Education Economics Commons^™

Cancellation Of Indigenous Australians From The Apprenticeship Training Contract, John Mangan, Bernard Trendle

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

The vocational education and training (VET) sector is a major pathway to postschool education for indigenous students, yet questions are being raised about the capacity of the VET system to provide successful outcomes for the indigenous apprentices and trainees it attracts. Within a system plagued by high cancellation rates in general, indigenous apprentices appear to do particularly badly. This paper combines data from an administrative database on apprenticeship with income data from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing to provide an analysis of attrition rates for apprenticeship training contracts in Queensland, asking: Are cancellation rates for indigenous students significantly …

The Kalamazoo Promise, And Enrollment And Achievement Trends In Kalamazoo Public Schools, Timothy J. Bartik, Randall W. Eberts, Wei-Jang Huang

Conference Papers

This paper examines three types of KPS trends that may represent Promise effects: 1) trends in overall enrollment, 2) trends in relative enrollment by ethnic group, and 3) trends in KPS achievement on the standardized test used by the state of Michigan for No Child Left Behind accountability, the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test.

What's New? What's Not? The Kalamazoo Promise In The Context Of Other Scholarship Programs, Michelle Miller-Adams

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Can Universal, Place-Based Scholarships Reduce Inequality? Lessons From Kalamazoo, Michigan, Michelle Miller-Adams

Conference Papers

The Kalamazoo Promise, announced in 2005, is an innovative college-scholarship program available to every graduate of the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public Schools. Programs such as the Kalamazoo Promise, which is being emulated in cities across the United States, open new avenues for the acquisition of human capital regardless of income level or academic achievement, while facilitating the creation of new economic and social assets for the community. Following a brief explanation of the program itself, this paper examines the Kalamazoo Promise as a human capital-investment strategy and its potential as a mechanism for reducing inequality. I find that the Kalamazoo Promise …

The Kalamazoo Promise: Building Assets For Community Change, Michelle Miller-Adams

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Gender-Separate Education: The Effects On Student Achievement & Self-Esteem On Economically Disadvantaged Public Middle School Students In Philadelphia, Heather M. O'Neill, Allison Guerin

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

In 2003, three Philadelphia middle schools with similar demographics and failing student achievement levels were taken over by an educational management organization. Two were transformed into distinct single-sex academies within the original school buildings and a third remained coeducational. Students did not have the option where to attend, eliminating selection bias. Through funding from a Spencer Foundation grant, data was collected on 1,000 students for 2002-03 through 2004-05 to examine impacts of gender-segregation. We find students in single sex schools witness greater improvements in standardized test scores, with boys gaining the most, and no differences on Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale.

Public-Private Partnerships, Civic Engagement, And School Reform, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The number of partnerships between public schools and private organizations increased dramatically after the National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983) issued its report "A Nation at Risk." ... In this essay, I propose an uncommon perspective of public-private partnerships in the United States—one that calls for direct citizen involvement to ensure that collaboration is linked to and compatible with reform efforts carried out at the local (school district) level. The need for a new conceptualization is framed by three convictions: public-private partnerships have been largely ineffective in terms of improving instruction and student learning; democratic deficits in these ventures …

State Use Of Workforce System Net Impact Estimates And Rates Of Return, Kevin Hollenbeck

Conference Papers

The net impacts and private and social benefits and costs of workforce development programs were estimated in three separate studies; two of them in Washington and one in Virginia. The programs included the public job training system, programs at community and technical colleges, adult basic education, private career schools, high school career and technical education, and vocational rehabilitation for disabled individuals and for blind or visually impaired individuals. The net impact analyses were conducted using a nonexperimental methodology. Individuals who had encountered the workforce development programs were statistically matched to individuals who had not. Administrative data with information from the …

Workforce Investment Act (Wia) Net Impact Estimates And Rates Of Return, Kevin Hollenbeck

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Net Impact Analysis Of Reading Recovery® In Kalamazoo Public Schools: Concept And Preliminary Findings, Randall W. Eberts, Wei-Jang Huang

