleges and specifies student entitlements under the law. The mission of the California Community Colleges is to serve as an open-access point, providing students with services and instruction. Access barriers to services like counseling can delay goal attainment, increase cost of attendance and time to completion, and result in lower successful retention or persistence rates. Additionally, resource allocation, Title 5 Section 59200 regulations (the …

A Critical Analysis Of The Influence Of Ideology On Education Governance In An Urban, Midwestern School District, Carl Bryan

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study examines how ideology operates within local education governance through a critical theoretical lens. As state and national education policies, accountability mandates, and partisan political discourse increasingly shape local school governance, this research investigates how power relations, ideological influences, and equity concerns are embedded in school board decision-making processes and public discourse. Addressing a gap in existing scholarship on ideology in education governance, the study employs a qualitative case study of an urban public school district in the Midwestern United States. Data sources include individual interviews with school board members, critical discourse analysis of school board meetings, and analysis …

Through The Eyes Of Alumni: Transformative Power Of Eof For First-Generation College Students From Racially/Ethnically And Economically Marginalized Backgrounds, Sabrina Magliulo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative study used the Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework to describe the impact participation in New Jersey’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program had on the life trajectories of thirteen first-generation Black and Latina/e/o alumni. Findings suggest that authentic relationships between participants and EOF institutional agents created non-judgmental healing spaces where students could honor their cultural wealth and use it to enhance their college experiences. As higher education practitioners seek to increase positive outcomes for students from marginalized backgrounds, this study’s findings provide evidence for adopting EOF practices and investing in intentional screening and hiring practices to identify professionals equipped …

A Multiple Case Study Of Place-Based Promise Programs, Chad Edward Inabinet

Dissertations

This qualitative multiple case study examines three place-based Promise Programs situated in Midwestern community colleges to understand how they are designed, implemented, and experienced by staff and students. Guided by General Systems Theory, data are collected from program documents, archival sources, and 13 interviews with staff and students across three sites. Within- and cross-case analyses explore program origins, design features, partnerships, student supports, financial sustainability efforts, and outcome tracking. Findings show that: funding models shape eligibility and long-term stability; partnerships with K–12 districts, colleges, funders, and community organizations are essential for implementation; proactive supports, such as advising and mentoring, improve …

Comparing Identified Needs To Service Use For First Generation And Low-Income Students In Trio Student Support Services At Elizabethtown Community And Technical College, Breanna P. Harris

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University by Breanna P. Harris on April 2, 2026.

Do Transformational Leadership Behaviors Support A Successful Grant-Seeking Culture, Melissa Sesco Vermillion

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University by Melissa Sesco Vermillion on March 25, 2026.

Workforce Participation In Northeast Kentucky: A Qualitative Documentary Study, Timothy A. Gibbs

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University By Timothy A. Gibbs on March 2, 2026.

Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète, Benjamin T. Connolly

Pitzer Senior Theses

Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète is a two-part ethnomusicological study of how the capacities and affordability of modern electronic instruments could be utilized within school curricula as an affordable alternative to traditional music classes. I explore the musique concrète movement from mid-20th century France, aiming my examination towards the movement’s emphasis on the materiality of sound production and utilization of modern technology during the composition process. From there, the paper transitions into a study on the affordances of contemporary music technologies through a series of interviews with electronic composers, tracing the …

The Impact And Sustainability Of A School Improvement Grant On Student Outcomes In An Elementary Setting, Tiesha Denise Reed

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact and sustainability of the School Improvement Grant (SIG) Transformation Model and to determine its impact on a low-performing elementary school. The research study used a quantitative research design to investigate the effects of the SIG on student achievement and school annual reporting data across three time periods: pre-intervention (2014-2015), post-intervention (2016-2017), and six years after the grant ended (2022-2023). The research design was appropriate because it allowed the researcher to collect archival data and examine potential differences across time periods. The independent variable was the three time periods, and the …

The Impact Of Student Achievement On Economic Growth: A Pisa-Based Analysis Of Gdp Per Capita, Emma Rose Nasr

