Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Beyond Small Change: Reforming Nevada's Approach To Education Reform, Sonya D. Horsford

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

When it comes to education, Nevada’s reputation as a low‐performing state in no way reflects a shortage of reforms. The politics of high‐stakes accountability characteristic of federal education policy since the 1980s has resulted in much reform, but “small change” in terms of funding and improved outcomes in the Silver State. This brief examines the history of Nevada education reform and why Nevada must reform its approach to improving schools by turning its attention from unfunded mandates to adequate and equitable investments in education. It concludes with a discussion of how Nevada policymakers and educational leaders can move beyond small …

The Las Vegas Promise Neighborhood Initiative: A Community-Based Approach To Improving Educational Opportunity & Achievement, Sonya D. Horsford, Carrie Sampson

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

Since the 1980s, the standards and accountability movement in U.S. education has focused heavily on reform at the classroom and school level, with insufficient regard for how social, political, and community contexts impact student learning and achievement (Berliner, 2006; Horsford, 2010; Noguera, 2003; Oakes, 1989; Wells et al., 2004). This emphasis on standardization and high-stakes testing has stigmatized, and in many instances, penalized low-income and historically underserved students and communities through the use of student subgroup and school designations. It also largely has ignored the research literature documenting the significant impact poverty, neighborhood context, and related out-of-school factors such as …

Superintendent Leadership During Economic Austerity: A Multiple Case Study, Douglas Paul Finch

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In contrast with recent decades of economic growth and stability, today's education funding landscape appears to be entrenched in a pattern of diminishing financial resources that may persist for a number of years. This is occurring also amid unprecedented efforts by lawmakers and public officials to intervene in school reform work. School leaders, specifically superintendents of the public school districts, are expected to make difficult leadership decisions in cutting back and downsizing the district organization while still maintaining an innovative and positive environment in schools. The effective leader must be well informed of best practices in positively influencing critical determinants …

School Reform: Where Does Policy Come From? Where Should It Go?, Kim Karman Friel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Policy analysis helps to develop a greater understanding of societal problems and provide possible solutions for elected and non-elected government decision makers. Ultimately, the product of analysis is advice relating to public decisions and informed by social values. In light of the pressures placed on education by policy-makers concerning implementation of educational reform there are surprisingly few studies concerning the changing role of the federal government from a historical perspective. Looking at the past, with the present in mind, reminds us that the current shape of education was not inevitable.

This qualitative dissertation study analyzes the evolution of the intentions …