Presentations

This analysis estimated the net impact of Reading Recovery® as it was conducted in Kalamazoo Public Schools for first graders in the 2003/04 cohort. Results suggest that Reading Recovery® has helped students who demonstrated difficulties with literacy skills at the beginning of the year to perform at levels much closer to their peers by the end of the year. Three comparison groups were used in the analysis: RR students only, all other first graders, and matched first graders. Analysis using all three comparison groups found evidence that students in Reading Recovery® raised their test scores more than students that were …

The La Crosse Promise – Economic Impact Study, George A. Erickcek

Reports

The Upjohn Institute conducted an economic impact study of a universal, place-based scholarship program for La Crosse, Wisconsin. This study examines the possibility of developing a program similar to the Kalamazoo Promise for the La Crosse area. The La Crosse area is facing a population decline, growing concentrations of low-income students, an aging infrastructure in the region’s largest school district, and regional sprawl that is consuming farmland and natural assets while creating new challenges of congestion and service delivery. As a response to these issues, this study explores the potential impact of a universal, place-based scholarship program.

A Sustainable Future For Open Textbooks? The Flat World Knowledge Story, John Hilton Iii, David Wiley

Faculty Publications

Many college students and their families are concerned about the high costs of textbooks. E–books have been proposed as one potential solution; open source textbooks have also been explored. A company called Flat World Knowledge produces and gives away open source textbooks in a way they believe to be financially sustainable. This article reports an initial study of the financial sustainability of the Flat World Knowledge open source textbook model.

Teacher Perceptions Of The Factors That Influence Support For An Adequacy Model Of School Funding, Nancy L. Alex

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to determine teacher perceptions about the factors that influence support for an adequacy model of school funding and what relationships exist between specific demographic variables and those perceptions.

Using the instrument created for the study, one hundred thirty-nine teachers from the Montrose RE-1J School District where surveyed. Data was tabulated using standard descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages). As a general data analysis approach, bivariate comparisons were performed using Pearson correlations and t-tests for independent means. Multiple regression prediction equations were used to examine the relationships between specific demographics and teacher perceptions of the factors …

Effect Of High School Completion Of The Agricultural Education Program On The Rate Of Return On Investment For The Commonwealth Of Virginia, Phillip Scott Bevins

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This research study sought to determine the effect high school completion of the agricultural career and technical education program has on the rate of return on investment by public schools in Virginia. The research questions guiding this study included: (1) Were students able to find employment related to the agricultural career and technical education program they completed, (2) What federal and state funding was allocated for students participating in the agricultural career and technical education programs in the state of Virginia, (3) Was there a significant level of tax revenues generated by incomes from those who participated in the agricultural …

Budget Fy 2010-2011, Swosu Administration

SWOSU Fiscal Year Budgets

The Southwestern Oklahoma State University Budget FY 2011. Submitted June 11, 2010.

Efe-Sponsored* Data Collection Activities, Kevin Hollenbeck

Reports

No abstract provided.

Creating A Comprehensive Profile Of The Academic Competitiveness Grant, Kelsea Klein

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The recent push for more Americans to attend postsecondary institutions has led to the development of numerous and far-reaching government student financial aid programs. These programs have aimed at supplying the whole of the population with financial assistance regardless of color, gender, or age. However, the distribution of the aid has encountered many problems as critics argue that the recipients of the aid are primarily limited to a narrow subgroup of the population. A new program created under the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 called the Academic Competitiveness Grant is no exception. Preliminary logit analysis of the reception rates …

Exploring Entrepreneurialism In Community Colleges In The Appalachian Region, Sharon Lynn Hatfield

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The combination of a weak economy with a corresponding decline in tax revenue has created deficits in state and local budgets which adversely affect the financial stability of community colleges. This leaves community colleges struggling to continue to provide education in support of their missions. To provide a source of alternative revenue, community colleges are embracing the spirit of entrepreneurialism and transforming themselves into profit-seeking businesses.