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

This study investigates the extent to which international student achievement, measured through PISA assessments in mathematics, reading, and science, explains cross-country differences in economic development. Using an unbalanced panel data set combining PISA results from 2015, 2018, and 2022 with macroeconomic indicators from the World Development Indicators, I estimate multiple regression models, including pooled OLS, country and time fixed effects, and subsample analyses for developed and developing countries. Results from the pooled model indicate strong positive associations between PISA scores and GDP per capita, consistent with human capital theory. However, these relationships diminish under fixed effects specifications, suggesting that cross-country …

Fiscal Illusion And Property Tax Porportionality, Cathy Lynn Johnson

Dissertations of Practice

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) has become a widely utilized economic development tool, allowing municipalities to capture future increases in property tax revenue within designated redevelopment areas.

The study’s purpose was to examine how TIF districts in Illinois affect the proportional distribution of property tax burdens and the allocation of property tax revenues to public school districts. Guided by Resource Allocation Theory, Public Choice Theory, and Fiscal Illusion, the study investigated how the exclusion of incremental EAV alters tax rate calculations and redistributes tax responsibility among taxpayers both within and outside of TIF boundaries. A quantitative analytical framework was developed and …

Performance-Based Funding’S Influence On Higher Education Through The Eyes Of Department Chairs, Jonathan W. Lackland

Theses and Dissertations

Performance-based funding (PBF) has become a widely adopted policy in higher education, linking state appropriations to measurable outcomes such as graduation rates, degree completions, and workforce alignment. While PBF aims to enhance institutional accountability and efficiency, its implementation has raised significant concerns about equity and political influence. This dissertation examines the political equity and implications of PBF policies through a mixed-methods approach, including surveys, interviews with department chairs, and critical discourse analysis of state statutes and legislative debates. The findings reveal that PBF often exacerbates inequities, particularly for non-flagship universities serving diverse and under-resourced student populations. Department chairs expressed concerns …

From Financial Education To Financial Decisions: Evidence On College Financing, Personal Finance Behavior, And Student Attitudes, Dongwei Shi

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

I examine how financial education shapes students’ financial knowledge, college financing decisions, and longer-term financial behavior.

The first chapter studies whether taking high school financial education in Kentucky affects students’ college financing decisions using linked administrative records on high school course-taking and postsecondary financial aid. Using school-level financial education course availability as an instrument, the chapter evaluates whether exposure to financial education is associated with differences in student loan borrowing and receipt of need-based aid.

The second chapter examines whether exposure to state high school financial education mandates improves financial literacy and longer-term personal finance behavior among U.S. adults. Using …

Instruction Vs. Infrastructure: Asymmetric Returns In U.S. Higher Education, Shaibu Yahaya

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Despite massive increases in funding, U.S. higher education degree output has stagnated—a paradox often attributed to external cost pressures like Baumol’s cost disease. This paper tests an alternative hypothesis: that internal resource misallocation, specifically the accumulation of noninstructional liabilities, actively crowds out educational productivity. Using a panel of 26,603 institution-year observations, I estimate the university production function via a fixed-effects Poisson specification, adjusting all financial inputs using the Higher Education Price Index. The results expose a stark asymmetry in productive returns: a 10% increase in instructional spending drives a 1.76% increase in degree production (β = 0.176). In contrast, the …

The Teacher Shortage Crisis: How Workplace Relationships Influence Retention, Attrition, And The Education Labor Market, Jeremy Brooks

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study took a closer look at how high school teachers perceive the ongoing teacher shortage, with particular attention to how workplace conditions and the broader school climate impact whether they choose to stay in the profession. Special focus was given to teachers in their first five years, a group especially vulnerable to early attrition. As the conversation around teacher turnover grows louder, this research seeks to better understand what’s driving teachers’ decisions from their own perspectives, not just policy data or administrative assumptions.

