Pipeline To Failure: Social Inequality And The False Promises Of American Public Schooling, Adia Wilson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My experience as a New York City public school student was absolutely electrifying, though filled with many trials. While my mother would have preferred to put me in private school, having access to some of the world’s greatest institutions and resources offered unique opportunities and exposures. The performing arts provided me with an outlet to express myself and build skills and confidence. In particular, dance education kept me occupied and disciplined in a large city full of danger. Every so often, I witnessed hostile, or even violent exchanges between students, or students and staff. While some of my schoolmates became …

Priorities For School Safety: The Alignment Between Federal And State School Safety Legislation And Safety Needs As Perceived By Education Stakeholders In Florida Private Schools For Exceptional Students, Anthony D. Mortimer

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the apparent threat assessment priorities of potential risks to safety in the school environment in the United States and whether stakeholders in Florida private schools that serve exceptional students agree with the priority given to specific identified potential threats. Faculty and staff, high school students, and the students’ parents and guardians at four Florida private schools for exceptional students rated their perceptions of the severity and likelihood of occurrence of nine potential threats identified in a review of federal and Florida state school safety laws and national and state government surveys of incident occurrences. Results showed that …

“Undocumented” Ways Of Navigating Complex Sociopolitical Realities In Higher Education: A Critical Race Counterstory, Alonso R. Reyna Rivarola

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

In the United States, undocumented students must navigate complex sociopolitical realities to access and succeed in higher education. These complex sociopolitical realities are shaped by federal policies on education and immigration, state-specific legislation on education and public policy, as well as general attitudes regarding race, immigration, and nationalism in the U.S. In this manuscript, I weave in counter-storytelling to document some of the ways one undocumented student accessed and navigated U.S. higher education. I begin by reviewing the national and state policy contexts that affect undocumented students in the U.S. I focus a state policy analysis in Utah, as one …

A Narrative Policy Analysis Of The Responses To Tennessee Promise And Plans For Transfer Receptivity By Six Tennessee Public Universities' Presidents And Provosts, Lori Elliott Buchanan

Dissertations

The Tennessee Promise scholarship and mentoring program broadened access and affordability to postsecondary education in Tennessee. This policy innovation increased the number of students seeking to engage in postsecondary education. It also shifted some of the state’s students to the more affordable community colleges and colleges of applied technology for their first two years of college. Equally important, Tennessee Promise incentivized the presidents and provosts of the six public universities under review to expand existing transfer receptivity efforts as their universities prepared to receive and support Tennessee Promise community college student transfers.

The purpose of this narrative policy analysis based …

Workforce Well-Being: Personal And Workplace Contributions To Early Educators' Depression Across Settings, Amy M. Roberts, Kathleen C. Gallagher, Alexandra Daro, Iheoma Iruka, Susan Sarver

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

Building on research demonstrating the importance of teachers' well-being, this study examined personal and contextual factors related to early childhood educators' (n =1640) depressive symptoms across licensed child care homes, centers, and schools. Aspects of teachers' beliefs, economic status, and work-related stress were explored, and components of each emerged as significant in an OLS regression. After controlling for demographics and setting, teachers with more adult-centered beliefs, lower wages, multiple jobs, no health insurance, more workplace demands, and fewer work-related resources, had more depressive symptoms. Adult-centered beliefs were more closely associated with depression for teachers working in home-based settings compared …

Girls Are Us: A Collection Of Oral Histories From The Jmu Community, Anne M. Sherman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

On a campus where women make up a majority of the student population, it is especially important that female voices are heard and given a platform on which they can control their own narrative. I wanted to give those female-identifying voices that platform. I conducted a series of interviews to examine how college-aged female-identifying students feel about their identity and how they construct that identity within the climate of the JMU community. I was particularly interested in the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, and ability. I asked each person to share their stories of times when they …

Nebraska Early Childhood Workforce Survey: A Focus On Providers And Teachers, Amy M. Roberts, Iheoma U. Iruka, Susan L. Sarver

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

The Nebraska Early Childhood Workforce Survey was undertaken by the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska to better understand the current status, working conditions, and attitudes of caregivers and teachers working with children from birth through Grade 3. Representing the largest and most comprehensive survey ever completed of the state’s early childhood workforce, it provides important insight into the everyday challenges of the professionals who care for and educate our youngest citizens. Research has long made clear the important role adults play in young children’s lives. Children who form strong relationships with adults feel safe to explore …

