Education Policy Commons^™

South Carolina School District Takeover: A Critical Policy Analysis, David Osworth

Theses and Dissertations

School takeover is a reform strategy where a school or district is placed into the control of a state or municipal government agency. Takeover has become increasingly popular in many states as an attempt to improve schools and district that are struggling either academically or financially. Takeover, however, is more likely to be implemented in districts serving a higher proportion of Black students. Due to the racialized nature of this policy this study uses a Critical Race Theory (CRT) methodology to engage in a critical policy analysis of school takeover in one rural school district in South Carolina. This study …

Submission To The National Skills Taxonomy Discussion Paper, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Shaping educational policy

This brief submission in response to the National Skills Taxonomy (NST) Discussion Paper relates to the vision for the NST (2.3), relative to other parts of the skills system architecture; and design considerations that support NST’s alignment to other taxonomies (3.1).

Middle School Co-Teacher’S Experiences Using Restorative Practices In Inclusive Environments To Support The Learning Of Students Of Color With Special Needs, Mynda J. Massey-Vukovic

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have shown that restorative processes in middle school improve adolescents’ social and emotional skills during a critical time in their academic development, and educational systems worldwide have developed multitiered systems of support to ensure that restorative processes are integrated into the learning culture. This narrative study aimed to explore middle school educators’ experiences with the implementation of restorative practices and their perceptions of how the strategies within the practices affected the academic engagement of students of color receiving special education services in inclusive settings. The four pillars of social control theory (attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief) and facets of …

Reflecting On, Resetting, And Reimagining Schools In The Post-Pandemic Context: A Case Study In Rural Vermont, Rachel A. Glickman

Dissertation Collection

This qualitative study examines the experiences of public elementary teachers and school leaders to better understand the shifting of educational priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants share ideas and practices while taking action steps and making recommendations to improve teaching and learning. The research incorporates both case study and action research approaches through a critical inquiry process that centers the voices of those on the front lines of education. This study contributes to the field of Comparative and International Education (CIE) using the original conceptual framework of Institutional Border Theory of Education (IBTE). IBTE draws on pre-existing foundational theories of …

Essays On Education And Labor Market Outcomes, Ishita Ahmed

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation focuses on the labor market or educational outcomes using applied microeconomic methods. Chapter 1 investigates the impact of waiting an additional year to start kindergarten on the socioeconomic achievement gap in Nebraska using longitudinal administrative data from the Nebraska Department of Education. I utilize fuzzy regression discontinuity design to find the effect of waiting on test scores. I find waiting a year to improve the test score, and this impact fades away over time. This fading pattern shows a considerable amount of heterogeneity across different demographic groups, suggesting an acceleration of the achievement gap. The study also investigates …

The Effects Of Grading Equity Practices On Students: Do Student Perceptions Of And Teachers’ Exposure To Grading Equity Practices Matter?, Sarah Ruth Morris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines grading practices within schools, tracing the evolution from traditional to modern approaches and highlighting the social dimensions and debates surrounding grading. Through a mixed-methods study spanning three empirical chapters, it explores students' and teachers' perceptions of grading practices, the impact of professional development (PD) on teachers' approaches to grading equity, and the resultant effects on student outcomes. Chapter Two reveals students' preferences for practices that recognize effort and support academic growth, alongside a tension between Pre-AP students' resistance and the support from students under high stress. Chapter Three finds that while PD can shift teachers' views …

The Growth And Governance Of American Classical And Christian Schools, Cassidy Syftestad Klutts

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Classical and Christian education has proliferated across education sectors over the last decade. As a result, school leaders must implement these timeless philosophies of education and navigate such high demand. This dissertation seeks to equip relevant parties with research about what drives their skyrocketing enrollment and how to support school leaders and their governing boards. My first chapter uses in-person focus groups to understand the school choices of 25 parents whose children are enrolled in Texas-based classical charter schools. I explore the ways in which parents found their children’s school; what made them enroll their children; and whether they are …

Exposing The Pervasive Culture Of Whiteness At Predominantly White Institutions: A Narrative Analysis Of White Deans Of Students' Understanding And Role In Responses To Campus Racial Incidents, Jennifer Helen Reid

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Deeply embedded in U.S. higher education institutions is a culture of whiteness that benefits white students, staff, faculty, and administrators through racist policies, structures, and cultural norms designed to uphold whiteness. This culture not only minimizes the presence of racism, but also is pervasive on college campuses, where administrators often fail to recognize blatant racism and treat ongoing campus racial incidents as isolated events. Despite the frequency of racial incidents, campus responses are typically ineffective, failing to address the underlying institutional practices that reinforce white supremacy and further harm those affected. This study explored the experiences of white deans of …