The study used a basic qualitative research design, relying on one-on-one, in-depth interviews to gather insights …

Examining The Association Between Educational Spending In Well-Resourced School Districts And The Academic Performance Of Hispanic Students In Low Socioeconomic Communities, Alicia Cieszykowski

Dissertations of Practice

ABSTRACT

EXAMINING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL SPENDING IN WELL-RESOURCED SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF HISPANIC STUDENTS IN LOW SOCIOECONOMIC COMMUNITIES

Alicia Cieszykowski

Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations

Northern Illinois University, 2026

Benjamin Creed, Director

This study examined the relationship between school district expenditure patterns and academic performance for Hispanic students in adequately funded Illinois school districts. Using a quantitative correlational design, the study explored whether overall spending levels and the allocation of financial resources were associated with Hispanic student achievement and Hispanic–White academic disparities in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. The sample included Illinois Tier …

The Effect Of Education On Green Growth And Carbon Emissions, 1990–2022, Soojeong Ahn

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The question of whether education promotes economic growth has long been a central topic in development research, and education has been linked to economic outcomes through macro-level pathways such as human capital accumulation, productivity growth, and technological diffusion. More recently, this discussion has expanded beyond economic growth to consider whether education contributes to environmentally sustainable development, particularly green growth. Green growth emphasizes the possibility of sustaining economic expansion while reducing environmental pressure (OECD, 2011; UNEP, 2011), and this study therefore examines how education is related to green growth and carbon emissions at the macro level.

At the macro level, existing …

The Aid Impact Theory: A Theoretical Framework For Maximizing The Impact And Sustainability Of Foreign Education Aid In Ghana, Jonas Bensah

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Foreign aid plays a critical role in supporting education systems in developing countries, yet its effectiveness varies depending on the presence and interaction of key implementation components. This study applies the Aid Impact Theory (AIT) to comparatively analyze the USAID Partnership for Education: Learning and the World Bank-funded Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP) in Ghana, assessing their effectiveness and sustainability. Using a structured framework, the research examines six essential components: stakeholder consultation, donor coordination and local implementer collaboration, awareness of cultural, political, and institutional contexts, community involvement, capacity building, and monitoring and evaluation. The findings indicate that the USAID Learning …

Backpack Funding: What Happens When Dollars Follow The Student?, Alison Heape Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A growing movement in the United States in recent years, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has brought a wave of school choice policies, which allow students to opt into an educational arrangement outside of their zoned traditional public schools (TPS) using public funds. Critics frequently express concern that these policies place an undue financial burden on both taxpayers and school districts. States adopting such policies may take on the additional financial responsibility of educating students who would otherwise privately finance their education, posing an additional cost to the state. When students do leave TPS to participate in private school choice …

Essays On The Economics Of Education Policy, Stephen Owusu

Economics ETDs

The first chapter of this dissertation evaluates the impact of Ghana’s Capitation Grant Scheme, a government education policy that provides direct funding to public schools to eliminate primary school fees, on both the short- and long-term numeracy and literacy skills of children intended to be treated. The findings suggest that free primary education may exacerbate language competition in linguistically discordant societies. In the second chapter, we find that, even without complementary infrastructural expansion, an additional year of official secondary schooling positively affects secondary and post-secondary educational outcomes. The third chapter investigates the relationship between secondary education length reform and reproductive …

Excellence Gaps: A State-Based Review Of Policies, Jonathan M. Jennings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates how state education policies address excellence gaps among student subgroups in gifted education. Using a multiple case study design, it examines the policy mechanisms, identification practices, and funding models employed across states to promote equity in advanced academic access. Grounded in critical policy analysis, the study highlights systemic disparities perpetuated by inconsistent definitions, underfunding, and limited accountability structures. Findings reveal that while some states adopt promising interventions - such as universal screening and dual enrollment support - many fall short in ensuring sustainable, inclusive practices. This research calls for reform grounded in transparency, comparability, and justice for …

Menstrual Math: The Price Of Bleeding, Gabrielle Langston

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project examines the landscape of menstrual equity in the United States through a data storytelling lens, focusing on state-level policies regarding taxation and access to menstrual products. The analysis explores which states impose sales tax on menstrual products, if state schools provide free menstrual products, and which states ensure access for incarcerated individuals using publicly available datasets from advocacy groups. Additionally, there is an investigation into potential correlations between the gender wage gap and states that tax menstrual products, shedding light on economic and policy disparities.

