Public Policy Commons^™

Making The Invisible Challenges And Opportunities Visible, Maureen A. Scully, Lisa Deangelis, Katie Bates

Emerging Leaders Program Team Projects

The 41 fellows in the 2015 Emerging Leaders Program worked with community partners to generate the theme, “Making the Invisible Challenges and Opportunities Visible: Collaborative leadership for economic and social well-being."

The projects provide fellows an opportunity to practice elements of collaborative leadership in peer-led teams working with multiple stakeholders. The projects focus on civic engagement, building a leadership base for Greater Boston that is ready to tackle the big challenges that ensure the broader economic and social well-being of the region. The project sponsor with whom each team works is a nonprofit or governmental organization with big goals. Each …

Torch (May 2015), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

An Embedded Case Study Of The Proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Statute & The Proposed Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Statute, James Vines

All Dissertations

The purpose of this explanatory, embedded case study was to understand why the proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention statute and the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment statute did not passed. The data for the study was conducted through direct observations of congressional committee hearings, document analysis and open-ended interviews. The proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention statute addresses cyberbullying by imposing criminal sanctions. The proposed Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Statute seeks to provide federal grants to institutions of higher education to implement anti-harassment programs. The findings revealed that vague terminology, language dealing with LGBT people and sexual orientation as well …

The Limits Of Federal Disability Law: State Educational Voucher Programs, Wendy Hensel

Faculty Publications By Year

The U.S. Department of Justice is currently investigating the state of Wisconsin with respect to its administration of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), which provides low-income students with public money to attend private schools. Faced with complaints of disability discrimination by private schools accepting voucher students, DOJ has ordered Wisconsin to oversee and police these schools to ensure compliance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which applies to states and their agencies, and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which applies to recipients of federal funding. Although conditioning its directive on the state's coverage under these …

2015 Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar, Emily M. Douglas Ph.D., Melinda Gushwa Ph.D., Licsw, Martha J. Henry Ph.D.

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Mission Critical: Reforming Foster Care and Child Protective Services is the sixth Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar. It is designed to emphasize a family perspective in policymaking on issues related to reforming foster care and child protective services in the Commonwealth. In general, Family Impact Seminars analyze the consequences an issue, policy, or program may have for families.

A Democracy, If We Can Keep It: Democratic Engagement Policy In Higher Education, Maegan Gorham

Theses and Dissertations

Students will be called upon as American citizens to be knowledgeable, engaged, contributing citizens, and higher education plays a part in the development of this role. Engagement must surpass simple volunteerism in order to more fully realize the potential benefit of democracy and democratic engagement activities. In turn, institutions must respond effectively and responsibly, making informed decisions about educating all students in the safest manner possible. This exploratory policy analysis, with embedded legal research, explores the policy issue, "Is higher education the appropriate venue for instruction on democratic engagement and, if so, do the benefits and rewards of instruction on …

Torch (March 2015), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Unionization On University Performance, Mark Cassell, Odeh Halaseh

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

This study examines faculty unions’ impact on the organizational efficiency and effectiveness of public four-year institutions of higher learning. The article theorizes the causal connections between faculty unions to higher education performance. The study also presents results of a cross-sectional time series analysis and a cross-sectional analysis of higher education performance using data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Post Secondary Data System (IPEDS) spanning more than two decades and over 430 public universities and colleges. We find support for the view that unionization improves organizational efficiency and effectiveness. At the same time the research raises important methodological and substantive …

Guide To The 1948-1990 Archive Of The Inter-University Case Program, Edwin A. Bock

Public Administration - All Scholarship

Between 1948 and 1990, the Inter-University Case Program (ICP)—named during its early years “The Committee on Public Administration Cases” (CPAC)—published five case books and 170 individual studies of government policy-making and administration. The Program was created by educators who had spent over three years working in Washington wartime agencies. They wanted to show their post-war university students an aspect of public administration that was largely ignored by prewar textbooks: namely, the civil servant’s role in the making and carrying out of public policies. And they wanted to demonstrate to professors of public administration who had not had personal experience at …

Torch (January 2015), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Determinants Of Turnover Intent In Higher Education: The Case Of International And U.S. Faculty, Jaehee Park

Theses and Dissertations

In spite of the increase in the number of the international academic workforce and their potential benefits, international status has been relatively under-studied in Public Management and Higher Education literature in comparison with studies of age, gender, and race. Given these realities, the present study identifies characteristics of internal and external variables that influence international and U.S. faculty turnover intentions in a large public South Eastern research university.

To understand the variations in short-term and long-term turnover levels while controlling for various demographic, structural, and external variables, eight Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analysis were performed using turnover intentions as …

Pace, Academic Progress, And The Antecedents Of Student Motivation, Aaron Randall Hiatt

Master's Theses

The research examined the impact of the pace requirement of the 2010 program integrity legislation at a single graduate institution to gauge its potential for fulfilling the legislation’s stated purpose of increased likelihood of student success. The study determined that there have been changes in registration behavior (particularly in course drop behavior that reduces the number of credits calculated as attempted each semester) since the case institution introduced the pace requirement in Fall 2011. An increase in course completion efficiency was also found. The doctoral candidacy qualifying phase was singled out for a more refined examination, which was loosely tracked …

Bill 13 (The Accepting Schools Act): Ontario Legislation Mandating Support For Lgbt Students In Publicly-Funded Schools, Renato M. Liboro Jr.

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Twenty-six key stakeholders from schools in Waterloo Region, Ontario, participated in semi-structured, open-ended interviews for this dissertation. They included students, teachers, school board representatives in administrator and superintendent roles, trustees, and community service providers. This study explored the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth in publicly-funded schools, the effect of those experiences on their mental health and well-being, and the success of strategies, programs, and policies implemented by schools to address LGBT youth issues. It also examined the perspectives of participants on Bill 13, Ontario’s Accepting Schools Act, particularly strengths and weaknesses of the bill in terms …

Causes Of Low Voter Turnout Of The Hispanic Population In Southwest Texas, Shawn Steven Morrow

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Hispanic population in central Texas tends to have low levels of civic engagement as compared to other groups in the same area, which leads to disproportionate political marginalization. Prior research has focused on characteristics of voters and nonvoters, but has failed to explore the lack of political mobilization among Hispanic voters. The purpose of this study was twofold; first to better understand the nature of Hispanic voters' political marginalization, and second, explore why participation levels are so low among this group. This general qualitative study applied critical race theory to explore the barriers perceived by Hispanic voters related to …

Racism Vs. Social Capital: A Case Study Of Two Majority Black Communities, Bruce W. Strouble

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several researchers have identified social capital as a means to improve the social sustainability of communities. While there have been many studies investigating the benefits of social capital in homogeneous White communities, few have examined it in Black homogeneous communities. Also, there has been limited research on the influence of racism on social capital in African American communities. In this dissertation a comparative case study was used within a critical race theory framework. The purpose was to explore the role of racial oppression in shaping social capital in majority African American communities. Data were collected from 2 majority Black communities …

Social Inequality: Cultural Racism As A Predictor Of Collegiate Academic Success, Natasha L. Ball

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The economic sustainability of an area is largely dependent on the education level of its population, yet little is known about the role cultural racism may play in academic success. The purpose of this correlational study was to evaluate the theory of cultural racism, defined as, the establishment of cultural institutions by whites/Europeans to the detriment of non-white people, as it relates to academic success at the college level. Data were collected from 100 participants from 3 predominately African American high schools in the Atlanta, Georgia area to explore whether the presence of cultural racism existed from the perspective of …

Army Medics With College Degrees Who Transitioned To Civilian Life, Alex Giberson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Few colleges and universities have adopted the practice to provide credits for the majority of undergraduate coursework for military career training. Easing the transition from military to civilian life has become a priority for the Department of Defense, yet there is a significant gap in empirical knowledge regarding the potential benefits of a college degree on soldiers exiting the military. The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of Army Medics who have transitioned back into civilian life after graduating from a college degree program that grants significant credit for military training. This phenomenological study used a …

Student Visa Control And Information Exchange, Lisa Bellamy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Expired student visas can contribute to illegal residence in the U.S. and may also be a valuable source of information for Homeland Security. Although the reason for remaining in the U.S. might be for nonthreatening purposes, threatening actions could occur as an individual gets lost in the country. The purpose of this study was to determine how visas were issued, the reasons an individual may remain beyond the approved visa date, and the mechanisms intelligence and law enforcement agencies use to exchange information with each other. This research was based on the new war theory and the Lockwood Analytical Method …

Improving High School Service-Learning To Increase Long-Term Impact On Volunteerism, Tracey Boldemann Tatkin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Passage of the Kennedy Serve America Act in 2009 led to wide support for service-learning programs in high schools. The effectiveness of these programs on future volunteerism in college, however, has not been established. In the absence of research clarifying the variables that might influence programming effectiveness, it is difficult to design and adapt such programs to increase their impact. This study explored how high school service-learning programs could be improved to encourage greater student participation and to motivate continued volunteerism in college. A multiple case study methodology was used that included face-to-face interviews with 7 teachers and service-learning coordinators …

College Mission Change And Neoliberalism In A Community And Technical College, Christine Mollenkopf-Pigsley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Administrators of 2-year colleges are working in an environment where they seek to balance the social development of the student and the community's demand for a trained workforce to achieve economic development. This balance has resulted in ambiguity about the mission and purpose of 2-year colleges. The purpose of this case study was to explore a community college's experiences with mission change by exploring the interaction between a neoliberal public policy environment and the traditional social democratic mission of academia. Harvey's conceptualization of neoliberalism was used as the theoretical framework. Data were collected through 15 semi-structured interviews with members of …

Site Visitation: School Leaders' Perceptions Of A Diagnostic Tool For School Improvement, Mary Shannon C. Chiasson

