Education Policy Commons^™

Research Brief: "A Call To Duty: Educational Policy And School Reform Addressing The Needs Of Children From Military Families", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

The purpose of this study was to identify the unique circumstantial stressors faced by military children and identify what type of educational support can be provided through implementation of supportive educational policies. Further research is necessary for the sustainability of proposed practice and policy.

2012 Northwest Arkansas Report Card, Gary Ritter

Education Report Card

One of the best ways for the Northwest Arkansas community to push our education system forward is to examine the evidence and pay attention to the data. We can learn from both our past successes and challenges. So, we at the OEP are proud to release our 2012 Northwest Arkansas Report Card. We have expended the publication, at the urging of the Northwest Arkansas Council, to include data on resources for K-12 education as well as community profiles and Higher Education indicators. From kindergarten to high school graduation to the highest levels of education and participation in the workforce, we …

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 …

A Case Study Using Principal-Agent Theory To Explore How A Public, Four Year University Interacts With A System Office, Annie Macias

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The focus of this research was to examine the funding relationship between a single public institution of higher education and its accompanying system office. Such a study is important in order to obtain insight into the relationship between a System Office and an institution, and thus how institutions carry out their fiscal responsibilities, not directly to the state but to the System Office they serve. The study provides insight into how the System Office communicates and transacts with an institution regarding financial allocations. Also important is whether that institution receives effective communication and whether the institution's perceived expectations are 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 …

A Historical Case Study Of School Desegregation And Resegregation In Las Vegas, Nevada, 1968-2008, Felicia Forletta

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to document and examine the perspectives of members of a historically African American community located in Las Vegas, Nevada (historic West Las Vegas) concerning equal education and school desegregation and resegregation in the Clark County School District from 1968 to 2008. Using historical case study methods, this study sought to provide a historical description and analysis of the social, political, and cultural contexts that shaped decades of school desegregation and resegregation in this historically African American community. Data sources included: legal cases and court documents; archived news, newsletters, newspaper and magazine articles; (3) Clark …

Still Unknown: The Impact Of School Capital On Student Performance, 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.

Family Policies And Institutional Satisfaction: An Intersectional Analysis Of Tenure-Track Faculty, Heather Lee Schneller

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gender and faculty career advancement have been examined with a focus on academic work environment, including faculty workloads, mentoring relationships, access to research networks, and work-life balance. Previous studies concerned with gender, employment, and care work only have considered child care. Additionally, the exploration of faculty and care work focused specifically on gender instead of examining the interaction of race and gender. To date, no study on academic work-life policies includes faculty perceptions of their importance and effectiveness nor has the faculty assessment of eldercare policy been examined in relation to career success.

Guided by an intersectional perspective, this study …

Education Interest Groups: The Influence Of Networks On Rulemaking And Policy In Public School Reform, Brian Curtis Myli

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A problem for educators and scholars is that there is little understanding of how the agendas of particular interest groups reflect the intent of federal agencies or lawmakers as education policies take shape during the rulemaking process. As a result, it is difficult to determine whether federal education policy is influenced by outside interest groups. The purpose of this study was to provide an understanding of the influence of interest groups during the informal stage of federal rulemaking in education policy. The research questions being examined include: 1) In what ways do different influence the rulemaking process in the development …

An Analysis Of The Legal Obstacles To State Pension Reform, Jeremy Stuart Buck

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Public pension systems are underfunded, straining state budgets. Historically, many states have presumed that they can modify pension benefits only as to newly-hired employees, and that they must leave benefit accruals untouched for current workers. More recently, though, states have begun enacting more fundamental pension reform that modifies future accruals or even reduces cost-of-living allowances for retirees. Nearly all such new reforms have been the subject of one or more lawsuits alleging that the federal and/or state constitution bars the legislature from reducing benefits or accrual patterns. This dissertation examines the legal underpinnings for arguments made against pension reform, and …

Educational Adequacy In Arkansas: Facilities, Reed Greenwood

Arkansas Education Reports

Public school facilities funding was approached somewhat differently from the remainder of the work on public schools resulting from Lake View. A primary concern regarding school facilities was the lack of a comprehensive assessment of some 1200 schools in the state in over 250 independent public school districts. Early in the process, the General Assembly created the Joint Committee on Education Facilities in April 2003. This report covers the work of this Committee from the process of assessment through the reports of the Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities & Transportation, a unit of the Arkansas Department of Education, …

Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High-Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2012, Sarah M. Burks, Caleb P. Rose, Gary W. Ritter

Arkansas Education Reports

No abstract provided.