Student Departure At West Point : An Examination Within A Total Institution, Jason C. Toole

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The United States Military Academy at West Point recruits, trains, and educates talented young

Uncovering The Processes And Consequences Of Egyptian Immigrant Parental Involvement In Their Children’S Education: Bridging Cultural Differences, Hend Shalan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

For more than a decade, researchers have concluded that immigrant parents face several barriers to becoming involved in their children’s education. All studies agree that language and cultural differences are the most significant barriers to immigrants’ involvement in their children’s education, yet we know little about what these cultural differences are and how these cultural differences influence the school involvement of immigrant parents. This study integrates theories of cultural differences, acculturation, and culture shock and the corresponding literature to investigate the lesser involvement of immigrant parents in school-related activities.

A focused ethnographic design was employed and a thematic analysis …

Retention Heterogeneity In New York City Schools, Douglas Almond, Ajin Lee, Amy Ellen Schwartz

Center for Policy Research

Performance on proficiency exams can be a key determinant of whether students are retained or "held back" in their grade. In New York City, passing the statewide proficiency exam essentially guarantees promotion, while roughly 13% of those students who fail the exam are retained. Using regression discontinuity methods, we find that female students are 25% more likely to be retained in their grade due to exam failure than boys. Hispanic students are 60% more likely and Black students 120% more likely to be retained due to exam failure (relative to White students). Poverty and previous poor performance also increase the …

Exploring The Links Between Legislator’S Education And State Spending, Megan Thiele, Kristen Shorette, Catherine Bolzendahl

Faculty Publications, Sociology

In the current political climate of education financing, public institutions are often the targets of budget cuts. This erosion of the financial backing occurs alongside an expansion of higher education. This research investigates one component of this political realm. Based on research suggesting that policy-makers’ personal characteristics (e.g. gender, race, religious status) affect policy outcomes, this work investigates the extent to which legislators’ educational backgrounds matter for public higher education spending (Washington 2008). Do states with a larger percentage of legislators with a public higher education degree spend more on public higher education than do other legislatures, all other things …

The Use Of Anti-Bullying Policies To Protect Lgbt Youth: Teacher And Administrator Perspectives On Policy Implementation, Michelle Lauren Holliday

Dissertations and Theses

Although in recent years there has been increased attention on bullying prevention and bullying legislation in the United States, there is limited research on the implementation of anti-bullying policies. Moreover, few studies have addressed the use of anti-bullying policies to protect LGBT youth from bullying. The present study seeks to examine the role of anti-bullying policies as a means to protect against bullying based on perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. Qualitative interviews with high school teachers, administrators, and staff members within an urban school district in the United States were conducted to gain insight into how those charged with …

Indigenous School Attendance: Creating Expectations That Are ‘Really High’ And ‘Highly Real’, Tony Dreise, Gina Milgate, Bill Perrett, Troy Meston

Policy Insights

Issue 4 of ACER's Policy Insights series commences with a synthesis of publicly available data on school attendance by Indigenous Australians, highlighting areas of major risk. It explores Australian and international literature to develop an understanding of the risk factors and protective factors involved in strengthening school attendance. The paper then articulates a number of design principles to underpin future investment and intervention policies, and concludes with proposed guideposts which could be considered by policy-makers going forward.

Educators and policy-makers are increasingly calling for ‘high expectations’ in education, including in Indigenous education. One of these expectations is improved rates of …

Nebraskans Speak About Early Care And Education: Buffett Early Childhood Institute/Gallup Survey On Early Childhood Care And Education In Nebraska, Gallup, Inc.

