Education Policy Commons^™

An Alternative Calendar In Select Middle Schools In An Urban City School District, Mattie Lee Solomon

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to understand parental perspectives on mandatory academies (intersessions) in three alternative (year-round) calendar middle schools. The alternative calendar was implemented by the study school district to improve student performance and parent attitudes toward the education their children receive. Academics (intersessions) are the source of time added to improve student performance. The three middle schools are located in an urban school district in the Midwestern state of Indiana. The students who attend are from lower socio-economic homes; the majority of the students live in homes where the guardian is a single mother or a member of the …

Inaugural Conference Of The Mosakowski Institute For Public Enterprise- Program, Jim Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Program for University Research and the American Agenda: Discovering Knowledge, Enabling Leadership. The Inaugural Conference of the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise.

2008 Report Card On Arkansas Schools, Gary Ritter

Education Report Card

Testimony to the House and Senate Education Committee in Little Rock

A Review Of Real Education By Charles Murray, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

It’s Elementary is a series of essays on topics in education and education policy. The main focus is on education finance in New York State, but general research findings in education and education policy issues in several other states are also discussed. John Yinger, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University is the author of most of these essays, although a few are written by or co-authored with other scholars.

Contract Management: A P.A. Education For Boundary Managers., M. Ernita Joaquin

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

Graduates of public administration programs might reasonably be expected to accurately spell out, even in their sleep, POSDCoRB. After all, it was Luther Gulick's rock-hewn formulation of the skills involved in public administration, circa 1937. Almost seven decades later, in their book Governing by Network, Stephen Goldsmith and William Eggers called for a
/="/">cultural transformation in the way we build capacity in the public sector, and, as I see it, crafting a new POSDCoRB for our time.

Assessment Of Kalamazoo County's Education For Employment (Efe) Programs Using 2008 Survey Data, Kevin Hollenbeck, Jason M. Preuss

Reports

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Davenport Promise Concept, George A. Erickcek, Sarah M. Klerk, Brad R. Watts

Reports

The Davenport Promise would provide college scholarships for students living in the City of Davenport. The scholarship can be used to attend any accredited vocational training institute, college, or university of the student's choice. This report provides estimates of the potential fiscal impact of the Davenport Promise on the City of Davenport and the Davenport Public Schools under several alternative scenarios.

2008 Report Card On Arkansas Schools, Gary Ritter

Education Report Card

As part of our effort to monitor K-12 education in Arkansas and provide useful information to all those across the state interested in our schools, this OEP Report on Arkansas Schools provides information on school and student characteristics, the performance of our students on standardized assessments, the achievement gaps between our advantaged and disadvantaged students, and how our students fare when they leave secondary school. Not surprisingly, there is both good news and bad news to be found in the pages that follow.

Dollars For Sense: Assessing Achievement Gaps In Arkansas In The Context Of Substantial Funding Increases, Joshua H. Barnett, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Arkansas Education Reports

Over the last half century, more than forty states across the nation have experienced school finance lawsuits as a consequence of perceived and real funding gaps between rich and poor districts (Rebell, 2001). Arkansas is one such state, with a long history of school funding battles in the courts. The legal challenges began in 1983, when the Arkansas Supreme Court initially found the state's school funding system unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the state constitution .

What Does Naep Tell Us About Student Achievement In Arkansas?, Sarah B. Kent, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Arkansas Education Reports

Recently, policymakers at the Arkansas Department of Education were pleased to release the results of the 2008 Benchmark exams, which indicate more Arkansas students are becoming proficient each year. This is good news for Arkansas, as the Benchmark exam is an Arkansas developed exam used to compare student performance to state standards. Nevertheless, it is also important to take note of how Arkansas students perform compared to students across the nation, which is where the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) plays an important role. The NAEP, also known as “the Nation’s Report Card,” allows student performance to be compared …

A Spatial-Temporal Analysis Of Factors Influencing The Postsecondary Plans Of Indiana Public High School Graduates; 1996-2006, Anna Rosalie Carson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Because a high school graduate's postsecondary expectations influence his or her chances of attaining a Bachelor's degree within eight years, this indicator deserves more consideration than it receives. Using survey results for the postsecondary educational plans of students graduated from Indiana public high schools between 1996 and 2006, this study identifies a typology of four significantly different patterns of postsecondary plans in Indiana school districts. Research literature in geography, political science, and education recognizes educational outcomes, family demographics, and school districts' financial and socioeconomic characteristics as factors that influence college attendance decisions. Many of them differ significantly by the typology …

College Males: Keeping Them Engaged On Your Campus, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

