Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Recommendations And Resources For Evaluating Community School Programs, Janet C. Fairman Ph.D., Amy F. Johnson Phd

School Improvement

The legislative definition of “community schools” is intentionally broad and anticipates the possibility that community schools might vary significantly in their locally-developed goals and intervention programs. The needs of students and their families may vary by community, as does the array of existing resources available in the surrounding area. This leads to a broad set of possible strategies that may imply different expected outcomes and evaluation processes.

The grant program requires pilot schools to meet certain application criteria. Applications require schools to submit an audit or needs assessment, a community resources assessment, an outline of plans and goals based on …

2016 April, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for April of 2016.

Too Little Stem Workforce In The United States: Framing The Discourse In A Global Setting, Patrice-Andre P. Prud'homme

Theses and Dissertations

Policymakers and industry leaders are claiming that the U.S. has an insufficient number of STEM graduates. As the rhetoric of a shortage of skilled scholars and employees in STEM-related fields expands, there is a plethora of publications that refers to a phenomenon dating back to the 1950s. Nonetheless, this new paradigm presents a critical challenge to policies and programs that surround STEM education in countries around the world. While STEM, including the underlying human capital component is a major factor of economic growth in the United States, it is also in Australia and Germany. The policy analysis study is presented …

The Nature Of Teacher Learning In Collaborative Data Teams, Robert Michaud

The Qualitative Report

As data teams have grown in popularity in recent years, they have been increasingly looked to by educational researchers because of the tantalizing prospect of combining teachers’ on the job professional development with increased and effective data use to drive instruction. Data teams have been increasingly implemented within schools by educational leaders attempting to take advantage of what teachers learn from each other in the context of a data team. Many conceptual models of data team function have been proposed, but few empirical studies have examined how teachers learn from collaborating with each other in a data team. This paper …

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Obama Administration’S Education Speeches, Adriane Kayoko Peralta

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined 45 education speeches presented by President Obama and leaders of the U.S. Department of Education from January 2009 through December 2010. These speeches were interpreted with the use of critical discourse analysis and reviewed through the lens of interest convergence theory. The first aim of the researcher was to uncover the underlying ideologies represented in the Obama Administration’s education speeches. The second objective was to understand how those ideologies impacted the Administration’s proposed reform ideas. Specifically, the researcher was interested in how the underpinning ideologies and proposed solutions affected the education of poor students of color. …

Brown V. Board Of Education (1954) An Analysis Of Policy Implementation, Outcomes, And Unintended Consequences, Carla M. Mccullough

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was a significant court case fought to provide equal educational opportunities for African-American students. Though the case was fought with good intentions, there may have been unintended consequences that occurred due to the policy implementation. The purpose of this research was to explore the policy, its implementation, and assess the extent to which the goals of the original policy were met. This study used a mixed-methods approach and was set within one large urban school district. The qualitative portion of the study included interviews with a small group of educators who were directly impacted …

College Knowledge: How Immigrant Latino Parents Access Information, Ana F. Ponce

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Among ethnic groups in California Latinos continue to have the lowest high school graduation rates and the lowest college completion rates. This study focused on understanding the role parents can play and ways schools and educators can support immigrant Latino parents to improve these rates.

Framed with a funds of knowledge approach (Gonzalez, N., Moll, L., & Amanti, C., 2005), this mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative study was conducted in a public charter high school in a low income area of Los Angeles where the student body was primarily Latino. The mission of the school was to prepare students for higher …

Charter Schools As Leverage For Special Education Reform, Tommy Chang

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Few studies have examined the intersection of charter school and special education policies. The concerns around the serving of special education students in charter schools must be carefully studied, especially as charter schools continue to grow in numbers and continue to serve a greater percentage of public school students. New policies must not only address equity in access for special education students in charter schools but must also study how charter schools can be leveraged to generate innovative and promising practices in the area of special education.

This study examines a recent policy change in the Los Angeles Unified School …

Disability And Power: A Charter School Case Study Investigating Grade-Level Retention Of Students With Learning Disabilities, Esther Lorraine Perez

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Students attending charter schools, including those with learning disabilities, are subject to policies set by individual charter management organizations. One practice used within some charter schools is grade-level retention, or having students repeat a grade level. Literature overwhelmingly indicates that retention is associated with negative outcomes, yet the practice continues to be used. One particular charter school that uses a strict retention policy and retains students with learning disabilities was studied to understand how the process unfolds. Using the conceptual frameworks of critical disability theory and critical pedagogy, the study draws inferences regarding how this phenomenon blends with ableism and …

Implementing Calendar Reform In A Suburban Catholic Elementary School: A Case Study, Catherine Cichocki Muzzy

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Time-based reform proposals are founded on the assumption that more time in school will produce great learning outcomes. Research shows that when schools adopt time-based reform initiatives, there are certain considerations that they should make and methods they should follow to ensure the change produces the outcomes intended. This was not the case in a local Archdiocese where a calendar extension was adopted by several elementary schools.