A Missed Opportunity In California, 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.

Educational Adequacy In Arkansas: Funding, Reed Greenwood

Arkansas Education Reports

The public education system in Arkansas has undergone a significant transformation during the past ten years. This has come about as a result of several factors including the passage and implementation of federal legislation known as the No Child Left Behind Act, the ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court in the Lake View case, and the legislation and executive decisions resulting from the efforts to create an equitable and adequate system of public education in the state.

2011-12 Arkansas Open-Enrollment Charter School Test Results, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Charter schools are receiving more attention in Arkansas and across the nation, as the number of these public schools of choice in Arkansas fluctuates each year. Some charters have been closed, while new ones have been opened. Further, in many media outlets, charter schools are often lumped together as one entity. However, ‘charter school’ is not a blanket term. They are separate schools run under separate charter documents with different operators. In Arkansas, there are two types of charter schools: conversion charter schools and openenrollment charter schools. Conversion charter schools are governed by the leadership in the district in which …

La Educacion Chilena: ¿Derecho Humano O Bien De Consumo?, Simone Nicole Henry

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El tema de este proyecto es el sistema educativo chileno, en términos de los Derechos Humanos y, particularmente, el derecho a la educación del niño. Se busca información sobre el sistema educativo chileno por su historia, su evolución, sus métodos actuales, sus fortaleces y sus debilidades para encontrar el origen de la desigualdad profunda que el sistema sufre y también perpetua. Para obtener esa información, se usaron fuentes primarias y secundarias además de entrevistas de varias personas que participan, directamente o indirectamente, en la educación chilena primaria. Aunque la educación superior en Chile es también un desafío actual, como un …

A Pitch For School Geo-Demography, Robert Lycan, Charles Rynerson

Publications, Reports and Presentations

A presentation that seeks to provide a snapshot of the field of school demography, and briefly outlines the major approached used in school enrollment forecasting. Also shows examples of how contract research leads to interesting research issues, and describes how these can fit into a university setting.

Holding Tax Shares Constant Is A Bad Idea: What The Homestead Tax Option In New York Can Teach Us About Romney’S Income Tax Proposal, 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.

Actores Secundarios En El Movimiento Estudiantil Chileno En 2011 Y 2012: Un Análisis Comparativo De La Asamblea Coordinadora De Estudiantes Secundarios Y La Coordinadora Nacional De Estudiantes Secundarios., Carly Brook

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Chilean student movement, intermittently present in Chile since the beginning of the 20th Through the conduction of personal interviews, utilization of student proposals for a new system of education, occupation of the concepts of social movements of Alain Touraine and concepts of student movements of Manuel Garretón, revision of current news sources, and participant observation, this investigation concludes the dynamic between the ACES and the CONES to be an antagonistic one characteristic of two social actors in competition over control of the definition of the same social resource, a new education system for Chile. It then identifies this antagonism …

What Do Schools Look For In Prospective Teacher? An Analysis Of Teacher Application Data, James V. Shuls, Sarah M. Burks, Gary W. Ritter

Arkansas Education Reports

Across Arkansas, it is safe to say that districts are interested in hiring the best teachers; but how do district leaders attempt to recruit and hire the most effective teachers? How do district leaders attempt to identify which teacher candidates will be the most effective? Recently, a number of school districts have an even greater reason for their new hires to be excellent teachers, because these districts have schools that have been labeled as focus or priority schools, resulting from poor academic performance.

Reforming State Education Aid In New York State, 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.