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

The Buffett Early Childhood Institute/Gallup Survey on Early Childhood Care and Education in Nebraska demonstrates that the vast majority of Nebraskans recognize the importance of high-quality early care and education. However, Nebraskans also report its lack of availability and affordability across the state. Most Nebraskans agree that the state should make early care and education a higher priority than it currently is today. Results from this study are based on questionnaires completed by more than 7,100 Nebraska residents. Gallup conducted the survey in English and Spanish via mail in late August through September 2015. The following represent key findings from …

Defining The Problem Of Consent Education In High School Across The United States, Julia Read

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Sexual education is generally thought of as something that is mentioned once in middle school, and possibly addressed in more depth in high school. Many recall a “scared straight” approach, involving an STI and STD slideshow, and countless statistics about the ineffectiveness of birth control. Some picture a more liberal approach, involving things like learning to put condoms on bananas, or learning how to obtain birth control and STD testing at Planned Parenthood. However, when many people think about their high school and middle school sex education, they do not necessarily recall explicit consent training. Why is that? Is it …

Factors Associated With Cognitive Development Of Primary School Children In Eastern Indonesia, Nisa Felicia

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Reasoning, pattern recognition, and problem solving are key cognitive skills developed during

Why The American Superpower Has Mediocre Educational Rankings, Madeline R. Hays

UROP Posters

Although education holds implications for economic growth, scientific progress, and political participation, the United States remains on the lower end of educational quality compared to other industrial and first-world nations. Despite substantial efforts by the American government to mend this issue, reforms have yielded minimal improvement in results. Identifying the reasons for the declining nature of US education is essential in understanding how to improve the current academic state. Why has there been a decline in education quality in America compared to other first-world countries since World War II? In order to distinguish the characteristics correlating with low-achievement in the …

Teaching While Lesbian And Other Identities: Sexual Diversity, Race, And Institutionalized Practices Through An Autoethnographic Lens, Sondra S. Briggs

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

The implicit acceptance among educators and in institutions of learning that discussions around LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) issues are off limits perpetuates the marginalization of these identities and those who inhabit them. In K-12 schools and college classrooms the prevailing silence sends disturbing messages about the treatment of adults and children when their sexual orientation fails to fit neatly into prescribed binary classifications. As one who has been silent as well as silenced, I understand this dichotomy from a unique perspective. Moreover, my lived membership within diverse cultural and racial groups that have been routinely marginalized through institutionalized practices …

The Impact Of Latino Growth On Educational Institutions In Northwest Arkansas From 1990- 2010: Two Decades Of Change In Curriculum Design, Educational Resources And Services For Latino Students, Aíxa García Mont

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the changing demographics nationwide of Latinos moving from urban traditional

settlements sites to non-traditional settlement sites such as Arkansas (Pew Hispanic Research Group, 2013; Smith, 2014; Smith and Furuseth, 2005) Arkansas is now part of the new south or El Nuevo South (Smith and Furuseth, 2005). Although Arkansas is a non-traditional receiving state it is one of the states with the largest growing Latino population (Pew Hispanic Research Group, 2013). Northwest Arkansas in particular has the largest concentration of Latinos to date with the area being host to some of the largest companies in the United States, such as …

State Spending On Public Higher Education: Do The Educational Histories Of Legislators Matter?, Megan Thiele, Kristen Shorette

Faculty Publications, Sociology

State commitments to public higher education vary widely and are determined in part by unique political environments. Based on research suggesting that policy-makers’ personal characteristics affect policy outcomes, this work addresses the following: Do states with a larger percentage of legislators with a public higher education degree spend more on public higher education than do other legislatures, all other things equal? To answer this question, this author will use a robust time-series dataset of the educational backgrounds of state legislators. Currently, there are 7,383 state legislators. In 2005, I compiled the first wave of this database, which included the educational …

A Forward To The Special Issue On Neoliberalism In Education The Long Road To Redemption: Critical Pedagogy And The Struggle For The Future, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Peter McLaren introduces a special issue of Texas Education Review focused on Neoliberalism in Education by advocating for critical pedagogy in the face of the challenges and harms wrought by American capitalism, politics, and "economic exploitation, racism, homophobia, sexism, imperialism, the coloniality of power and White supremacy".

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 …

Exploring The Factors That Influence And Motivate Female Students To Enroll And Persist In Collegiate Stem Degree Programs: A Mixed Methods Study, Rosemary L. Edzie

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nationally, the need for an increase in interest, enrollment, and degrees awarded from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degree programs continues to suffer. While students are enrolling in collegiate STEM degree programs, it is not occurring at a rate that meets the workforce demand. In addition to the concern that there is not a sufficient amount of collegiate STEM majors, there is a concern over too few females enrolling and persisting in collegiate STEM degree programs.