This quantitative study, using a web-based survey and descriptive and inferential statistics, focuses on factors perceived by college presidents and workforce development officers to affect the practice of entrepreneurialism in 71 community colleges in …

Horton’S Odyssey: The Politics Of School Finance Reform In Connecticut, Lesley Denardis

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

School finance reform has been one of the most controversial and contentious issues in public policy over the last thirty years. Public schools have served as battlegrounds over fundamental questions of equality, liberty, and access to social and economic opportunities. Since the historic decision rendered by the California Supreme Court in Serrano v. Priest (1971) equated public education with a fundamental right, a wave of legal and legislative reforms swept the nation including the state of Connecticut. Following the lead of California, plaintiffs in the Horton v.Meskill (1977) case argued that the Connecticut’s heavy reliance on the property tax to …

Methods For Encouraging Economic Diversity In Academically Rigorous Courses, Karen Patricia Kraabel

All Graduate Projects

In International Baccalaureate (IB) classes at Thomas Jefferson High School, the economic status of students in honors classes does not reflect that of the school as a whole. The author sought ways to bring more students from impoverished backgrounds into rigorous courses. In this school, there is a strong coincidence between etlmic minority status and socioeconomic status. The author believed that in addressing the economic issue the ethnicity issue would also be addressed. This is a practical issue as well as a pedagogical one, because the school's scores on state-wide standardized tests are lower for economically disadvantaged students than for …

Searching For Effective Teachers With Imperfect Information, Douglas O. Staiger, Jonah E. Rockoff

Dartmouth Scholarship

Over the past four decades, empirical researchers -- many of them economists -- have accumulated an impressive amount of evidence on teachers. In this paper, we ask what the existing evidence implies for how school leaders might recruit, evaluate, and retain teachers. We begin by summarizing the evidence on five key points, referring to existing work and to evidence we have accumulated from our research with the nation's two largest school districts: Los Angeles and New York City. First, teachers display considerable heterogeneity in their effects on student achievement gains. Second, estimates of teacher effectiveness based on student achievement data …

From Stalled To Successful: The Art Of Negotiating, David Alan Dolph

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

In times of limited resources, the likelihood of difficult negotiations between labor and management may increase even in the best of school districts. The negotiation process can range from traditional to positional to competitive to a more collaborative and cooperative interest-based approach. The most productive approach is a matter of debate and can vary from district to district.

Regardless of the negotiation model used, bargaining can break down because of poor relations between parties, a lack of understanding of each other’s needs, and a variety of other reasons. When breakdowns occur, it is difficult for either side to achieve its …

Class And Categories: What Role Does Socioeconomic Status Play In Children's Lexical And Conceptual Development?, Jennifer Bloomquist

Africana Studies Faculty Publications

At one time, academic inquiries into the relationship between socioeconomic class and language acquisition were commonplace, but the past 20 years have seen a decrease in work that focuses on the intersection between class and early language learning. Recently, however, against the backdrop of the No Child Left Behind legislation in the United States (which has been criticized as a culturally biased education policy that, through highstakes testing and broad-based, uniform curricula, discounts the value of non-standard home language varieties largely spoken by working-class children), there has been renewed interest in the relationship between class, language use, and the assessment …

Advocate, November 2009, Vol. [21], No. [3], Gc Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

From the Editor’s Desk: Education Über Alles. (p. 2)

Adjuncting: The Collapse of the Tenure Track. Alison Powell (p. 4)

Health Issues: Rapid HIV Testing Returns to GC on Dec. 3. Collette Sosnowy (p. 5)

Political Analysis: The Militarization of Crowd Control. Justin Rogers-Cooper (p. 6)

Dispatches from the Front: Grading Papers is Hell (But It Doesn’t Have to Be). Talia Argondezzi (p. 8)

Books That Changed the Way We Think: Autonomy! Review of Autonomia: Post-Political Politics, edited by Sylvère Lotringer and Christian Marazzi (MIT Press, 2007). Ashley Dawson (p. 9)