Houston, We Have A…Solution?, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The Arkansas Department of Education recently released the list of the lowest performing schools in Arkansas—labeled as focus and priority schools. Now that these schools have been singled out, they will be subjected to heavy intervention. Educators and policymakers all over Arkansas have their eyes on these schools and are asking - what's next? How do we turn around lower performing schools? What works? In this policy brief, we outline one particular program—the Apollo 20 program—that is working to turnaround achievement in lower performing schools. Early results show gains comparable with prominent charter schools in the nation, but some criticize …

Common Core State Standards In Arkansas, Caleb P. Rose, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In July 2010, the Arkansas Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards and the PARCC Assessment program. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) then created a strategic plan and a timeline for the implementation of the standards. The new standards were implemented in Arkansas K-2 classrooms this past school year, 2011-12. During this current school year, 2012-13, the standards are being implemented in grades 3-8.

Arkansas’ Esea Waiver Approval Update, Caleb P. Rose, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

On June 29th, 2012, the US Department of Education announced that it had approved Arkansas’s ESEA waiver request. On July 4th, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) announced it had identified 48 Priority and 110 Focus schools. Priority and Focus schools are the new names for the two lowest-rated school performance categories; schools and districts in these categories are subject to ADE intervention. This policy brief explains the major differences between the accountability system under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the new revised system.

2011-2012 Arkansas Test Results, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

On Monday, July 30, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) released the 2011-2012 test score results. The following brief will highlight the results of these tests, compare achievement scores over time, and provide a glimpse of regional achievement results for the following exams:  Benchmark Exam (Grades 3-8)  End-of-Course Exam (Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, and Grade 11 Literacy).  Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Grades 1-9)

Parent And Family Engagement: The Missing Piece In Urban Education Reform, Sonya D. Horsford, Tonia Faye Holmes-Sutton

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

Parent and family engagement in the educational lives of children and youth positively influence student learning and achievement. While this connection may seem obvious, varying ideals of parent engagement limit the ways in which school communities understand, encourage, and benefit from meaningful school‐home‐community interactions. This is frequently the case in culturally diverse, urban communities where education reform has focused heavily on high‐stakes testing, teacher accountability, and school choice, but less on the fragile connections that often exist between schools and the families they serve. The purpose of this policy brief is to review selected research on parent involvement and expand …

The Neglected Minority: Interviews With Successful Community College Students From Poverty, Heather Hollifield-Hoyle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poverty in the US is growing at an alarming rate. The current economic climate demands higher education to embrace the economic diversity of all students and to prepare them, regardless of economic class, for a globally competitive workplace. Unfortunately, the higher education community is not as adept at serving low-income students, as it is middle- and upper- income students. Low-income students are less likely than their more affluent peers to enroll in college or graduate. Employing qualitative narrative methods, this dissertation explores the factors that contributed to the persistence and success of 18, low-income, community college students. This study addresses …

Four Flaws In New York State’S Property Taxes And How To Fix Them: Small Assessment Units, 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.

Language Of Instruction Policies: Discourse And Power, Katherine Ann Dockweiler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study identified the control structures and power relationships that exist in four state language of instruction policies using a neo-institutional and postmodern framework. Policies selected include two states with English-only instruction and two states without. Critical discourse analysis was applied in three phases (individual case, within-group, between group) using a Layers of Analysis Framework. Three key findings emerged. First, policy discourse has the potential to positively or negatively impact students. Second, issues of control and power emerge when misalignments exist between the state and society. Third, discourse style alone does not dictate a state's relationship to society. Recommendations include …

Cyberbullying Policy In Public Schools, Alison Humphries

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many schools and school districts have had direct experience with the negative psychological effects of cyberbullying in their schools, ranging from high profile suicides to lower profile incidents that affect the ability of students to receive an education. Federal, state, and local regulations, as well as mandates from state educational agencies, require schools and school districts to address cyberbullying. Experts advocate that schools play a major role in addressing cyberbullying with anti-bullying policies in general and anti-cyberbullying policies in particular. This study presents case study portraits of two exemplary school districts, with a comparison to similar school districts, suggesting that …