This qualitative case study focused on the adoption of a calendar extension at one Catholic elementary school. The researcher gathered data from the pastor, principal, teachers, parents, and students to determine how these …

Catholic School Leaders’ Perceptions Of Governance Models In Los Angeles Parochial Schools, Kristopher Leo Knowles

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to provide insight to the perspectives of leaders and individuals in authority within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles system of Catholic parochial schools regarding current models of governance, levels of authority, and decision-making processes. There is a lack of clearly-defined levels of decision-making authority from the bishops to the Archdiocesan Department of Catholic Schools down to the individual schools.

The pastors, principals, and Department of Catholic Schools personnel shared their perspectives of current governance structures and elements of three emerging alternative governance models. Data were analyzed through a factor analysis of the survey …

The New Ecology Of Biliteracy In California: An Exploratory Study Of The Early Implementation Of The State Seal Of Biliteracy, Tanya Margarita Deleon

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Nearly 25,000 graduating high school students across California have earned state recognition for achieving proficiency in multiple languages in 2014. This exploratory, mixed-methods study investigated the early implementation of the State Seal of Biliteracy (SSB) in California. Sixty-two district personnel were surveyed, three SSB directors were interviewed, and a document review was conducted. Overall, the study revealed four themes that influence the implementation of the SSB at the district level: Intentional Creation of an Ecology of Biliteracy, Developing Notions for Biliteracy Scripts and Assessment, Privileging Sequential Biliteracy Development—Scarcity of Biliteracy Pathways, and Individual and Collective Agency for Biliteracy. Hornberger’s (2003) …

Breaking The “At Risk” Code: Deconstructing The Myth And The Label, Kara Christine Allen

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The term “at risk” is a label that is used to describe students who encompass a host of prominent socially and politically constructed titles that are intended to simplify student understanding and awareness and allow for clear reporting. The purpose of this study was to demythologize the concept of “at risk” by creating the conditions for student voice and critical dialogue to emerge, through the use of narrative inquiry. This research hoped to provide an outlet for young people to find and use their own voices, while finding their own place within their lived histories. The research also aimed to …

Beyond Recidivism: Learning With Formerly Incarcerated Men About Youth Incarceration, Scott Patrick Bastian

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Too often, the truth behind a phenomenon is not sought through the perspectives of the people who lived that phenomenon—“the masters of inquiry” into their own realities, as Paulo Freire (1982, p. 29) has explained. Voice is the most powerful, reliable medium for collecting data based on lived experiences, if we are to gain genuine insight into the phenomenon (Freire, 1982). Focusing on the lived experiences of four formerly incarcerated young men of color, this study gave each participant the space to not only recall specific events and times, but to critically reflect on their lives—becoming more critically aware of …

Children Are The Messengers: A Case Study Of Academic Success Through The Voices Of High-Achieving Low-Income Elementary Students, Stephen Howard Mccray

LMU Theses and Dissertations

For low-income minority and marginalized communities, American democracy’s educational mission remains unfulfilled. Student voices have provided insight into ways that schools disserve and serve students and how schools can improve in promoting academic achievement; however, academically successful low-income students’ voices—particularly those at the elementary school level—are largely excluded from the literature. Providing a platform for student voices, this qualitative, intrinsic critical case study explored six high achieving low-income students’ views of their academic success and how that success was achieved. Participants were six fifthgrade students, their parents, and teacher, in a school-wide Title I urban public school. Data were collected …

Reconciling The Rhetoric And Reality Of Student Loan Debt, Elizabeth Akers

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Student loan debt has increased over the past three decades. This lecture will identify the factors that led to that increase in student loan debt what economic and social factors drove that increase. The talk will also consider the economic effects of increased or decreased earnings generated by individuals with student loan debt. This analysis will present data to assess the validity of several widely-held beliefs about the impact of student loan debt in the United States (e.g., increased student loan debt is depressing the housing market) and apply data-backed evidence to determine ways in which current and proposed policies …

Proficiency-Based High School Diploma Systems In Maine: Local Implementation Of State Standards-Based Policy Phase Iv Policy Report, Erika K. Stump, Bernadette Doykos Phd, Catherine Fallona Phd

Proficiency-Based Education

In this current year, Phase IV, researchers collected new data from qualitative interviews and document analysis in six case study school districts in Maine, representing a range of demographics, geographic regions and implementation stages. Three of these districts had been involved in at least one year of Phase I-III of this study, allowing for exploration of ongoing implementation practices and comparing perceived challenges and benefits from initial implementation to later stages. Findings suggested that Maine's proficiency-based high school diploma mandate had mobilized PK-12 collaborative professional work, but there was an evident need for even greater professional time for full systemic …

2016 March, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for March of 2016.

Collaboration In An Era Of Change: New Forms Of Community Problem-Solving, Judith A. Ramaley