Lessons in Terror at John …

Advocate, October 2009, Vol. [21], No. [2], Gc Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

From the Editor’s Desk: Back to Basics (p. 2)

Correction (p. 3)

Political Analysis: Defending the United Nations. Andrew Bast (p. 4)

Health Issues: Young but Not Invincible. Kimberly Libman (p. 5)

How to Avoid the Flu this Season (p. 5)

GC Students Join Protest to End Afghan War (p. 6)

Adjuncting: Where’s the Anger? Renée McGarry (p. 8)

Intellectual Leadership: Plato’s Dream, Popper’s Nightmare. C.A. Pasternak (p. 9)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The GC Advocate Guide to the 2009 NYC Mayoral Elections (p. 11)

Masthead (p. 2)

CUNY News in Brief: Bed Bugs …

"The Female Entrepreneur"?, Cath Collins

Human Rights & Human Welfare

I read the “Women’s Crusade” article that forms the centrepiece of this month’s roundtable with initial interest, gradually turning to a vague sense of disquiet spiced with occasional disbelief. After a few more readings, I tried highlighting the passages that bothered me and stringing them together. Countries “riven by fundamentalism”— that’s presumably the Islamic variety, rather than the Christian variant which holds such sway in the US. The suggestion that “everyone from the World Bank to the US [...] Chiefs of Staff to [...] CARE” now thinks that women are the answer to global extremism hides too many questionable assumptions …

A Few Drops Of Oil Will Not Be Enough, Stephen James

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn provide a rich description of the various kinds of violence, deprivation, depredation and exploitation that women experience on a vast scale in the developing world. They write of sex trafficking, acid attacks, “bride burning,” enslavement, spousal beatings, unequal healthcare (something the USA still struggles with), insufficient food, gendered abortions and infant and maternal mortality. They are right to identify the education of women and girls as part of the solution to the widespread “gendercide.” However, their approach focuses too much on the capacity, indeed the virtue or heroism, of individual women. It does not take …

The Philanthropic Motivations Of Community College Donors: A Study Of The Educational Foundation Of A Mid-Sized, Multi-Campus Community College In Virginia, Linnie Smith Carter

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the philanthropic motivations of the donors of a mid-sized, multi-campus community college in Virginia as part of a plan to enhance relationships with donors and increase the amount of private funds raised. Dependence on dwindling, traditional and limited funding sources leaves community colleges vulnerable and constantly struggling to fund the ever-increasing needs of their internal and external stakeholders (Sheldon, 2003). Community colleges are attempting to address the problem by enhancing their fundraising efforts and strengthening relationships with donors.

A mixed-method, multi-step approach was used for this research study. The approach in this study involved five steps. The …

Advocate, September 2009, Vol. [21], No. [1], Gc Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

From the Editor’s Desk: A Riot of Their Own (p. 2)

Political Analysis: Battle over CAFTA Rages in El Salvador. Michael Busch (p. 6)

Adjuncting: Teacher Pay Around the World. Alison Powell (p. 8)

Dispatches from the Front: The Second Language of “Standard English.” Alison Powell (p. 9)

Health Issues: Student Health Services: Still There, Still Needed, Still Yours… So Speak Up! Collette Sosnowy, Health Issues Committee (p. 10)

Some Teaching Mistakes Other People Have Made (So You Don’t Have To). Nichole Stanford (p. 12)

Masthead (p. 2)

Letters to the Editor (p. 3)

On Class Violence. …

Exploratory Study Of The Relationship Between State Fiscal Effort And Academic Achievement, Timothy A. Goodale

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Prior empirical research has taken many varying approaches to determine if differences in funding significantly impacts student academic achievement. However, much of these studies exhibit weak generalizability due to their limited scope, timeframe and dissimilar achievement measures. To expand upon the already robust literature in education finance this study measures interstate funding disparities via state fiscal effort and determines its impact on several measures of student academic achievement. To control for threats to external validity the research investigates the variables over ten years to determine if the relationships hold over time. Statistical measures employed within the research include bivariate correlation, …