First Year Earnings And Debt In The Mountain West, Mohit Pande, Ivan Sun, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet examines data from the Georgetown University report, “Buyer Beware: First-Year Earnings and Debt for 37,000 College Majors at 4,400 Institutions,” comparing and ranking the earnings, debt, and earnings net of debt based on post-secondary educational level. This fact sheet focuses on state-level data on first year earning and debt for five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Graduates Of Southern Nevada Public High Schools And Unlv, 2010-2022, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet reports data for individuals who earned both a diploma from a high school in Southern Nevada and a bachelor’s degree at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) between 2010 and 2022, as well as the race/ethnicity and gender of these graduates.

Stepparenting And Schooling: Challenges, Reconstitutions, And Outsider Perceptions, Christopher Repa

Dissertations

This study examined the challenges stepparents face in schooling their high-school aged children. An analysis of how stepfamily formation can impact this process was also investigated. The sample included 13 families composed of one biological and one non-biological parent with at least one child between the ages of 14 and 18 who was currently attending high school. Stepparents were asked to share their experiences with other family members, the school, and the community as they related to the education of their stepchildren. The primary research focus was to identify difficulties and successes that stepparents encounter as they engage with schools …

Indigenous Practices In Head Start Classrooms— Toward Survivance And Indigenization In Policy And Practice, Liza Xet Smith

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The Office of Head Start has prioritized holistic quality education services for children and communities in greatest need. First, since 1965, the federal government has funded, regulated, and publicly aided over 38 million children through Head Start programming, including AIAN and Migrant programs (Administration for Children and Families, n.d.). In 2019, over $10 billion was budgeted for the program, resulting in 1,047,000 low-income children and their families receiving services (Office of Head Start, 2022a). In addition, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation has funded research to improve quality and child outcomes, with research recommendations that significantly guide state and …

U.S. News & World Report 2024 Graduate Program Rankings, Unlv & Unr, Madison Dwyer, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents 2024 graduate program rankings for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and for the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) based on the data published in spring 2024 by U.S. News and World Report. The graduate program categories reported include business, education, engineering, fine arts, law, medicine and health care, sciences and mathematics, and social sciences and humanities.

Adopting Oer Course Materials: Instructor Experiences, Jenny Ceciliano

Dissertations and Theses

Traditional commercial textbooks used in postsecondary courses are often problematic due to their rigidity, tendency to mirror the dominant culture, and the substantial cost imposed upon students. Although replacing these texts with open educational resources (OER) can facilitate more equitable and inclusive pedagogical practices while removing a significant expense, there has been insufficient research surrounding instructors' experience of transitioning from a commercial textbook to OER course materials. Through semi-structured interviews with nine postsecondary instructors who teach with OER course materials, this basic qualitative study explores the experience of that transition. The findings indicate that adopting OER is a challenging and …

An Examination Of The Perceptions Of Campus Safety Among Full-Time Faculty At Virginia Community Colleges, Hailey Ann Hermosa

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The view that colleges are generally safe has been challenged by threats of violence on campuses across the country, causing fear among stakeholders. Community college faculty are not immune to crime-related fear on campus; however, the research has largely ignored this population. This research serves to fill that gap.

The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative study was to examine perceptions of campus safety among full-time faculty at Virginia community colleges. An electronic Likert-type scale survey was disseminated to a sample of 472 full-time faculty throughout seven Virginia community colleges of varying sizes. Of those, 135 (28.7%) voluntarily participated in the …

Transforming School Leadership: An Examination Of The Impetus And Evolution Of An Internal District Principal Preparation Program, Whitney Szoke

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

School districts, faced with increasing shortages in the education profession, are leveraging internal district strategies to recruit and grow their educators. In addition to preparing and credentialing new educators, districts are turning inward to cultivate their leadership pipeline. This case study explores a post-credential inner-district principal preparation program in a large school district in the Mid-Atlantic region. Participants were central office leaders involved in creating and developing the program. This study's findings reveal insights into the creation and development of an inner-district principal preparation program and how initiatives are shaped and influenced during the development phase. Central office leaders were …

Shattering The Mask: Unveiling The Destructive Force Of Misogynoir, Ledominique Hubbard