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Campuses are developing new ways to respond to complex social, cultural, economic and environmental problems by adapting their educational approaches and their scholarship to address a changing world order. At the same time, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and businesses are embracing collaborative approaches to community problem-solving. These collaborative approaches, on and off campus, are creating new forms of university-community engagement that will require us to rethink the nature of the societal roles we play and how we generate knowledge, create an inspiring educational environment, and assist our students in acquiring the knowledge and skills they will need to work effectively …

Star Academics: Do They Garner Increasing Returns?, James Jeffrey Kline

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the criteria which help academics receive National Institute of Health funds (NIH). The study covers 3,092 NIH recipients and non-recipients in the same department or institute at twenty-four universities. The universities are drawn from those below the top twenty in terms of receipt of NIH funds. With regards to performance, non- recipients have lower performance than recipients. A key determinant of the receipt of NIH funds is individual performance, as measured by the number of articles published and average citations per article in the two years immediately prior to the grant application. Professors receive more NIH money …

Torch (February 2016), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Using Evidence-Based Criteria For Block Grant Funding Of Collaborative Time For Educator Professional Development, Janet C. Fairman Phd, A. James Artesani Edd

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

This report was prepared by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) at the request of the Maine State Legislature to provide recommendations for the development of a block grant program of supplemental funding to school districts to support evidence-based professional development for educators and/ or leaders or instructional coaching support in schools and classrooms. The report provides guidance to inform decisions on pending legislation, LD 1394, “An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Commission to Strengthen the Adequacy and Equity of Certain Cost Components of the School Funding Formula”.

The report builds on an earlier MEPRI report which …

Equitable Compensation: Quantifying The Salary Differences Of Comparison Communities, Margaret A. Murray

New England Journal of Public Policy

Teacher salary scales from a target district are compared with those from six groups of comparable districts to provide a quantitative basis from which to assess self-serving bias in the selection of comparison districts. Comparison districts are used to gauge salary equity during contract negotiations. Salary data were extracted for three salary columns (bachelor’s, master’s, and master’s plus 30 credits) from the 2014–15 Massachusetts teacher contracts from forty-eight districts. Comparison district groups were formed using six methods: three single-criterion and three multiple-criteria. Implications for selecting methods are also discussed.

The Role Of The Press In Framing The Bilingual Education Debate: Ten Years After Sheltered Immersion In Massachusetts, Fern L. Johnson, Marlene G. Fine

New England Journal of Public Policy

In 2002 Massachusetts voters passed a voter initiative that changed the way children who are not fluent in English are taught. The initiative overturned the state’s requirement for “transitional bilingual education,” through which children are gradually transitioned, usually over a three-year period, from instruction in their native language to instruction entirely in English. Transitional bilingual education was replaced with “sheltered English immersion,” which places children with little or no English-language fluency in classes where almost all instruction is in English, with the expectation that they will move to regular English-only classrooms after one year.

We used frame analysis to examine …

2016 February, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for February of 2016.

Research Brief: "Out From The Shadows: Female Student Veterans And Help-Seeking", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This study explored what happened when female veterans brought three military-cultural contexts (responsibility, worth, and pride) into their transition to civilian life and help-seeking attitudes in college. In practice, student veterans exhibiting components of military culture should use these military cultural components to their benefit, and student veterans struggling to adjust to the type of thinking often required of college students should feel comfortable seeking support at their university student veteran center. In policy, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) might continue offering their campus toolkit, which has been found to be a great resource for many IHEs, offering them …

The Art Of Managing Expectations: Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors As Mediators Of Expectations Between Clients Who Are Deaf And Potential Employers, Stephanie W. Cawthon, Rachel Leppo, Duncan Dickson, Sarah Schoffstall, Erica Wendel

JADARA

Services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) often include tailored strategies for successful employment placement. Using Oliver’s (1980) Expectation Confirmation Theory, this study utilized exploratory and confirmatory analyses of semi-structured interviews of 10 VR professionals to examine their view of the role expectations play in their assessment of important factors that lead to successful outcomes for DHH clients. Analysis revealed a complex, multilevel system in which VRCs operate as active mediators of the expectations of both clients who are DHH and their potential employers.

2016 Spring Convocation Program, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Communications and Marketing Publications Archive

Spring convocation program held on January 13, 2016.

Quality Counts 2016, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Last week, Education Week released their 20th annual Quality Counts report. This year’s report discusses school accountability and examines state and federal accountability policies. It also grades the nation and each state on academic performance and outcomes. Overall, Arkansas received a C– and was ranked 41st among the 50 states. This policy brief examines Arkansas’ rank in each category of the report as well as the quality of the report itself.

Our Best Hope In A World Filled With Emergencies? Education, Barry Jason Mauer

UCF Forum

When we die, the knowledge stored in our brains disappears. But through education, each generation of people can pass their knowledge to the next via spoken language, books and other media, and this knowledge can accumulate through the ages.