There has been much discussion in the popular media over the last few years to the effect that there is a “crisis” with regard to men in higher education. There have been several angles in these reports, including arguments suggesting that men are declining in student ranks, or that women are outpacing their male counterparts. In any case, these reports have asked questions about where the men are if not in college; and what will be the consequences of this problem in terms of the workforce, families, or the potential nature and future of higher education. One could easily be …

Evaluation Of The Dc Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After Two Years, Patrick J. Wolf, Babette Gutmann, Michael Puma, Brian Kisida, Lou Rizzo, Nada Eissa, Marsha Silverberg

School Choice Demonstration Project

The District of Columbia School Choice Incentive Act of 2003, passed by the Congress in January 2004, established the first federally funded, private school voucher program in the United States. As part of this legislation, the Congress mandated a rigorous evaluation of the impacts of the Program, now called the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP). This report presents findings from the evaluation on the impacts 2 years after families who applied were given the option to move from a public school to a participating private school of their choice.

Collective Bargaining In Public Schools: Superintendents' Perspective, Kyle W. Mayer

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how selected superintendents are experiencing the collective bargaining process. Exploration included an examination of the various roles that selected superintendents have played in the collective bargaining process within rural and suburban school districts in Michigan.

Furthermore, exploration included thematic areas of greatest challenges facing superintendents in recent collective bargaining negotiations. Particular emphasis was given to the style of collective bargaining environment that superintendents reported as most conducive to successful contract negotiations. In addition, the rising cost of health care benefits was a significant point of emphasis within this study.

Twenty-six superintendents from …

The Role Of Assessment In Furthering Student Engagement, Inclusion, And Achievement, Mary Allen, Patricia A. Iannuzzi

Library Faculty Presentations

Assessment is a vital component of any program or initiative in terms of monitoring and strengthening its impact. Assessment involves establishing outcomes (programmatic, learning, etc.), verifying that efforts are aligned with those outcomes, assessing impact, and “closing the loop” by using what is learned to make improvements. This presentation focused on characteristics of quality assessment, such as the need for it to be valid, reliable, actionable, and efficient. AAC&U’s cluster of intellectual and practical skills for a liberal education include inquiry and analysis; critical and creative thinking; written and oral communication; quantitative literacy; and teamwork and problem solving. Information literacy …

Why A Property Tax Cap Is A Bad Idea For New York, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

It’s Elementary is a series of essays on topics in education and education policy. The main focus is on education finance in New York State, but general research findings in education and education policy issues in several other states are also discussed. John Yinger, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University is the author of most of these essays, although a few are written by or co-authored with other scholars.

Where We Go To School: Latino Students And The Public Schools Of Boston, Miren Uriarte, Jie Chen, Mandira Kala

Gastón Institute Publications

Where we go to School: Latino Students and the Public Schools of Boston focuses on the experience of Latino children in the Boston Public Schools (BPS). Using available public data that had not previously been compiled, it aims at the fullest view possible of the Latino school population.

Boston Public Schools is the largest school district in the state, enrolling 56,765 students in AY 2006, the school year that is the focus of this study. School enrollments in Boston have been both shrinking and diversifying. In 2000-2001, for example, enrollments numbered 63,024; just five years later, enrollment was 9.6% lower. …

The Selection Of Public School Principals In The 21st Century By Indiana Public School Superintendents, William C. Reichhart

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study determined what the most important qualities and characteristics Indiana public school superintendents take into consideration when interviewing and selecting an effective principal for their school districts. The study also examined if the superintendent's demographic information influenced the decisions of the superintendents in regards to the importance of selected criteria. 111 A questionnaire was developed by the author and sent to each of the 292 Indiana public school superintendents asking them to rank the selection criteria for each of the four sections on the questionnaire, Background, Management, Human Relations, and Instruction. In addition, demographic variables of size of the …

Comparisons Between High-Performing And Low-Performing Charter Schools, Bonnie J. Stephens

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to explore the common clcmcnls of high performing charter schools that are not present in low performing charlcr schools. Schools ,.vere selected for the study based on a comparison of the performance of their students on stale assessments to the local public school district students. Six charter schools from the Midwest states oflndiana, Illinois and Michigan were studied with a focus on lhc role or the principal, the school mission, teacher development, programming and curriculum and instrnctional philosophies. One major finding was supported: a mission based on high academic achievement for every student that was reflected …

The Role Of The Principal In Leading School Improvement, Marilyn Jane Sudsberry

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to 1) determine the role the principal plays in leading school improvement, and 2) examine the relationship between change implemented and student achievement. Three high-performing, high-needs Title l schools and four low-performing, high-needs Title I schools were identified through lndimm Department of Education data. The high-performing schools met Adequate Yearly Progress in 2006, whereas the low-performing schools did not and were in at least year two of the school improvement cycle. Structured interviews were conducted with the principal and with teams of teachers. The interviews, along with field observations and analysis of the school …

The Preliminary Report Of The New York Commission On Property Tax Relief, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

It’s Elementary is a series of essays on topics in education and education policy. The main focus is on education finance in New York State, but general research findings in education and education policy issues in several other states are also discussed. John Yinger, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University is the author of most of these essays, although a few are written by or co-authored with other scholars.