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This case study explored the use of site-visitation as a diagnostic tool for school improvement. Nine charter schools in New Orleans were selected for the study. Based on qualitative research and systems theory, a within- and cross-case analysis of nine semi-structured interviews with school leaders were conducted. The school leaders’ experiences with the state-run site-visitation model and their use of the findings for school improvement was explored. The findings led to the development of a hybrid accountability model that encompasses the components school leaders believe will lead to school improvement. This study aims to assist educators, policy makers, and researchers …

The Role Of Higher Education In Rural Community Development, Anita Faye Thompson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Higher education institutions commonly play a role in community development. Rural communities may be even more dependent on the university's investment. As higher education has looked to meet demands of stakeholders calling for greater accountability, it has become necessary for universities to be able to justify the effectiveness of these efforts. The purpose of this study was to determine the elements necessary for successful rural community development in Western Oklahoma. Utilizing the Delphi research method, 20 community development experts in rural Western Oklahoma participated in the three-round survey process. In the initial survey, participants collectively submitted a list of 41 …

Educational Effects Of State Actions Banning Access To In-State Resident Tuition Rates For Unauthorized Immigrant Students, Luis Alexander Villarraga Orjuela

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research studies the effects of state laws banning access to in-state resident tuition (ISRT) rates and other educational benefits for unauthorized immigrant students (UIS) in five states: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, and Ohio. It measures the overall effect of policies denying ISRT that were implemented between 2005-2012 in the United States.

Three potential effects are evaluated. First, the study estimates the policy effects on the college enrollment of UIS. Because the policy does not deny access to higher education institutions, the possibility exists for this population to attend public or private colleges. However, facing higher costs (i.e., out-of-state tuition) …

State Funding Decision-Making For Higher Education Institutions During Capital Campaigns, Everrett Alexander Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Public higher education has experienced a decline in state funding in real dollars. This has created financial challenges for many students and their families, as well as institutions.

Tax revenue has decreased as a result of the economic recession, causing state leaders to reprioritize their fiscal responsibilities. Higher education has been viewed as a discretionary expense in competition with other state programs, so funding can, and often, does vary. Colleges and universities use alternative financial resources, most notably private fundraising, to meet their goals. The study was conducted to identify college leaders' perceptions of state funding during their institution's mega-capital …

Torch (November 2014), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Former Mentors' Perceptions Of The Faith-Based Approach To Reducing Recidivism Implemented By The Marinette-Menominee Jail Outreach, Inc., James Langteau

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative, hermeneutic phenomenological study was to examine the impact of a faith-based approach to reduce recidivism. The theoretical frameworks guiding this study included the belief system and self-efficacy theories. Participants consisted of a convenience sample of 21 former mentors of the Marinette-Menominee Jail Outreach. The setting was a Christian non-profit organization serving the Marinette and Menominee County Jails located in rural northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Semistructured interviews, surveys, and a focus group provided data to illuminate common themes. Data analysis included highlighting significant statements from volunteer mentors who engaged offenders to effect …

The Development And Design Of The Common Core State Standards For Mathematics, Jason Zimba

New England Journal of Public Policy

As one of the lead writers of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, I begin by explaining what the standards are, what they are not, and how they were developed. Then I detail some ways in which the standards differ from previous state standards. Finally, I describe some of the developments I have seen in the implementation of the standards and the key developments I would like to see in the future.

Sustaining The Teaching Profession, Ronald Thorpe

New England Journal of Public Policy

Within the United States and across nations, there seems to be consensus that teacher quality is the most important school-based variable in determining how well a child learns. While such an observation hardly sounds like headline news, it is a milestone in the development of teaching as a profession. It suggests where investments should be made if people really are serious about student learning. It also explains why policymakers and the public should care about what it means to be an effective teacher and what it will take to create and sustain a teaching workforce defined by accomplished practice. Teachers, …

What Can Pisa Tell Us About U.S. Education Policy?, Linda Darling-Hammond

New England Journal of Public Policy

Despite years of attention to “reform” in the United States, overall achievement on international assessments such as PISA has not improved during the period from 2000 to 2012. Reforms focused on high-stakes testing attached to sanctions, expansions of charter schools, and a market-based approach to teaching have been unsuccessful in changing outcomes. Meanwhile, growing childhood poverty, along with increasing segregation, income inequality, and disparities in school spending, have expanded the opportunity gap. Lessons from other nations and successful states indicate that systematic government investments in high-need schools along with capacity-building that improves the knowledge and skills of educators and the …

The National Commission On Education Excellence And Equity: Hypotheses About Movement Building, Christopher Edley Jr.

New England Journal of Public Policy

In 2013, the congressionally chartered national Commission on Education Equity and Excellence issued unanimous recommendations for P–12 policy changes at the federal, state, and local levels. This remarkably broad consensus, with unusual pragmatism and concreteness, is comprehensive in its scope and predominantly research based. As a clarion call and reform strategy, the commission report, For Each and Every Child, is a successor to A Nation at Risk (1983); the commission’s grand if not grandiose intention was to provide a framework for the next decade or more of nationwide policy struggle. This article, after briefly summarizing the recommendations, focuses on …