Education Policy Commons^™

Voices From The Margins: Service Providers Perspectives On Empowering Refugee Women, Deidra Ann Coleman

Master's Theses

Refugee women face considerable challenges while fleeing their countries, and attempting to adjust to their new lives in their host country. As a result of being both a woman, and a member of a marginalized group, refugee women tend to suffer disproportionately during displacement and and resettlement (UNHCR, 2015). They are more likely to be discriminated due their gender and ethnicity, and to lack the necessary community supports and resources needed to overcome barriers they encounter. In response to the refugee crisis, service organizations have emphasized empowerment as a key way to improve the lives of refugee women. While there …

You Just Gotta Be Able To Pick Something Outta Nothing: Black Students' Sensemaking On Racism In High School, Wallace Grace

Master's Theses

No Abstract

Evaluating The Impact Of State Policies On Charter School Success, Leah Byers

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Since their inception in 1991, charter schools have become a widely-adopted school choice policy intended to increase educational outcomes through competition and innovation. The details of how states structure their charter school laws are diverse across states, which raises the question of whether certain law parameters are better than others at attracting and maintaining high-quality charter schools.

Charter schools are designed around the basis of market accountability; they must attract students in order to remain in operation. The threat of closure is an incentive built into the charter model that is intended to increase school performance. For this reason, I …

Higher Education In Tajikistan: Institutional Landscape And Key Policy Developments, Alan J. Deyoung, Zumrad Kataeva, Dilrabo Jonbekova

Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation Faculty Publications

Higher education in Tajikistan has undergone substantial changes over the past 25 years as a result of both its internal crises and those social and economic transition challenges seen throughout the Newly Independent States (NIS). HEIs in the country have also shown eagerness to change and grow as they move toward world education space. In this chapter, we examine the evolution of the Tajik system of higher education from the Soviet time through independence (1991–2015) in terms of growth, emerging landscape and diversification, and key policy developments and issues. We analyze these changes in the context of relevant economic, social …

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 …

Supportive Measures: A Grounded Theory Analysis Of The Needs And Aspirations Of First-Generation College Students Enrolled In The Federally-Funded Trio Student Support Services (Sss) Program At A Community College In Rural Kentucky, Michelle R. Carter

Online Theses and Dissertations

For more than forty-nine years (since 1968) the federally-funded TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) programs have served disadvantaged students across the United States of America by providing wrap-around services to further the progress of their enrollment in postsecondary educational opportunities. The SSS program aims to assist students with disabilities, and who identify as low-income and first-generation (LIFG) college students, towards the successful completion of certification in a technical program and an undergraduate level degree from either a two or four-year college or university.

This study evaluated the needs and aspirations of [ten] first-generation college students at the point-of-entry of enrollment …

Missing In Action: A Critical Narrative Study Of The Absence Of Black Female Secondary Science Teachers, Nadia Despenza

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Despite the increasing research that lists cultural incongruence in the classroom among the top factors that speaks to the disproportionate numbers of Black females obtaining STEM degrees there is limited research on the actual number of Black female science teachers at the secondary level in education and the impact this plays on Black females in science, technology, engineering, and math classrooms (STEM). The consequence of all this is that we find ourselves with Black female science teachers “missing in action,” and only 5% of Black females receiving a STEM degree. I employ critical pedagogy, critical race theory, and Black feminist …

Prosecution As The "Soul Crushing Job:" Complexities Of Campus Sexual Assault Cases, Tammi L. Slovinsky

Theses and Dissertations

On April 4, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter on campus sexual assault reaffirming the intent of Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits discrimination sex-based under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. In response to growing concern over due process rights for defendants, in September 2017 the guidance was rescinded. Public policy continues to evolve, leading to potentially lasting institutional changes on many college campuses. These developments include the formalization of campus investigations and adjudications, the development of campus coordinating committees and expanded support mechanisms for victims. In Virginia, laws passed …

Opening The Gates To Ap Equity: A Case Study Of A Central Virginia High School’S Practices, Policies, And Characteristics Toward Proportional Black Student Representation In Advanced Placement Enrollment, Andrew R. Armstrong

Theses and Dissertations

Advanced Placement (AP) courses engage high school students with college curriculum taught by trained high school teachers, with an opportunity for students to earn college credit by passing the end-of-course AP exam. AP has evolved into an indicator of school quality, instructional rigor, and a consideration in the college admissions process. AP enrollment and exam performance outcomes for White students disproportionately surpass those for Black students. This study attempts to inform practice, policy, and programming toward more equitable enrollment outcomes for Black students through a single case study. The selected case school was the only high school among 38 in …

The Mississippi Adequate Education Program: An Overview And Policy Proposal, Drew Douglas Hall

Honors Theses

Historically, Mississippi is one of the lowest performing states when it comes to kindergarten-twelfth grade education. Mississippi also consistently has one of the lowest amounts of money dedicated to kindergarten-twelfth grade education. It has been suggested that there is a correlation between these two facts, but over the past twenty years, nothing has changed in the way that Mississippi funds education. The current model is written in the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which allocates money to education based upon a per-year decision by the Mississippi Department of Education to take money from the general fund of the state's budget. This …

A Critical Interrogation Of The Mind, Brain, And Education Movement: Toward A Social Justice Paradigm, Bibinaz Pirayesh