Through its data visualizations, this project aims to provide a clear, although not …

Soybean Oil-Derived Acrylate/Methacrylate Ether For High Resolution Additive Manufacturing (3d Printing) Technology, Tanuj Patel

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Additive Manufacturing is one of the rapidly developing techniques, as industries continue to explore new ways to create prototypes and end-use parts, one of the significant challenges that remains is the reliance on petroleum-based plastics for 3D printing, especially in the production of photocurable resins. that may be used to prototype complex structures and sophisticated geometries that are typically challenging to produce with conventional methods. Thus, replacing petroleum-based plastics with renewable resources is increasingly important for additive manufacturing (3D printing) of photocurable resins. The use of bio-based renewable resources in AM is a feasible alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics. Henceforth, …

Bio-Based Composites With Enhanced Mechanical Strength And Flame Retardancy, Riya Patel

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Composites are versatile and useful in many fields, including aerospace, automotive, construction, and healthcare, due to their high mechanical strength. It is common practice to synthesize these materials using petroleum-based chemicals. Nonetheless, in the twenty-first century, scientists are more interested in using renewable resources to create composites. The greatest substitute for petroleum-based chemicals is vegetable oil. It has unsaturated double bonds that are modifiable chemically. In the present study, bio-polyol was synthesized using castor oil, an inedible vegetable oil. A ring-opening process was used to modify it and produce castor oil-based polyol. The synthesized castor oil-based polyol was characterized by …

Bhuga Education: Toward A Financially Sustainable Model Of Catholic-Sponsored Secondary Education For The Poor In Nigeria, Christian Uchechukwu Ekesiobi

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project aimed to create a Catholic-sponsored, financially sustainable secondary school model to serve the educational needs of the poor in Nigeria. Grounded in the tripartite framework of the Catholic principle of the Preferential Option for the Poor, Dewey’s experience-based learning theory, and the Resource Generation Model, the project sought to address the prevalent problem of inaccessibility to quality education due to financial constraints. Employing a qualitative research approach anchored in document and comparative case analysis of the Cristo Rey and Fe y Alegria educational models, as well as Nigeria’s education landscape, the project created the BHUGA Education model. …

Identifying The Trends Of K-12 Funding Formula Reforms In Red States: A Comparative Case Study Of Texas, Tennessee And Mississippi., Hannah E. Watts

Honors Theses

Following the decade after K-12 public education funding cuts brought on by the Great Recession, some states are addressing these funding cuts with changes to their funding formulas. This comparative case study identifies trends of significant changes in education funding formulas since the end of the Great Recession in states with majority Republican legislatures—red states. The states analyzed in this study are Texas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. The research analyzes what caused the states to change their education funding formulas as well as trends regarding the changes of the actual education funding formula. With other red states looking to change their …

The Digital Incorporated Worker Narrative: A Mixed Methods Study Of Digital Capital, Work Selection, And Outcomes In The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Tracie King

Dissertations

Digital technology permeates society and industry, making digital-ready workers necessary for firms of all sizes as a firm seeks competitiveness in the market (Bergson-Shilcock et al., 2023; de Ruyter et al., 2018; Gorski et al., 2022; Karaboğa, 2023; Kim et al., 2017; Qureshi Zia, 2019). Firms seeking digital-ready workers face a complex digital divide that creates a worker shortage (Bergson-Shilcock et al., 2023; Karaboğa, 2023; Qureshi Zia, 2019). This study aims to describe workers' work selection, work experience, and outcomes in a complex digital society.

Most digital divide research focuses on the individuals excluded from owning, accessing, and having skills …