Dissertations

As a Black woman, my professional journey has been consistently marred by encounters with racism and gender bias. In this research, I employed autoethnography to shed light on my experiences and meticulously examine the challenges of misogynoir I faced while holding pivotal positions, including that of a detested team leader, an ingenious instructional teacher, and an anti-racist assistant principal across three distinct school campuses in two states. My narrative unfolds in various contexts, notably as the sole Black female teacher and team leader within nine elementary schools in a predominantly white, female-staffed rural district. Furthermore, I underscore my role as …

Understanding The Relationship Between Teacher Turnover And Student Success Across Ethno-Racial And Socioeconomic Demographics: An Analysis Of Massachusetts Public Schools, Jenna O'Leary

Master's Theses

Teacher turnover in the U.S. has risen over the past decades. Urban districts have faced some of the highest rates of turnover amongst their staff. However, scholars still debate the impacts of teacher turnover on student academic success. This study aims to better understand this relationship across both ethno-racial and socioeconomic student demographics, as well as school region type. To accomplish this, student test scores, across demographics, on the Next Generation MCAS state standardized test are observed in relation to teacher retention across three year cycles (2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019). Using correlation analysis and t-tests, it is found that there is …

Culturally Responsive Leadership For Newcomer Students: A Case Study Of An Elementary Newcomer Program School Leadership Team, Ahmad Fayaz Amiri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study focuses on the pivotal role of an urban elementary school leadership team with a newcomer program. It aims to uncover how school leadership decisions, practices, and policies address the diverse needs of newcomer students. Challenges faced by newcomers, including economic and social needs, cultural adjustments, and potential feelings of alienation despite academic success, are explored. The tension between preserving home culture and adapting to a new one adds complexity to newcomer students’ identity formation.

This study examines the practices of a newcomer school leader who addresses the diverse needs of vulnerable newcomer students. With schools being …

The Applications And Implications Of A (Re)Humanizing Praxis For Early Childhood Educational Contexts, Kristopher M. Tetzlaff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dehumanizing preschool policies and practices and a lack of access to affordable, (re)humanizing early childhood educative experiences threatens to exacerbate the opportunity gap and deleterious preschool-to-prison pipeline. The purpose of this study was threefold; foremost, it aspired to elevate the role and power of critical resource pedagogies in individual and collective liberation. Second, it aimed to identify vital pedagogical and programmatic assets that advance the pursuit of mutual humanization in early childhood educational settings. Third, it sought to discern and address the pedagogical and programmatic limitations and systemic barriers that otherwise impede access to high quality early childhood programming. In …

Spatial Analysis Of Transgender And Gender Diverse Students’ Mental Health And School Board Policies In Colorado And Montana, Elizabeth Heiny

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

As the number of policies impacting transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people increase among school boards, understanding the impacts these policies have on mental health is important. These policies can be positive or negative. Using geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze where better mental health and TGD impacting policies are correlated can offer clear results on where students mental health is affected by these policies in Colorado and Montana. This study found that TGD impacting policies did not explain the majority of variation in mental health index score. Positive or negative correlations between the mental health index and policy positivity …

The Power Behind Postsecondary Attainment Goals: A Critical Policy Discourse Analysis, Casey Mccoy-Simmons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examined neoliberal discourses upheld by policy actors engaged in the college completion agenda that perpetuated power structures maintaining white supremacy by relying on the success of racially marginalized communities to meet postsecondary attainment goals. With philanthropic foundations playing an increased role in advancing an advocacy-focused agenda to increase postsecondary attainment across states, there was also a need to better understand the relationship between state policy actors and foundations. As a national champion of postsecondary attainment goals, I identified the Lumina Foundation as a key policy actor in leveraging its advocacy-focused agenda to influence state policy actors …

A Critical Policy Analysis Of Universal Preschool In Colorado: Its Roots, Intentions, And Development, Jamita Horton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High-quality preschool experiences are essential for preparing four-year-old children for a successful transition to kindergarten, benefiting them academically, emotionally, socially, and physically. However, access to such preschools remains limited, particularly for children from marginalized communities. This qualitative critical policy analysis examines transitioning from the targeted Colorado Preschool Program (CPP) to a universal preschool approach through the 2022 Colorado House Bill 1295: Department of Early Childhood and Universal Preschool Program. Drawing on Young and Diem's (2017) framework for critical policy analysis, this study explores the roots, development, and potential implications of the universal preschool policy.