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Much attention has been given to “bridging the gap” between research and practice since neuroscience research first made claim to its potential impact in classrooms. With the inception of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) as a new interdisciplinary field, an unprecedented opportunity to explore the educational implications of new research coming out of neuroscience has presented itself. And yet, the gap between research and practice persists while new problems arise as education looks to brain science for answers with ongoing social and academic difficulties faced by students. A critical bicultural methodology, grounded in a decolonizing interpretive approach, is utilized to …

Union Busted: Understanding The Relationship Between Democrats, Republicans, And Teachers’ Unions, Roman Motley

Master's Theses

There is an almost symbiotic relationship between the Democratic Party and labor unions. Labor unions emerged as the largest donors and staunchest organizers for Democrats. This is all especially true for teachers’ unions. The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association represent the largest organizational donors to the Democratic Party. Democrats on the national stage compete fiercely for these two organization’s endorsement. So, if teachers’ unions represent such an important donor and organizing base for Democrats how can we explain Democratic politics on education? Race to the Top was highly unpopular with unions and supported by Democrats. Liberal …

Assessing Research Productivity From An Institutional Effectiveness Perspective: How Universities Influence Faculty Research Productivity, Michael M. Rawls

Theses and Dissertations

Faculty research productivity studies typically focus on the scholarly performance of the individual researcher, although environmental and organizational conditions that are largely outside of the researcher’s control can significantly impact that performance. From an institutional effectiveness perspective, it is imperative for the higher education administrators and leaders who share the responsibility of managing and supporting their university’s research enterprise to understand how the institutional environment itself impacts the productivity of its research community. In this sequential mixed methods study, a quantitative framework was tested for assessing institutional effectiveness in research administration based on the assertion that this concept can be …

A Study Of Late Registration At Four Community Colleges, Meredith Courtney Nourie-Manuele

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

At the community college level, a debated policy is whether to keep the option for late registration. Most colleges define late registration as registration that occurs any time after the first day of the semester (O’Banion, 2012). Some community colleges have opted to eliminate late registration, believing, based on previous studies, that late registration is a barrier to students and their success (Bolt, 2013; Hale & Bray, 2011; Jones, 2015; Smith, Street, & Olivarez, 2002; Weiss, 1999). Others assert late registration remain an option maintaining that the open access designation associated with the community college demands that students not be …

A Comparison Of Restorative Justice Ideology Between Administrators, Teachers, And Parents, Renée J. Alger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers suggest that restorative justice processes in schools are a successful alternative to traditional punishments for school discipline, and are used for both reactive and proactive responses to behavior issues. However, the processes are not sustainable if the administration implementing restorative justice do not promote a restorative justice ideology (RJI), and if all systems that impact the student are not aligned. Therefore, study was conducted to compare the level of restorative justice ideology between groups of administrators, teachers, and parents with a validated restorative justice ideology survey instrument that includes cooperation, restoration, and healing, and an accumulative score for RJI …

The Influence Of School Discipline Approaches On Suspension Rates, Donna Christy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A free and appropriate public education is promised to every child in the United States. However, zero tolerance school discipline policies have broken that promise, pushing students out of the classroom and into the school-to-prison pipeline. Despite the growing body of research demonstrating negative social and economic impacts of exclusionary discipline, public school administrators have been slow to adopt innovative policies that provide rehabilitative alternatives. The purpose of this study was to compare, using the consequences of innovations application of Rogers's diffusion of innovations theory, the impact of various school district approaches to school discipline on suspension rates while controlling …

A Determinant For Measuring The Quality Of Tutoring Services Provided By Supplemental Educational Providers, Dovie Denise Dawson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Title I federal regulations provide funding to school districts to support Supplemental Educational Service (SES) tutoring services to qualified economically disadvantaged K-12 students and that these services should be monitored by school districts to determine its effectiveness. However, a school district in Southern California that is the focus of this convergent parallel design study has not provided sufficient oversight of the SES tutoring program resulting in ambiguity about policy implementation effectiveness. Using a theoretical framework of policy implementation as the foundation, the purpose of this study was to explore the role that quality of service played when administrators implemented the …

Increasing The Career Longevity Of Teachers Of Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Leroy V. Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have among the highest attrition rates of any teaching discipline in the United States. High attrition rates affect EBD teachers, school districts, and students with EBD. Through the theoretical lenses of Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory and Eisenberger's organizational support theory (OST), this study sought to determine if there was a difference in college preparation, job support, and job benefit/amenity factors identified by EBD teachers who intended to leave the discipline (n = 6) and those who intended to stay (n = 9). This quantitative, survey-based study yielded data from 15 …

Vocational Instructors Experience And Practice Teaching In The Hybrid Environment, Christine Cusano

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At a technical post-secondary school in the Northeast United States, campus leaders lacked formative data of faculty skills and knowledge needed for instruction in a hybrid format involving both face-to-face instruction and on-line instruction. Therefore, the delivery of appropriate professional development (PD) programs for faculty whose duties include hybrid format instruction has not been provided. The purpose of this study was to identify the faculty experiences of teaching in a hybrid-learning environment, and their perceived PD needs to provide effective instruction in a hybrid-learning environment. This study explored vocational teachers' experiences and perceived PD needs related to teaching in a …

Perceptions Of New Teachers On The Professional And Instructional Support For New Teachers, Lola B. Sawyerr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The local problem addressed in the study was the lack of knowledge regarding the perceptions of new teachers as to whether the support they receive in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and other school-related duties was consistent and effective in helping them remain in classrooms. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of new teachers regarding the effectiveness of professional and instructional support they receive from the district. The study was framed by the social cognitive theory of Lent, Brown and Hackett, which emphasized the perception of job satisfaction as well as outcome expectations and personal goals. The …