The Right To Learn Across The Tracks: An Analysis Of School Funding And Integration In Seattle, Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago And Washington, D.C., Erin M. Pollard

Politics Honors Papers

Through examining the levels of integration in public and private schools across the United States, it is clear that the spirit of Brown v. Board of Education was never fulfilled. Students are still learning in an overwhelmingly homogeneous environment. Even in diverse neighborhoods there is a difference: the poor and minority children attend the public schools and the wealthy children attend private school. Thus, the urban public schools remain overwhelmingly minority, while private schools are overwhelmingly white. There is a clear discrepancy between black and white students in terms of size of school and quality of education.

To determine whether …

The State Of Education In Arkansas 2008: How Much Are Arkansas Schools Spending?, Joshua H. Barnett, Gary W. Ritter, Brent E. Riffel

Arkansas Education Reports

Over the last half century, more than forty states across the nation have experienced school finance lawsuits as a consequence of funding gaps between rich and poor districts. Arkansas is one such state, with a long history of school funding battles in the courts. The legal challenges began in 1983, when the Arkansas Supreme Court initially found the state's school funding system unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the state constitution1 . The court found “no legitimate state purpose” and “no rational relationship to educational needs” in the state's method of financing public schools. This initial finding set the …

The Muzzled Dog That Didn’T Bark: Charters And The Behavioral Response Of D.C. Public Schools, Margaret D. Sullivan, Dean B. Campbell, Brian Kisida

School Choice Demonstration Project

As of the 2006-2007 school year, 19,733 students attended charter schools in the District of Columbia, representing over a quarter of the District’s total public school student population and one of the largest charter school markets in the country.1 It is under such circumstances, some suggest, that choice will spur competition, ultimately leading to the improvement of public education. Yet, surprisingly little research has evaluated the behavioral response of public schools in D.C. to this source of competition. Most research to date on school choice in D.C. and elsewhere focuses on the largely positive “participant effects” that school choice programs …

Intratexturealities: The Poetics Of The Freedom Schools, Vonzell Agosto

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

Freedom Schools, which operated during 1964 after the collaborative efforts of several Civil Rights organizations, provided an opportunity to understand how students can drive the curriculum to meet individual and collective needs within a community. The presence and use of poetry throughout the Freedom Schools was mysterious, given that it is virtually absent in the curriculum guide, memos, and documents prepared by the administrative staff members and teachers. Students’ poetry not only revealed the intersections and layers of lived experience, society, and culture, but also their agency in the context of an anti-oppressive education project.

Predicting Attitude Toward Sex Education In Public Schools, Sarah A. Gibson

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the teen pregnancy rate rose by 3% between 2005 and 2006, presenting the first increase since 1991. These findings are troubling in light of the consequences of teen pregnancy to teen mothers, their children, and society in general. Many commentators suggest that one method of reducing the rate of teen pregnancies is through sex education programs, particularly in the public school system. However, despite the fact that discussions of sex education in public school have been present since the 1920s, polls indicate that there is still a portion of the public that …

Reform In New York State’S Education Aid Formula?, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

It’s Elementary is a series of essays on topics in education and education policy. The main focus is on education finance in New York State, but general research findings in education and education policy issues in several other states are also discussed. John Yinger, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University is the author of most of these essays, although a few are written by or co-authored with other scholars.

Assessment Of Kalamazoo County's Education For Employment (Efe) Programs Using 2007 Survey Data, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Jason M. Preuss

Reports

No abstract provided.

Is A Circuit Breaker The Solution For Property Tax Relief In New York?, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

It’s Elementary is a series of essays on topics in education and education policy. The main focus is on education finance in New York State, but general research findings in education and education policy issues in several other states are also discussed. John Yinger, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University is the author of most of these essays, although a few are written by or co-authored with other scholars.

Status Of Latino Education In Massachusetts: A Report, Nicole Lavan, Miren Uriarte

Gastón Institute Publications

Educational reform has brought great improvements in educational outcomes for Massachusetts students. In the past decade, achievement scores have risen for all students in Massachusetts; today the Commonwealth ranks first among all states in the overall National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores. However, it also ranks among the five states with the widest “gap” in achievement between white and Latino students in both NAEP Math and Reading. These gaps in achievement show that the benefits are not reaching all children. Latinos especially, but also African American children, are often left behind in a state with excellent academic institutions. Examining …