This study analyzes documents and audio …

Changing The Narrative: Student Empowerment In Unequal School Contexts, Stephanie A. Nisle-Mikos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educational experiences affect a wide variety of life outcomes for individuals. The type of education an individual receives influences their occupation, the neighborhood in which they live, and even their risk of mortality (National Research Council, 2013; Sasson, 2016). In particular, the life trajectories of students who attend high-poverty schools are not the same as youth who attend schools with greater resources (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2013; Taylor, 2005). In this dissertation, I provide a brief background on current rates of disproportionality in education and examine how specific theoretical constructs and educational policies may be used to explain …

The Impacts Of The Higher Education Expansion On Education Quality In China : Evidence From Shenzhen University, Yousong Lun

Lingnan Theses (Doctoral degree)

Within the expansion of higher education in China, education quality should be considered into the process of reform and establishment, which is highly related to the resources of faculty and performances of management. It is crucial that universities sustainably conduct diverse academic research and meet the needs of community. Faced with the policy reform and opening up, China has more opportunities on cooperating with oversea education institutions and taking in overseas management system. This research explores the general quality assessment on higher education and the solution to balance the needs of domestic society and the growth of international education competitiveness, …

Black Superintendents’ Perceptions On The Effectiveness Of Diversity And Equity Professional Development In New Jersey Schools, Tanisha Hinton

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Providing an accessible and equitable education for all students has been an ongoing process mandated by the Managing for Equality and Equity initiative to close the achievement and opportunity gaps among students. This qualitative study examined Black superintendents' perspectives about the effectiveness and impact of diversity, equity, and inclusive initiatives in majority White staffed school districts in New Jersey. Furthermore, the study explored the perceptions of Black superintendents across different regions of New Jersey to understand if there were significant differences in how DEI initiative was perceived. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 Black superintendents and the data was analyzed …

Effects Of Plc At Work In Arkansas On Academic Outcomes, Sarah Mckenzie, Kate Barnes, Charlene Reid

Policy Briefs

This study evaluates the impact of Solution Tree’s Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at Work model on the academic achievement and growth of students in Arkansas schools. It provides the first large-scale evaluation of the PLC at Work model’s effectiveness in improving student academic outcomes. Using publicly available data from the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), the analysis uses a two-stage matching process and an event study framework to determine the effectiveness of PLC at Work across six cohorts. The findings hold significant implications for policymakers, educators, and researchers interested in leveraging professional development to enhance educational practices and student outcomes. …

Professional Learning Communities And Student Outcomes: A Quantitative Analysis Of The Plc At Work Model In Arkansas Schools, Kate Barnes, Sarah Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This study evaluates the impact of the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at Work model on student achievement and growth in Arkansas schools. Implemented through a partnership between the Arkansas Department of Education and Solution Tree, the program promotes collaborative professional development among educators. Using a matching process and an event study framework, we analyze longitudinal data on student performance in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics from multiple cohorts of schools.

The overall results reveal mixed outcomes. While no statistically significant improvements were observed in overall student achievement or growth, there were concerning trends for economically disadvantaged students. This subgroup …

Building A Foundation For Racial And Ethnic Equity: Estimated Impacts Of Massachusetts Legislation To Expand Affordable Quality Child Care And Early Education, Randy Albelda, Alan Clayton-Matthews, Anne Douglass, Christa Kelleher, Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson, Songtian Zeng

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

A multi-disciplinary UMass Boston team of researchers through the Early Education Cost and Usage Simulator Project (CUSP) seeks to better understand some of the impacts of expanding financial assistance to families for child care and early education. The team has developed and uses a statistical model that simulates parents’ decisions about care usage to estimate how much more licensed care might be needed in Massachusetts and what employment and income changes may take place with increased utilization of affordable licensed quality child care and early education. The team’s October 2023 brief provided findings for all families and children in the …

Building A Foundation For Racial And Ethnic Equity: Estimated Impacts Of Massachusetts Legislation To Expand Affordable Quality Child Care And Early Education Executive Summary, Randy Albelda, Alan Clayton-Matthews, Anne Douglass, Christa Kelleher, Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson, Songtian Zeng

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

A multi-disciplinary UMass Boston team of researchers through the Early Education Cost and Usage Simulator Project (CUSP) seeks to better understand some of the impacts of expanding financial assistance to families for child care and early education. The team has developed and uses a statistical model that simulates parents’ decisions about care usage to estimate how much more licensed care might be needed in Massachusetts and what employment and income changes may take place with increased utilization of affordable licensed quality child care and early education. The team’s October 2023 brief provided findings for all families and children in the …