This mixed methods sequential exploratory research study considered the factors that influence and motivate undergraduate female students to enroll and persist in collegiate …

Media Portrayal Of Individuals In The Lower Class And Its Effects On Attributions Of Educational Hardships, Krista A. Burke

Communication Studies

This study investigated how media portrayals of individuals in the lower class affect people’s beliefs about educational hardships in lower socioeconomic areas. Specifically, this study looked at the attributions of these hardships to determine if media consumption had an effect on the internality of attributions. It was hypothesized that increased media consumption would be related to an increased tendency toward internal attributions. It was hypothesized that increased media consumption would lead to lower support for policy changes regarding education. A survey was distributed to assess media consumption habits and attitudes toward educational hardships in the lower class. Correlation results yielded …

Teachers At Work: Factors Influencing Satisfaction, Retention And The Professional Well-Being Of Elementary And Secondary Educators, Patrick Edward O'Reilly

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study has been to explore the question of how factors in the work lives of teachers influence their experience of workplace satisfaction, and how satisfaction influences retention in the teaching profession. This study had three specific goals: (1) to examine whether five specified factors that teachers' encounter as workers influence their professional satisfaction, (2) to explore whether teacher satisfaction influences retention in the profession and (3) to determine whether school level taught plays a role in degrees of satisfaction a teacher experiences.

Data was collected over a period of five months, using a survey administered to …

On Becoming A Teacher (Or Not): Students Of Color's Perceptions Of Teachers' Work, Consideration Of Teaching As A Career, And Implications For Diversifying The Teaching Force, Amanda Lee Winkelsas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The racial/ethnic demographics of the American public school teaching force stand in contrast to the racial/ethnic demographics of the students and families who are served by our public school system. In an effort to understand the racial/ethnic demographic disparities between the teaching force and the public school student population, this study explores the perceptions of students of color as they relate to teachers' work, authority, and power. Utilizing a participatory, mixed methods approach in one public, urban, college preparatory school, I analyze the experiences, cultural models, and knowledges that shape students' perceptions of teachers' work and their own consideration of …

Restructuring Irish Higher Education Through Collaboration And Merger., Siobhan Harkin, Ellen Hazelkorn

Books/Book chapters

Irish higher education has been undergoing significant change, provoked by the global financial crisis and its particular manifestation in Ireland. The demand for higher education is rising at the same time that public funding is declining. In response, mergers and strategic alliances, including regional clusters, of higher education institutions has become a key component of the strategy to better position Irish higher education for greater efficiency, enhanced quality, improved competitiveness and visibility, and clearer alignment with national policy objectives. This chapter traces these developments. It describes the socio-economic and policy context underpinning developments in Irish higher education since the 1970s, …

Segregation, Inequality, Demographic Change, And School Consolidation, William England, Edmund T. Hamann

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

We describe a rural/micropolitan example of the intertwining of school consolidation and demographic change with exacerbated segregation and inequality. To do this we consider Dawson County, Nebraska, which hosts the state's most Latino/a school district (Lexington) and which saw its number of schools decline from 37 to 19 during this century's first decade, and the number of local school districts lessened from 18 to 5. In particular, we call attention to the irony that consolidation was pursued with an explicit call for more equality in schooling in Dawson County (Swidler 2013) and yet population concentrations and variation in expenditures seemed …

Examining The Effectiveness Of The Millennium Villages Project Through The Health And Education Sectors: A Case Study In Ruhiira, Uganda, Meixi Guo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study is meant to present the information gathered by the researcher during a 6-wwek practicum with the Millennium Villages Project Ruhiira office. The objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of this organization by looking at its Health and Education sectors. By studying the interactions between the two, the paper aims to analyze the pros and cons of their interventions. During the course of this study, the researcher also learns about the local people’s view on the Millennium Villages Project as well as the difficulties Millennium has encountered when implementing the project.

The researcher used multiple methods …

The New Normal, Hannah M. Frantz

SURGE

On September 19, 2013 an individual wielding a military-grade assault rifle fired sixteen bullets into a Chicago park harming thirteen individuals, among them a 3-year old named Deonta Howard who was shot in the cheek.

On September 16, 2013 a man by the name of Aaron Alexis opened fire on the cafeteria at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C. Thirteen people died, and eight others were injured.

On December 14, 2012 Adam Lanza shot twenty-six people—twenty of whom were children between the ages of 6 and 7—in Newtown, Connecticut. Barack Obama called it the “worst day of [his] presidency.”

On …