Public Policy Commons^™

Army Transformation: What Does It Mean?, David Jerome

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The way in which senior U.S. Army leaders such as the chiefs of staff define transformative change is important, especially if the meaning of that term is to be interpreted as originally intended by Army field grade officers. An Army chief of staff is responsible for creating a vision and establishing goals for the future, and field grade officers are responsible for pursuing that vision and those goals by implementing objectives that endeavor to arrive at the desired ends. By using both qualitative and quantitative methods, this research analyzes what each of the three chiefs of staff, who have served …

Community Participation In Post-Tsunami Redevelopment In Aceh: The Process And Community Members' Perceptions And Preferences, Ichsan Ichsan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation research is to examine the process of community participation and community members' perceptions of and preferences for the participatory approaches in Aceh post-tsunami redevelopment. The research questions are: (1) How has the process of community participation been implemented in the redevelopment of Aceh Province after the tsunami disaster? (2) What are community members' perceptions of community participation in the redevelopment efforts after the Aceh tsunami? (3) What are community members' preferences for the community participation approaches in the redevelopment efforts after the Aceh tsunami?

I employed qualitative and quantitative methods in this study. The four …

Community Expectations Of College Attendance And Completion, Michael Wade Derden

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Communities relay expectations of behavior that influence residents' decision making processes. The study's purpose was to define and identify Social, cultural, and human capital variables relevant to understanding community expectations of postsecondary attainment. The study sought an operational model of community expectancy that would allow policymakers and higher education leaders to recognize the community-level factors affecting student outcomes and then to make appropriate policy adjustments to encourage better outcomes.

(Re)Constituting The Immigrant Body Through Policy: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Narratives Within The Discourses Of The Development, Relief, And Education For Alien Minors Act (Dream Act), Emily Rae Ironside

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using the testimonies surrounding the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) as a primary case study, this project provides a rhetorical investigation of the interplay between narratives, nation building, national identity, policymaking, and the American immigrant. This project first identifies the grand narrative of exclusionary nationalism as the primary narrative constituting the American identity. Then, this project examines the rhetoric of policymakers to demonstrate how an Anglo-Saxonized, elitist notion of American identity is rhetorically constituted by assimilationist, racist, xenophobic, and classist discourses. Moreover, it argues policymakers maintain the narrative dominance of exclusionary nationalism through restrictive immigration …

Milwaukee Longitudinal School Choice Evaluation: Annual School Testing Summary Report 2009-10, Michael Q. Mcshane, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

With the passage of the 2005 Wisconsin Act 125, private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) have been required to administer annual standardized tests in reading, mathematics, and science to their MPCP students enrolled in the 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. The law further directs Choice schools to submit copies of the scores from those tests to the School Choice Demonstration Project for processing and reporting to the Legislative Audit Bureau. During the 2009-10 school year, MPCP schools administered either nationally normed tests, such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, or the state criterion-referenced Wisconsin Knowledge …

Student Attainment And The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Joshua M. Cowen, David J. Fleming, John F. Witte, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

In this report we examine high school completion and postsecondary enrollment (a.k.a. “educational attainment”) of the cohort of 9th grade students who were in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) at the beginning of our state-mandated evaluation of the MPCP in 2006. After tracking the MPCP 9th graders following the 2006-07 year and comparing them to a carefully matched sample of 9th graders who were in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) during the 2006-07 year, we use a combination of parent surveys and administrative (school) records to estimate attainment.

Milwaukee Independent Charter Schools Study: Report On Two- And Three-Year Achievement Gains, John F. Witte, Patrick J. Wolf, Alicia Dean, Deven Carlson

School Choice Demonstration Project

The general purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of Milwaukee’s independent charter schools in promoting student achievement growth. Independent charter schools are authorized by non-school district entities and are considered"independent" because they are not a part of the Milwaukee Public School District (MPS). Throughout the course of this report we will estimate three-year achievement growth for independent charter school students who were in grades 3 through 8 at baseline (2006-07). We will examine four years of scores in reading and math on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination (WKCE). Specifically, the report presents the results of an …

The Comprehensive Longitudinal Evaluation Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Summary Of Fourth Year Reports, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

The eyes of the nation were on the state of Wisconsin, as Republican policymakers locked horns with the teachers union over reforms. The Republicans needed just one Democrat to break ranks in order for them to pass far-reaching policy changes. They finally got their wish when Representative Annette “Polly” Williams (D, Milwaukee) came over to their side. Surprised? That’s because the year was 1990, not 2011, and the farreaching policy reform was the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP).

Mpcp Longitudinal Educational Growth Study Fourth Year Report, John F. Witte, Deven Carlson, Joshua M. Cowen, David J. Fleming, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

This is the fourth-year report in a five-year evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). This report features analyses of student achievement growth three years after we carefully assembled longitudinal study panels of MPCP and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) students in 2006-07. The MPCP, which began in 1990, provides government-funded vouchers for low-income children to attend private schools in the City of Milwaukee. The maximum voucher amount in 2009-10 was $6,442, and 20,899 children used a voucher to attend either secular or religious private schools. The MPCP is the oldest and largest urban school voucher program in the United …

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Descriptive Report On Participating Schools 2009 – 2010, Brian Kisida, Laura I. Jensen, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

This report is the fourth in a series of annual reports produced by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) that will provide descriptive information about the schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP).